Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Wu Zetian glanced at Wan Guojun, then turned to Shangguan Wan'er and asked, "Shangguan, you were also involved. Do you agree with Commandant Xue's answer?"

Shangguan Wan'er glanced at Wu Sansi, her heart filled with mixed feelings. Wu Sansi hadn't informed her beforehand, and Wan Guojun had brought his men directly to her, putting her in a very passive position. Although Wu Sansi was her ally, Wu Sansi's actions in this matter were quite unethical.

But more importantly, this matter would seriously damage her interests. She knew very well what the three thousand taels of silver meant. Normally, people would keep gold and silver to pay with copper coins. It was because she didn't have enough copper coins that she used three thousand taels of silver to make up the money for the Chang'an Bamianfang Restaurant.

The remaining 27,000 taels of silver were still in her treasury. She had previously admitted that the 3,000 taels of silver given to Wu Yongsheng were from her transaction with Yuan Min, so it wouldn't hurt to shift the blame to Xue Wei.

But now she suddenly realized that the 30,000 taels of silver were stolen money. According to the laws of Wu Zhou, this batch of silver would be confiscated by the government, which meant that she would lose 27,000 taels of silver for nothing. How could she accept such a heavy loss?

Shangguan Wan'er regretted it a little. She pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Censor Wan was indeed hasty and did not consider things carefully. This matter should be jointly investigated by the three judicial departments first, and the Censorate should not act alone."

Wu Sansi was furious. He hadn't expected that this woman would not help him at this crucial moment, but instead speak up for Xue Wei. She had previously admitted that the three thousand taels of silver was the money Yuan Min had given her for the shop transaction, but now she was not mentioning it.

At this moment, Wu Chongxun raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, may I say a word?"

Wu Zetian nodded. "Go on!"

"Your Majesty, I would like to explain. I happened to go to Qingyun Pawnshop to deposit money today and saw Imperial Censor Wan and Commandant Xue arguing. I went to watch the commotion, but I am very curious, since Commandant Xue is not the owner of Qingyun Pawnshop, why is he obstructing Imperial Censor Wan from enforcing the law?"

Wu Chongxun was cunning. He seized on the fact that Xue Wei stood up for Yuan Min. Legally, this matter had nothing to do with Xue Wei, and he and Yuan Min were not husband and wife, so he shouldn't be standing here.

Xue Wei sneered; he had known all along that the other party would bring up his identity.

He said calmly, "Does Young Master Wu not know that I am now the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review? I am investigating the case of the missing 300,000 taels of official silver. The appearance of that batch of official silver at Qingyun Pawnshop is of course within my duty to investigate the case. I must step forward to stop it and absolutely cannot allow the evidence in my case to be destroyed."

Wu Zetian was well aware of this, and both sides were using the situation as an excuse to their advantage.

She turned to her daughter, Princess Taiping, and asked, "Taiping, why don't you say a few words?"

Li Lingyue calmly replied, "Your Majesty, both sides are actually investigating the same case. However, Xue Wei's case came first, and Imperial Censor Wan's case came later. Xue Wei should finish investigating the earlier case first before Imperial Censor Wan can continue his investigation. I suggest giving Xue Wei a few more days to close the case first."

Wu Sansi immediately panicked, "Your Majesty, what if the embezzled silver has been transferred?"

Wu Zetian coldly replied, "Minister Wu, you don't need to worry about this matter."

She immediately issued an edict: "By my decree, the warehouse of Qingyun Department Store shall be sealed with imperial seal. No one is allowed to touch it without my permission."

She then said to Xue Wei, "I will give you three days to close the case. If you cannot close the case in three days, I will have Imperial Censor Wan continue the investigation."

...........

Back in the carriage, Xue Wei saw that Yuan Min still looked somewhat dejected, so he put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, "Believe me, things will definitely take a turn for the better. Three days is enough time for us to do a lot."

Yuan Min sighed softly and asked, "Is finding Yuan Renjing the key?"

Xue Wei nodded slightly. "I have a feeling that he's back. He's just observing from the shadows. He'll come looking for me soon, either today or tomorrow."

"How did he know that his family had been brought to the city and settled in by you?"

"I arranged for a judge from the Court of Judicial Review to wait at his old residence. The judge was originally his subordinate and they were very familiar with each other."

Xue Wei patted her arm and laughed, "Don't overthink it, there's always a way out."

Yuan Min leaned gently on Xue Wei's shoulder, which made her feel very stable and safe.

..........

As the carriage drew closer to Mingyue Tower, Zuo Qingling, who was sitting in the front carriage, suddenly said, "Young Master Xue, there seems to be one of your men up ahead."

Looking through the glass window, Xue Wei saw a judge from the Court of Judicial Review sitting at the entrance of Mingyue Tower. Xue Wei remembered him; his name was Liang Xiaofei, the same judge who had stayed at Yuan Renjing's house to wait.

"Stop the car!" Xue Wei shouted immediately.

The carriage stopped, and Xue Wei jumped off and strode forward.

Liang Xiaofei stood up and ran over, took out a note and handed it to Xue Wei, "This is from Yuan Renjing."

…………

In a run-down little tavern in Tongjifang.

Xue Wei and Yuan Renjing sat facing each other, and Xue Wei poured him a full cup of wine.

A lot happened in that day and night.

Yuan Renjing nodded silently. This was the first time in his life he had been chased and killed. If he hadn't been a good swimmer, he would have drowned in the Luo River.

"I hid in Tongjifang all night last night, and only found out when I got home before dawn that my family almost got into trouble too..."

Yuan Renjing sighed, "I never expected that a six-year-old case would cause such a stir. I thought this case would never be solved!"

"Whether or not we can break the will of those in power, this case isn't actually that difficult, is it?"

Yuan Renjing suddenly looked at Xue Wei and said, "Excuse my bluntness, but I've never understood why you, as the Commandant of the Imperial Carriage, were assigned to solve this case?"

Xue Wei smiled and said, "Does Supervisor Yuan think that I, a spoiled brat, am incapable of solving cases?"

"I don't know, that's what I can't understand. You shouldn't have any connection with the Dali Temple, right? And as far as I know, the Ministry of Justice has already sealed the case file, so it's impossible for them to investigate it again."

Xue Wei sneered, "So you think I'm just doing this for fun?"

"Of course not, I just don't understand."

Xue Wei took out the emperor's gold token and placed it on the table. "I am not here to investigate the case on the orders of the court. I am here on the emperor's personal commission. It has nothing to do with the court."

Yuan Renjing stared intently at the gold medal on the table, and after a long while asked, "Why are you still investigating a six-year-old cold case?"

"Because the Emperor wants to know the truth. Wu Chengsi has been dead for four years, and there is no need to deal with anyone else. The Emperor just wants to know the truth. I believe you are also unwilling to accept this, and you also want to tell the truth."

After a pause, Xue Wei continued, "Now Wu Sansi and Wan Guojun want to use that 300,000 taels of official silver as leverage to find Wu Chengsi's treasure and even plunder my wife's wealth. I must stand up for them."

Yuan Renjing picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. After a long pause, he said, "If I told you that this case has absolutely nothing to do with Wu Chengsi, would you believe me?"

"You mean Wu Chengsi didn't receive that batch of silver in the warehouse?"

Yuan Renjing stared at the wine glass and gave a bitter smile. "There has never been 300,000 taels of silver in the warehouse. We discovered that all the warehouse entry records are fake."

Xue Wei was stunned; this answer was completely unexpected.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?"

Yuan Renjing sighed, "This batch of silver is produced in the Chenzhou Silver Mine. It is a batch of crude silver, totaling 20,000 catties. It was transported over a long distance. After being refined at the Shaofujian, it will yield 300,000 taels of silver and will go directly into the Shaofujian's raw material warehouse."

When the Imperial Household Department began refining the silver, they discovered it wasn't silver, but 20,000 catties of white copper. Everyone was stunned, including Wu Chengsi, because it had already been put into storage. The Imperial Household Department couldn't say whether the batch of crude silver had been switched midway or in the raw material warehouse.

"and then?"

"Then Wu Chengsi made a foolish decision: to fabricate the whole process, fake the depositing of silver into the warehouse, fake the smelting, fake the depositing of 300,000 taels of silver into the warehouse, and finally burn down the warehouse."

Xue Wei was stunned. He had thought it was an inside job, but it turned out to be a complete fabrication.

Do you have any evidence for what you're saying?

"These are all things that Han Qun, the former Vice Director of the Imperial Household Department, told us. He didn't want to be a scapegoat, but in the end he still committed suicide by poisoning himself. The so-called suicide by poisoning was actually because he was killed because he told us that he had solid evidence. As a result, he died that night."

Xue Wei pondered for a moment and said, "What do you think his conclusive evidence is? Is there a problem with the inventory receipts?"

Yuan Renjing shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with the receipts. The evidence he's talking about isn't the receipts. I feel it's the 20,000 catties of white copper, because the 20,000 catties of white copper have never been found. It's very likely that he hid it as evidence."

"It was just a mistake. Why should he be killed?" Xue Wei poured him another glass of wine.

Yuan Renjing looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "Because six years ago, Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi were vying for the position of Crown Prince. Wu Chengsi made the foolish decision to forge documents, and he regretted it afterwards. He was worried that this matter would affect his chances of becoming Crown Prince."

"So doing something stupid is worse than doing something wrong?"

"Yes, he would rather bear the reputation of embezzling 300,000 taels of silver because everyone is just speculating and there is no evidence. He is not afraid. He is only a part-time official in the Imperial Household Department. He doesn't care about losing this position. But he must not let his foolish decision get out, especially not to the emperor, so as not to affect his struggle for the position of crown prince."

"Is it really just a coincidence that only two of the original twenty-five people remained?"

Yuan Renjing sneered, "Wu Chengsi pulled a trick and exiled those people to the place with the most severe miasma. So in just six years, only two of the eighteen exiled officials remained. You can call it a natural disaster or a man-made one."

Xue Wei smiled and said, "I believe what you're saying is the truth, but I need evidence."

"The evidence is the discovery of the missing 20,000 jin of white copper. Han Qun may have left some other evidence with the white copper."

"How could 20,000 jin of white copper have vanished? They must have taken it away in the middle of the night!"

"It's unlikely. The Imperial Household Department is very strict. Every item that enters must be documented. We even questioned the gatekeepers, and they repeatedly assured us that no unusual goods had entered."

Xue Wei, however, was unconvinced. If they dared to forge the entire process, what was impossible about forging an exit pass?

At this moment, Yuan Renjing suddenly remembered something and said to Xue Wei, "I also have a copy of the case file from when the Dali Temple investigated this case. It's in the storage room behind my office."