Chapter 567: Repression
Editor: Atlas Studios
At that time, Qi Xiuyuan was focused on the war, so in the end, he only sent 2,000 people to surround the treasury and continued fighting. When he opened the treasury, he also suspected that the soldiers had stolen it, but he quickly dismissed this idea.
The 2,000 soldiers were all trustworthy people. Moreover, there were his trusted aides among them. Considering they were not familiar with Lin’an City, it would have caused a huge commotion if they had stolen from it. It was impossible for them to do such a thing.
Therefore, the only possibility was that the treasury was already empty before he ordered his men to surround it.
However, he also didn’t believe that the Second Prince had emptied the treasury. Just as Mu Yangling had said, since Qi Xiuyuan had attacked Lin’an City suddenly, it was impossible for the Second Prince to be prepared in advance. Moreover, he would be courting death by carrying so much money when fleeing.
Having been chasing after the Second Prince the entire time, Qi Xiuyuan was very familiar with their speed.
Mu Yangling said, “If it isn’t the Second Prince, Emperor Jingyan couldn’t have hidden the things, right? But the Second Prince’s rebellion also happened suddenly. Besides the two of them, who else in this world could take the money out of the vaults without batting an eyelid?”
Mu Yangling paused and looked up at Qi Xiuyuan. Li Jinghua also had a guess and said hesitantly, “Minister Qin?”
Smiling, Qi Xiuyuan said, “We’ll know if it’s him after we raid the Qin residence tomorrow.”
Minister Qin had taken his son with him, leaving only his daughter, concubines, and unimportant servants in the residence.
Although Qi Xiuyuan didn’t kill them, he didn’t let them off either. He chose an upright official from the Ministry of Justice who was proficient in the law to interrogate them before sending them all to prison. Minister Qin’s residence was empty now.
It should be said that all the residences under Minister Qin’s name in Lin’an were empty.
Qi Xiuyuan got his men to search through all the residences, but they did not find a single piece of gold.
This time, even Qi Xiuyuan felt that something was wrong.
Who was Minister Qin?
That was the number one greedy person in Great Zhou, who had more assets than the treasury. How could he not have any gold?
Qi Xiuyuan flipped open the confiscated account book and saw that various items such as silk, jewelry, and antiques were listed. There was enough precious pearls that could fill up a box, in addition to countless rubies and sapphires. Also, the various jade artifacts could fill up a small storeroom alone. Alas, there was not a single piece of gold.
Qi Xiuyuan picked up a gold hairpin and asked, “Are the gold and silver items here too?”
“General, there’s gold and silver jewelry, but the larger gold and silver artifacts have all disappeared.”
“Investigate!” Qi Xiuyuan threw down the things in his hand and said, “Since they left the capital in a hurry, it’s impossible for them to take away so much gold and silver. Those things must still be in Lin’an City.”
However, the officials of the Ministry of Justice failed to obtain any useful information on the people left behind by Minister Qin despite using torture on them. The important people had been taken away by Minister Qin, and the unimportant people who knew the inside story had also also killed by Minister Qin. The remaining people really had no idea.
The pauper Qi Xiuyuan’s expression turned even uglier. One night, Li Jinghua probed, “Master, all the aristocratic families are rich.”
Qi Xiuyuan was silent for a long time before nodding slightly.
Li Jinghua heaved a sigh of relief. She would not ask anymore in the future, but she knew that the aristocratic families would probably completely disappear in the future.
Emperor Shizong of Great Zhou had tried his best to suppress the aristocratic families. Things only gradually recovered after Emperor Gaozong allowed things to rest and recuperate for a hundred years.
The Li family was no longer worthy of its aristocratic status. They only looked like an aristocratic family on the surface, but in reality they were not. Soon, the other aristocratic families might become like the Li family.
Li Jinghua wanted to write a letter to ask her father and brother to come over, but after thinking about it, she decided to put this matter aside for the time being. Her father’s health was not good, and her brother was disabled. Since it would not be of much use even if they came, why let them go through such torment?
Perhaps Qi Xiuyuan had found another way. In any case, he stopped paying much attention to the theft of the national treasury. Moreover, after a few groups of people searched Minister Qin’s residence and didn’t find anything, he waved his hand and said, “Leave Minister Qin’s residence alone for now. When Haoran returns, I’ll confer him the title of a Prince and grant him that as his residence.”
Rong Xuan had no objections, and the other ministers had no objections either. Not to mention that Qi Haoran was Qi Xiuyuan’s biological younger brother, even if he wasn’t, he deserved this honor. After all, he had led hundreds of thousands of troops and helped Qi Xiuyuan conquer half of the country.
Everyone was concerned about another question. “General, when will you and Madam move into the palace? Although you haven’t ascended the throne yet, it’s better for you to enter the palace early.”
Qi Xiuyuan was still living in the Qi Residence and rushed to the palace every day to deal with government affairs. The ministers reckoned he must be exhausted from doing this, and they were also afraid that something would happen on his journey from the palace to the Qi Residence.
Qi Xiuyuan paused for a moment and said, “Let the Imperial Astronomer choose a good day. There’s no need for so many palaces in the palace. When the time comes, seal them and only open up those that we need to use.”
Hence, someone took the opportunity to suggest adding new people to the palace. For example, the previous eunuchs and palace maids should be replaced. Moreover, there were many palace maids and eunuchs who had escaped previously, so the number should be increased appropriately. Since they were adding more palace maids and eunuchs, the size of Qi Xiuyuan’s harem should also be increased.
At the moment, Qi Xiuyuan only had Li Jinghua as his wife, two handmaids, and no concubines. Everyone knew that if a woman could become Qi Xiuyuan’s concubine at this time, she would definitely obtain a considerable status after he ascended the throne.
However, Qi Xiuyuan hated it when others interfered in his family matters, so he pretended not to understand and only said, “Get someone to renovate Minister Qin’s residence. When Haoran comes back, he can move in directly.”
Hence, everyone’s attention shifted again. If Qi Haoran moved in as soon as he returned, the plaque would definitely have to be replaced. This involved rewards based on merit. This was a huge problem, an even bigger problem than Qi Xiuyuan’s harem.
After Qi Xiuyuan returned, Mu Yangling knew that she was soon to move into a huge residence. She asked curiously, “I heard that Minister Qin’s residence is even better than a prince’s residence. The standard is even higher than a prince’s residence, right?”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded. “Considering Minister Qin has done plenty of illegal things, Emperor Jingyan didn’t mind such a small matter.”
“But Big Brother, didn’t you want to confer Haoran the title of Prince? This is already surpassing what even a King should obtain.”
Li Jinghua’s heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly said with a smile, “Just set aside a few plots of land for now. You can always connect the lands when Fourth Brother gets conferred the title of a King, right?” Considering Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran’s relationship, it was only a matter of time before the latter got conferred the title of a King.
However, Qi Xiuyuan said with a smile, “There’s no need to go through so much trouble. We can just build a martial arts arena for Haoran on the excess land.”
However, Mu Yangling disagreed and said with a straight face, “That won’t do. We have to follow the rules. Big Brother, Haoran is your biological younger brother. Only if he obeys the rules will the subordinates have more scruples. Otherwise, if he violates the rules first, won’t the other meritorious officials follow suit?”
“Since Haoran is a member of the royal family, the rules don’t apply to him as much as to the others.” This had always been the unspoken rule.
However, because it was an unspoken rule, Mu Yangling disliked it even more. “Big Brother, the compliance I’m talking about is not only targeted at outsiders. There’s also our Qi family, including Little Treasure, Little Bear, and the descendants of the Qi family in the future. The Great Zhou Dynasty declined rapidly after the World Sect’s Emperor because it was too indulgent to the descendants of the royal family. As a result, there wasn’t a single person in the royal family who amounted to much. But it led the royal family to accumulate a lot of power and money, causing the order to collapse and making the country powerless to resist in the face of outsiders’ invasion. In spite of that, they put the blame on the border guards. Haoran is your younger brother. It’s naturally not wrong for you to dote on him as an elder brother, but you’re bestowing him those rewards in your capacity as a king. Since Haoran is your subject, it’s only right that he abides by the rules.”