All the ancestors in the capital begged me to be a substitute

At dawn, Shen Lingxi, who had been busy all night, sat on the carriage returning to the Yunjiang Palace and handed an account book covered with red brocade to Chu Yan.

And told Chu Yan the information she got from Mrs. Cao.

"The Duke's Mansion has two rooms. Ever since the old Duke was alive, Xu Yuanda and his son Xu Huan have been stationed at the border with the old Duke all year round. Mrs. Cao is in charge of the affairs of the house, which involves money. Part of the general affairs is handled by Xu Yuanshan, the second master who is at home."

"Mrs. Cao did not care about the part that Xu Yuanshan was responsible for. Until the end of eight years ago, Xu Yuanshan reconciled with the Ji family and married a new wife. Mrs. Cao took care of the accounts on her behalf. By chance, she discovered that he was good at the general affairs that Xu Yuanshan was responsible for. He made the decision to convert two antique shops with the best locations and the most profits into spice shops."

"At that time, the war between the Great Zhou Dynasty and Beidi and Western Hungary was at a critical juncture. The pirates in the south were also ready to attack, and the borders were blocked. Many precious spices produced in the Western Regions and the south were all out of stock. If you open a spice shop at this time, you can't get anything. Spices that have to be sold are a losing business."

"Madam Cao felt it was inappropriate at the time, so she approached Xu Yuanshan privately to talk about the matter, but Xu Yuanshan only said that this is a partnership business with the eldest brother-in-law. He only provides the storefront, and the Li family will take care of everything else."

"Mrs. Cao naturally didn't dare to hide this kind of thing. She even told the ancestors and wrote a letter to the Duke of Zhenguo at the border to explain the matter."

"Xu Yuanshan and Mr. Li had just gotten married at that time, and it was the time of their wedding. The ancestors and the Duke of Zhen only thought that he was cheering up and wanted to do things, so they let him do whatever they wanted."

"So, out of caution, Mrs. Cao secretly created a special account book. When she reconciled the accounts at the house twice a year, she ordered people to copy the money and cash accounts of the two shops to this account book."

At this point, when Shen Lingxi saw Chu Yan opening the account book, she simply stood up, sat down next to him, took the account book in his hand, opened the first few pages, and scratched the top entries with her index finger.

"Your Highness, please see, here is the money flow of the spice shop for the first six months."

If there was a vague medicinal fragrance that hit the tip of Chu Yan's nose, he sat up straight without realizing it, his eyes drooped, and his eyes focused on her green fingertips for a moment before falling on those accounts.

"Except for the monthly routines of the shopkeeper and the clerk, there is only income and no output." He pretended to be indifferent.

Shen Lingxi nodded, "A newly opened spice shop, when the source of spices is so tight, money can only go in but not go out. It only has profits but no principal. It is basically the same as Xu Yuanshan's uncle Yiyang Hou, Giving money to this spice shop for free. And the silver is a full 2 taels of silver."

Chu Yanfeng's eyes deepened slightly: "2 taels is not a small amount. As far as I know, with the family background of Yiyang Marquis, it is impossible to give away so much money."

"Exactly." Shen Lingxi turned over the account book again, "These 2 taels are just the beginning. For the next two consecutive years, until the war in the north ended, these two spice shops made a full 50 taels of silver. At the same time, , he also opened more than a dozen incense shops in the capital, here."

Chu Yan looked at the lines of small characters, which clearly stated the location of each shop, as well as the running water, and his eyebrows frowned slightly.

"Are these spice shops all owned by the Duke's government?" he asked.Shen Lingxi nodded: "For two and a half years, Xu Yuanshan monopolized the spice shop in the capital in the name of the Zhenguo Palace. Except for frankincense and other spices banned by the court, the capital's top officials and dignitaries, down to the common people, The spices used in every household come from the incense shop of Zhenguo Gongfu."

"The Li family of Marquis of Yiyang has absolutely no such property." Chu Yan said firmly, "Before coming to Yunjiang, the Embroidery Envoy had already checked the Li family. The Li family had very little property in the capital, and there was no one in the family who was good at general affairs. Heirs."

"This is what Mrs. Cao found strange." Shen Lingxi said meaningfully: "Even for a family like Zhenguo Gongfu, the income from these incense shops alone is so much money, and they also secretly transfer precious spices , throw it away to the ghost market for sale. Like the Western Region's 'Thousand Gold Incense' that was previously circulated in the ghost market, it is also recorded in this book."

"This kind of thing is neither a big deal nor a small matter. No one cares about it. If someone is willing to investigate... After all, the imperial court banned the market at the border during the war, and the Duke of Zhen was always at the border."

Chu Yan's face darkened, "Those spices have no principal on the books and no channels to buy them. It is very likely that people will think that they are private goods sold by Zhen Guogong in violation of the imperial court's prohibition."

Shen Lingxi nodded again, "Mrs. Cao secretly asked people to go to those incense shops to inquire. The clerks and shopkeepers only said that they knew Xu Yuanshan, the second master of Zhenguo Palace, but not the Li family. In other words, in the eyes of outsiders, This is Xu Mansion’s industry.”

Chu Yan raised his eyebrows, "So, Xu Yuanshan is lying? He didn't partner with Marquis Yiyang at all?"

"No." Shen Lingxi said sternly: "On the contrary, Mrs. Cao sent people and spent a full half a year on duty. Every quarter, the incense brought into these shops was transported to the capital by the Li family's fleet. In the shops The identity contracts of those clerks and shopkeepers are also in the hands of Mrs. Li Er."

"These incense shops are apparently owned by the Xu family, but in fact they are run by the Li family, and the money they receive has indeed gone into the treasury of the Duke's Mansion."

"As His Highness just said, it's fine if no one investigates this matter. If someone investigates, the Li family will never be found out, but Lord Zhen can't escape the blame. Madam Cao will investigate this matter to this extent. He stabbed his ancestors, and this led to the incident known to everyone in the capital: 'Xu Yuanshan had a dispute with Mrs. Cao and ran to the border in anger'."

A flash of realization flashed in Chu Yan's eyes, "It seems that Xu Yuanshan will be ready early in the morning and want to escape."

"That's right." Shen Lingxi's voice was deep: "With the temperament of our ancestors and Zhen Guo Gong, if they knew this potential risk, they would definitely find out the whole story and close those shops. In fact, the death of Xu Yuanshan When the bad news came, our ancestors were so sad that they couldn't afford to fall ill. The 'Zhen Guo Gong' also wrote to Mrs. Cao from the border to put the matter on hold for the time being."

As she spoke, she turned back a few pages of the account book and pointed to the entry above: "At the same time, shortly after the death of 'Xu Yuanshan', the palace purchasing department began to purchase spices from this incense shop. . It wasn’t until five years ago that ‘Zhen Guo Gong’ returned to Beijing and completely closed this incense shop.”

"That is to say, from the time when the Great Zhou Dynasty went to war with the Yun State until His Highness and Duke Zhen returned to the capital, some of the spices used in the palace were also purchased from this incense shop. Naturally, the cost of the East Palace was also among them. Lie...among these spices, I only know some of them are special products of Yunjiang."

Having said this, Shen Lingxi retracted her hand and looked at Chu Yan's side face that gradually turned into ice.

She hesitated for a few moments and asked softly: "When Your Highness was investigating the death of Emperor Xiaode, did you conduct a thorough investigation to see if there was anything wrong with the spices used in the East Palace?"