The Emperor, of course, knew that this amount was not small, but to say it was enormous was still a bit much.
This ng Yunzheng was still inexperienced. With evidence like this, if it were in the past and Gong Qiu were still in use, the Emperor might have let him make up for it and let it pass by turning a blind eye.
As for forming factions and colluding for self-interest, in such a small scope, it still hadn’t touched his bottom line.
This kind of evidence was not enough to topple Gong Qiu.
It was only because the Emperor could no longer tolerate Gong Qiu that he hoped the evidence of his cris would be as significant as possible, ideally finding evidence of his collusion with the Second Prince, so he could deal with both of them at the sa ti.
Therefore, the Emperor interrupted ng Yunzheng before he finished speaking, "Apart from these two pieces of evidence, did you see anything else in the secret chamber?"
ng Yunzheng frowned, looking a bit tense. He carefully recalled and then, his eyes lit up and he said eagerly, "Yes, it seed like there was another big chest in the secret chamber, locked with a lock. But at that ti, I was in a hurry as the guards outside returned, and the chest was too big to carry out. I thought these account books were enough to prove Gong Qiu’s cris, so I quickly brought them out to report to Your Majesty."
The implication was that he knew nothing else.
Besides the account books, he didn’t know about Gong Qiu’s secret etings with Noble Princess Consort Liu, didn’t know about Gong Qiu’s collusion with the Second Prince, and didn’t know about who Gong Qiu hard or what earth-shattering deeds he did.
But, Your Majesty, you can investigate yourself. The secret chamber is right there, and the evidence... is there too.
Sure enough, the Emperor pondered for a mont and then called Xiping over to instruct him on a few things.
Xiping nodded and left.
Inside the Imperial Study, only the Emperor and ng Yunzheng were left. ng Yunzheng asked nervously, "Your Majesty, with Gong Qiu’s heinous cris of corruption and dereliction, could he be sentenced to death?"
"What if I say, no?"
"How could that be? Wouldn’t it an I couldn’t avenge my mother? I..." ng Yunzheng’s face turned pale, and he collapsed in despair but then stood up again the next mont, "Your Majesty, I will go back and find more evidence now. Gong Qiu has done so much evil, surely there’s more evidence to be found, I will go right away."
The Emperor waved his hand, "Enough, I have a asure in my heart about Gong Qiu’s matter. The things you said will also be kept in my mind."
"Th-thank you, Your Majesty."
"Stay in the palace for now. If there’s any further matter, I’ll summon you at any ti."
ng Yunzheng nodded respectfully, "Yes."
The Emperor waved his hand, and soone ca to take ng Yunzheng away.
At the sa ti, a chaotic Gong Family suddenly had several Forbidden Army soldiers break in, heading straight for Gong Qiu’s study.
The butler hurried forward to stop them, but the Commander of the Forbidden Army pulled out a sword and forced him back, "Gong Family’s Eldest Young Master, Gong Xiao, accuses Minister of Public Works Gong Qiu of corruption and collusion. His Majesty orders us to find the truth and bring Lord Gong into the palace."
The butler’s face changed dramatically, the Eldest Young Master... accused Lord??
How could this be?
However, before he could ask more, the Commander of the Forbidden Army waved his hand to have everyone in the Gong Family guarded, while he led n quickly towards Gong Qiu’s study.
Madam Gong heard the news and, despite her illness, rushed over, only to find the secret chamber in the study had already been discovered and opened.
The Commander of the Forbidden Army, leading n, searched everything in the secret chamber, naturally seeing the big chest.
Madam Gong, trying to make a scene to get inside, was frightened into silence by the sword wielded by the Forbidden Army.
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