This way, not only can Hu Maoshen be rendered speechless, unable to express his grievances, but the Third Prince can also be dealt with.
Even if there’s no evidence of the Third Prince amassing troops, with so much Silver in hand, he must have embezzled quite a bit before. Even if he had a hundred mouths, he couldn’t clear his na. It might just be that he hasn’t started raising troops yet!
As for Song Shuqing, that was rely an illusion technique used by the Eldest Prince. It’s highly likely that Song Shuqing had already betrayed the Eldest Prince, causing him to discard him without hesitation.
Could Xia Qing possibly be involved in this? Is Guo Shi a man of the Eldest Prince or Xia Qing?
With so few clues, Gu Chengyu had to put down this question. However, one thing he was sure of was that Guo Shi would not live long; his role was limited, and he was rely a discarded pawn.
Yet, this person could be of use to him. Moreover, for him, this was a very important figure.
All these assumptions are based on the condition that Silver belongs to the Eldest Prince, which needs verification. What thod is there to verify it? Perhaps Hu Maoqing will have a way. If not, then Guo Shi must be captured.
"Ming Mo! Send two skilled fighters to guard the palace gate. As soon as Guo Shi leaves the gate, bring him to ."
Gu Chengyu was sowhat anxious, as ti was running out for him. Once the two mansions were raided, the two officials would surely face harsh interrogations.
Gu Chengyu personally ground the ink, writing two letters—one for Senior Brother and another for Hu Maoqing.
These two need to be quickly delivered to their residences, especially the one for Senior Brother. Gu Chengyu regretted not discussing the Eldest Prince investigation with him earlier. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so much to explain, and Yin Kun might not even understand after reading it, given that it was only briefly written and not explained in detail face to face.
The letter for Hu Maoshen was to arrange a eting with him. The location needed to be discreet; his residence wasn’t suitable. If governnt officers ca to investigate and found Hu Maoqing there, both of them might land in trouble.
Going to Hu Mansion was even more impossible. Furrowing his brows slightly, he pondered where it could be safe. Both his second sister’s ho and the Ye Family were out of the question to avoid implicating them.
Then he thought of Tianxiang Pavilion, not expecting to have to enter it so soon again. Just a few days ago, he had sworn not to go back there.
Hu Maoshen was not yet out of court; Gu Chengyu needed to make so preparations. Those two officials had only just entered the Dali Temple, so they could probably hold out for a couple more days.
It seed he needed to make a trip to the Dali Temple himself. These two had to endure and must not give in under torture.
"Young master! Governnt officers have entered both residences and are conducting searches!" Ming Yan hurriedly entered the study to report to Gu Chengyu.
"Have soone keep a close watch. See if they’ve found any incriminating evidence! If necessary, sneak in to investigate. Be cautious at all costs, and don’t let anyone discover you. If you can seize the opportunity to take sothing, even better."
Although Gu Chengyu said this, he understood the difficulty. Both mansions were tightly guarded, and any evidence would be well-protected, inaccessible to others. Sneaking in to gather so intelligence was more feasible.
"Any news from those estates?" Gu Chengyu regarded the Silver and the so-called evidence as equally crucial.
They certainly wouldn’t be as fast as the governnt officers, who knew the exact addresses, whereas they still needed to investigate.
Getting to his feet, Gu Chengyu suddenly realized. The officers would first head to the two estates that held the Silver. If he sent people to follow them and reached there ahead of them, they could find the Silver.
"Ming Yan, have them first verify the locations of several estates, and get a few people from the Military Departnt to monitor which estate the officers ultimately head to."
In fact, Ming Yan was still puzzled. Even if they knew where the Silver was hidden and got there before the officers, they wouldn’t be able to move it!
This amount of Silver was undoubtedly more than a couple of boxes. Moving it would cause too much commotion and could attract investigation back to the young master.
"Young master! Those Silver coins, we probably can’t move them."
"I have my own way." Gu Chengyu did not plan to explain to Ming Yan, knowing he would not think of the dinsion, and he would not let Ming Yan discover it.
"Deliver these two letters to Lord Yin and Mr. Hu’s residences," Gu Chengyu said, seeing the ink had dried on the letters, and instructed Ming Yan to seal them with fire lacquer and send them off.
Now, all that could be done was to wait for news after the raid, to see if there was evidence implicating the Third Prince.
Sun Xian was currently restless, pacing back and forth impatiently. There had been no news from Chengyu yet, and he didn’t know if a solution had been found.
Gu Wan entered the study from the main room, carrying Xiao Baozi, "Father!"
Seeing his father, Xiao Baozi was overjoyed and imdiately struggled to get down. Gu Wan set him on the ground, and Xiao Baozi wobbly toddled towards Sun Xian.
"Brother Xian! You seem unsettled today, is sothing the matter?"
Gu Wan had wanted to ask since early morning, but with so much to do at ho, her mother-in-law making pickles, all the house affairs fell to her to manage.
Sun Xian picked up Xiao Baozi, looked at Gu Wan, and hesitated to speak.
He wasn’t sure if he should say anything. If the scandal was indeed uncovered, Chengyu would be in much more danger than him as Sun Xian, since he already expected not to pass this ti.
But he feared that if he ntioned it, Gu Wan would just worry. As a woman, she might not be able to help and would only add trouble for Chengyu.
"Brother Xian! What’s going on? If sothing’s wrong, you need to tell , otherwise, wouldn’t I be caught off guard?"
Seeing Sun Xian’s deanor, Gu Wan knew he was hiding sothing from her.
Sun Xian thought about it and felt she had a point. As Gu Chengyu’s sister, Gu Wan had the right to know.
So he spoke briefly about the scandal, though he didn’t exaggerate its severity. After all, he didn’t yet know the situation in the Imperial Palace and was unaware that the two officials had already been detained at the Dali Temple.
"What? You an the examiners were involved in fraud? Won’t that affect our little brother?"
Gu Wan was very worried. Even though she was just a woman, she knew that imperial exam fraud was a significant issue. If it implicated their little brother, what would they do?
"Don’t worry too much. As of now, it’s just a rumor, and who knows who might be spreading..."
Before Sun Xian could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Ye Zhiqiu’s entrance.
"Senior Brother Sun, it’s bad! Governnt officers have surrounded Lord Wan and Mr. Song’s residences; the properties are being raided. I’m afraid it’s true."
Ye Qiu’s mother was just returning from buying groceries, and since the two residences were nearby, she had seen the nurous officers surrounding the entrances upon her return.
From a distance, many citizens were watching, reportedly with family mbers detained and their houses being searched.
"What? What should we do? No, I need to go to Xiao Bao."
Gu Wan, ignoring Ye Zhiqiu’s presence, turned to rush out.
"Hey? Don’t panic! Xiao Baozi is still here! Let’s go together."
Sun Xian grabbed Gu Wan and invited Ye Zhiqiu along, agreeing that it was best to go find Gu Chengyu to discuss what to do next.
The three hurriedly boarded a carriage and headed towards Gu Chengyu’s residence.
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