CH 173

The next day, Lin Wen woke up and his primordial spirit had recovered to 10%.

He immediately jumped up and rushed into Yang Shaohu's room.

Several doctors and crows were still there, cleaning and stitching up Yang Shaohu's wounds.

The steel nails on his fingers had been removed, and the ten bloody steel nails were still on the tray next to him, looking very terrifying. Thick bandages wrapped around his fingers.

Lin Wen said, "You all go out, I borrowed the Nine Transformation Golden Elixir from the Medicine God. During the period of taking the medicine, mortals cannot look directly at it."

The crows glanced at each other and still retreated, "Yes! Sheriff Lin."

Lin Wen reached out and touched Yang Shaohu's forehead.

[Mango Pomelo Sago]

A green Qi Refining stage spell that consumes 10% of the primordial spirit, nourishes the body, repairs physical injuries, and long-term enhances natural recovery ability.

A pale mist entered Yang Shaohu's body.

To the naked eye, he seemed to have no changes, but his aura became active and his complexion went from dull to bright.

Obviously, his body was recovering rapidly.

Very good.

Lin Wen got up and went to another room, where he saw a woman guarded by three crows who had not slept all night.

She looked very haggard and absent-minded.

"Shaohu has been saved. After treatment, he is no longer in danger and will recover soon," Lin Wen said.

The woman stared at him blankly, her pupils unfocused, as if her spirit had returned from a deep void.

"R-really?"

She struggled to say three words, her haggard face not daring to show any hope.

Lin Wen nodded, "You can go see him. He is in another room."

Even long after Lin Wen left the room, he could still hear the sound of crying as if pouring out all the pain and despair.

---

Imperial Capital, First Ring.

Yong'an Ginza.

Eleventh Street.

A top-secret mansion.

Chang Hai led a group of council members, kneeling respectfully on the ground.

"Yes, as long as the Imperial Audit Office is stationed in Changshan County and takes over the audit work of Changshan County, the true nature of Changshan County will be exposed and there will be no place to bury it."

Above them were two black shadows covered by curtains, making it impossible to see their forms.

After a long silence.

One shadow said, "Alright."

Another shadow said, "If it doesn't work this time, you can take your own life. Don't bother the Chief anymore."

Their voices slightly distorted and twisted, not like natural sounds.

Cold sweat rolled down Chang Hai's forehead, trembling, he said:

"I-I, Elder, it would be best if we could thoroughly investigate the entire Changshan County. I strongly suspect that there are irregularities in the wealthy donations. Their source of funds must have problems!"

The voice of the shadow became indifferent, "Impossible."

Another shadow said, "The price is something you can't afford."

Chang Hai couldn't believe it, "Elder! It's just a county. Why is it so difficult for me to investigate it? If it were just a county chief opposing us, he would have been dead long ago."

Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com"

The shadow had no interest in answering his words, "That's it."

Silence fell behind the curtain.

After a moment, a servant walked out.

"Director Chang, please leave."

Chang Hai stood up, his mind absent, and suddenly took out a rectangular gold medal from his body and stuffed it into the servant's hand.

"Can you, can you tell me why?"

The servant looked around hesitantly, lightly weighed the gold medal, his eyes brightened, quickly put the gold medal into his sleeve, and then whispered in Chang Hai's ear, "He has the power of discretion, and discretion involves imperial power."

"The struggle for imperial power is not your domain, don't touch it."

"If you want to overthrow him, you can only start from outside the realm of discretion."

Seeing Chang Hai's enlightened look, the servant smiled slightly and then put on a serious face, "Please leave!"

Chang Hai respectfully saluted and quickly led everyone out.

---

2 p.m.

The ministerial meeting continued.

The atmosphere of the meeting was normal, and the ministers paid no attention to the turmoil of last night, as if it was a distant and unrelated matter to them.

The officials of the council were full of confidence, but also slightly uneasy.

At the beginning of the meeting, the council officials led by Chang Hai launched a fierce attack.

They presented new evidence, bringing out the production value data of Changshan County over the years and the imperial economic reports, trying to explain how such a poor region could possibly hide so many wealthy households.

From this, they fully argued that the data of Changshan County was fabricated, and believed that the Changshan County Audit Office was under the control of the county chief, and the data it provided was completely unreliable.

Lin Wen didn't even want to speak, and Yun Zhixing argued on his behalf throughout the entire process.He said that the materials provided by the Council of Review are even more false, and many of the data are not real but artificially estimated. They deny the data with real evidence based solely on estimated data, and even use irrelevant evidence to prove their falsification. It's simply the biggest joke in the world.

The two sides argued fiercely, wishing to roll up their sleeves and fight on the spot.

After discussing with the Executive Committee for a while, the rotating chairman Yang Jiehua and the Executive Committee announced directly:

"Due to the indecisiveness of both sides and the difficulty in determining the authenticity of the data, the Executive Committee unanimously decided that the Imperial Audit Office will be stationed in Changshan County to comprehensively verify the statistical data of Changshan County."

The Director of the Imperial Audit Office, Kong Xiangxi, slightly bowed and said, "I will comply with the instructions and dispatch the most fair and professional team to be stationed in Changshan County to ensure that every piece of data in Changshan County is true and reliable, without any errors or omissions."

Chang Hai's face showed a hint of victory.

Yun Zhixing's face turned gloomy. He knew that the decision made by the Executive Committee could not be overturned unless it was voted by the entire assembly.

At this moment, Lin Wen suddenly stood up and said, "I have something to say."

Yang Jiehua looked at him with an unclear expression and said, "Sheriff Lin, this is the decision of the Executive Committee."

Lin Wen said, "I just want to ask, is Changshan County an Imperial Level Poverty Area?"

Chang Hai loudly said, "Of course it is! Can't I prove it with solid evidence? It's a place so poor that people can't even afford pants!"

Lin Wen continued, "Has Changshan County suffered from a flood?"

Chang Hai sneered, "Changshan County is so miserable. It's just a little rain that caused the water flow to be slightly larger than usual, and it washed away all the embankments, making it the most severely affected area. Its output value cannot possibly skyrocket, only plummet!"

Lin Wen said sternly, "Then are the people in Changshan County Imperial citizens?"

Chang Hai realized that something was wrong and said, "You, don't discuss irrelevant matters. We are discussing your falsification..."

Lin Wen raised his hand and picked up an ink bottle, then threw it with all his strength.

The ink bottle hit Chang Hai's forehead with a bang, and black ink splashed all over his face.

There was a commotion in the ministerial meeting, and guards appeared at the edge of the venue.

After Chang Hai's anger, he suddenly became delighted and shouted, "Director Yang! Director Yang! He hit someone, he openly hit someone! According to the law, according to the law, he should..."

Lin Wen interrupted him sharply, "Changshan County is so poor. The annual support funds are only 600,000, and the disaster relief funds are only 100,000. Adding them up, each person in Changshan County only receives 0.5 yuan!"

"I want to ask, is this how the Imperial Headquarters handles its responsibilities?"

"Do you all have poor math skills or do you think that 50 cents can fill your stomach?"

Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Xu Chengfeng, immediately said, "According to the plan formulated by our ministry, the Imperial Headquarters stipulates an annual aid fund of 12 million and a disaster relief fund of 36 million for Changshan County, divided into three phases, totaling 180 million. Various materials amount to 6,100 tons, with a total value of 160 million."

Lin Wen sneered, "So there are so many, but why haven't I seen a single cent until now?"

Minister Xu Chengfeng replied, "Due to the Council of Review's questioning of the eligibility of the funds, it has been in the auditing stage. Except for food, the materials have been confiscated by the Council of Review for various reasons."

Lin Wen sneered again, "The food was only sent after it had gone bad."

He turned to Chang Hai and asked, "Is this reasonable?"

Chang Hai's face turned as black as ink, and he shouted, "Of course it's reasonable! This is the statutory duty of the highest Council of Review! The Council of Review can certainly review the whereabouts and sources of any materials and funds! This is the sword bestowed upon the Council of Review by the Empire!"

Governor Zhao Chaoyang of Yunzhou said, "That's right, this is the statutory duty of the Council of Review, and no one has the right to interfere. During the last joint meeting, the elders specifically reiterated this point."

Chang Hai was still laughing when he heard the first half of the sentence, but his face suddenly collapsed when he heard the second half.

At this time, another minister also realized, "Something's not right. After the joint meeting, the power to inspect the Imperial aid materials has been transferred to the Imperial Headquarters. It is now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Imperial Development and Reform."

The Minister of Imperial Development and Reform is a round-faced fat man. He said slowly, "The Council of Review did not transfer the power to me, and when I tried to clean up the past inspection cases, I was strongly interfered by the Council of Review."

Yang Jiehua's gaze swept across Chang Hai's face, "What's going on?"

Chang Hai's face turned completely black.

This is a power struggle, and the Imperial Headquarters will not allow others to hold the power that belongs to it.

He trembled and said, "Maybe there is a misunderstanding, we..."Yang Jiehua said, "Please immediately implement the resolution of the Supreme Elder Council, and prioritize the inspection of the aid supplies for Changshan County. If there are no obvious issues, release them as soon as possible. From now on, all emergency aid supplies from the Empire should be handled in the same way."

Chang Hai knew it was over. The power that the Supreme Council had tried so hard to retain had been breached under his watch.

This was a perfect entry point, and it was even delivered by the Council itself.

With such a perfect entry point, the Empire's headquarters would have no excuse or suspicion of seizing power forcefully. They could naturally take away the power that belonged to the Council.

Although it was only the inspection right of aid supplies, it was not a big deal considering the vast power range of the Council, and it would not shake the authority of the Council.

However, it set a bad precedent. The Council's solid power collection had been torn open.

And he would be the scapegoat for this failure.

Yun Zhixing was full of admiration. He increasingly felt that Sheriff Lin's wisdom was as deep and vast as the sea. Indeed, he was worthy of being the man the First Princess had set her eyes on.