"What?"
"There are a dozen or so East Ninjas in the Xiu Residence."
"The East Ocean Ninja?"
Yan Yuan's eyes dimmed, "The East Ocean Ninja has always been a spy, why would he come to Easternum to be a guard at a granary?"
His voice was low and his deep eyes revealed a thoughtful expression.
Liu Ruo Qing did not say anything. She did not know much about Ninjas, and could only judge their identity from their martial arts style. As for their actions and status in this era, she did not know.
"However, when they found out that I recognized them, they seemed very nervous and scared, as if they were afraid that someone would discover their whereabouts."
At this point, she paused, "I feel that those few ninjas are trying to kill us, as if they want to kill us to keep our mouths shut."
Yan Yuan's heart trembled because of Liu Ruo Qing's words. He suddenly felt afraid in his heart, and at the same time, was glad that he went in time.
"It seems like the Guangshun Mansion's water is deeper than we thought."
The next day.
"Your Royal Highness, there is nothing in the two granaries in Guangshun Mansion's Palace. Furthermore, after careful examination, we think that those two granaries have not stored anything for several months."
Early in the morning, Wang Xuan Ling came over to report what he found out last night in detail.
Following that, Qi Feng also spoke up, "Your Highness, last night, this lowly subordinate checked the remaining three granaries with Princess Hua-Yang. In the first two granaries, there was only a small amount of grain, which were probably used by Steward Zhang and Steward Chen to save for this period of time, and there were no suspicions at all, and in the granary of the outer sect of that cultivator, every storehouse is filled with grain, with a total of three to four hundred thousand stones. This lowly subordinate is about to go and check, but was forced out of the granary by a few hidden people, this lowly subordinate didn't even have time to check …"
Yan Yuan nodded his head, he already knew in his heart that the ones who forced Qi Feng out of the grain depot were probably the same group as Qing Qing.
Hearing Qi Feng's words, Liu Ruo Qing suddenly remembered something, and said: "Last night, when I entered the cultivator's grain depot, I discovered that the bag was covered with red marks, because on the other side, it was hidden in the darkness. I couldn't see the words clearly, and all I saw was a" household "word, and it was stopped by those Ninjas."
"Household?"
Yan Yuan's gaze turned serious, "Could it be the Department of Revenue?"
"Department of Revenue?"
Everyone looked at each other, and then looked at Yan Yuan.
"The relief food is sent from the Ministry of Revenue, every bag of food will be sealed with the seal of the Ministry of Revenue. The word 'household' that Tian Xin saw, probably meant 'relief food for the Ministry of Revenue'."
Because there was an outsider present, Yan Yuan changed his way of addressing Liu Ruo Qing.
Liu Ruo Qing was startled at first, but after that, she adapted to it.
It had been a long time since Yan Yuan called her Tian Xin, so she wasn't used to it at all.
Liu Ruo Qing chuckled in her heart, but didn't think too much about this question.
"Your Highness, so you're saying, the food in the grain depot of the Xiu Residence is very likely to be the food for disaster relief this time."
Qi Feng was the first to speak, in his voice, he could barely contain his anger, "Damned dog official, a mere Prefect actually dared to take so much stone food, and watch so many commoners die without being moved, he's simply being sliced into a million pieces!"
Qi Feng fumed, his face darkening to the point of being terrifying.
"My lord, since this is the case, we can go to the Xiu Residence today and have them open their stores for us to inspect."
Wang Xuan Ling suggested, but was rejected by Yan Yuan as he shook his head.
Under the confused gazes of the crowd, Yan Yuan opened his mouth and said: "To dare to be greedy for so much food for disaster relief, not to mention a mere magistrate, even the patrolling officers don't have such guts. There must definitely be more people behind Guangshun's government trying to dig up the corrupt roots of Guangshun Mansion, right now we can't alert them yet."
"Then according to prince's meaning …"
Yan Yuan cast his gaze towards Wang Xuan Ling, "Although I can't alert the snake with my attacks, it can still shake the mountain and shake the tiger."
"Knocking the mountain and shaking the tiger?"
Yan Yuan nodded, and looked towards Wang Xuan Ling: "Take the sign that the emperor has given you, go to Fu Yu at the yamen to identify you, and openly investigate this king's whereabouts. Fu Yu will know that the emperor has sent you to secretly visit, and that it's definitely because he's suspicious of the location of the relief food.
"Xuan Ling understands. I will do it now."
Wang Xuan Ling immediately stood up and left the inn, heading towards the Prefect's yamen.
"Qi Feng."
"Yes, sir."
"Take this king's order badge and head to the Marquis of Pingxi's camp immediately. Have him personally bring troops to the Guangshun Mansion. This king needs his help with something important."
"Yes."
Soon after, Qi Feng also left.
"They're about to send the Marquis of Pingxi, is the matter this serious?"
Liu Ruo Qing looked at Yan Yuan, some unease flowing out of his eyes.
"Don't worry, it's just a precaution, I suspect that this corruption case involves a lot of officials. Other than the Zhixian, the Prefect, the Patrol Officer and even some officials with a greater background are involved in it as well. The Marquis of Pingxi's camp is not far from the Guangshun Mansion, so it's best for him to help.
Liu Ruo Qing nodded, the nervousness lingering in her heart for the past few days had become even stronger.
"The scouts from last night should have their suspicions. Today, we have to keep a close eye on the Xiu Residence and see what they do."
continued to speak. Liu Ruo Qing retracted the unease in her heart and nodded, "That's right, since we were discovered last night, they must have made their move. With several hundred thousand stones of food, it's impossible for us to transport them out of the city in the middle of the night.
Liu Ruo Qing guessed that they were not in a hurry to change the bags, it was because they did not know what was inside them, or because they had high officials supporting them, even if the Kaiser sent people over to investigate, they had enough time to deal with it, so they were not afraid.
Yan Yuan nodded, then said to Shen Qin: "Go to the yamen and look for Wang Xuan Ling, see if he needs any help."
"Yes, Your Highness."
After Shen Qin left, Yan Yuan then turned his gaze towards Liu Ruo Qing, who had been feeling a little apprehensive, and said. "Let's go to the Cultivation Hall now to see if there's any movement in their grain depot."
Liu Ruo Qing's sharp eyes swept over him, and a somewhat unhappy warning suddenly rose in the depths of her eyes.
"I promise I won't use inner force. I will just accompany you to stand guard there."
Seeing the displeasure on Liu Ruo Qing's face, Yan Yuan immediately understood and quickly used four fingers to promise.
"That's more like it."