Travel through space and help the prince’s husband in construction

Chapter 1128 Three people investigate a case together, uncovering a secret.

Meng Ling'er also participated in the investigation.

They first found several neutral ministers.

Meng Ling'er began the questioning. During the questioning, Yun Yi Sanren used his Heavenly Eye, and Xiao Yunyan activated her Yin-Yang Eye to carefully investigate.

However, these ministers, though seemingly neutral, were infiltrated by various forces and harbored many ulterior motives.

However, they do not openly belong to any faction, and therefore cannot gain a deep understanding of the core secrets of any sect. Even with their clairvoyance and yin-yang perception, they find it difficult to extract useful information.

Just when they were at a loss, Xiao Yunyan suddenly remembered that all the ministers had personal attendants and guards by their side, and perhaps they could find a breakthrough from them.

They secretly summoned the personal guards or attendants of several ministers involved in the case.

They were initially very frightened, but after being patiently comforted by Xiao Yunyan and Meng Ling'er, they revealed that they had seen a minister who supported the Crown Prince, the Minister of Revenue, secretly contacting people from the Second Prince's faction.

Following this clue, Yun Yisan and Xiao Yunyan conducted an in-depth investigation and discovered that the Minister of Revenue was actually the key figure, wavering between the two factions in an attempt to maximize his own interests.

Just as they were preparing to present the evidence to the Crown Prince, they received news that the Minister of Revenue had noticed something amiss and that the key evidence had been destroyed. Even if it were revealed now, no evidence could be found.

The eldest son of the Minister of Revenue was also investigated; he knew nothing about the family's secrets, nor was he fully aware of the family's wealth.

This piece of paper somehow allowed us to be raised together by our family into carefree, dissolute young masters who didn't care about worldly affairs.

Moreover, the Minister of Revenue's youngest son was serving as an official elsewhere and was not implicated.

Interrogation of the Minister of Revenue's personal bodyguard uncovered a family secret.

The Minister of Revenue didn't pay much attention to his eldest son, but he strictly disciplined his second son from a young age.

According to the guard, the second son was not born to the first wife, but to the most favored concubine of the Minister of Revenue, and was merely being raised under the name of the first wife.

The Minister of Revenue treated his two sons equally on the surface, but in reality, he made different arrangements for them.

When both sons were of age to take up official positions, the Minister of Revenue arranged a leisurely official post in the capital for the eldest son, while assigning the second son to a local post.

The Minister of Revenue, while seemingly favoring his eldest son, actually raised him as an idle person. Meanwhile, the second son was groomed from a young age to be his future successor and his career path was carefully planned.

The Minister of Revenue deliberately sent his second son to a distant place to serve as an official, precisely because he feared that if anything happened to the family, the second son could escape responsibility.

Therefore, this second son is very likely to have access to the family's secret wealth.

Therefore, this key figure is very likely the second son of the Minister of Revenue.

The three decided to meet with the second son of the Minister of Revenue. Perhaps they would have a chance to uncover more secrets.

There's also the silver that the Minister of Revenue has embezzled from taxes and military funds over the years, as well as the vast wealth his family has secretly and illegally acquired.

It's not difficult to investigate the Second Prince, who has openly rebelled, but it is essential to thoroughly investigate the family of the Minister of Revenue who are secretly causing trouble.

The three quickly arrived at the place where the second son of the legitimate wife was serving. As soon as they revealed their identities, the second son of the legitimate wife warmly welcomed them into his residence.

During the conversation, I learned that his name was Ruan Weilan and that he served as a local official.

Ruan Daotai spoke cautiously, leaving no room for error and showing no flaws whatsoever.

Meng Ling'er's eyes darted around, and she emphasized that the Minister of Revenue was currently involved in a treason case and was imprisoned in the Dali Temple.

The Ruan family couldn't even come up with a thousand taels of silver to bail out the Minister of Revenue. This was extremely strange.

On the surface, the second son appeared worried, but Yun Yi Sanren noticed through his Heavenly Eye that a subtle coldness flashed in his eyes. He didn't seem to care about or worry about the Minister of Revenue like he did about his father; instead, he seemed relieved.

This discovery led Yunyi Sanren to question the father-son relationship between the Minister of Revenue and his son.

Meng Ling'er continued her in-depth discussion about the Ruan family's wealth.

"Logically speaking, with both father and son of the Ruan family holding official positions in the court, and the family owning farmland and shops, they should have an annual income of at least 32,000 taels of silver if they were to operate normally. The Ruan family should be a very wealthy and prominent family."

However, when the Dali Temple asked the Ruan family to hand over the silver, they found that there was no silver in the family's treasury, and there was a deficit of more than 5,000 taels of silver in the accounts.

Meng Ling'er didn't intend to get the truth out of Ruan Weilan. She simply guided him to think of the answers when asking him questions.

Yunyi Sanren, in coordination with Meng Ling'er, probed Ruan Weilan's inner thoughts through conversation.

Xiao Yunyan, along with Meng Ling'er, would occasionally put psychological pressure on Ruan Weilan, influencing him to worry about whether he would be implicated by his father.

Yun Yi Sanren discovered a secret from his consciousness: this second son, who was highly valued by the Minister of Revenue, was not actually his biological son.

Ruan Weilan's biological father was her mother's childhood sweetheart and also a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). However, before that Jinshi had passed the examinations, her biological mother was forced by her parents to become a concubine of a middle-aged high-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue.

The Minister of Revenue had poor fertility, having only one legitimate son. None of his eight concubines had borne him any children.

Later, after passing the imperial examination and achieving official rank, he coincidentally met a noble concubine who was at a temple praying for a child.

The two rekindled their old flame, embraced and wept bitterly. As a result, the concubine and the scholar spent three days in passionate embrace. After returning home, the concubine became pregnant.

The Minister of Revenue had a son in his middle age and cherished him greatly. Moreover, this child was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, and was courteous and knew how to conduct himself appropriately.

Therefore, the Minister of Revenue attached even greater importance to this child. In order to give his youngest son a better future, he registered Ruan Weilan under his wife's name.

Ruan Weilan suffered a lot of hidden losses at the hands of the First Madam. He was only superficially close to that mother, but in reality, he had no maternal affection for her.

He was only superficially close to his father, who had always been strict with Ruan Weilan. He only learned about his true parentage before his birth mother was murdered by the First Madam.

Therefore, Ruan Weilan didn't care about the Ruan family or her father at all; she was only afraid of being implicated.

Yunyi Sanren discovered a clue regarding the evidence of the Minister of Revenue's crimes.

To avoid being discovered for illegally obtained silver, the Minister of Revenue instructed his confidants to take out 90% of the embezzled silver and transport it to his youngest son for safekeeping.

The amount of silver transported each time was recorded in a ledger. Finding this ledger was crucial.

Xiao Yunyan feigned feeling of tightness in her chest and said she needed to go outside for some fresh air. She then looked around the mansion.

Not long after, Xiao Yunyan discovered a small study in a house in the back courtyard.

Xiao Yunyan found a pile of ledgers there. However, those ledgers only recorded the shop's cash flow.

However, Xiao Yunyan could vaguely sense that it was related to the family's secret business.

Just as she was about to examine the other ledgers, her second son suddenly appeared, his face grim, and tried to take back the ledgers.