All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 175

The Shadow Guards brought back mostly intelligence related to the vassal states of Nanqing and Xiqin.

This naturally includes channels and routes for smuggling goods from the inner warehouse.

Teng Zijing continued, "Your Highness, the goods in the Imperial Treasury are all produced by the three major workshops in Jiangnan."

However, over the past decade or so, the three major neighborhoods have been heavily infiltrated by the Ming family.

The two major distributors in the inner warehouse are the Cui family and the Ming family, but the Ming family's foundation is in Jiangnan, where the three major workshops are located.

Because of the exorbitant profits from marketing goods in the inner warehouse, the Ming family became incredibly wealthy, making it easy for them to corrupt and infiltrate the three major workshops within the inner warehouse.

“The Ming family was able to directly take goods from the transport offices of the three major districts and then sell them privately to the Cui family to smuggle into Qi, or smuggle them into Dongyi City themselves.”

Li Chang'an knew that this was the most brutal and egregious form of corruption.

The treasury's silver covered the cost of the products, but the number of goods produced was far less than expected.

Li Yunrui then smoothed over the accounts through the Ming family, and all the profits from the smuggling went into the Princess's pocket through the Ming family.

From the books, the inner treasury's silver inflows were insufficient to cover its outflows, resulting in huge losses!

Li Chang'an asked, "Have you obtained both the witnesses and the physical evidence?"

Teng Zijing replied, "I have fulfilled my mission and captured the second young master of the Cui family, who was in charge of smuggling."

"The accountants of the largest smuggling shops have all been detained, and all their accounts have been preserved as evidence."

"My subordinates did it very discreetly; the Cui family and Li Yunrui will never know it was us."

Li Chang'an said, "They'll find out sooner or later, but not now."

"We're being discreet right now just to throw them into chaos. Once they're in disarray, they'll make some blunders!"

After discussing the matter of Shijia Town, Wang Qinian reported on news from Kyoto.

Kyoto is now in a state of chaos because Fan Xian's identity has been revealed.

Li Chengze had already begun plotting against Fan Xian, but the Baoyuelou incident still occurred.

This time, the difference is that Sang Wen, who was forced to sell himself into the Baoyue Tower, is now an elite agent of the Luo Wang organization.

Therefore, Li Chang'an was very clear about everything that happened inside Baoyue Tower.

The owners of Baoyue Tower were the muddle-headed Fan Sizhe and the Third Prince Li Chengping, who were also Li Chang'an's nephews.

The real manager of Baoyue Tower is Yuan Meng, who was dealt with by Li Chang'an back then.

The one who truly manipulated Yuan Meng was not her lover, the scapegoat Li Hongcheng, but Li Chengze.

Wang Qinian said, "Because Sang Wen received training from the headquarters of Luo Wang last year, his abilities in all aspects have improved by leaps and bounds, and he has become Yuan Meng's assistant."

After Li Chang'an met Sang Wen last year, Sang Wen was sent to Langya Mountain for training.

I had just returned to Kyoto at the beginning of this year when I encountered the Yuan Mengqiang buying courtesan incident, and I happened to be able to enter Baoyuelou as an inside agent.

"Your Highness, thanks to Sang Wen's persuasion, no one has been killed at Baoyue Tower so far."

"But there have been quite a few cases of women being forced into prostitution."

"Although this matter involves the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and Fan Sizhe, it has not harmed His Highness, so Lord Jingni did not allow Sang Wen to interfere too much."

Li Chang'an nodded and said, "Jing Ni did the right thing. I am not in the capital, and this matter is not directed at me. It is right to wait and see."

"However, if I want to get rid of the little alpaca as soon as possible, then the matter of Baoyue Tower should come to an end!"

Chapter 127 Elite Spy Sang Wen! Li Chang'an Reveals His Brilliance! (33)

Kyoto, inside Baoyue Building.

Inside the shopkeeper's room, Sang Wen was threatening Yuan Meng.

"Mr. Yuan, you must handle the matter of our building very carefully."

"The Second Prince wanted to set a trap for his illegitimate son, Fan Xian, so he brought in Fan Sizhe from the Fan family. In order to avoid punishing the many, he also dragged in the Third Prince."

"On the surface, you are Prince Jing's man, and the owners of the building are Fan Sizhe and the Third Prince. They have nothing to do with the Second Prince."

"If you go too far and kill someone, you'll be the only one brought to justice!"

Although Yuan Meng had Li Hongcheng completely infatuated with her, she was unaware of the real power struggles within the upper echelons.

She thought that being favored by the Second Prince would bring about a turning point in her life, but unexpectedly she fell into a huge pit.

Sang Wen, the courtesan forcibly bought from Miaoyinfang, had actually sung for Dean Chen; she was certainly well-informed.

Sang Wen continued, "The people of Kyoto are in a state of panic right now. Fan Xian, the Director of the Supervisory Council, is about to return to Kyoto, and this matter is about to be exposed."

"When Fan Xian finds out that the Second Prince is setting a trap for him, he will definitely use the power of the Surveillance Bureau to seal off the building, and the Second Prince will then shift all the blame onto you!"

"Just like when you were imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison, did anyone rescue you? Did the Prince Jing's heir rescue you?"

"The prince will never be imprisoned; the only one who will be punished is you!"

You'd better be more careful!

When asked about the fact that a prince could never be imprisoned, Yuan Meng immediately thought of the incident six years ago when Si Lili accused Li Chang'an.

As someone who experienced the incident firsthand, she still feels lingering fear.

"Thanks to my sister for reminding me!"

"Now that you mention it, I also remember that Fan Sizhe is Prince Yong's future brother-in-law!"

"If that devil finds out, he might not kill his second nephew, but he'll definitely kill me!"

Remembering how Li Chang'an had beaten her up for no reason back then, Yuan Meng panicked even more.

"You often sing for Dean Chen, why don't you give your sister some advice?"

Sang Wen pretended to have some family matters to attend to and went to Langya Mountain for training for more than half a year. He hadn't sung for Chen Pingping for a long time.

However, this sign is still quite effective at intimidating people.

"What can you do? You're already in the game. If you want to save your life, at least don't kill anyone!"

"If someone hints that you should kill someone, never do it!"

"In that case, even if we fall into the hands of Fan Xian or Prince Yong in the future, we might still be able to survive!"

a few days later.

Fan Xian had just arrived at the gates of Kyoto when he received a generous gift from Li Yunrui.

The Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Third Prince were anxiously waiting at the city gate, because the First Prince, Li Chengru, was returning today, as was Fan Xian's delegation.

After assassinations and roadblocks along the way, Li Yunrui successfully brought Fan Xian and Li Chengru face to face at the door.

The delegation led by Fan Xian was personally dispatched by Emperor Qing, and they have now completed their mission of bringing Yan Bingyun back.

The Black Riders had already dispersed by the time they reached the vicinity of Kyoto, and the inner court guards had also returned to the palace.

Li Chengru led the border army, whose soldiers were all arrogant and fierce, and they were even more unwilling to let Fan Xian enter the city first.

Fan Xian personally dismounted from the carriage and bowed to Li Chengru on the ground.

"Your subject Fan Xian greets Your Highness!"

The eldest prince rode his warhorse and circled Fan Xian once. "I've heard of you, young martial arts champion!"

"You dare to compete with a prince for the road, you certainly have some guts!"

This statement was made intentionally, as the rumors about Fan Xian's background were already common knowledge.

That is why Li Chengru refused to let Fan Xian enter first.

No matter how much you are favored, you are still just an illegitimate child, while Li Chengru is the eldest prince with military achievements and has already been granted the title of king.

Fan Xian refused to give way because he was angered by Li Yunrui's assassination attempt.

Moreover, according to etiquette, the delegation sent by His Majesty to represent the Qing Kingdom should naturally be given priority.

If Fan Xian, as the chief envoy, were to yield the way now, it would only make him appear weak.

"Your Highness, the delegation behind me is from the Great Qing Kingdom, dispatched by His Majesty's decree, representing the majesty of the Qing Kingdom!"

The eldest prince retorted sharply, "Coincidentally, with the great victory at the border, I too am returning to the capital by imperial decree!"

Fan Xian said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "But Your Highness cannot represent the Qing Kingdom!"

At the Crown Prince's command, warhorses neighed and his soldiers drew their swords!

"The dignity of the Great Qing Kingdom was won by the soldiers under my command!"

"What have you, Fan Xian, done? Just by having a nominal martial arts champion title and gaining some experience in negotiations between the two countries, you think you can become the head of the delegation?"

"Fan Xian, ask yourself honestly, are you worthy of this position as the chief envoy?"

The Crown Prince's side was on the verge of conflict, but Gao Da's Tiger Guards and the experts from the Surveillance Bureau were not to be underestimated.

The two sides glared at each other, looking ready to escalate into a fight.

Inside the city gate, His Highness the Crown Prince gazed at the sky, listening to the arguing outside.

At this moment, His Highness the Crown Prince was in an excellent mood.

Firstly, because his syphilis was completely cured, and secondly, because he persuaded the Empress not to seek revenge on Fan Xian.