After being a widow for half my life, I found out that my husband was not dead.

In the backyard of the government office, Li Huai poured a cup of tea himself and placed it in front of Yan Mu with both hands.

"Your Highness, please."

Yan Mu did not take it, but raised his left sleeve and slowly flicked the dust on it. Seeing this, Li Huai quickly put down his tea cup, knelt down on one knee and patted Yan Mu.

After the patting was done, he straightened up and brought the tea to Yan Mu.

Yan Mu glanced at him before taking the cup of tea. But he just took a sip and put it on the table in front of him.

"Master Li, it's not easy for me to go out on a trip. I have to knock down all the officials you arranged to guard His Highness outside Wanchun Garden." Yan Mu said coldly.

"Oh, Your Highness, you misunderstood. Those officials are here to protect you." Li Huai explained in panic, "A murder occurred in the city, and a family of three died. The gangsters were extremely cruel. I really want to protect your safety. "

Yan Mu looked at Li Huai again and smiled lightly, "Master Li, why are you panicking? I am just joking with you."

"It turns out that His Highness was joking." Li Huai's face turned blue, but he could only laugh along with it.

Yan Mu picked up the teacup and took another sip, "In order to catch the murderer, Mr. Li also sealed off the city?"

"Yes, the murderer is in the city. I believe he will be caught soon."

"I came here to see that your people are searching from house to house. As for making such a big fuss?"

"I am so stupid that I can only think of this solution."

"Did I hear that the person you asked the officers to search for was Gu County Magistrate?" Yan Mu asked with raised eyebrows.

Li Huai lowered his head and explained respectfully: "Someone saw him entering the Jiang family, and then three members of the Jiang family were killed. He is highly suspicious."

"I have had brief contact with Magistrate Nagu. He does not look like a vicious person."

“One cannot just take things at face value.”

"Mr. Li served as a government official in Yanzhou in the early years, and I am an old acquaintance with this ancient county magistrate. Do you think he can kill people?"

Li Huai sighed, "I also hope that he is innocent. Only by arresting him can we find out."

Li Huai's answer was impeccable and he didn't mention a word about those account books.

Yan Mu lowered his eyes: "This king came to Yanzhou to investigate Yang He's corruption case. Does Mr. Li know that?"

"know."

"Li Futai, would you like to help me?"

"This……"

"Don't want to?"

Li Huai thought for a moment and said, "I'm just afraid that the official is weak-minded."

"The ancient county magistrate is an important clue in Yang He's corruption case. I want Mr. Li to catch the person and hand it over to me directly. This shouldn't be possible, right?"

"This." Li Huai paused, "I really can't do this, after all, it involves three lives."

"Master Li still needs to prioritize."

"Please also understand that Your Highness is the official parent of Yanzhou and must give an explanation to the deceased and his family."

Yan Mu slapped his palm on the table and looked at Li Huai with squinted eyes, "What if I insist on this person?"

Li Huai pursed his lips, obviously considering not to confront Yan Mu head-on.

At this time, an official came trotting in and said he had something to report. Li Huai walked over and listened for a few words, then stood there for a while, then turned around and came back.

"Your Highness, I am sorry that I cannot hand over the suspect Gu Zian to you. You want to investigate the case, and I also want to investigate the case. You are impatient, and I am impatient too, so I can only offend Your Highness."

Upon hearing this, Yan Mu guessed that Li Huai had caught Gu Zian and obtained those account books.

In this case, Yan Mu no longer has to go around in circles.

"I will give it to you, but I will take away the account book." Yan Mu said.

Li Huai was stunned, probably because he didn't expect Yan Mu to suddenly speak so directly, "His Highness said that the official was confused, what kind of account book?"

"You are indeed confused." Yan Mu sneered coldly, "A small government official is playing tricks in front of this king. It is a meritorious service at the moment, but if it offends this king, will you have any good fruits in the future?"

Li Huai had naturally heard about the things that His Highness Seventh Prince had done in his early years. He was not a good person, let alone someone to be trifled with. Especially since the emperor only had him and the fourth prince. The fourth prince was crazy. The throne could only be passed to this one...

After weighing the matter, Li Huai said: "Your Highness, I would like to offer you a plan that will ensure that Your Highness will achieve great success and make the Emperor happy. I promise that I will make you the crown prince once you return to court."

Yan Mu glanced sideways at Li Huai and said, "Say."

"Gu Zian has several account books in his hand. These account books truly record the amount of taxes paid by the people and merchants of Yanzhou in recent years. This is more than 100 million taels different from what Yang He reported to the court."

"So Yang He did not commit corruption, but the account books he handed over to the court were false."

"Yes."

Yan Mu clicked his tongue, "It seems that Yang He is innocent."

"No, he deceived the imperial court, and his crime is also heinous. We don't care about him. We only talk about these account books. If we can recover the [-]% that Yang He did not collect, we can fill the national treasury and solve the most troublesome problem for the emperor. To Now that you have won the trust of the emperor, your position as crown prince will naturally be a piece of cake." Li Huai thought that this idea was a great one, and he was a little proud of it.

"Master Li doesn't intend to leave a way for the people of Yanzhou to survive."

"Your Highness is joking, Yanzhou is so prosperous now, it doesn't cost much money."

"This is a small amount of money." Yan Mu sneered, "Yang He has been in Yanzhou for seven years, seven years. If he really wants to recover this [-]% tax, Master Li has never thought about how many people have emptied their family property because of this, and even if they have emptied their family property, they will not be able to make up for it. These grain taxes, as well as those merchants, may not be able to bear the heavy taxes and they have fled Yanzhou or even closed their doors. The current prosperity of Yanzhou has faded in an instant."

Li Huai smiled and said: "Your Highness is young after all. The common people and businessmen are like a piece of cloth that has absorbed water. No matter how many times you twist it, as long as you tighten it a little more, the water will always come out."

"Is it broken?"

"If it's broken, it's broken. It's just a Yanzhou."

Yan Mu snorted, these were actually words spoken by a court official. Such people were clearly the moths of the Da Rong court, and there were countless such moths.

"I am indeed not a good person, but I like to be clean." Yan Mu stood up and flicked the ashes on his clothes, "I especially disdain to be with someone like you who is full of rotten odor."

Li Huaiyuan thought that Yan Mu would definitely accept his proposal. After all, this man was a notoriously traitorous minister in his early years, and he didn't want to hear this.

“What’s wrong with recovering the missed taxes?”

"What you are chasing is the lives of the people of Yanzhou!"

"I don't realize that I have done something wrong. Since Your Highness does not accept this, I will hand over the account book to the court later. Let's see how the court handles it!"

"It seems that you are not going to give those account books to me?"

"Your Highness, it's getting late. You should go back early."

Yan Mu narrowed his eyes and asked Li Huai to hand over the account books. It seemed impossible. He strode out, and Li Huai saw him off behind.

"Be careful, Your Highness!"

At Li Huai's reminder, Yan Mu stepped into the mud pit, and his face turned dark immediately.

"Your Highness, you see, who is really clean? They are not always in and out of pits."