Rebirth and Marriage: I am the Mistress of the Palace

This realization warmed Gu Qianhan's usually cold heart slightly.

He said softly, "Ye Chongli was transferred to Taiyu County six years ago. In the past six years, he has embezzled 90% of the special silver allocated by the court for water conservancy projects, which has accumulated to more than one million taels of silver."

"The dam that was supposed to be repaired was not repaired, the river that was supposed to be dredged was not dredged, and the people living at the dam mouth who were required to be relocated by the court were not relocated. Therefore, the number of casualties in Taiyu County this year has exceeded the total number of casualties in Dafeng in previous years."

"Natural disasters are indeed irresistible to human power, but if the county magistrate had not been greedy and spent all the money on the people, then so many people would not have died in Taiyu County, and there would not have been so many homeless refugees outside the city."

Shen Wantang was slightly stunned when she heard this. At this time in her previous life, she was still busy making money at the Liao family and had no idea that Ye Chongli was embezzling money.

She had always thought that the heavy casualties caused by the rainstorm were just a natural disaster, but she didn't expect it was also a man-made disaster.

Gu Qianning was even more astonished: "How dare a county magistrate embezzle millions of taels of silver? Is he crazy? He embezzled so much, isn't he afraid that he will die if he takes it?"

Gu Qianhan said calmly, "He really didn't have a life to spend, but he felt that someone else would have a life to spend, so sacrificing him was worth it."

“Second brother, what does this mean? Who has the life to spend?”

"Of course they are Magistrate Ye's children. He has three sons and one daughter, two legitimate and two illegitimate. Last year he bought houses for his children in the capital. After Magistrate Ye was taken to the capital, the house he bought has been sealed, but the silver he embezzled is still missing. He has been in prison for more than half a month, and he has refused to admit that he embezzled."

Gu Qianning suddenly realized: "You mean, County Magistrate Ye knew that he was going to die, so he didn't plan to hand over the embezzled silver? He wanted to leave it to his children?"

Gu Qianhan nodded: "Yes, he thought that if he refused to give in, he could protect his family and the money he embezzled."

Shen Wantang heard the deep meaning in his words: "Second Master said he thought that, in fact, it would be useless if he didn't let go, right?"

Gu Qianhan replied, "Yes, if he doesn't tell, someone else will. He must be the only one who knows where the silver is. Otherwise, if he dies in prison, the whereabouts of the silver will become a mystery. The million taels of silver he exchanged for his life will be useless."

Gu Qianning was puzzled: "Who else knows where the silver is? The county magistrate's wife?"

"Maybe it's his wife, maybe it's his children, anyway, it must be a close relative."

"Miss Ye said that her younger brother was infected with the plague and was taken away. Could it be that they actually wanted to arrest him to inquire about the whereabouts of the silver?"

"Yes, I guessed right. Her brother was not infected with the plague. He was captured by the Royal Guards. And as far as I know, her brother is not young. He is already fifteen."

"What? Fifteen? Does Miss Ye know that her brother was actually captured by the Royal Guards?"

"Of course I know, because all the members of the Ye family were arrested together, and the county magistrate's wife and daughter were just released a few days ago. Miss Ye just said that her mother was seriously ill because of her father's imprisonment, but that's not true. Her mother was tortured by the Jinyiwei when they asked about the whereabouts of the silver."

Gu Qianning and Shen Wantang looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

That Miss Ye cried so heartbreakingly before and looked quite pitiful, but unexpectedly, she didn't say a single word of truth.

No wonder Gu Qianhan told her to get lost directly, it turns out he knew the inside story!

Gu Qianning looked at him in confusion: "Second brother, how do you know so much about this matter? Didn't you not care about this kind of thing before? In the past, it was father and eldest brother who cared about these things, and you only cared about some strange events that were not in the books."

Gu Qianhan was silent.

He really didn't care about court affairs, nor did he pursue fame and fortune. His mind was focused on studying nature and animals. Later on, he also liked to study some strange cases.

But when he lived his life again, he realized that studying those things would not save the Gu family or himself.

He used to be very disgusted with his father and elder brother fighting desperately for power, and couldn't stand them building up their own strength and expanding the power in their hands.

Only after dying once did he realize that power is what a man should have most.

Without power and influence, everything is empty talk.

So, he began to pay attention to the affairs in the court, and he was even ready to enter the officialdom.

After a while, he finally answered his sister's first question: "I know this because when County Magistrate Ye's family was first imprisoned, they secretly sent someone to our house to ask my father to save them."

Gu Qianning was shocked: "They have already looked for my father? Then why is Miss Ye looking for you today?"

"Because my father refused it outright, and he also specifically told my brother and me not to interfere in this matter. Miss Ye came to me because she probably felt that no one else could save her family except our Duke's Mansion."

Of course, even without his father’s instructions, Gu Qianhan would not care about such matters.

The Gu family could be destroyed at any time. His father and brother's hands are getting longer and longer, and they even want to control the prince's marriage. His sister is also stubborn and refuses to marry anyone else but the prince. How can he have the energy to care about a corrupt county magistrate?

After listening to Gu Qianhan's words, Shen Wantang understood that Miss Ye came here today specifically for Gu Qianhan, but Gu Qianhan knew that this was a big trap, so he ignored it.

But Xiao Qingyuan paid attention to it and wanted to help others.

Shen Wantang gave a slightly bitter smile. The man she married was fine in everything else except that he was too soft-hearted towards women.

She had to hurry back to the palace to inform Prince Ning and the Princess, to prevent Xiao Qingyuan from really going to jail to get Ye Lingyun out.

Half an hour later, the carriage stopped in front of the gate of Prince Ning's Mansion. Shen Wantang said goodbye to Gu Qianning and then hurried into the mansion.

Gu Qianhan was very restrained and didn't look at her for long. As soon as she entered, he asked the carriage to move on.

Gu Qianning looked at his indifferent expression, opened her mouth several times, but swallowed the words back.

It was not until she returned to the Duke's Mansion and went to Gu Qianhan's courtyard that she asked, "Second brother, are you planning to snatch her away? Have you made a plan? How are you going to snatch her away? Openly or secretly?"

While washing his hands, Gu Qianhan replied indifferently: "Read less of those storybooks in the future."

"What does this have to do with the storybook? No matter how many storybooks I read, they are not as impactful as seeing you domineeringly protecting others today!"

"Who am I protecting?"

"You're still pretending? In order to protect her, you tried to snatch Xiao Qingyuan's maid in public. You were afraid that Xiao Qingyuan would be too nice to the maid, so you deliberately provoked him. Do you think I can't see it? Do you know how special you are to her?"

Of course Gu Qianhan knew it, but it was enough for him to know it, no one else needed to know it.

He said calmly, "Don't make up those big dramas in your mind. I'm not special to anyone. If you think I am, then you are wrong."