Chapter 29: The Treasury is Stolen
The back hall, Jili Khan's room.

Lu Dayou has gone back to Xiaolianzi Village with Fa Cao to investigate the case. At this time, Di Chun is taking care of Jili Khan.

Di Renjie sat on a stool beside the bed with a calm expression, stroking his beard with one hand and taking Jili Khan's pulse with the other.

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang were there to accompany him. As for Qiao Tai, he tactfully excused himself from his duties.

Looking at Li Er's dark complexion, Zhao Ji said with some concern: "Sir, is Li Er okay?"

Out of habit and the need for confidentiality, Zhao Ji and others still called Jili Khan "Li Er".

Di Renjie shook his head and said, "Li Er's snake venom recurred before, and it almost endangered his life. With the help of the snow toad given by the emperor, he managed to survive and is no longer in danger. But when he can wake up depends on God's will."

Li Yuanfang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Li Er was out of danger.

Staring at Li Er's face, Li Yuanfang couldn't help but sigh: "Just looking at Li Er's face, at first glance, you really can't tell that he is a Turk."

Di Renjie smiled and reminded: "You forgot that Li Er's biological mother was Princess Hancheng. He has Han blood flowing in his body, so his face naturally has Han shadows."

Li Yuanfang suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Getting up from the bed, Di Renjie took a deep breath and said slowly, "I never understood why the villains would spend so much energy to replace Fang Qian."

"Now I finally understand. They want to use the power of the Turkic army and contact the officials on Liu Jin's list to jointly rebel."

Zhao Ji followed Di Renjie's steps and nodded in agreement, "Your Excellency is right. When we were at Lanqiao Posthouse, we had inferred that there must be internal forces of the Turks involved in the mission case. Now it seems that this has been confirmed."

"Yes, there must have been a serious change within the Turkic interior, which caused Li Er to drift to Youzhou." Di Renjie continued his analysis with a deep gaze.

Zhao Ji also said with a heavy face: "We don't know what happened in the Turkic side. Time waits for no one. We don't know when Li Er will wake up."

"Once the Turkic army reaches the city, the situation will be difficult to handle. We must solve the case as soon as possible!"

Di Renjie nodded slightly and said in a serious tone: "That's true. But as long as Li Er is alive, we have hope. What I am more worried about is that there are still people who have bad intentions towards Li Er."

Li Yuanfang asked: "Then how should we deal with it?"

Di Renjie's eyes were as deep as a pool, and he said slowly: "I have a plan in mind."

After saying this, Di Renjie gave Di Chun a suggestive look, then left the room with Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang.

"Oh, by the way," Di Renjie suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, "Did you find anything else during your search of the governor's mansion?"

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang looked at each other, shook their heads and said, "As soon as Yuanfang and I found those documents, we immediately came to report to you, but we didn't find any other clues."

"Do you think there is anything wrong with the Governor's Mansion, sir?" Zhao Ji asked.

Di Renjie frowned slightly, as if in deep thought.

After a moment, he slowly said, "I can't be sure, but my intuition tells me that there must be something fishy going on in the governor's mansion."

Zhao Ji listened to Di Renjie's charlatan speech and was secretly shocked: "This Di Pangpang is really amazing. Is he a master of the law of cause and effect or a prophet? It's really terrifying. I don't know if Liu Jin has entered the secret passage now."

Di Renjie seemed to catch Zhao Ji's inner doubts and laughed.

He explained: "Although we have found out Li Er's identity and eliminated Fang Qian's rebels, the case has reached a stalemate."

"Now that Li Er is unconscious, apart from Dayou's investigation at Xiaolianzi Mountain, the Governor's Mansion is our only hope of a breakthrough. I naturally hope to find out something."

Di Renjie always has some amazing intuitions, but these intuitions are not groundless guesses.

However, Di Renjie's years of experience in solving cases taught him that in order to solve a case, he must make a breakthrough in certain areas.

Rich experience plus accurate judgment, this is the truth of the so-called "intuition". Zhao Ji wanted to understand this and said admiringly: "Everything you say and do has a basis. I know you will not handle cases based on intuition alone."

Di Renjie smiled and shook his head, saying: "Intuition is sometimes very important. It can point us to some overlooked clues."

After hearing this, Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang nodded to show that they had learned their lesson.

I don’t know if it was Di Renjie’s words that inspired Li Yuanfang.

He suddenly had an idea and suggested, "In that case, why don't you go back to the governor's mansion with us? Maybe we can find some special clues."

Di Renjie thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, then let's explore the governor's mansion again, hoping to gain something."
-
In the lobby of Youzhou Governor's Mansion, a group of officials reported to Qiao Tai the disappearance of government silver.

Qiao Tai's face flushed red, his eyes wide open, and he cursed at the military officer in charge of the silver department, "More than one million taels of official silver from the treasury disappeared without a trace, and you didn't even notice it. This is outrageous! Where are the four guards under Wu Yizhi? Call them over here!"

As soon as Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and the others stepped into the lobby, they heard Qiao Tai's roar.

Di Renjie stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Qiao Tai, what happened? Why are you so out of control?"

When Qiao Tai saw that it was Di Renjie and the others, he hurriedly reported: "The military officer of the Silver Department reported that millions of official silver in the Youzhou silver treasury have disappeared."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie was horrified: "This is impossible!"

However, he quickly calmed down and analyzed, "It's not surprising to say that Fang and Wu embezzled government silver. But it's impossible to say that they emptied the treasury and stole millions of government silver."

"The treasury guards are directly under the Ministry of Revenue and have not been bribed by Fang Qian. If Fang Qian blatantly stole government money, how could they not report it to the court?"

Yin Cao said tremblingly, "Sir, the four guards in charge of the treasury are all Wu Yizhi's confidants. They interfered and hid it from everyone."

Di Renjie was deeply distressed and angrily cursed: "He deserves to be killed!"

But Di Renjie suddenly remembered something and asked, "Shouldn't the use of government silver be subject to the review of the Yin Cao and Changshi? Why don't you two care about it?"

Qiao Tai swallowed his saliva and said helplessly:
"Sir, Fang Qian changed the rules without authorization. The treasury has always been managed by Wu Yizhi himself, and the accounts were directly handed over to them for review. I was indeed unaware of this."

After hearing this, Di Renjie was furious: "Fang Qian is so rampantly corrupt and committing all kinds of crimes! Why don't you report it to the court?"

When Qiao Tai and Yin Cao saw Di Renjie questioning them, they knelt down in panic.

The Yin Cao said aggrievedly: "My predecessor in office once reported this matter, but he died inexplicably. Moreover, the court did not respond, so I and others dare not mention this matter again."

Zhao Ji hesitated for a moment and pleaded, "Sir, now that things have come to this, it will be useless to blame you two sirs. The most urgent task is to recover the official silver as soon as possible."

Di Renjie took a deep breath, calmed down his anger, and said, "Forget it, Fang Qian is powerful, it's not your fault, get up."

Qiao Tai and Yin Cao then thanked him and stood up.

Seeing that Di Renjie would no longer pursue the two, Zhao Ji continued, "Fang Qian stole the government silver. Even if he had the ability to move heaven and earth, he would still need someone to carry it away. If we interrogate the officials and soldiers of the governor's mansion strictly, we may be able to gain something."

Di Renjie calmed down and nodded in agreement, "Chengyuan is right."

He then ordered Qiao Tai: "You must immediately organize a team to thoroughly investigate this matter. All personnel related to the treasury, Fang Qian's confidants, and the officers and soldiers of the governor's mansion must not be spared and must be carefully interrogated."

"And we must search all the banks, money houses, and counters in Youzhou to find the whereabouts of the official silver!"

Qiao Tai responded by saying he had received the order and walked down quickly.

Di Renjie watched Qiao Tai walk away and said to everyone, "Let's go to the treasury and see if we can find any clues."

　Silver was definitely not the mainstream currency in the Tang Dynasty, but this is Director Qian's fictional world, so if he says it is, then it is. And the author is not familiar with the currency value of Tang Dynasty coins, and changing it over and over again could easily lead to something unnatural, so I will not make any changes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)