In fact, she wanted to see Ji Yanning the most, and it was Ziyu who wanted to follow Ji Yanning, but this distance was too far, and she was afraid that when she got to the eldest lady, not only did she not take good care of the young lady, but also dragged her feet, which would be bad.

Thinking that Ji Yanning had Ying'er by her side, the prince only chose a maid, and Pearl was more suitable than her, so she had to continue to stay in Liufu.

Ji Yanning just chuckled and didn't speak.

Chang'an, she still has to go back, after all, she still has too many things to do.

How could it be possible for Rong Liang to sit firmly on the throne?

But now Chang'an is also surging, the second prince and the fourth prince are fighting in full swing, but the fourth prince is at a slight disadvantage, according to the news they sent back, Ji Yanning feels that in less than a year, the fourth prince will not be the opponent of the second prince.

There is not much time left for herself, and after leaving Qianzhou, she still has Liangzhou to go.

Xiao Shaobei once said that he could send guards to find the place where her bones were sold, but there were many that others could not find, just like in Laizhou Tomb Mountain, if he hadn't gone in person, he might not have been able to find it.

Instead of wasting their time, it's better to make a trip yourself.

Ji Yanning casually talked about Ying'er with Pearl while mixing fragrances, but she didn't want Pearl to think that Ying'er had deliberately left her.

These maids have their own personalities, and they also have their own places to appreciate them.

The rain continued to pour down until the evening, when it began to lighten down.

Rong Che walked in from outside with an umbrella, he was wearing a dark purple robe, a dark cloak on the outside, his hair was wet a lot from the rain, there were a lot of water droplets on it, and there was a lot of yellow mud on his boots.

Ji Yanning was waiting in his main hall, and he was a little surprised to see the appearance of him walking in.

Rong Che walked into the house, put away the umbrella, and handed it to the flying eagle next to him.

He untied the cloak on his body and stepped forward to look at Ji Yanning: "Why are you waiting here, it's cold, it's time to go back to the house." ”

Ji Yanning said: "It's not too cold, where have you been?"

She asked Pearl to fetch a towel and come over to dry the raindrops on Rong Che's head.

Rong Che said: "I went to investigate the case with Governor He, and it just so happened that there were new clues in the case I had at hand. ”

Ji Yanning asked, "What case?"

Rong Che said: "The theft of official silver. Last night, the treasury of the government was stolen, and the prefect had no choice, so he asked me to go over and check it. ”

"Didn't you say before that it was just an old case?" Ji Yanning was a little strange.

Rong Che nodded and said: "It is indeed an old case, since five years ago, every year the warehouse in this yamen will be stolen, the official silver will be lost, and four prefects have been changed within five years, and the problem has not improved." ”

Hearing Rong Che's words, Ji Yanning frowned slightly.

In the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, the theft of official silver is not an ordinary theft, and if caught, it is punishable by death.

Even if it was a Jiangyang thief like Yuan Jiaojiao, she didn't dare to go straight to the yamen to steal, but specially picked some mansions of wealthy and official eunuchs to steal.

With such blatantness, and theft for five years in a row, it seems that this thief is more than just arrogant.

Rong Che saw that she was thinking deeply, and said: "And this thief has not left any clues every time, except for the officers and soldiers in the yamen, no one has ever approached the warehouse." ”

"Then it starts with the officers and soldiers. Ji Yanning suggested along Rong Che's train of thought.

Rong Che chuckled and shook his head, and said: "Things are far from being so simple, in the past few years, the officers and soldiers guarding the treasury have changed batch after batch, but there is still no effect, last night He Zhang interrogated those officers and soldiers overnight, but there is still no result." ”

Ji Yanning raised his eyebrows slightly, listening to Rong Che's words, this thief was much more powerful than Yuan Jiaojiao.

Rong Che said: "That's it, you don't have to worry about this matter, it's not early, can you have dinner?"

Ji Yanning said: "I'm waiting for you to come back." ”

"I'll go change into dry clothes and come. Rong Che said and walked in the direction of his room.

Ji Yanning ordered his subordinates to prepare the meal, but he was still thinking about Rong Che's words just now.

Sure enough, it is a tricky case, otherwise Qianzhou City would not have reported to the imperial court and wanted to send someone to investigate, but this kind of thing may be better handed over to the people of Dali Temple, after all, Rong Che does not have much experience in investigating cases.

I learned from Jinhe that this mansion was prepared for Rong Che by He Zhang, the prefect of Qianzhou, and knew that King Xuan was coming, so he naturally made plans early, but he didn't expect that half a month after King Xuan's people came, King Xuan Rong Che came slowly.

The customs of Qianzhou are quite different from those of Jiangnan and Chang'an.

However, Ji Yanning has long been prepared, she has read a lot of travelogues about Qianzhou and Miaojiang, and she has a lot of understanding of things and development here.

Rong Che changed into clean and crisp clothes, and then went to the main hall to dine with Ji Yanning.

After dinner, Rong Che checked the file in the study again, but he was very serious.

Ji Yanning didn't bother him, although this case is difficult, if the case is solved, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement for Rong Che.

Before Rong Che led troops to fight in the north and won the military power of the Ding family's army, maybe there are still people in the DPRK who think that this matter is inappropriate, and now Rong Che urgently needs to make meritorious service to prove himself, so that the people in the DPRK have nothing to say.

Ji Yanning knew that as a prince, Rong Che didn't need to add other merits, and if he had more, he should be suspicious.

It's just that he and the three princes are like brothers, and on the way to the three princes' succession, he always has his own strength.

Early the next morning, after the rain and the sky was clear, he finally saw the sun, Rong Che had breakfast, and then went to the yamen.

The prefect He Zhang has not slept well for two days, and although the case of theft of official silver occurs every year in Qianzhou Mansion, every prefect over the years has also been demoted.

He finally climbed to his current position, he has always done his best and fulfilled his duties, if he is degraded again, he doesn't know where he will be demoted.

Hearing the officers and soldiers report that King Xuan had come, he was slightly stunned, and then led someone to greet him.

"Your Highness. He Zhang stepped forward and saluted.

Rong Che glanced at him, bowed slightly, and said, "Did those people who guard the treasury interrogate anything?"

He Zhang shook his head and replied, "All of them have been interrogated, and various punishments have been used, but no one can say what happened last night. It looks like they really don't know anything. ”

Rong Che heard He Zhang's words, and his face was expressionless.

He said, "Take me to prison." ”

He Zhang nodded, and then bowed his waist and stretched out his hand to greet Rong Che into the prison of the mansion.

It had just rained yesterday, so the air was extremely humid, and the same was true in this prison, and the walls next to it were already covered with moss, and if it weren't for the torches, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see the panorama of the inside at all.

Rong Che walked down the stairs and followed He Zhang into the slightly damp cell.

When he came to several cells, Rong Che looked at the two dozen people who were lying half-dead in the cells at this time.

They were the officers and soldiers on duty on the night of the theft of the official silver, and several of them were severely interrogated, and they were so beaten that they were too lazy to move anymore, and even felt pain all over their bodies as long as they moved.

This feeling is worse than death.

"My lord, we have been wronged!"

When they saw He Zhang, they opened their mouths and shouted that they had been wronged.

Rong Che looked at them with expressions on their faces that didn't seem to be fake, and their companions were even on the verge of being tortured to death, but no one said what really happened that night.

If they really did it, I'm afraid they wouldn't be so stupid, the money is in hand, but there is no fate, it's not worth it.

However, the evidence available to them proved that the soldiers could not have been innocent.

The storehouse was in good condition, there were no signs of being pried, and the soldiers were guarded by soldiers twelve hours a day, and when the new group of soldiers passed by, they found that all of them were asleep on the ground.

The most important point is that the drizzle that began that night, and it was obvious that the footprints on the road were theirs, and judging by the depth of the footprints, they must have carried something heavy to trample the road like that.

In other words, it is very likely that the official silver in the treasury was moved by these soldiers themselves.

Here's the blame for the matter, these soldiers knew that stealing official money was a capital crime, so why did they take a dangerous move and put themselves in it?

This batch of official silver was newly levied, and it was originally intended to be used to repair bridges and roads.

After all, it is really impossible for Qianzhou City to allow the household department to squeeze out the silver from the treasury.

When He Zhang saw these soldiers, he also had a headache, and looked at Rong Che: "Your Highness, do you think you still need to torture and do you need to do a physical examination?"

Rong Che's eyes moved slightly, and he said, "Those few are almost killed, and they can't ask anything, and the result will be the same if they are tortured." ”

He Zhang sighed secretly in his heart, this case is really tricky.

No wonder this Qianzhou has changed so many prefects.

Rong Che stepped forward, stood at the door of the cell, and asked the soldiers inside, "Were you all together that night?

The soldiers looked at Rong Che, not knowing who the person in front of them was for a while, and did not speak.

"His Royal Highness King Xuan asked you!" He Zhang reprimanded them softly, "The prince is the official sent by the imperial court to preside over this case, you had better recruit it truthfully!"

Hearing He Zhang's words, a glimmer of hope ignited in everyone's eyes, and they all crawled to Rong Che and said, "Lord Wang, we are really wronged!"

Rong Che's face was slightly gloomy, and he said in a deep voice: "This king asks you, have you been together all the time that night?"

Everyone was poured a lot of enthusiasm by Rong Che's cold face, but they still replied honestly: "Yes, we were on duty for three hours, and we were together all the time. ”

Rong Che asked again, "Then have you ever seen the cangist Fang Yong?"

Everyone shook their heads in unison.