After a long silence, Liu Changfeng forced a smile and said,"Lord Yuwen, are you planning to protect Ma Shumou? Forgive me for being blunt, but the longer this matter drags on, the more opportunities the Xiao clan will have. If we don't make a decision, we will be in trouble!”
Gao Mingde narrowed his eyes and said," Lord Yuwen should be very clear about how many secrets Ma Shumou hides. If he is allowed to reach the capital alive, who knows how many people will be implicated. Now is not the time to be soft-hearted."”
Yuwen Huaji smiled bitterly." My lords, you've misunderstood. If it's possible, I would naturally want to cut the Gordian knot. It's just…just…"
"But what?"
" Lord Yuwen," Gao Mingde pressed on," I've always respected you, but this matter concerns my life. Please give me a reasonable explanation, or else…"
"I share the same opinion as Lord Gao," said Liu Changfeng coldly.”
Although the two of them did not say it explicitly, the threat in their words was obvious.
Yuwen Huaji's expression changed slightly. Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng were the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Justice respectively. They held nearly half of the power in the court. They were of great significance to the Yuwen clan. Even he could not easily offend them.
Thinking of this, Yuwen Huaji finally gave up struggling and sighed,""Those present are not outsiders, so this official will be straightforward. Everyone should know that this Ma Shumou is my trusted subordinate. The benefits that my Yuwen clan deserves in the canal project are also managed by this person.”
Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng nodded. They also knew a little about this matter. After all, this canal project was fought for by Yuwen Huaji. Therefore, the Yuwen family had the greatest benefits from it. Even the two of them combined were far inferior.
" The amount of money is extremely shocking," Yuwen Huaji continued." Half of it has been hidden in a safe place to deal with emergencies." As for the other half, other than using it to make arrangements, Ma Shumou used the rest to buy weapons and armor to strengthen the Left Tun Guards. Of course, this was only because the court had allocated too little military funds and had no choice.”
When Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng first heard that half of the wealth had been hidden, they couldn't help but reveal greedy expressions. The Yuwen family had been working on the canal project for more than ten years. Even if it was only ten percent, let alone half, it was almost comparable to the current imperial court's national treasury. Who wouldn't be tempted by such a huge sum of wealth?
As for the second half of Yuwen Huaji's words, the two of them directly treated it as a joke. They had no choice but to do it. If he, Yuwen Huaji, was so kind, Great Sui would not have collapsed like this. Everyone knew the truth. It was just that the Yuwen clan had spent money to buy the hearts of the people in order to completely control the Left Tun Guard army.
Of course, no one would deliberately expose this truth.
Yuwen Huaji cleared his throat and continued,""Originally, even if this Ma Shumou was my trusted subordinate, at this stage, I should still put righteousness above family. However, Ma Shumou had a hidden agenda. He had recorded every expenditure in the canal project in detail in the account book. If we rashly acted and caused the account book to be leaked, everyone should be very clear about the consequences, right?”
"What?!"
Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng's expressions changed at the same time. They didn't expect Ma Shumou to actually record such greedy behavior. This was simply digging his own grave.
Yuwen Zhiji added,"Actually, when Ma Shumou was just arrested, we sent someone to secretly contact him." Ma Shumou threatened that he had two sets of account books, and they were both hidden. As long as he died, the account books would be directly submitted to the Supreme Court.”
"Brat!"
"Ma Shumou actually dares to do this!"
Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng couldn't care less about the benefits that Ma Shumou had brought them before. They directly cursed.
Yuwen Huaji sighed." If not for that, I wouldn't have let him live until today."”
In fact, the Yuwen clan was the most anxious in the whole incident. Ma Shumou's account book not only recorded the whereabouts of every sum of money in the canal project, but also clearly recorded the number and amount of weapons and armor purchased each time. This was the most fatal.
Buying weapons privately was equivalent to rebelling! Once the account book was made public, the Yuwen clan would immediately fall into eternal damnation!
The hall fell into a heavy atmosphere once again. Tyrant Blade Broken Mountain could not stand this atmosphere and could not help but say,"Clan Lord Yuwen, has this matter been confirmed? Perhaps this was just an excuse made up by Ma Shumou to survive.”
Gao Mingde and Liu Changfeng's eyes lit up when they heard that. They were like drowning people who had grabbed onto the last straw.
Yuwen Huaji nodded." We can't rule out this possibility. I've already arranged for Third Brother to investigate the specific matters. I think we'll have a result soon."”
Speak of the devil and he will come.
Not long after Yuwen Huaji finished speaking, footsteps came from outside the door. The next moment, Yuwen Shiji appeared in front of the door. Seeing his heavy expression, everyone's heart could not help but thump.
Yuwen Huaji immediately said," Third Brother, what's the situation? Could it be that Ma Shumou really hid two account books?"”
Yuwen Shiji nodded bitterly and said in a deep voice,""Two account books, one is with Ma Shumou's butler Gao Lianhu, and the other…has already fallen into the hands of the Xiao clan!”
"What?!"
Hearing this, half of the people in the hall couldn't help but stand up, their faces filled with fear.
The account book falling into the hands of the Xiao family was almost the worst outcome.
One could imagine what kind of ending awaited them once the Xiao clan submitted this account book to the Emperor!
Just as everyone was at a loss, Yue Ji, who had a hood draped over her head, opened her mouth and said coldly,""Have you checked the exact location of the account book?”
Her voice was very pleasant to hear, like the dripping of a cold spring. It also carried an indescribable magic that instantly calmed everyone's mood.
Everyone came back to their senses. Gao Mingde said loudly,"Fairy Yue is right. As long as we can destroy the account book before the Xiao clan takes action, there is still time.”
Facing everyone's hopeful gazes, Yuwen Shiji said awkwardly,""Gao Lianhu disappeared without a trace half a month ago. As for the account book that fell into the hands of the Xiao clan, we have not been able to find its exact location.”
Yuwen Huaji fell back into his chair as if he had aged ten years. He muttered,""The heavens want to destroy our Yuwen clan.”
The rest of the people also had ashen expressions. Ma Shumou was about to enter the capital, and they no longer had time to prepare.
At this moment, a crisp and pleasant voice suddenly sounded from outside the hall.
"I know where the account book of the Xiao clan is now.”# Daguan Review Passed: Daguan Time:011720192:32PM
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