Chapter 233: Volume 1, Chapter 233 Avoiding a Calamity

The chief clerk of the Department of Grand Storage, Xue Mingli, threw himself into a well to end his life. Who is Xue Mingli? He is Prime Minister Yun's nephew and Princess Consort Qi's cousin.

What a good fellow, on Prince Qi's first day in office, his own family gave him a murder case first!

Rong Luoge, after learning this, didn't know what to say. Seeing Han Xinglan's expression turn pleasant, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "What is Prime Minister Yun thinking? To stop Prince Qi from taking over the Inner Court Treasury, he even sacrifices his own family. I recall Xue Mingli had been working in the Inner Court Treasury for nearly ten years."

What does the Department of Grand Storage do?

It manages the Inner Palace's storages; its subordinates oversee six warehouses of silver, furs, porcelain, silk, clothing, and tea. In other words, essentially everything the concubines in the Hou Gong consume and wear comes from here.

It wields great authority, and the flow of resources in the Hou Gong under its control is substantial. Now that someone threw himself into a well to end his life, what does that indicate?

After Han Xinglan's laugh, his expression turned cold as ice; looking at Rong Luoge, he said, "What you said earlier was correct—the Inner Court Treasury is indeed rotten through and through."

Rong Luoge, aware that Han Xinglan was seething inside, looked at him and gently urged, "A three‑foot‑deep freeze doesn't happen in a single day; the accumulated corruption of the Inner Court Treasury didn't start because of you. There's no need to get so angry. If your anger leads to any mishap, it would only serve those damned scoundrels."

"The way it is…" Han Xinglan said, looking at Rong Luoge, "Each year the Inner Court Treasury receives over a million taels of silver, and at the end of the year an additional allotment is added. With that much silver, I'm afraid it all ends up feeding the dogs' bellies."

"Water so clear has no fish; though the saying sounds harsh, the proverb fits: traveling a thousand miles to become an official is for food and clothing, years of hard study in the cold room are for the day one can become an official and change one's household, soaring to success. This reflects human aspirations and is understandable; it's merely a matter of limits. Some people are greedily boundless, and that is the root of disaster."

Are there any incorruptible officials?

There are!

But historically, clean officials' families usually suffer alongside them; looking only at the officials' salaries, they really cannot live a particularly luxurious life.

Therefore, later court officials would receive various named tributes—winter respects, summer respects—through the four seasons and eight festivals, and officials would celebrate birthdays with great fanfare, and some would openly take and demand bribes.

These aren't rare in ancient times; even in later eras they are common.

Why did the Yongzheng era have integrity stipends?

The integrity stipend is the emperor's supplemental silver given to you; don't be greedy, but it still can't be stopped, so one can only say that officials have become much more restrained.

Rong Luoge didn't intend to bring up the integrity stipend, because mentioning it would be useless. In the Qing dynasty, the emperor's supremacy was absolute, the aristocratic families had already declined, and the emperor wielded great control, but the Owl Kingdom is different; although it has been vigorously suppressing the aristocracy's erosion of imperial power, it has not been completely eradicated.

Proposing integrity stipends is merely giving money to these people for free; it's a wasted effort that only becomes a laughingstock.

Rong Luoge was thinking when she heard Han Xinglan say, "This time I will only see how far Prince Qi can accomplish the matter. If he truly has a repentant heart, devotes himself to the public, and eradicates the Inner Court Treasury as a malignant tumor, I will let past deeds go unpunished. If he dares to plot within the palace… hum!"

Rong Luoge then understood that it meant settling the accounts and cleaning out Prince Qi.

This incident was also coincidentally caused by the Princess Consort Qi's natal family presenting a problem, so now Prince Qi's residence will likely become even more bustling.

Rong Luoge guessed correctly; Yun Shizhuang was stunned, and after receiving the family news she was speechless for a while. To be honest, she didn't have much impression of Xue Mingli, as she had only seen him a few times. Although he is her cousin, he is much older, and regarding outside affairs, this cousin entered the palace by going straight to her father, so they had little interaction.

But this very person, with a bang, blocked Prince Qi's path!

Yun Shizhuang couldn't stay seated, so she immediately rode a carriage back to her mother's home.

Madam Yun was waiting for her daughter; when she saw her return, she promptly led her into the inner chamber to speak.

"Your father has some words for you that I, your mother, need to convey, but it's not appropriate to go to Prince Qi's residence to discuss them, so I can only have you come back once," Madam Yun said to her daughter.

Yun Shizhuang, suppressing her breath, asked, "Mother, what exactly happened? Why did he have to die? Even if there truly was a problem, couldn't it be resolved properly? If he was greedy for silver, he could surrender it and atone; as long as it's not too extreme, a life can be spared. Why did he have to die?"

This was the part Yun Shizhuang couldn't figure out: if he truly committed a crime, could their family still not protect him?

If he sought death, then certainly the family couldn't protect him.

That made the problem huge, and Yun Shizhuang became anxious and fearful.

Madam Yun, seeing her daughter's anxious demeanor, lowered her voice and said, "Your father said that Xue Mingli did not commit suicide; he was murdered! They want to push him out as a scapegoat! Go back and tell the Prince that our household will not ignore this matter; we must investigate it thoroughly and clearly."

Yun Shizhuang was so startled she didn't know what to say; after a while she managed, "Murder?"

Madam Yun nodded gravely, "Your father couldn't meet Prince Qi directly, lest His Majesty become suspicious, so he had to have you intervene. You must tell the Prince that this matter is not simple; Xue Mingli did not commit suicide, he was murdered!"

Yun Shizhuang couldn't extract more details; evidently her mother also knew little, but the murder… she kept a dark face, steady heart, intending to wait for her father to return to the residence before asking further, but he was constantly busy and hadn't returned, so she could only board a carriage back to the Qi Wang Fu.

She didn't expect that as soon as she returned to the mansion, she would run into Rong Dai, who had been waiting for her, looking with a face eager to watch a drama; Yun Shizhuang felt so nauseated she almost vomited.

That scoundrel, lately because Princess Di Yue Nu is about to make a comeback, must be here to mock her!

Yun Shizhuang didn't want to be ridiculed by Rong Dai, so she straightened her back and walked over slowly, her eyes casting a disdainful glance at Rong Dai's somewhat contemptuous posture.

Rong Dai's greatest annoyance was Yun Shizhuang's pretentiousness. She looked at her leisurely and said, "Princess Consort, you seem so eager to leave; it must be because of family matters, right? Ah, some people just have no luck—praying to gods and Buddha doesn't help, yet their own family still trips them up."

Yun Shizhuang, hearing that, felt her anger explode inside, yet refused to concede verbally. She sneered, "Fortune indeed isn't something everyone has. Among sisters, one becomes a noble consort, another a side consort. Some people obsessively aim to become Princess Consort, scheming to drive others away, only to still fail. Side Consort Rong, don't you agree?"

Rong Dai's face turned very ugly; back when Rong Luoge and Li Gundan were involved, she wanted to become Princess Consort Qi, but at that time she lacked favorable timing, location, and people, so she could only watch helplessly as the old witch Princess Ming dragged Yun Shizhuang into the door.

Yun Shizhuang turned the tide, flinging her handkerchief and escorting the maid away.

Rong Dai clenched her teeth as she watched Yun Shizhuang's back, saying she wanted to see how Yun Shizhuang would avoid this disaster this time.

Recalling her mother's admonitions, Rong Dai couldn't help but feel some hesitation, unsure whether she could accomplish it.