Chapter 174: Four Hundred, Not Ten Thousand?

At the base of Sun and Moon Mountain.

Several Embroidered Uniform Guard officers had arrived here; they were precisely the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed at Frost Bell Temple to confiscate property.

A thousand-man commander walked up to Shen Qing.

"Commander Shen, we followed your orders and turned over the entire land of Frost Bell Temple."

"We actually found some things beneath a Buddha statue."

Saying this, the commander reached into his pocket, pulled out a ledger, and handed it to Shen Qing.

"Commander Shen, we compared the handwriting; this ledger should be the one used by the old monk Huikong."

"It mostly lists expenses, and a certain name appears very frequently; I have already marked it on the ledger."

Shen Qing glanced at it a few times; several spots on the ledger were circled in red, all bearing the same name: Yang Haichen.

Shen Qing turned his head to look at Ma Qing and the others: "Do you know the name Yang Haichen?"

The few of them looked at each other, shook their heads, indicating they had never heard of it.

Just then, Shusheng walked over and said, "Boss, may I take a look at the ledger?"

Shen Qing handed the ledger to Shusheng.

Shusheng frowned: "Boss, I think I know this person."

At this, Ma Qing and the others turned their gazes to Shusheng: "Shusheng? Ah? You know them?"

"We've been in Azure Province for so many years and never heard of it; you know?"

Shusheng nodded: "Exactly. After coming to Azure Province, with nothing else to do, I investigated the family situations of all the major officials here; now I know every openly listed relative of their households."

"If I recall correctly, the close nephew of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Yang Wan'an, is named Yang Haichen."

At that moment, Wang Yunshan also slapped his thigh hard.

"Saying that reminded me—I met Yang Haichen at the Vice Minister's residence last year while handling a case; he claimed to be the Vice Minister's nephew."

"Shusheng, you're practically a god!"

Shusheng scratched their head: "Relieving the boss's worries and solving his problems is what I ought to do."

Shen Qing smiled; this is why he always brings Shusheng along—his mind is useful, agile, and he does his homework in advance.

Shen Qing waved his hand: "Su Jiudie, you all follow Ma Qing back to Heaven Star City,"

"I'll make a trip to Cloudrise City and then return."

Saying this, a strand of true qi shot out, grabbed Shusheng and the four others, and flew up into the sky.

In the sky, Shen Qing asked Shusheng.

"Shusheng, aside from the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Yang Wan'an and his nephew Yang Haichen, what else do you know?"

Shusheng thought for a moment: "Yang Wan'an counts as a senior veteran in the Ministry of Revenue; he's been grinding away there for decades, only attaining the position of Vice Minister thirty years ago."

"His power is not small; among Azure Province officials, his word carries great weight."

"As for Yang Haichen, I don't know much—just that he's his nephew and seems somewhat capable."

Shen Qing spoke: "Then what do you think—does Yang Haichen have the qualifications to be the protector of Frost Bell Temple?"

Shusheng immediately shook their head: "That's definitely not enough."

"Yang Haichen stands out among merchants, but he's still not qualified to be someone's protector."

Shen Qing nodded.

"Then let's start with Yang Haichen—I want to see what good deeds these officials have been up to."

Cloudsoaring City.

One of the Nine Major Cities of Azure Province.

Yang Manor.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Yang Wan'an, was here examining documents when Yang Haichen walked over holding a basic ledger.

"Uncle, this is the ledger for the past month."

Yang Wan'an didn't even lift his head: "How's the situation lately?"

Yang Haichen's face broke into a smile: "Same as usual—Frost Bell Temple still pays the most."

"Frost Bell Temple really is a money tree."

Yang Wan'an glanced at the ledger: "And what about the Great Enlightenment Temple?"

Yang Haichen shook his head: "The Great Enlightenment Temple remains stubborn; it would rather give not a single penny to us, taking all its funds to relieve the poor, than cooperate with us."

Yang Wan'an chuckled: "That old bald donkey is really stubborn."

"Then give them some harsher measures—go notify your subordinates to keep spreading rumors, saying the Great Enlightenment Temple is an evil temple, that anyone who goes there meets misfortune, then kill two people and dump their bodies at the temple's foot to utterly ruin its reputation!"

"I want to see whether, after this, anyone will still go there to offer incense."

Over these years, Yang Wan'an has grown fat and rich off this trick; whenever someone disobeys, he spreads rumors, and when they can't endure it any longer, they come begging to him.

This is why Azure Province has so many temples, yet only Frost Bell Temple's incense flourishes.

It's precisely because Yang Wan'an operates thus, constantly having people say that Frost Bell Temple's incense is efficacious.

"What about Xu Kong? How's that old immortal?"

"It turns out he's been opposing me all these years; I want him dead today!"

Cloudsoaring City.

White River Tavern.

Lin Zikai and Old Li entered the tavern first, tapping the table.

"Waiter, bring us one serving each of your signature dishes."

A waiter came over, smiling: "Sure thing, please have a seat, sir."

Old Li rubbed his stomach: "First, bring us a pot of tea to stave off hunger."

The waiter smiled and nodded: "You two guests are still quite fond of cleanliness; I'll be right there."

Lin Zikai stared for a moment, then stood up directly: "I fuck..."

He immediately started arguing with the waiter, tip to tip, neither willing to back down.

Outside the tavern, Shen Qing and Heigou walked in.

"Heigou, have you found out where Yang Haichen lives?"

Heigou said in a deep, muffled voice.

"Boss, the scholar has already gone to the Guard Command of Cloudsoaring City to investigate; he'll be back soon."

Shen Qing nodded; sending the scholar put him most at ease, mainly because the scholar is clever and won't scare off the target.

After all, Cloudsoaring City is someone else's turf, so there are bound to be hidden eyes; sending Heigou and them would likely scare off the target.

What Shen Qing intends to do this time is to root them out completely.

Inside the tavern, the proprietor was apologizing to Lin Zikai and the others.

"Sir, please calm down; my nephew isn't bright, don't bother with him."

"Let me bring you two dishes and two jugs of wine—how does that sound?"

Only then did Lin Zikai calm down.

At that moment, Shen Qing came up behind them: "Lin Zikai, I didn't expect you to know the proprietor here—you just arrived and he's already treating you to food and drink."

Lin Zikai gave an embarrassed laugh and recounted what had just happened.

Shen Qing couldn't help laughing and looked at the proprietor: "Your nephew is a talent."

Having said that, he waved his hand: "The food and drinks can be slow; I still have someone who hasn't returned."

At that moment, a noisy clamor from the street drifted into the tavern.

Lin Zikai looked at the proprietor: "Proprietor, has Cloudsoaring City always been this chaotic? Even as I just entered the city, I felt the disorder."

The proprietor glanced at the window: "That's not the case; something big is happening in Cloudsoaring City today."

"The Vice Minister of the Grand Sacrificial Temple, Xu Kong, has embezzled four hundred and is to be executed."

Lin Zikai jeered: "Cloudsoaring City has so many corrupt officials?"

"Four hundred thousand taels? Where could a single Vice Minister of the Grand Sacrificial Temple possibly embezzle that?"

The Grand Sacrificial Temple mainly handles sacrificial rites and music and related affairs; it's important, and embezzlement is fairly convenient, but wanting to embezzle four hundred thousand taels really takes some skill.

The proprietor shook his head with a strange expression.

"Sir, you've misunderstood; it's four hundred, not ten thousand."

"Four hundred, not ten thousand? So that's four hundred taels?"