Chapter 780

For such a thing, he really couldn't bring himself to eat it.

But to take care of Li Li Xueyan's feelings, he still picked up the spoon and stirred it in the bowl.

His brows furrowed slightly.

"Where did this come from?"

They just treated picking gifts as a game, just for fun.

Li Li Xueyan hadn't noticed the change in Qin Mu's mood and said with a smile.

"This was specially sent to the palace by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, saying it is a living golden treasure turtle, very rare. Such a good thing, I brought it for husband to eat first."

Qin Mu naturally recognized the golden treasure turtle.

The golden treasure turtle was indeed rare and only appeared in the Minyue area.

The problem was that the trade between Great Qin and Great Tang didn't include this type of wild rare treasure.

Then the origin of this turtle was very suspicious.

"You eat this turtle."

Qin Mu left after saying this.

Leaving the women stunned on the spot, not knowing where the problem was?

Li Li Xueyan's eyes turned red, and she started sobbing.

"What's wrong with husband? Did I do something wrong?"

No one knew what was going on.

Wu Wu Meiniang stepped forward to comfort her.

"Sister, don't be sad first. Husband left in a hurry just now, maybe he suddenly had some urgent matter?"

But this couldn't convince Li Li Xueyan.

Just now, Qin Mu left only after seeing this turtle soup.

What other urgent matter could there be?

Even if there was, it must have something to do with this turtle soup.

Empress Zhangsun Wugou also came over to comfort her.

"Li Xueyan, don't be sad. You didn't do anything wrong, just cooked a bowl of turtle soup for Mu'er."

Even if there was something, that was a matter of the Imperial Court.

Mu'er distinguishes right from wrong and would never blame you.

After all, she was older, and these words made a lot of sense.

Hearing Empress Zhangsun Wugou's words, Li Li Xueyan stopped sobbing. But in her heart, there was still some faint unease.

What exactly happened?

Is there a problem with this golden treasure turtle?

Qin Mu left the harem and returned to the Imperial Study.

"Call Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei to see me!"

Before long, Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei arrived at the Imperial Study.

They didn't know what big event happened that the Emperor summoned them urgently?

These two pillars of the Imperial Court, one civil and one military, didn't notice what big event could happen in the Imperial Court right now!

Everything was quite normal!

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty!"

Qin Mu waved his hand and let them sit down.

"Is there anything unusual among the officials of the Imperial Court recently?"

Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei looked at each other, not knowing what kind of unusual thing the Emperor was asking about?

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the officials of all departments are quite normal, and we haven't found anything unusual."

Qin Mu's expression was even more serious.

That even these two capable assistants didn't find anything unusual was enough to show the severity of the current problem!

Qin Mu believed in his judgment.

This matter must be happening; it couldn't be that there wasn't!

"I saw a golden treasure turtle in the harem today. And the origin of this turtle is Great Tang."

Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei still didn't understand what the Emperor was talking about?

If it was something from Great Tang, it was obviously more appropriate to ask Shen Wansan. He was the minister in charge of commerce.

However, he didn't call Shen Wansan this time, which was enough to show that what the Emperor said was not a commercial problem.

Zhang Juzheng, as the Prime Minister of Great Qin, still had a fast-turning brain.

"Your Majesty, is there a problem with the origin of this golden treasure turtle?"

Qin Mu nodded.

"This golden treasure turtle is not for sale in Changancheng, or even in the whole of Great Qin! However, it appeared in the hands of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who sent it into the palace. What does this mean?"

Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei's brains were running fast.

Great Qin was different from Great Tang; things that weren't for sale on the market couldn't be bought even in the black market.

Smuggling was simply impossible!

The only possibility was that someone from Great Tang brought it and gave it to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Thinking of this, a layer of dense cold sweat broke out on Zhang Juzheng's body.

"Your Majesty, could it be that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is secretly colluding with Great Tang?"

If so, the matter would be big.

It could almost be defined as treason!

Qin Mu waved his hand.

"Perhaps it's not that serious, but this problem cannot be underestimated! I suspect that some daring officials have already started to accept bribes and form cliques!"

Forming cliques!

Qin Mu's words weren't too explicit. The actual meaning was that some Great Qin officials had already started establishing connections with people from Great Tang.

This move might not necessarily be treason, just the establishment of human connections and interest bundling that was common in officialdom!

Zhang Juzheng started to realize the severity of the problem.

What Great Qin had always been most proud of was that the officials were clean and didn't have the complicated relationships like Great Tang.

But now, such signs had started to appear.

If not realized, in the long run, it would become like Great Tang.

Officials would join hands and group together, and could even hold the imperial power hostage, making the Emperor have many things he couldn't handle!

Thinking of this, Zhang Juzheng and Yue Fei were both sweating coldly!

Officials joining forces and forming cliques can even sideline imperial power, leaving the Emperor unable to accomplish many things!

At this thought, Zhang Juzheng and General Yue Fei were both drenched in cold sweat!