eurekapd Chapter 156 Yuwen Huaji: Compared to Lü Xiao, I'm practically an honest official.
Chapter 156 Yuwen Huaji: Compared to Lü Xiao, I'm practically an honest official.
"Father!" Yang Ruyi rushed over upon hearing the news, smiling radiantly as she took Yang Guang's arm.
"You haven't visited Zhen'er in a long time; he talks about his maternal grandfather every day."
Lu Xiao was genuinely frightened by what he saw.
This woman is practically paving the way for her son all the time.
He previously said he would be loyal to the Sui Dynasty, but it seems he's going to break his promise.
He certainly wouldn't betray Yang Guang, but Yang Ruyi would!
"I miss Zhen'er too," Yang Guang said, patting his daughter's hand affectionately. "However, Zi Lie and I have important matters to discuss today, so I'll go see him later."
"Then I will have Zhen'er prepare."
Yang Ruyi obediently replied, gave Lü Xiao a meaningful glance, and gracefully left.
After she had walked away, Yang Guang turned to Lü Xiao, a hint of mockery in his eyes: "Zilie, you've struck it rich this time."
"Thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, I have gained some merit."
Lü Xiao bowed in response, speaking cautiously.
"Take me to see exactly how much there is."
Yang Guang's smile deepened, and he strode toward the treasury.
"Your Majesty, it's not over there."
Lu Xiao quickly stopped him.
"Oh?" Yang Guang stopped in his tracks, looking puzzled.
Lü Xiao gestured for him to follow: "Please come with me, Your Majesty."
The group walked through the winding corridors of the Prince Shuo's Mansion, exited through a side gate, and walked through two more streets and alleys before finally stopping in front of a secluded residence.
The house has an ordinary appearance, with gray walls and black tiles, and is no different from the surrounding houses.
Upon closer inspection, the courtyard wall was clearly reinforced, and new plaster was applied to the corners.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, Yang Guang was slightly taken aback by the scene before him.
The courtyard was heavily guarded, with more than fifty armored soldiers standing at attention with swords in hand, one guard every five steps and one sentry every ten steps.
These soldiers had sharp eyes and slightly bulging temples, clearly indicating that they were all seasoned veterans.
Even more surprisingly, the original residential buildings have been completely demolished.
Instead, there are several newly built, square and heavy warehouses with undecorated, gray exterior walls, resembling square boxes squatting in the yard.
"Your Majesty, this is where I store my valuables."
Lü Xiao explained, leading Yang Guang to one of the warehouses.
The heavy iron gate was slowly pushed open by two burly men, making a dull creaking sound.
The warehouse had no windows and was lit entirely by oil lamps on the walls.
In the dim light, neat rows of boxes could be seen stacked from the ground all the way to the roof beams, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see.
The moment Yang Guang stepped into the warehouse, his brow twitched.
"These...are all?"
He turned to look at Lü Xiao, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Yes."
Lu Xiao responded and stepped forward to casually open the nearest box.
"Whoosh!"
The chest of gold ingots gleamed with golden light, their alluring luster flowing under the lamplight.
Each piece bears the Zheng family's mark, is of uniform size, and is stacked tightly together.
Yang Guang stopped talking and personally stepped forward, opening the lids of box after box.
The second box, also made of horseshoe gold.
The third box, the fourth box... the tenth box...
He looked faster and faster, almost running through the warehouse, personally opening every box he could reach.
The thumping sound of boxes being opened echoed in the warehouse, accompanied by increasingly heavy breathing.
When the last box was opened, the entire warehouse was enveloped in golden light.
Nearly a hundred boxes were opened at once, and the gold ingots inside were piled up like small mountains, the reflected golden light so dazzling that it was hard to open one's eyes.
Yang Guang stood in the center of the warehouse, looking around.
His face was expressionless, but his slightly trembling fingers betrayed the shock in his heart.
Yuwen Chenglong wiped his sweat and suddenly noticed that Lu Xiao's forehead was also covered in fine beads of sweat. He couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Your Highness, why are you sweating too?"
Lu Xiao lowered his voice: "When His Majesty asked me how many boxes of gold ingots I had earlier... I underreported it by a little."
This is why he felt guilty.
Although Yang Guang was his father-in-law and doted on him, this was still a crime of deceiving the emperor.
Underreporting?
That's more than just a little bit!
"It's just a little bit, it's nothing, it's nothing," Yuwen Chenglong waved his hand dismissively. "His Majesty is magnanimous and won't hold it against him."
Before he could finish speaking, Yang Guang had already turned around, his gaze fixed on Lü Xiao, a half-smile playing on his lips:
"Zilie, I remember you reported that... there were only seven or eight chests of gold ingots?"
He walked slowly, his boots making a clear clattering sound on the ground, which was particularly jarring in the quiet warehouse.
After wandering around for a while, he realized that this didn't match what Lü Xiao had said.
He said that the Zheng family was so wealthy and powerful, how could they only have this little bit of wealth?
There are far more than seven or eight boxes displayed here; there are clearly seventy or eighty boxes!
I never expected that he and his son-in-law were so close, and that his son-in-law was playing mind games with him.
He had seen countless corrupt officials in the Sui Dynasty.
But someone as greedy as Lü Xiao is truly the first of his kind.
Yuwen Chenglong opened his mouth wide, slowly turned his head to look at Lü Xiao, and said, "You call this a little bit?"
Yuwen Huaji, standing to the side, lowered his head, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
He boasted that he had been an official for many years and had made a lot of money, but compared to Lü Xiao's treasury of gold ingots, he was simply an incorruptible official!
"Your Majesty, please listen to my sophistry—bah! Explain!"
Lu Xiao's mind raced, and he looked like a cunning old fox.
"Come, listen to me, try to explain yourself."
Yang Guang raised his hand and pointed to the boxes of gold ingots in the warehouse. He wanted to see what Lü Xiao could say.
"This..." Lü Xiao's gaze shifted back and forth between Man Ku Jinguang and Yang Guang's face before he finally made up his mind.
"It might be only a little bit, but it's unlikely that it's only a little bit."
"That's how it is, that's the situation."
After uttering this nonsense, even he himself found it absurd.
But he was betting that Yang Guang wouldn't really do anything to him.
He was Yang Ruyi's husband, Lü Zhen's father, Yang Guang's most valued son-in-law, and the God of War of the Sui Dynasty.
With his four identities and the fact that Yang Guang was willing to reward him with mountains of gold and silver, surely he wouldn't take a mere few dozen chests of gold ingots too seriously?
"Ha..." Yang Guang was indeed amused by this.
He stared at Lü Xiao for a long time, then shook his head and sighed, "Fine, so you're getting arrogant now, too lazy to even make up an excuse?"
Despite saying that, there was little anger in his tone.
He turned around and once again cast his gaze upon the warehouse overflowing with gold and silver, his eyes gleaming.
Digging up graves is indeed immoral and doesn't sound good if word gets out.
But the money came in so fast that even the emperor was tempted.
As Yang Guang stroked his chin, a bold and outrageous idea quietly took root in his mind.
Which of those powerful and influential families wasn't incredibly wealthy?
How much unknown wealth is hidden in their ancestral graves?
Anyway, Yuwen Huaji was always blamed for the dirty work that Lü Xiao and others did by digging up graves.
If all else fails, then visit the ancestral graves of the five surnames and seven prominent families.