"Your Highness, the person has fainted." The executioner reported.
"Wake him up and continue." King Jin showed no mercy to this kind of corrupt official.
A basin of cold water was poured on Wu Shaohai.
Wu Shaohai woke up with difficulty and looked up at King Jin in front of him, "You, you are a demon."
"Tell the truth and I'll give you a quick death. Otherwise, you'll be living a life worse than death."
"I sold them. I transported all the treasures I stole from the palace to Jiangnan and sold them." After Wu Shaohai said this, he gasped for breath again.
Really dishonest. King Jin turned the finger of his hand. It doesn't matter. No one can resist the whip. "Who is the person who handled it? How much silver was sold? Where did the silver go?"
"The owner of the old vegetarian restaurant in the city was the one who handled the matter. I gave the things to him. I don't know how much silver he got from the sales. I kept a record of how much silver he gave me. The account book was placed in the secret compartment of my bed. As for where the rest of the silver went, I really don't know."
"I don't believe that you don't know where the silver went." King Jin raised his hand.
The executioner whipped Wu Shaohai twice more, and Wu Shaohai screamed, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I have even handed over the account book, is there any need to lie to you?"
"I have seen people who use small crimes to cover up big crimes before."
The executioner whipped Wu Shaohai twice more, and he confessed something more. "The owner of the old dining hall divided the silver into four parts. I took my share, and he deposited one of the parts into the account of a man named Qing Gongcheng in Bao Feng Long."
"What about the other two?"
"I don't know, Your Majesty. I really don't know whether I knew Qingcheng or he accidentally said it when he was drunk one time."
"Who is the one who is working with you in the Palace Treasury? How many people in the Palace Treasury are in cahoots with you?"
"all."
King Jin sat up straight, incredulous, "All?"
Wu Shaohai smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled, and said with his head drooped: "People die for money, birds die for food, guarding a priceless treasure, how can you not be greedy."
"The crime of embezzlement is aggravated." The Dali Temple official, who had been taking notes, interrupted.
Wu Shaohai raised his head and glanced at him, "Fortune and honor are sought through risk."
For three years, everything had been going smoothly. If it weren't for those damn thieves, he would not have been exposed.
"Take him away and let the doctor apply medicine to him." The King of Jin planned to interrogate the owner of the old hall first, and then interrogate him.
Wu Shaohai breathed a sigh of relief and no longer had to suffer torture for the time being.
At the same time, Jiang Nan, who had returned from Jiangnan, sent a box of things to Jiang Changning at the palace.
There were all kinds of things in the box. Jiang Changning picked up a long brocade box at random, opened it, and saw a painting inside.
Jiang Changning unfolded it and saw that it was "Pasturing in Snowy Creek".
There is a grassy slope under the clear sky, a stream on the snowy ground, clear water and rocks, and several large trees. A boy wearing a hat is leading a water buffalo along the shore.
Although the painter's brushwork is simple, the density and layers of the leaves are expressed just right.
The blending of ink and water makes the picture appear very broad and refreshing.
The whole painting is simple and elegant in style, and is definitely a masterpiece of landscape painting.
Jiang Changning didn't know where Jiang Nan received such a painting, but she liked it very much. So the next day, she showed it off to Prince Jin who was on leave at home.
When King Jin saw the painting, he frowned and asked, "Where did this painting come from?"
Hearing his tone, Jiang Changning's heart skipped a beat. "Uncle Nan bought it in Jiangnan. Is there any problem?"
"Do you know about the theft in Guanglu Temple?"
"Yes, everyone in the city, from the 80-year-old man to the 3-year-old child, knows about this. They also say that the Wu family is rich enough to rival a country."
"The Wu family is so wealthy because Wu Shaohai stole treasures from the palace and sold them."
Jiang Changning immediately reacted, "This painting belongs to the palace!"
"good."
Jiang Changning pouted, "I thought I had one more item in my collection."
"If you like it, keep it."
"Did you really take it?"
"Take it away, take it away. Oh, by the way, there are other things in the box. Take a look, are there any things from the palace?"
"It's good to take a look."
After taking a look, he actually found two things from the palace.
One is a blue-white jade pine pen holder, the body of which is made of an ancient pine tree, with pine branches and rocks as decorations.
The outer wall of the pen holder is embossed with a winding pine trunk, and there are several rocks under the pine trees, which makes the pen holder exude a fresh, elegant and pleasing picture like calligraphy and painting.
The carving is exquisite, the conception is ingenious and unconventional. It is an excellent item for the study to cultivate one's sentiments.
It was obvious that Uncle Nan bought this pen holder for Jiang Changning to give to Prince Jin, but it was a palace item.
Seeing that Prince Jin couldn't let go of the jade pen holder, Jiang Changning pursed his lips and smiled, "Can you keep this?"
King Jin put down the jade pen holder and said, "This is stolen goods."
Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows and picked up another item from the palace: a three-color agate pendant cleverly carved with a squirrel, flower and fruit.
The material is high-quality and the texture is transparent.
The light blue part is carved into ripe flowers and fruits, and the brown part cleverly depicts the vein texture of the leaves.
A white and transparent pine tree is climbing on the fruits and vegetables, tightly grasping the food in front of it, and its expression is portrayed vividly.
With fine carving, ingenious conception and smooth lines, it is a fine agate pendant.
"Lord Wu has a really good eye. He only picks out top quality items," said Jiang Changning.
"It's a pity that it's not used in the right way."
"A gentleman loves money, but he should get it in a proper way." Jiang Changning hugged the King of Jin's arm, "Can the money used to buy these three items be recovered?"
These three items are all rare treasures. Uncle Nan must have spent a lot of money to buy them.
"It's not difficult to get it back. It depends on how the princess expresses herself." Prince Jin said with a smile.
Jiang Changning's eyes flickered, he tiptoed closer, kissed his lips, and was about to step away.
The King of Jin, who had been alone for several days, could not resist her throwing herself into his arms. He put one arm around her slender waist and the other hand on the back of her head, deepening the kiss that had just been a quick taste.
Although the Prince of Jin wanted to be a bit foolish, he was busy with government affairs. After a kiss, he took the three items and left to do his business.
King Jin had Jiang Nan called over and placed the three items in front of him. "Do you remember who you bought these from?"
"I bought these three items from the owner of Jiangnan Laozhaitang through an acquaintance."
The owner of Lao Zhaitang was a key figure, but unfortunately Wu Shaohai confessed too late, and the officers and soldiers who rushed over failed to catch him.
"Can you draw figures?"
“I can draw.”
Jiang Nan worked as a servant to Jiang's father. He learned to read and write with his father and had a basic understanding of the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
"Draw the appearance of the old hall owner."
"Yes." Jiang Nan went to draw on the table next to him where pens and ink were prepared.
After a while, he finished the painting.
Prince Jin looked at the portrait with a frown on his face. There was no similarity between the person painted by Jiang Nan and the one painted by Wu Shaohai.
Whether they were two people or Wu Shaohai just drew it randomly, we have to re-examine Wu Shaohai to find out.
After sending Jiang Nan away, King Jin went to the prison again.
(End of this chapter)