Chapter 46: A Different Second Sister

“To be honest, Miss, I was also following orders.” Magistrate Zheng had a bitter look on his face.

“Speak.”

“The documents from above said that one hundred and twenty-three people, including Yang Xiong, had died in battle at the border. As for the compensation you mentioned, the Ministry of Revenue did send it, but it was taken away by someone a while ago.” Magistrate Zheng’s voice grew bolder as he spoke. He thought about it carefully. General Su and General Wei were brothers-in-law, practically family.

Even if they were ordered to investigate this matter, it would just be a formality.

“Who took it away?” Wang Baochuan asked impassively.

“It was a lieutenant under General Wei Hu.”

“Has this been happening every time there’s a war?”

“It has always been like this.” Magistrate Zheng wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead and slowly stood up.

“Who allowed you, you dog official, to stand up? Kneel down!”

Wang Baochuan looked at the little grandson of the Yang family. His clothes were tattered, patched with patches. He was short and thin, with dry, yellow hair. Her heart ached.

“Wang Wan, make him sign and seal.”

“Yes, Miss.”

After signing and sealing, Wang Wan, following Wang Baochuan’s instructions, secretly tied the man up and stuffed him into the carriage. She was going to take him back and have him tell the Prime Minister everything truthfully.

After entering the city gate, the people Wang Baochuan had sent to investigate elsewhere also returned. As she had expected, things were as she had predicted. Some of the compensation had only been partially delivered to the families, while the rest had been embezzled by local officials. Most of this money had been used to bribe their superiors.

The superior they were referring to was Wei Hu!

Wang Baochuan felt a pang of anxiety. Wei Hu and her second sister had been married for five or six years. Over the years, he had often sent money to bribe the Prime Minister. The source of this money was probably embezzlement!

She brought the evidence and witnesses to Wang Yun. At first, he didn’t believe her, but when he saw the signed and sealed documents, he finally believed Baochuan’s words.

His good son-in-law had been bribing him all these years! Fortunately, Baochuan had found out. If someone else had found out and impeached him, he would have been demoted out of the capital.

“Good! Wei Hu has been doing such a wicked thing behind my back! That compensation was the money that the families of the soldiers used to support themselves. He dared to embezzle it!”

“Bring Wei Hu in!”

“Father.” Wang Baochuan stopped him, “You wouldn’t be trying to protect him, would you?”

“As the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, how could I protect him for my own selfish gain!” Wang Yun was furious, and he seemed to have aged several years in an instant.

“Since you don’t want to protect him, you should immediately go to the palace to plead guilty and hand over the evidence to the Ministry of Justice.” Wang Baochuan calmly analyzed. At that time, her father didn’t know. As an elder, it was understandable for him to accept a little bribe from his son-in-law.

Although it would be easy for Wang Yun to suppress this matter, this time he dared to protect Wei Hu so much. Wei Hu would definitely become even more brazen in the future.

“Right, have the steward immediately organize Wei Hu’s bribes over the past few years. I will take them to the palace with me.” Wang Yun finally came to his senses after she reminded him.

“No, no, that won’t do.” Wang Yun thought for a moment, “What about your second sister if I do this so ruthlessly?”

“They are husband and wife. If Wei Hu is convicted, it will inevitably implicate her!”

“Father, this is embezzlement. At most, he will be demoted. Second Sister is from our Wang family. You can plead with the Emperor to let them divorce, and Second Sister will be able to stay out of it.” Wang Baochuan knew that he loved Wei Hu, but she didn’t expect that even now, he still couldn’t see clearly.

“Alright, I’ll go to the palace to plead guilty. You send someone to call your second sister back. Tell her that I have something urgent to see her about.”

“Yes.”

Wang Baochuan was uneasy. The Emperor’s wrath was unpredictable. If the Emperor was angry and implicated the Wang family because of Wei Hu…

It was fine. The crime of embezzlement was much less serious than treason. Her father would at most be demoted to a post outside the capital. Their family could still be together peacefully.

Wang Baochuan sent someone to invite Wang Yincuan, saying that her father had something urgent to see her about.

This was the first time Wang Baochuan had seen Wang Yincuan since that night. She looked listless, and her clothes were not as flamboyant as usual. Her jade hairpin and gold hairpins were delicate and understated.

She seemed to have lost some weight.

“Where’s Father?” As soon as she entered, she saw Wang Baochuan waiting for her at the gate.

“Father has gone to the palace.”

Wang Baochuan told her truthfully.

Wang Yincuan didn’t want to talk to her anymore. She turned and was about to go to the study, “Then I’ll wait for Father in the study.”

“Second Sister.”

Wang Baochuan looked at her retreating figure and couldn’t help but call out. She moved her shoulders, turned around unnaturally, “Baochuan, I know I’ve been trying to match you with Wei Bao. I’m sorry.”

“But don’t think that I feel guilty about it and will look at you favorably!” Wang Yincuan pouted. Since they were young, Father and Mother had always spoiled Baochuan. She was just jealous and uncomfortable.

Wang Baochuan pinched her earlobe and, regardless of whether she wanted to or not, pulled her quickly to the study.

Qingqing wisely stood guard outside the study, preventing anyone from approaching.

“Just say what you have to say! Don’t drag me!” Wang Yincuan was unhappy.

“Second Sister, I should apologize to you today.” Wang Baochuan bowed respectfully.

“What did you do?”

Wang Yincuan looked at her warily. She told her everything about Wei Hu truthfully, and she also mentioned that her father had gone to the palace to plead guilty.

“You… you mean Wei Hu embezzled money?”

Wang Baochuan nodded.

Wang Yincuan couldn’t believe it. She asked in a daze, “Then what about Father? Did Father just abandon me and Wei Hu?”

“Second Sister, Father can’t condone Wei Hu. If Father had covered for him this time, he would have become even more brazen in the future!”

Wang Baochuan wanted to explain more, but she saw her sister sit down, leaning on the table, and pour herself a glass of water with trembling hands.

“You don’t need to say anything. I understand.”

“I’m sorry, Second Sister. It was I who had people investigate Brother-in-law’s embezzlement. If you want to blame someone, blame…”

“Who should I blame? He was the one who was reckless enough to embezzle! Father did the right thing. He can’t let Wei Hu drag our family, Uncle’s family, and our entire Wang family, hundreds of people, to their doom!” Wang Yincuan pointed outside and shouted.

She was very calm, as if she was talking to Wang Baochuan, but also as if she was talking to herself, “Although I love him, I won’t be blind to right and wrong…”