[Book 2] The Evil Prince and his Precious Wife: The Sly Lady

Chapter 231: The Spontaneous Combustion of Army Provisions

Chapter 231

The morning clouds were dispersing and the mist dissipating, and beams of golden sunlight penetrated the clouds and shone on the earth.

Murong Xue, dressed in a soft smoky-blue long robe, walked slowly on the streets of the capital city with Ouyang Shaochen beside her: "Your Highness, how’s the investigation of the Shadow Guards going?”

"We’ve got some clues but not a lot …” Ouyang Shaochen said gently, his sharp eyes as deep as a pool.

Murong Xue nodded. Shadow Guards had extraordinary power and was very good at hiding. Some people had been trying to find them for over a decade with very little effect. Yet they had only started the search for a few days, so naturally whatever they had found might not be of great value.

"Liu Qingfeng, don't go too far…" A coarse voice rang. Murong Xue quickly turned around, looked up and saw that in front of the gate of the Ministry of Punishments, a thick crowd of people were gathering. Behind them, two familiar figures were partly hidden and partly visible.

Murong Xue blinked, walked slowly forward and, pushing past the crowd, looked inside. There were five guards in armor with long swords standing on both sides of the hall. General Yuan and Yuan Fangfei were standing in the center of the hall and glaring at Liu Qingfeng, the minister, who was sitting at the seat in the front.

Liu Qingfeng was dressed in his uniform. He slammed his gavel on the desk and domineered over the Yuans: "General Yuan, Miss Yuan, this is the hall of the Ministry of Punishments, and I'm just doing my job…"

"It's not my brother's fault. If Your Honor is really doing your job, you should take these guards to the place where the crime was committed, investigate the case carefully and find out the truth, instead of condemning my brother without justified reasons…"Yuan Fangfei said word by word, her eyes burning with anger.

Liu Qingfeng turned sullen in an instant. He stared coldly at Yuan Fangfei and said: "Under the order to escort army provisions to Nanjiang, Officer Yuan neglected his duty on the way, which resulted in the provisions being burned to nothing. The provisions for an army of 300,000 for several months were all gone under his watch, which is the fact…"

As soon as this remark was made, the whole audience erupted in an uproar. The provisions for an army of three hundred thousand, which must have occupied at least dozens of carriages, were all burnt down to nothing. The soldiers must have been really neglectful of their duties.

The loss of the provisions would still be a trifle, compared to the possibility that, all the commanders and soldiers in Nanjiang, would starve without the supply of foods, and thus being defeated, which would lead to severe consequences. No wonder that the Emperor had been furious and passed the case to the Ministry of Punishments for thorough investigation…

"I didn't neglect my duty." An angry low voice rang as a teenage boy stepped out from Yuan Fangfei's side.

He was a tall lad with dark skin, sharp eyes and a Roman nose, more or less resembling General Yuan. He looked at Liu Qingfeng angrily and said: "The escorting soldiers and I had always been keeping an eye on our provisions. Who would have thought, as we were walking on the road, the provisions suddenly caught fire for no reason. It was violent and although we had tried our best, by the time we put it out, dozens of carriages had been burned down to almost nothing...”