Just as Mo Zechen was about to let Shadow leave, he suddenly thought of something, frowned slightly, and asked in a deep voice.
"By the way, you said that three years ago, a young man disappeared in Xuancheng. When did it happen specifically?"
"Three years ago in September."
Shadow didn't understand why Mo Zechen asked this question, but he still answered Mo Zechen's question honestly.
"Three years ago in September!"
Mo Zechen repeated it, with a bit of surprise in his eyes.
How could the timing be so coincidental?
Mo Zechen seemed to have thought of something, and ordered with a solemn expression, "Shadow, go and call Lin Qing first. I have something to ask him."
Lin Qing was the one who went to the capital to sue the officials in Xuancheng for corruption, and the officials protected each other.
Before coming, he thought that the investigation into the corruption of Xuancheng officials would go smoothly.
After all, according to Lin Qing, officials in Xuancheng are corrupt, so no matter how cautious they are, there will definitely be flaws.
But he has been in Xuancheng for almost half a month, and so far he has not found any useful clues. Today, he even heard people in Xuancheng praise local officials.
He originally thought that the officials in Xuancheng were very clever in committing crimes. They not only concealed their corruption, but also deceived everyone.
There must be a mastermind behind this who controls the overall situation.
But just now, what Shadow said gave him a new guess.
What if the corruption of officials in Xuancheng was false from the beginning?
If it was fake, it would make sense that his people could never find any useful clues.
It's just that there's something he doesn't understand -
If the corruption of officials in Xuancheng is false, then why did Lin Qing go to Beijing to file a complaint, even at the risk of being chased and possibly dying on the way at any time?
Is it possible that behind this, there is something more serious than the corruption of all officials in Xuancheng?
If that was the case, why didn't Lin Qing say anything at the beginning?
Could it be that you are worried about something?
Mo Zechen turned his finger, his eyes dark and unclear.
Or is it just that he is overthinking, and things are not as complicated as he thought?
"The little man Lin Qing has met the prince."
Shortly after Shadow left, a man wearing coarse linen clothes walked in the door, his face was slightly pale, and he looked a little weak.
When Mo Zechen heard the voice, he raised his head and suppressed the thousands of thoughts in his heart.
"Lin Qing, I called you here today because there are some things I can't figure out and I want to ask you something."
Mo Zechen got straight to the point, "As for the corruption of officials in Xuancheng, apart from the account books you produced, do you have any other evidence?"
Lin Qing was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then said, "No."
Before Mo Zechen could speak, Lin Qing asked eagerly, "Isn't it enough to have the account book as evidence?"
Mo Zechen looked at Lin Qing, who had an eager face, and explained in a calm voice, "The account book you took out is incomplete."
"When His Majesty gave the account book to the people in the Department of Accounts for reading, the people in the Department of Accounts said that there was no detailed description of where the income and expenditure were used, but that the amount was a bit strange. Other than that, they couldn't see it. Something is wrong.”
"In other words, if the account books you took out were indeed stolen from the government, you can only say that there is something wrong with their accounts, but you cannot be 100% sure that they have committed corruption."
After hearing Mo Zechen's explanation, Lin Qing's shoulders slumped, and she looked a little decadent.
He put in so much effort and almost risked his life, only to be told that the account books he obtained could not prove that Xuancheng officials were corrupt.
Then what he did was a waste of effort? !
"Are you hiding something from me?"
When Lin Qing was feeling decadent, Mo Zechen suddenly spoke. Lin Qing subconsciously wanted to answer, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she immediately came to her senses and broke into a cold sweat.
Lin Qing pretended to be calm and asked, "Why did the prince say that?"
"My people have been investigating corruption these days, but after their visits and investigations, they found that none of the people in the city knew about the corruption of local officials."
"Many people even say that local officials are rare good officials. What do you want to say about this?"
Mo Zechen naturally noticed the pause after Lin Qing opened his mouth. He pretended not to know and told what they had investigated.
"A good official? They are worthy of those hypocritical, selfish, and vicious people!!"
Lin Qing seemed to be stimulated by Mo Zechen's words, and her mood suddenly became excited.
"Why didn't you tell me that three years ago, several young adults disappeared in the city within a short period of time?"
Mo Zechen ignored Lin Qing's excitement and asked another question.
Lin Qing took a deep breath to calm down before answering Mo Zechen's question.
"Because this incident has nothing to do with the official corruption we are investigating, all the villains did not inform it."
"Yeah?"
Mo Zechen curled his lips and smiled, and his cold and sharp face suddenly became a little gentler.
"That's weird."
Mo Zechen put his right hand on the armrest and tapped the armrest with his fingers.
"The account book you took out happened to be Xuancheng's account book from three years ago."
"ah?"
When Lin Qing heard this, she was stunned for a moment and looked up at Mo Zechen blankly.
"Don't you know? In order to avoid messing up the account books and to make it easier to check the accounts later, the people who do the accounting will mark the year and month on the account books."
"The account book you took out was the one used by the government for accounting in October three years ago, and the disappearance of the people in Xuancheng occurred in September. Is this a coincidence?"
If Mo Zechen was only 30% sure of his guess at the beginning, then Lin Qing's flash of surprise just now made Mo Zechen 70% sure.
"What are you hiding?"
Mo Zechen's voice was a bit majestic, and Lin Qing suddenly felt a bit more invisible pressure on her body.
"Since you chose to go to the capital to complain, and now that I have come as you wished, why do you hide what you know?"
"Do you not believe me, or are you saying that the things you complained about are all false?"
Mo Zechen expressed his speculation, "Is it possible that the officials in Xuancheng are not corrupt? What you really want me to investigate is the case of the disappearance of people in Xuancheng three years ago?"
"But you were worried that this matter would not attract the court's attention, so you lied?"
The more Mo Zechen spoke, the more excited he became, and his fingers tapped on the armrests faster and faster, which invisibly gave Lin Qing a great sense of oppression.
“Did you know that filing false petitions and slandering officials at will are both serious crimes!!”
