"What did you discover?"
"Every official who handled the case back then is dead."
Long Yelin frowned. "A full nineteen years have passed since Chu Yuanhai's corruption case. Even if the officials who handled it were still alive, they would have one foot in the grave by now. Their deaths are hardly surprising."
Zhou Ruiyuan shook his head. "Not just Xiao Guorang, the minister of the Court of Judicial Review who led the investigation, nor merely his deputies. Even the constables and soldiers who took part in the confiscation are dead, without a single exception!"
Only then did Long Yelin realize how unusual this was. "How is that possible?" he asked in astonishment. Natural deaths among the officials might have been plausible, given their ages, but most of those constables and soldiers had been young men in their prime. They would only be in their forties or fifties now. How could they all be dead? Something was certainly amiss.
Zhou Ruiyuan said, "I had someone investigate. Everyone who handled the case died within ten years. Some were executed for crimes, some died of sudden illnesses, and others perished in various accidents. Very few met a peaceful end."
"How could this happen?" Long Yelin asked.
"Perhaps Chu Yuanhai embezzled far more wealth than that. Perhaps there was something else behind his corruption," Zhou Ruiyuan said. His implication was that some mysterious force had silenced all those people.
Long Yelin slapped the desk. "My imperial father must know every detail of this."
"Your Majesty, this matter is not simple," Zhou Ruiyuan said. "If there was more to Chu Yuanhai's case than met the eye, then the confiscation was merely a show. What was the true secret hidden behind it?"
Long Yelin said quietly, "If my imperial father concealed something about this matter,