Chapter 321 Suicide out of fear of crime

Chapter 321 Suicide out of fear of crime

Chapter 321 Suicide out of fear of crime
The next morning, Liu Huan came to the chief steward's office exhausted and found the chief secretary Zhou Mo sitting beside him. He couldn't help but curse in his heart, why is Zhou Mo always here? Does this bastard have nothing to do, or is he trying hard to please the new chief steward?

"I am here to see the chief steward!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Sima Liu. What is the damage?"

"Reporting to the chief steward, a total of 6,500 dan of grain was burned, of course, all of it was old grain!"

"How could we lose so much?"

Xiao Xia frowned, "No rescue at all?"

Liu Huan sighed and said, "General Manager, you don't know that Warehouse No. 1 is our largest granary, which can store up to 10,000 dan of grain. Unfortunately, there were still 100,000 dan of fodder in the warehouse, so it was burned thoroughly and there was no grain to save!"

Xiao Xia nodded, "I have asked Zhou Changshi to be in charge of the investigation. Sima Liu will be temporarily suspended for three days!"

"what?"

Liu Huan was shocked, "Why do you want me to be suspended?"

Xiao Xia said coldly: "Not only you, all officials involved in the granary must be suspended pending investigation. I suspect that this is to destroy evidence, fearing that I will find problems when I inspect the granary tomorrow."

"No! No!"

Liu Huan immediately said anxiously: "The manager can investigate me, but he has no power to suspend me!"

Xiao Xia took out a gold medal from the Censorate and said coldly, "I am not suspending you in my capacity as the Chief Steward. I am announcing your suspension for three days in my capacity as the Chief Censor. Do you understand?"

Liu Huan's face turned pale, he lowered his head and said: "It is absolutely not my fault to burn down the warehouse!"

"Then you don't have to worry. Don't worry, if there is no evidence, I will not wrongly accuse any official. I hope Sima Liu will stay at home honestly."

Liu Huan had no choice. He dared not go against the Censorate no matter what, so he had to hand over the official seal and return home for investigation. Soon, the army surrounded his residence and put him under house arrest.

Not only Liu Huan, but seven officials involved in the granary were also suspended and placed under house arrest.

Xiao Xia formally formed an investigation team, with Zhou Mo as the head, to investigate the burning of the granary, and more importantly, the corruption behind the burning of the granary.

At noon, Xiao Xia found Sun Lei again. He took out a small bottle and handed it to Sun Lei.

"Sneak into his house at night, knock him unconscious and pour poison into his mouth. Don't leave it too late. He usually stays in his study before going to bed. Be careful not to be discovered by his concubine."

Sun Lei nodded, "Please rest assured, I will sneak into his study room in advance. One person is enough!"

Xiao Xia turned around and left. He didn't have that much time to reason with Liu Huan. Anyone who went against him would die!

Liu Huan's wife and children were not in Chenliu County, only a concubine followed him.

It was late at night, and the hot water for washing feet that the concubine had poured was almost cold, but Liu Huan had not come yet.

The concubine was a little anxious, so she carried the copper basin and walked towards the study.

The door of the study was half-open, the light was on inside and it was very quiet. The concubine pushed the door sideways and went in, only to see the most horrifying scene of her life.

Liu Huan was seen half lying on the couch with his head tilted back. Black blood was flowing from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. He looked extremely terrifying.

"what--"

The concubine screamed, and the copper basin fell to the ground with a clang, splashing hot water. The concubine turned around and stumbled away, shouting, "Hurry up! Something's happened to the master!"

In less than half an hour, Chief Clerk Zhou Mo arrived with a dozen officials.

The scene before them scared everyone. It was obvious that Liu Huan had died of poison. Judge Zheng Shaolin was from the Dali Temple and had experience in solving cases.

He picked up the small bottle on the ground and smelled it, his face changed and he said, "It's Hedinghong!"

Zhou Mo looked around the room and found it tidy. There was no mess on the table. There was no letter written or book read. It seemed that he was just sitting there quietly. It was obvious that he had committed suicide by taking poison.

At this time, someone shouted, "The manager is here!"

Everyone quickly stepped aside, and Xiao Xia strode into the room. Zhou Mo stepped forward and bowed, "Meet the chief steward!"

Xiao Xia looked around and asked, "Did Mr. Zhou find anything suspicious?"

"Reporting to the chief steward, from the current perspective, Sima Liu should have committed suicide by taking poison!"

"Take poison and commit suicide?"

Xiao Xia said coldly: "What reason does he have to commit suicide by taking poison?"

"General Manager, according to my preliminary investigation today, I found that the accounts of the money and grain warehouse were in disarray. For a long time, about eight months, there was no record of the income and expenditure. In addition, the soldiers generally reported that the food they were given was insufficient. There is a big problem here, and even burning down the warehouse cannot cover it up."

"So the Chief Secretary believes that Sima Liu committed suicide out of fear of punishment?"

"Exactly!"

Xiao Xia nodded, "There is no doubt that Sima Liu committed suicide. As for the investigation of the granary fire, don't rush to draw conclusions. After the investigation is complete, report to the court. I will temporarily serve as Sima on the finance side."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

When Xiao Xia said that he would temporarily serve as Sima, Zhou Mo was suddenly touched. The biggest beneficiary of Liu Huan's death was actually the new chief steward.

Xiao Xia turned and left. Judge Zheng Shaolin, who had been silent the whole time, quietly pulled Zhou Mo aside and whispered, "It's a bit strange that Sima Liu committed suicide!"

"How do you know?"

"Chief Secretary, what Sima Liu drank was Hedinghong. Once the poison of Hedinghong takes effect, the person who took the poison will roll on the ground in pain, wailing and screaming desperately. However, Sima Liu was sitting neatly on the table, his posture did not change, and he was very quiet. His concubine did not hear anything. This is not right!"

"You mean, Sima Liu was poisoned after he died?"

"No, what I mean is that Sima Liu should have fainted when he took the poison, and was in a deep coma, which is why he sat still when the poison took effect. This is the only explanation, otherwise it doesn't make sense at all."

Zhou Mo took a deep breath. This meant that Liu Huan did not commit suicide, but was poisoned. He suddenly guessed the truth.

Zhou Mo said calmly: "Don't think about so many details. Someone has to take responsibility for the burning of the granary. Sima Liu's death was quite timely. Let's just leave it at that!"

Zheng Shaolin was born in the Zheng family of Xingyang, and Zhou Mo was the son-in-law of the Zheng family. They were from the same faction. Since Zhou Changshi said so, he no longer insisted and nodded, saying, "I agree to close the case!"

It was almost two o'clock when Zhou Mo returned to his official residence. He was worried and had trouble falling asleep in his study.

At this time, his wife Zheng came in with a cup of Tremella fuciformis and ginseng tea and gently placed it on the table. Seeing her husband's worried look, she asked with concern, "What happened?"

Zhou Mo sighed and said, "Liu Huan took poison and died tonight."

Zheng was startled and asked, "Did he commit suicide by taking poison because of the fire in the granary?"

"That's what happened on the surface, but in fact, I suspect he was killed by the new chief steward. If I'm not mistaken, the granary fire was also caused by the new chief steward. In this case, it's reasonable for Liu Huan to commit suicide out of fear of punishment."

Zheng gently covered her mouth and said in horror, "No way! I heard that the new steward is less than 20 years old. Is he so cruel?"

Zhou Mo sighed again, "He is the grandson of the emperor. The struggle for imperial power has always been bloody. Today I have experienced it."

"Liu Huan's murder was also a struggle for imperial power?"

Zhou Mo nodded. "Liu Huan is a man of Han Wang Yang Liang. He has always controlled the financial power. The previous chief steward, Hou Hou Mo Chen, could not do anything to him. Now that the new chief steward has taken office, he has repeated his old tricks and tried to continue to control the financial power. The new chief steward did not argue with him, but directly killed him, and also charged him with suicide out of fear of punishment. His means are very clever. It can be seen that this seventh grandson of the emperor is not ordinary powerful."

Zheng became even more worried, "Will he kill my husband as well?"

Zhou Mo shook his head. "Those who follow him will prosper, and those who go against him will perish. Anyway, I won't take sides. I'll just follow him. Maybe he will give me power."

Zheng said quickly, "My husband is right. The struggle for imperial power has nothing to do with us. Just be a good subordinate and follow the steward's wishes. I don't care about anything else. I just hope my husband is safe and sound."

Zhou Mo sighed secretly in his heart. Once the emperor passed away, the battle among the five dragons for the throne would reach its climax and the war would break out. Everyone was involved in it and how could they be spared? He just hoped that the new steward would be the final winner.

(End of this chapter)