Children of Loulan

Chapter 253 Ran away?

Aidil continued, "It's just right. After checking these goods tomorrow, I think the people sent by the Prime Minister should be arriving soon!"

Ali Kuti asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, are you saying that the Prime Minister sent someone to deliver this batch of goods?"

Aidil nodded and explained, "After the fake goods were found in West City, construction has been suspended for more than a month. So my father specially sent the prime minister to transport the new goods to West City in time so that the construction of West City can be resumed as soon as possible."

The next morning, just after the sun rose, Aidil could not wait to follow Alikuti to the warehouse. They carefully checked the stones and wood sent by the Tang Dynasty. These items had been processed initially, but they still needed to be processed more carefully after being transported to Xicheng. As General Alikuti said, these things were of high quality and there was no problem. The granite was extremely hard, and the fine wood exuded a faint wood fragrance, which made people feel comfortable and at ease.

Then, Aidil questioned the rest of the escorts one by one, and each person answered his questions in detail and provided information about the source of the goods, the route of the transportation process, and the amount of goods transported each time. After some investigation, Aidil finally got the confessions of everyone and left Liancheng with the evidence.

However, on the second day after they left Liancheng, the people sent by the prime minister to escort the goods arrived in Liancheng. Because they had a large number of people and needed to bring enough camels and trailers to load the goods, their journey was relatively slow. Aidil and his group were lightly equipped and riding horses, so their journey was much faster!

At this time, the people who went out to investigate Aman and Aguli in the capital reported back at the same time, "Your Highness, according to our investigation, Aman's family only has an elderly mother and a helper who is responsible for taking care of her. He sends most of his monthly salary to his mother every month. He and his mother only have one property in their names, which is where his mother lives now. It is a mud-walled house and is not worth much!"

Keremu frowned and asked in confusion, "What about the farmland?"

The man replied, "In order to send A'man to join the army, his mother sold the only farmland in the family to buy him new clothes and to pay for his military expenses. Later, although he sent money back every month, his mother always wanted to find him a good wife in the future, so she hid the money in her cellar after paying for the necessary expenses and did not buy any property."

Keremu frowned and said in a serious tone: "According to common sense, if ordinary people want to marry a good wife and mother, they must first own some fertile farmland, right?"

The man replied respectfully, "I have asked her servant, and he said that the old lady is worried that once she buys all the necessary items, it will attract thieves. As an elderly woman, she will not be able to compete with thieves. Therefore, she decided to wait for her son to return and give him all the money. Then she will buy various fields and items according to her needs. After all, her son was a soldier, so he will not be afraid of a few small thieves."

Keremu continued to ask: "Who is that helper?"

"The helper was her neighbor, a kind and gentle man. The two families had lived together for many years and had a harmonious relationship. Later, as the old lady grew older, Aman asked the neighbor to help take care of her and paid her wages every month."

Keremu nodded slightly to show his approval, and then asked: "So what's the situation with Aguli? Is there any progress?"

Another person responded quickly: "After leaving Prince Cheng's Mansion that day, Captain Aguli went straight back to his residence. Not long after, a man quietly entered his house through the back door. The man stayed for about half an hour before leaving. According to our investigation, the man was the housekeeper of the Grand Historian's Mansion. After it was completely dark, Captain Aguli disguised himself and went to Yanchun Tower on North West Street."

Keremu frowned and said, "Yanchunlou... I have heard that the consumption level there is not low."

The man agreed, "Yes, Your Majesty. It is said that the minimum consumption in Yanchunlou is fifteen taels of silver. If you want to order a better girl, you have to spend at least thirty or forty taels of silver."

Keremu thought for a moment and said, "With his monthly salary, he probably can't afford such expenses."

The man nodded and said, "Indeed, I have already investigated and found that his monthly salary is only two taels of silver. Even if you add in some special mission rewards and bonuses, it is difficult for him to make more than thirty taels of silver in a year."

Keremu nodded slightly, indicating that he already understood the situation, and then asked: "Besides this, what else have you found out?"

The man quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I sneaked into his home while he was at the brothel. After searching, I found an iron box under his bed, which contained five hundred taels of silver!"

Hearing this number, Keremu couldn't help but chuckle: "Haha, five hundred taels? This is not a small amount! According to his salary, this is equivalent to his income for more than ten years!"

The man continued, "Not only that, I also found out that on the day the king ordered a thorough investigation, the entire family of Taishi Ling left the capital, claiming that they were going to a temple outside the city to burn incense and that they would stay in the temple for a few more days. But according to the report from my people who went to the temple, they did not go to burn incense!"

Keremu raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Run away?"

The man lowered his head and answered firmly: "Based on the information we have so far, they did escape!"

Keremu continued to ask: "So, in the next two days, did Aguli and Taishi Ling do anything else?"

The man answered truthfully: "The Grand Historian is still living his life as usual, without any abnormal behavior. As for Captain Aguli, he is asking around to find out where A'man is recovering from his injuries."

Keremu snorted coldly, "Humph, you want to know whether Aman is dead or not?" He pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, you guys go down and continue to monitor the two of them!"

The two people who came to report the news replied respectfully: "Yes, I will take my leave!"

After the two of them left, Keremu looked at Hanguli who was silent and asked, "What do you think of the Grand Historian's actions, Princess?"

Hanguli was a little surprised to hear the prince's abrupt question. She raised her hand and pointed at herself gently, looking at the prince, as if asking if he was asking her.

Keremu chuckled, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, with a faint smile, he slowly said: "Are there other princesses here?"

Hanguli was shocked and quickly lowered her head, not daring to look at the prince again. At the same time, she was also surprised that the prince would ask her about state affairs, but she still began to think about it seriously.

After a while, Hanguli raised her head, looked at the prince carefully, and said softly: "I think..." She paused and continued,

"I think that the Grand Historian sent his family away early just to protect them, and he was just a small Grand Historian who could not control such a big conspiracy. So I think he most likely knew something and knew that it would be difficult for him to extricate himself from this matter, so he had to resort to this last resort." After saying this, Hanguli lowered her head again, waiting for the prince's response.