The next day, Long Yue and Li Qingmu got up early and went outside the Liu Mansion, where they saw Liu Hui eagerly seeing Qi Junyi off before following him.

The couple exchanged a smile and, with a leap, quietly entered the Liu Mansion.

Today, the Liu Mansion seemed particularly empty, as most of the servants and maids had followed Liu Hui to serve Qi Junyi. Only a few remained to guard the place, hardly of any use beyond watching the gate.

In fact, if there were a real robber, these people would hardly be able to stop them, let alone Li Qingmu and Long Yue.

The two moved through the Liu Mansion as if unchallenged.

"Liu Hui has served as the Prefect of Liuzhou City for fifteen years. Everything appears stable, but as we traveled here, we saw countless beggars on the streets, revealing numerous bankrupt households. Has he ever shown any concern for the displaced common folk? He consumes the royal salary, yet acts disloyally. Truly, it’s despicable!"

Li Qingmu felt a wave of anger thinking of those impoverished people.

"This Liu Hui must have accepted numerous bribes. Look at his decor; even the bases of the table legs are gilded. What ordinary official would do something like this?"

Li Qingmu and Long Yue entered a room and saw the table and chair legs gilded at the bottom, looking very exquisite.

But how much gold would it take to gild a circle like this?

Such gold could allow an ordinary family to live in wealth for several lifetimes!

What an extravagant waste!

"This Liu Hui has issues, big issues. Let’s find the account books!"

Long Yue was also angry. She used to disregard such matters, but now it was different. Her husband belonged to the Qi Imperial Family, and her father was the Supreme Emperor, equivalent to half the ruler of the Da Zhou World. With rats in their own house, how could they ignore it?

Indeed, people are like this; they won’t worry about things until it concerns themselves, since there are few saints in this world.

The couple exchanged whispers and went to look for the accounting room.

Of course, since they were in the room, they naturally searched it to avoid missing anything.

But the room had no special items and no hidden compartments or mechanisms. They searched for a while and then left.

The Liu Mansion was large, but they didn’t find it troublesome and searched room by room. After all, they didn’t know Liu Hui well. What if he was a paranoid character who hid some evidence in the woodshed?

On the first day, they went through the front courtyard without rewarding results but restored everything to its original state. With their skills, this was no difficult task.

On the second day, Liu Hui left again with Qi Junyi, destination unknown. Li Qingmu and Long Yue continued to explore Liu Mansion for evidence.

However, by the end of the day, they found nothing.

This time, they had almost searched the majority of the Liu Mansion but still didn’t find any evidence.

"In the accounting room at Liu Mansion, there were only records of daily expenditures but no account books of income,"

At this moment, Li Qingmu and Long Yue stood in the accounting room of the Liu Mansion, having searched it for a long time but only found expenditure details without any records of income.

"Their income must be questionable; otherwise, how do they support such large expenses? Even just looking at the expenses, it’s obvious Liu Hui has wrongfully taken much from the people."

"Indeed, but these expenditures alone are far from convicting him. We need to find more solid evidence."

Li Qingmu frowned, feeling resigned. How could they come to his mansion and find nothing?

This Liu Hui was indeed meticulous!

Then again, how could he reach such a position without attention to detail?

"A Mu, could it be that we’re looking in the wrong direction?"

Long Yue suddenly thought of something and spoke to the man beside her.

Li Qingmu was slightly taken aback, "Hmm?"

"Perhaps the account books are not in the accounting room. After all, such important things might not be carelessly placed there."

Li Qingmu touched his chin thoughtfully, "Even though an accounting room is managed by the owner’s most trusted person, people’s loyalties shift. Today they are loyal, but tomorrow they might betray you. Loyalty often just means the betrayal terms weren’t attractive enough!"

Li Qingmu’s words revealed the truth about human nature.

The couple exchanged a glance and simultaneously said, "The account books are on him!"

Indeed, this was the only way he’d feel confident to go out and play with Qi Junyi, leaving the accounting books in the accounting room to his trusted aide.

Because whether that aide was loyal or not, he could ensure his secrets would not leak out.

"But if the account books are on his person, wouldn’t he worry about losing them or having them snatched away?"

Account books being taken might not happen, but someone might snatch a money bag by accident.

Though, it’s hard to say.

Li Qingmu considered this and said, "Let’s go check his room. If he really carries them with him, then his clothes would have a pocket large enough for an account book."

Many people sewed small pockets in their clothes lining or sleeves for easy carrying of items.

So, the couple went straight to Liu Hui’s room.

The master bedroom and other rooms were easy to identify, and they found them effortlessly.

His room was very tidy and polished, and extremely luxurious. The ground was inlaid with gems, covered with fine fox fur. The bed was made of the most precious wood, and the curtains were high-grade silk...

Li Qingmu felt a shiver down his spine, wondering if he should go back and refurbish his own furniture.

His home didn’t indulge in such extravagance!

It’s shocking to see!

"This corrupt official!"

Long Yue was also furious. As members of the Imperial Family, the money they used came from the National Treasury, the taxes paid by the people. They couldn’t be so wasteful even if they wanted to, especially under the diligent rule of Qi Yun, the Emperor, so the Princes dared not go overboard. Look at this Liu Hui, really inhumane!

"Search!"

The couple split up to look through the clothes in the room.

There were many wardrobes to open, but since they were only looking for clothes, it wasn’t too troublesome. Soon, Long Yue and Li Qingmu found his clothes.

The man had many clothes, filling up three whole wardrobes.

And to their delight, each piece indeed had a small pocket sewn into them, just the size of an account book!

The pocket even had a small toggle clasp to secure the mouth, ensuring the account book wouldn’t fall out.

Excellent, they had finally found the evidence of this corrupt official’s crimes!