Fu Lu was on the heavy side, and by the time he reached Ning Chen he was completely out of breath.

Ning Chen smiled. "Don't rush, Lord Fu. Catch your breath first, then tell me."

He glanced over at Jiang Hui.

Jiang Hui went pale. He was about to explain when Ning Chen raised a hand to stop him.

Fu Lu got his breath back and pointed at Jiang Hui. "My lord prince, I went through the books all night, and a number of entries don't add up. It's not just the Great Xuan timber being overpriced. There are payments where I can't tell where the money went."

He took a ledger from one of the attendants behind him, flipped through a few pages, and held it out to Ning Chen. "Look at this payment, my lord prince. It says it's for stone... That's pure invention. Nearly all the stone comes from the Wu Kingdom."

"My lord prince, this official is accusing Lord Jiang Hui of embezzlement, of lining his own pockets... We're talking tens of thousands of taels of silver. It has to be looked into thoroughly."

Ning Chen took the ledger. The entry was a payment for Minghuang stone.

He didn't know much about this sort of thing, so he turned to Jiang Hui.

"My lord prince, this official has been wronged. I beg my lord prince to see the truth."

Even as Jiang Hui cried injustice, he didn't forget to hit back. "Lord Fu, stop slandering me... You're the one lining your pockets! This minister went through the books all night too. The stone shipped in from the Wu Kingdom costs five times the market price."

Fu Lu drew himself up straight. "That's right, five times the price. So what?"

Ning Chen: "..."

Jiang Hui jabbed a finger at him. "You've got some nerve, Fu Lu! You line your pockets and then brag about it?"

Ning Chen narrowed his eyes. "Lord Fu, it costs five times as much and you've still got the nerve to act like you're in the right? Or have you forgotten this prince…