Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1381

"I never said the criminal was the Duke of Zhenguo. Besides, how my Embroidered Uniform Guard investigates cases is none of your business!"

After hearing Mao Xiang's words, Mai Zhide realized that he had said the wrong thing, but fortunately it was not a big problem.

So after Mao Xiang finished speaking, Mai Zhide immediately admitted that he had made a slip of the tongue, and Mao Xiang did not pursue the matter further.

This kind of thing is fine to use as a scare tactic, but taking it too seriously won't get you anywhere and will only waste your time.

Mai Zhide was aware of this, so after admitting his slip of the tongue, he immediately steered the conversation back to his questioning.

"Mao Xiang, whether you conspired with Qian Jingguang to steal color-changing ink or participated in the money shop case, whatever crime you want to frame me for."

"Please produce evidence, otherwise I will definitely appeal to the imperial court. At that time, His Majesty will surely clear my name. And let me tell you something."

"You said there was a fire in the Ministry of Works' warehouse today, but I had no idea what happened. Yet you're framing me for it. This isn't over!"

Mai Zhide spoke with conviction, but he didn't know that Mao Xiang wasn't testing him; he was already certain that Mao Xiang was the culprit.

So no matter how Mai Zhide tried to explain, Mao Xiang didn't care; he just wanted to dig out the whole truth!

After Mai Zhide finished speaking, Mao Xiang slowly began to speak as well.

“Framed? No, I have a reasonable suspicion. The money exchange case involves the whole country, and the most crucial issue is the color-changing ink.”

"Besides the Duke of Zhenguo, you and Qian Jingguang are the most suspicious, because only the two of you could have access to the color-changing ink!"

"Now that the Duke of Zhenguo is imprisoned in the imperial prison, and the warehouse storing the color-changing ink has suddenly caught fire, shouldn't I suspect you?"

As he spoke, Mao Xiang strode directly to Mai Zhide's front, his eyes fixed on him.

However, Mai Zhide did not show the slightest cowardice, because he still believed that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had no evidence.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have arrested only him; they should have arrested Qian Jinguang as well and interrogated him in the imperial prison.

Since Qian Jingang was not arrested, it proves that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had no actual evidence, only suspicion and speculation.

So now, facing Mao Xiang, Mai Zhide was surprisingly calm and responded with a composed expression:

“You have the right to reasonable suspicion, but I have nothing to suspect. The so-called theft of ink is utter nonsense.”

"The money exchange case has absolutely nothing to do with me, and as for the warehouse fire you mentioned, I don't even know when it happened."

"I went to meet up with a friend after finishing my business today, and was brought back by the Imperial Guards as soon as I got home. On what grounds do they assume I am a suspect?"

Confident that Mao Xiang had no evidence, Mai Zhide spoke with great confidence, but then Mao Xiang said something unexpected.

"Although the warehouse in the Ministry of Works that stored ink was burned to the ground, my men found an oil drum in the ruins."

"The one that contained the color-changing ink, after being brought back and examined by the coroner, was found to contain mercury residue!"

The core of the money exchange case is the color-changing ink, and the mastermind behind it is secondary.

The most critical challenge with color-changing ink is that after it is stolen, the stockpile must match the consumption by the printing bureau.

Because those who tried to imitate this thing later could not replicate the effect at all, so they had no choice but to give up.

Afterwards, Mai Zhide put in a lot of effort to solve this problem, racking his brains before finally deciding to use mercury.

Although this method is only a temporary solution, it is at least usable and will not be noticed by the imperial court in the short term.

The reason is simple: the imperial court's printing of silver notes was not as unrestrained as the printing of paper money in the past; there were clear restrictions.

According to information provided by the mastermind behind the scheme, the printing of silver notes was based on the amount of silver in the national treasury recorded in the Ministry of Revenue's ledgers.