There were not many people who knew that the Sheng Palace had been robbed. The Eighth Prince had always believed that it was his own servants who had stolen from the palace and that there was a spy in the palace who was killing wave after wave of people.
But it wasn't until he was informed that the homes of countless officials in the capital had been robbed, and even the treasury of the bank had been emptied, that he realized that he had done something stupid these days — he had killed the wrong person! But could it be that there really was a "divine thief of the shadows"? That it could be so mysterious that even his hidden guards could not find the truth? That it could be so mysterious that all those chests had been taken away from the Sheng Palace without anyone noticing?
The Eighth Prince would not believe it even if he died!
He was suspicious of the divine thief of the shadows. After calming down for four hours, he began a new round of killings. He even had a new level of understanding of the officials and the bank that had been robbed. All of this was because the aide at his side had said: "Has Your Highness carefully examined this list of names?" While saying this, he handed over a piece of paper in his hand. At the same time, he explained to the Eighth Prince: "They are all Your Highness' henchmen. They all said that they had lost all of their wealth. Your Highness still needs to consider this matter carefully."
Xuantian Mo did not react in the beginning. He only said with a heavy expression: "This means that the person who stole it is standing against me. It can't be some divine thief of the jianghu. This should be a meticulous plan. The goal is to break my wings."
The aide shook his head deeply, "Your Highness, think about it from another level."
Xuantian Mo tightly furrowed his brow. Another level? The aide's words seemed to have opened a window for him. Xuantian Mo suddenly remembered that after returning to the capital, he had secretly gathered these officials for a meeting. He intended to raise a private army in the South, and he needed financial support. Although these henchmen did not have high positions, with the support of his guards, each family had their own business that made money. They were just waiting for the day when he needed money, and they would be able to take it out.
At that time, no one had objected. After all, their source of income was supported by the Eighth Prince. They all knew that this day would come sooner or later. The discussion that day was quite pleasant. Otherwise, those officials would not have taken such a big risk to oppose Feng Yu Heng at the palace banquet and achieved such a significant effect. But this was all on the surface. After all, those people hadn't handed over their money yet. The day of payment was set to be the fifteenth of the first month of the lunar calendar. But now, something like this had happened. Could it be … "You mean, they colluded?" He asked his aide. "In order to not pay the money, they lied that their house was robbed?"
The advisor declined to comment. "Your Highness is right. There was no lack of courageous people in this world, but courage alone was not enough. Who had the ability to steal so much wealth in one night? Even the money in the bank was so much that they had to rely on carriages to transport it, right? But if they used a convoy, it would be impossible for them to be quiet. "
Xuantian Mo felt that what the advisor said was very reasonable. He immediately believed that those people were unwilling to hand over their wealth and had come up with this plan. But right now, he could not act too hastily. This matter needed to be observed for a few more days. After all, the things in the Sheng Palace had been stolen in a strange manner. Looking at the method used, it was the same as what those officials had experienced. He could kill all the servants in the palace to get rid of any future problems, but he could not kill that many officials at once.
The Eighth Prince hesitated and hesitated. The officials whose houses had been stolen did not dare to report it for the time being. Instead, they first told the Eighth Prince about this matter. The response they received was to wait and see.
On the other side, Feng Yu Heng did not stop. For three days in a row, she would go out of the palace dressed in night clothes to commit crimes. With the Eighth Prince's reminder, the people who had not had their treasures stolen for the time being made sure that their treasures were well protected. There were even some officials who did not sleep and personally brought a chair into the room to watch!
Like this, it should not be lost again, right?
Unfortunately, it was useless. Feng Yu Heng used her space to silently enter the room. Like a ghost, she appeared behind the person guarding the room and chopped at the back of the person's neck. Seeing that official faint on the chair like a dead pig, the treasures in the room were all taken by Feng Yu Heng.
Over the course of three days, all of the officials, merchants and banks in the Eighth Prince's faction had been robbed by her. It was just that she only took the banknotes and the money from the banks. She did not touch the other assets of the banks. She felt that this was very moral.
Three days later, the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo, did his best to suppress this matter and resolve it on his own, but in the end, there were people who could no longer sit still and filed a complaint to the governor, Xu Jingyuan. There were also some people who had planned to follow the Eighth Prince's arrangements, but they were no longer resolute because there were rumors that all of this was done by the Eighth Prince. He was worried that they would not hand over the money, thus he sent people to rob them.
The people angrily reported the matter of their families losing their apertures to the government office. They argued for Xu Jingyuan to provide them with justice, and they argued for Xu Jingyuan to find the "divine thief Vanishing Shadow" that had snuck into the capital.
Xu Jingyuan had originally been quite concerned about this matter. He also felt that it was strange. How could she have stolen from so many families without anyone noticing? Also, she had emptied the entire room. Was that something that a single person could do? At the very least, it would require a group of a few dozen people, right? But he was also confused. The other families were fine, but these officials and merchants had been robbed. Did they take him for an idiot? These were all people from the eighth prince's faction. Among them, there was a portion that had caused trouble for Imperial Daughter Ji An during the new year's banquet, forcing Imperial Daughter Ji An to close Hundred Herb Hall. They were also preparing to leave the capital for their fief.
What did this mean? It was possible that this matter had been arranged by the imperial daughter's side. With this sort of case being reported to him, he needed to use a different method to investigate it properly.
Xu Jingyuan made up his mind, and a fox-like smile appeared on his face. He immediately began a court session, and he did not ask the merchants. Instead, he asked the officials: "Lost money? How much exactly was lost? Making a false report is punishable by a crime. "
The officials were confused, "What false report? We really did lose so much money, didn't we? How could this be a false report? "
Xu Jingyuan nodded neither quickly nor slowly: "Oh, it's not a false report. That is to say, your manors really do have that much money?"
"Isn't that just nonsense?" There were some people that were impatient to begin with. In addition to being this angry, they immediately said: "If we don't have that much money, how could we have lost it?"
"Since that's the case, my lords, go back and bring your account books over. This official will investigate it." Xu Jingyuan's expression became stern, as the corners of his lips curled up into a sneer.
"What do you want our account books for?" The people were dazed, "What we lost was money. What does that have to do with account books?"
"That's right! We are operating a proper business. "
The people went back and forth, not understanding why Xu Jingyuan had brought up account books. After waiting for these people to calm down for a while, Xu Jing Yuan finally said to the official that had been the most boisterous: "Lord Zhao, based on what this official knows, your family is just managing two cloth shops. They can't be considered the upper class cloth shops in the capital. The cloth shops are also in the Northeast of the capital. The people that live there are just middle-class citizens. How much money can the two cloth shops make in a single year? How much salary does a standard fourth rank official like you have? I fear that you won't even be able to make back the money that you lost in ten years, right? As for your cloth shop, it has only been open for three years! This official just wants to ask, where did the money that you lost come from? "
"This …" Lord Zhao was speechless. Where did it come from? Either way, they were not from the proper path. It was not as if the account books could not be shown to others. Which family did not have two account books when doing business, one for the light and one for the dark? But he and everyone else that had come to complain finally understood something: This Xu Jingyuan was one of the seventh prince's people! Since he wanted to investigate the account books, how could he not find any clues? Once a problem was found, the source of the money had to be investigated. Last year, he had helped to sell off a minor sixth rank official. Could this sort of thing be exposed?
In an instant, the officials lost their spirit, as they all began to retreat. There were even some that began to laugh, expressing that they would go back and investigate further. Perhaps their madam had changed locations. That much money could not have been emptied in an instant!
There was another that said: "Perhaps the money that was sent to the bank was used by the family. He needs to go home and ask."
In just a few words, the officials who had been clamoring earlier all found excuses to leave. Only the rich merchants were left in the court.
These wealthy merchants were not stupid. If the officials had a gray income, it would affect their career, but they were not afraid. They were purely businessmen. No matter how much money their families said they had, it was not something that the government could control. Thus someone said: "Then Lord Xu should take care of the cases of us being robbed, right? We don't live off of the court's salary! "
Xu Jingyuan nodded, "Un, you will need to investigate properly. Alright, go back and wait. When this official has finished investigating, you will be informed." With just a few words, he sent them away. Even after the wealthy merchants returned home, they still did not come to a realization.
Xu Jingyuan, however, snorted coldly, as he secretly cursed those wealthy merchants for being brainless. They were just merchants. Of Da Shun's farmers, merchants were ranked at the bottom. He might need to spend a bit of effort to deal with some officials, but getting rid of a few merchants was too easy. Just wait. This case will take at least a year or two. If you're anxious, just come every day and accompany me.
When the news reached the imperial daughter's manor, Wang Chuan became suspicious. He carefully asked Feng Yu Heng: "I heard that those lords lost all of their money. Young Miss, was it done by you?"
Feng Yu Heng sat on the swing in the yard while eating pastries. She shook her head and refused to admit it, "No, no. Look, I'm with you all every day. When have I ever gone out?"
The corners of Wang Chuan's lips twitched: "You have always slept on your own at night."
"Even if I went out at night, Ban Zou would at least find out!" Feng Yu Heng argued strongly, refusing to admit it no matter what.
Huang Quan was standing behind her and pushing the swing. Hearing this sort of argument, he felt that if he did not say anything, he would not be able to hold it in any longer, thus he said: "But when this servant came in this morning to help young miss fold her blankets, I found that the bed was cold. Young Miss, you did not sleep at all last night. "
Feng Yu Heng facepalmed, "Is there a need to be so careful?" Do you want to take the civil servant exam or something? You even know how to investigate cases.
"With this sort of master, how could it be alright to not be careful?" Ban Zou's voice suddenly came from inside the space. They then saw a black shadow suddenly appear in front of them.
Feng Yu Heng pointed at Ban Zou's clothes and said: "Wearing black at night is indeed quite good, but in the middle of the day, it's truly too eye-catching."
Ban Zou ignored her and just asked in a muffled voice: "You said that it wasn't done by you? Then may I ask master, where did the extra things in the storage room come from? "
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