She couldn't help but scold the chubby boy, "Why didn't you say so sooner!"

Feeling guilty, the chubby boy quickly laughed and said, "It's okay, as long as I jump out, I'll be fine."

What else could Shen Mingzhuang say? If she wanted to get out of this jade bowl, she would have to take at least two steps. Now she had to jump out in one step, which was quite difficult for her!

"How am I supposed to get across? Fatty, you better think of something!"

The chubby boy wandered around the gold and silver mountains in the space, then stopped in front of a large red lacquered wooden box. He opened the box and began searching through a pile of precious treasures.

A moment later, he took out a dark, pitted, fist-sized stone, muttered something under his breath, and before Shen Mingzhuang could see it clearly, the chubby boy magically appeared in front of him.

How did you get out?

The chubby boy said succinctly, "This stone is what I'm looking for. With it, I can take on a physical form and stop sleeping in the space all day."

After saying that, he grabbed her hand and jumped over!

She suspected that if she hadn't stopped him, the chubby boy could have easily left the palace.

The next morning, the palace was in complete chaos.

The palace has been robbed! They've raided the Empress Dowager's private treasury!

This news was like a thunderbolt, immediately causing an uproar both inside and outside the court.

The palace was robbed, yet there was no trace of the thieves. What kind of skill could possibly allow them to empty the Empress Dowager's private treasury overnight without a sound?

Jiang Wang's expression was solemn. He ordered a thorough investigation into the matter and arranged for the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate to jointly handle the case, emphasizing the need to apprehend the thieves as soon as possible.

This has put the Three Departments in a difficult position. The private treasury was robbed last night, the Empress Dowager is currently unconscious, and all the servants in Cixi Palace know nothing about it. It's a case with no clear answer. Where do we even begin to investigate?

Minister of Justice Jiang Anyuan couldn't help but curse, "Whoever has the ability to find out this, I'll just give up my position to them!"

Yes, it really is a ghost story. The Three Offices have handled hundreds or even thousands of strange cases, but they have never encountered anything so bizarre.

Song Quanmin, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, couldn't help but mutter, "If the Empress Dowager's private treasury was emptied overnight, it must have been done by more than one person. But if it was more than one person, why didn't anyone else be alerted?"

Recently, Kyoto has been peaceful, and there has been no news of anyone in the martial arts world who can take things out of thin air. The matter quickly spread like wildfire, causing those petty thieves who usually enjoy petty theft to become more discreet, fearing that they would be used as scapegoats to appease the Empress Dowager.

Shen Mingzhuang remained oblivious to the world outside her palace. Jiang Wang found this rather strange; the girl was never this quiet on ordinary days. With such a major event happening in the palace these past few days, her sudden quietness was quite odd.

When Shen Mingzhuang saw him asking, he smiled and asked, "If I were to jump around like this now, wouldn't that arouse the Empress Dowager's suspicion? What would I do then? After all, without any clues, it would be easier to fabricate someone else."

Jiang Wang didn't think so. He reached out and gently pinched her nose, laughing, "Nonsense. The Empress Dowager is focused on finding the things that were lost from the private treasury. How could she just find someone to settle the matter? However, we are the only ones in the palace who are at odds with her, so she can easily suspect us. But you don't need to be so careful."

Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but smile coquettishly, dropping her pen and stepping forward to hug his arm, saying, "Then, if you were the Empress Dowager, what would you think?"

“Hmm…” Jiang Wang pondered for a moment before speaking, “If I were the Empress Dowager, I would naturally feel that this matter is inextricably linked to the Emperor. After all, I am the biggest beneficiary of the theft of the private treasury. She has lost the means to fight against me, and I can finally relax. I am the biggest beneficiary of this matter.”

Shen Mingzhuang enjoyed speaking to Jiang Wang in this calm and unassuming manner. Thinking about it, a thought struck him, and he asked with a smile, "Then, Your Majesty, who do you think stole the Empress Dowager's private treasury? I heard that it was completely emptied, leaving nothing behind!"

Jiang Wang couldn't help but sigh softly as he listened, and then stroked Ming Zhuang's hair again: "The situation is still very complicated, and it's hard to draw any conclusions yet. However, what is certain is that those things should still be in the palace."

After all, it's impossible to scale walls and roofs while carrying so much stuff. The fact that the person could empty the Empress Dowager's private treasury without making a sound shows that they were very familiar with the palace layout.

Seeing the complicated look on his face, Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but ask, "If you got these things, would you be happy?"

Asking such a question would seem a bit silly, Shen Mingzhuang knew that, but he couldn't help wanting to know.

"Most of the things in the Empress Dowager's private treasury were taken from the national treasury. They were just taken out and cleaned before being brought back. It would be a lie to say that she didn't want them. After all, the national treasury is empty right now. If we could have enough silver, we could solve the biggest problem at present."

The Ministry of Revenue is currently out of funds, and this is what's giving him a headache. Otherwise, he wouldn't be bothered with the princesses' dowries; after all, they are his own sisters, and he wouldn't be so heartless.

Yin Chen is now helping to collect funds from various households. Apart from a few dukes and nobles, they all said they had no money to contribute, and so far they have only managed to raise 20,000 taels of silver.

Twenty thousand taels of silver would be a considerable sum for ordinary expenses, but it was for disaster relief, and its use seemed like a drop in the ocean.

It's better than nothing, and at least it can keep the soup kitchens outside Kyoto afloat for a while.

Seeing this, Shen Mingzhuang felt sorry for Jiang Wang. After thinking for a moment, he tugged at Jiang Wang's sleeve, leaned closer, and whispered, "Jiang Wang, I think there's someone who might be able to help you."

Shen Mingzhuang had already discussed it with the little fat boy last night. All the things that were taken from the Empress Dowager's private treasury would be handed over to the court for disaster relief and to help the people. However, they still needed a pretext to give them away.

Now that the chubby boy had gotten what he wanted, he was naturally happy to help and immediately agreed. Shen Mingzhuang then suggested that the boy accompany him on his merchant journey to the Western Regions, showing compassion for the common people and offering to contribute funds to help Tianzhong save the world and alleviate suffering, thereby donating the gold and silver to the imperial court.

At that moment, she told him that a merchant had long admired the King of Tianzhong and wanted to meet him.

Jiang Wang was taken aback at first, then looked astonished. He had never heard of such a good thing before, and he was naturally skeptical. But since it was Shen Mingzhuang who made the offer, how could he bear to refuse? So he agreed.

She wanted to ask how she knew about this merchant, but before she could say it, she worried that Shen Mingzhuang would think she didn't believe her, so she swallowed the question back.