Huan Jinmo arrived outside the warehouse, but did not immediately open it. It wasn't until dawn that several other people arrived, each with their own entourage.
Huan Jinmo was clearly very dissatisfied with the group's late arrival.
He raised his eyebrows and sneered, "General Liu, you must know about the fall of Minhe, right? At such a critical moment, instead of rushing to do what the Prince has arranged, you're spending time with your concubine. You really don't respect the Prince at all."
Liu Xiangming said coldly, "Which eye of yours saw me going to be with my concubine? Just because I spend my days fooling around in my concubine's bed doesn't mean everyone is like you. When Minhe fell, I was so anxious that I didn't sleep all night, busy mobilizing troops to share the burden for Your Highness. I just received Your Highness's order and rushed over here without stopping."
The two had always been at odds, and the others were used to their constant verbal sparring and backstabbing whenever they met.
The others remained silent, letting the two argue.
In reality, both of them knew their limits. They argued, but they didn't dare to delay the prince's important business.
Without needing anyone to intervene, the two argued for a while, then each took out a key and walked towards the warehouse door.
The others also tacitly took out their keys and headed towards the warehouse. This was the routine procedure they always followed when retrieving items from the warehouse, and they were all familiar with it.
But today, they were all dumbfounded.
The passageway leading into the inner treasury was riddled with arrows, indicating that someone had triggered a mechanism set up in the passageway.
A sense of foreboding washed over them, and they all rushed toward the inner storeroom. At that moment, they still held onto a sliver of hope, until they saw the empty storeroom, at which point they were utterly devastated.
Huan Jinmo paced back and forth in the storeroom, looking at the place that had once been filled with weapons but was now empty, muttering to himself, "How could this be? How could this happen?"
The warehouse lock was secure, so how could the things inside have vanished?
Liu Xiangming also looked serious. At this moment, he couldn't care less about arguing with Huan Jinmo.
Everything in the warehouse is gone, but the key is still intact. Even if they had a thousand mouths, they couldn't explain it.
The prince must have assumed that the five of them had conspired to steal the warehouse without anyone noticing.
Having followed Prince Duan for so long, they knew his temperament all too well.
When that time comes, I'm afraid none of them will survive.
The group exchanged glances, all seeing the same look in each other's eyes.
That meant they had to escape with their families before the prince found out. Escaping now offered a chance of survival; once the prince found out, their entire family would be forced to commit suicide.
Although I understand it in my heart, actually doing it feels as painful as scraping flesh off my body.
They had served Prince Duan for many years, and the fact that he entrusted the keys to five of them for safekeeping demonstrates the extent of his trust in them.
With such trust, they will undoubtedly be rewarded with high-ranking official positions and generous salaries after Prince Duan ascends the throne.
Before this, he had never even considered betraying the country.
But the current situation forces them to take that path.
Although they were reluctant, they were all decisive people. Soon, they hardened their hearts and took action.
Meanwhile, Prince Duan had spent the entire night tormenting his newly acquired male prostitutes, and just as he finished venting his anger, he received news that the five of them were about to be taken advantage of.
Prince Duan was a suspicious man by nature, so it was impossible for him to completely trust any of them.
Therefore, when entrusting the secret vault to these individuals, he also arranged for people to keep an eye on their families. His fear was that they might collude and take the contents of the vault to another party.
Despite making such arrangements, Prince Duan was certain that the men would not easily betray him.
To his utter surprise, at this critical juncture, he heard news of unusual changes in the families of several people.
The Prince Duan, exuding a fierce aura, coldly ordered, "Take them all under control!"
The messenger was so frightened that he didn't dare to breathe and buried his head in the ground.
Prince Duan kicked him, yelling, "Get out of here!"
After he finished cursing, he called over a few more people and ordered them to take their men and cooperate in bringing them under complete control.
Now is precisely the time when we need capable people, and yet this has to happen. The more Prince Duan thought about it, the angrier and angrier he became.
But he couldn't afford to get angry at that moment. Until he saw it with his own eyes, he still hoped it was just a misunderstanding.
He suppressed his temper and rushed to the secret vault, but the final result only made him angrier.
His weapons, food, and gold and silver...
So much stuff—that represented most of his fortune! And just like that, it's all gone…
How dare you betray him!
He's going to skin them alive!
Prince Duan almost lost his mind, completely disregarding Minhe's situation, and sent a large number of people to capture Huan Jinmo and others.
Because the incident happened suddenly and there was insufficient preparation, Huan Jinmo and the others were quickly apprehended.
Prince Duan coldly looked at the group and said, "Speak, who have you all colluded with? Where have the things in my warehouse been moved to?"
Huan Jinmo knelt on the ground, somewhat resigned to his fate, and said, "Your Highness, if I say I didn't take anything from the warehouse, would you believe me?"
The others also stated that they did not take anything from the warehouse. They said they ran away because they were ordered by him to go to the warehouse to move things, but they found that the things inside were missing. They felt that they could not explain it clearly, so they thought of running away.
Would Prince Duan believe them? Of course not.
Not only did he not believe it, but he was also furious, feeling that the people were fooling him.
Enraged, he personally intervened and subjected several people to severe torture.
While he was interrogating his men under torture, Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan had already left the city with a warehouse full of goods.
Yesterday, the two visited most of the pharmacies in Baiyue, and now Jiang Tangtang has a considerable amount of sulfur and saltpeter. This much raw material should be more than enough for her experiments.
As for the mass production of gunpowder once it's made, she'll have to figure out how to find the raw materials herself!
Sulfur and saltpeter, which are not commonly used medicines, are not kept in very large quantities by pharmacies.
Having accomplished their planned mission, the two decided to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible.
On the way back, Lu Shiyan used his light-footed skills to carry Jiang Tangtang.
Jiang Tangtang was only eager to get back and see what was stored in Prince Duan's warehouse. On the way back, she didn't make Lu Shiyan stop to gather herbs as often as she had on the way there, and the two of them went even faster than on the way there.
Before nightfall, the two arrived in Puzhou.
Despite not sleeping a wink all night, Jiang Tangtang wasn't tired at all. She was incredibly excited. Once back at the manor, she couldn't wait to close the door and examine the items she'd taken from the Prince Duan's secret treasury.
Every time Jiang Tangtang read it, she couldn't help but sigh. No wonder Prince Duan had so many people guarding the secret vault.
There were simply too many things in the warehouse.
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