Unlike Bao Lei's clear-headedness, the Princess's courtyard was also thoroughly searched.
The eldest princess, wearing only a nightgown, was tied up and thrown to the ground, still cursing wildly.
"You murderers, how dare you offend me! I am the eldest princess!"
Unfortunately, nobody paid any attention to her!
Jiang Cheng was looking through some account books when a soldier ran up to report to him.
"General, we've found the jade box, the pipe, and a roster!"
Jiang Cheng was delighted and immediately ordered, "Pack everything into boxes, seal them, and guard them closely!"
"Arrest everyone, regardless of master or servant, and throw them in jail!"
"Yes, General!" The soldiers sprang into action.
The eldest princess finally realized that she was about to face a terrible disaster!
"No, impossible!" She rolled frantically to Jiang Cheng's feet, shouting, "How do you know about the Immortal Ointment? It wasn't us, it wasn't us, it was Yaochi, Yaochi!"
Jiang Cheng kicked her away and cursed, "Whether it's the Immortal Cream or the Hibiscus Cream, they're both harmful things!"
"Now that we have both witnesses and physical evidence, how can you still deny it?"
"You fool who aids and abets evil, and you call yourself the eldest princess of Tianwu? Just wait to be beheaded!"
As he spoke, Jiang Cheng personally dragged her out and threw her away.
The vast princess's mansion was thoroughly searched, and more than a hundred servants and mistresses were tied up like dumplings and thrown outside.
Someone peered through the crack in a nearby door, getting a clear view, before running back to report to their master.
The early mornings at the end of winter are the coldest time of day, and even the old guard dogs stay huddled in their kennels, refusing to come out.
In the new capital, under the faint light of dawn, smoke rose from Yaochi everywhere, and the ruins and broken arms looked quite messy, with occasional patches of blood spreading.
Clearly, last night's arrest was extremely intense and dangerous.
The Marquis stood in a courtyard, watching as his soldiers carried several boxes out of a dark room in a house.
The box was full of hibiscus ointment the size of square bricks, tightly wrapped in oil paper.
The other boxes contained gold, silver, and various jewelry and jade ornaments, showing that the person who bought the hibiscus cream could pawn their belongings even if they ran out of money.
This shows just how crazy these people have become about the Hibiscus Cream!
In the courtyard outside the house, dozens of tightly bound human-shaped rice dumplings knelt side by side.
One of the middle-aged fat men, with his eyes darting around, somehow managed to untie the rope with his hands behind his back.
Taking advantage of the soldiers' inattention, he suddenly sprang up and ran towards the top of the wall.
Unfortunately, just as he climbed over the wall, he was slashed down with a knife and fell backward against the base of the wall.
Soldiers immediately stepped forward, retied him, and briefly tightened the bandages on his wounds to prevent him from bleeding to death. They then called to the brother in charge of recording the events and instructed him, "There's another escapee here. Make a note of him and interrogate him thoroughly!"
The fat man had been slashed in the shoulder and was in excruciating pain. When he heard that he was going to be interrogated, he couldn't hold on any longer and started howling.
"I'm just a cook, I'm not a bad person, boohoo, I want to atone for my sins!"
“Our head steward also has a hiding place, behind the cabinet in the back kitchen. I accidentally saw it the other day!”
A soldier immediately grabbed him and questioned, "You're a cook? Then why were you running away? Are you the owner here?"
"No, no! It hurts, it hurts!" The fat man was very afraid of dying, and he kept avoiding the wound while shouting.
"I was just trying to see what was hidden behind the cabinet when our head steward discovered me and tried to kill me."
“I was hiding behind the grain sacks when you suddenly burst in.”
“If I don’t run away, you’ll lock me up with other people, and our head steward will definitely try to kill me!”
"Waaah, I don't want to die! My mother has been arrested by the head steward!"
"I also want to find something to do with the head steward so I can get my mother back and leave this place as soon as possible!"
The fat man was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, but he didn't look like he was lying.
The Marquis walked to his side, looked him over carefully, and said, "Since you are a thoughtful person who wants to break free from Yaochi's control, you must have made other discoveries."
"I will have someone treat your injuries. Tell me everything you know and have seen!"
"As long as you haven't killed anyone and aren't the mastermind, I guarantee your safety!"
"Really?" The fat man was overjoyed, ignoring his wounds, and pleaded repeatedly, "My lord, please have mercy and rescue my mother too! Waaah, if something happens to my mother, I can't live either!"
The Marquis nodded, "We need to find where they're hiding first!"
"I know, I know!" the fat man shouted immediately. "A few days ago, they asked me to cook two buckets of sorghum porridge, saying that some place had collapsed and it was difficult to cook, so they asked me to do an extra job!"
“But there’s no collapse anywhere in Yaochi. I suspect they used an underground tunnel to deliver the porridge!”
"My lord, if you investigate this area, any house that has collapsed should be their secret hiding place!"
The Marquis waved his hand, and soldiers immediately ran to find Jiang Cheng, initiating a large-scale search.
Sure enough, half an hour later, Jiang Cheng sent someone to report that more than 30 people were hiding in a small courtyard, the entrance to the tunnel had been discovered, and there were also seven or eight guards who hadn't managed to escape...
By now, it was completely bright outside.
The Marquis took the list, compared it with the account books, copied more than thirty names by hand, and then gave instructions.
Thus, a new round of arrests began.
In a courtyard house in the southern part of the city, the gatekeeper yawned as he opened the side door, muttering complaints to his companion.
"This night must have been exhausting! I wonder what's going on outside? Thank goodness it's dawn, otherwise I would have been so sleepy I'd want to bang my head against the wall!"
"Me too! I don't even know if there are any white steamed buns in the kitchen this morning. I'm going to eat a couple more!" My companion rubbed his eyes and complained along with me.
The gatekeeper who had spoken earlier scoffed, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then said disdainfully, "You still want to eat white flour buns? You're dreaming!"
"I went to the back yesterday and heard our master and mistress arguing. The mistress was so angry that she smashed the teacups!"
"It seems that the master has spent a lot of money on something, and the public account is not enough, so he is forcing the madam to mortgage her dowry!"
"I knew it! Our food is getting worse and worse. We used to have a meat dish every day, but now we don't see it for three to five days at a time!"
Another doorman said, "That's right, it's been cabbage and radishes every day, it's loosened my belt, I really didn't notice until you told me!"
"However, our lady's family is quite well-off, and the master usually relies on his wife's family a lot and treats her well. Why has he suddenly gone crazy this time? Aren't you afraid that your wife will go back to her family and complain?"
"I don't know!" His companion scoffed, but before he could speak, he saw a troop of soldiers galloping towards them from afar.
The two were surprised and were both peering out the door to watch the commotion, thinking that someone had committed a crime.
To their surprise, the soldiers dismounted as soon as they got close.
They tried to ask questions, but were kicked to the ground!
Here's the third update! My darlings, with more words, there are more details, and sometimes I might have missed something. Thank you all for your sharp eyes pointing it out. Regarding Jiayi and Liu Yang, chapter 647 has been revised; they've gone south by ship, which makes the subsequent plot flow better. I'll definitely keep a close eye on things and try my best to avoid any more bugs! Keep it up, group hugs!
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