After watching the guards leave, Wen Zhifu took the kerosene lamp from the servant.
"You wait here."
After saying that, Magistrate Wen walked to the stone gate holding a kerosene lamp and squeezed in sideways.
As soon as he stepped into the dark room, Magistrate Wen felt as if he was frozen in place.
He looked at the empty vault in horror, completely stunned.
"How--how--is it possible!"
Prefect Wen looked at the scene in disbelief.
A strong sense of insecurity suddenly surged from the bottom of his heart.
Emperor Tianwu didn't leave him any way to survive.
Wen Zhifu's body was shaking constantly, his mind filled with the fear of being beheaded...
After an unknown amount of time, the call of the servant guarding the door brought the dazed Prefect Wen back to his senses.
"Sir, the bank owner wants to see you!"
When he heard the word "money house", a glimmer of light appeared in Magistrate Wen's eyes, which had seemed as dead as ashes.
Yes, he also has banks, pawnshops, casinos, and brothels...
These are the hens that lay golden eggs.
The worst that could happen to him is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and run away!
"Quick, call someone in."
Just as the servant was about to run out, he heard Wen Zhifu shout,
"Wait, go call Master Zhang as well."
Those hens that lay golden eggs are all under the care of Master Zhang.
If he wants to run away, he must take Master Zhang with him.
"Yes!" the servant responded and hurried out.
Prefect Wen looked at the servant's back as he ran away, took a deep breath, and dragged his limp legs out of the dark room.
He sat slumped in the empty study, and felt a little relieved when he thought that Governor Ning's warehouse had also been emptied by the palace guards.
He wasn't the only one who was unlucky, so he wasn't so nervous anymore.
Even if Emperor Tianwu wanted to take action, he would have to start with Prefect Ning of Menglan City.
He still had some time to prepare his escape.
"A fake imperial guard, huh!"
Prefect Wen gave a helpless smile.
He knew what Ning Zhifu was thinking, so he wanted to take advantage of the fact that the palace guards had not returned to the capital and directly kill these people with their fake identities.
Just get rid of the palace guards who knew about it to prevent future troubles.
Prefect Ning was thinking too simply.
There are more than a hundred imperial guards in public, and at least a thousand imperial guards hiding in the dark.
Otherwise, how could so many boxes of things in his warehouse and so much gold in the vault disappear overnight?
It is absolutely impossible for those more than one hundred palace guards to do it.
The most important thing is that those palace guards came from Menglan City without carrying any boxes or anything like that.
Each person only had a small cloth bag on him, which could not hold the private vault of Governor Ning.
"My lord, my lord!"
Mr. Zhang ran into the study and saw Magistrate Wen sitting on the ground in a daze.
"Sir, what happened? Where are the things in the study?"
Master Zhang looked at the empty study and felt dizzy.
He eagerly stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Prefect Wen.
Prefect Wen reached out and grabbed Master Zhang's hand, holding it tightly, then raised his eyelids and looked at Master Zhang.
"Something serious has happened. The Emperor ordered the imperial guards to take over the storehouse and study..."
"......." Master Zhang's eyes widened in shock, his breath paused, and his body shook twice unconsciously.
"Are they the imperial guards that Magistrate Ning is chasing?"
"That's probably true." Prefect Wen nodded. "The Emperor suddenly attacked two cities in quick succession. Something big must have happened in the capital."
"We can't wait any longer."
Master Zhang frowned and thought carefully, "What big thing could happen in the capital? The biggest thing is to raid the Shen family."
"Could it be that after the Emperor dealt with the Shen family, he's now going after the corrupt prefect?"
Mr. Zhang bit his tongue and the word "corrupt official" almost slipped out of his mouth.
There is no official in the whole Celestial Empire who is not corrupt. Isn’t this all tacitly acknowledged by Emperor Tianwu?
How could they suddenly deal such a heavy blow to the two prosperous cities adjacent to the capital?
"Yes!" Prefect Wen took a deep breath, "The Emperor is most likely short of money."
"Which city can be as wealthy as Menglan City and Danyun City? Of course, it's most convenient to get money from us."
"This is not right." Master Zhang shook his head. "The emperor made such a big move, it's impossible for Minister Jiang to have no information at all."
"As far as I know, Prefect Ning's backer is the Minister of Revenue Kong Zongli. The Emperor is short of money and wants to take action against Prefect Ning. Minister Kong must not be unaware of this."
Their backer is Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Justice, who is also a close minister of Emperor Tianwu. It is impossible not to inform them if there is any news.
When Prefect Wen heard this, his eyes, which had been as stagnant as water, suddenly lit up.
Yes, he also has Minister Jiang as his backer.
He and Minister Jiang are in the same boat, so it is impossible for Minister Jiang to ignore him.
Prefect Wen was so excited that he reached out to hold on to the chair to stand up, but his hand went straight to nothing.
Looking at the empty desk, his eyes, which had just lit up, dimmed again in an instant.
"It's useless. Minister Jiang can't be relied upon."
"There were so many letters with Minister Jiang in the study, and they were all taken away by the imperial guards."
Prefect Wen sighed heavily.
"I'm afraid even Minister Jiang won't be able to save himself this time..."
Master Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt his vision go dark.
If the evidence of crimes were obtained by Emperor Tianwu, the emperor might not take action against Minister Jiang, but they would definitely not be able to escape.
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