"...Yes!" The pawnshop owner was stunned and felt a little nervous. He wondered if he had really been cheated.
But he didn't dare say this.
The pawnshop owner continued with a stiff upper lip.
"They showed me their badges, and they are indeed Imperial Guards."
If the badge is also fake, then there is nothing he can do.
After all, he was a person of little influence and did not dare to ask the imperial guards for the badge for careful inspection.
The pawnshop owner looked at Ning Zhifu without saying anything, swallowed his saliva, and then said,
"I've carefully examined the swords they pawned, and there are indeed marks on them."
"The first few people who came here all had swords of good quality, and since they were imperial guards, I didn't dare to give them less money."
Having said that, the pawnshop owner timidly glanced at Governor Ning again.
Seeing that Ning Zhifu was just frowning and didn't look very angry, he bravely continued,
"They wanted 800 taels of silver for each sword, the most they asked for was 1,200 taels, and the smallest ones were only offered 500 taels."
If these people were not imperial guards, and could serve as swords worth 1,200 taels of silver, he would give them a maximum of 300 taels of silver.
These are industry rules.
As for these swords, they were only worth so much silver according to the palace guards. He thought they were of average quality, and 800 taels of silver was the maximum he could get.
It was simply because Prefect Ning had told him not to offend people from the capital.
If someone from the capital comes to pawn something, sell it as a favor and give them more silver.
After all, people from the capital have some family background, so it’s worth doing them a favor.
"Hmm~" Prefect Ning responded softly, "Five hundred taels of silver, fine."
Who are those palace guards? They are all descendants of the aristocratic families in the capital, so the swords in their hands are naturally not bad.
"But." The pawnshop owner took a deep breath and shrank his neck.
"Many more imperial guards arrived one after another, each one of them serving as sword companions."
Moreover, all these palace guards were covered in dust and dirt, with dust marks on their faces that they had not even washed off.
The imperial guards he had seen before were all in great glory, but this was the first time he had seen one in such a miserable state.
Of course, he didn't dare say these words in front of Prefect Ning.
Ning Zhifu's brows furrowed even tighter. He waved his hand and dismissed the maids.
"How many imperial guards are here?"
Could something have happened in the capital?
The biggest thing that happened recently was that the Duke of Huguo's mansion was confiscated and exiled.
None of the loyal and brave people in the family had a good ending.
So, being a loyal minister is enough as long as you can look good on the surface.
"The pawnshop received a total of 110 swords used by the Imperial Guards."
The pawnshop owner lowered his head and spoke in a lower and lower voice.
"I was really scared, and the money in the pawnshop was not enough to exchange it, so I closed the pawnshop..."
How could he not be afraid when he had to exchange thirty or forty thousand taels of silver in less than half an hour?
I don’t know how many palace guards there are. If they come again and there is not enough silver, those palace guards will not believe me and make trouble, which will be difficult to resolve.
"110 imperial guards!" Prefect Ning stood up in shock.
Something is wrong.
How come so many palace guards are suddenly short of money?
Even if the Imperial Guards were short of money, they would not pawn all their swords.
How can so many palace guards complete the tasks assigned to them by the emperor without their weapons?
Although he didn't know what mission the emperor had sent these imperial guards out for, the mission must be no simple one if so many imperial guards were dispatched.
It's even more strange to use it as a sword when going on a mission.
One or two is fine, but it's not surprising to find one or two bad apples in a nest of sauce.
If the whole nest of sauces is ruined, then something is very wrong.
"Where do they live?"
Prefect Ning paced back and forth a few times, looked at the sky outside, and frowned at the pawnshop owner.
It was already dark, and if so many imperial guards were traveling at night, it would definitely cause quite a commotion.
There was no news at this time, which meant that the spies he arranged at the city gate were still monitoring those people and did not find anything unusual.
"They live in the post house diagonally across from the pawnshop."
"Can that post station accommodate us?" Prefect Ning looked at the pawnshop owner in confusion.
There are more than one hundred palace guards, and if five people share a room, there will be twenty or thirty guest rooms.
That post station doesn’t look that big.
"This------" The pawnshop owner was stunned.
He really hadn't thought about this.
"I saw them all coming out of that post station, and after they finished working as spare parts, they all returned to the post station one by one."
He didn't know whether there was a place to stay or not, but he knew that they were all in that post station.
Maybe there are more than ten of them in one room, so if they squeeze in, they should be able to fit in.
"By the way, they all rode horses."
"When I heard the sound of horse hooves on the street, I went to take a look."
"Among them, several young men were wearing masks and looked like the leaders of the group."
"Because those officials and palace guards were very respectful and polite to those masked men."
"Could it be that the prince is out on a secret visit?" Prefect Ning muttered.
"Otherwise, how could there be both officials and imperial guards?"
Prefect Ning thought about it carefully. The eldest son of Emperor Tianwu was only nine years old. He could not be considered a teenager, right?
If he wasn't the eldest prince, who else could Emperor Tianwu send out so many palace guards to protect him?
Could it be the little prince?
Emperor Tianwu's younger brother is 16 years old this year and is indeed a teenager.
However, the young prince had just left the capital for a short time, so it was unlikely that he would use the imperial guards around him as accessories to exchange for silver.
Emperor Tianwu treated his younger brother like his own son, and it was impossible for him to be released without paying him money.
"Prince!?" The pawnshop owner widened his eyes in shock.
Is the current prince so poor and destitute?
But when he thought about it carefully, the young men on horseback were all delicate and tender. Although he could only see their eyebrows and eyes, he could tell that they all had extraordinary looks.
It is really possible that the princes and the children of aristocratic families came out for training.
Since he invested so much silver, he won’t be held accountable by the royal family, right?
Thinking of this, the pawnshop owner suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't help feeling scared.
If he offends the prince, he will have several lives to kill.
"Let's go and take a look!" After much deliberation, Magistrate Ning decided to go and take a look.
Why did these imperial guards go to the pawnshop under his name instead of any other pawnshop?
Could it be that someone secretly reported him, and the higher-ups sent people down to investigate him, so they deliberately sent so many palace guards to test him?
The more Prefect Ning thought about it, the more worried he became. He immediately put on his clothes and hurried to the post station with a few yamen runners and the pawnshop owner.
........
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