Mo Guiyuan let out the most uncontrolled roar of his lifetime.

He is a person with a strong desire to control others and even more so himself.

However, at this moment, he could no longer control his emotions.

He could no longer remain calm.

His capital, his entire fortune, was gone! The great elder also saw the empty cellar and was so frightened that he couldn't breathe.

In the White Lotus Sect, the leader is responsible for managing the various branches and carrying out the tasks assigned by the leader, while the elders mostly take care of the general affairs of the sect.

Having helped manage the treasury for many years, he has never made any mistakes and has won the trust of the leader.

Who could tell him what was happening? Was it because he was old and his eyes were blurry? Mo Guiyuan's murderous gaze fell on the elder.

The great elder knelt down with a plop: "Master... I failed in my duty... I deserve death... But I... I don't know what's going on... I clearly came in and counted yesterday..."

The first thing the elder did when he woke up every day was to count the gold, and the last thing he did before going to bed was also to count the gold.

However, last night, because too many people from the imperial court broke into the woods, he had to wander around in various passages and did not return until almost dawn, when he fell asleep.

When he woke up, he received an order from the leader to go and discuss recruiting soldiers with Mr. Wu, which delayed him.

Who could have thought that the gold would be gone just because I forgot to count it twice?

"Your subordinates... Your subordinates will send someone to look for him right away!"

The Great Elder personally led people to search for it, and searched every secret passage and every cellar, but found nothing! The disciple who captured the Five Tigers yesterday said, "Great Elder, a few people from the imperial court came last night and were captured by us, but then they ran away. Could it be that they did it?"

Through his description of the physical features of several people, Mo Guiyuan basically confirmed that they were the group of people who left the passage with Wei Ting this morning.

Mo Guiyuan saw them leave with his own eyes. They didn't move any gold! The Great Elder said, "Master, it couldn't be the brothers who did it... Let alone whether they have the guts, it's impossible for no one to find out just moving so many boxes of gold... Besides, where would they hide it? We are very familiar with the peach forest. If we really want to find it, how can we not find it?"

Mo Guiyuan certainly understood this truth, which made him even more confused.

Where did all that gold go? Did it just disappear into thin air?

The elder remembered that he had a dog with a very good nose, so he had the dog brought over. If someone really took the gold away, the dog would definitely be able to track them down.

However, what was puzzling was that the dog just wandered around in the empty cellar.

Mo Guiyuan frowned: "What do you mean? Could it be that the gold has never left the cellar?"

The great elder hesitated and said, "Maybe its nose is broken."

Things suddenly became confusing.

Mo Guiyuan touched the jade ring on his left thumb. For the first time in his life, he felt that things were beyond his control.

This feeling is not very good.

"Thorough investigation!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I will dig deep into the ground and find the gold!"

The Great Elder knew Mo Guiyuan's methods very well. He was generous in rewarding, but could punish people in a way that made life worse than death.

Mo Guiyuan was unhappy.

If he is unhappy, the people in the forest will be in trouble.

He originally planned to let them fend for themselves. If they survived, they would just escape. But now, he changed his mind.

"Catch them for me!"

Zhang Feng bowed solemnly: "Yes!"

The three members of the Leng family had already left the miasma forest in the north. If they walked another two miles forward, they would be completely out of the influence of the White Lotus Sect.

But just when they escaped, the masters of the White Lotus Sect arrived.

General Leng and Leng Zhiruo avoided the White Lotus's surprise attack with their excellent martial arts skills, but Leng Rui was caught in the White Lotus's net.

"Dad—save me—"

The gas mask was on Leng Rui. General Leng wanted to chase him, but he also knew that if he went in without the mask, he would surely die.

He clenched his fist tightly: "Bai Lian Jiao!"

Xiao Duye and Xu Qing were also about to escape from the forest.

Xiao Duye did not expect that the palace masters sent to him by his father were completely wiped out. Instead, it was Xu Qing, whom he brought with him out of impatience, who helped him resolve the crisis time and time again.

Unfortunately, this was the White Lotus' territory after all. No matter how powerful Xu Qing was, he was outnumbered and the two of them were eventually captured.

In this confrontation, the White Lotus Sect suffered heavy losses, as did Emperor Jingxuan.

So many great masters of the palace were gone, and his son was also captured. How tragic could this be? If he had known this, he would have let the Marquis of Zhenbei enter the peach forest and let General Leng guard the entrance.

He originally intended to give the Leng family a chance to gain experience and make achievements, and at the same time train successors to Qin Canglan and Su Shuo. However, he had underestimated the strength of the White Lotus Sect and the danger of the Peach Forest.

"It is my fault that I failed to protect my elder brother. Please punish me, Father!"

"Get up, it's not your fault. I'm already very relieved that you can come out alive. Call the third brother."

Emperor Jingxuan was reluctant to blame his second son, so he vented all his anger on Xiao Chonghua.

He angrily scolded: "You deliberately concealed the dangers of Taolin. Did you do that to let your brothers go in and die?"

Xiao Chonghua looked at Emperor Jingxuan quietly: "Father, it was not me who asked my brothers to go to the peach forest, but you, my father. I never encouraged my brothers to take risks in the peach forest from the beginning to the end."

Emperor Jingxuan choked.

Xiao Chonghua said softly, "Father wants you brothers to make achievements, but he doesn't want you to take risks. Where in the world can such a good thing happen? If possible, I am willing to be a hostage on behalf of you. It depends on whether the White Lotus Sect wants it or not."

The White Lotus Sect certainly doesn't want an unpopular Third Prince.

Emperor Jingxuan was so angry that his heart ached.

He looked at Xiao Chonghua coldly, and had an illusion that this son who had always been looked down upon had grown up and grown independent.

When did it start?

I didn't even notice it.

To some extent, Emperor Jingxuan and Mo Guiyuan are both people with strong desire for control.

However, Mo Guiyuan is more extreme and paranoid than Emperor Jingxuan.

Xiao Chonghua asked, "Does your Majesty have any other instructions? If not, I will take my leave."

His behavior made Emperor Jingxuan extremely angry.

Emperor Jingxuan shouted, "Go outside and kneel before me!"

"yes."

Xiao Chonghua responded obediently, walked to the outside of the imperial study with an expressionless face, lifted up his skirt, straightened his spine and knelt down.

There were lightning and thunder in the sky, making his stern face dim and bright.

This son is indeed different from before.

In the past, he would act cute, try to please others, beg for mercy, and do what he wanted.

But tonight I would rather kneel in the thunderstorm than admit my mistake.

Emperor Jingxuan looked at Xiao Chonghua in the heavy rain, thinking about what happened today, and suddenly felt a pain in his chest, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty—"

There is one more

(End of this chapter)