Back in the house, Zhao Hao didn't feel sleepy at all.

He felt something was amiss when the scholars from Yingtian Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture were robbed one after another.

But before the Spring Examination, Zhao Hao didn't want to cause any trouble, so he kept out of the matter.

But he doesn't look for trouble, trouble always comes to him, and today it was finally his house that got robbed.

However, the more times like this happen, the more we need to relax on the outside but be tense on the inside, otherwise the nervousness will be contagious and cause unrest in everyone.

This is a big taboo for parents who now have four candidates to take care of.

So he did not interrogate the thief personally, but asked everyone to go back to the house.

Then he intentionally diverted everyone's attention and asked Zhao Shizhen with a smile: "Where did you get the crossbow?"

"I made it myself according to what was written in the book..." When Zhao Shizhen was asked about making weapons, he immediately became excited and presented the crossbow to his uncle like a treasure.

"I was planning to imitate Zhuge Crossbow, but I couldn't figure out how to fire simultaneously without losing power. Or how to make it fire automatically without winding the string. I can only settle for the next best thing..."

Zhao Hao took the heavy crossbow and looked at it carefully under the lamp. He saw that it was made of pine wood. There was a quiver with ten arrows on the crossbow arm, and a pull rod was installed on the quiver.

He followed Zhao Shizhen's instructions and pulled the rod down with force, the crossbow was strung, and at the same time a crossbow arrow fell into the arrow slot.

Zhao Hao pulled the trigger towards the wall, and with a bang, a crossbow arrow about a foot long flew out, and the entire arrowhead sank into the wall.

"Wow..." All the scholars in the room gasped. This thing looked like a toy, but they didn't expect it to be so powerful.

But Zhao Shizhen was still there, looking regretful as he said, "The range is too short. It took me a long time to improve it, increasing it from 20 steps to 40 steps. Otherwise, just now, one arrow would have nailed that man to the wall..."

The scholars looked at each other, and finally understood the tingling feeling Zhao Hao had just felt.

Zhao Hao also rolled his eyes and thought, if this happened four hundred years later, you would be sentenced to prison, you know?

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty only banned civilians from owning armor and firearms, but ordinary people were allowed to own cold weapons including bows and crossbows.

"This one is confiscated." He handed the crossbow to Gao Wu and said to Zhao Shizhen, "Take out the rest as well."

"No more." Zhao Shizhen shrank his neck.

"Nonsense." Zhao Hao is not someone who can be fooled easily. This guy said that he has been improving it for a long time, so how could there be only one version?

"Yes..." Zhao Shizhen had no choice but to change his words.

~~

After a while, everyone came to the north room of the east wing where Zhao Shizhen lived.

Then Gao Wu helped him drag the heavy wooden box out from under the bed.

Because they had just moved in from the East Courtyard, Zhao Shizhen had not had time to put the things inside out.

When the box was opened, everyone was stunned...

Gao Wu found two bows, four crossbows, a three-barreled musket, a number of long and short arrows, gunpowder, lead bullets, triggers, bowstrings, and more than a dozen books on weapon manufacturing, as well as dozens of his notes...

There was a whole bed of it.

"I can't afford to offend you. I can't afford to offend you." Zhao Hao's mouth curled up, and his eyes changed when he looked at Zhao Shizhen.

It seems that "attack Japan and capture Oda City alive" may not just be a slogan in the future.

Zhao Hao's three disciples obviously also thought of this, and they all unconsciously cast flattering glances towards Zhao Shizhen.

They usually bully this kid, and even mock him when he does something wrong...

Thinking about the disrespect he had shown before, Sanyang now just wanted to thank the young master for not killing him.

~~

Zhao Hao asked Gao Wu to keep these weapons for him. Zhao Shizhen could play with them if he wanted, but he had to do so under the supervision of Brother Gao.

Well, it’s not easy for Brother Gao, he has become the guardian of another child.

Zhao Hao couldn't help but think of the time when he had a bun on his head...

Speaking of children, Zhao Hao looked at Zhao Shixi, who was shrinking outside the crowd with an uneasy look on his face.

"He discovered the thief?"

Gao Wu nodded, and after a while he said in a muffled voice: "This guy went to the kitchen to steal food and saw some movement in the storeroom."

"Do you think I should punish you or reward you?" Zhao Hao looked at Zhao Shixi with a smile.

"The merits and demerits offset each other, the merits and demerits offset each other..." Zhao Shixi hurriedly smiled and nodded.

"That won't work. Merits are merits and faults are faults. They can't be confused." Zhao Hao pulled his face and asked Gao Wu, "How should I punish those who eat secretly at night?"

"Twenty lashes." Gao Wu answered without thinking.

"Then how should we reward those who find thieves?" Zhao Hao asked again.

Gao Wu shook his head and replied after a while: "This is my duty. I won't reward you for your merit."

"Really? So there is no reward." Zhao Hao looked at Zhao Shixi with regret and said, "Then put a big red flower on him and give him twenty lashes..."

Zhao Shixi's eyes went dark again and he almost fainted.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Hao said calmly, "Starting tomorrow night, he will move in and sleep with Shi Zhen."

When Zhao Shixi heard this, the world in his eyes regained its color...

He immediately felt that being whipped was not so scary anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he sniffled and choked, "Thank you, uncle. I will continue to work hard..."

Zhao Shouzheng, who had been silent the whole time, sighed secretly and thought to himself, silly child, even if you haven't done anything meritorious, your uncle will let you move in.

Before Zhao Jin left, in order to reassure his elder brother, Zhao Hao told him that once Zhao Shixi behaved himself, he would arrange for him to live with Shizhen.

After all, he is the son of the governor, and teaching him a lesson is not humiliating him.

What if one day he gets raped by a man from Caijia Lane, how would he explain to his brother?

~~

At this time, the gatekeeper came in quickly to report that the soldiers patrolling outside heard the noise and asked what happened inside.

Everyone looked at Zhao Hao, and Zhao Hao said nonchalantly, "Just say that a thief came in to steal things, and we caught him. We will send him to the county government office tomorrow morning."

It was the late night and the situation outside was not good, so he didn't dare let anyone in.

Zhao Hao, who was poisoned by third-rate costume dramas, was worried: "What if it's a killer disguised as a soldier?"

The man turned around and went to the front yard to answer. When the soldiers outside the door heard this, they were glad to have less trouble...

Of course, if Zhao Zhongcheng were still there, they would definitely take the initiative to offer to hand the person over to them.

It’s just that Zhao Hao won’t let anyone go.

Back in the main room, Zhao Shouzheng asked Zhao Hao with some concern, "Is it really a thief?"

Zhao Hao was about to answer when he saw Cai Ming coming back after interrogation and gave him a wink.

"Sir, he's just an ordinary thief who wanted to steal something while the Prime Minister and his wife were not at home." Cai Ming had already heard Zhao Shouzheng's question, and when he saw Zhao Hao's look, he immediately knew what to say.

"Ah, I didn't expect that the public security in the imperial city is so bad." Zhao Hao curled his lips and said to his father and disciples with a relaxed look: "It's not the first time. It's okay, go to sleep."

Everyone went back to their rooms.

However, Zhao Hao quietly left the main courtyard and entered the back courtyard which was brightly lit by torches.

At this time, Cai Ming whispered the truth: "Master, we ran into a tough guy. We knocked him unconscious several times, but he just wouldn't tell us anything."

"Death warrior?" Zhao Hao thought it was not bad, it was not like in martial arts novels, where they bit the poison sac.

"It's very likely." Cai Ming was a scout, much smarter than the men in Caijia Lane. "It's definitely not an ordinary thief."

"Have you found the things?" As he spoke, Zhao Hao walked to the door of the warehouse.

The warehouse was bright as day, and Fang Wen was searching carefully through boxes and cabinets. This kind of work that required carefulness was more suitable for him to do.

Most of the items here were personal belongings brought into Beijing by the men from Caijia Lane. They were just some clothes and daily utensils, nothing valuable, so Gao Wu did not arrange anyone to be on duty.

Who would have thought that this place would be stolen?

This made Brother Gao feel very frustrated, so he handed the interrogation over to someone else, silently reflected on himself, and prepared to have a deep self-examination with the young master...

Just when he had finally organized his words and was about to start his self-criticism, he heard Fang Wen exclaim.

"Huh? Whose stuff is this?"

ps. Chapter 10 has been delivered. 5600 votes plus more updates. Please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~~