Chapter 42 Emptying the Third Prince's Residence
Yun Zhaoxue instructed Zhuiying to keep an eye on the Third Prince. As soon as he entered the palace, she learned of the news and guessed that he might try to frame the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion. She planned to strike first and empty his mansion.
They went straight to the warehouses and private vaults.
The news that the mansions of several high-ranking officials in the capital had been emptied spread, and wealthy merchants with even a little money sent people to increase patrols, especially the warehouses, which were heavily guarded.
Only the Third Prince's residence was besieged by the Imperial Guards and preoccupied with its own survival, so it had no time to pay attention to the rumors outside and was only thinking about how to "clear its name".
When under house arrest, he was guarded by imperial guards, which served as both confinement and protection.
The third prince kicked the emperor, regaining his favor. The emperor then ordered the withdrawal of the imperial guards and sent the same guards to surround the Prince of Zhenbei's residence.
Yun Zhaoxue left the palace shortly after the Imperial Guards arrived.
They stealthily approached the storeroom of the Third Prince's residence.
Because on the eve of the Third Prince's wedding, all the servants in the mansion had to work in the kitchen all night and didn't get any sleep.
Everyone was trembling with fear. After the Imperial Guards finally withdrew, the guards still had to patrol. They were so tired that they yawned every few steps.
The guards took a few steps and yawned, completely unaware that someone was approaching.
Yun Zhaoxue lightly flicked her fingertips, and the intoxicating fragrance drifted away on the wind.
After the guard collapsed, he took out a master key, fiddled with it for a few moments, unlocked the storeroom, and slipped inside. He had experience moving things from more than a dozen stores.
The outer warehouse usually contains commonly used, low-value items.
However, this time the wedding at the Sheung Wan residence was different; the gifts received at the Third Prince's wedding banquet were all piled up in the outer storeroom and had not yet been sorted.
A jade ruyi scepter adorned with a coiled dragon and gold thread, a coral tree from the South China Sea adorned with pearls, a celadon vase with gold-painted acacia blossoms, a sandalwood screen carved with a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons, twelve bolts of brocade tapestry depicting mandarin ducks, a white jade Guanyin statue of Guanyin giving a child, and an enamel-painted box with dragons and phoenixes symbolizing good fortune…
Most of the boxes were exquisitely crafted, with gold and silver embellishments worth at least several tens of taels of silver.
With a casual wave of his hand, he stored the external warehouse into his spatial storage.
Upon entering the inner treasury, boxes of gold and silver ingots were neatly arranged.
The rosewood shelves were filled with a dazzling array of South China Sea corals, ivory carvings, and gilded incense burners, all gleaming under the light of a flashlight.
Shu brocade, Yun brocade, and Liuguang brocade are all radiant and colorful.
With a wave of her hand, she stored everything away in her space.
After finishing the warehouse, I went to the kitchen.
Fifty jars of Daughter Red wine, sealed in clay and unopened, filled wicker baskets with seasonal fresh fruits and candied fruits bestowed by the emperor…
Without giving him a chance to look around, he swept away even the enamel plate that held the snacks.
The dozens of tables of delicacies at the banquet went untouched.
Crab meat lion's head meatballs, translucent roast duck slices, steaming hot Buddha Jumps Over the Wall...
Yun Zhaoxue smiled slightly, and with a wave of her hand, dozens of banquet tables vanished instantly.
The food storage space doesn't last long, but it's very useful.
After leaving the Third Prince's residence, we arrived at the dilapidated temple in the south of the city.
The nearby dilapidated temples were inhabited by beggars, numbering in the hundreds.
They live by begging. If they are lucky, they will be rewarded by a benefactor and have a full meal. If not, they will go hungry.
Dressed in night clothes, Yun Zhaoxue threw the food from the Third Prince's wedding banquet at the entrance of the dilapidated temple.
Some beggars, in their sleep, would sniff the aroma and become even hungrier, clutching their rumbling stomachs.
Thinking it was a dream, I didn't take it seriously, turned over and continued sleeping until the fragrance became stronger and stronger.
This dream felt so real.
More and more people are being awakened by the aroma of food.
"It smells so good, so delicious..."
A group of starving beggars, unable to see where they were going, rushed towards the delicious aroma, shouting, "Delicious, delicious..."
They had never tasted such delicacies in their lives, so they grabbed them with their hands and stuffed them into their mouths, wolfing them down. "Mmm, delicious, delicious..."
They ate and picked things up as they climbed, their hands and mouths clattering in disarray.
Someone looked up and saw a tall, dark figure clad in armor, holding a long spear, standing upright with his feet slightly apart, and saying nothing.
The meat he was holding in his mouth fell to the ground, and he screamed in terror, "Ghost! Ghost!"
Some of the older, more knowledgeable beggars excitedly exclaimed, "It's not a ghost, it's Lord Guan..."
As he spoke, he led the way in kowtowing and prostrating himself, "Lord Guan has appeared! Lord Guan has appeared!"
The others knelt down and kowtowed three times. When they looked up again, the other person had disappeared.
Where 'he' stood, there was a small mountain of food left behind.
Some timid people, thinking they had seen a ghost, huddled in the corner and muttered, "It really is the Lord appearing to us and bringing us food."
Great! I won't have to go hungry for the next few days!!!
Some people were sleeping so soundly that they only rushed over to pick up the scraps after everyone else had taken everything.
It was noticed that those who had taken more food would offer to share with those who woke up later and had nothing to eat, saying, "Here you go..."
...
The most bizarre case in the history of the capital city has occurred: the warehouses of more than a dozen court officials were emptied overnight.
Logically, it would take at least dozens of people to empty the place, but not a single footprint was found. If it wasn't done by humans, then it must be a ghost.
These people are all somewhat connected to the case of the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion, and the common people have come up with all sorts of theories, believing that they are the work of vengeful spirits.
"I heard that when the Dali Temple searched for evidence of crimes committed by the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, Prince Xiao refuted each of the letters as fake, claiming that someone had forged the Prince of Zhenbei's handwriting. The investigation has not yielded any results, and the investigation will be postponed."
"Are all the letters fake? Could it be that the Prince of Zhenbei was truly wronged and his vengeful spirit has come to seek revenge?"
The Prince of Zhenbei guarded the border for decades, leading the Xiao family army to fight desperately against the attacks of the grassland tribes. He was convicted by the court and escorted back to the capital, where he died on the way. It is said that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
Throughout history, which person who wanted to rebel would easily commit suicide out of fear of punishment?
Even if they commit suicide, the emperor will not spare their relatives.
It would be better to rebel directly and fight our way out.
If the three judicial departments want to convict you, it's just a matter of a word. They can't convict a dead person now, there's only one possibility—that the other party is innocent.
People in the crowd shouted, "The Prince of Zhenbei was wrongfully killed!!!"
The court and the people, whom he had desperately protected for over thirty years, all believed that he had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.
"The prince guarded the border for thirty years, preventing the barbarian hooves from the grasslands from setting foot in the Central Plains."
"Two years ago, when 50,000 enemy troops pressed in, he led 8,000 remaining soldiers to defend the isolated city to the death. When their food supplies ran out, they ate tree bark; when they ran out of arrows, they threw stones at the enemy. In the end, they managed to wear down the enemy! Until reinforcements and supplies arrived, his eldest and second sons died on the battlefield..."
“The Prince of Zhenbei could not have colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. He was wronged, and his wronged spirit has returned to seek revenge.”
“The Prince of Zhenbei has been wronged. He has been wronged.”
...
Besides the news of the ghost of the Prince of Zhenbei returning to seek revenge, another matter also spread throughout the capital.
Qin Hu and Wei Bao got into a fight over a courtesan, and Qin Hu was pushed down the stairs and died.
The Imperial Palace, the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Prime Minister Qin knelt on the ground, his forehead hitting the ground heavily, his official hat askew, his voice hoarse as if weeping blood, "My son died unjustly, I beg Your Majesty to do justice for this old minister!"
Qin Hu was his eldest son, and he had high hopes for him since birth. Although Qin Hu was a troublesome child who was good for nothing, he had called him "Dad" for more than 20 years.
"Then how do you intend to pursue this matter?"
“The prince is subject to the same law as the commoner, and a life for a life. Your humble servant wants Wei Bao to pay for my son’s life.”
The Duke of Wei and the Queen rushed over upon hearing the news.
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