On a bright, windy night, as the fire blazes as graves are dug.
As chests of gold and silver jewels were carried out from a new grave in the dense forest, Ji Fengming grinned from ear to ear: "Oh my, the Great Zhao is indeed a great nation that attracts tribute from all directions. Even a mere prefect of Tongyou is so rich. It seems that my father and I didn't explore the homes of those high-ranking officials in the capital thoroughly enough."
In high spirits, he patted Black Owl's shoulder and leaned on him with his elbow, saying in a nonchalant manner, "How about it, Black Owl, when we get back to Kyoto, let's go visit the homes of all the big officials?"
Black Owl slapped away the hand that was on his shoulder, looking disgusted and arrogant: "Don't even think about it, I'm not going to join your bandit den."
"Tsk tsk, your words are a bit hurtful. What do you mean by 'not joining our bandit den'? My sister is the princess consort of your Ninth Prince's mansion. We're in the same boat now, family..."
“You’ve got it wrong, I’m not from the Ninth Prince’s Mansion,” Black Owl rolled his eyes at Ji Fengming.
Ji Fengming was speechless. He seemed to have heard Feng Yao mention something about Hei Xiao being a special figure in the Ninth Prince's Mansion, the kind that even Shang Xiye couldn't control.
"That's even better. You've had no sense of belonging in the Ninth Prince's Mansion for so many years, which means my brother-in-law doesn't know what's good for you. In the name of the young master of Vulture Stronghold, I sincerely invite you to come up the mountain. I guarantee I'll treat you well," Ji Fengming continued to persuade shamelessly.
"Heh!" Black Owl chuckled lightly, glancing at Ji Fengming with the same look he gave an idiot.
"Really, really, as long as you're willing to come, I'll even give you my position as the young master," Ji Fengming said, getting cheeky again. He put his elbow on Hei Xiao's shoulder once more, grinning, "Anything that our Vulture Stronghold has, if you like it, you can take it. How about that? Am I much more sincere than my stingy brother-in-law?"
Black Owl paused for a moment, then turned back and asked half-jokingly, "Do you have a younger sister?"
“Sister…Sister, there shouldn’t be any more.” Ji Fengming stroked his chin and suddenly said very seriously, “If you insist on marrying into the family and going up the mountain, I can consider finding a woman as soon as possible and having a daughter. Fifteen or sixteen years will pass quickly.”
Black Owl swept him aside again and roared in a deep voice, "Get out!"
Ji Fengming didn't take all the silver from the grave. He calculated it according to the prefect's monthly salary, left him half a box of silver, and sealed the grave back up exactly as it was before the group returned home laden with their loot.
The next morning.
The jailers in Tongyou heard a strange story: all the beggars and poor people in the city had gone to the vicinity of the hunting grounds, clamoring to petition the emperor, saying that Prefect Wang was a good man who had delivered emergency funds to them overnight, and asking the emperor to release him.
The more Wang Qiang listened, the more suspicious he became. He had been in prison for several days, and almost all of his concubines had run away. Who would want to help him do this kind of thing to please the poor and lowly?
Emperor Shang Xiche has been more irritable than ever before these past two days. Not to mention the boils he got from Qin Weiyang that have been refusing to heal and are so itchy that he wants to curse every minute, all sorts of troubles are also piling up one after another.
For example, the two sons of the Duke of Chen disappeared and could not be found anywhere; the Ninth Prince was assassinated but escaped unharmed; the Ninth Prince beat the Empress Dowager's beloved Princess Zhaoping in public; the Ninth Prince disregarded imperial authority and left the scene openly, etc.
Shang Xiche wished he could seize the Ninth Prince's military power with a single imperial edict, then immediately imprison him, leaving him to live a miserable life and die in prison!
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