To the First Emperor of Qin: The state has decreed this!

Seeing his appearance, Hu Yanlong's eyes darkened, and he flipped the bone knife in his hand, smashing it into Liu Kui's calf!

"Hmm!"

Liu Kui's body was curled up like a shrimp, his veins bulging from the pain, and he almost passed out on the spot.

"I'm asking you one last time! Be honest, will you confess or not?" Hu Yanlong stepped forward, pressing the tip of his knife against Liu Kui's throat, his whole body radiating murderous intent.

"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"

Liu Kui was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat, and his eyes were almost bursting at the corners of his eyes. He nodded frantically while his eyes were fixed downwards, indicating that he was trying to open his mouth.

Hu Yanlong followed his gaze and looked down, only to see that Liu Kui's mouth was stuffed with a rag, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Hu Yanlong froze abruptly, turning his head to glare at the assassin beside him.

The assassin was also taken aback. He looked down at Liu Kui's mouth, and an embarrassed expression immediately appeared on his face. He raised his hand to scratch his head and chuckled dryly.

"Captain... I was in such a good mood just now that I was afraid he would shout and attract the patrols, so I blocked him... I got carried away and forgot."

Hu Yanlong's forehead veins throbbed, and he glared at him fiercely:

"Hurry up and pull it out!"

The assassins rushed forward and forcefully pulled the rag out of Liu Kui's mouth.

As soon as the rag slipped from his mouth, Liu Kui spat out a mouthful of saliva, unable to suppress his grievances any longer, and burst into loud sobs:

"I confess! I confess, Grandpa! I've been nodding frantically the whole time!"

Liu Kui cried with tears streaming down his face, "But you didn't even ask me a question! You gagged me tightly, beat me for the duration of two incense sticks, and the first thing you did was ask if I would confess!"

What exactly do you want me to do?! What kind of trouble are you trying to cause, my ancestors?!

The abandoned kiln was eerily silent.

The sinister smile on Hu Yanlong's face froze.

He slowly turned his head. "You... you hit me for ages, but didn't ask any questions?"

The assassin, gripping the whip, froze on the spot, stammering an explanation:

"Captain...I was so focused on the whipping punishment...I forgot to ask!"

Hu Yanlong's lips twitched, and he growled at Liu Kui:

"Shut up! I'm asking you now! Where is the Secret Iron Manual of the Imperial Academy hidden? And where exactly is Princess Yun being held captive by Zhang Fan?"

Upon hearing these two questions, Liu Kui was completely dumbfounded.

"The Academy of Natural History? Princess Yun?"

Liu Kui had snot and tears hanging from his eyes.

"What...what Princess Yun? That Gewu Academy is a key place for Marquis Zhang Fan, the Protector of the Nation. I am just a lowly ninth-rank official in charge of purchasing timber and bricks in the Shaofu!"

"The Divine Iron is under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Workshop and the Mo Family workshops; it has absolutely nothing to do with our Imperial Workshop!"

Hu Yanlong's eyes suddenly turned cold. "You dare to lie to me?"

"Even if I had ten thousand lives, I wouldn't dare, Grandpa!"

Liu Kui was terrified and pleaded in a tearful voice, "I was just helping the Junior Steward and the Black Dog Gang run their private accounts! Heaven have mercy, I don't even know which way the gate of the Academy of Natural Sciences faces, how would I know anything about the secrets of refined iron!"

Hu Yanlong's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Did they arrest the wrong person?

They ambushed and killed several people, but the one they ended up bringing back was a useless piece of trash?

"Captain..."

Just then, another person behind them exclaimed, "You...you have to look at this!"

Hu Yanlong suppressed his anger and strode forward.

Then, the lids of the four iron boxes were opened.

Under the light of the firebox, the entire abandoned brick kiln was bathed in a glow!

silver!

Four whole chests of silver!

Neatly arranged and fully stocked, it roughly amounts to tens of thousands of taels of silver!

Hu Yanlong stared at the layers of silver, his Adam's apple bobbing, his breath catching in his throat.

The cave was deathly silent, with only the sound of everyone breathing.

"These Qin officials..."

Hu Yanlong squatted down and grinned, "His belly is so big? Looks like we've really made a lot of progress tonight!"

……

"Where's the money! Where's my money?!"

Inside the study of the Shaofu residence.

The Minister of the Imperial Household, Zong Yu, turned ashen-faced, grabbed the bronze paperweight from the table, and slammed it heavily onto the floor tiles.

Zhao the Cripple, the leader of the Black Dog Gang, knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the floor tiles, not daring to raise his head.

"Sir, I saw Steward Liu lead his men away with the cart last night."

Zhao the Cripple's voice trembled, "Before dawn, the brothers who were supposed to be there to meet us reported that the mule cart by the Wei River had overturned, and all four men who were there to meet us were killed, their bodies thrown into a snow pit. All four iron boxes were gone, and Manager Liu was nowhere to be found."

"Gone? Four whole chests of silver! Tens of thousands of taels!"

Zong Yu took two steps back, his back hitting the bookshelf, making the bamboo slips rustle.

That was the deposit and payment owed by Wangyue Manor to merchants from Guandong, as well as the money that the Black Dog Gang had been extorting in the west of the city for many years. It was all the money he used to cover the deficit of the Shaofu.

Without this money, Wangyue Manor will be unable to open in three weeks, and those merchants will definitely cause trouble at the government office.

"Where are the ledgers?"

Zong Yu stepped forward and grabbed Zhao the Cripple by the collar. "Where's the account book at the bottom of the box?"

Zhao the Cripple whispered, "It's under the fourth box. The smuggling records from the past few years, the deeds for the gang's dealings in people and timber, are all in there. They were all taken away."

Zong Yu released his grip and slumped into the chair.

The room fell silent, with only the sound of the wind outside the window.

Outside of Xianyang, who would dare to intercept the Shaofu's official carriage?

There are no major thieves in Guanzhong, so it is no ordinary thief who could kill and steal a chest in half an hour without leaving a trace.

Zong Yu pressed his forehead, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Zhang Fan.

The eldest son, Fusu.

"It's them..."

Zong Yu muttered to himself, "Mobilizing the Lieutenant's Office to search the entire city under the guise of cracking down on organized crime... Good tactic."

"The notice was just posted, and Liu Kui got into trouble last night. What a coincidence!"

Zong Yu gritted his teeth, "They weren't targeting the gangs at all; from the very beginning, they were targeting me, the Minister of the Imperial Household."

"Spread the word, forcing me to move the account books and silver overnight, then send men to intercept them on the way, catching them red-handed."

Zong Yu, looking dazed, leaned back in his chair: "Liu Kui is in his hands, the account books are in his hands, and tens of thousands of taels of silver are in his hands as well. He's withholding the evidence, waiting for the opening of Wangyue Villa so he can put me to death in front of His Majesty."

Zhao the Cripple knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "My lord, I did everything according to your orders. I don't know why the news leaked out."

"Shut up! You useless piece of trash!"

Zong Yu stood up and kicked Zhao the Cripple in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Zong Yu's chest heaved as he coughed up blood, which dripped onto his lapel.

"These bastards, why were they so careless? They just had to walk right into Zhang Fan's trap!"

Zhao the Cripple clutched his chest as he got up, his expression shifting slightly as he looked at the bloodstains on the ground.

Zong Yu, leaning on the desk and panting heavily, ordered, "Pass down the word: Wangyue Manor is temporarily closed. Tell them I have caught a cold and will not see any guests today!"

Also, send men to check the prisons of the Court of Justice and the Commandant of the Central Army to see if a man named Liu Kui was detained last night. Go quickly!