Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

After all, it was quite normal for prisoners to die on the way to exile.

Even if things were perfectly normal, they couldn't just stand by and watch Ji Yunshu kill those two people. Otherwise, if word got out, they'd be in big trouble. It was better to avoid trouble altogether.

Ji Yunshu beat the two men up, which calmed her down considerably. When the officer shouted, she stopped.

She clapped her hands, looked at Aunt Zhu with disdain, and spoke in a calm and unhurried tone.

"I told you long ago not to mess with me. If you try anything funny again, it won't be as simple as just beating me up."

She glared intently at Aunt Zhu and Ji Yunfeng and the others.

In her past life, she was a secret agent, and even after transmigrating to this ancient era, that murderous aura still remained within her.

Aunt Zhu and Ji Yunfeng lay on the ground, dazed and trembling. Despite the pain, they dared not utter a sound.

Minister Ji and Ji Yunyao were also stunned, clearly bewildered by what had just happened.

The officials shook their heads at the scene. It was common for people to bully each other on the road to exile, and they usually didn't care unless someone died.

Moreover, every time prisoners were escorted to their exile, many would die by the time they reached their final destination, and very few would arrive safely.

These exiled prisoners being escorted this time were all formidable individuals. The further they went, the fewer likely they would survive. The officers sighed. These were things beyond their control. To them, it didn't matter how many exiled prisoners died; their work still had to be done. Even if there was only one prisoner, they would still escort him to his place of exile.

"Alright, alright, you've all made enough of a scene. Pack up and get ready to leave! I don't care what methods you use, get your own family members who aren't dead yet and take them with you. If they're not dead, drag them away, even if you have to!"

At the officer's command, the group had no choice but to continue their journey, dragging their weary bodies along. Ji Yunshu did not hesitate and carried Xie Moyao on her shoulder again, continuing to move forward with the group.

Poor Minister Ji and Ji Yunyao, they were both weak and had difficulty walking, so now they had to drag Aunt Zhu and Ji Yunfeng along with them.

The officials kept urging them on, occasionally brandishing their whips and shouting to speed things up, but even so, the procession still couldn't pick up the pace.

Meanwhile, in the capital city

The emperor sat in the main hall. He had just resolved a major hidden danger in his heart yesterday, and he was in a good mood. In the morning, he ordered the eldest prince to lead men to confiscate all the gold and silver treasures in all the mansions that had been raided and put them into the national treasury!

The wars of the past few years had depleted most of the national treasury's funds, leaving very little. The thought that a large sum of money would be added to the treasury today made even the mountain of memorials on his desk seem much more palatable.

He flipped through the memorials in his hand, but his mind was already wandering outside the palace, wondering how the eldest prince was doing with his affairs.

Just then, a eunuch hurried in, bowed, and whispered in a high-pitched voice:

"Your Majesty, the First Prince has arrived."

The emperor slammed the memorial he was holding shut and tossed it onto the table, his tone becoming more urgent.

"Let him in."

The eunuch acknowledged and silently withdrew. A short while later, the eldest prince hurriedly entered the hall, his expression grave. Before the emperor could speak, he knelt on the ground with a thud, his voice tinged with urgency.

"Father, you ordered me to lead men to search the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, the Minister's Mansion, and two other residences today. But when I led my men to search the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, we found it was just an empty shell; there was nothing inside!"

"Not only the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, but even the Minister's mansion is empty. I only found a little bit of gold and silver in the other two mansions."

The emperor abruptly sat up from his dragon throne, somewhat incredulous at his ears.

"What did you say?! Say it again! What do you mean the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion and the Minister's Mansion are just empty shells? The money in the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion and the things in the Minister's Mansion were all bestowed by me personally. Do you think I don't know how many treasures they contain?!"

"Have you even taken this job seriously?! Such a large mansion, so much wealth, could it just vanish into thin air?!"

He issued a special decree forbidding anyone from the Prince of Zhenbei's residence from taking anything with them when they left. I heard that the Imperial Guards even stripped them of their valuable clothes!

He didn't do that with the Minister's residence. He tacitly allowed them to take some silver with them when they left, but not much, just some loose change!

It makes no sense that all the gold and silver treasures in the mansion would disappear. What on earth happened?

Could it be that his good son lied?

The emperor stared at the eldest prince with a grim expression. "Explain the whole story to me clearly, or else..."

Hearing the emperor's tone, the eldest prince felt a chill run down his spine; his father was probably suspicious of him.

If he showed even the slightest hint of guilt at this moment, his father would definitely not let him off the hook.

The eldest prince was sweating profusely. He had thought that confiscating the property would be a lucrative job, with plenty of money to be made and he could also profit from it. He never expected that this matter would be so troublesome!

He quickly and carefully explained everything that had happened that day, afraid of missing a single detail. He spoke with utmost seriousness, without hiding anything.

Not only his father, but even he himself found this too unbelievable. In just one day and one night, the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion and the Minister's Mansion had been completely robbed!

Who exactly has the ability to commit crimes in the capital, right under their noses?

And with such great abilities, they didn't even make a sound!

"Father, do you think it's possible that they knew their property was going to be confiscated, so they moved all the gold and silver treasures from their mansion beforehand?"

The emperor's face was gloomy, his expression so cold it could frighten anyone. At this moment, it seemed that only this explanation could be believed.

Since the gold and silver treasures are gone, that thing...

"Besides the gold and silver treasures, have you thoroughly searched the study of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion? Did you find that thing?!"

The eldest prince shook his head. "No, I've practically dug up the entire study of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, but I still haven't found anything."

The more he spoke, the softer his voice became. The thing his father had asked him to find was related to the life and death of the Eastern Ling Kingdom. A large part of their painstaking planning was for that thing. But unexpectedly, in the end, that thing had vanished without a trace!

When the emperor got angry, he slammed his hand on the table, and his tone became harsher than before.

"Damn it, utterly bastards! A bunch of useless cowards, they can't even keep an eye on things properly! There are so many things in the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, I refuse to believe they just vanished into thin air! Investigate! Investigate for me! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground in the capital, find them!"

"And also, send people to keep an eye on Xie Moyao. If anything seems amiss, report to me immediately. If the item is on him, they will definitely slip up! The entire Dongling Kingdom belongs to me. I don't believe he can hide so many things so well right under my nose!"