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

Although the number is somewhat large, this place is far in the northwest, far from the capital, and Prince Nian controls Liancheng. As long as the hype is suppressed a little, this matter won't cause too much of a stir.

But now the county government office has been robbed and weapons have been stolen. The matter has escalated, but no one has been killed.

If Prince Nian were to take over this matter entirely at this time, it's hard to guarantee that someone wouldn't follow the trail and investigate further because of his actions.

If they find out that these weapons were originally sent to the county government by the Prince Nian's mansion, then things will be really bad.

Although King Nian was a king of a different surname and ruled over the Northwest, he could not maintain too many troops or forge too many weapons.

Otherwise, the imperial court wouldn't have allowed him to stay here, living a peaceful and leisurely life as a prince for so long.

It was only in recent years, when the imperial court had not intervened much, that Prince Nian gradually gained control of the Northwest.

This is a critical moment for them; they absolutely cannot afford any mistakes.

King Nian was so angry that his chest heaved, but he still listened to what Zhao Quan said. He glared at the unconscious Bao Taishi on the ground, then suddenly threw the sword in his hand to the ground with a loud bang.

I turned to look out the window, trying to calm myself down.

After taking a few deep breaths, it took a while before I felt the anger in my chest subside a little.

But the thought that all those weapons had been stolen without Bao Taishi and the people in the county government noticing anything made him want to kill Bao Taishi!

"For now, I'll spare his dog's life, just because he's still somewhat useful!"

Once I've investigated and uncovered the truth, I'll have him skinned alive!

"I've said it before, I don't keep idle people or useless people under my command. If you can't even handle this little thing, you're just a burden!" King Nian's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

With that, he waved his hand and said, "Have someone bring a basin of water and splash it on him to wake him up! I'm so angry, why should he faint!"

"Don't think that just because he's unconscious, you can ignore this matter. If you handle it well, I'll let him live a few more days. If you don't handle it well, I don't care about the consequences; I'll still kill him!"

As he spoke, Prince Nian took a few more deep breaths, pulled over a chair, plopped down in it, and stared intently at Bao Taishi, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Zhao Quan nodded. He also disliked Bao Taishi to some extent, but for the sake of Prince Nian's grand plan, Bao Taishi could not die yet. This matter needed to be left to clean up the mess.

Worried that the Prince might lose his temper and kill him later, he quickly went to the door, opened it, looked at the guards standing there, and whispered:

"Go and fetch a basin of water. Lord Bao has been through some shock and fainted. The prince said he needs to wake him up."

The guard received the order and left without hesitation.

Before long, he carried a full basin of water into the house, in which some snow and ice were faintly visible.

At Zhao Quan's signal, the guard, carrying water in his hands, quickly approached Bao Taishi's side.

Seeing Bao Taishi lying on the ground, barely alive, the guard pursed his lips and without hesitation poured the entire basin of water on Bao Taishi's head!

"Cough cough cough cough cough..."

A basin of water was poured over him, and Bao Taishi, who had been unconscious, instantly woke up.

He choked on a lot of water, which made him cough. An ice cube landed right on the wound on his forehead, making the wound bleed even more.

Blood mixed with water flowed all over Bao Taishi's face, and there was also a pool of blood where he was squatting.

But Bao Taishi dared not waste any time. He quickly wiped his face and hurriedly crawled to Prince Nian's side, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, I didn't mean it, I really didn't mean it!"

"I have served by your side for so many years, Your Highness. You know best what I mean by your heart. I beg you, Your Highness, spare my life. I will certainly obey your orders from now on."

Bao Taishi cried and shouted, tears streaming down his face.

His face was covered in blood, and with the tears washing it away, he looked like a ghost.

Listening to his wailing and howling, Prince Nian rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and the anger in his chest was about to burst out.

But when he thought of what Zhao Quan had just said, he forced himself to swallow his anger. Zhao Quan was right. He needed people right now. Although this Bao Taishi was not good at handling things, he was loyal to him after all.

Such a person cannot be found in the short term. Let's wait until he has finished all these matters before dealing with Bao Taishi.

The King's tone softened slightly, but his face remained frighteningly cold.

"Alright, stop crying! I'm not dead yet!"

Now that the incident has already happened, there's no need to assign blame. The most urgent task is to find that pile of weapons!

That pile of weapons is no small amount. If I leave it in your county government office and someone with ulterior motives finds out that those weapons came from here, then no one can help you!

Hoarding weapons is a serious crime. Your pile of weapons is several times more than the quota set by your county government!

If your superiors find out, you'll lose your head!

The most urgent thing now is for you to tell me what happened back then, and see if we can find any clues.

Furthermore, immediately send someone to notify the city gates to completely seal off the entire Liancheng; people outside can only enter, not leave.

Especially check the carriages passing through the city gates carefully to ensure that the weapons don't end up outside Liancheng!

That useless Bao Taishi only came to report yesterday's events this morning!

The city gates have been open for quite a while now. If those with ulterior motives wanted to smuggle weapons out of Liancheng, they would have already disappeared by now, and it would be too late!

Was Bao Taishi's hand and foot broken or crippled?

Can't you even handle something as simple as sending someone to deliver a message?

Useless! Utterly useless!

The thought of all this gave King Nian a headache. His subordinates were not doing their jobs well, and he, as their master, was truly distressed.

A bunch of incompetent teammates, they're impossible to carry!

If I had known that Bao Taishi was so useless, I should have replaced him with a smarter person all these years ago!

He nodded hurriedly, "Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you for sparing my life! I will do my utmost in all my future duties. Thank you for sparing my life!"

Bao Taishi was unaware that, in Prince Nian's eyes, he was already a dead man.

Looking at him now, the Prince felt extremely angry and waved his hand dismissively.

"Didn't you hear what I told you? I told you to immediately send someone to the city gates and have them blocked off!"

Bao Taishi nodded repeatedly, wiping the blood off his face. He hurriedly got up, went to the door, opened it, gave a few instructions to the officials and yamen runners outside, and then closed the door again.

Back inside, he quickly returned to his desk and respectfully recalled the events of the previous night.