Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

By evening, the old accountants finally had some preliminary results.

The head accountant walked up to Wang Wu, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said, "Officer Wang, these publicly available account books... are done flawlessly, there's not a single problem to be found."

“Every transaction has a corresponding record of goods entering and leaving the warehouse, and the taxes are paid in full.”

"Either this store is truly innocent, or... they have two sets of books."

Wang Wu sneered; this outcome was entirely within his and Lin Yue's expectations.

"Thank you all for your hard work. That's all for today." He nodded.

"However, we must take all these account books back to the yamen and check them carefully."

"Until the investigation is completed, all of Hanlin Pavilion's inventory shall be sealed and no further transactions shall be permitted."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper nearly fell to the ground.

Sealing up the inventory and prohibiting transactions is tantamount to cutting off the lifeline of Hanlin Pavilion!

The daily losses will be astronomical.

"Sir! Sir! You mustn't!" the shopkeeper cried, clinging to Wang Wu's leg.

"Our shop contains only valuable calligraphy and paintings, which are very delicate. If they are stored away and damaged, I... I cannot bear the responsibility!"

"That's your problem." Wang Wu kicked him away.

"Brothers, put up the seal!"

Seals bearing the official seals of the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Jingzhao Prefecture were affixed to the Hanlin Pavilion's warehouses and all its goods.

The once elegant and prestigious calligraphy and painting shop, the premier ink shop in the capital, was shut down in the blink of an eye.

Wang Wu led his men, loaded with several cartloads of account books, and drove off.

The news spread quickly throughout the capital.

Everyone was stunned by the Dali Temple's swift and decisive actions.

They could all tell that this was about to get serious.

Meanwhile, in the backyard of Hanlin Pavilion, in an inconspicuous woodshed, the shopkeeper was kneeling before a man in black, trembling like a leaf.

"Useless!" The man in black's voice was hoarse and unpleasant.

"You can't even handle something this simple! I told you to move the stuff out sooner, but you wouldn't listen!"

"My Lord, spare me! My Lord, spare me!" The shopkeeper kowtowed repeatedly.

"How was I supposed to know they were serious this time, even bringing up the King of Qin!"

"I...I thought I could just slip them some silver and be done with it, like before..."

"What's the point of saying all this now!" The man in black kicked him to the ground.

"Where is it? Is it still there?"

"It's...it's...still in the secret room, they haven't found it."

"Move immediately! Right now!" the man in black growled.

"The inspection team will definitely be back tonight! You have to get all that stuff out of here before they arrive! Not a single piece of paper can be left behind!"

"Yes! Yes! I'll take care of it right away!"

The shopkeeper scrambled to his feet and ran toward a hidden door deep inside the woodshed.

The man in black watched his retreating figure, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

……

Wherever the sun and moon reach, it is scorching earth: Chapter 256: Ruthless and vicious, caught red-handed

In the woodshed of Hanlin Pavilion, the glow of the oil lamp cast a deathly pale light on the shopkeeper's face.

He knelt on the ground, trembling so badly that he couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

"My lord...my lord, spare me...I'll do it right away, I'll do it right away!"

The shopkeeper scrambled to his feet in a panic and rushed to the innermost part of the woodshed.

There was a seemingly messy pile of firewood. He hurriedly moved the firewood aside, revealing a hidden door that was almost integrated into the wall.

He took out his key, trembling as he pressed it into the lock, and turned it several times before finally opening the door.

A musty, stale smell wafted over, and it was so dark inside that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The shopkeeper lit a spare oil lamp and went inside without hesitation.

The man in black stood still, watching the hidden door slowly close behind the shopkeeper, his murderous intent growing stronger.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the back door of the Hanlin Pavilion quietly opened a crack.

The shopkeeper poked half his head out and cautiously peered outside for a moment.

The night was deep, and the alley was deserted, with only a few scattered barks of dogs coming from afar.

He breathed a sigh of relief and waved to someone behind him.

Soon, several men dressed in coarse cloth and short jackets came out one after another carrying wooden boxes.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

The shopkeeper lowered his voice and urged anxiously.

"Get your hands moving faster, all of you!"

"Deliver it to the dilapidated kiln in the western suburbs. Once the goods arrive, you will receive your full reward!"

With the promise made, the men became even more motivated and moved with lightning speed.

A mule cart that had been waiting at the alley entrance was fully loaded. The driver cracked his whip, making a crisp sound in the air, and the mule cart creaked and started moving, quickly disappearing into the streets late at night.

The shopkeeper personally escorted the cart, nervously looking around, fearing that a group of soldiers might rush out from any corner.

Only after the mule cart had gone far away did he feel a little relieved and turn around to go back to the shop.

Just as he turned around, a dark figure flashed out from the shadows behind him.

"Shh-"

The shopkeeper felt a chill on his neck, and before he could even scream, he collapsed limply to the ground.

The man in black coldly stared at the corpse on the ground, wiped the short blade in his hand with a cloth, and then disappeared into the night with a flicker of his body.

Shortly after he left, a figure quietly sat up straight in the shadows of the rooftop across the alley.

It was Wang Wu, Lin Yue's confidant.

He witnessed the entire process of the shopkeeper being silenced, yet he felt no emotion whatsoever.

This was to be expected.

He didn't look at the body; his gaze remained fixed on the direction in which the mule cart had disappeared.

He took a small bamboo whistle out of his pocket.

After a while, he made sure there was no more movement around him before he silently slid off the roof and disappeared into the end of another alley in a few leaps.

……

The mule cart moved slowly through the streets of the capital late at night, the driver seemingly in no hurry.

Wang Wu hung far behind, always maintaining a safe distance.

He had received the most rigorous tracking training and knew how to use the shadows and buildings on both sides of the street to hide himself.

He noticed that the mule cart was taking a strange route, avoiding the wide main roads and instead choosing remote and winding paths.

This further confirmed his judgment that the cargo on the truck was definitely not ordinary goods.

The mule cart traveled westward, gradually moving away from the bustling inner city. The surrounding buildings became increasingly sparse, and the lights grew dimmer.

Finally, at a fork in the road, the mule cart turned onto an even more desolate dirt road.

Wang Wu did not follow immediately, but stopped at the intersection and listened intently.

The creaking of the wheels carried far into the quiet night.

He assessed the direction and distance, then turned around and took a shorter shortcut.

He moved incredibly fast, traversing the darkness with almost no sound.

He quickly circled around to the front of the mule cart and hid in a patch of grass about waist-high.

As the mule cart slowly passed by, Wang Wu seized the opportunity and suddenly darted out.

Before the people on the train could react, he had already used a specially made small awl to carve the number "five" on the bottom of the last wooden box.

After doing all this, he immediately retreated back into the bushes; the whole process took only a few breaths.

The driver seemed to sense something and looked back, but all he saw was the pitch-black night and wild grass swaying in the wind.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and move along!" one of the guards urged impatiently.

The driver muttered something and continued on his way.

Wang Wu did not follow. He checked the direction the mule cart was heading again, and it was heading towards the western suburbs.

There was an abandoned brick and tile kiln left over from the previous dynasty, a place where all sorts of people mingled, and it was a notorious den of iniquity in the capital.

Hiding things there is indeed a good option.

Wang Wu sneered and turned to run in the opposite direction from the mule cart.

……

Abandoned brick and tile kilns in the western suburbs.

The mule cart stopped in front of the largest cave dwelling.

"Here we are, right here!"

The shopkeeper... no, now it's another leader, jumped off the carriage.

He was the same man in black who had been giving orders in the woodshed earlier.

"Hurry up, all of you!"

"Move everything inside. It has to be finished before dawn!"

The men didn't dare to delay and immediately began unloading the goods.

"Boss, this box looks pretty big, how come it's so light?"

A man picked up a box, weighed it in his hand, and asked curiously.

The man in black's eyes turned cold: "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Do your job well, or you won't get your reward and you'll lose your life!"

The man trembled with fright and dared not say another word. He grabbed the box and ran into the cave.

The man in black watched their busy figures, but felt uneasy.

Everything went so well.

It went by abnormally smoothly.

The Dali Temple officials sealed off the Hanlin Pavilion; they couldn't just let it go like that.

They must have planted informants around them.

However, he did not find any signs of being followed along the way.

Could it be that I am too worried?

Or are those people at the Dali Temple just a bunch of good-for-nothings?

He prefers to believe the former.

"Speed ​​up!" he urged again.

He ordered his men to sweep away all the tire tracks and footprints on the ground while carrying the load.

All traces must be destroyed.

Just as they were carrying the last box into the cave and preparing to leave.

A sharp, short sound rang out.