Chapter 272: Don ‘t Let Anyone Off
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It wasn’t just Qiao Mai who noticed; even the three sheep had detected it, but they hadn’t acted as quickly.
After conducting the soul search, the man in the white robe also died from a ruptured heart.
Qiao Mai returned from her space, leaving the bodies inside. She sat alone in her room. The whole courtyard was silent.
Among those individuals, she only found one with a connection to Prince Ding and no other useful leads. She would have to pay a visit to the imperial capital.
Prince Ding was courting death. He kept harassing her. She had to teach him a lesson.
Taking advantage of the fact that Yuan Jiaqi had yet to return home, she immediately set off for the capital and left the three sheep to guard the house. They would not come again for the time being.
When she arrived at the capital, the sky was already dark. She walked on the wide streets of the capital with her hands behind her back.
When she passed by Prince Ding’s mansion, she tilted her head and took a look.
It was indeed the residence of the emperor’s eldest son. It was so imposing. There were two rows of soldiers guarding outside. The door was still wide open, and the lights inside were brilliant. If one listened carefully, one could hear laughter from the living room.
Qiao Mai probed with her mental power. Prince Ding was entertaining his group of guests.
It was almost the new year. He was giving out rewards to his subordinates.
Qiao Mai raised her eyebrows and walked past the door. She found a small tavern and asked for two dishes, sat down, and slowly drank a pot of hot wine.
Winter in the south was much colder than in the north. Although it didn’t snow, it was wet and cold. The cold air stabbed into his bones.
After drinking a few glasses of wine, she dispelled the coldness in her body.
Prince Ding had never interacted with her before. Why would he care about her business?
On the surface, her shop only earned about 1,000 taels a month, which is
10,000 taels a year. Including those from County She, he would get 20,000 to
30,000 at most. Even if he added the deer antlers and musk at home, it was 50,000 taels. To Prince Ding, this money was not even enough to cover the expenses of his residence for two months. Why would he target her?
However, she would get the answer tonight. If Prince Ding didn’t tell her, she would have to search his soul.
After drinking a pot of wine, she walked on the street. At this time, there were fewer pedestrians, but the carriage kept moving on the road.
She leaped into the air in a flash. This time, she did not use her wings. She only used her cultivation to float towards Prince Ding’s mansion.
The banquet had ended. At this time, Prince Ding should be in the backyard.
The designs of the houses in ancient times were similar. The front and back courtyards were usually women’s residences. Prince Ding’s residence was also in the backyard. As he often had to rest in the women’s yard, his study should be here.
She saw a courtyard lit up and went to check. She finally found where Prince Ding was.
Several candles were lit in the study.
A few figures swayed. It seemed like they had business to discuss in the middle of the night.
“Your Highness, the secret guards sent to Tianshui Town have all lost contact.”
“It’s just a merchant. How did we lose so many people?”
“None of them came back.”
“Send more people over! How many first-class secret guards should we send this time?”
“I’m afraid the result will be the same.’
“Does that merchant have a backer?”
“Magistrate Wang’s father was invited to be a teacher at their home, and his mother has always lived there. There’s nothing special about it. The entire family relies on that shop, but the mistress is unwilling to sell the formulas. She’s holed up in Tianshui Town. If we get those formulas, they’ll spread throughout our dynasty. At that time, we’ll have endless money.” “It’s just food. Is it as miraculous as you make it out to be?”
“Your Highness, that shop earns ten thousand taels a year. What about ten shops or a hundred shops? Food is the most important thing for the people. She only opens it in a small town. What if she opens it in the prefecture or imperial capital?”
“But what if the secret guards I’ve nurtured are more valuable than her shop?”
“We just can’t figure out what’s going on. Knowing the details will let us win every battle.”
“We can’t lose any more secret guards. How about this? I’ll think of another way. If it doesn’t work, we’ll force her to submit with her man’s career at stake.”
“But the Emperor thinks highly of County Governor Yuan now. I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to touch him.
“We’ll find a chance.’
Qiao Mai heard their conversation clearly in midair. She had used her divine sense on the person who had made the suggestion.
A guest was manipulating Prince Ding into attacking her shop. There must be something going on behind the scenes.
Tonight, she couldn’t let anyone off. She would strike the guest first.
As soon as the meeting was over, she threw the guest into her space in a deserted place.
The guest shifted abruptly, his eyes wide with fear. When he saw Qiao Mai, he immediately screamed.
“Who are you? Brazen assassin.”
“Who am I? You caused Prince Ding to scheme against my shop. Tell me, who am I?”
“I-I didn’t mean to.”
“Tell me, who’s gossiping behind your back?” “No. Let me go now, or Prince Ding will find out.” “Hmph, Prince Ding is nothing. I even killed his secret guards. I came to the capital this time to ask for some interest.”
The guest was not stupid. When he heard this, he despaired. He looked left and right. This was not Prince Ding’s mansion. Where was this?
“Are you going to tell me or not?” “If you let me go, I’ll speak!”
“You take me for a fool.
Qiao Mai couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath on him. She reached out and pressed her hand to the top of his skull. The guest rolled his eyes. In a moment, he was a fool.
“Greeny.”
“Master, I’m here.”
“Get rid of him.’
“Master, he has become a fool. We can throw him outside and teach Prince Ding a lesson.”
“This lesson is too easy for Prince Ding.”
“Master, what do you want?”
“It just so happens that my two sons are of age. It’s time to prepare some betrothal gifts. Let’s start with Prince Ding’s family.” “I’ve built a few warehouses for you. All the jewelry, gold, and silver are inside.” “I still have Chuan’er and Ling’er. The more, the better.”
That night, Qiao Mai wiped out Prince Ding’s mansion. Like robbers entering a village, she didn’t even leave a grain for him.
This was just a lesson. To Prince Ding, someone would naturally deliver money to him as long as he didn’t die.
After all, his identity was there, but Qiao Mai didn’t make him feel any better. She ordered Greeny to slap his cheeks until they were swollen like pig heads.
The harvest this time was bountiful. The gold, silver, and jewelry accounted for nearly a million taels.
She did not want those land deeds. Prince Ding could be said to be as rich as the kingdom. Those properties alone were enough to support all the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.
He must have ulterior motives for accumulating wealth.
After Qiao Mai swept through his mansion, he would not be able to overturn it for a long time.
Qiao Mai didn’t care what was going on behind his back. All she had to do was teach this b*stard a lesson. She had to kill the people who deserved to be killed and steal the items that deserved to be stolen.
As soon as she left, the capital was in chaos. Such a strange thing seemed to have happened a few years ago. The case had never been solved.
Now, even Prince Ding’s Mansion had been robbed. The officials were helpless.
Although the emperor was mad, the assets were stolen out of thin air. It could only be said that it was done by an Immortal.
Thinking of it, the Emperor recalled the Immortal that made food appear from nothing.
Could it be done by an Immortal? But why would an Immortal steal something from Prince Ding’s mansion?
The Emperor was more cautious and immediately sent the Golden Dragon Guards to investigate Prince Ding’s Mansion.
Once he investigated, the Emperor was shocked. Prince Ding was constantly accumulating wealth. What was he trying to do?
Could he be raising an army and wanted to rebel?
Hence, he continued to let the Golden Dragon Guards investigate. Sure enough, there were 20,000 elite soldiers hidden in a mountain only five hundred miles from the capital.
Whether it was armor, weapons, or warhorses, they were all top-notch. They trained every day and were much more dangerous than the army of the Ming Dynasty.
The Emperor thanked the thief from the bottom of his heart. If not for this matter, he would not have noticed this eldest son of his harbored such malicious intentions..
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺