Chapter 9: Seized Fifty Thousand Taels of Gold!

Chapter 9: Fifty Thousand Taels of Gold Dug Up!

He didn't see Yun Ran jump in on purpose, since his head was down.

He figured the emperor had slipped and almost dove in after him on impulse to pull him out.

But when he leaned forward, the hard box against his chest jabbed him.

Ow, what the heck is that?!

He snapped back to reality in an instant.

Right, right! The Dragon Seal! It's on me—can't get it wet, or it's done for.

He bellowed at the top of his lungs,

"Someone, quick! Save the emperor!"

Every Dragon Scale Guard in the courtyard heard him and came flying in from all directions. After hearing Chang Yuan out, they dove in one after another.

The lake was murky green and so deep you couldn't see the bottom. Once someone went under, the surface stayed perfectly still—no sign of anyone.

Chang Yuan paced the shore, fretting. Why hasn't a single person come up yet?

These useless idiots! If it were him, he'd have fished the emperor out by now!

Chang Yuan thought about stripping down to wrap the Dragon Seal and diving in himself, but immediately thought better of it—the emperor had entrusted it to him; if he lost it, the whole realm was doomed!

"Ugh, these idiots, why haven't they come up yet?!"

Down at the bottom, Xiao Qi, the first Dragon Scale Guard in, spotted someone frantically waving at him through the murky water. He quickly swam over.

As he got closer, he realized it was the emperor!

The emperor was resting her hands on a row of tightly packed chests. She pointed at herself, then patted the chests. Xiao Qi got it right away!

The emperor wanted everyone to come down and haul the chests up.

Meanwhile, sharp-eared servants at neighboring estates caught wind of the commotion.

"What? The emperor fell in the water?"

Folks from the neighboring marquis's place and the prince's mansion all showed up, a big crowd noisily gathering at the Regent's Mansion gates.

They all wanted to get in and see what was going on, but the four Dragon Scale Guards at the gate drew their gleaming blades and wouldn't let anyone through.

"The emperor's fine? Must be protected by the true dragon—everyone, rest easy..."

At that moment, some were genuinely worried, while others clearly had other ideas...

"Pfft! Quick, there's something down there—everyone follow me, the emperor's watching over it!"

Xiao Qi spat out a mouthful of water, surfaced, and anxiously called for the rest of the men on shore to come down. Chang Yuan paced frantically along the shore, clutching his chest.

He clutched the Dragon Seal tight, terrified something might happen to the emperor, torn between two choices.

"Ancestral emperor above, please watch over the emperor."

Seeing that the main group had arrived,

Yun Ran had them form groups of four, lifting the square chests and swimming back to shore.

Yun Ran got ready to head up too. Before leaving, she carefully counted—twenty chests at the bottom. After confirming the count, she surfaced.

With a push of her hands, she was back on dry land.

Chang Yuan, who'd been anxiously waiting on shore, had somehow found a clean cloth and quickly started drying the emperor off.

When he was done, he handed Yun Ran a fresh set of casual robes.

"Your Majesty, let me help you change into these quickly—don't want you catching a chill."

"Refer to yourself as a minister! Don't call yourself a servant—you're a minister!"

Yun Ran shot him a sharp look, and Chang Yuan felt a rush of emotion, quickly correcting himself,

"Yes, your minister is at your service!"

Yun Ran didn't change everything. She just swapped her soaked outer robe right there on the shore and started inspecting the chests that had been hauled up.

People on shore took them, people in the water passed them up, one after another—

Watching this, Chang Yuan's heart pounded. What in the world had the Regent hidden in his mansion, stashed underwater like this?!

Soon, the shadow guards surfaced one by one, and the chests stacked up along the shore.

Ten, eleven, twelve...

Soon,

a full twenty black-grained camphor wood chests were hauled up from the depths, neatly stacked there—a sight that made your heart skip a beat.

"Open them all!"

Yun Ran clapped her hands together.

All the shadow guards drew their daggers and, with a crack, chopped through the locks on the chests.

"Whoa!"

Chang Yuan saw what was inside and stumbled back a step, gasping. The shadow guards' eyes went wide too!

Chest after chest brimming with gold ingots—twenty whole chests packed to the top!

Yun Ran casually picked one up, hefted it in her palm, feeling its solid, heavy weight.

And the amount was staggering, to say the least.

"These twenty chests of gold are all property the Regent's Mansion embezzled over the years. Haul them all back and put them in the national treasury! As for the rest, search the mansion for every last valuable, then toss the bodies into the mass grave and burn them on the spot! I want every one of them to leave no trace—got it?"

"Yes, sir! Your subordinate obeys!"

After everyone was gone, Yun Ran touched the corner of her mouth.

Chang Yuan, quick to catch on, sidled over and perked up his ears.

"Put all the gold into my personal treasury—get on it right away!"

Chang Yuan swallowed hard.

He looked up and met the emperor's razor-sharp gaze, which felt like a knife pressed against his back...

"Think you can pull it off?"

"I can, Your Majesty!"

After arranging the most critical matters, Yun Ran led the Dragon Scale Guard on a sweep.

The Regent's mansion was ridiculously lavish; even the rockeries and koi fish were priceless.

Yun Ran strolled with her hands clasped behind her back, barking orders as she went,

"These koi in the pond are pretty nice—how much is one worth?"

Captain Wu beside her replied,

"Your Majesty, these are rare golden koi; on the open market, each one is worth at least three hundred taels of silver."

"Oh? Then what are you standing around for? Scoop 'em all up and bring 'em back to the palace."

"Ah? Yes!"

"All the ceramics, carvings, jade ornaments, rare paintings, calligraphy, and stationery in the main hall, the inner rooms, and every nook and cranny—haul it all away! Don't leave a single piece behind!"

The accompanying Dragon Scale Guards were stunned.

Well, I'll be damned—

So this is how you ransack a place!?

They're gonna strip this place to the bare walls!

Even the beggars camped out front would cry seeing this.

A young soldier asked timidly,

"Sir, what about the convict's calligraphy and paintings? Should we take those?"

Yun Ran glanced at him,

"Is his stuff worth anything?"

"I don't think I've heard of him being famous..."

"Then why bother with that junk! I'd choke on the fumes if I used it for firewood!"

Seeing the emperor's anger, the group scrambled away in a panic.

But the fun wasn't over yet. After arranging the gold, Chang Yuan came hustling back all smiles.

He'd barely caught his breath when the emperor barked another order,

"Chang Yuan, go check the stables. Bring back the good horses to the palace; hawk the rest at the market."

"Sir, the mansion also has chickens, mallards, and a whole flock of geese."

Chang Yuan caught on fast.

"Good, crate 'em up and haul 'em all away!"

"You got it!"

Chang Yuan rolled up his sleeves and headed out with gusto.

He was really getting into the swing of this confiscation racket.

He could finally appreciate the thrill of the haul. Was this what His Majesty meant by a "no-cost haul"?

Man, this feeling was unreal!

The Dragon Scale Guards also figured out how to suck up.

"Sir, I found a sheep pen tucked away behind the kitchen. There's a ewe and three lambs, and the lambs are still suckling."

"Good, round 'em up and take 'em."

"Sir! I just dug around under the steward's bed and found several gold ingots, a pile of silver, and even two jade pendants."

"Did you bag 'em up?"

"All bagged! Didn't leave a single scrap!"

"...Good work."

"Sir, about the women's quarters..."

The reporting soldier scratched his head awkwardly and piped up,

"I went through their jewelry boxes—lots of gold hairpins and silver hairpins, plus gold earrings. All bagged up."

"Kid, you've got a bright future ahead of you. Don't forget to pull the bracelets and rings off the bodies—those are yours to keep."

"Thanks, Your Majesty! You're too kind!"

The soldier kowtowed joyfully and scurried off.