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Chapter 3: You Are Not In Exile, You Are Clearly Traveling!
🕑 Added 2024-02-23 23:30:46 +0000 UTCChapter 3 Nothing
"Miss, what are you doing..."
Watching Chen Xue move the vases and ornaments in the hall, Madam Chen's maid was full of confusion.
"They're going to ransack our house. How can we let them have these things for free?"
Chen Xue said as she took the opportunity to put the vases into her space.
Madam Chen's face showed a hint of ruthlessness upon hearing this. "Exactly, we can't let them have it for free."
With that said, she grabbed a vase nearby and smashed it to the ground. With a loud crash, the expensive vase shattered into pieces.
Chen Xue was dumbfounded, feeling the pain as if it was her own.
Oh my dear mother, I said we shouldn't let the enemy benefit, not let you smash them.
Then, seeing her mother wanting to smash other vases, she hurriedly rushed over to stop her.
"Mother, calm down!"
"What's wrong?"
"My point is, I can hide these things away so they won't benefit others."
"Hide them?"
"It's useless."
Madam Chen sighed, "You don't know those people. When they ransack a house, they'll turn the place upside down. No matter where you hide things, they'll find them. It's better to smash them to prevent them from benefiting."
"Don't..."
Chen Xue, feeling distressed, grabbed the vase from her mother, "I have a way."
Madam Chen didn't stop her anymore, especially when she heard a servant reporting that the Chen Mansion was surrounded by soldiers, she had to rush out.
Chen Xue took the opportunity to collect the vases, even the teapots and teacups on the table. Of course, she didn't spare the tables and chairs either.
If it wasn't for the fact that it was difficult to dig up the floor, she would have wanted to take everything, as the floor was made of top-quality wood.
After doing all this, she saw a man in black armor, with a large sword strapped to his waist, leading a group of soldiers into the mansion.
The man was Guo Qiang.
As soon as he entered, he waved his hand to his subordinates, "Get everyone out and gather them together."
Soon, everyone was herded into the front courtyard by the soldiers, surrounded by them. Guo Qiang nodded in satisfaction and then took out the imperial decree, reading aloud the notice of the Chen family's confiscation and exile.
Guo Qiang ordered his men to keep an eye on Chen Xue and the others while he himself entered the hall first.
However, upon entering the Chen Mansion's hall, he felt something was off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something didn't feel right.
He walked around the hall and then suddenly realized.
Before, when he ransacked a house, he would sit in the hall for a while when he got tired, then continue the search. Now...
Where were the chairs?
Where were the tables?
The spacious hall was empty, with nothing in it.
If he hadn't been here before and confirmed that this was the Chen Mansion's hall, he would have doubted whether he had raided the wrong house.
"Search carefully, they must have hidden things away."
Guo Qiang slapped the table in frustration, but the table was empty, nearly causing him to stumble and fall.
"Go, check the warehouse!"
He had bribed the Chen Mansion's servants and secretly stored a lot of disaster relief grain in the warehouse. As long as he found the relief grain, Chen Yuan would be doomed.
Then, they would have plenty of time to search.
"General, the Imperial Censor has arrived."
"What?"
Guo Qiang's face changed drastically upon hearing his subordinate's report. An Imperial Censor was not someone he could afford to offend.
Although the Imperial Censor's status was not as high as his uncle's, it was higher than his, and he dare not offend him openly.
After all, the Imperial Censor had the right to supervise all officials. If he reported to the Emperor, it would be over.
Thinking of this, he quickly ran out and saw an official in official robes comforting Chen Xue and the others.
"Don't worry, I know Chen Yuan's character. It's impossible for him to embezzle. I will definitely investigate the truth."
Hearing the official's assurance, Chen Xue breathed a sigh of relief. At least her father had someone to support him. No wonder he wasn't executed, only exiled. It turned out there were people supporting him.
"However, for now, I can only ask for your understanding."
The official also knew that exile was the best outcome now, but he still felt guilty. After all, Chen Xue was only seventeen or eighteen years old, about the same age as his granddaughter. She should have been enjoying herself in her boudoir, but now she had to be exiled...
"Why did the Imperial Censor come?" Guo Qiang hurriedly interrupted him, "I am following the imperial decree to confiscate the property. Imperial Censor..."
Although he didn't say it explicitly, the meaning was clear: I have the Emperor's order, and the Imperial Censor has no right to stop me.
The Imperial Censor understood his meaning and clasped his hands in front of his chest, "I have reported to the Emperor, and the Emperor has agreed to my supervision of General Guo's confiscation of the property and to investigate whether Chen Yuan has indeed embezzled relief grain."
"Very well, then the Imperial Censor can serve as a witness."
Guo Qiang smirked inwardly. The timing was perfect. If he only found the relief grain in the Chen Mansion by himself, he would still be targeted.
But with a just and fair Imperial Censor present, when he personally witnessed the relief grain in the warehouse, the evidence against Chen Yuan would be irrefutable.
"Imperial Censor, please come this way!"
With such thoughts in mind, Guo Qiang smiled and led the way to the warehouse. He had obtained a map of the Chen Mansion long ago and knew exactly which warehouse the relief grain was stored in.
"Hmm?"
"What is this place?"
The group passed by the lake pavilion and suddenly froze.
Because there was no water in the lake, only mud and some weeds, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
Guo Qiang furrowed his brows. He remembered there should be a small lake here, with many precious fish raised in it. Now, why was there nothing?
Not only was he puzzled, but the Imperial Censor was also puzzled.
Perplexed, they continued forward and soon arrived at the warehouse. Guo Qiang couldn't hide his smile.
"You two, open the warehouse and let the Imperial Censor see how much grain Chen Yuan has embezzled."
Guo Qiang casually pointed to two of his men to open the door, eagerly awaiting the surprise.
However, there was no surprise, only shock.
After the warehouse was opened, it was found to be empty, devoid of anything. There was not even a single grain of rice, let alone thousands of bags of grain.
Where was the grain?
Where were the thousands of bags of grain?
Where had it all gone?
Guo Qiang was full of questions, even inspecting around the door, thinking he might have walked into the wrong place.
Then he looked at one of his subordinates, who nodded, indicating that this was indeed the place.
At the same time, he looked puzzled.
He remembered clearly that he had hidden the grain in this warehouse. After all, for peace of mind, he personally led the men to hide it. Each bag of grain was carried in by him.
He had piled them up together, working overtime for several nights, even stepping on rat droppings... Ahem, in short, he was one hundred percent sure that the relief grain was in this warehouse.
But now?
There was nothing!
Where had it all gone?
Guo Qiang was filled with doubt, even suspecting that he had worked too late these past few nights and his eyesight had blurred.
When he rubbed his eyes and found that there was still nothing inside, his expression became extremely ugly.
Things had gone wrong!
Although he didn't understand how the grain had disappeared, he was very clear that the Imperial Censor would not let him off.
Comments
Hipployta
Wow their household security and servants were that useless?
