In the morning, the two hidden guards dispatched by Prince Yu to secretly investigate why the little black-faced one became a slave returned.
They investigated layer by layer and currently only knew that most of the slaves in the little black-faced one's group were from Qing Huang Kingdom captives.
"From Qing Huang Kingdom?" Prince Yu raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange sense of surprise in his heart. "Is this point confirmed?"
Guard Jia shook his head, "Reporting to master, it cannot be confirmed yet. We only know that most of that batch of slaves are from Qing Huang Kingdom captives, and at the same time, many slaves from our Da Xia Kingdom are mixed in."
Prince Yu's mood was complicated. He didn't know whether he should continue to investigate further. If the little black-faced one was truly a Qing Huang Kingdom captive, how should he face her?
Ten years ago, his imperial father had annihilated her country!
"I heard that Qing Huang Kingdom captives are branded with marks. Is that true?" Prince Yu asked.
Guard Yi said, "Indeed, it is true. However, if the person is too young when branded, the brand may gradually disappear as the body grows. After all, everyone's physique is different, and some people are very resistant to scarring."
After a moment of contemplation, Prince Yu commanded in a low voice, "You two continue to investigate. No matter what you find, you must maintain absolute secrecy and report back to me quickly."
"Yes!" The two hidden guards responded in unison.
Wen Residence.
The Wen family was awakened by bursts of screams in the morning.
First, the female family members woke up to find all the jewelry and ornaments in their rooms missing. Then, the accountant in charge of the family's finances discovered that all the wealth in the storeroom had vanished. Finally, the head of the family found that his secret chamber had also been ransacked.
Moreover, no traces of forced entry were found anywhere. The locks on the storeroom doors were intact, and there were no signs of tampering with the roof.
Even stranger, the large jewelry ore stones in the storeroom were so heavy that they couldn't be moved by fewer than a dozen people. How could such large items disappear so silently?
Everyone in the Wen family was shocked and fell into immense confusion.
Could it be that their home was haunted?
At this moment, a shop assistant from Ming Bao Zhai came running, stumbling.
"Master, master, something terrible has happened!"
The head of the Wen family's heart sank. He had been hoping for the finished goods in the shop to provide some capital, but he hadn't expected—
As expected, the shop assistant, his face full of fear, said, "Master, all the jewelry in our Ming Bao Zhai has been looted! Not a single piece is left!"
The head of the Wen family's head spun, and he couldn't stand. He muttered, "Report to the authorities, quickly... hurry and report to the authorities!"
"Father," the eldest son of the Wen family stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Early this morning, minor officials from the county magistrate's office posted notices everywhere. Our Ta Sha County has... changed its sky!"
"Changed... changed its sky? What does that mean?" The head of the Wen family felt a chill run through his body.
The eldest son of the Wen family said in a deep voice, "Son, I heard that the night before last, Prince Yu turned the county magistrate's office upside down, raided the homes of Magistrate Guo and Assistant Magistrate Shen. Yesterday, our county magistrate has been replaced by Master Ji! Magistrate Guo has been... hanged outside the city gate!"
"Wh... what?!" The head of the Wen family's eyes darkened, and he was about to fall to the ground.
It wasn't just the Wen Residence; the entire county town only learned more than a day later that Magistrate Guo and Assistant Magistrate Shen had their homes raided.
Because Prince Yu was worried about complications, he had temporarily ordered the news to be sealed. Only after all the people from the two residences had been interrogated did they issue a notice to the entire city this morning announcing the replacement of the county magistrate.
And Magistrate Guo, who was hanged outside the city gate, had fled after the assassination attempt failed that day. He was wearing civilian clothes, and with his disheveled hair covering his face, people entering and exiting the city gate did not recognize him as the once infinitely glorious Magistrate Guo.
The Wen family members poured some ginseng soup for the head of the Wen family. This half of the ginseng, kept in the kitchen, was spared. The thief left them none of the other precious tonics such as ginseng, lingzhi, and bird's nest.
When the head of the family woke up, the eldest son of the Wen family continued to ask, "Father, should we... still report to the authorities?"
The head of the Wen family's eyes were filled with despair, "Report, of course, we must report. If we don't, our Wen family will be completely finished."
Upon hearing this, the eldest son of the Wen family turned to the people in the residence and ordered, "Everything in the house must remain as it is. Do not move anything."
After speaking, he immediately led the household servants to the county yamen.
In the county yamen, Master Ji and Prince Yu were reviewing important county affairs when they suddenly heard the sound of the Deng Wen drum at the yamen entrance, "dong dong dong."
Master Ji and Prince Yu exchanged glances. To the minor official rushing to report, they sternly asked, "Who is beating the drum?"
The minor official bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness Prince Yu and Master Ji, the person beating the drum is the eldest son of the Wen Residence. He says that all the wealth in his home was stolen last night and he has come to report it to the authorities."
"Oh?" Master Ji's brow furrowed slightly. "Summon him in."
The minor official turned and ran.
Prince Yu, however, fell into thought. So much gold and silver were placed in the Prince Yu Residence's storeroom without anyone knowing. Could it be related to the theft of the Wen family's property?
If that were the case, was this thief trying to gift him treasures or frame him?
Thinking of this, Prince Yu praised himself for being a clever little darling, because he had instructed the accountant to hide that "without anyone knowing" treasure earlier that morning.
As soon as the eldest son of the Wen family entered, he knelt on the ground with a face full of sorrow and wailed, "Master Ji, your humble subject has a serious case to report. Last night, all the jewelry and wealth in my home and shop were stolen. The method of theft was extremely bizarre. I beg Master Ji to quickly send people to investigate the scene."
Upon hearing this, Ji Chenghe felt a little happy. He gritted his teeth and pinched his thigh hard to prevent himself from laughing out loud.
The Wen family was one of the financial backers of the Jiang family and the Crown Prince, and they had often colluded with Magistrate Guo in the past.
Now that his family had been robbed, Ji Chenghe felt... very happy.
However, as a parent official, he still had to investigate, and while he was at it, investigate the Wen family's illegal and disciplinary behavior.
Master Ji led a group of constables to the Wen Residence.
After a careful investigation, everyone fell into deep confusion.
There were no traces of forced entry, not even footprints on the ground. Everything seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Master Ji Chenghe could only tell the Wen family that the prefectural office would first file a report and then investigate slowly, but there was a high probability that nothing could be found, as there were no criminal traces to follow.
The Wen family members also knew this themselves, but investigating still held a glimmer of hope; not investigating meant no hope at all.
The head of the Wen family immediately sent a letter to the Ming Bao Zhai branch in the capital, asking them to guard their shop. If the capital branch was also robbed, then the entire Wen family would truly have no hope.
Ji Chenghe returned to the county yamen and excitedly recounted the miraculous findings of the day's investigation to Prince Yu.
"Is there any hope of finding out?" Prince Yu couldn't suppress the upward curve of his lips.
Ji Chenghe felt that Prince Yu should have shared his feelings and thus shook his head with a pleasant mood, "There's absolutely no clue to start with. There are no traces of forced entry at the scene. It can only become a bizarre cold case."