Chapter 50

Chapter 50

With Jiang Yunsui leading the way, they quickly arrived at the entrance to the secret chamber.

Jiang Yunsui said in a tiny voice, “There’s some kind of mechanism here. There’s a huge, mean dog inside the chamber. Someone was just bitten to death in there not long ago.”

Although her voice was small, everyone present had a foundation in martial arts. With their internal energy, their hearing was naturally far superior to that of ordinary people.

They couldn’t help but glance at the little girl.

She knew the details so clearly-had she been inside?

One look at the way Wang Hu wanted to tear Jiang Yunsui apart was enough to know she was telling the truth.

But what puzzled everyone even more was that if there was a vicious dog inside, she had somehow come out completely unscathed.

“It’s this stone.”

He pointed at the rock and spoke.

Ji Yan’an called out, “Nanmo.”

Nanmo, who had been silent the whole time, stepped forward and pressed his hand against the stone.

*Click…*

The stone door swung open.

“I’m going to kill you, you little brat-”

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Ji Yan’an’s eyes. “Gag him.”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Wang Hu could no longer speak. He could only watch with eyes nearly bursting from their sockets as everyone entered the passage.

As they neared the inner chamber, everyone heard the sound of heavy, ragged breathing.

It was clearly that of a beast.

“Stay alert.”

No sooner had the words been spoken than a dark shadow lunged at them.

“Motherfucker! How much human flesh has this dog eaten to smell this foul?”

Leading the way was Tang Qingsong, who dealt with dogs frequently. He held his blade horizontally, blocking the vicious dog’s snapping teeth.

The men behind him rushed forward in a coordinated effort to beat the dog back.

“The rest of you protect the Young Master! We’ll handle this beast.”

The secret chamber was dim, but a few men were more than enough to handle one rabid dog.

After about the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, the vicious dog was finally slain.

“Bring a lamp over.”

Everyone looked at the fallen beast, their brows furrowing in disgust.

“This man named Wang is truly filthy. To raise a perfectly good dog like this just to guard his treasure…”

“Heh… I’m afraid it wasn’t just those skeletons that died here.”

Everyone realized it too; looking at the dog, it was clear it had been fed plenty of human flesh.

In Mobei, human life was sometimes the cheapest thing of all.

“General, there’s gold here.”

“There’s silver here too. It’s all Great Liang imperial currency.”

The group immediately crowded around. Upon picking it up and inspecting it, one hot-tempered man threw a silver bar directly at Wang Hu.

“You goddamn bastard! This gold and silver must be the shipment stolen by bandits three years ago! You’ve fucking ruined us!”

“The entire army had to tighten their belts because there was no pay! So many soldiers died on the battlefield because they didn’t have enough to eat!”

“I’ll kill you!”

Wang Hu was surrounded and beaten by several burly men until he was barely breathing.

Ji Yan’an stopped them.

“Uncles, his life cannot end at your hands.”

At the very least, he couldn’t die in Mobei. Otherwise, the Imperial Court would use it as an excuse to turn on them.

The group panted heavily, wishing they could bite Wang Hu to death themselves.

“There’s grain over here too.”

“Let’s move everything out of this chamber before we inspect it further. The light is too dim in here.”

Except for Jiang Yunsui and Ji Yan’an, everyone else got to work.

As for Wang Hu lying on the ground, as long as he wasn’t dead, no one cared.

Once all the gold, silver, and grain had been moved outside, they discovered that it wasn’t just the military funds from three years ago; there were other items as well.

One of the men found a hidden compartment inside the secret chamber. Inside was a box containing an account book and a significant amount of banknotes.
The amounts recorded were quite substantial.

One ledger detailed bribes he had received from foreign merchants, including some from barbarian caravans. Another ledger documented his illicit trade of salt and iron with merchants from the grasslands and deserts.

These were strictly controlled resources.

The old generals were so enraged by the contents of the ledgers that they practically had steam coming out of their noses.

What was the difference between this and using Great Liang’s own resources to fatten up their enemies?

This was nothing short of treason!

“No, I didn’t hit him hard enough just now!”

Ji Yan’an intervened, “We can’t hit him anymore for now.”

Everyone thought he had grown soft-hearted. “Yan’an, out here, being soft-hearted is a fatal mistake!”

Ji Yan’an coughed twice. “What I mean is, we should have a doctor treat him first. Let him recover a bit before we continue the beating; otherwise, he won’t be able to hold out.”

Everyone: “…”

Tang Qingsong burst into a loud laugh, his palm-the size of a cattail leaf fan-thumping down on Ji Yan’an’s shoulder.

The blow nearly sent him sprawling to the ground.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

“Haha, sorry. I forgot your constitution is so fragile.”

Ji Yan’an managed a strained smile.

Tang Qingsong remarked, “Truly a son of the Ji Family. Good lad.”

The others laughed as well, and the atmosphere lightened slightly.

However, the matter of Wang Hu still needed to be resolved.

This couldn’t be kept a secret. To deal with Wang Hu and officially strip him of his position as commander, the people in the Capital City had to be informed.

“That dog was originally from the Capital City. If we send him back there, isn’t that like throwing a meat bun at a dog? He’ll never come back to face justice.”

A light flickered in Ji Yan’an’s dark eyes.

“Of course we’ll send him to the Capital City. But before that, we must publicize Wang Hu’s crimes. Not just the people of Mobei, but the people in the Capital City must know as well.”

“We also need to compile a list of the soldiers who died three years ago. Record their names, spread word of their achievements, and share the final letters they wrote before going into battle-whether they wrote them themselves or had someone scribe for them. Pick the most moving ones to publicize…”

If the court feared that great merit would overshadow the monarch, then he would create a pantheon of heroes.

Tang Qingsong chuckled. “Good lad. Your body might be weak, but you’ve certainly got a lot of schemes up your sleeve.”

Ji Yan’an: “…” That didn’t exactly sound like a compliment.

Fine, he would take it as one.

While the others were busy inventorying the seized goods, Ji Yan’an took Jiang Yunsui to find Shen Qingzhu.

When Shen Qingzhu saw her messy little appearance, he was quite surprised.

“Where did you go to roll around in the dirt?”

The dirty Little Mushroom looked quite aggrieved. “I didn’t want to.”

Ji Yan’an pointed at her knees. “Take a look at her.”

The scrapes on her knees were easy enough to treat.

That day, the Prince’s Manor was anything but peaceful.

The generals led their men to surround the entire Prince’s Manor.

They began investigating the servants. The innocent were released, while those who had assisted Wang Hu in his misdeeds were arrested to be dealt with later according to their crimes.

Wang Hu had already fainted. He was assigned a random doctor for treatment, with the only requirement being that he didn’t die. His legs and ribs were broken. The pain of the treatment woke him up, only for him to pass out from the agony again. He drifted in and out of consciousness repeatedly.

After greeting the others, Ji Yan’an weakly expressed that he needed to return and rest.

The elders had seen with their own eyes how beautifully he had handled the situation; Wang Hu’s downfall was now a certainty.

“Young Master, with Wang Hu under arrest, Beizhen City is temporarily without a leader. Since you are of the Ji Family, until the imperial court appoints a new commander, you shall oversee the city’s security.”