Chapter 363 Stolen
After leaving some instructions for Ji Yun, Su Qingqing came out of the inner room and pointed at the two people who followed her.
"You two should go to the government office now and find a way to get the grain and meat stored in the government office out. You can destroy them or throw them on the street. In any case, make a big noise."
The two men took the order and carried it out.
As soon as they left, Su Qingqing also left Ji Yun's pharmacy.
It was still raining outside. Although not as heavy as at night, it was still moderate rain. If you were to spend a cup of tea in such heavy rain outside, you would be soaked through.
Early in the morning, Duke Xue's eyelids were twitching and he felt uneasy.
"How's it out there?"
While having breakfast, he felt uneasy. He took a few bites of the bun in a hurry, asked someone to prepare rain gear, and walked out while putting it on.
The attendant who followed him said, "The people Lord Xu is looking for are still making trouble over there on the city wall. There is no big movement over there on the other side of the military camp."
"The queen is still in the tent?"
The attendant said, "She should still be there. We saw soldiers coming in and out early in the morning, and her personal maid was also seen several times."
After hearing this, Duke Xue's restless heart calmed down a little , "Where's Xu Kefeng?"
"It's raining heavily today, Lord Xu didn't come, he should be in the government office."
Before he could finish his words, a servant came running in from outside. Perhaps he was too flustered to even use his rain gear. When he saw people in the heavy rain, he forgot the rules and just yelled back.
"My Lord, this is bad. Our Lord said that all the grain stored in the backyard of the government office has been destroyed!"
When this sentence came over, Duke Xue's heart, which had just been somewhat at ease, instantly tightened, "How did it get ruined?"
The servant ran closer, panting, and said, "Just now, all the rice and flour in the backyard of the government office were soaked in water. It rained so hard that they turned into mud and are completely inedible.
Meat and other things were thrown all over the street, and many people went out to grab them. "
Duke Xue frowned and quickened his pace.
In the courtyard of Xu Kefeng, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, when Duke Xue arrived, he was standing in the warehouse in the backyard with a gloomy face. There were yamen runners coming in and out of the warehouse carrying things.
"What's going on?" Duke Xue took two steps forward, his tone extremely stern.
Xu Kefeng gritted his teeth and spat, "Rats got in and ate all the bags of grain. Wild dogs dragged the bags out. They stayed there for who knows how long until the guards here came over to take up their duties and discovered it."
Duke Xue's face darkened, "I told you long ago that I would send someone to guard at night, but you didn't listen!"
Xu Kefeng was furious. "What's the point of saying this now? Besides, even if I send people to guard here at night, if someone really wants to cause trouble, how can I defend against this? They just need to knock out and chop the people I sent here to guard here to cause trouble!"
Duke Xue was so angry that he yelled at him, "You still think you're right ?"
Xu Kefeng said: "I am right? What right can I have? I am the most unreasonable!"
He was obviously starting to act foolishly. Duke Xue was so angry that his lips were shaking. He stopped arguing with him and only asked, "How did the meat get on the street? Who committed the crime? Do you have any clues?"
Xu Kefeng said coldly, "Once the meat is on the street, it will naturally be dragged out on the street."
After saying this, he met Duke Xue's eyes that were blazing with fire, and realized that he had gone a little too far in his anger, so he calmed down a little, "There are no clues, and now we only know that someone has moved all the meat here to the wall outside the government office, and the meat was dragged away by dogs and dragged onto the street.
It rained today, so all traces have been washed away, but the detectives are investigating, so maybe they can find something."
Before he could finish his words, an attendant of Duke Xue came in from outside.
This man, Duke Xue, usually stayed in the mansion to help look after the house. Now that he saw him coming, Duke Xue's eyelids, which had twitched in the morning, began to tremble again.
The man stumbled over and before Duke Xue could ask any questions, he quickly replied in a low voice, "Duke, it's bad. Our secret compartment has been attacked."
Duke Xue only felt a bang above his head as if a thunder had exploded.
Seeing his reaction, Xu Kefeng could tell that something was wrong even if he was dumb, so he asked hurriedly, "What's wrong?"
Duke Xue looked at him and said, "You keep an eye on this place. I'll go back first."
Without giving Xu Kefeng any explanation, he turned around and walked out.
The follower just reported back that the secret compartment was looted.
Others don't know what this secret compartment is used for, but Duke Xue knows clearly that all the silver and money he has here are in that secret compartment.
During this flood, as usual, local wealthy businessmen took the lead in donating money, and wealthy businessmen from neighboring towns also took the lead in donating money.
With them taking the lead, those people from slightly wealthier families also followed suit and donated money. Because the flood here was so severe, the amount of donations this time was quite considerable.
According to previous disaster relief routines, the donations from those wealthy businessmen actually only serve to lead the way and incite public opinion. When the common people have donated almost all their money, they will finally return the money donated by the wealthy businessmen.
In this way, the wealthy businessmen gained fame without having to spend any actual money, while the government pocketed a wave of donations from the people.
Whether it is for the government or for the merchants, it is a mutually beneficial thing. This approach has always been tacitly accepted and used by people in the circle.
The people’s money should not be wasted!
But now, all the silver and money in his secret compartment had been looted, leaving him with no idea what to return to those wealthy businessmen.
If he doesn't refund it, won't those merchants make a fuss?
Duke Xue hurried back in fear.
The secret compartment was in a small corner under Duke Xue's bed. When he pressed the mechanism, the secret compartment popped open.
But at this moment, when he pressed the switch, what popped out was an empty grid.
He locked hundreds of thousands of taels of silver notes in there, and now there is not a single tael left!
The blood flowed backwards from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Duke Xue felt a black screen in front of his eyes and almost fell down.
However, at this moment, another servant came in and reported, "Duke, seven or eight merchants came outside and said they wanted to see you."
Duke Xue's hands and feet were cold.
Just as his money was stolen, these merchants came to his door. If he said that this was not arranged deliberately, no one would believe it!
Gnashing his teeth, Duke Xue glanced in the direction of the military camp outside the city gate, his eyes turning red with hatred.
But he couldn't miss these merchants.
"Take the person to the front hall. I'll clean up and come back."
When he came back, he was almost soaked because he was in such a hurry.
After a simple wash and change of clothes, Duke Xue tried his best to suppress his anger. He ordered his followers to investigate the whereabouts while he went to the front hall to deal with the merchants who came to the store.
