At this moment, everyone present panicked. If the Emperor were to hold them accountable, they would all lose their heads.
This wasn’t just a few taels of gold—it was ten thousand taels!
The General had fought on battlefields for many years, conquering countless small nations. Surely, there were still many rare weapons and treasures.
“Deputy Commander Liu, you should just bring the items out! Otherwise, when the Emperor blames us, we’ll all lose our heads!”
Deputy Commander Liu had already been frightened out of his wits by the terrifying and bizarre scene earlier, his mind in complete disarray.
Even when accused, he couldn’t muster a word of rebuttal.
Just as the situation reached a deadlock, one of the imperial guards rolled his eyes, suddenly turned, and ran for his life, shouting at the top of his lungs:
“The Deputy Commander has emptied the armory of all its gold, silver, and jewels! Someone, come quickly! The Deputy Commander is silencing witnesses!”
The imperial guards: …How clever!
This statement immediately inspired everyone. To save their own necks, of course, they would shift the blame onto someone else!
So they all followed suit, shouting and running outward.
“It’s terrible! The Deputy Commander has emptied everything from the armory!”
At this point, even if Deputy Commander Liu had only one breath left, he would have been provoked into a furious outburst. He immediately drew his broadsword, gave chase, and roared, “What nonsense are you spouting? Stop right there for this Commander!”
Xie Zhizhi, watching this scene from within the Space, couldn’t help but think: truly, desperate times call for desperate measures, but it’s useless.
Given the Dog Emperor’s suspicious and paranoid nature, no one here today would escape punishment.
She’d bet a bag of melon seeds on it!
Who would have thought the first pack of lackeys would be eliminated just like this?
She controlled the Space to slip out of the armory and followed along to watch the show, tearing open a bag of caramel-flavored melon seeds and slowly cracking them open.
This flavor was still the best.
The entire General’s Mansion was in chaos. The imperial guards swarmed toward the front hall of the mansion, even using their lightness skill.
Deputy Commander Liu followed closely, his face filled with panic, though a hint of sinister ruthlessness flickered in his eyes. Gripping his broadsword tightly, he used his lightness skill to keep up.
He had to find Big Brother and figure out a solution!
You bunch of ungrateful traitors, daring to frame him!
Just you wait!
A large group of people flew along the walls, crossed the neighboring courtyard, and headed straight for the direction of the General’s Mansion study.
Deputy Commander Liu naturally knew this path led to the General’s Mansion. Hmph!
They were digging their own graves—his Big Brother was right there!
However, Deputy Commander Liu’s path, closely following the imperial guards, was cut off by a group of Imperial Physicians rushing over in a hurry, carrying their medicine boxes!
The sky was dark and overcast with clouds. The Imperial Physicians looked serious and anxious.
“Deputy Commander, how is the Commander’s condition?” one Imperial Physician asked, stopping in his tracks upon seeing Deputy Commander Liu.
Deputy Commander Liu wore a look of confusion mixed with panic and a hint of sinister ruthlessness, his face twisted: “What condition? What happened to the Commander?”
The fleeing imperial guards had already slipped past the study and were running toward the main hall.
Deputy Commander Liu, stopped by the Imperial Physicians, was unwilling to give up. Eager to know how his Big Brother was doing, he soon learned from Imperial Physician Chen that the General’s Mansion study was actually filled with silver-ringed snakes.
Moreover, Big Brother had been bitten twice and was now unconscious. Countless pieces of terrible information left his mind in turmoil. The Imperial Physician’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, extinguishing his earlier hope of having Big Brother take charge.
What should he do now?
The imperial guards ahead successfully reached the front hall.
“It’s terrible! The Deputy Commander has taken everything from the armory! Now there’s only an empty shell left, and the Deputy Commander still refuses to admit it!”The front hall was occupied by twenty imperial guards conducting the confiscation. The entire hall had already been thoroughly ransacked, with boxes of rare antiques piled in the open air. Some guards were overseeing the maids and servants.
Upon hearing this news, the imperial guards grew restless.
“The deputy commander actually dared to do such a thing!”
The armory of a first-rank general was said to contain tens of thousands of taels of gold and countless treasures. How could it all have vanished?
This was unacceptable! If the Emperor held them accountable, they would all lose their heads!
Regardless of how it disappeared, they had to insist it was the deputy commander’s doing.
They immediately decided.
“Such audacity! We must report this to the Emperor at once!”
Two imperial guards exchanged glances and swiftly departed the General’s Mansion using their lightness skill.
Xie Zhizhi followed Deputy Commander Liu’s footsteps and arrived at the courtyard in front of the study.
Chaos had erupted around the study.
The imperial physicians, faced with such a challenging snake venom, had exhausted all methods. Yet, the poisoned imperial guards, including the commander, remained unconscious, and their breathing was beginning to slow.
The physicians paced anxiously, like ants on a hot pan.
After a long silence, Imperial Physician Chen stroked his beard and hesitantly asked the surrounding guards, “You said the commander was bitten by a silver-ringed snake. Where did the snake go? Even if it’s dead, there should be a body!”
The guards who had fought the silver-ringed snake seemed to snap out of their panic.
Instantly, the fear that had gripped them earlier surged back into their hearts.