Chapter 236: How Did You Guys Get Here So Fast?

Early the next morning, Fortune Teahouse had just taken down its door panels and opened for business, and customers wanting to hear storytelling and drink tea surged inside.

Their steps stopped simultaneously, and their gazes all turned toward the center of the hall.

On the high platform that usually only held the storyteller, now dozens of wooden boxes were neatly stacked.

The boxes varied in size, half‑new half‑old, looking utterly ordinary, yet arranging them like this made them seem extremely strange.

The teahouse instantly erupted in chatter.

"Oh dear! What kind of show is this?"

"Could there be treasure inside these boxes, which is why they're displayed here?"

"No, look at the boxes—they're plain in style and workmanship; even on the street nobody would give them a second glance, so they couldn't be holding treasure."

A hot‑headed strongman shouted at the counter, "Boss! What kind of Lost Soul Formation is this? Hurry up and explain it to us!"

While the crowd murmured, the storyteller leisurely walked up to the high platform.

He sat down slowly, smiled, and glanced at the anxious crowd below: "Ladies and gentlemen, please stay calm!"

"You all see these boxes on the platform? Surely you all have the same question in mind—what are they?"

"Exactly! Hurry up and tell us!" shouts rose from below.

The storyteller deliberately kept them in suspense, paused a moment, then announced loudly: "This is a mystery set up by the Mystic Commandant of Tianji Pavilion!"

"Mystic Commandant?" the crowd exchanged bewildered looks.

"You needn't guess the Commandant's identity; just know that the Commandant said these boxes relate to a tremendous secret and an unresolved karma."

"Today we are inviting all capable people from Jingcheng! If anyone with keen eyes can identify the origin of these boxes and reveal their hidden mechanism, the Mystic Commandant will reward them with——"

He paused deliberately: "A thousand taels of gold!"

"A thousand taels of gold?!"

The teahouse erupted in an uproar; everyone's gaze at the ordinary wooden boxes now brimmed with inquiry and greed.

In a private room on the third floor,

Tuan Tuan was leaning on the railing, happily watching the lively scene downstairs.

Xiao Er stood with arms crossed, Lu Qi ramrod straight, one on each side guarding her.

Tuan Tuan turned her head, lifted her little face, and looked at them with pride and excitement: "Uncle Er, Uncle Qi, look—everyone loves my boxes!"

"Hmph! Bad guys just like to hide things; I won't let them hide! That's what makes it lively!"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi exchanged a glance, the same thought flashing in their minds: The waters of Jingcheng have been thoroughly stirred up by Tuan Tuan.

The "Thousand‑Gold Guess the Box" event at Fortune Teahouse spread throughout Jingcheng's streets and alleys in less than half a day.

From high officials to lowly peddlers, everyone discussed the dozens of mysterious wooden boxes and the Tianji Pavilion's suddenly appeared "Mystic Commandant."

The thousand‑tael gold reward added a blazing flame to this strange tale.

Meanwhile, in a study of a manor in Jingcheng, a man wearing a dark‑patterned brocade robe stood with his hands behind his back before the window, his back rigid.

His several aides stood with hands lowered, not daring to speak.

"Speak up," the man said without turning, his voice low, "Tianji Pavilion has made such a show—what do they intend?"

One aide stepped forward, speaking cautiously: "In my view, it's just empty bluster. They're merely empty boxes; there's no need to worry too much…"

Before he finished, another aide interrupted: "Nonsense! You and I both recognize those boxes—they were formerly used to transport gold ingots!"

"Tianji Pavilion now displaying them publicly must know something; this is clearly a provocation and challenge to us! How can we stand by and do nothing?"

Another aide mused: "Could it be… that the boxes bear some mark or flaw we haven't noticed? If that's truly the case, the consequences would be unthinkable!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces changed.

They stared at each other, the room falling silent for a moment.

"This must not be kept! It must be destroyed!"

"Exactly, whether by theft, robbery, or simply setting it ablaze, we must not let it continue to draw attention!"

The man by the window suddenly turned, his eyes flashing with icy light: "What a Tianji Pavilion! Just last night they were told they'd escaped trouble, and now they're eager to strike back?"

He drew a deep breath: "Then tonight we act—burn the boxes and the teahouse together, root out the trouble once and for all!"

"Yes!"

That night, the interior and exterior of Fortune Teahouse were eerily still.

In the third‑floor private room, Xiao Yuanhang sat in the darkness, holding Tuan Tuan wrapped in a small cloak.

Tuan Tuan longed to see her father and second brother catch the villains, but having waited too long, she fell asleep in her father's arms.

Xiao Er and Lu Qi stood guard outside the private room, their eyes fixed on the teahouse's main door.

Xiao Ningchen personally led a squad of elite troops, holding their breath as they concealed themselves on the teahouse's uneven roofs.

Several black shadows flickered out from adjacent alleys like ghosts, silently approaching the teahouse's walls.

They're here!

Xiao Ningchen's eyes narrowed; he gave a hand signal, and all the ambushers focused their attention on them.

The black shadows produced several small buckets from behind, lifted the lids, and a pungent smell of vegetable oil instantly filled the air.

They raised the oil buckets, splashing vegetable oil around the teahouse, and a black‑clad figure pulled a fire striker from his bosom.

"Attack!" Xiao Ningchen gave the order.

Several elites on the roof exerted force together, hurling the prepared large buckets of vegetable oil down onto the black shadows below!

"Splash—!"

The black‑clad men were instantly drenched.

"Vegetable oil too? This fire absolutely cannot be lit!"

"There's an ambush! Retreat!"

The leader of the black‑clad men shouted, turned, and fled.

But they were slick and staggering, and before they could run a few steps, Xiao Ningchen swooped down with his men; in an instant, all the thieves were laid flat on the ground.

Only then did Xiao Yuanhang hold Tuan Tuan and stroll out of the teahouse.

Tuan Tuan was roused by the commotion, blinking her eyes open in a daze, and seeing the several thieves tightly bound on the ground, she pouted: "Dad, Second Brother, how did you manage that so quickly? I didn't even see how you caught them!"

Xiao Ningchen stepped forward and pinched her cheek, saying, "You don't need to watch; just get a good sleep."

Xiao Yuanhang laughed heartily, gently rubbing his daughter's head: "Take them back to the Prince's Mansion for strict interrogation!"

The next morning, someone confessed, saying they had been instigated by Chen Hao, the son of Prince Chen.