Chapter 1004: Confiscation

These two places have always been one region since ancient times, only later divided—but even after the division, folk customs and traditions remained similar, with families intermarried and inseparably linked.

If Guangxi rebels, Guangdong may not join, but if Guangdong erupts in chaos, those muscular fools in Guangxi, once stirred to bloodlust, will immediately pick up their hoes and follow.

So Guangdong cannot be allowed to fall into chaos—if it does, both regions will collapse.

Cao Rong is the Regional Commander of Guangdong; we still don't know how deeply he's entrenched there—if he's arrested, will his accomplices make a desperate last stand?

This is only one concern; the deepest worry is whether this move will provoke the military officers and widen the rift between civil and military factions.

Not everyone can be like Xue Shao, who considers only the interests of the nation and its people, never his own faction;

nor can everyone be like Pan Yun, who holds fast to her own principles and treats everyone equally.

Pan Yun pressed one hand against a gold brick; it vanished before the three of them. "Forget it—just take the goods away first."

Lao San saw it and immediately moved to carry the gold brick.

An Chen kicked him in the buttocks, exasperated: "Gold isn't valuable."

Lao San, bent over, was kicked flat onto the gold brick; he rubbed his buttocks and went to fetch a chest of jewels for Pan Yun—but his eyes kept stealing glances at the gold brick.

Pan Yun paused her hand as she moved the gold brick, turned under An Chen's gaze, and seized the pile of pearls beside it.

Xue Shao snapped back to awareness and murmured: "These are evidence for his conviction after confiscation—keep them. Wait until he's captured, then seize everything."

"No, that won't do—what if something goes wrong?" How could she let gold she saw slip away, especially when several pieces had already entered her space? That was even less acceptable.

Pan Yun said: "You haven't even thought of a way to arrest him yet, let alone confiscate his property. What if he's cunning enough to transfer his wealth before you arrest him? Or what if, the moment you move to arrest him, someone else slips away with the fortune?"

"Once you arrest him, your men will be occupied preventing military mutiny, gathering evidence, and dealing with his accomplices—where will you find extra hands or energy to confiscate his estate?"

Lao San raised his hand to speak, but An Chen secretly kicked him, and Pan Yun glared at him: "Your Embroidered Uniform Guards are no better—how many can you summon within three days?"

There weren't any.

Lao San silently retracted his arm.

An Chen also sided with Pan Yun: "These are state assets. Since we now have the means to remove the illicit funds, we should take them."

Xue Shao was not a stubborn man; he was instantly convinced. His gaze swept the treasure chamber and said: "We can take them, but we must make an inventory—record exactly what was taken and how much. When Cao Rong is escorted back to Jingcheng, submit the inventory, the goods, and these ledgers together to the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review."

Pan Yun and the two Embroidered Uniform Guards cheerfully agreed and immediately began moving the gold.

Since everything was going to be taken anyway, they no longer cared about value—just grab the gold they liked best.

Xue Shao reached out to stop her, then pulled out brush, ink, paper, and a scale from his own space.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the scale that had appeared out of nowhere, silent for a moment.

Pan Yun: "Why do you carry a large scale with you?"

An Chen: "My lord Xue, how do you know the Art of the Sleeve?"

An Chen and Lao San stared intently at Xue Shao, their hearts pounding as if about to burst.

If Xue Shao can, can we too?

Pan Yun glanced at them and said: "The Celestial Master's Mansion has newly crafted a martial art to promote among the military, but court ministers have blocked it, preventing its implementation. Your talent for Dao cultivation is low—you won't achieve great heights—but since you possess such Wu Gong, it proves you can generate Yuanli."

"Yuanli is like Neili—it enhances strength and prolongs life. Of course, it also enables spellcasting," Pan Yun said. "The essence of cultivation realms, traced back to their origin, is the level of Yuanli. Those with abundant Yuanli can fly and vanish as I do; those with shallow Yuanli, with a little training, can use a Space Bag like Xue Shao."

An Chen's face darkened: "If they can't cultivate it themselves—or won't—why do they block others from doing so? When we leave, I'll petition Lord Yun—others we can't control, but the Embroidered Uniform Guards must train."

Lao San nodded vigorously, stressing: "National Teacher, we can start now—Lord Yun will never stop us from cultivating."

Pan Yun smiled and replied: "When we leave here, I'll teach you."

See? The scope of this new martial art has already expanded.

Xue Shao finally spoke: "Bring out the gold bricks you just collected."

Pan Yun had taken three bricks, each weighing about ten jin; she held them close, filled with profound satisfaction.

Xue Shao pulled two chests from his space—both filled with books—and shoved the books into his space, then weighed the empty chests, recorded the weight, and had An Chen and Lao San carry the gold bricks into them. Only after weighing the loaded chests again did he let Pan Yun store the bricks in her space.

An Chen and Lao San then filled another chest, brought it over, and weighed it.

They repeated this process until all the gold bricks piled on the floor had been weighed.

Beside them stood rows of mismatched chests filled with silver ingots and gold cakes; one chest's silver ingots had piled into a peak, spilling over onto the floor.

Xue Shao swept the peak flat, arranged the ingots neatly, closed the chest, and had Pan Yun store it; the scattered ingots were counted individually, recorded in the ledger, then handed to Pan Yun for storage.

The gold cakes were weighed uniformly before being stored.

After the gold and silver were secured, they turned to the jewels—mostly collected chest by chest.

Even the chests Cao Rong used to store them were made of fine sandalwood.

Pan Yun knew well—in the future, a single sandalwood chest like this was priceless.

As they packed, Pan Yun sighed: "What extravagance—he must have amassed this fortune from somewhere."

Xue Shao pondered: "Cao Rong has served as Regional Commander of Guangdong for twelve years. When you investigated the collusion with Japanese pirates, royalty and nobles from Shandong, Jiangnan, Fujian, even central plains and Jingcheng were involved—but Guangdong remained calm."

An Chen: "Guangzhou has maritime trade, but far less than the southeast coast. Even smuggling couldn't accumulate this much gold, silver, and jewels."

Xue Shao glanced at him: "Years ago, while traveling for study, I passed through Chaozhou and Guangzhou—and my view is the opposite."

"Guangzhou is secluded in the south, far from Jingcheng, with many ethnic minorities," Xue Shao said. "The empire's maritime ban focuses on the southeast coast. Here, the people are fierce and less bound by rules. In Fujian and Zhejiang, fishermen must avoid patrol posts to go to sea—but in Guangdong and Guangxi, fishermen dare walk past patrol posts with their nets on their backs, and soldiers pretend not to see them."

The Embroidered Uniform Guards stared in disbelief: "They so blatantly disregard the law…"

Xue Shao said: "In these two regions, the tribal chieftains' words outweigh the imperial court."