Chapter 59: Fusu Goes Berserk Confiscating Properties!

The two of them walked into the study and looked around the chaotic room. Anything of value that could be scavenged had already been stripped away.

Fusu headed straight for the bookshelf.

He felt around here and tapped there along the shelves.

This left Wang Ruonan utterly speechless.

"Fusu, did you deliberately trick me into coming here just so you could spend more time getting familiar with me?" Wang Ruonan asked suspiciously.

Fusu was taken aback and immediately shook his head, saying, "How could that be?"

"I don't have that many hidden motives!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruonan said somewhat angrily, "Grandmother told me I should spend more time interacting with you so we can get to know each other better."

"You don't need to act all shy and hesitant. If you want to talk to me, just say so."

Fusu was truly speechless.

What on earth was his elder sister always teaching her?!

How could she turn a straightforward, carefree girl into such a narcissist?

Fusu had simply been afraid of someone launching a sudden ambush against him, which was why he dragged Wang Ruonan along—he felt it was safer that way.

Otherwise.

How could he possibly let anyone else know about such a lucrative discovery?

Fusu stopped talking.

He concentrated on searching for a secret compartment.

Yet after searching for a long time, almost knocking the bookshelf apart, he still found nothing.

Could there really be no secret compartment?

Fusu began to doubt himself.

He sat down in the chair before the desk, trying to imagine the feeling of sitting right here as Zhou Qingchen did on ordinary days.

Then.

Fusu looked toward a section of the wall.

"Come here, smash this open!" Fusu cautiously stood up and walked over to the edge of that wall.

Wang Ruonan wore a puzzled expression.

Fusu immediately tapped on it and realized it was not solid, a look of delight appearing on his face as he said, "Right here, smash it open!"

Wang Ruonan picked up a piece of decorative rock with quite a high aesthetic value and asked, "Are you sure?"

Fusu nodded.

Bang!

The rock shattered.

The wall was fine.

Fusu looked at the rock with a slight wince of heartache and said, "This thing should have been worth some money."

Wang Ruonan, meanwhile, went off to look for another rock.

Fusu felt along the wall for a moment and suddenly discovered a protruding spot.

He pressed it hard.

The wall trembled instantly.

A secret compartment sprang open.

Fusu looked inside immediately, but before he could even react—swish, swish—

Two arrows shot out from the secret compartment.

Wang Ruonan had quick eyes and fast hands; she rushed over instantly and pulled Fusu aside with lightning speed.

Bang, bang!

The two arrows embedded themselves deeply into the wall with muffled thuds.

Fusu's face turned pale with fright for a moment.

Holy crap!

How could there still be hidden projectiles?!

Wang Ruonan swiftly thrust her long bow forward, swirling it back and forth inside the secret compartment a few times.

Nothing else was inside.

Looking at this, Fusu felt a lingering sense of fear deep in his heart.

It was a good thing he had brought Wang Ruonan along to search, or he would have been a dead man today.

Fusu had been too careless!

If he had died here, wouldn't he have become the biggest laughingstock in the world?

Thinking this, Fusu no longer dared to touch the items inside the secret compartment.

He was spooked!

After verifying that everything was safe, Wang Ruonan reached directly into the secret compartment and pulled out the contents.

It was a bronze chest, about twenty centimeters high—neither too big nor too small.

A bronze lock hung on top, looking very sturdy.

Fusu looked at the bronze chest, gave the bronze lock a tug with his hand, and it simply pulled right off.

It wasn't even locked?!

Fusu was stunned. Could Zhou Qingchen have forgotten to lock it?

That was entirely possible!

With such a secret compartment equipped with hidden weapons, Zhou Qingchen would usually open it himself, and occasionally forgetting to lock it was entirely plausible.

Fusu directly flipped open the lid of the bronze chest.

Instantly.

A golden radiance dazzled their eyes, and both Fusu and Wang Ruonan stared in wide-eyed astonishment.

Gold!

Ingots of gold were stacked neatly inside the chest.

Fusu just glanced at it roughly—there were at least five hundredliang of it!

Five hundred liang of gold was equivalent to a colossal fortune in the era of the Qin Dynasty!

Fusu glanced at Wang Ruonan and said, "I'll take this with me first, and once we leave this place, we'll split it fifty-fifty?"

Wang Ruonan nodded.

Just as Fusu was about to store the bronze chest into his spatial inventory, he suddenly noticed a few rolls of silk fabric lying beside the gold ingots.

So.

He reached out, picked up the silk rolls, and upon just a glance, a peculiar expression appeared on his face.

"What is it?" Wang Ruonan asked curiously.

Fusu handed the silk rolls to Wang Ruonan, stretched his neck slightly, and said, "Forget about going back tonight!"

When Wang Ruonan saw the contents written on the silk rolls, she flew into an absolute rage.

"These bastards actually colluded to engage in human trafficking!"

A chilling glint flashed through Fusu's eyes as well. He put away the bronze chest and walked straight out to make arrangements.

That very night!

After the entire Zhou family was thrown into prison.

The manors of several other noble families near the Zhou estate were also raided by Fusu overnight, and all of them were thrown into prison as well.

When word of this reached the First Emperor, it was already the morning of the next day.

The First Emperor had ascended the imperial throne for the morning court session and had just sat down to take a sip of tea.

Zhao Gao hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

"His Highness Fusu has gotten addicted to raiding manors; he has already raided the estates of three noble factions in a row."

"The lords and ministers within the court are already beginning to show their dissatisfaction!"

"After the morning court ended and they learned of this matter, they came right back and have gathered outside the hall."

The First Emperor put down his memorials. Yesterday's events had truly infuriated him.

During today's morning court session, the First Emperor had repeatedly issued strict orders for a thorough investigation.

He had also commanded Imperial Chancellor of Justice Feng Jie to immediately order and supervise officials in all regions to strictly prohibit the exploitation of the common people and to reduce taxes.

Anyone who violated this order would be executed without mercy.

At this moment.

The First Emperor was still burning with anger. Hearing Zhao Gao's words, he frowned and said, "Didn't I tell him to raid only the Zhou family?"

"Why were the other households raided as well?"

Zhao Gao did not seem entirely clear on the matter either; he merely nodded and said, "His Highness Fusu did not report it beforehand. This humble servant has already sent people to investigate."

The First Emperor put down the memorials once more, his gaze cold and stern.

The reason he had sent Fusu to move against the Zhou family was, firstly, to serve as a reminder to the various nobles not to go too far.

Secondly, it was to instill a bit of ferocity in Fusu, so he wouldn't act like those timid scholars all day long, completely lacking any decisive, murderous edge.

And thirdly... it was a test!

The First Emperor wanted to test Fusu and see how he would actually make his choice!

Yet Fusu had raided the manors of several nobles overnight, leaving the First Emperor unable to comprehend his actions.

What on earth are you...

The First Emperor suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Fusu, oh Fusu!

Are you trying to tell me that you truly intend to act as the blade in my hands?

But once you act as a blade, how can you ever inherit the grand empire?

Do you truly wish to be exiled by me to the distant frontiers???

The First Emperor fell into a deep silence.

What on earth was Fusu trying to accomplish...

At that moment, Wei Zhong hurried in and reported, "Your Majesty, His Highness Fusu has had all the wealth seized from the raids sent into the palace."

"This is the detailed inventory from the Zhou family."

The First Emperor took the inventory, and after just a single glance, he flew into a rage and bellowed, "Splendid!"

"A mere Zhou family dares to hoard such a vast amount of wealth and grain!"

"Yet the soldiers who have given everything for my Great Qin cannot even secure enough food and clothing!"

"Tell me, did the Zhou family deserve to be raided?!"

"Was Zhou Qingchen not a treacherous, corrupt sycophant?"

"How many more parasites like Zhou Qingchen are there in this world, speaking eloquently of benevolence and morality, shouting on and on about serving Great Qin, while actually corroding my Great Qin from within!"