The Royal Treasury.
The military advisor opened box after box of gold, silver, and jewels, allowing Shen Baozhu to choose to her heart's content.
It was a well - known rule that military generals and soldiers who risked their lives in battle were entitled to some spoils. The military advisor planned to let Shen Baozhu pick a few items first. The general would take 30% of the spoils, he and the other generals would divide another 30%, the soldiers below would get 20%, and the remaining 40% would be sent back to the Great Yong Empire for the emperor to decide.
Shen Baozhu wasn't very interested in gold, silver, and jewels. She preferred handicrafts. After wandering around the royal treasury for a while, she picked out a delicate clay figurine.
The figurine was holding a goldfish in both hands, wearing a red hat on its head, and a thick winter jacket. Its expression was vivid and cute.
Shen Baozhu was fiddling with the clay figurine when she suddenly discovered that the hat of the figurine could be taken off. She then tried other parts and was pleasantly surprised to find that the goldfish in the figurine's hands and the shoes on its feet could also be removed.
Lin Yu: [This clay figurine can even change its outfits! Only the clothes are fixed. The hat, shoes, and the thing it's holding can all be changed.]
Lin Yu: [Does Baozhu like toys like this? I can order some custom - made ones for you.]
Shen Baozhu shook her head and refused. She was just interested in the clay figurine. Originally, she had planned to make three clay figurines to give to the Dragon King, Brother Lin Yu, and the real - life person. Now, this clay figurine gave her an inspiration. She could make something similar and match it with the hairpins and shoes she liked.
If the immortals got tired of looking at it, they could just change the hairpins and shoes, and then it would be a new clay figurine!
Shen Baozhu even showed the clay figurine to the military advisor and said, "Grandpa Military Advisor, Baozhu likes this. It's so cute. The hat, shoes, and the goldfish can all be taken off. It's so amazing."
Ordinary clay figurines didn't have the qualification to enter the royal treasury, and the one Shen Baozhu picked was no ordinary one. Although it was made of clay, the buttons on its clothes were jade beads, the hat on its head was inlaid with rubies, and it was holding a big goldfish made of pure gold.
The military advisor took one glance and saw the value of the clay figurine. He sighed inwardly at the extravagance of the royal family of the Xiangyun Kingdom. Even the clay figurine used as a toy for children was made of pure gold and precious stones. Unlike in the Great Yong Empire, where the emperor was diligent, thrifty, and loved the people... Wait, this clay figurine seemed to be from the Great Yong Empire.
Because inside the hat and shoes, the era name of the previous emperor was engraved. This was clearly made by the royal craftsmen during the reign of the previous emperor.
This was a clay figurine from the Great Yong Empire!
The military advisor immediately ordered someone to summon the official in charge of the national treasury of the Xiangyun Kingdom and told the official to fetch the records of this clay figurine to find out its origin.
The official looked at the Great Yong soldiers standing beside him, holding long knives, and swallowed hard. He rummaged through an old ledger and quickly searched for the record of the clay figurine.
Seeing that the official almost turned the whole ledger upside down without finding anything, the military advisor sneered and covered Shen Baozhu's eyes. The soldiers understood and immediately put their long knives on the official's neck.
Feeling the cold blade, the official's legs trembled. He stammered, "M, my lord, this thing might, might have been bought from the folk by a certain prince or princess. There might not, not be a record."
The cold - faced military advisor seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "Are you saying that someone from your Xiangyun Kingdom's royal family just went to the street and randomly bought a clay figurine made by our Great Yong's royal craftsmen?"
The official's legs trembled even more. He stammered and couldn't speak. The long spear around his neck was getting closer and closer. The official even felt his skin being scratched. His life was in great danger. Unable to hold on any longer, he slumped to the ground. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything. This was brought by Princess Rou's husband. At that time, the little prince liked it, and the princess spent 23,500 taels of silver to buy this clay figurine."
The military advisor narrowed his eyes and questioned the official's words. "What evidence do you have? In my opinion, it was you Xiangyun Kingdom who was dissatisfied with our Great Yong Empire and deliberately sent someone to steal it."
"I have evidence, I have evidence. Because the clay figurine was so expensive, Princess Rou's husband even signed in the ledger back then to prove that the princess bought this item." Afraid that the military advisor wouldn't believe him, the official quickly rummaged through another ledger. The ledger was full of Shen Yunfeng's handwriting and the items he sold.
The medicinal pillow was one of them. Later, it was rewarded by the king of the Xiangyun Kingdom to an official. Since there was no mark on it, the official resold it, and finally, it was bought and treasured by the owner of a pharmacy.
The military advisor gave a look, and the soldier snatched the ledger from the official's hand and kicked him, warning, "Don't say a word about this. If even a single rumor spreads, I'll kill your whole family. Get out!"
The official crawled out in a hurry.
Watching the official's back, the military advisor ordered the soldiers, "Send someone to keep an eye on him and Shen Yunfeng."
Shen Baozhu had been obediently letting the military advisor cover her eyes. When the military advisor let go, she tilted her little head up and asked curiously, "Grandpa Military Advisor, does this have something to do with Daddy?"
The military advisor squatted down and looked into Shen Baozhu's eyes. He praised, "Baozhu is so great. You've helped a big deal. Grandpa Military Advisor asked this person last time, but he insisted that he didn't know anything and came up with a lot of excuses."
"Thanks to Baozhu for finding this clay figurine. Grandpa Military Advisor was able to find his mistake and force this person to tell the truth."
One accident could be an accident, but two accidents were definitely on purpose.
Last time, because of the long spear, Shen Heqing had talked to the official, but was fobbed off. And it was in public, with many Xiangyun Kingdom officials watching. The military advisor was afraid of causing trouble, so he didn't pursue the matter further. Today, they found this clay figurine from the Great Yong Empire. This was a good opportunity to find out some clues.
The military advisor explained to Shen Baozhu, "Normally, all the items in the palace are recorded for easy management. For the long spear last time, they could make an excuse that the master bought it from outside the palace and hung it on the wall without registration. But this clay figurine is already in the royal treasury. It must have been registered before being put in."
"So the first few sentences this person said were false. Then why did he lie? There are two possibilities. This matter involves his secret, or someone threatened him."
Shen Baozhu understood a bit. "Grandpa Military Advisor suspects that someone threatened him. Is that person who threatened him Daddy?"
"Then Grandpa Military Advisor should arrest Daddy quickly!"
The military advisor didn't expect Shen Baozhu to be so impatient. He smiled and said, "Baozhu, don't be in a hurry. This matter requires evidence. Moreover, Xiangyun Rou is protecting your daddy. We have to handle this matter step by step."
"Okay, then Grandpa Military Advisor should be quick! Don't let Daddy stay outside for too long. He'll do bad things!" Shen Baozhu was a bit disappointed, but then she cheered up again. Now, her third brother had her to protect, and she had the immortals to protect her. Daddy couldn't harm her and her third brother!
On the other side.
The Dragon King's eyes widened as he watched a big and round pearl being scratched by the Black Dragon.
He was shocked and shouted, "What are you doing!"
The Black Dragon curled up and answered honestly, "Trying to get the pearl, but my cultivation is not enough."
"You could have asked me for a magical tool or just stayed aside!" The Dragon King was a bit angry. It took a thousand years for these mussels to grow a single pearl. One less pearl meant one less pearl for the little cutie to receive.
Seeing the Dragon King feeling very heart - broken and circling around the pearl, the White Dragon, out of the old friendship of sharing hardships, took out a pearl he had treasured and presented it. "Your Highness, please forgive me. I'll make up for this for him. I hope Your Highness will spare his life."
The Black Dragon looked at the White Dragon and secretly scolded himself for judging the gentleman's heart with the heart of a small dragon. No wonder the White Dragon had so many friends. What a good dragon!
The Dragon King's tail twitched. He wanted to accept the pearl but then remembered how generous the little cutie was. He was very conflicted.
Remembering what the little cutie had said about "one takes on the characteristics of one's company", the Dragon King tearfully refused the White Dragon. "Forget it. It's just a pearl. If it's scratched, it's scratched."
"The death penalty can be waived, but the living penalty is hard to avoid. I'll punish you to go to the human world to eliminate demons."
"By the way, isn't your cultivation not enough? Come here. I'll pass on some of my cultivation to you so that you won't embarrass me when you go out."
The Black Dragon then looked at the Dragon King. He was touched and also secretly scolded those dragons who spread rumors. Who said the Dragon King was stingy and always shouting about killing? It was all rumors!