They exchanged a glance, straightened their veiled hats, and successively walked out of the teahouse.
It wasn't until they returned to the county yamen that they finally let out a long sigh of relief.
In the past few days, they had rationally mobilized all the available people in the city, including those planted by the Shi family here.
Finally, they had created the biggest stir possible.
"Now it's time to see how capable those people really are."
As the man finished speaking, Magistrate Huang strode in from outside. His steps were in a hurry, as if something big had happened.
"Empress Dowager, National Preceptor, your plan has worked. Now a large number of people in the city are moving out. I'm sure they'll reach the location you've designated by this afternoon."
"Good. Under the cover of night, it's time for us to act. You go and count the number of people right away."
Things were progressing smoothly. By nightfall, the city was deserted, nothing like the bustling scene of the previous days.
"Hurry up!"
To prevent being discovered by those people, they directly returned to the main burial chamber through the secret passage.
When they saw so much gold, silver, and jewels, even the officers and soldiers were stunned. Several of them swallowed hard. Fortunately, Magistrate Huang noticed in time and gave them a slap on the back of their necks.
"All these things are to be taken out to benefit all the people of the Great Liang Empire. If any of you have any crooked thoughts today, you'll be letting down all the people."
It had to be said that Magistrate Huang was really good at guessing people's minds. Although some of his subordinates were a bit greedy for money, they all had a correct moral compass. After hearing his words, they had no other thoughts and only wanted to transport these things out safely.
Watching those people working hard, the two of them also joined in.
It was almost midnight before they finally cleaned up all these things.
Originally, Cui Qizhou wanted to leave a final resting place for the person in the coffin, but unexpectedly, this Empress Dowager was not at all merciful.
After hearing this, she rolled her eyes directly and then climbed onto the coffin.
"Take a look for yourself. The person has already become a mummy and is about to turn into a skeleton. Why should we leave such good things for him? Take them all back to benefit the people."
This scene really shocked the people around, but then, they were all a bit touched.
The officers and soldiers who came with them were in tears: "With the Empress Dowager and the Emperor leading the Great Liang, what do we have to worry about? Sooner or later, our Great Liang will surely display the might of the nation and unify the six states."
Seeing those officers and soldiers getting excited below, Shi Muwǎn smiled: "Don't worry. You are all heroes of the Great Liang. Now, quickly transport all these things back to the county yamen under the cover of night."
As she finished speaking, the group started to act.
After they blocked the entrance of the secret passage, everyone let out a sigh of relief in unison.
But before they could react, several voices came from the eaves around.
"What? You've taken so much gold and silver. Aren't you afraid you won't be able to digest it?"
"What do you mean? Who are you?"
A look of surprise flashed across Shi Muwǎn's eyes, but it quickly subsided. Right, not all those who had their eyes on this treasure were fools. There were always a few who could see through their plan to lure the enemy away, just like now.
Those people jumped down from the eaves. Even from a few steps away, she could clearly feel the cold aura emanating from them. It seemed that these people were all experienced killers.
Cui Qizhou instinctively shielded the young girl behind him. His eyes were sharp: "You dare to attack the people from the county yamen. It seems you really aren't afraid of death."
Those people didn't take his words seriously at all.
"Humph, we brothers have even robbed other official goods before. Even if the Emperor himself came today, we'd still rob without hesitation."
Those people were getting closer and closer, and they had already taken out several big knives. Watching the knives glinting coldly in the moonlight, Shi Muwǎn's heart skipped a beat.
"Can you handle this? How about I go back to call for reinforcements? Besides, we have so many people. We may not necessarily be defeated here."
Cui Qizhou whispered his instructions, sizing up those people from the corner of his eye.
"They're not good people. They've been in this for so long but have never shown their hands, which means they have other tricks up their sleeves. Don't act rashly. Retreat to a safe place first. These officers and soldiers haven't received good training. They may not even be able to withstand one move from them."
This wasn't the first time that Shi Muwǎn felt powerless.
It seemed that she could only watch those things happen in front of her eyes without being able to do anything.
This time, she didn't know what had come over her. Suddenly, she didn't want to retreat anymore. She didn't want to stay under others' protection all the time.
She took a deep breath and actively stepped in front of everyone.
"Don't forget, I'm still the current Empress Dowager. I'm the one making the decision here. I order you to go back and call for reinforcements right away. I'll lead the people here to stall for time. I'll definitely not let the things we've worked so hard to move out be stolen by them."
The young girl's action made the man stunned for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses. He was a bit frustrated.
"You're unarmed. How can you deal with these desperadoes? Empress Dowager, don't be so foolish at this critical moment."
Shi Muwǎn blinked her eyes. In her two lifetimes, this was the first time someone had described her with such words.
She immediately got annoyed.
"What? Today, I'll definitely prove it to you that even without your protection, I can still take down these people."
She gritted her teeth and suddenly took out a small pouch from her waist.
The man remembered that pouch. Last time, it contained the medicine developed by the divine doctor for Shi Muwǎn to resist the poisonous insects. He felt a bit helpless.
"Those medicines only work on insects. They're humans. They won't be affected at all. Is the Empress Dowager confused?"
His words finally earned him a roll of the young girl's eyes: "Have you ever heard the saying 'Don't boost the enemy's morale and destroy your own prestige'? You've just demolished the stage for me. How can I perform this play?"
The man fell silent and chose to keep his mouth shut.
But their conversation had also been overheard by those people.
"Hahaha, it's so funny. What on earth is she thinking? She actually wants to use the stuff for dealing with insects to deal with us. If it weren't for all these officers and soldiers around, I'd even suspect if she's really the Empress Dowager."
"Second brother, you're thinking the same as me. I also think this Empress Dowager seems to have a few screws loose."
A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Shi Muwǎn hated being suspected of her intelligence the most. These stubborn ancient people. She had traveled from modern times. Her head was filled with modern knowledge and skills. What did these people know?