"That's good. Five hundred and thirty taels of silver. Since this dog official dares to ask for it, we dare to give it. Brother Yue, if you don't have it, there must be someone in Wangwu County who has it. I wonder if there are any rich and unkind tycoons in Wangwu who are rampant in the village?" Zhu Li asked calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Yue Pengju was stunned when he heard this, and asked quickly, "Could it be that you want to rob the rich to help the poor and punish the bullies?"
"Hahaha, that's exactly what Zhu was thinking. It's perfect to use the ill-gotten gains to rescue heroes." Zhu Li did not deny it and admitted it with a big laugh.
This is a good idea. Yue Pengju and Tan Erhu looked at each other with a gleam in their eyes, but one of them has always been upright and the other has always been honest, so they would never think in this direction.
But Zhu Li was different. He came from later times, so his thoughts were naturally more open.
Besides, he is now a Shuozhou citizen. After he is done, he can just walk away. Even if the local gentry and elders find some clues in the future, they can't go to Zhu Li to settle the score. Even if they are given the courage, they won't dare to do so.
"This matter should be dealt with as soon as possible. Brother Yue knows more about Wangwu's situation than I do. Let Brother Yue choose the target and I will be responsible for the action." Zhu Li said fearlessly. Now that he has confirmed that Yue Pengju is the reincarnation of Yue Fei, the identity of Yang Zaixing is probably almost certain as well. After all, this name is very distinctive and not everyone would name himself like this.
After the plan was finalized, Yue Pengju took Zhu Li down the mountain that day without hesitation. Of course, they went to scout the place. Yue Pengju was a county soldier, but how many major events like going to war could there be in a county? Although he was a soldier, in his daily duties, he mostly dealt with ruffians and criminals, so he was naturally familiar with their ways.
Soon Yue Pengju identified a wealthy family in Wangwu, whose owner was named Wang Doujin. Wang Doujin was originally just a poor man in Wangwu County, and even once wandered around the market, doing nothing.
But he was lucky. One of his uncles, named Wang Zhongxian, entered the palace as a eunuch in his early years. He became famous when Emperor Xizong was in power, which allowed Wang Doujin to rise quickly.
Even when Kang Shi was the governor of Xuanwu, he did not dare to touch him easily, and all the previous governors of Xuanwu would not provoke him without reason, so this man could be said to be rampant and lawless in Wangwu County.
Fortunately, this person has no talent and no ambition. He is only greedy for money, runs rampant in the village, and bullies the common people. He is wealthy, but he does not give a penny to the villagers.
Wang Doujin's courtyard was adjacent to the street corner, right next to a restaurant. Yue Pengju took Zhu Li up to the second floor of the restaurant, chose a seat by the window, called the doctor to serve two dishes and a pot of wine, and then waved the doctor away, looking out the window and carefully observing the layout of the palace. (Doctor: The name for waiters in the Tang Dynasty.)
The layout of the palace is somewhat similar to Zhu Li's governor's mansion in Shuozhou, facing south and sitting north, with three connected courtyards. The location of the treasury is probably in the inner courtyard, but after a day's observation, the specific location has not been discovered.
This made Yue Pengju look very embarrassed. After all, the right thing to do was to get the money as soon as possible and redeem Yang Zaixing and Mrs. Song as soon as possible. He would feel uneasy for every extra day of delay.
Now that the palace's treasury is uncertain, it would be strange if he could look happy.
In response to this, Zhu Li raised his eyebrows
, a plan came to mind, and he said: "Don't panic, Zhu has his own way to let them take me to the vault."
Yue Pengju was stunned when he heard this, and asked quickly, "What is your plan, sir?"
"Hahaha, no hurry. Let me keep you in suspense for now. When the plan succeeds, you will know it naturally. It won't work if I tell you." Zhu Li smiled confidently, "You can meet me outside the backyard at night. After you get the money, go find Magistrate Song to redeem the man."
"Okay, if you succeed in stealing the silver and help me rescue my brothers, I will swear to die in your service to repay your kindness today." Yue Pengju was also not vague. He had an urge to follow Zhu Li since a long time ago, but he never had the chance to speak. If Zhu Li could really steal the money and rescue Yang Zaixing this time, he would naturally follow the trend and follow this young governor who he had taken a liking to at first sight.
"Okay, Brother Yue, just wait and see." Zhu Li did not refuse. He refused Yue Fei's request to join him. Zhu Li was smart and naturally would not be humble. What's more, he was alone now and had no one to help him. Yue Pengju and Yang Zaixing were definitely competent thugs, but of course they could only be used as thugs now.
At night, the moon disappeared, the stars were sparse, and the earth was dark, as if the heavens were making this happen.
Zhu Li and Yue Pengju came to the outside of the courtyard wall of the palace's backyard. They nodded to each other, and Zhu Li rushed into the palace. He looked around in the dark, first chose a servant's room, and flashed into it.
The servant's room was quite dark. Zhu Li closed the door and adjusted to the darkness for a while before looking around. He saw a young servant, drooling, sleeping soundly on the bed. He wondered what good things he was dreaming about.
This scene was exactly what he wanted. Zhu Li tiptoed to the bed, secretly took the clothes that the servant had taken off, quickly changed into his own clothes, tidied himself up a little, and ran out of the room. After closing the door, he ran towards the inner courtyard in broad daylight.
Because he was dressed in the attire of a servant in the mansion, although some people on night duty felt it was strange, few people came forward to question him. However, when he arrived at the door to the backyard, he was stopped by a maid. Obviously, this person was the night watchman of the inner courtyard. Zhu Li was dressed in the clothes of a servant, so he was definitely not from the inner courtyard.
The maid had a fierce look on her face and started to scold, "Why are you so flustered? You are so bold! How dare you barge in here? Be careful or Alang will find out or he will beat you to death."
Zhu Li lowered his head, pretending to be terrified, and said tremblingly: "I'm sorry, I don't dare, but just now when I was using the toilet, I found a few thieves near the toilet."
"Thief?" The maid was shocked.
"Yes, they sneaked into the mansion at some point and are discussing how to steal the property. They said they wanted to clean out the Wang family's treasury and present it to the newly appointed chief steward Zhu. I dared not neglect them, so I had to run here to tell Alang."
The maid was even more shocked when she heard this, and asked quickly, "How could such a thing happen? Where is the thief?"
"I didn't see clearly either, but they all seemed to be groping towards the inner courtyard." Zhu Li still pretended to be timid and said in a trembling voice.
The maid had no patience to continue questioning him, and hurriedly said, "Wait here, I'll be back soon."
He turned around and ran towards the courtyard, apparently to tell the person in charge of the inner courtyard.
Zhu Li looked at the maid's flustered back, a hint of joy at the success of her conspiracy rising in his eyes.
Since Wang Doujin is a relative of Wang Zhongxian, wouldn't it be better if he could provoke this eunuch to fight against Zhu Wen? Anyway, both of them are not good people. Although Zhu Wen is not as bad as recorded in later documents, this man has actually framed him some time ago, and he doesn't mind slandering him again.
After waiting for only a moment, he immediately caught up and followed the maid from a distance. However, he ran very carefully, keeping his body hidden in the dark to avoid being discovered.
In just a few minutes, the maid stopped in front of the main door and said anxiously, "Ah Lang, Madam, something bad has happened, something bad has happened, a thief has broken into the house and is stealing."
"What?" The maid's scream immediately alarmed the people in the room. Following the question, the sound of clothes being dressed was heard in the room, as if someone was awakened from a dream and hurriedly got up.
Less than half a minute later, the door was suddenly opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man with improper clothing, a pointed chin and a monkey face stepped out first. Behind him was a woman with a horse face and thin lips. She should be Wang Doujin's wife.
"Are you telling the truth?" Wang Doujin looked gloomy and shouted at the maid.
The maid bowed and said respectfully, "I dare not deceive Alang, Madam. I heard it from a toilet boy in the outer courtyard. He said that the thieves planned to rob the treasury and present it to the new chief steward Zhu, and then they sneaked in from the direction of the inner courtyard."
"What? You want to steal my silver and bribe Zhu Wen? Where is the servant who discovered the thief?" Wang Doujin frowned and asked indignantly.
The maidservant did not dare to neglect him and quickly replied, "He is just outside the courtyard. I dare not let him in without permission, so I have to let him wait at the door."
"Well, I'll go take a look." Wang Doujin thought about it and decided to go and ask about the situation first.
But the thin-lipped woman behind him said impatiently, "What are you looking at? It's the middle of the night, Alang, let's go to the vault and take a look. As long as the vault is okay, won't we feel at ease?"
Wang Doujin felt that this made sense, so he turned around and told the maid, "Go and bring that boy in. I'll go check out the situation in the vault first."
"Yes," the maid responded and hurried back the way she came. Wang Doujin immediately took the lantern and took the thin-lipped woman with him, and walked along the corridor towards the side of the main house.
As soon as Zhu Li saw that the target had taken the bait, he hurriedly followed quietly. After many twists and turns, Wang Doujin and his wife finally stopped in front of an ordinary attic.
The couple looked around and found nothing unusual. Then they reached out and took off something like a necklace from their necks, took a key from it, and immediately opened the door. The couple hurried into the attic, stuck their heads out again, looked left and right, then closed the door from the inside.
It seemed that the vault was located here. After Zhu Li determined the location, he no longer hesitated and tiptoed to the side of the attic. He stood under the wall, looked up, and soon found a window not very high.