The next day, the Empress's Xiangyun Palace and the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace both began their day amidst cries of alarm.
The Empress stared at the empty inner and outer chambers, her bare fingers and wrists, and was utterly stunned into silence.
The wet nurses, palace maids, and eunuchs all trembled in fear, their steps unsteady.
In the dead of night, the entire Xiangyun Palace had been emptied, unbeknownst to anyone. Even the flowers and trees had been uprooted, yet not a speck of soil was left scattered on the ground.
Only ghosts and spirits could accomplish such a feat; no mere mortal could.
A palace maid found a clay statue of a wealth-attracting boy in the palace's wealth position. It was nearly half her height, and she shrieked in terror.
She had been in charge of the feng shui of Xiangyun Palace. This statue had absolutely appeared out of nowhere; it was definitely not there before she slept the previous night.
Holding the statue, the palace maid stumbled to the Empress and, with chattering teeth, reported in fear that this must be the wealth-attracting boy come to absorb wealth.
The Empress finally came to her senses and ordered someone to slap the palace maid.
Despite this, all the servants in Xiangyun Palace suspected the wealth-attracting boy was responsible. Otherwise, what mortal could possess such terrifying abilities?
After recovering her composure, the Empress hastily rushed to her secret money vault. Seeing that the door was securely locked, all three layers of locks untouched, she let out a long sigh of relief.
However, when she opened the door and looked inside, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away.
The scene in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace was no different from Xiangyun Palace.
Everyone in the palace was scared and at a loss. The Crown Prince was confined to the宗人府 (Zongrenfu - the Imperial Clan Court), yet they had allowed the Eastern Palace to be robbed. Moreover, the theft was so clean, thorough, uncanny, and unbelievable. If the Crown Prince found out, they would all lose their heads.
The steward was greatly stimulated and overwhelmed with shock, having fainted early.
The people of the Eastern Palace also found a clay statue of a wealth-attracting boy in the wealth position.
Thus, the servants began to spread rumors that the Eastern Palace had been robbed by the wealth-attracting boy absorbing wealth.
Seeing that their superiors had fainted, the people of the Eastern Palace took it upon themselves to quickly go to Xiangyun Palace and report to the Empress immediately.
When the Empress heard that the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace had also been robbed, and with the same method of theft as Xiangyun Palace, she almost fainted again.
She forced herself not to faint and immediately ordered a young eunuch to quickly report to the Xuanzheng Hall to inform the Emperor.
The Emperor was holding court in the East Hall of Xuanzheng Hall, with civil and military officials lined up.
When the guards at the gate hastily came in to report, all the officials were greatly astonished, and they began to whisper among themselves in twos and threes.
This thief was simply audacious, daring to steal from the Empress and the Crown Prince! This was clearly a naked provocation of royal authority!
The Emperor was furious and immediately ordered the young eunuch who came to report to enter the hall and state the details.
The young eunuch knelt on the ground, trembling all over, and truthfully recounted the bizarre thefts in both palaces.
All the civil and military officials were stunned on the spot. They had initially thought this was an ordinary theft case, but they never expected it to be so bizarre, completely unlike something a mortal could do. Otherwise, with so many things being emptied overnight, it was impossible that the entire imperial palace heard not a sound.
All the officials' toes itched, and they wished they could immediately go to Xiangyun Palace and the Eastern Palace to see for themselves.
In their lives, having been in official circles for so many years, this was the first time they had heard of such a novel theft.
Not only the officials, but the Emperor was also shocked. His initial immense anger quickly turned into strong curiosity. His toes also itched terribly, wanting to rush over and investigate immediately, but he was the Emperor, the supreme ruler, and could not behave improperly.
Suppressing his strong curiosity, he angrily declared, "Bold thief, how dare you steal in the imperial palace! Where are the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censor?"
"This minister is here!" The three immediately stepped forward, bowed, and clasped their hands in greeting.
"I order you to investigate this case together and to get to the bottom of it! Now, come with me immediately to see!"
"Yes!" The three chief ministers responded in unison.
Thus, the Emperor led the way, followed by the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censor, officials from the three legal departments, walking towards Xiangyun Palace with great urgency.
Due to their immense curiosity, all the officials followed behind.
The group, a vast throng, approached Xiangyun Palace.
When the Empress saw the imperial chariot arrive, she immediately rushed to the Emperor's feet, weeping.
"Your Majesty! I don't know what kind of thief entered Xiangyun Palace and the Eastern Palace last night and stole everything from our residences. Your Majesty, you must thoroughly investigate and give me and Xian'er an explanation."
The Emperor was annoyed by her wailing and said impatiently, "Enough! Stop wailing! What's the use of just howling and crying?! Go and cooperate with the investigation by the three departments!"
The Empress then sobbed to a halt and replied, "Yes."
"Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, take your men to quickly survey the scene and find evidence! Censor, have your men register all the stolen items! The Ministry of Justice will be responsible for interrogating all the servants in both palaces!"
Everyone responded with "Yes."
The Censor Yan Mingkun glanced at the bare walls inside the palace and the bare flowerbeds in the front courtyard. He secretly lamented, registering all the stolen items from the Empress and the Eastern Palace would probably take more than a day and a night. Alas, his beauty sleep tonight was ruined.
Xiangyun Palace was empty except for the rooms. The Emperor wanted a place to sit but there were no chairs. The eunuch Wang Chun immediately ordered someone to move tables and chairs from the neighboring Taichen Palace.
Wang Chun wanted to make the Emperor a pot of tea and serve some fruits, but all the tea sets and beverages in Xiangyun Palace had been stolen. Even though he was a master of making tea, it was impossible to cook without rice.
Wang Chun, helpless, had to order another eunuch to quickly fetch some tea and cups from Taichen Palace.
This thief really took everything. If it weren't for the trouble of dismantling the houses and palace walls, Wang Chun guessed they would have even taken the bricks and tiles.
All the officials stood outside the palace, watching, craning their necks to peer into Xiangyun Palace.
If it weren't for fear of affecting their calm and dignified image as ministers, they would have climbed trees and perched on branches to spy on the investigation inside Xiangyun Palace.
The officials from the Court of Judicial Review who were responsible for surveying the scene were all disheartened after completing their examination.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, with a heavy and disbelieving heart, was the first to report to the Emperor, "Reporting to Your Majesty, my Court of Judicial Review has completed surveying the scene.
From the entire scene, there are no signs of forced entry. All the door locks are intact and have not been pried open. The roof tiles have not been moved, the walls have no holes for entry or exit, and there are no footprints inside the room.
In other words, the valuables in Xiangyun Palace and the Eastern Palace disappeared out of thin air without any external intrusion."
"Nonsense!" the Emperor exclaimed angrily, "This... this is simply impossible!"
"Yes, this is simply impossible," the officials standing in the front row watching the excitement echoed.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review walked up to the Empress and said respectfully, "Empress, please forgive me, but could you extend your hand?"
The Empress, who disliked being watched like a circus act, had to comply with the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review's request in front of the Emperor and extended her hand.