Although he was also considered Wang Fu's man, in the end, he was just a minor censor.
Other officials might be able to skim some benefits, but the Censorate was a truly clean department.
To seek benefits there was simply wishful thinking.
Counting everyone, including the yamen runners, the entire office had only about a hundred people.
Everyone was like a fighting cock, staring at the office's income every day.
Let alone gaining any advantage here, if you dared to take even a single pen from the yamen to your home, you would be impeached by more than a dozen colleagues the next day.
As for the Qian family, that was even more out of the question.
The Qian family was indeed wealthy and powerful, but unfortunately, this branch of the family, starting from his father, was not favored.
At this time, the Qian family didn't even include them in their annual New Year ancestral worship, let alone anything else.
Otherwise, how could he, a scion of a noble family, be a chess piece for Wang Fu?
"My lord..."
Seeing Qian Zhuo frozen in place, the concubine beside him quickly lowered her voice and reminded him again.
"Don't make a sound!"
After taking a few deep breaths, Qian Zhuo quickly made up his mind.
After carefully checking and confirming that no one was around, he picked up the bundle and walked straight into the room. However, upon entering the room, he immediately found himself in a dilemma.
The room was extremely run-down, and in such a tiny space, he didn't even know where to hide things.
"My lord, should we hide it under the bed?"
After closing the room door, the couple began to discuss in low voices.
After hearing his concubine's words, Qian Zhuo almost rolled his eyes to the sky. How foolish could one be to do such a thing?
"Shut your mouth!"
After giving her a displeased glare, Qian Zhuo began to survey the room in front of him again.
If someone threw this thing in late at night, he could basically conclude that it was stolen goods. As long as they could hide it for a while, they could enjoy it themselves.
After all, everything inside was gold, silver, and jewels.
Jewelry and jade couldn't be used immediately, but gold and silver had no names written on them.
As long as this period of calm passed, with his status as an imperial official, would anyone dare to investigate his accounts?
"These two silver ingots are for household expenses. The rest of the items, we cannot touch them for the time being. These things are likely of illegitimate origin. Let's hide them for a few months, and after the first month of the lunar new year, I will use my connections to get rid of them outside!"
With the money, Qian Zhuo's mind seemed to have been opened up. Ideas kept coming to him, and he quickly thought of a secure method.
"But where to hide it..."
The problem returned to its starting point.
"Give me the dagger under your bed!"
After walking around the room, Qian Zhuo suddenly had an idea.
Although she didn't know what he intended to do, the concubine was obedient and quickly brought a dagger.
Taking the dagger, Qian Zhuo directly took off his outer robe, then lay on the ground decisively, using the small dagger to pry up the bluestone bricks on the floor.
Although the house was old and dilapidated, the bluestone bricks on the floor were very sturdy.
Moreover, the joints between the bluestone bricks were filled with glutinous rice paste and lime, which were indeed exceptionally strong.
After working for nearly half an hour, the couple, both sweating profusely, finally managed to complete the task.
After digging out the hidden compartment and hiding the items, Qian Zhuo carefully restored it to its original state, and then let out a long sigh of relief.
"How is it now? Can it be seen?"
After examining it carefully for a moment, Qian Zhuo looked at his concubine again.
"It can't be seen, but when you knock on it, the sound here seems a bit different..."
This was a guilty conscience at play, but seeing that day was about to break, Qian Zhuo himself knew that if they continued to make noise, the neighbors might all wake up.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Didn't you see I chose this spot, it's the first brick by the entrance?"
Qian Zhuo said this with great pride.
"What's different about that?"
"Look!"
Qian Zhuo spoke as he smiled and pushed the door open, then walked back in from the outside.
After repeating this a few times, he again looked proudly at his concubine.
"Do you understand now? Normally, people entering the room from the outside wouldn't step on this brick, and we wouldn't step on it when walking out of the room. This is called 'the dark under the lamp'!"
"My lord is truly talented!"
Upon hearing this, the concubine's eyes lit up.
Looking at the beautiful and charming concubine in front of him, and her disheveled clothes, Qian Zhuo's lust was stirred.
Seeing the heat in his eyes, the concubine also blushed shyly.
The scene was full of spring, and naturally, it could not be told to outsiders.
Only when daylight broke did Qian Zhuo spiritedly straighten his clothes and go to the yamen for duty.
"Brother Qian, have you heard?"
As Qian Zhuo stepped in, someone immediately and quietly came up to him and lowered his voice, saying softly.
"Heard what? Did something happen?"
Qian Zhuo's heart immediately sank. Was it about last night?
"You don't know yet? Last night, the residence of Yang Chengchou, the judge of Kaifeng Prefecture, was robbed. It is said that the stolen gold, silver, and jewels were worth nearly several thousand guan, and there was also an ancestral jade pendant of the Yang family. Now, the Kaifeng Prefecture constables are searching the entire city like madmen!"
"What did you say?"
After hearing him finish, Qian Zhuo was completely dumbfounded. What a joke, the judge of Kaifeng Prefecture!
This was too much of a coincidence!
Everyone knew that Yang Chengchou was Cai Jing's man. If he were caught hiding his things now, it would be like mud falling into his crotch – no matter what, it would be bad.
"Why are you so agitated? Did you hear anything last night? I heard that his private residence wasn't too far from yours!"
Seeing his colleague's confused gaze, Qian Zhuo trembled all over.
"No, no, I just remembered something urgent. Brother Wang, please ask for leave for me, I need to go back. This is a matter of life and death!"
Qian Zhuo dared not delay any longer and turned to rush back home.
Although it was the beginning of the month, there were still a few days until the monthly payday, and his concubine was a spender.
If he were to take out those two silver ingots now, a poor person suddenly becoming rich, anyone could imagine what would happen.