I froze for a moment, then immediately unfastened my clothes, ready to strip naked. I was only a half-grown boy, anyway. Country boys even swam with their bare bottoms out. What did I have to fear?
Seeing that I really meant to undress, Zheng Jun waved a hand and said, "Enough. Keep your clothes on. I doubt you'd dare hide anything."
I secretly rejoiced. Just like that, I had pocketed forty thousand taels. A deal where I only handed over the small change was quite a bargain.
But Mi Ya, whose forty thousand taels I had swallowed, refused to accept it. Wailing hysterically, she lunged at me and roared, "It took me years to earn those forty thousand taels of tribulation lightning crystals! You little brat, how dare you pocket them and deny it! I'll kill you!"
Zheng Jun swept his hand out, and another bolt of lightning knocked Mi Ya flat. I wore a bewildered expression, as though I had no idea why they were trying to frame me.
By now, Zheng Jun was growing impatient too. He turned to Ma Guanyun and asked bluntly, "Was it forty thousand taels or four thousand? Was anyone else present?"
Ma Guanyun was a slippery character, after all. By now, he knew that his life was in the Council Pavilion's hands. If he said four thousand taels, he could still explain where some of the money came from, and his punishment would certainly be lighter. But if he said forty thousand, tracing the source alone would probably turn everything upside down. Never mind the trouble he would face—with such a huge sum involved, the Council Pavilion would devour him alive. So he immediately gritted his teeth, glared at Mi Ya, and said, "It was four thousand taels... and nobody else was there.