Manbao led them along a barely visible path, pushing aside some wild grass to reach a long-abandoned, overgrown vegetable garden.

Governor Duan was skeptical, "Could the treasure be hidden here?"

Bai Shan glanced at Manbao and then nodded confidently, "Probably, from my experience, it should be here among these few places."

Governor Duan felt that a treasure location easily guessed by others wasn’t very secretive. Was there something common about the places where clever people hid things?

Governor Duan thought this way and asked the question.

Bai Shan said meaningfully, "Just because I can guess where they hide their treasure, doesn’t mean I would hide mine in those places."

He scoffed, "How could people who need to become bandits, robbing homes and people to survive, be considered clever?"

Governor Duan had no words to counter.

He also looked around and asked, "Where is it hidden?"

Manbao knew where it was hidden, but could she say directly?

Of course not, so she said, "Let’s just dig around a bit. It definitely won’t be in the vegetable garden; it must be nearby."

So the soldiers began to dig around.

Hoes and such were found in the bandits’ lair.

Manbao walked around with her hands behind her back, guided by Keke, who said, "It’s three steps underground from the host."

Manbao looked at the grave in front of her, surprised, "In the tomb?"

Keke replied, "It’s fake, there are no remains inside, only the things they hid."

Manbao circled the tomb, and once she had everyone’s attention, she pointed at it and said, "Dig it up."

Governor Duan was taken aback, but before Manbao could make an excuse, he clapped his hands, "I understand. Most of the horse thieves were left for sky burial on the plains after death, and any hostages who died were fed to wolves in the mountains. Who would be buried underground with such a large tomb built?"

Manbao: "...Right!"

So everyone started digging.

Bai Shan stood with Manbao and sighed, "Governor Duan has grown more astute."

Manbao nodded in agreement. She hadn’t thought of that aspect and was about to make up an excuse about the age of the soil or similar when Governor Duan provided such a perfect reason, they couldn’t not follow it.

The tomb was opened, and with a clang, their hoe hit the coffin inside. They looked at the governor, who signaled them to continue digging. Once the whole coffin was unearthed, the soldiers tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge at all.

The four men were somewhat embarrassed, and Governor Duan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Open the lid and see."

They knocked and pried until they finally got the nails out and opened the coffin.

Once opened, everyone was astonished to see it half-filled with gold and silver, and on the other half rested various boxes.

Bai Shan jumped in, picked up a box, opened it, and found it full of gemstones, a box filled with amber.

His hand paused, and after putting it down, he picked up another box to open. This one was filled with all kinds of gemstones, but on closer look, it seemed to be the same type of stone, only with varying colors and qualities.

A ruby gleamed brightly in the sunlight.

Bai Shan sighed, "So this is the most valuable treasure of all."

Governor Duan nodded dazedly, then frowned; the horse thieves made money from robbery, but did they make this much? Not to mention the neatly organized gemstones, pearls, and spices, or even the two jeweled swords at the bottom of the coffin; just the pile of gold and silver that filled over half the coffin wasn’t easy to collect.

He reached out to take a gold bar, and as soon as he held it, he knew it was of good quality, deliberately cast as a gold bar.

The adjacent silver ingots were tightly stacked as well. No wonder they couldn’t lift it — if they had, it would’ve been strange.

Manbao had only one thought, "Governor Duan, doesn’t this mean Liangzhou is about to prosper?"

Governor Duan: "...Imperial Doctor Zhou, we’ll prosper together."

Here, thirty percent belongs to them.

Bai Shan also recovered and turned to smile, "Governor Duan, you’re being generous, aren’t you? We get thirty percent, and you get seventy, plus we have quite a few people to share among too."

Governor Duan came to his senses, smiled, and then ordered the soldiers, "Pack it up and transport it down the mountain."

Bai Shan also set down the gold and silver bars in his hand, smiling as he led his companions down the mountain.

As soon as Governor Duan returned to the camp, he went to the tent where the bandit leader was being held. Bai Shan watched his back, pulling Manbao along to find Mr. Zhuang and explaining in detail the treasure they found today.

Mr. Zhuang asked curiously, "Do you suspect there’s something wrong with these gold and silver?"

Bai Shan replied, "There’s too much, and it’s quite different from the first two treasures. This time, the treasure we uncovered was especially organized, which is one thing, but those gold and silver bars couldn’t have been smelted up in the mountains."

Mr. Zhuang asked, "Were they looted?"

"What merchant would travel with gold and silver bars?" It’s not just gold and silver bars; even gold and silver ingots wouldn’t be abundant. Most of the gold and silver at the bandit’s lair resulted from selling looted goods.

Indeed, it was quite fascinating; the horse thieves robbed traveling merchants, sold the goods elsewhere as merchants themselves, and exchanged them for gold and silver.

Since Liangzhou was a route to and from the Western Regions, the treasure included many untreated silks, porcelains, gems, and spices.

All of these were characteristic products of the Western Regions and Central Plains.

But the gold and silver bars...

Bai Shan said, "I looked closely; there are no official seals on them, so they’re not state silver, probably privately minted."

This wasn’t uncommon; many gold and silver items in the market were privately minted. However, such a large and orderly amount of privately minted...

Mr. Zhuang considered for a moment and asked, "Has Governor Duan noticed anything?"

"He has. He’s gone to interrogate the bandit leader."

Mr. Zhuang nodded in satisfaction, "Since that’s the case, we don’t need to concern ourselves."

He continued, "These matters fall under Governor Duan’s jurisdiction."

"Should we still keep our thirty percent of the gold and silver?"

"Why not?" Mr. Zhuang asked, "Just act as if you haven’t noticed anything."

Bai Shan said, "...I thought he might need to surrender the gold and silver, given that it might have issues."

Mr. Zhuang dismissed the concern with a wave, "There are issues, but that doesn’t prevent us from sharing the spoils. Don’t worry, Governor Duan knows what to do. As evidence, just keeping a piece or two will suffice."

Everyone paused, and Bai Erlang asked, "Will Governor Duan take all these spoils for himself?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "That’s not quite correct. The expenses of warfare, rewards for the soldiers, medical treatment, and pensions for the injured and disabled soldiers, just save some for the army and the governor’s residence, and there won’t be much left."

He also needed to distribute some to trusted aides. "That’s how warfare is; military officials often accumulate wealth this way. The emperor knows this, and since Liangzhou is poor and far from the capital, less submitted won’t be pursued heavily by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War."

Not to mention an emperor who rose from warfare.

They all turned to look at Yin Huo, marveling, "Your family must have countless treasures."

Yin Huo hesitated, "...Not too many, I think Minister Li’s family might have more."