The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

Zhao An selected a dozen or so of the most agile men to go in first and steal the mirrors.

The remaining thirty or forty men, led by him and Hu Wan, were ambushed in the dark alley outside the courtyard.

They agreed that once they succeeded inside, they would quietly hand over the mirror.

If the theft fails and is discovered by the Sixth Prince's men,

The group outside covered their faces, disguised themselves as robbers, shouted, and rushed in to rob the place.

Tonight, no matter what, I must get my hands on that precious mirror.

A dozen or so men in black crouched low and climbed into the courtyard, like locusts swarming through the area, trying to take everything they could.

The dressing mirror in the maid's room—take it;

The brass-framed mirror in the washroom—take it;

He tucked a silver teapot from the table into his pocket;

Even the large copper basin in the kitchen, which was used to hold water, was picked up and carried away because it "reflected people's images."

A companion next to him tugged at his sleeve and hissed, "Are you out of your mind? This is a basin!"

The man, neck stiff, replied in a barely audible whisper, "Then... what if the precious mirror the master spoke of is this one?"

One of the boys casually stole a small plate of freshly dried osmanthus cake from the windowsill, munching on it while searching.

They searched through the small rooms and found a bunch of mirrors, but none of them resembled the legendary magical mirror.

The group huddled together and whispered among themselves:

"This side?"

"No, it's just an ordinary bronze mirror, not even as shiny as the mirror at home."

"Then which one is bigger?"

"Are you stupid? This is something a young lady uses to comb her hair, not a magic mirror!"

After exploring the area, the group had only left to visit the main houses in the backyard.

Yesterday, the Sixth Prince slept here.

"The magic mirror must be inside."

The leader of the men in black gave a wink and whispered, "Keep your spirits up, and don't get caught."

The door was ajar.

According to the rules, one person goes in first to scout ahead, while the other person keeps watch at the door.

He went in first, crouched down, pushed open the door, and disappeared in a flash.

The lookout at the door waited for ages, but there was no sound from inside.

He wondered to himself: Did they succeed? This was too easy! How come they didn't even make a sound?

When I had no other choice but to wait...

He gripped the dagger in his hand, bolstering his courage, and carefully pushed the door open a crack, squeezing in sideways.

The moment he stepped inside, he remained professional, his back against the wall, dagger extended, his mind still preoccupied with the mission: Where is the treasure mirror? Where is the treasure mirror?

Then, his gaze was drawn to something by the bedside.

It felt like my feet were nailed to the ground.

Because there was a pile of gold ingots like a small mountain on the floor next to the bed!

It wasn't just one or two ingots; it was a mountain of gold, piled up so high it looked like a small burial mound.

The moonlight, bright and shiny, shimmered in the cracks of the window, making his eyes water.

Little did he know, this was early this morning.

When Zhu Ming first obtained the Replication Mirror, he wanted to test how powerful it really was, so he casually picked up a gold ingot and placed it in front of the mirror to see how many it could conjure.

As a result, one ingot became two ingots, two ingots became four ingots, and four ingots became eight ingots...

Until finally, it piled up all over the ground.

Later, the little guy was playing around with Xu Miaoyun, and when he left, he forgot to put the pile of gold away, so it ended up all over the room.

This thief served Zhao An his entire life, doing many bad things for the Zhao family, yet he never saw ten taels of gold in total.

Right now, there's a mountain of gold in front of us.

His mind went blank.

What precious mirror, what Sixth Prince, what master's orders...

I'm not going to serve them all today.

With so much gold, you could just grab a handful and live a life of luxury for the rest of your days!

So, as if his legs were not under his control, the man instinctively stepped towards the pile of gold, his hands already outstretched.

"Zheng."

A steel knife was placed against his neck without warning.

The man froze, his feet rooted to the spot.

The hand reaching for the gold froze in mid-air, unsure whether to retract it or not.

A deep voice came from behind me; it sounded young, but it was very cold:

"Move closer."

The man's legs were trembling, but he obediently did as he was told and slowly moved two steps to the side.

The hand had to be withdrawn.

He then realized that his wrist was being gripped by a hand that felt like an iron clamp.

Only after he had steadied himself did he dare to turn his head cautiously.

That turn of his head almost scared the soul out of him.

Both sides of the bedroom were packed with people.

The yamen runners with swords at their sides and the burly servants stood there, holding their breath and arms crossed, seemingly having stood there for an unknown amount of time.

The man was completely dumbfounded. How come he hadn't noticed any of the many people standing in the room?

He held the useless dagger, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

The person behind him gave him an impatient shove.

"What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and move along."

The man behind him dragged him to a corner of the room.

Upon arriving at the destination, the man looked down.

Well, it turns out I'm not the first one.

His accomplice, who had gone in first to scout ahead, was already squatting there, his hands covering his head, curled up in a ball.

Looking closer, I saw a row of seven or eight people squatting next to me, like they were queuing up to buy tickets, each one with their heads in their hands, squatting neatly in a row.

Hearing footsteps, his accomplice looked up and gave him a simple, honest greeting.

"You're here?"

As she spoke, she consciously moved aside to make room for him to squat.

The man was forced to squat down by his shoulders.

He turned to look at his accomplice, then back at the pile of gold beside the bed, so close yet forever out of reach, and let out a long, desperate sigh.

Finally, this is the scene that appears in the room.

In the corner of the room, a row of dejected men in black were squatting.

But in the central seat sat a young girl.

She was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a blue dress, with her hair simply tied up in a bun. She wore no jewelry, only a plain silver hairpin slanted into her hair.

The firelight illuminated her face, revealing delicate features and an endearing appearance, but her eyes were strikingly bright.

The room was full of thieves wielding knives, but she wasn't afraid at all.

It was as if these people weren't thieves who came to steal, but rather a circus performer.

She was holding a cup of tea.

The tea had gone cold, but she wouldn't drink it.

He calmly watched his men force the petty thieves to their knees, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

This person was none other than Xu Miaoyun.

To her left stood Wang Defa, the county magistrate;

Standing on the right is Huang Zi'an, who had joined Zhu Ming early on.

Both men were in their forties, one in an official robe and the other in brocade, yet they looked like two guardian deities.

They stood on either side of the girl's chair, hands hanging down, not daring to utter a sound.

Wang Defa glanced at the row of thieves kneeling on the ground, then turned to look at Xu Miaoyun, and couldn't help but lower his voice, his face full of admiration:

"Miss Xu, you're absolutely right."

"I was initially skeptical, wondering who would be so bold as to touch His Highness's things... But you insisted that someone would steal the mirror tonight."

"Look, they really came!"

Huang Zi'an, on the other side, nodded repeatedly, flattering him:

"Young lady, you are truly insightful! At first, I thought they were just a few petty thieves, and a few guards would suffice."

"It was Miss Xu's prudence that led her to repeatedly instruct me to prepare more manpower, just in case. That's why I gathered another twenty or thirty people to come."

"Now that I see it, you were right after all."

"The fact that so many thieves came all at once clearly means they're planning to rob us if they can't steal from us."

"If it weren't for Miss Xu's thoughtful planning, with these extra twenty or thirty people, they might have actually succeeded today!"