Zhang Guolao rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright, let's hurry up and find someone to inquire about Cao Guojiu's residence."
"Since Cao Guojiu is the emperor's brother-in-law, many people must know him, so it should be easy to find out!"
"That's what Tieguai Li said."
Where is this place?
Lan Caihe looked around and found that they were in a courtyard.
Suddenly, they heard the voices of several people not far away.
Chapter 730 Cao Guojiu, who is greedy for money
It was late at night.
At the entrance of a goldsmith's workshop.
A shop owner, holding an account book, was counting gold items.
He had two assistants in front of him, each holding some goldware.
"A pair of gold ingots belonging to Master Li!"
"Huang Xiucai's pair of golden toads!"
"You all need to keep a close eye on it, and make sure it's not left lying around. If it's put in the wrong place, that would be a real problem!"
The boss gave a very serious reminder.
"I know, I know, what's there to be afraid of? It's all going to the Cao residence anyway!"
"That's what the guy said, looking impatient," said the shop assistant.
"Even an idiot knows that all this gold jewelry was used to bribe that scoundrel, humph!"
"That's what the second guy said with a disdainful look."
With that, the two men went into the warehouse.
Shopkeeper A said, "It seems that Scholar Huang will definitely be the top scholar this year!"
"Shh, do you want to die? You don't want to eat the food, do you want to eat gold ingot candles instead?"
"Go, go, go! Hurry up and leave!"
The boss quickly looked around warily and quietly scolded his two employees.
He then pushed the two men out of the warehouse.
He carefully inspected the warehouse and then locked the door.
After the boss and his two employees had gone some distance, Li Yao, Tieguai Li, and the others appeared in the darkness.
"You all heard that!"
Zhang Guolao shook his head repeatedly and sighed repeatedly.
"Even a deaf person could hear this! How outrageous! How dare they openly sell official positions!"
Lan Caihe crossed her arms and said angrily.
"Hmph, I bet those who buy their way into office won't be honest officials even if they become officials in the future!"
Tieguai Li said with a disdainful look.
"Who is so heartless and acts so recklessly?"
"If we didn't have something urgent to do, we would have loved to teach him a lesson!"
He Xiangu frowned as she spoke.
"Who exactly is that guy, and how do we teach him a lesson?"
Zhang Guolao said with great resentment.
"I just overheard the shop assistants saying that these gold items were delivered to the Cao family's residence, so they must belong to the Cao family!"
Han Xiangzi guessed.
"Could it be Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals?!"
Li Yao smiled faintly.
"That's right. Both Laozi and the Victorious Fighting Buddha said that this Cao Guojiu is greedy for money. Could he really be Cao Guojiu?"
Lan Caihe said excitedly.
"Very likely!"
Han Xiangzi nodded.
He then turned his gaze to the warehouse and said, "Let's go in and take a look!"
"That's not a good idea!"
"If we enter without permission, wouldn't we become thieves?"
He Xiangu said with a worried expression.
"In an emergency, we should act expediently. We're not going to steal, so how could we become thieves!"
Tieguai Li quickly said.
"That's right, that's right. As long as we don't steal, of course we're not thieves!"
Zhang Guolao nodded repeatedly.
Li Yao smiled slightly to the side.
It seems that these Eight Immortals were not the kind of rigid and inflexible people who were bound by the past; they also knew how to adapt.
As they approached the warehouse, they found it locked with a very sturdy iron lock.
"Caihe, it seems we'll have to rely on you. None of us have any magical powers!"
All eyes turned to Lan Caihe.
Because Lan Caihe came from humble origins, he was quite skilled at lock picking.
"Okay, I'll do it, I'll do it!"
Lan Caihe rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the door of the warehouse.
He pulled a hairpin from his hair and fiddled with it in the lock cylinder a few times.
Then, with a click, the iron lock on the warehouse was opened.
Afterwards, Li Yao, Tieguai Li, and others went into the warehouse.
Wow, there's so much gold here!
As soon as Lan Caihe entered the storeroom, he was stunned by the dazzling array of gold artifacts inside.
"Could all these gold artifacts have been sent to the Cao residence?"
Zhang Guolao guessed with a puzzled look on his face.
"Very likely!"
Han Xiangzi's gaze swept over the gold artifacts, and he nodded solemnly.
"Look, here's an account book!"
As soon as Li Yao entered, his gaze did not fall on the dazzling goldwares like the others, but instead searched for account books in the storeroom.
Sure enough, he found an account book in a wooden box.
"Quick, open it and take a look!"
Tieguai Li quickly came over.
Li Yao opened the ledger and saw that the most frequently recorded name was "Cao Guojiu".
"Indeed, these gold artifacts were all gifts for Cao Guojiu!"
Zhang Guo was taken aback.
Although everyone present had already guessed, they were still quite surprised when they saw with their own eyes that these gold artifacts were a gift for Cao Guojiu.
"It seems that this Cao Guojiu is indeed a big corrupt official!"
Tieguai Li shook his head repeatedly.
"Let's leave this place as soon as possible, then split into two groups. One group will inquire about Cao Guojiu's residence, and the other will find an inn as our temporary place to stay!"
Han Xiangzi had many ideas, and everyone usually listened to his opinions.
"Alright, let's do as Xiangzi suggests."
Tieguai Li nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, they quietly left the goldsmith shop.
...
The Cao residence.
A middle-aged man dressed in simple clothes sat in a study.
A young butler stood beside him.
"Wang Tong, how's the matter I asked you to handle going?"
The middle-aged man asked.
He is Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals.
"Your Excellency, everything is ready except for the final touch!"
Butler Wang Tong said with great respect, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect.
"What?"