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"What?!" Deng Yun's eyes almost burst with rage as he grabbed the messenger by the clothes, "What did you say? Our people were taken away by the Prefect of Shuntian's men? Why? Why would they arrest our people?"

They hadn't come to the Capital to marvel at its prosperity nor to get acquainted with a few minor officials from the Manufacturing Office; they were here to compete for the Empress Dowager's selection.

The craftsmen they had brought to the Capital were arrested, so even if they managed to devise a way to be selected for a position at the Manufacturing Office, without craftsmen to do the work, it wouldn't matter. Moreover, if these people were thrown in jail and the Prefect of Shuntian's men took the opportunity to break their limbs or damage their brains—since injuries to tendons and bones take a hundred days to heal—they'd be ruined all the same.