Once, the king gave the prime minister a lot of money to build wells around the kingdom. After some time, the king went to inspect and was satisfied with the work the minister showed him.
One day, some people came to Tenali to complain about the minister as he had used the money for his good and built fewer wells. Tenali promised help and the next day told the king that some thieves had been stealing wells from the kingdom.
The king was surprised but Tenali used those villagers to substantiate his statement. When the king went on another inspection, he saw that there were some wells in the kingdom and nearby villages as shown by the minister but the far-off villages of the kingdom still had no wells.
This angered him and he understood the truth of the magical wells being stolen. He punished the minister by ordering him to get 100 wells dug from his own pocket in the kingdom.
