Xia Xing’er visited all the main rooms in the Grand Tutor’s residence as if strolling through her own backyard. And what a fruitful trip it turned out to be!
In the study of the Grand Tutor’s residence, she even found letters exchanged with the Northern Di. This old scoundrel was truly a traitor colluding with the enemy, yet the foolish emperor trusted him the most.
She took everything from the study, not even leaving the shelves behind. However, there was one shelf she couldn’t collect, and the white vase on top remained completely unmoved.
It seemed there was something hidden here. Xia Xing’er walked up to the shelf and directly touched the vase. With a slight twist, a door appeared behind the shelf.
Following the door down, oh my goodness! Where did this old scoundrel get so many treasures? Golden ingots were piled up like a small hill, while calligraphy, paintings, jewelry, and jade artifacts were stacked on the other side.
Now that she had seen them, they were all hers. She took everything away without leaving a single item.
She then went to the granary and kitchen, taking everything she could—not even leaving a single bowl behind.
Finally, she arrived at the treasury. Tsk tsk, look at all the goods filling this treasury—far more than what they had in the Changxin Marquis Manor.
When she reached the Chancellor’s residence, she noticed a room with its lights still on. Out of curiosity, she approached the room again and jumped onto the roof.
She heard voices coming from inside.
“Miss, it’s fortunate you didn’t ask the master to beg His Majesty for an imperial marriage decree. Otherwise, when Zhennan Wang’s household is raided the day after tomorrow, even if you hadn’t married into it, your reputation would have been tarnished. Now that abandoned wife has been granted the imperial marriage decree, she and the Changxin Marquisate will be the ones implicated.”
Another disdainful voice chimed in: “What a bargain for her! If it weren’t for the emperor targeting Zhennan Wang, how could a divorced wretch like her—a cast-off shoe no one wants—be worthy of him?”
Xia Xing’er was taken aback. Weren’t these two talking about her?
She wanted to see who these people were and how they knew such secrets.
If it weren’t for her rebirth, she would never have known.
She lifted a roof tile and peered down.
The room was brightly lit. Lin Wanqing sat at her dressing table as her personal maid helped remove the hairpins and tassels from her hair.
“Tomorrow, spread the word that Xia Xing’er had feelings for Zhennan Wang even before her divorce, seducing him multiple times. Young General Helian Zhi repeatedly advised her to no avail and had no choice but to divorce her. After the divorce, she shamelessly seduced Zhennan Wang again, forcing him to request an imperial marriage decree from His Majesty.”
A malicious smile spread across Lin Wanqing’s face. “I not only want the people of Prince of Zhennan’s Mansion to know, but I also want everyone in the capital to learn that Xia Xing’er is a shameless, promiscuous abandoned wife and wretch.”
She snorted coldly, her expression full of arrogance. “So what if she’s been granted the imperial marriage decree to become Zhennan Wang’s principal consort? If I, Lin Wanqing, can’t have something, I’d rather destroy it than let someone else take it easily.”
The personal maid bowed slightly. “Yes, Miss. This servant will take care of it first thing tomorrow morning, ensuring it’s done properly.”
“Hehehe, when Prince of Zhennan’s Mansion is dealt with, I’ll go meet her then. It’s sure to be quite interesting. Alright, hurry and attend to me as I retire for the night.”
The bed curtains fell, and the lights in the room were soon extinguished.
Xia Xing’er was almost driven to despair. She had never offended this Lin Wanqing, had she? It truly felt like trouble falling from the sky while she was minding her own business. Whom had she provoked to deserve this?
The imperial marriage decree was bestowed by the emperor, not something she had begged for. How could this woman be so vicious?
Although she didn’t care about reputation, she couldn’t just let herself be slandered for no reason.
Xia Xing’er directly took out a packet of knockout powder and sprinkled it.
This packet of knockout powder would surely make her sleep for two or three days.
Xia Xing’er felt this still wasn’t enough to vent her anger, so she took out a dagger and shaved half of the woman’s head into a yin-yang style. Still unsatisfied, she took out some painting pigments and drew two turtles on her cheeks.
Now she looked much more pleasing to the eye.
She gave the same treatment to the woman’s personal maid—she wasn’t a good one either, trying to aid the villain in harming her.
She wanted to see if, in their current state, they would still have the energy to come looking for trouble with her.
After finishing her work, she collected everything in the room. Earlier, she had left a quilt for that old scoundrel, the Grand Tutor, but for this vicious woman, she wouldn’t even leave a quilt.
She was still kind-hearted—she left her a bellyband.
After finishing her work, she went to the courtyard of the Prime Minister, Lin Yuanfeng.
By the moonlight, she saw a man and a woman sleeping in each other’s arms on the bed. Tsk tsk, this old fellow was just like that old scoundrel, the Grand Tutor—an old cow eating tender grass. The woman in his arms looked even younger than Lin Wanqing.
These people were simply sinful. Such people had to be punished, so she would reluctantly take on the role of the punisher.
Seeing them sleeping so soundly while she was working so hard—this wouldn’t do. She had to wake them up.
Spotting the teapot on the table, she picked it up and tested it. There was water inside, so she poured it directly onto their faces.
The two, deep in sleep, were suddenly startled awake by the indoor rain.
Lin Yuanfeng sat up abruptly, looking around and wiping his face.
“What in the world… is going on? Where did this water come from?”
He looked around the room in confusion. No, this was still his warm and cozy room.
The beauty in his arms was also bewildered by everything, water still dripping from her face.
Then she saw the teapot that had originally been on the table flying back and forth in front of them before finally smashing toward their foreheads. Terrified, she fainted.
Seeing this, Xia Xing’er stifled her laughter and thought to herself, “This person’s courage is too small.”
She didn’t consider that they had been sleeping peacefully in the middle of the night, only to be awakened by water and see a teapot flying around on its own. Any normal person would be scared.
She went over and used the remaining water in the teapot to wake the beauty again.
The beauty, awakened once more, was deathly pale, clutching Lin Yuanfeng’s arm tightly and trembling as she said, “M-M-Master, i-i-is… is our residence… h-h-haunted?”
A chilling coldness shot straight to the top of Lin Yuanfeng’s head. He gulped several times, sweating profusely from fear. “N-nonsense… what nonsense! H-h-how could… could there possibly be ghosts in this world?”
No sooner had he spoken than a skull suddenly appeared in Lin Yuanfeng’s palm, its two dark, hollow eye sockets staring right at him.
Lin Yuanfeng was so terrified that he immediately flung the skull in his palm away, scrambling off the bed in a frantic rush. Upon closer inspection, an unknown yellow liquid was trickling between his legs, his facial expression completely out of control!
Just as he finally crawled to the door and tried to open it, the door simply wouldn’t budge.