In his hands, he held a string of keys and a food box. His handsome face carried a somewhat solemn expression—he had likely already learned from Lu Peifeng that trouble was brewing for the General's Mansion.
The keys were heavy, more than a dozen of them. Song Mingyuan took them, weighed them in her hand, and muttered, "He sure is trusting, isn't he? Not afraid I'll clean the place out and make a run for it."
Changyun: …
Although he had no idea why his master had instructed him to hand the keys to the young mistress, did she think the General's Mansion's belongings could just be cleaned out that easily?
Did she not know how much stuff the General's Mansion had? How naive!
Song Mingyuan hastily ate her breakfast and was about to head out to stir up trouble when she saw Changyun standing stiffly at the door.
She was a bit puzzled. "Why are you still here?"
With disaster looming over the General's Mansion, was he really this idle?
"My master ordered me to await your commands."
Song Mingyuan looked thoughtful. "So whatever I tell you to do, you have to do it?"
"…Yes."
"Your master is quite sensible. Fine, lead the way."
Since Lu Peifeng was being so cooperative, she'd consider the mansion's belongings as being held in her safekeeping for him, and return them once they reached the place of exile.
Consider it payment for the information and help he'd provided yesterday.
Changyun: …
It seemed his master didn't hold much standing in the young mistress's eyes.
This realization made Changyun feel a bit sympathetic toward Lu Peifeng.
Knowing the girl had married in with a substituted identity, not only did he not throw her out, but he'd carried her back from outside early in the morning, and even before leaving, he'd worried she might go hungry and specially sent him to deliver food.
He'd kept it well hidden.
So his master wasn't indifferent to women after all—he'd had the young mistress in his heart all along!
"Where is the young mistress going?"
Song Mingyuan had no idea what wild fantasies Changyun had cooked up in those few brief moments. Hearing his question, she simply said, "The storehouse."
Changyun led Song Mingyuan there, inwardly marveling again—those who'd had their heart awakened were truly different. He even knew to coax his wife by letting her pick out things she liked from the storehouse.
He ought to bring all those people who called his master a ten-thousand-year iron tree, oblivious to romance, to come see this.
The door opened, and the sight before her made Song Mingyuan exclaim in surprise: "How is your General's Mansion so poor?"
Changyun: "!"
He stammered, "This…"
Although their General's Mansion wasn't exactly wealthy, it wasn't exactly poor either, was it?
Changyun frowned, thinking of a way to phrase it so Song Mingyuan wouldn't look down on the General's Mansion's poverty: "Perhaps it's because most of the mansion's silver goes toward providing for wounded and disabled veterans, allowing them to enjoy their twilight years in peace."
"The General's Mansion subsidizes a large sum of money for this every year, especially for the personal guards who followed the general into battle. If the national treasury runs empty and provisions run short, they even have to dip into their own pockets to make up the difference."
Most of the money went toward war and border defense, so even though the General's Mansion was a century-old prestigious family, they hadn't managed to save much of a fortune over the years.
Song Mingyuan was silent for a moment, then cursed: "That dog emperor is blind!"
It was a pity that the Zhenguo Jiangjun Mansion's possessions didn't even amount to a tenth of what those corrupt officials had amassed. Those who embezzled and took bribes went unpunished, while loyal ministers and good generals who exhausted themselves for the country were precisely the ones suspected and nearly wiped out to the last.
With such a fatuous fool holding power in Northern Wei, it was only a matter of time before the dynasty fell.
Changyun nodded in deep agreement. "The young mistress speaks the absolute truth."
Changyun mostly acted on orders, but when Song Mingyuan said those words, he gained a genuine measure of respect for her.
"If there's anything you fancy, Young Madam, feel free to take it—take as much as you can carry. Better than letting it fall into someone else's hands."
Good water shouldn't irrigate another man's field—if it landed in the Young Madam's hands, that was still better than having it confiscated by that dog of an emperor.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony!"
Song Mingyuan smiled, and that smile—laden with some unspoken meaning—sent an inexplicable shiver down Changyun's spine, a vague premonition of something ill.
And then, the very next second, he watched the storeroom piled high with antiques, paintings, gold, silver, and jewels vanish in the blink of an eye.
Gone?!
Changyun stood dumbfounded, unable to believe his eyes.
He jolted backward, tripped over the threshold, and landed on the ground, his face looking as though he'd just seen a ghost.
Recalling the words the Young Madam had muttered moments ago about emptying the General's Mansion and skipping town, he went numb.
Naive!
Had he known the Young Madam possessed such ability, he would never have doubted her.
Even after Song Mingyuan hauled Changyun up from the floor, he remained in a dazed, soul-leaving-his-body stupor, clearly shaken by the unbelievable sight he'd just witnessed.
"You still have some ways to go compared to your master. Come on, next one—the sooner we finish, the sooner we're done."
"……"
By the time they'd searched through the General's Mansion's key locations, Changyun's shattered worldview still hadn't mended itself. He was beginning to question life itself.
Stumbling dizzily into Qinghai, who had just rushed back in a hurry, Changyun asked in a floating voice, "Qinghai, do you believe in immortals in this world?"
Qinghai looked at him like he was an idiot. "If immortals existed, would the General's Mansion have fallen to such a state?"
Like his master, he had never believed in gods or spirits.
"Stop dreaming. The imperial guards from the palace have already reached the street corner. There's been a theft at the palace—the emperor is furious and is conducting a massive manhunt for the thieves."
Changyun started. "And the master?"
Qinghai said, "The master has been thrown into the imperial prison. At this morning's court session, nearly seventeen or eighteen officials reported their residences cleaned out overnight. That dog of an emperor is so fixated on catching the thieves that he hasn't the mood to punish the master. He ordered us to secretly protect the Old Matriarch and the ladies, the young master, and the young miss—don't clash with them head-on."
Hearing that the palace and the residences of numerous officials had been robbed, Changyun's expression turned strange.
Though this was hardly the moment to laugh out loud given the gravity of the situation, he really couldn't hold it in anymore.
If not for the timing, he would have thrown his head back and roared with laughter, shouting a single phrase: Long live the Young Madam!
Seeing Qinghai's grim expression, Changyun suddenly said, "Don't be so quick to disbelieve—there really are immortals in this world. She's come to save our General's Mansion."
Unsurprisingly, he got a glare from Qinghai. "Do you think I believe that? If immortals existed, you'd have turned from a younger brother into a younger sister long ago."
Changyun's face darkened. "Get lost!"
From the moment her eldest grandson had entered the palace with the eunuch, Old Madame Lu had sat silently in the main hall waiting. Lu Peifeng had sent Qiuniang to warn her in advance, and she had already dismissed the household servants and summoned all her daughters-in-law before her.
"Now that the Lu family is in peril, I won't hide it from you. The emperor has set his sights on the Lu family. Your husbands and the others have yet to send word back—I fear the worst. Our General's Mansion has been branded with the crime of colluding with the enemy. Whether we live or die rests on a single word from Li Zhang."
"You are all fine young ladies from distinguished families. Since marrying into the Lu family, you have been filial to your parents-in-law, supportive to your husbands, and dutiful in raising your children, living in harmony with your sisters-in-law. Now that the Lu family has suffered this unforeseen calamity, I have no wish to drag you down with us. I have already drafted the separation agreements—if any of you wishes to leave, you are free to go."