Rubbing her chin, Chaochao took two steps back and waved at Huahua, who was silently flapping about in midair.
“Silly Bird, come here. Go inside and see whether my dad is there.”
Under the oppressive authority of its master, Huahua did not dare cause trouble. It obediently flew inside at top speed and made one round of inspection. After confirming that no one was there, Huahua hurried back out.
“Huahua is good. No one, no one.”
“Just as I thought!” Chaochao was exhausted to the extreme.
But then she thought of something. If Silly Dad was out getting drunk and not at home, wouldn’t that mean he could avoid having the residence confiscated?
Whatever. Since Silly Dad was not there, she might as well take advantage of the chaos and run away too.
Chaochao’s thoughts were simple. She called for Silly Bird to retrace their path and prepared to climb through the dog hole and escape.
When she passed Bright Heart Hall, the chaos inside had grown even worse. From a distance, Chaochao saw that the servants and older maids inside were all clutching valuables, their faces panicked as they fled.
Was this an internal revolt? In any case, it had nothing to do with her. The little girl hurried away as nimbly as could be.
Earlier, after Chaochao had left, the wicked nanny had been discovered by a maid. Seeing the valuables exposed at the nanny’s chest, the maid—being a clever one—was immediately tempted and began plundering the wealth before fleeing.
When the wicked nanny woke up and saw that the Mistress’s rooms were in complete disarray, with everyone looking out for themselves and scrambling to snatch things, she clearly had no way to stop them. Her eyes shifted, and she simply joined the fray, stuffing a bundle of good things into her clothes before turning and running for her life.
And so, this wave of looting rapidly swept through the inner residence before the Embroidered Uniform Guard had even reached it.
Of course, what did any of that have to do with Chaochao?
At that moment, one person and one bird were passing the main kitchen, whose chimney was still giving off smoke. Normally, at this hour, the residence should have been preparing breakfast. The main kitchen ought to have been steaming with heat and bustling with voices, yet it was unusually quiet.
Chaochao felt puzzled, but she was in a hurry to escape and paid it no mind. She raised her foot to leave, but the Silly Bird perched on her shoulder began causing trouble, flapping its wings and squawking.
“Seeds, seeds, bird’s, bird’s…” It flew straight toward the main kitchen, familiar with the way and moving so quickly that Chaochao failed to catch it even when she reached out.
Chaochao angrily stamped her foot and gritted her teeth. “You stupid bird! You glutton!” All it ever did was cause her trouble.
There was nothing she could do. After all, the Silly Bird had been a birthday present from Mother. No matter how hard Chaochao ground her teeth in anger, she still firmly chased after it.
Once she entered, she found that the main kitchen, which should have been lively, was utterly deserted.
“Did everyone run away?”
As Chaochao went farther inside, she saw that although there was no sign of anyone, the kitchen was still billowing with heat. Embers remained in the stove openings, and many prepared foods were arranged on the worktables. They were the breakfasts for the masters of the various households within the residence, and Chaochao even saw the portion that belonged to her.
There were the osmanthus steamed cakes and fresh shrimp dumplings she loved to eat. Yesterday, she had given money to Sister Qiuxiang and asked her to place an extra order with the kitchen.
She had paid for these with her private savings. Even if she was running away, she couldn’t leave them behind!
Take them, take them! Chaochao hurried over, opened her smart bracelet, and scanned them. After making sure they were stored properly, she specifically put them into the backpack compartment meant for food. Seeing that there was still plenty of room, Chaochao decided to go all the way and scanned and stored every hot food in the kitchen that was edible.
She scanned so quickly that she accidentally swept up the oil, salt, sauces, vinegar, and other seasonings on the stove as well. Chaochao was just about to take them back out when the Silly Bird suddenly darted out from somewhere and cried urgently, “Chao, come! Chao, come!”
Chaochao hurried over and looked up at the Silly Bird. “What is it?”
The Silly Bird anxiously turned around and led the way. “Chao, come! Chao, come!”
Chaochao followed it and saw that it had led her into the storeroom inside the main kitchen. Hovering beside a large basket hanging down from a roof beam, it poked out its head and stared at her with its mung-bean eyes.
“Bird’s, bird’s.”
Right. Had it found its rations?
Chaochao’s little height was nowhere near enough to reach them. She shouted, “Move aside.”
The Silly Bird was very quick to understand. It immediately flew back and circled Chaochao, calling incessantly, “Bird’s, bird’s!”
“All right, all right, I know. Move aside quickly and don’t get in my way. If you keep talking, I’m leaving.”
Only then did the Silly Bird quiet down. Chaochao hurriedly opened her smart bracelet and began scanning and storing things. After putting away the basket, she looked at the roomful of bottles, jars, crocks, and sacks, all packed to the brim, and her heart began to itch with temptation.
Well, since she was already here, wasting food would bring down a thunderbolt! She decisively scanned everything into her possession.
By the time the storeroom was completely empty, Chaochao had entirely forgotten about the oil, salt, sauces, and vinegar she had meant to take back out. Leading the Silly Bird, she hurriedly made her escape.
Along the way, she encountered many panicked maids and older servants, as well as male servants and slaves running about in confusion. Relying on the Silly Bird’s command of the skies, Chaochao took detours around them. Without realizing it, she went farther and farther off course and somehow arrived at the location of the residence’s treasury.
She had already run past the courtyard gate outside the treasury when Chaochao realized what she was seeing. She stopped, then ran backward. Looking at the three large copper locks hanging from the thick black-lacquered door, Chaochao once again stroked her little chin.
Didn’t she have a transforming key among her many toys? Mother had even said that when she bought it, the merchant had claimed there was no lock in the world that it couldn’t open!
Chaochao lowered her head and rummaged through her things. “Ah, found it!”
With a delighted expression, she took a long, silvery-white strip from her backpack. It was about two fingers wide and not particularly hard. Chaochao thrust it into the keyhole. The square silver-white strip instantly transformed. Its front end flowed into the keyhole like water, and although the silver-white material had still been somewhat soft, it hardened in the blink of an eye.
Chaochao twisted it. With a click, the copper lock opened.
“Ha! A little copper lock—completely at my mercy!”
Using the first lock as a model, she quickly dealt with the remaining two. Chaochao happily stored the key away, then put away the copper locks as well, like a miser carefully guarding his treasures. The little girl grinned as she pushed open the door and entered.
The Earl’s residence treasury was built within a large courtyard. High walls surrounded the outside, while inside stood five large storehouses arranged side by side.
The silver vault was in the middle, with miscellaneous storehouses on either side. They were usually guarded strictly. Obviously, everything stored here was a treasure. Ordinary supplies such as grain, furniture, and bolts of cloth were kept in the outer courtyard instead and were not stored here.
The outer courtyard gate had three copper locks, specially made by the finest craftsmen and difficult to imitate. The keys were held by the chief nanny in charge of affairs, the household steward, and the master responsible for managing the inner household. Only when all three of them were present could the locks possibly be opened.
Aside from the outer gate, each storehouse inside also had three locks. Under normal circumstances, the chance of theft was extremely small. Today, however, because the residence had fallen into chaos, they had failed to guard against a small child who was no ordinary person.
Looking at the five large storehouses standing side by side, Chaochao took out the transforming key again and headed straight for the central storehouse facing her.
“You’ll do.”
She swiftly opened all three locks, stored them away, pushed open the door, and entered. When she saw the glittering silver inside, Chaochao exclaimed inwardly, What a haul! She quickly opened her smart bracelet and began scanning, growing more excited as she worked.
“I’m rich, I’m rich! The kid is rich…”
With so much silver, box after box of it, how could she not be rich?
After quickly finishing the central storehouse, Chaochao wiped away a string of drool, decisively left, and casually chose one of the storehouses beside it.
She unlocked it, pushed open the door, and entered. The entire room was filled with the fragrance of medicine. She casually opened two brocade boxes. Inside one were dried radishes with numerous long roots, while inside the other was a pair of chubby, pitch-black dolls about the size of her toy dolls.
Whatever. Although she did not recognize them, she had no time to delay. Time was of the essence. Chaochao quickly stored them away, thinking that she could have Xiaoyi explain them to her later.
After emptying this storehouse, Chaochao hurried without pause to the neighboring storehouse connected to it.