After leaving the Shen Family, Su Yanxi did not return to the Marquis Family. Instead, taking advantage of the quiet night, she first went to one of the Shen Family’s grain shops.
After she knocked, the shopkeeper quickly opened the door. “Boss, why are you here so late?”
Su Yanxi entered and said directly to the shopkeeper, “Dong Shu, I am not the biological daughter of the Shen Family. My birth parents are the Champion Marquis and his wife, and now I am going into exile with them.”
Upon hearing this, Dong Shu’s face turned pale with shock. “Boss…”
“Dong Shu, I came to tell you that the Shen Family is also about to face a great disaster. You are all the old-timers who started with me, and I don’t want to see you implicated with the Shen Family. So I’m asking you: would you rather stay in the shop and share the Shen Family’s fate, or would you prefer that I give you five years’ wages upfront and wait for me to return in five years so we can start over?”
“Boss, aside from you, no one in the Shen Family is kind. The only reason I stayed with the Shen Family was because of you. If you are no longer with the Shen Family, there’s no way I would continue serving them,” Dong Shu replied without hesitation.
Su Yanxi felt relieved.
In her previous life, although she had few close relatives, none of the shopkeepers she had trained ever betrayed her. Even when she was imprisoned, they did everything they could to send supplies to her in jail. Two of them even went so far as to beat the grievance drum to appeal her case. Though she didn’t know exactly which two had done it, she knew none of them had betrayed her!
Su Yanxi gave Dong Shu two hundred taels of silver, ten taels of small silver pieces, and twenty strings of copper coins. She instructed him to leave the capital immediately with his family.
Dong Shu did not stand on ceremony and accepted the money directly.
He then asked Su Yanxi, “Boss, do you need me to notify the others for you?”
Su Yanxi shook her head. “No need, Dong Shu. You take your family and leave first. I’ll visit the other shops one by one.”
After all, she planned to clear out the goods from the shops anyway. There was no need to send someone else on an extra trip.
After Dong Shu left, Su Yanxi moved all the grain from the shop and the warehouse into her Space.
The grain shop managed by Dong Shu was the largest of the Su Family’s shops. Ever since news of the drought came from the northwest, she had instructed Dong Shu and his staff to purchase and stockpile grain everywhere. Now, the drought had lasted for two years and was gradually spreading across the country, causing grain prices to soar.
In this grain shop’s warehouse alone, the Shen Family had one thousand dan of rice, two thousand dan of millet, two thousand dan of broomcorn millet, two thousand dan of wheat, and five hundred dan of various beans combined. This amount of grain was not only enough to keep her well-fed during the exile journey but could even last her several lifetimes.
However, considering her future plans, the more grain, the better.
The Shen Family also had two large warehouses stocked with grain. Originally, she had planned to sell it all off once prices rose further, making a huge profit. In her previous life, she had done exactly that. The profits from that venture had laid the foundation for the Su Family’s later business expansion and their support of Xiao Lingyou’s endeavors.
In this life, this grain would serve to replenish her Space. However, the two large warehouses were located outside the city, and she had no chance to retrieve them now. She would have to find a way to get them when she passed by during the exile journey.
For now, she would clear out the goods from the Shen Family’s shops and warehouses. The Shen Family had five other grain shops in the capital.
She repeated the same words to the managers of these shops, and without exception, the managers trusted her. After receiving five months’ wages, they left.
These five shops were not as large as Dong Shu’s shop, but the total grain collected was about twice that of his shop.
The Shen family also had three cloth shops, and Su Yanxi followed the same procedure with the managers.
After the managers left, she stored everything in the shops into her Space.
Just as she finished looting the last shop of the Su family and was about to leave, she suddenly heard footsteps outside.
Instinctively, she stood behind the door and listened carefully.
“Although the Champion Marquis Family is known for its integrity, they still managed to confiscate some items during the raid?”
“Of course. Over the years, His Majesty has bestowed many treasures upon the Champion Marquis. They wouldn’t dare to touch the imperial gifts, so they had to store them in the warehouse.”
“Once we deliver these items to His Highness, he’ll be so pleased that we’ll surely receive generous rewards.”
…
Only after the group had passed by, chatting as they went, did a sharp glint flash in Su Yanxi’s eyes.
The assets confiscated from the Marquis Family had not yet been handed over to the national treasury.
Moreover, from the sound of it, those items would be moved to a private residence that very night.
Then she couldn’t be blamed for helping herself!
Soon, Shen Yanxi followed them to the outside of what appeared to be an ordinary civilian residence.
Crate after crate of items escorted by the group was carried into the house.
Su Yanxi was fortunate—though there were many guards in the residence, their vigilance was surprisingly low.
After moving the items, the men gathered to drink and gamble.
Su Yanxi quickly slipped inside.
The interior of the house was no different from a typical civilian home.
However, the heated kang in the main bedroom could be moved aside. Beneath it was likely a secret chamber, as the group had carried all the items confiscated from the Marquis Family inside.
Though Su Yanxi had seen her share of treasures in her previous life, she was still stunned when she entered the chamber.
The space inside was larger than she had imagined.
Lacquered red chests were neatly stacked, layer upon layer.
The ceiling was illuminated by night-luminous pearls the size of fists.
Su Yanxi casually opened a few chests.
Inside, besides neatly arranged gold and silver, there were all kinds of gold, silver, and jewels.
She also discovered a pile of chests filled with various precious medicinal herbs.
Items like thousand-year-old ginseng, hundred-year-old lingzhi mushrooms, and snow lotus from the Tianshan Mountains were piled in chests as if they were worthless.
But what shocked her the most was that over a dozen of these chests were filled with arrows made of refined iron.
These definitely did not belong solely to the Champion Marquis Family.
Recalling the mention of “His Highness” by the men earlier, she realized this was likely the ill-gotten gains amassed and hidden here by some ambitious prince.
She instinctively tried to deduce which prince it might be.
But in her previous life, before she and Xiao Lingyou fought their way back to the capital, the empire had already descended into chaos. All five of the emperor’s adult sons were vying for the throne.
Several underage princes were also dragged into the struggle, willingly or unwillingly, by various factions.
Even excluding the eldest prince, Xiao Xuanzheng, whose mother was of low status and who was stationed at the border, and the third prince, Xiao Lingyou, whom she had picked up on her escape from famine in her past life, there were still seven others left.
She couldn’t deduce which one it was.
But that didn’t stop all this gold, silver, treasure, and arrows from changing owners.
Without the slightest hesitation, she stored all the contents of the treasure vault into her Space.
She mentally inspected the already abundant Space and felt thoroughly satisfied.
Having completed her task, she hurried back toward the Marquis Family.
Upon reaching the alley behind the Marquis Family’s rear courtyard, she again heard the sound of carriage wheels approaching.
Her heart tightened, and she quickly concealed herself.
Then came a shrill voice scolding: “Be careful, all of you!
These are treasures our master went through great pains to acquire. If anything goes wrong, you’ll pay with your hides!”