Jing Er’s heavy heart finally settled. Jing Yi was injured, and she had returned here solely to confirm the young lady’s safety. Seeing no sign of the young lady in the exiled procession, the anxiety that had been choking her slowly eased.
Now, with the note in hand, she finally confirmed that the young lady was truly safe.
Thus, Jing Er slowly stepped out of the alleyway. Like other market-goers, she carried a basket and followed the exiled procession, occasionally tossing an egg or two at Xie Wenyu, who had once held a grudge against the young lady.
No one could tell she was a young woman in disguise.
…
Xie Zhizhi continued toward the palace. However, along the way, she noticed the wide-open gates of the Original Host’s cousin’s house, where officials were inventorying the confiscated assets after the raid.
The Original Host’s cousin, Xie Xiaohu, was cunning and deceitful. Relying on the Original Host’s father, he had secured a position in the court but gradually grew dissatisfied with merely holding a seventh-rank post.
He had asked Xie Zongyi to help him get promoted, but Xie Zongyi and the Emperor were mutually wary of each other, and he had no intention of bending the rules for personal gain. Thus, he refused, causing the relationship between the two families to plummet to an icy low.
Xie Xiaohu sought his own path, aligning himself with the Left Prime Minister, and eventually rose to become a third-rank official under the Prime Minister’s wing.
Hesitating for half a second, Xie Zhizhi thought, “Since I’m already passing by, wouldn’t it be impolite not to take a look inside?”
The mansion of the Censor was grand and imposing, with two guards stationed beside the stone lions at the entrance. A playful smile curled at the corners of Xie Zhizhi’s lips as she slipped inside using her Space.
Bypassing the front hall, she headed straight for the inner courtyard.
Unlike the Original Host’s father, who had only one wife, Xie Xiaohu had taken over twenty concubines, resulting in a large brood of sons and daughters. Could he even remember all their names?
Supporting so many people undoubtedly required a hidden source of wealth.
Her first stop was the armory. The guards at the entrance were diligently carrying out boxes. Inside, more than a dozen chests of valuables had already been removed, leaving about a third behind.
Compared to the General’s Mansion’s armory, this one was simply incomparable—half the size, with few valuable items in sight. A quick glance revealed not much in the way of gold bars or silver ornaments.
Had she misjudged this time?
Then again, supporting over twenty women and thirty-some children would drain even the most ill-gotten gains.
Still, even a mosquito’s worth of meat was better than nothing. After all, everything would eventually be transported to the national treasury.
And since she was planning to raid the national treasury anyway, wouldn’t that mean it would all end up in her Space?
Xie Zhizhi rested her chin on her hand, thoughtfully considering the matter.
Collecting it a little earlier would save the small chests the trouble of being transported around.
Yes, that made perfect sense.
Taking advantage of the guards’ absence, she boldly entered the armory using her Space. From within the large square mirror, she could see outside.
On the floor lay over a dozen chests of gold, silver, and treasures, along with two chests of silver ingots. With a single thought, the chests vanished into thin air, leaving behind an empty space.
At that moment, a purple sandalwood cabinet inlaid with treasures caught her eye, its exquisite carvings making it look exceptionally valuable.
And it was locked. With guards nearby, it was unwise for her to appear. But if she couldn’t go out, how could she break the lock?
Wait—why not just take the entire cabinet inside? Then she could open it at her leisure.
She had almost overthought it.
Focusing her mind, she fixed her gaze on the cabinet outside. Two seconds later, the last two exquisitely carved cabinets in the armory disappeared as well.
Xie Zhizhi looked contentedly at the cabinets now before her, gripping the padlock with one hand.
With a tug, the sturdy iron lock snapped into two pieces.
She tossed the lock aside and opened the door, her small mouth parting in surprise. Inside were nothing but land deeds!”Wow!” Her eyes instantly lit up. The General’s Mansion had the fewest land deeds. Since Xie Zongyi was not in the capital dealing with people, naturally no one would send land deeds to request favors. But Xie Xiaohu was different.
As the Imperial Censor, equivalent to a deputy prime minister, how could his official power be small?
There were plenty of people seeking his help with matters. No wonder he could afford to support such a large family, with everyone looking plump and well-fed.
Xie Zhizhi pulled out a stack of land deeds from the pile, roughly thirty or so. The first one was for a large commercial shop in the busiest area of Qizhou City, and the one below it was for a gambling den. “Tsk tsk, even a gambling den! From now on, earning a fortune every day is no longer a dream!”
She flipped through all the property and land deeds in the cabinet and couldn’t help but admire the fact that there were houses and land in every city.
This was simply too wealthy.
Probably even the Dog Emperor didn’t know about this, or else he wouldn’t have sent regular soldiers but rather the imperial guards.
She opened another cabinet, each layer filled with gold bars, gleaming with a golden radiance.
“What a beautiful color!”
Xie Zhizhi retracted her earlier comment about Xie Xiaohu’s armory being shabby.
Running her hands over the neatly stacked gold bars, she felt an extraordinary sense of satisfaction. They seemed so adorable, dazzling, and filled her with a warm familiarity.
It was as if she had grown up surrounded by piles of gold since childhood!
Since when did she develop this peculiar fondness?
Xie Zhizhi couldn’t figure it out. She placed the cabinet inside the small house and decided to head to the study next to see if there were any secrets there.