Noble Consort Shu glared back fiercely, stomping her foot in frustration and gritting her teeth. No matter how much she maintained her beauty or consumed bird’s nest, her skin would never be as fair or her schemes as cunning as that woman’s. Every time she came, she always managed to take the Emperor away.
Noble Consort Shu gracefully curtsied, trying to salvage a bit of dignity. “Your Majesty, will you still come to my palace tomorrow?”
The Emperor did not respond. Instead, he carried the frail beauty in his arms and strode away, giving a glance to Eunuch An as he ordered, “Xiao Anzi, Noble Consort Shu has served well and shall be rewarded. Go to the armory and pick some fruits from the Western Regions as tribute for Noble Consort Shu to taste.”
Inside the Space, Xie Zhizhi sat with her legs crossed, taking a bite of a large, sweet Hainan mango. She truly felt pity for the consorts—spending a night with the Emperor only to be rewarded with a few fruits?
How stingy.
“Yes,” Eunuch An acknowledged the order with a nod, following the Emperor’s footsteps as they left Shuning Palace.
Seeing that the Emperor didn’t even spare her a glance, Noble Consort Shu threw her handkerchief to the ground and stomped on it several times. Her venomous gaze trailed the Imperial Noble Consort’s retreating figure before she reluctantly returned to her own palace.
Tsk, tsk. That look had the flavor of a palace drama.
Xie Zhizhi had thought she would witness a grand spectacle, but the Dog Emperor was disappointingly uncooperative. He didn’t even give them a reason to start a fight—just one glance and he was already captivated by beauty. How useless.
However, the armory Eunuch An was heading to was likely the Emperor’s private treasury. The national treasury couldn’t be far from there!
Follow him, follow him.
Xie Zhizhi controlled the Space to follow Eunuch An, who had taken a different path from the Emperor.
They headed toward the armory.
Meanwhile, the Emperor and the Imperial Noble Consort, carried in a sedan chair by palace attendants, were on their way back to Zhaoyang Hall when they were intercepted midway by an imperial guard who had come to deliver a report.
“Your Majesty, the soldiers sent to confiscate the property of the Censor’s residence urgently request an audience.”
The Emperor’s face darkened, his plump cheeks radiating anger. Today’s confiscation had been unusually troublesome. He questioned coldly, “What is the matter?”
A soldier standing slightly behind the imperial guard immediately stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, while this humble servant was inventorying the wealth at the Censor’s residence, all valuable items in the mansion were nowhere to be found.”
“The Censor’s study and armory have been emptied, and the chambers of the female family members in the rear courtyard also contain no treasures or valuables. This humble servant believes the Censor had prepared in advance and moved all valuable items away.”
The soldier was no fool. He found the situation eerie, suspecting supernatural involvement, and had even witnessed the disappearance with his own eyes. However, he couldn’t mention such things in front of the Emperor, or he would surely lose his head.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor’s first reaction was that he had been fooled once again. Repeatedly provoked, he erupted in fury. “Nowhere to be found? How could so many items be moved without a single trace? Are you all useless? Incompetent!”
“Qin Wei, immediately send someone to investigate thoroughly and dispatch a message to the prison guards. We must extract the whereabouts of the mansion’s wealth from Xie Xiaohu!”
The Emperor’s mood, which had improved slightly, was once again ruined. Xie Xiaohu had secretly sided with the Left Minister, and the Emperor had long had him under surveillance. If the Left Minister dared to intervene, the Emperor could use it as an excuse to take action against him. But there had been no movement—instead, someone had struck at the Censor’s residence!
The armory emptied!
The study emptied!
The General’s Mansion as well!
Only the Vice Minister of War remained untouched.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The Emperor took a deep breath but remained seething with rage. “Incompetent, all of you! What use are you to me?!”
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!” In the palace corridor, eunuchs and palace maids all knelt in fear.
Qin Wei, the imperial guard, waited until the Emperor had finished venting before quietly responding, “This humble servant obeys the command.”The Emperor pondered for a moment, thinking that the remaining one could not go missing again, and ordered, “Assign two hundred more soldiers to escort the Vice Minister of War! If the same thing happens again, you’ll answer with your heads!”
“Yes!” The officers and imperial guards, trembling with fear, immediately complied.
The Imperial Noble Consort, standing behind, heard everything. Fortunately, the Left Minister was not close to the Third Prince, or this would have added fuel to the fire.
“Lift the sedan.”
The procession of dozens of palace attendants continued grandly back to the Imperial Noble Consort’s residence.
Everyone knew that the Emperor would be staying at Zhaoyang Hall tonight.
…
Meanwhile, Xie Zhizhi followed Eunuch An to the vast armory, initially thinking it was the Emperor’s private treasury.
To her surprise, the armory was far larger than she had imagined. This wasn’t a private treasury—it was the national treasury, wasn’t it?
Looking down from the palace above, it was divided into four sections, covering an area of over a thousand square meters.
At the main entrance alone, a patrol of over a hundred soldiers was changing shifts.
Eunuch An greeted them and easily entered.
She controlled her Space and followed Eunuch An inside, where the true marvel lay.
Carved beams and painted rafters, vermilion pillars, and a large plaque inscribed with the words “National Treasury” hung high.
Inside, there were four separate storerooms: the tribute storeroom, the grain storeroom, the weapons storeroom, and the treasury.
The national treasury had actually been privatized by him!
This was quite a secret. She hadn’t received any news about it, but it conveniently worked to her advantage!
“What instructions does Eunuch An have?” a guard asked with a smile.
Eunuch An, with his hands behind his back, walked to the door of the storeroom on the left and said in a serious, high-pitched voice, “His Majesty sent me to fetch some fruits from the Western Regions. Open the door.”
“Right away,” the guard replied, unlocking the door with a key.
Xie Zhizhi followed closely behind.
She guessed this was the storeroom specifically for tributes from other countries, and indeed it was.
Inside a storeroom the size of a swimming pool were exotic jewelry, rare treasures, and medicinal herbs that only grew in high mountains.
The fruits Eunuch An mentioned were placed on a shelf in the middle. Just as Xie Zhizhi thought they might be some rare fruits she had never seen before, Eunuch An took a bunch of grapes and a handful of lychees, placed them in a basket, and left the storeroom.
That’s it?
Grapes and lychees?
And he’s leaving just like that?
She hadn’t even stored them in her Space yet!
Xie Zhizhi immediately snapped to attention and began storing the rare treasures, exotic clothing, and even the fruits the Dog Emperor treasured but she considered worthless into her Space.
By the time Eunuch An was nearing the door, the tribute storeroom had been completely emptied.
Then, Xie Zhizhi threw a pile of cloth strips from her Space, poured a bucket of oil over them, and tossed out a lighter that wouldn’t go out once lit.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted everywhere!