Xiao Guiwan spent the entire day locked inside the woodshed. She neither shouted nor made a fuss, her silence leaving the old woman guarding the door increasingly uneasy.
She was waiting for nightfall.
As darkness settled, the Xiao Residence gradually quieted down. One by one, the lamps in the front courtyard were extinguished, and even the patrolling servants called it a night.
Xiao Guiwan rose from the pile of hay. With a single thought, her figure disappeared from the woodshed.
The space looked exactly as before—a gray, misty sky, two mu of spiritual farmland, a spiritual spring, and a crooked thatched cottage.
She hurried to the spring, scooped up a handful of water, and drank.
The icy liquid flowed into her stomach, instantly washing away every trace of fatigue.
Tonight…
She was here to collect a little interest.
Closing her eyes, Xiao Guiwan concentrated.
Her awareness spread outward from the space. The corridor outside the woodshed, the storage room next door, and even the nearby garden gradually appeared in her mind.
Her perception had its limits—roughly a radius of thirty meters—but that was more than enough.
Stepping out of the space, she appeared directly inside the Xiao family’s treasury.
The scent of camphor wood mixed with dust filled her nose, while cool blue bricks lay beneath her feet.
Taking a fire starter from her sleeve, she lit it.
Its glow revealed rows upon rows of wooden shelves.
Large and small chests lined the shelves, while several half-man-high porcelain jars stood against the wall. The air carried the musty smell of old storage, blended with the fragrance of camphor.
Xiao Guiwan wedged the fire starter into a crack in the shelving and got to work.
She opened the innermost chests first.
These were Xiao Yuanshan’s most carefully hidden treasures. The chests were still sealed with strips bearing the words Imperial Bestowal.
Inside…
Gold.
Neatly stacked gold ingots gleamed warmly in the firelight, each one heavy and solid.
Without hesitation, she touched the chest.
It vanished instantly, reappearing on the floor of the thatched cottage inside her space.
Next came the silver.
Two large chests, each containing five hundred taels.
One thousand taels in total.
Gone.
Then came bolts of silk.
Shu brocade, Yun brocade, Su embroidery—twenty bolts altogether. Their vibrant colors shimmered, and the fabric felt impossibly smooth beneath her fingers.
She had seen plenty of these in the imperial palace during her previous life and knew how valuable they were.
Into the space they went.
Medicinal herbs.
An entire chest of premium ginseng.
Half a chest of deer antler.
Several bundles of cordyceps.
Along with many rare herbs she couldn’t even identify.
That sickly Prince Ning needed these the most.
How could she let Xiao Shuwan deliver them to him?
She took every last one.
Then came the paintings and antiques.
She knew little about art, but judging from the mounting and the signatures, they were clearly priceless.
One painting even bore the seal of a famous master from the previous dynasty. She had seen similar works in the palace before.
A single painting like that was worth several thousand taels.
She took it as well.
Less than half an hour later, every valuable item in the treasury had been cleared out.
Dusting off her hands, Xiao Guiwan surveyed the room.
The shelves remained.
The chests remained.
But every one of them was empty.
Only some old rice and miscellaneous grains remained inside the porcelain jars.
She wasn’t interested.
Just as she was about to leave, she remembered that Madam Zhou’s private treasury was right next door.
Madam Zhou had a peculiar habit—
She liked keeping her finest possessions where she could watch them herself.
The Xiao family’s treasury belonged to the household.
Her private treasury belonged to her alone.
Everything inside had been accumulated from years of personal savings.
Passing through a small side door, Xiao Guiwan entered.
It was much smaller than the family treasury, containing only two rows of shelves and a dressing case.
Several bolts of premium Shu brocade rested on the shelves, along with a Ru kiln tea set and a few jade ornaments.
She barely spared them a glance.
Instead, she immediately opened the jewelry case.
Inside was a complete set of pure gold phoenix jewelry—
A phoenix hairpin.
A dangling buyao.
Earrings.
Bracelets.
Rings.
Five exquisitely crafted pieces.
The phoenix held a flawless ruby in its beak.
In her previous life, Madam Zhou had worn this set constantly whenever she attended social gatherings, proudly showing it off.
Next was a pair of imperial-green jade bracelets.
Their quality far surpassed the lone bracelet left to Xiao Guiwan by her mother.
There were also pearl necklaces, pearl flowers, pearl hairpins…
Every pearl was perfectly round and evenly matched.
Finally, there were loose gold and silver nuggets totaling around one hundred taels.
She swept everything away.
Closing the jewelry box, she reconsidered.
Since there was plenty of room inside her space…
She might as well take the Ru kiln tea set and the jade ornaments too.
No point leaving them behind.
After leaving Madam Zhou’s treasury, Xiao Guiwan hesitated briefly before turning toward Xiao Shuwan’s courtyard.
Xiao Shuwan’s room lay in the eastern wing.
Two lanterns hung outside, while the maid on night duty nodded off beneath the corridor.
Stepping out of the space, Xiao Guiwan silently pushed open a window and climbed inside.
Xiao Shuwan slept soundly.
Her breathing was steady, and a faint smile lingered on her lips.
She was probably dreaming of becoming Empress.
Xiao Guiwan stood beside the bed for a moment.
In this life…
Xiao Shuwan believed she had won.
She thought she had snatched the “juiciest prize” by marrying Prince Ning.
Little did she know…
That prize was actually a deadly poison.
Turning away, Xiao Guiwan walked to the dressing table.
There weren’t many ornaments on it, but every piece was exquisite.
A pair of ruby-inlaid gold earrings.
A white jade bracelet.
A kingfisher-feather buyao.
An ivory comb.
She took them all.
Opening the hidden compartment beneath the vanity, she found a stack of silver notes.
One hundred taels each.
Twenty notes in total.
She counted them before slipping them into her robe.
Once everything was done, Xiao Guiwan returned to her space and leaned against the wall of the thatched cottage with a long sigh of relief.
The ground was piled high with chests like a small mountain.
She made a rough count.
Gold and silver together totaled roughly eight thousand taels.
Twenty bolts of silk.
A large collection of medicinal herbs.
Numerous pieces of jewelry.
Plus another two thousand taels in silver notes.
She now possessed ten thousand taels in cash.
She had finally collected a small portion of the debt owed from her previous life.
After washing her hands in the spiritual spring, Xiao Guiwan returned to the woodshed.
The following night, at the same hour, Xiao Guiwan stepped out of her space once again.
This time, she landed in the rear garden of Prince Ning’s residence.
She knew this place all too well.
She had lived here for three years in her previous life.
She could walk these paths with her eyes closed, even knowing exactly when the guards changed shifts and where security was weakest.
After slipping past three patrols, she entered the treasury.
The fire starter flared to life.
Xiao Guiwan couldn’t help inhaling sharply.
Prince Ning’s treasury was more than three times larger than the Xiao family’s.
Rows upon rows of shelves stretched before her.
Every shelf was filled with chests and lacquered boxes.
Several enormous trunks bearing Prince Ning’s crest stood against the wall.
She opened them first.
Gold.
Five full chests.
About two thousand taels each.
Ten thousand taels altogether.
Silver.
Ten chests.
Around two thousand taels each.
Twenty thousand taels total.
Jade treasures.
More than thirty pieces.
Jade ewers.
Jade cups.
Jade mountains.
Ruyi scepters.
Each one was exquisitely crafted.
Some she had never even seen during her years in the imperial palace.
Then came a chest filled with South Sea pearls.
The moment she opened it, the entire room seemed to brighten.
The pearls glowed so brilliantly that even the firelight appeared dim.
Every pearl was perfectly round.
The largest was the size of a longan.
One by one, she transferred everything into her space.
Her movements were swift, silent, and precise.
After emptying the treasury, she headed for the hidden chamber.
It lay behind Prince Ning’s study.
The entrance was concealed behind a landscape painting.
She pushed the painting aside, revealing the hidden door.
A mechanical lock blocked the entrance.
She had watched Prince Ning open it countless times in her previous life and still remembered the sequence.
Three turns left.
Two turns right.
Then half a turn left.
Click.
The door opened.
Unlike the treasury, the secret chamber contained no gold or jewels.
Only several small chests.
She opened one.
Inside were nothing but letters and account books.
Picking up a few letters at random, Xiao Guiwan’s brows slowly knitted together.
These were secret correspondences between Prince Ning and several high-ranking court officials.
She couldn’t fully understand the contents, but certain phrases appeared again and again—
“The Ministry of War.”
“Military provisions.”
“The Northwest.”
And one sentence caught her eye:
“Once the matter succeeds, the post of Minister shall be yours.”
She wasn’t stupid.
She knew exactly what this meant.
Prince Ning was secretly forming political alliances and conspiring with court officials.
She placed the letters back inside.
She didn’t take them.
For now, they were of no use to her.
Taking them would only alert the enemy.
Instead, she carefully memorized the location of the secret chamber.
She also memorized the names signed beneath the letters—
Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Revenue.
Director Chen of the Ministry of War.
And several others she didn’t recognize.
Perhaps…
They would prove useful one day.
Leaving the chamber, Xiao Guiwan passed by Prince Ning’s bedchamber.
One window stood slightly open, warm candlelight spilling into the night.
Inside, Prince Ning was coughing violently.
Each cough sounded as though it would tear out his lungs.
Xiao Guiwan watched quietly from outside the window.
A faint smile curled at her lips.
“Without me in this lifetime… let’s see how long you survive.”
She turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Back inside her space, she leaned against the wall of the thatched cottage, looking at the dozen or so newly acquired chests scattered across the ground.
A soft laugh escaped her lips.
Ten thousand taels of gold.
Twenty thousand taels of silver.
More than thirty jade treasures.
One full chest of South Sea pearls.
Combined with everything she had taken from the Xiao family the previous night…
She now possessed thirty thousand taels in cash.
Prince Ning…
This is part of the debt you owed me in my previous life.