As the night deepened, the main branch next door was still joyfully celebrating the wedding chamber, while here in the second branch, lamps burned quietly.
Lin Shutang followed Duan Yanzhou as they changed out of their wedding attire and into thick padded robes, then went to the rear courtyard to take stock of all the second branch’s wealth.
Because the Second Master had been incorruptible all these years, the wealth was not much—only about ten thousand taels of silver, by estimate.
Then there was Madam Jiang’s dowry of three thousand taels of gold.
Next were the silks, satins, jewelry, antiques, and calligraphy paintings in the residence.
Duan Yanzhou looked at these things and pressed a hand to his forehead. “There isn’t much of this that can be taken away.”
If they didn’t take it, these things would only end up benefiting the Emperor.
Lin Shutang pondered. All of these things could be moved into the Kongjian, but in the future, they would inevitably need to go in and out of it.
The Duan family members weren’t fools—she couldn’t possibly find excuses to fool them every single time along the way.
Better to let Duan Yanzhou be her helper. Not only could he guide her, but he could also help cover for her in the future.
Having thought it through, she tugged at Duan Yanzhou’s sleeve beside her. “Yanzhou, I have a good idea—we can take all of this away.”
Duan Yanzhou turned his head and looked at her in surprise. “What idea?”
Lin Shutang casually took out a small money pouch from her bosom. “Yanzhou, do you believe in ghosts and gods?”
Duan Yanzhou lowered his gaze without answering.
Lin Shutang continued, “This isn’t an ordinary money pouch—it’s a Qiankun Pouch. It can take all these things in. It was obtained by my grandmother by chance. Normally, no one would believe it if I told them.”
Duan Yanzhou lowered his head, his gaze deep as he looked at her, and said in a low voice, “I told you, you are my wife. Whatever you say, I will believe.”
Lin Shutang looked at his sincere eyes and felt slightly surprised.
If it were an ordinary man, they would probably have thought she was spouting nonsense.
But he would believe her unconditionally.
Lin Shutang walked over to the gold and silver, swept her gaze across them once, closed her eyes and focused her mind, and in an instant, all of these things were collected into the storage space on the sixth floor.
Duan Yanzhou watched the family wealth disappear before his very eyes and was stunned for a moment.
When Lin Shutang turned around, he didn’t let himself stay lost for long. He asked softly, “Shutang, how much more can your Qiankun Pouch hold?”
Lin Shutang knew what he meant, and her brows curved like crescents. “As much as we want to hold.”
“Since we’re moving things out, why don’t we move everything in our residence—not a single thing left for the Emperor.” Duan Yanzhou said with a solemn gaze, a chilling killing intent in his eyes as he looked ahead.
Lin Shutang knew he was of the same mind, and gave him a knowing smile. “Alright.”
The wind and snow grew fiercer in the night, with goose-feather snowflakes drifting slowly down.
While the household was busy, Lin Shutang and Duan Yanzhou took advantage of it to collect all the clothes, bedding, antiques, vases, tables, chairs, and beds in the second branch’s residence—even the firewood, rice, oil, salt, pots, pans, bowls, and charcoal in the kitchen were not left behind.
Duan Yanzhou held her hand, leading her through room after room.
Soon, Lin Shutang was panting from exhaustion.
This wasn’t a sustainable approach. If she wanted to collect more things, she couldn’t rely on just her own two legs. She immediately thought of the Kongjian’s ability to teleport.
Duan Yanzhou supported her, then crouched down and patted his own shoulder. “If you’re tired, I’ll carry you on my back.”
His shoulders were broad, giving an immediate sense of security at a glance. It seemed as if his illness had suddenly healed overnight—he didn’t even pant when walking.
After careful consideration, Lin Shutang grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.
The two of them arrived together at the storage space on the sixth floor of the mall.
Duan Yanzhou looked at the things that had been collected ahead of him, astonished, but only for a moment before he said seriously, “So this is what’s inside the Qiankun Pouch?”
His reaction surprised Lin Shutang somewhat—it was truly a pleasure to work with someone with a sharp mind.
He was even smarter than she had imagined.
Lin Shutang picked up his words and nodded. “That’s right, this is the inside of the Qiankun Pouch. Not only can it help us store things, but it can also take us anywhere within ten li.”
Duan Yanzhou listened intently, a series of lights flickering through his deep, dark eyes—astonishment, curiosity, delight. Finally, he glanced toward the eldest branch’s residence next door and said, “In that case, why don’t we empty that place out too?”
Lin Shutang’s eyes curved with a smile, instantly agreeing. “Let’s go right now.”
She took Duan Yanzhou’s hand, focused her mind, and in an instant they stepped out of the Kongjian and arrived at the eldest branch’s mansion next door.
Compared to the simplicity of the second branch, the eldest branch was resplendent and magnificent. The front and rear courtyards were adorned with all kinds of precious vases and jade, the doorsteps were paved with white jade, and even the plaques were inlaid with gold and stone.
Lin Shutang didn’t care about any of that—she swept even the jade floor tiles into the Kongjian.
The two of them quickly arrived outside Duan Qingyang’s bridal chamber, where the couple inside was still lost in their sweet nothings.
“Qingyang, there’s still no movement from the second branch. I reckon my legitimate elder sister and that sickly invalid have already consummated the marriage.”
Duan Qingyang’s disdainful voice came through. “That sickly invalid from the second branch—who knows if he can even perform. But with those two fools, they couldn’t turn the world upside down even if they tried.”
“We’ll just wait for that invalid to be cursed to death. Hmph, that second branch should have died out long ago.”
Lin Shutang heard this and turned back to look at Duan Yanzhou behind her.
Duan Yanzhou’s expression was calm and composed, revealing neither anger nor joy, but his voice had turned somewhat colder. “Let’s keep moving things.”
Lin Shutang couldn’t swallow this insult either. After they extinguished their lamps, she moved everything inside out—not even leaving a single piece of clothing for the two of them.
Let’s see what they’d wear when the house was raided tomorrow morning.
The Duke’s Residence had servants patrolling at night. They slipped into the Kongjian before the patrol came around, then teleported to other places.
In no time, they had emptied the entire mansion.
Not to mention clothes—they didn’t even leave them a chamber pot. These scumbags weren’t worth a single copper coin.
They finally went to the storeroom. Over the years, the eldest branch had amassed considerable wealth through various means.
Looking up, they saw mountains of silver and gold piled high.
Estimating roughly, there were about two million taels of silver and fifty thousand taels of gold. She finally understood why the emperor wanted to confiscate their property—these gold and silver, if added to the national treasury, would be no small sum.
Lin Shutang had no time to be stunned. She focused her mind and swept it all into the Kongjian.
Just then, the guard outside the storeroom seemed to have heard the commotion inside. “Who’s there?!”
Lin Shutang turned around and saw Duan Yanzhou produce a flying dart from who-knows-where. With a slight sideways flick of his wrist, the coldly gleaming dart shot through the air like a shooting star and struck the guard square in the forehead.
Before the guard could even make a sound, he crashed to the ground.
Seizing the moment, Lin Shutang pulled Duan Yanzhou back into the Kongjian.
She took a moment to catch her breath, then turned her head to look at Duan Yanzhou. This sickly invalid husband of hers seemed to have some pretty impressive skills.
At that moment, a mechanical chime suddenly came from the seventh floor: “Seventh-level space upgrade complete.”