Lin Shutang’s dowry had all been prepared for her by the late Old Madame Lin—thirty-five trunks in total. Besides fifty thousand taels of silver, there were enough clothes and shoes to last her decades, along with gold and silver jewelry.
Truth be told, her life story bore some resemblance to that of the original owner of this body.
The original owner’s birth mother had been hounded to death by a concubine when she was young.
Her father doted on the concubine and neglected his wife, driving that gentle lady to cough up blood and die in the dead of winter. It was said that no funeral was even held—she was buried in haste.
The concubine, being of lowly birth, could not be elevated to the position of legal wife, so she strutted around the household as a favored concubine, scheming against Lin Shutang, the legitimate daughter, countless times.
Other young ladies had seven or eight servants attending to them.
But she had seven or eight thieves attending to her—every single one of them bought off by that Concubine Bai.
While others wore padded jackets stuffed with cotton in winter, she wore instruments of torture lined with silver needles.
It was only when Old Madame Lin, taking pity on her, raised her by her side that she was spared further suffering.
And in the modern world, Lin Shutang had experienced much the same. When she was very young, her parents had started from nothing, and her father became a famous wealthy man in the region. But before long, all sorts of women began appearing by his side.
Her mother was driven to death in that cold, desolate villa, and her father then married a stepmother in that same villa—a woman who had been with him for three years.
The stepmother was someone who appeared kind on the surface but was vicious underneath.
One time, when they went out together, she handed Lin Shutang over to human traffickers.
Fortunately, her grandmother found her, and from then on raised her by her side, teaching her medicine.
Their fates were so alike that Lin Shutang felt as though she had merged with the original owner, her heart aching in sympathy.
After moving out the dowry, she and Duan Yanzhou immediately traveled from the space to the Lin residence.
The Lin family had served as officials for generations, and their wealth was no less than that of Chongguo Fu.
Moreover, Grand Tutor Lin had a hobby of collecting gold. He appeared aloof and refined on the surface, but in truth, he was a miser.
They first arrived at the Lin family’s storehouse.
The lamps in the storehouse burned year-round, casting a faint, flickering glow.
Before them gleamed mountains upon mountains of gold. Behind those golden mountains sat row after row of unopened chests.
Lin Shutang opened the chests—all of them filled with gold ingots.
The sight stung her eyes.
Here, there was at least three hundred thousand taels of gold—a lifetime’s worth of hoarding by Grand Tutor Lin.
If brought to the modern world and sold, who knew how many luxury cars and mansions it could buy.
But this was no time for admiration. She quickly steadied her mind and collected Grand Tutor Lin’s precious treasures, storing them all inside the space.
After emptying the storehouse, she naturally moved on to the kitchen and the grain storage.
The people of Lin Fu weren’t as picky about food as those of Chongguo Fu, but there were still plenty of fine goods—several large chests of ganoderma and ginseng.
She moved everything into the space, leaving them not even a single grain of rice or a lump of coal.
She knew her way around Lin Fu like the back of her hand, and soon arrived at the front courtyard, sweeping up all the jewelry, treasures, clothing, and quilts from the rooms.
When she reached Grand Tutor Lin’s study, he had not yet gone to sleep and was speaking with Concubine Bai.
“Master, are you truly not troubled by the matter of swapping Wanwan and Shutang’s marriages? If you are, this concubine can have them switched back tomorrow.”
“No need to switch. How could Lin Shutang ever compare to our Wanwan?”
“She’s just as rigid and dull as her mother. Even married into the Duke’s Residence, she’d be useless. Our Wanwan is the sensible one.”
“Very well then. Since Master says so, this concubine is relieved.”
“The sickly one from the Duan family’s second branch—who knows how much longer he’ll live. If he dies sooner rather than later, we can remarry Shutang off to Lord Hai’s household. That might prove somewhat useful.”
The one from the Hai family was an idiot.
Lin Shutang listened, fury burning in her heart.
Duan Yanzhou noticed her expression, his gaze darkening as well. He stared at the two people inside, a bone-chilling coldness radiating from him.
Before he could make a move, Lin Shutang scattered medicinal powder inside, then pulled him back into Kongjian together.
Duan Yanzhou turned his head to look at her, brows furrowed, eyes lowered, a thin mist drifting over his deep spring-like pupils. “If I were to die, would you remarry?”
Lin Shutang felt a pang of discomfort at his words. Her brows curved into a smile. “Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, you won’t die.”
Duan Yanzhou’s features softened, his long lashes fluttering. For a moment, he seemed to lose himself, then he struggled to maintain his composure and asked in a low voice, “Just now… what did you scatter?”
Lin Shutang smiled meaningfully. “An extremely potent love-inducing drug.”
In the modern world, the Lin family practiced medicine and poison hand in hand—she was skilled in healing, and naturally equally adept at poisoning.
That high-potency love drug should keep her father and that concubine busy for a full day and night.
Enough to leave his bones nearly falling apart.
Sure enough, the moment the two of them left, the people inside the room got busy—so absorbed that they didn’t even notice their clothes and bedding vanishing into thin air.
Lin Shutang then went straight to the Lin family’s granary. The grain stored there was no less than what the Duke’s Residence held—no wonder they’d hit it off so well. Birds of a feather flocked together.
When she left, she even brought the watchdog into Kongjian.
Having it guard their gate was an insult to the dog.
After clearing out the Lin household, Lin Shutang and Duan Yanzhou headed directly to the imperial palace.
The palace was heavily guarded inside and out, especially Heyang Gong, where the emperor resided.
With just the two of them, even with supreme martial arts skills, they couldn’t possibly escape unscathed.
Fortunately, there was Kongjian.
The moment they emerged, they were inside Heyang Gong. The dog emperor was still sound asleep, and the young eunuch beside him was dozing off with half-closed eyes.
Lin Shutang and Duan Yanzhou didn’t need to do anything.
She stood silently in the darkness, swept her gaze across the room, closed her eyes to focus, and everything she saw was absorbed into Kongjian.
By the time the bare-chested dog emperor turned over in his sleep, they had already moved to the empress’s chambers next door, and then to the imperial consort’s chambers.
This dog emperor—his treasury was so empty he had to confiscate his ministers’ properties, yet every palace was extravagantly luxurious.
Lin Shutang didn’t stand on ceremony with him. Anything of value—gold hairpins, phoenix crowns, Shu brocade screens—she swept it all in. If she weren’t afraid of waking them, she’d have taken the carved pearwood canopy bed too.
Duan Yanzhou knew the palace better than Lin Shutang. After clearing those places, the two went to the imperial kitchen and the grain storage warehouse.