Qu Weiwei quickly pulled herself back to her senses. After running out of the secret room, she carefully made her way toward the study. Studies were usually where secret chambers or important documents were kept—no matter what, she had to check it out.
It wasn’t that she had never been to the Zhang residence before. In the past, the main wife would show off her “generosity” by bringing the concubine-born children back to her maiden home once a year.
But when they came, they were always confined to a single courtyard, forbidden from wandering around, lest they offend the Zhang family. So coming here was practically the same as not coming at all. Still, the servants who escorted them would explain which places were off-limits, warning them not to offend any important figures.
The original little girl had a good memory. Even though she always followed quietly, she paid close attention whenever the servants introduced the layout, remembering how many paths there were and where they led.
But now everything was pitch dark, making it difficult to recognize the way. She could only rely on her memory to feel her way around.
After a moment’s thought, she gave up on finding the study and decided to start from the back instead. She was more familiar with that area—after all, every visit had been spent confined to the rear courtyard. She clearly remembered which courtyard belonged to whom.
Her first stop was naturally the old madam of the Zhang family. As the matriarch, her courtyard was the largest and had a more classical style.
After sneaking into the courtyard, she went straight to the bedroom. Seeing how neat and orderly it was—and how the dressing table had already been looted—Qu Weiwei concluded that the old madam had already fled.
Still, she rummaged around. Many things were still in their original places, but the small drawers of the dressing table were empty, and more than half the clothes in the wardrobe were gone.
While inspecting the somewhat messy wardrobe, she pushed aside some clothes and discovered that a wooden panel at the bottom had been removed.
Perhaps in the rush to escape, it hadn’t been put back properly. And sure enough—there were still things hidden inside.
A few small gold bars and several rolls of silver dollars wrapped in red paper.
Without hesitation, Qu Weiwei pocketed them all.
Looking up, she saw several mink fur coats hanging in the wardrobe, their fur glossy and luxurious. Those were incredibly valuable—definitely worth taking. Even selling them later would fetch a good price.
Naturally, she didn’t let go of the new quilts stored inside either. The old madam’s bed was an intricate, multi-step bridal bed made of precious red sandalwood—worth a fortune. Unfortunately, something that big couldn’t be taken away.
But it seemed the bed had drawers.
So the little “mouse,” Qu Weiwei, kicked off her dirty shoes and climbed onto the bed, beginning her treasure hunt. One by one, she pulled open drawers, cabinets, and hidden compartments with her chubby little hands.
The old madam really had a lot of things.
There were more than a dozen drawers in the bed, and about half of them still contained items.
What puzzled her was that some of the property deeds and land deeds had no names filled in. Could someone just write in their own name?
According to her memory, the addresses listed on those deeds were all prime properties—large courtyards and storefronts along busy streets. Qu Weiwei took all the unsigned deeds.
She also collected all the valuable gold, silver, and jade items from the drawers into her space. This trip alone had brought in quite a harvest.
Qu Weiwei was like a mouse that had fallen into an oil vat—grinning happily as she looted every place she entered.
There were more than a dozen courtyards in the back. Besides the ones that were occupied, she also visited the empty ones—and sure enough, she found things there too.
Four of the courtyards were unoccupied, but the contents inside were no less than those outside.
One entire courtyard was filled with grain—rice and flour piled everywhere. There was no need to count; it had to be several tons. Each courtyard had a main hall and ten side rooms, and since no one lived there, the rooms were empty—perfect for storing grain. The space was even larger than a typical government granary.
Whoever had been arrested must have left in a hurry—none of the supplies had been touched. When she arrived earlier, the locks were still intact. Perhaps no one had even checked these courtyards.
After clearing out everything, she climbed a ladder into the next courtyard.
The layout here was the same—these courtyards were usually assigned to less favored concubine-born children. Though considered small by the Zhang family, they were the kind of residences only wealthy landlords could afford elsewhere.
This courtyard was filled with tribute goods—fine tobacco and alcohol, stacked from the yard into the rooms. All ten rooms were packed full. Some of the cheaper liquor had even been piled in the corridor outside.
Qu Weiwei didn’t like alcohol or tobacco, but these items could be sold or gifted—they made for very respectable presents. Naturally, she took everything without hesitation.
The next courtyard contained textiles sent from factories—cotton cloth, linen, towels, and towel blankets—filling the entire yard.
The main hall stored ordinary fabrics, while the rooms held finer materials: cloth for Zhongshan suits, silk for cheongsams, fur for coats, and various silk fabrics for bedding.
As she searched, she discovered that the last two rooms were filled with gauze—medical supplies urgently needed on the front lines. Yet here, they were stacked in abundance.
After collecting everything, she climbed into the final courtyard.
This one was packed with even better goods.
Two rooms were filled with preserved meats—cured pork, sausages, smoked meat, and ham. The remaining eight rooms and the main hall were stocked with tonics and medicinal herbs.
Qu Weiwei only recognized a few—ginseng, lingzhi, and bird’s nest. For the rest, she could only identify them by the labels on the boxes.
Among them, she noticed a few strangely packaged items displayed carefully on a rosewood shelf. Curious, she took one out to examine it closely—and realized what it was.
Deer… that thing.
The little “mouse,” Qu Weiwei, immediately tossed it back into her space like it was burning hot. Did the Zhang family’s master have some kind of problem? Why else would he stockpile so many boxes of that?
No, no—she shouldn’t think about such things. Girls weren’t supposed to know about this. She quickly shook her head, forcing her thoughts back on track.
Amid the dazzling array of tonics, she noticed that many items had appeared in her own home before. After all, every year when the main wife returned to her maiden home, she brought a large number of goods—tobacco, alcohol, fabrics, meats, and various supplements.
A lot of what was here likely came from the Qu family.