“Of course not. This is mine—I’m the master here. Mom, what do you want to eat? I’ll take you there.” He Caiwei decided not to worry about anything anymore. Since her mother didn’t ask, she wouldn’t explain.
Her mother was such a smart person—she must have already guessed that there was some kind of secret here. They had stayed here for so many days, yet her mother never asked anything. Whatever Caiwei gave her, she simply used it. At most, she would ask how to use something, never where it came from. That was enough.
“My precious really is a treasure. When you were only a few months old, I took you back to your grandfather’s house. On the way home, we ran into a traveling Taoist priest. He came to the gate of the Qu residence asking for a cup of water. At that time, there was war everywhere, and the family was afraid of getting into trouble, so they wanted to drive him away. I had just come back, holding you in my arms. The old Taoist only glanced at you once and said you would live a life of great wealth, honor, and favor. Whether it was true or not, just hearing that made me happy, so I gave him water and even a roll of silver dollars.
“Because of that, the First Madam mocked me for several days. But it didn’t matter. As long as someone says something good about you, even if it costs a lot of money or turns out to be a lie, I’m still happy.”
He Yuping spoke with a hint of pride, her expression practically saying, I’ve got money, which made the slightly tense He Caiwei laugh.
“Thank you, Mom, for trusting me so much. Actually, I didn’t always have this ability. That night when we both fainted, I woke up first because of a headache. I smelled gasoline outside and panicked. I kept thinking—could I hide my mother somewhere? Then I suddenly came to this place… and I really did hide you here. I even moved everything from your room into here.
“I thought the Fifth Concubine had only just entered the household and had been fairly kind to me, so I ran through the small kitchen door, woke her up, and told her to take her things and run. On the way past the kitchen, I also brought everything from our kitchen in here. Do you want to take a look?”
He Caiwei felt that, despite her young age, her mind was clear and rational—very much like the independent, self-reliant women of her original era.
“The first thing I want to know,” He Yuping said, “is whether staying here or storing things here will harm you in any way.”
“No. The water from the well here can strengthen the body and make people less prone to illness. As long as I want, I can come here anytime. I’m just afraid of being seen and mistaken for a monster, then burned alive.”
Now that she understood her mother’s attitude, He Caiwei no longer held back.
“Alright. From now on, we’ll use the water here for cooking and drinking. Just don’t do anything reckless outside—if something happens, your mother will shield you. Ah, one of these days, I should look for some weapons for self-defense. If we were still at the Qu residence, I could have taken you to your father’s study—there were pistols and daggers there.”
He Yuping now felt it was a pity those things had been burned. In times of chaos, having weapons would make them much safer.
Hearing the regret in her mother’s voice, He Caiwei grabbed her hand and ran to the storage room she had cleared out, opening the warehouse doors right in front of her.
The moment He Yuping entered, the first thing she saw was the desk. She would never forget that desk—even in death. It was in that very study that Master Qu had forced himself on her.
“Quick, open that cabinet. There are two pistols inside—we can use them for self-defense. You’re still young and don’t know how to use them. Just take them out and place them somewhere visible—I’ll know where they are.”
Seeing the desk triggered painful memories, but at the same time, it meant they now had weapons for protection. Compared to their safety, everything else no longer mattered.
“There’s no need to take them out. If we’re outside and you need them, I can bring them out instantly with a thought.”
He Caiwei found her mother’s renewed energy a little amusing—and discovered yet another “skill” her mother had.
“My dear, can this place still store more things? I’ll take you to a granary. That was a backup your grandfather left for your father. I’ll tell you a secret—beneath that granary is a hidden compartment filled with gold bars. Even the First Madam doesn’t know about it. I only found out because your father once got drunk in my room, and I tricked the truth out of him. That steward who knew about it… I think he was later beaten to death. If your father never retrieved the gold, then we should go and bring it here.”
He Yuping spoke in a whisper, but He Caiwei heard her clearly.
“Is it far from here? And with Steward Hu still outside, can we even get out?”
At the mention of treasure, He Caiwei’s eyes immediately lit up. Her grandfather had truly been a wise man—unfortunately, he had raised a useless son.
“It’s quite far. If we walk, it’ll take at least two hours. The place is very hidden. The old man guarding it used to be your grandfather’s personal servant. After your grandfather passed away, he stayed on to watch over the granary. Every year, the grain was replaced before the new harvest came in, so there was never any old stock.
“As for the gold, your grandfather didn’t originally tell your father about it—only that servant knew. He meant it as a last resort for your father in case he ever fell into hardship, because he could already tell your father wasn’t capable of maintaining the family fortune.
“But somehow your father lost his mind and beat the man to death. At the time, I didn’t know anything about this. It was only when he got drunk and I mentioned that old servant’s name that he reacted strongly. I knew something was wrong, so I kept pouring him more drinks until he finally revealed everything.”
Back then, He Yuping hadn’t thought much of it. Even if there was a large granary, what use would it be to her as a woman?
But today, seeing her daughter move an entire study into this space made her think—could they bring the granary in too?
As the saying goes, with grain in hand, the heart is at ease.
In chaotic times like these, having food meant security anywhere—and no fear of it being stolen.
“Of course we can! There’s still plenty of space here. Look—even a single room can hold an unlimited amount of things. Mom, there’s a ladder here. We can wait until the man next door leaves for work, then climb over using the ladder. The backyard of the house beyond has a broken wooden door—we can go out from there.”
He Caiwei had already observed everything over the past few days. The neighbor next door was a single man who worked night shifts—he left in the evening and wasn’t home at night.
The house behind that had a backyard vegetable plot. The old woman there loved small profits, so she had made a back door where she sometimes sold vegetables she grew.
The houses behind were similar to the ones in front, so leaving through the back wouldn’t attract suspicion. But if they climbed the wall and got seen, it would be hard to explain.