With this as a foundation, Qu Weiwei didn’t hold back at all. She directly collected all the boxes and cabinets into her space, sweeping the entire underground secret room completely clean—there wasn’t even a single hair left behind.
Still unwilling to give up, she knocked on the walls, but found they were all solid. Only then did she leave the room.
Looking at the books on the shelves, along with the brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, fountain pens, and ink on the desk, she unceremoniously swept everything into her space as well. Even the couch and the quilt weren’t spared—she stored them away without hesitation. Even if she didn’t use them herself, she could sell them. Supplies were scarce these days, and these things could fetch a high price.
Qu Weiwei was probably not even a meter tall yet, but the bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling, so she couldn’t access the top shelves. However, though small, she was clever—she stacked all the chairs in the room to climb up.
The furniture and decorations in the room were all quite valuable, so she didn’t hold back. Just like the secret chamber, she cleaned everything out thoroughly—again, not even a single hair left behind.
Carefully, she stepped out of the study. Next to it seemed to be a bedroom, though she didn’t know whose. The layout was similar to her aunt’s room, but the dressing table here was filled with gold jewelry.
After looking around and confirming no one was inside, she emptied the entire room into her space. With her “leave nothing behind” personality, she ended up discovering another secret chamber beneath the bed—just like the one in her father’s study.
Like a headless fly, Qu Weiwei searched all over the room for the mechanism. After all, she had already looted everything—if there were a connection to the hidden chamber, it couldn’t have been taken into her space so easily.
She wandered around, turning left and right, until she accidentally stepped on something—and suddenly, the door to the secret chamber opened.
She waited about five minutes before cautiously entering. Unlike her father’s pitch-black chamber, this one had something glowing inside, lighting up the entire space.
But the first thing she saw were two skeletons, which startled her.
Even though she lived in an age of information explosion, seeing real human bones like this was a first for her.
After steadying herself, she continued walking inward. They had long since turned into white bones—who knew how many years they had been dead? As she walked, she comforted herself: Don’t be scared. At worst, after taking the things, I’ll give them a proper burial.
After calming herself down, she looked at the dozens of large boxes stacked behind the skeletons. Carefully approaching, she used the corner of her clothes to cover her hand and opened one box. The dazzling golden color inside nearly blinded her “24K titanium dog eyes.”
The entire box was filled with neatly stacked gold bars.
Behind these boxes were several wooden crates that looked like the kind used to store weapons in TV dramas.
She tried to open them, but her strength was too small. Even after sweating profusely, she couldn’t pry them open. In the end, she gave up and simply stored them all in her space to deal with later.
After putting everything away, she took one box of gold out inside her space and used it to collect the two skeletons from the ground, covering them up and placing them aside. She planned to find a scenic place outside to bury them properly.
While arranging the bones, a notebook—like a diary—suddenly fell out from the tattered cloth.
Qu Weiwei was just about to open it to see if it recorded the identities of the two people when she suddenly smelled a strong scent of gasoline from outside.
Her heart sank—those people were about to set the fire.
She hurried out of the secret chamber, squeezed out of the room, and ran straight toward He Youyou’s room. She had forgotten to take the things from there earlier.
She dashed all the way to He Youyou’s room and, with a wave of her hand, emptied everything into her space. Then she slipped out again to check the courtyard next to her mother’s.
That was where the Fifth Concubine lived. Since she was newly brought in, many things were still quite new—perfect timing. From He Youyou’s kitchen, there was a small door leading into the neighboring courtyard.
Of course, she didn’t let the kitchen items go either. After all, this was the household of a wealthy family—everything they ate and used was top quality. The rice and flour were the finest. There were over a hundred pounds of rice and dozens of pound of flour in the cabinets. There wasn’t any fresh meat or vegetables, though.
After meals, leftovers were usually taken away by the servants, and fresh ingredients would be delivered the next morning.
However, there were plenty of seasonings stored—an entire cabinet full. White sugar, brown sugar, rock sugar, eggs, milk powder, malted milk—several cans of each. Collecting them made Qu Weiwei as happy as a mouse that had fallen into a vat of oil.
Next door, the Fifth Concubine was unconscious at the dining table. Qu Weiwei first went to the kitchen and stored all the food, then entered her room. The layout was similar to He Youyou’s, but since she was newly favored, there were even more gold, silver, and jade ornaments on her dressing table.
This time, however, Qu Weiwei didn’t take them. She planned to wake the Fifth Concubine. Although her mother didn’t have much of a relationship with her, she still wanted to save whoever she could.
The Fifth Concubine had once been the illegitimate daughter of an official family. Among everyone in the Qu household, she was probably the most beautiful. Her father had bought her two months ago for ten gold bars.
Though she had only been here for two months, she had already become a thorn in the First Madam’s side. Right after arriving, she had taken quite a bit of favor and benefits away from the First Madam.
The First Madam had long wanted to deal with her, but Qu Weiwei’s womanizing father had always been at home, leaving her no opportunity—until now. The drug given to the Fifth Concubine this time was likely very strong. No matter how Qu Weiwei called her, she showed no sign of waking up.
Left with no choice, she grabbed a gold hairpin from the dressing table and stabbed her hand with it. Only then did she get a slight reaction.
“Auntie, wake up! There’s a fire outside—wake up quickly!” To help her regain consciousness, Qu Weiwei even took out a cup of ice water from her space and splashed it directly onto her face.
At last, the Fifth Concubine, Fu Qinghe, woke up. Looking confused, she stared at the little girl in front of her. “Sixth Miss, why are you here? What happened to me?”
“Now’s not the time for questions,” Qu Weiwei said quickly. “Hurry and pack the most important things and run. There’s a fire outside. If it gets too big, soak a couple of cloaks in water and wear them—it’ll help prevent burns. Be quick—I have to go first.”
Qu Weiwei felt she had done all she could. Without another word, she turned and ran.
Whether the woman would survive now depended on fate.