That dependent yet charming look stirred something in Xiao Jingyuan’s heart, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.
As if possessed, he raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of her head, his tone softening. “Take good care of the child. If anything happens, come to me at once.”
Once Xiao Jingyuan left, Meng Wanzhi immediately withdrew the softness from her face.
She handed Xiao Muyan to the wet nurse.
Turning back to her room, her figure vanished from where she stood.
Next, it was time for the Meng family to repay their debts.
With the expanded teleportation range after her space upgraded,
Meng Wanzhi appeared in the blink of an eye above the Meng residence.
Concealing her figure, she spread her spiritual sense, taking in the entire layout of the Meng household. Following the order of grievances from her past life,
she first teleported into her father and mother’s bedchamber. The room was lavishly furnished, the dressing table filled with priceless jewels, the wardrobes heavy with silks and brocades.
Even the hidden compartment beneath the bed held a chest brimming with gold and silver treasures.
Meng Wanzhi’s eyes showed not the slightest ripple. With a hand seal, all the valuables in the room turned into streams of light and flowed into her space.
In mere moments, the spacious bedchamber was emptied, leaving only tables, chairs, and the bed—without even a single hairpin remaining.
Next, she teleported to her eldest brother Meng Yunzhen’s courtyard.
Obsessed with antiques, his study was filled with rare paintings and porcelain, and his storeroom hid numerous banknotes and land deeds.
Meng Wanzhi sneered. With a flick of her fingers, all the antiques and paintings, along with the wealth in the storeroom,
were swept into her space, leaving behind only empty shelves and dust-covered floors.
Her second brother, Meng Yunting, indulged in beauty. The side rooms of his courtyard were piled with jewelry and silks bought for his concubines, along with an entire chest of fine cosmetics.
Meng Wanzhi showed no mercy, sweeping everything away—even the embroidered curtains hanging in the rooms were not spared.
Her third brother, Meng Yunxi, was addicted to gambling. Though his room held few valuable items, he had hidden many rare curios he had scraped together from various sources.
Meng Wanzhi accepted them one by one, not even leaving behind the scattered silver hidden beneath his pillow.
Finally, she went to her fourth brother Meng Yunchong’s courtyard. As a disciple of the Imperial Preceptor Rong Jue, Meng Yunchong was obsessed with alchemy. His room was filled with alchemy furnaces and rare medicinal herbs,
as well as numerous magical artifacts bestowed by Rong Jue.
Looking at those familiar herbs, a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes. In her previous life, when Meng Yunchong humiliated her, he had been toying with one of those thousand-year-old ginseng roots.
She raised her hand and collected all the herbs, magical artifacts, and even the alchemy furnaces into her space.
She did not even leave behind the alchemy notes personally taught by Rong Jue that lay by his bedside.
After dealing with the four Meng brothers, Meng Wanzhi’s spiritual sense locked onto the residence of her maternal aunt.
This aunt had outwardly “shown her great affection,”
yet in truth treated her like a free servant, beating and scolding her at will, forcing her to kneel in the snow during the dead of winter, feeding her leftovers when she was hungry.
When Meng Wanzhi teleported into her aunt’s courtyard,
the woman was sitting before a bronze mirror, trying on a newly acquired golden hairpin.
She was even muttering about Meng Wanqing’s misfortune, her tone brimming with schadenfreude.
“If you love wealth so much, you might as well give it all to me.”
Meng Wanzhi sneered inwardly. With a flash, she appeared in the storeroom.
Her aunt’s storeroom was even more extravagant than her mother’s, holding not only gold and jewels but also rare furs and precious medicinal herbs.
Without hesitation, Meng Wanzhi emptied it. She then went to her aunt’s bedchamber and even removed the golden hairpin from her head, storing it in her space.
As the wealth of the Meng family poured endlessly into her space, it once again lit up with dazzling white light.
The spiritual fields doubled in size. The half-mu herb garden became a full mu, and the alchemy furnace shone ever more brilliantly.
Her teleportation range expanded again, from the capital and its surroundings to neighboring prefectures.
More importantly, her spiritual power surged, and the coverage of her spiritual sense expanded severalfold.
She could even clearly hear the whispers of maids in the neighboring courtyard. If anyone schemed against her—
even a mere malicious thought in their heart—
she could instantly capture their aura and intentions.
Standing within her space, feeling the increasingly powerful spiritual energy and surging mental strength within her, Meng Wanzhi’s eyes gleamed sharply.
What the Meng family owed her, what Meng Wanqing owed her, and all those who had humiliated her in her previous life—
she would make them repay it one by one.
Now that her space had upgraded and her strength greatly increased, it was time for those wealthy young masters who once trampled on her dignity
to pay the price.
After finishing with the Meng family, a cold smile flickered in her eyes.
Next were the three prominent families whose sons had repeatedly framed her to curry favor with Meng Wanqing.
They were the Minister Li family, the Grand Tutor Zhang family, and the General Zhao family.
In her previous life, they had followed Meng Wanqing, cornered her in an alley, splashed cold water on her, thrown stones at her,
and even spread rumors calling her promiscuous and shameless, making her suffer endless scorn in the capital.
With her expanded teleportation and stronger spiritual power, Meng Wanzhi moved as if through an empty land.
She first teleported to the Minister Li residence. Young Master Li Bowen was the most sycophantic, and the storeroom was piled with wealth scraped from the common people.
Hidden in the shadows, Meng Wanzhi swept her spiritual sense over the treasures and, with a lift of her hand, gold, jewels, banknotes, land deeds,
and rare antiques all turned into streams of light and poured into her space.
Not even a single bolt of fine silk in the corner was left behind.
Next was the Grand Tutor Zhang residence. Zhang Jingming had once publicly snapped her hairpin and called her lowly. Now his library and treasure vault were emptied completely.
Even his most treasured jade-bone fan became an ornament within her space.
Finally came the General Zhao residence. Zhao Feng had once slapped her across the face. Meng Wanzhi directly emptied the private treasury beside the armory, not even sparing his prized saddle for his fine horse.
All three households discovered their losses almost simultaneously. Their storerooms were so empty one could race horses through them, without a single trace left behind.
When the news spread, the capital erupted in chaos.
Together with the thefts at the Meng residence, her aunt’s home, and the Prince’s manor, panic spread among the people.
Everyone speculated that a band of heaven-defying thieves had arrived.
Otherwise, how could so many noble households be emptied within days without leaving a single clue?
The authorities were at their wits’ end, unable even to determine the method, only guessing it was the work of an organized group using some mysterious technique—yet no matter how they searched, they found nothing.
When Meng Wanqing learned that the three families had also been robbed,
she smashed the last intact vase in her room in fury.
With no other options, she remembered her aunt, who had likewise lost everything.
She immediately sent someone to invite her aunt to the Prince’s manor, intending to have her help deal with Meng Wanzhi.
Her aunt, already seething with hatred over her emptied fortune, was further incited by Meng Wanqing the moment she entered the manor.
Thus, the aunt followed Meng Wanqing, storming furiously toward Meng Wanzhi’s courtyard.