As soon as the imperial decree was read, the Marquis of Quling fainted on the spot.
Lady Zhou screamed, “Impossible! How could my son embezzle taxes? Someone must be framing him!”
The eunuch snorted coldly. “Framed or not, you’ll find out once he’s in prison. Guards, seize Shen Yaowen and all involved!”
A group of imperial guards rushed in, dragging Shen Yaowen and several of his subordinates away.
Lady Zhou tried to stop them but was kicked aside, falling to the ground as she wailed uncontrollably.
Shen Shuangshuang’s family stayed in the corner, observing silently.
Shen Yaozong whispered, “Good thing we were prepared; otherwise, we’d be prisoners right now.”
“Don’t rush to leave yet,” Shen Shuangshuang said, tugging his sleeve. “Confiscating a household takes time. Let’s use this chance to take the Marquisate’s valuables into the space before the guards grab them.”
Pretending to panic, the three returned to the Third Branch courtyard.
Shen Shuangshuang had just helped Xiang Meimei to the bed when the sounds of guards approaching grew louder outside.
“Dad, Mom, handle things here. I’ll ‘pick up’ some items,” she said, winking. She slipped to the corner behind a pile of firewood and activated the space.
Over the past half month, she had used the space’s teleportation to thoroughly explore the Marquisate—she knew exactly where the storage rooms and forbidden areas were.
“Start with the main warehouse!”
Pulling up the space map, she located the large warehouse on the west side of the Marquisate and teleported directly there.
The warehouse door was unlocked—clearly, the officials hadn’t arrived yet.
As soon as she opened the door, her eyes widened.
Boxes of silver were stacked on the shelves, thick silk covered the floor, and in the corners were boxes of jewels and jade, glittering so brightly that it hurt the eyes.
“My goodness, this is too rich!”
She wasted no time, sweeping the silver from the shelves into the space.
Box after box of silver, with stacks of silver notes underneath, were all stuffed into the space’s vault before she could even count them.
“Tens of thousands of taels in silver, two hundred thousand taels in notes, and these jade and agate pieces… Uncle’s embezzled money alone could support us for generations!”
No sooner had she finished the main warehouse than the footsteps of the officials approached.
Shen Shuangshuang quickly hid in the space, watching the guards burst into an empty warehouse, their mouths agape.
“Huh? Where did everything go? It was just here!”
She chuckled quietly, then teleported the space toward the main house courtyard.
“Uncle is the main culprit—he must have hidden valuables in a private vault.”
She first searched Shen Yaowen’s study, finding only a few silver ingots. She scowled. “So stingy? There must be a secret room!”
Remembering the space’s detection function, she activated it.
The screen immediately showed a hidden compartment under the bed.
She ran over, lifted the floorboard, and indeed found a dark hole.
Lighting a flashlight from the space, she crawled inside and gasped.
The secret room was filled with gold ingots piled like a small mountain, and several calligraphy works hung on the walls.
“Five hundred thousand taels in gold!”
Shen Shuangshuang counted, her hands shaking with excitement. “Has Uncle basically moved the national treasury home?”
She immediately collected all the gold into the space, taking the calligraphy as well.
As she climbed out, she heard Lady Zhou’s wailing outside: “My son! How could you be so foolish!”
Shen Shuangshuang quickly hid behind a screen, watching Lady Zhou being pushed in by the guards, smirking inwardly.
After the officials finished searching the main house’s visible areas and grumbled away, she emerged and collected the remaining boxes of clothes as well.
Every bit counts.
“Next, the Second and Fourth Branches!”
She didn’t stop, teleporting the space to the Second Branch courtyard.
Shen Yaowu of the Second Branch was honest; his private stash contained only a few hundred taels and some old jewelry.
Even so, Shen Shuangshuang took it all.
The Fourth Branch’s Shen Yaozu was even poorer; she found only half a box of grain, which she sent to the space’s pasture.
“Finally, the kitchen and granary!”
Her stomach growled at the thought of the freshly prepared pastries.
She teleported to the kitchen—empty. The stove was still hot, with chicken soup simmering in a pot and buns steaming in baskets, filling the air with fragrance.
“All mine!”
She stored the chicken soup and buns in the space’s refrigeration cabinet, even taking the oil, salt, and condiments from the counter.
The granary was a treasure trove. Though she had stocked up before, the Marquisate still had over a hundred shi of rice. With a sweep of her hand, everything went into the space.
Just as she finished, the officials’ voices shouted outside: “All family members to the front yard! Anyone late will be punished equally!”
Shen Shuangshuang quickly teleported back to the Third Branch courtyard, seeing Shen Yaozong negotiating with the officials: “Sir, we of the Third Branch really have nothing to do with the heir! My leg is injured—could we kneel a bit less?”
Xiang Meimei, supporting her belly, added softly, “Sir, I’m pregnant. If I disturb the baby, what then?”
“Father! Mother!”
Shen Shuangshuang ran over from the outhouse, face smudged with dirt, pretending to panic. “It’s so chaotic outside! I was hiding in the toilet and was too scared to come out.”
Seeing her, Shen Yaozong and Xiang Meimei breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiang Meimei pulled her close, patting her back. “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
The officials glared. “Enough chatter! Kneel in the front yard!”
The family of three followed, finding the yard already filled with kneeling people.
The Marquis of Quling had regained consciousness, pale, kneeling at the front.
Lady Zhou lay on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Shen Jiaojiao trembled behind her.
The men knelt to the left, the women to the right.
“Father, you go with the men,” Shen Shuangshuang said, helping Xiang Meimei kneel at the back of the women’s line.
Beside them, the Fourth Branch lady, Li Shi, cried, “What do we do? Confiscation and exile—how will we survive?”
“It’s all because of eldest brother!” Shen Yaozu of the Fourth Branch suddenly stood, pointing at Shen Yaowen. “If you hadn’t embezzled taxes, the Marquisate wouldn’t be in this mess! You’ve ruined us all!”
Shen Yaowen, escorted by the officials, lowered his head in silence.
Lady Zhou shouted, “Nonsense! My son was framed! If it weren’t for your idleness, how much less could the Marquisate have earned? How dare you blame him!”
“I may be idle, but I didn’t embezzle!” Shen Yaozu fumed, his face red. “Your son took so much money, we didn’t spend a single tael—why should we be punished?”
“Silence!” barked the lead official. “Where’s the Marquisate’s embezzled silver? We searched the entire household and found less than twenty thousand taels in cash. Where’s the rest?”