When Shen Shuyan returned to the Prime Minister’s Residence, it was already in complete chaos.
No one came out to receive her.
Even the main gates of the residence were tightly shut.
“Your Majesty, the gates of the Prime Minister’s Residence are closed,” Cui Liu reported from outside the carriage.
How strange.
Before the Empress had married into the palace, the residence gates would already be open by this time every day.
Shen Shuyan lifted the carriage curtain and frowned as she looked at the tightly closed gates.
“Forget about it for now. Go knock on the door.”
After taking what she needed, she still had to return to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible.
She was the Empress and wasn’t allowed to leave the palace whenever she pleased.
If today’s circumstances hadn’t been so unusual, she would never have been allowed to come out.
Receiving the order, Cui Liu bowed and walked to the gate, raising her hand to knock on the door.
She waited for a while.
The courtyard remained completely silent.
Frowning, Cui Liu knocked again.
There was still no response.
She turned to look at Shen Shuyan, hoping the Empress would say something.
Shen Shuyan frowned more deeply and stepped down from the carriage.
She actually didn’t want to get out.
The main reason was that she didn’t want anyone to see that, despite being the Empress, she was dressed in a palace maid’s clothes.
It was simply too humiliating.
But she had no choice now.
She glanced around and, seeing that there were almost no people nearby, quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, no one was watching.
Even so, she had already lost enough face today.
Supported by two palace maids, she walked to the gate and said to Cui Liu,
“Keep knocking.”
Cui Liu nodded and continued pounding on the gate.
Once.
Twice.
Three times…
She knocked for a long time before the gates were finally opened from the inside.
The gatekeeper’s expression was extremely unpleasant.
He had been about to curse at whoever was outside.
But the moment he saw who was standing there, he swallowed the words before they left his mouth.
He silently thanked his lucky stars that his mouth hadn’t been faster than his brain.
Otherwise, he might have lost his life.
A flattering smile immediately spread across his face.
“This servant greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty enjoy everlasting peace.”
Shen Shuyan said nothing.
She merely looked at the gatekeeper coldly.
A lowly servant wasn’t qualified to speak directly to her.
She was the Empress—the woman below only one person and above everyone else.
Cui Liu understood the Empress’s temper and intentions perfectly.
She immediately stepped forward and asked coldly,
“What’s the meaning of this? Why did it take you so long to answer the door?”
The gatekeeper hurriedly explained,
“Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Everything in the Prime Minister’s Residence has been stolen. Everyone in the residence has been searching for clues.”
He felt incredibly wronged.
How could this possibly be his fault?
Who would have imagined that the Empress would return to her maiden home the very day after her wedding?
What respectable family’s daughter would do such a thing?
The gatekeeper’s words made Shen Shuyan stagger.
Fortunately, the palace maids quickly caught her before she fell.
“What?”
“What did you just say? Repeat it!”
She completely lost the composure expected of an Empress.
Her voice trembled as she spoke.
She had to have misheard.
How could the Prime Minister’s Residence have been robbed too?
Seeing her reaction, the gatekeeper quietly repeated himself.
“The Prime Minister’s Residence was robbed. Everything valuable has been stolen.”
Shen Shuyan swayed again.
Her face turned deathly pale, as though she might faint at any moment.
The two palace maids behind her immediately steadied her.
Even Cui Liu and the others hadn’t expected that the Prime Minister’s Residence had also been robbed.
What were they supposed to do now?
The main reason they had returned today was to obtain some valuables from the Prime Minister’s Residence to help maintain the Empress’s dignity.
But now that the residence itself had been robbed…
What was the Empress supposed to do?
After taking a long time to compose herself, Shen Shuyan finally allowed the two maids to support her into the residence.
“Father, Mother, what happened? Why was the Prime Minister’s Residence robbed too?”
The moment she entered the main hall and saw her parents, she immediately asked.
Prime Minister Shen Qigu and his wife, Liu Mengyun, sat weakly in their chairs, their faces pale.
Both of them were shocked by their daughter’s sudden appearance.
“Yanyan, why are you back?”
The Prime Minister asked weakly.
Yesterday had been the ceremony to install her as Empress.
Even if she were returning to visit her family, it should have been three days after the wedding.
Why had she come back the very next day?
Had something happened?
The Prime Minister looked at his daughter with concern.
The Prime Minister’s wife was equally anxious.
“Yes, why did you come back?”
Seeing her precious daughter return, she tried to stand and greet her.
She tried twice.
Neither attempt succeeded.
Her legs had gone weak.
Supported by the palace maids, Shen Shuyan sat down in a chair.
Her beautiful face was as pale as paper.
She looked as though a gust of wind could blow her away.
“Father, Mother, the Imperial Palace was robbed. The entire palace has been stripped clean. I came back hoping to borrow some things from you first. But the gatekeeper said the Prime Minister’s Residence was robbed too. Father, Mother… tell me that isn’t true.”
Hope filled Shen Shuyan’s eyes.
She desperately wished the gatekeeper had been joking.
She had counted on her family to help her through this crisis.
If the Prime Minister’s Residence had truly been robbed as well…
What was she supposed to do?
The Prime Minister and his wife turned even paler.
They looked helplessly at their precious daughter before nodding.
“It’s true.”
“The Prime Minister’s Residence has been almost completely emptied as well.”
“Your mother and I can’t help you anymore.”
How could this have happened?
In fact, they had been planning to ask their daughter to use part of her dowry to help support the Prime Minister’s Residence.
But they had never dreamed that the Imperial Palace itself would also be robbed.
Just who was that damned culprit?
Not only had they emptied the Imperial Palace…
They hadn’t spared the Prime Minister’s Residence either.
Who could be so heartless?
If he ever caught the thief, he would tear them to pieces.
And those Imperial Guards…
Were they all useless?
The entire Imperial Palace had been emptied, yet not a single guard had noticed anything.
A bunch of incompetents.
“Father, Mother, what should I do?”
“I’m the Empress!”
“Look at what I’m wearing!”
“I’m dressed in a palace maid’s clothes. I don’t even have a single piece of jewelry.”
“How am I supposed to face anyone like this?”
Tears streamed down Shen Shuyan’s face as she looked at her parents.
Only then did they notice it.
Their precious daughter…
The dignified Empress…
Was actually wearing a palace maid’s uniform.
Her hair had only been tied into a simple bun.
There wasn’t even a single gold hairpin in it.
She looked pitifully plain.
Heavens!
Who on earth had it in for their family?
“Don’t worry.”
“I’ll think of something.”
The Prime Minister felt as though his head were about to split open.
That damned bastard!
Which heartless scoundrel had done something so utterly wicked?
The Prime Minister’s wife looked deeply troubled.
Originally, she could have borrowed money from her own family.
Unfortunately, her parents and elder brother had already retired from official service and returned to their hometown.
They were now thousands of miles away.
There was no way they could help.
Besides…
Her family had always been a family of upright scholars.
When she married, she had already taken most of her family’s wealth as her dowry.
Even if her father and brother were still officials, they wouldn’t have been able to provide much help.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She ground her teeth together until they clicked, her eyes blazing with fury.
“That’s right!”
“I still have several shops.”
“There should still be money in the shops.”
“We’ll go there and get it.”
Only then did the Prime Minister remember that the family owned several businesses.
Although officials weren’t supposed to compete with commoners for profit, it was normal for wealthy noble families to own a few shops.
“That’s right.”
“We still have the shops.”
“We’ll get money from there.”
The Prime Minister’s wife finally looked slightly better.
Her precious daughter was the Empress.
How could she possibly live such a miserable life?
Even if the Prime Minister’s Residence had to tighten its belt…
They would give all the money to their daughter first.
Their precious daughter absolutely must not suffer.
At that moment, the Prime Minister’s wife had completely forgotten that she had another daughter.
Then again…
That wasn’t surprising.
In her heart, she had always believed she had only one daughter.
Shen Shuyan’s expression improved slightly, but anger still burned inside her.
She raised her slender hand and slapped the armrest of the chair.
Her palm immediately turned bright red.
Yet she didn’t seem to notice the pain at all.
Her voice was filled with murderous intent.
“Who exactly robbed the Imperial Palace and then robbed the Prime Minister’s Residence?”
“How deep must their hatred for us be to do something like this?”
The Prime Minister and his wife wore equally troubled expressions.
They also wanted to know who that damned person was.
Who hated the Prime Minister’s Residence enough to destroy them so completely?
“As Prime Minister, the head of all civil officials, I’ve always maintained good relationships with everyone.”
“I’ve never offended anyone.”
The Prime Minister frowned deeply.
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t think of a single suspect.
That was indeed true.
He had always handled matters diplomatically and rarely offended anyone.
He believed that no one’s future was certain.
Perhaps one day, any one of those officials might rise to great power.
The Prime Minister’s wife remained silent.
Suddenly, Shen Shuyan spoke.
“Father… Mother… do you think it could have been Elder Sister?”
Ever since she had awakened, a voice deep inside had been telling her that everything had been done by that ugly older sister.
But…
How could that ugly freak possibly possess such incredible abilities?
How could she have taken away so many things?
Besides…
That ugly freak was already dead.
There was no way she could still be causing trouble.
When she returned, she absolutely had to question Nanny Zhang.
She needed to know whether that ugly freak had really died.
The Prime Minister shook his head decisively.
“Impossible.”
“How could your elder sister have such abilities?”
The Prime Minister’s wife also shook her head.
“Your father is right.”
“That ugly, useless girl couldn’t possibly be capable of something like this.”
Shen Shuyan fell silent.
She felt her parents were right.
That ugly freak had to be dead already.
Even if she were still alive, there was no way she could have emptied both the Imperial Palace and the Prime Minister’s Residence so effortlessly.
She couldn’t possibly be that capable.
If she really had such ability, she wouldn’t have been toyed with by them all those years.
…
At that very moment, Shen Qingyao was lying comfortably on the bed inside her villa within the space.
She had run into one problem.
Although ancient times didn’t have identity cards, they did have household registration records.
She still possessed her own household registration document.
But she didn’t want to continue living under the identity of the Prime Minister’s daughter.
She needed to find a way to change all the information recorded on it.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
She realized she could use modern technology to alter every detail on the document.
No one would be able to detect the changes.
Then she could quietly sneak into the Ministry of Revenue at night and alter the official registration archives as well.
Wouldn’t that solve everything?
After resolving one problem, Shen Qingyao suddenly realized she was hungry.
She prepared herself a large self-heating hot pot.
After eating until she was completely full, she used her modification technique on the household registration document, changing every piece of information recorded on it.
She even changed her birth date, making herself three months older.
That way, no one would suspect her identity.
It was still daytime outside the space.
If she wanted to sneak into the Ministry of Revenue safely, it would be best to wait until nightfall.
…
Liang Xinxin slowly woke up inside the ruined temple.
Looking at the people gathered around her, her eyes widened in shock.
They were dressed in ragged clothes.
Their bodies gave off a terrible stench.
Startled, she shrank backward and spat the wad of cotton out of her mouth.
Her tongue had stopped bleeding.
But it still hurt badly.