“Miss, your name is Shen Qingyao?” the clerk couldn’t help asking.
This name was exactly the same as the eldest young lady of the Prime Minister’s Residence. The only difference was that their appearances were worlds apart.
He had heard that the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s Residence was unbelievably ugly. The Prime Minister and his wife never allowed her to leave the residence.
They were afraid she would bring shame to the family. One could only imagine just how ugly she must have been.
Of course, he had only heard the rumors. He had never actually seen the eldest young lady himself.
But it seemed that the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s Residence had already passed away.
As for the cause of her death, people said she had been killed by the current Empress, but whether that was true or not, no one could verify it.
After all, it was only hearsay.
“That’s right. My name is Shen Qingyao. Is there something wrong with that?” Shen Qingyao asked in confusion.
She knew exactly what the clerk was thinking. After all, the original owner had also been named Shen Qingyao, and she had been quite famous in Yunjing.
Famous for being ugly.
The clerk hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, no. Nothing’s wrong. I’ll register you right away.”
With that, he lowered his head and began copying her Household Registration.
Shen Qingyao’s Household Registration booklet contained only her own name.
Their conversation happened to reach Shen Yunqi’s ears. At the moment, he was sitting behind the five clerks, supervising their work.
He looked up and saw a fair, delicate little face.
The sight stunned him.
This young lady was truly beautiful.
If only his own eldest younger sister had been this pretty.
Then the Prime Minister’s Residence wouldn’t have considered her an embarrassment, nor would they have locked her away and forbidden her from leaving the house.
With looks like these, she could have brought countless benefits to the Prime Minister’s Residence.
If not for the fact that his eldest younger sister had supposedly been born with the destiny of a phoenix…
Their parents would have thrown her away long ago and left her to fend for herself.
Shen Qingyao also saw Shen Yunqi.
She knew that the man standing there was the original owner’s second brother.
But this second brother had never treated the original owner as his sister.
In fact, he had never even been willing to spare her a second glance.
If they had only looked carefully, they would have noticed that the side of the original owner’s face without the birthmark was actually very beautiful.
Then they would have easily recognized her now.
Unfortunately, everyone in the Prime Minister’s Residence had been unwilling to even look at the original owner.
That entire family was rotten to the core.
Since her Household Registration booklet contained only one person, the clerk finished copying it very quickly.
“Miss, your Household Registration has been registered. Please keep it safe.”
The clerk spoke politely, completely unlike the way he had spoken to the other people before her.
It really wasn’t his fault.
The young woman before him was simply too beautiful.
He couldn’t even bear to raise his voice at her.
He was afraid he might frighten her.
“Thank you.”
Shen Qingyao accepted her Household Registration booklet, smiled at the clerk, then turned and left.
The smile dazzled the clerk so completely that he remained frozen for quite a while.
He stared blankly ahead as though his soul had been stolen away.
The next citizen had already placed their Household Registration booklet on the table, yet the clerk still hadn’t come back to his senses.
It wasn’t until someone called out to him that he finally snapped awake.
“Focus on your work. Don’t lose yourself.”
Shen Yunqi reached over, patted the clerk on the shoulder, and spoke sternly.
The clerk instantly came back to himself, his face turning bright red.
How had he become so entranced just from looking at a young lady?
And to be caught by his direct superior on top of that—it was simply too embarrassing.
“My apologies, sir. I promise I’ll pay attention next time.”
The clerk hurriedly apologized, feeling as though he had completely disgraced himself today.
He had actually forgotten he was supposed to be working.
Holding her Household Registration booklet, Shen Qingyao turned down another street and entered a secluded alley.
Once inside, she took out a bundle she had prepared in advance from her Space.
Then she walked out through the alley’s opposite entrance carrying the bundle.
By now, most people had gone to the Ministry of Revenue.
Hardly anyone noticed Shen Qingyao.
She headed straight to a fairly decent inn.
The inn stood on the main street.
She had chosen it simply because it looked large and well-run.
As soon as she entered, a waiter hurried over, bowing respectfully.
“Welcome, honored guest. Are you staying the night or just here for a meal?”
The waiter couldn’t help stealing another glance at Shen Qingyao before quickly lowering his head again.
This young lady was truly beautiful.
Smiling, Shen Qingyao replied, “I’m staying. I’d like a standard room for three days.”
“Certainly, honored guest. Please follow me.”
The waiter politely led Shen Qingyao to the innkeeper’s counter to register her stay.
The innkeeper was also briefly stunned by Shen Qingyao’s beauty, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Honored guest, may I see your Household Registration booklet? We need to register it.”
The innkeeper spoke politely.
He was a chubby middle-aged man with a kind and friendly face.
Shen Qingyao took her Household Registration booklet from inside her robe and handed it over.
The innkeeper opened it and discovered there was only a single page.
That meant the young lady was the only surviving member of her household.
Still, that was none of his business.
She was simply a guest.
He quickly completed the registration and returned the booklet to Shen Qingyao.
“Honored guest, a standard room costs 120 copper coins per day. Three days comes to 360 copper coins. Meals are charged separately.”
After calculating the total, he quoted her the price.
Shen Qingyao took out one tael of silver and handed it to the innkeeper.
“I’ll pay one tael in advance. Just deduct my meal expenses from it.”
“Certainly, honored guest.”
The innkeeper smiled cheerfully as he accepted the silver.
The waiter led Shen Qingyao to the second floor.
Her room was the third from the end on the sunny side of the hallway.
The waiter pushed open the door but did not step inside.
“If you need anything, just call for me. I’ll take my leave now.”
He spoke respectfully and with excellent manners.
“Thank you, big brother waiter,” Shen Qingyao said with a smile.
The waiter nodded before heading back downstairs.
Shen Qingyao was very satisfied with how polite the waiter had been. She walked into the guest room and turned around to close the door.
She looked around the room and found that the standard room was actually quite nice.
Inside was a bed that was nearly two meters wide. The bed curtains had been washed very clean and were an off-white color.
They were made of coarse cloth, making them sturdy and practical.
There was a wardrobe for storing belongings, a dining table with two chairs in the middle of the room, and a dressing table not far from the window.
She walked over to the window and pushed it open.
Warm sunlight immediately streamed in, shining on her and making her feel pleasantly warm.
Looking down at the buildings lining the street and the people walking below, Shen Qingyao curled her lips into a smile.
In truth, with the wealth she possessed, staying in the finest room at the best inn wouldn’t have been excessive at all.
After all, she was wealthy enough to rival an entire nation.
Still, she understood the saying that one should never flaunt one’s wealth.
She couldn’t let people discover how rich she was. Although she wasn’t afraid of trouble, trouble would always come looking for the wealthy.
What she failed to realize was that when she had casually spent one hundred taels of silver to switch places earlier, she had already exposed the fact that she was rich.
Everything she was doing now was simply shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted.
The Imperial Palace had not publicly announced that it was searching for a thief.
After all, it couldn’t afford the humiliation.
The Imperial Palace was Guarded by Heavy Troops, yet someone had still managed to rob it. If word got out, it would be an enormous disgrace.
The Prime Minister’s Residence and the Duke’s Residence, however, had no such concerns.
They had begun making a great show of searching for the thief’s whereabouts.
No matter what, they intended to catch the culprit and force them to hand over everything that had been stolen.
Ever since yesterday, Yunjing had become unusually lively.
Government soldiers had begun searching every household one by one.
But up until now, they hadn’t found a single suspicious person.
There wasn’t even the slightest clue.
When the common people learned that both the Prime Minister’s Residence and the Duke’s Residence had been robbed, they secretly felt rather pleased.
Ever since they had seen the papers that had fallen from the sky, the people had become convinced that everyone in the Prime Minister’s Residence was rotten.
Perhaps this theft was simply karma catching up with them.
As for the Duke’s Residence, many believed it was Heaven’s punishment.
Everyone knew that the Duke’s youngest son had abducted innocent women more than once and had even humiliated some of them to death.
Afterward, all he had done was pay a few dozen taels of silver in compensation.
The local authorities had never dared to interfere, so every case had been hastily buried.
The Duke’s youngest son wasn’t completely stupid.
He never targeted daughters of wealthy or noble families.
Instead, he preyed only on ordinary commoners.
He knew that even if they reported him to the authorities, the matter would eventually be swept under the rug.
Now look at him.
He had finally received Heaven’s punishment.
In short, the common people were delighted to hear that both the Prime Minister’s Residence and the Duke’s Residence had been robbed.
They didn’t believe it was the work of any ordinary person.
They firmly believed that Heaven itself could no longer tolerate their evil.
That was why it had emptied both residences.
Shen Qingyao was lying on the bed asleep when someone knocked on the door.
Annoyed, she rolled over, pulled the blanket over her head, and intended to ignore whoever was outside.
But the person at the door refused to give up.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knocking continued relentlessly.
Irritated, Shen Qingyao sat upright, threw the blanket aside, and walked over with a dark expression to open the door.
The moment she opened it, she was surprised to find seven or eight government soldiers standing outside.
Rather than being frightened, she simply frowned at them.
Her eyes were full of annoyance.
“What is it?”
Her tone was cold.
She had no patience for anyone who interrupted her sleep.
The soldiers were momentarily stunned.
They hadn’t expected this young lady to be completely unafraid of them.
She was even speaking to them so bluntly.
Didn’t she notice that the innkeeper and the waiter standing nearby hardly dared to breathe?
The innkeeper became anxious.
He kept giving Shen Qingyao meaningful looks, hoping she would understand what he meant.
Shen Qingyao noticed them.
She simply didn’t care.
The soldiers also saw the silent exchange between the two of them.
Watching both of their reactions, they couldn’t help thinking that this young lady truly had remarkable courage.
Still, considering that she looked quite young—and was so beautiful—they decided to be a little more lenient.
“Miss, could you please show us your Household Registration?”
the officer leading the group said.
Shen Qingyao frowned but said nothing.
She turned around and walked back into the room.
The soldiers did not follow her inside.
After all, it was a young lady’s room. Entering without permission would give others grounds to accuse them.
These soldiers were actually quite disciplined.
Besides, with her slender arms and legs, there was no way she could be the person who had robbed both the Imperial Palace and the Prime Minister’s Residence.
They were simply carrying out a routine inspection.
Pretending to search through her bundle, Shen Qingyao took out her Household Registration booklet and handed it over with both hands.
She couldn’t help muttering,
“Why is everyone so obsessed with Household Registration? I just registered it, and now someone’s checking it again.”
Hearing her complaint, the soldiers could only smile bitterly.
What choice did they have?
They were nothing more than ordinary soldiers following orders from above.
After looking through the Household Registration booklet, the officer nodded and handed it back.
“Everything is in order. Sorry for disturbing you, Miss.”
Shen Qingyao accepted the booklet and replied calmly,
“It’s fine.”
Forget it.
Since these soldiers couldn’t help being ordered around, and they had been quite polite throughout, she decided not to hold it against them.
The soldiers left, with the innkeeper and the waiter following after them.
Shen Qingyao closed the door and flopped back onto the bed.
She still had something important to do tonight.
Right now, the most important thing was catching up on her sleep.