Just like the Imperial Palace, both the Prime Minister’s Residence and the Duke’s Residence were in complete chaos.
Early that morning, the cooks got up to prepare breakfast.
But when they entered the kitchen, they discovered there was nothing left.
Forget rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil—even the pots, bowls, and utensils had disappeared.
The place was so empty that even rats probably wouldn’t bother coming anymore.
If anything, the rats might even feel sorry for them and leave behind a few droppings out of pity.
The cooks immediately went to find the steward.
“Steward! This is terrible! The kitchen has been robbed!”
The steward had only just gotten out of bed and wasn’t fully awake yet.
The shout startled him completely awake.
“What did you say? Say that again!”
The cook repeated herself.
“I said everything in the kitchen has been stolen. Not even a single grain of rice was left behind.”
“Impossible! How could that be?”
Refusing to believe it, the steward hurried to the kitchen himself.
The moment he stepped inside, his eyes widened.
Everything really was gone.
Only then did a terrible feeling rise in his heart.
“How could this happen?”
He muttered to himself, nearly collapsing onto the ground.
Fortunately, his quick reflexes saved him.
He grabbed the nearby doorframe and managed to steady himself.
“Steward, are you alright? Without any food, how are we supposed to cook?”
The cooks all wore worried expressions.
“Forget cooking! The most important thing right now is to inform the Master!”
The steward’s face was extremely grim as he shouted at them.
The cooks were unhappy about being scolded, but none of them dared say a word.
They were only responsible for preparing meals.
Everything else was beyond their control.
The steward wasn’t concerned about breakfast anymore.
If the kitchen had been robbed…
Then what about the other storehouses?
The thought flashed through his mind.
He had to find the Master immediately.
He turned and sprinted away.
The cooks stood at the kitchen entrance, exchanging confused glances.
“What should we do?” one of them asked.
“What else can we do? There’s nothing left. Are we supposed to cook air?” another replied.
They were only cooks.
Their responsibility ended with the kitchen.
The rest wasn’t their concern.
The steward hurried to the Madam’s courtyard.
The Master had spent the previous night there.
Inside the Prime Minister’s wife’s courtyard, the maids had only just finished getting dressed and were preparing to help their masters wash and freshen up.
One maid picked up a wooden basin to fetch water when she saw the steward rushing into the courtyard.
Confused, she asked instinctively,
“Steward, why are you here so early?”
The steward was breathing heavily.
He bent over with his hands on his knees, panting for quite a while before finally straightening up.
“Have the Master and Madam awakened yet?” he asked.
“Not yet,” the maid answered honestly.
“Go about your work first. I’ll see the Master and Madam.”
After saying that, the steward strode toward the room.
The maid watched him leave, utterly puzzled, but she still went to fetch water first.
She headed to the small kitchen to boil some hot water.
As soon as she pushed open the kitchen door, her eyes widened in shock.
Where was everything?
Where had all the kitchen equipment gone?
The wooden basin slipped from her hands and crashed onto the ground with a loud bang.
She immediately turned and hurried after the steward.
When she reached the bedroom door, the steward had just raised his hand to knock.
“Steward! Something’s happened!”
She was so flustered that she couldn’t even keep her voice down.
The steward turned around and frowned.
“What happened?”
Still panting, the maid pointed toward the small kitchen.
“Steward… everything in the small kitchen is gone!”
His mind exploded.
Even the small kitchen had been robbed.
That thief truly hadn’t been willing to leave anything behind.
“I understand. I’ll wake the Master and Madam first.”
The steward took a deep breath and began knocking on the door.
He knocked for quite some time.
There was no response from inside.
His frown deepened as an uneasy feeling crept into his heart.
At that point, he no longer cared about proper etiquette.
He reached out and forcefully pushed the door open.
The moment it opened, both the steward and the maid froze.
The Master was lying on the bare floor wearing only his underclothes.
Beside him, the Madam was also lying on the floor, dressed only in her underclothes.
The room itself was just as empty.
Everything had been stolen.
Both the steward and the maid were dumbfounded.
Even everything inside the bedroom had disappeared.
Had the Master and Madam really not heard a single thing?
The steward knew this wasn’t the time to think about that.
He quickly walked over to wake his master.
Turning to the maid, he instructed,
“You wake Madam.”
The maid nodded and hurried over.
“Madam… Madam… please wake up!”
Meanwhile, the steward called out,
“Master! Master! Please wake up!”
After being called repeatedly for quite some time, the two of them finally stirred awake.
The Prime Minister frowned darkly at the steward.
“How dare you! Steward, what are you doing?”
He sat up, glaring at him.
The steward had always been someone who followed the rules.
Why was he behaving so improperly today?
The Prime Minister was about to continue scolding him when he suddenly noticed the room around him.
It was completely empty.
And he and his wife were sitting on the bare floor.
What was going on?
“Steward! Where are all the things in this room?”
The Prime Minister’s voice suddenly rose.
At a time like this, who cared about etiquette anymore?
His shout startled the Prime Minister’s wife, who had only just awakened.
She was about to ask what had happened.
Instead, she saw her bedroom stripped completely bare.
Everything was gone.
“What’s going on? Where are all the things in my room?”
She cried out in shock.
After waiting for the couple to calm down a little, the steward finally explained.
“Master, Madam, thieves broke into the residence. Not only was your room emptied, but even the main kitchen and Madam’s private kitchen have been completely cleaned out.”
As for the other parts of the residence…
He had already sent servants to inspect them.
There was no need to guess.
The rest of the estate had almost certainly suffered the same fate.
Anyone capable of becoming the steward of the Prime Minister’s Residence was naturally intelligent.
Before long, the servant he had sent to check the storehouses came running back.
Panting heavily, he shouted,
“Steward! This is terrible! Everything in the storehouses has been stolen!”
“What?”
The Prime Minister shot to his feet and rushed over to the servant.
His face had turned completely black with fury.
Grabbing the servant by the arm, he shook him violently.
“What did you just say? What happened to the storehouses?”
The Prime Minister simply couldn’t believe it.
There had been so many valuables stored there.
How could every single thing have been stolen?
He refused to believe it.
Looking at the Prime Minister’s terrifying expression, the servant subconsciously swallowed hard.
The servant winced in pain as the Prime Minister gripped his arm, but he didn’t dare ask his master to let go.
Trembling, he repeated what he had just said.
“M-Master… everything in the storehouse has been stolen.”
The Prime Minister weakly released him.
His body swayed, and the steward quickly stepped forward to support him from behind.
The entire room fell into a deathly silence.
No one spoke another word.
Everything in the storehouse was the Prime Minister’s Residence’s entire fortune.
How could it all have been stolen?
And not a single person in the residence had noticed anything.
How was that even possible?
The Prime Minister shoved the steward’s supporting hand away and hurried toward the storehouse.
Everyone else followed behind him.
When the group arrived, the storehouse door was standing open.
The Prime Minister took a deep breath and strode inside.
The moment he saw the empty storehouse, he froze.
Gone.
Everything was truly gone.
He collapsed onto the ground, muttering over and over,
“How could this happen… How could this happen…”
The others who had come with him were just as panicked.
They wanted to know how this had happened too.
The Prime Minister’s wife stared blankly at the empty storehouse.
She was about to step forward to help her husband when something suddenly occurred to her.
She immediately turned around and hurried away.
The steward and the maid exchanged puzzled looks.
The steward glanced at the Prime Minister, then at the Madam running off.
In the end, he chose to stay.
The maid, however, hurried after the Madam.
After all, she served in the Madam’s courtyard.
The servant simply stood there in a daze, looking utterly miserable.
He had signed a lifetime contract with the Prime Minister’s Residence.
If the residence no longer had any money…
Would servants like them starve to death?
Or would they all be sold off?
How were they supposed to survive in the future?
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.
Then, all of a sudden, he let out a sigh of relief.
His eyes lit up as he thought of something.
Even if the residence’s main storehouse had been emptied, the Master and Madam still had their private treasuries.
Surely they wouldn’t let the servants go hungry.
Thinking this, he no longer felt as panicked as before.
He quietly stood where he was without saying a word.
After a while, the steward helped the Prime Minister back to his feet.
The Prime Minister was filled with anxiety.
If the residence’s main storehouse hadn’t been spared…
Then his private treasury probably hadn’t escaped either.
Once again, he shook off the steward’s hand and hurried back to his own courtyard.
“Master, this is terrible! Your private treasury has been robbed!”
As soon as he entered the courtyard, one of the servants reported the news.
“What did you say? Say that again!”
The Prime Minister roared.
He had to have heard wrong.
His private treasury had actually been robbed too?
He refused to believe it.
The servant knew his master couldn’t accept it.
Kneeling on the ground, he slowly said,
“Master, it’s true. Your private treasury has been robbed. The thief didn’t even leave a single tael of silver behind. The entire treasury is completely empty.”
The servant’s words made the Prime Minister’s head buzz.
Unable to withstand the blow, he fainted on the spot.
“Master! Master!”
The steward hurriedly caught him.
“Master, wake up!”
As the head of the Prime Minister’s Residence, there were still countless matters that required his decisions.
The steward called for him repeatedly.
But the Prime Minister showed no sign of waking up.
In the end, the steward had no choice but to give up.
As the steward, however, he still had to shoulder part of the burden for his master.
He went to inspect the Prime Minister’s private treasury himself.
He still wanted to see with his own eyes whether it was really empty.
The moment he pushed open the door…
He was stunned.
The private treasury was truly empty.
There wasn’t a single thing left inside.
The steward stood there in complete shock.
The servant beside him was equally dumbfounded.
That thief had been unbelievably ruthless.
Even the private treasury had been completely cleaned out.
The steward immediately realized something.
He stood up, his body trembling so badly he nearly lost his balance.
The servant quickly reached out and supported him.
“Let’s go. We’ll check the Old Madam’s courtyard, and the courtyards of all the concubines and young masters.”
The steward’s voice trembled.
At the same time, he silently prayed that the thief hadn’t stolen absolutely everything from the Prime Minister’s Residence.
At least…
Leave them something.
Otherwise, how were they supposed to live?
The steward visited the Old Madam’s courtyard first, followed by the courtyards of every concubine and young master.
The result was exactly the same.
Just like the Master and Madam’s quarters, not only had their private treasuries been emptied, but everything inside their rooms had also disappeared.
How in the world had that thief managed to empty the entire Prime Minister’s Residence?
Without making a single sound.
Without being noticed by anyone.
It was simply too strange.
…
The Duke’s Residence was in no better shape than the Prime Minister’s Residence.
The entire estate was in complete chaos.
The Duke was on the verge of losing his mind.
The residence’s main storehouse, kitchens, and every private treasury had all been emptied.
Nothing had been left behind.
What kind of immortal or deity had their Duke’s Residence offended to deserve such treatment?
…
Shen Shuyan hurriedly got dressed.
The clothes she wore belonged to a palace maid.
After all, every one of her own outfits had disappeared.
Even the Shangyi Bureau had no spare clothing for her to wear.
She was preparing to leave the palace and return to her family home.
Fortunately, she remembered that she still had several chests of valuables stored away in her own small courtyard at the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Otherwise…
Wouldn’t it be humiliating if she didn’t even have any jewelry to wear in the future?
Only then did she realize that Nanny Zhang was nowhere to be found.
She asked Cui Liu,
“Cui Liu, where is Nanny Zhang? Such a major incident has happened. Why hasn’t she appeared?”
Only after hearing the Empress mention it did Cui Liu realize she hadn’t seen Nanny Zhang for a long time either.
Nanny Zhang had been the Empress’s wet nurse.
She had cared for Shen Shuyan ever since childhood.
Something this serious had happened.
There was no way Nanny Zhang wouldn’t have shown herself.
“Replying to Your Majesty, no one has seen Nanny Zhang since yesterday.”
Cui Liu answered truthfully.
Shen Shuyan frowned before instructing,
“Pass down my order. Send people to find Nanny Zhang immediately. Cui Liu, we’re returning to the Prime Minister’s Residence.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cui Liu bowed and withdrew.
She assigned two lower-ranking palace maids to search for Nanny Zhang, while the remaining four accompanied the Empress back to the Prime Minister’s Residence.