For the past few days, Pei Xingzhou had barely slept a wink.
He had searched the entire Pei Residence from top to bottom and still found no trace whatsoever of Su Qingran’s dowry.
The locks remained completely intact, which meant someone had used the key to open the storeroom.
As a result, he eventually fixed his suspicions on a single person:
His mother, Li Qiuju.
After all, she had always coveted Su Qingran’s dowry. Sneaking into his room and secretly moving everything wasn’t impossible.
“Mother, are you trying to ruin me?”
Pei Xingzhou stared at her with growing frustration.
For the first time, he regretted bringing her to the capital.
An ignorant and foolish woman.
Always causing trouble and never accomplishing anything useful.
At this moment, however, he conveniently forgot that it had been his own idea to use Li Qiuju to torment Su Qingran in the first place.
“Pei Xingzhou!”
Li Qiuju was so angry she nearly exploded.
“You think becoming an official makes you so impressive?”
“I already told you—I didn’t take anything! Why won’t you believe me?”
No matter how ignorant she might be, she wasn’t stupid enough to sneak into someone’s room and steal things.
Her son had become a Third-Rank Scholar.
Why would she need to engage in petty theft?
“If it wasn’t you, then who?”
Pei Xingzhou’s eyes were icy.
“Did the dowry grow wings and fly away on its own?”
Looking at her son’s expression, Li Qiuju suddenly felt afraid.
At that moment, Wen Yuyan stepped forward.
“Cousin, please stop blaming Aunt.”
She looked pitiful.
“Maybe the person who shaved our heads also stole the dowry.”
The moment Pei Xingzhou looked at her, he instinctively took a step backward.
Even though she was wearing a wig, he couldn’t help noticing how strange she looked.
Truly, baldness was the ultimate test of beauty.
In his eyes, Wen Yuyan looked shockingly unattractive now.
When she noticed his subtle retreat, her heart shattered instantly.
Li Qiuju, however, immediately seized upon the idea.
“That’s right!”
She slapped her thigh.
“It was the same bitch who shaved our heads!”
“It was Su Qingran!”
She pointed dramatically.
“Son, go settle the score with her right now!”
At this point, Li Qiuju hated Su Qingran so much her teeth practically itched.
She was convinced beyond all doubt that Su Qingran was responsible.
“Mother.”
Pei Xingzhou rubbed his forehead.
“Everything requires evidence.”
“Su Qingran is just a weak woman.”
“How could she sneak into both your room and Yuyan’s room without anyone noticing?”
“How could she enter my courtyard unseen?”
His gaze sharpened.
“On the other hand, no servant would ever stop you from entering my courtyard.”
In the end, he was still implying the same thing:
He believed Li Qiuju had taken the dowry.
“If you don’t return those items…”
His voice became colder.
“…then your son won’t be able to remain in officialdom much longer.”
The pressure in his eyes was suffocating.
“I’ve been wronged!”
Li Qiuju finally broke down.
She threw herself onto the floor and began wailing and rolling around dramatically.
Seeing this, Pei Xingzhou felt another headache coming on.
“Think carefully.”
He turned away.
“Tomorrow is the final deadline.”
“If Su Qingran’s dowry isn’t returned, the Marquis Residence won’t let this matter rest.”
With that, he flicked his sleeve and walked away.
“Look at him!”
Li Qiuju pointed furiously after her son.
“Does he still respect me as his mother?”
“As always, it’s all because of Su Qingran!”
She genuinely believed her son was defending Su Qingran.
The thought only made her angrier.
Meanwhile, the Marquis Residence was equally anxious.
That enormous dowry was practically within reach.
Just thinking about it made everyone excited.
Tomorrow was the agreed deadline.
Once the money arrived, they would become rich again.
“You really think that little jinx won’t return to the capital alive?”
Zhu Yunfang asked nervously.
Su Mingzhi smiled.
“I’ve already tampered with her carriage.”
“If she encounters rough roads…”
He left the sentence unfinished, wearing a meaningful smile.
“And her horse has been drugged.”
“It won’t live much longer.”
He snorted.
“Do you think it’s easy to buy another horse nowadays?”
“The court strictly controls horse ownership.”
“Horses are almost impossible to obtain.”
“When that horse dies, let’s see how she transports all her belongings.”
His expression darkened.
“Serves her right for being greedy and taking so much of my silver.”
Zhu Yunfang immediately became anxious.
“What about the money we already gave her?”
“You’re too shortsighted.”
Su Mingzhi shook his head.
“Do you know how much her dowry is worth?”
Originally, he had planned to have her killed somewhere along the road.
However, the risks were too high.
If the truth ever came out…
In the end, he comforted himself with a noble excuse.
“After all, she’s still a member of the Su family.”
“I won’t completely wipe her out.”
Naturally, he painted himself as the benevolent relative.
Neither he nor Zhu Yunfang knew one important fact:
Su Qingran had never left the capital.
For three consecutive days, she disguised herself with different identities and went on a massive shopping spree.
Rice.
Flour.
Vegetables.
Pork.
Anything edible was immediately purchased.
Buy.
Buy.
Buy.
Soon, the entire three hundred taels given by Su Mingzhi had been spent.
Money truly vanished quickly.
She still hadn’t had enough fun shopping.
Just as she exited another grain shop, she suddenly felt someone following her.
Good.
People had started becoming suspicious.
Recently, food prices throughout the capital had begun rising as well.
Perhaps her frantic stockpiling was partly responsible.
Deliberately, Su Qingran turned into a narrow alley.
The two men tailing her immediately followed.
Without warning, they launched an attack.
Unlike the servants she’d dealt with before, these men genuinely knew martial arts.
Fortunately, after drinking so much spirit spring water, her physical abilities had improved significantly.
She dodged their attack with ease.
One of the men sneered.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
“For days you’ve been changing disguises and buying massive amounts of food.”
He pointed at her.
“Hand over your money and supplies.”
“We might spare your life.”
Su Qingran could tolerate many things.
Trying to steal the food she had painstakingly accumulated was not one of them.
That was practically asking for her life.
She smiled coldly.
Then she pulled an electric baton from her space and assumed a fighting stance.
The two men burst out laughing.
“That little toy?”
“You want to fight us with that?”
The moment they charged forward, the baton in her hand suddenly transformed into a handgun.
Bang!
Bang!
Two gunshots echoed through the alley.
Both bullets struck directly between their brows.
The men stared at her in disbelief.
Then their bodies collapsed backward onto the ground.
For a moment, Su Qingran hesitated.
Should she hide the bodies inside her space?
Before she could decide, she heard approaching footsteps.
Someone was coming.
Without another second of hesitation, she hurriedly dragged both corpses into her space.
Just in time.
Moments later, two other men entered the alley.
“Strange.”
“I clearly saw that person come in here.”
“Where did they go?”
“Doesn’t make sense.”
“Let’s wait.”
One of them grinned greedily.
“That guy is loaded.”
“He bought so much stuff.”
“If we rob him, we’ll be living comfortably for a long time.”
Listening from inside her space, Su Qingran was speechless.
Just how conspicuous had she been?
Apparently half the city had their eyes on her.
Looking at the mountain of food supplies piling higher and higher inside her space, she felt immensely satisfied.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the capital, Su Mingzhi and Pei Xingzhou had finally escalated their dispute over Su Qingran’s dowry.
The matter had now reached the government authorities themselves.