What was happening back in the capital was naturally unknown to Su Qingran.
At the moment, she was enjoying herself immensely.
She traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping whenever she pleased, admiring the scenery along the way as she slowly made her way toward Yuzhou.
Of course, the journey wasn’t entirely peaceful.
Every now and then, she’d encounter some fool who saw a lone young woman traveling by herself and thought it would be easy to rob her.
Without exception, those people were dealt with swiftly and mercilessly.
What a joke.
Su Qingran had survived for years in the apocalypse.
She understood human nature all too well.
With the abilities she possessed, if she truly wanted to steal from others, it would be ridiculously easy.
Yet she only took what rightfully belonged to her.
If people still chose to target her out of greed, then they were simply asking for death.
Back in the Marquis Manor, life had become considerably less comfortable.
The treasury had been emptied.
A large portion of their silver had been handed over to Su Qingran.
And Pei Xingzhou still refused to return the dowry.
As a result, the manor’s finances had become extremely strained.
“I can’t live like this anymore!”
Zhu Yunfang slammed her chopsticks onto the table.
“What do you expect me to do?”
“He keeps saying he’ll return the dowry, but claims he doesn’t have the money right now.”
Su Mingzhi looked equally frustrated.
A few days earlier, he and Pei Xingzhou had sat down and compared notes.
To their surprise, they had both reached the same conclusion.
The person most likely responsible for emptying both treasuries…
Was probably Su Qingran.
The only problem was—
How had she done it?
Both families had reported the theft to the authorities.
But there was no evidence.
And without evidence, the officials couldn’t issue an arrest warrant.
More importantly, nobody even knew where Su Qingran had gone.
For all they knew, she might not even be alive anymore.
“Why don’t we send people toward Yuzhou and drag that little bitch back?”
Zhu Yunfang suggested through gritted teeth.
“I already sent people.”
“They haven’t returned.”
Su Mingzhi frowned.
In truth, he had dispatched men the very day after Su Qingran left.
The more he thought about it, the more regretful he became.
Three hundred taels of silver.
Just thinking about it made his heart ache.
Yet none of the men he sent had come back.
That was even more frustrating.
“Then let’s keep causing trouble at the Pei Residence!”
“We’ll take it all the way to the Emperor if necessary!”
Zhu Yunfang refused to give up.
“Forget it.”
“The Regent currently controls court affairs.”
“And the government is focused entirely on hunting down Xie Yun.”
“If we make a scene now, we might end up causing ourselves even more trouble.”
Su Mingzhi shook his head.
“That won’t work, and this won’t work.”
“Look at what a Marquis Manor is eating these days!”
Zhu Yunfang complained angrily.
The Pei Residence wasn’t much better.
Looking at the plain, watery food on the table, Li Qiuju had no appetite whatsoever.
She had assumed that after her son achieved scholarly success, she would finally enjoy a luxurious life.
Who would’ve thought things would still be so miserable?
“That little bitch Su Qingran emptied our treasury.”
“Xingzhou, you absolutely must find her and bring her back.”
Li Qiuju fumed.
Pei Xingzhou rubbed his temples.
Finally, he couldn’t endure it any longer.
“Pack your things.”
“Take Cousin Yuyan and return to Suzhou.”
Suzhou was the Pei family’s ancestral home.
Both Li Qiuju and Wen Yuyan had originally come from there.
Li Qiuju stared at him in disbelief.
Her voice immediately rose several octaves.
“What did you say?”
“You’re driving us away?”
Her son had become a successful scholar.
He had secured a prestigious position in the capital.
For the Pei family, this was an extraordinary achievement.
Back in their village, all the women who once argued with Li Qiuju had suddenly begun flattering her.
The Pei family had become the pride of the entire village.
She had come to the capital dreaming of wealth and prestige.
Now her son was telling her to leave?
If she returned home like this, she’d become the laughingstock of the village.
“I won’t go.”
She refused immediately.
“Mother.”
“Do you realize how many of my plans you’ve ruined since coming here?”
Pei Xingzhou pressed his fingers against his forehead.
His disgust toward his own mother had reached its limit.
“I ruined your plans?”
“What plans?”
“Is it because you couldn’t marry that little fox spirit?”
“So now you’re driving me away?”
Li Qiuju immediately turned the conversation toward Su Qingran again.
It was obvious how deeply she hated her.
“If it weren’t for you, the dowry wouldn’t have disappeared.”
Even now, Li Qiuju remained Pei Xingzhou’s prime suspect.
As for Su Qingran…
He believed he understood her well enough.
It was possible the Pingyang Marquis had left her a few methods of protecting herself.
But moving that much wealth?
How could she possibly have accomplished it?
“I never wanted you marrying that little bitch in the first place.”
“Now that she’s gone, even better.”
“I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“Yuyan is wonderful.”
“She’s beautiful, obedient, and one of our own.”
“You two should get married.”
The moment those words left Li Qiuju’s mouth, Pei Xingzhou laughed coldly.
“Mother.”
“Do you know what status I hold now?”
“You want me to make the daughter of an ordinary family my legal wife?”
That single sentence turned Wen Yuyan’s face deathly pale.
She had always believed her cousin had feelings for her.
Otherwise, why did he always side with her whenever she argued with Su Qingran?
Yet now that Su Qingran was gone, he showed absolutely no intention of marrying her.
Worse still—
He openly looked down on her status.
“Then who do you want to marry?”
“Another girl like that Su girl?”
“How is she supposed to serve me properly?”
Li Qiuju asked unhappily.
Her mindset was that of a traditional village woman.
To her, a daughter-in-law existed primarily to serve her mother-in-law.
Naturally, she disliked the idea of her son marrying a noble lady.
Looking at his hopelessly narrow-minded mother, Pei Xingzhou suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
Relatives who offered no help to his political future…
Did they truly need to continue existing?
For the briefest moment, murderous intent appeared in his heart.
Toward both Li Qiuju and Wen Yuyan.
So when his mother finished speaking, he said nothing.
Li Qiuju merely felt pleased with herself.
No matter how successful her son became, she believed he would always remain under her control.
What she didn’t know was that this conversation would be the last one they ever had.
Meanwhile, Su Qingran continued her leisurely journey.
Stopping and starting as she pleased, she eventually reached the city nearest to the capital.
This meant she had finally left the capital’s sphere of influence.
Yet as she approached the city gates, she felt like she had forgotten something important.
What was it?
She drove her carriage forward while thinking carefully.
Then suddenly—
Realization struck.
“Ah.”
She had forgotten to kill that scumbag Pei Xingzhou.
For a brief moment, Su Qingran actually looked annoyed with herself.
How could she have forgotten something so important?