This item was no ordinary object.
In the Southern Yue Dynasty, firearms like this were extremely rare and possessed tremendous destructive power.
“Luoyun, I know you have a way to hide things. Put this somewhere safe immediately. We may need it later.”
Lan Luoyun never expected Lin Nancheng to know she could hide things.
Has he already discovered my secret space?
That can’t be right. I’ve never told anyone about it!
The thought flashed through her mind.
But there was no point dwelling on it now.
Stockpiling supplies and staying alive came first.
Taking the firelock musket from Lin Nancheng’s hands, she casually tucked it into her robes and sent it into her storage space.
Lin Nancheng stared in disbelief.
She had simply hidden it inside her clothes.
That didn’t make sense.
The room had been filled with items earlier, and now they had all vanished.
Were they all hidden in her robes?
Or was it some kind of magic?
Originally, he had wanted to test her a little and figure out where all the missing items had gone.
If the hiding place wasn’t secure, he needed to make preparations.
But he had never expected her to hide the musket so casually.
Without thinking, he stepped forward and reached out as if to check.
The instant his hand moved, he realized what he was doing.
His face immediately turned bright red.
The awkwardness between them reached a new level.
After all, they had not seen each other for two years.
Now, moments after reuniting, he had nearly reached into her robes.
Even Lan Luoyun was almost scared speechless.
“I… I’m going to rest for a while.”
She quickly found an excuse to escape the situation.
Returning to the bed, she lay down.
Of course, she wasn’t actually sleepy.
Not only was the family facing confiscation tomorrow, but she had already spent most of the day unconscious and had only awakened in the evening.
There was no chance she could sleep now.
The twins were fast asleep, leaving only her and Lin Nancheng in the room.
If she didn’t pretend to sleep, she had no idea how to handle the awkward atmosphere.
So she closed her eyes and feigned slumber while her mind raced.
“Then I’ll organize these things first. You should get some rest.”
Lin Nancheng’s voice sounded beside her.
But Lan Luoyun barely heard him.
Her thoughts were in complete chaos.
Meanwhile, Lin Nancheng sorted through several old cotton-padded coats lying on the floor.
They would certainly need them tomorrow.
Although the coats looked shabby on the outside, the lining felt surprisingly soft and warm.
Some time later, Lan Luoyun pretended to wake up.
Seeing that Lin Nancheng was still busy, she sat up.
“I’ll help you.”
People whose property had been confiscated certainly wouldn’t be allowed to wear luxurious silks and brocades anymore.
Earlier, she had specifically selected several old cotton garments from storage to keep them warm during exile.
If everything were hidden in her space, it would be difficult to take them out openly later.
By the time they finished organizing their things, dawn was beginning to break.
The twins woke up as well.
When they saw Lin Nancheng, both children looked uncertain.
After all, he had already left for Beixing several months before they were born.
This was the first time they had ever met their father.
Seeing this, Lan Luoyun smiled.
“Dabao, Erbao, this is your father. Come on, call him Daddy.”
The twins stared at him with their big round eyes.
Then, in sweet little voices, they called out:
“Daddy!”
The moment Lin Nancheng heard them, his heart nearly melted.
He immediately stepped forward and scooped both children into his arms.
“Come here. Let Daddy see how much you’ve grown.”
“Have you been listening to your mother’s words at home?”
Watching the father and children get along so naturally, Lan Luoyun finally relaxed.
She had worried that the twins might be afraid of a stranger.
Apparently, blood ties truly were something special.
Just as the three of them were laughing together, a loud commotion erupted outside.
It seemed the rest of the family had discovered that the residence had been emptied overnight.
“Luoyun, go check the front courtyard first. See if the officials have arrived to confiscate the property.”
“I’ll help the children get dressed and follow shortly.”
At that moment, Lin Nancheng’s greatest concern was still his two children.
“Alright. I’ll go take a look.”
In truth, Lan Luoyun knew exactly what was happening.
It was still barely dawn.
The confiscation officers wouldn’t arrive this early.
But she couldn’t tell Lin Nancheng that.
If he learned too much at once, what if he started viewing her as some kind of monster?
When she arrived at the main hall, nearly the entire family had already gathered there.
The servants were kneeling throughout the courtyard.
“Father! Mother! What are we going to do?”
“Which damned thief stole everything from our house?”
“Mother, all the dowry you’ve been preparing for me is gone! How am I supposed to get married now?”
The loudest cries belonged to Lin Yaru.
Lan Luoyun strongly suspected that the incident which caused the original owner to faint yesterday had been her doing.
Lin Yaru was Lin Yixiao’s legitimate daughter, born to his legal wife, Su Yuping.
Spoiled since childhood, she was arrogant, unreasonable, and accustomed to getting her way.
She had also bullied the original owner countless times.
Unfortunately, the original Lan Luoyun had been too timid and gullible to resist.
But the current Lan Luoyun was a different story.
Sooner or later, she would settle accounts with Lin Yaru.
Perhaps because the entire house had been robbed and Lin Yaru kept wailing nonstop, even Prime Minister Lin was reaching the limit of his patience.
“Stop crying!”
“All you ever do is cry!”
“At a time like this, you’re still worrying about your dowry?”
“The entire family is in chaos, and you’re thinking about marriage?”
Lin Yixiao roared angrily.
This daughter gave him endless headaches.
Though she was a legitimate daughter, she possessed none of the dignity expected of one.
She spent her days scheming against others.
Even the daughters born to concubines were more sensible.
She was practically a copy of Su Yuping.
Lin Yixiao had spent his life as an honest and upright official.
Yet the wife he married was sharp-tongued and petty.
Worse still, she had raised both their son and daughter into constant sources of trouble.
At that moment, Lin Yixiao suddenly thought of the son he was most proud of.
Lin Nancheng.
Looking around, he realized he hadn’t seen him.
Turning toward Concubine Chu, Lin Nancheng’s birth mother, he asked,
“Nancheng returned to the capital yesterday. Why hasn’t he come yet today?”
“I’ll send a maid to fetch him immediately.”
Seeing a maid heading in her direction, Lan Luoyun quickly stepped aside.
At that moment, the elderly matriarch finally spoke.
“What is there to fetch that unfilial brat for?”
The Old Madam had always disliked Concubine Chu.
Naturally, she disliked Lin Nancheng as well.
If not for her fear that her biological grandson would suffer in Beixing, she never would have allowed Lin Nancheng to be registered under Su’s name and become the family’s second legitimate son.
What a muddle-headed old woman.
Lan Luoyun silently mocked her.
After the maid left, she slipped into her storage space while invisible.
When she emerged again, she was already back in her own courtyard.
The front hall had become complete chaos.
She had no intention of involving herself in that mess.
Nor did she want Lin Nancheng to go there right now.
Entering the room, she found him preparing to take the twins to the main hall.
“Nancheng, the confiscation officers haven’t arrived.”
“The house was robbed. Everything is gone.”
The calm way she said it struck Lin Nancheng as strange.
Ever since returning last night, he had felt that Lan Luoyun was different from the woman he had left behind two years ago.
Yet he couldn’t quite explain why.
First she had warned him that the family would soon be confiscated.
Then overnight, the entire residence had been cleaned out.
The more he thought about it, the more he suspected the two events were connected.
And somehow, Lan Luoyun seemed to be at the center of it all.
Yet he had clearly watched her simply tuck things into her robes.
Could there really be some secret hidden there?
Still, as long as she had no ill intentions toward him or the children, he didn’t intend to pry.
After all, even if the property hadn’t been stolen, it would have been confiscated by the government and sent to the imperial treasury.
The outcome was the same.
Just then, the noise outside grew even louder.
This time there were not only shouts—
There were cries and screams as well.
It seemed that what was destined to happen had finally arrived.