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Knowing that Wen Changding would fetch her mother’s dowry chest tonight, Wen Nuan kept a vigilant ear on the sounds outside.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Without a watch, she couldn’t tell the exact hour, only that the night outside had fully descended into darkness.
“Creak.”
A faint sound of a door opening reached her ears.
Tap, tap. The footsteps were light, but with her heightened senses, Wen Nuan caught them clearly.
The steps stopped right outside her door. Wen Nuan slowed her breathing, feigning the deep stillness of sleep.
“Creeeak…”
The sound of the door being opened, slow and deliberate, filled the room.
Wen Nuan caught a faint whiff of motor oil, instantly recognizing that the intruder was Wen Changming. Her fists tightened instinctively under the blanket, but her face remained calm as she continued pretending to sleep.
Wen Changming lingered in her room for two to three minutes, likely ensuring that she was truly asleep before turning and leaving.
True to his meticulous nature, Wen Changming restored the door to its original state after stepping out. Not only that, Wen Nuan clearly heard the sound of the lock clicking shut from the outside.
“Click… click…”
What a careful man! Wen Changming wasn’t content just confirming that she was asleep; he even locked the door from the outside.
Fortunately, there was still the small window. Wen Nuan’s slim figure and petite frame allowed her to slip through it with ease.
Climbing out of the kitchen, Wen Nuan noticed that the courtyard was now empty, with no sign of Wen Changming. She deliberately went to check Tan Xiulian and Wen Qing’s room, only to find their door locked from the outside as well.
Wen Nuan let out a mocking laugh. In this regard, Wen Changming truly lived up to the principles of fairness and equality—locking everyone up without exception!
She stepped outside and hurried to the alleyway. At the crossroads just beyond, there was no trace of Wen Changming. Being a moment too late left her feeling a pang of frustration.
Just as Wen Nuan furrowed her brow in annoyance, she faintly caught the sound of soft, hurried footsteps.
Perking up her ears, she strained to listen. It was late—so late that, apart from the moonlight, not a single house had its lights on. The entire street was shrouded in silence, confirming that the night was indeed far advanced.
Glancing up at the moon hanging high in the sky, Wen Nuan moved swiftly toward the direction of the sound.
Though her pace was quick, she kept her movements light and cautious. Her soft-soled shoes ensured that her steps made almost no noise, allowing her to follow without alerting her target.
Wen Nuan pursued Wen Changming all the way to a secluded alley, only to lose sight of him once more. However, just then, she faintly heard the sound of digging.
Digging in the middle of the night?
Wen Nuan was skeptical but cautiously approached. Peeking through a crack in the gate, she clearly saw the person’s face—it was none other than Wen Changming.
Stepping back a few paces, Wen Nuan surveyed the surroundings of the courtyard. To her surprise, this was her late grandfather’s old home.
The place had been abandoned for years. The walls and buildings were in various states of disrepair, exuding an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.
For Wen Changming to bury the dowry chest here meant that the property deeds for this courtyard were likely in his possession as well.
Wen Nuan bypassed the main gate and slipped through a collapsed hole in the rear wall. Wen Changming, engrossed in digging, remained oblivious to the quiet movements behind him.
Hiding in the shadows, Wen Nuan kept a close watch on his every move.
After half an hour, Wen Changming finally unearthed a rectangular wooden box.
The box was wrapped in oilpaper. When he peeled off the layer, Wen Nuan immediately recognized it—this was her mother’s dowry chest!
She watched as Wen Changming opened the box, his rough hands repeatedly rubbing against the official seals inside.
“My treasures, bear with that wretched girl for one more day. By tomorrow night, I’ll bring you back where you belong!”
In the pitch-dark night, under the cold, pale moonlight, Wen Changming’s face took on a sinister appearance, his eyes brimming with greed and malice.
Even though Wen Nuan had mentally prepared herself, witnessing this scene sent a shiver down her spine.
So this is Wen Changming’s true nature!
After staring greedily at the “treasures” for a while, Wen Changming finally seemed satisfied. He placed the chest carefully on the ground beside him and began refilling the hole he had just dug.
Knowing Wen Changming’s suspicious nature, Wen Nuan quietly returned to the Wen household while he was still busy refilling the hole.
Now that she had confirmed the location of his hidden “treasures,” there was no need to linger any longer.
As expected, about half an hour later, Wen Changming’s first move upon returning home was to check each room one by one.
Watching his retreating figure, Wen Nuan instinctively let out a sigh of relief. She waited a little longer, not acting until she was sure he had fallen asleep, his snores echoing through the house.
With her mother’s dowry chest likely to be handed over to her the next day—at least for show—the immediate priority was retrieving the other items buried in the Qi family courtyard.
Fortunately, the effects of the energy pill hadn’t worn off yet. Otherwise, with so much physical exertion tonight, Wen Nuan might have struggled to keep up.
She bolted the door from the inside and climbed back out through the small window. Only after leaving the Wen family courtyard did she pick up her pace, her footsteps quick and light.
It wasn’t long before she reached the Qi family courtyard. However, instead of immediately starting to dig, she headed straight into the main house.
Her instincts told her that the items she was looking for were hidden inside.
The room contained only two or three pieces of broken wooden furniture lying haphazardly on the floor. The wall paintings and picture frames were shattered and decayed.
Before she turned eight—back when her mother was still alive—her mother would often bring her to play at her grandfather’s home. She distinctly remembered one time when she accidentally bumped into the wall…
Thinking back, Wen Nuan’s eyes lit up. Why hadn’t she realized this in her previous life? Before her death, her mother had already left her a hint.
Wen Nuan walked to the spot where she had once hit her head and began tapping on the bricks one by one. Starting from the ground, she counted up to the third brick, noticing something unusual.
Three on the left, four on the right. She knocked three times on one side and four on the other, and suddenly, a sound came from the ground.
About a meter away, a hidden opening appeared in the floor. Wen Nuan walked over to examine it—it was an entrance to a cellar.
The mechanism was ingeniously designed. Wen Nuan descended through the opening. The cellar wasn’t very large, but inside, it was filled with dozens of long redwood boxes, each over a meter in length.
Opening them one by one, she was momentarily blinded by the dazzling sight. Boxes brimming with glittering gold ingots, radiant jewelry, and shimmering gemstones—each piece was a treasure, rare and exquisite beyond measure.
Wen Nuan couldn’t even begin to fathom the true extent of the Qi family’s wealth. With a wave of her small hand, she swiftly stored everything into her hidden space.
As soon as Wen Nuan exited the cellar, the entrance seamlessly closed behind her, leaving no trace of its existence.
She wasn’t sure whether Wen Changming was aware of the cellar’s presence. However, Wen Nuan guessed that he likely didn’t know.
Or perhaps he had his suspicions but hadn’t been able to locate the entrance, which might explain why he chose to bury the dowry chest in the courtyard and keep the Qi family’s property deeds tightly in his grasp.
But no matter whether he knew or not, it didn’t matter now. The items were in Wen Nuan’s hands, and Wen Changming could forget about them completely.
Walking into the courtyard, Wen Nuan picked up a pickaxe and began digging. Since Wen Changming had already dug a hole earlier, the dirt came off with ease.
Wen Nuan swung her shoulder and continued to dig outward, eventually reaching the items buried deeper by Wen Changming. Two redwood boxes were immediately placed into her hidden space.
Even though she had taken a strength-enhancing pill, which gave her five times her usual strength, she still couldn’t move the two large boxes.
Climbing out of the pit, Wen Nuan, with a sense of twisted amusement, refilled the hole. It was easy to imagine how Wen Changming would react when he found the items missing—he would surely fly into a rage.
After filling the hole, Wen Nuan took the two boxes out of her hidden space again. Opening them, she found the contents were all familiar items she had seen when she was young at her grandfather’s house.
There were jade ornaments, antique collectibles, and calligraphy and paintings. The rest were gold bars. Compared to the items in the cellar, these things seemed insignificant. It was no wonder Wen Changming was so fixated on the rumored treasure.