Chapter 17: Looting Her Uncle’s House, Two Cabinets of Land Deeds and Gold Bars

Jing Er’s worries lifted when she saw the note—finally confirming that the young lady was safe. She had come back specifically to ensure Zhizhi’s well-being, and now, seeing that the procession didn’t contain the young lady, her heart slowly settled.

With relief in her chest, Jing Er calmly exited the alley. She blended in with the other market women, carrying her basket and following the procession. Occasionally, she threw an egg or two at Xie Wen Yu, a woman who had once been an enemy of the young lady.

No one suspected she was a young woman in disguise.

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Zhizhi continued her journey into the palace, but along the way, she noticed the doors of her uncle’s residence wide open, with soldiers counting the goods seized from his home.

Her uncle, Xie Xiaohu, had always been cunning, using Zhizhi’s father’s position to secure a minor official post. But as time went on, he grew dissatisfied with his rank and asked for Xie Zongyi’s help in gaining a promotion. However, Xie Zongyi, wary of the emperor, refused to help, causing a severe rift between their families.

Xie Xiaohu, unable to find other means, attached himself to the left prime minister and had risen to the position of a third-rank official, working under the prime minister’s command.

Zhizhi hesitated for half a second. It would be impolite not to visit the residence after passing by, wouldn’t it?

The estate was grand, with soldiers guarding the stone lions at the entrance. Zhizhi wore a playful smile on her lips as she used her spatial ability to slip inside undetected.

She passed through the front hall and headed straight for the back courtyard.

Unlike her father, Xie Xiaohu had not married just one wife—he had taken over twenty concubines, and his children numbered in the dozens. With such a large household, it was inevitable that his wealth came from some unspeakable sources.

Zhizhi’s first stop was the storeroom. She found several soldiers busily moving boxes out of the room, having already cleared out over a dozen. About one-third of the goods remained.

The storeroom was small compared to the one in the General’s residence, and when she looked in from the door, she saw there weren’t many valuable items left. Gold bars and silver jewelry were sparse.

Had she made a mistake?

It seemed that raising over twenty women and thirty children would quickly deplete any wealth, no matter how much one had.

But even a mosquito, no matter how small, was still meat. Everything would eventually end up in the imperial treasury.

And as it happened, Zhizhi had a special place for the treasury—her space.

She thought about it for a moment and decided it would be better to collect the goods early and save the hassle of dealing with the small boxes later.

Yes, that was a good idea.

While the soldiers were busy moving things, Zhizhi used her spatial ability to enter the storeroom openly, with the large square mirror she had placed in the room allowing her to keep watch outside.

She saw over ten boxes filled with gold and silver treasures, along with two boxes of silver ingots. With a thought, each box vanished into her space, leaving nothing but an empty floor.

That’s when her eyes were drawn to a beautifully carved cabinet made of rosewood, standing against the wall of the storeroom. The intricate design indicated that it was worth a great deal.

It was locked, and with soldiers around, Zhizhi couldn’t risk revealing herself. But why not simply take the entire cabinet into her space and unlock it there?

Almost got sidetracked for a moment!

With a thought, the cabinet disappeared from the storeroom, and Zhizhi found herself holding the beautiful piece in front of her. She tugged at the lock with one hand.

The iron lock, of excellent quality, was easily broken into two pieces.

She tossed the lock aside and opened the cabinet. To her surprise, it was filled with land deeds!

“Wow!” Her eyes lit up.

The General’s residence had very few land deeds. Since Xie Zongyi was rarely in the capital, there was no one around to bribe him with land deals. But Xie Xiaohu was a different case.

As a high-ranking official, equivalent to a vice prime minister, Xie Xiaohu had a lot of people seeking his help. It made sense that he could afford to support such a large family.

Zhizhi pulled out a stack of about thirty land deeds, the first one being for a large commercial property in the busiest district of Qizhou. The next deed was for a gambling house. “Heh, a gambling house? With this, I could make a fortune every day!”

She continued flipping through the deeds, amazed at how many properties Xie Xiaohu owned in various cities.

This was wealth beyond imagination.

Even the emperor probably didn’t know about it, or else the Imperial Guards wouldn’t have been dispatched—they would have sent the Imperial Army.

Zhizhi moved on to the next cabinet, where each layer was filled with neatly stacked gold bars, shining with a golden hue.

“Such a beautiful color!”

She smiled as she felt a deep sense of satisfaction, almost affection, for the gold bars. It was as if she had grown up among piles of gold!

When did she develop such a fondness for gold?

Shrugging off the thought, Zhizhi placed the cabinet in her small house. Now, she was off to the study to see if there were any important documents she could find.