This medicinal powder does not need to come into contact with the body.

As long as one inhales its scent, they will lose control.

Let alone with such a strong dose—it would be enough to keep the two of them going until dawn.

After finishing up here, Shen Qingwan headed straight for the Feng family’s storeroom.

She had initially thought the Feng family would have substantial wealth, but after searching the entire warehouse, all she found were two boxes of silver ingots, one box of jewelry, a few dozen somewhat valuable ornaments—nothing comparable to the bandit dens or even the Ning’an Prefecture’s government treasury.

Compared to the wealth of Master Xu, the Feng family’s riches were not even worth mentioning.

In truth, for a small county, the Feng family’s wealth was already impressive.

However, Shen Qingwan had seen grander fortunes, making the Feng family’s possessions seem insignificant.

She waved her hand and emptied the entire storeroom before leaving the Feng estate, heading straight for the county yamen.

She wanted to see exactly how much the county magistrate had received from the Feng family to protect them so fiercely.

As the saying goes, “A clean magistrate after three years in office could amass a fortune of 100,000 taels of silver.”

But in reality, if a magistrate were truly corrupt, 100,000 taels would be just the beginning.

While a county magistrate did not wield as much power as a prefectural governor, they certainly had no qualms about greed, especially in these chaotic times when the imperial court was barely managing to hold itself together.

Local officials had practically become petty tyrants.

When she found the yamen’s storeroom, Shen Qingwan was not disappointed.

The county magistrate was clearly a corrupt man.

The sheer amount of treasures and gold in the warehouse could not have been accumulated in a short time.

If not for bribery and embezzlement, even ten years of an official’s salary would not be enough to buy just one of those antique gold-painted peony vases.

Shen Qingwan didn’t bother examining the loot in detail.

She swiftly stored everything into her secret space and made her way home.

With Master Feng and Zhang Qiao’er taken care of, the matter was now fully resolved.

She had no qualms about accepting the wealth that had essentially been delivered to her doorstep.

Rather than relying on a prefectural governor to back her up, she preferred handling things her own way—avenging both public and private grievances in one go.

While publicly humiliating Zhang Qiao’er might have been satisfying, it was ultimately meaningless.

Shen Qingwan preferred physical punishment over verbal insults.

Zhang Qiao’er probably never imagined that a simple attempt to flaunt her success in her hometown would cost her life.

She had schemed so hard to secure her place in the Feng family.

Initially, she had set her sights on Master Feng’s son, Feng Jinbao, but when he rejected her, she had no choice but to settle for the older Master Feng.

She had merely wanted to show off upon returning to the village, but when she saw Shen Qingwan’s vast landholdings and her newly built grand estate, jealousy consumed her.

Hearing the villagers praise Shen Qingwan made her hate her even more.

Even her own parents constantly spoke highly of Shen Qingwan, which enraged her further. So, she decided to ruin her.

She simply couldn’t stand seeing Shen Qingwan live a better life than her.

To persuade Master Feng to help her deal with Shen Qingwan, who knows how much she had to sacrifice? That old man had tormented her endlessly before finally agreeing to trouble Shen Qingwan.

But greed got the better of him—he had also set his sights on Shen Qingwan’s farmland.

However, that moment of greed didn’t just cost him his life—it also stripped his family of all their wealth.

The next morning, news spread throughout the county that Master Feng had died in the arms of his concubine.

Not only had Master Feng died, but the concubine also perished. When they were discovered, their bodies were still locked together, blood staining the lower half of their bodies.

Their deaths were gruesome, and they could not be separated. Upon witnessing the scene, Lady Feng was so enraged that she fainted.

That wretched woman had actually exhausted her husband to death—how could Lady Feng possibly let Zhang Qiao’er off easily?

She immediately ordered Zhang Qiao’er to be forcibly removed from the corpse, wrapped in a tattered mat, and thrown into the mass grave.

Before the townspeople had even processed the news of Master Feng’s death, another shocking revelation followed—the Feng family had been robbed.

Meanwhile, at the county yamen, the magistrate was so furious upon discovering his storeroom had been looted that he nearly had a stroke.

Fortunately, he was not entirely foolish.

He knew exactly how he had amassed his fortune and dared not make a public outcry.

Out of guilt, he kept the theft at the yamen a secret, but he was convinced that the same group of thieves had robbed both the yamen and the Feng family.

He focused all his efforts on capturing the culprits who had raided the Feng estate.

With the magistrate preoccupied with catching the thieves, he no longer had time to trouble Dahe Village.

Besides, with Master Feng already dead, there was no longer any reason for him to target the village.

None of the remaining members of the Feng family knew about the grudge against Dahe Village, so once Master Feng and Zhang Qiao’er were gone, the matter was laid to rest.

After settling matters in the village, Shen Qingwan instructed the village head to begin digging cellars for storing sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.

Once harvested, the crops could be safely stored underground.

With the village affairs left in the capable hands of the village head and Lu Wenguang, Shen Qingwan had nothing to worry about, so she returned to the city.

As soon as she arrived at her shop, she unexpectedly ran into someone—Zhao Jing’er. Her maid stood beside her, holding a food box, clearly here to visit.

“Master Shen,” Zhao Jing’er greeted her with a graceful bow as soon as she saw her return.

Ever since their last encounter, she had developed an admiration for Shen Qing.

Moreover, her parents also spoke highly of Shen Qing, so Zhao Jing’er decided to take the initiative.

As for the War King, she had already given up.

He was a man she could never have.

Instead, if she could spend her life with someone as outstanding as Shen Qing, she was more than willing.

“Miss Zhao, what brings you here?” Shen Qingwan returned the bow but maintained a cold and unapproachable demeanor.

Zhao Jing’er lightly bit her lip, hesitating as though she wanted to speak but was too shy.

Shen Qingwan was completely puzzled—what was wrong with this girl?

Taking the food box from her maid, Zhao Jing’er stepped forward and said, “After dining with Master Shen last time, I found you to be witty and refined. I couldn’t help but wish to befriend you. My father also thinks highly of you and hopes we can interact more. I happened to make some osmanthus cakes today, so I thought I would bring them to you.”

Witty and refined?

Was she sure she was talking about Shen Qingwan?

She was still a little bewildered.

Although she had no intention of getting close to Zhao Jing’er, she also wouldn’t rudely turn her away. After all, hospitality mattered.

Just as she was about to invite Zhao Jing’er inside—out of the corner of her eye—she spotted Jin Qianqian standing nearby.

Jin Qianqian clutched her handkerchief tightly, her expression filled with resentment as she stared at Shen Qingwan.

A strange sense of being “caught red-handed” washed over her.

Seeing Shen Qingwan notice her, Jin Qianqian finally walked toward them.

Zhao Jing’er also noticed Jin Qianqian approaching.

Knowing that Shen Qing was collaborating with the Jin family to distribute porridge, she assumed they were acquainted. So, she greeted first:

“Miss Jin, what brings you here?”