Chapter 2: She Emptied the Imperial Kitchen

Bang!

“Hey, why are you so clumsy? We’re here to steal, do you understand stealing? Be quieter!”

“Oh, oh!”

A petite woman, draped in a makeshift black nightgown fashioned from a cold palace curtain, carefully navigated the heavily guarded palace.

Cough, wrong. It was completely above board.

Because…

“Xiaodu, this invisibility cloak is amazing! Look, I’m walking right past them, and they can’t see me!”

Xiaodu: Of course it’s amazing! It shamelessly borrowed it from the mall. It’s a standard item in the immortal cultivation interface. Not only can people not see you, even hunting dogs can’t smell you!

Of course, borrowed things eventually need to be returned!

This is probably the only benefit after losing contact with the host!

Buying things from the system mall doesn’t require following the rules for new users; you can choose to try it out and pay only if you’re satisfied!

No supervision!

Exploiting this loophole, it selected some usable items from those offering trials and borrowed them. It planned to return them after use…

Although this is a bit underhanded, it doesn’t have any points yet. Once it accumulates enough points, it will buy them…

Of course, this can’t be said to the little girl!

“Remember, this cloak needs to be paid for. Once we’re there, you need to actively do tasks and earn points to pay it back!”

As for the Yao Fei system, in places without an emperor, how to do tasks needs further investigation for any loopholes…

“Don’t worry, I know. Leave it to me!”

Oh dear, just mentioning it, why is there so much worry?

“According to the scan, this should be one of the outer imperial kitchens. Go in quickly and take whatever you can eat or use…”

The palace of Dayan mainly has two types of kitchens. One is called the outer imperial kitchen, which has the largest food reserves. It’s responsible for providing food to the palace servants, guards, and ministers. It’s also used for annual celebrations, banquets, and festivals.

There are three outer imperial kitchens, located in the front court, the middle palace, and the rear court of the palace.

The other is the inner imperial kitchen, which is specifically for the emperor and his concubines. It has fewer dishes but a greater variety, including many delicacies.

The one they are targeting now is the one responsible for the sixteen palaces in the rear court, including the cold palace.

“Oh! Got it, Xiaodu!”

The petite woman strode confidently into the outer imperial kitchen, evaded the night watchman eunuch, and emerged with a sack on her back.

“Whew! Xiaodu, there’s so much delicious food in the imperial kitchen! I wanted to take it all, but I realized it’s more practical to take only the essentials. So I brought a sack of steamed buns. It’ll last me for many days. Am I clever?”

Hidden behind a water jar next to the imperial kitchen, the woman carefully tucked the sack of buns under her invisibility cloak. Otherwise, a sack suddenly appearing in the dark night would be another supernatural event.

Xiaodu…

So practical!

Oh right, I forgot a very important item!

“That, Wanru, I forgot to tell you, I have a system-provided space, and it’s now bound to you. The space is naturally yours to use. You don’t need to carry things yourself. Just think about the space, and it will store it…”

Wanru’s big, round eyes widened in surprise!

Thinking of the space, a square, empty space indeed appeared in her mind!

She silently chanted, ‘Store!’

The buns that were just in her hand appeared in a corner of the space!

Wanru gasped in amazement. It’s so amazing!!

She silently chanted ‘Retrieve,’ and the sack reappeared at her feet…

She stood up abruptly, looking at the vast outer imperial kitchen, then at the residences of the concubines and the emperor…

Her eyes widened,

Her eyes shone brightly!

“That stinky emperor! He imprisoned me and even tried to kill me! What does that treacherous minister’s rebellion have to do with me? Just you wait!! I’ll empty your house!!” The petite woman clenched her fists, making a bold declaration.

“Who? Who’s there?”

Oh no, she shouted in excitement!

She quickly crouched down, hiding again behind the water jar, not daring to breathe.

Xiaodu…

So tired!

Soon, the sound of orderly footsteps approached, passing in front of Wanru’s hiding place. The door to the imperial kitchen was forcefully pushed open, startling the night watchman eunuch who rolled up from the corner.

He looked dumbfounded at the ten guards who entered and inspected the imperial kitchen. Seeing nothing unusual, they instructed him to guard the door and lock it.

The eunuch nodded and bowed, sending them away, then he muttered and closed the door carelessly, curling back up in the corner to continue his nap.

The sixteen palaces in the rear court were, frankly, all neglected, and only common ingredients were stored there.

Who would bother to come here to poison anything?

There’s only one eunuch on duty, isn’t there?

As for thieves, he’d never seen one in all his years. Who would dare steal from the imperial kitchen…

The eunuch, dozing with his eyes closed, didn’t notice the imperial kitchen door open and close again.

First, in the food storage room, the thousand catties of rice, flour, and grains that had just been stored in the evening, enough for all the palace servants and low-ranking concubines in the sixteen palaces for two days, disappeared without a sound!

Then, the various fruits, vegetables, eggs, oil, salt, soy sauce, and condiments in the vegetarian storehouse vanished silently!

Leaving the storehouse, the various half-used oil, salt, soy sauce, and condiments on the stove, along with the extra ordinary cakes, buns, and sugar cakes made during the day, were not spared!

The broth simmering on a low fire all night, made from old hen and pork bones, disappeared along with the pot!

The various cleavers, kitchen knives, boning knives, and spatulas on the stove were also taken, three sets of each!

She lightly opened the door to the utensil storage room and took a stack of each type of porcelain bowl, plate, and basin!

Isn’t that place poor? The bowls here are not valuable, so there’s no need to take too many!

Wait, I’ll get more gold and silver bowls from the imperial kitchen in the front court. Selling them should fetch a good price!

After collecting the usable utensils,

She went to the ice cellar where the meat was stored and swept away the thousands of catties of beef, mutton, pork, chicken, duck, goose, and various fish!

By now, she had basically gone through this outer imperial kitchen, taking everything she found desirable.

The next target was the outer imperial kitchen in the inner palace and the inner imperial kitchen, which prepared meals for the emperor, empress, and important concubines…

And the emperor and concubines’ private treasury…

Although she most wanted to empty the national treasury, such an important place would be heavily guarded and full of traps!

She wasn’t confident enough to empty the national treasury…