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After finishing her speech, she weakly shut the window and then deliberately let out a few harsh coughs. The people outside were left trembling with fear, terrified she’d cough up her lungs, liver, and intestines.
Jiang Wei’s heartfelt words were like salt rubbed into Shen Peirong’s wounds. Overwhelmed by guilt over her favoritism, she asked, “Was I too harsh on your little sister?”
With the wealth of the Shen and Jiang families, they could have easily bought a house in the city and hired servants to care for the second daughter. But somehow, Shen Peirong had fallen into a trance and thrown her into the countryside instead.
“Mother, you’re overthinking. You’ve always treated my sister and me the same. It’s me, the elder sister, who’s been lacking. I’ll go ask the kitchen to prepare something for her right now.”
Jiang Yan clenched her teeth in frustration. She had worked so hard to make Shen Peirong obedient again, and yet Jiang Wei managed to sway her heart with just a few pitiful words.
Luckily, Jiang Wei—who had had her fortune stolen—looked far weaker now. With her current frail condition, even if she married Gu Ting, who knows who would die first?
Late at night.
“Huh? Why did the oil lamp go out?” Jiang Dahai relit the lamp, then groped his way to the massive parasol tree in the backyard.
A hole the size of a washbasin was revealed at the base of the tree.
Jiang Dahai crawled into it, and after a long passage, he arrived at a deep pool and jumped in.
Plop. As he resurfaced, a bubble rose from the pool.
Something was wrong—he had the feeling he was being followed. Wherever he walked, so did the other person. When he stopped, they did too. Could it be Shen Zhennan’s spirit?
Panicking, Jiang Dahai dove to the bottom of the pool. He found a massive stone gate, which opened with a rumble.
Behind it was another long hallway. At the end were dozens of giant iron chests.
Each chest was big enough to fit two adults and was locked with 20 separate locks.
Jiang Dahai pulled a key from a pocket in his underwear and unlocked a chest with just one lock.
Inside, he retrieved a chain of keys.
Then he moved on to open another chest.
Inside, it was packed with pure gold and silver.
Jiang Dahai grabbed a gold ingot and bit down—breaking half a tooth in the process—but burst out laughing. “Shen Zhennan, you always said I was stupid, but the real fool was you! Once I found out about the Gu family’s situation, I moved all our assets here. I’ll wait until I get the inheritance you left for Shen Peirong and Jiang Wei, and then I’ll take my beloved woman and daughter far away to Hong Kong, where I’ll build my own empire! Hahaha…”
After a while, Jiang Dahai realized that if Shen Peirong woke up and found him missing, she might get suspicious—so he left the way he came.
But no sooner had he walked away than the dozens of iron chests vanished into thin air, leaving only thousands of keys scattered on the ground.
Jiang Wei stared at the mountain of iron chests inside her personal dimension, grinning so wide her face nearly twisted.
While Jiang Dahai was ranting, she had used her X-Ray Vision skill to scan all the contents of the chests.
Aside from a ridiculous amount of gold and silver jewelry, there were even guns.
She bundled the jewelry together with Shen Peirong’s hidden stash.
As for the guns, she’d save them for the right time—to offer them to the state.
Just as she was about to leave, her Wealth-Attracting Stone tugged at her.
More gold nearby?
Jiang Wei followed the stone out of the vault and walked until she reached a separate courtyard.
A large truck was parked out front, and several people were carrying items from the house into the truck.
They took everything—smashed the worthless stuff and axed apart anything they couldn’t move.
The leader had a sinister expression. “Old Commander, don’t blame me. You ruined your own family by choosing the wrong side. I’m just following orders from above. They told me what to do, and I’m doing it.”
“Out of respect for my history with Gu Ting, I left him a wedding bride—maybe she’ll leave him a child before he dies.”
“Since it’s a celebratory marriage, we’ll let you stay in the city for two more weeks. After that, everyone must be sent to the countryside to join the labor farms.”
“Little Huo, thank you on my husband’s behalf. Thank him for pleading for me. Don’t worry—I’ll behave and reform myself in the countryside.”
“That’s how it should be.” The tall man with long limbs boarded the truck.
As the truck drove off swiftly—
The driver commented, “Weird, the truck feels so light tonight.”
The man gave him a side glance. “After kicking out the Gu family, how could I not feel lighter?”
“Haha, you’re right!”
“Heh.” Jiang Wei, who had almost finished emptying the truck, let out a cold chuckle. Of course it felt light—it was already emptied out!
“Someone’s on the truck!”
The driver slammed the brakes.
The man jumped into the back of the truck, pistol ready, scanning the empty cargo bed in disbelief.
They’d taken at least half a truckload of stuff from the Gu family, yet now it was completely empty.
Who dared to steal right under his nose?
“If I find the one who stole from me, they’re dead!”
Meanwhile, Jiang Wei had already hopped off and made a face at the truck. Bleh!
Stealing? She was Gu Ting’s fiancée. Receiving her dowry early didn’t count as stealing, thank you very much.
But since that guy named Huo brought up theft… maybe it was time to add the Huo family to her list of things to clear out.
Huo Qi—the biggest male villain in the novel’s political plot—loved stealing everything from the male lead.
He was also one of the key players in getting the Gu family exiled.
Huo Qi would do anything, eat anything, cross any line. Morals? Nonexistent. The man was pure scum and a danger to society.
So Jiang Wei added Huo Qi to the exile list too.
The more, the merrier.
As if driven by instinct, Jiang Wei snuck back to the Gu household to eavesdrop.
Cough, cough, cough. Inside, Gu Ting was coughing his lungs out.
Jiang Wei felt so uncomfortable listening to it, she wanted to shove some medicine into his mouth to shut him up.
“We’re in this state now… will Miss Jiang still agree to marry into our family?” cried Mother Gu, sniffling.
“What choice does she have?” said Father Gu bitterly. “Not only is she already engaged to Gu Ting, but the marriage itself was arranged by the higher-ups—to ensure the Gu family has an heir.”
“Oh, my poor, pitiful son…” Mother Gu sobbed again at her sickly boy.
Gu Ting, breathing heavily, said, “Father, Mother—no matter her reason for marrying into our family, don’t say too much around her. And never let her handle the family’s affairs or assets.”
Mother Gu didn’t understand. “Why would she have any hidden intentions?”
Sigh. One marriage, ruining two young people.
Gu Ting said no more.
Outside the window, Jiang Wei frowned.
With her multiple transmigration experiences, she could tell—Gu Ting’s words had hidden meaning.
Could it be… Gu Ting had been reborn too?
But if he was reborn, wouldn’t the first thing he’d do be to eliminate the true villain who ruined the Gu family?
Eventually, Jiang Wei came to one terrifying conclusion:
Gu Ting hadn’t killed her yet only because he was too ill to move.
His plan must be to marry her first… and then kill her!
Wait, no—Gu Ting was the male lead. He’d definitely stay pure for the female lead. So he wouldn’t do the first part.
On her way home, Jiang Wei mulled over this whole mess—and while she was at it, she also looted all of Jiang Yan’s newly bought clothes, jewelry, bed, and wardrobe.
The next morning, Jiang Yan woke up, looked around her completely empty room, and screamed from the depths of her soul:
“FATHER! MOTHER! THERE’S A THIEF IN MY ROOM AGAIN!”