Chapter 8: Storage Rings for Her Maternal Family, and First-Tier Protective Jade Tokens

Yun Ruoxi explained,
“Storage rings require a drop of blood to recognize their owner. Once bound, they also have a stealth function—only the owner can see it, and no one can ever steal it.”

Her eldest brother, Yun Ruoyang, stepped forward.
“Let me try it first.”

As he spoke, he drew a dagger and sliced his finger. A drop of blood fell onto the ring and was quickly absorbed.

The silver ring emitted a silvery glow as it accepted his blood. Then, with a faint wobble, it floated into the air and with a soft whoosh, slipped onto his pinky finger.

The ring, now on his hand, shimmered faintly with a silver light.

Yun Ruoxi reminded him,
“Big Brother, try the stealth function.”

Upon hearing this, Yun Ruoyang said aloud,
“Conceal.”

In an instant, the ring vanished.

Everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment as they witnessed this incredible sight.

Yun Ruoyang reached out to feel it with his other hand, but his finger brushed against nothing.
“It really disappeared,” he muttered, “but I can still feel it on my hand.”

The other brothers eagerly stepped forward, exclaiming,
“This is incredible!”

Finally, Yun Ruoxi handed the remaining rings to her grandfather for distribution while she continued retrieving other items from her space.

“Here are ten invisibility talismans. Just tear the paper and stick it on your body to become invisible. The effect lasts for twelve hours—an entire day. These are protective jade tokens, twenty in total. They also require a drop of blood to bind. If the owner is in danger, the jade will automatically activate a protective shield.”

“Ordinary mortal weapons can’t break a defensive jade token, even if it’s only first-tier.”

At this point, no one dared to complain that it was just a first-tier protective item.

Having any spiritual item at all was a blessing—no one would dream of being picky.

If not for Yun Ruoxi’s celestial master, they might never have come into contact with such divine treasures in their lifetime.

Her grandfather looked at everything she had pulled out and smiled warmly.
“We can’t take these from you for nothing, Ruoxi. Everyone, bring out all your silver—give it to her. As for how you make more, that’s up to you.”

Although Yun Ruoxi protested, in the end, she took all of the Duke of England’s available silver and banknotes.

The silver wasn’t a problem, but the banknotes could only be used to their full potential thanks to Mu Ruxue’s system.

“Grandfather, no need to rush. I’ll bring silver notes every day. Please help me convert them to hard silver.”

“That’s a small matter. Your uncle can handle it.”

Everyone clearly understood the logic—
“If war breaks out, silver notes won’t mean much. It’s safer to keep hard silver in hand.”

Grandfather then asked,
“Ruoxi, where do you plan to hide from the war?”

“The place of exile is Lingnan, near the sea. It’s remote and harsh—no one wants to go there. It’s perfect for keeping a low profile.”

“Then I’ll send someone ahead to prepare things in Lingnan. Though the Marquis of Wu’an will still face exile, I’ll make sure the journey is well-arranged—you won’t suffer.”

The eldest uncle added,
“Now that we know who framed the Marquis of Wu’an, we can’t just let them off easily. At the very least, the emperor must learn not to trust them too blindly.”

Yun Ruoxi’s father, Yun Qingyong, followed up,
“He’s right. Embezzling disaster relief funds is a serious crime—it must not fall on your household.”

Yun Ruoxi hesitated,
“But this whole operation was overseen by my father-in-law. How can we possibly clear our name?”

Uncle Yun Qingfeng thought for a moment and asked,
“Didn’t you ransack the Crown Prince’s estate? Did you find any letters or documents in his study?”

His reminder jogged Yun Ruoxi’s memory.
Indeed, she had found many letters while looting the Crown Prince’s residence.

She immediately took them all out—and among them, she found correspondence between the Crown Prince and the Cavalry General.

The letters explicitly detailed the framing scheme and even mentioned the location where the disaster relief silver was hidden.

Her uncle said,
“With these documents, the Marquis of Wu’an might still be accused of mishandling the matter—but it won’t escalate to confiscation and exile.”

“It’s alright,” Yun Ruoxi said. “We just do our best—there’s no need to force anything.”

Though her uncle nodded in agreement on the surface, he already had a plan brewing in his heart.

Seeing that the time was getting late, Yun Ruoxi boarded the Marquis of Wu’an’s carriage and headed back.

As soon as she left, Uncle Yun Qingfeng took the letters and went straight to the palace to report to the emperor.

Back at the Marquis of Wu’an’s residence, Yun Ruoxi’s first question was whether Mu Ruxue had returned.

But she hadn’t, which made Yun Ruoxi a little anxious.

Fortunately, her worry didn’t last long—a quarter of an hour later, Mu Ruxue appeared in her room right on time.

Everyone had already gotten used to it—whenever the First Madam and Second Madam were together, all the servants had to be dismissed, and no one was allowed to wait on them closely.

Seeing the expression on Mu Ruxue’s face, Yun Ruoxi knew right away that her return visit to her maiden home hadn’t gone well.

Sure enough, once the room was empty and only the two of them were left, Mu Ruxue couldn’t hold it in any longer and started cursing furiously.

“Xixi, you don’t even know what kind of faces my family put on! They expect me to soar like a phoenix, but then blame me for not being able to hold a man’s heart.”

“You sure got a lot of feedback. Sounds like you heard plenty of snide remarks today.”

“Didn’t I? Enough about me—what about your visit? Did you get your point across?”

“Of course. With war looming everywhere, even the capital may not be safe.”

“Exactly. Shall we continue later?”

Yun Ruoxi knew she was talking about looting the mansions. “Alright. Let’s get ready—we’ll leave immediately.”

Tonight, they were heading to the Cavalry General’s residence and a few mansions of the Crown Prince’s cronies.

Didn’t matter how big or small the official was—meat is meat, even if it comes from a mosquito. The two of them weren’t picky at all.

They stayed out and hustled for another half the night, returning to the Marquis Wu’an’s estate with plenty of loot.

Since Mu Ruxue and Yun Ruoxi had started living together, not only were they inseparable, they even slept in late together.

No one from Ronghui Hall came to summon them, and in Yun Ruoxi’s courtyard, no one dared to disobey her orders.

Moreover, everyone in the Marquis Wu’an’s estate had been busy for days trying to find out what happened to the male members of the family who were summoned to court. It had been three days with no news, so naturally, people were getting anxious.

Because of that, no one was paying much attention to Yun Ruoxi and Mu Ruxue, giving the two women a lot of freedom.

The next day, they slept in until late morning. After a simple lunch, they asked Nanny Fang, “Nanny Fang, is there any interesting news in the capital today?”

Nanny Fang respectfully replied, “There’s indeed been something strange going on lately. It’s said that both the Prime Minister’s and the Crown Prince’s mansions were robbed, and all their valuables mysteriously disappeared.”

“Well, isn’t that odd…”

Yun Ruoxi ate slowly and calmly, but in her heart, she was already thinking about going out to stock up on supplies again.

However, there were few people she could trust in the Marquis Wu’an’s estate. Although she had brought maidservants as part of her dowry, those dowry maids were essentially concubine material.

She had thought they were loyal, but after just a few days, she noticed the maids had started dressing up—for what purpose, it wasn’t hard to guess.

In such a situation, she couldn’t afford to let them know anything about her plans.

Just then, a servant boy came running in with a message. Nanny Fang went out to ask about it.

“Why are you running like that? Mind your manners—you’ll startle the mistress.”

“Nanny Fang, someone from the Duke of England’s household is at the side gate, asking for the First Madam.”

“Did you see clearly who it was?”

“It’s the Duke’s eldest son, Yun Ruoyang.”

Hearing that it was the First Madam’s elder brother, Nanny Fang was relieved. “Alright, go back. The Madam will be there shortly.”

Nanny Fang returned to the main hall and repeated the servant boy’s message exactly as he had said it.

Yun Ruoxi’s eyes lit up instantly—wasn’t this like someone handing her a pillow right when she was falling asleep?

She had just been fretting over how inconvenient it was for a noblewoman to go out—and now her brother had come.

“Perfect. I’ll go out and see him. Since he didn’t come in to visit, he probably has something to say. No need for anyone to come with me—I’ll be back soon.”

Nanny Fang thought she was just going to speak at the gate, so she nodded in agreement.

As Yun Ruoxi stepped out, she happened to run into Mu Ruxue, who was coming over to mooch another meal.

“Xixi, where are you off to?”

She grabbed Mu Ruxue’s hand and walked with her, saying, “My brother’s here. Let’s talk on the way.”

Mu Ruxue didn’t quite understand, but she still followed her best friend out the door.