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Tingxue Pavilion used to be Third Concubine’s courtyard, so most of the things in the storeroom had been left by her.
The original host had not been favored, and over the years hadn’t acquired much. The only valuable thing was a box of cash in her boudoir, saved up bit by bit.
She had been too frugal to spend her monthly allowance, and had only managed to save about two hundred yuan.
The shelves in the storeroom were filled with rows of wooden crates, mostly containing plain cotton fabric and out-of-season clothes.
Though these weren’t worth much, Liu Shuning still stored them all in her system space.
In this era of scarcity, even old clothes were precious to ordinary people.
Once she returned to the countryside, she could give the clothes to those in need.
[Host, host, there’s something good underground.]
Could there be a hidden chamber below? Who put it there? Was it the original host’s biological mother?
Third Concubine had always been a mystery in the Liu family—could her identity have been unusual?
“Can you scan and help me locate the entrance?”
[The entrance is in the corner right in front of you.]
Liu Shuning carefully moved the wooden crates in the corner and discovered a keyhole in the wall.
Why did this keyhole look so familiar?
Oh! It looked exactly like the shape on the pendant she wore around her neck.
Could her necklace be the key?
Since Chuntao was still outside, she would wait until tomorrow to send her away before checking out the secret room.
Liu Shuning moved the crates back to their original position and left the storeroom. She would come back later tonight after she finished gathering the rest of the Liu family’s valuables.
At the same time, in the main kitchen at the other end of the Liu residence…
The servants preparing dinner finally discovered that the food and grain in the cellar had vanished.
“Butler Liu, what should we do? The grain and ingredients in the cellar are missing. They were still there when we cooked lunch!”
“Go send someone to buy what we need for today from outside. I’ll report this to the master and we’ll deal with it later.”
A theft of this scale couldn’t be kept under wraps. As soon as Butler Liu heard the news, he immediately reported it to Liu Zhixiong.
But there were no clues left behind in the cellar. Liu Zhixiong was too busy liquidating family assets, and after a brief investigation with no results, he gave up on the matter.
Most of the Liu family’s wealth had already been sold off, but for safety, more guards were arranged to patrol day and night.
When night fell and Chuntao was fast asleep, Liu Shuning changed into black clothing and quietly slipped out of her room.
Tingxue Pavilion was quite far from the main courtyard. It took her over ten minutes to reach Qingfeng Courtyard, and along the way she passed several patrolling servants.
Qingfeng Courtyard was where Liu Zhixiong worked, and where his private treasury was kept.
Using her invisibility skill, Liu Shuning confidently walked straight into Qingfeng Courtyard.
Inside the study, Liu Zhixiong was discussing the family’s departure plans with his eldest son, Liu Yuchen.
“Father, are we really going to marry off all three of my sisters? Isn’t marrying Fifth Sister to a country bumpkin a waste? Why can’t we bring her with us to Hong Kong?”
“Don’t underestimate the Lu family. Though they’re from the countryside, back when he was still healthy, Lu saved a lot of people—many of whom are now in influential positions. Huaguo is still our homeland. Once we return, the Lu family could become our strongest backing.”
Liu Zhixiong was a little disappointed in Liu Yuchen. His eldest son was short-sighted and only cared about immediate benefits. Fortunately, his second and third sons, though born to concubines, were much more capable in both business and other affairs.
“But we could’ve married off Third Sister instead. The Chen family only works for us—it’s a huge loss for us. Plus, Fifth Sister is so beautiful. If we brought her to Hong Kong, she’d be a huge asset.”
Just thinking about his ethereal Fifth Sister being married off to some peasant made Liu Yuchen frustrated. He couldn’t understand what his father was thinking.
“I make the decisions about your sisters’ marriages. You just focus on your own business. You have so many concubines at home—hurry up and send them away. We don’t even have enough boat tickets. You’re only allowed to take your wife with you.”
Liu Zhixiong was very displeased with how many concubines Liu Yuchen had—he himself didn’t even have half as many women as his son.
“Got it…” Liu Yuchen replied grudgingly.
“It’s late. Go get some rest.”
After Liu Yuchen left, Liu Zhixiong turned and headed to Eighth Concubine’s courtyard.
Liu Shuning, watching the two men walk off, flipped them both off with her middle finger.
Pah! They all just wanted to sell off their daughters and sisters for personal gain.
Since they’d already sold her off, she wasn’t going to be polite about taking her interest back.
As for that husband she hadn’t met yet, well… if it worked out, fine. If not, divorce was always an option.
Liu Shuning took out a piece of iron wire and easily unlocked the study door. She had spent a long time in her previous life learning how to pick locks.
Back then, her dad used to ground her brother all the time, so she had learned lockpicking just to break him out. She wondered if her brother cried when she died.
The study was filled with sealed boxes—all likely prepared by Liu Zhixiong to be taken on their escape.
“System, can you help me swap out the contents of these boxes without breaking the seals?”
[Yes.]
“Then swap everything in the boxes with an equal weight of sweet potatoes or potatoes—the ones I collected from the cellar earlier.”
As soon as she finished speaking, stacks of U.S. dollars and gold bars appeared in her system space.
Meanwhile, several hundred pounds of sweet potatoes and potatoes disappeared from her farm warehouse.
She wondered how Liu Zhixiong and his family would react when they opened their boxes and found potatoes instead of gold.
After clearing out Qingfeng Courtyard, Liu Shuning moved on to Fuxiang Courtyard, where Lady Wu lived. Fortunately, Lady Wu had already gone to sleep, making it easier for Liu Shuning to act.
Lady Wu was very wealthy. Both of her storerooms were packed.
In addition to the boxes she had already set aside for the move, the storerooms were still full of valuable furniture and ordinary bolts of fabric.
With a wave of her hand, Liu Shuning emptied the entire storeroom into her system space.
Next, she went into Lady Wu’s bedroom. To avoid waking anyone, she only took the expensive jewelry on the vanity table.
Then she followed the same procedure in the courtyards of the main heroine, the eldest son Liu Yuchen, and Liu Shuyun.
As for the other people who hadn’t bullied the original host, she decided to leave them a way out. Tonight alone, she had already taken nearly all of the Liu family’s fortune.
After this theft, the Liu residence would surely be placed under much stricter surveillance. Pulling off another heist would be much harder.
Seeing the piles of gold and dollars in her system space, Liu Shuning couldn’t stop smiling. With all this money, she would never have to worry about spending again.