Chapter 18: Smooth Entry into the Palace

Outside the space.

Two guards entered the room once more, only to find that the area that had been filled with boxes was now completely empty. They rubbed their eyes, only to realize in shock, “Oh no! Everything’s gone!”

Zhizhi had already slipped away, leaving behind a group of confused guards standing in the storeroom, their legs trembling in fear.

“Weren’t there many boxes here just now? Where did they go?!”

Guards who heard the commotion rushed in and, astonished, said, “This is strange! Let’s leave and report this to the Emperor!”

“Quickly! Notify everyone!”

Meanwhile, Zhizhi had already left the storeroom and was heading toward the Grand Historian’s study.

As the left prime minister’s subordinate, the Grand Historian likely held many secrets that the emperor was eager to obtain, meaning there would probably be plenty of guards searching the area.

Sure enough, Zhizhi found ten guards standing at the door of the study, armed with long spears, while several others were busy moving things inside.

Zhizhi entered the study, waiting for them to turn their attention away, so she could quietly collect the official seals into her space. With that, the land deeds would become hers without anyone noticing.

There were also some important documents, expensive writing materials, ancient paintings, and priceless items…

As she was collecting, a tall, thin guard suddenly called out, “Hey? Something’s wrong. Wasn’t there a stack of documents here just a moment ago?”

Another guard, who had been standing by the painting desk, was equally confused. “Yeah, wasn’t there a rare Qing Dynasty painting here?”

Zhizhi, noticing the disturbance, thought of a way to get them to leave.

Looking at the mirror that allowed her to communicate with the outside world, she used five large, powerful fans from her space to blow a cold gust of wind out into the study.

Outside, the guards who had been wondering why the items were gone suddenly felt a chill run down their spines. The gloomy weather didn’t help, and they immediately began to connect the strange wind with bad omens.

“Why is there suddenly a breeze?” A guard near the door froze, feeling a strange wind blowing on his neck. He turned around but saw nothing. His nerves were on edge as he hurriedly said, “I’ll go check on the items again.”

He quickly ran off, clearly spooked. The other guards, feeling a chill, didn’t hesitate to follow suit, practically sprinting out of the study.

Once the guards had left, Zhizhi swiftly collected all the books, manuscripts, bookshelves, and cabinets in the study—everything was gone in under a minute.

By the time the guards gathered the courage to return, they were completely stunned.

“Ahhh! Run!”

“It’s all gone! Run! There’s a demon!”

Some of the more frightened guards had even collapsed to their knees.

Zhizhi now moved on to the women’s chambers in the back courtyard. Seeing the guards had all gone to the study, she appeared and took out a high-tech device—a handheld gold, silver, and copper detector.

Even hidden underground vaults couldn’t escape her detection.

She found gold and silver jewelry, silver notes, land deeds, and took a substantial amount of wealth. The most valuable items came from the main wife’s house. Xie Xiaohu’s first wife, a wealthy merchant from Jiangnan, had brought a large dowry, much of which had been buried underground, but Zhizhi’s detector unearthed it all!

With everything she could collect stored away, including herbs from the pharmacy and items from the kitchen, she left the Grand Historian’s residence, satisfied with her haul, and moved on to her next destination.

Would she pass by Xie Mengcun’s house on her way to the palace? The Minister of War should have plenty of weapons, after all.

Meanwhile, the guards, searching through the entire Grand Historian’s residence, only managed to find a few old vases in the front hall and some small change scattered around the servants’ rooms. The entire estate, which had once seemed so wealthy, was now stripped bare of anything valuable!

The head guard immediately rushed to the palace to report to the Emperor.

When the Emperor heard the news, he was already at Xie Xiaohu’s house, where he had been enduring great hardship and interrogation, repeatedly being questioned about the whereabouts of the missing wealth.

But the entire family was clueless—where had the money gone?

Of course, that was another story.

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At the same time, Zhizhi had already entered the palace.

The sky had darkened, with ominous clouds turning the heavens as dark as ink.

The palace walls were guarded with strict vigilance. Soldiers holding bright torches stood ready, while guards switched shifts, ensuring that any movement in the area would quickly be surrounded.

But none of this posed any challenge for Zhizhi.

Inside her space, she had opened a takeout box from a five-star hotel and was enjoying her meal. The luxurious seafood rice, topped with evenly distributed fish roe, was irresistible. A scoop revealed crab roe, shrimp, and abalone beneath the surface—the dream dish for any seafood lover.

While enjoying her meal, Zhizhi moved her space, effortlessly crossing the palace walls and entering the palace, all without delaying her dinner.

The Minister of War’s house was not on the way, so she’d save that for another time.

Right now, she was eager to see the inside of the palace.

Though the original owner frequently visited the palace, it had mostly been to the Third Prince’s palace, and she wasn’t familiar with the other areas, especially the royal treasury. She’d never been there, so how would she know the way?

Troubled by this, Zhizhi paused near the Hall of Supreme Harmony, chose a random direction, and left through a side door to enter a long corridor of the palace.

From a distance, she saw a woman lounging on a reclining chair, being carried further into the palace by an elderly eunuch.

Curious, Zhizhi followed, hoping to overhear something useful.

As she got closer, she recognized the woman.

The elderly eunuch whispered, “Your Majesty, the Emperor favors the Third Prince the most, so don’t worry too much.”

Zhizhi stepped forward and realized the woman was the Empress Dowager, the Third Prince’s biological mother.

The Empress Dowager, holding a bottle of scented powder, swayed in her chair, exuding the fragile beauty of a sickly maiden. Her voice was filled with concern, and her expression was worried. “I only hope the Emperor doesn’t listen to the Crown Prince…”

The eunuch comforted her, speaking of palace gossip that was widely known, but to Zhizhi, these were royal secrets.

As a girl who loved reading novels and watching dramas, there was nothing more exciting than eavesdropping on palace intrigue in real life.

Zhizhi moved a little closer and learned that the Third Prince had been put under house arrest by the Emperor. The reason? The Crown Prince had accused him of knowing the whereabouts of the original owner, and in a fit of anger, the Emperor had ordered the Third Prince to be isolated from the outside world.

The Empress Dowager was on her way to see the Emperor.

It looked like things were getting interesting.