AUBTN -Chapter 287 Burning to Escape Guilt

Thick smoke billowed into the sky.

Taking advantage of the chaos outside the prison, several covert agents under Lu Yan from the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already slipped in through a hidden passage.

They moved swiftly and efficiently, dragging two prepared female corpses—whose body shapes closely resembled Zhou Ruoyun and her maid—into position.

The bodies were quickly thrown into the most intense part of the raging fire.

Meanwhile, the real Zhou Ruoyun and Xia Dong had already been draped in oversized black cloaks and silently evacuated through the secret tunnel.

Everything had been executed flawlessly, without a single leak.

The fire burned for two full hours before it was finally extinguished.

Inside the ruins, a nauseating stench of burnt flesh lingered.

The prison guards, trembling, pushed aside the still-smoking beams and only managed to find two charred, unrecognizable corpses curled tightly together.

The news—“the deposed empress and her personal maid burned themselves to death out of guilt”—spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the capital by dawn.

It became the subject of sighs and whispers in streets and teahouses alike.

Yet inside the Zhou residence, the scene was entirely different.

Music drifted through the air, and lavish delicacies filled the tables.

There was not even the slightest sign of mourning for a lost daughter.

“Good riddance! Now there’s no proof left!”

Zhou Wenhai sat in his grand chair, face flushed with excitement, idly turning two walnuts in his hands.

There was no trace of grief for his daughter—only fanatic satisfaction and triumph in his eyes.

“That useless thing only ever caused me trouble while alive. Now that she’s dead, she’s finally useful for once—clean and neat!”

The advisors and illegitimate sons below him immediately raised their cups in flattery, their praise flowing like a tide.

“My lord is blessed with heaven’s fortune!”

“That rebellious woman deserved to die! All thanks to your brilliant planning!”

Amid the sycophantic praise, Zhou Wenhai grew drunk with wine and confidence, completely lowering his guard.

He believed his greatest threat had been eliminated—and with it, the defenses of the estate had also loosened.

Midnight. Thick clouds covered the moon.

Outside the high walls of the Zhou residence, three dark figures leapt over.

Lu Yan, dressed in black night attire, landed lightly in the rear courtyard.

Shen Jue wore a dark embroidered night robe.

Between them followed a small figure wrapped entirely in a black cloak and wearing a human-skin mask.

It was the “dead” Zhou Ruoyun.

Stepping once again into this house that had caused her endless pain, her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

“Move,” Lu Yan said in a low voice, signaling forward.

Guided by Zhou Ruoyun, the three avoided wave after wave of drunken servants and headed straight for Zhou Wenhai’s study.

Despite the night banquet, the study remained guarded by two loyal attendants.

Lu Yan let out a cold snort.

His figure flickered—

“Who—”

Before the guard could finish shouting, Lu Yan’s hand struck like lightning, hitting the back of both men’s necks.

They groaned and collapsed limp to the ground.

Lu Yan caught their falling bodies steadily, making no sound at all.

Shen Jue stepped forward, pulling out an extremely thin wire and fiddling with the copper lock.

With a soft click, the lock opened effortlessly.

The three slipped inside and closed the door behind them.

The study was filled with a dense scent of sandalwood mixed with ink and paper.

Without lighting a lamp, they relied on the faint moonlight.

Zhou Ruoyun walked straight toward the deepest part of the room.

“It’s that display shelf,” she said softly, her voice trembling with restrained excitement.

Shen Jue and Lu Yan immediately stepped forward.

It was a purple sandalwood multi-tiered display cabinet, carved from a single solid block of wood and filled with priceless antiques and jade artifacts.

“My mother once said the mechanism is behind the carved pattern on the third compartment from the left,” Zhou Ruoyun pointed.

Shen Jue’s long fingers immediately pressed against the spot.

His fingertips slowly traced along the intricate cloud-pattern carvings.

Suddenly, his movement stopped.

“I’ve found it.”

A glint flashed in Shen Jue’s eyes.

He took out the miniature copper key Su Hewan had given him.

Aligning it with a barely visible indentation hidden within the carved patterns, he inserted it.

He gave it a gentle twist.

The entire wooden panel behind the multi-treasure cabinet slowly caved inward and slid aside!

A hidden compartment appeared before the three of them.

Lu Yan took responsibility for keeping watch over their surroundings.

Shen Jue carefully reached into the compartment.

Inside was a thick account book, carefully wrapped in oiled paper.

He took it out.

“So it’s here!” Zhou Ruoyun exclaimed.

Without hesitation, he untied the thin hemp cord and peeled away the oil paper.

However, when the moonlight filtering through the window crack fell onto the pages—

Shen Jue’s expression froze in shock.

Lu Yan leaned over as well, his cold brows instantly knitting into a tight knot.

“What kind of ghost writing is this again?”

Not a single Chinese character could be found in the thick ledger!

Instead, the pages were densely filled with strange symbols.

Broken circles, crossed diagonal lines, wave-like patterns, and clusters of odd ink dots.

It looked like random scribbles made by a madman!

Shen Jue’s face darkened as he quickly flipped through several pages.

The entire book was the same—completely meaningless markings!

“Is Zhou Wenhai playing us?” Lu Yan’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

“No,” Shen Jue immediately denied.

“Who would bother hiding a pile of waste paper in a secret compartment?”

The two of them turned to Zhou Ruoyun in unison.

Zhou Ruoyun stared at the ledger, eyes red, grinding her teeth as she spoke.

“What’s written here… are all of Zhou family’s dirty accounts over the years—selling official posts, buying positions, embezzling disaster relief silver!”

She took a deep breath, recalling her mother’s dying instructions.

“My mother said this is the Zhou family’s ancestral accounting method!”

“And this system is passed only to sons, never to daughters!”

“Zhou Wenhai is extremely cautious. To prevent the ledger from falling into outsiders’ hands, he records all core secrets using only symbols understood by successive family heads.”

Zhou Ruoyun closed her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks.

Half an hour later.

In the study of Poyuan Manor.

The thick ledger was slammed heavily onto the table by Lu Yan.

Su Hewan and Yu Qing, who had been waiting, immediately gathered around.

“We got it! We got it! Can we finally just raid the house now?” Yu Qing rubbed her hands in excitement.

“Heavens have eyes! Finally we can see that scumbag father’s head roll!”

But when Su Hewan opened the ledger, Yu Qing froze as well.

“Wanwan… is this… some kind of heavenly script?” Yu Qing’s smile stiffened as she stared at the waves and circles, her scalp tingling.

Shen Jue sat in the armchair, taking a sip of cold tea, his gaze resting on Su Hewan.

“This is the Zhou family’s secret accounting method.”

He repeated Zhou Ruoyun’s words verbatim.

“Passed only to sons…”

Su Hewan’s fingers lightly brushed over the strange ink marks on the page.

Suddenly, she turned her head sharply toward the other side of the table.

There lay the half-decoded, yellowed booklet left by Zhou Ruoyun’s mother.

In an instant, a spark lit up in Su Hewan’s clear eyes!

A thought struck her!

“I understand now!”

Su Hewan suddenly lifted her head and placed the booklet and the strange ledger side by side on the table!

“Wanwan, understand what?” Yu Qing was startled by her sudden movement.

Lu Yan and Shen Jue also turned to look at her.