RWNEFE -Chapter 11 Leaving the Prince’s Residence!

As soon as Shen Lanxi stepped out of the rear courtyard, she ran into Wang Bao.

Wang Bao unfolded the imperial decree and proclaimed it aloud:

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor hereby decrees: From this day forth, the title of Princess (Junzhu) Lanxi is revoked. Furthermore, permission is granted for a divorce between Zhou Ruyuan, Prince of Zhen’nan, and Shen Lanxi. The letter of divorce shall be drafted by the Imperial Household. From this moment on, Zhou Ruyuan, Prince of Zhen’nan, and Shen Lanxi shall have no further relationship whatsoever. So decreed!”

Shen Lanxi knelt on the ground and received the decree with both hands.

“Your subject thanks Your Majesty for his boundless grace!”

Wang Bao rolled up the decree and handed it to Shen Lanxi.

“His Majesty also has an oral edict, ordering Shen Lanxi to leave the Zhen’nan Prince’s residence immediately!”

Shen Lanxi replied respectfully, “This commoner obeys the command!”

Bai Qingling knelt on the ground along with the others in the residence, her heart filled with joy.

His Majesty had stripped Shen Lanxi of her title and even issued a decree for her to divorce the prince? The thing she had long dreamed of had come true so quickly.

She knew His Majesty wouldn’t be so foolish as to let anyone from the Shen family off—but it was a pity that Shen Lanxi, that vile woman, didn’t have to go into exile with her whole family.

A cold light flashed in Bai Qingling’s eyes as she sneered inwardly.

“Miss Shen, do you have any personal belongings you need to pack?” Wang Bao asked casually.

Shen Lanxi understood immediately. “I have something I wish to ask the eunuch to convey to His Majesty, my imperial uncle.”

Wang Bao raised his voice slightly. “His Majesty does have you in mind, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent this servant personally to deliver the decree!”

Shen Lanxi said, “My dowry was arranged by the Shen family. By custom, after a divorce, a woman may take her dowry with her.”

Wang Bao nodded.

“Although the matter of the Northwestern Wei Army was not done by my Shen family, my father did handle the affair. I am now willing to donate all of my dowry to the families of the Wei Army, to help settle their future lives.”

Wang Bao smiled broadly. “Miss, you are righteous indeed. This old servant will convey your words to His Majesty exactly as they are, not missing a single word!”

As they spoke, the two walked out of the gate.

Wang Bao said, “Miss, please go ahead. This servant still has another decree to proclaim!”

Shen Lanxi gave Wang Bao a courteous bow and turned to leave.

After Shen Lanxi’s figure merged into the crowd, Wang Bao stepped back into the prince’s residence.

“Where’s the incense table? You servants of the residence—how can you have no sense of propriety at all…”

……

After walking some distance, Shen Lanxi made sure no one was following her, then immediately turned into an alley.

She unfolded the imperial decree—inside was a thick stack of banknotes, amounting to seventy or eighty thousand taels.

She put them into her space, changed her clothes and disguise, and emerged from the alley as an unremarkable middle-aged man.

First, she went to a broker and rented an empty house. Then she visited rice shops, butcher shops, grain and oil stores, general goods shops, and cloth shops, placing orders worth several hundred taels at each. After making the rounds of several hundred shops in the capital, she had spent over sixty thousand taels.

She arranged different delivery times for each shop. When a merchant arrived, she paid the remaining balance and immediately stored the goods in her space. She stayed busy until nightfall; only a few deliveries overlapped, which wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

Once she finished, she went straight to Fúlái Inn to find Chunxue and Qiushuang.

Upon seeing them, she didn’t explain anything—she simply showed them the imperial decree.

“How did the things I asked you to prepare turn out?”

Chunxue snapped back to her senses and hurriedly replied, “Everything has been prepared!”

“The place of exile is Dongchuan. Winters there are bitterly cold. Tomorrow, you should go buy some winter clothes and furs to keep in reserve.”

“Yes!”

She then told them her plan. “I’m going into exile with the Shen family. If you’re unwilling to go, I’ll sell your indenture contracts back to you and give each of you two thousand taels of silver to settle down.”

Qiushuang hurriedly said, “Miss, we are people of the Shen family. The Shen family is our home.”

Chunxue added, “Yes, yes! Wherever Miss goes, we go too!”

She still returned the indenture contracts to them.

“You can follow me—but take this as well. From now on, you’re free people!”

Chunxue and Qiushuang held the contracts with tearful gratitude. “Miss, we will always be your maids!”

Shen Lanxi said, “Rest well. We depart from the city gate early the morning after next!”

The next day, she gave Chunxue and Qiushuang some banknotes to buy supplies. After they left, she changed her identity again and went to purchase goods herself.

~

“Disaster, Your Highness! Everything in the storehouses is gone!”

After returning to the palace, Wang Bao immediately conveyed Shen Lanxi’s words to Emperor Renxiao. The emperor was worrying about the empty treasury and the lack of funds to distribute compensation to the Wei Army families. Upon hearing that Shen Lanxi was willing to donate her dowry, he immediately ordered people to go to the prince’s residence to collect it.

If it weren’t for this opening of the storehouses, no one in the Zhen’nan Prince’s residence would have known they had been robbed.

Zhou Ruyuan had already been ordered to stay behind closed doors for self-reflection and had been punished repeatedly. He was racking his brains trying to find a way out when he was struck head-on by this blow.

“What’s going on?”

The steward was sweating profusely. “Palace guards came to take the prin— the dowry. When this servant opened the storehouse, everything inside was gone!”

Zhou Ruyuan couldn’t sit still anymore.

“What about the other storehouses?”

“They haven’t been checked yet.”

“Go check them immediately!”

Before long, the steward returned, face deathly pale. “Your Highness, this is bad—everything in the other storehouses is gone too!”

Zhou Ruyuan hurried to the storehouses.

Every single storehouse was so clean that not even a needle was left behind!

Bai Qingling also rushed over after hearing the news. Seeing the completely empty storehouses, she nearly fainted.

“Your Highness, how could all the storehouses be empty?”

Zhou Ruyuan’s temples throbbed violently. The storehouses contained all the spoils of war and rewards he had accumulated over years of campaigning—his entire fortune.

And now, it was all gone!

“Who usually guards the storehouses? Why is everything inside missing? If you don’t give me an explanation today, I’ll beat all of you to death!” Zhou Ruyuan roared in fury.

Everyone responsible for guarding the storehouses—those on duty and those off duty—were all dragged to the entrance.

With the storehouses robbed, even selling their entire clans wouldn’t be enough to compensate the loss!

All they could do was kneel on the ground, crying and desperately trying to explain.

Zhou Ruyuan held a long sword and personally interrogated them.

“When was the last time the storehouses were opened?”

The steward hurriedly replied, “On the day of your wedding, Your Highness. Everything was still there at that time.”

Bai Qingling clenched her fists, her eyes blazing with anger. “It was Shen Lanxi—definitely Shen Lanxi! Otherwise, why would she say she was donating her dowry to His Majesty? She was waiting for this moment to frame Your Highness!”

The steward wiped his sweat and asked tremblingly, “Your Highness, His Majesty’s people are still waiting outside. How are we supposed to explain this to the emperor?”

Bai Qingling said impatiently, “What else can we do? Just tell the truth!”

“No!” Zhou Ruyuan rejected it outright.

His father the emperor was deeply suspicious. If he said the dowry had been stolen, he would never believe it and would instead suspect that Zhou Ruyuan was hiding it and refusing to hand it over.

“Take out everything valuable in the residence. If it’s not enough, use my calling card to borrow outside!”

Bai Qingling cried out, “How can that be allowed?!”

“That’s enough. This matter is settled. Steward Sun, Commander Wang—take men and investigate. No matter what methods you use, you must recover the goods for me!”

“Yes!”

Bai Qingling hurriedly stopped Commander Wang.

“Commander Wang, take people to find out where Shen Lanxi is now. Once you do, report back to His Highness and me immediately!”

Commander Wang looked at Zhou Ruyuan, who gritted his teeth and said angrily, “Go investigate!”