RWNEFE -Chapter 2 Harvesting the Space – Collect, Collect, Collect!

It just so happened that she was heading to her parents’ room anyway.

She dug out the treasure chest Nu Bai had mentioned and stored it into the space. All the gold, silver, jewels, and accessories on the dressing table were taken as well. Her father loved collecting calligraphy, paintings, and vases—there were quite a few displayed in the room—every single one was collected.

She opened the wardrobe. Inside were clothes made of the finest brocade, every piece looking as good as new, as if never worn. She took them all. Even if she never got the chance to wear them again, selling them later would still fetch a good price!

Most importantly, she intended to leave nothing behind for those who would come to confiscate the house—not even a single hair.

Thinking of this, she even took the bedding from the bed and stored it away.

After all, the house would be confiscated in the latter half of the night. Even if the place looked like it had been completely looted by thieves, who would care?

At most, the Court of Judicial Review would rule that the Shen residence had been busy hosting a banquet, security had been lax, and thieves had taken advantage of the opportunity. By then, the plaintiffs would already be exiled—who would be bored enough to investigate the matter further?

With that thought, she took everything her eyes could see.

Tables, chairs, stools, valuable potted plants, bed curtains—she tore them all down and took them. If moving the bed itself wouldn’t have been too conspicuous, she would definitely have taken that carved rosewood bed as well!

Forget it, forget it. Tables and chairs could still be explained away, but if the bed disappeared, things would start to verge on the supernatural. If someone then slapped the Shen family with the charge of witchcraft, exile would be the least of their worries.

When she left, her parents’ room was reduced to nothing but a bare wooden bed board.

She certainly couldn’t forget her grandparents’ room either. Her father, mother, and the younger generation had often given them many fine things.

The same treatment—just bed boards left behind.

After that came her three younger brothers, one younger sister, her father’s two concubines, three illegitimate sons, and three illegitimate daughters.

All of them—bed boards only.

Jumping over one wall brought her to her second uncle’s household; next door were the third and fourth uncles. Since they were family, they should all be “neatly arranged” together—bed boards for everyone.

She didn’t miss the kitchens in her uncles’ houses either. The entire family was at the Shen residence attending the banquet, and even most of the servants had gone over to help. The kitchens were free for the taking!

Chicken, duck, fish, meat, all kinds of cured meats and salted meats, vegetables, fruits, rice, flour, oil—anything found in the kitchen, she took it all!

She even lifted away the wok. Her space had every kind of pot imaginable—except this kind of smoke-blackened iron wok!

She collected the cooking utensils too, as well as the neatly split and stacked firewood piled high in the corners.

Red charcoal, silver-frost charcoal, loose coal briquettes—collect!

A whole row of more than ten large water vats—collect!

Pickled vegetable jars and fermented sauce vats—collect!

“Master, Master! I accidentally scanned the neighboring house just now—there’s a cellar next door, and it’s full of shiny, glittering treasures!”

Anything Nu Bai discovered was guaranteed quality—collect!

It took more than two hours to clean everything out. After today, she would certainly be watched by many pairs of eyes; it would be hard to collect things so freely again.

“Nu Bai, want to go big?”

“Master, whatever you’re thinking, Nu Bai already knows~ Nu Bai loves collecting things with Master the most! Just go ahead and collect, collect, collect!”

Shen Lanxi’s phoenix eyes gleamed as the corners of her lips lifted. “Let’s go!”

To confuse and mislead others, she centered her operation around the Shen residence and deliberately targeted heartless wealthy merchants and greedy, corrupt officials. She went on a wild sweep, giving three to five households the “bed-board treatment,” choosing targets entirely based on her mood.

After completing a full circuit, she headed straight back toward the Prince of Zhen’nan’s residence.

Almost the moment her feet touched down there, Nu Bai’s alert sounded.

“A team of armored soldiers is heading toward the Shen residence!”

They had arrived. The confiscation had begun.

She didn’t return to the bridal chamber. Instead, she went straight to the Prince of Zhen’nan’s treasury. The rewards Zhou Ruyuan had received for his military merits, the spoils he had brought back from the battlefield, the imperial gifts when he left the palace to establish his own residence, and the tributes from officials—she took them all.

And her dowry as well—one hundred and eight chests in total—already stored, registered, and recorded in the treasury.

Collect. Don’t leave Zhou Ruyuan even a single box of needles and thread!

“Nu Bai, scan for any hidden stashes.”

“Master, there aren’t any here. But there are several rooms in the back courtyard piled full of glittering gold, and a man dressed in red is flirting with a woman who looks somewhat like you.”

In the entire residence, the only man wearing red was Zhou Ruyuan. And the woman who resembled her—could that be the beloved concubine?

Very good. She felt thoroughly disgusted.

“Just wait. It’ll be their turn soon.”

“Master, Master, you should say: ‘It’ll be that pair of shameless dogs’ turn.’”

Shen Lanxi laughed. Even something non-human like Nu Bai had a moral compass—yet those two didn’t know shame or propriety at all. Truly eye-opening.

She returned to her room, changed back into her wedding robes, and called out loudly, “Has the prince returned?”

Qiushuang’s voice replied, “Miss, not yet!”

Shen Lanxi spoke with thick disappointment in her tone. “I see. Then I’ll rest. Guard the door well—don’t let anyone disturb me. I might sleep late tonight.”

“Understood, Miss. With this servant guarding, I guarantee no one will get in!”

Shen Lanxi waited for three breaths. Qiushuang didn’t speak again. In the next instant, she leapt out of the residence and headed straight for the imperial city!

The city gates opened at five-thirty in the morning for daily provisioning and for those who handled night soil. At six, the gates officially opened. Civil and military officials began entering around six-thirty, and court typically convened around seven-thirty.

She timed her arrival precisely at five-thirty. In full view of the guards, vendors, and night-soil carriers, she ran madly toward the city gates with her hair loose and disheveled.

At first, the guards didn’t recognize Shen Lanxi and leveled their spears at her, cold light flashing.

“How dare you trespass upon the imperial city—”

Before they could finish, Shen Lanxi swept her messy hair aside.

“I am Shen Lanxi! I want to lodge a complaint with the Empress Dowager! I want to lodge a complaint with my imperial uncle, the Emperor!”

Shen Lanxi had practically grown up in the imperial city, her status comparable to that of a princess. There wasn’t a single person inside the city who didn’t know her!

“I want to complain! Zhou Ruyuan of the Prince of Zhen’nan’s residence has wronged me and humiliated me! On our wedding night, he never once stepped into my room—he spent the entire night in his concubine’s quarters and even called for water three times! I want to ask the Empress Dowager why he would treat me like this!”

As she cried and shouted, Shen Lanxi held up her entry token and walked inside!

This token had been personally bestowed by the Empress Dowager—no reporting required, direct access to the Empress Dowager’s sleeping quarters!

The token was genuine. No one dared to stop her.

The order to confiscate the Shen residence was known only to a select few—the city guards hadn’t been informed yet!

Shen Lanxi moved as if through an empty realm, crying and shouting as she ran toward the Empress Dowager’s palace with the token held high!

Along the way, not a single person spoke, and no one dared to block her.

Only after Shen Lanxi had disappeared from sight did the head guard slap his forehead in realization.

“What are you all staring at? Hurry and report this!”

Only then did the guards remember that even with a token, a report was still required.

They hadn’t been dumbfounded by her presence—they’d been stunned by what they heard!

Leaving a peerless beauty like Shen Lanxi untouched, and running off to sleep with a concubine instead? On the wedding night, no less?

And worse—Shen Lanxi even knew how many times he’d called for water! That was practically seeing through his clothes to his underwear!

Prince Zhou Ruyuan of Zhen’nan was about to lose a lot of face.