Such an arrogant thief was the first Shen Qiyuan had ever encountered.
She was even too lazy to hide anything – anyone who entered her room would be blinded by all that jeweled brilliance.
“Don’t look anymore.” Covering her lips with her small hand, she yawned and said reproachfully, “Besides my lord, no one else would come to my room at this hour.”
The window was wide open, and wind blew in along with him, carrying a faint mint fragrance.
She sniffed, opened her eyes a bit more, and her delicate hand reached across a gold-inlaid jade pipa, red jadeite longevity tree, silver-inlaid emerald cosmetic box, and a large box of thumb-sized pearls to lightly lift the teapot from the shelf and pour him a cup of tea: “Here.”
Her eyebrows and eyes were already bright and beautiful, but set against this pile of magnificent treasures, she was even more dazzling and soul-stirring.
Shen Qiyuan didn’t take the tea, only asking her: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll arrest you and throw you in prison right now?”
“How would you arrest me?” She chuckled and brought the cup to her lips. “Tell your subordinates that you climbed through my window in the middle of the night and discovered stolen goods?”
“Since I’ve discovered it, there’s no reason not to report it.” He said flatly, “I told you I wouldn’t show you favoritism.”
“Fine then.” She sipped the cold tea and waved her hand calmly and freely. “Go ahead, my lord, you can call them up right now.”
She had plenty of ways to make these things disappear in the blink of an eye – whoever came up would only see Lord Shen alone in a room with her.
Shen Qiyuan knew this was exactly what she was thinking. He was somewhat annoyed but had no solution.
Demons had always been free, able to turn black into white. As long as she hadn’t killed anyone or destroyed heaven and earth, he couldn’t control her.
Seeing his face had turned quite green, Ruyi sighed and clicked her tongue twice: “If you ask me, my lord might as well abandon divinity and embrace demonhood – that would be much more comfortable.”
What virtue and righteousness, what serving the public good – it’s always the wicked who live freely.
“Shut up.” He rose with a flick of his sleeve. “You’re comfortable only because there are many people in this world who follow rules. If everyone were like you and the entire realm fell into chaos, you’d only reap what you sowed.”
That was quite convincing.
Ruyi tilted her head in thought, not knowing whether it was because this person was good-looking or because his words made sense, but she felt a tiny bit of guilt.
Of course, a tiny bit of guilt was nothing compared to her heart full of joy.
She smiled and patted the edge of the bed: “Would my lord like to sleep for a while? When it gets a bit lighter, Grand Preceptor Liu should also come to beat the drum at your Imperial Clan Court.”
Shen Qiyuan rubbed his temples.
He certainly couldn’t go along with her nonsense – coming here was only to confirm his suspicions. Such clean and efficient theft techniques were absolutely impossible for ordinary people; only she could do it.
She didn’t disappoint him either, picking up a gold crown adorned with kingfisher feathers and smiling as she pointed to the Eastern pearls on it: “This was even bought at the black market, costing so much silver.”
Worldly possessions, utterly vulgar. He left through the window with a flick of his sleeve, disappearing silently into the night.
Ruyi waved at his retreating figure and contentedly nestled back into the pile of gold and silver to continue sleeping.
When dawn broke, Ningyuan Marquis’ manor was already in chaos.
Without a single coin, they couldn’t even pay the servants’ monthly wages, let alone buy food and necessities for the household today, plus there were outstanding debts hanging outside.
He Zeyou returned in defeat from the Grand Preceptor’s manor to see Lady He throwing a rope over the beam. Below, a group of matrons were crying and shouting as they tried to dissuade her – the commotion was livelier than a theater troupe.
“Enough.” He said wearily, “His Majesty already knows the news and won’t sit by idly. At least he’ll first bestow some consolation money – we haven’t reached the end of our rope yet.”
“The palace is so frugal – how much silver could any reward be?” Lady He cried and shouted, “Am I supposed to go back to drinking coarse tea and wearing hemp cloth? I might as well die and be done with it!”
Good news doesn’t leave the house, but bad news travels a thousand li. Now, all of Lin’an City was waiting to laugh at their fallen marquis manor, and some gossips even said Miss Liu had good judgment in avoiding disaster.
This was simply infuriating!
“Those things weren’t originally ours anyway.” He Tinglan said flatly.
He Zeyou turned to look and saw she had already dressed in coarse clothing, standing to the side with a composed manner, watching Lady He’s tantrum. “Just consider it spending money to avoid disaster. As long as the family is together, we can still…”
Before she could finish, she received another slap across the face.
This time it was He Zeyou who hit her, his expression cold and eyes vicious: “You and I came from the same mother, yet you always look down on me and think I wronged Liu Ruyi?”
He Tinglan’s ears rang a bit as she covered her face, not speaking for a long while.
He Zeyou sneered: “Since you don’t consider me family, I do not need to protect you either. Prince Huai expressed interest in you six months ago. Now that our family is in dire straits and you’ll have no dowry, pack up – at month’s end, you can enter the prince’s manor through the side door yourself.”
Prince Huai was already fifty-three, a muddled and lustful man who particularly liked sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls. His manor had five consorts and too many concubines to count on both hands. All the noble ladies in the capital turned pale at the mention of him.
But He Tinglan showed no intense reaction upon hearing this.
She lowered the hand covering her face, nodded, and went back to pack her things with an expressionless face.
Lady He stopped messing with the rope and came down to pull He Zeyou’s hand, frowning as she asked: “Is it appropriate to send her to Prince Huai?”
He Zeyou said flatly: “It’s still a way out.”
Prince Huai was generous – even concubines would receive substantial betrothal gifts. Besides, he had wide connections; if they could establish a relationship, he could also catch his breath amid Grand Preceptor Liu’s power siege.
That said, looking back at this chaotic household, He Zeyou still felt a headache.
“Old bastard.” He cursed through gritted teeth, “Don’t let me catch an opportunity.”
When August brought the fragrance of osmanthus flowers, in the increasingly cold wind, a life-and-death struggle quietly began in the imperial court.
To accelerate this struggle, the beautiful and kind-hearted Ruyi took time to set fire to the main courtyard of the Grand Preceptor’s manor and had several shopkeepers under her command go daily to the marquis’ manor to demand debts.
Such small actions could fool others, but not Shen Qiyuan.
He stood before her, his expression more serious each time: “Are you very happy?”
Ruyi felt his question was meaningless: “Two people who bullied you are fighting in front of you, and one of them will be beaten to death – are you happy or not?”
She was being good by not going out to set off firecrackers.
As they were speaking, Fuman came in with several sheets of paper.
Regarding what that old matron from the Grand Preceptor’s manor had said last time, Ruyi had specifically asked her to investigate openly and secretly. After considerable effort, they finally had some clues.
Seeing Shen Qiyuan was also there, Fuman felt awkward and hurriedly hid the papers behind her back.
Shen Qiyuan said coldly: “I’m not blind yet.”
Hua Fuman’s evidence-gathering skills were second to none in the Ministry of Justice. He had experienced them several times and felt her case investigations were divinely assisted.
But now, this person stood beside Liu Ruyi, secretly passing papers to her, then brazenly gestured to him: just copying some poetry for the mistress.
This was bad. Shen Qiyuan wiped his face.
She had completely corrupted everyone.