Wupo Po’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. She smiled and said, “If my calculations are correct, the Green Phoenix Kingdom will never perish, even if it retains only a third of its territory or less than ten thousand citizens!
This year marks the beginning of the Green Phoenix Kingdom’s rise and its thousand-year reign. As for the Great Xia Kingdom, hmph, its future destiny is precarious.”
Consort Mei’s face beamed with excitement. “Agreed. I support my mother’s suggestion. If the Eldest Princess and the new Emperor try to kill us, we’ll flee to the Green Phoenix Kingdom together. At worst, we’ll help the Green Phoenix Kingdom reclaim its lost lands and empire!”
Third Uncle looked at Consort Mei with admiration. “Qing’er, I’ll do whatever you say. I also agree with Wupo Po’s suggestion.” So close, he almost called Qing’er “Mother.”
Zuo Siming, after a moment of contemplation, raised another question. “However, there are over a hundred people in our Zuo and Baili families combined. If we are to flee, how will we manage food, clothing, shelter, and transportation? That will require a significant amount of silver.”
Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye exchanged a glance and chuckled. “Uncle, you don’t need to worry about that. Our family has money.”
Zuo Siming chuckled sheepishly. His niece-in-law was so forthright, speaking of wealth so casually.
Consort Mei suddenly remembered something and slapped her forehead. “Oh dear, I still have some money and jewelry in the palace. I should have brought them out earlier. Also, Zhu Hou and Ziqiu, I can’t leave them in the palace!”
Bai Sheng gave a charming smile. “Aunt Qing, my husband and I will go help you retrieve your money tonight. As you know, our Qinggong is excellent, and we also possess the illusionary art of Flicker Shift.”
Consort Mei said happily, “Good, good, good. Then, you must be careful.”
“I’ll help too,” offered Prince Yu enthusiastically.
“No need!” Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye said in unison.
Were they looking down on him? Prince Yu glanced at the two individuals who were so in sync and gritted his teeth. “Fine, then this Young Master Baili will leisurely wait for the money.”
Lu Ye added, “One more thing. The men in the family who know martial arts will take shifts starting tonight. Uncle Ding, please arrange the duty roster.”
“Yes, certainly, Master,” Uncle Ding nodded repeatedly.
Bai Sheng released Lightning Popsicles, Torrential Storm, and Gale Force from her spatial dimension, asking them to help with sentry duty and guarding the residence.
For added security, she also told her Huahua to call some sparrows to hide around the residence and act as lookouts, warning that there would be bad people coming to sneak attack the house.
Huahua happily complied, feeling she was her mother’s most beautiful, adorable, well-behaved, sensible, intelligent, and resourceful daughter.
As night gradually descended, everyone from Baihua Manor and the shops returned. Uncle Ding convened a meeting for everyone in the main courtyard, arranging all subsequent matters.
Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye, dressed in night-traveling attire, first flickered into Consort Mei’s Yong’an Palace. After incapacitating Zhu Hou and Ziqiu with anesthetic, they sent them into the spatial dimension.
Then, according to the locations provided by Consort Mei, they collected all the money, jewelry, and calligraphy into the spatial dimension.
Bai Sheng did not touch anything else in Yong’an Palace. She did not want the peculiar incident of the “Money Carrier” to implicate Consort Mei, aiming to make it appear as if Consort Mei had simply left with the funds.
After leaving Yong’an Palace, the two flickered into Minister Zhou’s residence.
If the new Emperor were to overturn the verdict for the Baili family, Minister Zhou and Prime Minister Dong’s families would undoubtedly be the first targets, and their assets would certainly be confiscated by the new Emperor.
Rather than letting the new Emperor benefit, it would serve as spiritual compensation for the Baili family.
Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye first flickered into the Zhou family’s treasury and confiscated all the gold, silver, and treasures within.
They then flickered into Minister Zhou and Madam Zhou’s rooms, and thoroughly searched for wealth hidden in secret rooms or concealed compartments.
Much of these riches were unsavory, and even if Minister Zhou reported it to the authorities, he wouldn’t dare to disclose them.
After fleecing the Zhou family, the two then went to the Dong family and fleeced them in the same manner.
Since the Marquis of Zhenguo, the Wu family, held military power, even if the new Emperor overturned the verdict for the Baili family, they would be temporarily kept out of it, as he still needed the Wu family’s support. However, Bai Sheng and Zuo Ye would not let them off the hook.
Flickering into the Wu mansion, Bai Sheng thoroughly stripped it bare, leaving not a single needle behind.
All the men in the Wu family were left with only their undergarments, and all the women were left with only their chemises and underpants.
Zuo Ye used his exquisite blade skills to give everyone a complete shave. Bai Sheng collected all the hair into her spatial dimension, which could fetch a couple of taels of silver.
Not a single flower or tree in the courtyard was left.
The vast kitchen was reduced to a few dark stove openings.
As they were leaving, the moonlight shone on the glazed tiles of the roof, making them gleam with a faint light. With a thought, Bai Sheng also whisked away all the roof tiles into her spatial dimension.
If it rained or the wind blew, the Wu family would have no shelter. Bai Sheng silently lit a small candle for them in her heart.
After finishing with the Wu mansion, the two went on to strip all the shops and estates under the Wu family’s name. They had spent over two months meticulously investigating this information.
The next day, the people on the streets of the capital city’s imperial palace saw several bald servants from the Wu family, wearing only their undergarments, run madly out of the Wu mansion barefoot. They then covered their faces and sprinted towards the Dali Temple.
The guards at Dali Temple, seeing several disheveled, bald monks running towards them, and without asking any questions, immediately flogged each of them twenty times.
Upon hearing that they were servants from the Marquis of Zhenguo Wu mansion, and that the Wu mansion had been completely plundered by the “Money Carrier,” several officials at Dali Temple were greatly astonished. The Money Carrier had reappeared!
The Minister of Dali Temple wished to personally inspect the scene, but today was the new Emperor’s enthronement ceremony, and he could not miss the opportunity to be noticed by the new Emperor. Moreover, the case of the Money Carrier was destined to become a cold case.
Furthermore, anyone who had been thoroughly plundered by the Money Carrier was essentially at the end of their official careers and not worth cultivating friendships with.
After all, generations of family foundation had vanished, and their households were completely devoid of even a single copper coin. To think of maintaining an official career? What a joke!
After weighing the pros and cons, the Minister of Dali Temple only dispatched a few subordinate clerks to the Wu mansion for a perfunctory inspection of the scene.
Upon arriving at the Wu mansion, the clerks were dumbfounded by the state of extreme poverty and remained stunned for a long time.
However, seeing that all the Wu family members, regardless of age or gender, had bald heads and were scantily clad, they could not help but suppress their laughter.
The Marquis of Zhenguo, nearing sixty, no longer fought on the battlefield. Seeing the clerks laughing at them, he was furious and turned to grab his sword to strike them. But upon turning, he saw only bare walls. Helpless, he could only stoop to pick up a few small stones and hurl them at the clerks.
The clerks, feeling extremely wronged, returned to Dali Temple and decided to properly file a complaint against the Marquis of Zhenguo once the Minister of Dali Temple returned.