Chapter 160: Just a Few More Dreams Like This Would Be Fine

Jiang Xin hurriedly knelt and performed a bow: "Greetings to Consort Shufei!"

She walked to the bedside, looking at the badly wounded Gongsun Zhi, both urgent and angry: "Jiang Xin! You've been by His Highness's side all this time—what exactly happened? Tell this palace clearly!"

Jiang Xin recounted the events that occurred during the rain‑prayer ceremony.

"You mean that the one who harmed Zhi to this state is that Immortal Envoy from the Fiery Nation?"

"Yes!"

Consort Shufei gave him a glance, then turned to Wu Luo, who was applying ointment to her son at the bedside: "National Preceptor, how are Zhi's injuries? Can he recover?"

Wu Luo, without pausing, replied calmly: "Your Highness need not worry; His Highness is a deity reincarnated and will recover fully."

"However, this injury is severe; it will likely take some time."

"Regarding that Immortal Envoy from the Fiery Nation, National Preceptor, do you have a way to eliminate her?"

Wu Luo paused: "Consort Shufei, you mean…?"

Consort Shufei's eyebrows rose in anger, she said bitterly: "I want her to wish for death!"

That night, at Ning Prince's Mansion.

Tuan Tuan dreamed again.

"Huh, where is this?" she stood in a courtyard she had never visited, looking puzzled.

Why am I here?

She wandered curiously, touching here, looking there, filled with wonder at everything.

A servant carrying something passed by, and Tuan Tuan ran up: "Who are you? Where is this place?"

The servant gave no response and kept walking.

Tuan Tuan frowned: "What's going on? They seem unable to see or hear me."

She kept moving forward and arrived at the outside of an elegant side chamber, where faint voices inside caught her attention.

She thought, "Let's go in and see," and her body slipped inside like a wisp of light smoke.

A beautiful woman was huddled with a man dressed as a steward, their demeanor intimate, murmuring lowly over several ledgers before them.

"The shortfall in this batch of silk must be covered with something else, but we must never let the Lord find out."

The steward chuckled, his face full of flattery: "Don't worry, the Lord spends his days drinking and reveling; he never scrutinizes these."

Tuan Tuan's little ears twitched.

Though she didn't grasp everything, she understood the phrase "must not let the Lord know!"

The Taoist Priest once said, "Things that must be hidden are usually bad."

The woman continued: "Once we get that money, we'll buy that house we eyed that day, so we'll have a place to go and won't have to be so cautious in the Lord's manor."

The steward replied: "Whatever you say, dear."

These two are definitely not good people!

She looked around the room and spotted a large jade vase on the windowsill table.

She giggled, walked over, and pushed hard with both hands.

"Clang!" a huge sound rang out as the heavy jade vase wobbled and shattered on the floor.

The sound echoed painfully sharp through the silent darkness.

"Ouch!" the woman exclaimed.

"What was that sound?!"

"Thieves? Someone, help!"

The whole courtyard erupted into chaos!

Footsteps, shouts, and sword‑drawn sounds tangled together, and countless lanterns and torches instantly lit the courtyard as bright as day.

A disheveled man who clearly had just risen from bed stormed over in anger: "What's happening? Who dares to run amok in my manor!"

Huh, isn't that the father of the scoundrel who stole my shattered gold soup?

So this is his home!

Wei Zhengqiu instantly saw the door of his beloved Aunt Liu flung open.

The steward, his clothes in disarray, stood pale at the doorway, terrified.

Wei Zhengqiu's gaze flicked between their tattered clothes and panicked expressions, instantly conjuring a drama of "adulterous husband and concubine meeting, accidentally breaking a vase."

"You two wretched dogs!" he roared, smoke seeming to rise from his head, nearly choking, "How dare you act right under my very eyes…!"

"Guards! Bind these adulterous pair! Investigate! Investigate!"

"Search all the ledgers and items they've handled!"

Aunt Liu and the steward knelt on the ground, their faces expressionless.

Tuan Tuan watched the chaotic scene and clapped her little hands in satisfaction.

So fun!

Where to next? Oh right, that old man who got shot out during the autumn hunt! Let's go to his house!

With a thought, she found herself standing in a banquet hall again.

Wow, so bright! Lights everywhere, a crowd seated together, glasses clinking.

Zhou Jinhua was hosting a banquet at the mansion, entertaining several colleagues.

He raised his cup and proclaimed loudly: "Gentlemen, since we dine on the ruler's stipend, we must be loyal, wealth is external to the body, and integrity is the foundation of one's standing!"

"Lord's words are spot on!" a plump official immediately echoed, "Throughout the court, who doesn't know that the Marquis of Jinghai is famed for his clean pockets, truly a model for us!"

"Well said!"

"Lord's bearing is admirable!"

"Respect the Lord!"

The scene was extremely harmonious.

Tuan Tuan stood beside Zhou Jinhua, looking this way and that.

Zhou Jinhua downed his drink in one gulp and continued to speak loftily: "We ought to regard extravagance as shameful! We must absolutely not emulate those corrupt officials..."

Tuan Tuan's playful heart rose, she leaned close to Zhou Jinhua's ear and whispered: "Where did you hide all your silver?"

As soon as her words fell, Zhou Jinhua felt an inexplicable urge surge straight to the crown of his head; his mouth was completely beyond his control, and he continued in a loud voice.

"We absolutely must not emulate those corrupt officials, hiding ill-gotten wealth—such as those thirty thousand taels of banknotes—in the Analects in his study to do such sordid deeds! We... uh?!"

Zhou Jinhua's impassioned words cut off abruptly, like a rooster whose throat had been suddenly choked; his eyes widened, the smug flush on his face vanished instantly, leaving only a pallid look of shock and bewilderment.

"Clang!" A guest's wine cup fell onto the table, spilling wine all over him.

Just moments ago the hall had been bustling extraordinarily; now it was utterly silent.

All the guests stared dumbfounded at Zhou Jinhua, who sat frozen like a wooden chicken in the seat of honor.

"Three... thirty thousand taels?"

"The Analects?"

Tuan Tuan gave a hehe smile, feeling satisfied, and went home.

Within three days, the teahouses and taverns of Jingcheng were in an uproar.

"Have you heard? Something big has happened at Marquis Wei's residence!"

"His most favored concubine secretly met with the steward in the room in the middle of the night, and together they fleeced Marquis Wei of a lot of silver!"

"How do you know that?"

"My maternal aunt's second uncle works as a servant in the marquis's mansion! That night there was quite a commotion—even the vases were smashed!"

"So that's how it is!"

"Marquis Needle Guo is nothing; Marquis Jinghai is where it's at!"

"He was entertaining guests at home, and as soon as the wine hit him, he blurted out where he had hidden the banknotes!"

"Where? Where?"

"It's in the Analects in his study! Exactly thirty thousand taels!"

The whole hall erupted in an uproar.

"Hahaha, this truly is a golden house within a book!"

Everybody laughed together.

These two strange tales became the hottest topics in Jingcheng, and soon they spread to the Ning Prince's Mansion.

Xiao Yuanhang laughed and said: "The matter reached the emperor's ears; His Majesty issued an edict rebuking the Marquis Needle Guo for mismanaging his household affairs, and also ordered a thorough investigation of the Marquis Jinghai."

Tuan Tuan blinked her big eyes, "Yah! So what I did in my dream was actually real! How fun!"

Hopefully I can have more dreams like this in the future!

The next day, Tuan Tuan had just finished breakfast and lifted her gaze when two figures strode over.

"Elder Brother! Third Brother!"