Chapter 2: Emptying the Imperial Palace

Ji Lan recalled the Golden Finger her daughter had mentioned: "Ningning, didn't you just say you have a space?"

A single glance between mother and daughter was enough to know what the other was thinking.

In the book, the Crown Prince relied on this Golden Finger to empty the storehouses of corrupt officials; they could also rely on this Golden Finger to empty the Imperial Palace!

The mother and daughter calculated the time; there were still two hours until her father's incident, so Ji Lan had her personal maid send a message to Yan Ze, telling him to be careful and not fall into a trap.

The two of them weren't particularly worried about Yan Ze; her father was cunning as a fox, and usually, he was the only one tricking others—how could it ever be his turn to be tricked?

With the warning, presumably nothing would go wrong on Yan Ze's end.

The most urgent task now was to seize the time to empty the Imperial Palace while the Crown Prince and his lot were busy stirring up trouble!

Cining Palace was close to the Gou Huangdi's storehouse; the two of them covered their faces, changed into black night-traveling clothes, and used Sleeping Powder to knock out the guards.

The Crown Prince wanted to stir up trouble, so all the strength of the Imperial Guard had been transferred to the Hundred Flowers Banquet, which actually worked in their favor.

Yan Ning had originally thought her own family was wealthy enough, with silk and satin, pearls and gems, and all sorts of calligraphy, paintings, and ornaments piled up in several storehouses, but upon arriving at the Crown Prince's storehouse, she realized what true extravagance was.

It turned out that Cloud Brocade and Shu Brocade were not as precious as she had thought; the boxes containing Cloud Brocade here filled an entire storehouse.

Only now did Yan Ning realize that the Crown Prince and the Gou Huangdi were putting on a double act; on the surface, they favored her family, but behind their backs, they wanted her whole family dead.

Yan Ning's hands did not stop moving: Eastern Pearl, Night-Shining Pearl, Cloud Brocade, Coral, Blue and White Porcelain...

As long as her hands touched something, it would instantly vanish and appear inside her space.

They were neatly arranged on the shelves.

Thousand-year-old ginseng, Antler, Lingzhi...

All were collected into her space.

There was even quite a bit of Glazed Glass inside the Crown Prince's storehouse.

This stuff wasn't worth much in Yan Ning's eyes; it was just Glass, after all, which could be bought for a dozen coins.

But it pained the Crown Prince.

Yan Ning took away some beautiful Glazed Glass ornaments, then picked out a few she didn't care for and smashed them directly, just to spite the Crown Prince.

This kind of Glazed Glass was hard to sell, so she might as well break it all.

That wasn't all; the Crown Prince's storehouse was piled with many rare treasures, and with several storehouses connected together, Yan Ning swept through like a plague of locusts, not even sparing ordinary boxes or cotton cloth.

Walking to the end and seeing piles upon piles of Gold Yuanbao and Silver Yuanbao stacked in the storehouse, Yan Ning's eyes went wide.

Good heavens, the Crown Prince was truly filthy rich.

Yan Ning took it all away, then went with her mother to the Emperor's private storehouse.

The Emperor was truly a dog; after seeing the Crown Prince's private storehouse, Yan Ning felt even more that her family's situation was dangerous. Her father only wanted to be a salted fish, yet the Gou Huangdi and the Crown Prince were working together to guard against them; their faces were simply disgusting to the extreme.

It was also a coincidence that the national treasury and the private treasury were not separated, and the taxes collected from the provinces went directly into his private treasury.

Yan Ning cursed the Gou Huangdi to her heart's content. In the past, during festivals, this grandfather Emperor had no airs at all and would hold her while walking in the Imperial Garden; thinking that all of this was just a facade put on by the Gou Huangdi, Yan Ning felt a wave of nausea.

Her hands kept moving, and as her hands touched those boxes, all of them were neatly arranged on the shelves in the warehouse.

There was nothing in the space, and the shelves were also looted from their storehouses.

【System: Ding, Storehouse No. 1 is full. Congratulations to the host for completing the Hidden Task, reward: Ordinary Warehouse * 1】

It was fortunate that the system rewarded another warehouse of over two hundred square meters, otherwise, all these treasures wouldn't fit.

Yan Ning prepared to take away the majority, as the space still needed to hold the mountains of gold and silver from the national treasury.

These were worth more than grain.

Rare gems offered as tribute from foreign countries, top-quality Jade, Emerald Raw Stone that could be made into tables, Crystal Raw Stone, Red Sandalwood Furniture...

Yan Ning took it all!

Just taking out any one of these items would be enough for her family to live without worry for food or clothing.

Now, all kinds of gold, silver, and jewelry were piled into mountains in her warehouse. Daxia was already prosperous and flourishing, and the national treasury was full, with so much gold, silver, jewelry, silk, and brocade that it filled the shelves of two entire warehouses.

That wasn't all.

The extra boxes that were piled up also filled the aisles, and the entire warehouse was packed to the brim.

The national treasury was suddenly completely empty; Yan Ning even looted the lowest-quality boxes used for coarse cloth.

Ji Lan also urged: "Ningning, shall we go to the Imperial Kitchen and loot some things later? The Wangfu still has some smoked meat, cured meat, and beef jerky, but it definitely won't be enough for us to eat on the road. The Imperial Kitchen has plenty of things, and the Empress Dowager has her own small kitchen, so it won't affect her."

Yan Ning said with a smile: "Mother, you are still the thoughtful one."

Not just the Imperial Kitchen, but the Imperial Hospital, the Sizhen Chamber, and all the jewelry, accessories, and fine clothing prepared for the various concubines were all taken away, and even the newly made undergarments were not left behind.

Heh, later on, the Gou Huangdi and his harem would have no clothes to wear.

The mother and daughter worked in perfect coordination; they were like a plague of locusts, not even leaving behind the coarse porcelain bowls.

The palace servants on duty were all knocked out by the Sleeping Powder, so there was no way anyone would discover that it was the work of the mother and daughter.

After all, in such a large storehouse, thefts usually only involved losing a few Night-Shining Pearls or some Silver Yuanbao.

Who could have guessed that they would have a system and only need to touch something to take it away?

Even if they investigated, without evidence, it would be impossible to guess it was them. Who could empty the entire Imperial Palace in such a short time?

Yan Ning knew that her father had made preparations in advance, and with the Empress Dowager still there, the Gou Huangdi could not punish her father with the rod.

Rather than staying in the Capital and guarding against hidden arrows every day, it was better to empty out all their things; then, with the heavens high and the Emperor far away, they could live happily wherever they went with their vast wealth.

Yan Ning made an excuse of feeling unwell and, while her father's side hadn't started the commotion yet, found a way to leave the palace. Their Wangfu had quite a few treasures, and right next to the Wangfu was the Zhenguo General Mansion; the Imperial Concubine's father had often badmouthed her father behind his back together with the Emperor.

Take it all!

To make it look more realistic, Yan Ning and Ji Lan changed their clothes before returning to the palace, and both inhaled some Soul-Confusing Smoke, collapsing next to the storehouse.

Presumably, in a little while, the maids would see them and report it.

An hour later, Yan Ning tasted a medicinal flavor; it was incredibly bitter, as if Coptis chinensis had been added.

Yan Ning slowly regained consciousness, clutching her aching forehead, and saw her father hurry over and stuff a candied fruit into her mouth.

A Eunuch on the side said sarcastically: "So delicate; there won't be any candied fruit on the road of exile."

Yan Ning let out a "hmph" and said, "Since when is it a dog's turn to come to our house and bark wildly?"

Xiao Lizi flicked his sleeves and let out a cold snort: "Hmph, now that Prince Jin has been demoted to a commoner and your whole family is being exiled to the wild lands, you are more like stray dogs."

Yan Ning was furious and said to the guards, "Drag him down and give him twenty heavy strokes!"

Xiao Lizi said indignantly, "I am a man of the Crown Prince; do you dare? To beat me is to slap the Crown Prince in the face!"

Yan Ning gave a cold laugh, a man of the Crown Prince, is he? "Forty heavy strokes!"

It was the Crown Prince's face she was hitting.