Chapter 101: Seizing the Hou Household

The sounds coming from the room were unbearable, so Chi Nan Yi gagged a few times and left.

She walked around the manor a few times but still found nothing.

At that moment, Chi Nan Yi's gaze fell on the study she had just passed.

The actual size of the study seemed different from what she had seen from outside.

A hidden room!

Chi Nan Yi felt a stir in her heart, returned to the study; the guard outside leaned against the wall, already sleeping like a dead pig. Chi Nan Yi entered as if no one were there, and by moonlight she inspected the study thoroughly, finding no secret door. Then moonlight fell on a censer on the table; its cover reflected the light, clearly worn from frequent handling.

Chi Nan Yi stepped forward, gently turned the censer, and the bookshelf behind her slowly opened, revealing a storage room the same size as the study before her eyes.

The storage room was littered with boxes, countless silks and brocades, and innumerable jade and emerald ornaments.

In addition, there were a few imperfect Dong pearls placed at the highest spot.

She thought that, in her mind, these few pearls were the most precious items in the entire storage room.

Indeed, in Daqi, only people of extremely high status could wear Dong pearls; the large, perfectly round ones were all presented as tribute to the court, while the less round or slightly flawed ones entered the civilian market, but at a very high price. Unless a family was very wealthy, few would spend that much silver to buy them.

Chi Nan Yi looked at those Dong pearls and, with a hint of disdain, said, "They're just pearls, aren't they? With this quality, even using them to grind pearl powder I'd find it too low‑grade."

Even so, she still took the Dong pearls together with the other items into the space.

After restoring the study to its original state, Chi Nan Yi wandered the manor again and inadvertently discovered the storage room Mrs. Hou had mentioned as having little value. Inside were a few hundred taels of silver and some cloth, which she also took, and she even packed up all the meat and vegetables from the kitchen without waste.

Before leaving the manor, she inexplicably went to the matriarch's room once more.

She happened to overhear their conversation.

"Tomorrow, you go help me get rid of that bastard's family members; they even dared to bite me—truly they're getting on my nerves."

"Don't worry, I've already prepared. In that scoundrel's house, only a three‑year‑old child and an old woman remain; her husband died long ago, there's not even a man, so killing them would be easy. I just don't know, after I've done so much, how do you intend to reward me?"

"When the deed is done, you can take whatever you like from the items in my rear‑yard storage."

Rear‑yard storage?

Yes, she's the matriarch; she alone keeps the dowry.

Chi Nan Yi's lips curled slightly as she swiftly moved toward the back.

Mrs. Hou didn't know that, at this moment, the entire Hou family had truly become an empty shell.

After taking Mrs. Hou's dowry, Chi Nan Yi didn't leave immediately; after the man left, she went straight into her room.

Chi Nan Yi looked at the well‑kept Mrs. Hou, her eyes filled with coldness.

It seemed she had killed and silenced many; now that she met me, consider it her retribution.

Chi Nan Yi flicked her arm and pulled the matriarch into the space.

Immediately, she hurried out of the manor.

The man, dagger tucked in his chest, hurried toward a secluded alley.

At the other end of the alley were only a few low houses, one of which housed an old woman and a three‑year‑old child.

All around was quiet; no one sensed the bloodshed about to erupt here.

Just as the man entered the alley, a figure flashed by; before he could react, he fainted.

Chi Nan Yi's silhouette slowly emerged from the moonlight, pursing her lips as she said, "With such feeble skills, you can only bully the old, weak, and sick; anyone with sound limbs would be knocked down." She grabbed the man's collar, took out a black pill and forced him to swallow it.

She then casually tossed the matriarch out of the space, looked at the sky, and realized she had been up all night.

Seeing the dawn approach, she thought the town would be quite eventful after sunrise.

Chi Nan Yi arrived at a courtyard where two children's clothes were hanging; she took a cloth sack from her bosom containing a hundred taels of silver, pressed the sack under the doorstep stone, and turned to leave.

The child is innocent, but the adult must answer for their actions.

She would not agree to release that woman; after all, wrongdoing must be punished.

A few steps away, Yun Shan's figure appeared nearby.

"Miss."

"Stay here and make sure those two aren't taken by anyone else."

When Yun Shan saw those two, his pupils dilated instantly.

"This… this is…"

"They were being sneaky; I just made their actions a bit more open."

Yun Shan felt a shock; indeed, no one should provoke Miss Chi.

She even used thunderous methods like the Prince of his family.

Truly, it's hard to understand—only a blind Left Minister would return his own daughter to such a fine girl.

Early the next morning, as Chi Nan Yi expected, the town was bustling.

The east side of town was packed like a pot about to explode.

Only when a group of officials came to take the two to the magistrate's office did the crowd slowly disperse.

The townsfolk painted a vivid picture of Mrs. Hou and the man's scantily clad appearance; the story spread from ten to a hundred, and the whole town learned of their illicit affair.

"Oh, you really didn't see it, tsk tsk, it's a shame you couldn't look."

"When I stepped out this morning, I was truly terrified—lying there naked in the alley, what a decline of morals!"

"At first I thought Mrs. Hou was some remarkable figure, always putting on airs; now it turns out she's just a whore."

People on the street were gossiping, and the Hou family's rear yard caught fire.

Since Hou Qinian was captured, the Hou family has been controlled by the matriarch; Mrs. Hou already resented those women for sharing her favor, so she treated them harshly, cutting back all their food, clothing, and expenses.

The concubines in the rear yard had heard rumors but never caught their lady in an affair; now with this opportunity, they only regret not having seen it themselves.

Not only were they forbidden from visiting, but they were also sent to spread more rumors about the matriarch's affair on the street.

In an instant, it was as if everyone pushed the collapsing wall.

It is said that when the matriarch was taken back, she argued vehemently, claiming she was framed, until a diagnosis revealed she was over a month pregnant, ending any chance of further protest.

After all, Hou Qinian has been captured for two months already, she has only been pregnant for one month now, so it's clear that it definitely isn't Hou Qinian's child.

They engaged in private relations, lacking propriety; according to law a woman should be drowned and a man exiled, but considering she is already pregnant, they sentenced her to be exiled together with that man to the northern frontier.

In such a bitterly cold place, wanting to survive is doubly difficult.