Chapter 2: Emptying the Zhu Household 163 Comments

In the woodshed.

Jiang Qingzhu listened as the lock clicked shut on the door. After the person’s footsteps faded into the distance, she calmly and unhurriedly fetched a large cup of Spirit Spring Water from her space.

Gulp, gulp—she drank most of it down, then poured the remaining water into her palm and dabbed it on her face.

This Spirit Spring Water of hers had miraculous effects: drinking it could sweep away physical fatigue, while applying it externally to clean wounds could quickly stop bleeding and relieve pain.

After wiping her face with the Spirit Spring Water, the burning sensation on her skin soon subsided.

As the cup in her hand vanished, it was replaced by a roasted chicken.

In no time at all, she had devoured the entire chicken, and the bones were stored away in her space.

Jiang Qingzhu wiped the grease from her lips with the back of her hand and let out a satisfied burp. “This little girl was truly starving—she really can eat!”

“Since this family has ill intentions toward me, don’t blame me for not holding back!”

Jiang Qingzhu muttered to herself and began planning her next steps.

Step one: empty this house first.

Step two: she would go find her grandfather and uncle.

From the little girl’s memories, she knew that her grandfather and uncle doted on her.

She needed to verify a few things.

Step three: sleep first!

But before sleeping, she took out a mirror from her space to look at her own reflection.

Round face, single eyelids, a fleshy nose, and brightly colored red lips.

“This isn’t ugly at all—where’s the ugliness?” Jiang Qingzhu thought to herself.

Late at night, crickets and unknown insects competed fiercely with each other, unwilling to be outdone.

Jiang Qingzhu reached out and touched the wooden door of the woodshed, and it immediately disappeared.

She first made her way to the old woman’s room.

She blew Soul-Dazing Smoke through the window into the room and waited a moment before entering.

Wow! This was truly the room of a well-established landlord’s wife!

The first thing that caught her eye was that imposing Huanghuali Wood Carved Canopy Bed. The old woman of the Zhu family lay covered in a brocade quilt, resting on an embroidered pillow.

Jiang Qingzhu started with the Rosewood Dressing Table, as it was adorned with gold hairpins inlaid with rubies and sapphires, mutton-fat jade bracelets, pure gold earrings, and several boxes filled with pearls, agates, and other treasures nearby.

Against the wall stood a massive wardrobe, filled with silk and satin garments, gold-woven satin jackets, Shu brocade skirts, fox fur cloaks, and other seasonal finery.

Jiang Qingzhu stared wide-eyed, then with a wave of her hand, she stored the entire wardrobe, along with its contents, into her space.

Next, she glanced at the golden Bodhisattva statue placed in the household shrine and muttered softly, “On the surface, she eats vegetarian food and chants Buddhist scriptures, but in reality, her words are as sharp as swords!”

As she spoke, the shrine disappeared.

Apart from the old woman lying on the floor in only her undergarments, unconscious, not a single thread remained in the room.

If a mouse came in, it would surely exclaim: Damn! It’s too clean!

After clearing out the room, Jiang Qingzhu didn’t rush to leave. Instead, she took out an anesthetic from her space and injected it into the old woman’s neck.

Since the old hag had a tongue but couldn’t speak properly, what was the point of keeping it?

She truly was a “good person,” performing “surgery” for free and even sprinkling plenty of hemostatic powder afterward.

Having done all this, she slipped out of the room, satisfied.

…

Next, she headed to Zhu Meilan’s room.

Again, she used Soul-Dazing Smoke first, waiting a moment before entering.

The original host had slept on a cold, hard earthen kang, while Zhu Meilan slept on an exquisitely crafted Canopy Bed that emitted a faint fragrance.

The bed was draped with pink Mermaid Silk Bed Curtains, and the curtain hooks were two adorable pure silver rabbits.

The difference between the two was like heaven and earth—as if being born of a concubine meant one should be lowly.

Jiang Qingzhu climbed onto the bed and reached out to open something Zhu Meilan was clutching in her arms.

The wooden chest nearly blinded her eyes.

Inside the chest were surprisingly high-quality jade bracelets, butterfly hairpins, gold leaves, gold beans, and silver ingots.

On the floor.

Truly worthy of having a doting birth mother!

Take it, take it all!

She took the entire chest away.

She dragged Zhu Meilan out of the soft bedding and placed her on the cold floor.

With a wave of her small hand, she took away the entire Canopy Bed—along with the pink curtains, silver rabbit curtain hooks, Suzhou Embroidery Brocade, and Cassia Seed Soft Pillow.

Before leaving, Jiang Qingzhu took out the stamp she used in her previous life specifically for marking pork from her space and pressed it all over Zhu Meilan’s face.

As everyone knows, the blue stamp on pork cannot be washed off!

Before leaving, she also shaved the person’s head bald, claiming it was for “coolness in summer!”

She wanted to see who would look uglier this time.

Next was Zhu Yanqing’s room.

His room was equally luxurious, but Jiang Qingzhu discovered a set of toys in his room.

A complete set of ceramic dolls wearing various exquisite little clothes, sitting in a row as if having a tea party.

Jiang Qingzhu glanced at Zhu Yanqing, who was sleeping soundly, her eyes filled with the thought: I never expected you to be such a person.

She emptied his room as well.

Not even the mouse holes were spared, and she even stripped him of all his clothes and took them away, not caring whether he would catch a cold sleeping naked on the floor.

The Zhu Mansion’s storehouse was guarded, but the guards were dozing off.

This didn’t stump her!

Because she had an anesthetic gun.

After knocking the guards out, she entered the storehouse.

Inside were rows of rosewood chests, and along the walls, shelves held coral, jade artifacts, and some ornaments Jiang Qingzhu couldn’t even name.

Despite the original owner’s young age, her strength was astonishingly great. She easily lifted the heavy chest lids, and the sight of gleaming white silver ingots made her mouth water.

“There must be several thousand taels of silver in this chest alone?” Jiang Qingzhu blinked her small eyes in amazement.

And there were several large chests in the room.

Hers, all hers!

Chests filled with gold, silver, and jewels—gold ingots, gold leaves, gold melon seeds, and even many gold bricks cast into bars!

Hundreds of bolts of silks and satins shimmered with splendor in the shadows. These weren’t just fabric; they were flowing wealth!

The storehouse.

The ornaments—hers, all hers!

Having grown accustomed to “zero-dollar shopping” in the apocalypse, she handled this with effortless ease!

After leaving the storehouse, she removed the anesthetic needles from the guards and headed to the grain storage.

Rice, wheat, millet, beans, sorghum—all went into her space.

Marked.

By the end, she even discovered over thirty gunny sacks stamped with “imperial grain.”

“Damn! The Zhu family even dares to embezzle imperial goods!”

She sneered.

Not a single grain of rice would be left for this family.

Next, she went to Scum Dad’s room.

Scum Dad lived up to his name, acting like a beast toward a pregnant woman with a swollen belly.

Venting his animalistic desires like a wild dog.

While waiting for the Soul-Dazing Smoke to take effect, she hid in the shadows, covering her ears.

Moments later, the panting in the room ceased, and Jiang Qingzhu finally entered.

Jiang Qingzhu took everything she saw—from the dressing table to chairs, stools, and even the writing desk. She didn’t spare the paintings hanging on the walls either.

Finally, she discovered a hidden compartment in the wall. With a light press, it opened, revealing a small wooden box inside.

Jiang Qingzhu took out the box, which contained several thick account books and a stack of land deeds and house deeds!

She flipped through a few pages at random. They recorded how, in a certain year and month, the Zhu family “purchased” dozens of acres of ancestral paddy fields from a farmer at an extremely low price.

In another year and month, when the county magistrate took his eighteenth concubine, they sent five thousand taels of silver as a congratulatory gift…

In yet another year and month, dozens of sacks of imperial grain entered the mansion…

“Ugh! Zhu the Skinner!”

Jiang Qingzhu cursed, then stored the account books and picked up Scum Dad’s clothes from the floor.

As for the underpants on Scum Dad’s body, Jiang Qingzhu didn’t take them—she found them too dirty.

From her space, she retrieved some medicine given to her during the apocalypse, said to render a person impotent for ten years with just one injection.

Turtle.

She gave her Scum Dad two injections for free!

As for the pregnant woman?

She stamped her, shaved her head and eyebrows, and even drew a large turtle on her belly.

After surveying the room, now transformed from a finished room into a rough room, she left satisfied.

Then she went to the side…

By the time she had emptied the entire Zhu Mansion, over an hour had passed.

Finally, she went to the old woman’s room—the one who had hit her today. Whichever hand the old woman had used to strike her, Jiang Qingzhu severed the tendon of that hand.

What?

Both hands were used?

Then she severed both.

Treading through the darkness before dawn, Jiang Qingzhu didn’t leave but instead returned to the woodshed.