The county of Anding was exceptionally quiet deep into the night.
The front and back gates of the Jia household were already draped with white silk, and the simple, pale lanterns, casting a faint candlelight, appeared all the more desolate and chilling in the darkness.
A young servant guarding the rear peeked out at the empty back alley, yawned, and relocked the gate. He was supposed to be on night duty, but judging by his lazy, indifferent demeanor, he had likely found a secluded spot to doze off.
As a warm breeze caused the candlelight within the lanterns to flicker, a dagger was inserted through the gap in the back door. As the dagger pried open the bolt, the rotten, unrepaired wooden door let out a piercing creak. Two black figures slipped inside.
"I initially thought that Li'er, being so serious and unsmiling, must be some sort of 'righteous gentleman.' Now it seems you've done your fair share of climbing on roofs!"
A shadow in black, following behind, teased the person walking ahead.
Zhong Li tightened the black ribbon tied at the back of her head. Upon hearing the man behind her, she cast a cold glance back and rolled her eyes.
Lu Wu Xie knew from the start that this woman was not fond of him. Now, taking advantage of the darkness, she thought he couldn't see her and was subtly provoking him. This behavior was quite like that of a young girl, adding a touch more humanity compared to her icy coldness during the day.
"Where are we going?" After walking for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea in the courtyard, Zhong Li stopped at the entrance of the Jia household's account room. Just as she was about to reach out and push the door open, Lu Wu Xie, who had been leisurely following her, spoke up.
"Of course, we're going into the account room to check the books. What else would you think, Your Highness? That we're just out for a stroll?" Zhong Li turned to look at the man's figure standing tall in the moonlight.
Lu Wu Xie smiled and didn't answer immediately. Instead, he sniffed the air vigorously in the courtyard. Only when the woman opposite him grew impatient did he shake his head and say, "There's no smell of money here, nor the scent of ink. You won't find anything in this room."
Hearing this, Zhong Li couldn't help but chuckle. This young prince of the Xian Kingdom was truly amusing, treating himself like a police dog, making such pronouncements after a mere sniff.
"Alright, then Your Highness, which room do you think we should go into to find what we're looking for?" Since they were early and the night was long, Zhong Li asked back with a great deal of patience.
Lu Wu Xie beckoned Zhong Li with a finger, then turned and walked towards a place opposite the study that looked like a storage shed.
An old bronze lock hung on the shed door. Zhong Li was not skilled with locks. At first, she thought it was just an ordinary bronze lock and casually took out the prepared 'universal bronze key' to open it.
After an unknown amount of time, she fiddled with it for a long while, her forehead beginning to bead with sweat, only to find that the lock in her hand hadn't budged at all.
"Let me try,"
Finally standing behind her and having enjoyed the moonlight, Lu Wu Xie casually approached, took the lock from her hand without any explanation, and began to work on it.
Zhong Li stood to the side, her gaze sweeping over his tall, slender back. There was a hint of disbelief in her eyes. Could this pampered young master, who needed someone to hold an umbrella for him, possibly open such a lock?
But this thought had barely formed in her mind when she heard a "click." Lu Wu Xie now held an opened lock in his hand.
Zhong Li stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise.
Lu Wu Xie glanced at her indifferently and pushed the door open.
Contrary to her expectations, Zhong Li had thought this room would be cluttered and covered in dust. However, when she saw several large chests lacquered in red paint, wiped clean and neatly arranged, she found herself truly impressed by Lu Wu Xie's nose.
One must know that these chests were usually used by wealthy families to store gold, silver, and jewels. Could it be that all of the Jia household's assets were stored here?
Zhong Li took a few steps forward and walked up to the chests, opening them one by one to inspect.
She opened several chests in succession, expecting some hidden wonders within, but found them to be empty.
"Pfft..." Lu Wu Xie chuckled softly.
Zhong Li stared at him with cold eyes.
Lu Wu Xie withdrew his smile and his gaze fell upon a small box the size of two books, located at the very back.
The box was tightly shut and had a lock on it.
He casually picked it up and observed it for a moment. Before Zhong Li could react, another "click" sounded, and the lock on the box fell open.
Zhong Li looked at Lu Wu Xie's actions with disbelief. She recognized this lock; it was a specially made interconnected Bagua lock. Each lock was customized according to the owner's specific requirements, and opening it required corresponding patterns. An ordinary person without a talent for lock-picking would not be able to open it.
If Lu Wu Xie opening the outer lock was a coincidence, then this...
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, staring at Lu Wu Xie's back, her lips pressed together in silence.
"Hmm, indeed, all the Jia household's assets are here." Lu Wu Xie glanced back at Zhong Li, seemingly unaware of her questioning gaze. He casually took out the contents of the inner box, and along with his movement, a ledger was brought out. "Oh, the ledger is indeed here."
Zhong Li observed his series of actions. Seeing his composed demeanor, she lowered her eyes and took the items from him, examining them one by one.
The banknotes were more numerous than she had imagined, amounting to over a million taels, almost all the assets of the Jia household at present. It seemed that the Jia household's inferior goods, used to substitute for better quality, had also been converted into these notes.
Following this, Zhong Li opened the ledger placed at the bottom.
In the tenth month of the twenty-sixth year of An He, Jia Kun suffered losses of a thousand taels of silver in Ping Shan due to an ambush.
In the eleventh month of the same year, the Jia household missed the delivery deadline for goods and compensated with a hundred taels of silver.
In the eleventh month of the same year, the Old Madam Jia passed away, with funeral expenses costing three hundred taels of silver.
In the twelfth month of the same year, Qiao Fu went to Lingshan Temple at Jia Kun's instructions to seek the great Bodhisattva...
Zhong Li gazed at the meticulously recorded accounts in her hand, filled with indescribable astonishment. From the first entry to the last, the ledger contained dozens of pages, all detailing the Jia household's expenditures and financial losses, with not a single entry of income. This meant that since the twenty-sixth year of An He, the Jia household's finances had been in trouble.
However, even if their finances were in trouble, the ledger should logically have been placed in the study. Why did they find it here?
Then, there was only one possibility: this ledger concealed some other secret.
"That's about it." While Zhong Li was still contemplating, Lu Wu Xie's voice sounded beside her.
As soon as he finished speaking, several beams of light faintly penetrated the oiled paper window from outside the dark warehouse.
She felt her arm being pulled, and she was drawn into the gap between some shelves.
Simultaneously, the warehouse door let out a piercing scraping sound, and bright candlelight illuminated the interior.
"Huh? Why is this door open?"
A young servant's voice echoed in.
"Who knows? Maybe Steward Wang forgot to close it?" another voice replied.
"Did a thief break in?"
Along with the voices, the footsteps of two people grew closer to the shelves.
Zhong Li stared coldly at the two pairs of footsteps reflected in the candlelight.
She slowly reached towards her waist, swiftly drawing out a dissection knife flashing with cold light, waiting to strike the unsuspecting pair as they approached.
"Li'er." Just as Zhong Li was prepared to go all out, she suddenly felt her wrist, holding the dissection knife, being gripped.
Before she could react, the man who had been beside her moments ago had somehow appeared in front of her, his hand holding her delicate wrist, his gaze fixed intently on her.