The Underground Beast-fighting Arena was associated with many of the powerful elites of Donggao, and that very night, the whole of Yanjing was shaken.
By the next day, the streets were filled with soldiers coming and going.
All of them looked tense, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Qi Yue went out to make inquiries and could barely contain her laughter.
It turned out that the damage to the Underground Beast-fighting Arena was so severe that, after investigation, the Donggao side believed that a troop of the Beiyuan Army had invaded Yanjing and rescued the Beiyuan people. Now they were conducting searches everywhere.
Even the common people on the streets believed this:
âThis troop from the Beiyuan Army is really formidable, daring to infiltrate Yanjing!â
âI think there must be at least a few hundred of them, right?â
âItâd have to be, wouldnât it? I heard the whole estate was burned to the ground, and the arena was completely destroyed.â
âI heard the wolves and tigers have run off to the outskirts of the city. Weâll need to be more careful when we go out.â
ââ¦..â
The Donggao Army, unexpectedly, focused their effort on searching for the invading soldiers, which gave Qi Yue and Zhong Dahe the opportunity to rescue the people from Beiyuan.
Zhong Dahe hadnât lied; as a favored person by the Fox Kingâs nephewâs side, he had been deliberately making connections over the years and thus had a good network of relations.
He gathered many who had escaped the estate but had nowhere to go and settled them properly.
In one day, over 200 Beiyuan people were rescued.
Now, how to safely send them back to Beiyuan became a big problem.
Currently, Beiyuan and Donggao were at odds with each other, with no established diplomatic relations; only the fearless caravans were shuttling through the borders.
The only help available for sending people off was the merchant caravans, but the caravans kept records and could only take a maximum of ten people at a time. With over two hundred people, it was anyoneâs guess when they would all be able to leave.
For this situation, Qi Yue had no immediate solution.
Luckily, the rescued people were willing to wait. Considering the frequency of the caravans, coming and going every two days, they could complete the trips within a month.
However, Qi Yue was not one to sit still. After waiting a day, Qing Nanzun was still nowhere to be seen, and she was getting angry.
Thinking about how she had spent quite a bit on the way to Donggao, plus the three hundred taels she compensated the boatman, and the cost of settling the rescued Beiyuan people, she had spent several thousand taels in total.
She calculated all this cost on Qing Nanzunâs account.
Initially, she planned to pay a visit to Qing Nanzunâs house and ransack his family fortune.
But after making inquiries, she abandoned that idea.
As it turned out, Qing Nanzun was set on making a name for himself and spent any money he had on various medicinal materials to research poison; consequently, his family was as poor as a church mouse.
After thinking it over, she simply decided to put the bill on Donggaoâs Emperorâs account.
Besides, the Donggao Army had been plundering the Beiyuan Border for years. They had committed heinous crimes, and she felt that it was only right for her to reclaim some interest.
Once she made up her mind, Qi Yue silently counted the days until it was a night of the full moon, and she decided to act that very evening.
The Imperial City was so majestic; standing atop it and admiring the moon must be beautiful.
That evening also happened to be Yanjingâs monthly procession of the gods celebration, which was incredibly lively.
Qi Yue followed the crowd of revelers from the east side of the city to the Imperial City, and then had a grand meal at the Yueman Building at the foot of the Imperial City before she slowly climbed the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps.
Every hundred steps or so, there was a guard, but they seemed rather lax.
Qi Yue merely changed into a Donggao Soldierâs uniform, and these guards did not question her at all, just watching as she made her way to the highest point.
Indeed, it is better to stand high.
The big, round moon hung right above her head as if she could pluck it out of the sky with her hand.
The sight brought Zhao Xiyan to her mind; he was like that moon.
Pure white, luxurious, sometimes near and sometimes farâ¦
Oh, no, she didnât want the moon anymoreâ¦
On the highest rooftop of the Imperial City, Qi Yue was looking at the sky, lost in thought when suddenly a series of orderly footsteps approached the temple where she was.
âQuick, the Emperor has decreed that you must not harm them, just capture them and you will be rewarded!â
âYes!â
The shrill cries exploded in the air, and Qi Yue snapped back to reality.
What?
She hadnât even made her move, and the Donggao dog Emperor had discovered her?
Impossible!
She quickly got up and hid behind the Qilin Beast Stele on the rooftop, only to see a troop of soldiers charging directly into the garden of the templeâs back courtyard.
Meanwhile, a white figure seemed to flash by and darted into another palace hall.
âLooks like Iâm not the only one with sticky fingers tonight!â
Qi Yue muttered to herself, glancing at the sky.
Although it was a bit early, since someone else had already made their move, there was no reason for her to fall behind.
The earlier you start, the earlier you can knock off and go to sleep!
She tightened the climbing rope around her waist and slid down from the rooftop in a wisp of smoke.
It was deathly quiet all around, as if no one was there.
She looked up and saw the words âQianhua Hallâ written on the plaque above the palace. She couldnât help but feel elated.
Thatâs exactly the kind of name the main hall should have! There must be loads of good stuff inside!
Qi Yue poked a hole in the window paper to take a peek and saw a little eunuch lying under a candelabra, sleeping.
Without another thought, she gently pushed the door open and slipped inside.
First, she sprayed a bit of sleep-inducing poison on the little eunuch. Only then did Qi Yue relax and start to admire her surroundings.
This certainly was where the damn Emperor conducted his affairs of state.
The spacious main hall was flanked by side halls on both sides, all interconnected.
Under the bright candlelight, the contents of the main hall were clear at a glance.
The glittering golden throne stood in the center, with the imperial desk in front, covered in memorials and other documents.
Behind the throne was a bookshelf filled with silk-bound books, which Qi Yue guessed were treatises on statecraft for the Emperorâs reading and edification.
Above the throne hung a plaque with the words âJustice, Benevolence, Harmonyâ inscribed on it.@@novelbin@@
Qi Yue spat inwardly.
Justice, Benevolence, Harmony? As if the damn Emperor deserved such words!
Gather, gather, gather! Itâs all coming with me!
This throne and imperial desk are made of pure gold!
Lately, her antique shop had too many orders, and she had sold off almost everything she had previously acquired. She was in dire need of some showstoppers.
These two big items would certainly do the trick!
Theyâre definitely worth a fortune!
And this plaque, these silk books, memorials, everything must go!
These items may seem worthless to her, but in the Space-Time Mall, theyâre all highly valuable!
Letâs take the bookshelf too!
The bookshelf might be a bit big, but itâs certainly made of golden nanmu wood, extremely valuable.
Wowzers, is that a Jade Seal in the cabinet?!
Gather, gather, gather! Take it back and sell it for money, exchange it for space-time currency!
Looking at the candelabra, it turns out itâs also made of pure gold, with dragon patterns carved into it!
This item must be taken too!
But the candlelight must be left behind.
Qi Yue used both hands to remove the candles from above and placed them on the floor. She then dragged the little eunuch to one side and decided to snag the table the candelabra was on too!
After looting the main hall, Qi Yue moved on to the right side hall, which was so full of gold that it nearly blinded her as she entered.
What did she see?
The floor tiles here were all paved with gold!
âSuch extravagance!â
Walking further inside, she came upon a spacious terrace paved with gold tiles as well, with bronze turtles and cranes on each side, and four gold-plated incense burners front and back.
âOutrageous!â
Why on earth pave the ground with good gold!
Was she expected to dig it out by hand?
Forget it, it would look too greedy and indecent.
Better make a trip to the Donggao Emperorâs treasury instead! That should be richly stocked!
Qi Yue stretched out her hand and swept all the furnishing from the hall into her space, then promptly left through the side passage.