While everyone was chattering away, Si Jiuyue finally slept her fill.
As soon as she woke up, she took out a cup of bubble tea and drank a few sips, then ate a hamburger and a serving of French fries. Only after finishing did she leisurely stroll toward the front courtyard.
Meanwhile, pandemonium had broken out at both the Top Scholar's Residence and the Right Prime Minister's Estate.
Last night, after returning home and seeing his storehouse ablaze, Xia Yunfei had been seething with rage, veins bulging on his forehead. He slammed his fist into a tree and glared viciously at the gathered crowd.
"Have you found out what was stolen from the estate?"
Trembling in fear at the master's furious expression—though he was twenty years older than Xia Yunfei, he was still terrified—the steward thought for a moment and replied cautiously, "Sir, this subordinate just went to check. Our storehouse suddenly caught fire, but we couldn't find whoever set it. The servants say we were hit by a major bandit, and everything in the estate is gone. Even the blood-sweat steed is missing."
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, trembling as he braced for his master's wrath. In his heart, however, he thought this bandit wasn't half bad—only stealing from the masters while leaving the servants' quarters untouched. A truly righteous thief! If the master hadn't been standing right in front of him, he genuinely would have wanted to praise the thief a little, because he felt the bandit had immense guts.
A servant chimed in eagerly to add fuel to the fire.
"Sir, forget the blood-sweat steed—even the rice in our kitchen is gone. The bird's nest soup and chicken soup simmered on the stove for you are gone too. Everything is empty. Even your favorite dog is gone...!"
Xia Yunfei: "......."
At that moment, Xia Yunfei's new wife walked over dressed in plain white mourning clothes, her face filled with fury. She could not comprehend how such a bold thief dared to target the residence of a high-ranking court official.
"Husband, what on earth is going on? My entire dowry is gone, and everything in my chambers is gone too."
Xia Yunfei gave a cold snort. "I'd like to know as well. If I find out who is behind this, I'll definitely have his dog's head!"
With that, he clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
Madam Xia snorted as well. "If you catch the thief, hand him over to me, Husband. I have my own ways of dealing with him."
"Alright, I'm going to the Capital Magistrate's office first."
"Tomorrow morning, go tell my father about this situation."
"You go ahead!"
Madam Xia narrowed her eyes as she watched him leave. She had heard that a few days ago he had run into the Si family's daughter. That girl was utterly shameless and actually dared to covet her husband. Once the Si family was ransacked, she would make sure that wretched girl came to a miserable end!
As for the Right Prime Minister's Estate, it had been turned upside down last night as well.
"Help! Fire! There's a fire!"
The night-watch old woman woke up to see the storehouse engulfed in flames and immediately began screaming at the top of her lungs. "Help! This is terrible, fire, fire..."
The woman's shrieks instantly jolted the steward, servants, and maids awake.
As the sleeping potion wore off, most of them woke up in a daze, completely bewildered as to why they were sleeping on the ground—some in the corridors, others under trees. In short, none of them had been sleeping in their own rooms.
Hearing that the storehouse was on fire, the steward was so scared he almost wet his pants. "Quick, go fetch water! This is awful, someone wake up the Prime Minister!" He slapped his thigh and kicked a servant in the shin.
He didn't dare provoke the Prime Minister's wrath. The Prime Minister had just returned from outside, and word was that tonight's courtesan hadn't served him to his satisfaction. The Prime Minister was furious.
The servant, nearly scared out of his wits, was jolted back to his senses by the steward's kick.
The chaotic noise grew louder and louder. Servants in the estate whispered among themselves.
"How did a fire just break out like this?"
"Oh no, things in the garden are gone! Look, there are holes everywhere. How did the thief manage to dig up and carry away all the flowers? This is terrifying!"
The Right Prime Minister impatiently rose from his bed upon hearing the commotion outside. Just as he threw a robe over his shoulders and pushed open the door, a servant knelt right at the threshold, trembling all over, and said with a pale face, "Prime... Prime Minister, something terrible has happened. The estate is gone—it's all gone!"
The Right Prime Minister stared at the servant in total bewilderment. He demanded urgently, "What do you mean it's gone? Speak clearly! What's gone? What on earth is missing?!"
The servant kept his head lowered and replied anxiously, "Reporting to... reporting to the Prime Minister, our storehouse caught fire, everything in the kitchen is gone, the flowers and grass in the garden are gone... and look, our roof is gone too, even the floor tiles are missing!"
Hearing the servant's words, the Prime Minister went black in the blue.
No wonder moonlight had been shining directly onto his face as he slept!
So the roof was actually gone?
He raised his eyes and looked.
Sure enough.
The three main rooms were left with only four bare walls; the roof was entirely gone, and even the floor tiles under the veranda had vanished, leaving behind nothing but barren mud.
He slapped his thigh in fury, gritting his teeth as he barked, "Investigate! Go find out what else is missing!"
The servant acknowledged the order with a "Yes" and hurried off.
No sooner had he left than another servant arrived, carrying a lantern.
He said anxiously, "Prime Minister, this subordinate just went to check. The horses in our estate are missing too, and even the firewood and jars of pickled vegetables piled up in the backyard kitchen are gone."
Hearing this, the Right Prime Minister turned ashen, his legs going weak. He almost collapsed, but forced himself to remain calm. "Very well, this Prime Minister knows. You all go fetch water to put out the fire; I will be right there."
"Yes, Prime Minister!"
As soon as the servant left, he turned and ran toward the neighboring study. But the moment he reached the study's location, the Right Prime Minister was dumbfounded, because where the study used to be was now just a patch of muddy ground.
He trembled forward two steps and swept his hand across the spot where the study had stood. The blood in his entire body ran cold—it really was gone.
Only a few lonely, broken bricks lay on the ground to tell him this was all real. Unable to bear it any longer, his heart pounding erratically, the Right Prime Minister pointed at empty air and cursed furiously, "Accursed thief! Plagued thief! Shameless thief! Audacious thief! To dare steal right from under this Prime Minister's nose—if I find out who you are, I'll chop off your head and execute your entire clan!"
After that, servants came one after another to report.
"Prime Minister, the kitchen is empty. It's truly all gone!"
"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! Our storehouse burned to ashes, it's all gone! Water can't put it out, the fire is too big!"
"Prime Minister! Prime Minister! What should we do?!"
"......."
The servants chattered all at once.
The Right Prime Minister successfully passed out from anger, collapsing straight to the ground.
Early the next morning, the Right Prime Minister brought some men to the Capital Magistrate's office to enlist help, never expecting that the moment he stepped into the yamen, his good son-in-law was already there.
Xia Yunfei was grinding his teeth as he recounted last night's events to the Capital Magistrate, so furious that his facial features were completely distorted.
The Right Prime Minister listened to only a few sentences before hastily interrupting, asking with great anxiety, "My good son-in-law, did thieves break into your residence and steal everything as well?"
Seeing his father-in-law arrive, Xia Yunfei reined in his anger, turned to the Right Prime Minister with an ashen face, and explained, "Father-in-law, that thief is formidable. Everything in this son-in-law's estate is gone. Not a single soul throughout the entire manor had any inkling of what was happening. That thief is truly terrifying. I sent Lan'er to your estate first thing this morning, but I never expected you to arrive so quickly."