Mengmeng was so busy her feet barely touched the ground—digging pits to farm fish, building pens to raise pigs, and constructing sheds for the chickens, ducks, and geese.
"I’m telling you, Yaoyao, take it easy! Let me catch my breath!"
Even though the Spatial Dimension could expand infinitely, that didn't mean they had to treat it like a playground.
Luo Xueyao curled her lips into a smile. "We’ve barely started! I’m planning on doing something big tonight!"
They had arrived in a carriage full of people, but they didn't bring Xiangtao and Cuiping back with them.
It was nearly dusk when the two arrived back at the capital. Upon entering, they found that Luo Jingran and his two sons had already returned home. Standing in the courtyard was a eunuch in red robes—none other than Eunuch Wang, a favored official of the new emperor and head of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Eunuch Wang glanced back at Luo Xueyao and Lin Yue, sneering, "During a period of national mourning, the Lady and Miss Luo certainly have high spirits. How did you find the time to go shopping?"
Luo Xueyao didn't waste any breath on him. "Since the incense table is already set, allow my mother and me to change our clothes before we receive the decree."
Since they were bound to have a falling out sooner or later, who cared about politeness?
Once they had changed, Eunuch Wang read the imperial decree: "By the mandate of heaven, the Emperor decrees: Luo Xueyao, daughter of Chancellor Luo Jingran, is a young lady of refined upbringing. Prince Pingxi, Murong Jing, is a pillar of my empire. The two are well-matched in age and character; it is truly a union made in heaven. I hereby grant Luo Xueyao as a secondary consort to Prince Pingxi. The Ministry of Rites shall select an auspicious day for the marriage. Thus it is written!"
Eunuch Wang folded the decree, his duck-like voice dripping with mock sweetness. "Chancellor Luo, why haven't you accepted the decree and offered your thanks?"
Luo Jingran, stunned, hurriedly kowtowed: "Your subject accepts the decree. Long live the Emperor!"
Luo Xueyao followed suit: "Your subject’s daughter thanks the Emperor for his grace!"
Lin Yue was too shocked and furious to speak, so Luo Xueyao signaled the maid Xiangtao to slip a purse into Eunuch Wang's hand.
Feeling the heavy, bulging shape inside, Eunuch Wang still looked somewhat dissatisfied. However, thinking of the fate that awaited this family in a few days, a contemptuous smile appeared on his face.
"The Ministry of Rites will arrive shortly. Chancellor Luo, you had better prepare the dowry. The Emperor says the wedding must take place during the hot mourning period to bring luck to the Empress Dowager."
Luo Jingran mentally cursed the entire female lineage of Murong Fu. The Empress Dowager had been bedridden for years, and the imperial physicians had already issued several notices of her critical condition. The Ministry of Rites had everything prepared; was there really a need for "luck-bringing"?
Once Eunuch Wang and his entourage were sent off, Luo Jingran immediately ordered the steward to lock the gate.
He sent the children to their nannies, dismissed the servants, and soon only the elderly couple, their three sons, one daughter, and two daughters-in-law remained in the flower hall.
Lin Yue looked at her daughter with a complex expression, then at Luo Jingran, before finally focusing back on her daughter. "So, the decree for this marriage has come at last... I fear what follows will be a path fraught with danger."
"What follows is this: the Ministry of Rites won't actually come to discuss the wedding, because the Empress Dowager will pass away tomorrow. The new emperor is marrying me to the Second Prince simply to disgust the prince, using the 'I will marry no one but him' remark I made a while back. He will take the opportunity to accuse me of disrespecting the royal family and my elders, pinning the death of the Empress Dowager on me. Then, someone will produce evidence to impeach Prince Pingxi for conspiring with Xirong, as well as forged secret letters showing Father colluding with the Prince. Our entire family will be raided and exiled."
Luo Xueyao spoke calmly, as if she were narrating someone else's story.
The rest of the Luo family looked worried. To lighten the mood, Luo Qingchuan laughed: "Fortunately, we had little sister’s 'goddess-sent dream' as a warning. I sold all our farmlands and shops today. Including the three hundred thousand taels from Li Zhixin, we have a total of four hundred and fifty thousand taels in silver notes. I sent men to a dozen different banks today and exchanged forty thousand taels in gold and fifty thousand in silver bullion. It has already been moved into the storehouse through the back door."
"Third Brother, you’re amazing!" Luo Xueyao praised him sincerely.
To accomplish all that in less than a day was no small feat.
"There is no time to lose. I will store everything in the Spatial Dimension now. For the next two days, we will simplify everything!"
Luo Xueyao walked a circle around their courtyard. Naturally, everything in the storehouse went into the Spatial Dimension.
The dried meat, marinated meat, and cured meat in the kitchen, the steaming buns in the pot, and even the half-pot of porridge—all went into the Dimension.
The two large iron pots they’d used for years, which held so many memories? Stored.
The kitchen knives and boards that were so convenient? Stored.
All the pots, bowls, and ladles? Stored.
The two large water vats in the courtyard that her eldest and second brothers had filled? Stored.
As for the vegetable patch in the backyard, where her second sister-in-law and mother had planted tender green cucumbers, fresh scallions, cabbage, dark purple eggplants, red tomatoes, and fat pumpkins—Luo Xueyao waved her hand, and not even a single leaf was left behind.
She then went to her eldest brother and sister-in-law’s courtyard, collecting all of her brother’s prized brushes, ink, and paper, along with her sister-in-law’s dowry and all the valuable ornaments in the room, leaving them nothing but a thin quilt.
She moved to the second brother’s courtyard; Xia Lan even took down the bed curtains and gauze canopy.
"Little Sister, please, take all of these away!"
"Alright."
With a wave of her hand, Luo Xueyao swept their room clean as well.
In the third brother’s courtyard, there were still gold, jade, and rare books. Stored.
As for her own courtyard, it was left completely bare—even her bed was gone! She could sleep in the Spatial Dimension at night, so there was no point in leaving the bed behind.
After scouring every corner, the Luo mansion was left hollow.
When they returned to the flower hall, Luo Jingran and the others had changed out of their official robes into old clothes, gathering all the furniture and porcelain together. Luo Xueyao waved her hand, and it all vanished.
The Luo family stared at one another in silence.
Before anyone could speak, Dabao, Erbao, and Sanbao suddenly ran over, crying as they clung to their mothers. "Mom, it’s bad! Thieves were in the house! My brush and ink are gone!"
"My cloth tiger is gone!"
"My little wooden horse is gone too!"
Luo Xueyao pulled three lollipops from the Spatial Dimension and handed them to the children, coaxing them gently: "Dabao, Erbao, Sanbao, let’s play a game, shall we?"
The oldest child was only eight. Smelling the sweet scent, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva, instantly forgetting about their wooden horses and cloth tigers. Their eyes were fixed entirely on the lollipops.
"Okay! What does Little Aunt want to play?"
Luo Xueyao smiled. "From now on, no matter what happens in this house, as long as you don't cry, don't fuss, and don't talk to anyone, Little Aunt will reward you with a delicious treat every day. Deal?"
Dabao and Erbao nodded without hesitation, but Sanbao stopped them.
Sanbao rolled his eyes craftily and held out a chubby hand to bargain: "One isn't enough, it has to be two!"
"Deal!"
Luo Xueyao pulled three cupcakes from the Dimension—the ones she had originally prepared for her wedding to the young general.
The three little ones had never seen such a thing, but the sweet scent didn't lie; they knew it was something good.
Erbao swallowed again and whispered, "For this treat, I’ll bet with Little Aunt for a year!"
Luo Xueyao picked up Erbao, her heart aching. This child looked exactly like the Erbao from her previous life, right down to the tiny red mole between his brows.
"Erbao, Little Aunt will give you treats every day from now on, but from this moment forward, you must act like a little man. Are you willing?"