Zhao Qingshu was startled and immediately rescued Princess Anping from the blue flames.
Though her entire body wasn’t burned, the flames had scorched her face.
He tried to find a blanket to smother the fire on his sister, only to discover her chamber had been emptied.
With no other choice, he took off his outer robe and wrapped it around her head, extinguishing the flames.
Princess Anping’s hair was nearly all burned away, and a large portion of her face was severely blistered.
Zhao Qingshu roared at the maidservant behind him, “Quick, summon the imperial physician!”
Once the maid had left, he hurriedly carried his sister out of the burning chamber.
He reached the tree where the maidservant knelt, his voice low and tense. “You were guarding outside—didn’t you hear anything?”
The maid, of course, didn’t dare admit she had heard but ignored it.
“My lord, this servant heard nothing.”
“No one came in or out?”
“No one.”
Zhao Qingshu stared at the chamber billowing with smoke, his fury reaching its peak.
“‘Ghost Thief’!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Princess Anping jolted awake from her daze.
“Please spare me, I don’t want to die. I’ll give you all my money, everything!”
Hearing that she had seen the “Ghost Thief,” Zhao Qingshu softened his voice. “Anping, it’s me, your brother. Don’t be afraid.”
The familiar voice soothed Princess Anping’s panic.
The terror in her eyes faded as awareness returned.
She clung to Zhao Qingshu, sobbing uncontrollably. “Brother, I… Ah, it hurts!”
The moment she spoke, the burns on her face throbbed, making her grimace in pain.
“My face… it hurts so much.”
Zhao Qingshu grabbed her hands to stop her from touching the wounds.
“Don’t be afraid. The physician will be here soon. Anping, first tell me—did you see the ‘Ghost Thief’?”
Princess Anping trembled again, her eyes filling with dread.
“Yes… He said if I didn’t obey, he’d… he’d violate me and then kill me. Brother, you don’t know how ugly he was, how hideous his smile…”
In truth, the man Ye Chutang had disguised herself as wasn’t ugly—just an ordinary, forgettable face.
Of course, compared to Qi Yanzhou, his looks were utterly eclipsed.
Zhao Qingshu pressed further. “Was he human or a ghost? What did he look like? What else did he say?”
Princess Anping had been too terrified to look directly at the “Ghost Thief,” so she couldn’t recall details.
Struggling to remember, she instinctively scratched her head—only to dislodge a handful of charred hair, the blackened ashes smearing across her face.
Staring in disbelief at the black powder in her palm, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
After leaving the Blossom Courtyard, Ye Chutang followed the location Princess Anping had revealed and traveled underground to the stables in the northwest corner.
Behind the stables was a hay storage shed, beneath which lay a hidden chamber.
Inside were hoards of gold, silver, and large stores of grain.
The combination of these two things inevitably brought one word to mind—rebellion.
Ye Chutang used her powers to sense further and discovered weapons buried beneath the floor.
“How utterly predictable.”
It seemed anyone just one step away from the throne harbored thoughts of treason!
Pretending not to notice the weapons—leaving this ticking time bomb untouched—she took only the gold, silver, and grain.
Then she headed to the wine cellar in the main kitchen.
Today was Princess An’s birthday banquet, so the kitchen should have been bustling. Yet it was eerily empty.
Not just the servants of Prince An’s mansion—even the imperial chefs had been pulled away to fight the fire.
A perfect opportunity for Ye Chutang.
The kitchen was fully stocked with premium ingredients, all of which she stashed away into her spatial storage.
Not even the seasonings, dishes, or large cooking pots were spared.
After thoroughly looting the kitchen, she headed to the storeroom where dried goods were kept.
She packed up everything—goods and shelves alike—and took them all.
Beneath the storeroom lay a wine cellar.
The moment Ye Chutang opened the cellar door, the intoxicating aroma of aged liquor greeted her.
Prince An was a connoisseur of fine wine, and his cellar housed many rare vintages.
For today’s banquet, he had even purchased several renowned wines from the capital.
The cellar was nearly overflowing.
Without hesitation, Ye Chutang swept every bottle into her storage, not even leaving behind the empty jars.
In the southern corner of the cellar, hidden behind a false wall, was a secret compartment.
Inside were two chests of gold, silver, and jewels—bestowed upon Prince An by the late emperor when he established his own residence outside the palace.
The chests had been bricked into the wall.
These treasures were meant to serve as his daughter’s dowry, which was why Princess Anping knew of their existence.
Using her earth-based abilities, Ye Chutang effortlessly extracted both chests and gleefully added them to her collection.
With that, Prince An’s mansion had been completely emptied.
Before leaving, she set fire to both the kitchen and the woodshed.
Ye Chutang then returned to the ice cellar in Prince Chen’s Mansion.
Qi Yanzhou was still unconscious, but the unnatural red hue in his hair had faded, signaling that the fire poison had been suppressed.
After feeding him a pill to heal his internal injuries, she carried him to the study.
Before departing, she made sure to create enough noise to alert the mansion’s attendants to his presence.
She then used her earth-walking ability to slip back into her own bedchamber in Ningchu Courtyard and checked her accumulated virtue points.
The number nearly made her jump out of her skin.
She had used her earth-based powers extensively today, including several high-energy-consuming techniques, and expected her virtue points to be nearly depleted.
Instead, she found they had increased by nearly 100,000!
Had Qi Yanzhou not intervened to save her (though she hadn’t needed it), he wouldn’t have been injured by the shadow guards, nearly triggering a fatal poison flare-up.
Saving him had been her way of repaying the favor—yet the unexpected windfall left her stunned.
“If curing his fire poison alone yields this much, I can’t even imagine the reward for fully neutralizing it,” she murmured.
This was a lucrative opportunity she couldn’t afford to miss.
With a quiet sigh, Ye Chutang lay down to rest.
Exhausted from the day’s exertions, she fell asleep instantly.
Meanwhile,
Prince An’s mansion was almost entirely engulfed in flames.
The prince was torn between searching the guest quarters for survivors or organizing firefighting efforts across the estate.
Fortunately, among the banquet attendees was the commander of the Capital Security Bureau, who immediately dispatched a battalion of soldiers.
While the bureau’s men worked to extinguish the flames, the mansion’s staff combed through the wreckage for bodies.
Officials from the Capital Prefecture and the Court of Judicial Review also arrived to investigate the disappearances of Qi Yanzhou, Qin Muyun, and Ye Chutang, as well as the cause of the fire.
Every guest was questioned individually, but all were cleared of suspicion.
The guest quarters were meticulously searched, revealing only scattered limbs and bloodstains.
None of the remains belonged to Qi Yanzhou, Qin Muyun, or Ye Chutang.
The trio had vanished without a trace.
Speculations arose among the onlookers:
“The guest quarters reduced to ruins—this couldn’t have been done by human hands. It must be the work of the ‘Phantom Thief.’”
“Why would the Phantom Thief abduct those three? Surely not for their looks?”
“The debris holds throwing daggers, swords, and grappling hooks—evidence of a fierce battle.”
“What brought the Phantom Thief to Prince An’s mansion? What truly happened in those guest quarters?”
Prince An rubbed his temples, overwhelmed, before turning to the ashen-faced Qin Zheng.
“Chancellor Qin, may the guests depart now?”
Having no further reason to detain them, Qin Zheng nodded.
“Let them go.”
The guests felt that there was something strange about Prince An's Mansion today and immediately bid farewell and left.
What if the "Ghost Thief" made a comeback and turned them into mutilated corpses?
Ye Jingchuan didn't leave.
Although he seemed indifferent to Ye Chutang's disappearance, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her at all.
The lives of Kong Ru and her two sons were in her hands.
His path to becoming a marquis also depended on her!
"Prince An, I'd like to have a private chat with you."
