Ye Chutang passed by the back garden, returning to Ningchu Courtyard with Jun'er in tow.
Dinner was already prepared, spread across a large table.
After the meal, Ye Chutang headed toward Liuli Courtyard.
The sky had darkened by then, lanterns lining the path swaying gently in the breeze.
She hadn’t gone far when she heard Kong Ru’s bloodcurdling wails.
To be honest, it was downright eerie.
As the screams grew clearer, Ye Chutang arrived at Liuli Courtyard.
The moment Kong Ru saw her, she guessed her purpose.
Fear threatened to spill from her eyes.
"You… what do you want now? Did you come to give me the antidote?"
Ye Chutang looked down at Kong Ru, curled on the ground, drenched in cold sweat, and let out a soft laugh.
"Dream on!"
With that, she slapped Kong Ru across the face.
"Let me give you some good news—because of you, the Kong family is finished."
Kong Ru, her face swollen with rage, glared at Ye Chutang. "What else are you scheming?"
First, she ruined her, then her son, and now the Kong family? That bitch!
Displeased by Kong Ru’s expression, Ye Chutang struck her several more times, leaving her face unrecognizable.
She grabbed Kong Ru’s brittle, yellowed hair, forcing her to meet her gaze.
"Today, the Kong family’s assassination plot failed, but my trap worked perfectly—we captured plenty of live witnesses. How long do you think it’ll take for the Capital Office and the Dali Temple to trace the mastermind behind the killers?"
At these words, Kong Ru’s breath hitched.
There were no walls without cracks, no mouths that couldn’t be pried open.
If the Capital Office and the Dali Temple wanted to investigate, they would inevitably uncover the Kong family and Prince An’s estate.
Remembering Zhao Qingshu’s involvement in the assassination, Kong Ru calmed, breathing freely again.
"I have no idea what nonsense you’re spouting, you wretch."
Ye Chutang saw right through her and shattered her delusion with a single sentence.
"You think Prince An’s estate can protect the Kong family? Stop dreaming. By tomorrow, Prince An’s estate will cease to exist, and the Kong family will follow soon after."
"Impossible!"
Prince An was the Emperor’s younger brother, the only royal allowed to remain in the capital—how could he fall?
"Don’t believe me? Then wait and see."
Ye Chutang released Kong Ru’s hair and stood to leave.
Kong Ru watched her retreating figure and screamed in despair, "No! Absolutely not!"
"Someone! Someone, come quickly! I need to see my father!"
She refused to believe Ye Chutang’s words, but the sheer certainty in her tone sent panic through her.
If the Kong family truly suffered because of her, she would never be able to atone!
Ye Chutang had come to Kong Ru for one purpose—to leak the news, forcing her to contact the Kong family and pass along the warning.
That way, even if the Kong family and Zhao Qingshu didn’t silence the witnesses, they would still scramble to cover their tracks.
And any movement they made would leave evidence.
Ye Chutang returned to Ningchu Courtyard and administered acupuncture to Jun'er, who had already taken his medicine.
Since he was injured, she used a lighter touch today to avoid reopening his wounds.
After finishing, she said to Dan'er, "I have business outside. Rest early—don’t wait for me."
"Yes, Young Miss."
Ye Chutang changed into dark clothing, covering her face with a black scarf before scaling the Minister's Mansion’s walls and heading to the Kong residence.
She knew someone was following her but paid them no mind.
Her main goal tonight was to empty the Kong family’s vaults right under Qi Yanzhou’s men’s noses.
That way, he’d be convinced she and the "Phantom Thief" were not the same person.
Of course, she had a secondary objective—eavesdropping.
The Kong family only knew their men at Yunyin Lake had been captured, unaware that she already knew they were the masterminds.
Now that their plan had failed, they would review every detail for weaknesses.
With luck, she might overhear something useful.
Kong Qingyuan was the Minister of Justice. Though his estate wasn’t as grand as the Minister's Mansion, it was still sizable.
The Kong family had deep roots in the capital, and their security was tight.
But that didn’t stop Ye Chutang.
She wasn’t exactly moving unseen, but she easily avoided most guards.
Soon, she found the study.
The study had the heaviest guard presence in the estate, making it difficult to approach.
It took her the time it takes to burn an incense stick to hide in the bushes outside.
Her hearing was sharp enough to barely make out the conversation inside.
"Where did you find those idiots? Outsmarted by a mere girl!"
"Father, Ye Chutang is no ordinary girl. Even Prince An fell to her."
"Prince An has the Emperor’s protection. The Kong family only has ourselves!"
"Don’t worry, Father. Even if there are survivors, they won’t lead back to us."
"Though the underworld has its own rules, we can’t let our guard down. The Night Fiend—"
Before Kong Qingyuan could finish, he was interrupted.
"Master, Young Master, Third Miss sent a maid with an urgent message. She insists you go to the Minister's Mansion at once."
The Third Miss was Kong Ru, the Kong family’s illegitimate daughter.
Kong Qingyuan’s instincts told him this was related to today’s ambush on Ye Chutang.
"Ke'er, you go."
With one less person in the study, Ye Chutang knew she wouldn’t hear much more and left as well.
She slipped into the Kong estate’s back garden, hiding inside a rockery.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a shadowy figure perched high in a towering pine.
One of Qi Yanzhou’s men.
Her hiding spot was hard for guards to notice, but the person in the tree could see the top of her head.
She immediately used her earth-based ability to sense the estate’s layout, locating two secret chambers, a cellar, and a wine vault.
The secret chambers were sealed with massive stones, while the cellar and wine vault were dug from earth.
Using her ability, she transported the cellar’s grain and the wine vault’s stock beneath her feet, storing them in her spatial inventory.
As for the secret chambers—one was in the study, the other in the treasury.
Ye Chutang focused on the study.
Only by making a scene would Qi Yanzhou’s men confirm that while the study’s vault was being robbed, she was right under their noses!
She manipulated the earth, crushing the stone sealing the chamber.
The stone shattered into fragments as dirt flooded the hidden room.
The moment the chamber was breached, a bell in the study connected to it rang.
Kong Qingyuan, who had been handling official documents, paled and rushed to open the chamber’s entrance.
A cloud of dust assaulted him, blurring his vision and sending him into a coughing fit.
"G-Guards… cough… guards!"
At his call, the study’s guards rushed in and descended into the chamber.
Thankfully, though the dust was thick, the stairs remained passable.
When the dozen guards reached the chamber, all they found were broken stones.
The contents had already been transported beneath Ye Chutang’s feet and stored away.
