Walking in front, Zhou Sui looked warily at a woman standing outside, who unexpectedly carried a large bundle on her back.
Chen Xi paused, recognizing the person before him as Third Lady Luo of the Commandery Governor's Luo family, Luo Qingci.
He pursed his lips and looked at Zhou Sui. "She is Third Lady Luo."
Setting aside his relationship with the eldest son of the Luo family, just based on the fact that the Commandery Governor led the people to defend Liang City to the death and ultimately died in battle, he wanted to help this last remaining bloodline of the Luo family.
Zhou Sui immediately understood her identity. "I can take you out of the city, but once outside, it is not up to me whether you can stay with us."
Luo Qingci instantly realized that he was not the one in charge of this group. She was not disappointed; instead, she bowed gratefully.
"I am already deeply grateful that you can take me out of the city. If the leader does not wish for me to stay, I will leave on my own and absolutely will not pester you."
Although she said this, everyone understood that in such chaotic times, letting a weak woman travel alone was no different from sending her to her death.
Zhou Sui nodded in tacit agreement. He turned back to look at Piaoshuang Pavilion and said loudly, "Jiao Liang has been killed. Ladies, you should make your plans early."
After saying this, he took the lead and walked out. Chen Xi quickly followed.
Chen Zi tightened her grip on his shoulder and whispered, "Is that person really dead?"
Feeling her body tense, Chen Xi affirmed gently, "Yes, he is dead. Do not be afraid, Wuniang."
Thinking of the corpses and bloodstains scattered everywhere outside, he softly comforted her again, "Wuniang, close your eyes. Do not look."
Chen Zi rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Alright."
Behind them, Luo Qingci paused for a moment before quickly catching up. She bit her lip, her expression a mix of vindication and lingering resentment.
She had guessed that something might have happened at the Governor's manor after hearing the commotion outside, and she had decisively packed her bags just in case.
Only, at that time, she never imagined that the beast Jiao Liang was dead. No wonder, no wonder the Governor's manor was in complete chaos.
She did not even need to think to know that it must have been done by Chen Dalang and his group. It was just a pity that she had no source of information in Piaoshuang Pavilion and knew nothing.
At this moment, she was full of curiosity, as well as admiration and gratitude, toward the leader.
However, she also knew that now was not the time to ask such questions. She just silently followed behind, trying her best not to cause them any trouble.
Seeing the corpses along the way, she felt no fear, only gratification. She even picked up a sword by a corpse for self-defense. Although she had never wielded a sword or spear, she knew how to hack wildly!
She had actually learned horseback riding and archery, but due to her lack of talent, her archery was truly hard to describe. Fortunately, her riding skills were very good.
After Zhou Sui and the others left, the women hiding in the various rooms of Piaoshuang Pavilion finally dared to peek out and check the situation.
A woman dressed in emerald green clothes asked hesitantly, "Is what he said true? Is Jiao Liang really dead?"
"Impossible. That is the great general Jiao Liang. They must be spreading rumors to deceive people." A woman with a jade hairpin in her hair leaned against the door, scoffing.
She used to be a dancer raised by a prominent family. With her delicate beauty and supple figure, she was much favored by Jiao Liang, and she was very satisfied with her current life, free from worries about food and clothing.
The woman in emerald green shook her head. "Did you not hear the chaos outside? I think what he said is likely true. Why do we not flee as well!"
She was more willing to believe, and hoped, that Jiao Liang was truly dead. She had been abducted, and both her parents had been killed by Jiao's men.
Everyone fell silent.
The woman in emerald green lowered her head in deep thought. Suddenly, she heard a cry of alarm: "Fire! Everyone, look, the Governor's manor is on fire!"
The woman in emerald green looked up and indeed saw flames shooting into the sky outside, accompanied by billowing thick smoke.
Her face was somewhat pale. Biting her lip, she finally made up her mind after a moment and turned back into her room to pack her bags.
She moved quickly. She did not have many things, just some clothes and one or two pieces of silverware.
Carrying a small bundle on her back, she was about to go out when she saw several ladies in similar situations standing at the door.
"Lady Su, let us go together so we can look out for each other," the woman standing at the front suggested.
The woman in emerald green, addressed as Lady Su, hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. The group quickly left Piaoshuang Pavilion and soon disappeared into the darkness.
The woman with the jade hairpin snorted coldly. "In this man-eating world, who knows who you will end up benefiting once you go out!"
The women who stayed behind were all silent. They wanted to leave too, but they lacked the courage. The woman with the jade hairpin was right about one thing: this was a man-eating world.
Jiang Jin had already run to the council hall. She was about to continue running toward the study when she suddenly remembered something. She stopped in her tracks and entered the council hall.
Sure enough, she saw a map on a large table in the council hall. This was definitely a good thing, and she quickly stored it in her spatial dimension.
This large table was not bad either. She stored it away too; after all, her spatial dimension was large enough.
After confirming that there was nothing else of value in the council hall, she proceeded to the study.
In a hidden compartment of the bookshelf at the back of the study, she found the Governor's official seal and stored it in her spatial dimension.
She also stored away the study's bookshelves, the large office desk, stools, and other items, as well as writing brushes, inkstones, paper, and whatever else she saw.
Only then did she open the secret room using the method Yao Ji had described. The items inside practically blinded her eyes with their brilliance.
She exclaimed inwardly. All the wealth of Liang City had become Jiao Liang's private property. No wonder the storehouse had so few items.
There were over ten chests of gold and silver alone. At this time, gold was not in the form of bars, but rather gold cakes or hoof-shaped gold, while silver was in the form of ingots or cakes.
She took a rough look: five chests of gold cakes and seven chests of silver ingots.
In addition, there were several large chests of gold and silver vessels, and thousands of bolts of fabric. These two categories alone took up nearly half of the secret room.
There were also several chests of strung copper coins, estimated to be over a thousand strings.
What surprised her the most was finding two tiger skins, as well as three fox fur coats and two mink fur coats.
The five fur coats were all brand new. Among them, the white fox fur, red fox fur, and purple mink fur were women's styles. They were probably prepared by Jiao Liang for Jiao Zhu, but now they benefited her.
Jiang Jin gleefully stored them all into her spatial dimension. After making sure nothing was left behind, she set a fire and quickly headed toward the stables.
Yao Ji and Xie Nanxiao had already hitched the carriage at the stables. On the ground lay the corpses of several stable hands.
Holding Mo Lin, Yao Ji swung himself onto a horse.
Looking at Yao Ji's chest where the clothes were almost soaked through with blood, Xie Nanxiao could not help but worry. "How about you ride in the carriage?"
Yao Ji shook his head. "No need. I can hold on. These are all fine horses; leaving them here would be a waste. We should take as many as we can."
"Besides," he looked at Mo Lin in his hand, "there will definitely be a fierce battle once we get out. Riding a horse will allow me to better utilize my strength."
Xie Nanxiao said no more. He drove the carriage and followed closely behind him. Only by killing Jiao Zhu would their mission be half complete.
