Xi Qingyue carried Xi Weilan in her arms and headed outside, bringing several people along with them.
More than a dozen guards followed behind, pushing handcarts as they made their way toward the Song residence. Their procession once again drew crowds of onlookers.
News of what had happened to the Song family had already spread, and everyone was speculating about Xi Qingyue’s purpose in going there.
A young boy pointed at the handcarts and exclaimed, “No way. The Song family has only just died, and they’re already moving their belongings out? That’s way too obvious!”
As soon as he finished speaking, an old man beside him rapped him on the head. “How do you know they’re moving belongings? Maybe they’re carrying corpses.”
An older woman gave a disdainful snort. “So what if they are moving things? The Song family did so many vile deeds. They seized the land and shops of countless people, and the commandery princess’s people said they would return them one by one later. That’s a good thing.”
The crowd watched their retreating figures and discussed the matter animatedly before following along as well. They were extremely curious.
The Song residence’s main gate had only just been opened when Xi Qingyue swept Xi Weilan into the air and flew inside. They flew straight over the piles of corpses and headed toward the rear of the residence.
Xi Weilan had not even gotten a clear look at the bodies on the ground before Xi Qingyue had taken her to the rear courtyard. She craned her neck around, looking in every direction.
Xi Qingyue took her straight to the Song family’s treasury. That was their real destination.
“Big Sis, are we taking these rockeries too?” Xi Weilan asked, pointing at the clusters of ornamental rocks they passed.
Xi Qingyue glanced at the rockeries and shook her head. “No need. We’ll leave the residence as it is for now. We’re only taking the gold and silver from the treasury.”
As she spoke, the two of them arrived at the treasury door.
Xi Qingyue flicked out a wind blade, severing the lock. She set Xi Weilan down, took her hand, and led her inside.
“Wow, there’s so much gold! Big Sis, we’re rich again!” Xi Weilan ran over excitedly.
Xi Qingyue gazed at the piles of gold stacked like little mountains, her face alight with delight. She loved anything that glittered gold.
The treasury was enormous. Besides gold, silver, and jewelry, there were mountains of grain, all sorts of ancient books and paintings, bolts of cloth and silk, and so many different kinds of goods that it was dazzling to behold.
Xi Weilan happily ran around inside, touching this and examining that. Her little hands and feet never stopped moving.
Only after she had finished playing did Xi Qingyue wave her hand and collect everything inside into her spatial storage.
She did not touch the clothes, quilts, and other belongings in the various rooms of the Song residence. She left those for the guards to haul away and distribute directly to the displaced people who were working for them. That way, everything could be put to good use.
She also discovered a secret room in Song Linzhi’s quarters and took everything inside it as well. The harvest was considerable.
Afterward, she used her power to search the entire Song residence. Only after confirming that there were no other hidden rooms did she leave with Xi Weilan.
Before departing, she used her power to evaporate the blood on the ground. The guards carried all the corpses onto the handcarts, intending to dump them in the mass graveyard outside the city.
If the corpses were left lying in the courtyard, an epidemic would break out sooner or later. Now that this place belonged to her, she naturally could not allow anything to go wrong.
The two of them flew out through the rear courtyard of the Song residence and landed in an empty alley.
“Big Sis, where are we going? Are we heading back?” Xi Weilan asked while happily eating a lollipop.
Xi Qingyue smiled. “We’re going to the Qiao residence. The Qiao family is much the same as the Song family, so we’ll collect their belongings too. As for the Pei family, they’ve been rather cooperative. They didn’t resist and even took the people we wanted to capture and handed them over themselves. We’ll only confiscate their shops.”
“Big Sis, will they come after us for revenge?” Xi Weilan asked, tilting her head.
Xi Qingyue patted her head. “Don’t worry. As long as they even think about it, I’ll wipe them all out.”
The Pei family had fewer murderous wastrels than the Song and Qiao families. Besides, they had handed over the culprits of their own accord, while the rest of the family had obediently remained at home. There was no need for her to exterminate them all. As long as they did not harbor any further malicious intentions, that was enough. If they dared to, she could make the Pei family disappear overnight without needing any evidence.
While the sisters were collecting the Qiao family’s belongings from their treasury, Xie Lenghui and her daughter, Song Haitang, who were outside the city, also learned what had happened to the Song family.
When she heard that her father and elder brother had been killed, Song Haitang sat on the ground, wiping away tears without pause.
“Mother, Big Brother didn’t do anything wrong. How could they kill him too? Sob, sob…”
Xie Lenghui sighed. She knew that Xi Qingyue was not someone to provoke, but she had still underestimated how decisive and ruthless the woman could be.
“Haitang, stop crying. I told your brother to come here as soon as possible, but he refused to listen. Commandery Princess Cenyue was never a kindhearted person. She gave the Song family a choice. Your brother chose to stand with your father. That woman and her child were allowed to live. If your brother had done the same at the time, he might have escaped too.”
She had never expected her son to be so foolish as to wager his life.
Although she felt hatred in her heart, she did not dare entertain any thoughts of revenge.
“Mother, where will we go now? The Song family is gone just like that. We have to take care of Father and Big Brother’s funerals, don’t we?” Song Haitang’s face was filled with sorrow. From this day forward, she no longer had a home.
Xie Lenghui walked over and helped her to her feet. “Come on. We’ll wait for them at the mass graveyard outside the city. They’ll throw the bodies there later. Once we find them and bury them, you’ll come back with me to the Xie family. Your maternal uncle is the head of the Xie family. Once you return there, no one will dare bully you.”
Since Xi Qingyue had not slaughtered the entire Song family, the lives of the mother and daughter could be spared. But they could never return to the Song residence, nor could they reclaim anything that had belonged to the Song family.
Song Haitang wiped away her tears and looked at her in confusion. “Mother, why don’t we go back to the Song residence and bring the bodies out? Madam Mei was left unharmed. They probably won’t kill us either, will they?”
Xie Lenghui shook her head. “You’re too naive. Just because the commandery princess didn’t kill us doesn’t mean her subordinates won’t. Almost everyone in the Song family died at the hands of the commandery princess’s people. To prevent future retaliation, they’ll eliminate every last threat. If we go back, it may be difficult to get out again.”
“Mother, could they be waiting for us at the mass graveyard, hoping we’ll walk right into their trap?”
At those words, Xie Lenghui suddenly paled. “You’re right. We’re going back to the Xie family immediately. We’ll have someone else wait at the mass graveyard for the bodies.”
She would not place her own and her daughter’s safety at risk for the sake of two cold corpses. Staying alive was the correct choice now.
The two of them hurriedly boarded a carriage and left the estate outside the city.
Unlike the disastrous state of the Song and Qiao residences, everyone in the Pei family who had not been arrested was merely confined to the residence and forbidden from leaving at will.
Nanxing had people guarding the entrance to the Pei residence. The gates would not be opened until the cases against the guilty members of the Pei family had been settled, those who deserved death had been executed, and the victims had received their corresponding compensation.
At the Pei residence, Madam Pei sat in the principal seat of the council hall, glaring furiously at her son.
“You fool! If I hadn’t returned in time, our Pei family would have been finished. Why did you follow Song Linzhi in stirring up trouble? If he wanted to oppose the commandery princess, that was his business. Why did you get involved? Look at the Qi and Ouyang families. If you had been even a little cleverer, you wouldn’t have done something like this.”
Madam Pei’s face was livid with rage. They had come this close to ruin.
She had been staying at a manor outside the city and happened to return just as Nanxing and his men were confronting the Pei family. Fortunately, she arrived in time to prevent a massacre.
Even so, the martial arts experts who were usually so arrogant in front of them were all killed by Nanxing simply because they had provoked him with their foul mouths.
“Mother, what are we going to do about our shops? They said our shops have been confiscated. That’s no small loss.”
Madam Pei, furious, raised her cane and smacked him with it. “The shops? You should be grateful we managed to keep our lives! And you’re still worrying about such worldly possessions? What on earth is wrong with that pig brain of yours?”
