I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 212 Breaking into Zhang Mansion

Dongfang Jin took the cup and drank the water in one gulp to calm herself down.

"I'll tidy up. You should keep an eye on things down there, especially when we get to the Zhang residence."

"I understand. Aren't you going later tonight?"

Dongfang Jin shook her head: "No, I'm afraid things might get complicated if this matter really involves the Zhang family."

My guess is that the Zhang family won't let those children stay in Ling'an County any longer; they'll definitely send them away by boat that very day.

Otherwise, why haven't those children been found all these years? Those human traffickers are truly despicable.

It is a scourge that harms society in any world.

“Your analysis is spot on. That’s why those people say that so many children go missing at the market every year, but they just can’t catch the perpetrators.”

“That’s right,” Dongfang Jin said, applying makeup to her face. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could be described as ugly, but she was quite satisfied with her current appearance.

Ruyi was startled by her appearance: "Jin-jie, when did you learn to disguise yourself?"

Dongfang Jin's mood improved considerably after being startled by its loud noise.

She also recalled a famous saying: Don't panic when something happens.

She reached out and tugged at Ruyi's hair: "This is called makeup. In our world, every woman knows how to do it. I'm going out now, so be careful."

"I know, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Ruyi watched her master leave the space and muttered to herself: Do you think it's easy for me?

Fortunately, this master was relatively rational in the face of trouble, otherwise there would have been nothing he could do.

Dongfang Jin stepped out of the space and looked up at the sky. The sky, which had been half-hidden and half-revealed just moments before, had now become even more gloomy. It looked like it was going to snow again.

When Dongfang Jin arrived in Dongcheng, he easily found the Zhang residence, as the Zhang residence stood out prominently in the area.

Dongfang Jin now has considerable experience entering other people's houses, using his light-footed skills to scale the courtyard walls.

【how?】

After a long pause, Ruyi finally spoke, "Jin-jie, everyone in this mansion is a pervert. Almost every courtyard has a secret room in its main courtyard."

[Is there stolen goods, or...?]

There are stolen goods, but there are also quite a few children, all around ten years old.

I just heard someone whisper that those girls are being sent away tonight.

Those boys will be kept until tomorrow, when the guests have chosen what's left, and then they'll be sent away.

It is said that Zhang Fusheng hosts a dinner party every now and then, during which something will be auctioned off.

Sister Jin, what you're standing on extends from the basement of that mansion. Below are rows of lavishly decorated rooms.

There are also several rooms furnished, and it looks like they're decorated like a wedding room; you could say they have everything you need.

Dongfang Jin was confused. "The wedding room?"

What is this for?

underground?

That's really weird.

Dongfang Jin looked at the ground beneath her feet and fell into deep thought.

Yes, there are also those things we found in the Phantom Tower last time, and they are in every room here as well.

Sister Jin, the Zhang family mansion looks like a brothel to me.

Furthermore, the pond behind their house is filled with skeletons, and the water there flows to the Grand Canal to the east.

It could be said that the water from his pond flowed diagonally from north to east into the back garden of the Zhang residence.

A forest of white bones?

To destroy the evidence?

Good trick!

Ah, it seems this Zhang family is no good family; it's more like a living hell.

This made the word pop into her mind... pedophilia.

Yes, I just heard from the kitchen that tomorrow Master Zhang is going to host a banquet for some important figures and wealthy merchants from the surrounding prefectures, counties and cities.

By the way, there are quite a few people in the underworld who say that every now and then, this Master Zhang would host a dinner party.

Jin-jie, look!

You mean wait until tomorrow to take them all down? No, didn't you just say they were going to send those girls away tonight?

As for those people, since the Zhang family is hosting a banquet, they will definitely send out invitations, account books, lists of guests, and so on.

It's daytime now, can't you see how listless everyone looks?

Ruyi certainly saw it. In broad daylight, some of those people looked listless, some were leaning against the wall with their eyes closed, taking a nap, and others were standing there nodding from time to time.

However, those people didn't seem to have taken any kind of drug. What's going on?

Ruyi, people like this clearly have a long-term nightlife.

They've adapted to the night, so they're naturally listless during the day. This is just a cloudy day; on a sunny, clear day, these people are even more formidable.

Nighttime is the most dangerous time at the Zhang residence; these people become as energetic as night owls. Therefore, we must raid his place during the day.

I see. That explains why I said these people didn't seem to have been drugged.

Then go east, there's a rockery by the pond, and inside the rockery is a small cave, that's the exit leading to this underground place.

It can be described as an escape route.

If you enter from there, you can take all the valuables from the other side, and then we can continue our charity work.

Following Ruyi's instructions, Dongfang Jin avoided the people moving around the Zhang residence, arrived at the artificial hill, entered the cave, and opened the hidden small door.

A black passage appeared inside. We walked in the dark, and within a hundred meters or so, an oil lamp appeared on the wall of the passage every fifty meters or so.

I don't know what this oil is made of; it has a faint fishy smell.

Turn left; that leads to an empty house outside the mansion. The stolen goods are hidden underneath that building.

Ruyi, why do people in ancient times like to hide things underground?

Look at this passage; it was all carved out bit by bit by hand. How many people must have worked for that!

It was like a tunnel warfare operation; Dongfang Jin even suspected that the Zhang family had people digging an underground palace for Zheng Sihan.

And sure enough, she guessed right. Some of the people who dug the underground palace for Zheng Sihan were from Qingfeng Village.

The person leading the group was Zhang Fusheng's older brother, Zhang Fugui.

[If not underground, where else could you hide it? This world doesn't have banks or safes like yours.]

Dongfang Jin nodded, that was true, so some historical treasures came from underground.

Those treasures are more powerful than history books; they can truly tell the "truth."

She walked for about half an hour and arrived at the empty courtyard that Ruyi had mentioned.

The scene inside shocked Dongfang Jin.

[Ruyi, I'm starting to wonder if the Zhang family are bee spirits in disguise. Look at this place, it's practically a giant beehive! What are they thinking?]

This huge honeycomb grid contains all sorts of things.

[We don't need to understand such a twisted mind. Sister Jin, these are all jade slabs; you can take them all. It seems the Zhang family has found a jade mine.]

I don't think so, Ruyi. Look at these stone slabs, they are almost the same in both width and length.

I think it looks like it was made in a factory. What do you think this place is?

If someone surnamed Zhang had found the jade mine, they wouldn't have had the exquisite skills to make these.

Dongfang Jin walked around the large beehive a few steps, touching the jade slabs with his hands, and said.

Believe it or not, she was right. This batch of goods came from a small branch of the Yun family in the south.

This batch of goods was actually ordered by the fake Zheng Lu Nian. It's just a pity that they were robbed and it's a shame they didn't know who they were supposed to deliver the goods to.

When the robbers heard that the goods were sent by the Duke of Wu's mansion, they realized that most of them were Zhang Fugui's trusted confidants who knew the cause of Zhang Fugui's death.

They couldn't openly avenge their boss, but they could take revenge secretly. To avoid causing trouble for Zhang Fusheng, those people resorted to murder and robbery.