Before long, they arrived at the back gate of the Liu residence. The head of the Southern Hall, David, led dozens of people and stood outside the gate, waiting for them.
As soon as Hai Ling appeared, these people respectfully greeted her, "Young Master."
Except for David, the head of Nannan Hall, who knew that Hailing's true identity was still the Empress of Beilu, everyone else regarded him as the Shadowless Young Master of Wuying Tower.
Hai Ling nodded to her subordinates and then ordered David to start spreading the sleeping incense. This incense was a special fragrance made by the Shadowless Pavilion, which was dissolved in the air. It was used to make the robbery easier, so the sleeping incense was spread beforehand to knock out everyone in the mansion before they started moving things. After they finished moving the things, they would usually sprinkle some antidote to wake them up sooner.
They were currently positioned upwind. David had applied a sleeping potion, and about fifteen minutes later, they heard the sound of people collapsing to the ground inside the door. These were clearly the sounds of the guards collapsing after inhaling the sleeping potion.
When it was quiet inside, Hai Ling waved her hand and ordered everyone to enter the Liu residence.
"Be careful, move your things early. Everyone pick a few valuable items to take, then come out and meet back here in half an hour."
"Yes, young master."
The people from Wuyinglou responded, but the few people around Hailing were only there for the fun of it and had no real intention of moving things.
The group leaped into the Liu residence. The Liu residence was very large, and they were currently at the very back. Apart from the lush green trees and various flowers and plants, there were no other people around. The few guards were also unconscious from the sleeping incense and lay on the ground, so they were not worried at all. They entered the Liu residence and began to search around.
The people from Wuyinglou went to move their things, while Hailing, along with Shimei, Shilan, and Shen Ruoxuan, began to idly stroll around the Liu residence.
The entire Liu residence was eerily quiet, without a single sound, as if it were a dead city, all because of the bewitching incense they had used.
In fact, if someone had discovered the Bewitching Incense earlier, such a large mansion would have been fine. Perhaps they were living too comfortably and did not expect anyone to make a move against them, which is why they were all easily affected by the Bewitching Incense.
Hai Ling, Shen Ruoxuan, and the others strolled around the Liu residence and found that the Liu family was indeed quite large, and the design of each place was also very luxurious and unique. They were indeed a wealthy family. It was really strange that such rich people would live in this small town. However, seeing that the time was almost up, Hai Ling and the others left the Liu residence and met up with David and the others in the backyard. David and the others had already put the things they had moved out of the Liu residence into the carriage. At this time, everyone stood respectfully on the street behind, waiting for Hai Ling's instructions.
Having stolen someone else's things, they certainly couldn't stay any longer. Besides, Shuangxi Town was too small. If they didn't send these things away overnight, they would inevitably be exposed, and then things would get complicated.
"David, scatter the antidote, then send these things away tonight."
"Yes, young master."
David accepted the order and carried it out, then led his men to deliver the stolen goods.
Hailin glanced around, then looked at the group behind her with a very good mood: "Let's go, it's late, we should go back to sleep."
"Let's go back to sleep."
After Shen Ruoxuan spoke, the group quickly returned to the Anmanlou Inn, still jumping in through the back window. Only after they returned did Mingzhu feel relieved, and everyone went to tidy up and rest.
The next day, while everyone was sound asleep, they heard a commotion downstairs. Then, people came upstairs, and it wasn't just one person. Their steps were neat and powerful as they went straight to the third floor, accompanied by voices.
The innkeeper and waiter of Anmanlou Inn spoke to the newcomers with fawning expressions.
"Gentlemen, these people stayed at the inn all night and didn't go out at all?"
Unfortunately, the menacing group around him completely ignored him, shoving the shopkeeper aside with a single hand and rushing straight to the third floor.
Everyone on the third floor had gotten up by now. Some had disguised themselves, while others had changed into men's clothing. As the newcomers walked into the corridor on the third floor, several doors opened simultaneously, and several people walked out of the rooms. Leading the group was Hai Ling, followed by Shi Mei, Shi Lan, Shen Ruoxuan, and Mingzhu. All four of them were disguised, with only Hai Ling showing her true face.
At the entrance to the passageway on the third floor, dozens of subordinates were standing. As soon as they saw Hai Ling and the others appear, they spoke expressionlessly and rudely: "You, you, all of you come downstairs. My lady wants to see you."
Hai Ling immediately understood. It seemed that these people were from the Liu family. The Liu family had been robbed last night, so the lady of the Liu family led people out to search early this morning to find out who had stolen the Liu family's things.
However, these people seemed too arrogant. Hai Ling said with displeasure, "Does your wife mean we have to go down and see her just because she wants to see us? Who is she anyway, putting on such a big show?"
"Hurry up, or don't blame us for being impolite."
The head servant spoke impatiently, clearly in a bad mood. Who would have thought that someone would break into the Liu residence last night and steal a lot of valuable items? The mistress was furious, and if these items weren't recovered, none of the guards would have any peace. Despite the mistress's youth and beauty, she was quite skilled, and she had two formidable subordinates who were terrifying when they punished people.
When the subordinate spoke disrespectfully to Hailing, Shimei and Shilan's expressions changed drastically, and they were about to take action.
Hai Ling reached out to stop the two girls, then looked at the group and said, "Let's go."
She was quite curious about who this lady was. She was clearly very wealthy, yet she was holed up in a small place like Shuangxi Town. Logically speaking, even if they didn't go to the capital, they should have lived in the city. Besides, wasn't the prefect very afraid of them? Why were they choosing to stay in such a small town?
Hai Ling guessed, and became even more eager to see the lady of the Liu family, so she reached out to stop Shi Mei from making any noise.
Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. They're just passing through, so it's best to be careful. Although we're not afraid of these people, there's no need to cause trouble.
"Let's go."
Hai Ling spoke first, then went downstairs first, followed by Shi Mei and Shi Lan.
The innkeeper and waiter looked helpless, carefully following Hailing and saying nice things, afraid that the guest might get angry and not stay at the inn.
"Young master, it's not our fault. We don't know what happened either. Please don't blame us."
"It's alright, it's not your fault," Hai Ling said. The shopkeeper finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, and went downstairs with Hai Ling and the others.
In the lobby on the first floor, there were quite a few people standing there. They had all been brought down by the servants of the Liu family. These people were resentful and kept talking about it. They were all angry about the domineering attitude of the Liu family. They were all business people, and no one would be happy to be yelled at so early in the morning.
When Hai Ling and the others came down, they didn't see any Lady Liu, but they did see a lot of Liu family servants, who were staring at everyone with predatory eyes, as if they were looking at thieves, as if they wanted to find out from these people where the stolen goods from last night had gone and whether they had been hidden by these people.
Inside the hall, the voices grew louder and louder, and someone even shouted.
"What exactly does this mean? Why did you wake us all up? What do you want to do?"
These people were unaware of the Liu family's misfortune, so they were angry and furious.
Of everyone, only Hai Ling and the others knew the truth, but they were too lazy to argue with the servants of the Liu family. They were just wondering when the lady of the Liu family would appear.
Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps could be heard outside the gate of Anmanlou. The guards of the Liu family, who had been standing menacingly in front of the gate, were now as docile as cats and respectfully greeted her: "Madam."
A group of maids entered first and then lined up on both sides of the gate.
"This setup, this grandeur, is truly extraordinary," Hai Ling muttered to herself, her desire to see who this Lady Liu was growing stronger. All eyes were fixed on the entrance.