The Imperial Guards, like Yama, slaughtered until the Empress cried out for help.

Meanwhile, at the Huang Mansion in the west of the city.

The three, their faces covered, lightly leaped onto the high wall, and after a brief look around, jumped into the courtyard.

The man on the left, named Ding San, had a somewhat shrill voice: "This mansion looks impressive, but why is it always uninhabited?"

The man on the right, named Ding Er, said, "Isn't it good that nobody's around? Have you forgotten the time we were discovered and chased like dogs?"

Several days ago, these people had been staking out this residence. The residence looked very ordinary from the outside, and the only people coming and going were a few servants who were responsible for cleaning, all of whom were people without any cultivation.

This situation continued until this morning, when three carriages stopped outside the mansion, and the drivers carried ten boxes inside before leaving.

They realized it was time to make their move.

As soon as it got dark, they slipped in through the high wall.

The man in the middle was clearly the leader of the three, named Ding Yi, and he lowered his voice.

"Alright, you two, stop bickering and get to work together. Let's focus on finding those ten boxes first."

The three of them ran quickly and approached a house on the left. When they got close to the window, Ding San lightly poked a hole in the oil paper on the window and, with the help of the moonlight, he could see the layout of the house.

Ding San was somewhat excited, and his voice rose a few decibels.

"Big brother, we've struck it rich! We've struck it rich!"

Ding Er, getting a little anxious, slapped him on the butt: "We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich! What?!"

Ding San turned around, his face full of excitement: "The furniture in this room is all made of rosewood. You can tell at a glance that the family is rich and powerful."

"Do you think this might be a high-ranking official's house for keeping his concubines? Look at the outside, it's just ordinary white walls and black tiles, but when you look inside, wow, the furniture is all made of rosewood..."

Ding Yi and Ding Er pondered for a while and felt that this was very likely; if not a high-ranking official, then he must be an extraordinary person.

"Alright, stop looking. Even if these pieces of furniture are made of rosewood, we can't move many of them. Let's focus on finding those wooden crates first. Maybe this is the chance for us to live a life of wealth and luxury."

Ding San looked somewhat reluctant to leave, but still left the room.

Suddenly, Ding Er lowered his voice and said something.

"Big brother, we've found some leads."

Upon closer inspection, the two found a dense trail of footprints on the ground. Following the footprints, the three arrived at a small hut. They gently opened the window paper and found ten wooden boxes inside.

The three exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with fervor, and spoke in unison.

"Walk!"

After confirming there were no traps or mechanisms, Ding San entered the room. He held a wire in his hand, fiddled with it gently, and unlocked the door.

They opened the box with great anticipation, only to be dumbfounded the next moment. There was no treasure that most people wanted inside, just a box full of soybeans.

Ding San picked up a soybean and examined it closely, but it looked like an ordinary soybean.

"These are soybeans? This group went to all that trouble to bring in ten boxes of soybeans?"

"Could it be some kind of special medicinal herb?"

Ding Er was clearly a body cultivator. He gripped the lock with his hand and suddenly broke it. The box was full of soybeans. The two turned to look in their elder brother's direction.

Ding Yi was standing there deep in thought, and the box in front of him was full of soybeans.

Ding Er snorted: "Whether it's soybeans or not, I'll know once I taste it."

Ding Er displayed the unique brain smoothness of a body cultivator. Although he didn't know what it was, he wanted to try it out because of his strong physique.

The moment the soybean entered his mouth, Ding Yi slapped his hand away.

"Do you even have a brain? You put it in your mouth without even knowing if it's poisonous?"

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside the courtyard. The group immediately shut up, quickly closed the box, and hid inside the house.

Soon, the sound of two footsteps approached and they pushed open the door, seemingly checking the boxes inside.

Ding Yi and the others held their breath, ready to run away if things went wrong. Although they were confident in their hiding skills, Ding Er had broken the lock on one of the boxes.

However, it seems that it has not been discovered.

One of them spoke in an extremely subdued tone: "Lord Sasaki, rest assured, the journey has been extremely safe, and no one has suspected anything."

The other person, clearly of higher status, immediately rebuked, "You bastard! I told you not to call me Sasaki, call me Huang Fu."

......

As the sound faded into the distance, Ding Yi and the others emerged from the shadows.

Ding San scratched his head in confusion: "Sasaki? What a strange name."

"But they seem to value this batch of beans quite a bit. Could it really be something special?"

But no one answered for a long time. Ding San turned his head and saw Ding Yi frowning as if he was thinking about something, while Ding San had already put two boxes on his shoulders and was figuring out how to carry three boxes at once.

After a slight hesitation, Ding San stepped forward to help.

Just then, Ding Yi suddenly spoke up: "Sasaki doesn't seem to be a name, but a surname among the Japanese pirates."

Ding San and Ding Er stopped what they were doing and looked at each other.

"Brother, you even know about the Japanese pirates? You know way too much!"

Ding glanced at the two brothers and sighed. One was quick-witted, and the other couldn't resist money. If he hadn't been more naive, he would have been beheaded long ago.

"Put the box down first; this thing might not be anything good."

"The Japanese pirates burned, killed, and looted along the coast, committing all sorts of atrocities. Surely they couldn't have gone to such lengths to deliver these goods to Yongning County for a good cause?"

A glint of light flashed in Ding Yi's pupils.

"If it's not a good thing, then it's a bad thing; there's something wrong with these seeds!"

......

Time flew by, and soon it was the morning of the next day.

Shen Qing, who was sitting quietly in the room, slowly opened his eyes, and a fierce aura surged out.

In just one night, Shen Qing had perfectly converted all the medicinal power into true qi, and his cultivation level soared from the first level of the Innate Realm to the fifth level.

In just one night, Shen Qing completed the journey that other Innate Realm martial artists would take many years to complete.

If Zhang Shan found out, he'd probably be resentful for a long time.

Suddenly, bursts of firecrackers and fireworks filled the air, accompanied by the joyful voices of the people. Their noses twitched slightly, and they could smell the aroma of wheat cakes.

Shen Qing rubbed her stomach.

"Is there some kind of holiday? I'm actually quite hungry, and wheat cakes seem like a good option..."

He got up, slightly restrained his inner energy, pushed open the gate, and walked out of the courtyard.

The usually serious Hundred Household Office was now filled with laughter.

Turning my head, I saw that the scholar, the black dog, Lin Zikai, and Lao Li were sitting in a circle, having a heated discussion.

The scholar spotted Shen Qing immediately and quickly pulled the others to their feet: "Boss, you're up!"

Shen Qing nodded and smiled, "You slept well. What's going on outside?"

The scholar quickly explained, "These past few days have been the Autumn Harvest Festival, and everyone outside is making preparations for the sacrificial rites."

"A sacrificial ceremony?"

"Yes, our Autumn Harvest Festival is a grand ceremony held every three years to worship the God of Millet, to give thanks for the good harvests of previous years, and to pray for favorable weather in the future."

"There are even free wheat cakes being handed out on the street."

Shen Qing also remembered that there were autumn harvest festivals in various parts of the dynasty, with slightly different dates, but they were roughly the same.

The autumn harvest festival in the capital was even more extravagant. Every sacrifice required the offering of powerful ferocious beasts, with even beasts at the Innate Realm not being allowed to be displayed.

Shen Qing walked over to the group and saw what they had been discussing so intensely—a map.

"What were you guys talking about just now?"

Lin Zikai quickly stepped aside, revealing the map behind him: "Sir, we plan to pool our resources to buy a courtyard house on Xuefu Street. Xuefu Street has the best Taoli Academy in Yongning County, and we want to bring our younger siblings over to study there."

Shen Qing nodded thoughtfully. In this day and age, martial arts are revered, but learning martial arts is not the only way out. Studying is also a broad road to success.

The dynasty seemed to have special favors for those civil officials. Although it was said that practicing martial arts could prolong life, those civil officials did not have short lifespans. Shen Qing remembered that the position of the current prime minister had not been changed for four hundred years. In other words, this prime minister had lived for four hundred years.

However, Shen Qing was not clear about the specific reasons. After all, his predecessor was just a playboy in the capital. He ran away to Baiyun County in a fit of pique, wanting to prove himself.

"Where do you plan to buy it, and how many taels of silver will it cost?"

Lin Zikai smiled shyly and pointed to a spot at the end of Academy Street: "It's here, at the end of Academy Street. It only costs a little over three hundred taels of silver. Even if we pool our money, this is the only place we can afford."

Shen Qing peeked inside: "Where's the most expensive one?"

Lin Zikai thought Shen Qing was also going to buy one, so he quickly pointed to a direction: "Boss, the most expensive one is here, in the center of Academy Street. One set costs about seven hundred taels of silver."

"But don't worry, with the scholar here, he's good at bargaining. This house was originally priced at four hundred taels of silver, but the scholar bargained it down to three hundred and fifty taels last night."

Shen Qing nodded: "Okay, you guys wait for me here."

After saying that, he turned back to his own courtyard, and came out again a short while later.

He slammed thirty hundred-tael silver notes directly onto the table.

"Four people buying one set? People will think we can't afford it."

"Here, buy one for everyone, pick the expensive ones!"