She dragged Old Zhu, who had a closer relationship with Li Mao, out into the courtyard, then took his sword and threw it outside the door.
After setting everything up, she lit the aphrodisiac incense and locked the house from the outside.
The officials who bullied everyone inside must taste some hardship!
Especially that Lord General.
Before Ruan Mian left the house, she even knocked over the candlestick onto the ground.
After doing all these, she rushed to other rooms without delay.
The officials here were not like in the Capital City, there weren’t as many servants.
There were only a few stewards, all of whom were commanded from among the exiled criminals.
Today, the General set a banquet, and all servants were strictly forbidden from approaching, so Ruan Mian could move unimpededly through this small mansion.
It was just a few thatched cottages, and the contents inside were quickly looted by her.
When she reached Sun Jian’s study, she found it cleaner than she had imagined.
Aside from looting some tables, chairs, and provisions, there was nothing of value.
But Sun Jian clearly wasn’t an upright person, so Ruan Mian inspected the study carefully, and indeed found something unusual under the desk.
She peeled back that piece of animal skin rug and found a path leading to a cellar.
Upon entering, she discovered that this cellar was actually filled with goods from border trade.
There was cotton unique to Lanqiang Country, quite a bit of dried clay coal, and many weapons.
Among them were explosives similar to dynamite.
The fuse was extremely long.
Last time Ruan Mian raided the Xuanjia Army’s arsenal, although there were many weapons and cannons, there were no hidden explosives like these.
Presumably, he had secretly acquired them through personal contacts with Lanqiang Country.
And above him was the governor, though the original book didn’t mention the relationship between the governor and General Huo, both managed Wuheng, and Huo Zong was assigned there later.
She boldly guessed that the two should be incompatible, and the court must have become suspicious of the governor, fearing he might be allied with King Yan.
So they had Huo Zong also take charge of Wuheng’s defense tasks.
Of course, this was just Ruan Mian’s guess; as for the specific situation, she didn’t concern herself with it for the moment.
The priority was to pocket all these things!
She needed to expand her spatial warehouse.
Anything that comes free is better than nothing.
However, apart from this, she also found an unexpected surprise.
There was a ledger for the clay coal trade.
She opened it and found that it clearly recorded how many shipments they had made throughout the year, how much silver they earned, and the constables responsible for transport and extraction.
Ruan Mian immediately stored it in her space, and upon exiting the house, she found that the main hall in front had already caught fire, with people gradually screaming.
She curled her lips into a smile, turned, and walked out of the mansion, disappearing into the darkness.
Although she didn’t have a horse, she had spirit beasts in her space.
Ruan Mian discovered that whether the spirit beast was inside the space or being raised outside, as long as she summoned it from within the space, it would immediately appear by her side.
The White Tiger was too conspicuous as a mount, so she called Little Deer instead.
The White Tiger howled twice in dissatisfaction, seemingly unhappy that Ruan Mian wasn’t choosing it, still trying to nuzzle close to her, wanting her to ride on its back.
This lovely demeanor was truly endearing.
So she patted the White Tiger’s head, coaxing it.
"Next time, how about a stroll? You’re all my treasures!"
With this, the White Tiger obediently lay down by the Spiritual Spring.
Meanwhile, Ruan Mian rode Little Deer, quickly returning to the reception camp.
Perhaps it was the effect of the spiritual spring water, as Little Deer appeared notably larger in size and much stronger when manifesting as the Space Spirit Deer, leaping swiftly and in no way inferior to a horse.
Just as she thought Little Deer might become a regular animal, it could revert to a fawn’s form.
Ruan Mian returned safely without anyone saying a word.
Until the next day.
The news from the General’s Mansion finally reached everyone’s ears.
By that time, they had already gone to the logging site for work, and during lunch break, Ruan Mian and the others chewed on steamed buns, listening to the conversation of the government officer not far away.
"Have you heard? Last night, the Lord General was burned alive!!"
"Not only that, the room where the banquet was held was also... also indecent!"
The government officer lowered his voice further, and another constable listening was shocked, unable to close his mouth, finding it hard to believe.
"Such... such debauchery? That’s too bold! Is there any explanation for the fire?"
"Only a small soldier ran away, but he left behind his sword, and outsiders are saying maybe that small soldier set the fire, but now he can’t be found."
They were astonished and in disbelief, while Ruan Mian leisurely finished her remaining bun.
Shaoxi glanced at Ruan Mian several times, stepping forward to show concern, "Miss, were you alright yesterday?"
"I left early yesterday, avoided that disaster."
"That’s good to hear."
Shaoxi still seemed to want to say something more when Yun Xiu walked over to remind Ruan Mian, "Miss Ruan, Little Deer has been brought over, shall we go now?"
Earlier, Shaoxi had arranged for the government officers to give them an extra hour of rest due to their fatigue, so they could go meet the Jinsha Clan people.
For safety reasons, Ruan Mian didn’t let them follow.
To avoid being seen by other exiled individuals, or worse, reported to the gatekeepers, making it harder to establish some connections.
Still, Yun Xiu wasn’t at ease, "Miss Ruan, I’ll still follow you, I must protect you."
"I’ll be fine, the other party is just a child, besides we all have signal arrows, if something really happens, I’ll pull it."
This had been prepared by Ruan Mian before coming to the reception camp, distributing it to a few trusted individuals, ensuring that everyone could send out signals in case of an unexpected situation.
Hearing this, Yun Xiu refrained from following.
However, a small tail still ended up following behind Ruan Mian.
When she reached the agreed place, she didn’t see the Jinsha Clan people.
She then put the two Little Deers on the ground, watching them dart back and forth in the snow, she just felt as if the world had suddenly become a better place.
Unfortunately, the "little tail" behind her suddenly shouted out.
"You little wench!! Was it you who caused the mischief last night? You’re the one who burned the Lord General to death!"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Mian turned around slowly, unexpectedly seeing that Li Mao had followed her.
She smiled lightly, calmly retorting.
"Mr. Li, I am just a mere woman, how could I possess such miraculous power to burn the Lord General to death?"
"You still deny it?! Yesterday, you were clearly taken into the house, yet you came back unscathed, as if nothing happened, to the reception camp! Who else could it be but you?! "
He scolded while stamping his feet.
"You must have accomplices behind this! Tell me, who colluded with you? No wonder yesterday Old Zhu and the others took you away and you weren’t scared at all, turns out you had already prepared this little scheme."
"Mr. Li, you give me too much credit, I was all alone, horribly tricked by you men, how could I possibly have anyone to collude with?"