Qi Yu's campaign to plunder treasures from his imperial father began with an ancient painting from the previous dynasty.
That afternoon, Qi Xiao was reviewing memorials in the West Warm Pavilion, while Qi Yu crouched beside the Imperial Desk, rummaging through a red sandalwood box. De'an had just brought the box out of the Imperial Treasury. Inside was a list of the rare treasures presented as tribute from across the empire that year.
He turned to the last page and pointed to a line. "Father, what is this 'Jadeite Cabbage'?"
Without even looking up, Qi Xiao said it was a cabbage carved from a single piece of jadeite, symbolizing abundant wealth, a New Year's gift from the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. Qi Yu asked whether it was pretty, and Qi Xiao said it was all right.
Qi Yu closed the list. "Then I'll take it and put it in the study at Qingliang Terrace."
Qi Xiao lifted his eyes to glance at him and said it was a New Year's gift that had not yet been entered into storage.
Qi Yu said, "Even better. That saves Eunuch De'an another trip." Standing nearby, De'an's mouth twitched.
Over the next few days, Qi Yu carried off the Jadeite Cabbage, a set of sky-blue-glazed Ru Kiln tea ware, two bolts of plain silk newly presented as tribute from Jiangnan, an old-pit Duanzhou stone inkstone, a small red sandalwood screen, and Fishing Alone on a Cold River, a painting by a renowned artist of the previous dynasty.
Every time he took something, he made an entry in a ledger. His handwriting was crooked, but his accounts were meticulous. De'an always followed behind to lock the treasury doors, thinking that if the Fourth Prince went to work at the Ministry of Revenue, he could probably save