The Treasure Beneath the Trees at the Shen Clan's Old Residence

But the more I walked, the more frightened I became, and the weaker my legs felt.

The magnificent Jiangnan water town mansion, complete with pavilions, waterside terraces, rockeries, stone bridges, and the main house, vanished overnight.

All that remains are empty foundations and a few scattered dilapidated huts.

Lord Shen's lips trembled as he said:

"My courtyard... our Jiangnan- style courtyard..."

"How... how come there's only this much left?"

Shen Wanjun was woken up by a servant. He rubbed his eyes and said, "What's going on? Why did you wake me up so early?"

The servant quickly said, "Young master, something terrible has happened! Our entire house has been moved away!"

Shen Wanjun got up and ran outside, only to see that the entire courtyard had been moved clean.

Besides his room, there were also servants' quarters, a kitchen, a woodshed...

Nowhere else was spared.

Lord Shen, enraged, cursed, "Who did this? Investigate! If you find out, I'll put him in jail, I'll chop off his head!"

But where can I find this information?

He quickly reported it to the authorities, Prefect Fang's men surveyed the area and said, "We can't find anything, we really can't find any clues. Your houses seem to have vanished into thin air."

Lord Shen furious. "There are sixty or seventy rooms here. Who has the ability to empty my house overnight?"

Prefect Fang quickly comforted him:

"Lord Shen, we understand your feelings, but we don't know who you've offended outside."

How about this? You release Zhou Wanwan, and maybe this won't happen again.

Lord Shen scoffed coldly, "That little girl is quite obedient; let him lock her up and reflect on his actions."

Prefect Fang coughed and said, "If she continues to stay here with you, I think you should reflect on your actions."

Lord Shen looked at Prefect Fang and said, "This little girl isn't your biological daughter, is she? An illegitimate child? Otherwise, why have you been pleading for her all this time?"

Prefect Fang sighed and said:

I've actually been speaking up for you the whole time; if you don't believe me, that's fine too.

This guy's a little troublemaker, you'd better watch yourself!

This Lord Fang came quickly and left quickly.

Lord Shen frowned and said:

"I always felt there was something hidden in his words. What did he mean by that?"

"Someone, let's go to the woodshed and see how that little girl is doing."

Pushing open the door to the woodshed, one could see Zhou Wanwan and her maids sleeping on the straw.

Lord Shen frowned as he looked at them and asked, "Was there any commotion here last night?"

The guards quickly waved their hands and said, "There was no sound at all; they slept soundly until dawn."

Lord Shen nodded and said, "Keep a close eye on them."

He turned and left, looking at the empty courtyard, and said, "Looks like we'll have to find somewhere else to stay."

In the afternoon, Zhou Wanwan changed to a different woodshed, which was both remote and small.

Firewood was piled up everywhere. Zheng Xing'an looked at the woodshed and said, "This is too small! It can only fit two beds and a wooden bucket, and there's firewood all around. How are we supposed to sleep at night?"

Zhou Wanwan looked out the window curiously and asked, "Uncle Scholar Tree, what do you think of this house?"

"This house is naturally not as elegant as the Jiangnan water town courtyard we moved to before."

However, this is the Shen Clan's old residence, a proper three-courtyard siheyuan, with a stable layout.

"It has three courtyards, one in front and one in back, and the houses are spacious and sturdy," the Old Scholar Tree said.

Zhou Wanwan smiled and nodded, saying, "The Shen Clan is really nice; they have so many houses. I'll go out for a stroll tonight."

"Okay! You go take a nap now, and I'll go to the kitchen to see if there's anything good to eat."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. That evening, the Old Scholar Tree brought over a lot of delicious food again.

As soon as Zhou Wanwan approached, she smelled a strong fragrance.

There was roast chicken, honey-glazed roast duck, steamed fresh fish, crab roe soup dumplings, plus osmanthus cake and lotus seed sweet soup. All of these dishes wafted into the air, making one's mouth water.

Zhou Wanwan ate a chicken leg and drank two bowls of lotus seed sweet soup before she was satisfied.

That evening, she followed the Old Scholar Tree into the yard.

The courtyard was pitch black, but the osmanthus tree in the yard could be heard saying, "Oh dear! I never thought they would come back one day. This Shen Clan family house has been unused for many years."

The pomegranate tree beside them sighed and said, "I heard the Shen Clan made a fortune in Jiangnan, so of course they look down on our old house."

A jujube tree sneered:

"Back then, the head of the Shen Clan family buried a lot of gold and silver treasures in our courtyard. There were some gold and silver jewels buried under every tree."

It's likely that no one will ever discover this in their lifetime.

A persimmon tree sighed and said, "We've been guarding this place year after year, but we don't know when they'll find out that there are so many treasures buried here."

Zhou Wanwan's eyes lit up and she said, "I know now, there are gold and silver treasures under every tree?"

The trees remained silent for a long while. The persimmon tree looked at her and said, "Can you hear us talking?"

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Yes! Hello everyone! It's nice to meet you. My name is Zhou Wanwan."

The persimmon tree looked at her and said, "Little girl, what are you doing here?"

Zhou Wanwan sighed and said, "I was arrested, so I wanted to ask if you have any guarantees. As a gift, I can let you leave."

The jujube tree laughed heartily:

"Where did this crazy girl come from? Do you know we're a tree?"

How can a tree walk? You're a complete fraud!

Then they saw the Old Scholar Tree approaching from a distance, and with a "bang," it punched the jujube tree on the head, saying, "What do you know? Can't you see me? Are you walking?"

The jujube tree looked at its roots and said, "My God! I'm hallucinating! I can really walk! It's amazing!"

The trees went berserk. "Little girl, can you let us pass too? We'll dig up all the gold and silver treasures below for you!"

"Yes, yes, yes, we have lots of gold and silver treasures hidden down here!"

Zhou Wanwan didn't waste any words and replenished their energy.

The trees slowly pulled their roots out from below:

Wow! It really can walk! That's amazing! Has anyone ever seen a tree that can walk?

Haha, I've seen it all too.

We'll dig out what's inside for you right away.

The jujube tree swayed its branches, dug and dug in the soil, then exclaimed with delight, "Wow! I dug up a small iron box! I wonder what's inside!"

It gripped the edge of the box tightly with tree roots, and with a strong pry, the iron box sprang open with a "clang".

Inside were top-quality mutton fat jade, Tian jade pendants, jadeite safety buckles, and translucent green jade bracelets, as well as several finely carved Ruyi, jade pendants, and jade hairpins, all with excellent translucency and smooth texture.

Not to be outdone, the pomegranate tree dug and pried vigorously in the mud with its roots, excitedly shouting, "I found one too! It's a big wooden box!"