The rising sun cast golden morning light on the window paper, illuminating the inkstone, brushes, paper, and a small tortoise ornament on the desk.
The fluffy white bird was lying in the snack tray on the desk, its head tilted in a rather awkward position, sleeping soundly like a piglet.
Ye Jingtang was getting dressed in front of the bronze mirror. He could faintly hear the soft words of a virtuous wife and good mother disciplining her daughter coming from the main room next door:
"Hurry up and get up. The sun is already shining on your bottom..."
"Master's wife, where is my bellyband..."
"Shh! Don't be so shameless... Your Brother Jingtang is next door..."
"Hehe~"
...
Although they were not a real family of three, this feeling was still very heartwarming.
However, when he thought that this happiness should have belonged to the leader of the Pingtian Sect, Ye Jingtang felt a bit more pressure in his heart.
He came back the night before last, and because there were many things to do yesterday, he didn't go to visit Third Sister, whose injuries were still not fully healed.
After getting dressed neatly, Ye Jingtang bid farewell to Miss Luo and led his horse out of the courtyard. He planned to go to Tianshui Bridge first and then investigate the matter of the Prince of Wu State's son.
But as soon as he carried the bird out of Ranfang Street, he saw a fast horse galloping towards him. On the horse was a constable from the Black Yamen, who called out from a distance:
"Master Ye."
Ye Jingtang urged his horse forward and asked:
"Is the Prince of Jing looking for me?"
The constable of the Black Yamen saluted with his hands clasped: "Just now, the Prince of Jing sent a message asking Master Ye to go to Fushou Palace immediately. He didn't say what it was about."
Ye Jingtang was a bit puzzled. However, since Benben (the Prince of Jing) had summoned him, he couldn't refuse. So he asked the bird to go to the Pei family's residence to let them know he was safe, and he himself rode his horse at full speed towards the imperial city.
Since it wasn't his first time entering the palace and he was quite familiar with the way, Ye Jingtang parked his horse outside the imperial city, entered with his pass, and walked through the palace pavilions and corridors on his own, arriving at Fushou Palace near the Imperial Garden.
There were not many people in Fushou Palace. Hongyu was waiting outside the palace gate. When she saw Ye Jingtang approaching quickly, she hurried forward:
"Master Ye, you're finally here."
Ye Jingtang came up and took a brief look. He noticed that there was still some dirt on the hem of the palace maid's skirt and asked:
"What's going on?"
Hongyu led Ye Jingtang into the palace and explained along the way:
"Yesterday, when the Prince of Jing and the Empress Dowager were taking a bath, they found a book that contained a lot of palace secrets. The Empress Dowager searched for it half the night..."
When Ye Jingtang heard this, he guessed that Benben must have discovered "The Secret History of the Beautiful Empress". However, judging from the situation, Benben wasn't angry, and he didn't feel guilty either. He followed Hongyu, turning left and right, and arrived at the bedroom of Fushou Palace.
Outside the originally clean and tidy bedroom, there was a pile of dirt and rubble. In a side hall, several palace maids were standing there, digging the ground with hoes. A large pit had already been dug in the ground.
The tall Dongfang Liren was standing under the eaves of the palace pavilion, holding a book in her hand and studying it attentively.
The plump Empress Dowager, wearing casual home clothes, was looking at the large pit in the room, seemingly very interested.
After taking a few glances, Ye Jingtang came up and saluted with his hands clasped: "Your Highness?"
Hearing the sound, Dongfang Liren quickly closed the book, turned around, and motioned with her hand:
"Ye Jingtang, is this the book you used to learn how to investigate cases?"
Ye Jingtang nodded frankly: "That's right. It describes the buildings in the capital city in great detail. Your Highness must have noticed that too."
Dongfang Liren thought that the descriptions of the affairs between men and women in the book were even more detailed. But last night, accompanying the Empress Dowager to look for the old relics was indeed quite interesting, so she didn't say anything. She turned her head and motioned to the room where the earth was being dug:
"Many things described in the book are quite accurate. It also says that there is a tunnel underneath here, leading to the Crown Prince's Mansion of the previous dynasty. But there is no record of this in the palace. What do you think? Is it true or false?"
Ye Jingtang had read "The Secret History of the Beautiful Empress" and knew that the tunnel was used by the empress dowager for having secret trysts. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"The Crown Prince's Mansion mentioned in the book is near Wende Bridge. Digging there from here would require a huge amount of work. I don't think it's very likely to be true."
The Empress Dowager heard the conversation and turned around. When she saw that Ye Jingtang had come, she put on the dignified demeanor of an empress dowager and walked slowly up:
"I don't think this is made up. Yesterday in the Phoenix Pool..."
"Empress Dowager!"
Dongfang Liren was afraid that the Empress Dowager would mention the incident of "the mother and daughter posing" last night. She quickly came up and supported the Empress Dowager like a filial daughter:
"The dust here is thick. You should go back to the hall and rest first. I'll send someone to invite you over when we dig it up."
The Empress Dowager naturally refused to leave: "It's so stuffy in the palace. I'll just stay here and take a look. It doesn't get in the way. If you want to talk to Ye Jingtang, go ahead. I won't disturb you, my dear daughter."
Dongfang Liren's eyes looked a bit strange at the Empress Dowager's insinuating words, but she didn't know how to explain. She then looked at Ye Jingtang:
"I called you here to help. Don't just stand there and watch."
Ye Jingtang smiled and didn't say much. He went into the room, asked the few pitiful palace maids to step aside, jumped into the pit that was about half a person deep, stepped on the ground with his foot, then pulled out the Chi Dragon Ringed Saber, inserted it into the soil, and pressed down on the ring with his palm.
Chā~~
The blade was like being inserted into sand, going deeper inch by inch until it was almost at the hilt before suddenly stopping.
Ye Jingtang felt it carefully: "There is a stone slab below. There might really be something there."
As he spoke, he took the shovel and quickly shoveled away the compacted soil. Soon, a green stone slab was revealed.
The Empress Dowager was very curious and peeked in at the door:
"Is that the tunnel below?"
Ye Jingtang squatted down halfway and knocked on the stone slab with his hand, making a "dong dong~~" sound. He nodded and said:
"The stone slab is about three inches thick. It's empty below. This should be the tunnel."
Dongfang Liren came into the room and frowned: "The appearance of a secret tunnel in the palace is no small matter. Open it and see if it's blocked below."
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang threw the shovel in the room and waved his hand:
"You all stand back a bit."
Dongfang Liren was a bit puzzled and stepped out of the door:
"What are you going to do?"
Ye Jingtang thought the stone slab was quite large and he didn't have time to dig it slowly. Standing in the pit, he took a deep breath, then raised his palm and suddenly slapped the stone slab.
Peng~
Kā——
Lightning-like cracks appeared on the stone slab under his feet.
The Empress Dowager felt her soles go numb and quickly stepped back, hiding behind Dongfang Liren.
Dongfang Liren widened her eyes and reminded:
"Be careful not to hurt your hand."
Ye Jingtang was afraid of hurting his hand, so he used his palm to strike. He took a deep breath again and slapped the stone slab three consecutive times:
Peng peng～
Hōng——
When the last palm strike landed, the stone slab shattered into pieces and collapsed downward with the broken soil.
Ye Jingtang quickly jumped up and landed steadily outside the door.
Huā lā lā——
When the dust settled in the room, a large hole about five feet square could be seen in the middle of the room. By the light from outside, one could see the stone wall below.
When the Empress Dowager saw this, she wanted to go in and take a look, but Dongfang Liren was afraid there were traps and held her back.
Ye Jingtang waited for a while. When he saw that there was no abnormality, he held his knife and came to the entrance of the hole, looking inside. He could see that this was the end of the tunnel, and on the other side was a staircase going down, pitch black, and he didn't know where it led.
"This tunnel doesn't seem to be blocked, just the entrance was sealed."
As he spoke, Ye Jingtang took out a fire starter from his waist, blew it to life, and threw it into the depths of the tunnel.
Dā dā dā～～
After the fire starter rolled down the stairs, it rolled further into the depths. It was still burning when it stopped:
"It seems there are ventilation holes. Going in shouldn't suffocate us."
Hearing this, Dongfang Liren was a bit surprised and came up to take a look:
"Have you been in a tomb before?"
"Hmm?"
Ye Jingtang looked up, feeling confused.
Dongfang Liren explained: "The yamen has caught several grave robbers. Throwing a fire starter into a tunnel is a habit of grave robbers."
Ye Jingtang gently shook his head, looked at the tunnel that might not have been opened for about two hundred years, and asked:
"Should we seal it directly or go in and take a look?"
Dongfang Liren definitely wanted to seal the tunnel. Otherwise, if the Empress Dowager had a whim one day and secretly ran out to play through this tunnel, it would be troublesome.
But before sealing it, she still wanted to see where this tunnel led, so she said:
"You lead me down and take a look."
Ye Jingtang carefully examined the structure of the underground area and was sure that it was just a simple underground passage, so he jumped in.
Dongfang Liren asked the palace maids to bring two palace lanterns and followed him in.
When the Empress Dowager saw this, she was a bit unhappy. She came to the outside of the entrance, looked down, and said:
"You're just going to leave me here?"
Dongfang Liren knew that the Empress Dowager was bored and very curious. After checking the tunnel left and right and finding no abnormalities, she flew up, hugged the Empress Dowager's waist, and jumped into the tunnel.
Seeing this, Hongyu also wanted to jump down. But the Empress Dowager said seriously:
"Stay here honestly. If the tunnel collapses, quickly call someone to dig me out."
"Oh." Hongyu reluctantly shrank back.
For safety's sake, Ye Jingtang didn't let the two of them follow closely behind. He motioned with his hand:
"I'll go ahead and scout the way. After making sure it's safe, Your Highness and Your Majesty can follow. If there's any situation, retreat. Don't worry about me."
Dongfang Liren handed the palace lantern to Ye Jingtang, then held her lantern and protected the Empress Dowager, following behind at a distance...