This method worked, and for nearly half a month afterward, Shen Hanshan didn't come over again. Zhao Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Her back injury had completely healed, and she could move around freely again. Zhao Zhi opened the hidden compartment under the bed and took out the map she hadn't had time to examine closely.

This glance revealed something significant; she discovered a clue.

On the day Shen Hanshan abducted Zhao Zhi, he threw her onto the bed, her body pressing against the map, causing creases in the thick map. It was these creases that allowed Zhao Zhi to discover a thin layer sandwiched between the layers of the map. She carefully peeled off the top layer and was surprised to find a painting sandwiched in the middle.

The painting depicts a canyon.

The sun rose just above the cliff top, and the waterfall, like a ribbon, hung high between heaven and earth. Water splashed and leaped, its spray reflecting the rising sun, creating a dazzling spectacle.

As the mountain stream descends, the canyons on both sides suddenly become steep. The path on the right has broken off, while there is a wooden plank on the left. Below the plank, a stream meanders and flows.

...

Looking further down, a completely different scene unfolds: clouds and mist rise, waterfalls cascade, and streams meander around the rocks.

Beneath the ancient pine, where a clear spring gathers, sits a beautiful woman, resting her chin on her hand and gazing into the distance.

The painting is also signed with four characters: My wife, Cui Jiao.

Zhao Zhi stroked the key in his hand, then looked at the content of the painting, completely baffled. But the person who painted it must have had a deeper meaning in including it in the map.

She meticulously compared the painting with the mountains and rivers on the map, finally discovering that the content of the painting was remarkably similar to the "Chaoyu Mountain" marked on the map. She then consulted Yun Chao's "Records of Mountains and Rivers," and found that Chaoyu Mountain was surrounded by swift-flowing water at its foot, making it impossibly high. At the end of the text, she added a small note: "The Emperor and Empress once climbed it, lingering there, reluctant to leave."

"The Emperor and Empress occasionally climbed onto it, lingering there, reluctant to leave." Zhao Zhi silently savored this sentence. Suddenly, a guess occurred to her: could the beauty depicted in the painting inside the box be the late Empress Cui Jiao of the Yun Dynasty, who had passed away many years ago?

Zhao Zhi planned to ask the Master about these questions.

She made a copy of the portrait of the beauty and kept it in her bosom, planning to ask the Master about the secrets of the Yun Dynasty's imperial palace when she met him that evening.