Chapter 42 The Entrance to the Secret Passage

"Demote the Third Prince to commoner status and exile him to a desolate, cold land!" the Emperor said weakly. "Exile all male members of the Li family!"

"yes."

The storm had passed, but Ye Wanning knew it was far from over. Holding the half of the tiger tally in her hand, she knew perfectly well that the real test had only just begun.

"Miss, Lord Pei sent some snacks." Chun Tao brought in a food box, opened the lid to reveal steaming hot osmanthus cakes with a soft, sweet osmanthus filling. "He said they were newly made by the imperial kitchen, just for you to have a little something to tide you over."

Ye Wanning picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. It was sweet, fragrant, and smooth, and melted in the blink of an eye.

"Chuntao, do you think this tiger tally might hold some other secret?"

Chun Tao was taken aback: "A secret? Isn't it just a token for mobilizing the army?"

“It’s not that simple.” Ye Wanning’s fingertips slid along the edge of the brocade box. “Before my mother died, she specifically instructed that it should not be used unless absolutely necessary. What the Third Prince is trying so hard to find won’t just be mobilizing the border troops.”

Before she could finish speaking, a soft rustling sound came from outside the courtyard. Ye Wanning alertly told Chun Tao to blow out the candle, and then the two of them held their breath in the darkness, listening to the footsteps lingering outside the Red Leaf Courtyard fence for a long time before silently fading away.

"Are they from the Li family?" Chun Tao asked in a low voice, seemingly a little scared.

Ye Wanning remained silent, reaching for the small knife under her pillow and gripping it tightly. For the third consecutive night, someone had been lingering outside the Red Leaf Pavilion. The person clearly knew her routine well, and the fact that they hadn't made a move seemed more like a test.

Early in the morning, Pei Zhi indeed brought news: "Something happened at the Duke of Li's residence last night. A new group of unfamiliar guards appeared, all of them assassins with murder on their hands."

“They’re after the Tiger Tally,” Ye Wanning told Pei Zhi about last night’s events. “I suspect they want more than just the tally; they want the secret behind it.”

Pei Zhi pondered for a while: "Then let's lure the snake out of its hole." He leaned closer to her and whispered to her, his warm breath brushing against her ear, making Ye Wanning's ears feel slightly hot.

That night, Hongye Ting deliberately left only two old servants to guard the gate, while Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi hid behind the artificial hill, observing the movements by moonlight. Sure enough, around midnight, three figures secretly climbed over the wall and went straight to the room where the dressing box was kept.

"Attack!" Pei Zhi shouted, and rushed out. He was swift and agile; his longsword flashed as it was drawn, and he subdued the two men in black in a few moves. The third man tried to escape through the window, but Ye Wanning threw a silver needle that struck his knee, causing him to fall to the ground with a scream.

"Speak! Who sent you?" Pei Zhi pressed his sword against the man's throat.

The man in black gritted his teeth and remained silent, then suddenly lunged at a nearby pillar. Ye Wanning pulled him back, but noticed a mark on his sleeve—a totem of the Western Regions Tantric sect.

"He's a former subordinate of the Third Prince in the Turkic Khaganate." Ye Wanning's heart sank. "He really does have connections with the Western Regions forces."

The secret letter found on the man in black confirmed her suspicions. The Third Prince wrote in the letter that the military tally could not only be used to mobilize troops, but also contained a treasure map left by the late emperor. As long as the complete tiger tally was obtained, soldiers could be recruited and the dynasty could be rebuilt.

“Treasure?” Pei Zhi frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Ye Wanning recalled a line from her mother's diary: "The tiger tally is hidden under the crabapple tree, and the treasure belongs to the loyal and righteous." At the time, she thought her mother had just made up a poem, but now it seemed that there was a great mystery in those words.

“We might have to go to the Begonia Valley in the western suburbs,” Ye Wanning said to Pei Zhi. “My mother said it’s where my maternal grandmother’s family used to live.”

Pei Zhi nodded, "I'll go with you." He looked at her, his eyes filled with gentle tenderness, "But before that, we need to let people know just how dangerous the Tiger Tally is in our hands."

He ordered his men to hang the black-clad man's corpse at the entrance of the Duke of Li's mansion, with a note attached to it: "Dare to covet the Tiger Tally again, and this will be your fate."

The news spread, causing a stir in the capital. Ye Wanning knew that this was only a temporary deterrent; the real contest had just begun.

Ye Wanning grasped the tiger tally, her fingertips tracing its surface. The candlelight's reflection danced on the uneven engravings on the cool metal. She had seen this tiger tally when she was very young; her mother often said it was a heirloom passed down through the Su family, and that holding it would bring peace and safety. But even now, she hadn't had the heart to examine it closely, let alone discover its purpose.

“Miss, the pattern on this looks strangely familiar.” Chun Tao brought in a bowl of lotus seed soup, put it down, and leaned closer to look. “Doesn’t it look like the growth rings of the old crabapple tree in our backyard?”

Ye Wanning was suddenly startled. She turned the tiger tally over and examined it with a magnifying glass. The seemingly chaotic patterns actually resembled tree rings, but in an inconspicuous corner, there were a few tiny bumps, as if they had been intentionally carved out.

"Bring me that silver box from my dressing case." Ye Wanning's voice trembled slightly.

The box contained odds and ends left by my mother, such as a roll of yellowed Xuan paper, which was a topographical map of the Li Guogong Mansion drawn by my maternal grandfather. At that time, my grandfather worked in the Ministry of Works, and the Li Guogong Mansion had been renovated. The old man had casually drawn the map to amuse my mother, but he never expected it to be kept.

Looking at the tiger tally under the magnifying glass and comparing it with the topographic map, Ye Wanning felt her breath catch in her throat! Those raised engravings corresponded to the large artificial hill in the backyard of the Duke of Li's mansion!

"Chuntao, look here." She pointed to a red dot next to the artificial hill on the blueprint. "What is this place?"

Chuntao squinted and stared for a long time: "It looks like a pavilion, abandoned for several years. Last year when I went to deliver rouge to Madam Li, I saw it from afar; it was very dilapidated."

Ye Wanning tapped the red dot hard: "No, that's not a pavilion." She remembered a sentence in her mother's diary: "Grandpa said that there's a secret passage from the previous dynasty beneath the foundation of the Li State Duke's mansion, dug back then to escape the chaos of war."

As they were talking, there was a soft knock from behind the crabapple tree outside. Ye Wanning blew out the candle and, by the moonlight, recognized the sound as Pei Zhi's. His figure was hidden behind the crabapple tree, carrying an oil paper package in his hand.

"Come in."

Pei Zhi climbed over the wall, his body carrying the chill of the night dew. He placed the oil-paper package on the table: "The people from Yingge have found out. The Duke of Li's mansion has recently bought a lot of sulfur and saltpeter, saying they're going to build an artificial hill. I have a bad feeling about this."

Ye Wanning pushed the tiger tally and topographical map in front of him: "Look at this."

Pei Zhi's gaze swept between the tiger tally and the topographical map, his expression gradually turning serious: "You mean, the entrance to the secret passage is beneath the artificial hill?"