Su Wan entered the archives, fumbled for a lighter on the table by the door, lit the candle, and covered it with a lid.

The register was the yamen's storeroom for all kinds of contracts and documents; all the contracts in the entire Suiyang County were kept here. There were no windows on any of the four walls, only a small vent on the roof for ventilation. To enter the register, one had to go through the door, which was always guarded.

Without Chu Yi's help, she really wouldn't have been able to get in by herself.

She hadn't liked Chu Yi before, but now her opinion had changed a lot. She peeked through the crack in the door.

Chu Yi sat on a stone bench outside, legs crossed, looking quite relaxed.

Su Wan thought to herself, "Chu Yi let me in, so I need to find the land deed for Baohetang quickly. If I dawdle, not only will he have to wait a long time, but it will also easily arouse suspicion."

She turned around, holding up her lantern to look around. Inside, she saw rows of shelves, divided into three groups separated by aisles. The shelves were piled high with various files. Each shelf had a small sign hanging on it. She chose the nearest shelf and used the lantern to illuminate the sign. The sign read "Petition," seemingly related to a case.

The lawsuit certainly had nothing to do with the land title, so she changed to the next row of photos.

This row of shelves was empty, holding only a few volumes, standing out starkly against the backdrop of the other shelves piled high with files. The sign read "Disaster Situation." The documents appeared to be related to various natural disasters.

She skipped over the shelf and looked at each one in turn, but none of them seemed right.

Just as they were about to change their location to search, they heard voices outside the door. It was the voice of Ge Fanghai, the magistrate of Suiyang County.

"Your Highness, it's so late, why are you still coming to the archives to look things up?"

Su Wan was a little nervous and subconsciously gripped the lantern handle tightly, standing motionless in place.

Chu Yi outside said, "I like it. What's wrong? Can't I investigate?"

“Of course I can check,” Ge Fanghai said with a smile. “I just think that if Your Highness wants to review the documents, you can simply have your attendant inform me. It would be much faster for me to come and check them myself. Why bother Your Highness to come in person?”

“I asked you to investigate, but who knows if you’ll hide important documents,” Chu Yi said. “My father specifically reminded me to grasp the true situation and not to be deceived.”

"Haha, Your Highness, you must be joking. How could I dare to deceive you?"

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'll be leaving now, I'll be leaving now." After Ge Fanghai finished speaking, a series of chaotic footsteps came from outside and gradually faded into the distance.

Su Wan breathed a sigh of relief, then picked up the lantern and walked between the two rows of shelves, crossed an aisle, and arrived at the next set of shelves.

I looked at each one, but still couldn't find any signs related to the land title. There were three sets of shelves in the house, and only the last set was left.

As she was walking toward the last shelf, a box at the end of the aisle caught her eye.

The files on the shelf were all open to browsing, but this three-foot-square box was locked with a padlock, making it seem somewhat mysterious.

She knelt down in front of the box and placed the lantern on the ground. She reached out and tugged at the lock; it was securely locked. She sensed that what was inside must be very important.

She didn't have the skill to pick locks, so she scratched her head, got up, walked to the door, and opened it.

The constable guarding the door turned to her and asked, "Have you finished searching?"

Su Wan shook her head, pointed to the box illuminated by lanterns in the storeroom, and reached out her hand to the yamen runner.

The constable, somewhat bewildered, said, "Can't you speak properly?"

Chu Yi stood up, walked over to the constables, and said, "My attendant wasn't originally mute. One day he saw a mouse and got so frightened. Just give him what he needs."

The two constables glanced at Chu Yi, then at Su Wan, and shook their heads with some regret. One of them took a key from his waist and handed it to Su Wan.

Su Wan took the key, went inside, and then turned back to give Chu Yi a disapproving look.

It's surprising that this prince of Southern Chu is so vengeful. That time he came to the general's mansion to cause trouble, Wei Jingzhuo called him a rat; it seems he overheard that. Here he comes to seek revenge, really.

She went to the box, turned the key to unlock it, pushed the lid open with both hands, held it with one hand, and used the other hand to pick up the lantern and shine it inside.

The box contained not files, but documents, each with its sealing wax removed. She picked up a relatively new-looking document, the cover of which read "To Lord Ge".

These documents seem very important; otherwise, why would they be placed in a heavily guarded storeroom with locks on?

She took the letter out of the document cover and unfolded it to examine it closely under the light.

The text in the book was in ancient script, which was obscure and difficult to read. In addition, the lighting was dim, so she could only see words such as "Lord Ge" and "General's Mansion".

She found it strange. How could a magistrate of Suiyang County be involved with the General's Mansion?

Scrolling down further, I saw "The necessary items for the operation have been prepared as instructed, and we await the opportune moment."

A chill ran down her spine. Although she couldn't understand the specifics of the letter, it seemed to involve the General's Mansion, which was clearly not a good thing. Adding to this, the guard had previously told her that this magistrate of Suiyang County was a spy planted in the Great Jin by the Southern Chu. It felt as if these people were plotting a conspiracy.

This matter is far more important than her land deed.

But she had another question. If the magistrate of Suiyang County was indeed colluding with someone in the General's Mansion, then he should have been acting on the orders of the Southern Chu Emperor. Chu Yi was clearly a prince of Southern Chu and knew about her relationship with Wei Jingzhuo, so why would he allow her to enter the storeroom and search at will?

Could this be a trap? What if, when she goes out, the ambush troops suddenly appear, arrest her on the spot, and imprison her for theft?

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