Xia Kexin's admission was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring ripples in Chen Zhennan's heart.

His guess was confirmed, and he was incredibly excited, but his face remained unusually calm.

Looking at Xia Kexin kneeling on the ground, Chen Zhennan asked coldly, "What's the name of your organization?"

Xia Kexin lowered her head and replied in a trembling voice, "The organization is called Shadow, it's very mysterious, I... I don't know much about it."

Chen Zhennan gave a soft "hmm," but didn't completely believe Xia Kexin's words, and then asked, "What are these secret passages used for?"

As she pressed on, every word struck Xia Kexin's heart like a heavy hammer.

Xia Kexin raised her head slightly, a hint of difficulty flashing in her eyes.

“I…I don’t know what the secret passage is mainly for. When the organization needs to use the secret passage, my maid will inform me in advance, and then I will drive everyone out of the back garden before the organization’s people can use the secret passage.”

Chen Zhennan raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with inquiry: "Maid? Where is she?"

Xia Kexin pursed her lips and hurriedly replied, "The maid is gone. She disappeared the night before last, and no one noticed."

Chen Zhennan remained silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping across Xia Kexin's face as if searching for traces of a lie.

"You'd better not be lying to me," Chen Zhennan said in a low voice, with a hint of threat.

Xia Kexin's body trembled slightly, and she shook her head repeatedly: "I didn't, I really didn't lie."

"How does your shadow organization operate? Who is your superior? How many people are under you? What made you join this mysterious organization?"

Xia Kexin was a little stunned, and said thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, I am not clear about the operation of the organization. I am only in charge of the secret passage. As for my superior, she is a woman. She always wears a mask when we meet, and I have never seen her real face."

After a pause, Xia Kexin suddenly put on a very pitiful and aggrieved expression, and tears slowly slid down her cheeks.

“Your Majesty, I only have that maid under my command. To be precise, she is not my subordinate. My family was kidnapped and taken away by her, which is why I joined this Shadow.”

Chen Zhennan narrowed his eyes slightly. She didn't shed tears when Xiang Hao died, but now she did, which was quite believable.

"Get up."

Xia Kexin slowly got up and stood obediently to one side, not daring to speak.

"Xia Kexin, do you still have any leads on your family? I can help you bring them back, but if I find out you've lied to me, your entire family will be executed!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Kexin's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope, and she nodded hurriedly.

"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty. Everything I have said is true. If I have uttered any falsehood, may I be struck by lightning!"

Chen Zhennan smiled slightly. Such words are the least credible. If God could really punish someone for lying, Thanos wouldn't need to snap his fingers.

"Go and rest first, I'll come find you again this afternoon."

"yes."

...

Wang Xiao led the Imperial Guards to search the tunnels for a whole morning, finally completing the search of the entire secret passage and drawing up a map.

Carrying the map, Wang Xiao rode swiftly to the Xiang residence and presented it to Chen Zhennan.

"Your Majesty, here is the tunnel map you requested."

Chen Zhennan took the map and gently traced the lines on it with his fingers. Although he was somewhat prepared, the scene before him still shocked him.

The underground passages of the capital city are intricate and complex, with more than thirty exits outside the city, forming a huge network of secret passages.

The lines on the map resembled a giant spider web, covering the entire capital city.

"These secret passages..."

“Your Majesty, there are many traces of life in these secret passages, and they are all recent, proving that people were living in the tunnels not long ago.”

Chen Zhennan frowned slightly, reached out and took out a map of Beirong City. After comparing the two maps, he discovered that almost all the officials' residences had secret passages.

Chen Zhennan gave a cold laugh and said in a deep voice, "That's quite a grand gesture, Wang Xiao. You've done a great job. Go and rest."

Wang Xiao hummed in agreement, then slowly turned and left.

Just as Chen Zhennan was deep in thought, unhurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Yan Shiyu slowly pushed the door open and entered, a long-lost smile finally appearing on his face.

"Your Majesty, all the officials in the court have already sent the embezzled and bribed silver to the national treasury in accordance with the order."

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Chen Zhennan's eyes, and he asked with a slight smile, "What about those who don't want to pay?"

Yan Shiyu smiled slightly, his voice tinged with smugness: "Those who were unwilling to pay have all had their homes confiscated, and the national treasury currently holds 33 million taels of silver."

Chen Zhennan frowned, his gaze sweeping over the ledger that Yan Shiyu handed him.

The figures in the ledger were shocking; the amount of silver plundered by corrupt officials was so great that he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

"I never imagined that the corrupt officials in Beirong City could have so much silver. Shiyu, send people to guard the national treasury. This silver must not fall into the hands of those corrupt officials again."

Yan Shiyu nodded slightly: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Just as Yan Shiyu was about to turn around to give the order, there was a knock on the door, the rhythm neither too fast nor too slow.

"Who is it?" Yan Shiyu's voice carried a hint of wariness.

Lin Zhi's voice came from outside the door, his voice tinged with urgency: "It's me, Lin Zhi. I have something to report."

Chen Zhennan gestured for Yan Shiyu to open the door. The door slowly opened, and Lin Zhi entered and knelt down on one knee in front of Chen Zhennan.

"Your Majesty, I led men to investigate outside the city and discovered a mass grave on a hillside five miles outside the city, but many of the corpses in the mass grave are missing." Lin Zhi's voice carried a hint of doubt.

Chen Zhennan and Yan Shiyu exchanged a glance, a hint of doubt flashing in their eyes.

"Could it have been the work of grave robbers? How could the body have disappeared?" Chen Zhennan asked.

Lin Zhi shook his head and guessed, "The bodies in the mass grave were probably dug up by grave robbers and then carried away by wild dogs. Many wild dogs like to live near mass graves, and some can even break open coffins and drag the bodies out."

Although Chen Zhennan had heard that this kind of coffin was called "dog head bump" and was very fragile, the theft of large areas of mass graves was really abnormal.

Suddenly, Chen Zhennan remembered that Wang Xiao had said in the morning that he had found skeletons and corpses in the secret passage. Could these skeletons and corpses have been dumped from the mass grave?

A glint of light flashed in Chen Zhennan's eyes as he turned to look at Yan Shiyu.

"Shiyu, go and call Wang Xiao over. Let's go take a look together."

Yan Shiyu nodded, and his figure quickly disappeared outside the door.

Soon, Wang Xiao rushed over, his figure appearing particularly hurried in the sunlight.

"Your Majesty, you summoned me?"

Chen Zhennan nodded, his gaze sweeping over Wang Xiao's face before he said in a low voice, "Wang Xiao, you said this morning that you found skeletons and corpses in the secret passage?"

"yes."

"Take me to see; these bodies were most likely dumped from a mass grave."