Li Afu held his breath, taking each step with extreme caution.
Following the dark and winding passage, he finally arrived at a seemingly ordinary secret room.
In the center of the secret room stood a large desk, on which were scattered several unfinished accounts and some seemingly insignificant daily necessities. But Li Afu's gaze was instantly drawn to a carved wooden box that was locked tightly under the corner of the desk.
He knew that what was hidden in this carved wooden box was likely the evidence that could bring down Li Zan and even affect the fate of the entire Duke's Mansion.
Without hesitation, he took out the key he had prepared beforehand from his pocket—a key that Yu Ming had managed to obtain from Li Zan's personal servant after much effort—and gently inserted it into the lock. With a soft "click," the carved wooden box opened.
Inside the wooden box were not gold, silver, or precious jewels, but stacks of thick letters and account books.
Li Afu quickly flipped through the letters, his expression growing more serious with each page he turned. These letters detailed Li Zan's various crimes of embezzling public funds and selling official positions over the years, and the figures in the ledgers were even more shocking, each one enough to plunge the Duke's mansion into utter ruin.
Li Afu quickly and carefully stored the evidence, when suddenly he heard the faint voice he had heard when he first entered the secret room.
It's a woman!
He assumed it was Li Zan and his lover having some intimate moments in the secret room and didn't intend to pay any attention. But upon closer listening, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
It's Bai Wei!
Li Afu was startled.
Didn't she go back to Chaoyang County?
Li Afu's heart raced instantly. He hurriedly looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.
The secret room was large, but its layout was compact. Apart from the desk in the center and the bookshelves around it, there was no other place to hide. The sound seemed to be coming from behind a hidden door behind the bookshelves; it was faint and urgent, tinged with despair and helplessness.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and quietly approached the small door.
A faint light shone through the crack in the door, contrasting sharply with the darkness of the secret room. Li Afu gently pushed open the small door, and the scene before him shocked him—Bai Wei was lying prostrate on the ground with a finger-thick iron chain around her neck. Not far away was a basin containing spoiled food. She was emaciated, and she was only exhaling, not inhaling.
Her face was pale, and there was still blood on the corner of her mouth, clearly indicating that she had been beaten.
"Bai Wei!" Li Afu blurted out, his eyes slightly reddening. He hadn't expected to meet her here at this crucial moment, let alone that she would be in such a predicament.
Bai Wei looked up and saw the person who had approached her; it was an unfamiliar face. But the person clearly knew her and showed no hostility towards her.
"Who are you... how did you get here?" she asked weakly, her voice full of exhaustion and confusion.
Li Afu quickly stepped forward, forcefully broke the iron chains binding her, and lifted her from the ground.
"I...I came here to find evidence, I didn't expect to run into you. How did you get caught by them?"
Bai Wei gave a bitter smile and explained, "That day, that day I had a falling out with Li Zan. I had just stepped out of the manor gate when... when he had his men, whom he had arranged beforehand, arrested me. And then..."
At this point, Bai Wei's head lolled to the side, and she fainted.
A surge of anger welled up in Li Afu's heart. It turned out that Li Zan had deliberately found someone with a similar stature to Bai Wei to go to Chaoyang County in order to cover his tracks.
He wanted nothing more than to arrest Li Zan and torture him severely, but this thought was quickly suppressed by reason.
The most urgent task is to get Bai Wei out of here as soon as possible.
"Bai Wei, hang in there, we'll leave here soon."
Bai Wei was no longer able to give him any response.
Li Afu picked up Bai Wei and carefully carried her through the secret passage back outside.
Then, he turned around and with a flick of his palm, knocked the candlestick off, and the study immediately burst into flames. Before long, the blazing fire illuminated the entire Duke's mansion.
The firelight pierced through the thick darkness of the night, and Li Afu, holding Bai Wei, quickly disappeared into the night.
When the maids and servants in the Lotus Courtyard saw that the study was on fire, they quickly turned around and grabbed buckets and other tools to put out the fire.
Chaos erupted immediately inside the Duke's mansion.
Zhao Yun looked towards the study, exchanged a glance with Yu Ming, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could something have happened to Li Afu?
But Zhao Yun quickly calmed down. It was best that Li Afu was safe and that they had evidence. But if something happened to him, Li Zan wouldn't blame him. That day, Li Afu had begged him to take him in outside the mansion; there were witnesses.
Zhao Rou also saw the firelight. She put on her clothes and got up. Accompanied by Le Kui, she walked unsteadily to the Lotus Courtyard.
"Big sister, let's go! The Duke's mansion is too, too terrifying. It's a place that eats people up." She looked at the distant firelight with panic and helplessness, tightly gripping Zhao Yun's hand, her words incoherent and filled with terror.
"Leave?" Zhao Yun suddenly turned around, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.
Zhao Rou was so frightened by the sharp look in Zhao Yun's eyes that she let go of her hand.
"Father and Mother have disappeared without a trace, and only an old servant remains at the Zhao residence. Father was an honest man who never amassed any wealth. If we go back, are we just waiting to starve to death?"
Zhao Rou fell silent.
Because Zhao Yun was telling the truth.
However, she still felt she should leave.
The fire was extinguished after an hour of firefighting efforts, but was finally put out by a sudden downpour.
The fire died down, and night once again enveloped the Duke's mansion, but an atmosphere of anxiety and unease still lingered in the air.
It had just rained, and the ground was slippery, so Zhao Yun didn't leave the house, leaving the cleanup to Yu Ming.
Meanwhile, Li Afu carried the unconscious Bai Wei back to his courtyard. Taking advantage of the chaos in the mansion, he quickly dragged a box from under the bed, took out various porcelain bottles, picked one out, poured out a few pills, and gave them to Bai Wei.
Bai Wei's biggest problem is malnutrition and insufficient qi and blood. Her external injuries are secondary.
Bai Wei's breathing gradually stabilized, but she was still extremely weak.
He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her pale face, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Li Zan!"
The following day, Li Zan learned that his study had been burned down and immediately realized that something was wrong.
In a fit of rage, he threw a letter of divorce at Zhao Yun.
"Divorce your wife in place of your son?" Zhao Yun looked down at the contents of the paper and found it amusing.
At this moment, Zhao Rou, who had been timidly hiding behind Zhao Yun, straightened her back and slowly walked up to Li Zan. She said in a humble but not arrogant manner, "Since the old lady left the mansion, the young mistress, who is six months pregnant, has been struggling to maintain the huge Duke's mansion. May I ask, sir, which of the seven grounds for divorce has the young mistress committed?"
Li Zan's face instantly darkened. He hadn't expected that Zhao Rou, who was usually so gentle and docile, would stand up so firmly to protect Zhao Yun.
He snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over Zhao Rou like a knife, and with a loud "slap," he delivered a resounding slap to her face.
The blow was so forceful that it made Zhao Rou's head buzz.
Her body staggered, swaying precariously.
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