"Wait a moment."
Wu Xing paused with some doubt, and Xiao Nanhui looked at that place carefully again, and became more certain in his heart.
Shrike had a good memory. There was indeed a secret passage in the Zou Mansion, located in a side courtyard on the west side of the mansion. The one in her hand had been stained and unclear before, but now she could see it clearly.
The location of that side courtyard looked very familiar, very similar to the servants' kitchen where the five of them hid that night.
She had been perplexed by one thing. That night, after the five of them reached a consensus, Hao Bai left first. He was already temporarily staying at the Zou residence, so he had much greater mobility than the outsiders. She and Shrike left shortly afterward. Even though both of them were skilled in martial arts and had reviewed the blueprints beforehand, it still took them quite a while to leave the Zou residence.
Zhongli had no martial arts skills at all. Even if Ding Weixiang had the ability to pick stars and grasp the moon, it was unlikely that he could bring someone who couldn't even climb a wall into the mansion quietly without alerting any guards, and finally escape unscathed.
Just now, she suddenly thought of a possibility: Could it be that... Zhongli Jing and Ding Weixiang left through the secret passage marked on the drawing.
But how did they know such a secret thing?
"Xiao Nanhui? Are you possessed?"
Xiao Nanhui finally came to her senses and saw Yao Yi staring at her.
Xiao Nan turned to look at Wu Xing: "Wait a minute, sir, there is one more thing..."
Wu Xing had experienced so much ups and downs in just a cup of tea. Now he felt his heart trembling and couldn't stand it anymore. "What's the matter?"
Xiao Nanhui gave a comforting smile: "Don't be nervous, sir. I just want to ask, has anyone else seen this picture before lending it to me?"
Wu Xing didn't even think about it, and shook his head: "Of course not. This is such an obscure collection, and even fewer people know about it, let alone those who come to see it specifically."
"Is it possible that before these drawings entered the library..."
"This blueprint has been in the Shangshu Mansion longer than I have, and I've been the library manager there for over thirty years. If anyone has seen it, it must have been at least thirty years ago. Besides, before me, few people visited the library at all."
Xiao Nanhui fell silent.
Perhaps Zhongli's knowledge of all this didn't come from this blueprint at all. The blueprint didn't specifically indicate where the secret passage led, yet Zhongli knew it. He'd even entered the mansion from the other end of the secret passage in the first place. Xiao Nanhui felt vaguely that this matter was getting increasingly bizarre the more he thought about it.
"I see a character 'Hu' in the middle. What does it mean?"
"If your question were to be asked by someone else, no one would be able to answer it. However, I have read some miscellaneous notes on this subject in my spare time."
Wu Xing usually enjoyed researching unofficial histories. Perhaps because he felt Xiao Nanhui's question had hit the nail on the head, he was able to put aside his recent annoyance and said with a smug look on his face, "The Hu family was once a prominent aristocratic family in Huozhou. Along with the Shen, An, and Long families, they were known as the Four Hegemons of Huozhou. They were all powerful families, and at their peak, they were no less powerful than the nobles in the imperial city. But when dynasties changed, except for the Shen family, who escaped disaster due to their control of the army, the other three families were defeated due to their power. The An and Long families were almost completely executed. Among them, only the Hu family disappeared. It seemed as if they had vanished from the mansion overnight, leaving only an empty house. It was not until decades later that someone took over the mansion: the wealthy Zou family you visited."
An family? Isn't that An Lu's family?
"Is there any document recording the reasons why An and Long were killed?"
Wu Xing had a somewhat sad expression on his face. "There's no record in history books, but precisely because there's no record, it's easy to guess. Plus, the timing is so different, it's probably related to Qiu Feiyu passing through Huozhou with the imperial seal."
"Didn't they say the imperial seal finally sank into the swamp? Why are there all these subsequent disputes?"
"That remains to be seen. Regardless of whether the truth is related to the Imperial Seal or not, a new king changes dynasties, and the fate of old ministers never needs a reason."
Xiao Nanhui was silent. Yao Yi poured the cold tea from the pot onto the charcoal fire. "Although this is a nice private room, the soundproofing may not be as good as you imagined. It would be best if you two could enjoy some tea together."
The tea hissed harshly over the blazing charcoal, sending up a puff of white smoke.
Wu Xing seemed to come to his senses and shut up.
Xiao Nanhui opened his mouth but swallowed his question back into his stomach.
******************
When Xiao Zhun asked to see the emperor, he did not expect that the other party would agree to the meeting.
After all, the Emperor of Tiancheng was notoriously averse to meeting people. If he did not request a private meeting a few days in advance, there was a 99% chance that he would not be able to meet the person.
Generally speaking, the ones who came to refuse the ministers were the red-robed eunuchs. If the sun rose from the west and the emperor agreed to meet him, then a black-robed attendant would come.
So when that black shadow came out from the palace path, Xiao Zhun was also a little surprised.
"The Emperor invites you, Lord Qinghuai, please follow me."
As usual, Xiao Zhun was led to a side hall next to Yuanhe Hall. The emperor seemed to like this place very much and always summoned ministers here.
However, Xiao Zhun didn't like this place very much. The layout of Yuanhe Hall was very circuitous and the lighting was not very good. It seemed that it was always in a state of half light and half darkness.
Calming his mind, Xiao Zhun saluted as usual.
"His Majesty."
The emperor was half hidden behind a screen of gauze, leaning over the table, seemingly fiddling with something.
"Well, is Lord Qinghuai here? There is a box over there, you can open it and take a look first." A slender hand stretched out from behind the gauze curtain and slowly pointed to a box placed in the main courtyard.
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