The concubine, hidden in the crowd, gave Seventeen a wink, a wink directed towards Lou Zhiting's study.
"Let's go, let's go to the study and take a look!" Seventeenth Master said knowingly.
Upon hearing Seventeen's words, a flicker of panic crossed the woman's eyes, but Seventeen noticed it nonetheless. He was now almost certain that Lou Zhiting's legal wife knew something, while the other women might not.
The Seventeenth Prince, accompanied by his female relatives and guards, arrived at Lou Zhiting's study. It was an extremely simple study, furnished with ordinary, even somewhat worn, furniture. The bookshelves were filled with books, and there wasn't a single piece of calligraphy or painting on the walls. If the Seventeenth Prince hadn't been certain that Lou Zhiting was indeed colluding with the mysterious man, he would have truly believed, based on this study, that its owner was a remarkably self-disciplined and incorruptible official.
“Your Excellency, look around! In our master’s study, there’s not a single valuable item to be found. The most valuable thing is probably his books. Our master was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 49th year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign. He voluntarily came to this poor and remote place, Ganzhou, to serve the court. He has been doing this for over a decade. Our master loves the people like his own children. How could he do such a thing? Someone must be framing him.” The woman in purple still refused to budge.
Seventeen refused to believe a word and immediately ordered the guards to search the study. Seeing that Seventeen completely ignored her, the woman in purple had no choice but to shut up for the time being. She watched as the guards turned the study upside down, her heart pounding with anxiety, but she desperately held back, managing to suppress the horror in her heart.
The guards searched the entire place but still found nothing, not even a single valuable item. Seventeen had also sent someone to check with the steward about Magistrate Lou's daily expenses, and found nothing wrong. Just as his wife had said, he was indeed an honest official.
Seventeen, feeling helpless, went to look at the concubine standing in the crowd. She saw that her eyes were also full of disappointment, clearly indicating that she didn't know where Lou Zhiting had hidden the silver either.
"My lord, you've searched the place thoroughly. Isn't it as I said? Our lord is indeed not the kind of person who would embezzle or break the law. Could you please release our master for now?" The woman in purple said, relieved that they hadn't found anything.
Seventeen looked into her eyes, feeling annoyed that she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal to what a woman had said.
Standing beside the woman in purple was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, though the woman in purple was clearly much younger. She lacked the composure of the woman in purple, and her gaze seemed somewhat strange.
Seventeen stared into the woman's eyes and was surprised to find that she kept looking in one direction—towards the bookshelf.
But what's behind the bookshelf? I just had the guards look through the books, but they didn't pull the shelves open to see if there were any hidden compartments. Many people like to hide secret compartments behind their bookshelves!
Thinking of this, Seventeen immediately said, "Pull out all those bookshelves!"
Upon hearing this, the woman in purple's eyes flashed with fear, and she quickly said, "My lord, you can't do this. These books are the culmination of my master's collection of books over the past ten years. If you destroy his books, I will not be able to face him."
After saying this, the woman in purple knelt down, hugged the Seventeenth Master's leg, and began to cry loudly.
Seventeen ignored it; the more she acted this way, the more suspicious the bookshelf seemed.
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