Just as Gao Jie was about to close the door to the dark room, Gao Wancheng grabbed her hand.
"You can go out now," he said to the butler.
The housekeeper hurriedly went out and closed the door behind him.
"uncle……"
Gao Wancheng shook his head at Gao Jie, then led her to turn on another switch.
"Come with me."
Gao Jie's eyes widened slightly.
"Walk?"
"Let's talk as we walk."
Once inside, Gao Jie realized that it was a secret passage leading out of the city.
However, she was the one who supervised the entire reconstruction of the mansion back then, and she was completely unaware of this secret.
When Xiao Liu led his men in, the study was already empty. He found the secret room using a map Zhao Shi'an had given him, but it was completely deserted.
"The master and young lady were inside just now. I've been keeping watch outside the whole time, and I really didn't see them come out."
The steward was gripped by the men from the Wind and Rain Pavilion, and he turned pale with fright.
Xiao Liu took the blueprints and walked around the study. He then called people to turn the study upside down and finally found a secret passage.
Xiao Liu gave his subordinate a wink, and with a swift movement, the steward was dead.
Xiao Liu entered the dark room and began searching. After a while, he found the secret edict issued by the emperor to Gao Wancheng to deal with the Zhong family in a locked wooden box.
Xiao Liu took the items away and placed the evidence about the gold mine and the relationship between Gao Wancheng and Princess Wu'an in the most conspicuous place in the secret room.
"Sixth Brother, the patrol battalion and the Imperial Guards are coming this way."
"withdraw."
The man in black appeared and disappeared like a ghost.
When the patrol battalion and the imperial guards arrived at the Gao residence, it was already a river of blood, but there was not a single person in black in sight.
Countless people died or were injured. They made their way to the study in the Gao family mansion, where they discovered a secret room and a secret passage.
Inside this secret room, they discovered a large number of letters between Gao Wancheng and the eighteen tribes in the north, as well as accounts of Gao Wancheng and Princess Wu'an dividing the gold mine. Even more surprisingly, they also found evidence of Gao Wancheng's plot to murder the Zhong family.
The items were immediately sent to the palace and presented to the Crown Prince, who then presented them to the Emperor.
The emperor was already in poor health, and being woken up in the middle of the night made him angry.
"A gold mine, and the eighteen tribes of the Northern Rong, this is truly wonderful."
The emperor threw things all over the ground.
"Summon Wu'an to me!"
The Grand Eunuch hurriedly sent someone to bring Princess Wu'an over.
The Grand Eunuch had already informed Princess Wu'an of the matter beforehand, so Princess Wu'an was prepared.
How do you explain that?
The Emperor gestured for Princess Wu'an to look at the things on the ground.
Princess Wu'an pursed her lips tightly.
"Your subject knows he was wrong, but he does not regret it."
The Emperor threw a cup at her, which hit Princess Wu'an directly on the head, instantly drawing blood.
"You still don't realize your mistake!"
Princess Wu'an lowered her eyelids.
“What wrong have I done? Gao Wancheng wanted to support the Third Prince but failed, so he set his sights on me. As a woman, I have never thought about those things. But with so much gold and silver placed in front of me, how could I not be tempted?”
“Your Majesty, I have a silk business and am not short of money, but the people are. You sit on the throne and cannot see the displacement outside, nor do you know how miserable the people who are starving and freezing are. You also do not know how much of the silver allocated from the national treasury each year is stripped away and ends up in the pockets of the people.”
"Your subject knows all of this. Your subject has suffered from cold and hunger alongside the disaster victims. You subject has also pulled those who were about to be burned out of the fire due to the plague. The silver obtained from Gao Wancheng has been delivered to those who deserve it. At least it can relieve their temporary hardship and help them get through the difficult time. I don't know how many lives it can save."
Even knowing that Gao Wancheng's money came from shady sources, I still have no regrets.
As she spoke, Princess Wu'an kowtowed and remained prostrate on the ground.
The emperor glared at her, but the anger in his eyes slowly dissipated.
"Besides that, have you deceived me in any other way?"
"Your subject dares not."
"The situation in the Southwest..."
"Your subject truly did not know. Your subject does have a good relationship with General Meng Ran, but your subject truly did not know about the rebellion in the Southwest. However, your subject does know that Gao Wancheng has close ties with the Southwest, and that Gao Wancheng's most trusted adopted son went to the Southwest some time ago."
The Emperor naturally had this suspicion as well.
He closed his eyes wearily for a moment.
"Alright, you can go back now."
"yes."
Princess Wu'an staggered as she got up, and the Grand Eunuch instinctively stepped forward to help her up.
"Your Highness, please be careful."
Princess Wu'an withdrew her hand subtly.
"Thank you very much, Eunuch Fu."
The emperor's gaze swept over the two of them for a moment, then he closed his eyes.
*
At Wanhua Tower, Zhao Shi'an stood at the window looking towards Yuzhou when Xiao Liu knocked on the door and came in.
"Master, our men followed the secret passage to a horse farm outside the city, but it was deserted."
Gao Wancheng had already made preparations.
"Has the person been caught?"
"We've captured Gao Wancheng's second son. His eldest son is currently in Jiangnan, and we've already sent a message there. He should have succeeded by now."
Zhao Shi'an finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"What about Yuzhou? Has there been any news from Fang Qing?"
"No."
Xiao Liu hesitated and shook his head.
He was in charge of escorting Fang Qing. Once they entered Yuzhou, he handed the task over to his men and returned to the capital.
He was filled with remorse for what he hadn't expected to happen so soon after returning.
"Continue to send people to search."
"yes."
*
For two consecutive days, all the officials in the capital were on tenterhooks. Officials associated with Gao Wancheng were all imprisoned. Zhao Shi'an, as an official of the Dali Temple, should have been busy, but he took leave.
That day, Fang Dashu returned from the Ministry of Revenue and came directly to Zhao Shi'an's place.
"You haven't been to the Dali Temple for several days. Do you know something serious has happened?"
Xiao Liu followed him in, glanced at Fang Dashu, and then said to Zhao Shi'an, "We've made contact. They said that Miss Fang arrived in An County yesterday, but we don't know why she suddenly led people south."
Zhao Shi'an's heart tightened.
His intuition told him that Fang Qing probably knew about Fang Daniu and his wife's affair.
"Send people to protect them."
"yes."
After Xiao Liu left, Fang Dashu asked anxiously, "What happened? Did Fang Qing run into trouble?"
Zhao Shi'an only glanced at him secretly.
"Three days ago, Gao Jie made a deal with me, saying that she had captured Uncle Da Niu and his wife and wanted to use them to make a deal with me."
"What? Why did they want to arrest Uncle Niu? What kind of deal did they want with you?"
Fang Dashu frowned as he looked at Zhao Shi'an. Thinking of Xiao Liu, who had just arrived, and Seventeen, who usually obeyed Zhao Shi'an's orders, a very bold idea popped into his mind.
Zhao Shi'an glanced at him, knowing that he could guess the general idea, so she didn't explain it to him.
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