Chapter 78 Little Red Fish
When Qian Deng saw Ling Tianshui coming, he immediately calmed down and went to meet him and asked, "Why are you here?"
"As soon as you left, Yan Penglai told the guards he'd thought of something that might allow him to redeem himself for meritorious service. He believed Princess Changyi would urgently burn her mother's suicide note, as its contents were crucial to the survival of the Princess's family." Ling Tianshui examined the secret chamber behind the screen as he spoke. "Although he didn't know how to enter, he briefly explained the supporting structure of the chamber below."
Qian Deng thought of Zheng Raoan's actions before his death and knew that incineration was the most likely method of destruction. He also agreed with their idea: "The support structure of the secret room? Can we use it to find a way in and out?"
"No." Ling Tianshui raised his hand and knocked on the door twice. Seeing that the door was very thick, he touched the wall next to it and felt cool blue bricks, thick and smooth.
"But the structure below is not strong and is in danger of collapse at any time."
Qian Deng immediately understood what he meant and was stunned: "But if that's the case, then Princess Changyi..."
"Yan Penglai meant that as long as they get that suicide letter, the Emperor and Empress won't care about her life or death." Ling Tianshui turned around and gestured for everyone to leave the study. "County Lady, put aside your rules. What we need is results."
Qiandeng still hesitated.
Judging from what happened just now, Yan Penglai was obviously hinting at Xiao Fuyu about the secret room, but after Xiao Fuyu returned home, he immediately confessed the key points of the secret room - it was obvious that he did not want to redeem himself for his crime, but wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
"But, what if Shangluo is down there..."
Ling Tianshui turned around and asked Su Wan, "Has your princess brought any food or drinks in recently?"
Su Wan shook her head: "No."
Therefore, there is no living person imprisoned in this secret room.
"There's no time to lose. We must uncover the secret that Princess Changyi is determined to protect at all costs!"
Qiandeng knew that if Xiao Fuyu took action as soon as he entered, any hesitation at this moment would destroy the evidence.
She immediately left the study with everyone else.
Ling Tianshui walked down the stairs and whistled.
Several teams of Northern Yamen Imperial Guards rushed in from outside the courtyard gate, leading tall horses and holding crowbars, ropes, knives and axes. When Ling Tianshui raised his hand and pointed, they pounced on the corridor of the study like wolves and tigers, and tied up the pillars and beams with thick hemp ropes.
Everyone was speechless at his crazy behavior. Aunt Su Wan stepped forward tremblingly to stop him, "Ling Sijie, you can't do that! This study was meticulously decorated by our princess during her lifetime. It contains countless valuable paintings and calligraphy, antique porcelain and jade..."
Ling Tianshui stared at the study in front of him and had no time to pay attention to her: "It's a pity that your princess is dead and the princess has run away."
Aunt Suwan choked up and was so frightened that she couldn't utter a word.
Amid the neighing of horses and the shouts of soldiers, both horses and men struggled to pull out.
Dust flew up and the entire study with carved beams and painted buildings collapsed.
There were continuous crashing sounds, and the magnificent study was instantly turned into a pile of ruins. Immediately afterwards, muffled sounds came from below, and large pieces of earth and wood collapsed to the middle, forming a depression about three or four feet square.
This depression is obviously the secret room below.
Yan Penglai's judgment was very accurate. The structure below was not strong enough and was quickly crushed.
The guards of the Eastern Palace also came to their senses now, and immediately pulled over all the servants in the mansion. The Northern Courtyard Imperial Guards, the Eastern Palace and the Princess's Mansion guards picked up their weapons, quickly lifted the beams and cleared the bricks and tiles.
Soon, after the crisscrossing beams and pillars were lifted out, a narrow staircase was revealed underneath, slanting downwards and leading to the big pit.
The soldiers cleared the obstacles on the steps, and Qiandeng, accompanied by Ling Tianshui, went down the narrow stairs into the secret room.
The secret room had collapsed and turned into a huge, dilapidated pit. Next to the pit was a half-buried hole, which was pitch black inside and was obviously a passage.
"There is a secret passage, let's go after it and take a look!" Ji Linyou couldn't hold back any longer, and immediately went in with a team of soldiers.
The soldiers quickly cleared the rubble below, and Qiandeng looked around in this small secret room.
Because of the brutal demolition above, the gorgeous furnishings inside have been destroyed. The rosewood desks and small tables inlaid with gems and mother-of-pearl, and even the eight-treasure glazed agarwood couch, have now been smashed to pieces by piles of bricks and broken wood.
The soldiers lifted up a section of the broken wall, revealing a two-foot-high gilded incense burner underneath.
The carved fairy mountain and pavilion on the furnace lid was crooked, broken, and in ruins. The remaining fire in the furnace had gone out, only smoke was still rising, obviously something was burning inside not long ago.
Of course, the only one who could burn things in the furnace in such a hurry was Xiao Fu Yu.
Qiandeng lifted the lid of the stove and saw a pile of letters inside, most of which were rolled up at the corners.
Obviously, this was something that Xiao Fu Yu immediately burned and destroyed after escaping into the secret room.
But after she escaped in, they immediately demolished the secret room above. Seeing that the secret room was about to collapse, she could only throw the letter into the fire and leave in a hurry.
But the collapse crushed the incense burner, cutting off the air, and the fire went out before the letters inside were completely burned.
Qiandeng took out the few letters that were not burned in the middle and took a look. They were all signed by important officials in the court. It was obvious that they were reporting confidential matters to Princess Gao.
She knew that these letters were of great importance and there was no need for her to get involved in such undercurrents in the court, so she did not open them. Instead, she found a box in the secret room and took out all the letters that had not been burned and put them in the box.
When he looked up, he saw Ling Tianshui standing in front of the alcove, looking at something inside.
Qiandeng walked behind him, holding the box, and saw a crystal jar in the niche. Because the niche was dug out of the wall of the cave, it was miraculously preserved. However, the crystal jar was also moved by the vibration from above and was hanging on the edge of the niche, and a lot of water inside had splashed out.
At this moment, two small red fish were swimming slowly in the crystal tank, dragging their long, beautiful tails like gauze in the transparent water, as if they were completely unaware of the movement outside.
The light in Ling Tianshui's hand was reflected by the waves, covering his sharp eyebrows and eyes, with a kind of undulating, dangerous and strange beauty.
Qiandeng raised his hand and pushed the crystal jar into the niche to prevent it from falling and breaking, otherwise the fish inside would definitely die.
"Ling Sijie, send someone to search the mansion for Shangluo. The Crown Prince and I must immediately go to the palace and hand these things over to the court."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Ling Tianshui raised his hand and pointed at the two little red fish, asking, "Aren't you going to take this with you?"
Qiandeng looked at Xiao Hongyu in surprise and said, "Bring this... into the palace?"
He nodded, and said in a light and affirmative tone: "Take it with you, it will be useful."
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