Nian Huai looked at him hesitantly, as if she had something difficult to say.
"What's wrong?" Su Wenyuan asked.
Nian Huai hesitated before speaking: "The Princess Consort treats me very well, but the Prince's temper seems to be not very good... I have heard about it before. Will the Prince kill me in a moment of impulse?"
Su Wenyuan understood; she was frightened by Sheng Jingyu.
"No, as long as you don't go up and provoke him, the prince won't come here, and you don't need to see him on ordinary days." Su Wenyuan wanted to reassure him.
Nian Huai nodded and said, "I just wanted to make good things, I didn't think about anything else. Your Highness, is there anything you need?"
Su Wenyuan said, "No, I just have something I want to ask. You said these mechanisms and hidden compartments are exquisitely crafted and not something ordinary people can afford. How many of these can you make with the wood I sent?"
Su Wenyuan had no concept of the quantity of the finished product; she only felt that there were an unusually large number of these piles of wood chips.
Nian Huai was stumped by the question; he hadn't thought about it before.
To give a more accurate answer, he began to organize and calculate in front of Su Wenyuan.
The final conclusion was that, in the case of Prince Chen's residence, there were enough wooden items to fill two or three rooms.
These aren't small items; they're all large objects like tables, chairs, dressing tables, cabinets, or soft couches.
There are too many.
The Marquis of Anle's residence is much larger than the Prince of Chen's residence; one piece of clothing is enough for one room.
Su Wenyuan frowned and said, "Even in the Marquis of Anle's mansion, it's not like every room would have a thing with multiple hidden compartments. These things shouldn't be scattered around!"
The Prince Chen's residence also has secret rooms and hidden compartments, located in the study, but they are not very well made.
Sheng Jingyu had shown her those hidden compartments; they weren't well-hidden, and there weren't any extra mechanisms—they were more like hidden drawers.
Sheng Jingyu kept so many secret guards, as well as secret guards left to him by the late emperor, exclusively for the royal family.
The messages relayed by these secret guards were all confidential and could not be made public, so the Prince Chen's residence did not need so many hidden compartments.
The Marquis of Anle's mansion is full of hidden mechanisms and compartments, which is obviously not right. What are they used to hide?
The Marquis of Anle's remains are still being searched for!
"You go about your business, I only have this one thing to say." Su Wenyuan hurriedly left to tell Sheng Jingyu.
After she left, Sheng Jingyu summoned Ye Shan and Meng Qi, instructing them to search for skilled craftsmen at any cost.
I said it once, and repeated it several times. The requirements are simple: someone who can make hidden compartments and mechanisms, and someone who can keep up with the New Year's Eve celebrations.
Sheng Jingyu was furious whenever the topic of his son's passing came up.
"You two went to the Marquis of Anle's residence that day, how come you couldn't stop Nian Huaizhong?" Sheng Jingyu looked at them with disappointment.
Meng Qi said cautiously, "Your Highness, perhaps you should refrain from talking about us here. The Princess Consort just went to the East Courtyard. If I'm not mistaken, she went to find Nian Huaizhong."
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Sheng Jingyu quickly got up and was about to chase after them.
Meng Qi said, feeling wronged, "You didn't even give us a chance to speak."
Halfway there, Sheng Jingyu bumped into Su Wenyuan, who was returning. Su Wenyuan grabbed his arm and said, "Let's go back to Zhuyue Pavilion. I have something to tell you. It's a new discovery."
At this moment, Su Wenyuan was serious and focused, so Sheng Jingyu had no choice but to suppress his displeasure and think about the important matter first.
“There is indeed a problem with the Marquis of Anle’s residence. Why does it need so many hidden compartments? Are they hiding things? What exactly are they hiding that would require so many hidden compartments? Silver?” Su Wenyuan asked.
Sheng Jingyu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I guess it's not silver. The Marquis of Anle's mansion has a special storeroom, as you've seen, and many secret rooms, which are also used to store gold and silver."
“Those wooden drawers are only so big. If you put them in banknotes, how many banknotes would it take to fill them? If you put them in silver, they obviously can't hold much silver…”
He had been quite blunt, glancing at Su Wenyuan every now and then, observing her expression.
Su Wenyuan smiled and said, "It would be perfect for storing letters. The Prince Chen's residence must have quite a few secret letters, right?"
Sheng Jingyu nodded and said, "Yes, these are all messages from various places. After reading them, we put them in boxes and then send them to the secret room. We've accumulated quite a few over the years."
Su Wenyuan was still smiling, but the smile looked like a bitter smile.
If it's really used to store mail, then things aren't looking too good.
The large number of letters needed to be hidden in a secret compartment to prevent them from being discovered...
Isn't this just a letter sent to another country in secret?
Sheng Jingyu shared the same thought, but dared not speak too directly, and could only try her best to guide her.
Seeing that Su Wenyuan seemed to have thought of it, Sheng Jingyu stopped hiding it.
"What confirmed Marquis Anle's treason were a few secret letters, which were found in the study, not in a hidden compartment. No one had ever mentioned the existence of hidden compartments in the mansion."
Su Wenyuan sighed and said, "The fact that no one mentioned it means that few people know about it. Even the Emperor doesn't know yet, so who destroyed the things?"
Sheng Jingyu said, "You'd have to ask the officers and soldiers who raided our home back then!"
Su Wenyuan blinked, remaining silent for a long time.
Sheng Jingyu asked, puzzled, "Did I say something wrong?"
“No, what I mean is, you can take action now.” Su Wenyuan was anxious.
Sheng Jingyu pursed his lips and said, "I'm not going. I'm not feeling well. I've caught a cold and can't move."
He finally got his chance. Su Wenyuan left him outside for a long time, and then acted as if nothing had happened, not mentioning it at all.
Su Wenyuan was still bewildered when Sheng Jingyu brought it up himself.
"You're dressed so warmly, and you haven't walked very far, how did you catch a cold? Is it because the room isn't warm enough?" Su Wenyuan felt the temperature in the room and found that there was nothing wrong.
It's burning very hot, I'm just worried that Sheng Jingyu's health isn't up to par.
Sheng Jingyu awkwardly turned her head and said, "I didn't go very far, but I stood outside for a long time. Outside the study, you can ask the guards near the study and the maid who was helping me. They all saw it."
"Huh???" Su Wenyuan looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Don't you have legs?"
Even a fool would know to go inside; he was standing outside...
Sheng Jingyu was so angry that she almost went crazy. She slammed her hand on the table a few times and explained, word by word, "At that time, you only had eyes for Nian Huaizhong and didn't even look at me."
Su Wenyuan couldn't hold back any longer and gave him a big eye roll.
"No, even if you're good-looking, I can't look at you every day, can I? Do I have to have my eyes on you?"
Sheng Jingyu sneered, "Have you seen enough?"
"..." Su Wenyuan was speechless.
She suddenly felt that she couldn't explain herself, and that Sheng Jingyu must be going crazy.
Hua Ling previously said that he wasn't in good health in winter; he should change that to: he wasn't thinking well in winter.
The two sat facing each other in silence for a long time.
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