The Imperial Guards hesitated for a moment, seemingly finding the matter somewhat unbelievable.
"Your Majesty, the secret passage leads to... Xiangming Residence."
Xiangmingju faces the street and alley, and you have to walk around the entire bluestone alley to reach the courtyard of Huanyue Sect. In fact, if you look down, the two courtyards are only separated by a wall.
Therefore, the secret passage is not long; by passing through the wall, one can connect the houses in the two courtyards.
"This secret passage is extremely well hidden, concealed in an underground room filled with timber. If Ji Rong hadn't wanted to escape through this place, I might not have discovered this secret."
Emperor Jingyuan snorted angrily.
If Ji Rong hadn't had prior dealings with the Illusion Moon Sect, how would he have known about such a secret passage?
At this moment, Ji Rong just knelt silently on the ground, refusing to speak to anyone who asked him a question, his eyes unmoving, as if he had lost his soul.
The Imperial Guard added, "At the end of the secret passage is a covered room in the backyard of Xiangming Residence. We found some things there."
As he spoke, he ordered someone to carry a basket of items onto the table.
Inside were some strangely shaped vessels, as well as cinnabar, realgar, and other substances.
The matriarch's eyes widened, her cloudy pupils trembling uncontrollably, revealing a look of terror.
Physician Jin was equally astonished.
He stepped forward and examined them closely, then exclaimed, "Your Majesty, there are annotations in the ancient books that these are all things used to tame Gu worms. This... must be someone secretly practicing secret arts in the teahouse!"
Physician Jin seemed to remember something and suddenly looked at Meixiang.
"The maid just mentioned that there's a hidden room in the backyard of the teahouse..."
It was also said that Jiang Wan always entered this place alone whenever she went to the teahouse.
Is this the place they're talking about?
If what she said is true, these things belonged to Madam Jiang…
The moment Physician Jin had this thought, he sensed a cold gaze. Looking up, he saw Pei Xuan staring coldly at him.
"The secret arts of Miao territory are profound and obscure, and cannot be mastered without more than ten years of study."
Pei Xuandao.
"Madam Jiang was raised in the Prime Minister's residence before her marriage. How could she have come into contact with these things, let alone master the art of Gu cultivation?"
"that is."
Pei Tang realized what was happening and stepped forward, pointing to the utensils.
"These bottles and jars look like they're old, older than me. How come Sister Jiang knows how to handle them?"
Imperial Physician Jin pursed his lips, somewhat speechless.
Before he could even voice his doubts about Jiang Wan, the Crown Prince and Princess were already protecting her, as if he had bullied a young girl.
In fact, Physician Jin had a good impression of Jiang Wan and felt that she was not the kind of person who could do such a thing.
"His Majesty!"
Meixiang suddenly looked up and said as if making a vow.
“These all belong to Madam Jiang. I saw it with my own eyes. She secretly learned Miao martial arts and seduced the Illusion Moon Cult! I can vouch for this with my life!”
"If oaths and vows were effective, there would be no need for the Ministry of Justice in the world."
Jiang Wan glanced at her, her gaze as cold as ice.
"Besides, you just said that I would dismiss everyone when I did it, so how could you say that you 'saw it with your own eyes'?"
Mei Xiang choked, stammering and unable to speak.
Jiang Wan chuckled softly again.
"I had never known the secret of the teahouse's backyard before. It was such a hidden place that the Imperial Guards did not discover it when they searched the teahouse. If my uncle had not deliberately escaped and exposed the secret passage, even His Majesty would not have known."
“But Meixiang just spoke with such certainty in the hall, even knowing the exact location of the room. Isn’t that strange?”
Pei Tang glared at Mei Xiang.
"Indeed, this maid knows far too much! Tell me, who told you all this and instructed you to slander Sister Jiang?"
Her eyes blazed with fury as she drew her nine-section whip from her waist and swung it through the air.
"Otherwise, you won't even have to wait until you're sent to the Ministry of Justice for trial; this princess will teach you a lesson right now!"
Princess Zhaohua was known throughout the capital for her willful nature, and Meixiang, being just a maid, was naturally afraid of her.
She could only rely on her master for support.
Mei Xiang couldn't help but glance at the matriarch, only to see that she was pale and had almost collapsed to the ground.
Ever since she saw those utensils being turned out, the matriarch of the salacious family has been ashen-faced.
Those things were arranged by Wu Mama at her request; they were originally intended to frame Jiang Wan!
She wanted to use Mei Xiang to lure Imperial Physician Jin to the backyard, so that she could conveniently pin the blame on Jiang Wan.
Physician Jin was familiar with the Miao region, so he could naturally distinguish the uses of the utensils.
At that point, Jiang Wan would have no way to refute the argument and would have to swallow this bitter pill.
How could she have imagined that there was a secret passage!
Granny Wu had visited Xiangmingju so many times, yet she had never noticed anything amiss.
At first, the matriarch thought she had been outmaneuvered by Jiang Wan and even suspected that she had some unknown power behind her.
But today, first Yun Su falsely accused Zi Yu of being their mole, and then the Illusion Moon Cult secretly dug a passage leading to the teahouse…
How could Jiang Wan, a woman confined to the inner quarters, possibly have the ability to scheme and manipulate people's hearts, and to play such a grand game?
Now, the matriarch of the elders has no choice but to suspect that all of this was the work of the Illusion Moon Sect, and that its purpose was to target the General's Mansion.
"His Majesty!"
She took a deep breath and moved forward a few steps while still kneeling.
"Everything that happened today is a conspiracy by the Illusion Moon Cult. They want to destroy the General's Mansion and shake the foundation of the Great Yong Dynasty. You mustn't..."
"Your Majesty."
Before he could finish speaking, a young eunuch suddenly ran in from outside the hall and reported.
“The Ministry of Justice has found out the owner of Xiangmingju. He said that last month an old woman paid a high price to take over the teahouse. Although the woman left without revealing her identity, after investigation…” He glanced at the hall and continued, “she was the personal nanny of the old lady.”
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