Qin Zheng snapped back to reality, looking at her mistress's calm, almost cold profile, and was overwhelmed with shock. She nodded heavily and immediately directed two equally trained female officials to deal with the tightly closed storeroom door.
The gate was forged from fine iron, and the lock was specially made, making it difficult to open by ordinary means. However, it was no problem for this group of people personally trained by Xiao Che. A female official took out a set of slender tools from her sleeve, skillfully inserted them into the keyhole, held her breath, and after a series of delicate operations, a soft "click" was heard, and the sturdy lock opened.
A somber smell, a mixture of rust and years of dust, wafted out as the door slowly opened.
The scene inside the warehouse came into view.
Just as they had expected, the place was filled with all sorts of old things. Rows of huge wooden shelves were piled high with old armor covered in thick dust, rusty spears, and crossbows with broken strings... Everything looked messy and dilapidated, truly resembling an abandoned warehouse that had been forgotten for decades.
At first glance, there is nothing unusual about it.
"Your Majesty, we..." Qin Zheng was about to ask whether they should begin a thorough search.
"Search!" Lin Wanwan uttered only one word.
"yes!"
Qin Zheng immediately accepted the order and, leading her female officials, prepared to rush in and turn the place upside down. They knew time was of the essence and they had to find evidence as soon as possible.
However, Lin Wanwan stopped them once again.
"etc."
Lin Wanwan's voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.
"Your Majesty?" Qin Zheng looked at her in confusion. In her opinion, the most important thing to do at this moment was to open these boxes one by one, check each piece of armor, turn the place upside down, and find the hidden weapons.
But Lin Wanwan shook her head.
She didn't touch any of the boxes, nor did she look at the mountains of weapons.
She didn't even step into the warehouse.
She simply stood quietly at the doorway, her gaze, like the most precise searchlight, scanning the warehouse floor inch by inch.
Her actions puzzled everyone.
Qin Zheng didn't understand what the Empress was looking at. Could the clues be written on the ground?
The warehouse floor was paved with bluestone slabs, covered with a layer of dust of varying thickness. Countless footprints crisscrossed the dust, appearing chaotic and disorderly.
To others, this was just what an ordinary warehouse should look like.
But in Lin Wanwan's eyes, a modern person bombarded with modern criminal investigation information, this land is like a book full of secrets!
Her gaze slowly moved inward from the doorway.
She discovered that the dust in most areas of the warehouse was a uniform, hardened, old ash. This kind of dust only forms when no one walks around for a long time and the dust settles naturally through air circulation.
The messy footprints were mostly concentrated on the main passageway in the center of the warehouse. This was normal; they were left by the guards during their daily patrols.
but……
Lin Wanwan's gaze suddenly sharpened!
She noticed something was wrong!
In the deepest corner of the warehouse, there was also an inconspicuous, half-person-high ordinary wooden box.
That box, like the others, was covered in dust and looked as if it hadn't been touched for decades.
However, there is a problem with the ground beneath it!
Something's wrong with the dust there!
Although there were footprints there as well, the dust there was noticeably "fresher" than in other places! It lacked the hardened feel of old, stale dust, instead appearing somewhat loose. Moreover, in that area, the old and new footprints overlapped and intertwined, their density far exceeding that of any other location!
What does this tell us?
This indicates that people have been frequently walking around this corner recently!
This means that the seemingly inconspicuous box was frequently moved by someone!
A true secret will never be hidden in a place where people come and go; it will always be hidden in the least noticeable corner, the one that best fits the definition of "abandoned"!
A frequently visited, abandoned corner is itself the biggest flaw!
Found it!
Lin Wanwan's heart skipped a beat! But her face remained expressionless.
She walked slowly into the storeroom, her steps light, trying not to disturb the marks on the ground. She went straight to the box in the corner.
Qin Zheng and the other female officials held their breath and followed behind her, not understanding why the Empress was so fond of this seemingly ordinary box.
Lin Wanwan walked around the box, examining it carefully.
The box was made of ordinary pine wood, and a rusty brass lock hung on it. Everything seemed so...normal.
Qin Zheng couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Your Highness, is there something wrong with this box?"
"Just open it and you'll know."
Lin Wanwan said it casually.
Then, she made a move that left everyone present speechless.
Instead of calling for tools to pry open the lock, she slowly and gently plucked a long, glossy black hair from her cloud-like temples.
A single strand of hair?
Qin Zheng was completely dumbfounded.
What is Your Highness trying to do? Does she intend to open this bronze lock with a single hair? This... how is this possible?!
However, Lin Wanwan's next move was even more unbelievable.
She held the thin strand of hair and gently placed it in front of the keyhole of the brass lock.
Then, she leaned down slightly and gently blew a breath onto that single strand of hair.
That tone was so gentle, like a lover's murmur.
To everyone's utter astonishment, an unbelievable scene unfolded!
The thin, soft strand of hair, upon touching the keyhole, seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, trembled slightly, and then... with a "whoosh," was directly sucked into the tiny keyhole!
Vanished instantly, without a trace!
"hiss--!"
All the female officials present, including the usually composed Qin Zheng, couldn't help but gasp!
Their eyes widened as if they had seen a ghost, staring intently at the seemingly ordinary brass lock, their minds completely blank!
What kind of sorcery is this?!
Only Lin Wanwan had a cold smile slowly creeping onto her lips.
Black magic?
No, this is not sorcery.
This is modern physics.
A simple explanation of the principle of air pressure.
If a box is solid or completely sealed inside, then the air pressure inside and outside the keyhole is the same.
However, if the box has internal compartments or hidden compartments, then these compartments will inevitably have extremely tiny gaps left for moisture prevention or opening. These gaps will result in extremely weak airflow between the inside and outside of the box.
This airflow, so faint as to be almost imperceptible, is enough to create a deadly "suction" for a hair as light as a hair!
This box is not solid!
It has a double-layered interior!
The real secret is hidden in this compartment!
The enemy had set up countless traps and guards outside, but they never expected that their carefully designed and supposedly foolproof concealment methods would be so easily and completely cracked by a single "hair" from the modern world!
This overwhelming intellectual assault from a different time and space gave Lin Wanwan an extreme sense of pleasure!
"Qin Zheng".
She spoke slowly, breaking the deathly silence.
Qin Zheng jolted awake, snapping out of her shock, and quickly bowed, saying, "This servant is here!" Her voice trembled slightly with excitement.
Lin Wanwan gave her a wink.
Qin Zheng immediately understood, suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and ordered her subordinates in a deep voice, "Someone! Find the tools!"
Soon, two female officials brought out a thick crowbar.
Amidst the astonished and expectant gazes of the crowd, instead of prying open the brass lock, they inserted the crowbar directly into the bottom of the wooden box!
"Snap—!"
With a sharp cracking sound, they managed to pry open the bottom of the box!
As the camouflage wooden planks at the bottom came off, a hidden compartment, completely covered by tarpaulin and concealed within the box, was suddenly revealed to everyone!
A strong, unique tung oil scent, typical of military supplies maintenance, instantly wafted from the hidden compartment!
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