Chapter 11: Emptying the Study, Soldiers Come to Ransack the House

Jing Er heard, “Move the cabinet?”

“Miss, I am coming in.”

“Mm.”

Jing Er opened the door and walked in with a worried expression. He hurriedly stepped forward, “The cabinet is very heavy, let your subordinate move it.”

The next moment, Jing Er’s words were caught in his throat as he watched the Miss effortlessly lift the entire heavy vanity a meter off the ground, took two steps, and placed it three meters away, then briskly clapped her hands.

He couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise.

The Miss had suddenly gained so much strength! If she didn’t know the secret passages in the General’s Mansion, he would have thought someone was impersonating her!

Xie Zhizhi groped around for the secret compartment, knocked on the wall and stamped on the floor, hearing the hollow sound beneath her feet.

She found it, under the floorboards.

She pried open the floor, revealing a dark hole.

“Wait here for me, I’ll be back soon.”

Jing Er furrowed his brow, holding his long sword, worried, “What if there are enemies in the study? How about I accompany you, Miss?”

As Xie Zhizhi was already crouched in the secret passage, she turned back with a sly smile, her grin as radiant as a poppy flower, and whispered:

“Then let him experience the Cloud Mountain roller coaster! If the emperor’s decree comes while I’m not back, wait for me where the horse carts are, I’ll join you safely.”

“By the way, remember to restore the secret passage to its original state.”

With that, she quickly ran down the secret passage toward the study.

“I understand, Miss.”

Jing Er stood still, puzzled—what was the “Cloud Mountain roller coaster”?

He involuntarily thought of the black-clad man who had been stabbed yet flew into the air just earlier and couldn’t help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.

Could it be that the Miss had encountered some strange adventure?

And didn’t the Miss mention that she would explain the reason in a few days?

With a stern face but a rich inner world, Jing Er began to look forward to what the Miss would tell them.

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In the secret passage.

Xie Zhizhi pulled out a powerful flashlight, making her way to the end of the tunnel.

She lifted her head and tapped on a solid wooden board above her, rotating a small wooden box beside her, and immediately felt the cabinet outside move.

The ancient mechanisms were really amazing.

Once the cabinet had been moved, she pushed open the wooden board above her and successfully emerged from the secret passage.

She lowered her head to brush the dirt from her clothes, then glanced around.

The large study was filled with a simple yet elegant décor: a desk, an art easel, a chair with an official’s hat, bookshelves with plants, and other items all arranged neatly. The scent of books was thick, and the faint smell of ink was refreshing.

Xie Zhizhi didn’t know where the map would be, but based on her intuition, she walked over to the art easel, where a portrait of the original owner was hanging on the wall.

In the painting, the woman sat alone on a long bench, with the study in the background. She wore fine clothing, with dignified grace, and her delicate and refined face smiled lightly—she looked very much like Xie Zhizhi.

She pulled out a hanger and took the painting down.

Flipping the painting over, she felt two layers of paper on the back.

What could be inside?

Carefully peeling off one layer of paper, she didn’t damage the artwork.

She cautiously retrieved a letter from the middle of the thick painting roll.

This letter, from her memory, had been placed by Xie Zongyi when he painted the original owner’s portrait at the age of sixteen. He had said she could only retrieve it when she turned eighteen.

She had only guessed that this place might hold a clue.

Xie Zhizhi carefully rolled the painting back up and placed it on the easel, then opened the letter and read its contents.

“My dear daughter, dig through the center of the secret passage to find the key to the storeroom; that will be your dowry. Take good care of yourself and don’t trust the royal family too much. Your father only asks that you remain cautious. Your father and brother will return soon.”

What’s this?

Just a storeroom key.

It seemed that Xie Zongyi had left it in case the original owner was married off and he couldn’t make it back from the frontier in time. He had left the storeroom key for her.

Considering that the Third Prince didn’t like the original owner, he would probably try everything to stop the marriage, so it wouldn’t be easy for her to marry.

She would have to search the study further.

The original owner’s daily expenses were handled by the housekeeper, always more than enough. In this era, being the only daughter was a rare privilege, and the original owner was really fortunate.

Forget it, let’s get the key first.

Xie Zhizhi slinked back into the tunnel, figured out the middle position, put on a headlamp, and took out a military shovel to start digging.

Imagine seeing an ancient-dressed woman, holding a modern flashlight, digging away in the tunnel. It would definitely be hilarious.

With her strength, she dug quickly, big clumps of earth falling away. In less than a minute, she had unearthed a wooden box about the size of a lunch box.

Found it.

She used the light from above to forcefully open the lock with her hands, finding a key inside, along with a thick stack of parchment.

Without examining it further, she closed the box and stored it in her space.

She returned to the study.

Glancing around the study, she thought, in three days, a huge hailstorm would destroy this place.

So… it’s safer in my space.

Heh, come in! With a thought, all the books on the bookshelf were quickly stored in her space.

She’d look for the map later.

No need to waste the bookshelf either—taken!

That official hat chair was made of precious golden silk nanmu, really valuable—taken!

The desk was solid, so it was taken!

The art easel had intricate carvings, beautifully retro—it was worth collecting—taken, taken!

Soon, the spacious study, hundreds of square meters, was completely empty, even the potted plants by the door were not spared.

Suddenly, loud shouts and the sound of running footsteps came from outside.

“The soldiers are already here?”

As written in the book, it was the first dog of the Emperor—Liu’s family brothers’ elite army.

She turned, covering the traces of the secret passage, and as she closed the lid, a sly smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

She had picked up some nice things while passing through the forest earlier…

Within ten seconds, she had completed the duplication and took a bag full of small, curled, black-and-white creatures, throwing them into the secret passage.

She half-closed the wooden board, muttered “Enter the space” before the door could open, and in the next moment, Xie Zhizhi’s body disappeared from the study.

After the space upgrade, this was her first time entering. She found a mirror, which allowed her to clearly see the situation outside and control her movement with her thoughts.

This was one of the imagined functions!

Not long after.

She heard the soldiers outside surrounding the housekeepers and guards, their roars of fury filling the air. Xie Zhizhi listened carefully to what they were saying.

Outside the house.

When they heard that the General and young master were dead, their entire family was exiled, and the Miss was to be executed on the spot, all the housekeepers and guards who had been forced to their knees looked up in shock, staring fiercely at the leader of the imperial guards, with steely expressions, trying to break free from their restraints, and building up rage.

Each of them howled in anger.

“What? Executed on the spot! Why?”

“The General is dead? How did he die?”

“Don’t kill the Miss! The General is innocent!”

“The General is dead? The young master is dead? The General’s only remaining bloodline is the Miss! The Miss can’t die!”

“The General sacrificed his life for Da Xing, staying at the frontier to protect Da Xing. How could he betray the country? It’s all a misunderstanding! This is an injustice!”