THE FLOWER PALACE'S SECRET

Chapter 47: Seeking Truth (1)

Ruo Shui Palace was so resplendent in late spring. Plums and azaleas keep blooming like they did yesterday. Rainbow colors adorned the garden of the old palace.

Inside the room of Ruo Shui Palace, Lin Zian and Shen Yanzhia had accidentally entered into a dark and damp underground room. As the two went around earlier, Shen Yanzhia unintentionally turned a silver pagoda on the side of the painting of the late Crown Prince. The rotating pagoda made the floor that Shen Yanzhia and Lin Zian were treading on shift. The two fell down while rolling on the stairs.

Shen Yanzhia blew the fire bamboo until her gaze became slightly brighter. The woman approached a hanging lantern, seeing if it could still be lit or not. The lantern's axis looked wet. Shen Yanzhia ignited the fire, and instantly the other lanterns in the room lit up.

Dust from the ceiling of the room seemed to fall down. His left and right sides were filled with ancient artifacts typical of previous dynasties. In addition, there are also various natural paintings and statues of emperors from various dynasties.

Lin Zian and Shen Yanzhia walked down every street in the basement with wary steps. The basement looks very old. The footprints of the two even imprint on the stone floor of the secret room.

"Is this what the late Crown Prince said?" asked Shen Yanzhia.

"Maybe."

The two arrived before an ancient altar. On top of the altar is a Buddha statue filled with dust and cobwebs. In front of the altar, there is a table where the offerings are made.

"What is the late Crown Prince really hiding here?" shen Yanzhia asked back.

"That's what we're gonna have to look for."

Shen Yanzhia and Lin Zian split up. The couple dismantled one by one all the items in the room. Occasionally Shen Yanzhia sneezed as thick dust flew into her nose.

Shen Yanzhia was almost in despair when she found nothing, until she accidentally stepped on the floor that was collapsing inside. The woman suffocated in shock as the sound of the door opening in front of her entered into her ears. Suddenly, an arrow shot out from behind that door.

Lin Zian pulled Shen Yanzhia's body until the arrow was stuck on the altar wall.

"Be careful!"

Behind the door was another smaller, shabby room. The other secret room was filled with bookshelves. Without hesitation, Shen Yanzhia walked in, followed Lin Zian.

"Well, this room is the private room of the late Crown Prince. These books contain important records of the Ling mainland and the high officials," Shen Yanzhia said after wandering around looking at the writings on each bookshelf.

"It looks like these secret archives were deliberately hidden by my late uncle."

"Zian, do you think there's a very, very secret document here?"

"I can't be sure."

Shen Yanzhia's attention was fixed on a chest located at the very top of the bookcase to the right of the room. The crate was locked tightly. With the science of lightening Lin Zian's body, the chest was directly before Shen Yanzhia.

"Lend me your hairpick!"

Shen Yanzhia pulled a hairpick over Lin Zian's head. The man's long hair was instantly smeared like a woman's hair. Shen Yanzhia used that hairpick to unlock the chest. One by one, three iron keys from the box opened.

"It... Zian, look!"

"This is evidence of the corruption of the palace officials!"

The obsolete papers contain records of corruption committed by ministers and high-ranking officials. Their names are clearly emblazoned, including details of the date, amount and type of funds that were corrupted. Some of the ministers in the record are still in office today.

Shen Yanzhia clucked. As it turns out, the decay of the palace ministers has been known by the late Crown Prince since more than eighteen years. If only that person had not died, all the names of these high-class criminals would have already been captured and executed.

The last ledger inside the crate was the ledger that made Lin Zian and Shen Yanzhia cluck in disbelief. In the book, there is the name of the Prime Minister, whose amount of corruption is the most numerous and most detrimental. In that note, a total of over two million taels of gold entered into the Prime Minister's treasure chest. The money comes from disaster relief funds, public facilities development funds, military funds, and weapons manufacturing funds.

Too bad, the number two person on the Ling mainland was dirty-handed as well. In fact, his corruption was the worst. Really, Shen Yanzhia did not want to believe it because all along, the Prime Minister's achievements and loyalty were so dazzling to the eyes. Unexpectedly, the old man turned out to be just a greedy person.

"Do we need to report this to the Crown Prince?" asked Shen Yanzhia.

"No, not just yet. We don't know what kind of enemy we're facing right now."

"Zian, don't you trust your brother?"

Lin Zian was silent for a moment.

"The palace officials were very manipulative. I don't know what they used to influence my brother and dirty his way of thinking."

"My brother is a clear-minded person. But, ever since the Emperor was sick and he held the reins of the provisional government, I can't recognize him anymore. I feel like he's becoming a stranger."

"You sure?"

Lin Zian nodded.

"Actually, the postponement of the marriage with Princess Duanmu was not entirely the proposal of the ministers. The Crown Prince himself proposed it to them secretly."

"Why?"

"I don't know. These few days, it's been hard to find. I heard that Mu'er and the servants, the Prime Minister often come to visit him."

Lin Zian's story made Shen Yanzhia think of a lot of speculation. Could it be that the Prime Minister poisoned Lin Yang's mind and incited him? Or is the Prime Minister deliberately seeking attention so that he gets the Crown Prince's trust? Or, was the Prime Minister about to sow the seeds of discord in order for the Crown Prince to suspect Lin Zian under the pretext of a power struggle?

I don't know, those speculations made Shen Yanzhia's head throb.

"If you think about it, the Prime Minister has always seemed to deliberately trouble you. You said yourself that he was constantly trying to get you to go."

"It's like that."

"Zian, last season he came to visit you, didn't he? What's he saying?"

Lin Zian tried to remember.

"Ah, he said that I should be on my guard. The ugly old man said there were no eternal enemies, and no true allies in palace politics."

"I think he's warning you."

Lin Zian nodded confirming his wife's words.

"Is it possible that the man found out that the late Crown Prince had evidence to bring him down?"

"Not only the late Crown Prince, but also the late Emperor."

"You mean, the late Emperor also knew about this?"

Lin Zian nodded.

"Perhaps, the late Crown Prince knew his life would not be long because the Prime Minister would definitely take action soon. So, he chose to keep quiet and keep this evidence safe until the right person finds it back."

Shen Yanzhia's emotions instantly changed. Anger and sadness became apparent in his clear eyes. If Lin Zian's words were true, then the Prime Minister was the real killer.

"But, Consort Duan is the Prime Minister's daughter. Could he be involved too?" shen Yanzhia asked doubtfully.

"That cunning female fox will definitely do everything to save her family."

"We can't draw any conclusions before we make it into Tianli Palace."

Lin Zian patted his eel. He had almost forgotten the main purpose of his arrival at the royal palace today. Concubine Duan asked them to come, and they were instead engrossed in spending time in this underground secret room.

"We must leave immediately," recalled Lin Zian.

Shen Yanzhia locked back the crate of documents, then placed it in its original place. The secret document room was once again fused with the wall. Shen Yanzhia turned off the entire lighting lantern in the room, then rushed out through the stairs where she rolled with Lin Zian.

Shen Yanzhia turned back the silver pagoda that showed the way towards the underground chamber. The floor of Ruo Shui Palace shifted, returning to its original position.

After everything felt safe, Shen Yanzhia and Lin Zian walked out of Ruo Shui Palace. The key to the palace was Shen Yanzhia stuffed it into a perfumed pouch, then she slipped it to her waist until it was invisible.

The two people left the courtyard of Ruo Shui Palace with hurried steps.

...***...