Chapter 457. An Underground Vault

Translator: DragonRider

Ling Zhang was bemused. His father had told him that in his last life, after Zhu You and Wang Xiangxin died, furious Jiangzhou residents had poured into Zhu You’s residence and ransacked it, that they’d found huge amounts of money in a storeroom of the Zhu family and carved it up.

However, given how well concealed this secret storeroom was, those Jiangzhou residents must be amazingly observant to have found it. Even his twenty-four bodyguards had searched for quite a long time before locating a spot which was presumably the entrance to an underground space, and they hadn’t even found the control switch yet.

Clearly Yuwen Tong had also thought of this issue, but it’d been in Ling Zhaowu’s last life that that thing had happened. As it had never happened in this life of his, so there was no way to ascertain the truth. They could only wait until they returned to the capital city to ask Ling Zhaowu about it.

“There’s a faint breeze blowing through this crack.” Ling Zhang crouched down and scrutinized that patch of floor. The floor of this book chamber was neatly paved with tiles, and the patch near the foot of that wall was no exception. Neat as those tiles were, there were still gaps between them, through which breeze was blowing. “There’s definitely a large space down there.”

“These tiles are quite level. Nobody would be able to find anything out of the ordinary about them unless they look carefully. The control switch is not on the floor. I think it’s somewhere nearby,” observed Yuwen Tong.

Wang Dashan and the others were scrupulously checking each and every single one of the furnishings in the chamber. They even moved all the books to see what was beneath them.

“Got it.”

The speaker was Liu Yi, who was standing beside a desk. It was the lampstand on the desk that he’d touched. The lampstand was fairly special. It’d been inlaid into the surface of the desk. This kind of lampstands were not really rare. Actually they were commonly seen in places like studies, because lamps placed on this kind of lampstands wouldn’t be blown over by wind, so owners of the studies didn’t have to worry about their books being burnt by fire. Therefore, none of the searchers had suspected anything when they’d first clapped eyes on the lampstand inlaid in the surface of the desk. When Liu Yi had crouched down to check the desk, he’d discovered a small iron ring attached to the bottom of the desk. It was directly below the position of the lampstand on the desk. As he pulled the ring, he heard a movement from the lampstand on the desk. He hurriedly stood up to move it only to find that the lampstand, which he hadn’t been able to turn a moment before, was now rotatable.

Ling Zhang walked up to him with Yuwen Tong, took a look at it and then said, “Turn it.”

Liu Yi nodded and turned the lampstand and with that faint clicks came from somewhere in the book chamber.

On the heels of the clicks was a muffled, dull sound of tiles moving. It was from none other than the patch of floor that they’d found a short while before. The whole patch near the foot of the wall were edging beneath the wall bit by bit, revealing an entrance about a square meters in size. Where the daylight touched, a quite steep flight of stairs leading all the way down could be seen.

Ling Zhang was thrilled. “What needs to be done next is to find out if this is where the money is.”

“Young Master, please let us go inside to check out the lay of the land first in case there are any dangers down there,” suggested Liu Yi.

“Be careful,” said Ling Zhang.

Liu Yi inclined his head, produced a little paper roll an end of which was still glowing, blew at it and a small flame popped out of its glowing end. Then he started to descend the steep stairs leading underground, followed by Wang Dashan.

Ling Zhang stood at the entrance, watching the two of them. As they progressed, they found that the steep flight of stairs was between two walls from each of which hung a wall lamp. Liu Yi and Wang Dashan paused beside the wall lamps and lit them. By the lamplight, they now had a clearer view of things around them and found that the descending stairs turned right at a spot not far away.

They were unable to see what was around the corner. Zhao Shen and some others walked down the stairs with Liu Yi and Wang Dashan. Then Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong also descended the stairs, leaving Yang Liuzi and the others to stand guard on the ground. Yao Yi and his men also arrived shortly after being informed of the discovery.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong proceeded along the flight of stairs, which were solid and firm. The structure of this passage was very simple, and there weren’t any dangerous defense mechanisms. As they took the turn, the narrow passageway widened into a large space.

Liu Yi and Wang Dashan had lit the couple of wall lamps, the light of which brightened one third of this underground chamber. The ceiling of this chamber was very high, given that it’d take them quite a while to reach the bottom. Also, it was very roomy. The walls were lined with treasure shelves, every one of which was laden with valuable rare curios. On the ground in the middle were piles of chests.

Most of the unclosed chests were filled with calligraphy works and drawings. One of them contained a bolt of precious cloth which glimmered at night, and which had been paid to the former emperor as tribute by the Fangcun Kingdom. It was said that producing a bolt of this kind of cloth would take several years. Apart from these, there were also some big luminous pearls kept in carefully sealed caskets. However, there was no silver ingot…

Though there was no silver ingot, if they transfer these things out of this chamber and sold them, they would get a lot of money.

“Is it possible that those silver ingots were never here?” Ling Zhang couldn’t help but wonder if those silver ingots of the Zhu family had disappeared when he’d been reborn.

Yuwen Tong was also uncertain about it, for the matter of rebirth was too mysterious. After pondering for a while, he said, “Let’s carefully search this place again. Judging from the facts I’ve ascertained, there’s a very high chance that the Zhu family does possess a large sum of money.”

Wang Dashan and the others didn’t give up looking for clues either. All the wall lamps in the underground space were lit, the light of which hit those treasures and became glaring as it was reflected. Of all the shiny things, that bolt of cloth was particularly obtrusive.

“I’ve heard of this kind of cloth before, and I thought those people were dramatizing things. It surprises me this kind of cloth does exist,” said Ling Zhang, looking at the cloth curiously. Rumor had it that even in the Fangcun Kingdom, hardly anybody knew how to weave this kind of cloth. Also, it’d been a very long time since the Fangcun Kingdom had last paid tribute to the Zhou family, the imperial family of the Great Yue, and they hadn’t gifted anybody with this kind of cloth for over a hundred years. It was said that this kind of cloth was something of a rarity even in their royal household.

“This cloth is supposed to be in the former imperial family,” said Yuwen Tong, looking calm. “Considering the presence of this thing in this place, my speculation may well be right.”

Ling Zhang inquired of him, “What have you come to know about exactly?”

Yuwen Tong glanced around him and then replied, “According to some unofficial historical records, after that prince of the Zhou family who plotted to usurp the throne was apprehended, a large sum of money, which he’d embezzled in the imperial court’s allocations for the armies, poverty-stricken peasants and provincial fortification projects, went missing. That money was also the reason why he’d dared plot to usurp the throne. However, after his plan failed, a substantial portion of that money was gone.

There’s also rumor which says that that forefather of the Zhu family’s, who used to be the Assistant Minister of Revenue, was very much in that prince’s confidence, that he virtually worked as the chief financial officer of that prince, managing most of the prince’s money for him. As a result, at that time, some people suspected that it was the Zhu family who stole the money away from that prince after his attempt at a usurpation failed.”

Ling Zhang said, “If that’s true, how the Zhu family got the money would be understandable.”

“So, that sum of money–”

“Your Highness, Your Majesty, there’s a secret room here, but the door won’t open!”

The conversation between the two was interrupted. It turned out that there was a hidden door behind a treasure shelf near the corner on the right-hand side of the underground chamber. It was a single-leaf door and was also controlled by some kind of switch. Because they had turned a lampstand to open the entrance to this chamber, they rechecked the wall lamps hanging from the walls. The lamp on the same wall that the hidden door was in was movable. However, after it was turned, the hidden door merely shook briefly and then became motionless. Except for some fallen dust, everything remained unchanged, but the existence of this hidden door had come to the knowledge of everybody present.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong walked over. After a few moments’ meticulous examination, they discovered that the mechanism of the hidden door had malfunctioned, that it seemed to be stuck. There was no telling whether it was a coincidence or someone had sabotaged it.

Yuwen Tong kept silent for a moment before he instructed, “Get these things out of this underground chamber and blast this door open.”

Since the mechanism had malfunctioned, it was impossible to open the door with conventional methods. Though the mechanism was not complex, it was hidden in the wall. If they were to repair it, they’d have to break the wall, so they might as well directly blast open the door.

Ling Zhang was looking at the door, his eyes twinkling with merriment. In all likelihood, what they were looking for was right inside.

The two of them left the underground chamber and returned to the ground above. Wang Dashan and the others started transferring those valuables, going in and out of the chamber frequently. When they had finished, the open space in front of the book chamber was almost filled with treasures. Yao Yi had had the two teams of crack soldiers stand guard on the periphery of the book chamber, preventing people from approaching. If anybody saw these things, their jaw might well drop.

Just now, when they’d been in the underground chamber, due to the poor lighting, Ling Zhang had only been impressed by that bolt of cloth and hadn’t had any particular feelings about any of the other objects, but now, seeing that these curios almost filled the open space in front of the book chamber, he came to feel that the Zhu family was indeed quite wealthy.

However, according to the results of a previous investigation, the Zhu family didn’t own any lucrative businesses in Jiangzhou apart from some rental paddies and stores. Zhu You should be no wealthier than a common rich merchant, but unexpectedly, he had so many valuables kept in his secret vault.

This further proved Yuwen Tong’s speculation right – the Zhu family had got all these things when that forefather of theirs had been serving that prince of the Zhou family. Apart from that bolt of cloth, those calligraphy works and drawings, all of which had been created by pre-eminent artists of the previous imperial dynasty, were also a proof. Many of those artistic creations bore the Privy Seal of the then emperor, presumably because the then emperor had given these things to that prince as rewards, and then that forefather of the Zhu family’s had made all of them his own while managing that prince’s property for him.

“That forefather of the Zhu family’s had a lot of balls. He not only got away after assisting that prince with his attempt to usurp the throne, but also took possession of so many valuables of that prince. Though men like him have no sense of loyalty, their cunning overshadows that of most common people,” commented Ling Zhang.

That progenitor of the Zhu family’s had been not only bold but also sly. He had ratted on his master, extricated himself from the then emperor’s investigation unpunished, took a large number of valuables from his master, and lived a peaceful and comfortable life in Jiangzhou for many years. On top of that, some of his descendants had worked as officials in the yamen of Jiangzhou and could have risen up the hierarchy all the way back into the imperial court had they been provided with the opportunities they needed.

While Ling Zhang was thinking about it in admiration, preparations were made to blast open the hidden door in the underground chamber.

“Young Master, they’re ready to blow up that door. You and His Majesty need to be careful,” cautioned Wang Dashan, walking out of the entrance.

It was Yao Yi who lit the fuse. All others had left the book chamber. Yao Yi, who had excellent lightness skills, swished out of the chamber immediately after the fuse was lit.

BOOM!

A muffled boom emanated from under the book chamber and the ground quaked violently for a few moments.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were standing in front of the book chamber, feeling the quake. When it had stopped, they found that the book chamber was still there, as erect and intact as always. Ling Zhang couldn’t help but remark, “This book chamber is pretty substantial.”

Clouds of dust were coming out of the entrance to the underground chamber and there was no telling what the situation down there was like. It was a few moments before Yao Yi and some others re-entered the underground chamber.