Chapter 420: Secret Chamber

This was the limit of her and Pan Xiaohei's range; Pan Yun placed it on the ground, glanced around, and immediately entered a tea house, going straight to the second floor.

This place was still a very, very long distance from Wang Zhen's residence, even not in the same district.

Pan Xiaohei swiftly climbed onto the roof, found its direction, and ran straight along the ridge, leaping over one neighboring roof after another.

Pan Yun dared not wander aimlessly, for she could not gauge her own luck.

So she decided that stillness was better than motion.

Pan Yun sat by the window on the second floor, ordered tea and sweets, and propped her chin on her hand, watching the rooftops outside, waiting for Pan Xiaohei to return.

Pan Xiaohei leapt with agile grace, its body stretching out midair, all four paws landing lightly atop Wang Zhen's courtyard wall; it raced swiftly along the wall's edge.

As it passed over the rooftops, it could hear the sounds of wailing and sobbing coming from below.

Pan Xiaohei gently pried a tile with its paw, peeked inside, saw it was just interrogating servants, and lost interest, heading straight for the room where it had hidden its treasures.

Pan Xiaohei sensed many people inside the room, so it quieted its steps, waited until it reached the center, then crouched low and gently slid aside a tile…

Inside the room, Wang Zhen was listening to his subordinates' reports; the more he heard, the darker his expression grew.

"Seal Keeper, I don't believe any of them are lying—they even confessed to embezzling ceremonial fees and stealing valuables, yet deny any collusion with outsiders."

Wang Zhen examined their confessions, laughed bitterly with rage, "I know clear water breeds no fish; I've always turned a blind eye in the past, treated you all leniently—but now you take my leniency as weakness, and in less than a year, you've embezzled this much silver!"

The men lowered their heads.

Wang Zhen said coldly, "Even if they didn't conspire with outsiders, the crime of embezzlement warrants severe punishment. Take men and ransack their homes, douse them with cold water, and make them kneel in the courtyard all night—if they survive, I'll forgive them."

The men's hearts turned icy; they bowed their heads tightly, trembling as they agreed.

But these days were the worst of the late-spring chill; the nights were colder than winter, and being doused with cold water overnight would likely kill them even if they survived the night.

It would be better to die quickly.

The men felt a chill all over their bodies; only when they left the study did their legs weaken, as if stepping on cotton.

Pan Xiaohei pressed one eye against the gap, looking down, and saw Wang Zhen stand for a while, then begin pacing in circles, as if lost in thought, occasionally lifting his gaze toward one spot.

Pan Xiaohei was curious, shifted slightly, lowered its body further, aligning its sight with his.

It was a wall-mounted shelf—it knew it well, because many of the things it had stolen came from there.

Jump up, touch with a paw, focus its mind, and the items vanished into its Jade Space.

Everything on that shelf, one by one, it had taken; now the shelf stood empty.

Actually, it thought the wooden shelf itself was quite nice—didn't the information fed into the Spirit Realm include the value of wood?

In later times, all kinds of rosewood and golden silk sandalwood were priceless; it thought this shelf looked beautiful too, and had wanted to take the entire shelf along with its contents.

If Pan Yun hadn't sold those items and had kept them for display, she could've saved herself the trouble of building a shelf—they'd be ready to use right away.

But back then, it couldn't fit it inside—the wooden shelf seemed stuck to the floor and wall, immovable.

Things that couldn't be moved, it couldn't absorb.

Perhaps Wang Zhen grew tired of pacing; he finally stopped, stepped out of the room, stood at the door for a moment, glanced left and right, then turned back, shut the door, and closed the windows.

Pan Xiaohei's eyes gleamed; it crept closer, watching silently.

Wang Zhen walked to a wall, reached out, pressed a brick—and the empty shelf began to shift, revealing a hidden opening.

Pan Xiaohei: …

Pan Yun had been right after all—there was a secret chamber!

Wang Zhen withdrew his hand and stepped toward the opening; Pan Xiaohei moved fast too, stood up, gently nudged the tile back into place, then slid down the wall with a hiss, reached the window, curled its bones, and squeezed its entire body through the gap.

Wang Zhen's figure vanished before the wall; he casually triggered the mechanism, and the shelf door began to close slowly.

Pan Xiaohei leapt lightly, landed soundlessly, crouched low, and dashed forward, slipping inside just before the shelf door shut completely.

Once inside, Pan Xiaohei darted into the corner and froze, motionless.

Wang Zhen lit a candle, adjusted the wick, and the flame flared, illuminating a two-meter-wide circle before him.

Pan Xiaohei, entirely black, hid silently in the shadows.

It lifted its head, round eyes wide, taking in the space.

The secret chamber was about twenty square meters—not small; it was hard to imagine how the people in this mansion had never noticed such a discrepancy.

Had they never realized the interior and exterior dimensions didn't match?

Pan Xiaohei sneered at the servants' stupidity even as it surveyed the chamber's contents.

There were many boxes, stacked one atop another; it didn't know what was inside.

Some large ornaments lay scattered on the floor.

Most eye-catching were two coral trees, each half a person's height.

Wang Zhen walked forward with the candle, moving beyond Pan Xiaohei's line of sight.

It quietly rose, ran along the edge of the boxes…

Wang Zhen spun around sharply.

Pan Xiaohei shot into the narrow gap between two boxes, squeezing its belly so tightly the fat tightened.

Wang Zhen walked over with the candle, stopping beside the boxes.

Pan Xiaohei stopped breathing; far away in the tea house, Pan Yun also held her breath, gripping her teacup tightly.

Wang Zhen carefully inspected the secret door, glanced left and right, found nothing amiss, then frowned and turned away.

Strange—why had he just felt someone watching him?

Wang Zhen walked to the far end, where a table stood, bearing a single box.

He opened it, saw the silver notes were still there, and exhaled in relief.

"Nothing in the secret chamber is missing—so those thieves didn't find this place," Wang Zhen scanned the room, frowning. "But the study was robbed once already; keeping valuables here isn't safe."

Wang Zhen began planning in his mind—he needed another secret, secure place to hide these items.

He pursed his lips, displeased. "Pity Yue Niang is blind and stubborn—she refuses to bring the child to the capital. Otherwise, who would I worry about guarding my wealth?"

Wang Zhen closed the money box, lifted the candle, and was about to leave; after taking two steps, he turned back, hugged the box to his chest, and decided to take it back to the palace.

While Wang Zhen was muttering to himself, Pan Xiaohei had already found another, safer place to hide.

Seeing Wang Zhen lower the candle wick, walk to the door, and rotate the wall-mounted lantern post, the secret chamber door opened and he stepped out.

In that instant as Wang Zhen stepped out, Pan Xiaohei retracted the two chests beneath it and those touched by its paws into the Jade Space, then leapt up, running toward the door while reeling in every chest it passed into the Jade Space.

It landed lightly by the door, waiting for the final gap to slip through—just as the door shrank to the exact size it could pass through, Pan Yun's voice rang in its mind: 【Don't go out!】

The voice rang in its mind; it fixed its gaze and saw a faint reflection flicker at the door's corner. Perhaps sensing the reflection had been exposed, the shadow trembled and vanished backward. Pan Xiaohei: …

Wang Zhen stood before the wooden shelf, staring as it settled back into place; only after confirming no one had emerged did he frown and sit back down in his chair.

Pan Yun said: 【Put the chests back. You're a Spirit Realm spirit-awakened being—you won't forget where they were. Restore everything exactly.】

Pan Xiaohei cursed inwardly but still went to do it.

It could only adjust the chests' positions and orientations within the Jade Space—otherwise, once out, it couldn't move them.

If placed wrong, it would have to retract them into the space, move them again, and place them anew.

Pan Xiaohei toiled for a long time before finally restoring every chest to its original position.

Pan Yun said: 【Find a shadow and hide.】

Pan Xiaohei thought she was overthinking it and replied inwardly: 【Are you overthinking this?】

Pan Yun: 【I'm human, Wang Zhen is human—believe me, humans understand humans best. He's suspicious; before leaving, he'll definitely open the secret chamber one last time.】

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Pan Xiaohei: 【Isn't repeatedly opening the secret chamber increasing the chance of exposure?】

【If it were earlier, he might not have taken this risk—but just now, he sensed our gaze. Since he's suspicious, he'll come back in.】

Pan Yun said: 【He won't use this chamber again. If he had anyone he trusted nearby, he'd have moved everything immediately.】

Pan Xiaohei searched every corner of every chest, even climbed under the table—but Pan Yun said no to every spot.

Annoyed, Pan Xiaohei simply climbed the wall, scaling the entire chamber until it found slight protrusions near the top of the corner.

Probably left uneven during construction—the craftsmen cut corners, assuming the master wouldn't notice.

It planted all four paws on the protrusions, tilted its head downward, and barely settled when the wall trembled slightly—the secret chamber door opened, and Wang Zhen entered, sword in hand, candle lit.

Pan Xiaohei: …

【You humans are truly deceitful.】

Pan Yun: 【Ashamed, ashamed—humans truly aren't good creatures.】

Wang Zhen held the candle and sword, inch by inch inspecting every space—even the gaps between chests he knew couldn't hide anyone—he slashed his sword in with a swift *shhh! *

The cold blade's gleam made Pan Xiaohei shudder.

Pan Yun trembled too: 【Thank me—if not for me, your hard-won cat body would've been lost.】

Pan Xiaohei: 【Who did I come into this chamber for?】

Pan Yun: 【For us—for our shared goal.】

Pan Xiaohei grumbled inwardly but made not a single sound—not even breathing normally, it cut its breath in half.

Wang Zhen crouched to peer under the table; after confirming no anomaly there, he turned to face the entrance.

After thinking, he placed the candle atop one chest, stood sideways with sword in hand, and opened each chest one by one.

Of course, he only opened the top layer—the chests beneath were left untouched. He was suspicious, but not a fool.

He didn't believe anyone could hide inside a chest and then pile heavier chests on top.

As the chests opened, Pan Xiaohei on the wall and Pan Yun's spirit attached to it nearly went blind—their hearts pounded violently at the sight of so much gold and silver for the first time.

Pan Yun, seated in the teahouse, tipped back a cup of tea and silently scolded herself: No taste—so utterly unrefined.

Pan Xiaohei heard her inner voice, snapped back to reality, and inwardly scolded itself too, then said to Pan Yun: 【You're easily amazed—it's just gold and silver. I've seen mountains of gold and silver.】

【You've lived this long—seeing this isn't surprising. But I'm young—I've never seen it before, isn't that normal?】 Pan Yun said: 【Besides, you were surprised too.】

Pan Xiaohei muttered inwardly: 【It's only because you're so poor—you've never given me a decent day, not even when doing good deeds do you hand out money by the text…】

Like donating in the future—one copper coin at a time.

Pan Yun: 【What's wrong with one copper coin? It's still my kindness—I've been consistent…】

The human and cat chatted merrily; Wang Zhen finally finished inspecting the chests, confirmed everything was fine, sighed in relief, and decided he'd imagined things.

He closed the chests, picked up the candle, and opened the secret chamber door once more.

Standing outside, he turned to watch the door slowly close, suppressing the odd feeling: 【It must be from being enraged by these thieves—I've become paranoid.】

Wang Zhen silently swore he would capture these thieves and tear them limb from limb.

The wooden shelf fully sealed; footsteps echoed outside.

Wang Zhen immediately blew out the candle and placed it on the nearby desk.

A knock came at the door; he said firmly: 【Enter.】

【Master of the Seal, someone from the palace says the Emperor has asked for you twice today.】

Wang Zhen turned to the hourglass beside him, frowned: 【It's already past noon—has the Emperor eaten lunch?】

【The messenger says when he left, Eunuch Cao was serving the Emperor his meal. The Emperor asked for you a second time; after his nap, he'll likely ask again.】

Wang Zhen could no longer linger—though the wealth was heavy, the Emperor mattered more to him.

Wealth lost can be regained; as long as the Emperor trusts him, wealth and power will come within reach.

But if he lost the Emperor's favor, no amount of wealth would remain.

Wang Zhen's suspended heart sank instantly—he realized he'd overstepped today; he shouldn't have rushed out of the palace during the Emperor's council.

Wang Zhen hastily gathered the money box: 【Prepare the horse—return to the palace.】

The messenger obeyed, escorting Wang Zhen outward; halfway there, a brocade-guard suddenly rushed up, pale with alarm.

Wang Zhen frowned: 【What's wrong?】

The Brocade Guard cupped his fist and said, "My lord, the portraits of the five men they suspected have been drawn. Among them, three... three..."

Wang Zhen was in a hurry to return to the palace. Seeing him still hemming and hawing, he demanded angrily, "What's wrong with the three of them?"

"The three of them look very familiar. They seem to be the Emperor, Eunuch Cao, and the Commander of the Northern Garrison Office, Yun Yan."

Wang Zhen was stunned, then his face went deathly pale.

He suddenly felt the money box in his arms was incomparably heavy—so heavy his legs went weak and he nearly couldn't stand.

But he quickly came back to his senses. Lowering his eyes to think for a moment, he said, "Have someone watch this courtyard. Until my order comes out, no one is allowed in or out of this courtyard."

Today I finally finished signing the frontispiece for Little Fu Girl and sent it off. My handwriting is ugly, and I whispered an apology with every stroke. So if any friends who buy the book in the future feel that the book is heavy, it must be the weight of my apologies.

Also, with this task done, I'll try to adjust afterward and strive to update a little earlier.

(End of this chapter)