Chapter 30 Secret Path
The treasury was located in the southeast courtyard of the governor's mansion, about a hundred steps away from the second hall.

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang accompanied Di Renjie and came to the treasury under the guidance of the military officer of Yincao.

I saw that the southeast wing where the treasury was located was surrounded by soldiers and officers, and it was indeed heavily guarded.

Entering the treasury, the walls and floor were all made of cast iron without any gaps.

Zhao Ji looked around the iron walls and thought to himself, "It's so beautiful that even mice would shake their heads when they see it."

There were rows of silver shelves in the silver vault. There was still a few pieces of silver on the outside to keep up appearances, but the ones in the deep inside had long been emptied.

There were many iron boxes neatly stacked in the treasury, but their seals had been torn.

"Did you tear off the seal yourselves?" Di Renjie pointed at the box and asked the military officer Yin Cao.

"Yes, it was torn off when Lord Changshi and I were inspecting it together."

Di Renjie nodded when he heard this and casually opened a box, which was already empty.

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang also checked a few boxes, and they were also empty.

After checking the silver box, Li Yuanfang took out the chain knife and chopped on the iron wall, leaving only scratches.

Then he tried the corners of the vault with his knife, but still couldn't find any weak spots.

"Sir, this treasury is truly an iron wall without any cracks. I really can't understand how the government silver was lost." Li Yuanfang said in confusion.

Di Renjie looked around the wall carefully but found nothing suspicious.

"Yes, the guards are so strict, and there is nothing wrong with the treasury itself. How did the official silver get lost?"

Seeing that the two of them had no clue, Zhao Ji could not help but persuade them, "Why don't we take a break first? It's not a good idea to keep watching like this."

Seeing this, Yin Cao also said attentively: "The second hall is just outside, Lord Di might as well go there to rest for a while."

After hearing Yin Cao's words, Di Renjie was a little confused.

"Second hall? Second halls are usually built next to the court hall. Why is it built near the treasury?"

Yin Cao was stunned at first, then smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest with you, Lord Di, this is another masterpiece of Fang Qian. He said that he wanted to use a corridor to connect the main hall and the second hall. At that time, I also thought it was unreasonable. But after seeing it for a long time, I got used to it."

Zhao Ji chuckled and said, "Fang Qian's move was definitely not a whim. He must have a purpose."

Di Renjie understood what Zhao Ji meant and said, "That's right, let's go to the second hall and take a look."

He walked quickly to the gate of the treasury and measured step by step until he reached the back wall of the second hall.

Li Yuanfang counted: "A total of 115 steps."

Di Renjie's eyes lit up, and he understood a little: "Let's go into the second hall and take a look."

Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and others pushed open the door and walked into the second hall.

Everyone's eyes were wandering around the chairs, coffee tables, desks and other objects, while Zhao Ji and Di Renjie were staring at the bricks on the ground.

Li Yuanfang noticed the actions of the two and started looking at the bricks as well.

After looking at it for a long time, Li Yuanfang said blankly: "Sir, I think these bricks seem to be fine."

Di Renjie pursed his lips and said nothing.

Zhao Ji looked carefully at the gaps between the bricks on the ground, and indeed found no signs of recent movement.

But he knew that there must be a ghost in this room.

Not seeing anything wrong when he looked down, Zhao Ji looked up again and looked around the room.

Suddenly I found a bed in the corner.

Zhao Ji walked forward and pushed the bed gently, and the bed was moved away.

There was obviously some loose soil between the cracks of the bricks under the bed, as if it had been moved recently.

Seeing this, Di Renjie hurriedly said, "Quickly bring some water."

The guard brought a bowl of water and poured it between the bricks. The tea on the ground quickly seeped into the ground.

Everyone looked at each other, puzzled: "What...what's going on?"

Di Renjie and Zhao Ji both smiled.

Zhao Ji waved to the guards outside the house and said, "Come on, pry open these bricks for me."

Upon hearing the call, a guard immediately drew his sword, inserted it into the gap between the bricks, and pried up a few gray bricks.

A secret door appeared under the gray bricks.

Li Yuanfang was surprised and said, "Sir, it's a secret passage!"

Zhao Ji leaned over and opened the secret door, revealing a dark passage inside.

Di Renjie laughed and said, "I was wondering how the government money was stolen. So that's how it happened."

"Sir, let's go down and take a look." Zhao Ji gestured, and he and Li Yuanfang went down together.

Di Renjie shook his head: "Let's go down together."

"Sir, there might be hidden weapons inside." Zhao Ji said helplessly. Zhao Ji knew that he couldn't persuade Di Renjie, but he still hoped that Di Renjie would try not to take risks.

"No problem." Di Renjie said confidently. He turned around and told the Silver Army officer beside him, "Guard this place. No one is allowed to enter."

Zhao Ji took out a fire stick, lit it, and walked down the stairs first.

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang followed closely behind.

The secret passage was made of rammed earth and was empty. The three of them walked forward slowly, and their footsteps echoed in the secret passage.

After walking more than a hundred steps, I reached the end, where there were several steps leading up.

Zhao Ji climbed up the stairs and found an iron secret door at the top.

He reached out and pushed, but the secret door did not move.

Zhao Ji frowned, and exerted force randomly up and down, front and back, left and right, and with a "whoosh", the secret door was opened.

Sticking his head out along the secret passage, Zhao Ji saw only four iron walls, which was the silver vault.

"My lord, the treasury is up there."

Di Renjie personally took another look and found that it was indeed the silver vault.

Stepping down from the stairs, Di Renjie summed up to himself:

"Now the matter is clear. Fang Qian used this secret passage to transfer the official silver from the treasury to the governor's mansion, and then transported it out from the governor's mansion."

Li Yuanfang nodded slightly to show his agreement.

Zhao Ji had already set his eyes on a protruding stone in the secret passage. He shouted, "Sir, Yuan Fang, come and see."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang hurried to Zhao Ji's side.

When Zhao Ji saw the two people arriving, he pressed the mechanism, and the wall in front of him made a loud, teeth-grinding sound.

Li Yuanfang and Zhao Ji quickly stood in front of Di Renjie and protected him.

The wall slowly opened with a "click" sound, revealing a secret room.

Zhao Ji stared at the scene in front of him in amazement, and said in his heart: "The technology of the Great Zhou Dynasty is so terrifying."

Li Yuanfang took out the chain knife first, stood in front of Di Renjie, and entered the secret room. Zhao Ji quickly followed.

When they entered the secret room, they saw a man sitting cross-legged on the ground with his back to Zhao Ji and the other two.

He heard footsteps behind him and asked without turning his head, "Is this my time limit?"

Looking at the prisoner who spoke in the secret room, Di Renjie asked, "Who are you?"

The man was stunned when he heard this, and he stood up suddenly and turned around.

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang couldn't help but scream, shocked by the face that looked so similar to Fang Qian.

Zhao Ji's reaction was flat. He looked at Fang Qian's disheveled appearance and thought, "People from Snake Spirit are not very smart, but they are top-notch makeup artists."

Fang Qian was wearing only a tattered piece of clothing, his hair was very messy, and his face was covered in dirt. He really looked like he had been locked up for a long time.

"Are you Lord Fang, the governor of Youzhou?" Di Renjie asked.

Fang Qian pretended to look Zhao Ji and his two companions up and down: "Yes, I am Fang Qian. Who are you?"

Di Renjie replied: "Di Renjie."

Fang Qian opened his mouth wide enough to fit a toad: "Bingzhou Di Huaiying?"

Di Renjie nodded and said, "That's right."

Fang Qian knelt down on his knees, with an indescribable complex expression on his face, tears welling up in his eyes: "I have finally waited for this day! Lord Di, I am polite!"

Zhao Ji watched Fang Qian's performance and secretly exclaimed, "It's a pity that Hu Jinghui is not here. The acting skills of these two are both at the level of movie emperors. It's a pity that they can't act together."

Di Renjie hurried forward, stretched out his hands and helped him up: "Master Fang, why did you fall to this point?"

Fang Qian said: "I was careless for a moment and fell into the trap of the villain, which resulted in me falling into poverty for several years. My lord, I, I..." As he spoke, he burst into tears.

Di Renjie sighed and said, "Master Fang, you have been wronged."

Zhao Ji watched coldly and kept shaking his head, feeling that Fang Qian was using too much force.

"Several years... Fang Qian was clearly arrested in Youzhou a year ago. Was he afraid that saying the time point of one year would make Di Renjie associate it with Liu Jin? This group of people really put a lot of effort into this." Zhao Ji thought to himself.

He stopped watching Fang Qian's performance and instead observed the cell to see if there were any clues.

There wasn't much in the cell except straw, but it was a little cleaner and there wasn't any odor at all.

A smile appeared in Zhao Ji's eyes, knowing that Liu Jin and his gang were probably in a hurry and did not have time to set up the dark room.

After Fang Qian and Di Renjie exchanged pleasantries, several people helped Fang Qian up, walked out of the secret passage, and returned to the second hall.

Unexpectedly, sounds of quarreling were heard from the second hall outside the secret passage.

　Thanks to Qiqiheile for voting for the first monthly ticket for this book. The more recommended tickets and monthly tickets, the better. Your support is the biggest motivation for the author to write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)