This Lady Is Trying to Kill Me - Chapter 180

Chapter 180:1 Have a Unique Investigative Skills (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Tsk, tsk, tsk.. Ye Jingtang was really surprised to see a row of erotic books. If he weren’t on official business, he would have picked them up to read them.

He swept away the distracting thoughts and turned around to continue searching for clues, but he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He turned around and carefully looked at The Secret History of the Romantic Empress. He realized that this book wasn’t placed neatly. It seemed to have been read recently and casually put down.

Seeing this, Ye Jingtang carefully picked up the book and lightly slid his finger across the side of the book.

If a book was opened often, and a certain page was read often, creases would appear in the binding over time, and it would be easier to turn to that page directly.

Ye Jingtang owned a copy of Tears of a Heroine and had read it intensively for many years. He was considered an old bookworm and had a deep understanding of this.

He carefully rubbed the side of the book and quickly realized that there was indeed a page in the book that was different from the other pages. He flipped it open and sized it up. It said that a certain empress dowager had dug a tunnel to leave the palace and had an affair with a noble heir. Then she took poison to fake her death and was buried in the imperial mausoleum. The noble heir secretly dug a tunnel into the imperial mausoleum and took the empress dowager away…

Does this Prince of Wu’s heir have some fantasy about the empress dowager? Ye Jingtang subconsciously analyzed the heir’s sexual habits, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it wasn’t right.

He had studied Tears of a Heroine for many years. He knew better than any constable in the world what plots to glance through and what plots to savor.

There were no carnal scenes on the two marked pages. Instead, the particulars of digging a tunnel into the imperial mausoleum were written in great detail. For example, ‘how to break through stone without alerting the guards, tunnel collapse prevention facilities, ventilation facilities’, and so on. It didn’t feel like the author had fabricated these things out of thin air. It felt like he was showing off his knowledge, and he seemed to be a construction expert.

He turned to the first page of the book and saw the author’s introduction. It was speculated that he was an official from 200 years ago. He was once the vice-minister of the Ministry of Works and was in charge of renovating Yun’an City. Later, he offended an empress dowager of Yan and was demoted. In his anger, he secretly wrote this book.

As expected…

Seeing that his judgment was correct, Ye Jingtang flipped through the other descriptions of the environment and found that the descriptions of the city and streets in the books were very realistic.

Yun’an City was a thousand-year-old ancient capital. Although it had been expanded and rebuilt several times, the general locations hadn’t changed much. The Literary Virtue Bridge in the book was the current Literary Virtue Bridge. There was even mention of Dye Workshop Street.

After getting this information, Ye Jingtang naturally had a hypothesis in his heart.

The Prince of Wu’s heir read this book not because he had fantasies about the empress dowager but to use it as a reference book.

There seemed to be only one possibility for him to stay on this page for a long time. He wanted to learn how to dig a tunnel into the imperial mausoleum.

It was a little far-fetched to say that the Prince of Wu’s heir was secretly a tomb raider. Moreover, the Imperial Mausoleum of Yan and the Imperial Mausoleum of Great Wei were not in the same place at all, and the specifications of the mausoleums were different. What was the use of digging up the Imperial Mausoleum of Yan?

After Ye Jingtang thought about it carefully, he memorized the clues such as ‘tunnel’ and ‘imperial mausoleum’ and put the book back in its original position. Then he searched for other information in the study.

Unfortunately, other than the copy of The Secret History of the Romantic Empress, everything else was normal.

After Ye Jingtang’s search was fruitless, he checked the furnishings in the study, drawing room, and bedroom, looking for possible secret compartments.

Although Ye Jingtang didn’t have the Wingless Owl’s talent as a thief, his insight was quite outstanding.

After arriving at the bedroom, he observed the various furnishings in the room and deduced the owner’s daily habits. Finally, he squatted down and used his hand to feel the smoothness of the wooden floor after being frequently stepped on. Finally, he looked at the wardrobe at the side of the spacious bedroom.

The wardrobe looked like an ordinary wardrobe closet, but as the heir of a vassal prince, he usually wouldn’t change his clothes himself. The things he wore every day should be placed in the chamberlain’s room. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t go to the wardrobe often.

Ye Jingtang stood up and silently walked to the wardrobe. He observed the smoothness of the handle and found that it was indeed often opened, so he carefully opened the wardrobe door.

The spacious wardrobe was empty and had no partitions. There was a high chance that it was a secret door. He knocked lightly with his fingers, producing a soft thud. Behind it was a solid door.

Seeing this, Ye Jingtang looked at the wooden bottom board of the wardrobe…

Earlier, under the study…

A few lamps were placed at the four corners of the secret room. In the middle was a table with piles of dossiers on it.

There were six chairs around the table. Cao Aning was sitting in front of the table, holding a hard bamboo brush. The tip of the brush had an ink slot similar to a fountain pen. He was carefully drawing blueprints on the paper.

‘Blue Steel Mace’ Xu Bailin was sitting opposite him, looking at an old blueprint in his hands with a frown.

Apart from them, there were three other people sitting in the secret room.

A refined middle-aged man was reading an old dossier beside Cao Aning.

This person’s name was Nangong Shaofeng. People in Jianghu called him ‘Young Teacher’. He was an advisor of the Prince of Wu and taught the heir, Dongfang Yin, literary and martial arts. This was where the title of Young Teacher came from. After Dongfang Yin entered the capital, he followed him and served as the steward of the heir’s residence.

Opposite Nangong Shaofeng was an old doctor holding a silver needle, treating Xu Bailin’s injured right leg.

Sitting at the head of the table was an old man in a white robe. He looked very old and thin. He was holding a teacup and sipping it.

Although the five of them were all skilled in martial arts, there was still a clear difference in their auras when they sat in the room.

Cao Aning and the old doctor had relatively inferior martial arts skills, but their presence was extraordinary.

Xu Bailin was like a bar mace. Although he didn’t have a sharp edge, one could feel the hardness in his bones.

Opposite him, Nangong Shaofeng’s every move was like clouds and water, and even his breathing carried a unique rhythm.

As for the white-robed old man in the main seat, it was a different scene. He looked ordinary. Wherever he sat, it was as if he was a decoration in the room. If people didn’t pay attention, they wouldn’t even notice that there was a person on the chair..