Reign of the Phoenix

Chapter 91 – The Secret Chamber in the Zhuang Estate
Murong Zhining smiled. “There’s no need to worry. I was only poisoned by a kind of memory loss drug. It’s not fatal.”

Ning Zezhi then raised his cup. “This family banquet was supposed to be a happy occasion, but the atmosphere has grown a little too heavy. Let’s propose a toast and enjoy a delightful meal. My wife and I haven’t had one for many years, and these past years have been truly hard on her. Come on, to my madam. Xuan’er is our hope, there will always be hope as long as you survive.”

Everyone raised their glasses to each other, and the atmosphere was no longer heavy. Ning Zezhi then turned the topic to Wu Siyuan, “I heard that General Wu has earned the appreciation of the retired emperor and will soon become Princess Jingrong’s husband. Congratulations, Commandery Prince Yan and General Wu. Prince Yan, you should let General Wu return to his ancestry as soon as possible. It’s been unfair to General Wu all these past years.”

Wu Siyuan cupped his hands towards Ning Zezhi. “Prime Minister has over spoken. I have been raised by my uncle like his own son, and Prince Yan and my mother never stop caring about my growing up. I’m lucky to never have lacked affection. Now that I will be able to marry the princess and bring glory to the Chiyun family, I finally live up to the expectations of Royal Father.”

Madam Ning smiled and nodded. “The children are really sensible. Now that you each have a good marriage, we seniors are happy for you.”

The atmosphere gradually relaxed into the latter half of the meal. Chiyun Yuexuan also picked up his gloomy mood and accompanied Madam Ning in a warm conversation.

At the end of the banquet, Ning Zezhi and Madam Ning reluctantly saw everyone to the estate door. Madam Ning took hold of Chiyun Yuexuan’s hand and said, “Xuan’er, you must bring Princess to see this grandmother often.” She took out a brocade sachet from her chest and stuffed it into Murong Zhining’s hand. “This is what Xuan’er’s mother left behind, I’m giving it to Princess. From now on, you are his fiancee.”

Murong Zhining knelt on the ground and solemnly accepted the sachet. “It is my blessings to marry General. Ning’er will be by his side always.”

Madam Ning lovingly helped her up.

Chiyun Yuexuan saw Chiyun Nan and Madam Chiyun to the carriage, then took Murong Zhining back to the General Estate.

Chiyun Yuexuan was slightly drunk. Murong Zhining supported him to the bedroom, changed him into sleepwear, and gently helped him to lie down. “General doesn’t need to think about anything, just to have a good sleep. There’s still an important thing to do tomorrow.”

Chiyun Yuexuan pulled on her hand. “I have wronged my wife, making a person of your precious identity to take care of me. What important thing tomorrow? If there is nothing else, I want to take you to Fuling Pass as soon as possible.”

Murong Zhining gently stroked his face. “I’m very happy to be with you, so why would I feel wronged? And, did you forget about Madam Zhuang’s blood letter?”

Chiyun Yuexuan pulled her head to nestle in his chest. “I’ve been through so many things recently that I’ve had no mind for other things. Luckily, my meticulous lady remembers everything for her husband. Tomorrow, let us quietly go and search the Zhuang Estate.”

…

On the grand gate of the Zhuang Estate was an official seal. In only a year, the Zhuang Estate became a bleak and deserted courtyard. The plaque with the words “Zhuang Estate” was smeared with mud thrown by people, weeds grew from the crack of the doors, the red paint was mottled and the copper door rings had lost their sheen.

As Murong Zhining stood in front of the dilapidated scene, the dream from last night was recalled to mind. Looking at this familiar yet strange gate, a rueful feeling washed over her, as if she was placed in another time and space.

Chiyun Yuexuan tore off the seal and pried open the lock. He led Murong Zhining by the hand and entered the estate. Cai Sang and Luo Siyao followed with the fool.

The fool was extremely excited as he looked around. “This is… my… my home.”

Murong Zhining looked at him with pity. “Cai Sang, take him to play around in the courtyard. General and I have something important to do in the study.”

Chiyun Yuexuan kicked open the door of the study, a burst of dust puffed out. Murong Zhining covered her nose and went in. The study was empty sparing a few books scattered on the floor. The bookcase, also empty, was designed to be embedded in the wall, so it hadn’t been moved.

Murong Zhining seemed to be no stranger to this room. “I believe I’ve been here before. The layout here is exactly the same as what I saw in my dream last night.”

She tapped on the wall behind the cabinet while pressing her ear to judge the sound carefully. Chiyun Yuexuan also walked over and felt around the bookcase. When touching a metal ring of sorts, he jerked it without trouble, and the whole bookcase moved forward in a series of creaks, revealing a steel door in the wall.

They separately searched the room all over but couldn’t find any mechanism to open the iron door. Chiyun Yuexuan gave it a good kick, but the door didn’t budge one bit.

Murong Zhining’s eyes then fell on the carpet in the middle of the study. Getting her idea, Chiyun Yuexuan flipped it over. The wooden floor under the carpet didn’t look out of place, but after careful observation, Chiyun Yuexuan pried up one of the floorboards with a dagger to find a stick similar to a handbrake hidden under. He pulled it, and the iron door rumbled open.

What was behind was an eerie darkness. Chiyun Yuexuan looked inside to see a stone staircase leading down, which indicated that the secret chamber was a basement. He pulled Murong Zhining to the door of the study. “I’ll go find an oil lamp or a torch. It’s too dark inside.”

Murong Zhining nodded. “Follow me, I know where the kitchen is, we can find some oil there and make a torch.”

Chiyun Yuexuan nodded and said, “The basement is too dark, I don’t think it’s very safe. I’ll go call two guards.”

…

The two guards carrying torches walked in front while Chiyun Yuexuan held Murong Zhining’s hand and carefully proceeded down the stairs, which opened up to a spacious dungeon. Chiyun Yuexuan touched his torch in the two large copper pots filled with lamp oil in the middle. Instantly, the fire lit up the basement as clear as day.

Murong Zhining let out a cry of alarm. Chiyun Yuexuan quickly pulled her to his chest. “I told you not to follow me in, but you wouldn’t listen. Now you’re going to have nightmares again at night.”

The left side of the basement was something like a punishment room. Looking through the iron bars, various torture tools could be seen along with a few corpses still dangling. Due to the time of the corpses, they were only skeletons with somewhat tattered clothes, but enough to tell their identity.

Murong Zhining mustered up her courage and looked at the skeletons. One of them was obviously wearing maid clothes. The pouch hung on her waist caught Murong Zhining’s attention. “I think I remember that pouch. As soon as I saw it, I remembered a name – Cai Shao.”

Chiyun Yuexuan caressed her head and comforted, “Don’t be afraid, your husband is right here. He’s not afraid of ghosts and evils, but is afraid that Ning’er will have nightmares at night.”

A guard’s voice echoed, “Reporting to General Chiyun, there’s a passage over here.”

Chiyun Yuexuan strode over. Raising their torches, the group entered the passage.

A little deep into the passage were several stone rooms. Under torchlight, the several rooms full of golden ingots was blinding. Chiyun Yuexuan sucked in a cold breath. “This big fat corrupt official! When the estate was confisticated, the wealth found was already half of the national treasury. I can’t believe there’s still so much hidden here.”

Chiyun Yuexuan roughly checked the treasure. In addition to the neatly stacked gold ingots, there were boxes of jewelry, jade, antique calligraphy and paintings. Murong Zhining gaped in shock. “What are you going to do with these?”

Chiyun Yuexuan playfully pinched her face. “Keep them for myself, of course. With this wealth, I can find a mountain and be its king, making my lady a free and unfettered bandit’s wife.”

Murong Zhining pouted. “Who wants to be your wife?”

Chiyun Yuexuan laughed heartily. “Who was it that said she was willing to be a bandit’s wife two days ago? Going back on your words already? Alright, this treasure goes to Huayan. Of course I will report it to the court. However, we can keep a small part and set up an orphanage for those like the fool and those who are abandoned by their families. Consider it as accumulating some good karma for the fool.”

Murong Zhining happily cheered, “Your idea is wonderful. I agree with both hands!”

The group of four then continued to follow down the passage. When they reached the end, a brick wall blocked the way.

Chiyun Yuexuan observed the brick wall. “I bet there’s still a secret behind this wall. However, it’s getting late, let’s call it a day. I’ll have men guard the courtyard and we’ll come back tomorrow. Let’s go, the fool must be hungry and clamoring for food outside.”

Chiyun Yuexuan assigned a group of guards to watch the courtyard of the Zhuang Estate, then re-stuck the seal on its original place on the grand gate. On the way back to the General Estate, the fool kept whining about how hungry he was.

Murong Zhining humorously looked at Chiyun Yuexuan, “General, what incredible talent for prophecy you have.”

Chiyun Yuexuan chuckled and pinched her rosy cheeks.

Two tables of food were set up in the meeting room. Chiyun Yuexuan pulled Murong Zhining to sit down next to him and called Wu Siyuan to sit on his other side. The other servants and guards sat at the other table.

Murong Zhining called Cai Sang to sit next to her. The fool happily followed Cai Sang, but a glare from Chiyun Yuexuan frightened him to shrink back to his place. Smiling, Luo Siyao helped pile up his bowl.

Murong Zhining delivered food to Cai Sang’s bowl. “Cai Sang, do you remember who Cai Shao was?”

Cai Sang asked dubiously, “Why does Princess suddenly think of her? Two years ago, Zhuang Cheng bought an ugly little maid. She wasn’t only ugly but also mute. If I remember correctly, that wasn’t long before Princess moved into the estate. That Cai Shao always ran to our room and ‘yiyayiya’ something. I never understood what she was trying to tell us.”

Murong Zhining creased her brows. “I think she was the one I saw in the basement today.”

Cai Sang looked stunned. “She disappeared inexplicably shortly after she came to the Zhuang Estate. The servants said that she secretly eloped with her lover. One time, I went out on an errand and met a servant of a rich family who walked around asking about their young miss who was abducted. When I reflected on the appearance and features they described of their young miss, it was really similar to Cai Shao.”

Chiyun Yuexuan took hold of Murong Zhining’s hand. “Ning’er, hurry and eat. Any curiosity should wait until after the meal to be satisfied.”

Murong Zhining smiled ingratiatingly. “It doesn’t matter, I was only asking a bit. By the way, Cai Sang, do you remember what that rich family was?”

Cai Sang mused. “Some big merchant in the capital that does silk business. Their surname is Shen.”

Murong Zhining’s eyes dimmed sadly. “I seem to remember something again. That girl once grabbed my hand and wrote the word ‘Shen’ on my palm. Seemed like she was asking me to help her find her family. Unfortunately, she is no longer in this world. Her family was still looking for her…”

Cai Sang said in surprise, “Didn’t Princess say you saw her in the basement?”

Murong Zhining was laden with sorrow. “She’s only a skeleton now. The pouch on her waist reminded me of the name Cai Shao.”

Cai Sang sighed, “What a poor child. She used to cry a lot yet couldn’t speak. Could it be that her tongue was cut off?”