SGEIRS -Chapter 399 Discovery of the Secret Room

Early the next morning.

Meng Jinyao had been sleeping soundly with no intention of waking up, but the person beside her ended up disturbing her. Half-asleep, she slowly opened her eyes and saw the man holding her and fooling around.

Before she could fully react, she asked in a daze, “Husband, what are you doing?”

Seeing that she was awake, Gu Jingxi kissed her cheek, reached out to loosen her sash, and asked in return, “What do you think, A-Yao?”

Meng Jinyao instantly became alert. She pressed her hand against his chest in refusal. “Husband, logically speaking, someone who just recovered from illness should rest well. How do you look like someone who’s just recovered?”

“Because your husband can’t behave himself,” Gu Jingxi replied.

With that, he continued teasing her.

Meng Jinyao had no way to deal with him and simply let him be. After all, he wasn’t really sick, so it wouldn’t affect his health.

However, at the crucial moment, urgent knocking sounded outside the door. Soon after, Qingqiu’s voice followed:

“Marquis, Yu Chuan has an urgent matter to report.”

Being interrupted like this, Gu Jingxi’s expression instantly darkened. His emotions were usually stable, but this sudden urge to beat someone up hadn’t appeared in over ten years. Yu Chuan was really something.

Seeing his dark face and dissatisfied look, Meng Jinyao didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him. She gently coaxed him, “Husband, if Yu Chuan came so early, it must be urgent. Go see what’s going on first. We can continue tonight.”

Gu Jingxi reluctantly nodded and replied with a soft “Mm.” Taking a deep breath, he suppressed his resentment, got up, dressed, and went to the outer room, where Yu Chuan was already waiting.

He said coldly, “Yu Chuan, you’d better really have something urgent. Otherwise, someday I’ll randomly arrange a marriage for you and send you off with a dowry.”

Yu Chuan was about to speak when he heard this. He froze for a moment. Seeing his master’s gloomy face, he felt as though he had committed a grave crime.

He hurriedly replied, “Marquis, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I really do have urgent matters to report, so I asked the maid to announce me.”

Gu Jingxi said curtly, “Speak.”

Yu Chuan was speechless.

His master usually didn’t have morning temper. It seemed he had come at the wrong time. Just last night everything was fine—had his master eaten gunpowder this morning?

Yu Chuan said, “Marquis, please dismiss everyone else first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingqiu and the little maid bowed and tactfully withdrew, closing the door behind them.

Yu Chuan stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Marquis, last night I went to Lord Wei’s study again and carefully inspected every corner.”

Gu Jingxi asked calmly, “And then?”

“And then… at dawn, I discovered a hidden secret in the study,” Yu Chuan replied hesitantly.

He felt guilty. Last night he had sworn there was nothing there, only to be proven wrong this morning. If his master found it himself, he would probably really be married off.

Gu Jingxi narrowed his eyes. “Yu Chuan, it seems you really want to get married.”

Cold sweat broke out on Yu Chuan’s forehead. He hurriedly explained, “Marquis, it was my fault for not observing carefully before. But I truly didn’t notice anything earlier. Only now did I realize there’s more to it.”

He secretly glanced at Gu Jingxi’s expression. Seeing it soften slightly, he continued, “Marquis, I discovered it in time, so you don’t need to go yourself. Please don’t marry me off.”

Gu Jingxi glanced at him. “Then tell me. What did you find? If you’ve done great service, I’ll ask Madam to help you find a match after we return to the capital.”

Yu Chuan brightened up. “Marquis, there should be a secret room in Lord Wei’s study.”

Gu Jingxi’s expression instantly turned serious. “What do you mean ‘should be’? Is there one or not?”

“I’m sure there is,” Yu Chuan nodded firmly. “I found a keyhole on the bookshelf by the wall. The shelf can’t be moved, so it’s probably connected to a mechanism that requires a key. I didn’t force it open. And the key should be the one hanging on Lord Wei’s neck. If I hadn’t noticed that key before, I wouldn’t have paid attention to that inconspicuous keyhole.”

Hearing this, the gloom in Gu Jingxi’s heart instantly vanished. His brows relaxed, and even his gaze toward Yu Chuan became gentle. He smiled for the first time in a long while.

“Very good. You did well. When we return to the capital, I’ll ask Madam to match you with Chan’er.”

Yu Chuan said modestly, “Thank you, Marquis. Serving you is my honor.”

Gu Jingxi glanced at him. “Stop flattering me. Hurry and make a duplicate key, or get Lord Wei’s key and open the mechanism.”

“I’ll go find someone to make it right away,” Yu Chuan replied. “It can be done today. We can explore the study tonight.”

Gu Jingxi nodded. “Go. Get it done quickly so we can return early. If Chan’er agrees, you can marry sooner.”

Yu Chuan bowed and hurried away. Though he hadn’t slept all night, he felt no fatigue at all.

Seeing him leave with a foolish grin, Chan’er felt puzzled and said to Qingqiu, “Do you think he picked up money? Why is he smiling so happily?”

Qingqiu smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know if he found money, but when he came, the Marquis was in a bad mood. Now he can leave smiling, so he must have improved the Marquis’s mood.”

Meanwhile, Meng Jinyao had earlier seen her husband leave with a dark face. Now she saw him return smiling, clearly in good spirits, and couldn’t help asking curiously, “Husband, you seem happy. What good news is making you so pleased?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “A-Yao, if nothing goes wrong, we can return to the capital the day after tomorrow.”

Meng Jinyao was surprised. “So suddenly? Have you found the account books?”

“Not yet,” Gu Jingxi said gently. “But it should be soon. Yu Chuan discovered a secret room. We’ll open it tonight. Such important private accounts are most likely kept there.”

Hearing this, Meng Jinyao smiled happily. “That’s wonderful. If we drag this out, we might alert the enemy. If we quietly take the account books and return, and Lord Wei knows nothing, we’ll save a lot of trouble.”

Gu Jingxi nodded slightly. “If we really find them, we can have people pack tomorrow and leave for the capital the next morning.”