TGCFNM -Chapter 93 Move the Bricks

After returning to the yamen, Chu Ling didn’t even have time to take a sip of water before heading straight to the study. Following the male ghost’s instructions, she pushed the bookshelf hard to one side.

A harsh creaking sound rang out. A painting behind the desk slowly shifted aside, revealing a small hollow in the wall.

Chu Ling reached inside and felt around, pulling out a key.

“Key. Open. Here.” The male ghost walked to another bookshelf and stomped lightly on the floor.

With some effort, Chu Ling pushed that bookshelf aside as well. Beneath it, she discovered a loose floor tile. After prying it up, she vaguely made out what looked like the small door to a cellar underneath.

Cui Xi glanced at it and said, “Miss, you’ll need someone to help you move the bricks.”

Chu Ling stood up. “Wait until nightfall. We’ll go down after dark.”

.

Once night fell, the group had just finished dinner and hadn’t rested long when Chu Ling said, “Come with me to the study. All of you.”

Su He shook his head. “I need to examine the corpse.”

“No.” Chu Ling shook her head. “You need to help.”

When everyone gathered in the study, Chu Ling pushed the bookshelf aside again, exposing the loose floor tile. She looked at them with a serious expression.

“Move the bricks.”

Wan Sanjin: “…Your Excellency, instead of reading in your study, you’re researching floor tiles?”

Chu Ling held up the key in her hand. “I found a secret chamber.”

Wan Sanjin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately got to work.

With many hands—and with Xiao Hua’s help—the bricks were cleared aside in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, revealing a wooden door beneath.

Chu Ling knelt on the floor and unlocked it. Once the lock clicked open, she pulled the door wide.

Beyond it was a stone staircase leading downward into darkness, with no telling where it led.

Chu Ling took a torch and went down first.

The male ghost led the way ahead. Chu Ling felt along the wall as she followed slowly downward. When her feet finally touched solid ground, the male ghost suddenly turned around.

“Your Excellency. Look.”

Look at what?

Chu Ling paused, instinctively raising her head—and then froze on the spot. For a long moment, she couldn’t react at all, as if rooted in place.

Behind her, Wan Sanjin patted her shoulder. “Your Excellency, don’t block the way. What’s wrong?”

Chu Ling stepped forward, making room.

When Wan Sanjin came down, Chu Ling pointed ahead. The shock had yet to leave her eyes.

“Look.”

“Look at what?” Wan Sanjin asked blankly, glancing forward.

In the next instant, his eyes bulged so wide they looked ready to pop out.

When Su He came down and lifted his gaze, he said in an utterly even tone, “Your Excellency, you’ve discovered a mountain of gold.”

Chu Ling whipped her head toward the male ghost, silently asking: This much gold?!

Even Ghost Scholar was stunned. Calling it a mountain of gold was no exaggeration—and they weren’t crude gold nuggets, but refined gold ingots, one after another.

Chu Ling let out a breath and turned to the others. “Search through the gold. See if anything was left behind—any objects, any clues.”

Wan Sanjin and the others snapped out of their shock and began searching with their torches raised.

Chu Ling stepped aside and lowered her voice as she asked the male ghost, “What’s going on?”

The male ghost gazed at the mountain of gold. There was not a trace of greed in his eyes—only relief.

“These… were switched,” he said. “I… switched them. Hid them.”

“Switch it? Switch whose?” Chu Ling asked.

The male ghost’s eyes filled with fear. He shook his head desperately. “If I tell you, I die. Cannot.”

Chu Ling had no choice but to change her question. “The person you switched it from—was that the one who killed you? The one who tortured you, trying to force you to reveal where the gold was hidden?”

The male ghost nodded.

Chu Ling found it strange. Usually, the ghosts she encountered had lingering obsessions or injustices and wanted her help. But this male ghost, Song Shisheng, refused to tell her who had killed him.

“Gold… national treasury,” the ghost said.

Chu Ling nodded firmly and lowered her voice. “With this much gold, how would I dare keep it for myself? Of course it has to be handed over.”

“My lord!” Wan Sanjin shouted. “There’s nothing else here—only gold. Gold everywhere.”

Chu Ling stroked her chin and made a decision. “Master Wan, call Mei Gao. This matter needs to be pushed off.” She could not handle it herself.

Wan Sanjin immediately understood. After responding with a quick “Yes,” he ran up the stone steps.

Bai Su pointed at the gold and asked the ghost, “You’re still here because you wanted to hand this gold over?”

“Yes. At first… I didn’t remember. Now… I know. Must hand it over,” the ghost replied.

Suspicion flickered in Chu Ling’s eyes as she murmured softly, “What could so much gold be used for…? Weapons are purchased with standard silver. Gold is too conspicuous and inconvenient to use. But this much gold—its first impression is overwhelming. It’s richer than the national treasury…”

Richer than the national treasury meant richer than the emperor.

If a member of the imperial clan possessed such wealth and so much gold, what would he intend to do…? The answer was obvious. He wanted to rebel.

The Master had once said that the former Crown Prince had been executed because someone presented solid evidence of his rebellion.

But what if the former Crown Prince had never rebelled?

Chu Ling suddenly looked at Ghost Scholar, her eyes filled with shock.

“My lord, I told you before—do not investigate,” Ghost Scholar said with a frown. “Struggles within the imperial clan are not simply matters of life and death. They drag countless others down with them.”

The male ghost also nodded. “Do not investigate.”

Chu Ling silently turned to look at the piles of gold. So the eighteen corpses, along with Song Shisheng, had all died because of imperial infighting.

In imperial struggles, the victor becomes king, the loser a traitor—there was nothing more to say about that.

But this gold could still be put to use. At the very least, it could clear Song Shisheng’s name.

Soon, Wan Sanjin returned with Mei Gao. He had brought only him, using the excuse that Chu Ling wanted to drink with him.

Mei Gao had found it odd that drinking required going to the study. Then Wan Sanjin led him down in the dark—and he saw a mountain of gold.

“Lord Mei, you can handle this, right?” Chu Ling pointed at the golden heap, promptly passing the responsibility along.

Mei Gao stood frozen on the spot. “Lord Chu… that’s not possible.”

“Then write a letter to Prince Rui. I certainly have no way to deal with this.” Chu Ling spread her hands. She was not getting involved.

Mei Gao swallowed hard. Even Prince Rui might not be able to handle a mountain of gold like this…

Chu Ling pretended to look troubled and even sighed. “It’s my fault, really. I was idly tinkering in the study and ended up discovering a secret chamber… We must think of a solution. Otherwise, everyone will assume I have a knack for finding treasure—what should we do then?”

“Yes, yes, my lord, think of something! Think of something!” Mei Gao hurriedly urged.

Chu Ling let out a soft hiss and looked at him. “We need to arrange for someone—a dead person. We’ll say this gold was hidden by that deceased man. As for why he hid it—he discovered someone embezzling funds, so he switched it and kept it, intending to secretly send it back to the capital. But before he could, he was killed.”

Mei Gao’s eyes lit up. “My lord, didn’t you find a skeleton in the dried well?”

“Yes.” Chu Ling shook her head regretfully. “We still haven’t identified who it was.”

“My lord, don’t investigate any further.” Mei Gao’s gaze turned resolute. “That skeleton is the dead man.”