Yun Shu: "…"
Well. That… made surprising sense.
Her gaze swept over the thoroughly ransacked furnishings of the study. She had been trying to guess which object looked most like it could be the trigger for a hidden mechanism, when suddenly, one of the stout Imperial Guards beside her hefted a sledgehammer and swung it straight at the wall.
With a thunderous bang, the plaster gave way, revealing a large cavity in the wall.
"No wonder you all prefer brute force," Yun Shu muttered, shielding her face from the cloud of dust that rose. "This really is far more efficient than trying to search for hidden levers."
Honestly, if Yun Chuhuan had this much strength, he wouldn't have struggled so long with that patch of cement outside the Imperial Library.
She brushed off her sleeves, watching as the same guard struck two more blows. With each swing, the wall cracked further, until it finally collapsed inward—revealing a secret chamber glinting with gold.
Yun Shu leaned in for a better look and was nearly blinded by the sheer shine.
"Heavens above," she breathed. "Is Tang Bingfu truly just a low-ranking Langzhong of the Waterworks Bureau? He hasn't even touched the threshold of early court yet, and already he's embezzled this much?"
"It's likely connected to the sale of official posts," Ye Yunhu remarked with calm experience.
Though the trove of gold was even more impressive than he had anticipated, Ye Yunhu had seen enough confiscations to recover quickly.
"I heard Tang Bingfu managed to curry favor with someone of rather high standing."
When Emperor Xuanwu ordered Li Dehai to send someone with Yun Shu to conduct this raid, he had not mentioned any names.
And cautious as Li Dehai was, he certainly would not reveal anything extra.
So until now, Ye Yunhu had no idea that Tang Bingfu had purchased his position through the Crown Prince.
He simply offered his own deduction.
"Ordinary petty officials would never have access to someone truly powerful. If Tang Bingfu was indeed connected to a figure of high status, it's only natural others would try to use him as a go-between."
He cast a glance at the golden ingots stacked high behind the wall.
"With him acting as the bridge, it would've been all too easy to profit from it."
"So he was basically a broker," Yun Shu scoffed.
As an official, Tang Bingfu was worthless. But as a middleman peddling influence, he had a remarkable talent.
Just look at that pile of gold—utterly obscene.
If her cheap Imperial Father were to see it, his eyes would probably turn red from rage.
Yun Shu quietly stepped aside, giving the Imperial Guards more space to haul the gold out from the secret room.
Meanwhile, in the rear courtyard, Yun Chuhuan was industriously digging at the base of a tree with a rusty shovel he had found who-knows-where.
Everyone always assumed valuables would be hidden in obvious places—studies, bedrooms, safes.
But wasn't that precisely what made such places the least secure?
He, for one, would never stash anything in such easy-to-find spots.
Just last month, he had saved over a hundred taels of silver and buried them under a tree in Yaohua Palace.
The Tang residence wasn't particularly large, and he had already examined the layout.
This tree stood alone—not too prominent, but not lost in a grove either. Even better, it was visible from a narrow window tucked into the corner of Tang Bingfu's bedroom.
If he were Tang Bingfu, he'd definitely bury his silver right here.
The only problem was… he had no idea where exactly.
"Sixth Highness."
One of the passing Imperial Guards, watching him dig clumsily for quite a while, finally couldn't hold back and asked gently, "Would Your Highness like some assistance?"
"No, no, absolutely not!"
If he did find something and others saw it, wouldn't all his effort be for nothing?
Yun Chuhuan waved the man off with exaggerated urgency.
"This Prince is merely bored and curious to see how deep this tree's roots run. Do not trouble yourselves. Go about your duties."
"As you say."
Honestly, that was a relief. One less person to supervise.
The guard turned and re-entered the building to continue the search.
Yun Chuhuan, now fully alert, waited until the man was out of sight. Then, after glancing around to ensure no one else was watching, he bent down again and resumed his digging with great care.
Perhaps those who liked burying things beneath trees shared some common instinct.
Or maybe Yun Chuhuan was just lucky.
Either way, after a few minutes, his shovel struck something with a metallic clang.
He gasped, heart pounding, and quickly dug around the object until he unearthed a box about the size of a memorial scroll.
When he pried it open, he didn't find gold ingots or jade pendants, but rather a thick envelope—bulging at the seams.
"So heavy!"
Just how many silver notes were stuffed in here?
His eyes lit up like lanterns.
He couldn't let anyone else see this. Otherwise, it would all be surrendered to Imperial Father, and he wouldn't even get a glance at it.
Yun Chuhuan stuffed the envelope into his robes with lightning speed. He tossed the empty box back into the hole, covered it with dirt, and tamped it flat.
By the time he was finished, the guards inside were nearly done packing up the confiscated items.
He flung the shovel aside, adjusted his robes, and tried to suck in his stomach so the bundle hidden inside wouldn't look too obvious.
"Fifth Sister!"
He sauntered over to Yun Shu with a breezy smile and even mustered up an exaggerated gasp of surprise.
"You found that much gold over here?"
"Mmm."
Yun Shu gave him a side glance and asked casually, "How about your side? Find anything?"
"Not even a single copper coin!"
Yun Chuhuan sighed dramatically, shaking his head.
"That Tang fellow's a bore. I thought for sure he'd have something buried elsewhere."
"Is that so?"
Yun Shu raised an eyebrow, her tone perfectly smooth. "Where were you digging?"
"Oh, just by the tree in the back—"
The words tumbled out before he realized what he had said.
Yun Shu's timing had been too natural, too fluid. His guard had dropped.
Too late, he clamped a hand over his mouth and turned to her with a look of betrayal.
"Fifth Sister! How could you!"
"I should be the one asking you that."
With a snort, Yun Shu extended her hand.
"Hand it over."
"It's just a tiny bit… barely anything…"
Caught red-handed, Yun Chuhuan tried to stall, but her expression made it clear she wasn't backing down.
Grumbling under his breath, he reluctantly pulled the bulging envelope from his robes and handed it over.
"Feels rather hefty," Yun Shu noted, tossing it lightly in her palm. She opened it up—and paused.
Instead of silver notes, what emerged was a thick stack of paper.
"...What is this?"
"Did you swap it out?"
"I didn't!"
Yun Chuhuan looked just as stunned as she was.
He rifled through the papers, face twisted in disbelief.
"Is Tang Bingfu insane? He went to all the trouble of burying this under a tree?"