With a thud, Miss Jun stepped onto the ground.
The entrance to the underground vault wasn't too deep, just a bit over a person's height, with level stone slabs beneath.
"This way." Old Lady Fang was a step away, reaching out to push a carved and hollow stone slab, from behind which a faint glow emanated.
As the stone slab was pushed aside, there were steps. Miss Jun held her torch high, following Old Lady Fang downward.
Beyond the steps, there were no barriers or mechanisms, just a storeroom filled with racks.
"What kind of mechanism is needed, it's just a storeroom, not as mysterious as you imagined." Old Lady Fang smiled as she stood in front of a wooden rack, pulling open a drawer to retrieve a duster with satisfaction, "I left this here last time, thinking I'd sweep up next time I came."
As she spoke, she waved the duster over the rack, stirring up dust that made her cough a few times.
Miss Jun watched the walls adorned with stars-like night pearls, the source of the eerie glow filling the storeroom, then turned at the sound of coughing to look at Old Lady Fang.
"Grandmother, you can't clean this all by yourself." She said.
Old Lady Fang certainly knew, returning the duster to its place.
"It's unnecessary to clean." She said, "No one minds dirty money."
Miss Jun scanned the interior; indeed, even cloaked in dust, the rows of silver ingots, silver bricks, and silver balls arranged layer by layer made the heart race.
However, she wasn't interested in the money.
"Over there." Old Lady Fang said, pointing to the southwest corner.
Miss Jun walked over without hesitation; in the southwest corner were silver ingots, stacked layer upon layer, indistinguishable from one another.
Old Lady Fang came over, reached out to pick up a silver ingot from the middle compartment, and flipped it over.
The bottom of the silver ingot bore a stamped square mark.
"De Sheng Chang." Miss Jun read aloud as she took it.
Every money business's silver ingot naturally bore its mark. The mark, Miss Jun's expression momentarily paused, was the secret hidden in the marks?
She reached for another silver ingot from the compartment, one De Sheng Chang, two De Sheng Chang...
Old Lady Fang remained silent and motionless, quietly watching.
Unsure of how many she had turned over, Miss Jun's hand paused; it was still a silver ingot, with the mark on the bottom differing significantly from the earlier De Sheng Chang inscription, with more words.
"Internal Transport Depository." She read, "Third Year of Dayan, August, fifty taels."
Official Silver, or more precisely, inner treasury silver, from the Imperial Treasury. Although inner treasury silver sounds grand, since it's a kind of Official Silver, it's quite normal for it to be stored by the money business.
Was it truly worthy of such cautious and surreptitious handling?
"That's why these, in fact, don't count as any secret." Old Lady Fang said.
But the real secret was in the stories behind the money; money alone couldn't explain anything.
Miss Jun had also realized this, somewhat disappointedly returning the money.
"So aside from the imperial decree, the other item is this Official Silver?" She asked.
Old Lady Fang ohhed.
"There's also a document." She said, "Its significance is similar to an imperial decree; it could be used to command feudal authority's army, but it can only be used once."
Miss Jun remembered it was the one used during the ambush of government soldiers on the way back from Runan to Yangcheng.
She continued rummaging through the rack, finding a substantial quantity of Official Silver among De Sheng Chang's silver ingots.
"Originally, there was even more." Old Lady Fang said, "Initially, a lot was used; later, as the business grew, it was no longer necessary."
In other words, official silver turned into private silver, money bred money, money rolled money. After all these years, the document to command armies, the imperial decree, had already been retracted, and once this Official Silver was reclaimed, the connection between the Fang Family and the imperial family would be completely eradicated. When Old Lady Fang passed, this secret would be known to no one.
"Even if this silver doesn't count as evidence, it must not be given to them." Miss Jun firmly said, putting down the silver ingot, "In any case, what the bad guys want must not be given."
Old Lady Fang chuckled, returning the silver ingot in her hand as well.
"Alright." She said, "It's already like this; I'll listen to you for once. Otherwise, this contest over family assets would feel too childish, more like a drama, let's stir up some more commotion."
Miss Jun nodded.
"Thank you, Grandmother, for trusting me." She said.
Old Lady Fang smiled.
"Do you want to keep looking?" She asked, surveying the silver vault.
She wasn't here for the money, Miss Jun shook her head.
"Let's head back." She said, "Let's discuss what to do next."
Old Lady Fang turned with her to walk outside, glancing around with some reluctance.
"The silver here is older than any of you." She said, "It's from your great-grandfather's time; I was still young then."
Miss Jun nodded.
Back in Jun Zhenzhen's great-grandfather's time, he was about the same age as his grandfather. At that time, Father was still young, and she hadn't been born yet.
"...I heard your grandfather say, times were tough then, the chaos of war, the terror of the Jurchen people's invasion of the emperor had not yet faded; transporting so much money from Shandong to Shanxi was truly nerve-wracking..." Old Lady Fang continued, when suddenly, beside her, Miss Jun stopped walking, and the hand supporting her arm seemed to be trembling slightly.
What's the matter?
Did she get scared?
Old Lady Fang looked over in astonishment, her vision having adjusted to the night pearl's glow inside the room, seeing the woman's face beside her turn deathly pale under the shimmer.
"What's wrong?" Old Lady Fang asked in fright, quickly reaching out to hold Miss Jun's hand.
Cold to the touch, trembling.
"What happened?" Old Lady Fang asked urgently, instinctively scanning the surroundings.
The vault, being underground and close to the Netherworld, often conjures tales of ghost sightings, could this child have encountered something?
Miss Jun looked at her, her lips trembling.
"The third year of Taiyan." She uttered these four words.
The third year of Taiyan? Old Lady Fang froze for a moment, recalling the inscription on the silver ingot earlier.
"It was the third year of Taiyan." Miss Jun said again, her voice shaking as she looked at Old Lady Fang.
The third year? Old Lady Fang froze again, recalling a moment ago...
"Oh indeed, when your great-grandfather came from Shandong to Shanxi, it was precisely the third year of Taiyan." She quickly said, patting Miss Jun's back forcefully, "You must have heard your father talk about it? Those days were a bit tough, quite chaotic, but it's all in the past, no need to fear..."
Before she could finish speaking, Miss Jun was already stepping out, her steps hurried and somewhat stumbling, as if something fierce like wolves or tigers were here, she was desperate to escape.
Could she really have been possessed?
Old Lady Fang strode to the shelf at the door and took the duster from the drawer, smacking it fiercely on the shelf.
"Stop scaring our children!" She raised her eyebrows in anger and began to scold.
Miss Jun paused in her steps on the staircase, she was familiar with this, having witnessed it with her mentor, country women often scold when believing a child to be possessed, thinking the spirit would be frightened away.
Miss Jun watched as Old Lady Fang stood in the silver vault, hands on her hips, cursing and striking with the duster, her expression dazed for a moment but ultimately saying nothing, turning around to hastily leave.
Old Lady Fang, not reassured, discarded the duster and followed to go out. After closing the vault door, she climbed up only to find that Miss Jun had already vanished outside.
Perhaps she had returned to her room, but upon inquiry, Old Lady Fang found out Miss Jun had left the estate.
"Where is she going so late?" Old Lady Fang asked in surprise.
The head steward shook his head; they dared not stop nor dare to inquire about Miss Jun and her company.
What on earth had happened? Old Lady Fang frowned with anxious unease.
......
.....
With a bang, the door was pushed open, Zhu Zan jumped up in shock, having just undressed and got into bed; of course, it's not a matter of life and death because the person who could so skillfully bypass his defense would be no other than her.
"I said, what do you think you're doing..." he instinctively tried to wrap himself in the quilt but was a step too late as Miss Jun had already rushed over and grabbed his arm.
"I know, I know what it is." She said hoarsely.
Her face was deathly pale, her voice trembling, enveloped in the early autumn's chill, her breath hot and pressing, impacting Zhu Zan sitting on the bed.
This was a sight he had never seen, except somewhat faintly reminiscent of when Prince Huai fell ill.
What happened? How could she be so scared?
Zhu Zan took a deep breath, turned, and grabbed her shoulder.
"What is it?" He asked in a deep voice.
Miss Jun looked at him.
"What they want to take away is the money." She said, "Those notes are Official Silver."
Zhu Zan let out an "Oh".
"Then what?" He quickly thought through, asking in a deep voice.
Miss Jun looked at him, her lips trembling.
"Do you know the third year of Taiyan?" She finally managed to say these words.
Zhu Zan didn't blink.
"The third year of Taiyan, after nearly a decade of warfare, the Jurchen people finally retreated from the Central Plains and began to negotiate peace, willing to return Emperor Renxiao and other imprisoned imperial family members taken to Jin Country." He said, "But in the end, the Jurchens broke the agreement and killed Emperor Renxiao, breaking off the negotiations."
Miss Jun looked down.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Zan asked again in a deep voice.
"The Official Silver stored in the Fang Family warehouse is from the third year of Taiyan." Miss Jun, seemingly unwilling to look at him, said hoarsely with her head down.
Zhu Zan let out an "Oh", waiting for her to continue.
Miss Jun, however, found it hard to speak, lowering her head even further.
"In the third year of Taiyan, only one batch of Official Silver was made in the Internal Transport Depository." She said hoarsely, unable to continue further.
Zhu Zan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly had a realization.
"No, it's just..." He exclaimed.
Miss Jun buried her head almost into her chest, but it wasn't enough, so she covered her face with her hands.
Zhu Zan's expression flushed red, then pale, sitting on the bed for quite a while before exhaling a single word into the air.
"Damn."