The Wall

"Key?"

Seeing the sudden appearance of the brass key, everyone present immediately realized that since Zhen Changzhi had hidden this object so discreetly, it must be locking a great secret. Perhaps it was the key to uncovering the conspiracy between Zhen Changzhi and the murderer.

"Everyone immediately conduct a thorough search of the Zhen family residence. Dig three feet deep if you have to, but find the lock that corresponds to this key!" Ling Yuanbao immediately ordered. The people from the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Capital Guard moved swiftly and decisively.

The Zhen family residence wasn't large. A large group of people spread out inside and out, conducting a carpet search. Even after the moon was high in the sky, there were no results.

Hu Tiehan said, "Captain Ling, it seems unlikely we'll find anything tonight. My brothers here still have to patrol the streets day and night. How about letting them go back to rest early? Tomorrow, you can gather the core elites of the Ministry of Justice and try searching again?"

Although Ling Yuanbao was unwilling, the Imperial Capital Guard were not her direct subordinates, and the current search had indeed reached a stalemate. She could only agree, "Alright, then we will seal everything here. Tomorrow, I will ask my superior to send more personnel."

"Sigh," Liang Yue sighed.

It seemed that catching the murderer quickly and completely clearing the brothers' names wouldn't be so simple.

"Sigh," Chen Ju looked at Ling Yuanbao over there and also sighed.

"What's wrong with you?" Liang Yue asked.

"I fell in love with Miss Ling at first sight, but she ignores me. My heart is truly troubled," Chen Ju shook his head and sighed.

"Give it a rest. You said you fell in love with Miss Wen just a few days ago," Liang Yue couldn't be bothered with him.

"That's right," Chen Ju turned his head and added, "If I could marry Miss Wen in this life, I'd even be happy to be promoted."

"Why are you being so greedy?" Liang Yue was speechless.

Good heavens.

As soon as night fell, he immediately entered fantasy mode.

"I heard a saying before, 'Lust is the first hurdle for a young man'," Chen Ju said with emotion, "I am currently facing this hurdle. When I see a beautiful woman, I develop feelings of admiration. I hope to overcome this soon."

"I also heard a saying, 'A man is a youth until death'. You probably won't be able to overcome this hurdle in this lifetime," Liang Yue said mercilessly.

"Ah?" Chen Ju's face instantly filled with despair.

While they were talking, Liang Yue looked around again and asked, "Where's Dachun?"

Just now, his mind was completely focused on solving the case, and he just realized he hadn't seen Pang Chun at all.

"There," Chen Ju pointed to the shadow of the wall, "He's been slacking off there since we came in."

Liang Yue walked over and saw Dachun standing in the shadows, his forehead leaning against the wall, dozing off. His black Imperial Capital Guard uniform was indeed hard to spot in the night.

"Dachun!" Liang Yue called out. Seeing that he didn't move, he lowered his voice and quietly said, "Are you eating braised pork for a late-night snack? Won't it be too greasy?"

"Not greasy!" Pang Chun's ears perked up instantly. His eyes hadn't even opened yet, but he mumbled in response, "I love braised pork the most."

When he saw the scene before him clearly, still inside the haunted house, he immediately became disappointed, "Ah Yue, why did you lie to me?"

"I couldn't wake you up otherwise. We're about to pack up and leave, stop sleeping," Liang Yue said with a smile, "You're really something, slacking off like this in front of the Ministry of Justice people. Aren't you afraid Brother Hu will scold you?"

"Hehe, I've used this trick several times. When I'm on night duty, I lean against the wall and doze off. Our uniforms are the same color as the wall, so no one has ever noticed," Pang Chun smiled proudly.

"You're truly a little genius," Chen Ju teased.

Hearing this, Liang Yue was initially about to laugh, but for some reason, his eyes suddenly burst with a sharp glint!

He looked at Dachun and said sincerely, "That's right, Dachun, you really are a genius!"

Over there, Ling Yuanbao was directing the Ministry of Justice personnel to finish up. "That's all for today. Seal everything here. Don't miss anything."

Her expression looked a little dejected.

After all, although there were some gains today, they ultimately didn't find the real culprit, nor did they discover any hidden great secrets.

She had only recently been promoted and was the least experienced among the Ministry of Justice constables. Today, it just happened to be her shift, and this was the first time she had taken on such a major case. If she solved the case, she would become famous in one fell swoop; if it dragged on until tomorrow, the case might not be under her jurisdiction anymore.

Ending like this, the new constable inevitably felt some regret.

Hu Tiehan was also shouting for the brothers from the Fukang Ward station to fall in. Just as the men were lined up and assembled, three people suddenly ran over from the wall. Liang Yue, who was leading them, shouted, "Wait a minute! I think I've guessed where Master Zhen's secret is hidden!"

"Hmm?"

Ling Yuanbao's originally disappointed eyes immediately lit up again. When she looked over, she saw it was the same Subordinate Guard from before.

Liang Yue.

It was him again.

At this moment, in Ling Yuanbao's eyes, Liang Yue was practically radiating light.

"Oh? You found it?" Hu Tiehan was also overjoyed.

The Imperial Capital Guard had always been a step below the Ministry of Justice, considered reckless men who couldn't solve cases and were only good for assisting. Today, Liang Yue had repeatedly made contributions with his intelligence, which truly brought great honor to the Fukang Ward station.

"Not yet, but I have a guess." Liang Yue strode directly back into the study. "Everyone, follow me in."

He stood in front of the partition wall in the middle of the study, pointed at it, and said, "The original north-south open layout of this study is completely blocked by the existence of this wall. Master Zhen is responsible for the drafting part of engineering and construction in the Ministry of Works and is an expert in this area. He especially shouldn't make this kind of mistake. The appearance of this wall in his study seems even stranger."

"You suspect..." As soon as Ling Yuanbao heard this, she immediately guessed Liang Yue's idea and continued, "He hid something in this wall? That's right, it's indeed very possible!"

Her voice gradually became excited.

The first person to enter this room might find this wall strange, but they would just consider it some unique design and wouldn't think much of it after getting used to it.

If it weren't for Pang Chun's ingenious idea of "disguising himself as a wall," Liang Yue wouldn't have thought of this.

So this genius, Dachun, truly deserved the title.

When Chen Ju heard Liang Yue's words, he finally understood why he had been excited just now. He also gave Pang Chun a thumbs-up and said, "Men named Chun are different, huh?"

"Hehe." Dachun smiled foolishly and scratched his head.

Am I really a genius?

"Whether it is or not, we'll know once we open it." Over there, Liang Yue said loudly.

"Two people come here!" Hu Tiehan called out, "Smash this wall for me!"

Immediately, two strong Imperial Capital Guards carrying iron hammers came forward and began to pound the wall, left and right!

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Thump...

The two burly men hammered for a long time, but aside from a little plaster flaking off, the wall remained completely still, without even a single crack appearing. It was unclear how it had been constructed.

"Most likely there's a formation on it," Hu Tiehan said with a frown.

"Move aside, everyone." Seeing this, Ling Yuanbao stepped forward, pushing the two burly men away. Facing the solid wall alone, she let out a loud shout: "Hah—"

And delivered a flying kick!

Boom!

With a loud bang, everyone present couldn't help but flinch their eyebrows at the force of the kick.

What power.

Ling Yuanbao's kick landed on the wall, then she gracefully withdrew her leg and stepped back two paces. The wall showed no change in the first instant, but after a breath, a tiny crack suddenly appeared, and then one after another branched out from it... Cracks quickly covered the entire wall surface.

Whatever formation was there had been shattered by that single powerful blow.

Crash!

As the shattered wall surface peeled off and fell to the ground, the true contents within were revealed.

"Whoa—"

A chorus of exclamations followed, and the onlookers were all amazed.

Because after the outer surface disappeared, what was revealed behind it was a shimmering silver wall. Brightly colored rectangular silver ingots were stacked together to form an entire high wall!

Silver, silver, it was all silver!

Countless amounts.

It was practically a small silver vault!

Whether they were Ministry of Justice constables or Imperial Capital Guard Official Guards, their annual salary might not even equal one of those ingots. Zhen Changzhi, known for being a famously incorruptible sixth-rank official, would likely have to work for several thousand years without eating or drinking to save up this much hidden silver with his salary.

"My goodness..." Even Chen Ju, a scion of a wealthy family accustomed to riches, couldn't help but say with resentment as he looked at the dazzling silver, "Zhen Changzhi... that grandson truly deserved to die."

It's Monday, and the new book rankings have been reset. If you have monthly votes, please cast them. Thank you. Anyway, the end of the month is coming soon, and keeping them won't do any good. Cast your monthly votes and watch the author kowtow.