Not a single person present believed it. Let alone outsiders—even the Empress Dowager, Shang Youlan, was only half-convinced. Could the late Emperor have granted Old Zuo the authority that even she did not possess?
Mi Man asked skeptically, "Could the late Emperor really have allowed an old eunuch and you to each hold half the authority needed to open it, for something this secret?"
Hai Wuji said, "I find it strange as well. I too wanted to know why, but the late Emperor never explained. Yet that was how he arranged it. Whether it is true or false, we will know once we bring him here. I am here; having fallen into your hands, I cannot run away."
That was true. There was no harm in trying.
Jiang Wanlou turned, about to order his disciples to summon Old Zuo, when a Sunset Glow Manor disciple came running to report to Zuo Chengfeng. "Sect Master, the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace, Zuo Chi, requests an audience at the entrance to the secret passage. He says he holds the other half of the key needed to open the treasure vault, and that without him, the vault cannot be opened."
That truly matched Hai Wuji's words. Everyone exchanged looks.
"Bring him in." Zuo Chengfeng tilted his head in signal.
"Yes!" The disciple immediately went to carry out the order.
Before long, Zuo Chi was brought in, along with two blind eunuchs.
The passageways within the underground palace were pitch-black. Zuo Chi carried a lantern in his hand, but perhaps because the disciple leading the way had released Moon Butterflies for light, the lantern remained unlit.
An old eunuch with one foot in the grave, carrying a lantern and leading two blind eunuchs—the sight was somewhat eerie.
Outsiders did not know who those