Jiang Yunsheng's Twisted Sense of Humor

"Nuannuan, is that all you're taking? Here, Imperial Father will give you a little jade lion to play with, too."

With that, Jiang Yunsheng casually picked up a little lion from a nearby shelf and handed it to Jiang Nuan.

"Thank you, Imperial Father."

Jiang Nuan sounded a little perfunctory, because all her attention was on the previous dynasty's treasure the system had mentioned.

Jiang Yunsheng was eager, too, for no other reason than that he was poor.

After his father conquered the realm, he had rewarded a whole slew of meritorious officials. Though there had been no major catastrophes since then, minor disasters had come one after another, leaving the national treasury barely able to balance its books.

The treasury left to him would have brought even a rat to tears.

If not for his last shred of dignity, he would probably have been patching his dragon robes and wearing underpants full of holes.

Had he not wanted to make up for neglecting Jiang Nuan for the first ten years of her life, he probably would not even have opened his private treasury today.

As for the previous dynasty's treasure, not only he but even his father had searched for it, only to return empty-handed.

He had never expected to hear about that treasure in his daughter's thoughts today, and he could not help getting his hopes up.

[Guagua, hurry up and tell me! Where exactly is the previous dynasty's treasure?]

Guagua did not keep her in suspense and told Jiang Nuan straightaway.

[It's in a secret chamber inside the Hibiscus Pavilion, where you're living right now!]

[The Hibiscus Pavilion? What a coincidence!]

Jiang Nuan had never imagined such an enormous pie would fall from the sky right onto her head.

[Yes, exactly! That's how much of a coincidence it is. But the spot is a little hidden. I'll show you the way later tonight, Host.]

It was time for the great system god Guagua to shine once again, and Guagua was positively excited.

Hearing the system say that, Jiang Yunsheng grew anxious.

No, come on, tell her exactly where the previous dynasty's treasure is! How am I supposed to sneak in and beat her to it otherwise?

Seeing that the system had no intention of revealing anything more, Jiang Yunsheng had no choice but to attend to other matters first and play it by ear that evening.

That night, the lights in Jiang Nuan's room went out early.

Once the night grew deep and all was quiet, Jiang Nuan, who should long since have been dreaming, suddenly sat bolt upright.

[Guagua, Guagua, are you there?]

[Here, Host! Let's go.]

But the moment she opened the door, she saw Jiang Yunsheng standing outside. Several guards were even going back and forth, searching for something, and she stopped dead.

"F-Father, what are you doing here?"

Jiang Nuan's voice was full of bewilderment.

"Tonight, my spies discovered that there's a secret passage left by the Former Dynasty Imperial House here in the Hibiscus Pavilion. I'm concerned that someone with ill intentions might use it to enter the palace, so I intend to find it tonight."

Jiang Yunsheng trotted out the excuse he had prepared long before.

Jiang Nuan nodded helplessly. What terrible timing.

[Huh? What a coincidence! That treasure really is inside the secret passage.]

Hearing this, Jiang Yunsheng raised his eyebrows. Even Heaven was helping him.

But a secret passage was hardly easy to find. Before Jiang Nuan got up, he had already searched thoroughly three times without finding a trace.

Now that Jiang Nuan had appeared, he intended to listen to her thoughts for any clues.

And Jiang Nuan did not disappoint him. The very next moment, she asked the system.

[Guagua, where is this secret passage, then?]

[It's in the side chamber. But to open it, you have to start from due east and work counterclockwise, tapping the largest pillar four times on each side. Then lift the bed, and you'll see the passage.]

Guagua told Jiang Nuan not only where the secret passage was, but also how to open it.

Eunuch Wang, who had been lurking furtively behind them to eavesdrop on her thoughts, immediately left to find the passage once he learned its location and how to open it.

[My heavens, that's such a complicated way to open it! Who would ever think of that?]

Jiang Nuan put herself in that position. Even if she knew there was a secret passage, she could turn the place upside down and still never find it.

[That's precisely because it's hard to find! If it were easy, someone would have taken everything long ago. How would we ever get a turn?]

Jiang Nuan nodded inwardly in agreement.

She relaxed considerably, too. She felt there was no way her scumbag father could find it.

Without Jiang Nuan's sieve-like thoughts leaking everything, he really would not have found it. But times had changed.

Before long, Eunuch Wang returned with a squad of guards to report.

"Your Majesty, this servant has found the secret passage left by the previous dynasty in the Right Side Chamber."

Jiang Yunsheng nodded.

"Well done. Lead the way."

[My heavens, wasn't it supposed to be hard to find? How did my scumbag father just find it as easy as you please?]

Jiang Nuan was puzzled. Jiang Nuan was bewildered. Jiang Nuan was utterly baffled.

Even Guagua found it strange.

[Exactly! How could an ordinary person possibly find it? But don't worry, Host. Even if they've found the passage, they'll never suspect there's a hollow brick about a hundred meters inside. Pull it out, and there's a secret chamber behind it. A secret chamber hidden halfway down a secret passage—now that's well concealed.]

[It really is. This time, I refuse to believe my scumbag father can find it. I just hope he doesn't seal the passage too soon. At least let me get the previous dynasty's treasure first!]

Jiang Yunsheng felt like laughing. Jiang Nuan had no idea that her thoughts and the system's words had already completely exposed the secret chamber's existence, and she was still yearning for the previous dynasty's treasure.

Eunuch Wang, who was leading the way, gave a helpless smile upon hearing her thoughts. As the only one among the searching guards and eunuchs who could hear them, he carried far too much on his shoulders.

Soon, they reached the Right Side Chamber. Once inside, they saw the pitch-black passage beneath the bed.

Eunuch Wang knew exactly what to do and said:

"Your Majesty, we don't know what lies below. Allow this old servant to scout ahead first."

"Granted."

Hearing this, Jiang Nuan began to have a vague, ominous feeling.

When Eunuch Wang failed to emerge for a long time, that ominous feeling reached its peak.

Jiang Yunsheng could barely suppress the smile tugging at his lips. He curled his hand into a fist, held it to his mouth, and gave a light cough to hide his amusement.

After another long while, faint rustling sounds came from within.

Eunuch Wang climbed out of the secret passage first. He cast Jiang Nuan a somewhat guilty glance before speaking to Jiang Yunsheng.

"Your Majesty, we've finished investigating. This tunnel leads to a restaurant outside the palace. Our men have already surrounded it."

Before Jiang Nuan could breathe a sigh of relief at these words, she heard Eunuch Wang continue:

"In addition, we discovered a small, concealed room halfway down the passage. There was nothing else inside, only gold and silver."

With that, Eunuch Wang waved a hand, and the eunuchs and guards below immediately carried the contents up.

There were a dozen or so chests in all.

Once they were brought up, the men had the good sense to open them.

There was nothing insubstantial among them, only solid silver and gold.

Looking at it all, Jiang Nuan's face turned as bitter as a bitter melon. All of this should have been hers!

Jiang Yunsheng even twisted the knife with one especially devastating remark:

"Nuannuan, why do you look so unhappy?"