The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Heart-Stopping

The shadow first lay his whole body on the protruding eaves ledge below the second-floor window. The window was closed, and if it were to be opened, it would make a large noise, alerting the guards below.

In the night, the shadow’s face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of eyes. Those eyes were as deep as the night, exuding not only an icy coldness like snow but also resolute determination.

He flipped like a cat, reaching for the dangling ornament and flipped onto the third-floor eaves ledge, then lay there, trying to see if the third-floor window could be opened.

He almost pressed his whole body against the tiled surface of the eaves. Even if someone looked up, they couldn’t see anything. Of course, his situation was extremely dangerous too, as the tiles were made of glazed tiles, exceptionally slippery. If he were even slightly careless, he’d slide off the tiles entirely.

This is the third floor; if he slips down, he’ll fall directly.

Not to mention whether he would die from the fall, but such noise would undoubtedly alarm the guards.

However, the shadow was skilled and bold, with one hand firmly pressed, his palm seemingly having suction, holding his body securely. The other hand pushed the windows one by one. When one couldn’t be opened, he slowly slid to the next. Finally, he stopped at one place.

He waited for a while, and when the patrol guards returned and asked about the situation, he quickly opened the unlocked lattice window and slipped inside. After entering, he blocked the descending window pane with a reverse hand, and the window closed silently.

The entire process was calculated perfectly, each action neither more nor less than required.

In such a tightly guarded place, it was a real step-by-step thriller.

Upon entering the attic, the shadow did not relax.

He first let his eyes adapt to the dark environment and, with the help of the not-so-bright moonlight, glanced around the attic. Although called a study, there were indeed not many books.

Instead, there were more exquisite, luxurious, and valuable artifacts, with several paintings hanging on the walls.

Each of these paintings was worth a lot, from esteemed masters of past generations to contemporary scholars, even the cheapest would cost three to four thousand silver per piece.

Or perhaps in this Governor Mansion, these paintings were used to discuss their price.

As for the elegance of books and paintings themselves, the money-obsessed Governor Wang, wrapped in gold and silver, could hardly appreciate this.

Looking at the interior arrangement, especially seeing the value behind those setups, a cold glint crossed the shadow’s eyes; this corrupt official’s attic alone held items worth no less than a million silver.

A Governor, the head of a prefecture, supposed to be the parent of the citizens, was instead accumulating wealth excessively.

He had to find more evidence against this corrupt official, making him unredeemable, doomed forever.

This shadow was Huangfu Jingchen!

The environment he grew up in made his vision extremely high, his discernment keen. He could tell the origins and authenticity of those books and paintings at a glance, and discern the value and origin of those objects easily.

Some of these items were worth a fortune.

But in Huangfu Jingchen’s eyes, they were all mere dirt. He glanced at them and immediately moved on, without any thought of claiming them for himself.

At this moment, he only cared about gathering evidence.

Letters, lists, account books...

Anything that could reveal Governor Wang’s true nature.

Huangfu Jingchen’s movements were swift yet extremely light; below the attic were guards surrounding the place, and any sound would alarm them.

He didn’t miss anything, searching thoroughly.

There were account books in the Governor Mansion, but he found two, and they were fake.

After several rounds of investigation, he guessed the real accounts were right here in the attic; the attic was tightly guarded on all sides, and he had planned this operation meticulously before tonight’s exploration.

He searched extremely gently, flipping through anything resembling a book. He checked the porcelain objects that could hide items, even inspected the walls for secret mechanisms or compartments.

He searched the entire third floor, but found nothing.

It seemed he would have to go down to the second floor.

Going down to the second floor wouldn’t be as risky; he could simply go down the stairs from inside.

Huangfu Jingchen was very careful, listening intently to any sounds as he descended the stairs.

There was no noise on the second floor.

Upon stepping on this floor, he could even hear the casual chatting of two guards below.

Having been stationed here for so long, the guards were quite bored.

Huangfu Jingchen felt somewhat relieved, first taking a glance at the environment. There were more books on the second floor, making it look like a proper study.

Looking at the rows of bookshelves, he continued searching, moving even lighter, faster, and more carefully.

His gaze was more determined, his search more meticulous; he had finished searching the east and turned toward the south.

Although there were some books and handwritten booklets on the shelves, upon opening them and examining under the moonlight, none were the right ones. Soon, he finished searching all four sides and still found nothing.

This doesn’t seem right!

Huangfu Jingchen furrowed his brow, pondering briefly, then began examining the wall surfaces. Between the bookshelves were large blank wall spaces, with four paintings hanging.

Three of them were the same as the paintings on the third floor, all by masters. The landscape painting on the south wall, although painted by a good artist, was noticeably inferior to the other three; the painter’s inscription was signed Jinshan Sanren.

This isn’t any renowned master.

Huangfu Jingchen stood in front of the painting.

The landscape was ordinary, its style, though skillful, was common, achievable by anyone with three to five years of study in painting.

Skilled in painting but not excellent, merely a pretense of elegance?

Huangfu Jingchen’s eyes flickered, guessing the identity of Jinshan Sanren.

This must be Governor Wang himself.

After all, he was a scholar entering officialdom; scholars in Nanxia took the imperial examination path after ten years of hard study but also practiced one of the arts like music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, both for pleasure and to have an admirable skill.

Governor Wang being able to produce a decent painting wasn’t surprising.

Having his work amidst pieces from well-known masters is reasonably, perhaps even prideful.

However, Huangfu Jingchen felt something was amiss.

He scrutinized the painting, which was expertly mounted, exquisite, evident, the wooden axis was even larger.

Such mounting was excessively extravagant.

The study, the most peculiar place, was here.

Since all are paintings, why is this painting mounted uniquely compared to the other three?

Huangfu Jingchen contemplated and reached to take the painting down.

The painting was attached to the axis, quite light, which was even more unusual.

Huangfu Jingchen inspected the painting, nothing seemed wrong, but how could such a large wooden axis be light? Indicating it was hollow? Why use an empty axis?

Huangfu Jingchen’s heart stirred, inspecting the wooden axis.

This inspection revealed the issue, indeed the painting’s axis held secrets.

It was a thin, fine silk paper, documenting things in fine writing. Two scrolls were hidden within the silk, holding small booklets divided into upper and lower sections, totaling thirty pages, with more than ten entries per page.

Having found another, Huangfu Jingchen relaxed, preparing to put it away and leave.

Suddenly, he felt his wrist tighten, as if something entwined him, causing the silk booklet to drop to the ground with a snap.