Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

Fatty Zhang nodded and looked at it carefully.

While Fatty Zhang was checking, Shen Lian looked at the others and said, "This door is the most important part of my deductions."

"Since it really appeared, it is enough to prove that there is no problem with my inference. So next, I will explain to you the three strange things that happened when the Temple of Heaven was built."

When everyone heard this, they became excited and listened carefully.

In particular, the eunuch Zhao Heng, who had personally dealt with these three things, the guards guarding the warehouse, the Ministry of Works official Zhang Cheng, and the Temple of Heaven's chief designer Yuan Tiangang, all looked at Shen Lian very seriously.

They knew that all the secrets that had once lingered in their hearts might soon be revealed to the world.

Shen Lian said, "First of all, there is the matter of missing building materials."

Shen Lian looked at everyone and said, "You said that five days' worth of building materials disappeared. Those building materials are very large and heavy. If they were moved out, it would be impossible for them not to be discovered by others in the palace."

"But you can't find where the missing building materials went, so you think this matter is very strange and even talk about ghosts and gods."

"Well, now, I can tell you where those missing building materials have gone."

Eunuch Zhao Heng asked quickly, "Where did you go?"

Du Chuke and Deshun also looked at Shen Lian curiously.

Then Shen Lian raised his hand, pointed at the iron door below, and said calmly: "It's right here."

"here?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard Shen Lian’s words.

Du Chuke asked hurriedly, "Master Shen, do you mean that the missing building materials are hidden under this door?"

Shen Lian shook his head and said, "It is not hidden under this door, but rather... it is integrated with this door."

"One piece?!" Everyone was stunned.

Shen Lian said calmly: "Just like building a house requires a door, the door and other structures of the house, such as the walls and beams, are all integrated."

"And those building materials, at this moment, are like the relationship between a house and a door. They are one with this door."

After Shen Lian's explanation, everyone immediately understood what Shen Lian meant.

Du Chuke blinked and said, "So, what Lord Shen meant is that the lost building materials were actually used to build a building like a house underground."

Everyone was shocked when they heard Du Chuke's words.

Eunuch Zhao Heng couldn't help but exclaimed, "Is this really true?"

Zhang Cheng also looked incredulous: "There are buildings underground?"

Deshun had been scratching his head out of curiosity for a long time. He couldn't help but ask Shen Lian, "Master Shen, what is going on? Are there really other buildings under the Temple of Heaven?"

Shen Lian faced everyone's nervous gazes and nodded slightly.

He said: "Lord Du's speculation is correct. There is indeed another building under the Temple of Heaven, and this building was built at the same time as the Temple of Heaven."

"what?!"

Du Chuke exclaimed again.

The eunuchs, guards and officials from the Ministry of Works who had participated in the construction of the Temple of Heaven all opened their eyes wide with a look of disbelief on their faces.

Even Yuan Tiangang had a frown on his face, his expression slightly changed.

Shen Lian looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "Do you remember the other two strange things you mentioned?"

Zhang Cheng nodded quickly.

Shen Lian said calmly, "The second strange thing you mentioned is that cracks appeared on the ground for no reason."

"Even the hard white marble has cracks. You can't understand why such cracks appear for no reason."

"But if I tell you that the cracks appeared because someone was working under the ground and under the stones and accidentally shook open a part of the ground and touched the paved stones, would you still think this is weird?"

Listening to Shen Lian's words, everyone fell into deep thought.

They looked at the metal door below, thinking about the possibility that Shen Lian mentioned.

Soon, the officials from the Ministry of Industry nodded first.

Because after they thought about it, they felt that things should be as Shen Lian had inferred.

There is no way any other situation could cause such a crack.

Zhang Cheng nodded and said, "So that's how it is. Someone was doing construction underground, which caused some reactions on the ground. Why didn't I think of that at the time?!"

Everyone else nodded.

Shen Lian said: "It's normal that you didn't expect it. After all, how could you possibly guess... In this palace, under the Temple of Heaven that you built, someone is secretly working on it?"

"This is something that no normal person would speculate."

"but……"

Shen Lian changed the subject and looked at Zhang Cheng, "You guys didn't have the chance to find out the truth at that time."

Zhang Cheng looked at Shen Lian blankly.

Shen Lianru sighed and said, "Think about the third weird thing you just mentioned. A worker always heard construction noises in the middle of the night. He was driven crazy and died by swallowing rocks."

Zhang Cheng's eyes suddenly widened.

His pupils contracted violently. "Could it be, could it be..."

Shen Lian sighed and nodded, "That's right, he's not crazy, and he didn't hear it wrong. The construction sounds he heard here at the Temple of Heaven came from underground. Because the construction was underground, he naturally couldn't see anyone working on it, so he found it weird."

"He told you, but none of you believed him. Even after he died, you didn't investigate... Otherwise, you might have discovered the secret here a long time ago."

Zhang Cheng was stunned.

At this moment, Zhang Cheng felt as if he was hit on the head, and his body shook a few times.

His face turned slightly pale, and as he recalled what had happened over the past decade, he couldn't help but feel regretful for a moment.

"If I had persisted a little more at that time, if I had been willing to take even a small step forward, perhaps these secrets would not have been discovered until today."

Upon hearing this, Deshun and the others were all filled with sighs.

In life, regrets for the past are often the most powerless.

Shen Lian glanced at Zhang Cheng, shook his head calmly, and said: "If you had paid more attention to him at that time, perhaps he would not have been killed to silence him."

"What?!" Zhang Cheng raised his head suddenly.

His eyes widened: "Master Shen means that he didn't commit suicide by pushing the rock, but was killed by him?"

Everyone else also looked at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian said calmly, "It has now been confirmed that he did not have any auditory hallucinations, let alone go crazy. So, for a person who is not crazy, do you think he would swallow a stone and die?!"

Everyone was stunned.

Du Chuke frowned.

Even the Heavenly Master Yuan Tiangang had a serious expression on his face at this moment.

Zhao Heng and others who participated in the construction of the Temple of Heaven changed their expressions drastically.

Zhang Cheng couldn't help but swallow his saliva, "Could it be..."

Shen Lian nodded slightly: "Yes, he was very concerned about this place because he discovered the sound of underground construction. Even if you don't believe him, he should want to find out what's going on. If nothing unexpected happens, he just happened to discover the secret of the construction."

"And those people killed him to silence him in order to avoid being discovered about the underground construction."

"As for Swallowing the Stone, I think if we kill him for no reason, it will definitely cause chaos. Once other agencies come in to investigate, the secret of the underground construction will surely be discovered."

"So, they used the method of going crazy to turn this into a weird thing done by a madman, so as to avoid the escalation of the matter. Anyway, many weird things have been reported because of the underground construction, so this one won't make a difference."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding.

"I see."

“So that’s it!!”

"With that said, it seems that all the weird things are really connected together."

Deshun thought about it, but suddenly said, "That's not right, Master Shen, there is something that doesn't match up."

Shen Lian looked at Deshun and asked, "What questions does the father-in-law have?"

Deshun said, "Lord Shen said that the sound the worker heard was the sound of construction work going on underground. But if he could hear it, then why didn't the guards who were guarding the empty room and the workers who left with him hear it?"

"He heard the sound twice. Once, the guards were not far away, and once, he heard it when he was walking with other workers. So if he could hear it, then those guards and workers couldn't have failed to hear it."

"But they didn't hear it, and that's why everyone thought the worker was crazy."

Hearing Deshun's question, Du Chuke and others also looked puzzled.

Obviously, Deshun’s doubts were also their puzzlement.

Shen Lian's expression remained unchanged, as if he had expected someone to ask this question.

“That brings us back to the first weird thing,” he said.

"The first strange thing?" Everyone was stunned.

Shen Lian said: "The first strange thing is the sudden disappearance of building materials. You all said at the time that you checked the records of transportation and there was no problem."

"No eunuch dared to embezzle. No one in the Ministry of Works moved the materials out. The guards also said that no one moved the building materials away. But the building materials just disappeared..."

Shen Lian paused for a moment, giving everyone time to think, and then he said: "It is impossible for the building materials to disappear, so it is very clear that one of you..."

Shen Lian glanced at them one by one, and then said calmly: "Someone must be lying!!"

Hearing Shen Lian's words, everyone's expression changed slightly.

They couldn't help but look at each other, their eyes full of vigilance.

Du Chuke and Deshun looked at each other, and both of them moved closer to Shen Lian and away from those who had participated in the construction of the Temple of Heaven in the past.

Du Chuke glanced at these people with a flickering gaze and asked, "Master Shen, you said someone is lying, who is lying?!"

Shen Lian said calmly, "There are only three parties who can lie about the disappearance of building materials. The first one is the eunuchs in charge of purchasing knowledge. As long as one of them is greedy and does not deliver building materials, but claims that they have, then it will naturally cause the building materials to disappear."

Upon hearing this, the eunuch Zhao Heng said quickly, "Master Shen is wronged. How dare we embezzle money? We have already said that this is a matter of concern to His Majesty. Even if we were given ten thousand guts, we would not dare to embezzle money. Moreover, every time the building materials are delivered back, the Ministry of Works will count them. We cannot be greedy!"

Shen Lian nodded slightly. "I am just saying that it is a possible situation. But as you said, the Ministry of Industry will conduct an inventory. Unless the Ministry of Industry is in cahoots with you, it is impossible for them not to identify your embezzlement."

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Cheng hurriedly shook his head, "Sir Shen, our Ministry of Industry has a strict system, and there is absolutely no possibility of collusion with others. Moreover, every time we put building materials into the warehouse, there is a clear record, and there is absolutely no collusion with them."

"Besides, this is work for His Majesty, and work in the palace. There are so many eyes watching us. We absolutely dare not do such a greedy thing in this matter."

Shen Lian nodded. "I agree with your statement. The existence of this underground building also proves that the building materials were transported into the warehouse, so the suspicion of the eunuchs can be ruled out."

After hearing this, Zhao Heng breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Lian continued: "The second party that can make the building materials disappear is the Ministry of Industry."

Shen Lian looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "As long as the Ministry of Industry does not record the materials when they leave the warehouse, or deliberately records less, then over time, they can naturally take away the building materials without anyone noticing."

Zhang Cheng's face changed, and he said hurriedly: "Every time we take out materials from the warehouse, we ask the guards to sign. They know how much building materials we take out. There is absolutely no such thing as you speculate! ”

Shen Lian said calmly: "What if...the guards also cooperate with you?"

Zhang Cheng widened his eyes.

He was about to explain something when he heard the guards say, "This is impossible. How could we be in cahoots with them? Please understand!"

Shen Lian continued calmly: "If that's the case, then can you please tell me why the worker heard the construction noise coming from underground, but you guards who were closer and had been there all night couldn't hear it?"

"I……"

The guard's face changed.

Shen Lian continued, "If I remember correctly, when you told me your identity just now, you said that you were responsible for guarding the empty rooms at night."

"Well, can you tell me why you didn't hear it?"

The guard's expression became increasingly grim.

When Deshun saw this scene, his eyes flickered and he suddenly said, "Come here, take them down!"

Suddenly, these guards were quickly controlled.

Zhang Cheng and others were also completely frightened by this sudden change.

Zhang Cheng and others were also completely frightened by this sudden change.

(End of this chapter)