Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

"Be flat."

Li Shimin glanced at Shen Lian and said calmly, "Recently, a big event happened in the palace, and Shen Zhuangyuan, you are here, have you heard any rumors?"

I heard this.

Shen Lian stood up, looked at Li Shimin, and said with a wry smile: "Yes, there is a little bit, but... Your Majesty being here is not very good for me."

"Huh? What does this mean?" Li Shimin was puzzled.

Shen Lian said calmly: "If Your Majesty gives me some time, you will naturally know the reason."

"Okay, then I'll give you some time!"

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Is one day enough?"

"No need." Shen Lian said with a smile, "It only takes me half an hour."

Just... half an hour?
Li Shimin was surprised.

Everyone was wondering whether what Shen Lian said was the same thing as the fact that he lost the prince.

He wanted to ask, but the emperor's face stopped him from asking.

The documents only take half an hour, so it won’t take much time.

"I'm sure."

Li Shimin nodded.

The words fell.

Shen Lian didn't have time to waste, he said directly: "Xu Gou, call everyone out immediately."

Then he looked at Dezhi and said, "Abbot, take me to where you hid the money immediately."

Everyone didn't understand why, but they had already been convinced by Shen Lian and did not resist Shen Lian's orders at all.

Soon, everyone gathered together and walked directly to where Dezhi hid the money.

As they walked, they couldn't help but secretly glance at Li Shimin.

Looking at Li Shimin, the great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, it was incredible that he was walking shoulder to shoulder with Shen Lian at this moment.

And what was incredible was that Shen Lian didn't look afraid at all, and he was extremely calm.

Just like...

It's like two people who know each other well, like good friends, walking together.

Seeing this, the monks couldn’t help but feel a huge wave of anger rising in their hearts again.

It was true that Shen Lian was giving them new impressions and huge shocks every moment.

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!
What a status!

Who dares to walk shoulder to shoulder with the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty?
What kind of status does Lord Shen have? How could he be treated like this by His Majesty?

As they looked at Shen Lian, they felt that he became more mysterious and terrifying.

Li Shimin and Shen Lian ignored those monks.

At this time, the two were talking in low voices.

Li Shimin had already explained to Shen Lian that Li Tai had been kidnapped, and also handed Shen Lian the letter left by the robbers.

After Shen Lian read the letter, he thought for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, have the guards of Prince Wei's Palace found anything unusual?"

Li Shimin shook his head, "Shen Zhuangyuan, this is why I came to you. There is nothing unusual. I thought that maybe only you can solve it in a short time."

Shen Lian laughed, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for thinking so highly of me."

"Then tonight, may I ask Your Majesty, has anyone left the Prince of Wei's Palace?"

Li Shimin shook his head again.

Shen Lian looked at Shi Min and asked for the third time: "Your Majesty, have you also arranged guards to protect you in secret? What did they say?"

Li Shimin frowned and said, "They have been secretly protecting Tai'er, but they haven't found anyone entering or leaving Tai'er's room, so... this is what puzzles us the most."

Shen Lian thought for a moment and said, "Since they didn't find anyone entering or leaving His Royal Highness Prince Wei's room, how did they find out that His Royal Highness Prince Wei was missing?"

Li Shimin said: "It is like this. Someone was guarding Tai'er's room, but at night, the window of Tai'er's room was suddenly opened. The guard went over to close the window and took a look into the room. He found that no one was on the couch. He was startled and entered the room. Then he found that Tai'er really disappeared."

“Then he immediately shouted, attracting the guards and other guards, and that’s how everyone knew about it.”

Shen Lian sighed, looked at Li Shimin, and said, "Your Majesty, although it's not nice to say it out loud, I'll just say it directly. You've fallen into the trap."

"What?" Li Shimin was stunned.

Shen Lian said, "If my guess is correct, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei must still be in the Prince of Wei's mansion, or even in his room. But I guess... there must be a secret room in his room, or some other place where he can hide."

As for the thief, if nothing unexpected happens, he is the first guard to discover that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei is missing."

"What!?"

Li Shimin was completely shocked.

He stared at Shen Lian with wide eyes and said, "Shen Zhuangyuan, are you serious?"

Shen Lian shrugged his shoulders and said calmly, "Your Majesty, you have already ordered a search of the Prince of Wei's mansion. I don't think anything unexpected will happen. Perhaps His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei has been found now. It's just that... Your Majesty has left Chang'an, the safest place, and has fallen into the trap and come to the Huasheng Temple. That means... the thieves have achieved their goal."

Li Shimin looked at Shen Lian in surprise. He was not stupid. After hearing what Shen Lian said, he suddenly realized something.

He said, "You mean...someone deliberately led the town to Huasheng Temple?"

Shen Lian nodded slightly: "Your Majesty just loves his son so much that he lost his composure."

"Your Majesty, think about it carefully. After the split with the Five Surnames and Seven Families, Your Majesty has strengthened the security of the palace. Not even a fly can fly out of the Prince of Wei's mansion, but a living person was tied up and walked away. It is impossible not to alarm anyone."

"Not to mention, there are guards watching for twelve hours."

"So, as soon as I heard what Your Majesty said, I knew that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei had not left the Prince of Wei's mansion... and because the guards were watching the whole time, only that guard entered the room and confirmed that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei was missing. In other words, he was the only one who had the opportunity to contact His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei, so... only he could make His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei disappear."

"Therefore, considering everything, there is no need to investigate at all. I can know where His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei is hidden and who did it."

"His Majesty……"

Shen Lian looked at Li Shimin and said helplessly: "You have really been deceived."

Li Shimin: "..."

I was subconsciously moved by what my son-in-law said to me.

Li Shimin's eyebrows trembled, and he said, "I...was I disturbed by this letter at that time? It was only for a moment, and I didn't think about those things."

Shen Lian sighed.

He could also understand Li Shimin.

After all, if your child is missing and the kidnapper has left a letter, you may not be able to remain calm at the first moment.

"So now, Your Majesty, don't worry about the safety of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei. He will be fine."

"It's just that your Majesty's safety..."

Shen Lian shrugged his shoulders and said, "It all depends on whether the guy I choose is strong enough. If he is, we can fight back."

“Not good enough…”

Shen Lian said: "The Tang Dynasty is about to change its owner."

Shen Lian was really moved.

This is nothing.

Why doesn't he remember the many disasters and sufferings that the Tang Dynasty experienced as recorded in history books?
If Li Shimin were to do anything wrong, he would be doomed.

"Lord Shen, we are here."

Just then, Dezhi suddenly spoke.

Shen Lian paused, he looked up at the room in front of him, took a deep breath, flicked his sleeves, and suddenly a sharp light flashed in his eyes. He curled his lips and said lightly: "Let's go, the previous ones were all his moves, but the game of chess requires a back-and-forth, so next... it's my turn to make a move.

It’s time to start the counterattack to kill the dragon.

This is a Zen room.

It is the meditation room of Abbot Dezhi.

After Dezhi pushed the door, Shen Lian was the first to walk in.

He looked around the Zen room, taking in the situation inside, and saw that the room was not very big and was very simple and clean.

There is a futon in the central position, a wooden fish in front of the futon, and a wooden table and several chairs nearby.

Apart from that, there is nothing.

This is exactly what Shen Lian imagined a Zen room of an enlightened monk should look like.

But Shen Lian knew that this was just on the surface.

This Zen room has its own secrets.

It's far more complicated than it seems.

He looked at Dezhi and said, "Abbot, do you have a secret passage or secret room here?"

The others were all shocked when they heard this.

As for Dezhi, there was no reaction. Shen Lian could figure out such a perfect scam, so it was no big deal for him to guess that there was a secret room in his room.

Without wasting any time, he walked over to the table, moved it away, and then pushed hard against the wall behind it with both hands.

Then I saw that the wall was actually pushed back a certain distance.

Then a dark passage appeared directly in their sight.

Dezhi was extremely surprised when he saw this scene.

He couldn't help but look at Dezhi and said, "Brother, you...how come there is a secret passage here? This...when did you dig it?"

Dezhi smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "Junior brother, I didn't dig this secret passage. I worship Buddha every day. You should know me well. How can I have the time to dig a secret passage?"

"And... to be honest, I only found out about this secret passage ten days ago."

When Shen Lian heard Dezhi's words, his eyes flashed, and he asked, "But that person told you?"

The others didn't know the existence of the person behind the scenes, so they felt a little confused when they heard Shen Lian's words.

But Dezhi knew what Shen Lian meant.

He nodded slightly: "Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from Lord Shen, yes... this secret passage was also told to me directly by him after I nodded that day."

"To be honest, when I saw there was such a secret passage in my meditation room, I was also shocked. After all, I really didn't know there was such a place in my meditation room."

Dezhi did not look nervous at all when he said these words. He was very relaxed, which was completely different from his performance when he was exposed as a thief by himself before.

So Shen Lian could tell that Dezhi was not lying.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Dezhi didn't lie, so there is something to say about this matter.

Even the abbot Dezhi did not know that there was such a secret passage in the abbot's meditation room, but the person behind the scenes knew it.

This is no longer a case of simply utilizing moral and intellectual abilities.

He actually knows about this temple both morally and intelligently!
So... who is the person behind this?
Is he really Beichen?
If that is the case, Beichen’s identity will become even more confusing!
The original intelligence said that Beichen was related to the Taoist priest and Guiguzi, and now, if it is really Beichen, it can only prove that Beichen is also related to Huasheng Temple.

A person who is related to Buddhism, Taoism, and the mysterious strategist Guiguzi, the founder of the Guigu School...

What is his identity?
Who is it?

The more Shen Lian learned about this person, the more he felt that he was mysterious and somewhat scary.

No wonder it has become the most mysterious existence among the Seven Stars!
This person is really scary!

But now is not the time to think about these things. There are more important things to do now, and this is about life.

So he forced himself to suppress his high-speed brain and thoughts, temporarily put aside this matter, and said: "Lead the way quickly!"

The abbot saw that Shen Lian was very serious and felt a little nervous.

He took a torch and entered the secret passage.

Shen Lian and others quickly followed.

The distance of this secret passage is not too short. Shen Lian feels that they seem to have walked into the mountain below Huasheng Temple.

He was also completely certain that building such a long secret passage was definitely not something that could be done by human intelligence.

Not to mention morality and wisdom, even if everyone in Huasheng Temple participated in the excavation, they would never be able to find such a secret passage in a short period of time.

That was not dug by Dezhi, but the entrance was inside the abbot's meditation room. There were only two possibilities.

One was excavated when the temple was built.

One was dug by an abbot of an unknown generation.

Only these two possibilities would confuse these monks.

After all, when Buddhism was introduced to the East, temples were first built. Only after having a place to settle down did they start recruiting monks.

Therefore, if it was excavated when the temple was built, no one would know about it except the workers or monks at that time.

And if the abbot of a certain generation spends a few years secretly, it is not impossible to complete it.

After everyone walked for about an incense stick of time, Dezhi suddenly stopped.

He looked at the stone gate in front of him and said, "We're here."

After saying that, he directly touched the stone wall on one side with his hand, and then pressed hard, and a stone was pushed directly inside.

At the same time, a crackling sound was heard.

Soon, a slightly empty space appeared in everyone's sight.

This is a space that is not small in area and is quite high, but it is obvious that it has not been specially decorated.

So compared to the secret passage, it looks a lot more crude.

The surrounding areas are obviously mined with tools and have not been trimmed.

And in front of this space, there are some boxes.

Dezhi pointed to the boxes and said, "All the silver I got in exchange for the stones is here."

Shen Lian looked at Meng Hu and said, "Xu Gou, please go and take a look."

Xu Gou nodded and walked over quickly. He opened the lid and looked inside.

"what?"

Suddenly, a cry of surprise rang out.

When everyone heard this, they were all shocked and looked towards the Dog.

"what happened?"

someone asked.

Xu Gou turned his head with a complicated expression. He looked at Dezhi and said, "Abbot, are you lying to us? Where is the silver here? This box is empty."

"What? Impossible!"

Dezhi's face changed drastically when he heard this.

He immediately shook his head and said with great certainty: "At this point, how could I lie to you? I hid all that silver here, there is no doubt about it!"

(End of this chapter)