My wife has a secret

Chapter 173 Infiltration
Lu Wanhe sensed that Xu Ying didn't want to talk in front of others, and since she mentioned her husband, she nodded and said softly, "In that case, let's go to the pavilion over there and talk."

"Thank you... Miss Lu for your understanding."

After Xu Ying finished her greetings, she followed Lu Wanhe to the pavilion in the lake where Master Nie had played chess before.

This place was not far from the front yard, and it was open on all sides. With housekeeper Yao watching from a distance, Lu Wanhe felt much more relaxed.

She stared at the handsome man in front of her with her beautiful eyes, and said softly in a gentle and pleasant voice: "Xu... Since you are my husband's cousin, then Wan He will also go beyond the etiquette and call you brother."

"You're welcome, Miss Lu."

Lu Wanhe blinked her clear and bright eyes and asked, "What do you want to tell me?"

Hearing the beauty's question and smelling the faint fragrance coming from not far ahead, Xu Ying's body trembled.

His thoughts seemed to be dragged back to a long time ago, so he raised his head and asked with a fiery gaze: "I wonder if Miss Lu still remembers the days when she was young in the Lu Mansion?"

"The days in the Lu Mansion?"

Including the New Year that just passed, Lu Wanhe has been married into the Xu family for only three years.

Although the Lu Mansion encompassed most of her youth and all of her childhood memories, when she recalled the past now, she couldn't even remember the general layout of the Lu Mansion or the furnishings in her boudoir.

Only the impressions of my father and Master Liu are still clear.

"Can't remember clearly."

Hearing Lu Wanhe's answer, a hint of imperceptible disappointment emerged on Xu Ying's face, but he still forced himself to smile at the other party.

Lu Wanhe thought of the relatives who once occupied the Lu Mansion, and her eyes trembled slightly, but soon calmed down.

"If you want to reminisce about the past at the Lu Mansion, I understand... But the Guangping Marquis' Mansion is now managed by the fourth branch of the Qin family. If you want to get closer to your brother, why not go to the Marquis' Mansion and pay him a visit?"

Lu Wanhe was not willing to mention the family affairs of the Lu family with others, so she subconsciously classified Xu Ying as someone who was trying to curry favor with the powerful.

Just because he was Xu Qing's cousin, he told him some extra information.

Xu Ying obviously also realized this problem. For a moment, he seemed to be out of his mind, with an indescribable and countless sense of loss in his heart.

Finally, he raised his head and said with a firm look in his eyes: "Ms. Lu, I am not here for others, but for you."

Lu Wanhe was horrified when she heard this, and said hurriedly, "Xu Ying, be careful with your words!"

"Wan He, do you still remember the person outside the window? The one who threw stones at the window every day and came to see you every night?"

Xu Ying clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, "He is me!"

……

When the night fell on the second day, Xu Qing met up with Shui Haozi and Shan Yongpei in the alley behind the Wucheng Bingmasi.

After thoroughly investigating the corruption of that aide, he handed over all important tasks of the day to the aides in the Bingmasi, and also invited the former commander of the Bingmasi to take charge, to ensure that the coronation ceremony could proceed as planned.

When Shui Haozi caught a glimpse of Xu Qing's figure, he dragged him to a borrowed house in the alley.

This was originally a contact point in Chengxuanfang, but was later abandoned by the community for some reason.

"Sir, these are the nightgown, the hook and the Jingyang shovel I bought yesterday."

Shan Yongpei untied the bundle on the table and introduced to Xu Qing the general uses of the things on it. The latter raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Shui Haozi with a strange expression.

"Is this the thing Water Rat asked you to prepare last night?"

Without waiting for Shan Yongpei to reply, Shui Haozi chuckled and said in a flattering tone: "Yes, sir... this is the tool used for digging graves. Look at this shovel, it is shaped like a tile cylinder, which can bring out more soil and save time and effort when digging the pit."

"You guy!"

Xu Qing picked up the coarse hemp rope in the package and glared at Shui Haozi unhappily.

"We are going there to investigate the situation of the imperial mausoleum. If the descendants of the officials guarding it are really in league with the White Lotus, we will get evidence and have the army in the capital deal with them."

This infiltration is already risking one's life.

If they found evidence, there would be no need to stay in the imperial mausoleum. They could just report the matter to their aunt and dispatch the army to attack the valley.

Although the Qinling Valley where the imperial mausoleum is located is hidden, all living materials and daily supplies need to be transported from outside. If the people inside are blocked in the valley, they will have to raise the white flag and surrender within a few days.

It was just that because there was no evidence and the coronation ceremony was approaching, he could not mobilize the imperial guards and had to investigate personally.

"I'll go in and change my clothes. We'll set off in half an incense stick of time."

"Yes."

When Xu Qing changed his clothes and appeared in the courtyard, the unknown but extremely skilled female warrior also arrived and joined the team.

When Shan Yongpei and Shui Haozi heard that there would be an expert to help today, they both became polite to Yang Xianning.

Although the two could tell from their appearance that the other was a woman, there were many masters around the Queen Mother, so it was not surprising that Xu Qing could summon a female warrior with outstanding strength.

With Yang Xianning's personality, she naturally didn't want to have much contact with the makeshift team of corrupt officials. After Xu Qing came out, she nodded, which meant that she had arrived as agreed and the action could begin.

Xu Qing tied up his bag and, led by Shan Yongpei, the three of them walked through a street in the back alley.

At the end of the alley, there was a simple horse-drawn carriage parked. The driver wore a square scarf and a raincoat. He could not see the rear door of the carriage from where he was sitting, so he naturally could not remember who got on the carriage.

When the agreed time arrived, the carriage started on time and headed west along the official road.

When leaving the city gate, the officer and soldier on duty checking the carriage was suddenly stopped by the captain on the city wall. He understood what the captain meant and withdrew his hand, allowing the carriage to leave the city smoothly.

Yang Xianning, who was in the carriage, saw that the carriage was traveling smoothly until it left the city, and she confirmed her guess, that this action of the Five Cities Army must have been led by Chengxuanfang.

In the whole of Kyoto, only Chengxuanfang can achieve this level.

When the carriage arrived at the designated location, the driver stopped there and waited for a cup of tea, then turned the carriage around and drove back into the city.

After getting off the carriage, Shui Haozi, who was relaxing in the bushes, paused and said in surprise, "Sir, you are really amazing! Normally, when leaving the city, we have to check the documents and the authenticity of the goods, but we didn't check anything."

The officers and soldiers at the city gate naturally could not be the confidants trained by Chengxuanfang.

It’s just that Chengxuanfang used some method to make the officers and soldiers on duty mistakenly believe that the carriage belonged to the royal dignitaries, so the other party deliberately avoided the search in order not to make those noble lords angry.

After all, the nobles in the capital often smuggled some prohibited items according to the law, and most of the carriages that needed to be notified in advance belonged to this category. This was an unspoken secret between the two parties. Xu Qing took advantage of this loophole and secretly pulled himself and a few others out.

But if the carriage went too far it would expose its target, and the family guarding the imperial mausoleum had deployed personnel to set up checkpoints, so they had to walk the rest of the way on their own.

"Lead the way."

There was no response to Shui Haozi's flattery, and he just smiled awkwardly.

He then picked up his bag and led a group of people up the hillside, groping around the ridge into the valley.

When we arrived at a hillside, the sky had become completely dark and gloomy.

Shui Haozi pointed to a bright fire spot and introduced it to Xu Qing and others: "The light spot below is where the Qiong family set up a checkpoint to intercept lost merchants and travelers."

The imperial mausoleum has extraordinary symbolic significance, so it is not surprising that it is heavily fortified, but Xu Qing is interested in another point.

“Why is it the Qiong family’s personnel?”

Shui Haozi led the way, using a sickle to cut off the dry branches that blocked the road, and explained: "The interior of the imperial mausoleum is different from the outside world. Apart from the royal family's worship every three years, it is a village isolated from the outside world. The three families guarding the imperial mausoleum in Da Qi are Qiong, Bie, and Ri... Naturally, according to the internal situation of the family, there will be a head of the family with the right to speak, elders, and ordinary families."

Because of the previous tomb raider's attack on the imperial mausoleum, Shui Haozi had done enough homework on the imperial mausoleum and knew everything about its interior.

"Qiong, Bie, and Ri are the surnames of the three families, but unlike ordinary people, they are all descendants of criminals, with their given names first and their surnames last. The Qiong family originally had the merit of founding the country and should have been a noble listed in the merit book, but because of their careless words and deeds at the time, they offended the founding emperor and were exiled to the imperial mausoleum."

Shui Haozi continued, "Compared to the other two clans, the Qiong clan has made great contributions and has lived here the longest, so they naturally have the most important role in the family and are responsible for all external and patrol affairs."

"This imperial mausoleum doesn't look very big on the sand table, but it has so many details?"

"Where there are people, there are rules."

Shui Haozi responded with a smile: "The other clan was originally from the Ministry of Rites in the capital, but because they offended the empress at the time, they suffered the disaster of extermination... Fortunately, the emperor at the time was still partial to them, so he moved the entire clan here to keep vigil, thus avoiding the disaster of being killed."

"Oh? What about the third one?"

"The third family is guilty."

Shui Haozi said: "This group of Japanese people are actually the remnants of the Japanese who drifted from the East China Sea. They lost their way at sea and accidentally came to Da Qi... Emperor Cheng of Qi was curious about the appearance of these Japanese people, so he ordered people to take them to the capital for viewing, named them Japanese monkeys, and put them in cages for people to watch."

Japanese?

After listening to Shui Haozi's explanation, Xu Qing realized why this clan's surname sounded familiar.

After a long time, it turned out to be an old acquaintance from the previous life, a Japanese pirate living in the East China Sea.

"No matter how novel an animal is, you will get tired of it one day. In addition, these Japanese monkeys have strange appearances. Most of the men are short, with buck teeth and dark skin... Not long after, Emperor Qi Cheng lost interest in these Japanese monkeys. In addition, the imperial mausoleum needed manpower for the large-scale construction at that time, so he sent them over."

Shui Haozi said: "After the Sun Clan arrived at the Imperial Mausoleum, they have been living here for a long time because they obey the discipline. However, their status is the lowest compared to the other two families. They are usually responsible for hard labor and miscellaneous work. Only the clan leader in the family is treated slightly better."

"interesting."

Shui Haozi's description of the Japanese people actually fits Xu Qing's stereotype of them.

"So, the Sun Clan is the lowest class of slaves in the Imperial Mausoleum. They can divide people into different classes here. It seems that the Imperial Mausoleum is not much different from the capital of Da Qi."

"Yes, sir, I said these people have no respect for the law and are doing whatever they want here..."

The water rat followed suit, but who would have thought that Xu Qing waved his hand and showed a playful expression on his face.

"No, no, no, it's just the first time I feel that... these three, six, and nine levels of class are not bad."

"what?"

Before Shui Haozi could scratch his head and think about it, the four of them had already arrived at the inner side of the ridge near the valley.

Looking down, the tranquility and magnificence of the valley were amazing. Even through the night, Xu Qing could see that the cliffs of the valley dropped sharply, forming large oblique surfaces.

A river converges into a stream among the peaks, winding down from left to right through the valley, like a vivid ink painting.

Xu Qing could vaguely feel that this magnificent landscape was like a giant dragon lying here, resting quietly.

This beautiful and quiet scenery makes people feel the greatness of nature and the fragility of life.

The scenery of the valley was indeed magnificent, but as they looked down from their high point, they also saw tiny flashes of fire on various gentle slopes of the valley, as if there were signs of human activity.

"Strange, why is the layout here so tight?"

The water rat looked in the direction below, then quickly ran to several other directions and gazed into the distance for a moment.

After a moment, he gave up his plan, turned around and ran to Xu Qing.

"My lord, this place is a little different from usual. Look here, here, there... these are the four corners of the mountain wall. How could an ordinary person build an arrow tower here?"

"Arrow tower?"

Yang Xianning, who had been silent the whole time, raised a question.

Yang Xianning followed the three people all the way and heard what happened just now. She originally wanted to leave all the matters here to the people from Chengxuanfang, but when she heard about the existence of the arrow tower, she couldn't help but go around and look down a few more times.

Seeing the female knight moving, Xu Qing patiently waited for her to finish looking and then turned around and asked, "Lady, what do you mean? Is the thing below really an arrow tower?"

Although Yang Xianning was a martial arts expert and her vision and hearing were sharper than those of ordinary people, it was too dark at night and she could only determine that it was an arrow tower from the tower-shaped parapets and holes.

But this was a judgment she made based on her many years of military experience. She really didn't understand how that short man could quickly identify the locations of multiple arrow towers.

"It's the arrow tower."

Xu Qing turned around and looked at Shui Haozi, and asked, "From your reaction just now, there was no arrow tower in the imperial mausoleum before?"

"Of course. The imperial mausoleum is to protect against tomb robbers like us, not to fight against the army. Why build this thing?"

Xu Qing raised a question, "But the arrow tower stands high and can see far, so it is not completely useless."

This time, it was not Shui Haozi who answered Xu Qing, but Yang Xianning.

"Arrow towers are different from sentry towers. The purpose of arrow towers is to defend against attacks, so they require a lot of stone... and the holes on them are also carefully designed, only for archers to shoot from the front and at an angle, which is far less detailed than a sentry tower."

(End of this chapter)