Long Xiyuan slightly narrowed his eyes, feeling that Feng Fuce’s words made so sense.
But his spy indeed discovered that so of Prince Li Zheng’s transactions with Duke Huan were recorded in a booklet.
This booklet is at Duke Huan Mansion.
However, upon hearing Long Xiyuan’s account,
the young man spoke coldly and decisively: "It’s fake, it’s an illusion spell."
"The real ledger would never be kept at Duke Huan Mansion."
After all, Duke Huan’s family is not accepted by Prince Li Zheng; Duke Huan is rely a pawn of Prince Li Zheng.
Long Xiyuan furrowed his brows: "Then where would it be?"
Bai Zhi’er looked at the ginkgo tree swaying in the night in the courtyard.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"I know!"
"Perhaps we don’t need to find their ledger at all."
"As long as one of them who knows writes down the evidence, we will have conclusive proof!"
Long Xiyuan turned his gaze to her: "You an, let turn Duke Huan against them?"
Bai Zhi’er shook her head, hurriedly lifted her skirt, and dashed into the courtyard.
The young girl crouched beneath the ginkgo tree and hurriedly started digging with her hands.
She ignored the dirt, she ignored the pain.
Long Xiyuan and Feng Fuce chased after her.
"You want to dig sothing up, let help you." Feng Fuce pulled her up.
Bai Zhi’er excitedly said: "Lady certainly wouldn’t leave just a ledger behind; she’s so clever, she must have left clues for Long Xiyuan!"
"I once buried a box for practicing writing with her under this tree. If Lady had this habit, it ans there might really be a box under this tree!"
"Brother Fuce, dig quickly!"
After she spoke, Feng Fuce had already used the hilt of his sword to carve out a pit in the dirt.
Long Xiyuan also crouched down, using his hands to remove the earth.
Soon, beneath the soil, a corner of a box was revealed.
"There really is sothing!" Long Xiyuan exclaid in surprise.
He and Feng Fuce tead up to take out the box.
The three hurriedly retreated to the inner hall, where they placed the box on the table and wiped away the dust.
Fortunately, the box wasn’t locked; it could be opened with just a lift.
As soon as they saw what was inside, Long Xiyuan and the others couldn’t help but reveal complicated expressions.
At first, Bai Zhi’er laughed, relieved that there was indeed a ledger.
Yet, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth, laughing and crying at the sa ti.
Because inside the box were three rolled-up booklets.
As Fu Xiru had said, the Golden Nanmu box was very waterproof, and though the edges of the booklets had gotten wet over the years, it didn’t affect the legibility of the writing.
Fu Xiru wrapped her practice writing Xuan paper around the outside of the booklets.
Peeling off the Xuan paper exposed densely packed records.
"In the fourth year of Qianyuan, Prince Li Zheng accepted a bribe of two thousand pieces of silver to help buy official positions, hidden in a private estate..."
Long Xiyuan murmured, reading the words aloud.
Fu Xiru recorded everything she knew and saw.
This evidence, enough to bring Prince Li Zheng to justice, had been buried under the ginkgo tree for who knows how long!
Long Xiyuan realized Fu Xiru’s dedication over all these years.
He hugged the box, sitting on the ground and weeping bitterly.
His current grief mirrored that of Bai Zhi’er in her dream, witnessing Long Xiyuan’s agony upon Fu Xiru’s departure—
filled with heart-wrenching cries.
Perhaps he, too, once loved her.
But alas, in the harem, feelings are never so simple and pure.
Love is salvation, but also tornt.
At this mont, a few sheets of paper lightly fell from the box.
On them were words Fu Xiru had casually written while practicing, but one sentence stood out—
"Love erges willingly, actions leave no regrets."
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