Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Secret Underground Passage

When they heard Jing Mo change his choice of hostage, an aide hurriedly asked, “Then Yu Ziyi?”

Jing Mo pointed outside the window. The two aides turned to see the wooden building where Jing Mo had entertained Yu Xiaoxiao and Gu Xinglang not long ago.

“Princess Linglong was right about one thing,” Jing Mo said. “Why would I want a son without his imperial father’s love, who only has his maternal clan’s support from a single territory?”

“Then the Gu Clan?” the aide asked. Eldest Prince Jing’s greatest success would come from winning the Gu Clan to his side.

Jing Mo only asked, “Where’s Chuqiu?”

“This servant will go find her immediately,” a guard by the door obeyed.

Jing Mo began to get a bad premonition. The servant girl Qingyu was supposed to meet him after her job was done, but why was still missing after Princess Linglong and her husband had left? It can’t be that Yu Linglong was so humiliated that she killed her in a fit of rage?

While Jing Mo was pondering over Qingyu’s fate, a loud rumble came from Complacent Winery’s southwest side. The aftershocks sent their building trembling. Although the two aides were scholars by profession, they quickly ran to Jing Mo’s side at the first sign of danger to protect him.

“What’s going on?” Jing Mo didn’t budge from his seat.

After a pause, a guard ran in and knelt in front of Jing Mo, his face pale. “M-master, the west wing collapsed.”

Jing Mo hadn’t moved a muscle when his own building was shaken by the tremors, but now he sprang up from his seat, his voice stern. “What did you say?”

“The west wing,” the guard repeated, “The west wing collapsed.”

“How did the building collapse?” Jing Mo asked.

The guard shook his head. How would he know why a perfectly fine building fell down? Jing Mo realized this too and simply left the room to see himself.

The five-story wing hadn’t completely fallen down, but the bottom half had collapsed while the top was keeling to the north. It looked as if someone had used a sword to slice it neatly in two. Jing Mo stood in front of the ruins as his hands and feet turned into ice. For a long while, he couldn’t speak.

The steward quickly ran to him and said, “Master, nobody was hurt. It’s just that the–the building’s fallen down.”

“I can see that the building’s fallen down,” Jing Mo said. His foot was half stepping on a piece of timber. “What happened here?”

The steward was at a loss. “This servant doesn’t know. It just suddenly collapsed.”

By now, the head of the guards had rushed to the scene as well. “Master, Princess Linglong should have been here recently.”

Can Yu Linglong and two guards manage to take a building down? Even if someone beat him to death, Jing Mo would never believe it. “Search,” Jing Mo ordered coldly. “Find a builder and have him investigate how this building fell down!”

The steward obeyed and ran off.

“Master,” the gate guard was the next to run over. “The Zhao father and son came by wanting to meet master.”

The aide glanced at Jing Mo’s expression before saying, “Have them leave.”

Jing Mo kicked aside the timber at his feet and said, “Forget it, let them come in.”

The guard obeyed and soon brought the Zhao duo inside. The fallen building had caused such a commotion that it was impossible for the Zhao Estate to miss it. Zhao Qiuming even felt the tremors while sitting in his study. He hadn’t delayed, but rushed over with his eldest son as soon as he could after learning it came from Complacent Winery.

Zhao Beicheng had no patience, so right after paying respects with his father, he asked, “Your Eldest Highness, how did this building fall down?”

Jing Mo wanted some answers himself. When Zhao Qiuming saw that it was the west wing that had collapsed, he grew rigid and looked as if imminent disaster was hanging over his head. Jing Mo was just puzzling over his odd, grief-stricken expression when he heard one of the guards whisper to another.

“Thank goodness Princess Linglong left. If this building had collapsed any earlier, wouldn’t she have lost her life?”

Jing Mo thought over the guard’s words, then considered the consequences of Yu Linglong’s death here. Immediately, his gaze towards Zhao Qiuming shifted. Who stands to gain the most from Yu Linglong’s death? Consort Zhao and the sixth prince Zhao Ziming. If she died and I brought Yu Ziyi back to Zhuri, what else can Empress Jiang’s faction do in Fengtian Dynasty? Without Yu Linglong, the Gu Clan would lose their backing as well. If Xianzong grew furious and decimated their family, then the Zhao Clan would reap all the benefits.

Just as Jing Mo began to suspect Zhao Qiuming, a guard investigating the ruins stepped on a loose floorboard and fell into a hole before he could cry out. The noises of a cave-in made everyone tense up. Zhao Qiuming looked at the location of the hole and shut his eyes. It’s over.

Jing Mo swayed, but managed to steady himself before loudly ordering, “Go take a look.”

Five to six guards gathered around the cave-in and saw a dark opening about the size of a grown man.

“There’s a secret tunnel underground,” the guard who fell in shouted out.

Jing Mo glanced at Zhao Qiuming, then ordered more men, “Two of you go down and see where it leads.”

“Your Eldest Highness,” Zhao Qiuming began.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Jing Mo waved a hand at him. “I don’t want to hear anything right now.”

Zhao Qiuming was rendered mute.

Two guards hopped into the hole. First, they helped out their companion, who had injured his leg, then followed the underground tunnel east. Jing Mo stood with his hands behind his back while pacing back and forth in front of the rubble. By the time clouds covered the moon above, the entire courtyard turned gloomy despite the illuminated lanterns.

The guards were martial arts experts, so they traveled fast. It wasn’t long before the duo jumped back out of the hole and ran to Jing Mo.

“Where does the secret tunnel lead?” Jing Mo asked.

“Master,” one guard replied, “This tunnel leads to the rockery in the rear gardens of the prime minister’s estate.”

Jing Mo laughed and looked at Zhao Qiuming. “I’ve trouble you, prime minister.”

Zhao Beicheng was astonished by the revelation. “H-how is this possible?”

Zhao Qiuming only stared at the ruins. The building was perfectly fine, so why did it fall down? Unless Jing Mo himself dismantled the thing, who else could saunter in Complacent Winery and do such destruction? This must be Jing Mo teaching me a lesson after finding out my secret dealings with Jing Qian.

Jing Mo only smiled as he heard Zhao Beicheng’s mumbling. “That’s right, ah. How is this possible?”

That’s not right, Zhao Qiuming realized. If news of me monitoring Complacent Winery and my secret dealings with His Third Highness gets back to Zhuri Country, Jing Mo can claim that Jing Qian is an incapable judge of character who was tricked by the official of a vassal state. That will cause Jing Qian to lose face. In short, this must all be part of Jing Mo’s scheme to deal with his brother.