"Let's go in first." Ling Mohan opened the door and led Feng Jin inside, holding her hand. He warned her, "Stay behind me and don't run around. Don't touch anything you see, understand?"
"I understand."
Feng Jin nodded solemnly and followed Ling Mohan obediently, not daring to move carelessly.
The secret room was filled with a thick, musty smell, and Feng Jin couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose. "The smell in here is really strong. How can anyone live in a place like this?"
"The secret room is sealed off from sunlight and air year-round, so the smell is naturally unpleasant."
With no sunlight year-round, this secret room was no different from a tomb. She never understood why these royals and nobles liked to build secret rooms for unspeakable deeds.
Feng Jin covered her mouth and nose, her voice muffled. "I don't want to come to this place again. It's enough to suffocate someone to death."
Her sense of smell was already keen, and the scent she perceived now was heavier than what ordinary people would experience. She suppressed the urge to vomit and walked forward.
"We'll leave as soon as we find out what we need."
Ling Mohan held Feng Jin's hand tightly and quickened his pace. Before long, they reached the end.
"The decor in this secret room is quite nice. The floor is all marble, and the walls seem to be inlaid with jade. Even this candlestick looks like gold..."
"You've got a good eye for detail." Ling Mohan picked up the candlestick Feng Jin mentioned and looked at it. It was indeed made of pure gold.
"Naturally. I have extensive knowledge of gold, jade, and the like."
Her own storeroom was filled with gold, silver, jewels, and jade. Even if she didn't want to study them, she couldn't help but see them all day, completely self-taught.
"This old fellow Feng Yuanping is quite wealthy. Perhaps it's all from corruption."
Feng Yuanping came from humble beginnings, and his ancestors had no established fortune. With his salary, it was already difficult to support the large family in the mansion, not to mention the entire extended family back home who relied on him.
Coupled with the treasures in this secret room, she wouldn't believe Feng Yuanping if he claimed he didn't engage in corruption.
"Don't spout nonsense without proof. After all, Prime Minister Feng is your nominal father. If he's truly corrupt, you'll also be implicated if the matter is exposed."
Feng Jin rolled her eyes and snorted. "As if you have no part in this. We're in the same boat now. If I get caught, you won't escape either."
Speaking of which, the Ling family and the Feng family were related by marriage. If one family fell, the other would also suffer.
"It's good that you know. Let's find the person quickly."
Wasting no more time, Ling Mohan searched the surroundings. He opened a door and stepped inside. After taking just a couple of steps, he heard a rustling sound from within. He immediately became alert, even lightening his footsteps as he fumbled his way forward.
"Bitch... you bitch, I'll never forgive you!"
With a loud 'smack!', Madam Sun looked at Feng Ruoyan, who was tied to a chair, with arrogant mockery in her eyes. "Looking at you now, what can you possibly do to me..."
"Do you really think you're still the high and mighty Prime Minister who can control my life and death... You're nothing but a prisoner now. Killing you is as easy as crushing an ant."
Madam Sun paid no heed to Feng Yuanping and fiercely gripped his chin. "Tell me quickly where you hid the items, and I might spare your life!"
"Bitch, kill me or flay me as you wish! The things you want have already been destroyed by me. You'll never get them in this lifetime!"
Feng Yuanping let out a loud laugh, but it was piercing to Madam Sun's ears. Enraged, Madam Sun grabbed a whip from the side and lashed out heavily.
She only stopped after she was tired and had vented her anger, dropping the whip to the ground. Feng Yuanping was already beaten to the brink of death, his breathing weak.
"I'll give you one more day. If you don't hand over the items by tomorrow, I'll take your life. I won't spare anyone in your Feng family!"
"Madam Sun, you bitch, if I had known this day would come, I would never have brought you into the mansion!"
Only today did he truly see Madam Sun's true colors and regret being deceived by her. He regretted breaking ties with Miao Qing for such a venomous woman. He now wished he could cut Madam Sun into a thousand pieces and skin her alive.
"Weren't you infatuated back then, obeying my every word? It only took a few tricks for me to get into your bed. In the end, you couldn't control yourself. You have no one to blame for this outcome; it's all your own doing!"
She had also become utterly disgusted with Feng Yuanping long ago. If not for her having no one in the capital and a woman always needing to rely on a man, she had coincidentally met Feng Yuanping back then.
It only took a few humble and common tricks to make Feng Yuanping obey her.
To bring her into the household, he even broke ties with He Miaoqing. This was truly heaven-sent, allowing her to get rid of He Miaoqing so easily and take the position of the First Madam of the Feng family.
Now, how could she still take Feng Yuanping seriously? She was the blade, and he was the fish. Surely, there would be a day when she could hold her head high.
"Since you're about to die, I'll tell you a secret."
Madam Sun bent down and whispered into Feng Yuanping's ear, "The reason He Miaoqing died during childbirth was that I had already poisoned her food. Even if He Miaoqing had managed to give birth, she and the child would not have survived. I didn't expect He Miaoqing's body to be so frail. The child died in the womb before birth, and mother and child perished together."
"However, this saved me a lot of effort, as I didn't have to think of other ways to eliminate them," Madam Sun said with triumph in her eyes.
He Miaoqing, the noble eldest daughter of the He family, raised with every favor, had ultimately fallen into her hands.
And Feng Yuanping, the top scholar in court, who had risen to the position of Prime Minister, was also manipulated by her, daring not to resist in the slightest.
"You bitch, I'll kill you... kill you..."
Upon hearing that He Miaoqing and her unborn child were both killed by Madam Sun, Feng Yuanping went mad, struggling desperately, causing the chair to shake.
"Kill me? With your current state... Hahaha..."
He felt that Feng Yuanping's words were a colossal joke. In his current state, looking more like a ghost than a man, it was simply a pipe dream.