Chapter 45: Meeting The Youth in Black Once More

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For all the patient readers, good news - the ML returns! Do we finally learn his name? Let's dive in and find out. Enjoy the chapter! :)

P.S. - 'Youth dressed in black' count : 4

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Translated by : Irisu-san

Edited by : Anks & Ely

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In her previous life in the palace, the one thing she did not lack was the endless time. She had diligently tried to pass her days a little more meaningfully. But whenever Jiang Quan and the Eighth Prince told her things, she would willingly and repeatedly ruminate over those words during those sleepless nights. The Shen fu's structural layout was exactly identical to the one in her memories, therefore, today she was able to walk around without the least bit of effort.

Turning round and passing the long corridor, she took a detour through a path by herself and approached a small room which was at the side, behind the garden. She then pushed the door open and entered.

The room was decorated very simply, almost as if it were an abandoned study that had not been used for a very long time. There were a few bound volumes of travel notes haphazardly placed on a study table. Jiang Ruan moved around to the front of the study table. Hung overhead on the wall was a drawing of a bamboo forest in the breeze. She stared at it for a short while and then reached out to lift it up. What was revealed behind the picture scroll was a smooth wall.

Jiang Ruan reached out her hands and traced her fingers along the snow-white surface of the wall as she slowly searched. Not too long after, her hands somehow pressed onto something. Hearing a crisp noise, the central wall in the room then gradually hollowed in, revealing a tiny hidden compartment.

She paused for a bit and then extended her hand into the hidden compartment and took a cloth bag out. The cloth bag in her hands had quite a bit of weight, and from a rough estimate, it seemed to be something like a book. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly, this was definitely the Shen fu's special account book that Assistant Minister Shen kept in his home.

For any official in the officialdom, it would definitely be unavoidable that they would have to often use bribery in their daily activities and dealings to help smooth various relationships. In peacetime, for an official to give an incentive to one's superiors, inevitably, there must be a source of that silver money.

Assistant Minister Shen had handed these matters over to Shen furen to organize. As for Shen furen, to have this account book hidden in any random place would not suffice, therefore, she had simply placed it inside this abandoned study room. Thus, to have hidden it so recklessly and negligently behind the picture scroll, but of course who would naturally think that it was hidden in such a place.

However, in her previous life, at the time when the Eighth Prince had met her in private, he had actually briefly touched on this subject. Assistant Minister Shen was also someone who was in the same camp as Jiang Quan, however, due to some unknown reason, they later came to have some divergent opinions. Furthermore, Jiang Quan did not seem to mind this at all since he possessed some information that could be used against Assistant Minister Shen. She had no idea how this account book had fallen into Jiang Quan's hands. If all these accounts were to be revealed, the high ranking officials who would be implicated were plenty, and it would undoubtedly lead to a huge upheaval in the capital.

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