Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 179. Secrets of the Previous Dynasty

179. Secrets of the Former Dynasty

"Wh-who’s there?" Seeing his accomplice suddenly slump silently against the window, the middle-aged man stared warily at the window, his voice trembling involuntarily. He glanced at Doctor Lin, who was standing to the side, then strode forward, grabbed him, and held him as a shield. "Who’s outside? Show yourself!" he yelled, slowly advancing. The middle-aged man’s back began to break out in a cold sweat. Originally, this task was just to retrieve something for their master, nothing difficult. That was why they hadn’t brought many men. He never expected to encounter a hidden expert in such a remote mountain village.

"Come out! If you don’t, I’ll kill him!" Clutching Doctor Lin, the middle-aged man stopped advancing towards the window and instead began to edge slowly towards the study door, his gaze still fixed on the window.

WHOOSH—

A grey shadow flitted past the window. The middle-aged man’s eyes widened; the shadow had moved too quickly for him to see what it was. Tightening his grip on the dagger, the middle-aged man swallowed nervously and continued to retreat towards the door with Doctor Lin. Just as he was about to reach the doorway, the window creaked and rattled, startling him. He hastily pointed his dagger at the window, only to see a dark glint shoot towards him. The man opened his mouth, then his head drooped powerlessly. A somewhat crude wooden hairpin was lodged in his throat. He blinked, realizing he was helpless. He could only let go of Doctor Lin in despair as he fell backward.

Doctor Lin looked down at the man lying on the floor, his eyes still wide open in death. Of course, he knew who the owner of the wooden hairpin in the man’s throat was. He lifted his gaze to the window, but Ye Li’s figure was not there. After a moment, the sound of somewhat heavy footsteps came from outside the door, and Ye Li appeared at the study entrance. Seeing Doctor Lin’s dazed expression, she asked with some concern, "Master... are you alright?"

Doctor Lin silently shook his head, looking at Ye Li. She forced a smile. "Did I frighten you, Master? I..."

Doctor Lin, looking somewhat weary, sat down in a nearby chair. It was a while before he spoke. "I always felt you were no simple girl, but now I know I still misjudged you. I won’t ask about your background anymore. Find a chance and leave on your own. It’s not safe here anymore."

Ye Li frowned at the corpses on the floor and near the window. Talking in a room with two dead bodies really wasn’t a good idea, but she currently lacked the strength to deal with them. Finding a place to sit, she soothed her belly, where her somewhat restless baby lay. She gave a wry smile. "Master, in my current condition... where can you expect me to go? Let alone potential encounters with venomous snakes or fierce beasts, just the exertion of crossing mountains and ridges would be too much for her now."

Doctor Lin sighed and shook his head. "Do you think I’m trying to drive you away? This old man, I have to leave too. If I don’t leave soon... I’m afraid I’ll implicate the innocent people in this village." At this, the old man’s expression turned somewhat sorrowful. For a man in his sixties, having to leave alone the place he had lived in for decades was indeed not something to be happy about.

"Is it... Lin Yuan?" Ye Li asked softly after a moment of contemplation.

Doctor Lin was startled and fell silent. Only after a long pause did he let out a deep sigh. Since Doctor Lin was unwilling to speak, Ye Li didn’t want to press him. Although she didn’t know what Lin Yuan wanted from Doctor Lin, she didn’t want Doctor Lin to think of her as someone coveting his treasure. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Master, if you really don’t want to give it to him, why not destroy it to put an end to his thoughts about it? If... he was raised by you, Master, who else would you give it to if not him?"

Doctor Lin managed a faint smile, shook his head, and stood up to walk towards the door.

Ye Li didn’t move. She looked at the two corpses with a troubled expression, feeling vexed. Disposing of these two corpses would have been no difficult task for her in the past, but not now. And Doctor Lin was old; she couldn’t possibly ask him to handle them. Just as she was thinking this, Doctor Lin returned, holding a plain, unadorned small porcelain vial. He walked over to the middle-aged man lying on the ground, opened the vial, and sprinkled some of the powder inside onto the body. Ye Li was astonished to see that the moment the powder touched the corpse, a pungent smoke arose, and then it began to corrode the body on the ground. In less than a moment, the originally burly man was reduced to a puddle on the floor, without even a shred of clothing or fabric remaining. Then, watching Doctor Lin approach the other corpse and similarly sprinkle some powder, causing that body to be corroded and melt away as expected, Ye Li couldn’t help but rub her nose. Only after spending so much time together did she discover that this unnamed master of hers was actually so ruthless.

Watching Doctor Lin dispose of the two corpses with a calm expression, Ye Li now believed that her actions earlier hadn’t actually frightened this old doctor. Seeing his skilled and calm demeanor, it was clear he was no novice at this.

After all this was done, the master and apprentice, who weren’t very familiar with each other to begin with, looked at each other in silence for a long time before remembering to move to the outer room. Although there were no longer any unsightly things in the room, frankly, the lingering smell was not very pleasant.

After sitting down in the outer room, Doctor Lin calmly poured two cups of tea, one for Ye Li and one for himself. After taking a few sips of tea, seeming to have recovered somewhat, Doctor Lin said, "I cannot implicate these innocent villagers. I can no longer stay here..."

Ye Li was silent for a moment, then said, "From what Master said, that person... is not someone soft-hearted or merciful. How can Master guarantee that after you leave, he won’t harm these villagers? If that’s the case... why would Master advise me to leave? Although I haven’t known Master for long, I’ve always felt that Master is a good person."

Doctor Lin was speechless. Indeed, he couldn’t guarantee that if that person returned and didn’t find what he was looking for, he wouldn’t fly into a rage out of shame and harm innocent people. Otherwise, he could have just arranged for Ye Li to stay with any family in the village; there would have been no need for her to leave this place while several months pregnant.

Regardless, the journey outside was far too dangerous for a woman several months pregnant.

After a long silence, Doctor Lin finally asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Ye Li shook her head and looked at Doctor Lin with some regret. "Right now, I don’t even have the ability to protect myself, unless I can leave here as quickly as possible and return to Hongzhou..."

"Hongzhou..." Doctor Lin looked at her. "Why would you think I have a way?"

Ye Li pursed her lips into a smile and pointed to the roomful of books in the study. "The villagers told me that you haven’t left this place in the past thirty years. However... they also said that back then, you settled down here with only some simple luggage and a child. Those books obviously couldn’t have been transported here so easily. Therefore, over these years, you must have left here many times without their knowledge. And your trips definitely wouldn’t have required several months each time."

Doctor Lin looked at her and sighed. "You truly are smart; you figured it out from the very beginning, didn’t you?"

Ye Li smiled faintly and said nothing. Doctor Lin looked at her, shook his head, and said, "It’s no use. I haven’t used that route in over twenty years. You can’t take it now, and neither can I. I’m old."

Ye Li already had a good idea of this, so she wasn’t too disappointed. Tilting her head in thought for a moment, she asked, "I’m guessing it’s a waterway. When I fell from the cliff near Hongzhou and plunged into the water, I was caught in a hidden whirlpool and then swept here by an underground river?"

Doctor Lin nodded in approval. "You are indeed very fortunate. You didn’t drown, nor were you dashed against rocks in the rapids; even the child is fine."

Ye Li raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. "I don’t think it was because I was lucky, but because whoever built that underground river did it so meticulously that I wasn’t hindered or killed by any potential rocks in the channel. So, Master... what kind of person would expend so much effort to construct such a secret passage? Or perhaps... this village itself hides some secret?"

Doctor Lin was stunned for a moment; his gaze towards Ye Li now held a hint more scrutiny and danger. Ye Li didn’t press further, sitting quietly at the table, her eyes lowered to her fingers, which, though still slender, had acquired a few fine calluses. These hands had, just a quarter of an hour ago, easily snapped a man’s neck.

"Lass, who on earth are you?" Doctor Lin stared at her for a good while before finally asking.

Ye Li contemplated for a moment, then said softly, "If Master truly hasn’t left this place for over twenty years, then who I am should no longer hold any meaning for you, should it?"

Doctor Lin looked at her and said, "I must at least know that you are not from the imperial family of Great Chu."

Ye Li sighed inwardly; Doctor Lin’s question itself revealed many answers. "I am not from the imperial family of Great Chu," Ye Li stated firmly, shaking her head. Although Mo Xiuyao also had the surname Mo and shared a common ancestor with the Great Ancestor Emperor of Great Chu, their blood ties were actually very distant. If not for their hereditary peerage, the Mo Family could be said to have practically no connection to the imperial family. And in everyone’s perception, it seemed the Mo Family Army and the Great Chu imperial family had always been clearly distinguished. Therefore, Ye Li felt no burden in claiming she had no connection to the Great Chu imperial family.

Hearing Ye Li’s answer, Doctor Lin’s expression softened considerably. Ye Li looked at him earnestly and asked unexpectedly, "Master, what connection do you have with the imperial family of the former dynasty?"

Doctor Lin stared blankly at Ye Li, clearly not having expected her to ask such a question. It was a good while before he asked, "Why would you think I have any connection with the imperial family of the former dynasty?"

Ye Li’s lips curved into a faint smile as she casually toyed with the crude teacup in her hand. "Master is so concerned about whether I’m connected to the Great Chu imperial family, and you live in seclusion here. It’s obvious that your relationship with the Great Chu imperial family... even if it’s not one of irreconcilable enmity, you certainly harbor no goodwill towards them. Considering this is still within the borders of Great Chu, and Master, you don’t look like an outsider from another ethnicity. Additionally... from the river where I fell off the cliff to the place where Master rescued me, I estimate the straight-line distance to be at least over six miles. Such an artificial underground waterway isn’t something just anyone living by the water could build. Moreover, its exit is in such an isolated village; that’s very strange. Lastly, this village is said to have a history of nearly five hundred years, and their ancestors stipulated that generations of villagers must not learn to read or write. I suspect... they didn’t seclude themselves here by chance. They are... guarding something. Although most of these villagers probably no longer know what it is, there must still be someone who does, mustn’t there?"

Looking at the woman before him speaking with such eloquence and confidence, Doctor Lin couldn’t help but exclaim with a sigh, "You know too much."

Ye Li blinked innocently, looking earnestly at the old man before her. "Is Master going to kill me to silence me? Just like those two earlier?" After speaking, Ye Li even pointed towards the inner study.

Doctor Lin couldn’t help the corner of his mouth from twitching. Just who killed those two men?!

Shaking his head with some resignation, Doctor Lin said, "You don’t need to sound out this old man. From those moves of yours just now, I can see that if it came to killing and silencing, it’s debatable who would do it to whom between the two of us." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ye Li picked up her teacup with a beaming smile, deliberately making her smile appear even more innocent and gentle. "A teacher for a day is a teacher for life. Your disciple would absolutely never do something so treasonous and outrageous. Master, let’s rather think about what we should do next, considering we both want to live well."

Doctor Lin glared at her irritably. "It’s you who wants to live. This old man has lived long enough."

Ye Li refilled his teacup with a smile. "Our neighbors in this village haven’t lived long enough yet."

At the mention of these simple and honest villagers, the old man’s hand holding the teacup tightened, and his expression became conflicted and apologetic. "These people... they are all descendants of loyal retainers... It’s just that after so many years, they’ve likely long forgotten their ancestors. Actually, there’s nothing wrong with that. Isn’t living a peaceful and safe life a hundred times more comfortable than those outside? But... if they were to lose their lives because of those old matters... I truly..." couldn’t bear it.

As Ye Li listened to Doctor Lin, she tried hard to recall any old stories about the former dynasty she could remember. A place like the Northwest has been considered remote since ancient times; at least compared to the prosperity of the Capital of Great Chu and Jiangnan, it really couldn’t be called a good place. Ye Li really couldn’t understand what matters of the former dynasty could be connected to this place. After a long moment, a thought flashed through her mind. Ye Li blinked and asked tentatively, "Could the imperial mausoleum of the former dynasty be here?"

Seeing Doctor Lin’s astonished expression, Ye Li knew she had guessed correctly.

The imperial mausoleum of the former dynasty!

Historical records and ancient texts rapidly flashed through Ye Li’s mind. The former dynasty had lasted over 370 years, with twenty-one emperors. Among them, apart from the last emperor who was buried with the rites befitting a prince or marquis by the Great Ancestor Emperor of Great Chu, the tombs of the other nineteen emperors were either destroyed in wars or plundered by tomb raiders, almost all utterly ruined. However, the whereabouts of one emperor’s mausoleum had always remained unknown: that of the Great Founding Emperor of the former dynasty. Ye Li suddenly recalled something: the imperial surname of the former dynasty seemed to be Lin.

As if sensing Ye Li’s gaze, Doctor Lin looked at her and said calmly, "Don’t overthink it. I am not a descendant of the former dynasty."

"Then could it be Lin Yuan?" If Lin Yuan was searching for the mausoleum of an emperor of the former dynasty, then it would make sense to say it was ’his’.

Doctor Lin remained silent. Ye Li was speechless, looking skyward metaphorically. So... she’d guessed right again?