Chapter 405 Secret Room
In just three or five days, hundreds of people were killed in Jinling City. Most of these people were highly skilled in martial arts. The officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties and paid a high price.

It is hard to say that there are no innocent people here, but given the current situation, it is better to kill the innocent than let them go.

If such a group of people with great martial arts skills were organized, they would be a huge force.

At the same time, the rumors about the Queen and the Crown Prince's rebellion quickly changed direction, pointing to Concubine Shu and Prince Yu. Prince Yu refuted that it was easy to find a pretext to accuse someone. Why didn't they find out about it before? When the matter of Duke Jing's alchemy was exposed, it was found on Concubine Shu's head? It was clearly a frame-up. Both sides had their own reasons and the two sides were deadlocked. But no matter what, Concubine Shu had been controlled. For Prince Yu, this was definitely a very disadvantageous thing.

Helian Xuan was still trying to break out and advance towards Jinling.

I heard that those who went to surround and kill them were all martial arts masters.

It makes people feel suspenseful.

During this period, Xia Chunyu was hardly at home. Ye Jiayao did not dare to complain. She was not a person who did not understand the overall situation. The struggle for imperial power had reached a fever pitch. One careless mistake would bring disaster to the entire family.

The greater the pressure, the calmer Ye Jiayao became, and she made the following arrangements calmly.

First, let Zhongyuan, Minrui and Chunguo go to Zhenjiang, let Qiao take Niuniu and Zhuangzhuang back to Suzhou, and A Lian will go to inform Jinrong, and the two of them will take Baoer to Yangzhou to hide temporarily with Su Mama. How the situation in Jinling will develop is still unknown, so let them stay away from the center of the storm first.

Secondly, let Zhong Xiang and Jiang Yue get married as soon as possible and not wait for an auspicious day. She knew that the emperor's condition was not good and if he died, the marriage would not be possible.

Third, he instructed the brothers in Tianshangju that if Nanjing became chaotic, they should all go back home or go to the Tianshangju branch in Hangzhou and wait until the chaos died down before returning.

The fourth is to transfer assets.

The money in the silver shop was taken out in batches and all hidden in a secret room in the farm. The secret room was built so cleverly that it might not be found even if one searched it deliberately.

Each and every one of these is to prevent problems before they occur.

"Jinxuan, are you going to Zhenjiang to take shelter as well?" Yu said when she was sending Chunguo and the others away. The person Yu wanted to leave the most was Ye Jiayao, because she was carrying the blood of the Xia family. Anyone could die, but the blood of the Xia family could not have any accidents!
Ye Jiayao said firmly: "I can't leave."

She wanted to stay and stand by Chunyu's side.

"But only if you leave can Chunyu feel at ease, and so can I." Youshi advised.

Ye Jiayao was silent. She knew she should leave. She was Chunyu's biggest concern. Only when she was safe would Chunyu give it a try. However, she couldn't convince herself to leave at this time. She was the mistress of the Jing'an Marquis Mansion. If even she left, it would probably cause even greater panic.

Now, all of Chunyu's plans are still being carried out in secret. In order not to alert the enemy, if she leaves, Prince Yu will know that Chunyu and his men are going to take action, and then they will make a last-ditch effort and end up in a desperate situation.

So, if she leaves, Chunyu can feel at ease, but if she stays, more people can feel at ease, including herself.

Besides, she still had one last way out. If the situation really came to that, she could hide in the secret room of the farm.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade her, Youshi had no choice but to sigh.

Ye Jiayao has another worry, which is Aruan. This time, either Prince Yu will succeed or the Crown Prince will win, it will be a life-and-death battle. If Prince Yu wins, then Aruan will have nothing to worry about. But if the Crown Prince wins, what should Aruan do then?
The crime of treason shall lead to the execution of the entire family. Can Aruan escape?
Unfortunately, now that she is in the spotlight, Ye Jiayao doesn't dare to look for A Ruan, for fear of bringing trouble to A Ruan.

Just when Ye Jiayao was at a loss, Ah Ruan sent someone to deliver a secret letter. The letter was very short, with only five words... Don't worry about me.

This is Aruan’s statement. There is no need to worry about her. She has already prepared for the worst.

Ye Jiayao felt extremely heartbroken when she saw this. If A Ruan had married Xiao Jing, they could fight side by side now, or A Ruan could return to southern Xinjiang to avoid disaster. But now, A Ruan could not go anywhere and could only wait for the final decision.

too painful.

After a few more days, several armies carrying the slogan of supporting the king had approached the city of Jinling. The Northwest Camp and the troops were in a standoff, and a war was about to break out.

But the reinforcements were slow to arrive and the situation became serious.

At this time, many people who still held on to the hope that war would not break out left Nanjing to seek refuge.

Xia Chunyu also had to urge Ye Jiayao to leave Jinling. Once the rebels broke through the defense line of the Northwest Camp, Jinling City would face a fierce battle. If she didn't leave now, she might not be able to leave.

The Marquis also urged Youshi and Ye Jiayao to leave the city together to seek refuge, but Youshi was determined not to leave. Only now did she understand Ye Jiayao's feelings. She would rather die together than live alone.

Ye Jiayao, however, readily followed suit and dragged You to the farm.

At this time, there is no point in staying.

She originally wanted to persuade Princess Yi De and the old ancestor to go out of the city with her, but since the old ancestor refused to leave, Princess Yi De would not leave either.

Naya didn't care at all. She had been accustomed to wars since she was a child. She didn't feel any burden at all about the upcoming war. Instead, she felt excited and her blood was boiling. She wanted to stay here and wait for Helian Xuan to come back. She believed that Helian Xuan would definitely come back.

How could a few petty thieves stop a hero who could ride a thousand miles alone and attack the enemy camp alone?
Unable to persuade the people in Prince Helian's mansion, Ye Jiayao had no choice but to take Youshi to the farm quietly.

She even refused Xia Chunyu's offer to send experts to protect her. The more experts she had, the more attention she would attract. Ye Jiayao only brought her close friends Qiao Xi and Xiang Tao, as well as Mother Sun.

It was the first time for Youshi to come to the farm. Seeing the beautiful scenery of the small bridges, flowing water, carved beams and painted buildings, she couldn't help but sigh that if the enemy attacked, this place would become a pile of ruins overnight. "Jinxuan, is the secret room here reliable?" Youshi asked worriedly.

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. Even if the place above is razed to the ground, this secret room will not be exposed."

When she asked Uncle Jiang and Jiang Li to design this secret room, she had asked for it to be able to avoid war, and not just be a hiding place for treasury.

After being reborn, she has a much stronger sense of crisis than most people, and being prepared is her motto.

At that time, she hoped that she would never need to use this secret room in her lifetime, but she didn't expect that she would use it so soon.

After everyone settled down, Zhu Wang's family prepared and brought over meals.

When You saw Zhu Wang's wife, she was stunned again. Didn't Zhu Wang's wife cause trouble at Liuli's wedding banquet and was expelled from the mansion? Why was she here?

Ye Jiayao and Xia Chunyu never told the family about this matter. Only Chunfeng came a few times and knew some details. However, he did not know that it was Liuli who instructed Zhu Wang's wife to cause trouble.

Ye Jiayao only said that Zhu Wang's wife's son had a strange disease, and since she felt sorry for them, she gave them a chance to live.

Yu Shi smiled bitterly and said, "You seem to be very decisive in your daily life, but you also have a kind heart."

Mother Sun smiled and said, "Second Young Madam, good people will be rewarded."

If the Second Young Mistress could let bygones be bygones, give the person a chance to live, how could Zhu Wang and his wife not be devotedly loyal to the Second Young Mistress? Seeing that only Zhu Wang and his wife were in charge of the place, it was clear that the couple had already won the Second Young Mistress's trust.

Ye Jiayao smiled without saying anything. In fact, not all people who do bad things are bad people. Many of them are forced into a desperate situation and have no choice. People like Liuli are a minority after all, and now, they have received retribution.

After dinner, Ye Jiayao took You Shi to visit the secret room, and even did not let Qiao Xi and others follow.

To be honest, even Zhu Wang's wife didn't know where the entrance to this secret room was. It was built by Uncle Jiang and his son, and no one else intervened.

The dark room was built under the study, twenty feet deep into the ground. Even if one knocked on the ground above the study, one could not hear the presence of a dark room underneath.

The entrance was not in the study, but in the most inconspicuous woodshed. Who would have thought that there would be a secret entrance in a pile of storage rooms? This shows how clever Uncle Jiang was.

He walked into the woodshed and rotated the oil lamps on both walls, one turning 180 degrees to the left and the other turning 180 degrees to the right. With a bang, a stone slab next to the woodpile was pushed open, revealing a black hole half a person's height and three feet wide.

Ye Jiayao walked in front holding the oil lamp. You Shi hesitated for a moment and followed closely.

As soon as she entered the secret passage, Ye Jiayao pressed the mechanism on the wall, the stone door slammed shut, and the oil lamp outside returned to its original state.

Ye Jiayao lit the oil lamp on the stone wall, and the dark passage suddenly lit up. A stone staircase extended to the end of the darkness.

Ye Jiayao led the way in front, saying, "Mother, be careful where you step."

Yu was afraid that Ye Jiayao might get into trouble, so she supported her from behind and said, "Be careful."

Ye Jiayao felt warm in her heart. This unintentional action of Youshi showed her love for her.

After walking up about dozens of steps, we finally reached flat ground.

Ye Jiayao lit the wall lamp again, and the secret room was brightly lit.

Yu looked around the secret room and was speechless.

Is this a secret room? It has all kinds of furniture, and even though it's a secret room so deep underground, it doesn't feel stuffy or damp at all.

Ye Jiayao looked at You's surprised expression, smiled slightly, walked to a wall, pushed a few bricks in different positions, and boom, a secret room was revealed.

A secret room within a secret room.

"Jinxuan, was it you who came up with the idea of ​​this secret room?" Yu Shi was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth.

Ye Jiayao laughed and said, "How could I have such ability? It was designed by Chunyu and Uncle Jiang, and built by Uncle Jiang himself."

Yu Shi suddenly felt proud. Her son was really smart! This secret room was built very secretly. There was a secret room inside the secret room. Even if it was discovered, no one would have thought that there was a cave here.

"Mother, can you rest assured now?" Ye Jiayao asked with a smile.

You nodded. Hiding here is absolutely safe.

Ye Jiayao has not yet revealed all the secrets of the secret room to Youshi. There is also a vault here, which contains hundreds of thousands of taels of gold!
Moreover, this secret room has waterproof and smoke-proof passages. Even if someone finds the entrance and floods it with water or fumigates it, there is no need to worry. This is the experience she learned from modern anti-Japanese dramas. When she told Uncle Jiang about it, Uncle Jiang immediately understood it.

(End of this chapter)