I sighed and said earnestly, “If you want something, you need to say it. How would I know if you don’t speak? I won’t chase after you if you don’t want me, but if you want me, of course I’ll give in—umph!” This beast… didn’t even let me finish speaking!
An Jin’s words once again overturned my reasoning. Seeing me dejected, he quickly comforted me and affirmed my efforts to think actively and communicate appropriately. I seized the opportunity to request that he return those erotic picture albums. He flatly refused without mercy. After a moment of contemplation, he warned me not to sneak a peek at those albums in his study. In fact, if he hadn’t said this, I wouldn’t have known those albums were hidden in his study.
The next day happened to be a day off.
To enjoy private time with An Jin, I left my study in Que’er’s care, not expecting An Jin to leave early in the morning with the excuse of urgent matters, standing me up. Before leaving, he warned me again not to go into the study.
Driven by curiosity and a rebellious mindset, I made my way to the study. It was usually locked, yet strangely, it was unlocked that day. Yuan Xiang crouched at the door to keep watch as I pushed the door open.
I rarely entered his study due to a tragic memory about seahorse soup. However, this time, to find the albums and return them to Chen Piao, I steeled myself. Revisiting an old place stirred psychological shadows, and I even hallucinated hearing An Jin’s voice.
I took deep breaths, telling myself An Jin could not possibly be here. After several attempts, I dared to continue searching. I found my erotic pictures on the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
Excitedly hugging the erotic pictures, I accidentally bumped something, and the entire bookcase suddenly tilted. I was startled and called out, “Husband, I was wrong!”
No response. An Jin was not here at all.
Tears streamed down my face; I was quite the unique wife, being this timid. Beside the tilted bookcase, the wall moved to one side, revealing a small path paved with blue stone bricks, sloping downward, just wide enough for one person to pass, looking somewhat eerie.
Should I go in? I hesitated for a long time, really not wanting to go alone, and decided to restore the bookcase. I stood at the entrance of the dark passage and looked inside, vaguely able to see a yellowish package on the ground not far away. Curiosity overcame fear, and I carefully walked into the tunnel, deciding to look at the item and then return.
The package was not far from the tunnel entrance. I had only walked a few steps when I saw its true nature, which was far beyond my expectations. I had thought something hidden in such a concealed place must be confidential or a treasure, but instead—
It was actually a package of sugar cakes. A package of hot, fragrant sugar cakes.
I swallowed, suddenly remembering I hadn’t eaten breakfast and was somewhat hungry. While pondering this, the wall behind me suddenly boomed shut. I suddenly realized completely. Wasn’t this a trap to lure me deeper?
Such careful planning, ultimately using sugar cakes as bait to draw me in, showed such deep scheming and malicious intent. Thinking this, I felt more at ease and simply held the sugar cakes and continued walking. After walking for a long time, I finally reached level ground. The further I went inside, the brighter the surrounding light became, and soon it opened up completely.
I had never imagined that beneath the An residence where we lived daily, there was such a magnificent secret room. This secret room was nearly ten zhang high, more spacious than the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Dozens of massive dragon-entwined pillars stood in the secret room, each with a dragon head protruding with claws, holding a pearl that emitted a dim light.
Oil lamps carved with dancing auspicious cranes hung on the walls on both sides, with one every few steps. If not for the neatly arranged tall dark wooden shelves filling the room, I would have thought I had accidentally entered an imperial tomb.
The wooden shelves were arranged in two rows, with a space between them wide enough for two people to walk side by side. I couldn’t tell what wood the shelves were made of, only smelling a deep, rich woody fragrance. The shelves were densely packed with drawers that had strange numbers and symbols.
One drawer was open, and I leaned over to peek inside, finding several scrolls tied with silk ribbons, with a “Su” character written on the rightmost scroll. My heart stirred, and I took out the scroll and unrolled it horizontally. Su Quan, originally named Su Kuang, from Xiongzhou in Xiliang, secretly relocated with his wife Wang and their son Su Xi and daughter Su Hui, bribed the Feng City officials, forged Feng City household registration… It had been nearly ten years since then.
My back began to feel cold, my fingers icy. If this record was true—the Ritual Ministry’s Superintendent Su Quan and his family had been in hiding in the Great Qi Kingdom for nearly ten years, and now Su Quan and Su Xi had even risen to high positions…
I tied the scroll back and returned it to the drawer, my heart pounding. What kind of place was this? The passage between the two rows of shelves, wide enough for two people to walk, seemed like a shortcut to the truth.
Having gone this far, could I possibly turn back now? I waited a while, estimating that I should look calm, and then proceeded along the passage. At the very front was a stone door, looking heavy but opening with a light push. Inside the stone door was an empty stone room. There were stone doors on both sides, leading to unknown destinations.
An Jin stood in the center of the stone room, his back to me, wearing a light blue straight-cut deep robe that outlined his slim waist and long body. I quietly watched his back. “Since you discovered this yourself this time, it naturally doesn’t count as me breaking my oath.” He turned around, his eyes revealing a cunning glint. To lure me in, he had gone to great lengths, even using my collection of erotic art. “Yaoyao, this is the An family’s secret. It stores all the confidential information of the Great Qi Kingdom since its founding, and the identity passed down through generations of the An family,” he said. “The master of the kingdom’s secret department, the highest commander of all spies in the three kingdoms.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Husband’s Intentions
“According to unofficial historical records, the founding emperor of the Great Qi Kingdom was also a cut-sleeve, in love with a man. This man was reportedly ennobled and entrusted with managing the kingdom’s secrets…”
“While unofficial histories cannot be fully trusted, there’s no smoke without fire, no grass without roots. Unofficial histories always contain a kernel of truth. Whether the founding emperor of the Great Qi Kingdom was truly a cut-sleeve is no longer verifiable, but the man who managed the kingdom’s secrets did indeed exist – he was the ancestor of the An family. This ancestor, named Heng with the courtesy name Honglie, was a remarkable talent. An Honglie was innately intelligent, with an eidetic memory, and was widely learned, meticulous in thought, and extremely skilled in strategy. He naturally became the right-hand man of the Ancestral Emperor. The Ancestral Emperor and he were mutually dependent and supportive, with a bond so deep it transcended kinship. Had it not been so, the Ancestral Emperor would not have entrusted the core of the Qi Kingdom to An Honglie to manage, even designating his descendants as the hereditary inheritors of these core secrets. Qi Kingdom, West Liang, and South Rui were originally the most powerful vassal states of the Great Zhou Dynasty. After the Zhou Dynasty’s turmoil, the three vassal kings declared independence and proclaimed themselves emperors, ushering in the era of the Three Kingdoms.”
