vrcanaries Chapter 213 The Scroll Changes
Chapter 213 The Scroll Changes
"Your Highness, please look at this painting."
The Third Young Lady stood before the wall of the Imperial Study, pointing to a newly hung landscape painting. It was found among the items seized from the Grand Tutor's Mansion. The painting was exquisitely crafted, yet at first glance, it looked unremarkable.
Mo Yunchen walked closer to take a closer look: "What's so special about this painting?"
"Take a closer look at these cloud patterns," the Third Miss pointed at the clouds in the painting. "Do they look familiar to you?"
Mo Yunchen took a closer look and his eyes suddenly focused: the direction of these cloud patterns is exactly the same as the secret room map discovered before!
"Interesting," he sneered, "This old fox even left a backup plan for the painting."
As she was speaking, her niece came rushing over: "Third sister, I found a new clue!"
What she brought was an ancient book that recorded a special painting technique: painting with a special ink, which would reveal hidden words when heated.
"Quick, take the painting down!" the third lady ordered immediately.
After the painting was spread out on the table, the palace maids soaked the surface with warm water. Sure enough, some faint words gradually emerged.
"This is..." Miss San carefully identified it, "It seems to be an address."
After careful study, it was discovered that this painting not only hid the address, but also hinted at a time: July 15th, midnight.
"Tonight?" Mo Yunchen raised his eyebrows. "It seems there will be some action."
"Do you want to send someone to investigate?" asked the third young lady.
"No," Mo Yunchen pondered for a moment, "I will go and see it myself."
"Your Highness!" the Third Miss said anxiously, "This is too dangerous!"
"Don't worry," Mo Yunchen comforted her, "I know what I'm doing. Besides..." He showed a meaningful smile, "Aren't you here?"
The Third Miss understood what he meant: with the help of her, her niece, and her cousin, plus the guards secretly deployed, it should be foolproof.
After nightfall, the group secretly arrived at the location shown in the painting. It was a remote courtyard on the outskirts of the city, and all around was quiet.
"There's an ambush," the Third Miss whispered, "at least twenty people."
"Well," Mo Yunchen nodded, "it seems the fish is about to take the bait."
Sure enough, not long after, figures appeared stealthily. These people moved in a secretive manner, and were obviously masters.
"Do you know him?" Mo Yunchen asked.
"It's a killer from the Western Regions," said the Third Miss. "It seems the mysterious organization hasn't given up yet."
As he was speaking, another familiar figure appeared: it was the imperial concubine!
"This vicious woman," Mo Yunchen sneered, "as expected, she still dares to come back."
The imperial concubine seemed to be waiting for someone, looking around from time to time. Not long after, several more figures appeared: they were several ministers in the court!
"These people..." Miss San recognized their identities, "They were all promoted a few days ago!"
It turns out that these people were replaced after the fall of the Grand Tutor's followers. They appear loyal on the surface, but in fact they are secretly colluding with the mysterious organization.
"Okay," Mo Yunchen sneered, "I just promoted them, and they want to betray me?"
At this moment, the imperial concubine took out a box. When she opened it, she found a secret decree inside!
"That's..." Miss San gasped, "The late emperor's will?"
Indeed, from the outside, this is indeed the secret order left by the late emperor. But Mo Yunchen sneered: "Fake."
"Fake?"
"I have already found the real one," Mo Yunchen said, "this vicious woman actually dared to use a fake edict to deceive people."
It turned out that the imperial concubine wanted to use this fake will to win over the people and pave the way for her own restoration plan.
"Get started!" Mo Yunchen gave the order.
The guards who had been lying in ambush immediately rushed out and surrounded the courtyard. Although the assassins were highly skilled in martial arts, they were no match for the well-trained imperial guards.
The imperial concubine saw that the situation was not good and wanted to escape, but was stopped by the third lady: "Where are you going, Your Majesty?"
"You..." The imperial concubine gritted her teeth, "How did you know this place?"
"Thanks to the painting left by the Grand Tutor," the Third Miss said with a smile, "but he probably didn't expect that this painting would harm you."
The imperial concubine's expression changed drastically: "What painting?"
"It's that 'Landscape, Clouds and Mist' painting," the Third Miss said. "The Grand Tutor was really thoughtful and even tampered with the painting."
The imperial concubine finally understood: it was the Grand Tutor's trick that had set her up!
"Take him away!" Mo Yunchen said coldly, "interrogate him thoroughly!"
This time, the imperial concubine was finally unable to escape. Under torture, she confessed all her schemes: it turned out that she not only wanted to use the false edict to cause chaos, but also planned to assassinate the prince and put a puppet on the throne.
"This vicious woman," the Third Miss sneered at the confession, "will never change her nature until her death."
"It doesn't matter," Mo Yunchen said, "Her fate has long been determined."
At this moment, the niece made another discovery: during the search of the imperial concubine's residence, she found more documents. These documents recorded her dealings with the Western Region forces and her future plans.
"Looks like we're going to have to do a major purge," the Third Miss said, looking at the list. "None of these secret agents can be spared."
"No rush," Mo Yunchen said, "Let them jump around for a few more days. I want to see who else is hiding in the dark."
As expected, with the capture of the imperial concubine, those who were hiding began to get restless. Some wanted to escape, while others began to destroy the evidence. However, they did not know that their every move was under the surveillance of the court.
"Catch them!" Mo Yunchen ordered, "Don't let any of them go!"
A large-scale crackdown began. Those who had been hiding deep within the organization were uncovered one by one. During interrogation, they revealed more details.
It turned out that the Grand Tutor and the Imperial Concubine had already laid out a backup plan, waiting to make a comeback. Unfortunately, they never expected that the paintings they left behind would become a flaw.
"This is God's will," the Third Miss sighed. "They planned for so long, but in the end, they were tricked by their own plans."
"Yes," Mo Yunchen said, "this is what you sow."
With the arrest of these people, the imperial court also began a new round of personnel adjustments. Those who were opportunistic and seeking personal gain were cleared out, and those with real talent were given important positions.
"It's finally over," the third young lady breathed a sigh of relief. "This was really thrilling."
"It's not over yet," Mo Yunchen said, "I always feel like there's something I haven't discovered yet."
"Your Highness is saying..."
"The appearance of this painting is too coincidental," Mo Yunchen analyzed, "perhaps there is an even bigger secret."
So everyone began to study the painting carefully again. Sure enough, after repeated experiments, they found a new clue: the painting not only hid the address, but also hinted at a secret base!
"Let's go!" Mo Yunchen immediately stood up, "Let's go see what this place is."
When they arrived at the stronghold, they discovered that it was actually an armory! Inside was not only a large number of weapons, but also a lot of military blueprints.
"So that's what it is," Miss Three suddenly realized, "They want to launch an armed rebellion!"
"That's not all," Mo Yunchen pointed at a blueprint, "Look at this."
It was a military deployment map that detailed the rebels' movement plans. If they succeeded, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Luckily we discovered it early," Miss Three said thankfully, "otherwise, if they had succeeded, it would have been troublesome."
"Yes," Mo Yunchen sighed, "thanks to this painting."
Looking at the "Landscape, Clouds and Mist" on the wall, everyone had a feeling of unreality: Who would have thought that a seemingly ordinary painting would reveal such a big conspiracy.
"This painting," the third young lady suddenly said, "do you want to keep it?"
"Keep it," Mo Yunchen said, "to serve as a warning to future generations: conspiracy will never defeat light."
In this way, the painting was hung in the imperial study, becoming a witness to a period of history. Whenever someone asked about the origin of the painting, they would hear a thrilling story.
And this story tells us: justice may be late, but it will never be absent.