lcionline Chapter 197 There's Something Strange in the Underground Ice Cellar
Chapter 197 There's Something Strange in the Underground Ice Cellar
It gets dark early in winter. When I came back from Yang's house, it was already past Youzhong and the sky was already dark.
Rong Enqing asked about Yunluo and the others' situation. He learned that they were fine during the day and nothing happened. After dinner, Yunluo played with Yunying and the others for a while, and then watched the others trace the red characters.
Knowing that the children were all fine, Rong Enqing was no longer in a hurry to return to Tingfengyuan.
Followed Yun Ye directly to the main courtyard.
As soon as the two entered the main courtyard, Hu Shan, who had already learned the news of their return, ran over in a hurry.
After entering the room and greeting each other, Hu Shan looked anxiously at the people in the hall and said, "Madam, please ask everyone to leave."
Rong Enqing raised his hand, Xiu Zhang understood, and quickly waved and led the two maids who served tea out. Ayi and Amou, who followed Yun Ye out, automatically stayed outside the house when they entered.
Because he grew up in Tingzhuyuan with Zhang family, there were few people serving him. So Yun Ye developed the good habit of doing things by himself since he was a child. Although he had more people serving him after becoming a young marquis, he rarely asked others to do many things.
Therefore, without his call, the people around him rarely followed him into the house. Usually, after entering the main courtyard, except for one person waiting outside the door, everyone went about their own business.
When only Rong Enqing, Yun Ye and Hu Shan were left, Hu Shan said cautiously, "Madam, young marquis, something has happened."
"What happened?" Rong Enqing couldn't help but ask.
"Today, when repairing the Duiyue Pavilion, a craftsman died."
"Someone's dead!" Rong Enqing was horrified. "What happened?"
Isn't it just to renovate the Duiyue Pavilion, build a walkway corridor, and repair the wall of Baishou Hall? It's obviously a simple project, how could someone die?
Yun Ye was frightened by Rong Enqing's extreme reaction and quickly comforted her, "Don't worry, grandma. The death of a craftsman is not a big deal. I will ask Butler Li to send more compensation money to the craftsman's family later."
Hiss! A life... It's so easy to say! Rong Enqing couldn't help but sighed secretly, and suppressed the urge to complain in his heart.
After comforting Rong Enqing, Yun Ye looked at Hu Shan and said, "It's not as simple as one person's death, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be so panicked. Tell me, what happened?"
"Young Marquis is right. I'm afraid something is very strange!"
Hu Shan then began to tell the story.
During this period, the expansion work of Baishou Hall has been progressing in an orderly manner.
Today the craftsmen are preparing to renovate the Duiyue Pavilion.
Since the Duiyue Pavilion had not been occupied for a long time, the craftsmen conducted a thorough inspection of the Duiyue Pavilion inside and out. During the inspection, they found that there was a large ice cellar under the Duiyue Pavilion. However, the large ice cellar had obviously not been used for many years.
In order to prevent the Moon Tower from sinking or the attic stairs from tilting due to the underground ice cellar, the craftsmen are going to reinforce the underground ice cellar.
The accident occurred during the reinforcement process of the underground ice cellar.
No one knew whether the craftsmen triggered some hidden weapon or were contaminated by the poison stored in the underground ice cellar. In short, several craftsmen working in the ice cellar suffered from adverse reactions such as dizziness, vomiting, and suffocation to varying degrees.
The cleverer craftsmen ran fast and escaped, only to fall into a coma after coming up.
There was an honest and simple craftsman who didn't think of running until everyone else had finished running. Before he could run out of the ice cellar, he had already fallen to the ground.
When the person was dragged out of the ground, he was already dead.
Abandoned underground ice cellars, unknown poisons... The more Rong Enqing thought about it, the more frightened he became. How deep is the water in this mansion?
Why didn't she find any information about the underground ice cellar in Duiyue Pavilion in her original body's memory?
The original body had been the mistress of the Marquis' Mansion for almost forty years until her death, but she had no memory of the underground ice cellar! Just thinking about it made me feel that there was something wrong.
Apparently, Yun Ye also thought of the unusualness of the underground ice cellar, and immediately asked, "Where are those craftsmen? Can they be controlled?"
Hu Shan quickly replied, "I was afraid that the matter would get out of hand, so I found an excuse to cover up the ice cellar incident. I also released the craftsmen at the usual time. However, I asked Steward Li to arrange someone to watch each craftsman, just in case."
Yun Ye's frown relaxed slightly, "Did Butler Li say anything about the ice cellar?"
Hu Shan shook his head. "Butler Li seemed to have guessed something, but he seemed to have some concerns, so he didn't tell me anything."
Yun Ye thought about it, opened the door himself, and said to Ayi who was waiting in the courtyard: "Go and call housekeeper Li."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ayi replied, "Young Marquis, Steward Li has been here for a while and is waiting outside the courtyard."
"Call him in quickly."
"Yes."
Soon, Butler Li came in. The door to the main hall was closed again.
Yun Ye didn't beat around the bush and directly asked about the doubts in his mind about the ice cellar, "Butler Li, do you know what's so strange about the ice cellar in the basement of Duiyue Pavilion?"
Butler Li hesitated again and again, but finally said uncertainly: "I have a guess, but the truth needs to be verified."
Everyone looked at Butler Li, waiting for his next words.
Steward Li did not keep the secret and said quickly, "Some years ago, when the old marquis had just died, a rumor spread in the capital that before the Great Zhou army entered the city, the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion had robbed the residences of the major officials in the capital and seized countless gold and silver, making it rich enough to rival a country."
"Wait!" Rong Enqing interrupted, "Robbered the residences of the major officials in the capital? Didn't they say that no one died at that time? There was no war, no chaos, so how could they take advantage of the situation to rob?"
Steward Li wiped the sweat off his forehead awkwardly, and then said: "There was indeed no large-scale war at that time. But there was actually war in the city.
"At that time, the Great Zhou army was at the gates of the city. Some people advocated opening the city gates and surrendering, but naturally there were also people who disagreed.
"In the end, the two sides disagreed, fell out, and started fighting with their respective forces, each wanting to get rid of the other as soon as possible.
"At that time, the one who controlled all the military forces in the capital was the old marquis, and the one who truly controlled the overall situation was also the old marquis. When the two sides were arguing endlessly, the old marquis always maintained a neutral attitude. That's why both sides had an illusion that as long as they killed the other side, the old marquis would stand on their side."
Yun Ye couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "So, in the end, the faction that advocated opening the city gates and surrendering won?"
Steward Li wiped the sweat from his forehead again and said awkwardly, "No one won. Because the old marquis took the opportunity to kill them all! Not a single one was left alive!"