The Wife Is First / 妻为上 (You Own My All)

Chapter 61: Chamber of Secrets

The study was also a mess; even the paperweights on the desk and the dish for washing pens had been looted.

Mu Hanzhang went to a painting hanging on the wall and smoothed down the damaged portion. When he had a clearer view of the painting, he couldn't help but feel it was a great pity. "Zhuo Sui Sanren's painting, worth thousands of gold, was actually ruined just like this."

When Jing Shao went closer for a look, he couldn't see what was so special about it; it was just a landscape painting of some mountains and water. Seeing that he didn't understand, Mu Hanzhang explained in a warm tone.

Zhuo Shui Sanren was one of the sixteen Sanren* in the dynasty before the previous one. (*Sanren, seem to be freelancers or like independent scholars/artists)

During this period, the reverence toward calligraphy and painting was the highest it had ever been since ancient times, and these sixteen Sanren were the most excellent at them. They often studied painting and calligraphy together, but due to the chaos of war at the end of this period, few of their paintings survived.

Mu Hanzhang took down the already deteriorating picture scroll and carefully rolled it up. When they went back, he would find an expert to glue it back together; maybe it could be restored to its original condition. "This painting is far more valuable than any precious jewels. Why didn't the Southwest King take it with him?"

"The Southwest King of this generation is illiterate. Come with me." Jing Shao took his Wang Fei to a small corner that had been partitioned off.

The study of a rich family always had a small area like this with a bed or divan for daily rest, and this study was no exception. It was just that this area was quite small and there was only one bed. The bed was a mess, and even the jade pieces on the pillow had been plucked off. It looked rather bare.

"The servants in the southwest palace must have taken a lot of things." Mu Hanzhang looked at the pull rope for the curtain, which was missing its golden hook.

"When the tree falls and the monkeys scatter, everyone has to find a way to survive." Jing Shao laughed and tore down the whole curtain to reveal a rough wall.

Jing Shao jumped onto the bed and said to the man behind him, "Jun Qing, move back."

Mu Hanzhang withdrew from the area as per Jing Shao's words, then saw Jing Shao lift his leg to kick the uneven wall hard.

The wall crumbled under the kick to create a large hole as wooden shards were sent flying. Mu Hanzhang realized that the wall was made of wood, but a thin layer of brick had been laid over its surface. When the dust cleared, it seemed to reveal a room  through the hole, but it was dark and Mu Hanzhang couldn't really see anything clearly.

Jing Shao took out his firestarter and lit the candlestick that was on the table. He squeezed into the hole first and quickly lit the candle that was in the room before he reached out to help his Wang Fei inside.

Mu Hanzhang looked at the small room in front of him. It had no windows, and should be a secret room. A black Buddha statue five chi tall was displayed on a raised platform, and underneath it were some praying mats. In the middle of the room was a square bronze cauldron and wooden shelves lined the walls. Many things on the shelves had already disappeared. However, there were still four or five picture scrolls in a porcelain barrel, several long boxes still lay on the wooden shelves, and some scattered jewels were still embedded in the bronze cauldron, though there were broken pearls and jade shards everywhere.

Jing Shao went over to the wooden shelves and looked through the long boxes. All of them were very old, and there were all kinds of exquisite daggers and swords in them. One of the boxes was pressed down at the very bottom. The box was very shabby. When opened, it contained a weapon that already looked rusty. It appeared to be a narrow or short sword. Seeing this, Jing Shao couldn't help but feel relieved. Fortunately, in this life, the Southwest King was still one who didn't know what was truly good.