The Dandy's Duchess

Chapter 140: Full Force Applied (5)

The two of them fell heavily to the ground, with Yun Qianyue pressing down on Rongjing, which was a bit better for him. Rongjing let out a muffled groan.

"Sure enough, you're a delicate beauty, unable to withstand even a weak woman," Yun Qianyue teased Rongjing without feeling embarrassed.

"You, weak woman, are heavier than anyone else. You must be too fat; you should eat and sleep less in the future!" Rongjing retorted.

"You truly are a venomous tongue. It's easy to change the country, but hard to change one's nature," Yun Qianyue said, struggling to rise from Rongjing's body. She straightened up and glanced at him before weakly walking toward the Buddha statues they had rolled in from earlier. If her guess was correct, there should be two doors here—one that was currently being opened by Qian Yan at the order of Ye Tianqing, and another that was the one she and Rongjing had entered through.

Rongjing chuckled and brushed off the dust from his clothes before standing up as well. His legs felt equally weak.

At that moment, the outside made two more cracking noises, and the wall shook slightly.

"Have you cracked it?" Ye Tianqing's excited voice came from outside.

"Your Highness, just wait a moment longer; I can crack it soon," Qian Yan's voice seemed to carry a hint of excitement.

"Hey, you go and make sure that the wall door doesn't open; just delay it for a moment," Yun Qianyue, now at the Buddha statues, turned to Rongjing and said.

"I can't do that!" Rongjing shook his head.

"Aren't you supposed to be the greatest genius? Useless!" Yun Qianyue glared at Rongjing.

"Even the greatest genius isn't skilled at everything," Rongjing replied, unfazed.

"Then you open this mechanism. We just came in from here; you should be able to open it!" Yun Qianyue turned back to the cracking wall, wondering if she could hold it off for a moment.

"Okay!" Rongjing nodded and walked toward the Buddha statues.

They switched places. Yun Qianyue approached the wall where Ye Tianqing and the others were waiting outside, carefully examining it. Suddenly, she exclaimed, "So it was this simple! Qian Yan has been at it for half a day and still hasn't opened it—what a waste! What a farce for the so-called greatest family of concealed weapons and mechanisms!"

As she spoke, she lightly tapped the wall twice, and the cracking sounds immediately ceased. The shaking wall became motionless again, and she turned to walk back toward the Buddha statues.

Rongjing stood in front of the Buddha statues, looking at her, seemingly unfazed by Yun Qianyue's abilities. He smiled faintly, "It's not that the greatest family of concealed weapons is incompetent; it's just that you're more skilled in this area."

"Of course! I told you I was a genius long ago. Talent is born in me; I learn without effort," Yun Qianyue replied proudly, raising an eyebrow as she began to study the row of Buddha statues before her. She quickly found a way. After all, when she and Rongjing had rolled in, there were traces of dust that made it easier to locate. She walked over and pressed a few times at the feet of two statues, and a silent door opened behind them. She waved at Rongjing, "Hurry, help me move these statues inside and hide them."

Rongjing looked at the statues and then at Yun Qianyue, shaking his head. "I can't move them!"

"You have to move them even if you can't!"" Yun Qianyue gritted her teeth. Each of these statues weighed several hundred pounds, and there were twelve of them, making it quite difficult. But she felt it was necessary.

"I'm at my limit; I really can't move them," Rongjing shook his head again. "Forget it!"

"Are you even a man? You can't give up!" Yun Qianyue shouted at him, "Hurry up! We'll move them together."

Rongjing had no choice but to approach a statue, extending his hands. He felt completely weak, struggling just to walk, let alone move something weighing hundreds of pounds. His hands rested on the statue, staring at the heavy figure without making any progress.

"Truly useless!" Yun Qianyue huffed, moving to another statue to try to lift it herself. She thought she would surely be stronger than this cold-hearted guy and have some inner strength left, but she was wrong. She found that she had no inner energy left at all. The remaining true energy felt like a stone sinking into the sea; she couldn't muster a shred of it. She immediately released her hold and began practicing Tai Chi's thirteen forms. After completing the entire set, her dantian still showed no signs of life, and her expression fell. "It's over; I've lost my powers."

"Yes, we're in the same boat." Rongjing nodded, his phoenix eyes seeming to hold a hint of amusement.

"Ah, no! I need this gold! If I don't take it today, I'll be thinking about it later, and I won't sleep well. If Ye Tianqing takes it to offer to the old emperor, and the emperor puts it in the treasury, I won't be able to help myself from trying to steal it back," Yun Qianyue paced back and forth in front of the statues.

"I really didn't realize you loved money so much!" Rongjing shook his head in resignation, watching the row of Buddha statues. "Why don't you try to see if you can activate the mechanism to let these statues move into that door automatically?"

"Right!" Yun Qianyue perked up again.

As soon as Rongjing finished speaking, Yun Qianyue stopped pacing and leaned against a statue, studying it. The first statue, the second statue, the third statue... She moved through several statues without finding any way to manipulate them. But she wasn't anxious, meticulously checking each one, feeling and poking to ensure she didn't miss a single detail.

Rongjing watched her with a smile, shaking his head as he followed her, observing her thorough inspection.

At that moment, outside, Qian Yan suddenly let out a surprised "Eh?"

Ye Tianqing's puzzled voice followed, "What's going on? Weren't you supposed to crack it? Why has it suddenly stopped moving?"

"I'm not too sure either; logically, the method I used should have worked. I did find the mechanism opening just now," Qian Yan said, astonished. Seeing Ye Tianqing about to get angry, he quickly added, "Let me study it for a moment longer; perhaps the opening I found earlier was incorrect. This mechanism is set up very intricately."

"Amitabha! Your Highness, please wait a moment! We've been waiting so long; what's a little more time? Qian Yan is indeed trying his best. This mechanism was reportedly set up by a remarkable person during the reign of the founding emperor a hundred years ago. For Qian Yan to crack it in such a short time is indeed very difficult," Master Lingyin chanted a Buddhist verse and advised Ye Tianqing.

Ye Tianqing fell silent, staring at the tightly closed stone door, his expression deep and complex. If it were true that he and Rongjing had fallen here, then it had already been three and a half days, which meant they had been together for three and a half days... He clenched his hand tightly in his sleeve.