Chapter 494: Chapter 478 Secret Intelligence Bureau
“Fine, I’m getting tired. You may leave now.”
The young Emperor dismissed the old eunuch and lay down directly on the Dragon Couch.
Meanwhile, Ying Yi, carrying a pinhole camera and an Eavesdropper given by Lin Yi, sneaked into the old eunuch’s room and quickly installed them.
“Sir, there’s a new discovery in the surveillance. Please come to the attic.”
At some point, Ying Yi had returned.
Hearing Ying Yi’s voice, the young Emperor suddenly lost all sense of sleepiness and went to the attic to check the surveillance with Lin Yi’s assistance.
“Your Majesty, we’ve found out—Su Rui handed another account book over to the Eighth Prince’s confidant in court—Huang Jian from the Warehouse Department of the Ministry of War.”
Yet behind Huang Jian was Huang Zhenhu, the general guarding the reserves in the National Treasury at Yuquan Mountain, who possessed one of the ten Death Exemption Tokens.
Huang Jian’s position in the Ministry of War was very inconspicuous because any decision he had to make required the permission of his superiors—the Director of the Ministry of War, the Assistant Minister of War, and the Minister of War.
Thus, the Fourth Prince had never paid any attention to Huang Jian.
Ying Yi had followed Huang Jian outside the palace and found that he frequently visited the oldest Zhang Family grain shop in the Imperial City.
It was known that when the late Emperor was alive, the Zhang Family grain shop had been the largest in the Imperial City, but somehow it had gradually declined.
Only its ancient reputation remained.
“Besides the connection with Huang Jian, have there been any other discoveries regarding Su Rui?” The young Emperor suddenly felt that this web might be larger than he had thought.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Su Rui’s sister was once taken as a concubine by the Eighth Prince, but she mysteriously died within a year.”
“This unsavory incident was suppressed by the Eighth Prince.”
The young Emperor’s eyes darkened thoughtfully as he continued,
“Investigate Huang Jian and the Zhang Family grain shop.”
At this moment, Lin Yi was adjusting the monitoring equipment while pondering Ying Yi’s words.
“Did we trace the source of the Wordless Heavenly Scripture?”
Ying Yi regretfully shook his head.
“I followed the two new Du Tongs out of the city for a whole day without finding anything unusual, aside from knowing that the Wordless Heavenly Scripture eventually ended up with the old eunuch, and did not discover where the scripture came from.”
Initially, when Lin Yi had first selected the two new Du Tongs, he had secretly sent people to follow and investigate them.
But a week had passed, and the embroideresses of the Secret Intelligence Bureau were proficient enough to work independently, yet the two new Du Tongs had not shown any flaws.
“Heh, it seems they are well hidden. The problem seems to be with the two Du Tongs—look into them carefully.”
Lin Yi’s instinct told him that the two new Du Tongs had never shown any gratitude for his support, which was extraordinarily abnormal.
You see, any official in court, if given a bit of help or flattery by Lin Yi, would certainly be overflowing with gratitude.
“It’s also strange to say, the three previous Du Tongs mysteriously fell ill and were moved out of their original lodgings, and from then on, were completely ignored.”
Lin Yi keenly noticed that the phrase “moved out” was not simple.
“When were they moved out, and why hasn’t this been mentioned before?”
“They were moved out the night after the incident, and then the two new Du Tongs moved in.
At this point, the young Emperor realized something was amiss; such a huge event had occurred, and the two new Du Tongs just moved in as if nothing had happened. It was a seamless transition.
Moreover, it was unreasonable that the court didn’t have a dedicated residence for the Du Tongs of the Secret Intelligence Bureau. According to custom, after court, they should each return to their respective homes.
Thinking of this, Lin Yi suddenly slapped his thigh.
“This Secret Intelligence Bureau is indeed a Secret Intelligence Bureau!”
“Secret Intelligence Bureau?”
The young Emperor and Ying Yi looked at Lin Yi, puzzled.
Lin Yi explained that the Secret Intelligence Bureau was a confidential place for exchanging, processing, issuing, and receiving intelligence.
And the Wordless Heavenly Scripture is very likely to have originated from there.
“Conduct a thorough investigation into this matter for me!”
“As you command, Your Majesty!”
Three key suspects have now been clearly identified: the Zhang Family grain shop, Huang Jian, and the residence of the Du Tong.
A sliver of murderous intent flashed in Ying Yi’s eyes, never expecting that beyond the city walls, such a mystery was hidden.
Just then, the sound of static crackled through Lin Yi’s surveillance equipment.
It was the sound of the old eunuch alone in his room.
“What a useless curs, can’t even deliver a message without screwing up, and today the Wordless Heavenly Scripture couldn’t be received!”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi was immediately stunned. According to the surveillance, it was true that the new Du Tong had arranged for the new eunuch from the Imperial Kitchen to collect the Wordless Heavenly Scripture today.
And indeed, the young eunuch had left with the Wordless Heavenly Scripture hidden in his meal box.
“Alas, to think that the young Emperor has grown up so fast. Oh, my dear master, I don’t know how much longer this old servant’s body can wait for you.”
This was indeed an astonishing amount of information. Just as Lin Yi and others were holding their breath to continue listening, there was suddenly a sound of a collision.
Then came a series of intermittent noises.
“Hmph, what Ruyi Jade Pendant? Our house has seen no shortage of rare treasures.”
The little Emperor gritted his teeth in anger, not expecting the old eunuch to throw away the Ruyi Jade Pendant he had given as soon as he returned to his room!
“It seems that I have indeed underestimated you. But who in the end is this old fox serving?”
Regarding the question, neither Lin Yi nor Ying Yi dared to jump to conclusions.
“Do not worry, my Queen,” Lin Yi reassured, “the old fox’s room is also equipped with pinhole cameras and Eavesdroppers. We will definitely capture every move he makes.”
However, Lin Yi had still underestimated the old eunuch.
When he prepared to check the footage from the pinhole camera, he discovered that the old eunuch was not sleeping in the bed.
Ying Yi also felt something was off and carefully inspected every corner in the surveillance, but they couldn’t see the old eunuch at all.
Furthermore, the sound had disappeared at the same time.
Checking the camera outside the room facing the doorway also revealed no sign of the old eunuch leaving.
“Hehe, I understand now.”
Ying Yi chuckled coldly for no apparent reason, guessing what it might be.
“The old eunuch’s room has a basement or a secret chamber.”
“It seems that pinhole cameras and listening devices aren’t of much use against this old fox,” Lin Yi said, somewhat disappointed.
But the little Emperor didn’t think so; as long as the Eavesdropper was in place, something was bound to be discovered, even if the old eunuch didn’t stay in this room.
“Let it be for now, it might come in handy later.”
Having said that, the little Emperor wanted to go downstairs, as the air was getting a bit stuffy up in the tower.
At this moment, the Eavesdropper transmitted the sound of the Fourth Prince and his consort exercising, a series of rhythmic sounds that rose and fell.
The little Emperor and Ying Yi instantly blushed to their ears.
“Go go go, turn off that sound immediately. If my ears are sullied, I will award you with a severe beating.”
The little Emperor covered his ears, never expecting the Fourth Imperial Uncle to start exercising in the middle of the day, wondering if the old bones could still handle it.
But Lin Yi was reluctant to turn off the sound, feeling that he hadn’t listened enough.
Especially when those familiar melodies played, he, too, wanted to exercise and keep fit.
Now that the little Emperor was with child, it was not appropriate for him to exercise, so he turned his gaze to Ying Yi.
Ying Yi was looking down, her aloof face quietly flushed with two splotches of red, like a drooping rose in full bloom.
With the melody just heard still echoing in his ears, Lin Yi could hardly wait.
“Your Majesty, I can’t wait any longer, I beg for your indulgence.”