The Concubine Rui was never a good person. Relying on her own body, she had deceived countless men to reach her current position. However, in front of the Empress Dowager, she was vulnerable.
She thought to herself that she shouldn't have pinned her hopes on this woman in the first place. She might as well have stayed in the gilded cage prepared by Du Heng and enjoyed herself.
But it was no use regretting now. Things had come to this point, and she could only take things one step at a time. She just hoped that this woman would be smart.
"My loyalty to Your Ladyship is well - known to you. If I really wanted to betray you, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. Those people might have received some information. There are always a few days every year when some extra people suddenly appear in Jincheng. They are all those who are unwilling to give up."
"Alright, I'll believe you for now. By the way, they three rushed straight inside. Does it mean they've already found the location of the treasure?"
"Absolutely not. Only the people of our Qiao family can figure out the exact location of the treasure through that bracelet."
Her firm words still made Concubine Rui suspicious.
"No one can prove what you said. All those who knew about this back then are dead."
Mentioning this, Qiao Meng's face darkened. The person in front of her knew very well that the matter of her family was her Achilles' heel, yet still brought it up.
"Your Ladyship, can we stop talking about the past? I can swear to heaven that I've never betrayed you."
Seeing her change her expression, Concubine Rui knew she couldn't push things too far, so she just waved her hand.
"Alright, I got it. Then what should we do next? Just wait like this?"
"No, we'll follow them. They came to Jincheng at this time surely because of the treasure. If we follow them, we might find out the truth."
Coincidentally, Concubine Rui had always wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge, and her words just provided her with a chance.
"Fine, I'll reluctantly follow your advice. Let's go."
Qiao Meng always carried a kind of gu worm that could hide their auras. Thanks to this gu worm, after they entered the city, they didn't attract much attention. Instead, they smoothly followed Shi Muyuan.
At the inn, Shi Muyuan lay on the bed and always felt something was wrong.
"Xiao Xiao, do you feel like someone has been following us on the way?"
Hearing this, Xiao Xiao couldn't help laughing.
"Your Highness, you're being too sensitive. We're not here to do anything bad. Just focus on our business. I'll take care of everything. Even if there's something wrong, I won't let anyone hurt you."
Her words soothed Shi Muyuan's emotions. The young girl had no choice but to suppress the uneasiness in her heart. Maybe she was really overthinking.
The next day.
The three of them got up early. Originally, Xiao Xiao was going to go with them, but the spy planted by the Shi family came to report that something big had happened in the city and someone needed to go and discuss it.
Reluctantly, she had to go with them and handed her mistress over to that man, simply because he had vowed to protect her mistress.
...
The two of them set off. On the way, they encountered a lot of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. There were so many that Shi Muyuan began to think that the treasure must not be here.
"Did we make a mistake?"
"Definitely not. The map clearly shows that the treasure is here. It's not far from us."
"But why would the late emperor hide the treasure in such a dangerous place?"
"Hasn't Your Highness the Empress Dowager heard that the more dangerous the place, the safer it is?"
Hearing this, the young girl seemed to understand something.
"Old fox. It's really troublesome. Then how long will it take us to get there?"
She looked at Cui Qizhou wearily. Meanwhile, Concubine Rui was getting impatient.
"If we don't act soon, they'll be inside."
"In another stick of incense, we'll reach the treasure - hiding place. Your Ladyship, you can't rush to eat hot tofu. Don't worry. They definitely can't escape."
"What? Then why don't we act here? There's no one around anyway."
She was impatient because there were too many poisonous insects here.
"There must be traps inside the treasure place. Let them be our path - finders first."
Just as she finished speaking, Shi Muyuan and Cui Qizhou quickened their pace, and the two of them could only follow helplessly.
Finally, amidst Concubine Rui's complaints, they reached the destination.
Looking at the ordinary - looking big rock in front of them, Shi Muyuan suspected they had gone to the wrong place.
"Did we go the wrong way?"
"No, this is the right place. Your Highness the Empress Dowager, we just need a mechanism to get in. Let's look around to see if we can find it."
"Okay."
The two of them searched around for a long time. Finally, Shi Muyuan noticed something strange.
"This place feels soft. It's very strange when you step on it. How about we dig it up and have a try?"
They did as they said. The two of them took out their daggers and started digging. Before long, something like a mechanism appeared in front of them.
If it weren't for their strong self - control, they might have jumped up excitedly by now.
After opening the mechanism, they covered the soil back. Cui Qizhou watched the surroundings warily and chose to walk at the back.
"Hurry in."
Shi Muyuan didn't stand on ceremony with him. The two of them walked into the secret passage.
Only after entering did Shi Muyuan finally understand why so many people wanted to find this place.
It was resplendent everywhere. The walls were all made of gold at a glance. Gold, silver, and jewels were scattered all over the place. What others longed for seemed insignificant here.
Moreover, these gold, silver, and jewels were not that simple. The two of them knew that there must be more dangerous traps. These things were just a guise.
After exchanging a look, they split up and started looking for traps around.
Before long, Shi Muyuan stopped at a place. "I've found something."
Her face looked a bit grim. The man knew it might not be good news.
But he didn't expect the real situation to be much worse than he thought.
There were four mechanisms. Usually, only one was the way out, which put them in a passive situation.
"Should we try them one by one? Those mechanisms must be targeting us. We might even lose our lives here."
Shi Muyuan was right. Cui Qizhou was at a loss. He suddenly didn't know what decision to make. This always - wise man frowned tightly and suddenly regretted bringing her here for adventure.
If he had known earlier, he shouldn't have been so arrogant and should have brought more people.