Li Zhao stroked Jiang Mian's head and said with a smile,
"How could we use your money for our wedding? You don't need to worry about money as a junior. Later, you two come with me. There are some things you should know."
Seeing Li Zhao's insistence, Jiang Mian had no choice but to give up.
But she couldn't help feeling a bit curious.
Where was her father taking her and her mother?
This was a matter of the Li family, so Taoist Yuan Zheng didn't get involved. After breakfast, he told Li Zhao and Jiang Mian and then went out. He found a bustling market, set up a small flag that read "Divine Prediction", and happily strolled around Luozhou City.
He had his own way of making money.
On the other hand, Li Zhao led Jiang Mian and Jiang Zhiqing towards the east courtyard of the Li Mansion.
In the bright sunlight, the well - swept Li Mansion had a kind of withered and serene beauty. Jiang Mian followed her parents, passing through one covered corridor after another and one flower - hung gate after another.
Whether it was the reliefs on the courtyard walls or the Taihu stones everywhere, they all matched the scenes in her dreams. She had a feeling and guessed that they were going to Li Zhao's former courtyard, Wen Tao Courtyard. Sure enough, in a short while, their family arrived at the outside of Wen Tao Courtyard.
The two vermilion gates of Wen Tao Courtyard had many traces of sword and saber slashes, which showed that there had been a very fierce fight here.
It was easy to guess that back then, the King of Chu had decreed to execute the entire Li family, and the ultimate goal was to take Li Bingjun's life.
Standing in front of the folding fan - shaped gate, Jiang Zhiqing was more emotionally affected than Jiang Mian.
This place carried not only the pain of her parting from Li Zhao but also the little moments of their past days together.
Li Zhao stood outside the gate, looking up at the three characters "Wen Tao Courtyard" for a moment, and then said gently, "Let's go. Let's go in."
Jiang Mian nodded and stepped into the courtyard with the two of them.
Like the gate, this courtyard was the most severely damaged. Li Zhao didn't stop to feel sad about the damaged scenery. He led his wife and daughter into the former study.
The study had already been emptied by the people of the King of Chu. The shelves were empty, with nothing left.
But Jiang Zhiqing remembered that it used to be filled with books and paintings, and he had even painted many portraits of her here.
Li Zhao walked to the innermost wall of the study. He stretched out his hand and carefully explored the wall. Finally, he stopped at a certain place. He took out the dagger he had prepared and scraped off the wall plaster with it. Then, a different - looking brick wall appeared in front of the two of them.
Jiang Mian was stunned. "This is..."
Li Zhao inserted the dagger into the crack of the wall and easily pried open the brick. Then, a hole that one had to bend down to pass through appeared!
There was actually a hidden world inside!
Jiang Zhiqing also didn't expect there to be such a secret here. She let out a soft cry and covered her mouth. "My lord, what's going on?"
Putting away the dagger, Li Zhao smiled. "Back then, my second uncle secretly and openly tried to harm me, intending to take the title of the head of the Li family from me. Grandmother had already noticed this."
"After discussing with grandmother, on the surface, I let my second aunt take charge of the household affairs. In fact, it was a strategic retreat. I used an alias and gradually occupied the Li family's fields and shops, quietly transferring one - third of the Li family's wealth. Finally, grandmother took back the household management from my second aunt on the grounds of poor management."
"Those house deeds, land deeds, as well as gold, silver and jewelry are actually sealed inside."
When mentioning the old Lady Li, Li Zhao was full of grief.
"Grandmother and I had already planned that when we found a suitable opportunity, we would send my second uncle and second aunt away on some pretext so that they could never return to Luozhou."
"It's just that I didn't expect that my second uncle first secretly framed the Zhang family to harm Ying Niang. Then, while I was in a great mood swing and running around looking for Ying Niang's whereabouts, he reported me to the King of Chu. He probably never thought that although we all had the surname Li, the only way to eliminate the threat posed by the Li family was to completely eradicate the Li family from this world."
Jiang Mian came back to her senses, stepped forward and held Li Zhao's hand, comforting him. "Father, it's all in the past."
Jiang Zhiqing also said, "Yes, my lord, it's all in the past."
The comfort from his wife and daughter made Li Zhao feel better. He nodded. "Yes, it's all in the past. Let's go. Let's go in and take a look."
Picking up the fallen candles and lamp holders on the ground, Li Zhao lit them with a fire starter. Then, he led Jiang Mian and Jiang Zhiqing into the hole.
The candles in their hands illuminated the path around them. It could be seen that this was an underground passage dug downward. A musty smell that had been precipitated over the years came from the ground.
It was dark all around, and there was an inexplicable sense of eeriness. But with Li Zhao and Jiang Zhiqing by her side, Jiang Mian didn't feel scared.
After walking down for a while, the surroundings became more spacious. Li Zhao lit the torches prepared on the wall according to his memory, and the whole space was illuminated.
The mountains of wooden boxes made Jiang Mian gasp.
Li Zhao used the dagger to cut open the seals on the wooden boxes and opened them one by one in front of the two of them. The white silver, the golden gold, and the dazzling jewelry almost hurt the eyes of Jiang Mian and Jiang Zhiqing.
In addition to these physical items, there were also silver notes from various banks, house deeds, and land deeds...
Even though this was only one - third of the Li family's wealth, it was still a considerable fortune.
It could be said that it was completely enough for them to buy a mansion in the capital that was no less grand than the Li family's mansion, buy a hundred servants, change into new clothes and jewelry every day, eat big fish and meat every meal, and live a luxurious life for two generations.
Li Zhao looked back at Jiang Mian and smiled. "Well, do you still want to use your little bit of silver to hold a wedding for your parents now?"
Compared with the silver in this secret room, her two hundred taels were probably not even a fraction!
She finally understood why Li Zhao had been wandering in Dasheng for nearly twenty years, looking like a beggar, but still had silver to buy wine. It turned out that he still had so much wealth in his hands.
Jiang Mian touched her nose and moved closer to Li Zhao. "So, Father, are we suddenly rich?"
She didn't hide her love for those gold, silver, and jewelry at all. Li Zhao and Jiang Zhiqing exchanged a smile and stroked her head. "Yes, our family is extremely rich. When we get to the capital, you can be a proper young lady of the Li family with peace of mind, and your mother can be a proper Lady Li. Don't think about selling embroidery or opening a medical clinic to supplement the family income anymore."
"Of course, if you really like opening a medical clinic to treat people, Father won't object either." Li Zhao's voice was gentle, and his eyes were full of affection.
"Father's hibiscus can do whatever she wants as long as she likes."
After leaving the secret room and sealing the entrance again, as she walked back to the Moon - Embracing Pavilion with her parents, Jiang Mian's steps were much lighter.
She was now looking forward to the new life in the capital more and more!