Rebirth: The flatterer prince I raised couldn't be so clingy

If Gu Qingzhi wants to make it within a month, she has to start taking action immediately.

Gao Ye needs to bring the evidence back to Jiangnan. The journey is long and it will take at least half a month to go back and forth, so there is not much time left for Gu Qingzhi.

Although she was very familiar with the security situation of the Prime Minister's Mansion, she still had to investigate it just in case.

Three days later, Feng Zhan Ye was called to talk to Zuo Xiang and his son, and she decided to take action that night.

The weather tonight was very cooperative, it was dark and windy, the moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, and a lot of snow had melted in the past few days, so the main house was pitch black everywhere.

Gu Qingzhi deliberately changed into women's clothes, wearing the dress of a maid in the prime minister's mansion, and hid in the purple bamboo forest near the south courtyard, closely observing the movements of the patrolling guards at all times.

The two places with the most guards in the entire Prime Minister’s Mansion are Zuo Fuhong’s bedroom and his study.

Zuo Fuhong's bedroom is in the east courtyard, and his study is in the south courtyard, connected by a road. It is not far, but not too close either.

There are four teams of guards who take turns on duty in the entire South Courtyard at night, with two people in a group responsible for patrolling the first and second half of the night.

There are three layers of guards around the study. The outermost layer is a team of prime minister's guards, the middle layer is two teams of palace soldiers, and the innermost layer is a circle of palace soldiers who are in strict control, with more than four teams of people.

The palace troops stationed in the Prime Minister's Mansion were granted by Emperor Yu himself. Many of them were former imperial guards, had fought in the battlefield and were experienced in fighting the enemy. This shows how much Emperor Yu relied on Zuo Fuhong.

You know, it is not an easy task for a mansion to maintain an army. Many princes and nobles do not have this right. Some military generals do, but that is because they train troops for the country. The Left Prime Minister is the only civil official who has a mansion army at home.

After watching Zuo Fuhong bring Feng Zhanye back to the East Courtyard with her own eyes, Gu Qingzhi waited for the patrolling guards to finish their final round before she straightened her clothes and walked towards the South Courtyard gate.

"Brother Guard, I am here to clean the inner room of the study."

Gu Qingzhi used the softest tone possible and bowed to the two guards at the gate.

Zuo Fuhong's study is generally not open to the public, but the inner room of the study needs to be cleaned on the first and fifteenth day of every month. Only on these two days can anyone approach the study.

Most people would sweep and dust in the early morning, but to be on the safe side, he deliberately set the cleaning time at night to prevent outsiders from sneaking into the study.

Today is the first day of the new year, the day for cleaning. Gu Qingzhi carried a small wooden bucket, clutched a rag in her hand, and looked at the gatekeeper with a timid look.

"who are you?"

The guard looked at her with disdain, and realizing she was a stranger, he began to question her.

"I am Aqing's younger sister, named Ayang. I just came into the mansion not long ago. My sister is not feeling well and did not go to work today, so I am here to replace her."

The guard suddenly took out a book from his bosom and started flipping through it.

"Yes, there is such a person. He just came at the end of last month. What is your sister's full name?"

The guard was extremely cautious and deliberately tricked Gu Qingzhi.

Seeing that the woman in front of him didn't speak for a long time, the guard immediately tensed up and his expression became a little fierce.

"What? You can't even remember your sister's name? Or you... don't know it at all?"

He stared down at Gu Qingzhi, and the next moment he reached out to grab Gu Qingzhi's shoulders, as if he wanted to arrest her like a thief.

Unexpectedly, Gu Qingzhi smiled and slowly uttered two words: "Xie Qing."

Her three days of investigation were not in vain. As early as when she left the Zuo Xiang's study late at night in her previous life, she inadvertently learned that there were such rules for cleaning the study. She also knew that the maid named Aqing was responsible for cleaning all year round.

This time she went to the North Courtyard specifically to check the records of the servants in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Aunt Qiruo had died, and the new steward was not so thorough, so she was able to see it smoothly.

When the guard heard her say the name accurately, he looked at her suspiciously and finally put his hand down.

"Go in. The study is a restricted area. Don't look around. Just do your own thing. Otherwise, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Gu Qingzhi also nodded obediently and walked into the yard with her head down.

She knew very well that as the prime minister of the current dynasty, Zuo Fuhong's study was undoubtedly the most confidential place in the entire prime minister's mansion.

In addition to numerous books, the study also contains countless government documents and court secrets, some of which may even be secret decrees bestowed by the emperor himself.

Therefore, the guards in the study were extremely strict, and she had to do everything she could to find the evidence she needed without arousing suspicion.

She was very familiar with the road to the South Courtyard. After walking for a while, she arrived in front of her the courtyard where the study was located. She could see the three layers of guards from afar.

Since she was wearing a maid's clothes and holding cleaning utensils in her hands, the guards did not make things difficult for her. They just asked her about her purpose and then let her into the inner room of the study.

Gu Qingzhi walked in and looked around the room. It was called the inner room of the study, but it was not inside the study. Instead, there was a door on one side of the study, and the other three sides were walls.

She lit a lantern and did some cleaning in front of the lantern for the soldiers outside to see. Then she crouched down, hid behind the lantern, and began to search everywhere.

Since it is an inner room, there must be a door leading to the study. However, there is only a table, a couch and two chairs in this inner room, and the rest of the walls are covered with calligraphy and paintings. There is really no trace of any mechanism at all.

She used the cleaning as an excuse to look through all the calligraphy and paintings. There was nothing hidden in the dark, just three white walls.

If it is not in the dark, then it must be in the light?

Gu Qingzhi stood in the middle of the room and looked around carefully again, finally her eyes fell on the two vases of flowers on both sides of the door.

She just kicked it casually and it was almost certain.

The lower half of the jar on the right side near the bed is empty.

Looking more closely, there is actually a narrow gap between the base and the body of the jar.

She reached out and twisted it hard, and the base began to turn. A slight loosening sound came from the wall behind her.

She looked back and saw a dent on the wall that had been tightly fitted.

However, this depression seems to have never been used by anyone, and there are no calligraphy or paintings around it, making it look very abrupt.

But now she had limited time and didn't have time to think too much, so she reached out and pushed the dent hard.

There was a "click" sound, followed by a dull sound, and the wall in front of him slowly moved to the left, revealing a dark space in a short while.

Gu Qingzhi used a fire to glean light inside and confirmed that there was no trap. She placed a stool against the entrance to prevent the wall from closing suddenly, and then stepped in.

The room was made of blue bricks all around and looked nothing like the study room she had visited in her previous life. It was built very crudely and there was nothing like a normal passage leading to a study room.

After walking a few steps, I reached the end. On the wall at the end, there was a line of small words written clearly.

"This road is for escape. If you are in danger, Lord Zuo Xiang, just walk along this road and you can escape from the inner room door."

This line of words seemed to be left by the builder for Zuo Fuhong. Gu Qingzhi accidentally opened the escape passage, which was a blessing in disguise.

She pushed the door at the end and it opened without much effort. The scene in front of her was extremely familiar to her, so familiar that she couldn't help but recall the feeling of suffocation like drowning.

This was the study room where the Left Prime Minister often met her in the previous life.