The two of them made their way to the vicinity of the National Treasury.
Ever since they, as husband and wife, had plundered the Treasury clean a year ago, Emperor Shunwu, no matter how capable he was, would not have been able to collect as much wealth and store it inside in such a short time.
One could say that the current National Treasury was merely a facade.
Especially during this period when the Empress had seized power, she would undoubtedly have set her sights on the wealth inside the Treasury, and surely there would be nothing of much value left within.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the guards around the National Treasury were much more lax compared to before.
When they had emptied the Treasury previously, they did not conceal the secret passage upon leaving.
After Emperor Shunwu discovered that the Treasury had been robbed, and that the thieves had entered through the secret passage, he would have certainly sent men to seal it off.
However, with the palace under such heavy guard currently, they could only come here to try their luck and seek an opportunity.
Guards patrolled the area surrounding the National Treasury, but it was in the form of two teams alternating their rounds.
Mo Jiuye observed for a while and realized that there would be a brief moment when the entrance to the Treasury was out of the guards' line of sight.
However, this window of time was extremely short - according to the clock hanging in his wife's spatial abode, it lasted only about a minute or so.
In other words, if they wanted to enter the National Treasury undetected, they would have to pick the lock and get inside within that one minute.
He Zhiran had also noticed this opportunity.
"Husband, leave the lock on the door to me."
She was not unfamiliar with lock-picking, having learned some basic skills from her comrades in the army in her previous life.
The locks from ancient times could not compare to modern, high-tech counterparts, and their mechanisms were quite simple. She was confident she could open it successfully.
Even if she failed, it would not matter – she and Mo Jiuye could simply retreat into her spatial abode when the guards appeared.
In any case, as long as they ensured their safety, it did not matter if they needed to try a few more times.
Mo Jiuye knew his wife was capable, so he nodded without any doubt.
"Alright, let's take advantage of this opening to try. If it doesn't work, we'll retreat into your space immediately."
No sooner had he finished speaking, the timing coincided with the guards' line of sight being obstructed from the entrance. Mo Jiuye swiftly approached the door with He Zhiran.
She had already taken out a thin iron wire from her spatial abode.
With a few casual flicks of the wire inside the keyhole, the lock was opened.
The two of them dared not make a sound. Mo Jiuye opened the large doors of the National Treasury just wide enough for the two of them to slip through, then gently closed them after entering.
It was still night, and the guards did not notice the missing lock head as long as the doors appeared closed. No issues arose.
As expected, there were pitiful few items stored inside, and at first glance, nothing seemed particularly valuable.
Even so, He Zhiran did not intend to leave anything behind.
Although these belongings were considered property of the National Treasury, Emperor Shunwu had never used this wealth to benefit the people. She felt no guilt in pillaging everything.
To clear out what little remained in the now mostly empty Treasury was a simple task for He Zhiran, just a matter of walking through and taking it all.
Since they had taken so many night pearls the last time, only a few dim oil lamps provided illumination inside the Treasury today. But this did not impair their vision at all.
Mo Jiuye led He Zhiran back to the entrance of the secret passage they had used to infiltrate the Treasury previously, and as expected, it had been destroyed.
He Zhiran surveyed the former entrance and asked, "Husband, since the secret passage is gone, what should we do?"
Mo Jiuye did not become discouraged by the destroyed entrance.
"Actually, that secret passage entrance was an escape route intentionally set up by the royal family."
To He Zhiran, it was not surprising at all that the royal family would have an escape route prepared, as she knew from history that many emperors, fearing unexpected circumstances, would arrange for escape paths to be constructed for themselves.
In other words, the route Mo Jiuye had used to bring her into the National Treasury was actually an escape tunnel excavated on the orders of a previous Da Shun Dynasty emperor.
"If it was an escape tunnel, only the royal family should have known about it. How did you find it?"
This was the question Mo Jiuye was about to explain.
"When I was first sent to the palace as Nan Qi's study companion, since we were not familiar with each other at that time and he was arrogant, he bullied me after I arrived. I ran off alone and somehow ended up here by chance.
It was then that I accidentally discovered the entrance to that secret chamber."
So that was how Mo Jiuye had known about the secret passage. With his formerly loyal character, he naturally would not have revealed such a big secret.
When he had brought He Zhiran to plunder the National Treasury, it must have been because he was enraged beyond his limit by Emperor Shunwu's actions.
As Mo Jiuye recounted this, he and He Zhiran did not idle.
Neither of them believed that Emperor Shunwu would dare destroy the royal family's escape tunnel.
At most, he had likely just changed the entrance location.
Mo Jiuye was very familiar with the structure of that secret passage, especially the location of the palace entrance, which could not stray far from the National Treasury area.
The two slowly walked through the Treasury, carefully feeling for any abnormalities underfoot.
After a while, He Zhiran stopped Mo Jiuye.
"Husband, I sense the bricks under my feet seem a bit loose."
Mo Jiuye crouched down to inspect it.
The bricks surrounding where He Zhiran was standing had faint gaps visible.
To confirm this suspicion, she intentionally pressed down with force.
Sure enough, the bricks under her feet shook slightly.
He Zhiran quickly stepped aside, and Mo Jiuye took out a sharp dagger, positioning the tip at one of the gaps and applying some force. The brick easily came loose, revealing a dark hole.
Mo Jiuye inwardly sneered. Emperor Shunwu really thought he was so clever, assuming the secret passage would cease to exist just by changing the entrance?
Of course, he would not let his guard down just because they had found the passage so quickly.
After all, the National Treasury had already been plundered once. If no countermeasures had been implemented, this secret passage would truly hold no value.
He Zhiran had the same thought, so although they had found the passage entrance, neither of them rashly went inside.
With a thought, she retrieved a cotton blanket from her spatial abode and tossed it down.
As soon as the blanket entered, they heard a continuous whirring sound from below, indicating that Emperor Shunwu had indeed deployed hidden crossbow traps here.
After the sounds gradually ceased, He Zhiran still did not feel at ease and threw another blanket in a different direction.
Repeating this process four times with no further sounds of crossbows triggered, Mo Jiuye finally descended first.
