Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 499 - 498: Airtight

The wall appeared ochre, and Zhu Yu scratched it hard with her hand, but only a tiny bit of debris fell off. She pinched the debris between her fingers and then knocked on it a few times with her fist, feeling more certain in her heart. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It’s rammed earth." She walked over to Lu Qing and told him, "In Shuo Land, rammed earth is generally made of lime, river sand, and yellow earth. The hardness after drying, and the texture of the debris, are similar to this.

I’ve seen people build houses with rammed earth, and I’ve seen earth kilns built with it, but I’ve never seen anyone use it to completely seal a room."

Lu Qing listened to Zhu Yu’s words, thought for a moment, and seemed to have formed his own judgment.

He said to Rune, "Go find a servant from the Great Priest Mansion and ask who sealed this place up initially."

Rune nodded and walked out quickly.

The guards, seeing Rune leave, were not entirely at ease with their group. The older one quickly nudged the person next to him, who understood and chased out after him.

Lu Qing, however, did not mind, standing there silently, waiting.

After a while, Rune and that guard came back, each leading an old man with a yellow face.

Although the old man’s clothes were plain in style, the material was unusually luxurious at a glance, indicating he wasn’t just an ordinary servant.

Once they reached them, Rune let go of his hand and said to Lu Qing, "This is the steward of the Great Priest Mansion. He was hiding and refused to come out earlier, so we found him and brought him directly."

Apparently, the guards had not been to the Great Priest Mansion before and did not recognize the steward. Hearing Rune’s statement and seeing a companion nodding to confirm, they quickly gathered around, ready to ask what was going on here.

But someone spoke up quicker than them.

"Let me ask you," Lu Qing stood with his hands behind his back in front of the steward, and although the veil of the hat hid his expression, his voice and tone were filled with an imposing force that made no room for negligence, "Who was responsible for constructing this place?"

The guards from the Fanwang Mansion, who initially wanted to question these matters, were so intimidated by the sheer presence of him that the words stuck in their throats and they ended up staring expectantly at the steward, waiting for his reply.

The Great Priest Mansion steward wasn’t familiar with Lu Qing’s identity nor did he recognize the few guards who arrived, but he was sharp enough to recognize the uniforms of the Fanwang Mansion guards. Seeing them silent, he was even more confused about their origin, feeling intuitively not to neglect them.

So he hastily replied, "To answer this lord, this is where our Great Priest cultivates, and naturally, it was constructed along with the Great Priest Mansion."

"Does the Great Priest have the ability to walk through walls and floors?"

"That... no..." The steward shook his head, realizing what Lu Qing meant, and explained, "After this place was completed, the Great Priest didn’t really use it much. This is his first time retreating for solitude...

So there were originally doors and windows, sealed from the outside by craftsmen during his retreat, with the instruction that, when he finishes, he would naturally break out from within without disturbing the earthen wall before he comes out..."

"Since there are doors and windows, let’s open this outer mud wall and go in to find someone!" urged a guard from the Prince Mansion upon hearing this.

"I’m merely a minor steward here; not even the protectors around the Great Priest dare defy his orders, and I’m helpless... My lords, this is indeed quite difficult for me..." the steward mumbled.

"Then where are the protectors of the Great Priest? Where are they?" Lu Qing asked.

"They are with the Great Priest, all in there retreating..." The steward pointed towards the room sealed with rammed earth, looking at the faces in front of him one by one, pleadingly.

Everyone here was sent by King Fan, and he dare not offend any. If obstructed, King Fan might behead him in anger.

Yet, after all, he was a person of the Great Priest Mansion, and if he simply let people in like this casually, what if King Fan’s matter eventually settled, would the Great Priest hold him accountable later?

The guards wanted to entangle over this matter further, but Lu Qing raised his hand to signal Rune and Fu Lu.

Rune and Fu Lu understood Lu Qing’s intent, lifting the steward from both sides and walked him outside, pushing him out beyond the moon gate, and then turning back without delay or further attention.

The steward had no intention to come inside, just kneeling outside the moon gate, shouting, "My lords, spare me, please do not disturb the Great Priest’s secluded cultivation!"

Zhu Yu saw this and realized, aware that although the steward was responsible for managing all big and small tasks within the Great Priest Mansion, he was actually not a trusted subordinate of the Great Priest, just an outsider essentially.

Thus, the steward needed a show to excuse himself from blame, and obviously, the foolish Prince Mansion guards did not understand this.

Fortunately, Lu Qing understood, helped the steward complete this performance.

Indeed, the steward just knelt outside crying, but showed no desire to come in and persuade.

Lu Qing was unsurprised, proceeding without hesitation, signaling Rune, Fu Lu, and those guards to begin.

They did not have the right tools at hand, so used their swords and sabers, fortunately having enough strength and sturdy weapons. In no time, they managed to make a breach in what was initially a seamless rammed earth wall.

Looking through the breach, the inner side of the rammed earth wall was indeed another wall, built with bluish stone bricks, seemingly very sturdy just at a glance.

Seeing this, everyone had no more hesitation, and two guards even went out to bring in a segment of a tree trunk, lifting it among them to smash into the rammed earth wall.

Indeed, the efficiency increased more than a little with this new method.

Rune and Fu Lu didn’t join the smashing, instead standing aside waiting for the guards to break through the earthen wall.

Zhu Yu frowned, looking at the gradually cracking, revealing the thickness of the rammed earth wall.

This wasn’t just a thin layer but a whole foot thick!

Never mind the hardness making even these fairly robust guards need to use a log to batter it, could the Great Priest and his protectors possibly have the strength to break through from within.

And simply considering such a thick mud wall, sealing the entire room airtight... wouldn’t the people inside need to breathe?