As Lin Xiao expected, this time the chief executive invited them to a banquet, and the place he chose was the Government House, which was the former Hong Kong Governor's Mansion.

The original Governor's House consisted of a main building built in the neoclassical style, which has been added and modified by successive governors of Hong Kong Island since its completion.

The largest addition before the war was the expansion of the East Wing, which was designed and completed in just three years, and was mainly used as a venue for social events, which is now known as the Ballroom.

The east wing is similar in size to the main building, connected by a covered staircase, with a ballroom on the upper floor and a dining room on the lower floor.

During the Japanese occupation, the Governor of Hong Kong, Ryosuke Isoya, did not live in the Governor's House, but he still used it as the Governor's Mansion and made large-scale renovations.

The 26-year-old Japanese architect Fujimura Shoichi was in charge of the renovation plan, and the main addition was the central Japanese-style tower, which was added between the two original buildings to connect the two buildings; The roof was changed to a Japanese-style tiled roof and stone pillar wall decorations were modified to dilute the European flavor of the building; The interior is equipped with a Japanese-style sliding door and a tatami mat table, and a tea room is added.

Despite the shortage of materials during the Japanese occupation, the renovation was completed in 1944, turning the Governor's Mansion into an Oriental mansion that it is now looking at.

In 1945, Japan announced its surrender, and on September 16 of the same year, the ceremony of signing the instrument of surrender was held at the Hong Kong Governor's Office.

In 1946, Governor Yeung moved back to the residence, dismantling the Japanese-style fixtures and converting them into four bedrooms and bathrooms.

The next Governor, Alexander Graham, added panels to the walls of the room, added a fireplace, added a balcony, installed independent air conditioning, and installed two stone lions at the entrance to the porch of the main building.

Governor MacLehose carried out a large-scale renovation of the Governor's House, replacing the roof, installing central air-conditioning in the banquet hall for the first time, and building a waist-shaped swimming pool in the garden. Expansion of staff quarters and addition of housekeeper quarters in style to match the main building.

"Over the past 160 years, the Governor's House has undergone a number of major renovation projects, each of which has added a new stamp to its history, and the Government House today is no longer what it was originally looking like, but a unique blend of different architectural styles." Lin Qingya, as an escort tonight, has been following Lin Xiao and Han Ya, and by the way, she has introduced the situation here.

After all, Lin Xiao and the others are not very familiar with this place, especially the interests of Hong Kong Island people and some particular aspects, which are very different from the mainland, so Lin Qingya was entrusted by the chief executive to accompany them specially to save any jokes.

"Is the Government House open to the public now?" Lin Xiao asked with some curiosity.

"Under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, Government House has been designated as a monument and is now a venue for important official events between the Chief Executive and the HKSAR Government, such as banquets for heads of state and honours and award ceremonies." "The Government House Garden is open six times a year and is free for the public to visit. Open days are usually held on weekends, and one of them is scheduled in the spring to allow the public to enjoy the azaleas and heather planted in the house. Citizens usually pass by the living room, dining room, and banquet hall to visit these places where important official events are often held. ”

"Oh, that's right." Concubine Han nodded after hearing this, and then said, "I heard that the koi pond here is very famous, I don't know where it is?" ”

"It's in the courtyard outside, but the guests have already arrived, and I'll take you around when I'm done eating." Lin Qingya replied.

It is said that the koi fish at Government House are raised by the Chief Executive himself, so during the opening hours, visitors are eager to see the legendary koi with their own eyes.

However, because the location of the koi pond is relatively narrow and shallow, this part is not open, and if you want to see the koi, you naturally need to find opportunities at other times.

Although Lin Xiao and the others didn't necessarily think that the koi fish were good-looking, but since they had already come to the Government House, of course they would think of this matter and ask casually.

Lin Qingya is a local, and she has a good understanding of the situation of the Government House, that is, the Governor's Palace.

According to her, there have been various folk legends about the architecture of the Government House, the most famous of which is that the Government House has a secret underground passage that connects to the Central Government Headquarters, the head office of HSBC, and even the former British military base on the Tamar ship.

Although these are all rumors, they are obviously not groundless, and it was not until 2009, after a TV program produced by Hong Kong Island Radio was broadcast, and through a search of documents, it was confirmed that the secret passage did exist.

"After verification, it was found that there was indeed an underground passage leading to the vicinity of the Hong Kong Island Special Administrative Region Government Headquarters at Albert Road in Central, which was at least 310 metres long, ranging from 1.2 metres to 3.4 metres in width, about 2 metres in height, and was equipped with a lighting system." "The exit is located next to Lower Albert Road, just across the road from the Government Headquarters, and is used to protect officials' access and store confidential records. The exit of the passage is now sealed by two iron gates, which can only be opened from the inside to the outside with a key, preventing anyone from sneaking into the Governor's Mansion through the secret passage. ”

"Is there such a thing?" When a few people heard this, they couldn't help but feel a little curious.

After all, secret passages or something are generally seen in novels, and those that really become famous are indeed rare.

In fact, it was a tunnel used for air defense during World War II, built in November 1940 to lead to the then Chief Secretary for Justice. The entrance to the passage was originally designed in the garden of Government House, but the then Governor of Hong Kong Island, Frank Law, was not satisfied with the design and moved the tunnel entrance to a storage room in the dungeon. "During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong Island, the British government discussed with the British government the air raid warning strategy for the Japanese war, and mentioned extending the secret road to connect to the basement of the government headquarters, but it was ultimately shelved due to lack of funds. In the late 60s of the last century, the British government of Hong Kong proposed to extend the secret passage to connect the Hong Kong Governor's Office and the Government Headquarters, but the proposal was shelved due to the high cost. ”

As far as Lin Qingya knows, there is a dungeon on the lowest floor of the east wing of the government headquarters, which is used as the command headquarters for general natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

In addition, the entrance is a staircase near the Ballroom of the Government House, which also leads to HSBC, which is convenient for the Governor to make emergency withdrawals in the event of a war.

"Actually, there are a lot of legends about the Government House." "Sir Chater, a former non-official member of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council and a prominent businessman, collected a number of valuable paintings and porcelain, which were donated to the Hong Kong Island Government after his death, and most of the paintings are housed in the Governor's House. In 1941, on the eve of the fall of Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong government planned to hide part of the Chater collection. On 8 December 1941, Colonel Bartismith, the Governor's aide-de-camp, secretly met with Hungarian experts and officials from the Public Works Department in charge of the conservation of the paintings. According to archival information, the valuable paintings were removed from their frames, processed and then placed in sealed tin cans and buried in the garden of the Governor's House. However, the three people in charge of hiding the paintings died one after another during the Japanese occupation, and the exact location of the paintings became a secret. After the war, the government carried out several excavations in 1945 and 1976 in order to trace the paintings. By 1979, when the Governor's Mansion was undergoing extensive repairs, the inside and outside of the Governor's Palace, the basement, as well as the nearby tunnels and air-raid shelters were thoroughly searched, and some of the old building components were demolished, but the famous paintings were still not found. ”

After Han Ya heard this, she couldn't help but glance at Lin Xiao, and she found that Lin Xiao seemed to be more interested in this situation.

Thinking of Lin Xiao's ability again, Han Ya couldn't help but be a little worried, would Lin Xiao sneak out to hunt for treasure later?

After all, for ordinary people, if they want to find this treasure, they may need to dig three feet into the ground of the Government Mansion to do it, but for Lin Xiao, he may only need to scan it a few times with his divine thoughts, or he will be able to find any clues.

He didn't even have to leave the hall to do this.

However, if Lin Xiao really took the treasure away, even if no one knew, it would not be easy for these things to see the light of day and realize their value.

Later, Lin Qingya also mentioned another incident, which is a legend about a feng shui problem.

It is said that during the transition period of the 80s and 90s of the last century, China and Britain had a feng shui fight, and the Chinese side built the Bank of China Building on Hong Kong Island in the shape of a sharp angle in Central, one of which was facing the Hong Kong Governor's House.

The Hong Kong Governor's Office was deeply worried about this, so it asked a feng shui expert to look at feng shui, and finally decided to plant willow trees in the direction of the Bank of China Tower in the garden of the Governor's Mansion to dispel the evil spirit.

After Lin Xiao heard this, he couldn't help laughing, although feng shui is a small way, but Hong Kong Island people are very superstitious about it, so there is a lot of attention to this aspect, but in Lin Xiao's opinion, many places are far-fetched and cannot be taken seriously.

If you really pay so much attention, I guess you won't be able to accomplish anything.

Speaking of which, after coming here for so long, Lin Xiao is only more interested in the legendary treasure of the Hong Kong Governor's Mansion, after all, it was a very valuable painting and porcelain back then, and now the value is even more incalculable, maybe each piece can be auctioned for an astronomical amount.

At this time, I heard the sound of relatively soft music in the concierge house.

"Well, it's time to enter, let's go check it out first." After Lin Qingya heard it, she said to Lin Xiao and the others.

"Okay." Lin Xiao nodded, whispered a few words to Han Ya and the others, straightened his clothes, and then followed everyone and slowly walked into this building that was more than one hundred and sixty years old.