Ci Jinzhi

Xin You stepped forward to check carefully, but there was no sign that the seal had been opened.

 “Little girl, you know this family!”

An old voice came from behind. Xin You turned around and saw an old woman with gray hair.

"I'm Cailan's friend. Old lady, what's going on?" Xinyou asked, pointing to the sealed door of Ji's house.

The old woman sighed: "Her family was implicated by relatives and committed a crime. The men were sentenced to prison terms, and the women all became official slaves. Little girl, you'd better leave quickly and don't come back again, lest you be seen by the officials and get into trouble. Upper body.”

Xin You looked horrified and sad: "Why is it so sudden?"

"No, who would have thought that we are a good family..." The old woman started talking.

Xin You listened cooperatively and learned from an outsider's perspective some of the circumstances of the day when the officials came to arrest people. She also learned that thieves had visited the Ji family before her.

"That little thief is so courageous. He dared to climb over the wall during the day." The old woman pointed to where the thief climbed over the wall and then pointed to the door of her house. "The old woman was sitting at the gate and resting. The little thief thought I was asleep. …”

Xin You looked surprised: "You are indeed brave. Didn't you get arrested?"

The old woman felt embarrassed and said vaguely: "I didn't see the little thief bring anything out, and there is no one in the Ji family..."

　　Who wants to get into trouble for nothing when they are the ones who committed the crime?

“Little girl, let’s go quickly. The Ji family is in bad luck. The younger brother and younger sister-in-law of the last year’s daughter-in-law have disappeared one after another. It has only been less than a year and now it’s the Ji family’s turn..."

Xinyou thanked him and left quickly.

If there is a thief visiting the Ji family at such a sensitive time, I'm afraid it's not a real thief.

At night, the waning moon was obscured by dark clouds, and a few stars could be seen here and there. Jixiangfang was pitch black, and every house had already turned off their lights.

Xinyou arrived outside the third house in Maoer Hutong by a familiar road. After observing it for a while, he jumped over the wall with a light jump.

The courtyard was as dark as the outside. Xinyou leaned against the wall and remained motionless. After getting used to it for a while, she could barely distinguish the scene in the courtyard.

The yard was a bit messy. There were several pieces of washed clothes hanging on the clothesline. One piece fell to the ground. At first glance, it looked like someone was crawling there.

Ji's Xinyou was here before. She entered the main room first and used her sleeves to cover the small copper lamp she had prepared for lighting.

 The weak light is limited to a small area, just enough to see the things close in front of you without having to worry about the light spreading out.

This is the east room where Ji Cailan's parents live. The drawers and cabinet doors have obviously been turned over and they look messy. But Ji Cailan said that the officers who arrested their family did not do much searching.

After looking for it, Xinyou went to the West House again.

There is a bed against the wall in the west room. It seems that no one is sleeping on it. The whole room is almost full of debris. This room is even more messy, with scattered old cotton mattresses, books with pages missing, overturned suitcases...

Xinyou's eyes fell on the bed board, he lifted it up and looked inside, and touched a hard object. When he took it out, he saw that it was a square wooden box.

Even though she guessed that the wooden box was not the one she was looking for, she still opened it and took a look. She saw a few pieces of silver scattered inside, as well as some copper coins.

Xinyou put it back as it was, left the main room, skipped the east and west rooms, and headed to the kitchen.

Ji Cailan's two brothers lived in the east wing, and Ji Cailan and Zhou Ningyue lived in the west wing. I also knew that Ji's mother would not hide anything important where her children lived.

Ji Cailan told her that there were indeed no east and west rooms where Ji’s mother hid things, but one in the east and west rooms, one in the kitchen, and one in the woodshed.

 Compared with the mess in the three main rooms, the kitchen looks much more orderly. Xinyou looked around with a lantern and went straight to the hiding place Ji Cailan mentioned.

That is a wall tile opposite the stove. It looks the same as the blackened bricks around it, but it is actually movable.

Xin You stretched out his hand and knocked, judging from the sound that he had found the right brick, he pulled out the brick with a little force.

 There is a very small space inside, with a rectangular box lying quietly. The box is not big and has a small lock on it.

Xinyou’s eyes were filled with joy.

　　That should be it.

Xinyou put the box away and restored the wall tiles. Just as he was about to walk out, he suddenly stopped and quickly blew out the copper lamp. In the darkness, her ears became more sensitive. When she heard the light and steady footsteps, she approached the kitchen step by step without any hesitation, as if she knew someone was here.

Xin You calmly took out the dagger and judged the identity of the person coming.

 It may be the person looking for the box left by Zhou Tong, or it may be the Jinlin Guards.

Ji's mother died unexpectedly, and someone wanted to redeem Zhou Ningyue's cousins. It was not surprising that Mr. He was cautious and sent people to keep an eye on the Ji family.

  Xinyou prefers the latter, which is the main reason why she is so calm.

 The footsteps stopped.

 There were few stars outside, and the figure was tall and straight.

 After a brief silence, a familiar voice sounded: "Miss Kou."

Xinyou came out of the hiding place and lit the copper lamp again.

 The light shrouded the two of them, enough for them to see each other's eyes clearly.

He Qingxiao looked at the girl in black who was holding a dagger casually, and asked with a smile: "Does Miss Kou know that I will come?"

“I guess Master He should have sent someone to keep an eye on this place.”

 “Has Miss Kou gained anything?”

"should have."

As long as Mr. He knew her identity and chose to conceal it, they were destined to be on the same boat. Xin You had no intention of hiding the existence of the box from He Qingxiao: "Let's talk in the house."

It is inconvenient to find another place to talk at this time, and if you find the wrong box, you can still continue looking.

 The two of them walked into the main room and entered the west room.

The west room, which is full of clutter, is covered everywhere, such as Dou Lamp, which can be well covered.

Xinyou looked around and sat directly on the overturned suitcase.

 He Qingxiao had a smile in his eyes and squatted down on one knee.

"I learned from Miss Zhou that Zhou Tong left a box and his sister kept it. It should be this one." Xin You took out the small box.

He Qingxiao reached out to take it and clicked the lock on the box.

 “Do you want to open it?”

 “Open it and make sure it’s right.”

He Qingxiao reached into her sleeve and took out a thin wire from nowhere. Then she fiddled with the lock a few times and the lock opened.

 He moved the box a little further away from Xinyou and slowly opened the lid.

 There were no accidents such as the emission of poisonous gas or the ejection of concealed weapons. There were some papers in the box.

Xin You held up a small lamp and came over to take a look.

 “Miss Kou, wait a moment.”

He Qingxiao took out another pair of very thin leather gloves and put them on before picking up the contents of the box.

They were two letters and a narrow note.

 The two of them read the papers one by one with the help of dim light.

Xin You stared at the signature of the letter, and there was the word "Dongsheng". Although there were not many words on the note, the information revealed made her hand holding the lamp tremble slightly.