Author: Yao Jishan

The dusk wind blew by, sweeping away the brief silence in front of the corner door.

The smile quickly returned to Wei Shu's face. She nodded to the old woman and said softly: "Grandma, please go back to the house quickly. It's going to be curfew, no one will come."

This time, she switched back to Jin Guohua.

"Wait a minute." The old woman called Wei Shu and walked back to the concierge. When she came out, she held her hands carefully in front of her chest, and in her palms lay a delicate bamboo basket as big as a palm.

"Take it... play..." The small bamboo basket was sent to Wei Shu diligently. There was a glimmer of light in the old woman's cloudy eyes, and a smile climbed onto her face full of grooves, like a child.

The old woman is from the south of the Yangtze River. When she married in Yincheng, the dowry included bamboo utensils made by her, each of which was exquisite and delicate.

"It's nice...the cabinet...grandma...it's for fun...given to you..." The old woman was proud and reluctant to hold the bamboo basket, as if she was holding her only treasure, and tied it with a knot.

Jin Guohua's stammering words describe the usefulness of bamboo utensils:

I used to use it to hold grandma's toys. It looks great on the cabinet. Now I give it to you.

Wei Shu understood and did not refuse. She took the bamboo basket and solemnly thanked her: "Grandma's gift is too heavy."

The old woman's smile was like a wrinkled orange peel, her toothless mouth grinned, she waved her hands and said, "No thanks, no thanks."

The faint local accent lingered in the words, and Wei Shu seemed to hear the song of the spring orioles from the south of the Yangtze River.

She suddenly felt homesick.

Her native country, Weiguo, is located east of the Yangtze River, and her mother is a noble daughter from a noble family in the south of the Yangtze River.

When she was young, Wei Shu loved listening to her mother humming folk songs the most. The soft misty rain from the south of the Yangtze River seemed to come out of the singing, softening the world and her heart.

She never thought that in this early spring in a foreign country after a thousand years, she would hear the gentle singing voice again, with lingering aftertaste, as if she had dreamed of returning to her hometown.

Hanging the small bamboo basket on her belt, Wei Shu walked forward in a daze. When she walked out, she felt something far away. When she looked back, the white-haired old woman was still waving to her by the door. Under the dim light of the sky, the emaciated

The figure looks a little blurry.

When we returned to Baiyuan, the courtyard was already lit with colored lights, and the colorful candlelight set off the exotic flowers and plants all over the courtyard, squeezing out the twilight to the fullest.

Hua Zhen is indeed back.

It was two days earlier than the date Gu De said.

There were many more maidservants walking back and forth in the yard, and Hao was no longer standing in the corridor inspecting her with a majestic face as usual. Wei Shu heard her gentle voice coming from the east room, and occasionally the girl's silver bell.

Like laughter sounded.

Hua Zhen seems to be in a good mood.

As a result, the Baihuayuan became brighter with laughter. It was no longer as quiet as the previous few days, and even the colorful lights seemed to be more noisy than usual.

Wei Shu was not qualified to serve Hua Zhen in person, so she only knelt down outside the corridor and saluted, then turned to the east room to hand over the food box, and received an errand from a steward mother.

When I was going out, I saw an oil-walled cart parked in the middle of the road. Several maids were carrying large and small bags and taking things out of the cart. It was Yu who was supervising them.

"Get out of the way." Yu also saw Wei Shu and shouted sternly, but did not pay much attention to her. He turned around and ordered the remaining maids to move faster.

Wei Shu lowered her head and waited for them to pass by the road. What she could see was a wheel not far from the soil beneath her feet.

It didn't take long for the maids to take out all the belongings from the car and walk into Baihuayuan one by one. Yu also left.

Wei Shu lowered her head and continued walking forward. Maybe it was dark and the road was dark, or maybe she wasn't paying attention, so when she turned around, her feet suddenly slipped and she fell to the ground with a cry of "Ah!"

mud.

Several young Jin slaves were hanging lanterns in the corridor. When they saw this, they all covered their lips and started to giggle. Another person whispered, "This person looks so ugly."

Under the candlelight, the scars on Wei Shu's face were very eye-catching. Against her face, which was grimacing in pain, it was both ugly and funny. Those little slave girls were so happy that they chattered and laughed endlessly. Even Wei Shu

Shu limped away, and they were still laughing there.

Song slaves were not allowed to walk on verandas and corridors, and in places other than these two places, the lights and candles were not very bright, and it was still very dark in some places.

Wei Shu walked in the dark, and soon she stopped at the corner of a courtyard.

It was so dark under the wall that I couldn't see my fingers, and it seemed like a world away from the brightly lit courtyard in the distance.

She slowed down her breathing and slowly loosened her clenched palms.

The warrior's vision is not restricted by light and shadow, so she can see clearly what is in her hands:

A grain of sand with a hint of white in the gray. It seems to be twice larger than ordinary gravel, but it is still very inconspicuous.

It just fit into the gap between the rear wheel of the oil-walled car.

She shot the wooden cone with her secret strength and shook it out of the gap. Then she "accidentally" fell down, and the white sand fell into Wei Shu's hands.

There was no trace of this thing in Aqisi's memory, but Wei Shu knew it.

These were fragments of silver ore, and the purity was very high. Even though the fragments were small, it did not prevent her from identifying them at a glance.

Looking at the small white stone in her hand, Wei Shu couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

When she accompanied her father on the expedition to the Central Plains, she was in charge of the army's baggage, so she often had to lead her troops through the wilderness and jungles, which could be considered as having traveled through half of the Central Plains.

I remember one time, she lost her way in a mountain ridge and almost couldn't get out. Fortunately, a Taoist priest who knew the art of Kanyu passed by and led them through the mountains from an abandoned mine road, and finally found the main road.

That mine tunnel was originally used to mine silver, but the veins had been dug out and abandoned. It was in that mine tunnel that Wei Shu learned from the Taoist priest a simple method of identifying gold, silver, and

She can recognize all four kinds of ores, copper and iron, at a glance.

Baishuang City is famous for its rich silver mines, and these mines are regarded as important places by the Jin Kingdom. They are guarded by five thousand forbidden troops directly under the imperial city to prevent people from sneaking in. The inspection is even more stringent, such as Wei Shu

The excellent ore seen at this time is extremely rare to appear outside.

Where did Huazhen get such extremely pure silver ore?

Has she been to the mines?

The mine is more than a hundred miles north of the city, far away from the commander's palace, and there is almost no hiding place nearby. How did she run from the east to the north of the city, and avoid the thousands of forbidden troops and pass the checkpoints along the way?

Is there a secret passage in the mine? Or someone brought her in?

Wei Shu frowned slightly, and subconsciously rubbed the silvery gravel with her fingers.

What does Hua Zhen mean by hunting this time?

Are the dozen or so slaves really her only "harvest"?

Many questions came to mind. Wei Shu always felt that there was something strange in Hua Zhen's actions and actions, as if he was plotting something secretly. However, Aqisi's memory was not up to par and she couldn't recall any clues.
Chapter completed!