The box is about a foot long. The lock is fastened. The maid carries it in. It doesn't look heavy. She puts the box on the ground and the maid greets her.
"Go down!" Zhao An said impatiently, walked over and picked up the box from the ground.
He looked at the lock above: "Where's the key?"
"Mr. Zhao, this is the key." The maid respectfully presented it.
"Go down." Zhao An took the key, looked at the maid and said.
The maid took a few steps back, bowed to him and stepped back.
Zhao An followed him to the door, pointed to a corner of the wall and said, "Go and stand there. It's cooler there. It may take longer while I'm rummaging around. It will take a long time for you to be exposed to the sun."
"Thank you, Mr. Zhao." The maid's face was filled with gratitude. She quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked towards the corner. There was a big tree over there, and it was indeed a good place under the shade.
Seeing that the maid was obedient, Zhao An nodded, turned around and entered the house. After thinking about it, he closed the window and door a little, then stood at the door and paused for a while.
He didn't hear any sound, so he opened the door and walked out. He saw the maid standing under the shade of a tree enjoying the cool air. The sound of him going out alerted the maid, and her original leisurely posture immediately tensed up: "Mr. Zhao, do you have any orders?"
"Go to the kitchen and prepare some pastries for me. They need to be made fresh." Zhao An said.
"Yes, I'll be there soon," the maid said obediently, then turned around and walked out of the courtyard.
Seeing that the maid had disappeared without a trace, Zhao An entered the house with confidence. He kept the door ajar, walked to the table, and opened the box with the key.
There weren't many things in it, just a few ordinary books, a few not-so-valuable paintings, some of which were painted by my uncle himself, and a land deed. This was the house in my hometown. When my uncle left, he originally wanted to keep it.
I plan to come back, the old house is still there.
Although it is not big, it is still a yard. If we go back in the future, we can use it again, but now is not the best time.
A book was thrown out, a piece of painting was also taken out, and after the land deed was taken away, a few cooking recipes were found in the corner.
After Zhao An took out the prescriptions, he looked over them one by one. Sure enough, on the third prescription, he found the prescription he needed, and he remembered it on one of the prescriptions.
His grandmother made a verbal engagement between him and Mrs. Zhou at her hospital bed.
My mother and uncle were both there, and I and my cousin were also there. We actually exchanged tokens at that time, my cousin's beaded flowers, and his was a jade pendant.
The jade pendant was of good quality and was handed down from Zhao Anzu. Xu knew that her mother was not too willing, and her grandmother was worried that her uncle would not be doing well and that it would be difficult for her cousin to marry in the future, so she casually took a prescription for her health that was being nursed back to health at that time.
My mother and uncle wrote down their birthdays and horoscopes on the spot.
He also signed to indicate that the matter was settled.
This prescription was put away by my uncle and is regarded as a proof of engagement between the two families and the Geng Tie. It will be invalidated when the formal Geng Tie is issued.
After my grandmother passed away, my mother delayed formally coming to propose marriage. She just said she would have to wait until she and her cousin grew up.
After procrastinating again and again, my cousin got older. My uncle saw that my mother was unwilling and became angry. Naturally, he would not take the initiative to propose the matter. Later, my mother bluntly broke off the engagement, and my uncle returned the jade pendant that he had owned at that time.
I came over, and then I took my cousin to Beijing to take the exam in anger.
I don’t even want a pair of beaded flowers from my cousin.
Naturally, no one thought of the simple Geng Post at that time.
My uncle was originally a scholar who was not involved in production, and he lacked a lot of worldly knowledge. His aunt was gone early, and the uncle's family became more and more depressed. This was also the reason why my mother looked down on my uncle. He had this arrogance but no ability.
The last one fell ill and died in Beijing.
Thinking of his uncle, Zhao An couldn't help but sigh.
Some things happen by accident, but in fact, they are really out of control, just like the marriage between myself and my cousin. Although the two have been childhood sweethearts since childhood, I also thought about marrying my cousin, but later when I saw my uncle, I thought about myself again.
Indeed, as my mother said, you can find a more suitable match.
My cousin is not good enough for me.
But my cousin must have promised herself.
He rubbed his hand over the prescription for a few times, then looked through a few of his uncle's belongings, and finally landed on a jade pendant in the corner. This jade pendant was not the jade pendant he had given to his cousin. That jade pendant had long been regarded as an engagement gift.
, was sent to the wealthy daughter’s house, and was not taken back later.
But this piece of jade pendant was very familiar to him. He also had one in his arms. It was given by his grandmother to his uncle and mother. The two brothers and sisters each held one piece. Not only did the pair of jade pendants look the same, but the veins on them were also the same.
This will make people understand that they are a couple.
This is also what Zhao An guessed.
Zhao An did not take the jade pendant. He reached out and carefully put away the items one by one, then closed them again, and finally locked the box again.
Putting the health-preserving prescription into his arms, Zhao An sat down on the chair and frowned. This matter...does he really want to do what he was told?
Will this matter have any impact on him? He only came to Beijing to seek money, and he didn't want to lose his life for it.
He still has to think carefully about this matter...
Zhao An paid attention to the empty front door, but did not notice a pair of eyes watching him from the side window. He watched him take out the prescription, then watched him pick up the jade pendant, look at it, and then put it in one by one.
Locked up again as before...
Health-preserving prescriptions and jade pendants?
A sachet was placed in front of Yu Xijiao.
The sachet is well embroidered, and the most eye-catching thing is the word "jiao" on it. At a glance, you can tell that it was embroidered by a woman with the word "jiao" in her name.
"Girl, this is the sachet that Xin Kangbo wanted to present to the emperor. He said that you gave it to Prince Xin Kangbo." Mingyue said angrily that it was secretly sent by Huai Bao, and said with a smile that it belonged to their crown prince.
mean.
Xin Kangbo and Xuan Pinghou were fighting in front of the palace gate. It was obvious at first sight that they had something to do. In the past, Xin Kangbo would not have dared to do such a thing. Feng Yu sent people to explore Xin Kangbo's background while they were fighting.
There was such a mess that people easily stole the sachet, and then randomly found a sachet from another palace maid and put it into Xin Kangbo's sleeve.
The fight was too intense. From time to time, the two of them bumped into each other, and some people tried to break up the fight. Everyone was arguing with each other. Even when they followed the eunuchs later, they still walked crookedly because they had fought so hard before.
It was tilted, and a waiter came over to help me.
There's too much chaos in here.
As for Xin Kangbo's subsequent discovery of something abnormal, Feng Yu had an attack before he even mentioned that the sachet had been replaced.
Now this sachet is in Yu Xijiao's hands.
"This sachet is newly made, but it was not made in the past few days. It should be more than a month old, but it has never been used." Yu Xijiao looked at the creases on the thread and took care of the money folded inside.
It's good. From the outside, there isn't any protrusion. It's all squeezed into the cracks. But if you say it's particularly good, I can't say it.
It's pretty decent, more like an embroiderer specially hired by a wealthy family, or maybe bought directly from outside.
Yu Xijiao embroidered her own sachets by herself. When she was in Jiangnan, she liked to embroider such small objects. She could use them on herself, hang them, and maybe give them to her close ones. Because she liked them, she wanted to embroider them.
To an outsider, they look like similar things, but they can still see some small differences.
"Girl, this has been prepared a long time ago?" Qingyue, who is also good at needlework, came up to take a look and said.
"Before the Qian Lizhen incident, Xin Kangbo didn't have the guts to dare to miss me. Chu Zihan's reputation had already been half ruined. Even if there was no irrefutable evidence, everyone was very suspicious of his character. Besides, he should have still wanted to
If you are a passionate lover, how can you immediately think about it?"
Yu Xijiao shook her head and looked thoughtfully at the sachet in front of her. It would be strange if this sachet was not freshly made.
"Prince Xinkang Bo thought that after Qian Lizhen's incident, the girl's reputation was damaged and no one would marry her, so he wanted to take this opportunity to get married to the Xuanping Marquis Mansion." Mingyue analyzed, "Girl
, are the words on it the same time as when the sachet was embroidered?"
"It happened for a while." Yu Xijiao blinked her black and white eyes and said.
But there was another question that she couldn't figure out for the moment. She pinched the sachet and looked around, thoughtfully...
"The thread above is the same as the thread used to embroider the word Jiao. They are similar in color and size. They should have completed the word Jiao when the sachet was embroidered. In other words, the characters on the sachet were already there."
Qingyue also helped with the analysis.
"Girl, when Prince Xin Kangbo came to the mansion that day, the second girl also passed by." Mingyue suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Could it be that the second girl had prepared it early?"
If there is anyone in this house who harbors deep malice towards the girl, and who might take action, Mingyue thinks this Miss Yu is the most likely.
This second girl, Yu, usually looks very quiet, and the reason why she is not close to her is because of Mrs. Hou. Even Mrs. Hou can understand this, let alone others.
The two sisters are not close, but they won't really quarrel. It's best to maintain a respectful attitude towards each other.
Mingyue has always felt that the second girl is very sinister. Take the eldest girl's case as an example. All the benefits are hers. The bad reputation finally fell on Qian. The second girl who should have been scolded did not suffer at all in the end.
Because Qian took care of everything.
She is still gentle, kind, and wholeheartedly obedient to Qian's second girl.
"It's possible." Yu Xijiao said, pinching the sachet in her palm, weighing it again. Suddenly she stopped and ordered: "Go get a pair of small scissors."
Qingyue turned around neatly, went to pick out a sharp pair of scissors from her sewing bag, turned back and handed it to Yu Xijiao.
Yu Xijiao took the small scissors, pinched the opening of the sachet, broke the sealing thread one by one, and then tore the seal open. Looking at the objects exposed inside, the two girls were shocked...