Chapter 76 This is really a misunderstanding.

Obviously, the same reason cannot be used a second time in this empty Jiaxingyuan.

Especially now.

One person sits inside the pavilion, while another stands in the rain.

Xiao Wan'er covered her chest with both hands, pulled her cloak tighter, and her delicate face was full of surprise.

She hadn't noticed that Chen Yi came from Sifangzhai; she assumed he had been standing there spying on her for a long time.

Chen Yi smiled, and despite being soaked by the rain and his long hair sticking messily to his face, he didn't make any unusual movements.

But to be honest, the atmosphere between the two wasn't exactly...harmonious.

I guess so.

a long time.

Xiao Wan'er, overwhelmed with shame and indignation, said, "You, you can't sleep even if you can't sleep, you can't come here to steal, to peek..."

His second sister, Xiao Jinghong, had just left the mansion yesterday, and he sneaked over like this.

What would she do if someone saw her?

"peep?"

Chen Yi knew she had misunderstood.

At the same time, he also realized that Xiao Wan'er was unaware that he had been to Sifangzhai.

That's good news.

Chen Yi glanced around and, seeing that no one was around, walked into the pavilion without any hesitation.

Xiao Wan'er instinctively took two steps back, looking at him with some panic, her lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

Chen Yi wiped the rain off his face and smiled. "Big sister, are you still worried about that batch of medicinal herbs because you're up so late?"

Xiao Wan'er was taken aback when she heard his words, thinking he was about to do something, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was no longer approaching.

Xiao Wan'er turned her head to the side, trying not to let him see her nervousness. "Yes, yes, that batch of medicinal herbs is indeed important."

However, the slight tremor in her voice could not be hidden from Chen Yi.

I thought about it.

Chen Yi sat down on the other side, separated from Xiao Wan'er by a square table, and said with a smile:

"Since you can't sleep either, why don't you talk about the pharmacy?"

"There's something I don't understand. Medicinal herbs are in short supply, so why not look for them in nearby places instead of sourcing them from Beizhou?"

Xiao Wan'er caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, remained silent for a moment, and then replied, "Uncle Dongchen's connections are 30% cheaper than in Jingzhou, but the quality is a cut above the rest."

Cheap, good condition, good value for money?

Chen Yi couldn't help but become suspicious of this matter.

There was no other reason than that Xiao Dongchen had found the source of those medicinal herbs.

A "hidden guard" hiding in the Marquis's mansion doesn't seem like someone who could contribute to the Xiao family at all.

That's not entirely true; there's another possibility—Xiao Dongchen's mission was precisely to bring merit to the Xiao family.

"What would be the consequences if something went wrong with that batch of medicinal herbs?"

Xiao Wan'er's worries, which had just been interrupted, took over again. She shifted her attention slightly from Chen Yi and lowered her head to whisper:

"All the money saved up in the first half of the year has been lost."

A profit of about 20,000 taels of silver over six months is no small sum.

Chen Yi nodded knowingly, "Are there any other effects?"

Xiao Wan'er looked at him with reproachful eyes, as if to say, "Isn't this enough?"

Chen Yi saw through her thoughts and said with a smile, "If the manor is short of money, I can think of a way."

Although he didn't intend for the Duke of Gan to actually pay a thousand gold pieces per word for his poems, he would at least ask for ten gold pieces per word.

Xiao Wan'er met his gaze, and seeing his smile, her face flushed red. "You, what's your plan?"

Seemingly realizing that what she said was wrong, she shook her head and said, "You've just taken over the pharmacy, so you must run it properly and not have any crooked thoughts."

He married into the Xiao family and didn't know how to make a living; he shouldn't have been able to get so much money through normal channels.

Chen Yi didn't explain where the money came from, and then asked a few more questions related to the pharmacy.

As Xiao Wan'er spoke in great detail, her expression changed from panicked and tense to her usual gentle demeanor.

Seeing that she had recovered, Chen Yi glanced at the rain that was gradually picking up again and said, "It's getting late, I should go back."

Xiao Wan'er loosened her cloak and looked at him, saying softly, "Go to sleep early. In the future, don't be as reckless as you were tonight."

Chen Yi chuckled and stood up, saying, "Actually, tonight I just..."

He paused, then stopped talking.

This is a difficult thing to explain; the fact that he climbed over the wall to Jiaxingyuan on a rainy night is hard to explain.

However, there is one thing I can try to explain.

"Tonight's troubles are indeed my fault, but that poem I wrote earlier..."

Upon hearing the words "lyrics," Xiao Wan'er's face immediately flushed crimson, and she interrupted, saying:

"That poem has been destroyed by me. From now on, neither of us should ever mention it again."

Even in the dim light, Chen Yi could still see her pale, crystalline face turn from white to red, all the way down to the collar of her cloak.

"Big sister, actually I..."

"Don't say anything more, you should get some rest."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Wan'er blushed, clutched her clothes, and rushed out of the pavilion, running through the torrential rain into the wooden building.

Looking at her retreating figure and the hastily closed door, Chen Yi couldn't help but feel a little amused and exasperated.

Why is Xiao Wan'er even more nervous when that poem is mentioned than when she first saw him?

However, if she has already destroyed it, it can be considered that nothing happened.

Chen Yi glanced at the wooden building, which had no lights on, and had no choice but to return to the Spring Lotus Garden.

Inside the side room.

Xiao Wan'er huddled behind the window, watching him walk away and climb over the low wall. She couldn't help but touch her slightly flushed face and whisper a reproachful tone:

"How could you climb over the wall in the middle of the night?"

Thinking it over, Xiao Wan'er drew the curtains, returned to the bedside, and found a brocade box under the dressing table next to her.

I watched for a moment.

She carefully put the brocade box away with a bitter expression, her once calm heart now rippled with unease.

I just can't bear to part with such beautiful words...

...

Chen Yi remained completely unfazed.

Back in his room, he changed out of his black clothes, found a towel to dry himself, and changed into a set of dry casual clothes before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Luckily, Shen Huatang isn't here, otherwise if she had seen us, things would have been very difficult to handle tonight."

As for Xiao Wan'er alone, well... she probably wouldn't tell anyone.

Thinking about it, Chen Yi went to the study and wrote down the secret letter on a piece of paper.

Then he took out the codebook he had found from Liu Si'er and began to decipher it one by one.

A moment later.

Chen Yi frowned slightly. "No? Not these?"

Neither the Huangmei Opera "Dongwan's Travels", nor the Yuefu poetry collection "Yonghuan", nor any of the other books could decipher this secret letter.

"Did the hidden guards change the codebook?"

Chen Yi's guess can be considered a reasonable conjecture.

But he always felt something was off.

Previously, when Liu Si'er and Uncle Gui exchanged information, they deliberately avoided each other, while Xiao Dongchen hid the secret letter in his residence.

This method of transmission has a bit of a "blind spot" feel to it.

Thinking about it, Chen Yi rubbed his temples. "If Pei Guanli were still here, that would be great."

Although that girl is a bit of a rascal, she can still be a helper to find out whether the secret letter was sent out by Uncle Gui or by some other hidden guard.

There are very few clues now, and the only hope is that secret letter.

He pondered for a moment.

Chen Yi suddenly remembered that he had gone to Sifangzhai with Xiao Jinghong to deliver gifts before, and had even sat in the study for a while.

He recalled it carefully.

The layout of that study came to mind: the desk, the writing implements, books, and calligraphy practice books.

It was clearly visible.

Without further hesitation, Chen Yi wrote down the names of the books on Yun Song paper and then began the initial screening.

First, remove those with fewer pages and fewer words.

Then, referring to the book titles on the paper, he began searching for them in the study.

“The password should be in a common, unsuspecting book.”

“Playbooks and storybooks are acceptable for someone of Liu Si’er’s status, but their appearance in the study of a fourth-rank official seems out of place.”

Therefore, it is very likely to be a classic text, or a currently popular collection of poems or biographies.

Unless it's a particularly rare collection of books, Chen Yi's study should also have some.

They searched for a full hour, until midnight.

He then stopped.

"Found it!"

(End of this chapter)