The two exchanged a glance and immediately felt that there was a chance.
The flat part at the bottom was removed, and looking inside, Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli discovered that there was a letter inside.
Jiang Ci took out the letter, and Zhou Mingli immediately walked to her side, watching as Jiang Ci opened the envelope.
There was a piece of paper and a black and white photograph inside.
The two of them glanced at the photo and their breath caught in their throats.
What's in the photo?
The object held up by the gloved hand had a five-clawed dragon coiled on top, looking down proudly at all living beings, while the bottom was square, resembling a large piece of jade.
Even if Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli were completely clueless, they could still tell what this thing was.
The jade seal, which symbolized the supreme power of the emperor in ancient times.
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli exchanged another glance, their expressions gradually becoming serious. They put the photo aside and continued reading the letter.
Comrade.
If you open this letter, I assume I have already passed away, and you have received the three gold bars on the envelope. If you wish, this will be your reward. The first national jade seal discovered in our country, dating back six hundred years, is hereby offered as a reward. If you can find that jade seal, I earnestly request that you hand it over to the local cultural relics protection bureau so that it may belong to the state.
Next, I will tell you my information. My surname is Huang, my given name is Zhiyuan, and I am an archaeologist. Not long ago, my colleagues and I came to Linyun City to conduct an investigation of an ancient tomb that is 400 years old, and to collect information on the surrounding geographical environment to study whether the ancient tomb meets the requirements for protective archaeological research. However, before that, we first discovered an unnamed tomb pit that is more than 600 years old. It had been looted, and the Imperial Seal of the State was hidden in the place in this tomb pit that was least favored by those tomb raiders.
When we discovered this jade seal, we were overjoyed, thinking we had found this national treasure-level imperial jade seal. Unfortunately, it was discovered by evil people, and my colleagues, Zhang Fengchun and Ye Minghua, all died at their hands. For the sake of that national treasure-level jade seal, we had no choice but to risk hiding it. As I write this letter... my colleagues, Comrade Zhang and Comrade Ye, who sacrificed their lives, have all perished. I know my life is not long, so I can only put three gold bars in the box, along with this letter, and bury it.
The person who harmed us knew we had discovered the imperial seal. I don't know who it is, but it must be someone from a cultural relics protection organization in Beijing. I will list a few names, and I hope you will report them.
Dear comrade, that jade seal is certainly not that important to you. It cannot be bought or sold; it belongs to the country. It is the Imperial Seal of the State, and it has already been given the most important meaning. I hope that after you accept those three gold bars, you will not covet it again. I will tell you where I hid the jade seal... If it is no longer there, it must have been taken by someone. Please be sure to publish this photo in the newspaper and inform the whole country of this news. It will definitely be found.
...Next, I have a personal grievance. I was divorced and raised my son alone when I remarried. His name is Huang Zheyue, and he lives in Beijing. My death will make his life very difficult. He is only ten years old. If you have the means, I hope you can help him in his most difficult time. I will never forget this kindness.
On December 3, 1975, Huang Zhiyuan wrote his final words.
The letter, which was not short, clearly stated the deceased's information and the cause of death.
Jiang Ci sighed softly, "Every gift of fate has its price written in secret."
There is nothing in this world that comes for free; even the gold bars they found were a reward.
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli both fell silent for a short time.
After a long pause, Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli said in unison, "Neither the gold bar nor this letter can be kept."
It's not that Zhou Mingli doesn't love money, or that Jiang Ci is stupid enough to give up the gold bars.
This involves national treasures, which is beyond the control of Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli at present.
Given their current status and connections, it's impossible for the two of them to investigate and resolve the matter on their own.
The will is willing, but the ability is insufficient.
"Who should we tell about this?" Zhou Mingli asked her.
Jiang Ci leaned back and sorted out her current network of contacts.
Cheng Huasheng was naturally the highest-ranking person Jiang Ci knew, but Jiang Ci knew that Cheng Huasheng was not in the center of power; the real power in the Cheng family lay with Cheng Huasheng's nephews.
Zhou Gou was a battalion commander in a military region in Beijing. His position was not high. Even if he discovered the tragedy, he could not violate the regulations of the military camp to investigate it on his own.
Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu, one is the Party Secretary of Zhongmo Town and the other is the head of the town government's propaganda department. They can be considered local bigwigs in Zhongmo Town. Of course, this matter can be handed over to them, but Jiang Ci doesn't have a deep understanding of them, and they can't even be considered friends.
Deputy Director Chen, and Xiao Zhao.
Deputy Director Chen is an upright man and can be helpful, but he is directly under the jurisdiction of the director, the municipal public security bureau, the municipal government, and so on. If they alert the enemy, not only will they lose the evidence they have, but they might also be silenced.
"What do you think? No matter who you talk to about this, the person needs to have one moral quality: integrity."
Otherwise, the deaths of Comrade Zhang and Comrade Ye, who were mentioned in the letter, as well as Huang Zhiyuan, who wrote the letter, would have been in vain.
"This matter can't be rushed. The first thing we need to determine is whether Huang Zhiyuan has any other relatives besides his son."
“Li Ailian gave me their home address. I’ll write her a letter in a while and ask her to inquire for me.” Jiang Ci tilted her head. “However, it’s not advisable for them to be high-profile right now, so it won’t be easy to investigate.”
Zhou Mingli agreed with Jiang Ci's statement and nodded deeply.
Jiang Ci took out the three gold bars, and put them back into the box along with the letter and the photo.
If necessary, this item should be handed over as well.
Jiang Ci delivered lunch to the cowshed at noon, and in the afternoon she and Zhou Mingli went to the place Huang Zhiyuan had written about to look for the imperial seal.
He hid the imperial seal in the mountains, and Huang Zhiyuan even marked it with a very simple character, "中" (zhong). The mountains were too big, and it took the two of them several days to find it.
Fortunately, they also caught pheasants and rabbits in the mountains, otherwise they would have wasted several days of their time.
Finally, Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli found the character "中" near the deep mountains. The character was on the bark of a tree, and there were traces of it being deliberately scratched off.
It looks like it was scratched by the claws of some kind of animal, like a bear.
But how could a bear possibly scratch on such a low tree?
If you look closely, you can actually still see traces of the character "中".
Upon seeing the scratches, both Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli had a bad feeling.
The two exchanged a glance and began to dig.
It was completely empty.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
