The snow stopped and Tian Mingwu's injuries gradually healed.
That day, he found Tian An. "An An, are the things your mother left at home still there?"
"Things left at home? What is Dad talking about?" Tian An said thoughtfully.
"When your mother and I got married, your grandfather bought us two mahogany boxes. Are they still there?" Tian Mingwu asked tentatively.
Tian An and his friends had no choice but to flee to the capital because an earthquake and flood destroyed their houses in the village. He was really not sure if he could keep his belongings in such a situation.
But there were extremely important things in the box, and he couldn't give up even if there was only a little hope.
When Tian Mingwu asked, Tian An thought of the two big red boxes he had taken back from Li Dazhu and Tian Mingcai when he separated from the two families.
The things that were taken away from Li Dazhu's house were all new quilts and bedding. When she got them back, they had already been used up and some were broken. At that time, she only got back the box, and asked them to convert the things into food as compensation.
The box taken away from Tian Mingcai's house was full of old clothes. Nothing inside was touched, and when it was returned, it was still unopened.
She had brought those two boxes with her when she shamelessly moved into Zhao Yiming's house and placed them in her room.
Later, they rebuilt a new house, and she took the opportunity to put both boxes into the space.
When the earthquake and flash floods came, many things in the house were lost, but the two boxes were still intact in her space.
They were just two old boxes. How could Tian Mingwu suddenly remember them after so many years?
Is it simply because of the reminder of the person?
"Dad, why did you suddenly think of those two boxes? Are you looking for something?"
"Oh! The boxes are filled with worthless clothes, quilts and the like. But even though they are worthless, they are the few things your mother and I left behind. Now that she is gone, Dad just wants to see those things."
Tian Mingwu's expression remained the same, but his hands on the table were obviously unnaturally nervous.
Tian An didn't doubt it. When she first got the box, she had turned it over inside and out. It was indeed a simple red lacquered wooden box.
"That box contains something left behind by Dad and Mom. An An has kept it carefully and even brought it with him when he was fleeing. It is in my room now. Since Dad wants it, I'll have someone send it back to your room later." Tian An said.
Tian Mingwu stood up excitedly and asked, "Is he really still there?"
Tian An nodded, "Dad, is it urgent? Then I'll go back to the room and ask someone to move it over to you."
"Is it okay now? If you're busy, later is fine."
Tian An saw that Tian Mingwu clearly wanted to see the things immediately, but he was pretending not to care. He immediately stood up and said, "I happen to be free now. I will go back and ask someone to bring the box back to Dad."
After returning to his room, Tian An thought about moving the box from the space to an inconspicuous place at the end of his bed, then went out and asked the servant to come and move the box.
After the boxes were moved back, Tian Mingwu's eyes became sore when he saw the two boxes that were in excellent condition.
When he married An Wan, he bought these two boxes, two sets of clothes, and several new quilts.
He had very few things, but An Wan didn't dislike him at all.
Reaching out and carefully stroking the box, Tian Mingwu seemed to see the scene when the two of them got married.
A man holding two boxes sat there in a daze for a long time before he opened the boxes and took out the things inside one by one.
There were two boxes, one was empty and the other still contained An Wan's old clothes.
Originally there were Tian An and Xiaokang’s childhood clothes, but Tian An sorted them out later.
The servants had been sent away by Tian Mingwu long ago. He carefully rearranged all the things and put them in the empty box. Then he fumbled around in the thick bottom of the box and fiddled with something.
After a while, he opened a secret compartment at the bottom of the box and took out a package wrapped in oil paper.
He first took out a silver hairpin, then some small silver coins, and finally an envelope.
Tian Mingwu specially went to a silver shop to make the silver hairpin for An Wan when they got married. Fearing that Wang and Li Dazhu's family would covet it, An Wan only wore it to show Tian Mingwu on their wedding night and kept it ever since.
The small change was hidden by the two men after Old Man Tian died in order to prevent Wang and Li Dazhu's family from stealing it.
When Wang said she couldn't pay the tax, they had originally planned to use the silver to pay the tax if they really couldn't afford it. However, they didn't expect that before they even took out the silver, Wang and Li Dazhu had already put his name on the list for military service.
When Tian Mingwu went to join the army, he was reluctant to take a single penny with him and left it all to An Wan, just to give her some security.
But after Tian Mingwu left, the Wang family kept a close eye on An Wan, and she had no chance to use the money.
Later she left suddenly, and Tian An was still young, so she had no time to tell him about the secret compartment in the box, so the silver and hairpin were still kept in it intact.
Tian Mingwu wiped the hairpin as if it were a treasure, then carefully rewrapped the silver and hairpin and put them back into the secret compartment.
As for the envelope, he never opened it.
Early the next morning.
After the successful operation, Tian Mingwu, who had been recuperating at home for more than a month, began to attend the morning court.
After attending the morning court in a proper manner, he went to the imperial study to meet the emperor alone.
The emperor couldn't hide An Wan's affairs from him; he had known about it for a long time.
But Tian Mingwu didn't know that the emperor knew all these things, so he told him everything about him and An Wan, and that An Wan was the daughter of Duke An Guo.
Finally, he took the letter out of the mahogany box and handed it to the emperor.
"I have never opened this envelope, and I don't know what's inside. But Wan'er told me that what's inside is very important, and if there's a chance, I must ask Duke Anguo to present it to the emperor in person.
In the past, I was just a humble peasant, and I knew I was too embarrassed to see the Emperor, so Wan'er could only ask Duke Anguo to pass it on. But now that I have the opportunity to meet the Emperor in person, I will not bother Duke Anguo anymore.
Although Tian Mingwu had never seen what was in the envelope, when he thought of An Wan's expression when she told him about the letter, he had a hunch that it was not something good.
He didn't want to implicate more people, so he didn't tell Tian An the secret of the mahogany box, nor did he give the letter to Duke An Guo to pass it on.
The emperor looked at the letter in his hand, his eyes dark as he asked, "Does anyone else know of the existence of this letter?"
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