(two)
When Cui Yongle returned to the hotel, it was already evening. He first went to visit Wen Su and told him about what he had been busy with during the day: "What about your old house? I have already communicated with the people here. The house will be added to your name, and the government can also convert it into a guesthouse or something. You will also receive a share of the subsequent income."
Wen Su closed the book in his hand, but shook his head: "No, let's just open it."
Cui Yongle was surprised: "That's a lot of money, and that's not—" Isn't that your home?
As if guessing what Cui Yongle was going to say, Wen Su replied, "Anyway, the person is already gone, and I won't go back. Let's demolish it."
Cui Yongle understood what Wen Su was thinking, and he nodded: "Then do you need to go back again to get something? Although the Wang family lived in your house, they should still have some things left over."
Wen Su fell silent for a moment.
Cui Yongle was not in a hurry and stood there quietly waiting for Wen Su's reply.
“...Okay.” This time, Wen Su did not refuse.
"Okay." Cui Yongle nodded, indicating that he understood. After asking his questions, it was time for him to leave. Just as he was about to leave, he glanced at the book in Wen Su's hand and asked curiously, "What book are you reading?"
"Ah." Wen Su glanced down at the book folded over and casually said, "The Book of Changes."
"Oh, okay." Cui Yongle asked casually, and then left.
The door closed, leaving Wen Su alone in the room. He then opened the book in his hand again, and two words were clearly visible on the cover: History of Zhou.
After leaving Wen Su's room, Cui Yongle went to Zhou Ziqiu's room, only to find Zhou Ziqiu also reading a book, with miscellaneous items scattered around. He smiled, casually pulled up a stool, and sat down next to Zhou Ziqiu. Zhou Ziqiu did not hide anything from him, so he could immediately see the words on the cover of the book in Zhou Ziqiu's hand: Zhou Dynasty.
"Why are you looking at this for no reason?"
"Let's see if my brother has left any clues." With that, Zhou Ziqiu turned a page.
Cui Yongle leaned closer, only to be met with the untranslated original text of the ancient book. After a few quick glances, he felt dizzy and immediately looked away, asking, "Did you find anything?"
Zhou Ziqiu shook his head. The book mostly recorded the achievements of court officials. The only major event that occurred during the reigns of Emperor Xuan and Emperor Jing of Zhou was the rebellion that broke out in many places in the second year of Emperor Jing's reign. Considering the background of Dayuan's uprising against the Zhou Dynasty at that time, it seemed quite normal. However, there was one thing in the records that Zhou Ziqiu was very concerned about.
"Look here." Zhou Ziqiu turned to the page that recorded the rebellion, pointed to a line of text and translated it for Cui Yongle, "It says here that in the second year of Emperor Jing of Zhou, rebellions occurred in various places."
"Hmm, and then what?"
"Look at this." Zhou Ziqiu pointed out a place name in the text to Cui Yongle.
“Xiqi…” Cui Yongle pondered for a moment, not understanding what was so special about this place name.
“It’s not hard to understand why rebellions broke out in other places. They were all caused by the Zhou Dynasty’s later territorial expansion, and the regimes were not stable.” Zhou Ziqiu raised his eyes. “But Xiqi is different.”
"The Zhou Dynasty arose in Xiqi, the place where royal power was most firmly established."
Now Cui Yongle understood what Zhou Ziqiu meant: "You mean there's a problem here?"
Zhou Ziqiu nodded, picked up the map placed next to the sofa and showed it to Cui Yongle, and also took a marker.
“Look, Changnan Village is in Jiangyou City,” Zhou Ziqiu said, circling the location of Jiangyou City. “Tuoyue Town is in Yunan City… Did you notice anything?”
Fearing that Cui Yongle might not immediately understand, Zhou Ziqiu drew another straight line on the map connecting the two points. Cui Yongle understood after seeing this line, but he still didn't understand why Zhou Ziqiu cared about the rebellion in Xiqi: "So?"
Zhou Ziqiu remained silent, but continued to extend the line until it passed through Xiqi.
But Cui Yongle noticed something amiss. He took the pen from Zhou Ziqiu and drew a circle on Houcheng, where they were now—Houcheng was located at a point perpendicular to this straight line.
"What did Houcheng say?"
Zhou Ziqiu shook his head; this was also the point of his confusion.
That remains to be seen. Cui Yongle said, "It's alright, I'll keep an eye on Xiqi first."
Since the flight was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, the three of them had a free day tomorrow. Cui Yongle wanted to finish what he hadn't done yesterday, so Zhou Ziqiu accompanied Wen Su back to the abandoned Wen family home.
Stepping back across the threshold, Zhou Ziqiu no longer heard the rustling sounds from before, as the yin energy here had been broken. Sunlight streamed into the courtyard, bringing warmth and life. It was as if time had simply abandoned the place, as if nothing had ever happened. Instead, their arrival had awakened the dust, which swirled and rose into the air, flashing with golden light.
Wen Su smiled as he looked at the plaque that had fallen to the ground, and then reached out to pick it up.
Seeing Wen Su's actions, Zhou Ziqiu didn't know what to say. In this situation, saying anything seemed superfluous, so he just stood there quietly, watching Wen Su's movements.
In truth, Wen Su wasn't particularly sad. The person had already passed away, and no amount of remembrance could bring back the past; it would only add to the sorrow. For him, it was better to improve himself than to grieve. He had lived through hundreds of years like this, and he didn't feel much sadness now. Besides, he had already seen his relatives, and his wish had been fulfilled.
So he brushed the dust off the plaque and placed it on the wooden table beside him, then walked to the backyard. He had already searched this place before, but at that time, his grandfather's room was the only one he hadn't looked for.
Zhou Ziqiu also looked around at the century-old mansion. From a modern perspective, the house was indeed very old, but from Zhou Ziqiu's perspective, the mansion was very new, and it didn't match the Wen family's thousand-year history at all.
"Wensu."
Zhou Ziqiu called out.
"Hmm?" Wen Su was searching through the room that originally belonged to his grandfather when he heard Zhou Ziqiu calling him from the doorway. He immediately turned around and responded.
"Has this place been renovated?" Zhou Ziqiu explained, "It's the old house that's been renovated into what it is now."
Wen Su recalled his childhood memories and shook his head: "No, I've been here since I was born."
"Oh, okay." Zhou Ziqiu left through the door and went to check other rooms.
Zhou Ziqiu would never ask him such a question out of thin air. Wen Su kept the question in his mind and continued searching. However, he soon understood why Zhou Ziqiu asked that question.
His grandfather's desk had not been taken by the Wang family. Wen Su opened the drawer of his grandfather's desk, but the drawer was empty. If it were a normal person, they would probably close the drawer and look at other drawers, but Wen Su narrowed his eyes.
His intuition told him that there must be something in this drawer, and that his grandfather wouldn't have let him into the study for no reason.
When he was little, he often went into his grandfather's room to play, and sometimes he would see his grandfather putting something into this drawer.
Wen Su reached into the drawer and rummaged around for a while, but still found nothing. He then examined the drawer more closely and discovered something: the space inside the drawer was smaller than it appeared from the outside, and the difference between the two sides was very small, so much so that it was not noticeable unless you looked closely.
He then reached for the gap in the wood at the bottom of the drawer. After a few touches, he felt that the gap was slightly larger in one place. Wen Su decided to go all the way and removed the entire drawer, taking out a dagger from his waist and inserting it into the gap in the wood.
He actually pried up the wooden plank at the bottom.
Removing the wooden board at the bottom of the disguised drawer revealed something that had been hidden for a century—a book.
Wen Su reached for the book and took it out. The slightly faded blue cover was blank. Just as he was about to open it, a voice from the doorway made him quickly stuff the book into his coat: "Wen Su?"
It was Zhou Ziqiu; they must have heard the sound of him removing the drawer.
"Hmm?" Wen Su stood up from the ground and looked at Zhou Ziqiu.
Zhou Ziqiu walked in from the doorway, looking curiously at the dagger and wooden board in his hand: "What are you doing?"
"Ah..." Wen Su smiled and explained, "I thought this drawer was a bit strange, so I took it apart, but there was nothing inside."
Zhou Ziqiu took the wooden board from Wen Su's hand, thinking that he meant there was something on the board. After examining it, he found nothing and handed the board back to Wen Su, saying, "There's really nothing on it."
Wen Su sheathed the dagger and tossed the wooden plank aside: "Yes, let's go."
"Aren't you going to look anymore?" Zhou Ziqiu asked, feeling a little strange, since they had only been here for a short time.
Wen Su, of course, wouldn't say that he had already searched this place: "There's nothing here. The Wang family should have put it all away. It's not there."
"Too."
Zhou Ziqiu left with Wen Su, feeling somewhat regretful. He had thought there might be some clues hidden by the Wen family here.
When they returned to the hotel, it was still morning. Wen Su suggested going out for lunch, and Zhou Ziqiu readily agreed. The two then went back to their respective rooms to change out of their dusty clothes.
Wen Su then took out the book he had been carrying with him, but after turning to a page, he froze on the spot and quickly put the book back into his backpack.
"Shall we go?" Zhou Ziqiu had finished showering and changed his clothes. Seeing that Wen Su hadn't come out yet, he knocked on his door. There was a response from behind the door, and a few minutes later the door opened from the inside. Wen Su had also changed his clothes.
"Let's go."
Zhou Ziqiu looked Wen Su up and down, and when he saw the bare earlobe under his slightly damp hair, he suddenly smiled and asked, "Why aren't you wearing an earring anymore?"
Wen Su's usual clothes are similar to Zhou Ziqiu's, not in style, but in that they are always the same. Zhou Ziqiu always wears a turtleneck top, and Wen Su always wears a black coat. Neither of them is good at dressing themselves.
"Why would I wear that for no reason?" Wen Su pressed the elevator button and replied. 18:58:04
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