Cleverly Hiding Secrets
An Hongdou took the letter but did not open it immediately.
Whether the messenger in front of her is trustworthy will only be known after she has read the contents of the letter in her hand.
"It must be my husband reporting that he's safe and sound again. My husband is such a fool; every time he writes back, he only says that he's alright and doesn't mention anything else."
An Hongdou sighed and casually put the letter into her pocket.
"Having been away from home for so long, I don't know what he's been busy with, and we've grown distant from each other."
An Hongdou pretended to be resentful and complained to the messenger for a few minutes.
"The lord still cares about the lady, otherwise he wouldn't have sent a letter." The messenger offered a few words of comfort with a smile, then continued, "However, this letter was delivered in a hurry, and the lord did not offer any payment. What do you think, madam?"
"They probably think that I'm just a woman, and I don't understand anything about men making achievements, so it's pointless for me to talk to them."
An Hongdou spoke with a resentful tone, but her eyes carefully observed the messenger's expression and actions.
"Alright, Fengnian, pay him."
Not seeing anything unusual at first glance, An Hongdou hoped that she was just being paranoid.
She was in a hurry to go back to her room to check the letter. Although she had already assumed that it was probably another letter to let her know that she was safe, she still needed to see it with her own eyes to feel at ease.
Recently, An Hongdou has been reflecting on the matter repeatedly and feels that, as Li Lai'er said, the bits and pieces she heard at the Xie family may not be the truth.
An Hongdou sincerely hoped that everything was just their wild imagination. She would write to Li Zeli after he settled down and then ask him properly.
After receiving the money, the messenger prepared to leave, declining Feng Nian's invitation to stay for a meal.
“Madam happens to have a letter to deliver to Qingling today. Would it be possible to do so on the way? If so, please stay and wait for us, so we don’t have to look for someone else,” Feng Nian explained.
"To be honest, Qingyin County is not a route under my jurisdiction. It's just that the reward from the adults is so generous that I deliberately took a detour."
An Hongdou, who had already turned around and was about to go back to her room, turned back after hearing this and said, "I suppose my husband trusts me. In that case, the reward will remain the same. I'm sorry to trouble you to take the long way around again."
"Then I will wait at your residence for your letter, Madam," the messenger agreed.
An Hongdou asked Fengnian to settle him in, and went back to her room alone to read the letter.
The letter was opened, and a route map slid off the table.
The drawing was very simple, hastily sketched on a handkerchief. And that handkerchief was the one An Hongdou embroidered for Li Zeli.
An Hongdou looked through the envelope inside and out, but found no other information.
An Hongdou no longer harbored any illusions. Looking at the handkerchief on the table, she realized that even if Li Zeli hadn't been involved in the dangerous matter the Xie family had mentioned, this trip was far from peaceful.
Although she didn't know what Li Zeli meant by sending back the handkerchief, An Hongdou had a feeling that there was more to it than met the eye, based on her experience of listening to stories and reading books with Wu Linglong since childhood.
After thinking for a moment, she had an idea.
She summoned Feng Nian and asked her to tell the messenger to first go to Qingzhou County to find Feng Qiang, and after she had seen the item, to deliver it to Wu Linglong in Qingling County.
Originally, I just wanted to give Wu Linglong the embroidery pattern and instructions so that she could start working on it as soon as possible.
Now that the messenger has delivered something of dubious significance, I wonder if I'll be targeted. Perhaps it would be safer to rely on Feng Qiang's influence.
It seems that Feng Qiang offered herself up in the first place, and now, in her haste, she's using her as a pretext. An Hongdou doesn't feel ashamed at all.
Afterward, she returned to her room and copied Li Zeli's handwriting, referring to the previous content, to prepare a letter to let him know she was safe, and put it in an envelope. She then placed the envelope at the bottom of her dressing box, where she kept all her previous letters.
An Hongdou embroidered the route map on the handkerchief into the portrait of a lady she had found for reference, using a single thread of gold.
She blended it ingeniously, so that to an unsuspecting bystander, the gold thread would simply appear as a pattern on the clothing of a lady in a painting.
After confirming the wiring was correct, An Hongdou burned the handkerchief and poured the ashes into the kitchen stove.
After dealing with everything, An Hongdou breathed a sigh of relief. She desperately hoped that all of this had been unnecessary for her, and that Li Zeli would return and mock her.
Sunrise and sunset, clouds drifting and gathering.
An Hongdou and the embroiderers rushed to make birthday gifts for Feng Qiang, and the days passed by like flowing water.
Maple took over most of the trivial matters of Jinxiu Pavilion, traveling back and forth between Qingling and Qingyin, managing the embroidery workshop while supervising the two workers.
Li Lai'er earned Feng Shu's trust and became his assistant. Over time, she learned a lot from Feng Shu.
After that conversation, Li Lai'er packed her bags and prepared to return home.
After much deliberation, An Hongdou decided to keep Li Lai'er and let her earn a living through her own abilities.
They were all pitiful people who drifted with the tide. Li Lai'er had a child to raise and had no intention of harming anyone. An Hongdou had no intention of targeting her.
That day, An Hongdou rubbed her dizzy head and went back to her room for a short rest.
The tight deadline and the recent days of embroidery had left her quite exhausted.
As she passed the dressing table, she noticed that the wooden comb was not in the right position.
An Hongdou has had a habit since childhood: she always puts things back where she took them from after using them.
Thanks to this good habit, whenever An Hongdou can't remember where something is, she can always find it by following the inertia to look for the original location in her memory.
An Hongdou's heart tightened, and she quickly stepped forward to check the dressing case.
Sure enough, the letters inside showed signs of having been disturbed.
She counted them; not a single letter was missing, and the order was exactly the same, only the messengers had rushed through and hadn't managed to restore everything to its original order.
An Hongdou breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the visitor hadn't noticed anything unusual.
The last letter Li Zeli sent was only seen by An Hongdou, and it has now been searched. As long as she insists that it was just a letter to let her know she is safe, she should be able to get away with it.
As for the messenger, since the letter reached her safely, he must have been unaware of the inside story.
In a deserted temple outside the city of Jiangnan.
Li Zeli bribed a beggar who was staying there to deliver a message, while he stayed in the deserted temple to rest.
When scholars first enter officialdom, regardless of their motives, they all harbor a heart devoted to serving their country.
Therefore, when the people from the court came to him, although he knew the journey was dangerous, he was still willing to do his part.
But little did anyone know that this mission was not a trial of justice against corruption, but a contest of political struggle and the darkness of human nature.
Colleagues who go to Jiangnan with you are not necessarily your own people who fight alongside you.
Everyone had their own agenda and served their own master.
Some colluded with each other; some stood idly by; and some were forced to defect.
Of course, there are also some selfless defenders who are willing to risk their lives to uphold justice.
This is also why Li Zeli is here now.
However, he was not a righteous man who overestimated his abilities. He got involved simply because he was moved by some fool and wanted to keep his promise to risk helping him once.
Born into a farming family, Li Zeli was adept at self-preservation. With no one to rely on, he had to make his own plans.
He initially came here with the intention of making contributions and advancing his career. However, as events unfolded and circumstances arose, with his colleagues getting into trouble one after another, he keenly realized that he couldn't afford to get involved in this situation.
He began sending letters to An Hongdou to let her know he was safe, and he did this wherever he went.
On the one hand, he was worried that he would die here without even having time to leave a last word.
On the other hand, wasn't he also making a statement, seeking to protect himself?
The first few letters showed signs of being investigated.
However, the content of Li Zeli's letters was almost identical, and he himself appeared to be passively going through the motions. As time went on, people gradually came to believe that he was just an unlucky person who had mistakenly taken this job, and who only wanted to go home and reunite with his beloved wife.
And that was indeed the case. He only wanted to play dumb and get by, hoping to return home safely once this matter was over.
Even if it means spending one's entire life as a low-ranking official in a remote area, it's still better than being left nameless and without status in this foreign land of Jiangnan.
But to everyone's surprise, that idiot Chen Wenfang actually found the crucial evidence.
That day, Chen Wenfang invited him to a restaurant for drinks, and he gladly accepted.
When he arrived, he found no one there, but the food and wine were already laid out on the table. Li Zeli figured he had nothing else to do, so he ate and waited.
To everyone's surprise, they were met with a seriously injured Chen Wenfang.
He didn't want to get involved, but out of consideration for their past as colleagues, he stepped forward to help.
Chen Wenfang stopped him, and with his finger dipped in the blood flowing from the wound, drew a route map inside the hem of his clothes.
Before Li Zeli could ask any more questions, Chen Wenfang chased him away.
Chen Wenfang said he had hidden the evidence and asked Li Zeli to deliver it to Zhang Zhao. He also said that if the matter succeeded, Zhang Zhao would allow him to go home first.
Zhang Zhao is a member of the Zhang family, one of the nine most powerful families in the court at its zenith.
With a very persuasive name and attractive terms, Li Zeli agreed to help.
Perhaps, a sliver of a sense of justice also played a part.
Later, before he could take any action, news of Chen Wenfang's death spread.
It serves as a deterrent to the enemy, and also as a means of observing them and finding their accomplices.
Chen Wenfang was originally a poor scholar sponsored by the Xie family. Although his political resources could not compare with those of the sons of officials, he was still considered to have a bright future compared to scholars without any support.
Who would have thought that he would be willing to sacrifice his life to purge the corrupt officials in the court?
Zhang Zhao's investigation into this matter may not be for the sake of justice. But Chen Wenfang has no profit to gain. He is unmarried and lives with only his widowed mother. Before receiving assistance from the Xie family, he grew up relying on the kindness of many families.
Chen Wenfang's choice was hard not to move Li Zeli.
Of course, Li Zeli knew that his appearance at the restaurant that day would definitely be found out; it was only a matter of time.
If they were to kill themselves to avoid future trouble, it would be better to take a gamble; maybe they could really go home sooner. Li Zeli comforted himself.
Before setting off, he wrote another letter to An Hongdou to let her know he was safe, but when he delivered it, he found that the messenger had not yet replied.
To reduce the attention he would receive, Li Zeli would choose the same people to deliver the messages wherever he went, so that he would not be questioned again after being questioned once.
This time he couldn't wait and was thinking of taking the risk of finding someone else to send the letter.
As Li Zeli was leaving, he happened to see the new female helper in the inn's kitchen splashing water.
Li Zeli recalled that the female helper had come to work at the post station for the first time, accompanied by a messenger, so the two probably had some connection.
Li Zeli then asked the female worker to help deliver the letter, instructing the messenger to take it to the usual location. After saying this, he hurriedly left.
Knowing that the city was the other side's territory, he had already planned to leave the city and head into the mountains.
There are temporary resting places for hunters in the mountains, where he can hide.
They also hired hunters under the guise of delivering wild game to find Zhang Zhao.
However, things don't always go as planned. After leaving the city, he accidentally ended up in an abandoned temple and had to ask a beggar in the temple to deliver a message.
It's just unknown whether Zhang Zhao or the enemy will arrive first.
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