Chapter 22 Letter
Cold sweat quickly broke out from Qiandeng's back. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the dim light of dawn coming through the window.
Unable to close her eyes any longer, she got up, washed, had a quick breakfast, and headed towards the water pavilion.
Unexpectedly, at such an early hour, she saw a nimble figure practicing swordplay under a tree, using willow branches as a substitute.
She looked at the vigorous figure, and the scene of her leaning on his back and letting him lead her out of the darkness came to her mind again. For a moment, she didn't know whether the forest in front of her was the real mountain or the fog in her dream.
Did they take the wrong path?
Can he really connect with her heart and walk with her to the final destination?
Noticing her presence, Ling Tianshui stopped what he was doing, dropped the willow branch in his hand to the ground, and walked towards her: "So early, County Lady, are you up?"
Qiandeng nodded: "There are still some things in my mind."
Ling Tianshui knew what was on her mind without asking, and asked, "Then I'll go call Cui Fufeng and finish what I didn't finish last night."
Qiandeng nodded. Cui Fufeng had been following up on the case, so it would be best for the three of them to work together.
She first walked towards the water pavilion, walked along the mountain corridor to the pillar from last night, held the railing, leaned over, and looked up at the marks on it.
Viewed during the day, the lines with the dust wiped off appear clearer, and the style of instruction is indeed Ji Linyou's work.
Ling Tianshui and Cui Fufeng quickly arrived and examined the mark. While they couldn't be certain, if someone in the village could have left this mark, it was most likely Ji Linyou.
The mark was hidden under the dust, and it must have been written down by him the last time he came here.
He had only been to the Bai family's manor twice, and the last time was when something happened to Lady Qi.
Qian Deng pondered for a moment and asked Ling Tianshui, "Did the gentlemen do anything unusual last night?"
Ling Tianshui affirmed, "No, after the county lady returned, the gentlemen all behaved themselves and stayed inside their rooms. Especially since I live next door to the Golden Hall, anyone going there has to pass by my door. I can hear any movement at the doors or windows, and I can guarantee there's no sound."
Qiandeng nodded and felt a little relieved.
She walked to the water pavilion, calmed herself down, and pushed open the door that had been closed for a long time.
Lady Qi died here, so the furnishings inside have not changed at all. However, someone from the manor often comes here to clean, so there is not much musty smell or dust.
But because of Qian Deng's instructions, the furnishings inside remained the same as before. Even the bed board that was removed to transport the corpse was still standing at an angle behind the bed, not put back in place.
Even though he had looked at this place thousands of times, Qian Deng still walked around the room and told Ling Tianshui what happened that day in detail.
"That day, when Cui Shaoqing and I invited Doctor Liao back, she said my mother was beyond saving. Acupuncture was the only way to bring her back to life. She left me with some words to say..."
Qian Deng said this, sitting on the head of the bed where he had supported his mother to sit, pointing to the cabinet that his mother had pointed at.
At that time, she followed her mother's instructions and went to look for the letter in the drawer. Because of her shaking hands, she overturned the entire drawer and all the contents fell to the ground.
Just like that, she stood up and walked to the cabinet, opened the door, pulled out the drawer inside, and turned it over on the ground.
Qian Deng had searched through the contents of this drawer countless times since his mother's death, but always found nothing, just like now.
Cui Fufeng and Ling Tianshui carefully searched the drawer and the things inside. After making sure there were no letters and no compartments in the drawer, they packed up the things and put them back in the drawer.
Qiandeng lifted the drawer and tried to put it back into the cabinet slot, but in her frustration and trance, her hands suddenly became weak and the drawer flipped out of her hands, about to fall again.
Ling Tianshui beside her was quick-witted and quick-handed. He immediately raised his hand to support the drawer and her hand firmly.
The palm covering the back of her hand was warm, dry and broad.
Cui Fufeng reached out to take the drawer and put it back in its place, but his gaze was vague, as if he took a second look at their touching hands.
Qiandeng pursed her lips silently and pulled her hand back calmly.
At this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she remembered the chaotic and ambiguous contact between her and Ling Tianshui in the dark.
At that time, the back of her hand was burned, so she secretly went to Meng Lanxi's residence to look for medicine.
At that time, she discovered something strange under the drawer where the medicine bottles were kept, so she raised her hand to touch it, and accidentally touched the jade pendant that Meng Lanxi had tampered with, causing her to fall into confusion.
Jade pendant...
She finally remembered the pattern on Jintang's jade pendant and why it looked so familiar.
The three jade pendants, the one worn by Jin Tang, the one hidden by Meng Lanxi, and the one left behind by Madam Meng, have somewhat different patterns, but all of them have purple-blue lines and vermilion spots.
However, the three pieces of similar colored jade ultimately presented three different carving methods:
The one in the Jintang was carved vertically into a pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl; while the two pieces that Meng Lanxi hid in the Yilan Pavilion had horizontal patterns, and the curling traces of blue and green were carved into mountains and rivers. One was Jingting Mountain and the other was Emei Mountain. One was a vermilion pavilion in the distant mountains, and the other was a rising red sun on the top of the mountain.
However, although the patterns carved on the three jade pendants are different, the direction of the lines is roughly the same.
Therefore, it is very likely that the large and thick egg jade of cousin Mingjiu was split into three thin and transparent jade pendants and carved into three pieces.
Meng Lanxi...
Seventeen years ago, he might not have been born yet. What connection could he have with the bandits and robberies that occurred in the desert that year?
Or... is it his mother, Madam Meng, who is related?
Although he had only met Madam Meng once, Qian Deng thought of the deep dimples that appeared unconsciously on her pale cheeks, thought of Meng Lanxi's intoxicating smile, and thought of the fleeting dimples on Ling Tianshui's lips in the firelight that day...
She suddenly seemed to understand something, and wanted to raise her eyes in disbelief, but she forced herself to control herself and lowered her eyes.
She was afraid that her expression would fluctuate and be seen by Ling Tianshui.
Ling Tianshui had already noticed it. He moved closer to her and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just..." Her hands trembled slightly. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and said something else that came to her mind. "I thought of a possibility."
She pulled the drawer out again and looked inside the cabinet behind it.
Under the drawer is a spliced back panel, made of two wooden boards sandwiched together. Because the wood has deformed over time, there is a noticeable gap.
Following her gaze, the other two naturally saw it as well.
In an instant, a thought came to their minds -
Could it be that she pulled out the drawer in such a hurry that the letter slipped backwards from the top of the drawer and fell into the gap between the two boards at the bottom of the cabinet?
Qiandeng stuck his head out to look at the gap below, but it was dark inside and he could not see anything.
Ling Tianshui tapped her shoulder, motioning her to come out first, then raised his foot and kicked the back of the cabinet twice.
With the loud bang, the mortise and tenon joints inside the back panel broke and immediately became loose.
He reached up, grabbed the loose panel, and removed it with a snap.
When the inner wall panel broke, there was a slight "pop" sound, and a thin piece of object sandwiched in the middle fell off.
He raised his hand, took it, and handed it to Qiandeng.
It was a letter. A letter sent from Qiuci to the Changhua Palace.
This series of coincidences caused her to go around in circles for so long, and she only found the letters left by her mother until now.
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