Late at night, there was a series of rapid knocks on Chen Shicong's door.
His eyes suddenly turned cold, and he pulled out the dagger from under his pillow. He silently approached the door and lowered his voice: "Who?"
"Brother Cong...it's me." A weak female voice came from outside the door, with a trembling ending.
Chen Shicong opened the door and Liu Tingting staggered into the room.
Chen Shicong held her shaky body and gasped when his palm touched her arm.
"Fourth Grandma?!"
Her hair, which used to be neatly combed, was now disheveled. A few strands of wet hair stuck to her pale cheeks. Her eyelashes were clotted with tiny ice crystals, and her lips were frozen blue.
The fox fur cape she was wearing was gone, the hem of her thin crimson cotton robe was soaked in mud, and her embroidered shoes had been worn to the tips, revealing her red, frozen toes.
Liu Tingting grabbed his front lapel, her ten knuckles turning pale.
She raised her face, and Chen Shicong could see the bloodshot eyes: "Master..." The voice squeezed out of his throat was hoarse and untuned, "He was...caught by Xie Yun!"
Chen Shicong's pupils suddenly shrank, "Come in first and talk."
Liu Tingting fell into his arms. Chen Shicong grabbed her slender wrist, glanced outside the door, and then locked the door.
Chen Shicong silently lit the candle, and a dim glow spread across the room.
He picked up the copper kettle and poured a cup of tea for Liu Tingting.
With his left hand, he lifted her icy hand and put it under his mouth to blow on it. With his right hand, he patted her back and said soothingly, "It may be a little cold. Drink some first."
"Warm your hands first." He whispered, holding up her cold fingertips with his left hand and bringing them to his lips, the hot breath he exhaled creating a frost between them.
His right hand gently stroked along her spine without leaving a trace.
When the teacup was placed in her palm, he rubbed her base with his thumb and said, "It may be cold now. Just drink some to moisten your throat."
Liu Tingting's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she quickly pulled her hand back.
Her fingertips brushed across the thin calluses on his palms, causing a slight shudder.
"Thank you, Cong."
Chen Shicong turned around and took out the fox fur coat hanging on the screen, wrapped it around Liu Tingting's thin body, and asked after seeing that she had calmed down, "Fourth Grandma, what's wrong?"
Liu Tingting rested her forehead on his chest.
Even through the cotton and linen fabric, Chen Shicong could feel the chill from her cheek penetrating into his heart.
"I went to a teahouse with my master to drink tea that day..." The white breath she exhaled formed frost on his clothes, "When I woke up... I was already in Xie Yun's dungeon."
Hearing this, he asked nervously, "Are you okay?"
Liu Tingting shook her head. "He said that as long as the Qing Gang surrendered, he would release the master."
She suddenly grabbed Chen Shicong's hand and pressed it against her chest, "But I know that Xie Yun, like the Japanese, wants to make the Qing Gang their dogs!"
Chen Shicong suddenly pulled his hand back and clenched the remaining body temperature in his palm in his sleeve.
Liu Tingting took the opportunity to hand over a forged Japanese military secret document, the "Tianjin Jurisdiction Transfer Plan" signed by Sato himself, which clearly stated that the Japanese Chamber of Commerce would directly take over all the Green Gang's industries.
"I stole this from Xie Yun's study." She breathed rapidly, "The Japanese never intended to give us Tianjin!"
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