Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fallen Tree
In March of the twenty-seventh year of the Zhenguan era, Chang'an was shrouded in an unusually chilly spring. Liu Bao'er was checking the first settlement between Datong Pawnshop and the South China Sea Caravan when she heard hurried footsteps outside the window.
The mute old servant, unusually, barged into the study without being announced, his deeply lined face etched with anxiety. He gestured with a complex hand—his grandmother was critically ill, and he wanted to see her one last time.
Liu Bao'er's hand, holding the pen, froze in mid-air, ink dripping onto the ledger and spreading into a dark cloud. She paused for a moment, then gently put down the pen: "Prepare the carriage."
The Dou family mansion was filled with the strong smell of medicine and an oppressive atmosphere of impending doom. The once majestic courtyard now exuded a sense of panic, as if the trees had fallen and the monkeys had scattered. When she entered the inner room, she could hardly recognize the emaciated old man lying on the bed.
"Everyone... get out." The old woman's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of a broken bellows.
The maids and servants filed out, only the mute old servant silently retreated behind the screen. Liu Bao'er knelt before the bed, looking at the old man who had once controlled her destiny.
"You've come..." The old grandmother struggled to focus her cloudy eyes, "This little temple of the Dou family can no longer hold onto a true Buddha like you..."
Her withered hand suddenly grabbed Liu Bao'er's wrist with astonishing force: "But you must remember, the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled. You've gone too fast, too high... and you've already gotten in the way of many people..."
A violent cough interrupted her. Liu Bao'er was about to call for help, but she was held back tightly.
"The Wang family... is nothing but a puppet in the public eye..." the old grandmother gasped, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes, "The one who truly wants to harm you is..."
Before he could finish speaking, Dou Dehai barged in with his clansmen: "Mother needs to rest, Madam Liu, please go back."
In the midst of the shoving, Liu Bao'er was ushered out of the inner room. As she turned back one last time, she saw her grandmother's hand hanging limply by the bedside, the personal seal she always carried slipping from her sleeve and being hastily picked up by a maid.
That night, the death knell tolled.
Liu Bao'er stood in the suddenly empty courtyard of the Dou family home, the spring chill still lingering. The mute old servant silently handed her a sandalwood box, secured with an exquisite copper lock.
"This is?"
The old servant gestured—his grandmother had instructed him before she died that if anything happened, this box could be opened.
Liu Bao'er touched the cold keyhole, a complex sense of melancholy welling up in her heart. This old man, who had once used her as a pawn and personally taught her the ways of the game, left her with a riddle without a key at the end of his life.
Three days later, the funeral was held as scheduled. All the prominent figures in Chang'an attended, and undercurrents of various factions surged within the mourning hall. Liu Bao'er, dressed in plain clothes with only the abacus-shaped gold hairpin in her hair, stood out conspicuously in the crowd.
Cui Jiulang appeared beside her unnoticed: "Please accept my condolences."
"Does Jiulang think I should grieve?" She gazed at the flickering candlelight before the coffin. "She taught me to survive, and she taught me to be wary. Now, even her departure leaves me with a mystery."
"That's her," Cui Jiulang said softly, "always unpredictable."
After the funeral, Liu Bao'er carried the sandalwood box back to Datong Pharmacy. The moonlight outside the window was cold and clear. She carefully examined the box by candlelight and suddenly noticed a very fine scratch next to the keyhole—a mark left by someone trying to pick the lock.
Her heart sank, and she immediately summoned Hu Liu: "Go and check if any unfamiliar faces have been seen coming and going from the Dou family recently."
However, before the results could be found, an even bigger storm was brewing.
On the morning of the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, when the blood-covered bodyguard rushed into Datong Pawnshop, Liu Bao'er finally understood—what her grandmother left behind was not a riddle, but a warning.
The slipped private seal and the switched wooden box were both pieces that had been laid out in this murderous scheme long ago.
Standing in the main hall surrounded by the Imperial Guards, she suddenly remembered her grandmother's last words.
Who is the one who really wants to harm her?
The answer to this question may lie locked in that wooden box without a key.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
