Chapter 18 Chapter 18 A small butterfly jade pendant...
Hezhou held the small butterfly jade pendant in his hand. He swept his fingertips across the butterfly's eye holes, leaving a thin layer of dust, which must not be left by long-term wear.
"Given the value of that jade pendant, your wife seems to have a reason..."
Hezhou dragged out the words and looked at Huan'er, with a meaningful look in his eyes, as if he was about to reveal the secret hidden in the darkness in the next second.
"How could that be?" Huan'er's words of explanation were stuck in her mouth. She pursed her lips and looked nervous. "Sir, please don't try to trick me. I'm just an official. Please hurry up a little. The young lady needs to take a nap."
She snatched the jade pendant from Hezhou's hand and put it in the drawer, lowering her head and saying, "My lord, you'd better hurry up. This thing is not a good thing."
Hezhou turned to Xie Xunzhi and saw that he was shaking his head at him, and he got nothing.
"Offended."
In the yard, the housekeeper sat on the other side of the fourth lady, with steaming tea on the table.
The fourth lady looked Hezhou up and down, raised her eyebrows, and the smile on her face widened. "My lord, have you found no clues?"
"Fourth Madam, you are joking. How can you get any clues about Madam's innocence?" Hezhou smiled.
"It would be better if you could ask the manager to call the nine people over."
The fourth lady laughed disdainfully and kicked over the servant who was kneeling in front of her.
She stood up with a frosty face, "Did you hear me? Go back and tell my sister not to listen to the gossip of the villain! Drag her away and give her a beating!"
The maid who was leaning against the flowerpot in the yard came forward and responded, then ran out of the yard with her head down.
Hezhou and Xie Xunzhi looked at each other and left.
Xie Xunzhi quickly walked towards the compound. "Brother He, take your men to search the residences of those nine people. I will interrogate them one by one."
Hezhou didn't reply immediately. Looking at Xie Xunzhi striding in front of him, he frowned and agreed, but he still felt uncomfortable in his heart.
The butler arranged people on the way, and three servants followed him and separated from Xie Xunzhi at the end of the corridor.
Before leaving, he saw the two maids beside the third lady expressing their dissatisfaction.
Hezhou took his men to the servant's room first. There were two servants living together in the room, and the place was not big, so it was a bit crowded for four people to go in at the same time.
He randomly pointed at two people and asked them to check the house next door.
After searching the whole room, there was still nothing found. Except for the one or two taels of silver that the servant had placed under his pillow, everything else was fine.
Hezhou walked to the next room and saw that the scene in that room was even more horrible. The floor was a mess and every place where things could be hidden had been turned over, even the quilts and pillows had been picked apart.
"Did you find anything?"
The two servants held up the blanket and shook their heads. "Just like the previous search, nothing was found."
Hezhou kicked the kettle off the ground and walked to the bed. The brick bed was extremely cold, but it was also tightly fitted and there was no place to hide.
Was he wrong? Hezhou couldn't stop getting irritated, his mouth tight, and walked around the room, making sure there was really no place to hide anything.
He looked at the three servants. "Why don't I remember there were five of us? Where is the other room?"
"He is not in the servant's courtyard, but lives in the side courtyard near the gate." The servant came out and pointed out the direction for him, which was the wing room closest to the main courtyard.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Hezhou couldn't wait to go over.
"Sir...you didn't even ask!"
When Hezhou walked out of the servants' courtyard, he saw Xie Xunzhi sitting in the courtyard at the main gate, with a servant sitting in front of him, feeling uneasy, speaking with an accent from somewhere unknown.
He walked over slowly, picked up the tea on the table and drank it. "Xunzhi's writing is so pleasing to the eye!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Have you finished the investigation so quickly?" Xie Xunzhi's hands did not stop moving.
Hezhou leaned over him and flicked the brush, finally producing a crooked stroke among the perfect characters. "Not yet, just passing by."
Xie Xunzhi put down his pen and looked at him. "Go quickly. Your farming plan is waiting for you."
"Wait for me, I promise to catch him for you." Hezhou lowered his head and smiled at him, then led his men to stride towards the gateyard.
The room that man lived in was outside the yard. He could see the corner of Xie Xunzhi's clothes from the window. The other three people in the room were searching through all the drawers and cabinets.
Hezhou stared at the person he had just talked to as he walked away. After a while, Xie Xun turned his head to look at him. He smiled and hid for a while before he began to search seriously.
The room was like a field full of locusts, with no place intact. He walked to the bed and sat down, still trying to look out through the window. He reached out and touched the bricks without any sealant.
Hezhou squatted down and pushed a few people to make sure that it was not an illusion, and there was indeed a brick under the bed that could move.
There wasn't much space inside, and when the bricks were stuck in the middle and pushed open, a scabbard popped out. He pulled it out, reached in to make sure there was nothing inside, and his hands were covered in dust.
"Do you guards hide your swords here?"
"How is that possible? If something happens, it will be gone before you even take it out." The servants shrank their necks and gathered around, their tones much more relaxed.
Hezhou raised the corner of his mouth, but he was always vaguely uneasy in his heart. The short sword was empty and had no blade. A butterfly jade pendant slid out from it.
It is indeed different from the Fourth Lady's. It is more transparent, brighter, and has more carved details. It feels cold to the touch, and you can smell the smell of urine when you put it close to your nose.
Hezhou was a little disgusted and held it between two fingers and took it away. "Did you see the blade inside?"
"No!"
Bad thoughts arose in his mind. Outside, he heard the sound of cups breaking. Hezhou rushed out and saw a guard in brown clothes holding a blade wrapped in flowered cloth against Xie Xunzhi's neck.
“What are you doing!”
The knife-wielding guard turned to Xie Xunzhi and looked at him viciously, "Give me the jade pendant! Let me go!"
"You need to calm down now. Stealing things is different from kidnapping officials!" Hezhou held up the jade pendant, took small steps forward, and couldn't stop cursing.
The man was so agitated that he stopped him from coming closer, and the blade got closer to Xie Xunzhi's neck.
"Okay, okay! I won't move. I'll leave it to you. Calm down! Calm down! As long as you ensure his safety, I'll let you go!" Hezhou carefully wrapped the jade pendant and threw it to him.
The guard hid behind Xie Xunzhi and picked up the things, sweat on his head. "Open the door for me! I'll run out and let him go!"
"no!"
The sight that was originally moving with Hezhou suddenly turned back. The blade passed across the neck, leaving a tiny knife mark, and the smell of blood filled the air.
"Calm down! Calm down! I promise you can leave!" Hezhou's eyes suddenly widened and his breathing became rapid, staring intently at the trace of blood that was spilling out.
"No!" The butler brought a dozen people armed with long sticks to surround the guard.
"Thank you for your help in finding the thief! Leave the rest to me."
Hezhou was furious and grabbed his collar fiercely. "What do you mean now? Didn't you see that he has someone in his hand?"
"Sir! Sir, think about it, he is a servant of my Chen Mansion. If he stole something from us and could run away, how would our Chen Mansion maintain its reputation?" The housekeeper did not show any fear and spoke in a gentle tone.
"I don't care how you act, you'd better pray that nothing happens to Xie Xunzhi in your Chen Mansion!"
The guard hid behind Xie Xunzhi and shouted, "Let me go! If I don't have the jade pendant, tell them to let me go! Otherwise, even if I die, I will take someone with me!"
The blade was getting closer. No matter how hard Xie Xunzhi hid, he couldn't help but feel fear at the critical moment of life and death. He grabbed the corner of his clothes tightly.
Hezhou could naturally see it, and he couldn't help but feel even more anxious. The housekeeper in front of him still looked unmoved.
The security guard was also on the verge of collapse, but the knife in his hand did not shake. He looked back and forth at the people around him, his eyes dark as if they would die together in the next second.
Things seemed to be at a dead end. Xie Xunzhi trembled as he followed the other party's movements. "Doesn't the Third Madam come home often? If you have any urgent matters, just tell her."
The guard seemed to have heard something funny and laughed crazily. "Do you think I didn't tell you? Why do you think I was kicked out of the yard? Who can go home after leaving that yard? I tell you, if they come even two steps closer, we'll die together!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the butler waved his hand and the people around him took another step forward.
The guard laughed through his tears, "We all have worthless lives! Let's keep each other company!"
"Wait a minute!" Hezhou shouted loudly, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.
He didn't care about so many things at that time. Now he wanted to go back and put the knife to the butler's neck to let him feel it himself.
He let out a long sigh and looked at the housekeeper. "You'd better let them withdraw, otherwise the Chen family will be waiting to open up the old accounts! You don't think there is really no one above me, do you..."
"Sir, what does this mean?" The butler narrowed his eyes slightly and put his hands behind his back.
"It's nothing. When I came here, I heard from other adults that there is a great opportunity for promotion here. As for who will get that opportunity..." Hezhou didn't say anything, but just looked at him with a crooked smile.
"Do you know Dali Temple?"
The butler looked at him in silence, hesitation in his eyes.
Hezhou knew that his bet was right. The more he thought about it, the more he considered it. He calmed down and whispered, "You should have checked it. I passed the imperial examination once. You can also think about it slowly. Think about how you monopolize the market, exploit the people, evade taxes, and how you are losing your heads!"
He emphasized the last word, and it seemed that he had done his best to hide his identity while investigating the case, but was forced to reveal his identity due to an unexpected situation. This was in line with his trembling right hand.
"Sir, you are joking. Isn't this the time for him to perform meritorious service? If he runs away... it will be difficult for you to explain, right?" The butler asked tentatively. Although he did not give in, at least he did not cause more trouble.
"Even if you can't find out who Xunzhi is, you should at least know what he was wearing on his first day here. Think about it carefully..."
The guard's eyes turned red, and he put on a strange smile and whispered into Xie Xunzhi's ear, "It seems you're different from me. You're destined for great wealth! I'll count to three, and everyone, get out of the way! Open the door!"
“Three…two…”
"Get out of the way and open the door!"
Hezhou finally breathed a sigh of relief, his own heartbeat was the only sound in his ears. He followed the path around the screen wall, but after taking only two steps he was threatened not to move.
There weren't many people outside the Chen family's house, and when they saw this scene, they all hid far away and watched through a crack in the window.
The guard stuck to Xie Xunzhi and dragged him back. During this time, the knife swung and brushed against him several times. The small cut on his neck only broke the skin, and the blood that flowed out brushed against the knife several times, which looked particularly scary.
"Wait a minute!" Xie Xunzhi grabbed him, his neck against the blade. "Wait a minute, let me tell you something."
"Don't play tricks! Otherwise he won't survive." The guard increased his pressure, forcing him to look up.
Xie Xunzhi frowned and hummed, finally getting a chance to catch his breath.
Hezhou stood there, not daring to move, blocking a group of servants in the yard and not letting them out.
"Brother He, the money in our house is in the second winter quilt in the cabinet. If I can't come back, you can take it with you on your way home. Remember to be careful on the road and keep an eye on the price."
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