National Mourning
Sun Qing grasped Li Ranyi's hand tightly and said urgently, "Cousin, you must testify for me that I have been with you all day and have not seen my husband for half a day."
Li Ranyi said, "Yes, you led me to the side room to see the young master, and we talked there for half a day, even taking a nap in between. Did something happen?"
Sun Qing said, "The mine map of our house was stolen. It was stolen from the head of the family, disguised as me."
Li Ranyi exclaimed in surprise, "The thieves are so bold, that's terrible!"
While observing Li Ranyi's expression, Hua Lingteng questioned her, "Although some guests came to visit Lin'er in the courtyard today, you were the one who stayed the longest. Did you notice anyone suspicious?"
Li Ranyi helped Sun Qing sit down and replied, "I was in the side room the whole time. After the young master fell asleep, I was worried about the draft, so I closed the doors and windows and didn't know what was happening outside."
Hua Lingteng pointed to Li Ranyi's maid and asked, "Where is she?"
Li Ranyi replied, "Of course, they were in the house with me."
Hua Lingteng said, "But the servants in the courtyard said that my wife came out."
"Huh? How come I didn't know?"
Li Ranyi pondered for a moment, "I did leave in the middle. I had drunk too much tea and needed to relieve myself. I saw that the mother and daughter were asleep, so I went out to ask for directions and went out with Xiaoyue for a while."
Li Ranyi suddenly remembered the details, "Yes, when we came back, we vaguely saw someone going out. Judging from their clothes, it should be you. When I returned to the house, my cousin and his wife were still sleeping. When I heard the servant say that something had happened at the ancestral hall, I woke them up and we went together."
The servants in the courtyard said, "Miss Biao did go out for a moment. Madam left the side room after Miss Biao left."
With both sides' testimonies corroborating each other, Li Ranyi was exonerated, and Sun Qing was even less likely to be a suspect.
The only possibility is that the thief cleverly took advantage of the gap when Sun Qing was asleep and Li Ranyi was gone to sneak in.
But today, ambushes are set up everywhere in the fortress, and there are also people watching the main courtyard. It is impossible for the thieves to come and go without being noticed.
Xiao Liao asked, "Miss Li, can you trust your maid?"
Li Ranyi stepped out of the room and confidently replied, "Of course, Xiaoyue is my personal maid. If you suspect she has been switched, you are welcome to question her."
She waved for Xiaoyue to come forward.
Xiaoyue knelt down to prove that, "This servant has been following my young lady all day and has not left her side even for a moment."
Hua Lingteng and Xiao Liao looked at each other in bewilderment.
Li Ranyi smiled and said, "By the way, Your Highness Qin should think that this thief is a habitual offender, and is probably the same person as the one from the academy. Then please verify Xiaoyue's authenticity."
Although she was a maid, there was still a difference between men and women. In front of her master, Xiao Liao couldn't use his interrogation skills.
Xiao Liang volunteered, "I'll do it. Raise your head."
Xiaoyue looked up, and Xiao Lei reached out and peeled off her face, revealing a real, solid face.
Li Ranyi said, "Xiaoyue has served me since she was a child. Everyone in the Li family can testify to this. It's the real deal."
Xiao Liao had his own plans and doubts. He didn't completely trust Li Ranyi, but he had no evidence and couldn't do anything about her.
Hua Lingteng had no choice but to apologize to Li Ranyi and personally see her out.
"You suspect her?"
Hua Lingteng saw doubt in Xiao Liao's eyes.
Xiao Liao said, "Gu Jinning and Hua Lingchen didn't commit the crime, so it can only be her."
He couldn't think of anyone else in the fortress besides Li Ranyi who could be Gu Jinning's mole today.
Hua Lingteng countered, "Why are you so sure it was them? What if it were someone else?"
"Impossible." Xiao Liao interrupted his hypothesis sharply. "It must be them. They came prepared today, it was a group crime. Next time, they will not let her get away with it."
They still have a chance, a chance to win.
Inside the carriage, Gu Jinning suddenly sneezed.
Xiao Heng'an lowered the car curtain to block the wind, pulled her closer to him, and asked, "Did you succeed?"
"What?" Gu Jinning pretended to be confused.
Xiao Heng'an exposed him, "You came here for no reason to freeload. Don't tell me it's just to protect Hua Lingchen."
Gu Jinning chuckled and pulled out a blueprint from her sleeve. "Of course not entirely. I just happened to steal one."
Xiao Heng'an took the drawings and examined them, confirming, "These are genuine drawings."
Gu Jinning leaned against Xiao Heng'an's arm as a backrest, crossed her legs, and said smugly, "Of course it's a real picture. I burned the fake one."
Xiao Heng'an asked, "You obtained it so easily? I suspect the King of Qin set a trap."
Gu Jinning said, "That's all thanks to Brother Hua's thorough knowledge of Hua Lingteng."
On the way here, Gu Jinning figured that Hua Lingteng and Xiao Liao would definitely set a trap to lure her in, and that the real mine map would only be hidden in the safest and most secluded place.
Hua Lingchen was familiar with Hua Lingteng's suspicious nature and guessed that the blueprints were kept close to his body.
The only person who could get close to Hua Lingteng was his wife, Sun Qing.
Gu Jinning first had Qinglian turn elsewhere to attract a small group of sentries, while she herself used various maneuvers in the ancestral hall to stall Xiao Liao and Hua Lingteng, drawing their full attention. Then she created an opportunity for Hua Lingteng to return to the courtyard to change clothes.
While Sun Qing was asleep, Xiao Yue disguised herself as Sun Qing, took out the blueprints, and handed them to Li Ranyi.
Later, Li Ranyi came to the ancestral hall and pulled her away, taking the opportunity to give her the blueprints. In this way, the substitution was completed.
After Li Ranyi left the mansion, the real Xiaoyue replaced the fake Xiaoyue in the carriage, and after memorizing the story, the whole thing was done perfectly.
Xiao Heng'an acknowledged, "It's truly unexpected that you were able to persuade Ranyi to help you cover for me."
Gu Jinning said smugly, "She's my future cousin-in-law, of course she'll help me."
Xiao Heng'an returned the blueprints and asked, "What are the plans for the future?"
"Of course, I'll make a copy as a backup, and then use this original to exchange for silver. Three thousand taels of silver is a reward I shouldn't refuse."
Xiao Heng'an requested, "Take me with you when you go to the transaction."
Why?
What do you think?
Gu Jinning's eyes darted around, avoiding his all-knowing gaze, and she laughed it off, "I know, you're just worried that I'd rather lose my life than my money, I know what I'm doing."
Xiao Heng'an leaned closer and said again, "I'm serious."
Gu Jinning yielded to his imposing presence and nodded solemnly, "Yes, sir!"
"Don't bring Hua Lingchen with you next time you do something dangerous like this."
"Why?"
"Because he is weak and unable to take care of himself."
“Look at what you’re saying. Oh dear, I have to go to the tea plantation. Brother Hua knows the Hua family’s mine best, so I need to ask him to make a copy of the blueprints.” Gu Jinning moved to the front of the carriage and knocked on the carriage. “Song Hui, to the tea plantation.”
Xiao Heng'an pulled her back, not allowing her to move around, "No need to trouble him, I'll draw it. Let's go back to the manor."
The carriage swayed and rocked, and Song Hui kept cracking his whip, trying to drown out the flirtatious banter inside.
Gu Jinning finally couldn't resist Xiao Heng'an's insistence and went back to the Prince of Jin's residence with him to grind ink, constantly complaining, "If you come with me to make a deal, I'll have to prepare an extra mask. The city is under martial law, where am I going to get one?"
Xiao Heng'an dipped his brush in ink and traced the blueprint, saying, "You are the leader of the Thousand Faces Sect, how could a mask possibly stump you?"
"But it's very expensive."
"How much?"
"The quack doctor asked for a hundred, I bargained down to fifty. If you want it, I'll give you a friendly price, seventy, how about that?"
Xiao Heng'an bargained, "I want three, one hundred and fifty."
"Fine, fine." Gu Jinning reluctantly compromised, spreading her hands, "Pay first, then deliver the goods."
Xiao Heng'an shook his head and smiled indulgently, "What a money-grubber."
Despite the banter and the commotion, Xiao Heng'an spent half a day finally creating a one-to-one replica of the mine map.
The drawing was densely packed with overlapping lines, its level of detail beyond what ordinary people could achieve. The hidden annotations and secret codes within were as difficult to decipher as a celestial script.
Xiao Heng'an was certain that this map was not an ordinary topographic map.
"It seems we still have to pass it on to Young Master Hua to figure out."
Gu Jinning perked up and insisted on delivering the map, but Xiao Heng'an refused, saying, "No need, I'll send someone to deliver it."
He folded up the blueprints and put them away along with the original drawings. "I'll keep the original drawings here. Just let me know when you've set a time for the transaction."
Gu Jinning missed her target and pouted, "I knew you'd be on guard against me, you old fox."
As darkness fell, Qinglian urged Gu Jinning to return to her residence, and Gu Jinning had no choice but to agree to Xiao Heng'an's request.
As they approached the gate of the mansion, they heard mournful cries coming from inside. Gu Jinning was startled, her eyelids twitched, and she hurriedly urged Qinglian to hurry up and urge the horse on.
At the gate of the mansion, several servants carried out a ladder, holding white cloth in their hands.
Gu Jinning's vision went black. Had something happened to the old man?
She quickly jumped out of the carriage and ran into the mansion, where she saw servants hanging white banners everywhere.
"Big Brother!" Gu Jinning spotted Gu Xueshu and rushed over to ask, "What happened?"
She was more nervous than ever before, fearing that Gu Xueshu would say bad news that she couldn't accept.
Gu Xueshu said, "My aunt passed away in the Buddhist hall at the hour of Shen (3-5 PM) today. His Majesty has ordered that a banner be hung in my residence for three days of mourning."
Despite the sad news, Gu Jinning secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "Is Grandfather alright?"
Gu Xueshu said, "Grandfather will be very sad, you should go and keep him company. By the way, we need to go to the palace tomorrow to attend your great-aunt's funeral, so don't run around anymore."
Gu Jinning readily agreed and hurried off to visit Gu Weiju.
Fortunately, Gu Weiju was old and had a very open-minded view of life, aging, sickness and death. Despite his grief, he did not harm his health. He simply asked Gu Jinning to leave, wanting to be alone.
Gu Jinning didn't disturb them, gave a few instructions, and went back to her courtyard.
By my reckoning, that old lady, Gu Yutang, was already well into her sixties. Women in the palace don't live long, and it was a blessing that she lived to be fifty. I just never expected her to leave so suddenly.
However, the death of the Empress Dowager is a national mourning period, and her relatives should observe mourning for at least one year.
Then her marriage to Xiao Heng'an could be postponed.
Gu Jinning didn't know whether to be sad or happy. She rushed to the door, knelt down, clasped her hands together, and prayed to the dark sky.
"Grandma, it's not that I meant to curse you, it's just that you left at the right time and did me a great favor. With such good fortune, you will surely be able to ascend to the Pure Land and receive the Buddha's blessing. Amitabha, thank you very much."
When Qinglian entered, she saw Gu Jinning solemnly kowtowing to the heavens, and couldn't help but chuckle, "Princess, what are you doing?"
Gu Jinning got up and said, "My aunt was strict her whole life, but she helped me a lot in the end. Prepare more paper money for her, and I'll send her off properly tomorrow."
"By the way, Xiao Heng'an was being raised under my aunt's name. Why didn't the Prince of Jin's residence inform us of my aunt's passing?"
Qinglian replied, "The Empress Dowager passed away at Shenshi (3-5 PM), and the news only reached the palace at Youshi (5-7 PM), after which relatives were notified. The Prince of Jin's residence is farther away, so the news didn't spread as quickly as it did in our residence."
Gu Jinning then remembered that not long after they left the Prince of Jin's residence, they heard horses galloping on the road; it turned out to be messengers from the palace.
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