Zhao Hao and his party returned to the Zhao Mansion in Chunsong Hutong.

Although the East Courtyard was already vacant, they still consciously continued to live in the West Courtyard, without any intention of occupying the other's place.

After helping Zhao Jin with the journey these past two days, everyone was exhausted. When they came back it was already late, so they all washed up and went to bed.

Only Zhao Shixi couldn't sleep.

Amid the rumbling snoring, he sat on the big bunk with his legs hugged, staring blankly at the now empty East Courtyard, feeling waves of loneliness and coldness.

He wanted to use a poem to express his mood at the time, but he regretted not having read enough books when he needed them. After a long time, he could only think of "The moon shines brightly in front of my bed, I wonder if it is frost on the ground. I look up at the bright moon, and I look down and think of my hometown."

Then he got hungry...

This guy has been in a bad mood these past two days and hasn't eaten much since last night.

He put on his cotton jacket, put on his cotton shoes, and tiptoed out.

It’s a dark and windy night, with dark clouds covering the sky. How can there be any moonlight on the ground?

Zhao Shixi then realized that he had used the phrase "Quiet Night Thoughts" incorrectly...

At this moment, a light and crisp bird call suddenly sounded from the shadows behind him.

Without thinking, he took out a mud blower from his sleeve and blew it.

This is the thing that the soldiers of Qi's army used to communicate with each other at night.

Because the Japanese pirates liked to disguise themselves as government troops and sneak into the camp at night, Qi Jiguang came up with this solution.

He equipped all soldiers with this cheap children's toy and required them to carry it with them when patrolling the camp at night and to distinguish between friend and foe according to the agreed signals.

Gao Wu treated the men of Caijia Lane in accordance with the requirements of the regular Qi Family Army and naturally equipped them with them.

Zhao Shixi thought it was ridiculous to treat the enemy as if he were facing a powerful enemy. But after being severely whipped, he had no choice but to follow military regulations.

~~

After hearing the signal from his own people, a man from Caijia Lane flashed out from the shadows and asked him in a low voice, "What are you doing out here?"

"Pee."

"Get away from me and go to the toilet."

Zhao Shixi curled his lips and walked towards the back yard with his neck shrunk.

The west courtyard is a three-story courtyard. The front is the sedan chair hall, the second largest courtyard is the main courtyard where the master lives, and the third courtyard is the back room where the servants live.

There are five large northern rooms in the main courtyard, and two east and west wing rooms, so Zhao Hao and his family can't live in one room each. The guards also live in the main courtyard, so that they can better protect the young master's family.

But Gao Wu was still very conscious and let his men use the kitchen, toilet and storehouse in the back yard so as not to affect the quality of life of the young master's family.

At this time, the backyard was quiet, and the servants had already fallen asleep...

Zhao Shixi didn't come here to relieve himself at all.

He went straight into the kitchen, opened the cupboard in the dark, and accurately found a Nanjing salted duck without making any noise. His movements were so skillful that it made people feel distressed.

Then Zhao Shixi leaned against the stove which was still warm, tearing the duck legs and eating them, tears streaming down his face.

He felt so pitiful and lonely, and wanted to go back to his happy hometown...

Just as he was feeling sorry for himself, Zhao Shixi suddenly choked.

He stared with wide eyes, watching the door of the storeroom opposite the kitchen open...

There is no food in there. Who would go in there in the middle of the night?

Zhao Shixi didn't want to meddle in other people's business because he was committing a crime himself.

But the military regulations that Gao Wu had engraved in his mind with a whip controlled his hands to let go of the duck leg. He took out a "mud blower" from his sleeve pocket, put it in his mouth, and blew it in short bursts.

According to the regulations, this means there is a thief.

The bird's cry was so clear that it soon alarmed the man who was patrolling ahead.

He blew the mud vigorously, making a sound in long and short bursts, while holding the iron rod tightly and following the sound, he quickly came to the back yard.

In the warehouse in the back yard, a figure was rummaging through boxes and cabinets. He also heard the birds singing outside.

How could a bird sing in the middle of the night?

He was so scared that he rushed out to check, and happened to run into the man on night patrol.

"Who is it?!" the night patrolman shouted.

The man was so scared that he turned around and ran away. The night patrol immediately chased after him, shouting "Catch the thief!"

The thief must be a habitual thief, very agile, and had already figured out the escape route.

He dodged the iron rod of the man from Caijia Lane with a few moves, and then ran towards the west wall of the courtyard!

Although the wall was two meters high, there were ropes hanging from the top, which were his companions helping him to retreat.

His companion lay on the high wall, watching the people in the mansion who were startled and rushing out, waving at him anxiously.

The thief then used all his strength to sprint forward, then grabbed the rope and climbed up quickly by pushing off the wall.

The man from Caijia Lane chased him and jumped up, trying to grab his legs, but his fingers only touched the soles of the thief's shoes...

Just when it seemed that the thief was about to escape, there was a loud sound of a bowstring snapping.

Then there was a whoosh sound, and the man from Caijia Lane saw the thief as if he had been hit hard. His body tilted and he fell straight off the wall.

The thief's accomplice on the wall looked up when he heard the sound, and saw a young man in the distance holding a crossbow and having reloaded the bowstring.

With a whoosh, another arrow flew over and brushed past the thief's scalp on the wall.

The man was so frightened that he lost his soul and disappeared without caring about his accomplice who was shot on the ground.

~~

When Zhao Hao heard the sound and put on his clothes and came over, he saw the men from Caijia Lane surrounding Zhao Shizhen and praising him endlessly.

Zhao Shizhen was holding a high-backed crossbow and smiling shyly.

"Did you shoot it?" Zhao Hao looked at Zhao Shizhen, then at the unique crossbow, and his scalp went tingling.

He had never known that this harmless nephew actually had a crossbow hidden.

But now is not the time to worry about this. Zhao Hao turned to the thief and asked in a deep voice:

"Is he dead?"

"No, he passed out after being ejaculated on his butt." The man from Caijia Lane carried the man over.

Zhao Hao took a look, but didn't have any impression, so he ordered, "Throw it on him to wake him up."

It was too cold outside, so he went back to the house and waited for news.

~~

In the cold winter, after a basin of ice water was poured into the man, the thief let out a howl and climbed up from the ground, but the arrow wound on his butt was agitated, and he let out another miserably howl.

The arrow wound made the interrogation extremely convenient. The man from Caijia Lane would shake the arrow shaft, and the thief would feel so much pain that he wanted to die.

"Tell me, what are you here for?" A sharp-tongued man named Cai Ming asked on behalf of Gao Wu.

"We are here to steal things, you Yingtian candidates have money..." the thief replied hurriedly.

"Fuck you!" Cai Ming spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm and pushed the arrow shaft hard.

"This is the home of a third-rank official, and you guys are here to steal? Don't you want to live? Even if you don't want to live, what are you looking for in the backyard storehouse? Is there anything valuable there?!"

"How do we know if we don't look for it?" The thief said, "The one behind didn't go to the front again."

"I think you just aren't being honest!" Cai Ming twisted the arrow shaft hard, causing the thief to faint from the pain.

The man from Caijia Lane poured cold water on him to wake him up and continued to interrogate him, but the thief was actually a stubborn person. He was in so much pain, but he refused to confess...

ps. Chapter 9 has been delivered. 5500 votes will be added. Please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~~