Chapter 15
Li Cheng saw her and asked, "Okay?"
"Yeah." Yang Ye's face showed a bit of fatigue, and she nodded indifferently.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Li Cheng asked, "What's going on?"
"The prefect of Yuzhang County in the late Han Dynasty, this is his late wife's ancestral home." Yang Ye's voice was a little soft. "This man's greatest hobby in life was collecting, so when he was old, he had a lot of jade and treasures buried with him. During the Republic of China, a group of tomb robbers came here. They searched the mountains for days and nights, but only found half of the prefect's coffin."
"Half a seat, what happened next?" Li Cheng asked.
"After entering the tomb, the tomb robbers found that the tomb chamber was in the wrong location. Given the technology at the time, they only took the things left outside as a decoy. As for the main tomb chamber and the main coffin, they were never found."
"Does she still remember where the tomb robbers found her?"
Yang Ye shook his head, "I don't remember"
Li Cheng sighed and scratched his head in worry, "Do you have the general direction of the tomb?"
“It’s been so many years, she can’t remember clearly.”
Li Cheng looked at the mountain in front of him, his already troubled expression growing more serious. His gaze rested on the undulating contours of the mountain. He stood there, subconsciously muttering to the air, "How can I find two things from different years?"
Yang Ye came over and said, "In the 13th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, an earthquake occurred here."
"Earthquake?!" Li Cheng came back to his senses instantly, thinking quickly. He suddenly realized that all the previous misunderstandings and mistakes seemed to be connected now. "So that's how it is."
He was excited. "The earthquake destroyed the underground structure, causing the location where the prefect's tomb was originally buried to sink. That's why people later buried another one on top of it."
Yang Ye nodded, "That should be it."
“It will be easier if we have a new direction.”
Ah Niu, who was standing nearby, heard this and seemed to have helped something. He was also very happy. "Grandma hasn't talked so much to people for a long time. Usually when we talk to her, she just babbles, so we don't know if she understands us or not."
"She can understand," Yang Ye said, "Talk to her slowly, she knows everything in her heart."
Ah Niu laughed and scratched his hair, which was not very long to begin with. "You are lucky to have met Grandma when she was in high spirits."
Li Cheng's elbow knocked down Yang Ye's arm. "You didn't ask her anything else?"
"Otherwise, this book should have everything." Yang Ye held up the book in her hand, the one Wang Qing had asked her to find. Passed down through generations, the cover had long since yellowed, the edges were chipped, and it even had a strong musty smell. "Here's half of it. The complete book may be lost, but this half should be able to help you."
Li Cheng's eyes lit up instantly, and he looked at the book in Yang Ye's hand with surprise. He took it and carefully opened it, fearing to damage this precious old item. The old book, covered in mold, opened with a few lines of beautiful small seal script, and inside were a few sesame-sized inscriptions. Without a magnifying glass, it would be hard to tell what was written.
"Go back and take a look, not here." She patted Li Cheng's shoulder.
"Okay." Li Cheng closed the booklet, thinking about its weight. He turned around and said to A Niu, "Can we take this booklet back and make one or two copies? It will take about three to five days, and I will return it when the time comes. Is that okay?"
"Why not?" Ah Niu said cheerfully, "Grandma hid the book for decades and never showed it to anyone. When you came, she asked you to find it. This is also fate."
"Fate..." Yang Ye murmured softly.
Fate may be deep or shallow, long or short, but there will always be a day when fate comes to an end.
The steps leading down the mountain were covered with yellow leaves blown down by the wind, and the dry leaves made a sound when stepped on. Yang Ye was walking last, and she couldn't help but look back after every few steps, wanting to take a closer look at the old house.
Under the blazing midday sun, the old house trembled, low and dilapidated. Decades had passed, and the white exterior had been eroded by the wind and rain, cracking in many places. The carved window frames were no longer vibrant, looking out of place. The few iron railings standing out from the outside were also stained with rust. The iron railings were so old that it seemed as if the entire window would fall down if touched.
"When you grow up, no matter where you want to go, whether your husband's family is rich or not, or maybe you don't want to get married and want to go out to study, your husband and I will prepare everything for you. If you want to get married, we will give you money to build a house, and if you want to study, we will give you money for tuition," said Yang Ye.
They sat cross-legged on the wool carpet in the living room. Yang Ye looked at the group of children in front of him who were only eight or nine years old. They were sold by their families at a young age, and most of the money they earned was used to supplement their families. After waiting for a few more years, when they were old enough to get married, they would probably receive a betrothal gift and be hastily promised to someone else.
"Really?" A girl was very excited. She hugged the arm of the person next to her and acted coquettishly towards Yang Ye.
Yang Ye responded and looked at her seriously, "Seriously, keep your word."
The girl whose arms she held smiled and said, "Madam and Sir are so kind to us. I will take care of Madam for the rest of my life, as well as the little boy or girl in your belly."
Yang Ye reached out and tapped her head, "At the age of eight or nine, you've already thought about your whole life."
"Well, I want to stay with you, Madam. I won't leave even if you chase me away," she said. "In this world, only Madam and Master treat us servants as human beings."
Wang Qing smiled as he saw Yang Ye, repeating in his mouth, "Madam and Sir, build a house for me, I can't leave"
She stretched out her hand tremblingly, grabbed Yang Ye's wrist tightly, and said happily, "Mr. is a good man, Mrs. is good, you are all good, live well, and stay together for a long time."
"Yeah," Yang Ye responded.
"Sir, please go out and let me make some soup. You're not feeling well, so don't catch a cold. I'll be back with you and wait for him." After she finished speaking, she looked at Yang Ye quietly. Wang Qing seemed to have a premonition that Yang Ye was about to leave, and that he would be leaving soon too. If he left, perhaps his whole life would be gone.
When we meet in this world, we only meet a few times and then part in a flash.
She held Yang Ye's hand even tighter, tears falling from her wrinkled face onto the cloth-wrapped pillow behind her head, "Madam, you have to be well, be well, be well, be alone, and be well too."
*
Walking monotonously behind her, Xiao Xiao saw her lost look, her steps slow, as if every step she took bore all the strength drained from her body. Her eyes were dim, and when she occasionally looked up, they were filled with fatigue and confusion.
Xiao Xiao stopped and waited for her there.
Walking beside Yang Ye, keeping pace with her, Xiao Xiao glanced at Yang Ye and asked, "Do you know that old man?"
"Yeah," Yang Ye agreed, and looked behind him. The old house was gone, and behind it were outstretched branches. He could no longer see the house behind the tree, standing halfway up the mountain.
"I always thought that my old friend was gone, but I didn't expect that I could see one again in my lifetime." Yang Ye said in a low voice, his throat was sore and it was a little difficult for him to speak.
"Old friend" Xiao Xiao looked at her, then at the large group in front. She stretched out her hand and joked lightly, "Is she as capable as you?"
Yang Ye glanced at her and his thoughts were brought back. "What are you thinking? When she came to my house, I was already 28 or 29, almost 30, and she was only 6 or 7 years old."
Xiao Xiao was surprised, "You're going to work at such a young age?"
"At that time, no one cared about age. As long as you could work, you had to go out and work."
"Boss," Xiao Xiao gossiped, leaning over to hug Yang Ye's arm, curiosity glittering in her eyes. "I always hear you talk about your family, how many servants you had, and what life was like before. You were from the Eight Banners, but it was already the Republic of China then. The Qing Dynasty had long since fallen, and the Eight Banners were already in decline. How come you were still so glorious? Who did you marry?"
"I want to know." Yang Ye looked at the head resting on his arm and pretended to be mysterious.
"Yeah." Xiao Xiao leaned forward slightly, and she got close to Yang Ye, her eyes fixed on him, afraid of missing any of them.
Yang Ye raised the corner of his mouth and said slowly, "I won't tell you."
Before the embraced hand could be lifted, Xiao Xiao straightened up. "Even if you didn't tell me, according to historical calculations at the time, the person you married would definitely be a warlord, or a powerful official, or at the very least, someone in the government. But seeing how much you disliked the new government at the time, the latter option can almost be ruled out."
That period of history is neither recent nor distant. It is just the whole process of a complete person from young to old.
Yang Ye crossed his arms and listened to her with interest, "What else?"
"If you don't tell me, I won't tell you either," Xiao Xiao responded very quickly.
"Professor Li," Xiao Ding's voice came from the front.
He ran up the mountain in a hurry. Most of the mountain roads here were gentle slopes. He ran too fast and tripped over a stone beside him without paying attention. He staggered and before he fell, Zhou Yiheng quickly reached out to help him.
Xiao Ding gasped, "Over there, it's dug out over there"
"What is it? Tell me clearly." His breathing was so loud that Li Cheng couldn't hear anything.
Xiao Ding slowed down and swallowed his saliva. "I received a call from Teacher Zhou. She found the location there."
"Really?" Li Cheng couldn't believe it. He was at a loss yesterday, but how come everything turned out so smoothly today?
"Really?" Xiao Ding stood up and said, "We dug deeper and found something underneath. Teacher Zhou asked you to go over and take a look."
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