Chapter 512, Decoding (Two chapters in one)
The Zhuang family's affairs had a great impact on Xiao Yeyang, and also made him feel a great sense of crisis about his and Daohua's future.
His situation is even worse than Master Zhuang's. The Zhuang family can only spread some rumors, but the royal family behind him can take the lives of Daohua and the entire Yan family in minutes.
“Only useful people have the right to speak and autonomy”
Xiao Yeyang repeated these words silently in his heart.
The royal family was the least sentimental place, and there were many royal children. Even though his uncle seemed to treat him well, if he thought that he could arrange his own marriage by relying on the little affection his uncle had for him, it would be a pipe dream.
If he wants to gain the autonomy to arrange his marriage, he must have strong abilities to impress his uncle the emperor. As long as he has his support, everything else will be easy.
Daohua was also quite touched. In ancient times, marriage was very important for the matching of family backgrounds and the arrangements made by parents and matchmakers. She had been mentally prepared for this. But this time, she witnessed with her own eyes a pair of young boys and girls being forced to commit suicide for love, and she still felt sad.
Thinking about her future marriage, Daohua couldn't help but look at Xiao Yeyang with a confused look in her eyes.
Will she and him have a happy ending?
Not long after, the two returned to Taohua An.
As soon as he entered the yard, Gu Jian noticed that something was wrong with the two of them. The little disciple was usually smiling, and although his nephew was not in a very good mood because of the bad things in the capital, his brows were relaxed because of the company of the little disciple. Why did they both become so worried after going out today?
Grandma Gu also noticed it and immediately called Defu and Wang Maner to ask.
The two of them talked about what happened to them in the town.
After hearing this, Granny Gu and Gu Jian looked at each other silently.
Granny Gu sighed, "He must have been frightened."
Gu Jian glanced at his sister speechlessly, then waved Defu and Wang Maner away. "Are those two little guys so easily frightened? Humph, I think they're drawing connections between what happened to others and themselves."
Granny Gu understood after a moment's thought and nodded, "Indeed, the Yan family's status is indeed low. Young Yang is so devoted to Daohua, so we must not be impatient."
"But it's understandable that Yang is worried. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see what he's thinking. But Daohua, could it be that this girl is also interested in Yang?"
Gu Jian was speechless. "Sister, how much do you look down on Yang boy? He is a royal family member after all. He looks good and has a good demeanor. He is also so condescending and attentive. What's wrong with trying to please a little girl?"
Granny Gu choked, "I just thought Daohua was very sensible. Have you forgotten that she was deliberately avoiding Yang before? I guess she felt that the gap between their status was too big and that nothing would work out, so she kept her distance."
Gu Jian sighed, "It's not easy to control emotions. We grew up together and have been through a lot together, so our hearts are naturally drawn to each other."
Granny Gu: "What should we do now? We can't let the two little ones worry all the time."
Gu Jian was silent for a moment. "Let them worry about it. Few things in this world are smooth sailing. Experiencing more hardships will be beneficial to them in the future."
In the main room, Xiao Yeyang laid out all the intercepted notes and his own analysis.
Daohua picked it up and looked through it, and asked as she looked, "Did you find anything?"
Xiao Yeyang shook his head, "No." He handed another note to Daohua, "I got this from Master Wu. I wanted to see if there were any similarities between the two notes, but unfortunately, they were just some ordinary greetings. I couldn't make any sense of them."
Daohua put the two notes together and compared them, and found that there was indeed nothing similar between them.
Granny Gu brought the fresh flowers sent from the Rice Flower Farm into the house and asked Caiju to serve tea and snacks to the two of them. She sat aside, arranging the flowers while watching the two of them discuss and analyze the situation with a smile on her face.
Gu Jian also came in and sat by the door to continue sorting his medicinal herbs.
The two old men were busy with their own things, listening to the whispers of Daohua and Xiao Yeyang, with quiet smiles on their faces.
"What are you writing?"
When Xiao Yeyang saw Daohua suddenly pick up a pen and write and draw on the paper, he immediately leaned over to look.
Without even looking up, Daohua said, "These two messages have nothing to do with each other, but..." As he spoke, he pushed the two notes next to Xiao Yeyang, "Did you see, these characters are all compound characters, each with two left and right radicals."
Xiao Yeyang was confused: "So?"
Rice Flower: "Look at what I wrote."
Daohua copied the words on the note, but under each word she wrote, there were two sets of Arabic numerals.
Xiao Yeyang pointed at the numbers and said, "This is foreign writing. I recognize it." Then he looked at Daohua in surprise and said, "You also read foreign books."
Daohua was silent for a moment. "I don't look at these numbers often. I just learned them because they're convenient for recording. Okay, don't worry about these insignificant things."
Xiao Yeyang took the paper that Daohua had copied and asked, "What do these numbers represent?"
Rice Flower: "It means it may correspond to another word."
Xiao Yeyang glanced at Daohua: "How do I find the other word?"
Daohua shrugged, "I don't know about that." Seeing Xiao Yeyang frowning, she thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know the Eighth Prince?"
Xiao Yeyang shook his head. "After Grandpa Huang passed away, the Emperor sent Eighth Uncle to guard the Imperial Mausoleum. He hasn't returned to the capital in all these years. Why are you asking this?"
Daohua: "I want to know the Eighth Prince's preferences. For example, what kind of books does he like to read?" As she said that, she called Wang Man'er over and asked her to bring over the storybook "A Dream of Red Mansions" that she had just found and personally demonstrated it to Xiao Yeyang.
"Look at this character '好'. It has two sets of numbers. The 3 in the front probably represents the page number, and the 3 in the back probably represents the third character on the page. So, in 'The Story of the Stone', it's the character '黛'."
After saying that, he looked at Xiao Yeyang and asked, "Do you understand what I mean?"
Xiao Yeyang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Daohua in surprise: "What's wrong with your head? How did you find this?"
Daohua raised his chin proudly. How did it grow? I saw it on TV.
Xiao Yeyang quickly followed Daohua's method and found the corresponding words for other characters in "A Dream of Red Mansions". He read them together, and although they didn't make any connection at all, he couldn't hide his excitement.
Regardless, this is a new idea.
Daohua suggested, "I think you should first investigate the Eighth Prince's preferences. If my idea is correct, then the corresponding book is most likely the Eighth Prince's favorite."
Not long after he finished speaking, Gu Jian suddenly stood up and came over with a copy of the Tao Te Ching: "Try this."
Daohua took the Tao Te Ching and asked in surprise, "Master, are you still reading?"
Gu Jian rolled his eyes at her and ignored her.
Daohua shrugged, quickly handed the "Tao Te Ching" to Xiao Yeyang, and started looking through it with him.
"The incident of accidentally arresting Yan Zhigao, a girl from Ningmen Mansion, in the village may be exposed and in danger."
As these words popped out of Daohua's mouth one after another, Xiao Yeyang, Gu Jian and Grandma Gu all widened their eyes.
The Eighth Prince's method of transmitting messages was actually deciphered?!
While the others were delighted, Daohua was filled with fear. She patted her chest and said, "Thank God, I was able to intercept this news, otherwise our family would have been assassinated by the Eighth Prince."
Xiao Yeyang excitedly clutched the Tao Te Ching. Seeing Daohua's fear, he quickly put the book down and walked over to comfort her: "Don't think about these things that haven't happened."
Daohua frowned, "But I'm afraid. I was lucky last time, but what about next time? It doesn't matter if I die, but if I implicate Grandma and the others, I will be blamed even if I die a thousand times."
Xiao Yeyang frowned: "With me here, nothing like this will happen."
Daohua: "But you can't always watch over my house."
Gu Jian was somewhat speechless at his young disciple's concern. "Do you think your father and your brothers are useless, unable to even protect their own family? Also, the last time you were kidnapped, it was just a byproduct. Do you still want a next time? Do you think you're a golden nugget and everyone wants to kidnap you?"
Daohua was left speechless, and after being interrupted, the fear in her heart disappeared.
Xiao Yeyang pulled Daohua to sit down and said, "Okay, let's take a look at what the message intercepted by Master Wu said."
Daohua helped Xiao Yeyang decipher the code.
"On the 15th of June, the 8th of the 15th month, the Immortal Residence discussed the military rebellion in the northern border."
Daohua frowned. "Isn't Baxianju a place? Discussing the rebellion in the Northern Frontier. Does this mean the Eight Kings' men are going to create chaos in the Northern Frontier?"
As soon as he said this, Gu Jian kicked over the medicine basket with a "bang".
Daohua was startled: "Master, what's wrong with you?"
Xiao Yeyang also looked over. He was also very angry about what the Eighth Prince had done, but he didn't expect that Master Gu's reaction was even greater than his.
Granny Gu had stopped arranging flowers at some point. She looked at her brother, whose face was ashen, then glanced at her two children, who looked puzzled. She explained, "Xiao Jian and I have both experienced war. When I think of someone disregarding the safety of the border and artificially creating chaos, not only Xiao Jian, but even I, an old woman, am furious."
Seeing that Granny Gu looked unhappy, Daohua quickly poured her a cup of tea and said, "Granny, Master, don't worry. This news was from last year. Since it has been intercepted, it must not have been spread out."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Xiao Yeyang and asked uncertainly, "Xiao Yeyang, there wasn't any military turmoil in the Northern Frontier last year, right?"
Xiao Yeyang shook his head: "Probably not, otherwise, my uncle would not have been unaware of such a big thing."
Daohua breathed a sigh of relief and quickly comforted Granny Gu and Gu Jian: "So, Master, Granny, please don't be angry or worried anymore."
Gu Jian had calmed down and squatted down to pick up the herbs that had fallen on the ground.
Daohua and Xiao Yeyang hurried forward to help. To ease the atmosphere, Daohua changed the subject and asked, "Master, why did you think of giving us the Tao Te Ching?"
Gu Jian paused, then glanced at his apprentice who was looking at him curiously. "There's only one book in my room. If I don't give you this one, which one should I give you?"
"Well"
Daohua twitched her lips awkwardly. She was speechless and could only say dryly, "I just thought it was a coincidence. I thought Master, you knew the Eighth Prince."
Gu Jian glanced at her again and sneered: "Do you think it's so easy to get to know the royal family?" After that, he looked at Xiao Yeyang who was squatting beside his apprentice, then looked at his sister sitting on the chair, and then looked at himself.
Well, it seems that there are quite a few royal relatives around the little disciple.
Last time, even the emperor was kidnapped by her.
Daohua didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly picked up the herbs.
Seeing that someone was helping to pick the herbs, Gu Jian decided not to do it himself. He stood up and walked over to sit next to Grandma Gu.
The brother and sister looked at each other.
They don't understand the Eighth Prince, but they understand the late Emperor.
The late emperor loved to read the "Tao Te Ching". As the late emperor's most beloved son, the eighth prince would have been somewhat influenced by the late emperor. Unexpectedly, it is true!
After packing up the herbs, Xiao Yeyang prepared to return to his room. "I have to report today's events to my uncle right away." His face was solemn as he spoke. "Eight Immortals House is one of the largest restaurants in the capital. Many noble families have shares in it. If it is Uncle Eight's base, then many people will be involved."
Daohua didn't bother to pay attention to these things. She only cared about the credit: "We deciphered the Eighth Prince's method of transmitting messages. Does that count as a meritorious service?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "Forget it."
After receiving a satisfactory answer, Daohua was happy, but soon pouted again: "Do you think the emperor will remember my contribution? Will he think that I am his subject and that doing all this is my duty?"
Xiao Yeyang: "Of course he will remember. Even if he doesn't remember, I will help you remind him."
Daohua shook her head and refused: "No, it's said that serving a king is like serving a tiger, so don't make him angry."
Gu Jian listened to the conversation between the two with a somewhat sad expression on his face. He whispered to his sister, "Why do I feel like that girl is Lao Ba's nemesis?"
Granny Gu glared at her brother in anger: "It's obvious that Daohua is the emperor's lucky star, okay?"
Gu Jian touched his nose and thought, well, he didn’t say anything.
Xiao Yeyang went back to his room to write a letter, while Daohua went to the kitchen to cook dinner.
After dinner, Xiao Yeyang sent someone to deliver the letter, and Dongli and Caiju also reported the news to the capital.
However, something went wrong along the way. If Gu Jian had not appeared in time, the identities of the two secret guards would have been discovered by Xiao Yeyang.
After sending Xiao Yeyang back to his room, Gu Jian looked at Caiju and Dongli with a serious face: "I know you are excellent secret guards, but I want to remind you again, don't underestimate Daohua and Yang boy. If your identities are revealed, you know the consequences."
Both of them lowered their heads. They didn't expect that the young prince would be so alert. You know, they even deceived the secret guards hiding in the dark.
"Okay, go back to sleep."
(End of this chapter)
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