Yu Shu described the characteristics of the ancient sword. When it came to the ancient character on the sword, she dipped her finger in tea and "drew" it on the small tea table in front of her. Mr. Xin's eyesight was not good, so he bent down to take a closer look. When Yu Shu finished the character, his eyes flashed with suspicion. He stretched out a wrinkled finger and gestured in the air beside the character that Yu Shu had "drawn" and mumbled.
Yu Shu saw that the old man was deep in thought and did not dare to disturb him. She was about to step aside when she heard a sharp intake of breath. Her wrist was grabbed tightly by Old Mister Xin.
"Clatter!" The string of Buddhist beads that the old man was holding in his hand fell to the ground.
"Tell me again, what does the sword look like?" Mr. Xin's eyes narrowed into slits, revealing an indescribable surprise. He looked at Yu Shu with eagerness and his voice trembled.
Xue Rui saw this and hurriedly said, "Old academician, you …"
"Don't interrupt," Mr. Xin impatiently waved his hand at Xue Rui and grabbed Yu Shu's hand so hard that it seemed like he could twist her arm off.
Yu Shu gritted her teeth in pain and did not dare to push the old man away. She could only carefully persuade him, "Please let go of me first, then I can demonstrate."
"Okay, okay, okay. Tell me." Mr. Xin quickly let go of her hand and looked at her eagerly.
Yu Shu rubbed her wrist and described the appearance of the ancient sword again, "This long, this wide, the top is covered with green rust, the hilt is like this, the head is like this."
Mr. Xin's eyes lit up when he heard this. He decisively slapped the tea table and his shoulders shook. He almost jumped up from the rattan chair and cried out,
"It's it, it's it, tell me, where is this sword now!?"
Obviously, the old man recognized the ancient sword. Yu Shu was happy at first and thought that the rusted sword was indeed a real treasure. Just as he was about to answer, he hesitated. Looking at Old Mister Xin's expression, he suddenly felt a little apprehensive. She licked her lips and swallowed the words she was about to say.
"I'm not too sure about that. I just saw it a year ago, and it left a deep impression on me. I heard the owner of the sword bragging that it was a priceless ancient sword, so I remembered it. Old sir. What kind of sword is that? Does it have a name? "
Hearing this, Old Mister Xin slumped back into his rattan chair. His face was filled with disappointment. He did not doubt Yu Shu's words. He let out a long sigh and did not answer her. He only glared at her with resentment and jealousy. Then he muttered to himself in a daze,
"What kind of sword is that? How can you mortals know that it's not a sword? But, but — "
Yu Shu was straining her ears to listen, yet the old man suddenly stopped here and stopped talking. He just stared absentmindedly at the words that had already spread out on the coffee table, and he didn't reply no matter how Yu Shu called out to him a few times. She was so anxious that she turned around and signaled Xue Rui with her eyes, asking him to help her inquire about it.
Xue Rui understood and asked on her behalf, "Old academician, if that sword is not a sword, then what is it? I'm very curious. Please don't keep me guessing."
Old Mister Xin seemed to have woken up from a dream. He raised his head and glanced at them. His eyes lingered on Yu Shu's face for a moment. Finally, he bent down expressionlessly and picked up the string of Buddha beads. He wiped them on his sleeve and fiddled with the beads with his left hand. He leaned back on the rattan chair weakly and waved his hand at them.
"What sword? I don't know, and I don't recognize it. Aren't you here to buy things? Leave as soon as you've made your choice. "
Old Mister Xin suddenly turned against them. Yu Shu and Xue Rui looked at each other in dismay, and suspicions instantly arose in their hearts. But if they continued to question him, the old man might as well close his eyes, cover half of his face with his sleeve, and ignore them completely.
Yu Shu and Xue Rui could not pry his mouth. They could only say goodbye to him and walk out of the Treasure House.
When they were in the empty corridor, Xue Rui asked Yu Shu, "The sword you mentioned, is it with Daoist now?"
Xue Rui did not know the story about the sword. He only saw Jing Chen holding it in the small courtyard on Huixing Street.
Yu Shu nodded and said softly, "I'll tell you after we buy things and get in the car."
When they went downstairs, the steward had just prepared all the items on the list. There was a big box with a lot of things.
"Young Master, everything is ready. I'll ask someone to carry it to the car for you."
"Go ahead."
When the Manager surnamed Zhou saw Xue Rui and the others coming down, he didn't mention anything about paying the bill, and he enthusiastically sent them off. Yu Shu noticed this, and she wouldn't remind him foolishly. Otherwise, would she have to fight with Xue Rui to pay the bill in front of an outsider? It would be too disappointing.
***
In the car, after leaving the Great Exchange House of the Xin Family, Yu Shu asked Xue Rui,
"Who is that Old Mister Xin? I heard you call him academician. Isn't he the current Left Judge?"
Xue Rui shook his head and said respectfully, "In terms of seniority, he is even older than Left Judge Xin. Twenty years ago, he was in charge of the Taishi Shuyuan. Later, he retired and was named 'Academician Shi Lu' by His Majesty. Now half of the officials of the Celestial Commissioner have to bow their heads and call him teacher when they see him. "
Yu Shu guessed that Old Mister Xin had a great background. It turned out that he was the old headmaster of the Taishi Shuyuan twenty years ago. His seniority was really high.
The words spoken by such an old antique were all true words. It was very likely that the ancient sword she had obtained back then had a great origin.
Then, Xue Rui asked about the ancient sword with a puzzled face, "By the way, is that sword Daoist's?"
Yu Shu thought for a while and felt that she might as well tell him,
"Do you remember when we were in Yiyang City last year? At that time, I was a waiter in your shop. Later, when I met Jing Chen, we met a group of evil Taoists outside the city and almost became a sacrifice. Oh, and your cousin Xue Wenzhe, it was because of him … I took the sword back at that time."
At that time, the relationship between Xue Rui and Yu Shu was not as close as now. In addition, Yu Shu hid something from him, so he did not know some of her experiences at that time. Now it sounded like another adventure. He could not help but feel the twists and turns of her fate.
"So, that ancient sword was obtained by you. Then why is it in the hands of Daoist?"
"It was given to him later." Yu Shu's eyes flashed and she recalled, "When I met Jing Chen, he had two swords with him. Later, he lost his memory. When we met again on the way, he didn't even remember who he was. We escaped together and went through many dangers. When we reached the capital city, he remembered a set of sword techniques. So I gave him the ancient sword …"
What Yu Shu did not say was that in exchange, Jing Chen also gave her the treasure of the sect, the Yellowfrost Stone. Unfortunately, many things happened later. The Yellowfrost Stone changed hands again, and it was not hers after all.
Xue Rui's heart was sharp, and when he saw the disappointment in Yu Shu's tone, he made some associations. He thought that she hadn't been able to let go of her obsession with Jing Chen, and he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Now, he regretted it again. If he hadn't failed to recognize her when they first met, and if he had thought of a way to escort her to the Capital together, would she have had the chance to have that life and death friendship with Jing Chen?
As a man, he was confident that he was not worse than Jing Chen. However, he racked his brains for Yu Shu, but he could not move her heart. In the final analysis, there was only one thing missing.
"You hid the whereabouts of the ancient sword from Old Master Xin because you were afraid of getting him into trouble?" Xue Rui spoke out Yu Shu's concerns.
"Yes. Look at the old man's reaction. You know there is something fishy. Jing Chen holding the sword is not sure whether it is a blessing or a curse." Yu Shu was only worried that she gave Jing Chen a hot potato. She did not notice the inadvertent self-mockery on Xue Rui's face.
"Then what are you going to do? The sword is in the hands of Daoist. There are many people in the Princess's Mansion. If someone with ulterior motives thinks about it, I am afraid that we can't hide it. " Xue Rui reminded Yu Shu not to think that no one would find out that the sword was in Jing Chen's hands even if she fooled Old Master Xin today.
Yu Shu touched her chin and made a "tsk" sound. She soon had an idea and discussed it with Xue Rui.
"I am not afraid. Jing Chen cherishes the sword very much. He specially made a scabbard for it. Except for him and me, I guess no one has carefully looked at the details of the sword. I am going to find Jing Chen now and ask him to keep the sword. There are many antique shops in the city that sell fake goods. We can find a similar rusted sword and ask him to replace it. In this way, no one will find out that it was a fake one. If someone with ulterior motives thinks about it in the future, he can just use the fake one to make up for it. "
Xue Rui helped her ponder over it for a while, and he felt that there weren't many loopholes in it, so he said, "That's good. There's no time to lose, let's go to the Princess Estate right away … Yu Shu and Xue Rui arrived at the Princess Estate, and they were invited to wait in the tea room after they entered the door.
After a while, Jing Chen showed up.
"Why are you here?"
Xue Rui nodded to Jing Chen and sat there drinking tea without saying a word.
Yu Shu pondered for a while before telling Jing Chen about what happened in the Treasure Pavilion in the afternoon. In the end, she said,
"As the saying goes, the less trouble, the better. Don't use that sword in the future. Keep it a secret and don't let others know about it. Just do as I said and prepare a fake one. "
Jing Chen was not a person who liked to get to the bottom of things. He trusted Yu Shu very much, so he immediately agreed. However, he felt a little regretful because he was very comfortable with that ancient sword.
Seeing that he agreed, Yu Shu was relieved. After talking about business, she did not want to stay any longer.
Previously, she wanted to inform Jing Chen to prevent Liu Yi from finding trouble with her after the end of the Double Suns Gathering. However, Xue Rui was also there, so she did not know how to say it. She could not say in front of two men that she was bullied at Qiongyu Pavilion that day.
"It's getting late. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Jing Chen asked, but his gaze was on Yu Shu.
Yu Shu was about to decline, but Xue Rui spoke first, "There's no need for that. Shu and I have other places to go, so we won't disturb you any longer."
After saying that, he looked at Yu Shu. Seeing that she did not hesitate and was about to leave with him, he felt a little better.
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