Five days had passed since the murder at the observatory. It was still early for Yu Shu to leave Xin's Mansion. She first went back to the old courtyard on Huixing Street in the south of the city. She arranged for Zhou Hu and Zhou Yingying to watch the door of the mansion given by Liu Tan and bought some things on the busy street.
In the afternoon, she returned to Taishi Shuyuan with a thick bag of books. She clearly felt a sense of loneliness. It was spring and the sun was warm. When she walked around in the shuyuan a few days ago, she could see students wandering around. Today, she passed through several courtyards and went to the vicinity of the female dormitory, but she didn't see many people.
There were four middle-aged female servants guarding the door of the inner courtyard of the female dormitory. Usually, they took turns to clean the courtyard and prevent men from breaking in. At night, they took turns to keep watch and be careful of candles. Such simple manpower was enough on weekdays. However, when the murder happened, it made the female students living here nervous.
Although the person didn't die in the female dormitory, many people still packed up and went back to the mansion the next day. Until now, there were only a few who were bold and lived outside the city.
Walking to the door of the East Courtyard, Yu Shu paid special attention to the door of Ji Xingxuan's room next door. It was locked. Then she opened the door and entered her own room. As usual, she checked the door and windows to make sure that the hair she tied to the window lattice was not broken.
There were seven rooms in the row facing south in the East Courtyard. The layout was the same. There was a small hall and a bedroom on the left side. The small hall faced the inner courtyard with a window, and one side was closed. The bedroom was the opposite. The window was opened on the north wall. The window was three feet high and the width of the two windows was open enough for a person to jump in.
Yu Shu casually put the bag in her hand on the ground. She opened the window and looked out. Not far away was a courtyard wall. There was a row of trees under the wall. The ground was paved with stone slabs to prevent water from accumulating when it rained.
Relying on her height, Yu Shu tiptoed half of her body out and turned her head to the right. He could easily see the window of Ji Xingxuan's room, which was not far away. Just like yesterday, it was tightly shut.
She shrank back again and paced the bedroom. Taking out three copper coins from his waist, he walked to the table and tossed them a few times. Seeing that it was a good sign, he decisively put away the copper coins, grabbed the thick bag he had brought, and moved a stool to the window. He nimbly flipped over the window.
After walking along the wall for a dozen steps, Yu Shu came to the back window of Ji Xingxuan's bedroom. She reached into her bosom and took out a thin two-end copper hairpin that she bought at a street stall that afternoon. She stood on her tiptoes and felt her way through the crack of the window to the position of the latch. She inserted the hairpin into the latch and carefully pried it open.
The moment he pushed open the window. Yu Shu's heartbeat was only a little faster than usual.
They knew that Ji Xingxuan was involved in a murder case, but they couldn't arrest her because they didn't have concrete evidence. Since it was related to Jing Chen, he couldn't act rashly.
But if he didn't do anything, Yu Shu would be flustered. After all, there was a life waiting for her. If she didn't do something, she would feel guilty.
Back then, she had chosen to stay in the dead man's room not because she wanted to prove that she was brave, but because she wanted to deal with Ji Xingxuan, who was harboring evil intentions.
She entered Ji Xingxuan's bedroom easier than expected. She left her shoes outside the window and stepped on the clean floor in her socks. The soles of her feet were a little cold.
She looked around Ji Xingxuan's room. There was a bed and a cabinet in the same style as the ones in the library. On the desk by the window, there were neatly stacks of books. The inkstone was dry. It was obvious that the owner hadn't touched the ink these days.
Yu Shu wiped the dust from her palms on her waist and walked to the table to sweep it. She casually flipped through a few books and put them back in their original positions. She looked up and saw a large folding fan hanging high on the wall in front of her. Under the fan was a piece of white jade. The surface of the fan was blank, without even a single word.
Yu Shu took a closer look. It was not difficult to find the patterns carved on the white jade. There was nothing special about it. She carefully identified the hidden ribs of the fan and immediately sneered.
What a good Dragon-subduing Wooden Fan. This old peach wood was the best at restraining ghosts. A small piece was worth more than gold. To make such a big fan, it was even more wasteful than making a wooden sword to drive away ghosts. Placing it in the sleeping area and deliberately covering it with the fan, it was like deceiving oneself. If it wasn't because one had a guilty conscience, what else could it be?
After walking around the room again, Yu Shu discovered that not only was there a peach wood fan, but there were also hidden items at the foot of Ji Xingxuan's bed, the top of the door, and even the back of the mirror. Just these items alone were worth several thousand taels of silver in a small bedroom.
Yu Shu was more and more sure that Xia Jiangying's death had something to do with Ji Xingxuan. She really "admired" her for having the courage to move next door to avoid suspicion. She was not afraid of the door ringing in the middle of the night.
When the rabbit died, the fox grieved. Yu Shu and Xia Jiangying and Cao Youling had only met once or twice. They were far from being friends. However, she and Ji Xingxuan had an irreconcilable hatred. With such a vicious person constantly thinking about her, Yu Shu was worried that a long delay would bring trouble.
She still clearly remembered the day when she found Cao Youling's body. She went back to the girl's room to sleep. In the daytime, she dreamed that Xia Jiangying, covered in blood, and Cao Youling, whose face was black and blue, sat on the edge of her bed. Xia Jiangying sneered and whispered in her ear —
"If you continue to stand by, the next one to die will be you."
Yu Shu did not believe in evil, but she believed in karma. Therefore, after that nightmare, she did not intend to stand by and watch.
Otherwise, she would not be at peace, and her heart would not be at peace.
Yu Shu took a deep breath and pulled herself together. She pulled open the bag in her hand and took out the things inside. She hid them in a corner of the room that even the owner would not be able to find. She checked again to make sure that she didn't leave any traces. Then, she climbed out of the window and hung the window from the outside using the same method she used to come in. She put on her shoes and returned to her room through the back window.
Who would have thought that a dignified female fortune teller would commit such a thieving act in broad daylight?
***
Yu Shu sat in the room for a while, found a few books on the table and put them into the empty bag. Carrying it, she locked the door and left.
Before dusk, Yu Shu returned to Wangji Restaurant. At the back door, she saw two waiters holding tea trays and whispering to each other. She frowned and hurriedly sent them away to do their work.
The business of Wang Ji Restaurant wasn't as crowded as it was when it first opened. However, the regular customers were fixed. At the beginning, the few waiters who served tea and food weren't enough. Therefore, Lin Fu hired a few more people, but they weren't as good as Gui Qi and Gui Ba. It was inevitable that some of them would slack off.
"The girl is back."
Xiao Qing saw Yu Shu upstairs. She and Xiao Die were two maids. If Yu Shu was not around, they would only serve the female customers who came to the restaurant. When Yu Shu came, they had to put down their work and follow her closely. Therefore, compared to the other people in the restaurant, their days were the most relaxed.
When Yu Shu walked to the stairs, Xiao Qing had already trotted down. Yu Shu turned to look at Xue Rui's closed door and hesitated. In the end, she did not ask if Xue Rui would come back for lunch.
She went upstairs with a heavy heart. She had been staying in the restaurant for the past few days, so the door was not locked. When Yu Shu opened the door, she was stunned when she looked up. She saw that on the long couch in the living room, there were more than a dozen neatly stacked scrolls. There were at least a hundred of them.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
