The official ship was about to set sail at noon. Gu Changjin only had two cups of tea before getting up and saying goodbye.

I don't know why, but his face looks very bad. Compared with the day in Liao Mansion, his injury seemed to have never improved.

If it weren't for his always calm demeanor, Rong Shu almost thought he had suffered a new injury.

Rong Shu sent him to the door, glanced at his calm and clear eyebrows, and said, "I wish you a safe journey back to Beijing."

For him, peace is the greatest wish.

He was injured when he arrived, he was injured when investigating the case, and he was also injured when he killed the enemy. Rong Shu had never seen anyone like him who would get injured all the time.

He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child and has a good foundation, so he can withstand so many injuries.

Gu Changjin nodded, took a deep look at her, and walked toward the willow tree at the end of the alley, where a green-covered carriage was parked.

The wheels of the carriage swayed and turned, and the sound of horseshoes gradually became distant.

Lu Shiyi closed the wooden door, glanced at Rong Shu, and said, "This Mr. Gu is really good."

How could Rong Shu not know the meaning of Lu Shiyi's glance? He smiled and said calmly: "Gu Of course it is good for you to have a bright moon in your heart and serve the country and the people."

After a few sincere compliments, she closed her mouth with a smile. After a while, she said again: "Uncle Shiyi, go to Chunyue Tower quickly. I am here today. There are a lot of things to do. When you come back, you have to find a locksmith or a master who is proficient in mechanisms to accompany me to the garrison." He urged Lu Shiyi out of the door.

As soon as she left, he went into the house to get pen and paper, and based on his memory, he carefully drew the wooden box he found yesterday.

The wooden box was in Sister Luoyan's hands. She had deliberately placed the books she brought back from the study on the high desk by the window. Mrs. Zhang's behavior is always tight and meticulous.

If she really had second thoughts, she would have looked for an opportunity to investigate the things she brought out from the study no matter what.

Last night, Sister Luoyan hid in the thorn tree outside the window.

The stomachache this morning was a signal. Sister Luoyan stayed in Shenyuan and stared at Zhang's mother, while she went out to get medicine and look for a way to unlock it.

Lu Shiyi was always efficient in doing things. In less than an hour, he returned with his things, followed by a strong man wearing green cloth.

"This is Master Guan from the Yamen. He is involved in all kinds of hidden weapons. Tell him, what kind of thing do you want to open?"

This Master Guan was once a famous Liang Shang gentleman in Yangzhou. He said that Yangzhou could not steal without him. to something. Who knew that after one mistake, he would be thrown into jail. It was Lu Shiyi who took a fancy to his craftsmanship, so he took him out of prison and worked for the Yamen.

Rong Shu handed the drawing paper in his hand to Master Guan and said: "This wooden box has no keyhole. It seems to be a piece of wood with pictures of auspicious animals carved on it. But when I shook the wood, there was a sound inside. It must be that something is hidden. ."

The wooden carving box in the drawing paper is lifelike, and every side is painted with great detail. Master Guan picked up the letter and squinted at it for half an hour.

"This wooden box looks a bit like the 'four-palm box' that my master said." Master Guan put down the drawing paper, rubbed his eyes, and said: "As long as you slap four palms on specific positions of the wooden box, the mechanism chain inside will It will combine by itself and the keyhole will appear. But it is not easy for a girl to find the right position to clap. If you are lucky, you will be blind and hit the mouse, but if you are not lucky, it will be useless."

Master Guan said and took it out. A copper key, said: "This key is the secret weapon for unlocking my master's door. I owe Lao Lu a favor, so I will give this key to the girl. The girl is a noble person and has better luck than ordinary people. If I really ask you to find the keyhole, You can use this key to unlock the door. If you can't find the keyhole, it doesn't matter. Come to the Yamen in two days to find me. I will be able to find this legendary "four-palm box". Just remember, if you don't want to find it in this box. Your things have been destroyed, so don't open it by force."

Rong Shu took the key, thanked him solemnly, and went to the garrison with Lu Shiyi before returning to Shenyuan.

It was already afternoon, and many maids and women were taking a rest in the back room, and the whole Yilan Building was quiet.

Luo Yan sat on the couch, keeping an eye on what was going on outside. Not long after, I heard a sound of brisk footsteps approaching.

Luo Yan originally wanted to stay on the bed immediately, but when she thought of Rong Shu's instructions last night, she thought about it and lay down on the bed again. Until he heard Rong Shu's voice, Fang Zhuo pulled on his shoes and went to open the door.

"Girl, did you get the medicine?"

"You got it."

Rong Shu put the food box in his hand on the table. Seeing Luo Yan's usually ruddy face turned pale, he laughed "Pfft" and said, "Luo Yan My sister is pretending to be upset. "

The little girl looks so pretty when she smiles. No wonder both the general and the county magistrate like her.

Luo Yan was a little embarrassed and said: "The aunt and grandmother in Datong Mansion are very enthusiastic and always want to visit people for me. I pretended to be sick but I just pretended to be a good person. Even the doctor Zhang's mother brought this morning... "I fooled you."

"Mother Zhang specially found a doctor for you?" Rong Shu frowned.

The Shen family has always been generous to their servants. During the Moon Festival and the Double Ninth Festival, there were incidents of servants greedily eating crabs and getting upset. There was ready-made medicine in the house, so why bother to invite the doctor to take a look?

Rong Shu didn't know if he was suspicious of Zhang's mother, so he had to think too much about everything.

"I have already asked how to unlock yesterday's wooden box."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yan hurriedly opened the soft mattress on the bed, took out the wooden box, and said with a frustrated look on his face: "I have been tinkering with unlocking during the day. But I can't even pull out a piece of sawdust."

"Master Guan from the Yamen said that this wooden box is called a 'four-palm box'. You can find the keyhole by tapping four palms in the right place."

Rong Shu said and went to the wooden box. He slapped his hands four times, but nothing happened.

I tried shooting to the side again, but nothing happened. After trying this for more than ten times, the little girl’s palms turned red, but nothing happened.

She handed the wooden box to Luo Yan and asked Luo Yan to try it.

The falling smoke was very powerful, and after "bang bang" shots dozens of times, the wooden box was like an inexperienced stone, with no change at all.

Rong Shu was not in a hurry, and when he saw the falling smoke, he was getting angry, so he put the wooden box aside and said: "It doesn't matter, I will go to the Yamen in two days. Besides, maybe Zhang's mother can do it at night." Tell me how to open it."

Luo Yan glared, "You want to take action tonight?"

"Well, it's better to do it sooner rather than later," Old God Rong Shu said, "Lest you delay, the effect of the medicine will be gone.

" Then I will stay outside your house like last night. If there is an accident, I can go in through the window to help you."

Rong Shu lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then said "No."

"Sister Luoyan, please continue to pretend to be sick. I have brought you food. You must not eat anything sent from the house for the past two days."

Luoyan was a little puzzled, but nodded seriously.

The food box Rong Shu brought back also contained a cup of Qiuli soup and a few Huangqiao sesame cakes.

Zhang’s mother loved eating Huangqiao Shaobing from Tianshuiqiao. When Rong Shu was playing outside when she was little, she would always bring one for her when she came back.

During dinner at night, Rong Shu placed Qiuli soup and hot sesame cakes in front of Zhang's mother and said, "I brought this specially for my mother. Please sit down and eat with me.

" She has been close to Zhang’s mother since she was a child, and this is not the first time that Zhang’s mother has been asked to sit down and have a meal with her.

Zhang's mother refused several times, but she couldn't resist her, so she sat down and finished the full cup of Qiuli soup.

After the meal, Rong Shu just said that he wanted to rest early, leaving Zhang's mother to watch the night, and then asked the servants and wives to file out.

As usual, Zhang's mother was sitting next to the bed, talking to Rong Shu one after another. Half an hour later, Zhang's mother spoke slower and slower, and her eyes were blurred and distracted.

Rong Shu knew that the medicine was taking effect, so he hurriedly helped her up and said softly: "Is mom uncomfortable?"

Zhang's mother leaned against the bedpost, chuckled, looked at her and said kindly: "It's not uncomfortable, mom is not uncomfortable. , the girl sucks the milk obediently."

Rong Shu was startled, never expecting that the hallucination of Zhang's mother was actually her when she was a child.

Temporary soreness of the tip of the nose.

She gritted her teeth and asked, "Mom, before you came to Shen Yuan to be a wet nurse, did you ever serve your master? Who is your master now?"

"The master you served?" Mother Zhang raised her eyes, her expression He said in a daze: "My master is a girl and has always been a girl. You, girl, are the ones I brought here."

Rong Shu looked at her and followed the lead: "Mom, think about the Sansei Hall, think about the study. Mom is the same Zhaozhao said, why did mom go into uncle's study that day?"

But Zhang's mother didn't say anything. She just chuckled and kept repeating the same sentence: "Girl, be good, girl, be obedient."

Rong Shu could only hold her hand gently. He held her hand, softened his voice and said word by word: "Mom, think about it carefully, why did uncle go to Fujian? Who did he want to see when he went to Fujian?"

"Uncle, uncle... uncle did it for the girl. "

Which girl?"

"Which girl?" Zhang's mother repeated in a low voice, and then said with a smile: "Of course it's you

.

"

I don’t know if she took too much medicine, but the words in Zhang’s mother’s mouth were so confusing that Rong Shu couldn’t figure it out even after asking for most of an hour.

If she continues to ask questions, Zhang’s mother is afraid that she will fall asleep.

Rong Shu's face was slightly condensed, he took out a wooden box from the quilt and said to Zhang's mother: "Mom, do you know how to open this wooden box?"

Zhang's mother stared at the wooden box dullly for a long time before replying: " Star position, knock on the star position. "

Mother Zhang was talking incoherently. Rong Shu had no hope at all. Now after hearing what she said, she hurriedly lowered her head and stared at the wooden box.

Star position?

Is it the star position on the chessboard?

Rong Shu bent his fingers, corresponding to the star positions on the chessboard, and tapped the side with the auspicious beast spitting beads four times with his knuckles.

When the "tuk-tuk" sound stopped, she held her breath.

Not long after, only four "clicks" were heard gradually.

Immediately afterwards, a keyhole the size of a mung bean suddenly appeared in the center.

Rong Shu's pupils shrank, and he quickly took out the key given by Master Guan and inserted it into the keyhole.

With a "click" sound, the wood at the top of the box was split into two, and slowly opened to both sides, revealing a piece of yellow paper folded in half.

Her mind was all on the yellow paper, and she had no idea that the moment she took out the yellow paper, Mother Zhang, who was sitting on the bedpost, slowly raised her eyes. Her eyes were clear and clear, and there was no trace of the previous trance.

A faint fragrance wafted out from the wooden box. The moment the fragrance penetrated the tip of his nose, Rong Shu only had time to read the words on the paper clearly -

the sixth day of April, the second year of Jiayou's reign.

The night fog is steaming on the endless sea surface, and the stars and moon are hidden in the thick clouds, leaving no light behind.

More than a dozen official ships sailed quietly in the sea, with waves hitting the hull again and again.

At three o'clock in the morning, in the cabin of the official ship at the end, the man lying on the wooden couch suddenly opened his eyes, sat up suddenly, pressed his chest with his big hands, and breathed heavily.

Changji and Hengping were resting on the bed on the other side. When they heard the movement on his side, they hurriedly sat up and said, "Master? But the wound hurts again?"

Cold sweat seeped out from his forehead, soaking Gu Changjin's temples. hair.

He closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, the palpitations in his heart still hadn't dissipated.

He ordered in a cold voice: "Go and tell the boatman that we will go back to Yangzhou!"