Zhuo Yu Feng Yang Chapter 41

Chapter 42: Searching in the manhole, the secret shadow of the old house

The early morning in Shajing Hutong is filled with the unique fireworks of old Beijing.The bluestone road was wet with morning dew and felt slightly cool when you stepped on it. The doors of the courtyards on both sides were closed tightly. Only the occasional pigeon whistle echoed in the alley.

Jiang Zhuo and Lu Jingyang walked side by side, their eyes scanning the mottled courtyard walls on both sides.Deep in the alley, a courtyard with a wooden sign reading “Li Zhai” is particularly eye-catching.The paint on the wooden sign has long since peeled off, but the writing is still faintly legible. It is the former site of Li Mingshan’s mansion.

“It should be here.” Jiang Zhuo stopped and rubbed the secret sign of “well” on the copper seal with his fingertips. “Since Li Mingshan’s cronies hid the seal, the clues are probably in this house.”

Lu Jingyang stood on tiptoe and looked into the courtyard. In the courtyard paved with blue bricks, there was an old locust tree. The shadow of the tree was dancing, covering most of the courtyard.”Is this house occupied now?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the courtyard door creaked open, and an old man with white hair and beard came out carrying a birdcage. When he saw the two of them, he was stunned: “Who are you looking for?”

Jiang Zhuo took a step forward and nodded slightly: “Uncle, we are doing antique research. I heard that this house was the former residence of Li Mingshan, a doctor in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Qing Dynasty. I wanted to come and inquire about some old things.”

When the old man heard this, a trace of vigilance flashed in his eyes, and he looked the two of them up and down: “Why are you asking about this? This house has been passed down to me for three generations, and I have never heard of Li Mingshan.”

After saying that, he was about to close the door.

Lu Jingyang quickly reached out to stop him: “Uncle, we are really not bad people! Look, we have this.” He took out the rubbing of the copper seal and handed it over.

The old man lowered his head and glanced at the words “House of Internal Affairs” on the rubbing. His expression changed slightly. After being silent for a long time, he turned sideways and sighed: “Come in, it’s not the place to talk outside.”

The two followed the old man into the yard. There was a stone table under the old locust tree. The old man hung the birdcage on the branch and poured them a cup of hot tea.

“To be honest, this house is indeed Li Mingshan’s former residence.” The old man’s voice was low, with a hint of sadness, “My ancestor was Li Mingshan’s servant. When the Li family was raided, it was my great-grandfather who took the risk and took in a close associate of the Li family.”

Jiang Zhuo’s eyes narrowed: “Did that confidant take away Li Mingshan’s official seal?”

The old man nodded and pointed to the ground under the stone table: “Before he died, the confidant told my great-great-grandfather a secret – he hid the official seal in the well in this courtyard. He also said that Li Mingshan’s major crime was hidden in the seal.”

“Well?” Lu Jingyang’s eyes lit up, “Is there really a well in this yard?”

“Yes, but it has been filled in a long time ago.” The old man sighed, “There was a drought a few decades ago and the well water dried up, so it was filled with soil and a small woodshed was built on top.”

The three of them walked to the northwest corner of the yard and saw a dilapidated woodshed.The door of the woodshed was ajar, and it was filled with dead branches and leaves.

Jiang Zhuo and Lu Jingyang looked at each other and immediately started to clean up the debris in the woodshed.The old man stood aside and watched the two people busy, his eyes full of complexity.

Not long after, the floor of the woodshed was exposed.Jiang Zhuo squatted down, brushed his fingertips against the green bricks on the ground, and soon touched a loose brick.

He carefully pried open the blue bricks, and sure enough, a dark wellhead was revealed underneath, and a damp, musty smell hit his face.

Lu Jingyang took out a strong flashlight and shined it into the well.The walls of the well were covered with moss, and thick mud was piled at the bottom of the well. In the center of the mud, there was a rusty copper box.

“Found it!” Lu Jingyang shouted.

Jiang Zhuo found a long rope, tied it with an iron hook, and carefully hooked up the copper box.The copper box was locked, and the lock cylinder had long since rusted.He took out the crowbar he carried and pried it gently, and the lock snapped.

The moment they opened the copper box, both of them held their breath.

In the box, apart from the other half of the broken official seal, there was also a yellowed account book.On the cover of the account book, there are four seal characters written “Official Kiln Secret Account”.

Jiang Zhuo opened the account book with trembling hands.It contains dense records of the official kiln porcelain that Li Mingshan had embezzled. In addition to those hidden by Qing Yanshan, there were dozens of treasures that he hid in another place.

“It turns out there is a batch of porcelain!” Lu Jingyang was so excited that his voice was trembling.

At this moment, there was a sudden rush of footsteps outside the courtyard gate.The old man’s face changed greatly: “No, it’s people from the Xuanshi Society! They came to inquire about this house a few days ago!”

Before he finished speaking, several black figures burst open the courtyard door and rushed in. The leader was a member of the Xuanshi Society who had slipped through the net, with a scar on his face.

“Hand over the account books!” Scarface looked fierce, holding a dagger in his hand.

Jiang Zhuo quickly put the account book into his arms and protected it behind him, with cold eyes: “Dream.”

Scarface sneered and waved his hand to his men to come forward: “Grab it for me!”

At this critical moment, the courtyard door was pushed open again, and Lu Chen walked in with several bodyguards and an arrest warrant in his hand.

“Remnants of the Black Stone Society, your doom has come.” Lu Chen’s voice was cold, and his eyes swept across Scar’s face with a strong murderous intent.

Scar’s face turned pale, he turned around and wanted to run away, but was surrounded by bodyguards and was quickly subdued to the ground.

Sunlight shines through the branches and leaves of the old locust tree and onto the copper box on the stone table.The two halves of the official seal finally merged into one, and the seal characters were fully revealed – Li, a doctor in Yongzheng’s Internal Affairs Office.

The old man looked at the official seal and breathed a long sigh of relief: “After a hundred years, this old matter can finally be settled.”

Jiang Zhuo held the account book, his eyes full of determination.He knew that the batch of porcelain at Baiyun Temple in the western suburbs was the last piece of the puzzle.

And this time, they not only want to recover the national treasure, but also make the dust-laden history completely come to light.