Yao Yao held the lock in one hand and a small lantern that flickered on and off in the other, looking into the depth of the keyhole.
Hearing Han Changmu's words, she smiled: "Using such a precious thing to make a lock, doesn't it just mean that what's inside is a matter of life and death?"
Han Changmu nodded and smiled, gently knocking on the two iron doors that had no pattern decoration and were covered with dark red rust.
As his finger fell, the iron door made an extremely heavy sound, which was so muffled that it struck people's hearts.
Han Changmu's eyes narrowed, flashing with a cold light, and he was slightly excited: "It seems that the things here are extremely important, otherwise two such thick iron doors would not be cast."
Seeing that Yao Yao didn't answer, he turned around and saw that she was fascinated by the big lock, so he asked, "How is it? Can you open it?"
Yao Yao suddenly came back to his senses, his expression was a bit unnatural, he didn't dare to look into Han Changmu's eyes, he just looked at the lock and said: "This is a mother-and-child chain lock. An ordinary chain lock is a mother lock and a child lock. , but this lock," she fiddled with the lock, making a soft clatter: "it is a mother lock with seven sub-locks. As long as one of the locks is opened incorrectly, the entire lock will be destroyed and can no longer be opened. ”
Han Changmu looked at the iron door and the lock carefully, then suddenly thought of something, his face changed slightly, and he pulled out a dagger from his boot. The whole body was covered with white silk and snow, and the white blade was so thin that it could almost reflect the light. Yingying lights.
Yao Yao's eyes flickered and he pursed his lower lip calmly.
The thin blade squeezed through the crack in the door, which was almost invisible to the naked eye, and slid up and down slowly. Sure enough, when sliding upward, the blade touched an obstacle.
Han Changmu did not move, but touched it lightly with the blade. When he saw that the obstruction was motionless, he withdrew the dagger.
He made up his mind, turned around and said calmly: "I have seen a lock like this before. There is a mechanism behind the door. You need to break the mechanism while unlocking to really open the door. You try to unlock it first, and then open the last one." Tell me when it's locked and I'll break the trap on the door."
Yao Yao was not surprised that Han Changmu had seen the same door lock mechanism. As the eldest son of King Han, his vision was naturally extraordinary and could not be compared with ordinary people.
She nodded: "Okay."
She held the silver hairpin in her hair, gently pulled it out, and pulled out a silver needle hidden in the hairpin.
The needle was so thin that Han Changmu couldn't see it clearly. He only felt that the tip of the needle seemed to have a slight arc.
He became curious. Could it be possible to open such an exquisite mother-and-son chain lock with just a small silver needle?
He stared intently at the movements of Yao Yao's hands, not daring to take a glance away.
Yao Yao noticed Han Changmu's probing eyes. She deliberately prevented him from seeing the silver needle, so she deliberately blocked it with her hand and inserted the needle into the keyhole.
When she was in the Bei Ya Forbidden Army, she once captured a gangster and exchanged his body for a secret book written by him, which recorded various lock-picking techniques and key polishing techniques, among which the most exquisite lock-picking method was The technique is not to see with the eyes, but to listen with the ears.
She approached the lock, her ears pressed tightly against it, her hand clenched the silver needle tightly, and swam lightly in the keyhole.
The silver needle seemed to have eyes on it, and it felt like a fish in water in the narrow keyhole.
There was only a slight "pop" sound, and her tightly frowned brows suddenly relaxed a little.
.
Han Changmu caught the subtle change in Yao Yao's expression and quickly asked in a low voice: "How's it going? Is it open?"
Yao Yao nodded weakly, not daring to move his body. He still maintained his half-crouched posture and pressed tightly against the lock.
When she opened the first lock, she noticed the difference between the mother-and-son chain lock.
Ordinary combination locks will not affect other locks when one lock is opened.
But this lock is obviously not the case.
After the soft "click" sound of opening the lock, there was a soft squeaking sound from the mother-and-daughter chain lock. The silver needle in her hand trembled and softened, and she knew that the rest The keyhole of the lock has changed, and the silver needle can obviously no longer follow the previous route.
She took a shallow breath, trembled slightly in her hand, adjusted the curvature of the silver needle, and slowly moved towards the second lock.
Separated by high and low rocks, there are two worlds at both ends of the corridor.
There was deathly silence on the other side of the iron gate. Han Changmu and the two men held their breaths, not even daring to take a breath.
On the other side, everyone was talking lowly and earnestly. Some people stood on tiptoes and looked up. Some people were tired of standing and found a slightly flatter stone wall to sit down and repair.
I don't know whether it was because the temperature in the corridor was extremely high after the fire, or because Yao Yao was a little nervous when opening the lock. After opening the fourth lock, a fine line of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her body was shaking slightly.
Han Changmu held up the torch and quickly supported Yao Yao's waist.
Yao Yao suddenly raised his head and glanced at Han Changmu in shock.
The firelight reflected on her slightly pale face, and her cheeks showed an abnormal blush, not because of shyness, but because of obvious illness and weakness.
Han Changmu frowned: "Ah Yao, are you tired? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Yao Yao suddenly came back to his senses, the blush on his cheeks quickly faded, and he smiled lightly as usual: "Nothing, just a little hot."
Han Changmu did not doubt that he was there, and held the handkerchief to wipe Yao Yao's sweat so that she could open the lock with peace of mind.
Yao Yao automatically ignored Han Changmu's movements and eyes, continued to listen attentively, and concentrated on opening the fifth lock.
The fifth and sixth locks were opened in sequence. Yao Yao raised his head and gave Han Changmu a look.
Han Changmu understood, released his hand on Yao Yao's waist, straightened up, and inserted the thin blade into the crack of the door.
At the same time as the sound of "bah" sounded, Yao Yao raised his eyebrows.
Han Changmu immediately caught this change and raised the dagger heavily.
There was no unexpected spark of calcium carbide, and no sound was heard. Everything was quiet.
The door lock slid along the chain, and the two iron doors quietly opened a narrow gap.
Looking through the gap, there is deep silence inside.
Han Changmu and Yao Yao looked at each other, took a few steps back to both sides, and then each picked up two stones the size of their heads and hit them hard against the crack of the door.
The iron door creaked open.
A thick musty and damp smell swept out, making people feel nauseous.
"Yao Canjun's ability to slide doors and pick locks is really amazing." Han Changmu inquired about Yao Yao's secrets with a half-smile.
Yao Yao was depressed for a moment and felt that there was nothing he could not say to others about this matter.
Perhaps speaking more can gain Han Changmu's trust.
She smiled nonchalantly and said, "This skill of sliding doors and picking locks was learned from a gangster in humble position. He wrote a secret book of lock picking in his handwriting. It can be said to be a masterpiece of door lock picking skills in the world. Do you want to take a look, sir?" ?”
Han Changmu's eyes lit up and he smiled: "Is Yao Canjun willing to do it?"
Yao Yao waved his hands carelessly: "There's nothing to be reluctant about. Being happy alone is not as good as having everyone happy."
Han Changmu nodded without hesitation: "Then thank you Yao Canjun for parting with me."
The two of them, Han Changmu and Han Changmu, chatted incessantly. After waiting patiently for a while, the strong musty smell gradually dissipated and no mechanism was triggered. Then the two of them walked out cautiously.
Standing in front of the door, Han Changmu waved his hand, lit another torch and threw it into the door. With the bright firelight, he could see clearly what was going on inside.
Behind the iron gate is still a naturally dug cave, but it is very open, and the uneven ground is covered with a thick layer of waterproof tarpaulin.
Han Changmu walked in holding a torch and stood still in the cave.
The stone wall is covered with deep and shallow moss, and crystal clear water drops hang on it, about to fall.
There were deep water marks on the oilcloth and stone walls, and some places were washed smooth and translucent by water droplets.
There was a pile of unknown objects piled up in the middle of the cave, covered with a thick tarpaulin.
Han Changmu walked over slowly, took a torch and looked around carefully. With a "crash", he suddenly opened the oilcloth, revealing dozens of boxes neatly arranged.
He bent down and saw that the box had seals from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs. The date printed on the seal was exactly the date when the baggage convoy left for Longyou Road last year.
He was so shocked that his chest heaved violently. After calming down for a while, he said word by word: "If my prediction is correct, this should be the other half of the lost salary."
Yao Yao touched one of the boxes, his face full of astonishment, and he was stunned: "Who would have thought that after we searched all over the Western Regions, this salary would be sent to the capital so early."
Han Changmu thought for a moment, reached out and carefully tore off the seal of one of the boxes, and used a dagger to pry open the box. Suddenly, the room was filled with cold light, which made his eyes hurt.
In the large open box, there was a layer of silver and a layer of red cloth, all fifty taels of white official silver.
When he was in Dunhuang, when he took out half of the salary, Yao Yao was not there, nor did he see the grand scene of unpacking and checking the silver.
Now that she suddenly saw the dazzling silver, she held on to the box tightly, barely controlling herself from plunging into the pile of silver, but she also didn't control her body from getting lower and lower.
Han Changmu laughed at this, grabbed Yao Yao's back collar, pulled her up, and handed over the handkerchief he had just wiped her sweat with: "Here, wipe your saliva."
Yao Yao wiped his mouth subconsciously. After wiping, he realized that he had been laughed at by Han Changmu. He snorted coldly and walked away pretending not to be moved by the money.
Han Changmu squinted his eyes and smiled. He closed the box tightly and put the seal back on. He checked the other boxes again and found that they were all the same official silver. He calculated the amount again and found that it was exactly the same as the missing half of the salary silver. consistent.
After finding this half of the salary, the previous case of missing salary was finally concluded, and he had an explanation in front of Emperor Yong'an.
