After Di Xue finished speaking, everyone concentrated their attention. Zhou Huai took the lead and went to open the door.
Li Heng stopped him quickly, shook his head at him, then took out the jade pen and held it in his hand, always ready to deal with unexpected situations.
Di Xue and Di Qing drew their swords and held them in front of their chests, while Zhou Huai stood behind with a spear.
Seeing everyone's posture, Chu Ran had no choice but to adjust the medicine box on his back, and then stared at the door closely.
"I'll climb over the wall from the side first. If there's no problem, I'll give you a signal and you can come in again."
After Di Xue said that, Di Qing originally wanted to replace her, but then she thought that her younger sister had been stubborn since she was a child and her decisions could not be changed, so Di Qing said softly:
"Don't be brave. If you have any problems, call for help immediately. We are all here!"
After Di Qing finished speaking, the others nodded, and Chu Ran took a small jade bottle and stuffed it into Di Xue's hand:
"This medicine is the Yujing Pill I developed. It can delay the spread of poison. If you are caught off guard, be sure to take it. Keep this one pill!"
Di Xue looked at Chu Ran's firm eyes, took back her polite words, and then jumped onto the slightly higher palace wall without further delay.
Looking down, although the courtyard is dilapidated, it can still be seen from the layout that the landscape in the mansion is considered elegant.
Di Xue found an open space and jumped down. Looking around, she was a little confused.
According to rumors, the Yan family is very wealthy, but judging from the yard, the stones on the floor, and the houses in the mansion are not luxurious.
It seemed that the rumors were false. The knocking on the door was still ringing. Di Xue walked towards the door. Suddenly, the sound of wind entered her ears and a white shadow flew towards her.
Di Xue turned sideways and struck with his sword. The white shadow immediately split into two, with the second half falling lightly and the front half hitting the ground.
After picking up the first half, Di Xue saw that it turned out to be a crossbow arrow without an arrowhead held against a piece of white cloth.
It seemed that someone had arranged this deliberately, and he had just stepped on the mechanism.
The mechanism cut the connecting rope, and the crossbow arrow came loose and was shot out with the white cloth.
If Di Xue had not disturbed the white cloth, he would have flown into the dense bamboo forest nearby. The light was dim at night, and it would have looked very much like a ghost!
Di Xue walked towards the main door along the main road, and saw clearly the source of the knocking on the door with the faint light of Huozhezi.
It turns out that this is a water-flow mechanism. The running water from the pool in the courtyard drives the waterwheel, and the wooden boards protruding from the waterwheel will beat the logs every time it turns.
Whenever the end of the log moved, the cloth-wrapped end would hit the wooden door, making it sound like someone was knocking on the door.
These devices are hidden by the weeds in the yard, and you really can’t tell them apart unless you look carefully.
Di Xue walked over cautiously and saw a baffle standing on the ground next to the log.
As long as the logs are blocked by baffles, the wooden boards of the water wheel will not touch the logs.
It seems that this device needs to be controlled manually during the day. Could it be that this person has been doing this kind of thing for many years? What is the purpose?
At this time, a bird chirped outside the door. Di Xue knew that it was her sister who was worried about her again, so Di Xue called back and rushed to the door.
After removing the baffle inside the door, Di Xue pushed open the heavy wooden door with a folding leaf.
Although the door is very old, it is surprisingly easy to push open.
When everyone outside saw that Di Xue was safe and sound, they breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the courtyard one after another.
Di Xue looked at the gate of the two mountains thoughtfully. After opening the gate, she saw two deep knife marks carved on the left side of the gate.
Could it be that there were really robbers who robbed the Yan family's daughter when she died?
No, after getting closer, Di Xue realized that the two knife marks did not look like marks left by a fight, but rather seemed to be carved on purpose.
Could it be that someone left a message intentionally? After thinking about it, Di Xue couldn't help but recall the first two sentences of the nursery rhyme:
The daughter of the Yan family does not keep herself to herself.
Open the door and get people to deal with you.
Di Xue recalled what Amin said about the Yan family's daughter who loved crossword puzzles. Could this also be a crossword puzzle?
After opening the door, I saw two knife marks.
It’s a word for punishment!
Seeing Di Xue looking at the door in a daze, Chu Ran asked, "But what's wrong?"
Di Xue shook her head: "I guess that nursery rhyme is a crossword puzzle, and maybe the answer lies in this mansion."
After Di Xue finished speaking, she looked into the room and repeated the third sentence of the nursery rhyme in her mind:
Gold and silver treasures are placed under the bed.
Could it be that he was referring to the bottom of the bed in the Yan family's daughter's room?
So Di Xue suggested that everyone go to the backyard. The Yan family's daughter had not yet left the palace, so she should live in the backyard, so everyone walked around the front hall and walked to the backyard.
The scenery in the backyard has changed slightly. Although it is dilapidated, it is more refined and restrained.
There is also a swing set up under the big tree, which looks like a woman's boudoir.
Di Xue carefully walked to the door of the backyard and opened the door with a long sword. The moonlight shined on the ground through the door.
Everyone looked inside the house and saw that the items in the house were neatly arranged, and a thick layer of dust fell on the tables and stools.
Di Xue looked at the ground. As expected, the ground was clean and dust-free. It seemed that the people who organized the layout in Yan's mansion deliberately left dust on the items to make people mistakenly think that no one had been here for a long time.
He had to walk on the ground for maintenance, so he had to clean it all.
Di Xue walked into the house first. The curtains and window grilles were all things that ordinary women would like.
There is also a bird screen standing behind the bed, with several little sparrows that are round and round, which is very childlike.
Could it be that the owner of this boudoir was still a child twenty years ago?
Thinking of this, Di Xue no longer hesitated, lifted up the curtains on the bed, tested the bottom of the bed with a long sword, and after confirming that there was nothing abnormal, went in with a fire folding piece.
There is no gold or silver treasure under the bed, but the word "BU" is engraved on it.
Ministry of Punishment? Could this Yan Mansion be the residence of Yan Tingzhong, the Minister of Justice at that time?
After Di Xue came out from under the bed, she immediately walked to the dressing table and looked in the mirror.
In the dim environment and weak light, Di Xue's face looked very strange in the mirror, and what was even more strange was that there were many black shadows painted in the mirror!
What does this mean?
After Di Xue checked, there were eighteen shadows in total, which was consistent with the number of officials executed in the theft case of the Ministry of Justice.
When this case occurred, I had heard a little bit about it. The late emperor was furious and executed the left and right ministers of the Ministry of Punishment, as well as all the doctors, ministers, and principals on duty, a total of eighteen people.
For a period of time, no one was available in the Ministry of Justice, and everyone in the court was in danger.
It seems that the emperor asked himself and Chu Ran to come here to re-investigate the theft case of the Ministry of Justice!
Everything in Yan's mansion was most likely arranged by the people who survived that year.
Di Xue thought about it, sorted it out and read out the answer to the riddle:
"Eighteen people from the Criminal Department were wronged!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard it. Just when Chu Ran was about to speak, suddenly crying came from behind the screen in the room.
"Who?" As soon as she finished speaking, Di Xue pushed open the screen with her long sword.
The white shadow behind the screen fled in a hurry. Di Xuefei stepped forward, grabbed his wrist, and restrained him with his backhand.
When the white shadow lifted up and stole away, Di Qing was surprised:
"It's you?"
