Vol 2 Chapter 495: The secret of the secret room

This afternoon, Ren Yaoqi had just returned from the Princess’s Jiuyang Palace, only to find that Xiao Jingxi, who had gone out this morning, was in the house.
"Didn't you just come back at night?" Ren Yaoqi asked in surprise.
Xiao Jingxi smiled slightly and stood up and said, "Is there anything going on this afternoon?"
Ren Yaoqi thought for a while: "I will go to the Lanxiu Palace to copy the Buddhist scriptures from the empress."
Xiao Jingxi stepped forward and gently squeezed Ren Yaoqi's nose: "I'll let you go to the concubine and say that you will not go today, you go and change into lighter clothes that can go out."
Ren Yaoqi slapped Xiao Jingxi's hand and wondered: "Going out?"
Xiao Jingxi blinked: "Take you to a place."
Ren Yaoqi was very curious: "Where?" The two seldom go out together since they got married. It doesn't look like Xiao Jingxi has something important.
Xiao Jingxi gently pushed Ren Yaoqi's shoulders and pushed her into the interior room, while smiling: "Go and change clothes first, and then talk more about it later."
Ren Yaoqi had no choice but to call in the maid to wait for her to freshen up and change clothes.
Xiao Jingxi sat aside and waited for Ren Yaoqi to get dressed before coming forward. He bent over to look at Ren Yaoqi from the mirror. After looking at it for a long time, he frowned.
Ren Yaoqi was a little inexplicable: "What's wrong?"
Xiao Jingxi turned her head to look at her, and then said: "It seems that something is wrong."
Ren Yaoqi laughed and laughed, squinting at him and jokingly said: "What's wrong? Could it be that you only noticed that I was wearing a painted skin today? Xiao Gongzi, you will read less messy books in the future."
Ren Yaoqi's words start from the novel she accidentally turned over on Xiao Jingxi's bookshelf to a novel that is basically popular among the ladies of the day.
Xiao Jingxi coughed slightly, and his ears were reddish, which surprised Ren Yaoqi.
In fact, since the two got married, someone's face grew thicker, and Ren Yaoqi hadn't seen Xiao Jingxi's red ears for a long time.
Ren Yaoqi didn't know that Xiao Jingxi had to work hard in pursuit of beauty. Being reserved and arrogant like the second son of Xiao, he naturally can't let go of his figure to ask others how to pursue the girl he likes, but the second son of Xiao believes in a word, as long as he wants to learn any knowledge, he can't learn it.
Therefore, there was a period of time when the second son of Xiao used the lamp in the study to read at night when the night was dead. No one knew that the noble and glamorous son of Xiao Er was lying in the study secretly reading a book of novels.
Everyone has a secret, and Young Master Xiao is no exception. He did not expect that these books would be seen by Ren Yaoqi in the end, and would be teased by Ren Yaoqi from time to time in the next few decades.
If he had known...
Xiao Jingxi casually avoided Ren Yaoqi's playful gaze, took out a piece of Luozi Dai from her dressing box, dipped it in water, and said solemnly: "The eyebrow on the right has faded. I'll draw it for you." He raised Ren Yaoqi's chin with his hands and raised her eyebrows intently.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi with a smile for a while, and forced him to go without a smile.
Second Young Master Xiao still frowned and was dissatisfied: "Don't laugh, don't blame me if you paint in a while."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but laugh out loud, and then Xiao Jing shook his hand, and his eyebrows really bloomed.
When the two men came out, Xiao Jingxi finally recovered the nobility and coldness he had always been in front of outsiders. Only the smile on Ren Yaoqi's face could not be restrained.
After getting on the carriage, the second son Xiao finally couldn't bear it: "Madam, you smile at me again, do you want to spend your mouth fat?"
Ren Yaoqi was stunned to realize what it meant, and couldn't help glaring at him fiercely, and turned his head to ignore him.
Originally, Ren Yaoqi thought that Xiao Jingxi was just taking her to some place in Yunyang City, but he didn't expect the carriage to go out of the city gate and go to the official road. Ren Yaoqi was a little surprised to find that the carriage turned towards Baihe Town.
"Where are we going?" Ren Yaoqi lowered the curtain and asked.
Xiao Jingxi gave Ren Yaoqi a cup of tea and smiled slightly: "Guess?"
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
After entering Baihe Town, when the buildings along the way became more and more familiar, Ren Yaoqi calmed down instead. When the carriage stopped in front of the gate she was familiar with, Ren Yaoqi was only silently helped by Xiao Jingxi to get off the carriage, and looked up at the dusted door plaque for a while.
Xiao Jingxi took Ren Yaoqi's hand and led her up the steps. When she entered the door, no one greeted him. The concierge was empty and there was no one.
Standing in front of the screen wall in the front yard, Ren Yaoqi looked at the empty house, suddenly feeling like a world away.
"Is this house in the hands of the Han family?" Ren Yaoqi turned to look at Xiao Jingxi.
Although she didn't get out of the door, she knew everything about Ren's family.
Xiao Jingxi nodded, dragged him into the Chuhuamen, and walked along the veranda to the inner courtyard.
Ren Yaoqi had walked this road countless times, but it was the first time that she walked here side by side with Xiao Jingxi. The emptiness and silence all around made her feel strange. I don’t know if there is a relationship with this person next to her. This house that she hates so much on weekdays does not seem so depressing today. After adjusting her mood a little, she followed Xiao Jingxi forward. There is even Xianqing to discuss with Xiao Jingxi about the Feng Shui pattern in this mansion.
Xiao Jingxi smiled and said, "The Feng Shui pattern here is surprising."
Ren Yaoqi sighed: "The book says that fate and feng shui are complementary, but it's a pity that no matter how good the feng shui here, ordinary people like the Zhai family and the Ren family still can't hold it down.
The two owners of this house had no good endings in the end.
Xiao Jingxi didn't know what he had thought of, so he couldn't help thinking.
"What did you bring me here for?" Ren Yaoqi sighed and asked.
Xiao Jingxi looked down at her, but was about to speak but was interrupted by Ren Yaoqi: "I don't guess!"
Xiao Jingxi couldn't help but laughed, squeezing her hand and said, "Han Yunqian said that he would give a gift from the Yanbei Palace, so I will show you."
Ren Yaoqi was stunned when she heard the words, she couldn't help but guess what Han Yunqian's thin gift was. She had some guesses in her heart.
Xiao Jingxi looked familiar and didn't need Ren Yaoqi to lead the way. Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but raised his eyebrows and glanced at him: "Have you been here before?"
Xiao Jingxi blinked innocently: "No, I want to come with you. But Han Yunqian drew me a picture before."
Ren Yaoqi stopped talking.
Xiao Jingxi took Ren Yaoqi to the garden. Ren Yaoqi frowned as he watched the newly dug deep holes around the garden. Although these holes were not too big, they were dug extremely deep. Hachizhang, the nice garden flowers were destroyed by these chaotic holes and lost their former beauty. If they came here at night, they might accidentally fall.
But because of these holes, if there are secret rooms underground, it is easy to find them.
Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi to avoid the black holes and came to the pond.
There is a lotus pond in the middle of Ren's garden. Yanbei in May still has some coolness. The lotus in the lotus pond has not bloomed, and even the lotus leaves are a little listless. Xiao Jingxi took Ren Yaoqi around the rockery on the edge of the lotus pond, and then gestured behind him.
Xiao Hua, dressed in grey, didn't know where he came from. After paying a salute to Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi, he turned and got into the rockery.
Ren Yaoqi raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Here?"
Xiao Jingxi returned Ren Yaoqi with a smile.
Ren Yaoqi could not help being very different. This garden is not a secret place. The daughters and children of the Ren family like to go to the yard when they have nothing to do. The maids sometimes come in, especially the rockery because there is a lotus. The pool is a good place to cool off in summer. Ren Yaoqi didn't expect the secret path of the Han family to be here.
Xiao Hua stayed in the rockery for about a quarter of an hour. If Ren Yaoqi hadn't heard the faint tapping sound from the rockery, he thought Xiao Hua had already left another exit.
Fortunately, both Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi are extremely patient, and they are not at all impatient. Xiao Jingxi is thinking about asking Ren Yaoqi if he wants to walk around, but suddenly there is a click from the rockery. The machine sounded, and then "boom booming" after a slight vibration, I don't know what was turned on.
Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jingxi couldn't help but glance at each other.
Xiao Hua quickly got out of the rockery and reportedly lowered his head to report: "Master, there is indeed a secret tunnel in it, which has been opened according to the method you said. For safety, your subordinates will go down and check it out. You and Shao Madam, go down."
Xiao Jingxi thought for a while, but nodded. If it is his own, he is not afraid of any traps, but he should be careful if he enters with Ren Yaoqi.
Xiao Hua slipped into the rockery again without saying a word. This time he got out of it after another quarter of an hour.
"Master, there is no mechanism."
Xiao Jingxi nodded and led Ren Yaoqi into the rockery.
This rockery is no stranger to Ren Yaoqi. When she was young, she and a few sisters often came to play. The center of the rockery is hollow and the place is not small. Because there is a light opening on the top of the rockery, it is still bright during the day. .
However, when Ren Yaoqi went in, he found that even this rockery had been dug into a hole about six or seven feet deep, and he couldn't help laughing.
"The secret path was not discovered?"
Xiao Jingxi glanced at Ren Yaoqi, and then gently held her face with his hand to make her turn her head. Ren Yaoqi saw that behind her, the rock wall near the pond was opened by Xiao. Jingxi pulled over and took a look. Under the stone wall was a ladder that could only be passed by one person, and it leaned towards the bottom of the lotus pond.
Ren Yaoqi said in surprise: "How can this happen? This lotus pond is very deep, and the bottom is all soft silt."
Xiao Jingxi smiled and blinked, "Go down and take a look."
Xiao Jingxi walked down the secret road, Ren Yaoqi hurriedly followed. Since the secret road only allowed one person to pass, Xiao Jingxi carefully held her with his right hand behind him, and reminded her not to be careful. Meeting, because he was prepared, he still held a illuminating firefold in his left hand.
This secret road was very narrow, and Xiao Jingxi had to bend slightly to pass.
Ren Yaoqi found that the secret passage was not only narrow but also very long. The surrounding air was very humid and cold, and there was a smell of rotten silt in the tip of the nose. If Xiao Jingxi were not there, Ren Yaoqi himself would have discovered such a secret. Dao wouldn't want to go down and take a look.
While reminding Ren Yaoqi to be careful, Xiao Jingxi smiled and said, "Do you know why it took nearly a quarter of an hour for Xiao Hua to open this secret passage?" The elegant voice sounded in the narrow and long confined space, seemingly reverberating.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a while: "Is this secret way difficult to open?"
Xiao Jing said in the west: "Well, it actually used a mechanism technique. If someone wants to dig through this passage with violence, the stone steps of this secret passage will collapse, blocking the entrance to the secret room inside."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help frowning: "It stands to reason that the Zhai family is just an ordinary wealthy household. Why did they spend so much effort to build such a secret room? Is it true that there are any rare treasures hidden?"
Xiao Jingxi smiled and said, "If there are any rare treasures, you will know if you go down and take a look."
Because they had to take care of Ren Yaoqi, the two were slow down, but they finally stepped on the flat ground, and Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was already at the bottom of the pond, and the underground air was not circulating all the year round, which made her a little uncomfortable.
Xiao Jingxi glanced back at her and frowned: "Uncomfortable? Why don't you go up there? I owe it too much consideration."
Ren Yaoqi grabbed Xiao Jingxi and said with a smile: "I'm already down, I'm not reconciled if I don't go in and see the rare treasures. I'm fine, just adapt."
Xiao Jingxi felt relieved when he saw that Ren Yaoqi had nothing serious.
There is an opened stone gate in front of them, still allowing only one person to pass through.
Xiao Jingxi lit a grease lamp hung on the stone wall with a fire zipper, and then led Ren Yaoqi into the secret room with the lamp in his hand.
At this point, Ren Yaoqi was really curious and looking forward to it.
She has known this secret room for a long time. The Ren family wanted to find the entrance to the secret road since her great-grandfather. Part of the reason for the murder of the Zhai family was because of this guilt. It's a pity that until the Ren family moved out of this house, it was unsuccessful, and she didn't expect that she could see it with her own eyes.
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after walking in. This is just a very ordinary stone house. Although it is not as narrow as the passage outside, it is only the size of her bedroom when she was in her natal house. There are ten piles on both sides of the stone house. A few large wooden boxes, the red paint on the boxes peeled off badly, it looks like it has been some years.
There was an offering table in the direction facing the door. There was an incense table fruit plate on the table. The incense ash was covered with incense table. I don’t know what it was. Ren Yaoqi took Xiao Jingxi closer and found the table. The jade statue enshrined in the back couldn’t help but was stunned.
"This is..." Ren Yaoqi tilted his head and looked carefully at the jade statue that was no more than a foot tall.
"It's the Nine Heavens Profound Girl." Xiao Jing said in the west.
Ren Yaoqi frowned: "Nine Heavens Profound Girl? Few people worship this at home..."
Xiao Jingxi continued intently, "Except for the generals' house."
Ren Yaoqi raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiao Jingxi.
Xiao Jingxi smiled and said: "It is said that the Nine Heavens Profound Girl was the military adviser of the Yellow Emperor, the goddess of war in ancient times, and was well versed in military strategies, so some generals would enshrine this in their homes."
Ren Yaoqi nodded, wondering: "Is the Zhai ancestor a general?"
Xiao Jing pulled Ren Yaoqi closer to the statue, and looked down at the wooden box under the statue. The box was placed on the altar table. It seemed to be made of sandalwood. It was smaller than the dozens of alleys stacked next to it, and there was a lock on it.
Ren Yaoqi looked around, trying to find out if there is a key to open the box, but he found nothing.
Xiao Jingxi grabbed her and said with a smile: "What are you looking for? This is not an ordinary lock, but a machine that can't be opened with the key."
Ren Yaoqi took the oil lamp in Xiao Jingxi's hand and looked at it, and found that it was a very ordinary-looking double-tiger-head brass lock, because the air here was moist, and the cyan patina was already on it. If you look closely, you will find that there are five gears biting together on it, and each gear is engraved with densely packed small words.
Ren Yaoqi had once seen this kind of mechanical lock in a book. Just turn the five gears to align the correct characters to the correct position to open the lock.
Ren Yaoqi looked at it with interest for a while, and then asked Xiao Jingxi: "Since Han Yunqian has an organization that tells you the secret way, he should have also told you the secret words of this lock, right?"
Who knew Xiao Jingxi shook his head, "No."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this: "So that's not a rare treasure?"
Xiao Jingxi thought for a while, frowned and said, "You really want to see it?"
Ren Yaoqi deliberately embarrassed Xiao Jingxi: "Yes, it's a pity that you can't open it, so forget it."
Xiao Jingxi just raised his eyebrows and smiled without reasoning. He just grabbed Ren Yaoqi and walked away, and said warmly, "Look at what is in the other boxes first."
Except for the box on the confession, the other dozen large boxes in this room were not locked. Xiao Jingxi opened one at random and found that there was a box of porcelain, ranging from the square famille rose to the small The small snuff bottles were of different types and sizes. After Xiao Jingxi carefully distinguished the famille rose general, he nodded and concluded: "It's a treasure." Then he closed the box and opened another one.
A large box next to it contained jade pieces, which were also peerless treasures. Ren Yaoqi even recognized that a pair of luminous cups were craftsmanship from a small country in the south.
However, when Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi saw so many good things, they just looked at them casually, and there was no surprise.
When the third box was opened and found that it was a box of well-preserved paintings and calligraphy, Xiao Jingxi smiled and said to Ren Yaoqi: "This box has to be moved back if you say anything to please Master Taishan." Then he took out a painting from the inside and looked at it carefully, and looked very satisfied.
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
The two went around the secret room and found that these boxes were filled with valuable objects that were not easy to carry. Even though they just took a few casual glances, they could see that the Zhai family's wealth was indeed not thin.
After reading the box, Xiao Jingxi took Ren Yaoqi and walked up to the case to look at the locked sandalwood box.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi's thoughtful expression, curiously said: "How? Can you open it?"
Xiao Jingxi returned Ren Yaoqi's bright smiling face, almost dazzling Ren Yaoqi's eyes: "Since you want to see it, how can I find a way to open it."
Speaking of Xiao Jingxi handing over the oil lamp in his hand to Ren Yaoqi, he leaned in and fiddled with the lock.
Ren Yaoqi didn't stop when he saw it, and stood aside watching.
Xiao Jingxi turned around and read the words on the gears, and then tried to guess the secret words on the lock, but it was a pity that Young Master Xiao was not a after all, and he guessed it wrong twice.
Ren Yaoqi saw him frowning and looking serious, and couldn't help but smile: "Forget it, let someone get it up and find someone to open it, this kind of lock is afraid..."
Ren Yaoqi hadn't finished speaking, but suddenly he heard a "click" and then the sound of the machine running, and he was stunned.
A smile slowly appeared on Xiao Jingxi's face, and he looked back at Ren Yaoqi and blinked.
Ren Yaoqi looked at the secretly smug look on someone's face and couldn't help but laugh, so he exaggeratedly boasted: "The son is so amazing, I admire him!"
Second Young Master Xiao looked at Ren Yaoqi and said in a low voice earnestly: "As long as it is what you want."
Ren Yaoqi could not help blushing, Xiao Jingxi bowed his head and kissed Ren Yaoqi's forehead, and then took her to walk over: "If there are no rare treasures in it, would you be disappointed?"
Ren Yaoqi was still not recovered by the soft kiss from Xiao Jingxi just now, and he said without thinking: "You opened it, how could I be disappointed."
When Xiao Jingxi met Xiao Jingxi's bright eyes, Ren Yaoqi realized that what he had just said was so close as to what Xiao Jingxi said.
Ren Yaoqi was a little embarrassed, but Xiao Jingxi laughed lowly, squeezed Ren Yaoqi's palm gently, and said, "That's good, because I guess there is no surprise in this box, don't be scared. Enough."
Ren Yaoqi was stunned when he heard the words: "You know what is in the box before it is opened?"
Xiao Jingxi sighed, looked at the statue of the Nine Heavens Profound Girl and said, "That's not true, but I guessed the true identity of the owner of this box."
Ren Yaoqi frowned: "The true identity of the owner of the box? Isn't this the Zhai family's secret room? Isn't this box left by the Zhai family?"
Xiao Jingxi said: "That's not the case, this person should have a deep connection with the Zhai family."
Ren Yaoqi was aroused a little curiosity by what Xiao Jingxi said, and couldn't help but look at the sandalwood box: "So the reason why you were able to open this machine lock just now was not just guessed, but because of guessing. Who is the owner of this box?"
Xiao Jingxi nodded: "Exactly." He smiled at Ren Yaoqi, "Don't you want to see it? Do you want to open it?"
Ren Yaoqi blinked, wondering what the shock in Xiao Jingxi's mouth meant.
Xiao Jingxi didn't speak, but just looked at Ren Yaoqi with a smile, as if she said to open and opened it, and she said that he would take her away without looking at him.
Ren Yaoqi didn't hesitate for too long, after all, curiosity prevailed over everything. And she knew in her heart that if there was any danger, Xiao Jingxi would not let her open the box, so she was frightened at best. RS