Under the moonlight, a pair of small boots hurriedly stepped on the verandah. Jiao Nu was as quick as a falcon, running through two courtyards, and saw a black shadow running behind the flower tree in the southeast corner of the second courtyard.
Without hesitation, she chased after him, jumped down the stone steps, and kicked open a door.
A foul smell hit my face.
"Well!"
Jiao Nu quickly covered his mouth and nose and took a few steps back. He saw that this was a smelly latrine.
She really disliked this poor place like Du's house, but she thought that the dead men of the East Palace that A Lang wanted to take were right in front of her, so she had to hold her breath and search for them one by one.
There was no one inside, it was just a mess.
When Jiaonu saw it, he couldn't help but retched, took out the fire and lit it, and frowned as he looked around.
A bucket of gold juice was knocked over and dripped on the ground, but there were several footprints on the ground, all the way to the east courtyard wall, and a few broken tiles fell on the ground.
The opponent has already jumped out.
Jiaonu put away the fire, took more than ten steps back, gathered strength and rushed forward, stepped on the flower bed, water tank, wooden fence, climbed to the top of the wall, grabbed the wall and jumped down gently and skillfully. Looking around, he saw a long
The street is deserted.
She clasped her fingers around the ring, put it in her mouth, and whistled. Soon she heard footsteps coming from the east alley. Four Jinwu guards rushed to her, saluted and called, "Girl."
"The dead man from the East Palace just escaped from Du's house. Did you see it?"
"No."
"No?" Jiaonu was surprised.
"I'm sure I didn't see anyone."
Jiaonu couldn't help but feel annoyed, secretly thinking that the other party was very skilled, and he escaped in an instant without being able to even see his shadow.
But how did the other party escape the Chang'an curfew?
While I was thinking about it, something suddenly came to my mind.
"No! Move the tiger away from the mountain."
He quickly ordered the four Jinwu Guards to build a human tower and stand under the courtyard wall. Jiaonu retreated again, jumped up, stepped on them, climbed up the courtyard wall again, jumped into the courtyard, and ran straight to where Xue Bai was.
The Du family was in chaos.
A slave ran past in a hurry. Jiaonu couldn't help but raised his hand and slapped the slave on the face.
What she was beating was that these slaves were not doing their jobs diligently and the latrines were not kept clean.
Rushing back to the fourth hospital, the stupid son of the Du family was looking around at the steps, bewildered.
Jiaonu stepped forward, raised his hand and slapped him again, shouting: "Where are the people?!"
"Lost...lost..."
Half of Du Wulang's face turned red, but he was so anxious that he didn't care about the pain at all, and said incoherently: "A murderer broke into my house and chased Xue Bai."
He was really panicked, with a worried look on his face.
Jiao Nu secretly thought it was not good.
She originally thought that the errand that Alang sent her to do this time was unnecessary. It was not known whether the East Palace would send someone to kill him. Even if he did, it would not be possible to do it that night.
Unexpectedly, he could actually make a plan.
If Xue Bai died, Alang would definitely be furious.
Not caring about anything else, Jiaonu hurriedly ran to the backyard.
Fortunately, after walking around the verandah, I heard shouting in front of me, and many servants rushed to the back garden with lanterns.
"it's here!"
Jiaonu stepped forward and pushed the others away, only to see a slave helping Xue Bai up from the snow.
"what happened?"
"Tune the tiger away from the mountain." Although Xue Bai was in a state of embarrassment, he was not injured and said: "There are two murderers. One of them lured you away, and the other chased me. I escaped here, and the steward and the nursing staff arrived and rescued me."
"Where are the people?!"
"I jumped over the rockery and escaped. We only got this..."
Jiaonu didn't answer it. When he saw it was a boot, he subconsciously covered his nose.
"This is made of deerskin, and there is a brand in the skin." Xue Bai said, "Look."
Jiaonu took a look at it by the firelight and said in surprise: "The leather from the dressing room of the Shang Palace Bureau? These are the boots issued by the palace."
"It is indeed the East Palace." Xue Bai asked: "Can it be used as evidence?"
"able."
Jiao Nu nodded.
She looked at the garden again, and saw that the snow was full of messes, and a series of footprints went up the rockery. It was pitch black outside the courtyard wall, and the murderer was nowhere to be seen.
~~
"Where is the person you are chasing?"
"Ran."
"It's a pity. He must be the person you want. If you get it, you can make a mission."
Jiao Nu followed Xue Bai, watching him staggering, and said: "The prince actually sent someone to kill you, is it worth it?"
Xue Bai said: "It's okay for you to doubt my worth, but do you doubt the right prime minister's judgment?"
"It would be too hasty to take action tonight." Jiao Nu said, "And it's in such a hasty way."
"Is this why you're sleeping soundly in my bed?"
"You and I……"
Jiaonu was furious and raised his hand to slap Xue Bai.
But he looked calmly and asked: "How do you plan to report to the right?"
Jiaonu couldn't help but feel guilty, put down his hand and said: "I will repay Alang according to the truth."
"Okay, take me to see the murderer's escape route."
Jiaonu led him over, and this time he saw that the front yard and the second courtyard were separated by a row of side rooms, which were the residences of the slaves.
In the moonlight, a small wind chime hung on the bracket was swaying slightly.
Xue Bai looked around the toilet, compared the footprints on the courtyard wall with the boots in his hands, and said: "They are not the same size, there are two of them."
"nonsense."
"You think it smells bad? So you chased someone away?"
This sentence is no longer nonsense.
Jiaonu didn't answer, but secretly thought that he would slander himself in front of Alang.
Damn it.
Unexpectedly, Xue Bai handed over the smelly boots in his hand and said: "Take it, you can report it to the right minister tomorrow and just say that the other party is superb in martial arts."
Jiaonu pinched the upper edge of it in disgust and sneered: "It's useless to win people's hearts."
"I still have to rely on you to protect me." Xue Bai said, "Don't fall into the trap again next time."
"Ah."
Xue Bai smiled and went to the side room to rest.
When he walked to the door of Wulang's room, Jiaonu pointed with his chin and said arrogantly: "You sleep here, I have to guard you at night."
"Um."
Xue Bai yawned, entered the room, and lay down on the big bed.
I can smell a faint fragrance, which is quite helpful for sleeping.
Jiao Nu glanced at him and sat on the small couch that had not yet been covered with bedding in the ear room. She really looked like his maid.
~~
Late at night, it took a while for the hustle and bustle in Du's house to subside.
"Troubles happen every day, as if there are ghosts at work...Why do I think that after Taoist Master Fang set up an altar in his home, more troubles occurred?"
Du Wulang was sitting in the main room, listening to Lu Fengniang's chatter. He ate some preserved fruits before he calmed down and said, "The passing years are not good, but it will be fine after the New Year."
Lu Fengniang patted her knee again and sighed: "Hey, where did your second sister go after Heli? There is no news, which makes people uneasy."
"Mom, don't worry, the prince can't harm her when they are a couple, right?"
Suddenly, Du Wulang smelled it hard and said curiously: "Mother, why is there such a stink in your house?"
"nonsense."
"The kid's nose is so sharp, he can't go wrong."
Du Wulang sniffed, stood up, walked around the screen, squatted down at the door of the room, held up the candle and shone it on the carpet in front of the threshold, and saw messy footprints.
When I got closer and smelled it, a foul smell hit my nostrils.
"Ahem, cough...Mom, someone stepped on the golden juice and entered the main room!"
"What?!"
There was a noise behind the screen, and Lu Fengniang rushed out to take a look, she was so angry that she cried.
"Oh, I taught them to take off their shoes on the porch in the past, but tonight there was a thief and I couldn't take care of it. What should I do?"
"Let me just say I have a good nose."
Du Wulang didn't care about these trivial matters, shook his head and returned to his room.
After entering the house, he suddenly sniffed again, followed the faint smell to the window sill, took a candle and took a closer look, and saw that the window coffin was also stained with gold juice.
"ah."
He was frightened and confused, and couldn't figure out where there was a puddle of dirty stuff that many people had stepped on, including the murderer.
I looked around and found two of my calligraphy practice scripts. I carefully wiped the gold juice clean, threw the paper ball into the snow outside the window, and murmured: "You have been of great use."
After doing this, he bolted the window hard before falling asleep again.
~~
When he got up the next day, Du Wulang ran to the kitchen early in the morning and stuck his head in and said, "Hu Shisanniang, please steam more meat for breakfast. There are two young men in the house who are growing up."
"Okay! I heard that there was a thief in my house last night, so I ran to the kitchen to have a look. Fortunately, the lamb leg is still there, so I will cut it for Wu Lang to try today."
Du Wulang chuckled and said, "Did you know? I met the murderer last night."
"Really?" Hu Shisanniang was shocked and asked with concern: "Wu Lang was not hurt, was he?"
"It's okay, it's okay. At that time, he hit me. Bang, it was really shocking. Fortunately, I saw the opportunity quickly and avoided it."
"Oh, so dangerous."
There was a pocket on Hu Shisanniang's apron. She reached out and took out a handful of pine nuts and placed them on the stove.
Du Wulang was not polite and sat on the bench where the fire was burning, eating and chatting.
He was really scared when something happened, but his emotions went away quickly and he could have a lively conversation with the cook.
Today, Du Youlin was still awake and there was no one to urge him to study, so he warmed himself by the fire in the kitchen, chatting, and unknowingly passed away half an hour.
When it was time for breakfast, he also helped Hu Shisanniang carry a lunch box to the east compartment.
Passing by the garden of Wujin Courtyard, I met Xue Bai standing on the verandah, talking to someone through the window on the wall of the courtyard.
Du Wulang looked forward and saw a figure in linen clothes floating away behind the window.
"Hey, eldest sister? Xue Bai, what are you talking about with my eldest sister?"
"We happened to meet each other, let's chat for a few words."
Du Wulang was slightly suspicious, feeling that there seemed to be some secret between them.
After a second thought, he felt that his thoughts were really inappropriate, so he shook his head and ignored the topic.
"I discovered something strange last night."
"Um?"
Du Wulang said mysteriously: "There are footprints stained with gold on the windowsills of the main house and my house."
Xue Bai frowned and said: "Stop talking about this, it's time to eat."
"oh."
"I never bothered to ask, you are the fifth child, but you have four brothers?"
"Two." Du Wulang whispered: "The third brother died of illness when he was young, the fourth brother and the second sister were twins, and they couldn't save them when they were born, and the eldest lady also died at that time... So you know, right?
Some people have always said that the second sister is unlucky and it will be very difficult for her to become the Crown Prince Liangdi."
"Where are the two brothers now?"
"The eldest brother was born as a Jinshi and is now an official in Pizhou. The second brother is an official in Yanzhou."
Xue Bai didn't say anything and patted Du Wulang on the back.
Although he was speechless, Du Lang was quite inspired and said: "Don't look at me like this. In fact, I know that so many things have happened. I am the male member of the Du family and I have to shoulder more burdens."
"Um."
Du Wulang scratched his head and said: "After thinking about it, I think it is really strange that the prince sent an assassin to kill you. So, there must have been a thief last night who thought Du's house was empty and wanted to come in and steal it, right?"
Xue Bai said: "I'll find out later if I ask."
"Ask who?"
"Prince."
"ah?"
Xue Bai said in a matter-of-fact tone: "You will know if he sent someone to kill me and where he hid your second sister."