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墨書 Inktalez
“Master and Second Master, how knowledgeable are they?” Nie Qiuyuan suddenly asked.
Xiu Song was taken aback for a moment but quickly replied, “As for Second Master, he has read quite a bit, but he only resumed his studies later in life. The masters have been learning skills from Lord Feng since childhood, focusing on jade craftsmanship, and have not devoted themselves to studying. Although Eldest Master and Third Master did not study well, they can still recognize some characters. It is quite inconvenient now, but they do not have the time or energy to study again. However, all the masters are very honest people.”
I completely could not understand why he was asking these questions, but I thought he might just be making small talk to expand the conversation and gather more information. We often do this in modern times as well.
Nie Qiuyuan indeed continued the small talk.
“Xiu Song, what craft do you learn?”
“This is a question?” The young man was somewhat surprised that this adult cared about his craft. “Right now, I am learning some basic jade carving techniques. Currently, I can only carve simple pendants; I cannot manage complex and ornate designs.”
“Seeing how you respond with appropriate and elegant words, you must have studied before?”
Xiu Song smiled and said, “You have a good eye, sir. I did indeed study some books since childhood. Later, when I came here, I gained the trust of the master and became a companion reader for the young master.”
I finally could not stand these irrelevant questions any longer and gently tugged at Nie Qiuyuan’s sleeve from behind. His pace slowed down; perhaps it was because he wasn’t wearing black, but his face turned towards me appeared very gentle. The male god directed his inquiring gaze at me.
“Brother, do you have any discoveries…”
Nie Qiuyuan smiled lightly and reached out to me, slipping a note into my palm. I opened it to find it was a message left by the kidnapper.
The note was on plain white paper, with several lines written in a crooked manner using a brush. The characters looked like worms crawling across the page; they were extremely poorly written— even someone like me who had never practiced calligraphy could write better.
The content of the note was as follows:
“Zhu Jia Er Ye, if you are untrustworthy, we will bring your child into the middle of it all. If you backtrack on your promise, after five days, we will take action. Do not hold onto hope; if you do so, your child will die without a place to rest.”
No wonder Nie Qiuyuan frowned while reading; this was such a chaotic mess of writing filled with mistakes. The level of literacy displayed here was shockingly poor!
I recognized the note after a moment, which read: “Zhu Er Ye, you are wealthy yet unkind. I will lead your son into the trap. Prepare enough gold and silver within five days, and await further news. Do not report to the authorities, for doing so will ensure your son has no place to be buried.”
Reading this note sent a shock through me, and I began to understand the implications of Nie Qiuyuan's questioning. Could it be that he suspected Master Zhu? Just moments ago, Xiu Song had shown a lack of education. Moreover, was there any conflict among the Zhu Family Three Brothers? Did the young man hesitate for even a moment?
In such a large and wealthy family, it was inevitable that even between brothers, there would be private grievances that could not be shared with outsiders. Did Master Zhu have no sons? If so, what benefit did Huan'er's disappearance bring him?
While I pondered these thoughts, Xiu Song led us to the young master's room. Huan'er's room was spacious and bright, furnished with exquisite decorations in vibrant colors. There were many toys inside, all arranged quite neatly.
The room was divided by a screen into two sections; the inner part contained a larger bed surrounded by floral curtains, with eight treasure Silver Bells hanging from the top. When the curtains were drawn, they would chime sweetly—a clear indication that it was a child's bed. In the corner outside the partition stood another bed with plain linen sheets, likely meant for a servant's quarters. However, this bed did not seem suitable for a girl; it looked more like a man's bed.
“Who lives here?” Nie Qiuyuan asked what I was thinking.
Xiu Song replied, “To be honest, it is where the young master resides.”
We were all somewhat surprised. Wasn't this boy an apprentice of the Zhu Family? Why was he staying here? This should have been work for the maids.
“Because the master and mistress are usually very busy and have no time to care for the young master. However, they are also uneasy about leaving him solely in the hands of servants. Since I have been accompanying him for two years now and he is close to me, it was decided this year that I would stay here.”
“Did you arrange everything in this room?” Nie Qiuyuan asked as he looked around.
Xiu Song shook his head and smiled sadly. “Actually, I don’t need to do much. Although the young master is only six years old, he is very sensible and hardly ever makes a mess of things. Sometimes I wish he would act like an ordinary child—throwing tantrums or being temperamental—but that has hardly ever happened.”
“What is this?” Nie Qiuyuan asked as he picked up a string of colorful origami from a basket by the desk.
Ah, this startled me greatly. I recognized it; it was a collection of colorful paper cranes strung together.
“This is something I taught the young master to make,” Xiu Song explained. “In ancient times, there was a belief that if we folded one thousand of these paper cranes, any wish made in our hearts would come true. Ever since he learned about this, he has been folding cranes every day; I believe he is almost at one thousand now.”
After pausing for a moment, Xiu Song continued, “He probably wants to give them to his mother.”
I was sweating profusely. The Tang Dynasty's wind-chasing operation had begun again. If I remembered correctly, this thing should have originated from Japan. I felt that even in my time, it had only just started to become popular a few years ago. Could it be that Japan's traditions were passed on from our Tang Dynasty?
But never mind that for now; I needed to focus on the case. Honestly, I had no hope of finding anything useful by checking the young master's room, and indeed, I found nothing. At that time, he must have been playing around and ran out alone, which led to his kidnapping. His room wouldn’t leave any traces behind.
What I excelled at was uncovering hidden information from the surface traces of things. But now, there were no traces at all. Where was I supposed to find clues?
I was thinking too deeply, forgetting that I was merely a handyman; this wasn’t my territory at all. Until the melodious voice of my idol broke through my thoughts, gentle yet startling like a clap of thunder.
Nie Qiuyuan looked at the young man and said softly, “Xiu Song, it’s enough now. Let’s return the young master. You’ve seen the attitude of the master and mistress; everything you hoped for has been realized. It’s very dangerous for a child to be alone outside.”
What? What does this mean? The frail young man before me is the kidnapper? How could I have no clue? Oh my gosh! This was the first time I felt my brain was completely muddled.
However, Xiu Song did not jump up and defend himself as I had imagined. He simply gazed quietly at Nie Qiuyuan. My idol's expression was serious, resembling a statue as he stared at the young man.
The two locked eyes for a moment before the young man suddenly spoke up, “It’s fine; Huan'er is doing well and is not in danger.”
“Enough,” Nie Qiuyuan said. “Lead us there.”
The young man pondered for a moment before finally smiling lightly and saying, “Alright.”
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