In a few breaths, Xiao Mingzhu had already taken the pearl in Xu Chu's hand and took a closer look, "It looks round and full, but it's small, it's okay to make a dress decoration, it's not a good thing." ”

She was born in a wealthy family, and the things she used around her were naturally excellent, and of course she would not be able to look at this pearl now.

Xu Chu smiled helplessly, shook his head and put the pearl into the empty purse. Then he put it away with the silk thread that he had found hanging on the carriage. Since she hadn't finished checking the room, she didn't explain much at the moment, but continued to look at it carefully.

Zhu Hai jade ring, dazzling, all kinds of chic ornaments fill many small boxes.

Because there were too many things, Xu Chu, who didn't know the goods, was dumbfounded again, of course, all her emotions stopped in Xiao Mingzhu's disdainful appearance.

"Liu Wengui is really willing, he used pearls to make shoes for Liu Zhen's before, and there are so many round and bright colored beads here." Xu Chu saw that there was a separate box next to the dresser, and opened it casually to look over, but saw that the neat rows of pearls almost didn't blind her eyes. "But for some reason I didn't wear a necklace."

Xiao Mingzhu didn't open his mouth this time, but Xiao Qinglang instantly understood her doubts, he stepped forward to take the box, took out a cigarette and looked at it carefully. Then, he thoughtfully examined the rest of the pearls in the box one by one.

"Smooth and round, crystal full, it is an excellent Nanzhu. Six years ago, the queen mother's birthday, there were courtiers on one hundred and eight of these pearls, when the queen mother was happy, for this emperor ordered that every year in Guangdong, the land of Nanzhu first selected the best part to send to the capital, a reward for the emperor's New Year's Day. Xiao Qinglang squinted, and when she saw Xu Chu's face suddenly silent, she also knew that she must have understood the problem.

Pearls have been considered precious since ancient times, and they have always been said to be worth a thousand gold. The truly excellent pearls are divided into southern pearls and eastern pearls, of which southern pearls are saltwater pearls, which are abundant in the coastal areas of Guangxi and Guangdong. And the eastern pearl refers to the pearl produced in the city of the extreme north. Because of the queen mother's preference, this dynasty is mostly expensive to Nanzhu.

At this time, even if he didn't say it directly, the meaning was already understood. Pearls of this texture should not appear here, let alone in the hands of a small wealthy merchant.

Xu Chu was stunned for a moment, frowned, and said, "He has a maritime business, can he take the opportunity to operate from it to obtain these Nanzhu?" ”

"It's not impossible, it's just that there are only hundreds of good Nanzhu every year, especially the year before last, there were floods in Guangdong, countless deaths, and the number of Nanzhu produced has decreased sharply. And now that so many Nanzhu have appeared here, there must be an inside story in the twists and turns. ”

Xu Chu nodded, these things related to the follow-up of the tribute by the Imperial Palace of the capital, he really didn't know as much as Xiao Qinglang. If he said so, it must be true.

He put it down as it was, and saw that there was nothing worth investigating in the house, so he went to the wing room with Xu Chu and Xiao Mingzhu.

The wing room is far from the main room, but the layout is also atmospheric. This time, a few people checked it quickly, not in a hurry, but in fact, whether it was a dresser or a wardrobe and a chest, it was a little empty as if it had been swept by someone.

This is really very different from what the housekeeper said to the maid, Liu Zhen attaches great importance to Zhu'er, and even bought gold and silver bracelets for her many times, and also rewarded her with splendid clothes.

She looked at the turquoise cotton clothes scattered in the closet, and a thought flashed through her mind. Inexplicably, I suddenly remembered what the housekeeper said before, Zhu'er and Taohong are both official slaves, serving in the former county mansion......

Thinking of this, she closed the cabinet without changing her face, and when she was about to leave the yard, she seemed to ask the housekeeper unintentionally: "Auntie, I don't know what the temperament of this pearl is?" And what about Pink's temperament? ”

"Zhu'er, that girl has a very strange temperament, and she doesn't fit in with people. used to be a rough maid, sprinkling and sweeping the yard, although it was an official slave, it was very rude. But the girl in the peach is different, she has a sweet mouth and is diligent, and she will come to trouble, and when she was in the yard before, everyone said it was good. "The housekeeper's mother-in-law mentioned the peach, and she still missed it a little, "It's a pity that I didn't know what I was blinded by, so I stole the lady's gold and jade and escaped." At that time, Mrs. was sad for a while, and finally remembered the old and promoted Zhu'er, who entered the house with her. You said that she couldn't think about it, how could a good girl go out with so much money, and she didn't have a way to introduce and identity documents......"

"Auntie, do you remember what did Peach take away when she left?"

"I don't know much about this, but I heard that it is all the valuable things that Madame has been worth over the years, and they must be worth tens of thousands of taels of silver in a rough calculation. At that time, Mrs. was sad, and the subordinates we served were cautious in their words and deeds, for fear of making Mrs. uncomfortable again. Later, the old man was angry and asked people to burn all the clothes and things in Peach, saying that it was only if there was no such maid, and this matter was over. The woman sighed, probably accustomed to frugality, and could not think of how precious things worth tens of thousands of taels of silver were, and pity the clothes and quilts that were burned. As he was talking, a few people arrived at the gate of the courtyard, and the woman stretched out her finger and said, "At that time, it was burned here, and the clothes of spring, summer, autumn and winter alone burned five or six burdens." ”

"Then dare to ask the eldest lady, do you know what signs there were when Peach fled? Or does she have a good match? ”

"There are no signs, that girl has a high heart, and the ordinary little girl looks down on her, and I haven't heard of anyone she likes at all."

"Then when she escaped, can you tell me about it?" Xu Chu's words were sincere, with a light smile, but it was a little more gentle of the girl next door.

The housekeeper's mother-in-law saw that although she came with the county magistrate, her status was noble, but she did not have any shelf, and she was a little happy in her heart. Now that she is asking so sincerely, she naturally won't shirk it, and the matter of the left and right peach is not an ugly thing in the house.

"What can't be said about this? In fact, none of us knew that she had escaped, and we didn't hear any movement that night, and the next day it was three o'clock in the morning, and the lady didn't see her go to serve, so I asked me to go and see what was going on. I searched around for a long time, but I couldn't find her, and then my wife found that she had lost her belongings and Pink's deed of sale, and then I realized that the girl had run away. ”

Xu Chu was puzzled: "Is there someone in the concierge on the house who is on duty at night?" ”

"Yes, yes, but they all said that they didn't see Pink go out." Speaking of this, she also felt a little strange. After all, such a big living person, with a lot of belongings, even if he sneaked out of the door without making a sound, there must be a shadow, but the porter insisted that he didn't see it. "Although Taohong is a subordinate, she can do good needlework, and the double-sided embroidery is even more lifelike, and my wife often asks her for advice. The day before she fled, she said that she had a new trick, and she had embroidered it to open my eyes. But she didn't think that the next day, she had a mind that she shouldn't have, that is, the lady was kind and didn't pursue it, otherwise once she sued the official, she would still have a fugitive slave? ”

Xu Chu couldn't help but glance at Xiao Qinglang when he heard this, but saw that his expression was as usual, and he only raised his eyebrows slightly when he met his gaze. She naturally knew what he meant, and the two of them smiled silently, which was a tacit understanding to give each other a vague affirmation.

There must be ghosts in the rosé thing.

After a few words were spoken, Xu Chu looked at the open space pointed out by the housekeeper. It was a ruin near the flower garden, and it was supposed to be planted with flowers and plants, surrounded by a circle of pebbles. She took a few steps forward, suddenly stepped on the dusty place, and then twisted the soil under her feet with no image. Sure enough, among the dry loess, there were black ashes.

Almost in a few breaths, she saw among the ashes, some unburned cloths, smoked purses and other items. Her eyes sank, and she leaned down to slowly pick up the burnt purse.

Perhaps it was burned by the fire, and at this time the purse was black and the silk threads and satin on it had been condensed into a ball, and even a little stiff. But she didn't care, but raised her eyebrows to look at Xiao Qinglang, coughed and said, "I still need to borrow Gongzi's short sword." ”

Xiao Qinglang glanced at her unhurriedly, saw her squatting, and looked up. The eyes that should have been bright and clear were foggy due to the wind and cold at this time, and they kept blinking at themselves, and the unspoken refusal was so indescribable.

He sighed slightly in his heart, helpless that his mind was becoming more and more unfirm.

At the moment when he handed out the short sword, Xiao Mingzhu on the side jumped over again and asked directly, "What is this?" ”

"I don't know." Xu Chu's words were concise, and the blade in her hand had a cold and piercing feeling, which made her shiver. This blade, looking small, but I didn't expect the evil aura to be so heavy, I'm afraid that in addition to being made of dark iron, this short sword must have experienced countless dangers with its owner.

As the purse was cut, a very beautiful golden bead was seen. Rao is a lonely and unheard person like Xu Chu, and he can also see that this thing is not bad. She glanced at Xiao Mingzhu and Xiao Qinglang with understanding, but Xiao Mingzhu didn't react, but Xiao Qinglang instantly understood what she meant.

"It's the South Seas Golden Pearl." Xiao Qinglang sent the housekeeper to leave, and then took two steps forward to take the things in Xu Chu's hand. At this time, the light outside was not strong, hitting the beads held up by Xiao Qinglang, refracting an extremely soft halo. "Dazzling, crystal clear, even in my house, I have never been able to find a second such precious Nanyang gold pearl."