After being forced by Zhou Xiaozheng to rest at home for a day, Zhou Jiao once again accompanied her family and relatives on the journey.

After two days and one night, the group finally arrived at the old house of the Gu family in Jiangnan, the land of the water town.

Stone lions, vermilion gates, cornices and ridges, shadow wall walls, brick carvings on the wall, this courtyard can still see the grand occasion of the past through the vicissitudes of time.

Garden rockery, pavilions, winding corridors, courtyards are a little deep, in which you can return to ancient times in a trance, and travel through the wrong time and space.

Accompanied by the staff, the two families listened to Mrs. Cheng's reminiscences and descriptions, and no one made a sound during the whole process. With the old lady's memories, scenes of the past are clearly portrayed in everyone's minds.

The ancestral house is still the ancestral home of the big family, and it has lived in the ancient buildings of the ancestors of the Gu family for generations. has lost its popularity, and the huge yard is even more silent and terrible under the cover of century-old trees and rockeries.

Zhou Xiaozheng stood in the main hall, looked outside, and let out a long sigh.

"Auntie, you've been bothered for so many years."

No matter more, he couldn't say anything. The old house should have been looted by the clansmen, and now many of the furnishings are repaired furniture. In the past few decades, the large amount of repair and maintenance costs has been astronomical, not to mention the hard work of the Cheng family. Without Mrs. Cheng, this ancient mansion would not have been preserved so perfectly.

"What bother. This is my mother's home, the family I grew up in. Mrs. Cheng said in a low tone.

Since entering the mansion, the old lady has already taken medicine once. Cheng Lao looked at her nervously, for fear that she would be emotional. At this moment, after finally seeing the main courtyard, he hesitated whether he should continue to visit the side courtyard.

After resting for a while, Cheng Lao discussed with his wife in a low voice, "Let's go and prepare things to worship my father-in-law and mother-in-law first, and let Xiaozheng take the children to walk around here, okay?" ”

When Mrs. Cheng heard this, she looked at Zhou Xiaozheng and saw him nodding, "Then you have something unclear and ask the porter Gu." He was the original helper of our family. He knows a lot of things. ”

Zhou Xiaozheng nodded. He said he was a helper, but he was actually a domestic servant. It was her mother Gu Mingzhu who saved the orphan's life, and later followed the surname Gu and ran errands in front of his grandfather. The other party knows the affairs of the Gu family very well.

He had investigated Lao Gu beforehand. This eighty-year-old man is guarding the old mansion, just to help his mother Gu Mingzhu guard the house. He's a good guy.

The other party now has a group of children and grandchildren, but he still firmly believes that his eldest lady and aunt will definitely come back. learned that the two had passed away, for the sake of the two children's whereabouts, they stuck to the old house and helped Mrs. Cheng investigate the whereabouts of the children privately.

When I saw Zhou Jiao in the morning, Lao Gu was holding the leg that was broken by the Gu family, and kept crying bitterly, saying that he couldn't bear it, couldn't keep things, and was robbed. Keep telling the eldest lady to be careful of those people.

The eldest grandson of the other party followed closely behind, explaining that some of the old people were old and confused. He hadn't seen Gu Mingzhu, how could he know that the old man was confused, but Gu Mingzhu had always lived in his heart. Zhou Jiao, who is like a grandmother, not to mention Lao Gu, even the elderly people who came all the way to call out silently.

Faced with such a loyal servant, Zhou Jiao burst into tears. The investigation report on paper was too light, and the moment she saw the old man, her heart was stabbed fiercely.

Seeing off the Cheng family, Zhou Xiaozheng made an appointment with the staff who followed, and watched the other party leave happily, he smiled clearly.

Zhou Xiaozheng didn't pay attention to the minds of others anymore. Since their father and daughter agreed to sign and lend money, they would not lose their trust. As long as the other party department agrees to list it as a commemorative tourist attraction and maintain the original state of the ancient house, he will agree. Not to mention the short ten-year lease period, which may remain a tourist attraction in the future.

"Dad, and then we're going to go according to plan?" Zhou Jiao saw that everyone was gone, leaving the three of them, and hurriedly asked.

"Hmm. Only now is safe, late there is no chance. Xiao Wu guarded the intersection and didn't let people get close to the embroidery building. I took Jiaojiao over to find a mechanism. ”

With Zhou Xiaozheng's arrangement, Zhang Guoqing hurriedly went out. At this moment, his heart began to pound, and this time he must have someone eyeing their family.

Standing at the intersection, he thought about it and began to calm down and concentrate on the movements around him. Except for the faint coughing of the porter, there was silence all around him except for the sound of his breathing.

He subconsciously glanced at the lush ancient trees in the distance, and began to pace closer, going around the main road, pretending to be curious to look back and forth. secretly expects Zhou Jiao and the others to move faster, this gloomy old mansion makes him feel furious.

Zhang Guoqing walked on the main road with words on his lips, observing the courtyards everywhere. If history has not changed, Zhou Jiao may really be as beautiful as everyone else, and she will have to sit in a sedan chair carried by a servant in the inner house to finish shopping. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Here, Zhou Xiao was taking Zhou Jiao, and the two of them walked to the embroidery building.

It is said that it is an embroidery building, but now it is empty. Except for a soft, collapsed, one-piece embroidery shed, there was nothing else. Although they had heard Mrs. Cheng tell it, they really saw it with their own eyes, and the father and daughter were disappointed.

The only embroidery building that witnessed Gu Mingzhu has already existed in name. The two-story building has nothing but empty shelves.

"Don't be stunned. Pay attention to Dad's steps. ”

Zhou Xiaozheng's voice woke up the pensive Zhou Jiao.

In the rockery, at this moment, Zhou Xiaozheng opened the mechanism, pulled Zhou Jiao inside, stepped on the floor tiles, and moved carefully step by step according to the formula. After a while, there was still no movement.

"Dad, I'll try."

Zhou Xiaozheng shook his head, suddenly his eyes lit up, he stretched out his hand to pull Zhou Jiao, and said in a low voice: "Your grandmother can open it alone." It may be related to weight. Be careful of being hurt by the mechanism inside. ”

After speaking, he nervously protected Zhou Jiao, stretched out his hand and pulled her right hand, in case of accidents, so that he could pull it away immediately.

After a faint "click", the floor tiles immediately parted, revealing a staircase.

Zhou Xiaozheng took the strip of cloth, matches, and candles handed to him by Zhou Jiao, and tried it, "There is a vent, let's go in directly." You walk slowly, remembering your grandmother's reminders. ”

"Hmm. Dad, be careful to follow behind me. As Zhou Jiao's words fell, the father and daughter went down a few steps, and the passage above their heads slowly closed.

Sure enough, I couldn't see a door against the wall, but I saw two boxes stacked on the ground, and an ancient wind lantern was placed on them. There are some porcelain pieces scattered next to it.

"This is your grandmother just in case, to cover people's eyes and ears. You put it all away. When the meeting is held, the organ will be destroyed, and this place will not be used in the future. ”

Zhou Jiao didn't dare to make a sound, and quickly nodded. The echo from the basement gave her goosebumps all over her body, and the excitement of the treasure hunt was gone.

After collecting things, she subconsciously clinged to Zhou Xiaozheng.

No matter how big and good the courtyard of the old mansion is, she doesn't dare to move in. I don't know how the Gu family managed the inner house with three masters and one aunt back then? No wonder it is said that even the bodyguards can't guard the old house.