Both worlds are like dreams

Jinxiu Building

After Wei Yunzhou brought back the box, he stared at it silently for a long time.

Xue Huang, Gu Qinglan and Mo Ruilin, who were drinking tea nearby, stared at Wei Yunzhou for a long time.

Mo Ruilin whispered: "How long do you think it will take Brother Wei to open this box?"

"I don't think it's a question of how long it will take," Xue Huang said, "but a question of whether you want to or not."

"How could he bring it back if he didn't want to?" Mo Ruilin said. "In my opinion, Brother Wei is stumped by it."

"Impossible." Xue Huang said. "My second uncle is so smart, how could he be stumped by a small box?"

"Why don't we make a bet? I think it will take him another hour to open it." said Mo Ruilin.

"Your Highness," Gu Qinglan said with a smile, "one hour may be a bit long. I think half an hour will be enough."

"Then," Murray whispered, "the bet is one ingot of gold."

Gu Qinglan nodded, "What do you think, Miss Xuehuang?"

Xue Huang smiled and said, "If I bet on you to win, you can give me half of the money."

"Of course." Gu Qinglan said.

"Okay." Mo Ruilin poured a glass of wine and sat leisurely at the table watching Wei Yunzhou crack the box.

It turned out that Mo Ruilin had made a mistake. Before he had even finished his glass of wine, Wei Yunzhou had already started to crack the mechanism of the box.

Within half an hour, he calmly cracked the mechanism of the box.

Gu Qinglan covered his lips and smiled secretly, "Your Highness, I am willing to accept the defeat."

Mo Ruilin calmed down from his shock, took out a gold ingot from his sleeve with a bitter face and eyes full of heartache and stuffed it into Gu Qinglan's hand. As soon as he put it away, Wei Yunzhou's cold eyes swept over them, scaring them so much that they hurriedly pretended nothing had happened.

Gu Qinglan took the opportunity to put the gold into Xuehuang's hands and said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Wei. It really is not difficult for you."

Xue Huang stood up and walked to Wei Yunzhou's side. "Second Uncle, what is the principle behind this mechanism?"

"Qi Men Dun Jia." Wei Yunzhou said lightly.

"What's in it?" she asked curiously.

Wei Yunzhou lowered his head and looked at the box. "This is an empty box."

"Empty?" Xue Huang asked puzzledly.

"That's right." Murray Lin said. "When I found it in the Shangshu Mansion, I realized it should be an empty box."

"Then why bother betting a gold ingot to open it?" Xue Huang sighed helplessly.

"Because I'm curious about why an empty box would be kept in the secret compartment." said Mo Ruilin.

"Maybe the things inside were taken away by the murderer." Xue Huang said.

"This symbol..." Mo Ruilin looked into the box thoughtfully, "It seems a little familiar."

Xue Huang leaned forward and saw that there was a phoenix feather pattern engraved on the inside of the lid of the box. "This pattern seems familiar."

"It does look familiar." said Murilan.

Gu Qinglan thought for a moment and said, "This is a totem from the Beiyuan royal family."

Mo Ruilin showed a look of sudden enlightenment, "Yes, the Beiyuan Totem. It's interesting. Did the murderer kill for the original things inside, or was the pattern on the box what he wanted to convey?"

"Your Highness means that the murderer's identity may be related to Beiyuan?"

Wei Yunzhou said to him coldly, "Your investigation is just groundless speculation?"

Gu Qinglan smiled slightly, "Please give me some advice, Brother Wei."

"Qinglan," Mo Ruilin said, "Let me ask Brother Wei for advice. You take Miss Xuehuang to rest."

"I'm not tired." Xue Huang said.

"No, you're tired." Mo Ruilin winked at Gu Qinglan.

Gu Qinglan immediately understood what he meant and came to Xue Huang. "I'm a little hungry. Let's go eat something?"

"Okay then." Xue Huang said.

Watching the two people leave, Mo Ruilin sat down opposite Wei Yunzhou and placed the box in front of him.

Wei Yunzhou took a look and said nothing.

Mo Ruilin smiled and said, "If Brother Wei doesn't want her to know, I will keep my mouth shut. If Brother Wei doesn't want me to know, I will pretend to be deaf and dumb. But this killer is so high-profile, I'm afraid one day I won't be able to hide it anymore."

"When did you know?" Wei Yunzhou asked.

"Is it important?" Mo Ruilin asked. "To me, who she is now and who she will be in the future is far more important than who she was in the past. Similarly, Brother Wei is the same to me."

"Tell me your conditions." Wei Yunzhou said.

"No conditions." Mo Ruilin smiled. "I said, we are friends, partners, not transactions. But if you are willing to be nice to me, I will be very happy."

Wei Yunzhou rolled his eyes rarely.

Here, Xuehuang took Gu Qinglan to her room, and then went to the kitchen to bring him a lot of exquisite snacks.

Xue Huang felt very guilty for making him sit with her on the street all night without even having time to eat breakfast and then go to the Shangshu Mansion to investigate a case.

"These are crystal dumplings made by a famous chef from Jiangbei. You can try them first." Xuehuang said with a smile.

Gu Qinglan looked at the crystal clear and exquisite crystal dumplings and was full of praise, "Jiangbei's crystal dumplings are famous all over the world, and they really live up to their reputation."

"It's delicious," Xue Huang said with a smile, "but I still think the pear blossom cake you bought for me is the best."

"Then when this case is over, I'll take you to buy it." Gu Qinglan said with a smile.

"Okay." Xue Huang said. "There are still many places in Shangyang City that I haven't visited yet. When this is over, this may be my last time staying in Shangyang City."

Gu Qinglan smiled at her, perhaps he himself did not realize that there was a hint of doting in his smile. "I will accompany you wherever you want to go. However, you should be more cautious when you go out these days. The forces in Beiling are complicated now, so it is better to be careful."

"If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster. If it's a disaster, it can't be avoided." Xue Huang said. "We, the disciples of Guigu, have never known how to write the word fear." She even dared to pull out her grandfather's beard, and she has been doing evil in Guigu for many years, and has long been lawless.

Whether Situ Yue's death this time was caused by someone silencing him or there was some other hidden story, Xue Huang would not let it go easily.

If she was silenced, the person behind it might come looking for her. She wanted to see what kind of monster the other party was.

Gu Qinglan looked at her and saw that she wanted to catch him and beat him up right now. He was quite worried, "Miss Xuehuang, don't be impulsive."

"Don't worry." She smiled. "I won't be reckless."

"That's good."

"By the way," Xue Huang said, "you just said that the murderer's identity might be related to Bei Yuan. Why? Do you think there are still remnants of Bei Yuan?"

"In the Battle of Beiyuan, although the country was destroyed and the city was lost, it is said that there are still descendants of the royal family who escaped. King Hanxi's people have been searching for them for many years."

"The country is gone, why do we still have to kill them all?" Xue Huang sighed.

"In fact, His Majesty still treats the people of Beiyuan well. He doesn't care about the descendants of the Beiyuan royal family. Instead, King Han Xi and Shen Congfeng have been unwilling to give up." Gu Qinglan said.

"Do the remnants of Beiyuan want to restore their country?"

"The change of dynasties is inevitable in history. The fall of Beiyuan is irreversible. Even if they have this idea, they may not succeed. Instead, it will cause unrest in the country and make the people suffer."

Xue Huang thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense, but perhaps what they can't let go of is the lives lost."

"No one is saint, and national hatred and family feuds cannot be put aside overnight." Gu Qinglan said.

"It sounds like you sympathize with them." Xue Huang said unexpectedly.

"I don't like war. It tears too many people's homes apart."

"It's true that many people will die in war," Xue Huang said, "but sometimes war is a necessary means to achieve peace. This is something we cannot control. Just like the road you are going to take, it is destined to be full of thorns, and perhaps you will also have to sacrifice a lot of things."

"Miss Xuehuang is so young, but her insights are so profound." Gu Qinglan said with a smile.

"This is what my grandfather said. He said that when you look at things, you can't just look at one side. Everything has its good and bad sides."

"Mr. Guigu's perspective is naturally different from that of ordinary people."

"Don't let my grandfather hear you saying this, or his beard will be blown up to the sky. My grandfather never knew how to write the word modesty in his life."

Gu Qinglan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could someone talk about his grandfather like that?

Actually, what Xuehuang said was not wrong. According to rumors, Mr. Guiguzi possessed both wisdom and martial arts. Some people also said that he had an immortal look, a green face and fangs, and was extremely terrifying. In fact, these were somewhat true for him, but in Xuehuang's eyes, he was just an old man with a weird temper.

"Really?" Xue Huang said helplessly. "I'm not lying to you. One time on my birthday, he suddenly said he would cook noodles for me himself. As a result, the kitchen exploded three times that day before he finally made the noodles. My uncle and his friends were very considerate and tasted the noodles. As a result, no one said anything. However, my grandfather didn't realize it. Instead, he firmly believed that he was a good cook. At one point, Guigu's diet consisted of noodles. I really don't understand. Didn't he taste the noodles himself when they came out of the pot?"

"I didn't expect your sect to be so interesting." Gu Qinglan said with a smile.

"Life in Guigu is carefree, like a paradise on earth."

Gu Qinglan showed a trace of yearning in his eyes, "If one day Beiling becomes rich and powerful, I will definitely find a paradise on earth."

"So what kind of paradise do you hope for?" Xue Huang asked.

"There is a small manor among the mountains and rivers of Qinghai Lake. When you open the window, you can see the vast, tranquil and picturesque lake and the bright moon rising at the end of the water and sky." Gu Qinglan said.

Xue Huang had heard that the moonlight of Qinghai Lake was gentle and unchanging for a thousand years, and it was indeed very suitable for someone like Gu Qinglan. Sure enough, a person who was as gentle as water would have such gentle wishes.

"You will definitely realize your wish." Xue Huang said with a smile.

"Then I will accept Miss Xuehuang's good words."

"Brother Qinglan," she looked at him seriously, "I'm serious, you will definitely be able to realize your wish. I will help you."

Gu Qinglan looked at her innocent smile and felt that she should live a carefree life instead of being involved in this complicated power dispute with him. But was it him who dragged her into this, or was it the gears of fate that overlapped?

How can he protect this innocence?