The female anchor turned into the dean of an ancient academy

It was late at night, and the light in the study still burned stubbornly, dispelling the darkness outside and illuminating the exhausted figures of the three people. Cen Jiexiao rubbed her sore eyes, put down the account book, and sighed softly. Xiaozhi, standing beside her, also put down her brush, her delicate brows tightly knitted together, clearly facing a difficult problem.

"How is it? Have you found any clues?" Cen Jiexiao asked softly, breaking the silent atmosphere in the study.

Xiaozhi shook his head, a hint of frustration in his tone. "These accounts seem disorganized, but I've checked them carefully. Every account has a traceable record, and I haven't found any problems."

"Could it be that we're thinking in the wrong direction?" Wu Cheng slammed the account book in his hand onto the table, his tone filled with irritation and unwillingness. "These accounts may really be just ordinary accounts, without any code at all."

Cen Jiexiao was silent for a moment. She stared at the pile of account books on the desk, and a sense of powerlessness rose in her heart. Could it be that they were really overthinking it? Was Li Yusheng really just using these accounts to confuse the public?

"No, I don't believe it." Cen Jiexiao took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "Li Yusheng is a very meticulous person. If he dared to leave these account books behind, he must have his own intentions."

"But we've been searching for a long time and still haven't found anything," Wu Cheng said dejectedly. "These numbers are like a bunch of meaningless gibberish. There's no pattern to them at all."

"Let's think about it again. There must be something we've overlooked," Cen Jiexiao said firmly. She didn't believe she would lose to a hypocrite like Li Yusheng. "Let's think about it again. What exactly is Li Yusheng trying to hide? And what methods will he use to hide it?"

The few of them fell into deep thought once more, and the study returned to silence. Only the sound of flipping pages and the occasional sigh sounded distinctly in the silent night. Time passed minute by minute, the lights in the study still bright, and the three figures looked particularly tired under the dim light.

"No, I still can't find any pattern." Wu Cheng threw the brush on the table with all his might, his tone filled with frustration and indignation. "These numbers are like unrelated garbled codes. There's no way to decipher them."

Cen Jiexiao also felt a wave of weakness. She rubbed her aching temples and forced herself to calm down.

"Could it be that we were heading in the wrong direction from the beginning?" Xiaozhi suddenly said, "Perhaps there is no secret code in these account books at all. Li Yusheng just deliberately made the accounts confusing to confuse people."

"No, that's impossible," Cen Jiexiao shook her head. "Li Yusheng is a cautious man. If he dared to leave these account books behind, he must have his own intentions. Moreover, I have a strong intuition that these account books must be hiding some secret, but we haven't found a way to decipher it yet."

"So what should we do now?" Xiaozhi asked with a hint of despair in his tone.

"Think about it again, there must be something we have overlooked." Cen Jiexiao said firmly. She didn't believe that she would lose to Li Yusheng, the hypocrite.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the study door, and then a deep voice came from outside the door: "Sister Cen, it's me."

Is it the eldest brother? Why would he come at this time? Cen Jiexiao was puzzled. She stood up and walked to the door and opened it.

Chen Zigui's arrival injected a bit of vitality into the originally lifeless atmosphere of Cen Jiexiao and the others.

The recent official duties in the palace have made Chen Zigui busy and exhausted, but he still maintains his gentlemanly appearance, with an upright figure and a moon-white long gown, which makes his face look as handsome and gentle as jade.

Cen Jiexiao looked at the lingering fatigue between Chen Zigui's brows and couldn't help feeling distressed.

"Big Brother." Cen Jiexiao stepped forward and led Chen Zigui to the table. "Why are you here at this hour?"

"I heard you received a secret letter from the Qiming Group and that you had found the big fish, the Zhenxi General's Mansion, so I thought I'd come and see if I could help." Chen Zigui's eyes swept over the pile of account books on the table, and his brows furrowed slightly. "These are..."

"These are the account books we found in Li Yusheng's study. We suspect they contain evidence of his collusion with the Empress Dowager." Wu Cheng spoke sullenly, a hint of annoyance in his tone, "But we've been searching for a whole day and haven't figured out anything."

Chen Zigui picked up an account book and casually flipped through a few pages. He pondered, "These accounts appear normal on the surface, but if you look closely, you'll find hidden secrets."

"What's the secret?" Xiaozhi came over curiously, his big eyes shining with a thirst for knowledge.

"Li Yusheng is known for his prudence and meticulous approach to everything he does," Chen Zigui said, gently placing the account books back on the table with a soft thud, bringing everyone back to reality. He glanced at Cen Jiexiao, Wu Cheng, and Xiaozhi, his tone steady yet tinged with solemnity. "Since he dared to leave these books behind, he must have a purpose. I suspect these accounts aren't just a simple math game, but rather employ some special encryption method."

"Encryption method?" Cen Jiexiao frowned, lost in thought. The eldest brother's words were like a stone dropped into a calm lake, stirring ripples in her heart. "Elder Brother, are you saying that we need to find the codebook Li Yusheng used for encryption?"

"That's right." Chen Zigui nodded in appreciation. Cen Jiexiao was incredibly quick-witted and always able to grasp the crux of the matter. "Li Yusheng," he paused, as if searching his mind for his impression of him, "may seem old-fashioned and boring, fond of wielding swords and clubs, but among the generals, he is a rare individual with a special fondness for poetry and songs. I suspect," Chen Zigui's tone firmed up, "that the encryption method he used is likely related to these poems and songs."

Cen Jiexiao's eyes lit up. The elder brother's analysis made sense, like a ray of hope that had been cleared away. She remembered seeing some flipped-through poetry and prose books in Li Yusheng's secret room. Could those be the key to solving the mystery?

"In that case, let's split up and try to find a breakthrough as soon as possible!" Cen Jiexiao made a prompt decision, her tone full of confidence and determination.

"Yulan," she turned to look at Xiaozhi, "go to the dungeon's secret room again and search it carefully to see if you can find any suspicious poetry and literature. Especially those that have been read and marked. Be sure to pay special attention to them."

"Wu Cheng," she turned her gaze to Wu Cheng again, "you continue to stay here and carefully study the principles of calculating these accounts and see if you can find any patterns or clues from them."

"Big Brother," Cen Jiexiao finally looked at Chen Zigui, "I'll accompany you to Li Yusheng's camp to meet this old fox and see if we can get some clues from him."

The three of them acted separately, and the originally crowded study returned to silence again, leaving only the rustling sound of flipping through bamboo slips and the crisp sound of abacus being ticked, as if foreshadowing that they were getting closer to the truth step by step.