General, you should rest now; the lady is even more ruthless.

For the past two days, Jiang Qiqi has stayed indoors, focusing intently on studying the items bearing the seals.

She had already used 35 of the 36 code-breaking methods she knew, and as she expected, none of them worked.

Even though she knew this was ancient times, she still wanted to give it a try.

I've already tried thirty-five methods; this is the last one. It's all or nothing!

Jiang Qiqi rearranged the nine items and then lowered her head to write furiously on the paper.

Xiang'er peeled almonds while watching her young mistress write and draw, muttering to herself.

Bored, she picked up the thumb ring, the smallest of the nine items, its seal engraved on the inner circle, making it quite inconspicuous.

Unsurprisingly, the last method also failed.

Jiang Qiqi lay on the table, her hands dangling over the edge: Mother, what are you trying to tell me by singled out these nine things?

“Miss, could the information not be in these items? Or are we going in the wrong direction?” Xiang’er put down the ring and said seriously. She couldn’t imagine how the lady could hide the information in the ring.

Jiang Qiqi stood up, not answering Xiang'er's question. Instead, she lowered her head, put her hands behind her back, and walked around the table in circles. After walking around several times, she turned around and continued walking around the table in the opposite direction.

Xiang'er watched the person in front of her walk around and around, feeling dizzy, and asked, "Miss, what are you doing?"

Oh no, could it be that he's become obsessed with not being able to find any clues?

"Miss, if we can't find it, we can just leave it at that. Don't make things difficult for yourself."

If Jiang Qianzhong truly knew that these belongings left by his wife contained important information, he would definitely study them. But his wife has been gone for over ten years, and he hasn't been able to figure it out in all that time. How could his young mistress have found it in just a few days?

Spinning around the table was actually a habit of Jiang Qiqi's when she was in trouble, as if spinning a few times clockwise and then a few times counterclockwise would bring her back to the starting point.

Jiang Qiqi saw through Jiang Qianzhong; he wouldn't do anything without self-interest. The fact that he had persisted in studying these things for over ten years showed that the information contained within was extremely valuable to him.

Over the past decade, Jiang Qianzhong's official rank has risen steadily, from the fifth rank to the second rank. It will be very difficult for him to climb any higher, especially with the emperor's true confidant, Prime Minister Lü, standing above him.

Then this thing is very likely unrelated to rights.

Besides power, it's all about money. Could there be some kind of mine or treasure hidden here?

From this perspective, she seems to have found a new breakthrough: what if not all of these nine items contain information?

Jiang Qiqi sat down and began to examine the object carefully again.

Although they all have the seal, the way they are stamped is quite different.

The seal of the Flying Waterfall Flute is engraved on the flute body, and the gold-inlaid jade thumb ring is engraved on the inner circle of the thumb ring, which means that the seal will not disappear as long as the item is in the seal.

The seal on the jade burial suit was sewn on and embroidered in the pattern in the middle of the garment. The seal on the jade parrot pendant was also hidden in the pattern of the pendant. It can be seen that the addition of seals was planned before these items were made.

The seals of white turquoise, plum blossom patterned silver cup, and blue and white elephant ear porcelain vase are stamped on the base.

The seal of "Lanshan Ji" is stamped at the top of the middle page of the book, while the seal of "Mountain Stream and Spring" is stamped between the cracks in the canyon in the painting.

Jiang Qiqi had a guess in her mind.

She took the painting "Mountain Stream and Spring" and examined it from front to back. Then she held it up to the light and looked at it for a moment. In the blink of an eye, she tore the painting in half with a tearing sound!

"Miss!!!" Xiang'er's heart shattered with that tearing sound. "Miss, what are you doing? This painting was created by Song Jingnian, a master of Chinese painting in our dynasty. It's worth a fortune! How could you just tear it like that!"

Before Xiang'er could finish speaking, she saw the young lady rummaging through the two halves of the "Mountain Stream and Spring" painting, and then using two fingers to pull out a piece of paper that had been torn in half from between the layers of the painting.

Jiang Qiqi smiled gently; her guess was indeed correct.

"Miss, what, what's going on? Why is there a piece of paper stuck in the middle of this 'Mountain Stream Melting Spring' painting?" Xiang'er was so shocked that she stammered.

Jiang Qiqi put the paper aside, picked up the "Mountain Stream and Spring" painting, aligned it along the torn seam, and asked, "Xiang'er, what do you see?"

Xiang'er said with a long face, "What else can I see? Just a lot of money flowing away."

Jiang Qiqi flicked her forehead: "Look at the picture and tell me what it says."

Xiang'er covered her forehead, which had been flicked and was now sore, looking aggrieved. "I saw a painting that you tore in half between two mountain peaks, and this seal was also torn in two. Ah!" Xiang'er suddenly screamed, startling Jiang Qiqi who was standing next to her.

"Miss, I understand now. This seal is imprinted between the separated mountain peaks. Is it implying that we should separate this painting?"

Jiang Qiqi smiled and nodded: "You are a promising student. I guessed it would be like this too, so I tore it open."

“Now,” Jiang Qiqi said, waving the paper she was holding between two fingers, “let’s see what’s written on this.”

Jiang Qiqi opened the paper, and Xiang'er also came over.

77:

Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. I am your mother, and I am so sorry that I cannot be by your side to watch you grow up.

My dear Qiqi, your mother's health is deteriorating day by day, and I'm afraid my days are numbered. You are still very young, and I don't trust anyone around me except your wet nurse. Therefore, I can only record and preserve these things in this way, and tell you about them when you grow up more than ten years from now and are able to protect yourself.

Back then, I ignored my father's advice, who was also your maternal grandfather, and insisted on coming down the mountain to play. When I came down, I carried a lot of treasures with me, including the seal of our Mu family's patriarch.

Later, I met your father, Jiang Qianzhong, and I fell in love with him at first sight. He treated me very well. After spending a happy period together, we got married.

After we got married, he never changed his attitude towards me. I truly regarded him as my closest person, so I told him everything about my identity, the treasure that our Mu family was guarding, and so on.

But Qiqi, Mother was wrong. Mother underestimated human greed. From then on, he tried every day to persuade and entice me to find the real treasure. I noticed his change, so I refused to reveal any information.

Later, I became pregnant and had you. But just before I was about to give birth, someone found me and gave me a letter. The letter said that my father was critically ill and hoped to see me one last time.

But at that time, there were less than half a month left until my due date. I was worried and cried all day long. In the end, I collapsed from grief before giving birth. Fortunately, God took pity on me and you were born safely, but your health was very poor.

Since I gave birth to you, I have been bedridden. Not to mention returning to the mountain, it is very difficult for me to even go out normally. Jiang Qianzhong also took advantage of my poor health to imprison me in the mansion, where I have been for four years.

For four years, I had lost all contact with the outside world and had no idea whether my father was alive or dead.

My child, I'm so sorry to you, and even more sorry to him.

But I can't let down any more people. Right now, I'm the only one in the world who knows about the treasure. If the information about the treasure is lost or falls into the hands of bad people, I will not only fail my ancestors, but also the people of the world.

Therefore, I divided the information about the treasure into seven parts, added a seal, and hid them in these eight items. This way, if these items fall into the wrong hands, it will be very difficult for them to find the true location of the treasure.

As for the actual use of these seven items, I have already told the nanny; you can just ask her.

I believe that with your intelligence and resourcefulness, you will be able to protect yourself and the treasure.

Qiqi, my dear daughter, your mother will bless you from heaven so that you may grow up safely and have a smooth and worry-free life.