Exquisite ingenuity

Chapter 200 The Lost Portrait

Zhao Qing stood in front of the small secret room, looking at the empty wall, and couldn't see any other expression on his old face for a while.

Manager Hu kept his hands down, not daring to make a sound.

The portrait in the secret room has been entrusted by the old man for twenty years.No matter how busy he is every day, he always goes into the secret room to talk to Miss Jiao.

It's like the daily life of Jiao girl before she was alive.Whenever the old man came back from the Imperial College, he always wanted to talk to the girl.

"Is she angry with me, angry that I haven't talked to her for a while, and she came out of the painting and flew into the sky." Zhao Qing suddenly turned his head and asked Hu Guanshi.

This is impossible.The master said these words to comfort himself.

Guanshi Hu gritted his teeth: "It's the old servant's fault that let a thief enter the house and stole Miss Jiao's portrait."

"But this painting was painted by her second brother. Her second brother is not a good painter, and the painting is so-so. Who would steal such a painting." Zhao Qing said very seriously.

That's right.Manager Hu checked it just now, and all the valuables in the house are still there, except this painting is missing.

He opened the secret room yesterday, and the painting is still there.As long as the three girls have a wedding banquet today, he will be too busy, and this painting will disappear.

The two servants who stayed behind today prostrated themselves on the ground: "Guard Hu, I really didn't see any thieves enter the door."

When the third girl got married, even the flies ran to the front yard.

Although the two servants neglected their duties, one went to water the flowers and the other to feed the parrot, but their line of sight never left the main house.

It can only be said that the person who took away the portrait of the charming girl was a more powerful Lianjiazi than him, so he was able to climb over the wall and come in quietly, avoiding the sight of the servants, and opened the old man's secret room. Take away the portrait.

The important thing is not how skillful that person is, what is important is how that person saved the old man's secret room and took away the portrait of Jiao girl!
Manager Hu was guessing endlessly.

Looking at the empty wall, Zhao Qing suddenly had a bold guess: "It must be the person who deceived Jiaoer's feelings back then. He's back, he's back. But why did he come back, Jiaoer, Jiaoer has long since passed away It's gone!"

Zhao Qing burst into tears, and finally shouted out the truth that he dared not face up to for twenty years.His pampered daughter, whom he regarded as a pearl, is no longer in this world.

Zhao Chengde and Wu came here after hearing the news.

Zhao Qing collapsed on the ground, lost his mind.

My father set up a secret room in the house, and put a portrait of his younger sister in mourning every day. Zhao Chengde didn't know about this, and Wu's didn't even know about it.

Seeing his father's grief, Zhao Chengde coaxed and coaxed him, and then reluctantly helped Zhao Qing back to the bed.

Zhao Qing was dying, and he didn't even want to eat the soup that was brought up.

Zhao Chengde had no choice but to ask Miss Si to come here.

But after his daughter came, Zhao Chengde thought, maybe he had to explain to his daughter, her aunt who died young.

After my father gave birth to three not-so-intelligent sons in one go, he finally got a well-behaved daughter.According to the Zhao family's usual rules, the name of the daughter's family does not need to be based on the family tree.But Zhao Qing disagreed. He regarded his daughter as a treasure and named him "Chengjiao".

The younger sister, Zhao Chengjiao, seems to have absorbed the aura of everyone in their generation. She was enlightened at the age of three, could recite the "Book of Songs" backwards at the age of four, and could write well at the age of six, surpassing all three incompetent elder brothers.Opening his mouth, it was like smearing honey, coaxing the old father and mother to be happy.

Zhao Chengjiao is not only talented, but also beautiful.

She is only thirteen years old, and everyone in the capital knows that there is a girl from the Zhao family, who is both talented and beautiful.There was an endless stream of people seeking marriage, almost breaking the threshold of the Zhao family.

But Zhao Qing was reluctant for his daughter to marry so early and leave him.If he wants to keep his daughter until he is eighteen or nineteen, or if his daughter doesn't want to marry, he can also recruit a son-in-law.

Zhao Qing's daughter was hurt to the bone.

The main reason is probably that the three sons in the previous life were too stupid and the daughter was too smart.

The old lady Yu Shi was very sober, and advised the old man: "Whether Jiaoer wants to marry, who she wants to marry, and when she wants to marry, you leave her alone, don't hold her back. Our Jiaoer is so smart, it's hard to choose her son-in-law." Is it bad?"

Zhao Chengjiao and A-Niang have the same thoughts, and they swear in front of their parents: "Jiaoer will definitely find you an excellent son-in-law. In the future, the two of us will honor your elders well."

Zhao Chengjiao is doted on by her parents and brothers. She loves reading, travelling, and not female celebrities.

Zhao Chengde felt that maybe they favored him too much, his sister lived too smoothly, and was too ignorant of evil people, so she died early.

He had the impression that the portrait hanging in Father's secret room was painted on a spring day before his sister disappeared.

Among his three sons, Danqing is still acceptable.That day my sister came looking for him somehow with the cat in her arms and insisted on letting him paint her.

My younger sister is better at drawing than him. He didn't dare to show timidity in front of her. My younger sister said: "Second brother, although I am good at drawing, I can't draw by myself. I just want to see. What is it like."

So he drew the picture with trepidation.

The younger sister was very satisfied, and said that she asked the servant girl to take the painting out and frame it, and hang it in her boudoir in the future.

Later, my sister disappeared, and the last thing I found was her body. My mother, Yu Shi, passed out, and my father seemed to be ten years older.

In the chaos, the portrait disappeared, but it turned out that it was hung in the secret room by my father and missed day and night.

Zhao Chengde had a vague premonition that his sister might have saved his life long ago, so he specially asked him to paint the portrait.It's just this kind of speculation, he dare not tell his parents.

Who the hell came to steal the portrait after twenty years?Is it my sister's lover?

Zhao Chengde's brain felt a faint pain.The Zhao family really is an eventful spring.

He whispered in Wu's ear: "Tomorrow morning, I will go to Baoxiang Temple to offer incense and ask for a few peace talismans."

Zhao Jinyi hurried over again.

Grandfather actually had a secret room, and there was still a portrait of his aunt who died young hanging in the secret room, thinking about it day and night.And this portrait was stolen twenty years later.

But in an instant, Zhao Jinyi imagined a turbulent drama.

She blurted out: "Could it be that there is a treasure map hidden in Auntie's portrait, or a great secret? Father, can you still copy Auntie's portrait?"

The portrait from twenty years ago, he, he might be a bit difficult, but he can give it a try.

Zhao Chengde was about to agree, when he heard his father say, "It's just a portrait, so throw it away. I'll draw another one by myself some other day. It's getting late, and you guys are exhausted today. Just go back and rest."

The juniors naturally followed suit and wanted to leave, but Zhao Qing said again: "I don't agree with the fourth girl's marriage. In the morning, the two of you, husband and wife, will ask someone to cancel this marriage."

Zhao Qing was stunned: "Song Jingxing is a good person..."

Before he finished speaking, he was pushed by Mrs. Wu.Wu said: "Father rested earlier, we will go back first."

Zhao Qing and Zhao Jinyi walked out with unsuspecting expressions, Wu looked at the faces of the father and daughter, and said with a smile: "The old man is sick and confused, in a few days, when he is in a better mood, call Jing Xing over to meet him See, and he agrees."

Zhao Jinyi made sense after thinking about it. It turned out that she absolutely disagreed with this marriage, and she was not convinced by Song Jingxing's charm in the end.

Her future son-in-law is an upright man, and grandfather will like him.

In the small courtyard temporarily rented by Xu Anshi, after the hustle and bustle died down, there was silence in the room.

Zhao Jinhua listened to the movement with his ears open, and suddenly he heard someone open the door, as if Xu Anshi had come in.

(End of this chapter)