Life in siheyuan era

Zhou Zhiyuan, who had experienced the perils of ice crevices on Mount Z, wasn't afraid of the cold, but the bone-chilling coldness of this jade was a kind of yin chill.

This feeling was like the blackness of night in winter; the cold under moonlight was absolutely different from the cold under cloudy skies.

The cold under moonlight was serene, a bright moonlight reflecting on the ice and snow, revealing a silver-white world, and his mood would be calm, even joyful and fond.

But the cold under cloudy skies carried a cold wind, and this cold wind made him feel a chilling draft; the sky was pitch black, the surroundings were also pitch black, and his heart was also pitch black.

But this feeling originated from his right hand; his left hand only felt the bone-chilling coldness, while his right hand felt a yin chill.

Because his right hand had a flaw—the four injured fingers allowed this yin chill to manifest. A yin chill surged from the mutton-fat jade, splitting into four streams that poured into his four fingers.

These four fingers instantly became stiff, as if the flesh and blood had frozen, plunging him into darkness for a moment.

After this process, he recovered some strength, opened his eyes to look around, saw that they were looking at him in surprise, withdrew his gaze to look at Liu Wenxiang, and said slowly, "This jade is very evil. Is this the reason why those professors wouldn't appraise it for you?"

He said the answer himself, and seeing a bitter smile on Liu Wenxiang's face, he knew he had guessed correctly.

Now that things had come to this, Liu Wenxiang no longer hid anything and truthfully narrated the entire process.

Liu Wenxiang liked to climb mountains. Last October, he went to climb Fang Mountain alone. That night, he camped on Fang Mountain. In the middle of the night, he heard a loud noise and felt the ground shaking. He thought it was an earthquake and hurriedly rushed out of the tent to hide in an open space for a long time.

Speaking of this, Liu Wenxiang's voice trembled, "At that time, the sky was pitch black, and the surroundings were also pitch black. I felt as if I had been put into a black bag. After a while, the moon appeared in the sky, and the darkness around slowly dissipated..."

At this time, he was still very scared, but he knew that he absolutely couldn't leave the spot. He returned to the tent and endured until dawn, then quickly packed his luggage and returned along the original path.

But this road was blocked by several large rocks. Liu Wenxiang went around and around, but saw a small stream flowing down from the mountain.

He had never seen this stream before. He squatted by the stream and looked at it, seeing the stream water was crystal clear. He reached out and touched it, feeling it was bone-chillingly cold, and quickly retracted his hand, but touched something, and took it out casually.

This mutton-fat jade was obtained in this way. Liu Wenxiang was a connoisseur, and was overjoyed to see this jade. He wanted to hold it in his hand and examine it carefully, but this bone-chilling coldness made him unable to hold it, so he put it in his backpack and took it home.

But the things that followed left him at a loss. This jade was bone-chillingly cold no matter what the temperature was. He asked several professors, who all said it was a burial object, and one professor even said it was a burial object from over a thousand years ago.

Insiders all knew that this kind of thing couldn't be touched. The professors who advocated science were also unwilling to come into contact with this thing. The curator of the history museum, who had always advocated science, actually asked him to find a remote place to bury this jade, and repeatedly told him, "Be sure to dig more than three meters deep before burying it."

This rare mutton-fat jade had actually become a plague-like existence. Liu Wenxiang was frustrated, but wanted to continue to explore. Hearing the great name of Mo Youji, he went to him, but Mo Youji wouldn't appraise it for him either.

He finally managed to make an appointment with Mo Youji's apprentice, but was immediately discouraged when he saw that he was so young. At this time, he heard him say that this jade was "evil" and immediately became interested. He told the story from beginning to end, waiting for Zhou Zhiyuan's answer.

Liu Wenxiang was waiting for Zhou Zhiyuan's answer, and Lou Xiao'e, Zhao Yongmei, and Lou Xiaoning were also waiting. Everyone looked at Zhou Zhiyuan expectantly, but saw him close his eyes slightly again.

After a while, Zhou Zhiyuan opened his eyes and said slowly, "When I say it's evil, I mean that this bone-chilling coldness seems to seep into the bone marrow. I felt like I was frozen just now."

Liu Wenxiang agreed with his words: "You lasted the longest. Everyone else put it down immediately after touching it."

In response to his words, Zhou Zhiyuan explained, "I stayed on the plateau for five years and often patrolled in the ice and snow."

"No wonder." Liu Wenxiang expressed his understanding, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Zhou Zhiyuan continued, "Whether this jade is a burial item needs further confirmation, but based on where this jade appeared and its shape, I have a deduction..."

He paused, turning to look at Liu Wenxiang and the others, who all looked anxious. Lou Xiao'e, seeing him look over, immediately said, "Speak quickly."

Zhou Zhiyuan retracted his gaze and slowly said, "This jade belongs to Li Zicheng."

He gave the answer, and the room immediately fell into silence.

After a while, Lou Xiaoning spoke, "This deduction is very likely. Mutton fat jade is imperial jade. Such a large piece of mutton fat jade would not be hidden by princes and generals, only rebels could."

"When Li Zicheng obtained this jade, he didn't know whether he would be a dragon or a tiger in the future, or a stray dog, so he never carved it. Li Zicheng only entered Beijing for more than forty days, so there was no time to carve this jade."

"Logically speaking, this deduction is completely credible, but what does it mean that this jade appeared in Fangshan?"

At this point, a look of realization appeared on Lou Xiaoning's face, and the others also suddenly understood. Lou Xiao'e exclaimed, "Li Zicheng's treasure is in Fangshan?"

No one answered her question. Everyone present knew this history. After Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he looted a large amount of gold and silver, with gold alone amounting to ten million ingots and silver nearly forty million ingots.

Whether this gold and silver was taken away or hidden after Li Zicheng's defeat, no one can say for sure. Later dynasties did not claim to have obtained this wealth.

After more than three hundred years, everyone had forgotten about this matter. At this time, Zhou Zhiyuan made a deduction, and Lou Xiaoning expressed his agreement, and everyone suddenly thought of this matter.

Lou Xiaoning closed his mouth and looked at Liu Wenxiang. Seeing the surprise on his face, which then turned into joy, he heard him ask, "Can it be confirmed?"

Zhou Zhiyuan replied indifferently, "Deductions need to be verified."

This attitude was affirmed by Liu Wenxiang, "That's right, deductions need to be verified, but your deduction may have uncovered a mystery."

At this point, Liu Wenxiang became excited and said excitedly, "Through this jade, we may be able to find Li Zicheng's tomb, which would confirm that he did not die at Jiugong Mountain, but perhaps died in battle with the enemy or in internal strife. This is a major historical discovery, and we may also be able to find those gold and silver to increase the national treasury's income."

The more Liu Wenxiang spoke, the more excited he became. Suddenly, he put away the jade and rushed out the door. Zhou Zhiyuan hurriedly shouted "Wait," but couldn't catch up with him.

Zhao Yongmei, hearing him speak, hurriedly took out a stack of money from her pocket and handed it to him, saying apologetically, "The appraisal fee was prepared long ago. This is one hundred yuan."

She handed the stack of money to Zhou Zhiyuan, but Zhou Zhiyuan didn't even look at it, looking directly into her eyes and saying, "I said I don't want money, I just want to remind your husband not to go to investigate on his own, it should be very dangerous there."

Hearing this, Zhao Yongmei said with relief, "Wenxiang won't go by himself, he must have gone to report to the museum. Xiao Zhou, please accept this money."

Zhou Zhiyuan refused again, "Sister Zhao, I said I won't accept money, please believe my words."

He said this with a double meaning. Seeing Zhao Yongmei put away the stack of money, Zhou Zhiyuan continued, "Sister Zhao, your husband's report may lead to two possibilities. The first possibility is that the leaders don't believe him, and your husband, in a fit of anger, goes up the mountain to investigate on his own; the second possibility is that the leaders believe him and send an exploration team up the mountain."

"Both of these possibilities will have dangerous consequences, so I suggest that it is best to contact the public security and add armed forces to the exploration to guard against unforeseen events."

These words made Zhao Yongmei worried and asked uneasily, "What unforeseen events could there be?"

"Zombies," Lou Xiao'e exclaimed, and Zhao Yongmei's face turned pale.

Lou Xiaoning hurriedly said, "Xiao'e, don't talk, listen to what Comrade Zhou has to say."

Their eyes once again focused on Zhou Zhiyuan, listening to him say, "I don't know what dangers there will be, but I deduced it from two points. The first point is that this jade is icy cold, and no matter where it comes from, it is not a good place."

"The second point is based on the loud noise that Comrade Liu mentioned. He thought it was an earthquake, but as far as I know, no earthquake occurred in the Beijing area last October, and he said that the surroundings were dark at the time, as if he had been put into a black bag."

"Based on these two points, I believe that place is very dangerous, and armed forces are needed to protect the exploration."

After he finished speaking, Zhao Yongmei thought for a moment and immediately rushed out the door. She believed Zhou Zhiyuan's deduction.

But Lou Xiao'e laughed and said, "Sister Zhao is too timid, are there really demons and ghosts in this world?"

Lou Xiaoning said, "The world is so big, there are all kinds of strange things. Don't be dismissive of things you haven't seen."

Then he turned to Zhou Zhiyuan and said, "Let's go out for a meal together."

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I would love to be treated by Comrade Lou, but I have too many things to do. I still have to go to the hospital to visit my fellow workers. This is a task. I have to rush back to my unit at one o'clock, and there are still a lot of things waiting to be dealt with. Comrade Lou, let's discuss something, can this invitation be postponed to the next time?"

Lou Xiaoning laughed heartily upon hearing this and said, "Okay, let's postpone it to the next time."

Then he turned to Lou Xiao'e and said, "You arrange this."

Lou Xiaoning wanted to befriend Zhou Zhiyuan, and Zhou Zhiyuan's expression showed that he gladly accepted the attitude, but he really couldn't go. Visiting Lao Liu was secondary, the most urgent thing was to inform Shen Lanbo of this matter in a timely manner.