Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 145 Open

When Qiao Peng heard what his sister Qiao Lili said, his pupils dilated. That year, he and his father learned the news of their mother's sudden death, and they rushed back day and night, changing horses but not people at the post station. Unfortunately, the border and the capital were too far apart, and when they rushed back, their mother had already been buried.

He was only a fourteen-year-old boy at that time. He suddenly lost his mother. The kind of panic and grief he felt was beyond words.

My mother and father were childhood sweethearts and grew up together in Langshan. They had a very close relationship. After suddenly losing their beloved, my father became half stupid, unable to eat during the day and unable to sleep at night.

Her grandmother was old. After Wen Xi married into the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, she had a deep relationship with the old Duke's wife. What she lost was not a daughter-in-law, but a daughter who accompanied her day and night.

Her younger sister Lili was also feeling extremely guilty. She believed that her family neglected their mother in order to find her, which led to no one noticing in time when her mother's condition took a turn for the worse.

At that time, Qiao Zhen was still a little baby who only knew how to cry.

However, the blow did not end there. The mother actually promised my sister to Bai Junzhe, the son of Lord Bai. Lord Bai was a spendthrift and lustful man. Not to mention notorious, he was definitely not a good man. And the marquis' wife was as annoying as a fly.

He couldn't understand why his mother made such a decision.

The death of his mother was like the roof of the Dingguo Mansion falling apart. Even so, he and his father only lived at home for two months. The war broke out again at the border, and he and his father had to go back. After returning to the border, his father was entangled in the war every day, and it was only then that he regained his wisdom.

More than six years have passed, and now his sister tells him that their mother is still alive. How can he not be shocked?

"Brother, it hurts." Qiao Lili's accusation brought his thoughts back to normal. He looked down and saw that his hands were tightly holding his sister's hands. He quickly let go and saw clear fingerprints on both of his sister's hands.

He had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, so he knew how strong he was. At that moment of unconsciousness, he didn't break his sister's hand bones, which was a minor injury.

If Qiao Lili hadn't been so ruthless in her training during this period, her hand bones would have been shattered into pieces by now.

"Lili, give me all your suspicions and evidence." Qiao Peng knew his sister's temper. He also knew what his sister had been doing in the past few days since she came back. His sister hid nothing from him, and he even knew several of her subordinates.

They were all outstanding figures in the barracks, and yet they ended up working for his sister, which made him secretly amazed.

Therefore, my sister's conclusion is definitely not groundless. She must have made some discovery and it is well-founded.

Qiao Lili told him about the letter her mother wrote to Concubine Yun, Wuxiang Grocery Store, and the affairs of the Bai family. The two brothers also rode horses to a villa in the suburbs of Beijing.

Qiao Peng personally interrogated Miesha (Bai).

After leaving the villa outside Beijing, Qiao Peng remained silent. He believed what his sister said.

My mother wrote to me saying she would take her home, and then the Wuxiang Grocery Store caught fire on the day of her mother's funeral.

If the mother was already gone, why did the grocery store catch fire, on the day of her funeral?

Also, they, the brothers and sisters, never knew where their maternal grandparents' home was. Even their father only knew that their mother came from a hidden family and was a disciple of the Langshan School. But even someone as mysterious as Concubine Yun, now knew that she was from Yunmeng Island, but they still didn't know where their mother came from.

All I can say is that the secret behind my mother is even bigger than that of Concubine Yun.

Such a brilliant and talented woman, with a mysterious family behind her, could she die so easily because of an insignificant Bai family member, an insignificant insect?

My sister was right. Mother must still be there, somewhere unknown to them, either detoxifying or healing. Why was this guess made? Because if mother got better, she would definitely come back to find them. She loved father and the three of them, and Zhen'er was still so young.

She would not waste a moment and would come back to find them.

Maybe, their mother needs them now. They need to first make sure that their mother is still alive, and then find her.

"Lili, is this the only way to confirm whether mother is still alive?" Qiao Peng looked ahead with empty eyes.

"Yes." Qiao Lili, like Qiao Peng, looked ahead in confusion, not knowing whether it was right or wrong.

"Open!" Qiao Peng closed his eyes and made the final decision.

*

After careful planning, Qiao Peng and Qiao Lili agreed that they should not dig up their mother's grave in a high-profile manner, even though there was a high possibility that their mother was not there.

This would cause an uproar in the capital and might even be used by people with ulterior motives. Just imagine that the wife of Duke Dingguo, who has been dead for six years, is suspected by her son and daughter of faking her death, and their grave needs to be dug up to confirm. Subsequent developments may be beyond their control.

"Young Master, Prince, can we ask a tomb robber to do this?" Bao Zhiqiang said, "They only need to dig a very small hole to find out what's going on in the tomb."

Qiao Lili and Qiao Peng finally adopted Bao Zhiqiang's suggestion and secretly found two tomb-raiding lieutenants.

Qiao Lili and Qiao Peng ate vegetarian food for three days. During these three days, the brother and sister refused all other affairs, burned incense, bathed, copied scriptures, and prayed to the gods and Buddhas for blessings and that their mother was still alive.

That night, they had the entire cemetery covered with black cloth. The two tomb raiders were blindfolded and taken to the cemetery. Qiao Lili and Doctor Feng researched a medicine which had little harm to the body and would only interfere with a person's memory. After taking it, they would forget what happened tonight and would only remember that they had slept well at home.

Even if there are some residual memories, they will be considered as a vague dream.

Just to be on the safe side and to be absolutely certain, Qiao Lili and Qiao Peng made the most thorough preparations.

*

It was already a little chilly in the early autumn night. Fireflies were dancing colorfully in the wild, and from time to time one or two shrill cries of night owls could be heard.

There was not a single star in the sky, nor any dark clouds overhead, not even a breath of wind. Nothing could give Qiao Lili an omen of good or bad luck. She was as panicked as a rabbit that had been chased by a hunter for a whole day.

Qiao Peng returned to the capital with only a few personal guards. He is now a third-rank general and has 200 personal guards with him when he travels. These 200 people arrived in the capital four days later and have been stationed outside the city. Tonight, these 200 personal guards are stationed outside the cemetery of Duke Dingguo's Mansion.

The second layer of guards is the guards under Qiao Lili led by Bao Zhiqiang, and the core members are Shang Zhen, Xiang Dazhuang, and Tang Chengmin.

Not to mention three layers inside and three layers outside, such guards always give people a sense of security.

In front of Wenxi's tomb, Qiao Lili and Qiao Peng paid their respects and burned the scriptures they had copied sincerely.

Shang Zhen removed the black cloth from the eyes of the two tomb raiders, and Qiao Peng gave the order: "Dig!"