Chapter 35: Troublemakers
"Know what the process of solving a case is?" Xu Qi'an started with the topic he was good at:
"Observe the scene, collect clues, then make bold assumptions and carefully seek proof. Little by little, solve the puzzle and get to the truth of the case."
The flickering candlelight reflected Uncle Xu Erlang's dumbfounded expression.
Erlang Xu frowned in contemplation.
Xu Qi'an spoke eloquently, "What we need to think about is not how to calculate Zhou Li, but to observe Zhou Li, collect information, and then summarize it to boldly formulate a plan, and then carefully extrapolate the process to determine the feasibility of the plan."
A speech that was clearly organized and well thought out, leaving Erlang Xu speechless and agreeing in his heart that his elder brother's thoughts were correct.
It turns out that Ning Yan is also a resourceful and reliable child .... Xu Pingzhi was very pleased, he used to worry that his nephew's character was too stubborn, dead to reason, and would suffer in the future.
Seeing that both of them didn't refute, Xu Qi'an continued, ''Resignation, you have the merit of a scholar, you can get in touch with the scholars, and understand some of the information of the officialdom. You go and gather information about Zhou Li, and do not make any mistakes or omissions in anything."
"Second Uncle, the Zhou Mansion is in the inner city, the Imperial Sword Guards are responsible for night patrols in the inner and outer city on weekdays, you are responsible for monitoring the movements of the Zhou Mansion, don't do it yourself, find trustworthy minders to keep an eye on it."
"Where Zhou Li goes, what he does, and who he comes into contact with during the day, I need to know."
The father and son nodded, suddenly thinking of something, staring at Xu Qi'an, "What about you?"
Xu Qi'an smiled mysteriously, "I'm going to plan a way out for the Xu Mansion, Resignation, we'll discuss the details later, and by the way, I'm going to ask you about something. Tonight, I'll stay overnight in your house."
......
Tick, tick, tick ....
The sound of the water drain resounded in the silent room.
"Big brother, are you asleep?"
"No."
"Oh."
......
"Big brother, are you asleep."
"No."
"Oh."
......
"Big brother, you topped me ...."
Xu Qi'an was startled, and then heard Xu Xinnian say, "Collect your elbow."
"Ohhh..."
There was another silence, listening to each other's breathing, Xu Qi'an asked, "Are you unable to sleep."
Xu New Year let out a "hmm", "Not very comfortable."
I'm also .... Xu Qi An lamented, "How long has it been since we've slept in the same cave."
Xu Xinxin thought for a moment and replied, "After I turned ten, ever since you spent a hundred taels a year on martial arts training and had a falling out with my mother, we've gotten rusty too."
I thought you would arrogantly come with a sentence: we have never slept together ..... Now we can still sleep together, Ling Yue sister will never be possible .... Memories of the original owner's early childhood flashed through his mind, and Xu Qi'an sighed:
"Actually, I don't blame Auntie, the Imperial Sword Guard's errand can't rake in much oil and water, and Second Uncle's painstaking efforts plus his salary only amounted to more than two hundred taels of silver a year. Half of it goes to me. The other half is your expenses, it's inevitable that auntie has a grudge in her heart."
Xu New Year digressed, "If this crisis doesn't pass, the Xu family may really be finished."
If Squire Zhou couldn't fall, after the Beijing inspection, it would be the time when disaster struck the Xu family.
"I will arrange a good way back, the big deal is that after the Beijing inspection, our whole family left the capital, my second uncle and I are good at fighting, where there is no worry that there is no way to survive." Xu Qi'an lamented:
"It's just that Erlang you studied hard for ten years before you were recognized as a scholar."
Xu New Year gave a "heh", "Fame and fortune are just clouds in the sky, I am a scholar, I read the books of the sages, and I cultivate the way of the sages. I don't care about fame and fortune."
Xu Qi'an said with deep approval, "Heaven did not give birth to my Xu New Year, Dafeng Wan Gu as long as the night."
The small boat of friendship capsized, Xu New Year breathed in sharply, suddenly rolled his body, rolled away the bedding, and pretended to sleep without saying a word.
"Hey, Ruixian, share some of the quilt with me, in the cold winter months, even if big brother is at the Essence Refining Realm, it's still hard."
Xu Ruixu curled up and wrapped the bedding tightly, ignoring him.
....
Xu Ling Yue's boudoir, last night's roaring charcoal fire had been extinguished, and the carbon dioxide that filled the room made the air seem dull.
The window, which was open to a slit, provided fresh air to the boudoir.
On Xu Ling Yue's white porcelain-like face, her small brush-like eyelashes fluttered as she woke up with her eyes open and looked at the bed curtain above her head for a moment, and after a few seconds, her blank eyes regained their vigor and supported herself to sit up.
She lazily stretched her waist, the thick quilt slipped off, the pale white lining wrapped around the young girl's delicate body, her breasts bulging.
Her white neck had a beautiful arc, and her fluffy and messy hair set off her delicate and pretty face.
Xu Ling Yue's small green onion hand covered her small rosy mouth and yawned.
The maid sleeping on the opposite side of the small collapse awoke with a start, unhurriedly dressing and getting up.
"The air in the room is stuffy, open the window." The young girl rubbed her brow and ordered.
The maid immediately ran to open the window.
Xu Ling Yue lifted the quilt and got out of bed, walking to the window and breathing in the cold air blowing from the courtyard.
A young lady from a military general's background was not that delicate, and when Xu Pingzhi taught Xu Qi'an to hammer his body back then, he liked to piggyback Xu Erlang and Xu Lingyue.
The siblings had laid a solid foundation at that moment, and their physical fitness was excellent.
Just a little bit older, the aunt will not allow a pair of children to follow the unlucky nephew to practice martial arts. After all, at that time the head of the family Xu Pingzhi has decided, nephew to martial arts, son to study.
The reader practiced martial arts, not a good job.
Daughter even more can not practice martial arts, refined out of an unsightly lumpy flesh, how to marry in the future.
Xu Ling Yue was enjoying the fresh air, suddenly saw a figure passing by the window, wearing a black background, cuffs and collar with red piping of the constable's uniform.
The siblings silently stared at each other for several seconds through the window.
Xu Qi'an glanced down at his sister's growing breasts.
Xu Ling Yue screamed and thumped .... shutting the window.
"Sister has grown up ah!" Xu Qi'an thought with relief.
Although I didn't bring her up single-handedly, but at least I watched her grow up.
In the boudoir, Xu Lingyue squatted on the floor, blushing and clutching her chest.
The maid said in a broken voice: "Miss, you should change this habit, you have to freshen up before opening the window. Look, was dalang saw it, fortunately it is our own brother, if for outsiders to see, how can you live ah."
"You still say that!" Xu Ling Yue said angrily.
In the past, Xu New Year does not go this way, and the parents' main house is not on this side, so it is safe to wake up first thing in the morning and open the window.
How could big brother be in the inner courtyard .... Xu Ling Yue sitting in front of the dressing mirror was full of confusion.
The maid stood behind her, dressing him up, and at the end, picking through the jewelry box, she complained, "Miss, you don't even have a nice hairpin or hairpin."
Xu Ling Yue did not answer, sighed, the family suffered repeated catastrophes, savings were emptied, the family food, clothing, including the subordinates, seventeen or eighteen mouths, huge expenses.
Where is the silver to buy jewelry.
"The hairpin from Treasure Ware Xuan is just beautiful, I went in yesterday to look at it and couldn't get out. If it's inserted between your hair strands, miss, it must, must... Interlocking should be."
"It's interplay." Longing flashed across Xu Ling Yue's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
The maid said to herself, "It's just too expensive, ten taels of silver each. Unless you can solve the store's word puzzles, the boss will only make it cheaper."
Xu Ling Yue listened absentmindedly and suddenly asked, "Lan'er, do you think big brother has changed a lot recently."
The maid called Lan'er froze, and a smile suddenly bloomed on her face:
"Big Lang is gentler and funnier than before, and he's also more capable. In the past, he always had a stern face, wasn't very nice to Miss and Erlang, and would only show a smile when talking to the master."
Xu Ling Yue seemed to be satisfied with the maid's answer, her pretty face blossoming into a smile, "That wasn't his fault either, it was mother who never treated him well."
Xu Ling Yue enjoyed this feeling of warming up her sibling's feelings, it was as pleasant as a spring breeze.
The previous elder brother was not very close to people and was not interesting, the current one was interesting and spoke well.
.....
Xu Qi'an came to the door of Xu Suoyin's room, she hadn't yet reached the age of male and female defense, so she didn't need to knock on the door and pushed straight in, seeing Xu Suoyin squatting on the floor, her little paws holding a pig bristle toothbrush, her face stern and serious as she brushed her own teeth.
As if this was a big project.
The maid in the room was organizing the bedding.
"Tethered cauldron ah..." She lifted her head, bubbles in her mouth, and spoke indistinctly.
"How do you wash yourself?" Xu Qi'an asked, his eyes looking at the maid.
"Father said that men should be self-reliant in order to practice martial arts."
"Do you .... know that you are a girl?" Xu Qi'an deliberated.
"Know ah." Little DouDing tilted her head with a face of innocence.
No, you don't know .... Xu Qi An said, "Then do you know the difference between a boy and a girl."
"Big brother, I don't know." Little DouDing was honest and then asked, "What difference ah."
This involves a physiology lesson, a long speech that is endless, and Suzume may not be able to understand it either .... Xu Qi'an, relying on his deep heritage of nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, and his excellent culmination, summarized the popular science that was suitable for young and old, and easy to understand:
"To put it simply, well .... Boys grow up to be amusing, girls grow up to be troublemakers."
Xu Suoyin came to a realization and said happily, "No wonder Mother always says I'm a troublemaker."
She ran in circles around the room, yelling happily, "I'm a troublemaker, I'm a troublemaker ...."
Xu Qi'an silently closed the door to her room, not planning to eat breakfast at home today.
