For the past few days, Xia Zheng had been vigilantly guarding this spot to catch the thief.
But perhaps because the little thief knew he was on the lookout here, for so many days not even a glimpse was caught, let alone apprehending the culprit.
Xia Zheng led Lin Yuan by the hand and they quietly hid behind a large rock on the opposite side of a narrow walkway, intently staring at the small window there.
Lin Yuan glanced at the large bamboo basket standing next to the large rock and couldn’t help but snicker.
Xia Zheng turned his head and inquired with his eyes: What’s funny?
To avoid being detected by the little thief, the two of them had dodged all the servants in the General Mansion on their way here, agreeing not to speak and to communicate with hand gestures if needed.
Lin Yuan squeezed her eyes towards the large bamboo basket.
Xia Zheng glanced at it and imdiately his eyes turned into crescents, giving Lin Yuan a smug look as if to say, "Aren’t I clever?"
Lin Yuan pursed her lips and nodded obsequiously: Clever, clever!
Of course, he was clever. Xia Zheng had been closely monitoring the situation for days and hadn’t seen the thief, leading him to surmise that the little thief knew he was out to catch him.
So, today he intentionally made a conspicuous exit from the front door, then he snuck back quietly with Lin Yuan through the back door—all to create a false impression for the thief, luring him in to steal.
What a pity, after waiting for such a long ti, why was there still no sign of anyone showing up?
Lin Yuan frowned, looked up at the storeroom’s roof, poked Xia Zheng’s arm with her finger, and then pointed at the roof.
Xia Zheng blinked and understood Lin Yuan’s aning, but decisively shook his head, whispering in her ear: "The storeroom is very high, not just anyone can get up there."
Not just anyone can get up there? What if they were not just anyone?
Xia Zheng just finished speaking when he froze, right, what if they were not just anyone?
Previously, he had thought the thief was just one of the servants from the mansion, so he hadn’t paid attention to the rooftop.
But he seed to have forgotten sothing. When Xia Zhen got married, his second uncle, Xia Hen, who was exceptional in qinggong, ca back!
For ordinary people, the rooftop is unreachable, but for his Second Uncle Xia Hen, it’s child’s play!
Lin Yuan didn’t know about Xia Hen’s extraordinary qinggong, but she also thought that anyone skilled in martial arts would definitely be able to climb up and steal from the rooftop. Weren’t there always such scenes in TV dramas where the bad guys were plotting in the room while the heroes eavesdropped from the rooftop after lifting a tile? It was a classic plot device!
As she was thinking, Xia Zheng’s ears suddenly twitched, and he indeed heard so unusual noise.
"Let’s go!"
With a soft shout, Xia Zheng grabbed Lin Yuan around the waist, tipped his toes on the rock, and flew onto the storeroom’s rooftop.
As their gaze just reached the rooftop, the two of them saw a man dressed in white, kneeling there and doing sothing with his rear end poked up.
Xia Zheng imdiately let out a huff from his nose, and with another tip of his toe on the eave, he landed with Lin Yuan behind the man in white.
Then, he gave a kick!
"Ouch!"
A large black footprint imdiately stamped onto Xia Hen’s rear, and his body, following the montum, rolled forward and scuttled away.
"Trying to escape?"
Xia Zheng shouted, imdiately pulled out a bundle of hemp rope from his chest, leapt forward with a swing, and tied up Xia Hen’s body.
Indeed, Xia Hen had planned to escape using the montum from Xia Zheng’s kick, but never expected to be seen through by this sly little nephew.
However, Xia Hen’s qinggong was truly excellent. Even though his body was tied up, he did not fall off the roof eaves. On the contrary, he vaulted into the air, and with a light tap of the tiptoes, he used the power from the green tiles to land down.
Had his body not been tied up, he would have been able to fly away using the force from those green tiles. Now, he could only hope to land on the ground without falling over.
During that brief mont, Xia Hen saw Xia Zheng holding a woman in his arms, obviously unable to chase after him, and planned to just linger on the ground a bit before making his escape again.
But man proposes, and God disposes. After so many years, he had completely underestimated little demon Xia Zheng’s slyness!
The mont his tiptoes touched the ground, and his body was airborne, a hook snagged his collar.
Xia Hen looked up and thought the hook that caught his collar seed familiar, followed the line, damn it, wasn’t that the hook he used to snag the vase?
"Little rascal! Daring to bully your Second Uncle! Are you asking for your father to carry the big knife and chop you again?"
With a hook on that, Xia Hen’s qinggong instantly lost balance, and he fell flat onto the ground. The front area of the storeroom was paved with bricks and stones. That fall made his whole body’s bones achingly sore.
Rolling on the ground, Xia Hen cried out with eyes shut tight, without a hint of a graceful young master’s deanor and integrity: "Ouch, my old bones, you’ve smashed them to pieces! Your Second Uncle hasn’t married yet, hasn’t had a son yet!"
Xia Zheng, with one arm around Lin Yuan’s waist and the other holding the hook that Xia Hen used to snatch the vase, chuckled rrily: "Oh! Second Uncle also thinks of getting married? I must rush to tell father and mother, they’ll be so delighted, they’ll forget all about making you fall, haha."
Failing to intimidate, Xia Hen’s eyeballs rolled, ceased rolling and crying out, and with a fish flop, he sprang straight up from the ground, sat cross-legged, and shouted at Xia Zheng.
"It’s just a few vases, your Second Uncle was just looking for sothing in the storeroom, how would I know I accidentally ssed with your betrothal gifts? Geez, had I known those were your betrothal gifts, I would have taken sothing else. Tsk tsk, it’s not all my fault, you have no idea how hard it is to hook things with this hook, I just hook whatever is easiest, not specifically aiming for your betrothal gifts..."
Xia Hen rattled on, but Lin Yuan understood – the guy simply wanted to snag sothing easy to handle, and it was a coincidence he hooked Xia Zheng’s betrothal gifts.
However, Xia Zheng obviously didn’t intend to let it go for that reason; instead, it piqued his curiosity even more.
With a brow lift at Lin Yuan, Xia Zheng, swinging the hook, landed on the ground with her.
Xia Hen was good at qinggong, but his martial arts were not as good as Xia Zheng’s. Xia Zheng was not as skilled at qinggong as Xia Hen, but he had the upper hand with his cleverness and tricky ideas, otherwise, he would never be able to catch Xia Hen.
Once both were on the ground, Xia Zheng first sealed his acupuncture point to make sure he could not escape, then put down the hook, and with a raised eyebrow, smiled more radiantly than flowers.
"Eh? Second Uncle, who never blooms, has thought of stealing! Tell , did you give them to a sweetheart? Tsk tsk, I rember mother saying, among the things lost were several dressing cases and not just vases, all of which are won’s stuff. Second Uncle, don’t tell you traded them for booze, does Young Master Wuhen need to pay silver for drinks?"
Young Master Wuhen?
Lin Yuan, who had been quietly listening, slightly furrowed her brows, feeling like she had heard this na before but couldn’t recall where at the mont.
"Scare! What sweetheart! Don’t spout nonsense! Your Second Uncle has no sweetheart, none! I just thought they were good-looking, no that’s not right, I just thought those vases and cases were easy to hook! What you’re talking about, I don’t understand, I can’t understand!"
Really can’t understand?
Then why have his earlobes suddenly turned red?
Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng exchanged glances, both slyly curving up the corners of their mouths.
Reviews
All reviews (0)