When she heard knocking at the door, Zheng Jiayu’s body immediately tensed. She grabbed a kitchen knife and hid beside the door before asking, “Who is it?”
“Gu Yunting.”
Hearing that name, Zheng Jiayu froze for a moment, somewhat surprised.
She had not expected them to arrive so quickly.
Looking at the kitchen knife in her hand, Zheng Jiayu quickly put it away before opening the door for Gu Yunting and the others.
When she opened the door, she saw Gu Yunting standing outside with two other men. At a glance, it was obvious that they were soldiers just like Gu Yunting.
Seeing Zheng Jiayu standing there with her long hair loosely draped over her shoulders and wearing a red floral dress, Gu Yunting was stunned for a moment before saying, “I’m Gu Yunting.”
“Zheng Jiayu. Come in first. I’ll call Uncle Xiang and let him know that you’ve arrived.”
Gu Yunting did not stop her and simply watched as Zheng Jiayu called Captain Xiang.
After learning that Gu Yunting and the others had arrived, Captain Xiang hurried back from outside.
When he saw the three of them, a smile appeared on his face.
“It’s good that you’re here. Now that you’re taking Jiayu away, I can finally rest easy. It saves me from having Li Zonglin constantly keeping an eye on Jiayu.” Li Zonglin had been asking him about Zheng Jiayu’s situation these past two days and had even wanted Zheng Jiayu to marry Li Jian.
In short, his goal was to trap Zheng Jiayu in the Li family.
“Uncle Xiang, the Li family still hasn’t given up?”
Captain Xiang’s expression immediately turned serious. “Given up? How could they possibly give up? They haven’t obtained the things your parents left behind, so they won’t abandon their plans so easily.”
Listening to their conversation, Gu Yunting asked, “What exactly did they leave behind that made these people willing to do anything to kill Jiayu’s mother?”
Zheng Jiayu glanced at Gu Yunting. This man really was quite straightforward.
“I don’t know much about it. My parents never told me, but Uncle Xiang said he heard from them that it was probably some extremely powerful weapon. As for what exactly it is, no one knows.” Zheng Jiayu frowned and shook her head, her expression somewhat bewildered.
Gu Yunting was puzzled by how little they knew.
If Zheng Jiayu’s parents really had not left anything behind, then that would be a serious problem for them.
“Then, is there anything special among the things your parents left for you?”
Zheng Jiayu had never carefully examined the things her parents had left behind.
She got up and returned to the room she was staying in at the Xiang residence, then brought out a wooden box.
After placing it on the table, she looked at everyone and said, “Everything my parents left for me is inside this box, but I’m not entirely sure what’s in it either. I haven’t had the chance to examine it carefully.”
As she spoke, Zheng Jiayu opened the wooden box.
Inside was a bankbook, a stack of money, some ration coupons, her marriage certificate, and the engagement token sent by the Gu family.
There did not seem to be anything particularly unusual about these things.
Zheng Jiayu took everything out of the box.
After she had removed the contents, Gu Yunting noticed that something about the box was not right.
He immediately picked it up and examined it carefully.
“Is something wrong with the box?”
Gu Yunting did not answer Zheng Jiayu. Instead, he continued examining the box carefully, then opened its interior under everyone’s watchful eyes.
There was another hidden compartment at the bottom of the box.
Several letters had been placed inside.
Zheng Jiayu stared at the letters in astonishment, then looked blankly at Gu Yunting.
How had he discovered them?
Gu Yunting handed the letters to Zheng Jiayu. “See if there are any clues inside.”
Zheng Jiayu did not hesitate. She opened the letters and began reading them carefully.
The more she read, the more something felt wrong.
The letters only described some ordinary daily matters, but those details seemed to have been arranged in a specific order.
The most recent letter had many numbers written on the back.
Moreover, the numbers were completely jumbled, with no discernible pattern at all.
Captain Xiang and the others had also seen the contents of the letters. Looking at Zheng Jiayu, Captain Xiang asked, “Jiayu, do these numbers look familiar to you?”
“There’s no pattern to them, and I also feel that there’s something wrong with the contents of the letters.” Although Zheng Jiayu felt that way, she could not quite put her finger on what the problem was.
It was simply an intuition.
“We won’t be able to figure out what all of this means in such a short time. Take them with you to Gu Yunting’s side and study them slowly. Perhaps you’ll be able to figure out what your parents were trying to tell you.” This was what Captain Xiang really wanted to say.
There had to be someone who could decipher what they had left behind, and that person could only be Zheng Jiayu.
Zheng Jiayu put the letters back in order and carefully stored them away. “Don’t worry, Uncle Xiang. If I find out anything, I’ll definitely call you and let you know.”
Captain Xiang immediately waved his hand. “No, Jiayu. You can’t tell us. Once you tell us, many things could change.”
“If this place is being watched or something else happens, you’ll be putting yourself in danger.” Things were no longer safe here, and he absolutely could not let Zheng Jiayu come back here and risk her life.
Zheng Jiayu was about to say something when Gu Yunting spoke up. “Captain Xiang is right. This place is no longer safe. If you send information back here, there’s always a chance it could be leaked. Unless all the traitors here are captured, you won’t have that opportunity.”
Although Zheng Jiayu was reluctant, she knew that Gu Yunting was right.
This place really was unsafe, and there was no doubt that something was wrong with the Li family.
“Captain Xiang, we’ll leave tomorrow.” Gu Yunting looked at Captain Xiang and told him that they would be leaving soon.
Captain Xiang was not surprised that they had decided to leave early. “It’s good that you’re leaving. Hurry and go, and don’t stay here any longer than necessary.”
The sooner Zheng Jiayu left, the sooner she would be safe.
Captain Xiang patted Zheng Jiayu on the shoulder. “Jiayu, once you reach the north, be careful. Other than Gu Yunting and the others, don’t trust anyone easily.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle Xiang. I’ll remember.”
Captain Xiang still had some matters to attend to, so he left first. After he was gone, Gu Yunting asked his friend to go to the guesthouse to rest, while he stayed behind because he still had something to discuss with Zheng Jiayu.
Once they were alone, Gu Yunting looked at Zheng Jiayu and said, “There’s someone over there who has been pestering me relentlessly, so when you go back with me, I want you to help me deal with her.”
Zheng Jiayu was stunned. This man really was straightforward. He could say something like that so openly.
“Do you really hate that person?”
“She keeps pursuing me and refuses to leave me alone. She even uses her family to threaten me.”
After hearing Gu Yunting say that, Zheng Jiayu immediately understood just how much he disliked this person.
“No problem. Leave this matter to me.”
Only then did Gu Yunting nod in satisfaction.
Thinking about how he would finally be able to get rid of that person once he returned, Gu Yunting’s mood improved considerably.