"I've figured it out."
Xiao Ning slowly raised her head, her expression grave.
Xie Xinghan was slumped over the desk, as wilted as an eggplant struck by frost. At those words, she perked up and hurriedly straightened, exclaiming in delighted surprise:
"You solved it?"
Xiao Ning nodded, lifting her chin slightly with an air of penetrating insight, a gleam of wisdom flashing in her eyes:
"This is a coded message. The clue to decoding it isn't on the slip of paper, but in Young Master Wang's words."
Xie Xinghan had pondered the thirteen characters on the paper over and over, but had never thought along those lines. Hearing this was like finding light in a dark room, a path when she was lost! She cried excitedly:
"Xiao Ning, you're a genius! Tell me! Which words hold the clue?"
Holmes Ning smiled faintly. "My lady, do you remember what Young Master Wang told you when he handed you the brocade pouch?"
Xie Xinghan frowned in recollection. "...Heaven's secrets must not be revealed?"
"Not that."
"Then..."
"He told you to wait five days before opening the pouch."
"Right, right!" Xie Xinghan's starry eyes lit up.
Xiao Ning narrowed her eyes and held up five fingers:
"The word 'five' is the key! Young Master Wang meant for you to pay attention to the fifth character on the paper!"
Xie Xinghan drew a startled breath. "The fifth character is..."
Xiao Ning brimmed with triumphant confidence:
"Exactly! The fifth character is 'return'!
The 'return' in 'dew hangs heavy, return, return'!
Young Master Wang wanted to tell you-
He,
will return!!!"
Xie Xinghan's mouth hung open. The gasp of amazement about to escape caught in her throat, and she froze.
Having discovered her "new hobby" of solving riddles, Xiao Ning was still immersed in the excitement