Xu Qi'an: The princesses should be getting my flirty messages soon

They then searched for many readily available books in this way to decipher the code, but all attempts failed.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao were somewhat discouraged. The former narrowed his eyes and said, "Ningyan, you've suddenly become less bright."

It was obvious that Xu Qi'an's mental agility had declined significantly, and he was not as sharp as before.

Xu Qi'an looked up, staring blankly at the crisscrossing beams, and said irritably, "Were you particularly listless during the days your friend wasn't feeling well?"

"Why, why are you bringing up my friend's matter again?" Song Tingfeng was a little embarrassed.

"Hehe." Xu Qi'an thought to himself, I haven't slept for thirteen days, how fast do you expect my brain to work? That useless Su Su can't even keep me awake, what's the point of raising her?

However, the appeal of this product lies not in its core features, but in its accompanying exterior.

Raising a single Mei is like raising a fishpond; it's much easier and more enjoyable than painstakingly raising backups like Huaiqing, Lin'an, Fuxiang, and Caiwei.

At that time, the fishpond owner, Xu Qi'an, will hold a steel fork and, whichever fish he fancys, will quickly and accurately plunge it in.

"Why don't we take a break?" Song Tingfeng suggested.

"Have the courier send some sweets over," Xu Qi'an said.

The best way to combat brain fatigue is to consume sugar, as sugar is the only energy source the brain can utilize. Most people enjoy sweets, not because sweets are particularly delicious, but because the brain prompts the body to consume sugar.

Xu Qi'an really needs sugar right now.

The courier made them longan and egg drop soup, raisin pastries, and almond tofu pudding. It was all sweet.

Xu Qi'an, being short, chose the longan and egg drop soup, and pushed the almond tofu pudding to the squinty-eyed Song Tingfeng. Song Tingfeng immediately became happy and laughed, "Ningyan, how did you know I like sweet tofu pudding?"

"Because you look like a heretic." Xu Qi'an laughed, "Because we're brothers, seeing you crying your eyes out, I'll give you some tofu pudding to sweeten your heart."

Who's been crying their eyes out? Song Tingfeng rolled his eyes, knowing he was alluding to Miss Su Su.

Speaking of which, Miss Su is truly wonderful; she's a rare find, capable of engaging in a three-hundred-round battle with me. Song Tingfeng thought about the enchanting affair that occurred in the teahouse private room earlier that day, and it was already past midnight.

"You wouldn't understand. You're a prodigal son, I'm not." Song Tingfeng shook his head and sneered.

"When you first joined the Nightwatchers, I advised you to marry Constable Lü Qing, but you hesitated and refused. Then you immediately got together with Fuxiang. I knew then that you were one of my kind. If Constable Lü were to marry you, it would be like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung."

Xu Qi'an's mind flashed with the image of Lü Qing's heroic figure, and he said irritably, "Although Officer Lü is not as pretty as Fuxiang, calling her cow dung is going too far."

"I didn't say she was cow dung, I was talking about you."

"Then what did you mean by 'a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung'?"

"."

After finishing dessert, because the famous detective Xu Ningyan wasn't feeling well, Song Tingfeng took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of deduction, clearing his throat:

"Let's put ourselves in Zhou Min's shoes. If I were Zhou Min, I would definitely hide the codebook in a place where the governor's entourage could easily find it, but without attracting attention."

"Okay!" Xu Qi'an nodded.

"We've already checked Zhou Min's residence; there were no hidden compartments or suspicious items. We've also just compared the books he left behind," Zhu Guangxiao said.

Song Tingfeng thought for a moment, stroking his chin. "Perhaps, it's not necessarily the book?" Zhou Min was meticulous; he could think of anything others could think of.

"Let's try a different approach. Maybe it's something with writing on it, but it's not a book? Ningyan, do you think that's possible?"

"Very good, Tingfeng, your intelligence has successfully caught my attention. You are a genius whose talents have been wasted by the women of the Imperial Academy of Music." Xu Qi'an flattered him, then asked:

"So what do you think it could be? It's not a book, it's among Zhou Min's belongings, and it has to be quite thick."

Xu Qi'an suddenly stopped.

"Is it the Chinese almanac?!" Song Tingfeng exclaimed first.

Zhu Guangxiao, a hardworking and honest man, accurately found a thick almanac among the belongings. "Is this it?"

"That's it!" Xu Qi'an exhaled all the stale air from his chest, his eyes brimming with excitement.

It is both a book and not a book. It is both eye-catching and unremarkable. Based on his speculation and analysis of Zhou Min over this period of time, Xu Qi'an is very confident that this is Zhou Min's style.

The three of them couldn't wait to open the almanac, starting from the first character and counting to the 162nd character according to the picture: day!

The "day" in "Yi Mao day".

Then comes the 347th character, the fourth character, the first character, and the second character.

Combined: Mo Riguang Ding Yi Wu!

Obviously, this is wrong.

Next, they used a second method, taking the page number instead of the word number.

If we're retrieving page numbers, then each word count corresponds to a specific day on the calendar. The combination is as follows:

Mo, April 6th, January 15th, January 29th, January 25th, January 26th.

"Damn it, wrong again." Xu Qi'an threw down the almanac and cursed, "This approach is wrong, start over."

"Perhaps we can unpack the word "mo" first, because it is the only word and it comes first." Zhu Guangxiao put forward his own idea.

Being at the front is very important.

Xu Qi'an rubbed his temples. "So, do you have any ideas?"

Zhu Guangxiao shook his head.

Xu Qi'an then asked, "Does the word 'silent' have any special meaning in our government office?"

Song Tingfeng pondered for a moment and said, "The governor and Jiang Jinluo have already studied the code. If the word 'silent' refers to a code within the yamen, Lord Jiang and the governor should be able to discover it."

"What could the governor possibly discover? He's only good at solving riddles." Xu Qi'an scoffed, then froze.

A flash of inspiration burst forth in my parched mind, like a bolt of lightning.

He recalled his father, who had extensive experience in criminal investigation, saying when he was young that a person's behavior and habits are closely related.

When analyzing and profiling a target person, the first step is to collect as much information as possible about them and understand their habits.

Even the most cunning criminals have predictable patterns of behavior, namely their habits.

What are Zhou Min's habits?

It's a word puzzle!

Yang Yingying had said that Zhou Min liked to play word puzzles with her while drinking. Therefore, when Zhou Min was thinking about how to hide evidence and leave clues, he would habitually lean towards word puzzles. From this, it can be deduced that the only character in the two sets of codes is also a word puzzle. Xu Qi'an's thoughts became clearer and clearer.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao exchanged a glance and remained silent in tacit agreement. Just a moment ago, Xu Ningyan self, displaying the same wisdom and focus he had when investigating the Sangbo case.

"Mo, when broken down, is black and dog." Xu Qi'an asked, pinching his brow, "I remember a colleague who went to Huangbo Street saying that it's a dog market?"

Song Tingfeng grunted, "It's the dog market, what's wrong?"

Xu Qian said, "The word silent is broken down into "black" and "dog", and the information about Huangbo Street is the clue left by Zhou Min in the last word puzzle game. I think it can be matched now."

"You think the code points to the dog market?" Song Tingfeng frowned. "Then what does the black color represent? Isn't it too hasty to conclude that the code points to the dog market based solely on the character for 'dog'?"

"I have an idea." Xu Qi'an didn't finish speaking before going out and calling over a courier.

"What are your orders, gentlemen?" the courier asked.

"How much do you know about Huangbo Street?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"Huangbo Street? That place is chaotic. It's alright during the day, quiet and peaceful. But at night, it becomes a melting pot of all sorts of people—petty thieves, wandering travelers, even bandits from the mountains." the courier replied.

Is it dog meat that is sold there, or what kind of meat? Xu Qian sneered, and thought, "Bandits and gangsters shouldn't go there just to get a bite of dog meat, right?"

"Of course not. Huangbo Street may appear to sell dog meat, but it's actually a black market. It sells shady things and conducts shady transactions," the courier said.

"Have you ever been to the black market?" Xu Qi'an asked.

The courier immediately looked ashamed and stammered, "I went to buy dog meat."

Why make that awkward expression of being caught showing off when buying dog meat? Xu Qi'an frowned and said, "Speak like a human being."

The courier whispered, "He went to shop number 6 at Xin, and buying dog meat meant exactly that."

Too young, even when seeking out prostitutes, he's so hesitant and afraid to speak up. The three shook their heads and sighed simultaneously.

"Number 6, Xin?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"The black market shops are named after the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches." The young courier blushed, feeling as if he had been publicly executed.

Xu Qi'an nodded. "Understood, you can go now."

After the courier closed the gate and left, listening to the footsteps gradually fade into the distance, Xu Qi'an shrugged. "The situation is very clear now. 'Black Dog' refers to this black market selling dog meat."

As for why such a place exists in Baidi City, where shady deals are conducted right under the noses of the government, it's not surprising.

Even in the most virtuous city in the world, there are many black markets.

Huangbo Street is not far from the post station, but it belongs to the outer city and there is no curfew at night.

"What do the other codes mean?" Song Tingfeng asked himself, then answered, "They should tell us who to look for at the black market, or how to find them."

"The answer lies in the almanac," Xu Qi'an said with certainty.

"We've already checked it," Zhu Guangxiao said, looking at him.

"Huang Li's idea is correct, but how could Zhou Min possibly leave such a crucial clue in the relics?" Xu Qi'an said.

"It's from previous years' almanacs, not this year's."

"What year was it?" Zhu Guangxiao asked in a deep voice.

"Guangxiao, you are clearly not as clever as Tingfeng today. There are so many almanacs in previous years. The Great Feng Dynasty has been established for 600 years. Finding the correct almanac is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Zhou Min doesn't seem that stupid. Since it's not this year's almanac, I guess that almanac has some unusual significance for him."

"The Chinese almanac itself doesn't have any special meaning, but it does indicate the year, such as the birth date or wedding date. If I'm not mistaken, that should be the almanac from fourteen years ago."

"Because that was the beginning of Zhou Min's assignment to Yunzhou."

The old almanac from fourteen years ago showed that the post stations were gone this time, only the government office and the bookstore remained. To keep a low profile, Song Tingfeng did not go to the government office, but went to the bookstore instead.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he rode back on horseback, carrying the old almanac.

Xu Qi'an found paper and pen, spread them out on the table, and thinking that his own handwriting was not good enough for a refined occasion, he pushed Zhu Guangxiao out to act as the scribe.

They tried the previous method, using the "number of characters" approach to decipher the text, but it still didn't work; the copied characters were completely nonsensical.

Next, using the "page number method," page 162 corresponds to May 12th, which is auspicious for: opening a business, getting married, moving into a new house, and traveling.

Avoid: praying for blessings, opening a granary, and digging a well.

"Open for business!" Xu Qi'an gleaned the key information, "They probably want us to open the market at night and then go to the black market."

His statement was agreed upon by Song Tingfeng.

Next is the second set of codes: 347412

Xu Qi'an turned to page 347, the date on which was January 15th. He glanced at the almanac for that day and finally realized what was going on, exclaiming:

"I see!

"One hundred and sixty-two and three hundred and forty-seven refer to the page number, and four, one, and two refer to the word number. Tingfeng, look, what do the 4th, 1st, and 2nd words on this page mean when put together?"

Song Tingfeng squinted and read aloud, "Ding 15".

Recalling the information the courier had just given him, he blurted out, "Black market shop, number Ding 15?"

The mystery has finally been solved.

Xu Qi'an and Song Tingfeng breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back in their chairs, and let out a long breath.

Zhu Guangxiao also put down his pen, feeling completely relaxed.

Xu Qi'an walked to the table, took a closer look, and exclaimed in surprise, "Guangxiao, your handwriting is so terrible!"

Song Tingfeng rushed over to join the commotion, shouting, "It's unbearable to look at! It's unbearable to look at!"

Zhu Guangxiao Qi Ingestion, "Your handwriting is very beautiful?"

Song Tingfeng arrogantly declared, "My calligraphy is no worse than that of scholars. When I was a child, I saved every penny to buy paper and ink in order to practice calligraphy."

Xu Qi'an said, "When I was a child, my family was poor. In order to practice calligraphy, I would dip a brush in water and practice in the yard. I practiced for twenty years."

Zhu Guangxiao glanced at them suspiciously, then handed them the pen. "Then write a few for me to see."

Xu Qi'an and Song Tingfeng turned around in unison, their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Let's go back to our rooms and rest. Calligraphy isn't for showing off."

I think so too.

Watching the two figures leave, Zhu Guangxiao opened his mouth, looked down at his calligraphy, and secretly decided that he would also start practicing calligraphy diligently from now on, so as not to fall behind them in this small group.

Back in his room, Xu Qi'an took off his shoes, got into bed, and sat down to meditate, ensuring he was in good condition when he went to the black market that night.

Perhaps his brain was too tired, he couldn't get into the zone for a long time, and his thoughts wandered uncontrollably, difficult to bring back.

Judging by the time, Huaiqing and Lin'an should have received my letter soon. I hope that letter can turn Huaiqing's anger into joy, even though I don't know what I did to offend her. That silly girl Biao Biao will definitely be very touched; she's much easier to flirt with than that love-naive foodie Chu Caiwei.

As for whether the two princesses would exchange letters in private, or whether this would be seen by someone other than them, Xu Qi'an thought it was impossible.

First, Huaiqing and Lin'an had a strained relationship, so there was absolutely no possibility of them exchanging letters. Moreover, the letter he wrote was somewhat ambiguous, and girls in those days cared about their reputation; they would never tell anyone such a letter.

Secondly, both Huaiqing and Biaobiao were mature princesses, mature enough to conceive and possess the freedom and right to send and receive letters. The emperor and his concubines would not interfere, and others would not dare to open the princesses' letters without permission.

The possibility of his little gong writing ambiguous letters to the two princesses being exposed is almost nonexistent.

Gradually, Xu Qi'an entered a state of visualization.