Madmen don't keep diaries

The first line of poem 493 in Chapter 494

Speaking of this story, Liu Weisen felt quite emotional.

"Chen Dejin was not as obsessed as his father, who even believed that the treasure was a complete fabrication, so he repeatedly advised his father to give up."

"But his father refused. Even on the night he died in bed, he kept telling Chen Dejin never to forget the family precepts for finding treasure."

"Later, when Chen Dejin was desperate, he heard of the name 'Great Philanthropist Liu' and came to Zhenqiu City to find Liu's residence. He offered me a high price to sell the treasure map."

“At the time, I didn’t believe his story. Besides, with such a large family and business, why bother with a vague treasure? So I politely declined. But seeing that Chen Dejin was indeed pitiful, I took pity on him and gave him some money so he could go back to Falling Cloud City and live a decent life.”

"After so long, I thought Chen Dejin had found another way out, but I didn't expect him to suddenly reveal the treasure map to the public and cause such a big commotion."

Feng Xiuhu nodded knowingly, but he didn't ask the question—why did Liu Weisen not believe in the treasure story before, but now he does?
He's just someone grasping at straws, so there's no need to point it out.

Feng Xiuhu looked at him and said, "So Chen Dejin is your source of confidence; you haven't actually solved the mystery."

Liu Weisen nodded, then shook his head: "At least I can guess where the first line of the poem refers to."

Feng Xiuhu became interested: "Can you tell me?"

Liu Weisen smiled wryly: "There's nothing we can't say now—we've encountered quite a few treasure hunting teams along the way, most of them heading towards Fallen Cloud City. I suppose I'm not the only smart one."

"The bell tolls in the evening sky every year."

Liu Weisen explained in detail: "Back then, the temple ordered the demolition of the Yunhou Temple. Now, there is only one place left to worship the Yunhou Queen—the Queen's Shrine in Duoyun City."

"It is said that Empress Yun's remains are buried there."

Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but interrupt: "You can tolerate the temple? Won't you tear it down?"

Liu Weisen shook his head and said, "It is said that the temple did want to demolish it back then, but the people of Yu'ai Prefecture tried their best to stop it. Later, the temple gave up the matter hastily on the grounds that 'this is a shrine to worship the deceased, not a temple to worship gods,' but also set a rule that no statues could be erected in the Empress Shrine."

Feng Xiuhu nodded: "Go on."

"Then we must talk about that poem."

Liu Weisen narrowed his eyes slightly: "There is an ancient bell in the Queen's Shrine. It has existed since the Queen's Shrine was built. It is said that this bell was mixed with a variety of metals during its casting, so it displays a shimmering luster whenever the sun shines on it."

Feng Xiuhu immediately understood: "Is the 'Huazhong' in the poem referring to this?"

“That’s right.” Liu Weisen nodded. “And this bell is not usually rung. It is only rung by the head of the ancestral hall on the anniversary of the death of Empress Yun each year, in order to express the remembrance of the descendants of Nanyu.” The bell is rung once in the morning, once at noon and once in the evening.

Feng Xiuhu suddenly realized: "The bell tolls in the evening every year. So this line indicates the location and time. The time is the evening of the anniversary of Empress Yun's death every year, and the location is the Empress's Shrine. So what's the next line?"

Liu Weisen couldn't say anything: "I don't know yet. Perhaps the answer will be revealed when that day comes."

Feng Xiuhu was greatly disappointed.

Seeing this, Liu Weisen quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Although I'm not the only one who can solve the first sentence, I definitely have an advantage over anyone else—once we arrive in Fallen Cloud City, the most urgent thing is to find Chen Dejin."

Feng Xiuhu glanced over and said, "We haven't even found the Chen family for generations, so how can they help you?"

Liu Weisen said, "Although Chen Dejin cannot tell me where the treasure is, he can tell me where it is not."

Feng Xiuhu understood—the Chen family had been searching for treasure for generations, and although they hadn't succeeded, they had eliminated many wrong options. In a sense, this was an important achievement.

Liu Weisen smiled slightly: "Chen Dejin has now put the treasure map up for sale, so he must have completely given up on finding the treasure. After all, I have done him a favor. If I sincerely ask him to tell me the information that is no longer useful to him, I think he will not hide anything." "I hope so."

Feng Xiuhu yawned and pointed to the carriage curtain: "The story is over, get off now."

……

Feng Xiuhu actually managed to occupy Liu Weisen's carriage.

Liu Weisen was an easy-going person. Anyway, he had slept in the guards' tent for the first half of the night, so it wouldn't make a difference if he slept in the second half.

However, he wasn't feeling well, and when he woke up the next day, he caught a chill, which made his cough more frequent.

Steward Zhang therefore had some reservations about Feng Xiuhu—he was unaware that his master had already explained everything in the carriage.

The convoy set off again early the next morning.

After counting the number of people, Butler Zhang quickly walked over to Liu Weisen and whispered something in his ear.

Feng Xiuhu, without any hesitation, went over to listen in and learned that a few people were missing from the group.

Nothing unexpected happened; they simply ran away.

Liu Weisen's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded slightly, saying, "It's alright, ignore them."

While it wasn't entirely unexpected, it wasn't exactly a situation that was anticipated either.

Last night we were murdered by bandits, and the further we go, the more this kind of thing will happen.

People value their lives after all. Even though there are many people in the team, including quite a few skilled fighters, when something really happens, no one will specifically protect these helpers.

Just as Steward Zhang was about to call the group to set off after receiving the instructions, several more people walked up to him.

The older man in the group seemed a little embarrassed. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Master Liu, you have many capable men under your command, so you don't need a few more like us... We're too timid to go any further."

Steward Zhang raised his eyebrows, about to scold, when the older porter quickly said, "I thought I should finish what I started, and I should at least say hello to Master Liu, so I didn't run off with those people from this morning."

The implication is that compared to those who simply ran away, he was already considered kind and righteous.

Steward Zhang sneered, "Nonsense! You didn't dare to run away because you were afraid of being punished later. You only mustered up the courage to step forward because you saw that the master didn't care."

The older porter chuckled dryly, ignoring Steward Zhang's words, and just stared at Liu Weisen expectantly: "Master Liu, the wages you promised before... look, I've worn out my shoes these past two days, and I haven't slacked off at all."

Butler Zhang was furious upon hearing this: "What a shameless old dog! I'm already grateful you haven't been punished, yet you still dare to ask for money?"

He raised his arm, as if to slap the porter across the face.

Liu Weisen stopped Steward Zhang and said to the porters, "If everyone were like you, giving up halfway and still getting paid, then everyone would follow suit. So I can't give you this money—you can leave if you want. If I successfully find the treasure, you can come back to my mansion to ask for it back when I return to Zhenqiu City."

When Liu Weisen returns from his treasure hunt in glory, those who abandoned the great philanthropist Liu will become "blind men" who missed their chance to make a fortune. How will they have the face to come to his door asking for money?

Therefore, Liu Weisen's words were a polite refusal, while also saving face for the porter.

The porter blushed with embarrassment, said nothing more, cupped his hands in farewell, and left.

(End of this chapter)