Chu Keqing blushed, her expression somewhat strange, but shook her head and said, "I dare not hide it from you, senior. Actually, I have never memorized the Yueyang Tower Record."
"Ah?" Chen Yan was a bit surprised, "You..."
"I never went to school," Chu Keqing shook her head and said softly.
Chen Yan frowned, "Did you not get into college?"
"Wait, that’s not right; the Yueyang Tower Record isn’t college-level material, it’s high school."
Chu Keqing took a deep breath, her eyes complex, and slowly said, "Actually, I’ve never been to school since I was young. I grew up studying under my master’s guidance, kind of like an old-fashioned private school. My master taught me the Four Books and Five Classics, the Zhou Yi, and Eight Trigrams. Mostly I studied divination.
Poetry and literature were considered miscellaneous studies, and my master didn’t teach me to read them."
Chen Yan was a bit curious, "Then how did you recognize the year name Qingli?"
Chu Keqing actually showed some girlish shyness and whispered, "I’ve... I’ve seen ’Year of Qingyuan’."
Chen Yan truly hadn’t expected that.
Seeing Chu Keqing a bit embarrassed, Chen Yan waved his hand, "It’s fine, continue."
"Yes." Chu Keqing exhaled and continued, "The He Family moved here about three hundred years ago—there’s a seven-hundred-year gap with the period of these ancestral tombs.
It seems unlikely that the He Family intentionally harmed the Sun Family, placing their ancestral tomb on the mountain to steal their fortune. A seven-hundred-year gap means the Sun Family might have long disappeared or fallen apart."
After a pause, Chu Keqing thought for a moment and added, "Judging by the tomb’s size and construction style, the Sun Family should have been a family of officials, with ancestors holding official status to build such a grave. But there’s no record of a prominent Sun family here."
Looking at the ancient tombs, Chu Keqing sighed regretfully, "It’s a pity most of this area has been buried by the collapsed mountain, and what’s left outside is damaged. We can’t examine it closely."
Chen Yan, however, didn’t seem regretful, shaking his head, "Whether the He family’s ancestors intentionally placed their ancestral tomb on the mountain to steal the Sun family’s fortune—it’s hard to conclude. Even if they did, it was done three hundred years ago. Those who did it are long gone, we can’t bring them up for punishment. We’re not here to survey ancient tombs."
Chu Keqing looked at Chen Yan, "What do you mean, senior?"
"I mean, charging the He family’s ancestors isn’t our goal this time. Let’s focus on the current matter," Chen Yan waved his hand, "Investigate the ’Sun’ character and see if it’s related to Mrs. He or Sun Chen."
Speaking, Chen Yan took out his phone and took several photos of the ancient tomb, especially the half stone tablet.
The two then descended the mountain, reaching the foot of the mountain by 3 p.m.
That day in the mountain, they didn’t find any spirit monsters, but they found thousand-year-old ancient tombs.
As soon as they sat in the car, Chu Keqing’s phone rang. Seeing it was her assistant calling, she answered immediately.
On the phone, the assistant’s voice was slightly excited, "Elder Zi, I found information about the Sun family’s situation."
Upon hearing her assistant’s tone, Chu Keqing knew she must have found something. She took a deep breath and slowly said, "Speak!"
"Mrs. Sun Chen’s father has a younger brother, Sun Chen’s uncle, named Sun Zhihui, fifty-four years old. He has a son named Sun Xiaofei, who is Mrs. He Sun Chen’s cousin—I asked around, the situation matches what Chen Yan discovered.
Sun Xiaofei died four years ago, had a history of drug addiction and was forced into rehab. He jumped to his death four years ago due to being unable to repay high-interest loans. He lost control and committed suicide at twenty-five years old."
Chu Keqing frowned, "You went out last night and only found out this much by this afternoon?"
What the assistant said was almost identical to what Chen Yan had found out playing mahjong last night, though she had also discovered their names and ages, it was hardly more valuable.
The assistant quickly said, "There’s more. I found out about Sun Zhihui, Mrs. He’s uncle. They lived in the next county, and he was a mechanical maintenance worker at a local copper mining company’s site.
They lived in the county town, but a year ago his wife died of cancer.
After that, Sun Zhihui quit his job, and it’s said he was hired by a private, small mining site at a high salary as a mechanical maintenance master.
Half a year ago, he resigned again, but this time, no one knows where he went.
I even went to the next county, visited his home, and found out that his house was sold half a year ago. The current owner said he bought it from Sun Zhihui.
Chu Keqing had her phone on speaker, so Chen Yan heard clearly.
Chen Yan nodded and asked, "Anything else you found?"
"Not for now," the assistant quickly said, "If there’s anything else you need or want me to investigate, I’ll get on it!"