Unlock
Iâll try.
Xie Xuanchen looked up at her, his gaze looked rather strange. After Mu Mingtang noticed this, she hurriedly waved her hand: âDonât get me wrong, I havenât used it yet, I just learned it to prepare for emergencies. Anyway, since we donât have anything better to do, donât be too hopeful, Iâll try.â
In fact, Xie Xuanchen didnât believe her very much. How could the locks tailor made by the imperial court be opened so easily? However, Xie Xuanchen wasnât the best at dealing with women. He already couldnât deal with his mother back then. Now that Mu Mingtang was speaking, he was too embarrassed to refuse.
Xie Xuanchen stretched out his right hand and let Mu Mingtang do her work. Mu Mingtang saw him hang his one arm in mid air, the heavy handcuffs were supported by the strength of his one arm. The sight of it tired Mu Mingtang out and she said, âMy lord, you can just place your hand on the bed, Iâll unlock it as I sit on the foot rest.â
âItâs okay.â Xie Xuanchen didnât put much thought to it. âJust do what youâre supposed to do.â
How stubborn, Mu Mingtang stopped talking, she nodded and said, âOkay.â
Mu Mingtang worked on it by herself, and Xie Xuanchen didnât even bother to look at her, as he said, âThe imperial lock canât be unlocked so easily. The one on me is made even more special, itâs all made of black iron and the core of the lock is also specially made. There are only two keys in this world that could open this, canât be copied, and they must be used together to open this. An ordinary thief would just pick the lock of the common folk, how can it be used to open the imperial locks? Theyâve never even seen such a lock, and Iâm not sureâ¦â¦â
There was a faint clicking sound at this moment, and Mu Mingtang quickly held onto the handcuffs and said, âItâs open.â
Xie Xuanchenâs words havenât even sunken in. Although he really wanted to break free from the chain, he was the child of a high-ranking official, and he grew up surrounded with imperial matters, hence, he had an inexplicable trust in the imperial court. The common thieves only picked the locks of the common folk, how could she have unlocked the imperial lock.
Mu Mingtang had finished speaking, but Xie Xuanchen hadnât come to his senses yet. Mu Mingtang was struggling to hold the iron handcuffs alone, and Xie Xuanchen was so surprised that he didnât even react to help her with them.
Mu Mingtang slowly put the iron cuffs on the bed, Xie Xuanchenâs hand felt instantly lighter, he looked down at his wrist, and he still felt that it was unbelievable.
âYouâ¦â¦â
Mu Mingtang smiled very modestly: âIâm actually not very good at it. I just gave it a try. I didnât expect to succeed.â
In order to be considerate of Xie Xuanchenâs sensitive mind, Mu Mingtang deliberately said her words humbly. In fact, the masters were always among the people, especially the talented craftsmen, they were scattered all over the city.
Thatâs the old thief who taught her how to open locks. Xiangyang had crumbled down, everyone didnât know how to survive, and could only flee in a hurry. The old thief was originally unwilling to teach her, but then halfway through, fearing that he would not be able to survive and the familyâs skills would go extinct, he reluctantly taught Mu Mingtang.
Quoting the words of the old thief: âI donât expect you to carry forward my legacy, and donât you say that youâre my heir. Iâm just afraid that my skills will be forever lost, thatâs why I taught an outsider, which is you. Stealing isnât a good thing but my skills are innocent, whether or not youâre going to use it in the future, itâs none of my business.â
Unexpectedly, Mu Mingtang would use it in such a place, how weird could fate be.
Xie Xuanchen stared at her for a long time. He suddenly stretched out his hand and said, âGive it to me.â
âWhat?â
âYour tool for opening locks.â
Mu Mingtang hurriedly placed the fine gold wire in his hand, Xie Xuanchen took it and started to study it. Upon seeing that he was looking rather attentively, Mu Mingtang leaned forward proudly and said, âItâs made of pure gold. I specially twisted it out from the jewelry.â
Is it because of the gold? Xie Xuanchen glanced suspiciously at Mu Mingtang, he re-cuffed himself, and poked the thin gold wire into the keyhole to try it out.