Chen Ji pushed open the brown courtyard gate. The small yard inside was spotlessly clean; split firewood was stacked under the eaves in the corner, and the water vat was filled to the brim.
But Chen Ji suddenly froze on the spot, not stepping into the yard for a long while. Behind him, Yuan Xing asked curiously, "What's wrong, foster father, is someone inside?"
Wu Yun meowed once in Chen Ji's arms. "It's exactly the same as the house in Shaojiu Alley."
Yes—this familiar feeling was precisely why Chen Ji had halted. The stone table and stone stools in the yard, the main room, the West Wing Room, the East Wing Room, and the side room were all identical, as if someone had moved the house from Shaojiu Alley here to Jinling.
He stepped over the threshold and walked up to the main room door, pushing it open a crack with both hands. On the table in the center of the hall, a spirit tablet stood upright and properly placed: Spirit tablet of the late Daming Jingxian King Zhu Youxiao.
