Lu Xiu was so frightened that her face turned pale, she covered her mouth, her eyes full of fear.
Chen Qing reacted faster and pushed his wife down. With his sword unsheathed, he jumped out of the window. The yard was deserted and a lone moon hung on the treetops. Chen Qing climbed up to the roof and looked around.
At this time, three female guards rushed over from the roof and shouted: "Who are they?"
"It's me!" Chen Qing said calmly.
The three female guards were so frightened that they saluted quickly, "I don't know how humble my position is!"
Chen Qing waved his hand and asked, "Have you been monitoring the roof just now?"
"Yes! Our duty is to hide in the dark and monitor the movements on the roof."
Chen Qing's eyes moved to the flower wall. The wall was only a few feet shorter than the roof. If he climbed up the wall, the female guard in the dark could also see it. However, there were holes in the flower wall. Arrows should have been shot through the holes.
It seems that the other party knows that there are three surveillance guards hidden on the roof of the back house and is well aware of the defense of his house.
Chen Qing's heart moved. What did he vaguely guess?
"It's nothing. You continue to monitor in the dark. It's best to take care of the wall as well."
"Follow the order!" The three female guards continued to return to the darkness.
Chen Qing returned to the study and saw his wife preparing to take down the arrow on the wall. He quickly said: "Don't move, let me do it!"
He took a piece of cloth, wrapped it around the arrow shaft, pulled out the arrow, looked at it carefully to make sure the arrow was not poisonous, and then took off the letter.
Chen Qing opened the letter and read it for a moment, frowning. The content of the letter was beyond his expectation.
"Husband, what did you say in the letter?" Lu Xiu asked worriedly.
"This is a letter of grievance, saying that your brother has taken advantage of others' property."
Lu Xiu was stunned, "My second brother?"
Chen Qing nodded, "The letter said it was Lu Wei, the magistrate of Chengji County."
Lu Xiu was furious, "Why did my grandfather tell him so many times? He dared to ruin my grandfather's reputation. I will go find him tomorrow!"
Chen Qing quickly grabbed his wife and said, "Don't go looking for your brother rashly. These are two things. Don't scare the snake."
Compared with Lu Wei's accusation, Chen Qing was more concerned about the archer. He actually shot the arrow into his inner study in front of himself and his wife. Even if he could escape the arrow, his wife's life safety could not be guaranteed.
Already.
This arrow also made Chen Qing realize that there were still loopholes in his mansion's defense.
........
Early the next morning, Chen Qing ordered someone to find Wang Hao in the official room.
Not long after, Wang Hao hurried over, clasped his fists and saluted, "See you all!"
"I want to know, how many people are there in the inner security camp now?"
"Reporting to the capital, there are about 1,200 people in total, distributed in major counties."
"Where is Chengji County?"
"There are about six hundred people in Chengji County."
Chen Qing took out the arrow and the letter and put them on the table, and said calmly: "Someone shot this arrow into my study last night, and there was a letter on it. My wife was there at the time, and she was frightened."
Wang Hao was horrified and quickly knelt down on one knee, "This is a dereliction of duty!"
"I'm not here to hold you accountable, I'm here to ask you to solve the case and find the person who shot the arrow."
Chen Qing handed him the letter, "Read this letter first."
Wang Hao read the contents of the letter and frowned, "Lv Zhixian County has a good reputation! How can you say that he took advantage of it by clever means?"
"It's more important to find the archer now."
After a pause, Chen Qing continued: "The archer is very familiar with the various defense measures in my house. I suspect he is one of the ten male guards. How do you check?"
Wang Hao thought for a while and said: "It's actually simple. First check what happened to Lu Wei, and then find out which of the ten guards are related to this matter. Then you can find out the person who shot the arrow."
"This is a good direction, please do it as soon as possible! Give me a reply within three days."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Wang Hao bowed and left.
Chen Qing fiddled with the arrows on the table, but he was thinking about Lu Wei. He also felt a little strange. Lu Wei had always had a good reputation, how could he take advantage of it?
At this time, a follower reported at the door, "Mr. Envoy, Madam, please go back to your home."
.........
Chen Qing didn't know what happened, so he hurried back to the mansion. When he walked into the mansion, he happened to meet his wife Lu Xiu. Chen Qing asked: "What happened?"
Lu Xiu turned around and said, "Li Weiwei, tell me!"
The leader of the guard was called Li Huan, who was very skilled in martial arts. He stepped forward and reported: "To the commander-in-chief, Yang Rui disappeared early this morning."
Chen Qing had some impression of this Yang Rui. He had an ordinary appearance and was usually taciturn, but he had superb archery skills. He was originally a scout in the army and was recommended by Zhao Xiaoyi to become the guard of the Jinglue Mansion.
"Take me to his room!"
Chen Qing asked his wife to go back to the inner house first, while he went to the west courtyard. The west courtyard was the dormitory for the male guards. The guards were well treated and each had their own room.
Chen Qing walked into Yang Rui's room. The room was very neat and tidy, with very few furniture, including a bed, a cupboard, a table and a box.
"All his belongings were gone, and some of the money he had saved was also taken away."
Chen Qing looked around and asked, "Didn't you leave any letters or notes?"
"No! This Yang Rui is illiterate and can't write."
At this time, Chen Qing's eyes fell on the wall. There was a map of Jingzhao City hanging on the wall. You must know that the map is not something you can buy in a bookstore. It has always been a military secret.
Since this Yang Rui uses a map, he can't be illiterate!
And he also used the Jingzhao map. Could it be that he was hinting to himself that he came from Jingzhao and was a member of the puppet Qi army?
Chen Qing looked at the map carefully and was suddenly surprised. This map was clearly the city defense distribution map of Jingzhao City, which was a major military secret.
"Capital, look over there!" a guard pointed at the roof and shouted.
Chen Qing also saw it. A crossbow was exposed on the beam. Several guards climbed up the beam and took down a crossbow and a pot of crossbow arrows. Chen Qing recognized it at a glance. The pot of crossbow arrows was the one shot last night.
That crossbow.
"Go and notify the inner guard Wang Hao to come over!"
........
At first, Chen Qing thought it was just a case of people suing the government, but the methods used were a bit extreme. However, after discovering military secrets such as the Jingzhao city defense map in Yang Rui's room, Chen Qing felt that this matter was a bit fishy.
Well, it's by no means that simple.
Yang Rui has run away, and the truth is even more confusing. Chen Qing is more concerned about what happened to Lu Wei? Since Yang Rui mentioned Lu Wei, it will not be groundless.
At this time, Zhu Sui said at the door: "Jing Lue Envoy, the magistrate of Lu County is here."
"Let him in!"
Not long after, Lu Wei walked in, bowed and said: "See the envoy of Jinglue!"
"Sit down!"
Chen Qing asked Lu Wei to sit down, and the tea boy came in and served tea.
"What are you busy with recently?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"There are many trivial chores. Every day I encounter all kinds of unexpected things and countless things. Every day I am as tired as a dog and crawl into bed. Whenever I close my eyes, I dream about lawsuits. No wonder my grandfather said that to be a prime minister, you must start from the beginning.
It’s only now that I understand this sentence, starting from the county magistrate.”
Chen Qing nodded, "The county magistrate is indeed very complicated, but it also trains people to be able to deal with the lowest and most trivial things. When you get to the court, it will basically be easy."
After a pause, Chen Qing asked again: "Are you short of money now?"
"Lack of money?"
Lu Wei looked surprised and said: "I currently have a salary of twelve guans per month, plus various subsidies of 13 guans. I live in a government house, and the maids and servants I hire don't cost much, so there is no need."
money?"
"But someone filed a complaint against me, saying that they took possession of others' property by force. Is this a false accusation against you?"
Lu Wei suddenly jumped up, "It's impossible, it doesn't happen, it's just nonsense. When will I take other people's money?"
"Calm down and talk!"
Lu Wei finally calmed down and said bitterly: "What kind of wealth is there in this poor place in Chengji County that I should be greedy for? The land is worthless, and a shop only costs a few hundred guan. Can I ruin my reputation for a small amount of money?"
?”
Chen Qing looked at him for a long time and said, "Well, you can go back and think about it again! Is there any misunderstanding? It's best to explain it clearly."
Lu Wei left with dissatisfaction, and Chen Qing was also confused. Who is this Yang Rui? What does he mean by posting a secret map of Jingzhao on the wall? What are he and Lu Wei?
relation?
Chen Qing really couldn't figure out the connection between them?