It was a gentle breeze and drizzle here in the capital, and although there was a slight disturbance in the court hall, it was peaceful.
But here in Xi'an, the clouds are thick, and there is a sense of gloom and irritability before the mountain rain is about to come.
In the palace of Prince Qin, the commander of the Jin Yi Guards, He Guangyi, sat with a somewhat disgraced look.
"I told you that I won't let you go, but you won't listen! Do you have to say it's because of the emperor's orders? What now?" King Qin Zhu Shanlie sat cross-legged on the soft couch, his tone was a bit neither yin nor yang, but there was something in his words, "
Not a single demon from the White Lotus Sect was caught, yet they mobilized troops to arouse the enemy!"
"It's a despicable job and incompetence. Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
There was no point in trying to shirk the truth. He Guangyi had tried his best, but he didn't expect that someone would finally escape him.
"But don't worry, Your Majesty, if you can escape, the monk can't escape from the temple! The monks in the demon temple and the nearby believers have all been captured by Xiangtou Beizhi, and are now being interrogated intensively. Even if there are only certain clues, Beizhi...
..”
"Commander He, this is your fault!" Yan Yanqing, Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province, suddenly said, "I have heard that your people arrest people regardless of good or bad. In the name of arresting the White Lotus Sect,
Private courts were set up to torture and extract confessions.”
He Guangyi gritted his teeth secretly, "What kind of private court? Don't Jin Yiwei have the power to interrogate?"
"You have it, but you only have it if Long Live Lord nods. Now that you are arresting good people and interrogating them severely, do you also have Long Live Lord's handwriting? If you have it, take it out? If not, hum! Others are afraid of you, the Imperial Guard. I am the official
Don’t be afraid, I might even go to the imperial court to litigate with you!”
This is just adding insult to injury. The arrest of the White Lotus Sect was a great achievement in the eyes of the local Chief Secretary, but He Guangyi excluded them. Now that he was not caught and made a mess, how could the Chief Secretary let him go?
.
It's not that the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi is not well-intentioned. First of all, the local officials have never had a good impression of these royal guards. Secondly, since no one has been arrested, there is still such a fuss and someone needs to stand up and give an explanation.
Furthermore, the fact that the Jin Yiwei overran the Chief Secretary to enforce the law in Shaanxi has brought shame on all the officials in Shaanxi. Nowadays, it is only human nature to make sarcastic remarks.
Tang Fu smiled at the side and said, "Lord, please be patient!"
As he said that, he said to He Guangyi, "Master He, now that the person has not been caught, what will be the next step?"
He Guangyi thought about it, "The only way is to interrogate, hoping to get some clues!"
He has no good solution now, because all the clues have been interrupted in Jile Temple, and the interruption was extremely sudden and strange.
"You think the matter is not big enough?" King Qin Zhu Shanlie said displeasedly, "Looking at it alone, even if anything is found in the trial, those monsters would have escaped long ago!"
He said, sighing, "I am alone in the palace, and I can hear the rumors outside. Why are the Jinyi Guards coming to Xi'an to arrest people, and the White Lotus Sect is going to rebel? Where is the command? Don't be afraid of others!"
Immediately, he looked at Yan Yanqing again, "Yan Fantai, it's better to watch alone. You guys will handle this case of the White Lotus Sect. On the Emperor's side, I'll give you a break. As for the Jin Yiwei..."
King Qin's intention was very obvious. He asked the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province to handle the case of the White Lotus Sect and let the Jin Yiwei go back and forth from wherever he wanted.
He Guangyi was angry and was about to speak when he heard Yan Yanqing say, "Your Majesty, it is unacceptable for me to despise my position!"
These words made everyone slightly surprised.
Just now he was glaring at Jin Yiwei with many criticisms, why is he talking like this now.
"The Chief Secretary cannot handle the case of the White Lotus Sect!" Yan Yanqing said sternly, "Especially now that the White Lotus Sect has been frightened, ordinary arrests are of little use." As he said that, he looked at He Guangyi, "What should I do?
Commander-in-Chief, please cooperate with us."
He Guangyi thought to himself, "This old man is not really ignorant!"
Tang Fu also said on the side, "We are also fully cooperating with Mr. He from the humble position!" He said with a smile, "If you want people, you need soldiers, you need soldiers!"
"Ha!" King Qin Zhu Shanglie sneered, "A White Lotus taught you how to mobilize troops and unite people to unite the city. But the murderer who assassinated this king still has no clue yet!" He said, looking at a few people coldly, "You guys, you shouldn't give this.
I, the king, will give you an explanation!"
Yan Yanqing and Tang Fu remained silent.
He Guangyi raised his head, "The prince was assassinated because there was a thief in the palace!" As he said that, his expression gradually became serious, "I didn't catch the demon from the White Lotus Sect this time. I guess someone leaked the news!"
"Huh?" In an instant, several people's expressions suddenly changed.
"It's understandable that the demons from the White Lotus Sect would run away one or two in a hurry!" He Guangyi said slowly, "But they seemed to have calculated the time exactly, and they all came to escape. Not only did they know that Jin Yiwei was going to catch them, but they also
Know the deployment and control of each checkpoint along the way."
"And after they escaped, there was no news! I was thinking that someone must have tipped them off, or even covered them secretly!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the palace suddenly changed their colors.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that He Guangyi's words were reasonable. Otherwise, how could the carefully planned arrest fail? If so, the person who helped the White Lotus escape must be quite powerful.
~~~
In a back alley, there is a dirty rice noodle stall run by an old man with a white head.
Pick the white rice crust into a large porcelain bowl, then pour in the sauce prepared with ginger, mustard, pepper, onion, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, mature vinegar and other seasonings, then stir it a few times with chopsticks to make a simple rice crust,
Suddenly the color became alluring.
"Sir, please use it slowly!" The old man put the bowl on the low table.
Mao Xiang, who was alone in Tsing Yi, sniffed it and said, "I'm not jealous enough!"
The old man smiled and added another spoonful.
Mao Xiang stirred it up with chopsticks, then looked at the stall, grabbed a handful of coriander and put it into his bowl, "What is this thing worth? Dig it out!"
The old man was angry but dared not say anything. This guest guest put more condiments on the rice cakes for one person than for three people. He was a small businessman, so he had to be careful with all the condiments.
Huffing and puffing, Mao Xiang took a few breaths and looked up at the entrance of the alley.
Putting down his chopsticks, he took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, counted ten of them, and said, "You can run an errand!"
When the old man saw the copper coins, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said with a smile, "You tell me!"
"The Roujiamo restaurant at the entrance of the alley over there looks good, go buy one!" Mao Xiang said, "Cut one of the roasted kidneys over there too."
"Okay!" The old man smiled and put all ten copper coins into the palm of his hand, holding them tightly, "Do you want anything else?"
Mao Xiang waved his chopsticks and said, "I don't drink!" He said and ate a clove of garlic in one bite.
The old man left with a smile, and Mao Xiang put down his chopsticks.
At the other end of the alley, a figure strode in with his head lowered and sat directly opposite Mao Xiang without saying a word.
"senior.........."
Mao Xiang raised his head and smiled slightly, "Here you come? Sit down!"