Xiao Lingyue said: "Verify whether the people in the caravan lied to me."
She stood up and looked at the topographic map carefully.
This kind of blueprint was a valuable secret in ancient times, and ordinary people were not allowed to possess it. Once discovered, it would be a felony.
Therefore, Xiao Lingyue could only come to King Xiang to borrow it.
The piece that King Xiang got was a government product, and it drew the detailed topography of Yuanmu Town.
Including the streets, houses, docks outside the town, official roads, as well as all surrounding villages, mountains, rivers, etc. within fifty miles.
All terrains were copied and drawn by living people after personal survey.
Although it is not as accurate as modern satellite maps, the error is not too large and is enough for outsiders to get a rough idea.
Xiao Lingyue looked at the deep and shallow charcoal marks on the map, and after writing down the general terrain, she took out another small topographic map from her body and placed it on the larger map for comparison.
As you can see, the painting styles of the two pictures are completely different.
The small picture is rougher, and it looks like it was drawn by an outsider. The lines are also quite messy, and are far less detailed than the large picture.
However, the key terrain on the drawings, such as the location of Log Town, the layout of the city, surrounding villages, mountains and rivers, etc., are completely consistent between the two drawings, with almost no errors.
King Xiang was a little surprised: "Where did you get this map? Someone hid the topographic map secretly?"
"I got this from the caravan leader."
Xiao Lingyue compared it with her fingers and sneered slightly, "The two pictures are exactly the same, but the scale has been reduced. It should be that the former county magistrate 'Li Bihuai' secretly copied the topographic map of the government office and handed it to the caravan."
Topographic maps are confidential and are not allowed to be taken out of the Yamen.
In the entire county government office, only the county magistrate can see it. Even the chief bookkeeper only knows that this thing exists, but is not qualified to see it.
"Why do they want this kind of thing?" King Xiang looked puzzled.
"For smuggling delivery, of course."
Xiao Lingyue said, taking out a piece of thin cloth from her arms and spreading it on the small map.
The size of the thin cloth is exactly the same as the minimap.
Xiao Lingyue pulled out the hairpin on her head, pierced the pointed hairpin into the thin cloth, and penetrated a small blood spot in the lower right corner of the thin cloth, then let go.
On the small map under the thin cloth, the tip of the hairpin was pierced in a certain position.
Xiao Lingyue narrowed her eyes slightly.
That's a mountain top.
King Xiang was confused: "What are you doing?"
Xiao Lingyue explained: "Because of the sudden death of 'Li Bihuai', the imperial envoy Shen Shilang rushed to Yuanmu Town in advance, which aroused the nervousness and suspicion of the Nanyan caravan.
When I sneaked into Li's house last night, I overheard that they were planning to change the time and place of delivery.
Later, I followed the two dead soldiers to the back mountain and met with the "deliverer". Both parties exchanged an envelope.
The time and location of this delivery change are written in the envelope."
She pointed at the thin piece of cloth pierced by the hairpin: "The envelope given by the caravan contained only a piece of white paper, with an ink dot on the paper and no writing.
I couldn't understand the content of the letter at that time, so I tore off the skirt, cut the fabric into the same size as the letter paper, and put a drop of blood on the same position.
Afterwards, I questioned the leader of the caravan.
He said personally that all he had to do was overlap the letter paper with the small map of Log Town.
The location of the blood spot is the location of this delivery."
King Xiang: "..."
He was simply stunned: "It's so secretive? You use white paper and ink dots to convey the message. If someone who doesn't know sees it, they won't know what the message means?!"
The corner of Xiao Lingyue's mouth twitched: "When I got the letter last night, I also had a headache for a long time. In the end, I had no choice but to go back to Li's house to arrest people and interrogate them, otherwise I wouldn't be able to figure it out even if I tried hard."