The sky and the earth are whistling, and the horse is blowing from the west.
——Excerpt from "Shui Diao Ge Tou·Pingshan Hall Yong Dongpo Rhyme" Fang Yue (Song Dynasty)
…
The entire case, regardless of the truth or speculation, has finally come to an end.
Tang Kui said: "Based on the assassin portraits provided by Brother Fu, we have basically locked in the identities and methods of activating the eighty-eight spies lurking in Chang'an. What's the next step?"
Fang Shuliu said: "I will immediately go to the Holy See and report the matter to His Majesty face to face, and His Majesty will judge it."
Bai Fu said: "In my opinion, it's best not to alert the snake, just keep these people under surveillance. The puppet Yan's An Qingxu is still there, and Shi Siming is ambitious. Keeping these spies may become a move for us to wipe out the rebels in the future.
.”
Fang Shuliu said: "What Brother Bai said is absolutely true. I will enter the palace to meet the saint right away."
…
At dusk, Fang Shuliu returned to the Bashu Guild Hall.
"What did your Majesty say?" Tang Kui asked impatiently.
Fang Shuliu looked complicated and said slowly: "Your Majesty believes in the identity of the secret agent, but he does not believe it completely. For example, Bian Lingcheng and others, your Majesty is convinced and gnashes his teeth with hatred. It is precisely because Bian Lingcheng is An Lushan
That's why he framed Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing and asked the Supreme Emperor to kill the generals before the battle and destroy the Great Wall.
As for Yu Chaoen and others, His Majesty disapproves and firmly believes in his own judgment."
Tang Kui was very angry and said: "We have spent so much effort to find out the list, but His Majesty actually passed it by?"
Fang Shuliu didn't answer and looked at Bai Fu.
Bai Fu smiled faintly and said: "Fifth brother, it's not surprising that His Majesty is also afraid that we will bring in private goods.
Your Majesty trusts and relies on Mr. Li Mi so much, but you don’t fully accept Mr. Li Mi’s opinions. Therefore, you don’t need to pay too much attention to it. At least it serves as a reminder to Your Majesty.
On the contrary, as an emperor, it is terrible to trust someone wholeheartedly. For example, the emperor's unlimited favor towards An Lushan and Yang Guozhong led to catastrophe.
Mr. Fang, what instructions does your Majesty have for these spies?"
Fang Shuliu said: "His Majesty has ordered the arrest of the spy confirmed to be An Lushan lurking in Chang'an."
Tang Kui said: "Why don't you adopt Brother Fu's advice and don't scare the snake?"
Fang Shuliu said: "Your Majesty is afraid of long nights and many dreams. He is worried that the inner ghost will leak the news and allow the spy to escape."
Bai Fu said: "In that case, let's assist the government in catching the fugitive. There are no wanted spies, so let's follow the original plan and monitor them privately."
Tang Kui said: "Brother Fu, aren't you angry that things have evolved to this point?"
As soon as these words came out, even Fang Shuguang looked at Bai Fu with great interest to see how Bai Fu would answer.
Bai Fu smiled and said: "To be honest, my expectations for the imperial court were not high from the beginning. In terms of intelligence, every official in the imperial court is well-read in poetry, fighting in the officialdom, and experienced. However, the process of countering the rebellion was full of twists and turns.
, the strategic deployment is full of loopholes, why?
Everything in the world is intertwined and entangled. They are in intertwined interests, but it is not as clear as we, a commoner, can see.
Of course, it would be the same if we were in the same position.
To put it another way, no matter what, we have identified these hidden spies, and this is the biggest gain.
My master often says that in Taoism, just follow the trend and do your best."
…
At the third watch, the night was as dark as ink and the rain was pouring. In such weather, not to mention the watchman, even the civet cat huddled in its nest and refused to move.
In an abandoned courtyard near the city wall, there was a large stove in the kitchen. A wandering porter moved the firewood piled messily in the stove. A hole the size of an iron pot was exposed under the stove. More than thirty people
A masked man in black holding a sword jumped out of the hole.
The porter said to the leading man in black: "General Cui, turn left after exiting the temple gate, and you will see the city wall. This section of the city wall is relatively loosely guarded, and we can climb over the wall from here. I have prepared climbing tools such as flying tiger claws."
"
The leading man in black nodded and said, "Bao San, you did a good job."
Another man in black reluctantly looked at the rows of magnificent courtyards in the distance and sighed: "Brother, are we just leaving like this? Are we giving up all the wealth we have accumulated over the years in vain?"
The leader of the men in black glared at him fiercely and said: "Old Niu, look at how useless you are. Money and money are all external things. If you save your life, you can still earn it back.
It’s not like you don’t know that boy Bai Fu, his hands and eyes are all-powerful, and he will definitely retaliate. It is said that he assisted the Shenwu Army and the Yingwu Army and captured many spies lurking in Chang’an.
We will be discovered by him sooner or later when we are lurking in the Jinwu Guard. If we leave too late, our lives will depend on Chang'an."
The person speaking was really an old acquaintance of Bai Fu - Cui Han, the former Wannian County Captain.
At that time, Li Musheng, the son of Li Linfu, was almost hanged in the street by Bai Fu for fishing in the sea of lights. The person who rescued Li Musheng from Bai Fu was Cui Han, the captain of Wannian County. Afterwards, according to the instructions of Li Linfu and Ji Wen, he framed Li Musheng
Bai Fu and the prince.
After clinging to Prime Minister Li, Cui Han rose to great heights, from a small county lieutenant to a general of the Jinwu Guard.
The man in black, Lao Niu, was once Niu Zhao, the chief swordsman of Xiang Li's mansion. He also led people to surround the Bashu Guild Hall and capture Bai Fu. In the fight, he was defeated by Huang Zhen.
After Li Xiang's death, both of them were implicated. In order to preserve their prosperity and wealth, they secretly defected to Anlushan and became two officers placed by Anlushan in the Jinwu Guard.
…
Bao San, a porter, opened the courtyard door a crack and stuck his head out. Seeing no one around, Bao San turned around and waved. More than thirty masked men in black wearing bamboo hats and raincoats lined up in two teams.
, filed out.
These people were all members of the Jinwu Guard. They were highly skilled in martial arts and moved quickly. They walked through the rainy alley and approached the city wall.
Suddenly they heard the sound of plucking a string, and everyone was scared out of their wits.
Looking up, at the end of the long street, at the foot of the city wall, there is a pavilion. It is usually used for people to rest and shelter from the rain and sun.
Incense was lingering in the pavilion, and a rosewood table was placed in the middle.
A young man, with his hair tied up in a golden crown, and his clothes pinned with gold and white robes, was sitting on his knees on the couch, playing a guzheng in his hand, playing a leisurely tune, with a contented look on his face.
Bao San drew out his long knife and shouted in a low voice: "My boy, I'm tired of living, and he comes out to play tricks in the middle of the night!
The young man in white didn't even raise his head, just minding his own music.
Bao San roared, brandished his sword, and rushed out first.
The young man in white, without raising his head or moving his body, moved his three fingers first and then again, and plucked the three strings. Three ancient seal characters radiated out.
The rhythm of ancient seal script passed over the rain strands, making the air tremble slightly. Several rain strands instantly turned into sharp steel wires.
Leopard Three rushed through the rain in front of him, like tofu passing through a sieve, cut into several sections by the murderous steel wire. His internal organs were flowing to the ground.