After a break from the autumn rain, the low pomegranates and gnarled persimmon trees at the edge of the courtyard were staggered at different heights. Some branches and leaves were unbearable to the wind and rain, and they fled under the trees. The persimmons were like golden lanterns, and the pomegranate fruits were cracked and crystal clear, and they were all hanging among the sparse branches.
.
The person who opened the door was Zhuo Songtao, the Ming Lingzi who had just been released. Zhuo Songtao told the news that Zhenren Yuchi had been imprisoned in Wuhoupu, the execution hall, and took Zhang Wuhou to the east side of Xuanfanfang.
He said, he explained the situation of the on-site inspection. He also focused on describing the shape, pattern, color, etc. of the found porcelain piece. At this time, Lian Jiangping, the son of the emperor, who was standing in the crowd, hesitated.
Then he spoke: "If you go by what you said, the hat-shaped porcelain piece looks a bit like the decoration of Taoist priest Long Xingguan at Dingding Gate in the south of the city. I just need to see it with my own eyes before I can make a conclusion..."
Fang Qidou looked slightly happy: "Then Junior Brother Lao Lian and Senior Brother Zhuo will go to Longxing Temple to investigate and compare first. Brothers who are better at martial arts can start from the street where the incident occurred in the morning and search carefully in all directions.
In addition, I am going to convince some older lecturers and some younger disciples to go with me to Wuhoupu to rescue the Guanzhu back."
After hearing this, Zhuo Songtao and others couldn't think of a better way for the time being, so they agreed decisively. They also persuaded Huang Shuo, the jade spirit son, with Zhu Jieran, and asked him to stay and wait for Gongsun Zhenren to come back, and tell Yang Chaoxi that he had been arrested.
After being kidnapped, I followed Lian Jiangping, the emperor's son, straight out of Xiuwenfang where Hongdao Temple was located, and walked south along Luoyang Tianjie, heading towards Dingdingmen Mingjiaofang.
Zhu Jieran, together with another group of Taoist priests from Hongdao Temple, returned to the east side of Xuanfanfang and started looking for possible clues in four directions. Fang Qidou did not hesitate and took several Taoist boys to a room.
In another Jing room, he persuaded the elderly Taoist priests to go to Wuhou Pu to rescue the temple owner, and told him his thoughts frankly. Although these elderly Taoist priests were a bit bookish, they also understood the importance of things, and heard that they were not going to go.
We called for a fight, and most of them agreed. So together with a few Taoist boys, we formed a team of more than ten people, old and young, carrying their Taoist robes, and meandering all the way to Lu Xinfang.
Sheng Chaotian Street is more than a hundred steps wide, and both sides are neatly planted with mountain cherry and other tall flowers and trees. The autumn weather is alluring in the city at this time, so there is no chance to see the grand scene of "cherry blossoms and snow".
Zhuo Songtao and Lian Jiangping suddenly walked more than four miles and saw the magnificent tower of Dingding Gate, the deep and wide city gate, the weather-worn city wall, the neat double-layered buildings with overlapping eaves, the huge Xieshan Dougong...
It was located not far away. The two of them glanced at it without saying a word, then turned east, entered Mingjiao Fang from the west gate, and found the location of Long Xingguan.
Zhuo Songtao and Lian Jiangping did not have a greeting card in hand, but in order to verify the only clue they had, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and use the names of Zhenren Gongsun and Zhenren Yuchi to explain their intention to Zhike Taoist priests and to pay homage to Longxing directly.
While the visitor, Lin Yunbo, was talking, he also saw the piece of maozheng porcelain mounted on the Xuanguan of Zhike Taoist priest. It was exactly the same as the piece of maozheng porcelain picked up at the scene in the morning!
The Taoist priest Zhike went in for a while, then came over and replied: "My temple master said that half an hour ago, some bad guards sent by Wu Houpu came here. It seems to be related to a case where a Taoist priest was kidnapped. Come and observe the case.
We are conducting an inspection. If you two are also here to look for someone, please go back! I, Long Xingguan, am an upright person and will not do such despicable things." Lian Jiangping wanted to say more, but was persuaded by Zhuo Songtao.
After the two of them left Mingjiaofang, Zhuo Songtao said: "Zhang Wuhou told the bad guards at that time not to expose the clues about the correct tiles, just for comparison. We are not from Wuhoupu, and we will definitely suffer losses if we try hard.
.Since the bad guard has been here, the comparison results must have been reported to Zhang Wuhou. If we want to take any action, we should inform Zhang Wuhou in advance. If we act rashly at this time, I am afraid that Wuhou's plan will be ruined and it will be self-defeating.
.”
Lian Jiangping thought for a while: "Then we have to go back first, tell the brothers about the comparison, and discuss it together. We can suggest that a few people take turns to come over every day and keep an eye on the vicinity of Longxing Temple. If it is indeed
What they did should show some flaws."
Zhuo Songtao shook his head: "It's better to go back first."
However, it was said that Fang Qidou led a group of old and young Taoist priests into Luxinfang, and they all knelt down neatly at the entrance of Wuhoupu and cried out their grievances, attracting ordinary people from both inside and outside the city to come around and watch the fun.
Seeing that more and more people were surrounding him, Fang Qidou only added to the momentum and quickly winked at several older Taoist priests.
These elder Taoist priests howled loudly: "Master Wuhou! We, the Master of Yuchi Monastery in Hongdao Temple, have always been benevolent and righteous. In the spring, he went out of the city to help with the plowing, in the summer, he carried water for irrigation, in the autumn, he went to the fields to cut millet, and in the winter, he gave out porridge and rice... Usually he only
Wearing old robes and shoes, eating only rough pickled vegetables, and working hard to practice Taoism... How could such a good old temple master do evil things? Lord Wuhou must have been deceived by a traitor! Lord Wuhou, please let us watch.
Lord..." After saying a paragraph, he kowtowed.
The little Taoist boys kneeling behind also kowtowed. At first they thought it was fun, but they just started shouting and making noises. Gradually, however, they were infected by the emotions in the words of the older Taoist priests, and started to cry one after another, bursting into tears. It was so desolate... Fangshi
When the old man saw the women inside and outside, he felt sympathy for them. So while chatting and pointing, he dug up all the "old accounts" that Wu Houpu's bad Wei had been doing rampantly in the past, and criticized them one by one.
In the excitement of the crowd, some brave women threw rotten vegetable leaves, eaten fruit cores, etc. in their hands towards Wuhoupu, and others followed suit.
The few unscrupulous guards outside Wuhou's shop saw that scolding was useless, so they had no choice but to turn around and go in, close the door of the shop and report the situation to Zhang Wuhou.
Zhang Wuhou was sitting in front of the desk in the shop, discussing the case of "Taoist Priest Abduction" with several bad guards. He had heard the noise outside. At this time, he saw the bad guards outside the door hiding back, with some filth hanging on their bodies. He couldn't help but feel
He waved his nose and said, "Aren't we all used to being arrogant on weekdays? Do you know what it's like to see people's resentment boiling over? The sage Taizong once said, 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.' I will never deal with the common people again."
, have a better attitude, be sweeter, and speak more truth, why are you inciting new and old grudges? Alas! The trouble you caused has to be settled by me in the end! It is both a loss of face and an insult to the official reputation...
What a bunch of dogs!"
When the seven or eight bad guards saw Zhang Wuhou's reprimand, they all said yes and lowered their heads, not daring to refute.
Zhang Wuhou left the office room, walked into the small courtyard of Wuhou Pu, looked at the sky, pondered for a while, and sighed: "That's it, I'll go meet these Taoist priests for a while! Although they are hateful and can be killed, they are also
It's interesting to know some methods that can be used by the people..." After saying that, he walked towards the door of the shop. Finally, several unscrupulous guards were worried and followed him to protect Zhang Wuhou.
The corner of Zhang Wuhou's mouth was slightly raised, and he decisively removed the bolt of the door. With the overwhelming sound of abuse, he couldn't help but swarm up with scattered vegetable leaves. Zhang Wuhou pushed away a piece of white sativa leaf on his shoulder and said in a deep voice: "Where did you come from, a Taoist priest!
It's a serious crime to gather at the government office and defy the laws, so why don't you leave quickly!" At this time, the evening drums in the city sounded evenly, with a deep and long sound.
Fang Qidou was about to go up to answer the question when he heard the sound of drums and knew that nothing could be done today, so he called all the Taoists to get up and hurried back. According to the regulations of the Sheng Dynasty, the evening drums were played only twice, and the drums were beaten for the first time.
Four hundred hammers, the city gate will be closed; a second strike of six hundred hammers will close the gate. If you can't get back before the gate closes, and if you encounter a bad guard patrolling the streets again, you will definitely be punished as "violating the night ban"
" was arrested on charges.
When Fang Qidou led a group of Taoist priests and rushed back to Xiuwenfang out of breath, the sky was already dark. The autumn rain that had stopped for a while was falling again. Starting from this night, the weather was probably going to get colder. Looking up
, more than a dozen Taoist priests gathered in the Xuanyuan Hall. The candles in front of the incense table flickered, and the aroma lifted the spirits and made people feel restless.
Fang Qidou saluted the elderly Taoist priests and Taoist boys who had been busy all afternoon, and entered the Xuanyuan Hall, only to see Zhu Jieran, Zhuo Songtao, Huang Shuo, and even Jiang Ping waiting for him in the main hall.
Even the usually taciturn elder brother Chun Zongzi Shang Sizuo was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Looking at everyone's expressions, one could tell that they all returned in vain just like him.
Now that his actions have been frustrated and his morale is low, things are still like a mess, one after another. But no matter what, we can't be discouraged. Since everyone is waiting for him, they must also want to discuss a follow-up strategy so that things can be settled one after another.
Smooth the piles, find the key points, and then break them one by one.
The truth is so simple, but it still takes a lot of effort to turn it into a strategy. Zhuo Songtao was the first to break the dull atmosphere: "Junior Brother Lian and I went to Longxing Temple to compare, and the hat-zheng porcelain piece is indeed
It belongs to Long Xing Temple. However, the temple owner, Lin Yunbo, refused to see us and asked Taoist Zhike to come back with a few high-sounding words for us. I don’t know whether he was guilty of being a thief or didn’t bother to defend himself.”
Chun Zongzi Shang Sizuo continued: "Junior Brother Fang, Senior Brother Zhu Jieran and I started from Xuanfan Square and searched in all directions along the possible horse hoof prints. We also asked many people who were going in and out of the market. Many people
It is said that I was hiding from the rain in the square at that time and did not notice any horses running by. However, there was a goods store on the south side of the city. Before the market opened at noon, I was receiving a batch of goods outside the east gate of the square when I saw a Taoist priest.
I rode a black horse and passed north, and there seemed to be a mass of something in front of me. But it was just an accidental glance, but I didn't pay much attention."
Fang Qidou collected his thoughts and said: "Although we did not rescue the viewer this afternoon, we can still put pressure on that Wuhou Pu. Senior Brother, when we go back tomorrow, we can bring this clue to Zhang Wuhou
.As long as Zhang Wuhou is willing to go all out to solve the case, I'm afraid there will be more clues like this. But I feel that we are a bit like headless flies now, stumbling around, which is both energy-intensive and time-consuming. Why not sit down?
Let’s sort it out again, or maybe we can come up with something.”
Shang Sizuo gave a rare smile: "Junior brother Fang, the brothers in Shangqing Temple don't know, but we know you best. You have been weird and full of tricks since you were a child. Even the master of the temple is sometimes fooled by you.
.Isn’t the punishment for this small? If you have something to say, just say it without any red tape!"
Fang Qidou scratched his head in embarrassment: "This is what Senior Brother taught you! I just want to ask why these masked Taoists kidnapped Junior Brother Chong Lingzi?"
Huang Shuo thought for a while and said: "The masked Taoist said that they were from Dao Chong Temple, and their temple master liked the swordsmanship of Junior Brother Chong Lingzi, so he had to kidnap him. But we have been there, but we didn't find Junior Brother.
It also implicated Temple Master Yuchi..."
Fang Qidou said with a smile: "Since those Taoists are masked and say that they are Tao Chongguan, aren't they asking for trouble? So it's just an ordinary frame-up. Even if we know that it is a frame-up, we have to go to Tao first.
Looking for someone on the lookout is their strategy, it's called 'hiding the truth' and 'killing someone with a borrowed knife'."
Zhuo Songtao also smiled and said: "According to your analysis, the piece of porcelain with the correct hat pointing towards Longxing Temple is a sign of 'diversion of trouble to the east'!"
Fang Qidou relaxed his brows slightly: "That's not necessarily the case! If Long Xingguan was not involved in this matter, it would be a case of 'driving trouble to the east'. If he was involved, it would be a case of 'complicity'. But according to my inference, these masked men
If a Taoist priest wants to divert trouble to the east, Long Xingguan's Taoist robe is not so easy to borrow, right?"
Seeing that Fang Qidou was thinking about things, Zhu Jieran was indeed unconventional. Although he was a bit unreasonable, he was not lying, so he said: "According to what you said, Long Xingguan is still a little suspicious. Are you providing convenience? Or are you colluding? Tomorrow.
You have to arrange for someone to conduct a detailed investigation. First, ask someone to ask the Taoist priest in Longxingguan, which is considered a "use room"; secondly, go to the West Market and Nanshi and find the cloth shop where Longxingguan often buys cloth.
, follow the clues and see what you can find.”
However, Huang Shuo joked: "We were originally discussing countermeasures, why are we discussing the art of war again?" Everyone laughed after hearing this, and then put aside all the frustrations of the day and continued to discuss each other word by word.