Cao Xiwan held a towel on his head and walked into the night, feeling that after talking to Lou Xiliu, his thoughts began to flow even more.
Carrying a pot of medicine bags and the Four Treasures of the Study, she ran to the small spring behind the Lumo Pavilion. She planned to take a bath while writing a false report.
The mist is steaming and the moon is light golden.
Occasionally there are autumn rains and chills.
She made strange noises, waved her towel and showed her claws, driving away a few monkeys, and happily occupied the monkeys' hot springs.
Pavilion Hou Hot Spring has introduced three small pools, which are covered with pebbles and each pool can only accommodate one person.
This time, she was lying by the pool, writing a false secret report that had been heard, [The King of Zhao’s army secretly sent a surprise force to bypass Mei Guogong’s isolated city and make a surprise attack on the capital.]
Actually, it's not a new one.
She had just heard a rumor from the attendants in the East Palace:
[The King of Zhao has been at a disadvantage for a long time and wants to negotiate a peace with the Duke of Mei.]
On a rainy and cold autumn night, she took a boat out of the capital.
Going to the back alley of Jinyi Yamen in Jiangning County, she sent secret reports to Lao Wu for ten days.
In her false secret report, it was written: "King Zhao is negotiating peace on the surface, but is secretly preparing to launch a surprise attack on the capital."
She is extremely sophisticated, so naturally she would not say it so directly in the secret report, but this is what she means in every word.
First, she rented the cheapest store in Shangyuan Wharf, facing the official road. Because it was the noisiest. She could hear horses passing by outside the room window every day, and the number increased several times compared to the same month in previous years.
Secondly, on the river surface of Shangyuan Wharf, we can see how many spy boats are coming and going at night. The number is many times higher than usual.
Thirdly, in Shangyuan and Jiangning, many farms gathered a large amount of old grain. It was even difficult for new grain to be put into warehouses. If rebels approached the capital, they would rob grain within a radius of fifty miles in the suburbs of Beijing. They could easily ride in without bringing grain or grass.
The capital was besieged for a long time without any shortage of food and grass.
The result that can be speculated is obvious: [King Zhao is negotiating peace on the surface, but secretly is preparing to surprise the capital. ]
Finally one day, the news led to the appearance of spies.
That night, she remained the same, the same time.
It was a dark day, she hugged her belly, knocked on the door, and slipped a few secret reports into the crack of Lao Wu's door.
The man behind the door, Old Wu, still threw out a bag of loose money, but this time there were hundreds of coins. She was startled.
She heard Old Wu laughing and cursing at the door as if he had had some wine: "Qu Ba, you write every day that King Zhao's army has a surprise soldier coming to the capital, don't you just want to make money from me?" He remained silent.
Old Wu spoke at the door, "Everyone is working hard to negotiate a peace. We are told not to make nonsense reports. It is better for us to do less than to do more. The top of the head is responsible for such big things."
She bent down and picked up the copper coins from the ground, counted them and put them in her arms.
Suddenly, another piece of gold leaf was thrown at her feet. She looked up at the bottom of the alley, where two night walkers in black were looking at her.
She looked at the man in black lightly.
Finally appeared.
At the bottom of the alley, two night walkers in black looked at her. There was a gold leaf in front of her feet, which they had thrown over.
"Brother, money is yours. Keep your mouth shut."
"I'm a woman."
"...eldest sister."
She looked at them and then at the gold leaves on the ground. The man in black said, "It's for you. You know what you can and can't say."
She silently picked up the gold leaf and kept it in her arms.
There were also several night walkers in black in the room, discussing secretly with Old Wu: "Will she report to the capital?"
"No, she is my spy. She only reports to me. She is an old man who has been following me for more than ten years. She has never been reported to me. Don't worry, we people are only here to make money."
She walked out of the back alley and put the coins and gold leaves in her pocket, intending to use them as private money. She thought:
spy.
Bought Lao Wu.
Even her superior officer, an old fan who has remained loyal for more than 20 years, can actually be bribed!
How could Old Wu do this? From the outskirts of Beijing to Xuzhou City, where Mei Guogong was guarding alone, hundreds and thousands of households in Jinyi Yamen were bribed.
She thought, no, it's impossible. Shangyuan and Jiangning counties guard the Yangtze River waterway. It is inevitable that there will be a few traitors in these two places. It is also inevitable that there will be anti-thief spies coming and going. Even colluding with the Xunfu and the relatives of the country to secretly deliver the news is also unavoidable.
Quite a few.
But the traitor in Jinyi Yamen is not easy to win over.
Song Chengming was not a vegetarian.
Neither is she Qingluo female ghost.
Thanks to her being a slave in the Marquis's house, she is extremely loyal and courageous. She keeps an eye on the gossips in the yamen inside and outside the capital for the Marquis, ensuring loyalty and enforcing family laws. In short, she is very good at snitching on her colleagues behind their backs.
After she resigned, she secretly made arrangements. As long as she went back to Liuji Drug Store and checked the accounts, she would know who had been bribed.
She took a boat back to the capital overnight and sneaked into Liu Ji's shop.
The Qinhuai River in front of the shop is still bustling with life. The drums are beating at midnight. Although there is no sound of orchestral music, the boats in the river are still brightly lit and reflect the moonlight. It is clear that there are people from the capital, traveling by boat and holding candles.
The night watchman was dozing off. She had calculated the day and slipped into the east wing of the back building.
She took a look through the crack of the window and saw that the east wing room was cleanly furnished and fully furnished. The green tent was half-draped and someone was sleeping soundly on the green tent bed.
"Xiao Qiao - Xiao Qiao - I am Miss Xiao Wan -"
She chirped and screamed.
Xiao Qiao sat up in surprise and saw Cao Xiwan squatting in front of the bed. He was frightened half to death by her ugly appearance. Through the thin green gauze curtain and the moonlight, she looked as ugly as a ghost.
Fortunately, Xiao Qiao is now also a "Trial Hundred Household" and is Song Weiren's deputy. He has been on duty at the Nanhe Hundred Household Office these days. He sleeps in his own shop across the street at night.
He calmed down after experiencing many things. Most importantly, he recognized Sister Qu at a glance.
"...Can't you change your identity and be an eyeliner?" He was worried.
"Scared? When you were a kid, I relied on this status to take you shopping with me, and we cheated you out of a lot of sweets." She squatted outside.
"...That's Xiao Shuang." Xiao Qiao put on her clothes and came out.
"He gave you candy to eat. I know."
She giggled. When she was young, she and Su Jintian held hands and pretended to be the boys and girls playing in the neighborhood. Later, when she got older, she liked to take the children out for a year or two, pretending to be holding one in her hand and carrying a baby in her belly.
A young neighborhood woman.
"Before, I was young and good-looking, and even though I had spots, they were not too scary. I was also cleanly dressed. The child I was holding was the cutest on the street. Now, my life is getting worse day by day... The child is given away
I'm dead, my husband is dead, and even the rags and tatters on my body were all picked up by me." She whined as she walked towards the shop's accounting room.
"...You are wearing senior brother's old clothes." Xiao Qiao opened the door of the accounting room and pointed out sharply, "He was looking for it in the box a few days ago."
"...Don't tell him. I will put it back secretly."
"His old coat contains three 10-tael notes worth of personal money. If you don't return it to him, we will all be scolded as thieves."
She was so shocked that she immediately took off her coat: "Where is it, where is it!? Where is the banknote? He still owes me money!"
From this look, it seemed that she wanted to embezzle Su Jintian's private money.
"You won't let go of thirty taels..."
"Three cents is money! You don't know the hardships of poor families!" She beamed with joy.
Cao Xiwan and Qiao Qiangsheng laughed and quarreled, then quietly entered the accounting room, and found the locked cabinet of shopkeeper Huo by familiar means.
She dug out the medicine sales account book from the drawer.
Xiao Qiao had already closed the window and lit the lamp. She carefully flipped through the account book. There was the name of the traitor on it.