Lu Bai kept thinking about this idea at the luncheon.
In the palace, under the watch of the guards, the seal of the silver box was not opened, and the silver disappeared.
This is interesting.
Thinking of how he had gone into the palace yesterday and was stopped by the old eunuch before he could wait for the harem, and how the money was gone.
Lu Bai was wondering if it was a thief.
But there was so much money, almost the same amount as the inner treasury. Where did the money go after the prisoner stole it?
Once the silver is stolen, the emperor will search throughout the palace. There is no way to hide so much money.
Lu Bai thought of another problem. This impression was stolen and the fire in Qingxin Palace happened on the same night. There would be no connection between the two. For example, the panic caused by the fire could take advantage of the opportunity to steal the money.
only--
How did the money disappear?
Lu Bai couldn't understand it, so much so that even this fine royal meal didn't taste very good.
After dinner, Lu Bai originally planned to check for clues about the baby, but he changed his mind and returned to the ruins of Qingxin Palace. If the fire last night was related to the silver theft case, he might be able to find some clues.
.
However, the only anomaly that Lu Bai found was the pillar with its upper half intact and the lower half burned out, and the anomaly in the open space under the pillar that Lu Bai discovered. However, this had nothing to do with the fire, so Lu Bai didn't take it to heart for the first time.
, but now I keep an eye on it.
Standing on the ruins, Lu Bai asked the little eunuch waiting next to him without hesitation, "Where is the inner treasury?"
The little eunuch pointed to the northwest, "In the northwest corner of the harem."
It was originally the cold palace, but later the emperor changed it into the inner treasury. A wall was built to separate the inner palace from the inner treasury, and many guards were stationed there to protect the emperor's money.
Lu Bai nodded clearly.
He looked in the direction of the inner treasury and then at the ruins at his feet, thinking deeply in his heart.
Gu Qinghuan came over quickly.
She wanted to go back and asked Lu Bai if he wanted to go back. Seeing that time was running out, Lu Bai withdrew and took a car home with Gu Qinghuan at the palace gate.
While in the car, Lu Bai didn't talk much and kept thinking.
Putting aside the theft of the inner treasury for the time being, just talking about the fire in Qingxin Palace, Lu Bai had an undecided idea in his mind.
"This fire seemed to happen out of thin air," Lu Bai said.
There are guards guarding the outside, and due to frequent water leakage inside, all flammable things inside have been cleaned, so there is no source of fire or opportunity for arson. The ruins now prove that there are no traces of fire at all.
Gu Qinghuan reminded Lu Bai, "You have forgotten your speculation last night. This fire is most likely a will-o'-the-wisp."
Lu Bai nodded, "Yesterday it was just a random guess, but now I really think it's a will-o'-the-wisp."
Gu Qinghuan also saw it this way, which confirmed Lu Bai's opinion.
He made up his mind, and when he returned, he used a rattle to summon a city god, and then tried every means to find out the ghosts in the palace.
Since Lu Bai arrived in the capital, he rarely used the rattle.
It’s not that I don’t want to use it, it’s that I don’t dare to use it.
This is the base camp of Taohua Temple. Lu Bai feels that Taohua Temple neglects the management of the city gods elsewhere, and it should not be able to manage the city god in the capital. If he rashly summons the city god, it will not be a good thing if Taohua Temple discovers him.
He was not afraid of offending Taohuaguan, but he was afraid that his previous plan would go to waste.
When it comes to catching ghosts, Taohuaguan is professional, while Lu Bai relies purely on appearance. As he is about to fight for ghost territory, Lu Bai may not be Taohuaguan's opponent yet.
But it's different now.
Lu Bai now had an honorable reason to summon the city god.
Although Peach Blossom Temple is now in decline, it is still at least nominally the state religion of the Southern Dynasty. It is reasonable and reasonable for Lu Bai to summon their city god to investigate the case for the emperor. Even the owner of Peach Blossom Temple cannot say anything more.
However, before going back to do this, Lu Bai had one more thing to do in the car. It wasn't that he was being disrespectful to Lu Qinghuan. In fact, he had been being disrespectful since he got in the car. What he wanted to do was draw a lottery.
Although the emperor personally admitted the demonic rumor case, Lu Bai actually found out the truth——
The emperor is Liu Yan's grandson.
Although this truth was obvious and not very important to the case, it was solved anyway, so Lu Bai had a chance to draw a lottery and he used it without hesitation.
The turntable quickly stopped.
To be honest, Lu Bai didn't have much chance in this lottery. The reason is self-evident. This case was solved very well. If the mastermind behind Liu Cuilian's death is found out, maybe he can draw a big one.
However, Zhuanpan told Lu Bai with facts that as long as he had something to do with the emperor, no case was too small.
He gets a mask.
This mask is a ghost mask. It looks eerie and scary, but Lu Bai likes it very much because it is not an ordinary mask, but a "judge" mask.
As mentioned above, as long as Lu Bai wears this mask, he will hide his anger and turn into a ghost judge.
Lu Bai knew about the ghost judge. Judges are officials in the underworld and are mainly responsible for judging cases.
"The status of this judge should be higher than that of the Night Wandering God, right?" Lu Bai felt that this was really a sleepy pillow. He was just preparing to become a city god today, and the panel gave him a big gift.
This panel is so inhumane. If it were a person, he would definitely have a mistress by now.
The car walked slowly on the street.
The old woman was still kneeling in front of the Tiandi Temple, her clothes were soaked and her body was shaking. But she still insisted on kneeling there and ignored those who advised her to leave and take a rest.
Lu Bai stopped the carriage.
He asked his disciples to go to the nearby wine shop and buy a bowl of spicy soup for the old woman to warm up.
The disciple did as he was told. When he served it to the old woman, the old woman didn't even raise her head. The passers-by who were watching said, "She doesn't want to eat. This old lady is too stubborn."
But after the disciple called home, he pointed to the carriage not far away and said, "Chief Lu Zhen asked you to drink it."
The old woman's eyes passed through the rain curtain. After seeing Lu Bai who opened the curtain to look at her, she took the spicy soup and drank it in one breath. The disciple smiled and went back to the car.
The carriage quickly disappeared from the old woman's sight.
Back at the wine house, Lu Bai asked his men to arrange some things, then went to eat, and then served Lu Qinghuan in an unceremonious manner - this time, Lu Qinghuan was not serious, sitting on it like a small motor.
Lu Bai waited until Gu Qinghuan fell asleep, put on his clothes and got out of bed, and walked to the venue set up by his disciples.
There are two places on the ground, one is the normal ground, and the other is where floating soil was added after the pit was completed. Now the water on the normal ground is flowing freely, and the surface is smooth and bright; while the surface of the floating soil is dark and dark, and the water is soaked into it.
Went down below.
Lu Bai nodded and asked the disciples to rest. Then he put on his mask and sounded the rattle at hand.
Boom, boom, boom!
The muddy tone of the rattle sounded quickly, the sound did not travel far, and soon disappeared in the drizzle.
Then, there was a flash of black smoke in the misty rain, and a figure appeared in front of Lu Bai.
This is a middle-aged man.
He wore a silk shirt, his face was shiny, and his belly was fat. From time to time, he had to hold his belly with his hands, otherwise it would fall off.
His smile is very funny, and there is a hint of cunning in his comedy.
He walked around in circles a few times, and before he saw Lu Bai, he handed over his hand: "The little town god has seen..."
Then, the city god was stunned, and after a long time he saluted with a puzzled look on his face: "I have seen the judge."
"Yeah." Lu Bai nodded coldly.
As a judge, he was one level higher than the Night Travel God. Being too enthusiastic about his subordinates would make people suspicious. However, Lu Bai murmured in his heart, which judge did this ghost mask make him become? Why did the city god see him?
Recognize it immediately?
Before Lu Bai could understand this, the greasy city god took a step forward and said to Lu Bai flatteringly: "Sir Judge, you haven't been up there for a while. What kind of wind has brought you here?"
Lu Bai keenly grasped the meaning of these words.
In this way, in the official hierarchy of the underworld, the judge stays down below and will not come up if there is no important matter.
Lu Bai's mind was spinning, and he spoke very quickly, "An evil wind blew me up!"
Lu Bai's tone was full of anger and majesty.
The City God was frightened and said, "Where do I start with these words? Please tell me, the judge."
After that, he quietly took out a stack of things from his sleeves and stuffed them into Lu Bai's hand. Lu Bai glanced sideways and saw that they were some ghost coins, but they were not the usual coins. He didn't know what material they were made of. They were heavy.
of.
This copper coin also has the words "King of Hell Tongbao" on it.
Lu Bai was startled, good fellow, it seems that not only the world, but also the underground is a big society.
He knew that since the city god knew the judge and dared to give money, it meant that the judge was not a good bird, so Lu Bai collected it and put it in his sleeve.
A trace of doubt flashed across Cheng Huang's eyes again. Lu Bai guessed that he was wondering why Lu Bai was so unskilled in collecting money.
"Ahem." Lu Bai cleared his throat, "What happened in the palace last night?"
The City God was stunned for a moment, and a trace of panic flashed across his face. He quickly lowered his head and replied: "Sir, there was a fire in the palace yesterday, but the emperor, the queen mother, and the empress were all safe. Only a few palace maids and eunuchs died, and nothing happened.
Big mistake."
When he finished saying this, he raised his face and carefully looked at the expression on the judge's face.
"Really?" Lu Bai's tone became colder again, "Then why did the decline of Long Qi'er indicate that the lamp of destiny in the Southern Dynasty was dimming, and it seemed that there was a change that was not within the destiny, and that the general trend of the country's fate had changed?"
"This matter alarmed Lord Yama. Because the trouble was so serious, Lord Yama specially ordered me to come up and investigate the matter thoroughly." Lu Bai said.
"this……"
The City God panicked and his cunning eyes rolled around, "Indeed, it is indeed just a simple slip of the water."
"Really?" Lu Bai's tone was cold.
He felt that this city god must know something.
Lu Bai put his hands behind his back and looked in the direction of the imperial city, "What caused this fire?"
The City God was not confident enough and replied: "Sir, the Qingxin Hall has been on fire not once or twice. There was a fire last year, and this time it is normal. There is nothing to investigate."
"Within common sense?" Lu Bai looked back at him, "It's within common sense."
He said coldly: "I haven't been here for a long time, the judge. I didn't expect it to be in such a mess."
As Lu Bai spoke, he pulled out a knife with his left hand, a bladeless wooden knife, and struck the city god who was caught off guard with a swipe of his hand.
"Ayo!"
The city god cried out in pain and even rolled on the ground in pain. Instantly, large beads of sweat broke out from his forehead.
Lu Bai took a look at the bladeless knife in his hand and was surprised.
The introduction on the panel about this bladeless knife was that it doesn't hurt when hitting people. Lu Bai once thought, if it doesn't hurt when you hit someone, does it mean that it hurts when you hit something that is not a person? It has been around for a long time, but it has never been verified. Now I know it.
I guessed it right.
He sneered, holding a bladeless knife in his hand and pulling out a flower, "Have you thought about it clearly? Tell me if you have thought about it clearly. I don't believe that it is common sense for the Qingxin Temple to catch fire continuously. There is always something setting fire to it."
"Yes Yes."
The City God huddled on the ground, and after a long time he slowly got up. His whole body was covered in sweat, and he looked like he was exhausted.
He replied: "Qing, due to a palace coup more than 20 years ago, many palace maids died in Qingxin Palace, many of whom were burned to death. They were very resentful, and after their deaths, their souls were not punished, and they turned into
The evil ghost is lingering in Qingxin Hall."
He gasped and covered the place where Lu Bai's knife hit him with his hand. At the same time, he glanced at the bladeless knife in Lu Bai's hand with lingering fear, "These evil ghosts will set a fire every now and then. This, this time the fire was set by them."
of."
Lu Bai frowned and said slowly: "It is reasonable for them to prevent fires, and it is not the first fire. Why did this fire cause such a big change?"
He focused his eyes and looked at the City God, "So much so that the fate of the Southern Dynasty was changed?"
The City God waved his hands hastily, "I don't know, I really don't know, Lord Judge, I really don't know."
Lu Bai chuckled, "If you don't know, you can just tell them directly about the anger they set, why bother covering it up for them?"
He waved the bladeless knife in his hand, and the city god shivered in fear.
"Since you don't tell me, I'll go check it out. But if I find out, I won't just have a few bucks to grind around now. I'll have to be prepared to lose my mind." Lu Bai flicked his fingers.
He flicked the bladeless knife in his hand and said, "Believe me, he can do it."
He waved his hand to let the city god go.
The City God was now full of panic. Seeing the bladeless knife in Lu Bai's hand when he waved his hand, his psychological defense immediately collapsed. He hurriedly said: "I move, I move all, it's Peach Blossom Temple. The master of Peach Blossom Temple asked me to find those evil ghosts.
Let them set the fire yesterday."
Lu Bai frowned, "Peach Blossom Temple Master asked them to set the fire?"
He didn't understand, "Why?"
Cheng Huang shook his head heartily this time, "Sir, I really don't know about this. I just charge money to do things, and they didn't tell me. Oh, by the way, he asked me to find the two fires last year and the year before that.
Those fierce ghosts burned it."
If he hadn't found those evil ghosts, those evil ghosts would never have burned down the Qingxin Palace so regularly.
The main reason is that they have lived a good life in the Qingxin Hall these years. All the tributes the Emperor paid to the Supreme Emperor in the Qingxin Hall have gone to their stomachs. They feel that being the emperor's ancestor is much more interesting than burning down the Qingxin Hall.
Lu Bai was speechless, these ghosts were really powerful.
While Lu Bai was meditating, the city god also helped Lu Bai analyze, "Your Majesty, I guess Peach Blossom Temple can't bear the loneliness. Since the master of the temple defected from the Immortal Sect, heaven and the lower world have ignored them at the same time. When Peach Blossom Temple broke up,
Peach Blossom Temple's strength has been greatly reduced, and its prestige in the court is no longer there. They are letting ghosts burn the fire now, obviously they are looking for something to do for themselves, so that the emperor can trust them again."