Lu Bai had to admit that what the City God said made sense.
Peach Blossom Temple is quite unpopular now, and the name of the State Religion has ceased to exist in name only.
If they really want to fight, subduing demons and ghosts is undoubtedly the best way. But then again, if Peach Blossom Temple can't fight, the fault is not in Peach Blossom Temple, but because the leader of Peach Blossom Temple defected to the Immortal Sect.
.
Then we went astray because of differences over the issue of spiritual practice.
Now that Peach Blossom Temple cannot ascend, there is no use in raising it up.
Lu Bai was puzzled.
However, the words of the City God still gave Lu Bai some inspiration. If the theft of the inner treasury was related to the fire in Qingxin Palace, then there must be a big conspiracy in Peach Blossom Temple by using the City God to instruct the ghost of the palace maid to set fire for three consecutive years.
Lu Bai didn't know what the specific big conspiracy was, and he had to continue to investigate.
Thinking of this, Lu Bai's tone became gloomy, "Huh! It's Peach Blossom Temple again. It seems that stopping them from ascending is not enough. They dare to make trouble, and now they are going to ruin the luck of the Emperor! They are not afraid of the Emperor's blame.
Come down, borrow the Son of Destiny, and drive their souls to pieces?”
He raised his head and looked at the City God, "You are colluding with them, are you trying to fight against heaven?"
The City God trembled in fright.
He waved his hands hastily: "Your Majesty, I am wronged. Although the Peach Blossom Temple has declined now, it still has the power to control ghost affairs in the human world, and the magic at hand restrains us. They...there are people in your underworld, how can we dare to disobey?
they are not?"
Then, he said with a sad face: "I didn't know that letting a few female ghosts set fire would affect the luck of the royal family. It has been burned several times."
His last few words were spoken in a low voice.
Lu Bai's face softened slightly, "Humph, if the immortals of the Immortal Sword Sect hadn't come to the Central Plains, the matter of taking charge of ghost affairs and demon affairs would have been out of the reach of Taohuaguan. Phew, fortunately the child of destiny has arrived."
He left one or two vague words and was so mysterious that the city god was stunned for a while.
Lu Bai continued: "I also know your difficulties. Let's do this. You tell me who instigated you in Peach Blossom Temple, and I will go to him personally and talk to him."
"Yuan Qi, the master of Peach Blossom Temple." The city god sold the master of Peach Blossom Temple very happily.
Lu Bai was surprised, "The master of Peach Blossom Temple did it himself?"
He glared at the City God and said, "The Master of Peach Blossom Temple personally asked you to set a fire. You think it is a trivial matter, but you dare to do it? You really don't know how to die!"
The City God shrank his neck, thinking that if you guys from the underworld don't show up for more than ten years, who will I listen to if I don't listen to Taohuaguan?
"Okay, you can go." Lu Bai waved his hand impatiently.
He was not prepared to take the city god away.
Before Lu Bai found out what the peach blossom visualization was doing, it was better not to alarm others.
The City God was eager to leave quickly. After nodding and bowing to Lu Bai, his body spun around and then disappeared into the air.
Lu Bai took off his mask and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least the arson case was solved.
As for the internal treasury theft case——
Lu Bai looked at the wet soil under his feet. This was simulated by his disciples, but there was space below the ground. When the rainwater leaked downwards, the ground would be slightly rough and not as smooth as the water traces flowing across the flat ground.
From this point of view, there is a secret passage underground in Qingxin Hall.
If this secret passage is used in the theft case of the inner treasury, it would make sense, but if it is not, we have to go to the inner treasury to take a look tomorrow.
After Lu Bai made up his mind, he went back and took a nap.
The next day.
After Lu Bai washed up, he went to the palace.
The emperor asked him to thoroughly investigate the fire case in Qingxin Palace, and he now has a reason to enter the palace.
After Lu Bai entered the palace, he directly asked the young eunuch to invite the eunuch Bai over.
After he stood wandering on the ruins for a quarter of an hour, Eunuch Bai came over panting. He asked Lu Bai: "Master Lu, what do you want? I'm busy here."
"How is the emperor?" Lu Bai was not worried at all.
"I'm just busy with this matter. The Emperor has been so angry since yesterday that he has had more than a hundred cuts on his bald head. Now no one dares to wait beside the Emperor. I can only give him a few words of advice.
, he can listen and won’t chop off the old slave’s head.”
He urged Lu Bai to speak quickly if he had anything to say. Now a quarter of an hour is equivalent to a human head.
Lu Bai was surprised. There were more than a hundred heads. The emperor was about to catch up with his reputation as an executioner. "Okay, let me make a long story short. I already have a clue about this arson case. I have to stay in the palace at night to catch the murderer -
—”
Lu Bai smiled brilliantly at Eunuch Bai, "Old Bai, since you have spoken in front of the emperor, you can go and report it to me, so that I don't have to offend the emperor."
Eunuch Bai was no longer anxious, but looked at Lu Bai in surprise, "Has, has it been found out?"
Lu Bai nodded.
He did not tell the case, but said: "Old Bai, as a minister, I naturally have to share the emperor's worries. It's still early, why don't you find someone to take me to the inner treasury to see if I can also take the inner treasury's secrets?"
Is the case solved?"
Eunuch Bai pondered for a moment and then nodded, "Alright."
He didn't bother to ask Lu Bai how the fire case was solved. He called a young eunuch to come over and get his token. After asking the young eunuch to take Lu Bai to the inner treasury, the great eunuch Bai hurried back to the emperor.
.
If you want to enter the inner treasury, you have to walk through the huge harem, which is generally inconvenient for outsiders. Fortunately, with Eunuch Bai's token, Lu Bai and the others can go all the way without any hindrance. "It seems that Lao Bai has a very high status in the palace."
"Lu Bai said with emotion.
The little eunuch smiled, "Of course, Eunuch Bai is a popular person around the emperor. When the emperor was still young, Eunuch Bai was by the emperor's side."
"Oh, Eunuch Bai will serve the emperor?" Lu Bai asked.
The little eunuch nodded, "That's not bad. I heard someone said that when the emperor was young, it was hard for anyone to coax him. As soon as Eunuch Bai appeared, the emperor immediately became happy, and he had to take care of everything from food and clothing to his father-in-law."
"That's it." Lu Bai understood.
It seems that Eunuch Bai and the other father-in-laws are taking a different path. Eunuch Bai is taking the emperor's path, and the other father-in-law is taking the spiritual path. This is okay.
"What about Eunuch Bai's cultivation?" Lu Bai asked again.
The little eunuch shook his head, but then said: "It should not be bad. After the emperor succeeded to the throne, he ordered an ancestor in the inner study hall to accept Eunuch Bai as his disciple. With a famous teacher, his level must not be lower."
"Why, you haven't seen Eunuch Bai take action?" Lu Bai asked.
The little eunuch shook his head.
Lu Bai didn't ask any more questions. This was just a small talk, and he was really curious about Eunuch Bai. He liked Eunuch Bai very much. When he was with him, he was well served. No wonder the emperor liked this person to serve him.
.
After a while of silence, the two quickly arrived at the inner library.
The inner treasury has been guarded by a new group of guards. The leader of the guard is a middle-aged man with a big beard. Judging from the bulging muscles in his chest, he must be a brave and capable man sent by the military.
However, the person who is really in charge is not him, but an old eunuch.
This old eunuch is quite old, as thin as a handful of firewood, but his status cannot be lost. I heard the young eunuch whisper in a low voice that this old eunuch is the elder of the inner study hall, and his realm is in the semi-immortal realm.
It turns out that the inner treasury was stolen, and the inner study hall, which guards the palace and protects the emperor, is also to blame.
Today you can steal money, tomorrow you can steal people, and the day after tomorrow you can assassinate the emperor.
Although the emperor did not explicitly reprimand Nei Shutang, secret blame was inevitable. In order to atone for his sins, Nei Shutang sent this master.
It's just that investigating a case is not a fight. If you put such a person in the inner treasury, nothing will be found.
What's more, the old eunuch's energy was not on investigating the case.
He had been sitting cross-legged and practicing. After Lu Bai explained his origin, he just opened his eyes and looked at the token in the little eunuch's hand. He nodded incomprehensibly and then closed his eyes to practice again.
The guard leader came up at this time and personally led Lu Bai into the inner treasury.
The inner treasury is heavily guarded.
After pushing open the tall door leaf, a straight corridor appeared behind the door. It was more than one foot wide and dozens of feet deep. It was paved with bluestone bricks and led to the east wall. Both sides of the corridor were covered with gray courtyard walls, every few dozen steps.
There is a dark secret door. There are two armed guards guarding in front of each door, and there are several teams of guards patrolling back and forth. At a glance, it is empty and cold in the drizzle.
After Lu Bai and the others walked in, the sound of footsteps was extremely deafening.
The bearded leader told Lu Bai that the inner treasury had a Hui-shaped structure, with a circle of guard darkrooms on the outside and the inner treasury in the middle. There was only one corridor that could lead from the gate to the inner treasury.
As for climbing over the wall in the air——
The bearded leader said that outside is the inner palace, guarded by the imperial army and protected by the inner study hall. If there is any trouble, he should be aware of it.
Unfortunately, the money is still gone.
The bearded leader lamented, "It looks like a ghost. Fortunately, we are not in charge of this. If we were, we would probably have to move our heads."
Obviously, he didn't think he could handle this incredible silver theft.
Lu Bai didn't answer. He was looking around all the time.
After seeing the situation calm down, he asked, "Everything in the inner library should be as usual."
The bearded leader nodded, "In order to find out who stole the money, everything remains as usual so as not to cover up any clues."
"That's good." Lu Bai nodded.
The door to the inner treasury soon opened, and a rotten smell rushed in.
After taking a look inside, he found that the dampness in the warehouse was even stronger. There was water on the ground, and it almost submerged his ankles when he stepped on it. Lu Bai looked up and saw that there were indeed several big holes in the roof, and raindrops were still falling into the inner warehouse.
.
"The inner treasury has been in such disrepair for a long time, no one will repair it?" Lu Bai asked.
The bearded leader said: "It has been repaired, it has been repaired, but I don't know when the hole guard appeared."
The emperor cherishes his money very much. In order to prevent the guards from stealing, very strict procedures are required to open the inner treasury. Even if they are on daily patrols, they guards are not allowed to get too close.
"If it hadn't rained recently and water flowed out of the reservoir door, and we had to open the door to check, we might not have been able to find it," the bearded leader said.
Besides, the sky was guarded by people from the inner study hall, and they never thought that someone would break a hole through the roof.
"Where are these seals?" Lu Bai looked at the countless silver boxes, "Is the seal on this box the original seal?"
The bearded leader nodded.
They had repeatedly confirmed that it was the original seal, which was why they thought it was a ghost.
Lu Bai frowned when he heard this, feeling that this was a bit unbelievable.
He came closer, and without waiting for the bearded man to stop him, he pried open a box. The box was empty, and the seal broke with no trace of splicing. It seemed that it was indeed the original seal, but the box was empty.
"What kind of technique is this?" Lu Bai couldn't figure it out. Could it be that he was retrieving objects from the air?
Lu Bai now also knows the magic of retrieving objects from the air, and he also has a way to take out the silver without going through the box or breaking the seal, but this will take a long time, especially when faced with so many boxes of silver.
This cannot be accomplished overnight.
What's more important is that the distance must be close enough, and it is difficult not to be discovered when using such spells in the palace.
Immediately, Lu Bai thought of the tunnel.
If tunnels are used, this may be possible.
So he carefully searched the inner treasury several times, but could not find any trace of a secret passage.
"It's strange. Could it be that the ghost has really moved away?" Lu Bai muttered in his heart.
He couldn't find any clues.
However, Lu Bai has always pursued a strategy, that is, as long as solving a case is a process of trial and error, as long as you keep making mistakes, you will eventually find the correct answer one day. This may be the reason why failure is the mother of success.
Lu Bai decided to give up all clues here and return to the ruins of Qingxin Palace.
If you want to know whether this case is related to that tunnel, just go down and take a walk and you will find out.
As soon as he cleared his mind, Eunuch Bai sent someone to invite him, saying that the emperor heard that Lu Bai had solved the case and finally heard some good news, and asked Lu Bai to come over quickly and talk about it.
Lu Bai had no choice but to go.
Along the way, he kept thinking about whether he should tell the emperor what was happening at Peach Blossom Temple.
Later, Lu Bai thought about it and gave up. His pretending to be a judge was not enough to tell outsiders, and he had no evidence at hand to prove that Taohuaguan was the instigator, so he decided not to talk about it.
There is also the matter of someone setting fire to Qingxin Palace.
Lu Bai could have said it, but he was afraid that the emperor would leave the task of collecting ghosts to the Taoist priests of Peach Blossom Temple.
Isn't this just trying to get Taohuaguan to destroy the evidence?
After Lu Bai thought about it, he decided to let it slip. Therefore, after meeting the emperor, Lu Bai did not tell him directly that the case had been solved. He only said that there was still one step left to complete the clues, and he would verify his guess in the evening.
He told the emperor the truth again.
The emperor was not interested after hearing this.
However, it was not convenient for him to show anything in front of Lu Bai, so he just waved his hand to ask him to retreat, and asked Eunuch Bai to help Lu Bai solve the case in the evening.
Eunuch Bai took the order.
After the two came out together, Eunuch Bai complained: "Master Lu, didn't you tell me in the morning that you already knew the murderer?"
He also used these words to make the emperor happy.
Now, it's good that he has almost become a deceiver. "The emperor favors you, but he doesn't favor me. You don't know how to scold me for falsely telling you what you said." Eunuch Bai said.
Lu Bai smiled and said, "Old Bai, it's not that I didn't tell you. Although this case has some clues and is close to ten, I'm afraid that something might go wrong. I'm also afraid of deceiving you, so I want to catch the murderer.
Come on, let the case be finalized and then tell the emperor."