Chapter 405: Forming a Network and Setting Up a Strategy
The only way now is to find the real mastermind and designate the eucalyptus as the iron eucalyptus, so that the two princesses can escape from the palace.
Li Qinzai is very clear that the current situation is getting more and more serious. It has gradually separated from the nature of the incident itself and is increasingly taking on the flavor of a political confrontation.
However, the source of everything is still the real mastermind who has never been arrested.
To trace the source, we can only start from the enemies of Guo and Fan. The direction may not be correct, but it is the only feasible direction, and other directions have become dead ends.
In his hand, he held a list selected by Song Sen. The list was full of people who theoretically had enemies with Guo and Fan. There were more than a hundred people listed among them, making it difficult to distinguish between loyal and traitorous people.
Li Qinzai could only identify them one by one, and even had to rely on guesswork.
After staring at the list for a long time, Li Qinzai suddenly murmured: "There is one thing in common. Most of the people bullied by Fan Yunxian are relatively poor eunuchs in the palace. You see, some of them are garden supervisors of Huanglin Garden, and some are eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Their official positions are
The highest one is only the ninth-grade head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
"Tsk, Fan Yunxian is the queen's chamberlain, and he is a popular star in the Forbidden Palace. Is he so worthless that he has nothing to do all day long to seek the bad luck of these low-level eunuchs?"
Song Sen glanced at the list and said: "There is something that Mr. Li County may not know. These low-level eunuchs who were bullied by Fan Yunxian were all the most popular people in the Tai Chi Palace many years ago."
"Some of them were the people who served around Queen Wang, the people who served around Concubine Xiao Shu, and the people who served around the deposed Prince Liang Li Zhong. At that time, they walked with their nostrils upturned in the palace..."
"Later, Empress Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu were hanged, and the former prince was deposed. These arrogant eunuchs lost their power, their status plummeted, and they naturally became low-level eunuchs."
"Fan Yunxian's bullying of them was probably due to the grudges that Empress Wu had accumulated with these people's masters back then, so she took pleasure in torturing them, which was a way of venting the ill will of the empress and himself."
Li Qinzai was startled and sat upright involuntarily. He stared at the list seriously again and couldn't help but raise his hand and give Song Sen a hard slap.
"Are you born stupid or did you have a stroke the day after tomorrow? Didn't you find such an obvious clue?" Li Qinzai said angrily.
Song Sen looked confused and covered his head: "What clue?"
"In the list of more than a hundred people, there are actually only about 20 people who were famous in the past. We will focus on these 20 people and check them one by one."
Song Sen was shocked and said: "What does Mr. Li mean by saying that only among these famous people back then could he be Fan Yunxian's enemy?"
Li Qinzai said solemnly: "The hatred accumulated over many years is the real hatred. The other people who were bullied tolerated their anger, but they were just cowards. They were used to being bullied, but they did not dare to take the initiative to retaliate."
"Only those eunuchs who have been famous before, who have seen conspiracies and experienced ups and downs, who know how to be patient and know how to kill with a single blow, are the real suspects."
Song Sen pondered for a long time, and if he had some realization, he clapped his hands hard and said excitedly: "If there are only more than 20 people, I will take them down and torture them one by one. If you don't believe me, they won't kill them!"
Li Qinzai sighed: "You have exposed your stupidity again..."
"Uh..." Song Sen looked puzzled and stupid as expected.
"How dare you, a small chief of Baiqisi, make such a big fuss in the palace? Are you, the Emperor and the Queen, blind and deaf?"
Song Sen was stunned for a while, then straightened his clothes and bowed to Li Qinzai.
"The lower official is stupid, please ask Uncle Li for advice."
"Go out, find a tree to hug, look up to the sky and shout 'I'm an idiot' three times, and I'll tell you."
Song Sen: “…………”
"Forget it, I can't offend you to death. Maybe we will cooperate next time." Li Qinzai changed his words regretfully.
Song Sen breathed a long sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "...Thank you very much."
"You asked the palace informants to spread the news that Guo Fan and Guo Fan who were imprisoned in Dali Temple had retracted their confessions again. The real mastermind was someone else. Dali Temple has obtained the evidence. Tomorrow, the emperor will be summoned to the court to report it to the emperor and arrest the prisoners.
."
Song Sen was stunned: "What then?"
"Then send people to keep an eye on these twenty or so people to see their reactions tonight."
"How will they react?"
Li Qinzai said slowly: "Innocent people may be scared and panicked after hearing the rumors, but they know they are innocent and will not take any action."
"But if it is the real mastermind, the reaction will be different. They may find a way to escape from the palace, they may bury physical evidence, or they may pretend to be casual and inquire about the mastermind... In short, he will definitely do something
kind of behavior."
Song Sen's eyes lit up: "A plan to attack the heart? High!"
Patting Song Sen on the shoulder, Li Qinzai said: "This is the person we are waiting for. Are we sure we can capture him later?"
Song Sen puffed up his chest: "Yes!"
Song Sen, who looked excited, stood up and said goodbye neatly: "I'm going to prepare now and say goodbye."
Li Qinzai smiled encouragingly and said: "Go, Makabaka, you useless little trash."
…………
Outside Chang'an City, in an unknown apricot blossom forest, a thatched cottage is looming among the elegant red and white apricot blossoms.
There are only three or two rooms connected to the thatched cottage. There is a fence in the open space in front of the cottage. There are some chickens and ducks in the back of the house, as well as two handsome red-crowned cranes.
Sandalwood was burning in front of the hut, and an old man sat cross-legged, eyes half-closed and immersed in stroking a guqin in his hand.
A burst of quaint and distant piano music echoed in the apricot blossom forest, along with the faint smell of sandalwood floating in the air, which was poetic and picturesque, with an elegant artistic conception.
The old man devoted himself wholeheartedly to the sound of his piano, completely forgetting himself, and even had some enlightenment. I wonder if he had understood the way of heaven in the sound of the piano, and there were faint signs of ascension.
The Lord of Jinxiang County knelt down on the futon and raised her mouth slightly. She could not appreciate such elegant music at all, but was filled with thoughts.
After an unknown amount of time, the old man finally sighed dejectedly. Apparently, there was no breakthrough this time and there was no hope of ascension.
If Li Qinzai was here at this time, he must know this old man.
They are considered half acquaintances.
At that time, Li Qinzai led the Li family tribe to travel hundreds of miles from Chang'an to Taiyuan, and burned down the ancestral home of the Wang family in Taiyuan.
And this old man was none other than the great scholar Niu Fangzhi who blocked Li Qinzai outside the Wang family's ancestral home.
Later, when Niu Fangzhi learned the truth, he was immediately ashamed of himself and deeply ashamed of the Wang family's evil behavior. He angrily walked away in the fire at the Wang family's ancestral house and broke off diplomatic relations with the Wang family.
After breaking off diplomatic relations, Niu Fangzhi came to Chang'an alone, found a quiet and elegant place outside Chang'an city, settled in a cottage, and enjoyed the quiet life of a hermit in the world.
Until today, the peaceful life was broken by the sudden arrival of the Lord of Jinxiang County.
Why did Jinxiang know this great scholar Niu Fangzhi?
Because of her father, Prince Teng.
An old dandy who likes to be arty and specializes in associating with the literati and poets of the day.