In the middle of the night, with heavy autumn rain and a brisk breeze, the pagoda stands like a lamppost in the purple bamboo forest, surrounding the pagoda, with large red lanterns hanging under each eaves, and the yellow tassels looming.
Normally no one would set foot in such a solemn place. Even in the back garden of the palace deep in the purple bamboo forest, there is no reason to stay here unless it is for spiritual practice and worshiping the Buddha. Therefore, the winding path leads to the secluded place, and there is only one way up and down the mountain.
Therefore, the news that the Buddha statue was stolen has not yet been spread.
"You dare to report to Mr. Mei? I will kill you now!!!"
Such a vicious sound came from the Zen room that was supposed to be pure and free of distractions. The birds that were sheltering from the rain fled away after hearing this. The great monk who came to deliver tea and food was so frightened that he thought it was Shura.
In this world, I took a break and put my palms together to pray, saying "sin, sin" repeatedly.
"Before we find the Buddha statue or capture the person who stole the Buddha, whoever dares to reveal the slightest information is sworn in with me, Mei Xinghe. I will definitely find him and kill him before I die!"
The great monk regained his breath, knocked on the door nervously, and asked: "Donor, please calm down. Please believe me, sir. It is not easy to get angry in front of the Buddha..."
When the sound stopped, the monk entered the door, only to see Mei Xinghe wiping sweat with a handkerchief. Her breathing was rapid, her chest was rising and falling, and there was a fragrance that hit her nostrils. No matter which man saw it, he would unconsciously think: Could it be the fragrance exhaled from her mouth and nose?
She clearly looked like a frightened and weak woman, but her words were so cruel.
——As soon as the great monk entered the door, he felt as if he had stepped into a different world. Everything he saw and heard was inconsistent, and cold sweat could not help but fall on his forehead.
He didn't dare to say anything.
The official standing in front of Mei Xinghe replied: "I closed the mountain today to prevent the Buddha thief from escaping, not to hide the facts! But I have said it first. It is my suggestion to keep you idle for several days.
As you said, just let me take the blame. If this can't calm Mr. Mei's anger, then there's nothing I can do."
"To put it lightly." Mei Xinghe picked up the handkerchief and covered his mouth and said, "In my opinion, Mr. Tong has no idea how important this matter is. My life is not important, but Mr. Mei's reputation in front of the emperor is more important!"
Tongyun sneered and retorted: "Since the girl's life is not important, then I don't care about you, but I still have to act impartially and find out who the person who stole the Buddha is."
"What does this mean?" Mei Xinghe suddenly stopped being reserved and stood up like crazy and asked repeatedly: "Are you still planning to tell the truth?"
As he spoke, the woman suddenly came to Tong Yun's side, hid a needle in her sleeve, and aimed it at his heart. At the same time, she stopped the monk and said, "No one is allowed to move. If you talk nonsense again, I will kill you immediately!"
"No one can die here today." In the rainy night, someone came holding a brown oil-paper umbrella. The person in the house, who was on the second floor of the pagoda, could still hear the voice clearly.
Tong Yun leaned against the door and complained: "You guys come so slowly."
But after a moment, the voice came again from behind the door of the Zen room: "I just went to take a look at the place where the Buddha statue was stolen, and I wasted some time."
“Ding-deng-deng.”
The great monk heard the knock on the door and went to open the door to bring the person in. The man behind the door also handed him the soaked umbrella. The great monk said goodbye and resigned.
"How is it? What do you think after reading it?" Tong Yun continued to ask: "Brother Yuchi, as the current head catcher of Dali Temple, should be more perceptive than me, right?"
Yuchi Zhen came in, looked at Mei Xinghe's unconvinced expression, and asked, "She was the one who just shouted to be killed? She doesn't look like such a rough person."
"Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts." Tong Yun interjected.
"Back to business, based on my opinion and other people's comments, I personally believe that the Buddha statue has actually been stolen long ago. The criminals used cloth to cover it up and deliberately left only the head part of the Buddha statue, and then waited until the day of completion to try to transport the head away. , creating the illusion that the Buddha statue disappeared out of thin air.”
Yuchi came to sit down in front of Mei Xinghe, held an empty teacup in front of her, asked her to pour tea, and said: "Can't you see that, girl?"
"I...I'm too panicked. I'm rude." Mei Xinghe filled a cup of tea and started to cook another bowl, but Yuchizhen immediately saw that she was deliberately finding something to do for herself to relieve her embarrassment. status quo.
Yu Chizhen continued: "The problem now is that we don't know when the Buddha statue was stolen - was it missing from the beginning, or was it stolen after being wrapped in cloth? Or was it just stolen today? of……"
"Who was the first person to discover that the Buddha statue was missing?" Yu Chizhen turned to look at Tong Yun who was standing next to the door and said, "Before we know the exact time of the theft, the first person who discovered it is the biggest suspect, because at the end of your life There is almost only half a quarter of an hour between seeing a Buddha statue and discovering that it has been stolen, so the first discoverer has the most sufficient time to commit the crime."
Tongyun replied: "He is a Buddhist carver. Everyone calls him Foreman Liu."
"What is his opinion on the disappearance of Buddha statues out of thin air?"
"Like everyone else, maybe the living Buddha ascended and became a god or something like that."
"Brother, haven't you questioned me carefully?"
Tong Yun showed an expression of disbelief and walked to sit next to Yu Chizhen and said: "I asked, and no one noticed anything wrong, because at that time everyone was packing their things and moving up and down the mountain road. Only Gongtou Liu suddenly wanted to take a look at the Buddha statue. He said he was afraid that his skills were not good, so he repeatedly checked whether his work was flawless. In the end, the Buddha statue disappeared out of thin air. How could such a tall Buddha statue be stolen in broad daylight? Absolutely impossible, so Everyone has no clue and can only explain it as disappearing out of thin air or ascending to immortality."
"Then what?"
"I only asked these questions, and I was very confused at the time."
Mei Xinghe brought the brewed tea over, filled it for each of the three of them, and said carefully: "Since Mr. Yuchi has an idea, why not seize the time to interrogate Mr. Liu?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "It's easy to judge people, but this is a serious matter, so I came here overnight for the sake of my friends." Yu Chizhen looked at Mei Xinghe, if there was any Thought: "If necessary, I must report it to the Minister of Dali Temple and ask him to allocate manpower to me to continue the investigation."
"No!" Mei Xinghe jumped up immediately, and the teacup on the table was knocked over by her feet: "This matter must not be made public!"
Yuchi asked curiously: "You still don't know the girl's name? Why do you attach so much importance to this matter?"
"Mei Xinghe."
"You are Mei Xinghe!" Yuchi was a little surprised. He stared at the woman in confusion for a while, as if he was meeting her for the first time. In fact, they had at least had the opportunity to meet during the imperial competition. This situation continued until the same day. Yun called him out before ending: "Brother Yuchi, it's important to handle the case first."
Yuchizhen adjusted his posture and said seriously: "Since you belong to Mr. Mei, you can ask your master to assign some people to do things for us. After I find out who stole the Buddha, I will personally report it to the Minister of Dali Temple, and officially How about arresting the criminal without making any noise or alerting anyone, and then asking you to take the blame?"
"I don't need fame." Mei Xinghe felt the look in Yuchi Zhen's eyes, and his whole body became hairy. Then he hid in front of the window and leaned against it, looking at the rainy night, and said, "I only hope that Mr. Mei will not be implicated in this matter." ...After all, the Buddha statue was stolen in the Purple Bamboo Forest, I..."
"Does the girl really not care about her own life?" Yu Chizhen suddenly asked: "Are you willing to throw your life away just because you lose your reputation?"
Tong Yun had been with Mei Xinghe for so many days, and this was the first time he saw her looking so weak, so he immediately agreed: "Anyway, the theft of the Buddha statue is at most a dereliction of duty on our part, and it will not cost us our lives. I want to pursue it, It's just because I want to do it. I have no choice, I was born to uphold justice and repudiate evil, so such petty theft really makes me upset!"
"It's OK to deceive the little girl with these words, sir." Mei Xinghe turned her face sideways, the tip of her nose was wetted by the slight raindrops in the wind, and the makeup on her eyes was also a little messy. She didn't know if she had cried secretly, but her words Still as sharp as an arrow: "I don't understand why you want to help me, but I really don't care about my own life. However, Mr. Mei must not be slandered in the slightest because of me, absolutely not!"
——When she reiterated her wish again, she stared directly at the two young men.
"Brothers are like this, don't worry about it." Yuchi Zhen walked over to close the window and awkwardly handed his handkerchief over. Mei Xinghe declined politely and walked to the other side avoiding Yuchizhen.
Tong Yun then joked: "What I just said may be a bit exaggerated, but one thing is true. There is no doubt that we all like to investigate cases. While enjoying it, we can also uphold justice and punish injustice."
"Okay, I'll try."
After Mei Xinghe finished speaking, he slowly opened the door. His waist was swaying like a willow leaf in the wind and rain.
"Are you going back? Take my umbrella. I'll stay here tonight." Yuchi smiled stupidly and said, "It's at the abbot's place."
"have a finger in the pie."
The woman turned around and said something coquettishly, then walked downstairs with small steps, her voice was very soft and very fast.
After a while, a brown oil-paper umbrella reappeared in the rainy night.