Longbei Mountain on the west bank of Yuenv Gorge is not too high.
But it is enough to overlook Dickong Gate.
Especially on a midsummer night when the moon and stars are scarce.
There are just a lot of mosquitoes, and they keep getting into the collar and sleeves.
"Mingfu, are we going to...see the stars?"
"If you're looking at the stars, why should my junior sister and I take you with us?"
"..."
That makes sense.
On a narrow lawn that protrudes like a high platform on Longbei Mountain, Diao Xiancheng, with several long followers behind him, couldn't help but stretch out his hands to scratch and scratch. At the same time, he looked at the backs of the handsome man and woman in front of him, and asked curious questions from time to time.
This high lawn with a good view on Longbei Mountain is where the young county magistrate likes to take them every morning.
From here, you can overlook the Dickong Lock below, and even Yunmengze with its rugged waves and thousands of islands like boats.
The scenery is nice during the day.
But now I am here in the middle of the night...
The Prime Minister of Diao County sighed melancholy. It was really hard for him to meet such a high-ranking official as Mingfu, and he was not happy to accept it.
He can always give you something new.
"Mingfu, why don't we go down yet? Aren't we going to the gate? Why are we here in the middle of the night?"
"Didn't I tell you something interesting?"
Ouyang Rong turned around with a smile, applied a small bottle of mosquito repellent ointment that his junior sister had prepared for him, and threw it to Diao Xian Cheng, who was shrinking behind him:
"Put some on it. Well, Master Diao, come closer."
Diao Xiancheng hurriedly took it, his eyes lit up, he applied it, and said:
"Mingfu, I'm afraid of heights. It's better not to get too close to the cliff. You may get dizzy easily."
"come here."
"Why don't we forget it? Mingfu can just tell the official directly what happened next, and the official will listen carefully..."
"come over."
"Mingfu, I am really afraid of heights. I once fell from the roof when I was young."
"I'm not interested in Mr. Diao's childhood. If you get over here, you won't be able to fall down."
"Mingfu..."
"I asked you to come over, don't pretend to be confused."
"Ah...Mingfu, no!"
The young county magistrate smiled and grabbed the thin monkey-like old magistrate's arm and pulled him to his side, which was at the edge of the lawn halfway up the mountain. He pointed in the direction of Duke Di's gate below and raised his chin.
"Has Prime Minister Diao seen clearly what they are doing?"
"Night shift overtime...right?"
"You call this night shift overtime?" Xie Lingjiang squinted at the old fritter next to him who didn't want to do anything:
"Sneaking around is like being in a nest of rats. Oh, no, there is still a slight difference. After all, it's just a thief, and it's a night shift, right? Do you want to give them a late night snack?"
The Prime Minister of Diao County shrank his head and remained as silent as a cicada.
The eyes that originally wanted to dodge were caught by the scene taking place quietly inside Duke Di's Gate.
He and several followers behind him stretched their necks to stare at the strange thing below.
There are many silhouettes of people on Dee Gong Gate, where a torch is set up every ten meters.
A group of Mr. Chen's craftsmen were carefully carrying wooden barrels one by one. Under the leadership of a chubby clerk, they filed into the inner gate of Dickong Gate, which was about to be completed and was also the last to be completed.
At the door of the inner lock chamber, Mr. Chen and other old craftsmen took out the keys and opened the doors one by one, allowing the craftsmen to enter.
You can vaguely see these craftsmen carrying barrels in and coming out empty-handed.
It was obvious that those strange wooden barrels were left in the inner lock chamber, which was about to be completed and closed.
This scene was going on quietly on the gate, or in other words, it was happening in the open. After all, it was illuminated by the torches on the side, and it was difficult to cover it up in the night.
But no one stopped it.
Looking to the left from the high platform of Longbei Mountain where Ouyang Rong and Diao Xiancheng are located, in the duty camp on the river beach on the other side, bonfires are being lit. Many county clerks and workers are having dinner.
Rest.
It seems that no one knows what is happening in an orderly manner at Dee Gong Gate not far away.
In other words, someone may have seen it or even asked about it, but they just thought it was Mr. Chen and other craftsmen working on the night shift. Without much suspicion, they continued to guard the outer camp, guarding against external movements, but never thought about what was behind them.
The strange things inside Dickong Gate.
Ouyang Rong turned around and asked with a smile:
"Master Diao, what do you think of the scenery here? It's not in vain, is it?"
Diao Xian Cheng remained silent, his wide eyes quietly reflecting the scene happening below.
"Master Diao's neck is so long, it seems he is not afraid of heights."
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and said with a smile.
Diao County Prime Minister couldn't help but clutch the narrow-necked porcelain bottle containing mosquito repellent cream in his hand. His mouth was dry and he stammered:
"Mingfu, he...they are..."
"Obviously, it's night shift overtime." Ouyang Rong replied.
"..." Diao County Cheng.
"Master Diao, aren't you pretending to be confused?" Xie Lingjiang asked with side eyes.
"Master Xie was joking."
Diao County Prime Minister laughed sarcastically and looked at it silently for a while. He couldn't help but turn his head:
"Mingfu, Master Xie, let's just stand here, why don't we go down and take a look? Can we stop them?"
"Stop it, why stop it? Master Diao is desperate for his life? This is a slide that cannot be touched."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but lean back slightly, bared his teeth and inhaled:
"Master Diao, do you want to catch an adulterer in bed? Well, you have to consider your thin arms and legs as appropriate. What if you can't beat the adulterer?"
The young county magistrate put away his joking expression, chuckled and asked:
"Go down now. There are so many of them. How can we defeat them?"
"It's totally unreasonable for such a young man to be so sneaky!"
Diao Xian Cheng gritted his teeth, waved his sleeves and shouted something.
Then he observed Ouyang Rong's calm face and asked cautiously:
"Then what should we do now, Ming Mansion? Do we want to stay away from the enemy for now? Let's bring our troops here tomorrow and seize them again. Arrest them all and interrogate them one by one?"
"Why are you so anxious, Master Diao? Maybe they just transported some flowers, plants, bricks and stones in, and they can be used as ballast stones in the lock chamber to add weight... Well, what do you think of this argument, Master Diao?"
?”
Diao Xian Cheng immediately shook his head and said seriously:
"I don't believe it! If it was really an honest matter, why did you do it in the middle of the night in a sneaky way? There must be something wrong in your heart...
"Ming Mansion, those wooden barrels brought by the Dragon King Temple priests' carriages are definitely not good things. It is recommended that they be investigated immediately."
Ouyang Rong glanced sideways from the face of Diao County Cheng, who spoke uprightly, and looked silently at the craftsmen below who had finished transporting the barrels and began to finish work in an orderly manner.
He nodded, shook his head again, and only asked:
"Master Diao, have you seen clearly who are below?"
"Look...see clearly."
Diao County Cheng organized the following speech:
"A clerk named Yuan Tao, as well as Mr. Chen and his craftsmen."
Ouyang Rong asked again casually:
"Then what are they doing?"
"Tonight, I'm transporting buckets of things I don't know their names and uses to the lock chamber of the inner gate of Dickong Gate."
After a pause, seeing that the young county magistrate in front was silent, Diao Xiancheng gritted his teeth and continued to organize his words:
"These wooden barrels were brought by the priests of the Dragon King Temple who were invited to hold the gate cleaning ceremony today, on the pretext that they were used by Liu family craftsmen to build the inner gate."
"Oh? It turns out that Diao Xiancheng has such good eyesight and can see quite a lot of things."
Diao County Prime Minister and his men looked at each other, gritted their teeth and said:
"Ming Mansion! All these things that happened are clearly visible to the subordinates and subordinates. If there is a problem with the newly built Di Gong Gate in the future, it is probably their fault! We must thoroughly investigate to the end."
"Eh."
Ouyang Rong stood on the edge of the lawn with his sleeves rolled up. For some reason, he sighed, nodded and said:
"But Mr. Diao translated well."
Speaking of this, Ouyang Rong turned around and smiled:
"Since Mr. Diao and you all have seen it with your own eyes, that's all. Don't say much in the next few days until I arrange it."
Diao Xian Cheng and the followers behind him were stunned.
Ouyang Rong stared at them and asked softly: "Do you understand?"
"Ming...understood."
"Okay. Everyone, please go back first. It's getting late, so we can't delay Master Diao's sleep."
"The Ming Dynasty is joking, official matters are important, official matters are important!"
Ouyang Rong smiled and left with Xie Lingjiang, who was holding a sword and standing tall, without looking back:
"Master Diao, go down the mountain from another way. Go back on your own, and be careful on the way. I have something else to do, so I won't accompany you."
"Yes, Mingfu."
Here we go, grab the little tail during the day and cough. There will be another update around 12 o’clock in the evening! (pucker up)