As the sky dimmed, a mouse entered the bedroom, checked with Xu Zhiqiong's eyes, left the few grains of rice he picked up with Xu Zhiqiong, and then got into the mouse hole.
Xu Zhiqiong came back to his senses. He opened the door and found Yan Fengru sleeping next to him.
It seemed that nothing happened last night. Xu Zhiqiong stretched his waist, stretched his soul that had been bound for a long time, and prepared to catch up on another night's sleep. He had just slept for more than half an hour when he heard someone knocking on the door: "Yan
Musician, it’s time for Mr. Xu to leave.”
Yan Fengru opened her eyes, put on her shirt, put on her shoes, opened the door, and said expressionlessly: "Master, walk slowly."
Xu Zhiqiong could understand Yan Fengru's mood, but he didn't dare to say anything more and hurried out of the room.
Wu Xu was waiting at the top of the stairs, and Xin Chu held Wu Xu's arm reluctantly.
Seeing Xu Zhiqiong coming out and knowing that Wu Xu was leaving, Xin Chu held Wu Xu's hands and said silently and affectionately: "Mr. Lang, when will you come again?"
Wu Xu smiled slightly and said, "Soon, just wait for me."
The two of them went downstairs and arrived in front of the door. Wu Xu took out a piece of silver and gave it to the doorman.
One ingot of silver is fifty taels, which is what Wu Xu and Xu Zhiqiong spent last night.
how?
Not much.
In a place like Yinggeyuan, one hundred taels for one pavilion master and one musician is not too much.
But the clerk didn't accept Wu Xu's money: "Your Majesty, our Pavilion Master has ordered us not to accept your pollen."
Wu Xu frowned and said, "What's the truth?"
The waiter shook his head and said, "Don't try to reason with me. I only follow the instructions of the master of the pavilion."
In the attic, Xin Chu looked at Wu Xu's back in a daze, while Yan Fengru said from the side: "Is that man that good?"
Xin Chu sighed: "In the entire Daxuan Kingdom, there must be no other man like him."
"What's his name?"
Xin Chu shook his head and said, "He won't say it, but I can guess it."
Yan Fengru blinked her big eyes and said, "Can you guess this? Let's talk about it."
Xin Chu smiled: "Why should I tell you? How was that handsome boy with you last night?"
Yan Fengru smiled bitterly and said, "I was asleep. As soon as I entered my room, I didn't do anything and went to bed early."
Xin Chu said in surprise: "I think that young man looks straightforward. Did you act too hastily and scare him?"
"I'm so anxious that I'm so anxious, but they don't pay attention to me at all, and I sleep so well!" Yan Fengru shook her head repeatedly, as if she felt unspeakable bitterness.
The two were chatting, and the chief steward in the courtyard came to Xin Chu: "Master Xin, there are guests to see you."
Xin Chu frowned and said, "When is this the time to meet guests?"
The butler stepped forward and whispered: "The guest's surname is Liang, he must see you."
Xin Chu sighed softly, nodded and said, "Let me wash up for a while, and I'll go right away."
…
Wu Xu and Xu Zhiqiong rode their horses back to the Yamen in confusion.
Xu Zhiqiong didn't sleep all day and night, and it was understandable that he had no energy. Why was Wu Xu so tired too?
Didn't he accompany the pavilion master singing all night? He should be radiant!
In fact, Wu Xu didn't sleep either. He spent the first half of the night singing with Xin Chu, allowing Xin Chu to fall asleep without resorting to force or medicine.
In the middle of the night, Wu Xu checked all the twelve lofts in the Yueyuan.
He has long been eyeing Yinggeyuan and has brought people to check it out several times. It is really difficult to start with this place, and there were many omissions during the investigation.
The four attics that Xu Zhiqiong asked to check were all locations that had been missed before.
As for the Music Academy, because Wu Xu didn't have anyone who was absolutely reliable and knew music, the entire courtyard wasn't checked.
Last night, he finally got a chance. Wu Xu searched the entire music hall by himself, but there was no clue.
Returning to Mingdengxuan, Wu Xu yawned and said, "Did you find anything?"
He had no hope for Xu Zhiqiong. It was lucky that Xu Zhiqiong was not found last night. Unexpectedly, Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said: "Yes."
Wu Xu was startled, seeing that Xu Zhiqiong was in a daze all the way, but he didn't expect that he would actually gain something.
"Qianhu, I found a darkroom on the fourth floor of Huihan Pavilion, just to the east of the pavilion master's house."
Wu Xu beamed: "How did you find the darkroom?"
Xu Zhiqiong had already thought of an excuse: "I estimated the size of the house outside the attic. After sneaking into the attic owner's room, I found that her room was smaller than it looked from the outside."
While talking, Xu Zhiqiong took the pen and ink and drew the approximate location of the darkroom.
"Judging from the size of the pattern inside and outside, the darkroom is here. I took a look in the master's room. There was a rat hole in the wall, and it was pitch dark inside. But judging from the sound of the wind, there was a room behind the wall.
A house, a big house.”
Wu Xu couldn't hide his joy: "Good boy, I trusted you for once. Didn't you enter the pavilion master's room and the doorman and the pavilion master didn't notice it?"
This was a weakness. The reason why they didn't notice it was because Xu Zhiqiong was a mouse at the time. Naturally, they couldn't tell the truth. Xu Zhiqiong could only explain: "My subordinates were careful, and they took advantage of the fact that the disciple was asleep."
When I entered the attic, there was no sound at all in the owner's room."
"I really saw you right!" Wu Xu cooked a pot of hot wine and drank a few glasses with Xu Zhiqiong.
"You have a good rest during the day, and you will have to follow me on night patrol tonight."
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Should we still go to Yinggeyuan?"
Wu Xu shook his head and said: "Tonight we have to change a house. There are not many places called a hospital in Daxuan Capital. Guess where we are going?"
"A place called the courtyard..." This really confused Xu Zhiqiong. A place of this level was not within the level he was familiar with.
While he was thinking, Green Lantern Master Xiao Songting walked in: "Qianhu, Hanlin scholar Zeng Shibin came to visit me."
Hanlin Bachelor accepts the decree and is the chief official of the Hanlin Academy, also known as "Han Chang" and "Bachelor Dean". What is he here to do?
Needless to say, he must also want to find out about the conflict between Wu Xu and Zhou Kairong.
Wu Xu took a sip of his wine impatiently. He handled the matter so carefully, but there was still a lot of chaos that he couldn't get rid of.
Xu Zhiqiong is still thinking about the question just now. Besides Yingge Courtyard, what other places are qualified to be called a courtyard?
"Does Hanlin Academy count?" Xu Zhiqiong asked sincerely.
Wu Xugang drank until he squirted out everything in his mouth. Xiao Songting looked puzzled: "Zhiqiong, what did you just say about the Hanlin Academy?"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Qianhu just asked me..."
"Zhiqiong," Wu Xu interrupted Xu Zhiqiong, "You go back to the hut to rest first. Remember, you are absolutely not allowed to leave the Yamen today."
He was not allowed to leave the Yamen.
If you don't leave the Yamen, you can't go to the Punishment Department, and you can't redeem your merits today.
Xu Zhiqiong was lying on the bed in the small house, thinking about what he had seen and heard last night.
There are thirteen people imprisoned in secret rooms in Yingge Courtyard. Who are they?
What is Wu Xu’s purpose in investigating Yinggeyuan?
Xu Zhiqiong wanted to tell Wu Xu about the Yin and Yang magic circle in the dark room, but he couldn't because it was unclear.
Xu Zhiqiong wanted to know the truth of the matter. He vaguely felt that Wu Xu was fighting against a very powerful force, but he didn't know what Wu Xu's purpose was.
Party strife? Wu Xu doesn’t seem to care too much about political affairs.
Private grudge? Xu Zhiqiong knows nothing about Wu Xu’s private life.
Emperor's order? The emperor may give orders directly to the Zhang Deng Yamen, but Zhong Shen should not be unaware of it.
Wu Xu is a trustworthy person. He has helped me, and I should do things for him.
But you have to do things clearly.
It was early in the morning, and many lantern-carrying men had just returned to the Yamen. There were many people and Xu Zhiqiong had a good sleep in the hut.
In the afternoon, the yamen was completely quiet. Xu Zhiqiong also woke up and decided to go to the small dark room.
He was holding two things in his hand. One was a rag from Fan Baocai's clothes, with a little white powder still remaining on it. This powder was shot by Liang Yuming on Fan Baocai. Xu Zhiqiong did not dare to touch it. He suspected that it was the
The reason why Fan Baocai became a Gu man.
The other was rice grains picked up from the mouse hole last night.
Xu Zhiqiong picked up the rice grains first, and the clues of these rice grains were easier to trace.
First, you need to make reasonable inferences, and then use accurate enough imagination.
These few grains of rice were spilled when delivering food. Someone was delivering food to the people in the dark room. There were more than a dozen people in total. They must not use food boxes, but should use large wooden barrels.
Thinking about the appearance of rice in the rice bucket, some outlines appeared in front of Xu Zhiqiong's eyes, and Xu Zhiqiong's reasoning was in the right direction.
The screen was a little shaken at first, but after a tremor, it completely stabilized.
It is also easy to speculate that a person came to the door of the darkroom carrying a barrel, first put the barrel down, then opened the darkroom, and then lifted the barrel.
My guess was correct. The barrel was stable for a while, then began to shake. After the tremor, it became stable again.
This man has already entered the dark room and put down the bucket. Is he ready to serve food?
No, the direction I guessed is wrong, and my vision is a little blurry.
After he entered the dark room, he had to disarm the magic circle before he could send the food in.
What does it look like to disarm the magic circle?
Xu Zhiqiong had seen Tong Qingqiu do it, using talisman paper, spells, or medicinal powder. Xu Zhiqiong was imagining it when he suddenly heard some voices.
"Zhizhi~zhizhi~"
The sound of a mouse!
Are there mice in the dark room?
of course not.
This was the sound coming from the screen. Xu Zhiqiong's guess was right again. The man was indeed dismantling the magic circle. The correct direction of reasoning brought him more information.
"Zhizhizhizhizhi~"
The rat's cry suddenly became urgent. What happened?
Xu Zhiqiong heard cries, then heard footsteps, a muffled sound, the picture in front of him shook violently, and Xu Zhiqiong finally saw the light.
The man lifted the magic circle, someone ran away, knocked over the rice bucket, and some rice fell to the ground.
The reasoning was completely correct, and the picture in front of me became clear.
There is actually a lamp in this dark room, and there are a dozen women with numb expressions sitting around them. They have been imprisoned for an unknown period of time, and they seem to have given up the idea of escape.
One woman did not give up her escape and rushed out when the magic circle was opened, but was caught by the person delivering the food.
The person who delivered the food threw the escaping woman into the magic circle and rushed forward, punching and kicking her. He was very skilled.
It's not him, it's her.
Although Mi Li couldn't see her face from her perspective, Xu Zhiqiong was convinced that the person delivering the food was also a woman.
who is she?
The master of Huihan Pavilion?
The woman who escaped was beaten to death. The woman who delivered the meal picked up the scattered rice into the rice bucket and threw it into the crowd. Some rice was left on the ground, including the rice that Xu Zhiqiong was holding in his hand.
The woman who served the meal took out a piece of talisman paper and burned it.
The magic circle was restored, and a dozen women disappeared together with the lamp.
After watching the last scene, Xu Zhiqiong reached his limit. Exhausted, he fell out of the small dark room and returned to the small house.
Lying on the bed, Xu Zhiqiong struggled to breathe. There were many questions that he still couldn't figure out.
Yingge Courtyard is an official courtyard opened by the Ministry of Rites. Why are there more than a dozen women imprisoned in the official courtyard?
Are these women being punished for breaking the rules, or are they related to the recent series of missing women in the capital?
Was Wu Xu investigating Yinggeyuan to save these women?