"What?" After hearing Meng Yang's report, Zhao Zongshi had the same reaction. His eyesight went dark and he almost fainted.
Not caring about putting out the fire, he ordered people to gather the palace guards.
"Those who went to Tibet with Mr. Meng earlier, step forward!" Zhao Zongqiu ordered.
Then seven guards took a step forward.
"It's not just that." Meng Yang had already gone through every scene after the fire in his mind.
"There is also Zhou Heiqi." The guards looked at each other, and a leader said: "I just saw him putting out the fire with us."
"What about others?" Zhao Zongqiu asked loudly: "Who has seen Zhou Heiqi!"
All the guards looked at each other, not knowing where the man had gone.
"Who carried me out?" Meng Yang asked with a sullen face, not looking like he wanted to thank his savior.
"It seems to be Zhou Heiqi..." the guards whispered.
"Who handed me that sweat towel?" Meng Yang asked again.
"It seems that it's still Zhou Heiqi..."
"There's something wrong with this person." Meng Yang said bitterly: "Eighty percent of him is a spy!" An eighty-year-old woman has a child, and Mr. Meng has been cautious all his life. Who would have thought of killing him at the most critical place?
"This guy is eating everything inside and out." Zhao Zongqiu said murderously: "I have to cut him into pieces with a thousand knives!" Then he roared: "What are you doing standing there, go find someone quickly!"
"Also," Meng Yang thought about it again and again, then gritted his teeth and said, "Search carefully to see if there are any books or the like on the ground. As long as they are with words, take them all. Anyone who dares to hide them will be severely punished!"
"Here!" The guards accepted the order and dispersed.
"Sir, don't worry." Lu Huiqing, who had been listening quietly, said: "Considering that the situation was chaotic during the fire fighting, and someone might take advantage of the troubled waters, I asked people to guard the door early in the morning, and only people were allowed in but not allowed out.
Already."
Zhao Zongshi was greatly relieved when he heard this and said, "Ji Fu thought it over carefully." Only then did he feel relieved.
"Zhou Heiqi's family is in the south of the city," Meng Yang said thoughtfully, "hurry up and send someone to have a look. Even if he is not here, control his family first!"
"I'll go." Zhao Zongqiu volunteered and left with a few guards.
"And..." Meng Yang thought about it and gritted his teeth and said, "While the city gates haven't opened yet, quickly order the Kaifeng Mansion to set up checkpoints at various city gates to prevent him from escaping!"
"This..." Zhao Zongshi frowned and said, "There is no problem with giving the order. But there are ten gates and two water gates in Bianjing City. There are at least tens of thousands of people who leave the capital in one day. If you check them one by one, it will definitely cause an uproar. Call me
How to explain?”
"Let's just say that thieves are rampant during the Lantern Festival. In order not to affect the festive atmosphere, they have been silent. This can also silence those who want to impeach the prince." Meng Yang said: "Now that the New Year is over, it is natural to raid the whole city.
"We can't let them get away with it any longer! In order to prevent the criminals from escaping upon hearing the news, we have to conduct an interrogation at the city gate." He paused and said, "After daybreak, the prince will inform the Ministry of Punishment again and ask them to send people to cooperate in the search."
"That's very good." Upon hearing this, Zhao Zongshi found the logic very sound, so he nodded and said, "Let's do it this way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed quickly, and the eastward dew was as white as fish belly.
Their hearts were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. Neither Zhao Zongshi nor Meng Yang knew when the fire was put out. They only wanted to know two things now, one was the whereabouts of Zhou Heiqi, and the other was the whereabouts of the book!
However, the result was disappointing. The guards searched all over the palace. They could not find Zhou Heiqi. They found a lot of books, but they did not find the one they were looking for.
At this time, the sky was bright, and the guard made a new discovery: "My lord, there are traces of climbing on the south wall. Zhou Heiqi must have escaped from there."
"Alas." Lu Huiqing was stupefied when he heard this: "There were too few people in the house at that time, and they could only care about the front and rear gates. Who would have thought that a three-foot-high wall would not be safe!"
When Zhao Zongshi heard this, his heart was cut by a knife, and he cursed secretly, "If I were not the damn Kaifeng governor, how could such a thing happen!"
At this time, Zhao Zongqiu brought his people back and said angrily: "Straight mother-in-law, the murderer didn't even have a hair in his family! The neighbors said that their whole family went to the street to watch the lanterns last night and they haven't come back yet!"
"The designation was planned for a long time, and the whole family fled!" Meng Yang sneered: "That's fine, the more people there are, the easier it is to be discovered."
"Well," Zhao Zongshi nodded and said, "Every city gate has been notified, and the palace guards have also been sent there. They can hardly fly!"
"Not bad!" Meng Yang nodded heavily, but felt panic in his heart... He knew that even if they were blocked in the city, Bianjing City, with a population of 1.5 million, would still be like finding a needle in a haystack. What's more terrible is that even if you are lucky,
Found it, and the thing is probably gone.
If it fell into the hands of the enemy... Meng Yang shuddered and his teeth could not help but chatter.
Seeing him like this, Zhao Zongshi complained: "Sir, you are so troubled, it would be better to burn him on fire and get rid of him once and for all."
Meng Yang immediately rolled his eyes, you treat that 'transfer book' like your lifeblood! If I didn't save him in the first place, you would definitely blame me!
But with so many people guarding him, he couldn't say anything. He could only say in a low voice: "My fault is all my fault. When the matter is over, I will naturally ask the prince to punish me."
"Alas," Zhao Zongshi sighed, "I don't blame you...forget it, everyone is tired, let's go back to sleep first and wait until there is news."
"Your Majesty, do you want the patrol soldiers to go back as well?" Lu Huiqing asked for instructions.
"Let them all shut up, who dares to reveal anything..." Meng Yang was depressed, but he still wanted to think about Zhao Zongshi.
"I have already given instructions." Lu Huiqing said: "I ordered them to monitor each other. If anyone dares to tell nonsense, the person who reports it will be rewarded with a hundred thousand yuan!"
"Well, Jifu has nothing to say about what he does." Zhao Zongshi nodded, thinking that it was a small comfort to find that Lu Huiqing was reliable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prince Qi's Mansion and Prince Qingling's Mansion are not far away. The sky was so red last night at Zhao Zongshi's place that Zhao Zongji would not have missed it. He kindly asked his guards to go over and help put out the fire, but he was stopped outside the door.
The guards came back and reported angrily that they really didn't know a good heart and deserved to be burned!
Zhao Zongji smiled and said: "I don't trust you. But the two families are so close. It would be unreasonable for me to ignore them. But if I send someone and they don't use it, it's none of my business." After all this,
After years of ups and downs, the old young prince has completely matured.
"Send someone to keep an eye on us in case the fire reaches us." Zhao Zongji yawned and said, "Everyone else should go to sleep."
"Yes." The guards responded and dispersed.
After the guards left, Zhao Zongji's face became serious and he paced back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, as if he was still waiting for someone.
He waited for most of an hour. He couldn't help but lean on the chair and take a nap. Suddenly he heard a gentle knock on the door. The captain of the guard whispered: "Master Xuanyu is back."
"Please come quickly!" Zhao Zongshi rubbed his face and cheered up.
As soon as they sat down, a man dressed in black and wearing a black scarf came in quietly. It was Chen Ke's friend from the same hometown and Su Shi's brother-in-law, Monk Xuanyu! Back then, Xuanyu stayed in Dali to study Buddhism, and he actually monitored Chen Ke.
The intention of the Dali court ended up staying in Dali for five years.
This time when the Dian King came to Beijing, he was worried that he would encounter danger. He begged this peerless master to escort him. Xuanyu couldn't refuse and wanted to see his friends, so he came with him.
Zhao Zongji and Xuan Yu were also old friends, so there was no need to be polite and they said straight away: "As Zhong Fang said, something happened to Zhao Zongshi's family!"
"Someone set the fire." Xuanyu said calmly: "The poor monk followed the prince's instructions and lurked on the wall of the Qingling County Prince's Palace. He saw someone carrying sulfur and kerosene to set the backyard of the palace on fire."
"What happened next?" Zhao Zongji asked.
"Later I saw the man who set the fire climbed up the wall with flying claws and escaped from the palace." Xuan Yu said: "The poor monk followed him and chased him. I saw him turning this way and that, and then went down the underground sewer."
"Then what?"
"Then I followed him down. After walking for a while in the sewer, I saw the man stopped. After a while, the man who contacted him finally appeared... The man actually arrived early. But he was very cautious and very skillful.
Gao. He has been observing secretly to make sure no one is following before showing up."
"It can be seen that the strongest has its own strong hand," Zhao Zongji said with a smile: "He still didn't notice you?"
"The poor monk spent five years in Dali and learned the Turtle Breathing Technique of Tianlong Temple." Xuanyu did not show off at all, but just stated the facts: "Otherwise, he would have discovered it."
"What did they say?" Zhao Zongji returned to the topic.
"The contact person asked him if he succeeded? The person who set the fire answered yes, and then asked, is my family okay?" Xuan Yu said: "The contact person said, don't worry, I have arranged them well.
They will never be found, and they will not be wronged."
"The person who set the fire seemed to trust the contact person, so he stopped saying anything, took out a box from his arms, handed it to him and said, this is it." Xuan Yu had an excellent memory and recalled accurately: "That person
After opening it and reading it, he put it away and said, 'I will arrange for you to leave the city in a few days. You must follow my instructions to ensure that you are safe and sound. In a month, your whole family will be able to get together in the south, of course under a new identity.'"
"The two of them walked away while talking. I was afraid that the contact person would notice, and I also remembered who he was, so I didn't follow him any further," Xuan Yu said again.
"who?"
"Zhang Dun!"
"you sure?"
"Although his face is covered, his figure is easy to recognize, his voice is also very distinctive, and he walks like a dragon and a tiger. He is unique. Although I have not had much contact with him, I left a deep impression on him."
Xuan Yu said slowly: "The poor monk has been very hearing since he was a child, and he thinks he will never recognize the wrong person."
"It seems that Wang Yu is the troublemaker." Zhao Zongji said slowly: "I wonder what this guy is going to do?"
Xuanyu said everything that should be said, and naturally didn't say a word of what shouldn't be said.
"You've worked hard these past few nights, go and get some rest." Zhao Zongji came back to his senses and actually yawned this time: "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
"Amitabha." Xuanyu nodded, got up and went back to the house.
When the light came on, Zhao Zongji went to sleep in the study. It felt like he had just fallen asleep when he heard the head guard knocking on the door again: "Your Majesty, Young Master Wang is here..."
