It's mid-February in the blink of an eye, and February of 1209 is said to be an unlucky month.
Ever since the Jin and Song Dynasties signed the humiliating Jiading peace treaty, the Song Dynasty had treated the Jin Dynasty like an uncle and a nephew. The Song Dynasty even sent a large amount of coins to the Jin Dynasty every year, but all they got in exchange was a few years of peace.
However, what the people want is just such peace.
As time goes by, the shame of the Jiading Peace Treaty seems to have disappeared on this Lin'an Imperial Street.
In February, just after the New Year, people also had some money in their homes, and various transactions became more frequent, making the Royal Street more lively than before.
Bai Ruxue and Ouyang Zizi, one white and the other purple, wore head-catching outfits, which attracted everyone's attention.
The two of them didn't care about the looks, just like ordinary detectives, they went to various shops to look around, ask questions, and pay attention.
When they meet people who are in trouble, both of them are willing to help.
Soon, the people in Lin'an all knew that two beautiful and kind-hearted female head catchers had come to Lin'an Mansion.
There are also some good people who are curious about their martial arts. In fact, many people deliberately find trouble and want to test the two girls' kung fu.
The ending can be imagined.
Strangely enough, after Xue'er and Zi'er arrived at the prefect's Yamen, many more people came to the Yamen to report the case, and all of them asked the two catchers to investigate the case in person.
When the two catchers went to the scene, they discovered that it was all trivial matters, and those who reported the crime only took this opportunity to catch a glimpse of the two female catchers.
This happened again and again. Ouyang Zi didn't have any objections, but Bai Ruxue complained more and more.
That day, February 28, the last day of February.
The two girls had just finished reviewing the performance of the four new detectives, and before they had time to go to the inner hall to take a rest, they heard the loud grievance drum outside the Yamen.
Xue'er stretched and yawned: "Sister, don't pay attention. It must be some small matter of the boss's dog eating the west's chicken. Let those four guys handle it."
Ouyang Zi smiled, she was indeed annoyed by those people these days, but she didn't express her feelings like Bai Ruxue.
The two of them drank a cup of tea amidst the sound of drums.
The drum beat stopped for a while and then started beating again.
This time, the drum beat was more urgent, and the person who came to play the drum was very worried.
"Xue'er, let's go take a look." Ouyang Zi sensed something was wrong, greeted Bai Ruxue, and hurried outside the Yamen.
Before the two of them walked out of the yard, Wang Ping rushed in hastily.
Seeing the two girls, Wang Ping's face darkened, and he shouted in a dull voice: "What's going on with you two? The drums outside are beating so loudly, why haven't you invited the adults to come out to the court to hear the case?"
Before Ouyang Zi spoke, Bai Ruxue rushed over and said, "Master Ping, don't you know that Mr. Qin has been summoned by the Sixth Prince?"
Wang Ping was anxious and hurriedly called to the strong man Qiu Donglai: "Go to the Sixth Prince's Mansion quickly and please return to the Yamen as soon as possible."
Seeing Wang Ping's anxious look, the two girls were also shocked: "Master Ping, has something serious happened?"
Wang Ping glanced at the two of them, pulled Ouyang Zi aside, and whispered a few words.
Ouyang Zi's complexion immediately changed, and before she had time to say anything to Bai Ruxue, she had already flown out of the Yamen.
As she walked forward quickly, she felt a gaze following her figure.
That gaze made Ouyang Zi feel a chill running down her spine, and then she heard the frightening drum sound again.
Qiu Donglai almost rushed to the Sixth Prince's Mansion. After asking someone to inform him, he saw Qin Shaobai and Song Ci rushing out.
"What's the matter? What happened in the Yamen?"
"Sir, someone is beating the drum of injustice."
"In this peaceful world, if you have any grievances, you have to complain. What's so strange about beating the drum of grievances? Won't Wang Ping bring the person in first for questioning?"
Qiu Donglai lowered his head when Song Ci drank him like this.
Suddenly, he raised his head again and said with certainty: "Sir, that person is not beating an ordinary drum of grievance, but..."
"You mean, he beat the bloody drum?" Song Ci asked, already shocked.
"Master Song, isn't there just one drum?" Qin Shaobai asked puzzledly.
He has been coming and going to the county government office for some time, and every day he sees a drum.
However, the drum was equipped with two drumsticks, one of which was placed aside for ordinary people to pick up, while the other drumstick was hung high behind the drum.
Qin Shaobai always thought that the drumstick was a spare one. Judging from the dust on it, it should be several feet thick.
"Blood Love Drum?" The Sixth Prince also chased after him, repeating these three words, his expression also changed drastically.
"This bloody drum..." Qin Shaobai was about to ask, but saw the Sixth Prince wave his hand and said to Fei Yu: "Quickly prepare our horses and go to the prefect's Yamen immediately."
In just one cup of tea, the three of them had already arrived at the prefect's Yamen on horseback.
The drums were still beating, and people had already gathered in front of the Yamen courtyard.
Seeing the three adults approaching, Chen Tongpan and Liang Tongpan hurriedly greeted them, but their faces were frightened.
"Why are you still beating the drum? Have you ever asked who is beating the drum? Why are you beating the bloody drum? Who are you trying to sue?"
The Sixth Prince shouted angrily at the two general judges.
Chen Tongpan pointed at the man beating the drum, but he did not dare to speak.
The Sixth Prince wanted to curse in vain, but found that Liang Tongpan, who was standing beside him, also had a look of fear on his face.
He followed the directions of the two men and looked at the man playing the drum. He was about to ask, but he took a few steps back abruptly.
The man playing the drum was still playing according to his own rhythm, not paying attention to the changes in the Sixth Prince.
Feiyu saw that the man was so contemptuous of his prince. He didn't care about the presence of all the adults or the whispers of the people around him. He raised his sword and pointed it at the man who was playing the drum.
The man still didn't react at all, and the drumstick in his hand was still beating rhythmically.
Qin Shaobai wanted to step forward, but was suddenly stopped by Song Ci.
"Who are you to be so rude?"
Feiyu said as he thrust the sword in his hand.
The man suddenly jumped up and jumped directly to the roof.
While everyone was exclaiming, the man rolled down from the roof with a bang.
The people standing around were so frightened that they fled in all directions.
But there was a loud noise, and the man fell to the ground, splashing countless debris.
Yes, countless fragments were sprayed into the crowd, scratching people's faces, cutting people's hands, and cutting people's legs...
For a moment, there was a lot of crying.
In front of the government office, all the officials stood there blankly, speechless as they stared at the porcelain pieces on the ground.
The person beating the bloody drum was actually not a real person, but a human figurine that was exactly like the real person.
"Come Qiu Dong, go and ask the doctors to come and send the injured people to various medical centers for treatment."
"Master Wang, go and surround the scene quickly and protect it."
"Xue'er, please go to the Qin Mansion and invite my... my Xiaolan over."
…
After arranging everything one by one, Qin Shaobai took a deep breath, looked at the porcelain shards on the floor, and looked at the half head with wide eyes, and the panic in his heart surged like a tide.
On the way back, neither the Sixth Prince nor Song Ci explained the meaning of the Bloody Drum to him, but he could tell from the expressions of the two people that beating the Bloody Drum must be a big injustice.
He originally thought that by questioning the person who reported the crime, he could at least get a rough idea. Who knew that the person who reported the crime was actually a fake person.
Since it is a dummy, there must be a mechanism to control him.
Qin Shaobai suddenly turned to the drum, looked at it carefully, and finally found a thin silk thread.
"Shaobai, don't move." Song Ci shouted to stop him, "This thread is extremely thin. The person behind the scenes can control this dummy with such a thin thread. He is definitely a master. We must be careful in everything."
Qin Shaobai nodded, but did not withdraw, but carefully held down the thread.
There seemed to be pulling power at the other end of the thread, and that power extended all the way to the roof of the Yamen.
"Feiyu, go up and take a look."
Feiyu took the order and jumped onto the roof.
Soon he jumped down again, holding a huge stone in his hand.
There are many threads wrapped around the stone, and those threads should come from the same source as the threads that control the dummy.
"Your Majesty." Feiyu put the stone down and took out a letter from his arms, "This is underneath the stone."
The Sixth Prince wanted to open the letter, but he saw it read: Mr. Qin personally opened it.
"Master Qin, this letter is for you." The Sixth Prince handed the letter to Qin Shaobai, but his expression became increasingly ugly.
He put his hands behind his back and moved around the broken porcelain piece.
Suddenly he squatted down, picked up one of the porcelain pieces, put it in front of him and looked at it carefully.
"Master Song, Master Qin, come and see, I know where the person who reported the crime came from."
The Sixth Prince held up a piece of fragment in his hand and shouted excitedly, "This dummy is actually made of imperial clay used in the official kiln. Therefore, the person who reported the case must be related to the official kiln in Wuguishan."
Qin Shaobai gently folded the letter in his hand, and every movement was very slow and meticulous. It seemed that he was not folding the letter, but thinking about a big thing.
Yes, this case, this seemingly incredible case, will be the first case he comes to Lin'an Mansion, and it will also be the biggest case he encounters after traveling to the Song Dynasty.
In that man's letter, there were only three words written - Shi Miyuan. And those three words disappeared quickly as Qin Shaobai opened the letter, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.