The prefectural government of Yuzhou is Ba County, and Linyu Palace is built just outside the city of Ba County. There is an inn near the Yangtze River Pier in Ba County, called Bazhou Inn. Due to the sufficient number of tourists, the inn occupies a large area and has more than a dozen independent courtyards.
Three of the courtyards were booked by Yang Xiuying who came from Chengdu. Although Yang Xiuying was the head of the Chengdu Intelligence Station of the Jinwei Mansion, in fact the entire Bashu region was under his control. He also had an intelligence point in Yuzhou with two permanent residents.
Two of his subordinates were a couple, and they opened a grocery store in the city.
The reason why Yang Xiuying rented out the three courtyards of the inn was not for himself to live in, but for Zhang Yun and his dozens of men.
Of course, it was impossible for Guo Song to ignore the Southern Tang court who went south to Yuzhou. He gave this task to Zhang Yun's scout camp. Zhang Yun ordered Zhou Fei to sneak into Yazhou to collect information about Tibet. He himself led fifty soldiers
His subordinates went south to Yuzhou and were responsible for keeping an eye on the eunuch's every move.
In the room, Yang Xiuying reported to Zhang Yun the news she had just received. The eunuchs were moving to Jiangnan. The news came suddenly and caught Zhang Yun off guard.
He looked serious and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands. He asked again: "Are you sure that we will leave in three days?"
"That's what the edict says. I don't know whether it will happen in advance."
"This is a bit troublesome!" Zhang Yun said to himself.
"General, for your humble position, you can send a pigeon message to Chengdu." Yang Xiuying reminded.
"I know you can send pigeon messages, but I'm afraid I won't be able to make it in time!"
Zhang Yun sighed, "His Royal Highness the King of Jin is in Yazhou. It takes a day for the pigeon message to be sent to Chengdu, and it also takes one day to get from Chengdu to Yazhou at the fastest. Two days have passed. Then the King of Jin will send troops here, and it will be
It will be four or five days later.”
"But......"
Yang Xiuying hesitated and said: "No matter what, we have to report!"
Zhang Yun smiled bitterly and said: "Of course I have to report. I was just thinking about how to intervene. Your Highness gave me a clear order to protect the safety of the Queen Mother and the Young Emperor, but I couldn't find a breakthrough."
Yang Xiuying suddenly remembered something and said quickly: "The general said last time that Ying Caihe also went south!"
Zhang Yun suddenly realized that he had almost forgotten about Ying Caihe. With her martial arts skills, she should have sneaked into the palace long ago. But if she relied on Ying Caihe for everything, wouldn't she be unable to play her role?
Yang Xiuying understood Zhang Yun's worries. He thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you humble yourself and find a way to find Xu Shiqi?"
"Is it useful to look for him?"
"I don't know, maybe he can point out a way."
Zhang Yun thought for a while and agreed. Rather than being unable to do anything here, it would be better to take action.
He immediately wrote an urgent pigeon letter and asked Yang Xiuying to send it back to Chengdu.
...........
In the Linyu Palace, the Queen Mother was packing her bags sadly. She had no choice but to accept the move eastward to the south of the Yangtze River. As for whether the officials objected, it had nothing to do with her.
Seeing an opportunity, Xu Shiqi stepped forward and whispered: "His Royal Highness King Jin sent people here. They want to know if there is anyone in the Shence Army who can be trusted?"
The Queen Mother sighed, who could be trusted now? She pondered for a long time and finally said a name.
Xu Shiqi went back to his room and wrote a note, twisted it into a small roll, found his confidant eunuch, and hid the small paper roll in his hairpin. Hairpins are not unique to women, men also use them, like Taoist priests' hairpins.
A wooden hairpin is often inserted into it.
It's just that the little eunuch's hairpin is empty, just enough for a small paper roll.
Xu Shiqi whispered a few instructions to him, and the young eunuch nodded repeatedly, turned around and ran out.
Just as I ran to the front door, someone suddenly shouted: "Stop!"
When the young eunuch raised his head, he was immediately frightened to death and saw Ju Wenzhen standing in front of him, staring at him coldly.
"where you go?"
"Little slave... I have a stomachache and want to go to the latrine." The little eunuch said, bending down.
"Nonsense, search him!"
Two guards who looked like wolves and tigers came over and pushed the young eunuch down like a chicken. They searched him all over. They took off his shoes and untied his hair. They found nothing. They did not notice that the copper hairpin was empty.
of.
"Ju Gong, there is nothing?"
Ju Wenzhen had always wondered how the Queen Mother's decree was transmitted to Guo Song, and he felt that there must be an evil spirit inside.
He glanced at the young eunuch, turned his eyes and said, "Maybe it's a message. Drag him down and hit him with fifty sticks, beating him half to death. See if he takes action or not?"
The guards dragged the young eunuch down, and soon the young eunuch's cries and screams were heard. The guards beat him extremely hard, almost to death.
An eunuch whispered in Ju Wenzhen's ear: "Ju Gong, he seems to be Xu Shiqi's man!"
"Hmph! Wait until he's done with it, then go deal with that old bastard."
Ju Wenzhen turned around and left. When he saw a copper hairpin on the ground, he stepped on it. After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped, turned back, and slowly picked up the copper hairpin. The copper hairpin was unexpectedly knocked down by him.
My feet were crushed, that’s impossible! Is it empty inside?
He flicked it gently, and the copper hairpin broke into two pieces, revealing a white paper roll inside. Ju Wenzhen was overjoyed, so the secret was here?
He quickly opened the paper and his eyes widened suddenly. There was a name written on it, 'Li Wanrong'.
What does this mean?
He turned around and ran towards the execution. The cry of the young eunuch had stopped. Ju Wenzhen was immediately anxious. These bastards should not beat the young eunuch to death.
"Stop it!"
The guards quickly stopped striking with their sticks and stepped aside.
Ju Wenzhen squatted down, grabbed the young eunuch's hair, and asked fiercely: "What's going on with the note? Who is it for?"
The young eunuch had already been knocked unconscious. Ju Wenzhen touched his nose and found that his breath was like a thread, and there was only air coming in and no air coming out.
Ju Wenzhen was so angry that he stamped his feet, pointed at the guards and cursed: "A bunch of idiots, who asked you to be so cruel? Do you want to kill people and silence them?"
The guards said tremblingly: "It was Ju Gong himself who ordered him to beat him half to death first. If he was beaten with fifty sticks, he would be beaten with less than thirty sticks!"
"Asshole! I asked you to eat shit, are you going to eat it? If you don't have anything, drag it down and give each of you fifty sticks!"
Ju Wenzhen was so angry that he always ruined his own affairs at critical moments. He touched the little eunuch's nose again, and found that there was no breath anymore, and he was beaten to death by them.
"Drag me down and beat her! Beat me hard."
Several execution guards were beaten until they cried like ghosts, making Ju Wenzhen upset.
The eunuch next to him reminded him, "Ju Gong, can't you just find out who wrote this note?"
One sentence reminded Ju Wenzhen that among the eunuchs around the Queen Mother, only Xu Shiqi could write, and the young eunuch was his, and there would be no one else but him.
Murderous intent burst out in his heart, and he turned around and walked towards Xu Shiqi's residence. Xu Shiqi, the Queen Mother, and the Young Emperor lived in the same compound, but the Queen Mother and the Young Emperor lived in the backyard, while Xu Shiqi lived in the front yard.
Ju Wenzhen found Xu Shiqi's room and saw that the door was locked from the inside.
"Kick the door open for me!" Ju Wenzhen ordered.
A strong guard took two steps back, rushed forward, and slammed his foot on the door. With a 'bang!', the door was kicked open.
Ju Wenzhen pushed the door open and went in, but was so frightened that she took two steps back and saw Xu Shiqi hanging in the air, having committed suicide by hanging from the beam.
The guard came forward and put him down, felt his breath, turned around and shook his head at Ju Wenzhen, he was already dead.
Ju Wenzhen stayed for a moment, then suddenly gritted his teeth, turned around and walked towards the backyard.
He saw the Queen Mother packing her clothes. He rushed up, grabbed the Queen Mother by her hair, dragged her a few steps, and dragged her to the ground. The maids screamed in fright and ran away to hide.
Ju Wenzhen said fiercely: "What's going on with Li Wanrong, tell me quickly!"
"Pooh!"
The Queen Mother spat on his face, and Ju Wenzhen became furious and knocked the Queen Mother to the ground with a slap.
"Bitch!"
Ju Wenzhen cursed bitterly and wiped the saliva from his face. Knowing that he couldn't ask anything, he turned around and went to the front yard again, where the guards were searching Xu Shiqi's room.
"Did you find anything?" Ju Wenzhen stepped forward and asked.
The leading guard shook his head, "This old bastard is a thief. He only has a few tattered clothes and not even a penny in the room. I guess he is hiding somewhere?"
"Keep searching. If that doesn't work, cut open his stomach to see if he swallowed it."
Ju Wenzhen explained a few words and then went to find Huo Xianming and Dou Wenchang. He did not dare to be careless when it came to the Jiedushi of the Shence Army.