Don't disturb me, I won't be a concubine

For three days, Cui Qiyan met with the families of the nine abducted girls and visited the place where they disappeared.

The shortest period of the incident was more than two months, and the longest period was nearly a year. It was almost impossible to find some traces of the crime from the scene. Cui Qiyan could only infer some of the culprit's methods of committing the crime.

According to the clues currently available, the nine girls are all in their prime, between fifteen and eighteen years old, and their looks are certainly good. Five of them were knocked unconscious in a secluded place while out, and the remaining four were abducted from home at night.

A maid who was present at the time said that she smelled a sweet smell and quickly lost consciousness. When she woke up, her girl was gone, and she had not even seen the person.

As for the girl who disappeared at home, her family was not well-off and could not afford servants. On the night of the girl's accident, her family members all slept very deeply and didn't hear any sound.

After listening to their descriptions, Cui Qiyan was sure that they were also possessed by the incense.

If you can take away an unconscious person on the street during the day without being noticed by passers-by, that person must be familiar with the roads in the city. It is very likely that he is a very kind person in front of others, making it difficult for people to associate him with the flower-picking thief who changes his expression when talking.

Cui Qiyan had an idea in mind, and he was not only investigating this case these days. Ji Bai helped him lure away the people who were following him in the yamen, and he asked some sideways questions about how they paid taxes and food.

To his surprise, they all spoke highly of Yan Chao, saying that he was a good official who was devoted to the people. He not only reduced their taxes, but also opened a warehouse to give porridge when there was a famine.

This statement coincides with what Qu Wei said. Cui Qiyan

I was confused, could he have thought wrong?

Then he thought about it, there must be something fishy here. Even if the taxes in Yuzhou were really reduced, only the officials in the Yamen would know how much tax money would be collected.

In order to find out, Cui Qiyan decided to visit the Yamen and Yan Mansion at night.

At midnight, the silence of the night is the time when people sleep the deepest.

Cui Qiyan put on his night clothes and prepared for action.

"Master, let me follow you, I can look out for you." Ji Bai whispered uneasily.

"It's not necessarily a good thing that there are many people on this trip. You stay and deal with the people in the courtyard. It's enough for me to go alone."

Old Ding and the servants in the courtyard are all Yan Chao's people. With so many pairs of eyes, if Yan Chao really had a problem, he would have ordered these people to keep an eye on them.

Ji Bai obeyed, "Master, be careful."

"I know."

Cui Qiyan was still confident of his skills. He pushed the door open and went out, making sure that no one was around before climbing over the wall and leaving the house.

It was easy to hide his whereabouts at night, so he arrived at the Yamen smoothly first, dodged the patrolling guards, and sneaked into the place where Yan Chao and others were conducting official business.

Cui Qiyan looked through the documents inside with the faint candlelight, but in the end he didn't find what he wanted. He put the documents back to their original places and went to Yan's Mansion as planned.

Yan Chao had invited him here the day before yesterday. Although he only sat there for a while, he had a rough idea of ​​the layout of the place.

Cui Qiyan entered Yan's Mansion as light as a swallow and quickly moved towards the study.

He rummaged through the contents, not missing any possible hiding places. The room was dark. When he turned around, he accidentally bumped into the book shelf next to him. Fortunately, it only shook slightly and did not make any loud noise.

The sound.

He held the shelf steady with both hands, and suddenly a human-shaped ornament carved from bamboo roots caught his attention. It didn't move at all!

Cui Qiyan looked closer and found that it was connected to the Bogu frame. He tried to move the ornaments left and right, only to hear a soft sound coming from the bottom of the shelf. He knelt down and his eyes lit up. It turned out that there was a secret drawer here.

Cui Qiyan opened the drawer and saw several books inside. Putting them in such a secret place must be the most important thing to Yan Chao.

He reached for the top one, but felt a resistance when he stopped.

"Not good!" Cui Qiyan said secretly.

It was too late at this time. In the dim light, he saw a small hook on the cover of the album. A silver thread connected the hook and the inside of the drawer. Then the thread tightened, hooking the album and pulling it back.

The silver wire was too thin to be grasped by hand, so Cui Qiyan could only hold the book tightly with both hands.

"Thorn-"

The hook scratched the booklet, and the small half page of paper was hooked on the silver wire and returned to the drawer, and the drawer was closed immediately. When Cui Qiyan went over to spin the bamboo root sculpture, he couldn't turn it.

What a powerful mechanism!

Little did he know that something more powerful was yet to come. At this time, the paintings and calligraphy hanging on both sides of the study suddenly fell down, black holes were exposed on the wall, and dozens of arrows were fired in an instant.

At the critical moment, Cui Qiyan drew out the short knife from his waist to resist. But he was attacked from both sides, and sharp arrows were shot at him one after another. It was very difficult for him to deal with them.

There were arrows in front of and behind him, and he could only block one. He chose to block the one that hit his chest despite his injured back.

At the critical moment, a figure broke through the window.

Cui Qiyan raised the alarm

Wake up and prepare to fight with those who come. What he never expected was that when he cut off the arrow in front of him, the arrow behind him was also cut off by the person who just came in.

The two of them were back to back, and the man used the sword in his hand to slash the arrow that was shot again, and said loudly: "We are friends, not enemies, Mr. Cui, I am here to help you."

Does he know who he is? Although Cui Qiyan had doubts in his heart, he still used his energy to deal with the mechanism in front of him.

After a while, the arrow array stopped, and Cui Qiyan quickly turned around and placed the short knife on the neck of the person behind him.

"Who sent you here?"

"Expert place."

Like him, a man dressed in black from head to toe turned his back to him and showed his waistband.

Cui Qiyan reached out and took the waist card. After taking a closer look, he found that it was indeed from an expert.

He put away the knife, "Did the Holy Spirit send you here?"

The man slowly turned around, wearing a silver mask on his face, which made it impossible to see his true face at all, but looked like an expert.

"I am just an ordinary member of the expert department, and I am not qualified to meet the Holy One. I came here on the order of the commander."

"Commander Wang?"

"Master Cui, there is no need to test any more. The expert commander's surname is Xue."

In the Expert Department, only the chief and deputy commanders are on the bright side. Currently, the deputy commander is vacant and there is only one commander, Xue. An expert only obeys the emperor's orders and acts secretly. Even Commander Xue, not many people in the court have seen him.

Cui Qiyan's doubts gradually disappeared and he threw his badge to him, "What did Commander Xue ask you to do?"

"Protect Mr. Cui's safety and do as he pleases while in Yuzhou."

"Allow me to be sent? How can I find you?"

The man took out a piccolo and said, "Sir, just blow this piccolo and I will appear."

"thorny

Guest - come quickly -"

The noise in the study still alerted the people in the Yan Mansion, and there were footsteps approaching outside the door.

Cui Qiyan took the piccolo and kept it with him along with the damaged booklet, "Quickly go!"