Star Trace Gate

In front of the government office, on the long street.

After Ren Ye heard the shouting, he reined in his horse and stopped, frowning and said, "Let's go and see what's going on."

When the war broke out in the north, the originally quiet and peaceful Qingliang Prefecture became a little chaotic.

Whether it was the civil servants of the Southern Border court, the soldiers and generals of the army, or the bandit army of the Thousand Mile Green Camp, as long as they were responsible for the logistics and material allocation, they were all in the city at this moment, and were busy shuttling through the long streets. This made it seem very lively, and there was a sense of mixed people.

After Ren Ye returned to the city, he ordered Xu Bangzi, Erleng, Lao Liu, Fenglin and others to help Brother Huang accommodate the wounded and take over the various supplies that arrived at Qingliang Mansion one after another. Therefore, the streets very close to the document warehouse were almost all filled with unfamiliar faces.

"Shut up!"

Ren Ye tightened the reins, dismounted, and strode into the document library with more than 20 guards.

There are two archives in Qingliang Prefecture, one in the palace and the other in the city. They contain important government documents, military intelligence, local chronicles, biographies, and various historical documents about Daqian and Southern Xinjiang. In short, the archives are quite diverse, totaling tens of thousands of volumes.

However, since Renye took over Qingliang Mansion, he paid more attention to the case library in the palace. Because there are many martial arts books and books for improving personal abilities, although the grades are not high, they are enough for training soldiers, cultivating bodyguards and civil servants.

As for the case library in the city, it was basically idle because it contained political, administrative, and past military historical materials that were not needed for the time being, and usually only five minor officials were looking after it.

After admission.

Ren also saw thick smoke billowing from the document library, but six clerks had already put out the fire with buckets of water.

He stepped forward, frowned and asked, "Why did the fire suddenly start?"

When they saw King Huai coming, they immediately knelt down and shouted, "We are honored to see His Majesty!"

The reason why these petty officials called themselves common people was that they had no official rank in the city. To put it bluntly, they were temporary workers hired by Qingliang Prefecture.

"No gifts, no gifts."

Ren Ye immediately waved his hand: "Was the fire caused by careless supervision?"

"Your Highness, it was not due to negligence." An old man bowed and clasped his fists, looking extremely helpless and nervous as he said, "It was... Yang Sanlang who suddenly went crazy and tried to burn the archives with a candle. If we hadn't discovered it in time, I'm afraid this place would have become a ruin."

"Did they deliberately burn the archives?!" Ren was also a little surprised: "Where is he? Has he been caught?"

Ren also came here to check, actually because he felt that there were too many people in the city and he was afraid of trouble, but he didn't expect that someone really set the fire on purpose.

"That Yang Sanlang is crazy. When he set the fire, he was walking in the wrong direction in the warehouse and fell into the fire, and was burned to death." The old man was a little sad and helpless: "When we rushed in, we wanted to save him but couldn't. By the time the fire was put out, his whole body was as charred as charcoal."

Ren Ye heard this and asked coldly, "Who is Yang Sanlang?"

"He is the manager of this case library." The old man stepped aside and introduced them one by one: "The three of us are all working with him to manage this case library. The two next to him are working in the household department. They just heard the shouting and came here to put out the fire."

"Why did the keeper secretly burn the archives? Did he do anything unusual before?" Ren Ye had already found out the traitor himself, and his tone became serious.

"This Yang Sanlang has indeed been a little abnormal recently." The old man replied truthfully, "On the day when His Highness returned, the Green Forest Army entered the city. He didn't know what happened, but he suddenly became delirious, as if he had lost his mind. He kept talking to himself, saying that he couldn't find something. But although he looked dazed, he didn't do anything extreme. It's just that in the past two days, he has been looking through old case files in the case library and hasn't even returned home. His wife came to call him several times, but he scolded her and sent her away every time."

"Just now, I finished my night duty and was about to return home to rest, but I didn't realize that I had left some of my belongings in the room, so I went back to get them. Who knew that I would run into Yang Sanlang burning the archive with a candle..." The old man spoke concisely and narrated the cause and effect in a clear and logical manner.

The more Ren listened, the more bizarre it seemed to him. He frowned and asked again, "Other than that, is there anything else unusual about Yang Sanlang?"

"Your Highness, I have worked with Yang Sanlang for many years and have been managing the case library. Although he is a bit pedantic and stubborn, he is very humble, conscientious, and very studious. Many of the fragments of historical materials and the more boring government files in this library were verified by him one by one, and he completed and filled them out, and finally made them regular and perfect." The old man said softly: "He said that if Your Highness is really wise and powerful and governs a place, he will definitely rebuild the case library in the future and pay attention to everything here. Because it represents the heritage and history of Qingliang Prefecture..."

"In addition, he would also read various case files when he had nothing to do, and he read them with great interest." The old man said truthfully: "However, he is very disciplined and has never taken the case files here back home. He just reads them for study."

After listening to the old man's description, Ren Ye thought to himself, "He was a studious clerk, but why did he suddenly go crazy and burn the archives? This is too abnormal...!"

"Stand guard at the door and don't tell anyone about the fire. If anyone asks, just say that there was a leak in the utility room and the fire is out." Ren Ye turned around and told the guards, then told the old man, "Lead the way, I'll go in and take a look."

"Yes!"

The guards saluted and left, and the old man led the way, taking Ren into the warehouse filled with a burning smell.

When entering, the light was extremely dim and the surrounding windows were blocked by wooden boards. The whole house seemed very quiet and closed, and there were some neatly arranged bookshelves in front of me.

On the left, a charred corpse was lying on the ground in a slightly twisted posture, with most of its clothes burned.

The area around the body, about seven or eight square meters, was burned by a fire. There were water stains all over the floor, and many bookshelves were black and burnt, with most of the files on them turned to ashes.

Ren Ye walked closer, bent down and took a look at the corpse, and saw that although Yang Sanlang's face also had burns, his features were still clear.

When he saw this face, he instantly remembered this person.

The two sides had met several times, all in the government office, and Huang Ge had even introduced him a little. But Ren had too many things to remember every day, and he had long forgotten this person's name, and only remembered his appearance.

The last time they met was two days ago when Ren Ye had just returned to Qingliang Prefecture. At that time, the government office needed people, so Brother Huang once again summoned many minor officials to the mansion to listen to his orders. Yang Sanlang was also there at the time, but he was too introverted and didn't talk much, so his presence was extremely low.

In the warehouse, Ren Ye lifted her dress slightly, bent down and squatted beside the corpse, observing the scene as usual.

He found that the area of ​​the burning fire was not large. To put it bluntly, the fire was basically extinguished as soon as it started.

If a person is thinking normally, even if he accidentally starts a fire, it should not be difficult for him to rush out of the burning area and save himself, not to mention that there are firefighters around to help.

But Yang Sanlang was burned to death in this tiny place. His behavior was just as the old man said, just like a madman who set himself on fire.

This is so fucking weird. How could a good person, even if a little pedantic and stubborn, suddenly go crazy?! What stimulated him?

"...!"

Ren felt that this was not normal, so he rubbed his chin habitually and muttered softly: "I can't find it... What can't I find? What secrets are there in this case library?"

He turned suddenly, looked at the old man and asked, "Has he been looking through the materials in the library these past two days?"

"That's right. He kept mumbling that there was something he couldn't find... He just talked to himself, and he didn't respond when I talked to him." The old man replied.

Ren Ye thought for a while: "To check the case files in the case library, there must be records, right?"

"Ahem!" The old man coughed twice. "According to the regulations, no matter who checks the information in the database, records must be kept. But...but in the past two days, Yang Sanlang...acted like a madman, only concentrating on checking the information, but not recording it himself."

Ren Ye understood as soon as he heard this, because he seldom paid attention to this place, so except for Yang Sanlang, everyone else here had already given up, and there was no record of them at all.

However, you can't blame them. This place is not valued, and the petty officials are also working for a salary and idling around every day. You can't ask them to compare with shareholders.

Ren Ye was not angry. He just squatted on the ground, thought carefully and asked: "Then do you remember what kind of case files he was interested in these days?"

The old man fell into deep thought.

Ren Ye stared at him and thought, if you can't even remember this, then I can only fire you, because you are of no use to me.

"Hiss...!" The old man knew that he was about to lose his job. When his brain was boiling, he suddenly took a breath and said loudly: "I remember. I called him to dinner yesterday, and Yang Sanlang was looking through two case files."

"what?"

Ren also asked.

"The Military Records and the Political Records." The old man recalled carefully, "Yes, these are the two case files. I saw them with my own eyes."

"Bring it here, let me see it." Ren Ye stood up and ordered.

……

Not long after, Ren also sat in the document library and began to read the "Military Discussion Records" and "Political Records". The contents in these books could no longer be described as boring, they could be said to be like a hypnotic book.

[In the autumn of Emperor Wu's fourth year, the emperor summoned King Huai and ordered him to lead troops to quell the Nanhu Rebellion.]

[On the second day of October, the war to quell the rebellion was about to begin. King Huai summoned a group of military advisers and more than ten generals to the Nanhu County government office to discuss the use of troops.]

[Participants: Military Advisor General Xiang Kang, Royal Court Staff Dong Cheng, Wen Houan, Xun Fei, Tan Hongji, Qingzhou Guard Front General Hong Cheng, Qingzhou Guard Left General Bai Zheng, Lieutenant General Li Tianhe... ]

【At the beginning of the Chen hour, the meeting began. 】

[Recorded by Han Zifu, the Imperial Censor in front of the Palace of King Huai.]

King Huai said: "The rebels in Nanhu are defending a dangerous place with sufficient food and grass. Do you have any good strategies to defeat them?"

【……! 】

Ren was patient and after about a quarter of an hour, he finished reading the "Military Discussions Chronicle".

Then, he frowned and opened the "Political Record" again to continue reading.

[On March 28, the fifth year of Emperor Wu’s reign, King Huai wanted to reduce the military service period in Qingliang Prefecture and discussed the matter in the prefecture government office.]

[Participants: Military Advisor General Xiang Kang, Royal Court Staff Dong Cheng and Wen Houan.]

【……! 】

[On the third day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Emperor Wu’s reign, King Huai again discussed the issue of reducing the length of military service.]

[Military Advisor General Xiang Kang, and Royal Court staff members Xun Fei and Tan Hongji.]

[Recorded by Han Zifu, the Imperial Censor in front of the Palace of King Huai.]

【……! 】

Time passed minute by minute, and Ren Ye sat in the case library. It took him less than an hour to roughly read through the two case files.

He looked up at the ceiling, rubbed his sore eyes with his hands, and felt very confused.

These two case files are actually the meeting records of the ancients, and they are mainly about the old King Huai. This kind of thing is also circulated in the real world, such as the famous "Baihutong" and "Yantie Lun".

Judging from the contents, there is absolutely no problem with these two case files. They record what my father said during the meetings with his ministers, the agenda discussed, etc.

The people who appear most frequently in the two files are all old ministers who have long passed away. They either died of natural causes or were exterminated by Emperor Jing after King Huai died.

For example, Imperial Censor Han Zifu, Military Advisor Xiang Kang, etc., he had heard people mention them before...

"This is strange, why is Yang Sanlang checking these things?" Ren Ye was sitting on a chair, thinking patiently.

"Tap!"

At this moment, the guard ran to the door and shouted, "Your Highness, the Third Prince of Southern Xinjiang has sent his entourage to the government office, asking when you will return to the palace."

Ren also stood up slowly: "I'll go right away."

"Yes!"

He stood in the hall, thought carefully for a moment, and then said to the old man, "I'll go first. Seal the door here, no one can come in, and don't spread the news of the fire and Yang Sanlang's death. Later, I will have someone dispose of his body and his family."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The old man nodded.

After Ren Ye finished giving his instructions, he quickly walked away.

The Third Prince was eager to see him, he must have something important to discuss, and it was related to the war, so there was no time to delay.

After leaving the door, Ren also jumped on his horse and rushed to the palace with his guards.

Soon, the horse rushed towards the official road outside the city. When Ren looked up, his body suddenly stiffened and he tightened the reins without any warning.

“Lulu…!”

The war horses were reined in and raised their hooves, screaming miserably.

The guards around were startled and shouted, "What's wrong, Your Highness?!"

Ren Ye sat on his horse in a daze, his face pale as he said, "I... I know what... Yang Sanlang... didn't find."