Tang riddles

Li Shizhi, the servant of the criminal department, was wandering in his office room. It was already late at night. Since he asked Qin Zhen in the daytime, he had been hesitating about what to do next.Is it really necessary to ask the sage for instructions so that he can find out the secret Qin Zhen is talking about?Why did Qin Zhen kill people? What kind of secret did he hide? Will it threaten the government and the safety of the country?He was really not sure.

I'm afraid he won't be able to rest in peace these few days, and he won't be able to go home, so he can only stay in the punishment department.He ordered the servants to tidy up the dormitory, he was going to wash and rest, it was so late, so let's talk about it tomorrow.It's just that he just lay down, and when he was still in a tizzy and couldn't fall asleep, he suddenly heard a violent knock on the door outside the dormitory, and then he heard the scribe calling him anxiously:

"Servant! Get up quickly! The saint... the saint is here!"

"What?!" Li Shizhi immediately jumped up from the couch, hurriedly changed his official robes, opened the door and ran to the front hall of the Ministry of Punishment.

When he ran to the back door of the front hall, he stopped in his tracks, checked whether the clothes on his body were in order, straightened his official hat, trimmed his hair, calmed down his panting, and then stepped into the front hall.Bypassing the screen, one saw a man in a brocade gown with red python pattern and a golden dragon crown sitting on the front seat, holding a Xing Kiln fine white porcelain teacup in his hand, staring intently at it. Begonia pattern inside, beside him, Gao Lishi, who was also in casual clothes, stood in silence, and the hall was silent.

Li Shizhi immediately became nervous, and his breath was a little unsteady. Of course, he had met the saint many times, and knew that the man sitting in front of him was a saint, but the atmosphere in the hall made him ten times more nervous than the saint in the past.He bowed his head and walked around to the front of the seat, kowtowed to meet the saint:

"Your Majesty, Li Shizhi, please see Your Majesty. All blessings, Your Majesty."

"Get up, Li Shilang, I'm here tonight, and I'm sorry for disturbing your rest." The emperor's voice sounded a little tired.

"I don't dare, I don't know if His Majesty is coming late at night, what advice can I give?" Li Shizhi asked cautiously with his head buried.

"I heard that Qin Zhen and other prisoners arrested by Jingzhao Mansion a few days ago have been transferred to the Ministry of Punishment. I came here in person tonight just to meet Qin Zhen."

"Here, I will mention Qin Zhen now."

"No, I'll go see him in prison by myself."

Li Shizhi was taken aback, and hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty! The Heavenly Prison is evil and full of bad luck. How can you go to such a filthy place with your golden dragon and jade body?"

"Why can't I go, since it is a golden dragon and jade body, I am not afraid of the intrusion of evil spirits. Don't talk too much, just lead the way." The emperor said lightly, with a tone that could not be refused.

Li Shizhi murmured for a moment, a few words choked in his throat, and he didn't spit them out for a long while.In the end, he had to kowtow and lead the emperor and Gao Lishi to the prison of the Ministry of punishment.

The sky prison at night looks even more eerie and terrifying. Walking in the cold aisle, I don't even realize that it is a hot summer season.When Li Shizhi led the emperor to Qin Zhen's cell, Qin Zhen was lying on the straw pile with his back to the outside and taking a nap.Li Shizhi shouted loudly:

"Qin Zhen! Meet Sheng Jia!"

Qin Zhen didn't seem to be surprised by the emperor's arrival, and he didn't find Li Shizhi's shouts jarring or alarming at all.He was probably not asleep at all, and was waiting for a visitor.So he sat up slowly, did not kowtow and kneel down, but just sat cross-legged on the straw pile loosely, as if treating Li Shizhi, nodded his head, which was considered to have received a saint.

The emperor looked at him blankly for a while through the cell fence, neither scolded him for being rude, nor opened his mouth to ask questions, just remained silent.During this period, Li Shizhi had already prepared a bed for the emperor, wiped the surface of the bed with his official robe, and said:

"Your Majesty, the conditions are simple."

"It's okay, you step back first, I'll have a chat with him alone."

Li Shizhi involuntarily glanced at Qin Zhen, lowered his head and said, "Here."

After Li Shizhi left, the emperor sat on the bed and spoke first:

"Qin Gong, I never dreamed that I would meet you on such an occasion."

"Your Majesty, the world is full of ups and downs, and the heart is hidden in the belly. No one can see what is in the darkest place. The old minister is ashamed of His Majesty, and His Majesty is chilled." Qin Zhen said slowly, but he did not kneel or worship, But he couldn't see anything wrong with him.

The emperor said: "Since you know that you are ashamed of me, you can tell me why you committed those things?"

"Your Majesty, the old minister is ashamed of His Majesty, not because I committed those crimes, but because I failed to guide your son well before he went astray, and even gave advice and advice for him because of sympathy for him, and helped him commit crimes." This is where I am ashamed and wronged by conspiring against the people." Qin Zhen said word by word.

"Duke Qin, Duke Qin...be careful what you say." The emperor said quietly, Gao Lishi, who was standing beside the emperor, could clearly feel the slight trembling of the emperor's body.

"Your Majesty, treason is a serious crime. The old minister is old and disabled, and death is not a pity. But if the minister indiscriminately bites others and implicates some young people with promising prospects, causing them to lose their lives and prospects, the old minister will feel sad." It’s just that if a crime is committed, it is committed, and the veteran will not wrong a good person, and will never let a bad person go.”

"There is no room for change when some words are spoken. I came to see you secretly tonight because some of the words you said may endanger the future stability of my Tang Dynasty. I remind you once again, you must be careful when you speak, I let you speak, but I will never allow you to talk nonsense. Otherwise, don't blame me for not remembering the friendship between monarch and minister for many years." The emperor's tone became more and more harsh, already threatening and warning.

Qin Zhen smiled, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, didn't you know it already, and you came to see me just to confirm? Of course you can make a judgment whether I am talking nonsense, maybe you have already made a decision .”

The emperor didn't answer for a while, but Gao Lishi said:

"Qin Zhen, your majesty told you to say it, just say it, don't go around in circles."

Qin Zhen nodded slightly, and said: "My lord, at the request of His Excellency King Zhong, I will clean up for him the former official of the Crane Mansion who was lurking in the East Palace when His Majesty was still the Prince of the East Palace, using fire, water, and gold. Killing Lu Bingwen and six other people, in order to intimidate the hearts of the people, caused the city of Chang'an to be out of order, and plunged into panic, so that the next plan to lead troops into the city can be carried out."

After Qin Zhen finished speaking, the prison fell into dead silence.The emperor's breathing was stagnant, the veins on his forehead were bulging, and his fists were tightly clenched on the armrest of the bed, already furious and on the verge of erupting.

Gao Lishi yelled: "Qin Zhen! Do you know what you said? Slandering the prince of the current dynasty will make you even more guilty!"

"Ah Weng!" The emperor grabbed Gao Lishi, stood up, stared at Qin Zhen, and said in a low voice:

"Do you have evidence for what you said?"

"The old minister's house, the Jingzhao Mansion should have been searched. I wonder if you found a secret compartment under the red sandalwood shelf in the old minister's study, which contains the letters between me and King Zhong. After reading it, you will naturally understand what the old minister said. It's true."

"I ask you, five elements kill people, why?"

"It's to break the feng shui formation in Chang'an City." Qin Zhen said.

"How do you know that there is a large feng shui array in Chang'an City!? Who told you?" the emperor asked forcefully.

"Your Majesty... I have lived in Chang'an City for nearly 30 years, and I am very familiar with all the officials in Chang'an City. After the Emperor Taizong ascended the throne after the coup, he knew that there was a problem with the geomantic omen of Chang'an City. It caused a mutiny, so Emperor Taizong set up objects in several places in the city that symbolized melting gold, breaking wood, covering fire, cutting off water, and raising earth in accordance with the advice of the high-ranking officials around him, so as to guide the changes in Chang'an City's feng shui.

As Qin Zhen said, although there are rumors among the people, no evidence has been found after all.This matter was passed down secretly from generation to generation in the royal family, and the crown prince could obtain the Fengshui Great Array of Chang'an City from the previous emperors after he ascended the throne.This picture is usually locked in the secret library of the palace, and only the emperor can come here to observe it after he ascends the throne.Why did such a secret map spread out?The emperor was puzzled, and Qin Zhen never answered this question directly.

But no matter how you say it, destroying the feng shui formation in Chang'an City with bloody and fierce aura already means intending to rebel.Huo conquers gold, the triangular trend formed by the Lifang where the three burnt dead are located can impact the gold position in Chang'an City, forming a trend of melting gold.Water overcomes fire, and the water force formed by the two drowned dead from north to south can extinguish the fire in Chang'an City.Jin Kemu, at the easternmost part of Chang'an City, at the gate of Daozhengfang Xifang, which symbolizes the land of Dongmu Qinglong, used the sharp blade method of beheading and disembowelment to kill Zhan Feng, the head of the Four Seas Escort Bureau, forming a bloody and evil trend.

But if you look carefully, in fact, Fengle, Anren, and Yanshou where the three of Lu Bingwen are located are not on the gold position in Zhengxi, and the power of melting gold is not enough; the two dead who died in the water line, one is in Yongxing One of the squares is in Anyifang, and the two are not facing each other from the north to the south. There is a deviation in the momentum of the rapid decline, and the impact on the fire position in the south is not enough.Probably because the location where these victims lived was not ideal, but judging from the killing sequence, the intention can already be glimpsed.

Now there are still soil and water positions that have not been impacted, one is in the north of the city, that is, Xuanwu Gate, and the other is in the city.If what Qin Zhen said is true, maybe the people behind him will continue to commit crimes.Right now, the only people related to Xuanwumen are the royal family, and those who live in the city, the emperor has already ordered someone to investigate. There is a former official of the Crane Mansion who lives in Guanglufang, and his life is temporarily safe.Whether the official Lang will be killed has become a key for the emperor to test his speculation.The emperor has already sent someone to keep a close eye on this man's mansion.

Qin Zhen had already explained everything, and there were many doubts in his words, which made the emperor suspicious.But the emperor did not threaten to take his life. Of course, Qin Zhen was already mortal, but he could not be allowed to die now. Whether he was telling the truth remained to be tested.The emperor glanced at Gao Lishi beside him, Gao Lishi understood and helped the emperor up.Before leaving, the emperor finally said to Qin Zhen:

"Qin Zhen, you have disappointed me so much. You are a veteran of the three dynasties, why did you come to this? You were able to study and gain fame because of the silver pot given by the gods. After decades of hard work, did you get this kind of ending? You are sorry Are you worthy of the immortal who gave you the silver pot?"

Qin Zhen just sighed and murmured: "It is because of the Silver Pot Immortal that I have come this far..."

The emperor silently gave him one last look, turned and left.

……

It was late at night, Qin Lian was sitting on the wheelchair, looking at the dark and starless sky outside the window, his heart tightened up and down.She clasped her hands silently, praying that her father in prison would be safe and sound in the end, that Akashi and the others would be able to turn the danger into a blessing, and that the family would finally be able to reunite happily, and that there would be no further separation.However, in the dark, she only felt that the heavens were closed and listening, and all her prayers seemed to be ineffective.

Why is there so much suffering in this life?Could it be that she just wants her family to live a good life, and is such a humble wish that God is unwilling to satisfy?What crime did she commit in her previous life, she will be tortured in this life.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, and the place near the main street outside the square was crowded with people, and the torches illuminated the darkness.Qin Lian felt ominous, and hurriedly called:

"Is anyone there? Is there anyone outside?"

Xiao Yuan who heard the call rushed in, and behind her was Lien Niang.

"What happened outside?" Qin Lian asked.

Xiao Yuan can't speak, this question is for the bride.The expression on Xie Niang's face was very ugly, and her anxiety could no longer be suppressed in her tone of voice: "A group of officers and soldiers rushed to Chongyifang, saying that someone was nailed to death on the gate tower of Zhuquemen, and the murderer fled to our Chongyifang , Right now the officers and soldiers are going door to door searching Chongyifang.”

Qin Lian's face turned pale...

The author has something to say: something happened, it just so happens that Shen Sui and Zhang Ruohan are not at home tonight...