Tang riddles

The Qin Mansion is not luxurious.Although Qin Zhen was a minister of the Dali Temple and a member of the third rank in the imperial court, he was born in a poor family, clean and frugal, and the furnishings in his home looked simple and full of charm.

The housekeeper led Shen Sui all the way inward along the eaves, passed the outer hall, entered the inner courtyard, walked eastward, and arrived at Dongyuan. On the stone archway, there were two seal characters carved on bricks: silver pot.This is Qin Zhen's study - Yinhuzhai.

Speaking of the origin of the name "Silver Pot", it is also strange.Qin Zhen was poor when he was young, his father died young, and his grandfather was bedridden with illness.Fortunately, when his father was alive, he taught him how to fish.He often goes fishing in deep lakes in the mountains or along big rivers. He catches ordinary fish and sells them to support his family. Occasionally, when he meets rare fish, he sells them to wealthy families for entertainment.He is from Huzhou, Wu Xingshen's family also bought his fish, and people in Huzhou city market call him "Qin Yulang".

One day, Qin Zhen was fishing by a lake in the mountains, and met a fairy, holding a silver jug, drinking by the lake.After the two chatted for a while, the immortal gave the silver pot in his hand to Qin Zhen, asking him to exchange it for money to buy books, paper, pens and ink.Qin Zhen wanted to decline, but the fairy disappeared in an instant.

Speaking of which, Qin Zhen was able to study and become an official thanks to this adventure in his early years.He named his study after the silver pot, which was his wealth from the beginning of reading, which means warning and motivating himself: don't forget that reading is not easy, and don't lose the opportunity given by God.

Stepping into Dongyuan, one can see an old man in straight clothes standing on the verandah outside the main hall. He is wearing thin clothes in a snowy day, looking forward to the gate of the courtyard.He has pale temple hair and deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but his complexion is ruddy and he is hale and hearty.He had a drooping beard, square eyebrows, and sharp-edged face. It could be seen that he was a handsome man when he was young.The demeanor of his whole body is calm, he is holding back his breath at the moment, he looks like an ordinary old man, but Shen Sui knows that he has great official authority, Dali Temple is in charge of the world's law, as the Minister of Dali Temple, he can decide life and death with one word, he is the judge of Yangshi.

"Master Lang, Shen Yihui is here." The housekeeper saluted with crossed hands.

"Yihui" is Shen Sui's scattered official position - Yihui school lieutenant, from the seventh rank.She joined the military as an official, following the path of a military officer.As an official of the judicial department in the local area, he often leads troops to arrest bandits and prisoners. The local judicial officers are almost all military officers, who are under the jurisdiction of Zhechong Prefecture, but work under the governor and governor.

"Okay, okay, it's coming." He said "Hello" three times, and Qin Zhen wanted to come down to the porch with his wooden clogs.He had already seen Shen Sui's figure from a long distance away, and his heart was filled with joy.Seeing this, Shen Sui hurried forward to help:

"Shibo stay behind, the ground is cold, don't freeze your body." After saying that, he took a step back, saluted as a junior, and said:

"Bo Zhao has met Qin Shibo, but he hasn't seen him for many years. Guan Shibo is still healthy and healthy, and Bo Zhao feels at ease."

"Hahahaha, even though I am old, I am immortal." Qin Zhen laughed, feeling extremely happy.

After the two greeted each other, they immediately went to the corridor and entered the house.Shen Sui took off his boots, followed Qin Zhen all the way to reminisce about the past, entered the study room, and sat down separately as the elder and younger guests.The butler brought the charcoal basin, cooked tea, and then retreated.

"How is Bo Zhao?" Qin Zhen asked with a smile, leaning on the table.

"Everything is fine. Is Shibo's internal troubles going to happen again? This time the girl is also here. If there is something wrong, you can call her for a consultation." Shen Sui asked with concern.

"Everything is fine, and I haven't committed any crimes since then. Doctor Yi is a master, and it's not much better than Tai Hospital, hahaha."

The reason why she cares about Qin Zhen's body so much has a long history.When she was 16 years old, she went to Chang'an to take the exam. She met Qin Zhen in Qingyunguan. At that time, Qin Zhen seemed to be depressed because of something, and even fell to the ground after a stroke.Shen Sui hurriedly offered a helping hand, and at that time, Ying Niang was also by her side, so Qin Zhen's internal wind was cured.Afterwards, the two chatted very happily and became friends who forgot their years.However, neither of them publicized this past event.Few people in the outside world know about the friendship between Shen Sui and Qin Zhen.

"This time you come to Chang'an again, I also uphold a principle: keep a low profile. Originally, I wanted you to live in my house directly, but after thinking about it, I gave up. Right now I am looking inward at peace, but there are undercurrents surging, you and I still want to Avoid suspicion. Otherwise, it will not benefit your future career." Qin Zhen said slowly.

Shen Sui nodded, she was keeping a low profile when she came to visit on a snowy night.Asked again:

"There's an undercurrent going in, but the Taiyuan Wang family?"

Qin Zhen paused, reached out for the copper teapot, and poured the tea into the jade cup. Seeing the clear and fragrant tea soup, Shen Sui knew it was clear tea rather than boiled tea.Like Qin Zhen, she loves clear tea and dislikes making tea.

Putting down the teapot, Qin Zhen raised his hand and stroked his beard slowly, narrowing his eyes and saying:

"In recent years, Wang's behavior has been quite secretive. Right now, the mind of the saint is also unpredictable. At the beginning of the year, the administrative office was moved out of Daming Palace and changed to Xingqing Palace. In the middle of the year, the Ministry of Political Affairs officially implemented the long-conscription military service system. Not long after, a recall order for Princess Jin was issued. About ten days ago, Princess Jin returned to Chang'an."

Shen Sui covered his sleeves to drink tea, put down the jade cup, smiled and said calmly:

"I heard that Concubine Hui has been acting frequently towards the prince recently."

"Hehehe, smart." Qin Zhen looked at Shen Sui with relief, and felt that this child was so transparent, he was really likable.

This has to mention a past event four years ago.In the 12th year of Kaiyuan, a major event happened in Daming Palace.Queen Wang and the saint have been married for many years and have no children. They only have one daughter, Princess Li Jinyue of Jin.At that time, Concubine Wu Hui was favored, and the elder brother of the queen, Wang Shouyi, feared that her beauty would decline and fall in love with her. Since then, the Wang family has lost its favor.So he asked the monk Mingwu to pay homage to the South Dipper and the Big Dipper, and took the Perak woodcuts to engrave the inscriptions of heaven and earth and the names of saints, and let the king and queen wear them.And said: "Wearing it can bless the early birth of a precious son, and in the future, you can compare with Queen Zetian."

Later, this matter was exposed, which touched the sage Nilin, Wang and Queen were abolished and confinement, died of depression three months later, and Wang Shouyi was bestowed to death.The Taiyuan Wang family has been silent since then.

The sage frequently suffered from daughters in his early years, and his father Ruizong, including the former Zhongzong, were all under the shadow of Empress Zetian.The saint himself had fought with Princess Taiping for many years, leaving a deep shadow.Both civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty knew that the saint was very afraid of feminist interference in politics.Queen Wang's wearing the amulet was not out of malicious intentions to harm anyone, but what Wang Shouyi said made the saint's heart jump too much.

But after this incident, the saint regretted it very much. Although he never said it explicitly, he could get a glimpse of it from his actions.The most important thing is to deal with the Princess of Jin.When Queen Wang was abolished, Princess Jin was leading the army in the Anxi Dufu Mansion.After the incident, he was recalled to Chang'an and placed under house arrest for half a year.Half a year later, his position in the army was promoted instead of demoted, and he was sent to the Anbei Protectorate to fight against the Turks.

The recent series of actions of the sage are related to Concubine Wu Hui.Concubine Wu Hui has been favored for many years, she is spoiled and spoiled, and she frequently plays tricks on concubines in the harem.The sage is not ignorant, he just turns a blind eye.However, he set up "Nan Nei" and moved the administrative office out of Daming Palace and arranged it in Xingqing Palace, which meant that the previous dynasty was far away from the harem.Later, the long conscription service system was implemented, which shortened the length of time for the Long Conscription to change defenses, and it also felt like a ulterior motive.Mostly, he wanted to take this opportunity to weaken the military power in the hands of Princess Jin.This year's recall of the princess of the state of Jin may be a tactic. One is to put the princess in charge of the army under his nose, and the other is to take advantage of the princess's return to Chang'an to beat and beat Concubine Wu Hui.

The current crown prince is from Concubine Li Zhao's family. Concubine Wu Hui is the most favored of the six palaces. She had four sons and three daughters. Although most of them died young, the youngest son, King Shou, is very much loved.And the matter of Wang Huang's Fu Yan back then was rumored to be related to Concubine Wu Hui.Jin Princess Li Jinyue and Concubine Wu Hui are natural enemies, and their relationship with each other is extremely bad, just like two ends of a seesaw, if they are well controlled, they can be balanced.

The sage recalled the Princess of Jin to warn Concubine Wu Hui and the Wu family behind her not to go out of line.

However, Shen Sui didn't come to the Qin Mansion tonight to talk about the current situation, and the conversation turned to the real business after spending a couple of laps on it.

She only heard her asking: "Uncle Shi, this time I was summoned to Beijing for the Ci'en case, and the letter did not tell me the details. I don't know what is so difficult about this case, so many officials in Chang'an City are helpless?"

When Qin Zhen heard her mentioning this matter, his brows were furrowed, and he seemed very distressed:

"Let me tell you from the beginning.

This case happened on December [-], that is, ten days ago.That day coincided with the arrival of the princess of the state of Jin in Beijing, and the case was made that night.Originally, because the princess returned to Chang'an, Ci'en Temple was preparing the water and land ceremony for her.The princess has been in the frontier for many years, fighting bloody foreign enemies. This time, the saint personally entrusted the Temple of Mercy to pray for her to wash away her evil spirits.Therefore, during this period of time, not only monks from the temple, but also monks, lay Buddhists, and Taoist priests from various temples settled in Ci'en Temple.

After the incident, the first discoverer was a monk named Yuan Hui, who was an acolyte of Master Miaopu, the abbot of Ci'en Temple.When I came to serve the abbot early in the morning and got up, I found that Master Miaopu had died in the abbot's meditation room.Not long after that, there was a commotion in the courtyard. It turned out that the monks discovered that someone had been hanged to death on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.It was hung on the corner of the northeast corner of the highest floor of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Later, it was found that the hanged person was the deacon monk of the Guangming Hall of Ci'en Temple——Shan Yin.

In one night, two eminent monks of Ci'en Temple died unexpectedly, and the matter was of great importance. After the monks in the temple reported to the officials, Jingzhao Mansion immediately started an investigation.The incident spread throughout Chang'an City that day, alarming the sage and the princess of the state of Jin.The saint was furious and asked Dali Temple to assist the Jingzhao government to thoroughly investigate the case and bring the murderer to justice as soon as possible.Princess Jin is also very concerned about this case, and people often come to inquire about the progress these days.The case had a bad impact, but there was no clue, and in the end some nonsense came out. "

"Nonsense?" Shen Sui couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard this.

The night was quiet and snowy, and a thick layer of white snow had accumulated on the green bamboo planted in the yard, bending the bamboo body. "Flopping", the snow blocks shook off the green bamboo body, the bamboo body relieved the burden, and slowly straightened up.Looking at the snow scene outside the window, Qin Zhen said quietly:

"That night was the same as tonight, with heavy snowfall. Two monks, Yuantong and Yuanqing, woke up in the middle of the night and said that they saw a huge white-haired ape on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda from a distance, moving with astonishing movements. They climbed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda at a fast speed. They thought they were delusional, and after rubbing their eyes, the white-haired ape disappeared.

When the Jingzhao Mansion took the testimony, they heard the words of the two monks, and Quan regarded it as a dream and didn't care.But not long after the evidence was collected on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, shocking rumors spread among the soldiers handling the case in Jingzhao Mansion, saying that strange palm prints were found in the snow on the eaves of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.From the index finger to the little finger, the distance between the four fingers and the thumb is huge, the palm is unusually long, and the five fingers are short and strong, which are clearly not human handprints.

Then there were rumors that the death of two eminent monks in Ci'en Temple was caused by the white-haired monster ape. "

……

It was late at night, Shen Sui got up to say goodbye, Qin Zhen told her to wait outside the Xingqing Palace early in the morning, maybe the sage would summon her.Shen Sui agreed, and Qin Zhen sent her out all the way, and the two parted outside Wutoumen.

The streets are deserted, and the doors of every house are closed. The masonry floor has already been covered with a new layer of snow, and it creaks when stepped on.Shen Sui's pace was not fast, when she passed a three-story building, she paused, looked up, then suddenly raised her breath, stepped on her feet, and walked up to the roof of the three-story building.She turned to the south and looked far away.At night, the snow is vast, and the towering and blurred outline of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda can be vaguely seen.

There were obscure emotions hidden in her dark eyes, she suddenly smiled and murmured: "Interesting, interesting."

The author has something to say: Unify some titles: servants call the male master of the family "Langzhu" and the female master "Lady".If the hostess has a rank order, she can be called "Madame".

The first three chapters have been updated. If you like it, please bookmark and leave a comment to discuss the plot together.Thank you Shuyi!

PS: In the preview, another heroine will appear in the next chapter.