The Secret Chamber of the Card Game

The two yamen servants who were on duty last night had no idea what happened and were directly knocked out.Fortunately, Ye Qi did not lose the chain, saw the eyes of the woman who came to rob the prison, and was sure that she was the assassin who assassinated the prince that day.Following the line of Tianxianglou, the secret of this assassin organization will definitely be revealed.

Yu Hanjiang immediately said decisively: "Go to Tianxiang Tower immediately and see if we can find some evidence."

It was inconvenient for Shao Qingge and Ye Qi to go to Tianxianglou in broad daylight. Yu Hanjiang asked them to stay in the magistrate's house to wait for news. He took Xiaolou and Lao Mo to Tianxianglou to collect evidence.

This famous flower street in Jiangzhou is very lively with black people coming and going all day long, but it is unusually deserted during the day, and there is no one on the street at all.Yu Hanjiang strode to the door of Tianxiang Building at the end of the street, and patted on the door of Tianxiang Building.

The handyman at the gate yawned lazily while complaining: "Who is it, come to the brothel to knock on the door in broad daylight, are you alright..."

Mo Xuemin said solemnly: "This is Mr. Yu, our magistrate."

The handyman shivered suddenly, and immediately smiled flatteringly: "Master Yu! Cough cough, you are here, what's the matter?"

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice: "Has Aunt Qing come back?"

The handyman shook his head: "Aunt Qing hasn't come back for two days!"

Yu Hanjiang strode into Tianxiang Tower.

According to Ye Qi's description, apart from the maids and handymen in the entire Tianxiang Tower, there are fifteen girls who are formally listed to welcome guests, most of whom are able to sing and dance, and live on the second and third floors.Twelve people participated in the birthday banquet at the palace, including the first group of four people who danced, the second group of five people who performed the sword dance, and three girls who were in charge of playing the piano accompaniment.

After Xueyan's assassination failed and escaped, the remaining girls and the boss, Aunt Qing, were taken to the dungeon, and now they were all rescued except Ye Qi.

In other words, there were as many as 11 women involved in the case, and only Ye Qi didn't know about it.

There were three other girls in Tianxianglou who didn't attend the birthday party at the palace. It was eight o'clock in the morning and they were still sleeping.Yu Hanjiang ordered these girls to be woken up, and he took Mo Xuemin and Xiao Lou to check the residences of other girls.

The servants of Tianxianglou were alarmed and they all stood up to stop them, but were frightened back by Yu Hanjiang's sharp eyes.

Mo Xuemin said: "The magistrate investigates the case, and the idlers leave quickly!"

These servants didn't dare to go against the people from the government, so they had to hide in the side tremblingly, discussing in private, what happened to Aunt Qing, so that the magistrate personally searched Tianxiang Tower?

Yu Hanjiang vigorously searched through the rooms of all the girls who participated in the birthday party of the palace, focusing on Aunt Qing's room.

He found a locked wooden box in Aunt Qing's room, and when he opened it, he saw that there were some jewelry inside, including a lot of gold and silver jewelry, which looked like the woman's private money.Among the piles of jewelry, there was a long chain that caught Yu Hanjiang's attention—this chain didn't seem to be a necklace, but it didn't fit well on the waist. What was it for?

He didn't understand jewelry for women, but he felt that there was something wrong with the chain, so he handed it to Xiao Lou who was beside him, and said in a low voice, "Ma'am, look, this thing is a bit strange, and the style of this jewelry seems to be similar to that of big Qi girls wear different jewelry."

Xiao Lou didn't wear jewelry, and only had a simple and elegant wooden hairpin on his head. He didn't know much about these jewelry, so he took it and looked at it carefully, and said: "This jewelry has a very special shape and design. I bought it in Kyoto. I haven't seen it on the street, and it really doesn't look like the accessories that women in Daqi often wear."

Mo Xuemin came over to take a closer look, and murmured: "I seem to have seen it somewhere... By the way, there is a book in my study called "Feng Wu Zhi", which contains records about women's jewelry!"

When he said this, Xiao Lou immediately asked with interest: "Do you still remember the contents of the book?"

Mo Xuemin took a step forward, took the jewelry in Xiao Lou's hand, looked at it carefully, and said: "The book "Feng Wu Zhi" records some customs and habits of the four countries. At first, I thought that book was related to the case. It’s not that big, it’s just an introduction to the clothing characteristics of Shikoku, and I’ll put it aside after reading it. I have the impression that the jewelry worn by women in Shikoku has different styles. This kind of jewelry made of colored stones and silk threads should not be big. Women in Qi often use it, but which country it is from... I don’t remember exactly.”

This can't be all blamed on Lao Mo, he spent two days looking through Jiangzhou's files over the years, and it was not easy to memorize key cases. He couldn't memorize all the books on the bookshelf.

Seeing Lao Mo's guilty face, Xiao Lou hurriedly smiled and said, "Don't worry, is the book still there? Let's go back and check."

Yu Hanjiang also said: "Take these jewelry back and compare them carefully with that book."

Lao Mo nodded immediately, and carefully put away the jewelry box.

Yu Hanjiang went to search other women's houses and found some similar jewelry, and handed them all to Lao Mo to bring them back.

He looked down from the end of the corridor on the third floor—there were some carrier pigeons in the most hidden place in the backyard, which should be used to deliver letters.However, no trace of any letters was found in all the women, and Aunt Qing's house.It seems that the boss of Tianxianglou acted very cautiously. After she read the letters, she burned them and left nothing behind.

When Yu Hanjiang returned to the hall, the three girls who were sleeping late had already been woken up.

The three of them didn't know about Aunt Qing's whereabouts, and they all expressed that they wanted to attend the birthday party at the palace, but Aunt Qing thought that their dancing skills were not good enough, so she refused to let them go.Ye Qi was called because he was famous enough as the number one of Tianxianglou.

That is to say, only Ye Qi was kept in the dark about the assassination of the prince that day.

Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, "When was Tianxiang Tower built?"

A girl named Qiushuang said: "Tianxianglou has been in Jiangzhou for ten years. I heard that a benefactor paid a large sum of money to build Tianxianglou. Aunt Qing became the owner of Tianxianglou and recruited people. A lot of talented girls."

Yu Hanjiang asked: "Do you know Aunt Qing's background? Where is she from?"

Qiu Shuang thought for a while, and said, "It is said that he is from Jiangzhou. Both his parents died when he was young, and he suffered a lot. He only returned to Jiangzhou ten years ago."

Yu Hanjiang said: "How does Aunt Qing usually treat you?"

Qiu Shuang said: "She is very kind to the girls. We can share [-]% of the bounties given by the benefactors, and once a guest gets drunk and bullies the girls, Aunt Qing will take the initiative to help the girls out. She is the one on this street. Best boss ever."

Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment, then asked: "When did you guys come to Tianxiang Tower?"

Qiu Shuang looked at the two sisters beside her and said, "The three of us, and Miss Ye, all came here a year ago."

Yu Hanjiang asked, "Where are the others?"

Qiu Shuang said: "The other dozen or so girls have only come here in the past two years."

Yu Hanjiang said: "Do you know the girl who used to be in Tianxiang Tower?"

Qiu Shuang said: "When we came, there were several girls in Tianxiang Building who made enough money to leave on their own, and some found someone who was willing to marry them, and after paying enough ransom, they got back the contract of sale and became concubines for others. "

A person named Qiuyue next to him added: "By the way, I heard that the previous magistrate fell in love with the number one girl in Tianxianglou, Yangliu, and even married her as his concubine."

Yu Hanjiang looked at Mo Xuemin, Mo Xuemin looked embarrassed - he didn't know about this at all, no wonder he only scored A every time in the Heart Chamber, it seems that he was not careful enough, he didn't investigate the family affairs of the former magistrate, completely Unexpectedly, the magistrate actually married a girl from Tianxianglou as a concubine? !

Yu Hanjiang didn't blame Lao Mo either. After all, when Lao Mo came to this world, the former magistrate was already dead. Yu Hanjiang was immediately transferred to Jiangzhou. The case hadn't happened yet, so it was understandable that Lao Mo didn't investigate the former magistrate.

He looked back at Qiushuang, and then asked: "Is there a detailed record of the names and whereabouts of the girls who have left Tianxianglou these years, newcomers, and those who have been redeemed and married?"

Qiu Shuang said: "We don't know, but Aunt Qing should have a record?"

Qiuyue said: "In the two years since we came to Tianxiang Building, there has been no change in personnel. It has always been [-] of us."

Yu Hanjiang glanced at the three of them, and finally asked: "Did you really see Aunt Qing last night?"

The three said in unison: "No!"

Qiu Shuang added: "Aunt Qing and the others haven't come back since they went to perform at the palace. We are all very worried and dare not go to the palace to look for her...My lord, what happened to Aunt Qing?"

Yu Hanjiang couldn't say clearly that the "Aunt Qing" they were talking about was the leader of the intelligence organization, so he could only perfunctoryly say: "She is involved in some cases and is temporarily detained by the government for investigation. If you see other girls coming back in Tianxiang Tower, report to the government immediately ,do you know?"

All three nodded obediently.

After leaving Tianxiang Tower, Yu Hanjiang returned to the prefect, and went directly to Master Mo's residence with Xiao Lou.

Mo Xuemin quickly found the "Fengwuzhi" which introduced the costumes of the four countries from the bookshelf.

Liu Qiao has been paying attention to the progress of the case, and also came to the magistrate to inquire about the news, and made some poisonous powder to Xiao Lou for backup. In case of danger and insufficient attack power, he can use poison.

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi also followed after hearing the commotion. Everyone gathered in Mo Xuemin's study room and found that he had a bookcase along one wall, and there were countless books in it.

Ye Qi couldn't help feeling: "How can I remember so many books!"

Mo Xuemin said with a headache: "Most of them are a subset of classics and history, there is no need to look through them, and some are the interrogation notes of cases when I was a teacher. I focused on the relevant cases. I didn't pay attention to this "Feng Wu Zhi" which records clothing and folk customs Look, I just flipped through it, I didn't expect this book to be the key clue!"

Fortunately, he glanced at it and had a vague impression of the customs and costumes of various countries described in the book. Otherwise, if this clue was missed, it would be too difficult to find out the source of Aunt Qing and the others' jewelry.

Yu Hanjiang handed the book to Xiao Lou.

Sitting at the desk, Xiao Lou read it carefully, and soon found the relevant records. He turned to the tenth page of "Feng Wu Zhi", pointed to a kind of jewelry on it, and after comparing it with the jewelry found in Tianxiang Lou, he looked up at the Yu Hanjiang said: "This is the hairband of the women of Yan State."

The surrounding teammates gasped.

After checking and checking, they actually found out the country of Yan? !Could it be that Aunt Qing and the others are all from the country of Yan?

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Yu Hanjiang immediately walked to Xiao Lou's side and leaned over to take a closer look.

The patterns in the book are black and white, and the jewelry is in color, but the shape, design and structure are exactly the same.

Xiao Loudao: "According to the records in the book, the people of Yan in the northwest are tough, and many girls practice martial arts and hunt since childhood. They belong to nomadic people, and jewelry likes to be made of pure natural stones. When all girls are born, The mother will make a 'hairband' for her with her own hands, and wrap a beautiful stone with colored silk threads, which is similar to the 'talisman' given by the mother to keep her daughter safe."

Aunt Qing's unique piece of jewelry is indeed composed of many stones and colored silk threads connected in series.

Although Yu Hanjiang didn't understand women's jewelry, his keen observation ability made him realize something was wrong in the first place - that's the point, other jewelry is either jade, gold or silver, but this one, with Silk thread tied a lot of colored stones.

A careless person might miss this clue.

Now, only from the woman's jewelry, the shocking truth was discovered——

Aunt Qing is from the country of Yan, and the girls in Tianxiang Tower are probably all from the country of Yan!

Mo Xuemin asked suspiciously, "There are many stones strung on this hair band, does it have any meaning?"

Xiao Lou speculated: "Aunt Qing's hairband has the most stones, and most of the other women's houses found 18 to 20 stones. Since the mother stringed them the first stones at birth, maybe every year in the future, there will be more stones. Adding one more stone means blessing? Of course, the number of stones is not recorded in this book, so I guessed wildly."

Yu Hanjiang agreed, "Madam's speculation is very reasonable."

His name "Ma'am" is very easy to pronounce, and Mo Xuemin didn't mind, thinking that Captain Yu was playing a role seriously, so he said: "It seems that this hair tie is of great significance to the women of Yan State, so they will Keep it with you.”

Xiao Lou nodded and said: "I guess Aunt Qing and the others acted in a hurry last night and didn't have time to go back to Tianxiang Tower to take these jewelry; or, they encountered something on the way back to Tianxiang Tower, so they changed their plan temporarily and kept these jewelry " He looked at Yu Hanjiang, and said softly, "Fortunately, Team Yu was vigilant enough to not miss this clue."

Yu Hanjiang was delighted to be praised, and a smile could not help but float in his eyes.

Shaking his fan, Shao Qingge said thoughtfully: "I heard from my father that the country of Yan is located in the northwest, and the climate is harsh. People there never wear silk, but make clothes from animal fur. Our Shao family The business has not been able to open up the market in the country of Yan."

Ye Qi analyzed positively: "Aunt Qing is actually from the country of Yan! Isn't the country of Yan and our Daqi at war? If the girls in Tianxianglou are all spies sent by the country of Yan, then they will say that they assassinated Lord Yu and the prince." Make it work!"

Yu Hanjiang pinched his eyebrows and said, "It seems that our previous speculation was wrong again. The assassin group is not the same group of people who murdered Miss and Young Master Lin."

They have always subjectively wanted to associate the assassin group with the murder case, thinking that the assassins were sent by people who wanted to plot rebellion, and only after being bumped into by the eldest lady did they kill them.

But now it seems that these assassins should be the spies of Daqi who were planted by the enemy country early.

In ancient times, when two countries were at war, it was very common to send spies to the other country.

Xiao Lou said helplessly: "This time, the two cases happened to be mixed together. In fact, they are not very related. We have to discuss them separately. The assassin is one thread, and the murder of the eldest lady of the Wangfu is another thread."

Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. He opened "Feng Wu Zhi", looked at the map of the four countries in the book, and said in a low voice: "The setting of this world is the four countries of Qi, Chu, Yan, and Zhao. Chu has no diplomatic relations with any country. Good, don't commit evil, and be alone, it should have little to do with this case."

With his slender fingers, he lightly tapped the pages of the book, crossed the spheres of influence of Yan, Qi, and Zhao, and said: "Among these three countries, the border between Yan and Qi has been at war all year round. General Zhengxi should be a formidable character who has resisted the invasion of Yan many times. Daqi and Zhao have always had a friendly policy and a friendly relationship."

Xiao Lou thoughtfully said: "That's why Yan Guo sent Aunt Qing to Jiangzhou ten years ago, because Jiangzhou is the junction of Qi State and Zhao State, and Aunt Qing set up an intelligence organization here, so she can Observe the movements of Qi and Zhao?"

Yu Hanjiang nodded: "After this marriage is successfully concluded, if Qi and Zhao join forces to deal with Yan, the fate of Yan can be imagined, so they set up an intelligence agency at the junction of Qi and Zhao. The organization, the assassination of the Jiangzhou prefect, and the assassination of the Eighth Prince are all reasonable. The death of the former Jiangzhou prefect is certainly not simple."

Xiao Loudao: "The former magistrate married the top girl in Tianxiang Building...Hasn't Lao Mo heard of this?"

Mo Xuemin shook his head and said, "I don't remember this incident, but it's a private matter for the magistrate to marry a concubine, and it's normal not to tell the master. Moreover, marrying a concubine doesn't require a big banquet, just carry it into the house. It's not very nice for the magistrate to marry a girl from Tianxiang Tower, after all, maybe he took this girl Yangliu home secretly?"

Yu Hanjiang frowned: "I remember Lao Mo said that the former magistrate died of illness, right?"

Mo Xuemin said: "It is recorded in the document that he was old, his health had been poor, and he died of illness at home."

Xiao Loudao: "He has been in poor health, maybe he has a chronic disease, or it may be chronic poisoning. If the Tianxianglou girl he married was also a member of the intelligence organization, after becoming the magistrate's concubine, she poisoned her food every day It should be very convenient."

Mo Xueming shuddered suddenly, and said: "It makes sense! By the way, I have overlooked a detail. Although the former Jiangzhou prefect is dead, what about his family members? His wife and children don't seem to be in Jiangzhou. "

Yu Hanjiang said with a sullen face: "Perhaps his family members have also been murdered."

Ye Qi suddenly said seriously: "I have a guess that the girl named Yang Liu married the elderly Jiangzhou magistrate as a concubine, and she must have come to the magistrate's side to inquire about the court's documents or something, she said Maybe she could see it secretly, but in the end, the magistrate found out that she was wrong, so she simply killed the magistrate's family to silence her?"

Shao Qingge followed closely with a smile and said: "However, our Lord Yu is famous for having a deep relationship with his wife, and his character is also very upright. It must be difficult for the girl from Tianxianglou to lurk beside Lord Yu, so it will be very difficult to realize, so Why don't you directly assassinate Master Yu when he came to Jiangzhou to take office, trying to get rid of this difficult adult?"

Old Mo said: "They assassinated the prince, probably to destroy the marriage plan between Qi and Zhao?"

Ye Qi nodded immediately: "That's right! The death of the prefect of Jiangzhou is enough for the court to have a headache for a while. The prince died, and the marriage with relatives had to be postponed. Qi and Zhao couldn't form an alliance. Splash dirty water on the envoys of Zhao State, so that Qi and Zhao will turn against each other? Anyway, the more chaotic Qi State is, the better it will be for Yan State!"

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other.

Under the influence of the two of them, the teammates began to reason seriously, posing as detectives.

Now, the identities of Aunt Qing and the others are revealed, and the reasoning of Ye Qi, Lao Mo and others is also very logical. The assassins came from the country of Yan, and the people of the country of Yan assassinated Yu Hanjiang and the prince. The marriage of Zhao and the two countries.

If they fail in their actions, they will definitely have a plan for the next step.

Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang suddenly stood up, his face changed: "Second Miss is in danger!"