I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

Zhao Zongqing smiled lightly, and did not argue with Cui Tao, she would regret it sometimes.

"I'm afraid she will choose another opportunity to enter the palace, young master, do you want to keep an eye on it?"

"Pass the news to Fan Zhongyan."

The person involved in the case intends to enter the palace to mediate and seek the help of the Queen Mother. This news will definitely annoy Fan Zhongyan if it reaches the ears of the upright and honest Fan Zhongyan.In the past, Fan Zhongyan dared to join the Queen Mother boldly, let alone Cui Qiniang.Hearing that his investigation in Kaifengbu was not going well, the government servants were all emotional, and they were not willing to cooperate with Fan Zhongyan to investigate Han Qi.

If he learns about this again, how can he sit still?Provoking criticism and dissatisfaction from the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, Cui Qiniang naturally had no chance to enter the palace again.

As expected by Zhao Zongqing, when Fan Zhongyan heard the news that Cui Tao had entered the palace to find the Queen Mother, he was immediately furious, and even brought Lu Xiang over specially.

"I'm incompetent, I'm afraid we won't be able to investigate this case!" Fan Zhongyan's sonorous tone caused Zhao Zhen and Lu Yijian to be very puzzled, and asked him why.

Fan Zhongyan's chatterbox opened, and he talked at length about Cui Tao's visit to the palace today to meet the Queen Mother, how many possible intentions, possible benefits and harms he had, and lamented that Cui Tao, a little girl, relied on her uncle as the prime minister and relied on the Queen Mother. Arrogant and arrogant, trying to disobey the imperial decree, only obeying the rules on the surface, but behind the scenes, he is full of small thoughts.

"Does Lu Xiang think what the officer said is reasonable?"

Lu Yijian finally understood why Fan Zhongyan called him so eagerly, and co-authored it to ridicule him face to face and force his relative to express his position, so as to "kill relatives with righteousness".

But he doesn't want to!After getting along and observing these days, Lu Yijian believed in Cui Tao's character very much. This child did her duty in Kaifeng Mansion, solved unjust cases and kept the people safe. She is a rare and righteous woman.How could he add insult to injury when the child was in danger?But if he begged for mercy, it would be too obvious to protect his shortcomings, and it would be even more counterproductive.

"It depends on how you look at it." Lu Yijian said slowly with his eyes half-opened.

"Then according to Lu Xiangzhi, what should we think?" Fan Zhongyan asked.

"At the beginning, it was said that people were forbidden to contact the case and related people in Kaifeng Mansion, but they didn't say that they were not allowed to enter the palace. It's no secret that the Empress Dowager loves to listen to Cui Qiniang's stories. Everyone knows. Besides, it is the Empress Dowager who summoned her this time. Can't you be disobedient?

It's just telling a story, Fan Mixiao's words are too serious, if not, he would have summoned the palace servants who were accompanying him at that time to ask him a question. "

That's what I said, but who dares to casually summon people from the Empress Dowager's Palace for questioning?Not to mention that the palace attendants at that time were all cronies of the Empress Dowager, which made the Empress Dowager furious, and no one present could bear it, including the emperor.

"It may be fine today, but if she continues to enter the palace frequently after her death, she will definitely be favored by others, and there must be those who fawn on, fear, and secretly pass on news...Who dares to offend her, provoke her, go Honest confession?"

Fan Zhongyan retreated and asked the emperor to prohibit Cui Tao from entering the palace again until he found out the situation of the case.

Zhao Zhen agreed, and sighed casually: "How can such a trivial matter be so serious."

This remark immediately aroused Fan Zhongyan's dissatisfaction, and he continued to analyze the pros and cons in detail, forcing Zhao Zhen to nod and sigh that what he said was reasonable.

Half an hour later, the news of the prohibition of entering the palace reached Cui Tao.Cui Tao's house was entertaining guests. After the messenger left, the guests dispersed and the door was closed.

After Zhao Zongqing heard the news, he left four people to continue to monitor the movements of Cui Tao and Han Qi, and ordered the rest of the staff to go to Jin Mingchi to help.

He then summoned a subordinate of Yan Sheng, whose name was Fu Guang, who was Zhao Zongqing's confidant.He usually hides in the dark and seldom shows up, even brothers Mo Zhuifeng and Mo Zhuiyu don't know him.

"The Shangyuan Festival will be in two days, are the lamps and lamp oil ready?"

"It's all ready." Fu Guang bowed and agreed.

"Go do it."

Fu Guang carried a pile of clothes from the street department and distributed them to his subordinates, ordering them to dress up and wait for orders on the eve of the Shangyuan Festival.

It was night, and the emperor had another headache.

Xu Wei came to check Zhao Zhen's pulse.

Zhao Zhen half-lyed on the couch, frowned while rubbing his temples, and scolded the palace people to go out, because they thought it was noisy.

"Can the officials recognize this thing?" Xu Wei took out a handkerchief from his sleeve pocket, and a corner of the handkerchief was embroidered with lifelike lotus flowers.

Zhao Zhen sat up, looked at it carefully, and shook his head.

"Do you still remember Wang Meiren, have you ever used this kind of brocade handkerchief?"

Zhao Zhen's mind suddenly recalled Wang Meiren's smiling face.Although she is not the most beautiful woman in the palace, she is the most beautiful woman when she smiles. Her eyelashes are long and thick, her eyes are full and clear, and when she smiles, she bends into a crescent shape, which is very contagious. The corners of his mouth curled up, and he wanted to smile as happily as him, and put any bad mood behind him.At that time, he often had conflicts with the queen mother, and he felt most relaxed and comfortable only when he went to her place.It's a pity that such a gentle person like her has a short life.

"Zensheng asked about her?" Zhao Zhen glanced at Jinpa again, confirming that he had never seen it at Wang Meiren's place.

Xu Wei simply explained the matter involved, so he had to offend the emperor and ask clearly.

"Have the officials ever seen Wang Meiren draw a lotus like this?"

Zhao Zhen was a little annoyed, "Wang Meiren is already dead, how could she be involved in the case? What's going on, please explain clearly!"

Xu Wei hurriedly knelt down to make amends, embarrassingly expressing that he didn't know.He went to give Han Qi a 'pulse diagnosis' as usual today, so he had to pass on these words.

"Otherwise the officials will summon him to the palace and ask him personally?" Xu Wei asked tentatively.

In view of what just happened during the day today, it is absolutely impossible for the emperor to summon people into the palace.Han Qi chose to ask Meiren Wang's question at such a time and asked him to spread the word, which was simply too clever and cunning.He, Han Qi, didn't even need to look at the emperor's wink to get the answer.It's hard for him, and it's even harder for the officials. You can't get too angry with him, you can only hold back, and you still have to cooperate to answer questions in the end.

"Officials, the matter is very important." Xu Wei reminded Zhao Zhen in a low voice.

Now nearly tens of thousands of people have approached Bianjing one after another, quietly stationed ten miles away from Jinming Pond.Because there are still many people from unknown places gathering quietly, they will show up when the critical moment is approaching, so the number of people is likely to double tomorrow, and there will probably be even more on the day of Shangyuan Festival.

The population of Bianjing City is over one million, and the number of counties and counties outside the city is even higher. When visiting relatives to visit during the Chinese New Year, the flow of people is too huge.These people are all disguised as ordinary people who visit the door in twos and threes. Even if the total number is as many as [-] to [-], it is still very difficult to find out.

If checkpoints are set up and strict investigations are made, these suspicious personnel can be found out, but this will inevitably scare the snakes. Not only will the big fish behind the scenes not be able to show up, but it will also make these people go dormant in shock and cannot be completely eliminated.This time there is still a direction for investigation, which can defend against their conspiracy, but next time, I don't know when something will happen again.Instead of burying hidden dangers for a long time, it is better to cast a net to catch fish and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"No impression."

Zhao Zhen was also afraid that he didn't remember clearly, so he called the palace servants who served Wang Meiren back then to ask, and the answer he got was the same, they had never seen Wang Meiren embroider or draw lotus.

However, two of Wang Meiren's close ladies said that when Wang Meiren was free, she would often sit by the lotus pond and stare for a long time, asking her why, and only said that being in a daze was also a form of rest.

If she was really from Iho, why didn't she say a word about it?

Since Han Qi would not let go of the lotus issue, it meant that there must be something behind it.

Zhao Zhen can more or less feel what this means in his heart. As an emperor, how could he tolerate the women in his harem who have other people's hearts.

Zhao Zhen's complexion was extremely bad, and he scolded Xu Wei for passing a message to Han Qi, if he didn't explain this matter clearly, he would never want to return to the court as an official again!

When Xu Wei passed the message to Han Qi, Han Qi agreed without changing his face, and then went on to other things.No matter how he looked at it, Xu Wei felt that Han Qi was not afraid of the official's words at all. Fortunately, the official was not here at the moment, otherwise Han Qi's reaction would have made him die of anger.

"How confident is Han Tuiguan now?"

"Fifty percent."

"What?" Xu Wei was shocked, his heart trembling with fright, "Isn't everything cleared up, and this soldier will be transferred as you like, why are you so sure? How can this allow the officials to enjoy the Lantern Festival safely? "

"After today, there will be [-]%."

"But there are still [-]% uncertainties. Do you know how serious the consequences will be if this matter is neglected and failed?" Xu Wei suggested that Han Qi should not let the officials show up on the Lantern Festival.

"The government has already issued a decree to announce to the world that the Shangyuan Festival will enjoy the lanterns and have fun with the people. The largest sky lantern will be lit to pray for the Song Dynasty and the people of Li. How can this kind of thing be changed?"

Xu Wei knew this kind of will to declare to the world, unless there are very special circumstances, otherwise temporary changes will damage Tianwei.But in the end, the emperor's safety is the most important thing. If something goes wrong, those who participated in the investigation will not survive.

"Besides, if the officials don't show up, those people won't do anything."

What Xu Wei wanted to say again was blocked in his throat.

Come on, he should release the sky lantern one day in advance and pray first.If it fails, it can be regarded as giving yourself some wax in advance.

Cui Tao was bored at home, so she dug a tunnel. This skill was borrowed from Tao Zhang, the murderer of the Xinghua Lane case.

Although Tao Zhang is a dwarf, he is also a murderous demon, but his tunnel-digging skills are indeed excellent.Thanks to the detailed interrogation by the staff of Kaifeng Prefecture, Tao Zhang explained in detail the whole process of digging the burrow in his confession, revealing several skills in it.Cui Tao then used what he had learned, and dug the tunnel to the kennel of shopkeeper Wu's house in the next street.

When Cui Tao came out, she was licked twice by the big black dog.When Wang Siniang came out later, the big black dog bared its teeth and barked fiercely at her.Cui Tao held the big black dog to calm him down.

"Oh, I'll go, this dog's eyes can really tell the height!" Wang Siniang complained angrily.

The shopkeeper Wu, the resident, just took over a steamed stuffed bun shop with excellent business. Cui Tao once loved his steamed stuffed buns with mustard greens and mutton the most.Cui Tao has a good reputation in Beijing, so shopkeeper Wu naturally knows Cui Tao.Shopkeeper Wu heard the sound of the dog running towards him, and suddenly saw Cui Tao hugging his big black dog, he was stunned again and again.

Cui Tao showed her waist card, "The Yamen handles the case, please cooperate with shopkeeper Wu, remember to keep it secret."

"I know, I know!" According to Cui Tao's words, shopkeeper Wu made some straw to block the entrance of the cave.

"This dog looks after the house?" Cui Tao took advantage of this moment to pet the big black dog twice.

"Yes, but it seems useless now." Seeing that Cui Tao was very fond of the big black dog, shopkeeper Wu couldn't help joking, and asked Cui Tao whether he dug into his house by accident or on purpose.

"I know that shopkeeper Wu lives here alone, and you have the fewest family members in the neighborhood. Naturally, the fewer people who know about this secret case, the better, so I deliberately dug you here."

Shopkeeper Wu immediately praised Cui Tao for his excellent hole-digging skills, and cooperating with the two of them, he sent them out through the back door.

There were already arranged horses waiting, so Cui Tao and Wang Siniang rode right away.

Shopkeeper Wu smiled and looked around for a while, his face immediately turned cold, and he hurriedly reported to Guangxian Building.

Cui Tao and Wang Siniang followed Song Yushi all day.

At night, Lin Shangshu held a night meeting with Song Yushi in Guangxian Tower, and the two discussed the specific plan of the Qianyuan Festival rebellion in the room.In fact, these words were deliberately said to Cui Tao, so that Cui Tao would think that the date of their rebellion was set on April [-]th, the emperor's birthday, and he would naturally ignore the recent Shangyuan Festival.

After Cui Tao and Wang Siniang came out of Guangxian Building, they quietly went to Han Qi's house like thieves.In fact, these small actions of theirs were all under the supervision of Zhao Zongqing, they just wanted to pretend that they had received important news and rushed to inform Han Qi.

Zhao Zongqing is suspicious, and he understands Cui Tao's personality. If Cui Tao is too quiet because she is pregnant and has not moved at all, he will definitely not feel at ease.Today's release is to dispel Zhao Zongqing's doubts and divert his attention, so as to assist Han Qi's investigation more smoothly.

Lin Shangshu was still a little worried, fearing that Cui Tao and Han Qi would report the news to the emperor, causing the people above to fear him and delaying their plans for the Lantern Festival.

"No, according to Han Qi's temperament, he will definitely make a decision before acting, so as to avoid the situation where you were suspended for trial last time when you testified." Zhao Zongqing ordered Lin Shangshu to do things with peace of mind.

When Cui Tao entered Han Qi's room, he found something long and rectangular wrapped in a piece of cloth on his desk.

"Delicious?" Seeing Han Qi shaking his head and laughing, Cui Tao still didn't believe it, so he immediately unbuttoned the cloth, and saw that there were four blue bricks inside.

To be more precise, it was three burnt blue bricks and one adobe with cracks, and some mud still stuck to the surface.

That adobe had a hole on one side, and Cui Tao certainly remembered that it was an adobe he had seen in the kiln where the mummy case happened.

Of the other three blue bricks, two are consistent in fineness and fineness, while the other is slightly different. It seems that they do not belong to the same batch of bricks, and may not even come from the same kiln.

Han Qi pointed to the two bricks of the same texture and said, "This is the brick for Sanqing Temple, and this is the brick for Mo's kiln."

"Then this is a brick fired by Jinxiang Kiln Factory?" Cui Tao pointed to the brick with a different color.

The owner of the kiln where the mummy case happened was Jin Xiang.

Han Qi nodded.

"I see that the adobe has obvious cracks, and the corners are also damaged. Could it be discarded?" Cui Tao asked.

Han Qi agreed, "It's not surprising that the kiln factory doesn't do any work during the festival, but they discarded and buried the bricks that had been made before."

Destroying bricks and destroying traces shows that there is something tricky here.

Hasn't the kiln factory been struggling since the case happened and losing money?Besides, isn't this hollow adobe a new style, are you going to make money with this idea?Why are you throwing it away now?

Also, the Jinxiang Kiln Factory should have fired solid bricks to supply the Sanqing Temple, but the bricks used for the Sanqing Temple were actually produced by the Mojia Kiln Factory.

Han Qi: "I have inquired secretly with the little Taoist priests of Sanqing Temple, and their bricks are indeed shipped from Jinxiang's kiln."

"Bricks from the Mojia Kiln Factory were shipped out from the Jinxiang Kiln Factory... That is to say, the Jinxiang Kiln Factory is related to the Mojia Kiln Factory. The bricks produced by the Jinxiang Kiln Factory are not supplied to the Sanqing Temple. Who is it? And why is this kind of adobe with holes discarded? I’m afraid that enough quantities have been burned, and the rest are discarded because they are no longer needed.”

Han Qi agrees with Cui Tao, "The brick kilns in the kiln factory are limited, and the quantity of bricks produced is also limited. If you focus on supplying one side, the other side will not be able to supply, and you can only use other houses to make up for it. Jinxiang Kiln Factory Burning bricks for Sanqing Temple is just a pretense, but in fact they mainly burn hollow bricks to supply another place."

On the way home, Cui Tao saw many people coming back from Washe, most of them were holding a sky lantern in their hands.There is a habit of setting off sky lanterns during the Shangyuan Festival, but it’s not the time yet, so why is everyone holding sky lanterns?

Cui Tao asked Wang Siniang to ask.

"What? You gave it for nothing?"

"The store said it was a festive holiday, and I would like to borrow everyone's blessings. So each person will give a sky lantern. I heard that they will give it away on the Lantern Festival."

"I think this sky lantern is better than the one we bought before. I wonder if the lady can tell me where the store is, so we can join in the fun." Cui Tao asked with a smile.