I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion
Chapter 74
When Han Qi heard Cui Tao repeating this word at first, he was slightly puzzled.But because of Cui Tao's previous words to explain, "It is said that this is a word that your men like most", as smart as him, how could he not understand what the word "big" means.
Han Qi felt complicated for a moment, and it was difficult for him to describe his mood and feelings accurately.She really dared to say it, but she said it out of her heart because he liked it, but she said such things in the street...
When did Han Qi think that one day, because of a single word, his thoughts would turn a thousand times, with mixed feelings, comfortable and uncomfortable, unhappy and happy... In the end, he pointed the finger at the source of the spread of the words.
Naturally, Cui Tao couldn't sue, so he hesitated and changed the conversation, lamenting that it was finally dark and the night market was bustling again, and dragged Han Qi to the Sun couple's stall to eat lotus seed soup.
After ordering the most popular lotus seed soup, Cui Tao and Han Qi sat in the corner, discussing in a low voice the follow-up investigation method of the mummy case.
"I'll go back to the yamen in a while, and I'll check the records of last year's missing report first. If the female victim really has some identity, and she went out in disguise, if she disappeared suddenly, it should be conspicuous." Cui Tao spoke, and the lotus seed soup up.
The bowl Cui Tao wanted added pears, raisins and honeydew beans. The soft and glutinous lotus seeds were soaked in the sweet and sour syrup. Taking a sip into the mouth, it has the effect of making people happy and relieved of fatigue.Happiness is because of sweetness, and sweets always make the mood sweeter, and fatigue is because there is a faint smell of wine in it. After drinking it, the blood flow is faster, the muscles and tendons are relaxed, but it does not get on the head.Lotus seeds, honey beans, pears and raisins seem to be fighting in the mouth, killing each other to the fullest, and then dissolving in the syrup of sweet wine, making people want to eat it.
After eating a bowl, my cheeks are slightly hot, and when I smile with the corners of my mouth hooked, there is a sour and sweet breath.
Han Qi could tell at a glance that Cui Tao hadn't had enough, so he ordered a bowl of tea for her to make lotus seed soup as the base.
Cui Tao really wanted to taste all flavors, but the stomach that just finished eating wontons definitely couldn't accommodate all flavors.She was hesitating which flavor to have for the next bowl, when she found out that Han Qi made the decision for her first.
Cui Tao curiously asked Han Qi? : "How do you know I want to eat this more? Once I don't like it."
"You're not picky," Han Qi said.
"That's right, you should ask me if you're not a picky eater." Cui Tao was about to pretend to blame Han Qi for not respecting his opinion, when she saw a middle-aged woman bringing over fried spring rolls filled with lotus leaves.
Cui Tao: "..."
"Can I have another bowl?" Han Qi wanted to reach out and bring Cui Tao's bowl of lotus seed soup to him as he said.
Cui Tao immediately hugged her, and said to Han Qi with a smile: "This is just right, eat it with fried food, and it will relieve the tiredness."
Han Qi followed suit and laughed too, watching Cui Tao take a piece of golden-fried spring roll into his mouth, and with a click, crumbs dropped from the side of his mouth.
"Hmm—" Cui Tao chewed in surprise, while looking at Han Qi with joy, his expression was like telling him that the spring rolls tasted extremely delicious.Cui Tao took a piece and handed it to Han Qi, and almost gave it to his mouth, but she restrained herself because of the inappropriate occasion.
Han Qi took it with his own chopsticks and tasted it too.The same deep-fried spring rolls, Han Qi's expression in his mouth was faint, as if drinking plain water, no different.
Cui Tao admires Han Qi's resistance to food, but she can't.The outer skin of this spring roll is crispy and has the fragrance of miscellaneous grains. The red bean paste inside is peeled, which is very delicate. It is filled with sweet-scented osmanthus sugar. Anything wrapped into stuffing and fried will explode when you bite the first bite. , can be described as the most incomparably refreshing.The sweet red bean fragrance and the faint sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance linger between the lips and teeth for a long time. How can it be indifferent to such a delicacy?I can't do it!
After Cui Tao ate two fried spring rolls, she took a sip of tea lotus seed soup, which was really refreshing.And this bowl of Han Qi is slightly iced, which can not only remove the greasy fried food, but also neutralize the heat brought by the brewed water from the previous drinking.
After eating these, Cui Tao felt that her stomach was also round.
On the way back, Cui Tao heard Han Qi ask her if she was full, and there was a good restaurant ahead——
Cui Tao immediately told Han Qi not to say anything, she wanted to eat, but she had more heart than stomach, and had no place to eat.
"It's already plump." Cui Tao rubbed her stomach and sighed.
Han Qi lowered his eyes and glanced lightly, but he didn't see any roundness, and his waist was still slender, but he felt that she seemed a little too thin.
"If you don't believe me, feel it, it's really round." Seeing that Han Qi didn't believe it, Cui Tao patted her stomach and asked her to touch it.
Han Qi pursed his thin lips into a line, glanced at Cui Tao, and continued walking, of course he didn't touch her.
"Liulang hates me?" Cui Tao chased him up and asked him.
"No." Han Qi immediately denied it, and then met Cui Tao's smiling eyes, only to realize that she was joking.
"It's a rare opportunity for Liu Lang to feel my round belly."
Cui Tao is like an unethical goblin, seducing the monk to break the precept.
Han Qi's breath was stagnant, but he only cared about moving forward, ignoring Cui Tao.
Cui Tao tilted her head to look at Han Qi's back for a while, then ran to his side and hooked his little finger with his little finger.
Han Qi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he also raised his fingers, hooking Cui Tao tightly.
After a while, Cui Tao asked Han Qi to go back before arriving at Kaifeng Mansion.
"Just send it here, go back and rest early. There is a case today, maybe there are many people passing by the door, and they saw it." Cui Tao said goodbye to Han Qi.
"Ah."
Han Qi watched Cui Tao disappear at the intersection, Fang turned and left.
Cui Tao raised the corners of her mouth, held a lamp in her hand, swayed, and walked forward with cheerful steps, humming a little song.
When she reached the last alley near Kaifeng Mansion, the person behind her finally appeared.
The humming stopped abruptly, Cui Tao turned cold and looked back at the person who came, "Are you finally willing to show up?"
The masked man in black froze for a moment, then raised his knife.
"Don't dare to say anything, are we old acquaintances?" Cui Tao asked again.
"Stop talking nonsense! I'm going to avenge the pavilion master today!" The female voice was sharp, and she was about to strike Cui Tao with a knife.
Cui Tao immediately picked up the lantern, and the woman in black stepped back one after another out of precaution.
With the light of the lantern, Cui Tao could clearly see the facial features of the masked woman.
She really recognized that when the Kaifeng Mansion wiped out the Bianjing Dizang Pavilion sub-rudder, someone used Gu incense to silence them. Based on the description of the shopkeeper of the incense shop, she finally drew a pair of suspect's eyebrows and eyes.
That pair of eyes is almost exactly the same as the current one, with willow-leaf-shaped eyes, double eyelids, and the eyebrows are the willow-leaf eyebrows painted by Shi Dai.
Of course, this pair of eyebrows alone can't prove anything. There are many people with similar eyes.But the woman who dared to wear a black dress and shout for revenge for the pavilion master under such a dark night, must be her, and she can't be wrong.
"It was you who burned the incense and killed the entire Bianjing branch?"
Chun Li stared back at Cui Tao in surprise, she just showed up and yelled a word, how could Cui Qiniang be sure that it was her who did it?
No wonder Pavilion Master Su and Jiao Gu would die under her calculations, this woman is really not simple, even scary!
"Die!" Chun Li stopped talking nonsense, and quickly slashed at Cui Tao with a flying knife.
After Cui Tao dodged for a few rounds, she flew two silver needles towards Chunli's acupuncture point, but she dodged it in time.
Whoops, good work!
Cui Tao had already expected this.
She had been quietly following her and Han Qi for an unknown amount of time.
Because of Han Qi's shyness before, Cui Tao purposely held her breath to listen to Han Qi's heartbeat, but suddenly found someone following them, so she realized that this person's skills must be good, so they didn't notice.
Cui Tao deliberately sent Han Qi away in advance, creating an opportunity for her to show up.
"Who is Su Yuwan to you?" Cui Tao asked.
The other party didn't answer.
"Are you trained by Jiao Gu?" Cui Tao asked again.
The other party didn't answer either.
"What's the relationship between Han Zong and you?" Cui Tao asked third.
Chun Li was stunned for a moment, and then she dodged in time, and Cui Tao got a silver needle in her shoulder.
"you--"
Chun Li just opened her mouth, but immediately controlled it and closed it again.Obviously she realized in time that Cui Tao was trying to provoke her with words, and she was trying to get more information from her reactions and words.
The place where the silver needle was inserted precisely paralyzed her entire arm, but luckily the other arm was still working.
Chun Li pulled out the silver needle on her shoulder neatly, and glared at Cui Tao bitterly.
"I guess you want to ask me how I know you have something to do with Han Zong? Look, you're scared, you don't even dare to say anything, and you still want to assassinate me?" Cui Tao's rhetorical question and sarcasm made Chunli She was so angry that she clenched the knife tightly, intending to attack Cui Tao again.
"Eh? Then do you still want to know the answer? Why would I know that you have something to do with Han Zong?"
Cui Tao laughed, looked Chun Li up and down nimbly, and took note of her figure, height, and shoe size by the way.
"Tell me, how did you know that!" Chun Li urged.
"You smell like him, especially in your hair."
Cui Tao's words made Chunli panic for a moment, and then became even more angry, probably because Cui Tao knew the key information, which was a fatal blow to her, so Chunli attacked Cui Tao again.
People are full of flaws when they are emotional.When Cui Tao fought Chunli just now, she found that she was struggling a little and might not be able to match her.
But now rationality defeated hysteria, and Cui Tao felt that she could win.
Chunli noticed that Cui Tao flew out five silver needles at the same time, and after dodging all of them, she was breathing a sigh of relief when she was hit on the acupuncture point on her chest by the sixth silver needle.
"Actually, I shot six of them, and the last one was a bit slower."
When Chun Li heard this, her face flushed with anger, and her angry eyes wanted to eat Cui Tao's skin, but now her body was paralyzed and she could hardly move.
Cui Tao smiled, and was about to step forward to catch Chunli, when suddenly another man in black with a black hat and cloak appeared, and he flew out three white ball-like things.After Cui Tao dodged, the three balls fell to the ground and emitted a strange smell.After being choked, she covered her nose, and saw that the man in black grabbed Chun Li and pulled out the silver needle on her chest, and they ran away immediately.
After chasing for a few steps, Cui Tao stopped when he heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the end of the alley.
Cui Tao returned to the place where the fight was just now, and retrieved the silver needle she had just thrown.These things are quite expensive, strangely valuable, of course they should be recycled in time.
Then she glanced at the three packs of 'white dumplings' thrown out by the man in black afterwards, which were bull dung mushrooms.
This man actually used the trick she used to catch the murderer, and turned it against her.
interesting.
……
When Cui Tao returned to Huangyuan, Wang Siniang and Ping'er were eating wontons in the gazebo.
When they saw Cui Tao, they hurriedly asked her if she had eaten.
Cui Tao said that she had eaten, and then sat with them, "The shop is almost done, so just hire someone to do the work, and you don't have to be so tired all day long."
"Then how do I do it, I have to check everything, otherwise I don't feel at ease." Ping'er said.
"Choose two people who know the basics and are reliable, and write the contract of employment clearly, so you won't make any big mistakes."
Cui Tao asked them back, knowing why she was only in the hair care lotion business.
"Didn't you just have this formula?" Wang Siniang asked stupidly.
"But it's not true. Madam Cui is very good at appreciating delicious food. If she opens a restaurant, the business will be good. The medical skills are also good, and it will definitely be good for people to recuperate the body." Ping'er pondered, "But all of these must Mrs. Cui did the work herself, is it because the business of hair care lotion is more convenient?"
Cui Tao nodded: "Convenience and safety: first, I don't want to make the layout too big and too ostentatious; second, the things in the entrance are easy to be dangerous, and if the hair care lotion is tricked by others, at most it will make people bald."
Wang Siniang and Ping'er suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the black sesame balls were made by Baxianlou.
"So I have considered all the dangerous aspects, it's nothing, you should let it go."
In addition to not wanting them to be too tired, Cui Tao also needed their help when there was a case in Kaifeng Mansion.
The two obediently agreed.Later, when he heard that Cui Tao met an assassin when he came back just now, Wang Siniang slapped the table and got up.
Both Cui Tao and Ping'er looked at her in surprise.
"No matter how busy we are in the future, Ping'er and I must have at least one person following Mrs. Cui!" Wang Siniang said forcefully.
"It's okay to sit and talk about it." Cui Tao said warmly.
"That's right, I was shocked! I swallowed a whole wonton." Ping'er complained.
Wang Siniang laughed and sat back awkwardly, expressing that she would pay attention in the future.
The yamen guard at the gate came to pass a message, telling Cui Tao and Lu Xiang's family that someone had come, and wanted to invite her to visit.
Both Wang Siniang and Ping'er couldn't help thinking of Lu Erlang, glanced at each other, and secretly smiled and felt that Cui Tao's peach blossoms had come again.
Cui Tao immediately said to the yamen servant who sent the message: "Go and inform Wang Xingshi that we will meet at the Jianyi Mansion."
The Jianyi Mansion is Han Zong's home.
Wang Siniang was stunned, and quietly tugged on Cui Tao's sleeve, reminding her that she was wrong, the person looking for him was the Lu family, it should be the Prime Minister's residence.
The yamen servant was also a little confused, and looked at Cui Tao for confirmation again.
"That's right, notify me as I ordered."
The servant who delivered the message for Lu Gongbi was still waiting at the door. After seeing Cui Tao, he was about to explain the situation, but was told by Cui Tao that she was going to admonish the government.
The man then rode away.
The servant had no choice but to pass on the original words to Lu Gongbi.
When Cui Tao dismounted in front of the Admonition Mansion, Wang Zhao was already waiting here, and Lu Gongbi followed.
After Wang Zhao learned from Cui Tao about the situation of her assassination just now, he immediately went to the Jianyi Mansion to report the situation and discuss about entering the mansion.
When Lu Gongbi heard that Cui Tao was in danger, he frowned and looked at her solemnly, asked if she was injured, and told her to be careful.
He also wanted to say that a girl like Cui Tao is not suitable for doing such dangerous things in Kaifeng Mansion, but he knew that saying this would only provoke Cui Tao's dislike, so he endured and endured the words, and in the end it was swallowed.
"Second cousin is looking for me today, what's the rush?" Cui Tao guessed that this would bring someone from Lu Xiang's family to look for her, and it probably wouldn't be Damascus.Damascus is a woman with a clear mind, she has already invited her during the day, and after being rejected by her, she will never force her to invite her again.
She told the servants of the Lu family that way just now, because it is so late now, and it is inconvenient for her to see Lu Gongbi alone.After all, she is now a non-single person, so try not to do things that are misleading.
Now that Lu Gongbi is here, seeing his serious expression, he must tell her something important, so he chooses to appear on this occasion.
Lu Gongbi was about to talk to Cui Tao, when he suddenly heard Li Cai complaining and feeling emotional.
"Visiting the high gate is a little troublesome. Even for the purpose of investigating the case, you can't directly enter the mansion, and you have to wait for a pass. If the suspect knows the situation in the mansion, wouldn't he have the opportunity to run away immediately?"
Lu Gongbi went directly to the gate of Jianyi Mansion, and the servants guarding the gate naturally recognized Mr. Erlang of Lu Xiang's family, so he quickly invited them in.
Han Zong was at home, and he rushed over immediately when he heard the news of someone from Kaifeng Mansion.Seeing that Cui Tao was really there, he fixed his eyes for a moment, then smiled on his face, and asked them politely and politely why the group of people came here.
Cui Tao showed Han Zong the portrait of the eyes she had drawn before.
"Do you recognize it? The remnants of the Ksitigarbha Pavilion are right by your side."
When Han Zong heard that it was related to the Dizang Pavilion, the smile on his face subsided, and he looked at the eyes on the portrait.
"that's it?"
Cui Tao nodded.
Han Zong took a closer look at the eyes on the portrait, thought for a while, and then shook his head.
"There are too many. The maids that Aunt chose to be next to me probably have the same eyebrows and eyes." Han Zong ordered all the maids in his room to be called over.
There are a total of 24 maids, sorted according to rank, standing in the house in four rows and six rows.
Cui Tao checked the eyebrows of each maid one by one, Han Zong was right, the maids in his room had similar eyebrows, all of them were Liu Yemei.
"Is this... a fashion in your mansion?" Cui Tao asked curiously.
"That's it."
Han Zong's aunt, Wang Shi, likes maids who are more beautiful and decent.So in order to cater to her preferences, the servants in the mansion also dressed like this. Of course, it was also because of the old lady in charge.When choosing a room for her sons, Mrs. Wang would choose someone who is pleasing to the eye and beautiful, especially the ones in Han Zong's room.
The mistresses of other families were afraid that their young sons would be seduced by some young and beautiful maids, but the Wang family did the opposite.
Now is not the time to be curious about these little things, Cui Tao asked Han Zong if everyone is complete.
"It's all set, who else is missing?" Han Zong glanced casually and asked.
"It's all set." The leading servant girl agreed.
With her hands behind her back, Cui Tao paced slowly in front of her, then moved to a servant girl and smelled it.The personal maid will stay in the house for a long time, if the incense burner is lit in the house, it will naturally be contaminated with the same fragrance as the master's house.
"Do you all use the same incense in your house?"
The maid said that the incense was arranged and selected by Wang, and the incense of San Lang and Shi Lang was different, but they changed because they didn't like it.Han Zong didn't raise any objections, so he used it like everyone else.
"Not these people."
Although the eyebrows and eyes were similar, Cui Tao already knew the female assassin's figure, height and shoe size just now, and the 24 maids in the room did not match.
Could it be that she made a wrong judgment?That female assassin is not by Han Zong's side?But when she mentioned Han Zong, the female assassin's reaction was obviously telling her that she was the person next to Han Zong.
She is from Dizang Pavilion, and Su Yuwan's subordinates are likely to be arranged beside Han Zong just like Jiaogu who is beside Cui Liu.
Moreover, when the Kaifeng government wiped out the Tibetan Pavilion branch, Han Zong was invited over.The person who released Yin Gu incense at that time learned of the situation by accident, and now went to the incense shop to make Yin Gu incense.At that time, everyone wondered why the news leaked so quickly, but if this person was someone close to Han Zong, it would make sense.
"Are you sure there is no one else?" Cui Tao described the female assassin's height and figure, "Half a head taller than me, with a waist circumference of two feet, a bust of two feet six, feet of about seven inches three, and shoulder width of about one foot two three." Left and right, the skin is fairer, and the neck is slightly longer than ordinary people."
Everyone was amazed after hearing the words, didn't they say that the female assassin was covering her face at that time?Know so much information!
"To put it simply, she has plump breasts, a long neck, big feet, and fair skin. She must have been in contact with Han Erlang." Cui Tao said it again in straightforward words, and asked the maids what impression they had.
"Sounds like Chun Li?"
"It's like Chunli."
……
Cui Tao asked Han Zong who Chunli was.
"It turned out to be the maid by my side. My mother begged her to serve by her side a few days ago." Han Zong didn't care much about the maids around him, and sometimes he didn't even look at their faces, let alone pay attention to other maids. How is your figure?
Seeing Han Zong's behavior, Cui Tao suddenly understood why the maid in his room was "especially so".This is unfeminine, causing the aunt to worry.
Han Zong immediately took Wang Zhao and others to apprehend Chunli, but they couldn't find her in the mansion.The maids around Mrs. Wang didn't even know when Chun Li left the house.
Cui Tao realized this possibility, even if she couldn't find anyone, she could also check her room.Li probably didn't expect that she would deduce that she was related to Han Zong. Now that she was caught off guard, her identity was exposed, and there was very likely something in the room that she hadn't had time to clean up or destroy.
Chunli is a first-class maid in the mansion. She has her own room. The room is not big, but it is spacious enough for one person to live in. It has a complete wardrobe and dowry.
Wang Zhao immediately led people to conduct a careful search in the house. At first, they only found the woman's daily use and clothes. Later, he found that the wardrobe had been moved, so he found a long wooden box under the stone slab under the wardrobe. The box is placed vertically in a deep pit dug under the stone slab.
Inside the box were two daggers, a few darts, ten sheets of Jiaozi with a denomination of ten guan, and three small porcelain bottles of different colors, which contained unknown powder, which looked like poison.There is also a small wax-sealed porcelain jar the size of an adult man's fist, and a small gray and white cloth bag the size of a palm.
When Wang Zhao picked up the cloth bag, he could feel that there were large particles inside the cloth bag, which were bigger than peanuts.He opened it to have a look, his face immediately turned pale with fright, he threw it on the ground, calling everyone to stay away, it's Gu worms!
Everyone knows how powerful the Gu worms in Dizang Pavilion are when they attack, so when they heard Wang Zhao shouting like this, everyone backed away in fright.
After the cloth bag fell to the ground, half of the black shell insects inside spilled out.
Seeing that it was indeed an adult insect of that kind of Gu, everyone backed away in fright.
"Dead bug." Cui Tao said.
"Yes, dead bugs! These bugs deserve to die!" Li Yuan echoed angrily.
Cui Tao: "I mean these bugs are dead."
Only then did everyone realize that the bugs on the ground were indeed motionless.
"It must be dead, otherwise it would have crawled out with such a cloth bag."
The mouths of larvae are like knives, which can easily bite through human skin, let alone adults.
Last time in Anping, Han Qi asked a person from Miaojiang who knew about Gu to help make Gu Yinxiang. Cui Tao asked the person from Miaojiang for advice. She took the worms she raised and asked him how to distinguish between male and female, so Cui Tao Tao is now able to distinguish the difference between male and female bugs.
Cui Tao took a closer look at these insects, and found that they were all female insects, and the female insects could be used to induce Gu incense.
The worms in this bag are not considered full. Thinking about the day when the sub-helm of the Dizang Pavilion was suppressed, Chunli was able to make Gu-inducing incense under the circumstances of a temporary incident, which shows that she has the habit of carrying these female worms with her. Maybe he also carried Gu poison with him, and used it in conjunction with it.
"What's in this little porcelain jar?" Li Cai picked it up curiously, ready to break the sealing wax, and opened the jar.
"Don't move! Don't break it! This small airtight jar looks like it contains insect eggs for laying down Gu."
Cui Tao suggested that it is more appropriate and safe to ask that Miaojiang native to open this thing.
Li Cai quickly and carefully put the porcelain jar back.
"The length of this wooden box is just about the same as her saber, and it should be used to hold the saber. But today, Chunli took the saber away when she wanted to move."
Wang Zhao and others nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Cui Tao's scrutiny.Subsequently, the poison was tested with living things, and it was confirmed that the powder in the three porcelain bottles was poisonous.
Generally speaking, this is a murder wooden box, except for Jiaozi, it contains all murder things.
After that, Wang Zhao and others conducted a second round of search of the room, but found no other useful clues.
Cui Tao has been standing by, calmly looking at the situation of the whole room.
Han Zong and Lu Gongbi were waiting outside the house. They didn't speak to each other at first, but then they looked at each other twice.When Lu Gongbi met Han Zong's eyes, he opened his mouth first.
"I heard that you encountered many situations in Anping?"
"Fortunately."
Han Zong responded coldly, and then found that Lu Gongbi was still looking at him.
"It's not much. It's just that I cooperated with the Kaifeng government to arrest all the villains who should be arrested."
Hearing what he said nicely, Lu Gongbi sneered, "I know Han Jianyi and the prince pleaded for mercy, and you have shown that you have made atonement, so your matter will not be pursued anymore.
But the human heart is selfish and cannot be deceived.I am also selfish, so I can see you clearly.It's clear that you are plotting against her. The so-called care and rescue are just destroying her. "
Han Zong closed his eyes.
"You know how she was robbed, how she was trapped there, and how much she hates those who harmed her. But you can ignore these, enjoy the kindness of those who harmed her, and selfishly want Satisfy your own desires, use your "good" to bind her. You let her fall into greater pain, life would be worse than death.
I know that since you came back from Anping, you have closed your door at home and thought about your past, and you haven't gone out for a day.But what are the sorrows you have encountered compared to hers? "
After a long while, Han Zong chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I can't compare, I owe her all my life."
"If you really feel that you owe her, then don't bother her any more, and don't make things difficult for her," Lu Gongbi said.
After listening to Han Zong's words, one corner of his mouth twitched, and he leaned against the vermilion lacquer pillar in the porch, looking sideways at Cui Tao who was still busy in the room.
Lu Gongbi followed Han Zong's gaze to Cui Tao, and then looked back at Han Zong, "I have decided to let go, and I hope you will too."
After Han Zong heard Lu Gongbi's words, he immediately looked at Lu Gongbi. When he met his eyes again, his eyes flashed with a strange determination, "Sorry, I will never. As you said, I am a Selfish people. People live for a lifetime, and the ghost knows whether I can be a human being in the next life, so I must work hard to fight for what I want in this life.”
Han Zong immediately stood up straight, walked in front of Lu Gongbi, and patted him on the shoulder, "You can't do it, so don't talk about others."
After Han Zong finished speaking, one corner of his mouth curled up, his face was extremely gloomy, and when he walked to the door of Chunli's house, his face suddenly became gentle, and he asked Cui Tao if he had found anything useful.
"We have to check again, is it convenient?" Cui Tao asked out of politeness.
"It's convenient, you can check at will, other people in the mansion, other rooms, you can. I will inform the housekeeper and ask him to cooperate with your investigation." Han Zong then said goodbye to Cui Tao, saying that he had to personally investigate the Wang's side. Just explain the situation.
When Cui Tao heard this, she hurriedly said, "I'm causing you trouble."
Han Zong twitched the corner of his mouth, shook his head lightly at Cui Tao, said it was okay, then turned and left.
Cui Tao felt Lu Gongbi's gaze, and remembered that there was still something to say, so she said to Lu Gongbi: "When I entered the mansion just now, thank you for your help, second cousin."
Lu Gongbi simply told Cui Tao of his decision and apologized to her for causing her a lot of troubles a while ago.
"Since I've made my decision, I won't change it. You don't have to avoid me the next time you go to the Prime Minister's mansion. After a while, I will follow my mother's wishes and make a marriage arrangement."
Cui Tao promised, "Second cousin deserves better, I will bless you both."
"That's all, I feel at ease after talking about it, and it's time for me to leave."
Lu Gongbi bid farewell to Cui Tao after saying that, when he turned to leave, he turned back again.
"Han Erlang, it's better to stay away from him."
Cui Tao was stunned for a moment, then Lu Gongbi took his leave and walked away.
"We still haven't found anything. We should be the only ones who found the wooden box." Wang Zhao reported.
Cui Tao looked around the room again, and finally her eyes fell on the bronze mirror in front of the dowry.He suddenly remembered the bronze mirror in his memory, so he went to the bronze mirror in a mysterious way, took it down and checked it.
Knocked.
Cui Tao unexpectedly discovered that there was something wrong with the bronze mirror.
Cui Tao then found a picture from the bronze mirror. I don't know where this picture was drawn. There are many mountains, and there are two small rivers beside the mountain. Where it converges into a river, there is a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides on its southeast side, and the small red circle is enclosed there.
It looks like a treasure map. Of course, the location of the red circle may not necessarily be a treasure, but it may be something else, but it must be not simple, otherwise the map will not be saved in this way.This picture of the bronze mirror does not seem to be a coincidence. Could it be that Chun Li still has something to do with the dead Meng Da couple?
Cui Tao handed over the picture to Wang Zhao and others, but no one knew where the picture was drawn.
"There are so many mountains and rivers all over the world, where can I find them?"
After interrogating the maidservants who had made friends with Chun Li, they did not find any important clues, so everyone ended the search and returned to Kaifeng Mansion.
After Cui Tao came back, he didn't expect that Han Qi was waiting for him in Kaifeng mansion.
When she entered the side hall, she saw Han Qi sitting quietly at the top, with a pale face and cold eyes.
Cui Tao guessed that Han Qi must have been angry after hearing the news of her assassination, and hurriedly apologized to him, but Han Qi didn't respond.
"I've been assassinated, why doesn't Liulang care about my safety?"
"I've cared about it." Han Qi said.
Cui Tao suddenly realized that when she was investigating at Han Zong's mansion, some government servants ran in and out, and even took a few glances at her. It is very likely that the people sent by Han Qi confirmed her situation with their own eyes.
Cui Tao realized that he was causing trouble.She didn't notify Han Qi as soon as she was in danger, nor did she specifically notify him after investigating the case in the Admonition Mansion for so long.
And before she dealt with the assassin, she even found an excuse to send Han Qi away ahead of time.With Han Qi's IQ, when he learned that she had encountered an assassin, he would definitely be able to deduce that she wanted him to go back early because she was deliberately sending him away.
In fact, Cui Taozhi's original intention of leaving Han Qi was to let Chunli show up as soon as possible. Afterwards, when she went to the Remonstrance Mansion to investigate the case, she was in a hurry to find out the clues, but she didn't pay attention to the notice.
I'm afraid that Han Qi will think that he is not important, so he will be ignored.She would think that when she was in danger, not only did she not think of him at the first time, but she also wanted to send him away, thinking that he was holding her back.
"It's not what you think."
"What kind?" Han Qi asked back.
"Don't get me wrong." Cui Tao hurriedly moved to Han Qi's side and grabbed Han Qi's sleeve, "I don't know how many heart-rending and heart-wrenching sadomasochisms all started from misunderstandings, we can't let them sprout Opportunity."
Han Qi stared at Cui Tao, but still didn't speak.
"I sent you away to lure the assassin to show up. I didn't tell you in time when I went to the Remonstrance Mansion to investigate the case. I didn't want you to take a rare day off to worry about such trivial matters. Anyway, it's not an urgent matter. Just wait until the next day -"
Cui Tao was explaining in a rambling manner, when she suddenly found that her hand was held tightly by Han Qi.
The man's profile was unprecedentedly cold.
Cui Tao realized that something was wrong. Things didn't seem to be what she thought. Han Qi shouldn't be such a stingy person.
"The identity of the female mummy has been found out, it is my aunt."
Han Qi felt complicated for a moment, and it was difficult for him to describe his mood and feelings accurately.She really dared to say it, but she said it out of her heart because he liked it, but she said such things in the street...
When did Han Qi think that one day, because of a single word, his thoughts would turn a thousand times, with mixed feelings, comfortable and uncomfortable, unhappy and happy... In the end, he pointed the finger at the source of the spread of the words.
Naturally, Cui Tao couldn't sue, so he hesitated and changed the conversation, lamenting that it was finally dark and the night market was bustling again, and dragged Han Qi to the Sun couple's stall to eat lotus seed soup.
After ordering the most popular lotus seed soup, Cui Tao and Han Qi sat in the corner, discussing in a low voice the follow-up investigation method of the mummy case.
"I'll go back to the yamen in a while, and I'll check the records of last year's missing report first. If the female victim really has some identity, and she went out in disguise, if she disappeared suddenly, it should be conspicuous." Cui Tao spoke, and the lotus seed soup up.
The bowl Cui Tao wanted added pears, raisins and honeydew beans. The soft and glutinous lotus seeds were soaked in the sweet and sour syrup. Taking a sip into the mouth, it has the effect of making people happy and relieved of fatigue.Happiness is because of sweetness, and sweets always make the mood sweeter, and fatigue is because there is a faint smell of wine in it. After drinking it, the blood flow is faster, the muscles and tendons are relaxed, but it does not get on the head.Lotus seeds, honey beans, pears and raisins seem to be fighting in the mouth, killing each other to the fullest, and then dissolving in the syrup of sweet wine, making people want to eat it.
After eating a bowl, my cheeks are slightly hot, and when I smile with the corners of my mouth hooked, there is a sour and sweet breath.
Han Qi could tell at a glance that Cui Tao hadn't had enough, so he ordered a bowl of tea for her to make lotus seed soup as the base.
Cui Tao really wanted to taste all flavors, but the stomach that just finished eating wontons definitely couldn't accommodate all flavors.She was hesitating which flavor to have for the next bowl, when she found out that Han Qi made the decision for her first.
Cui Tao curiously asked Han Qi? : "How do you know I want to eat this more? Once I don't like it."
"You're not picky," Han Qi said.
"That's right, you should ask me if you're not a picky eater." Cui Tao was about to pretend to blame Han Qi for not respecting his opinion, when she saw a middle-aged woman bringing over fried spring rolls filled with lotus leaves.
Cui Tao: "..."
"Can I have another bowl?" Han Qi wanted to reach out and bring Cui Tao's bowl of lotus seed soup to him as he said.
Cui Tao immediately hugged her, and said to Han Qi with a smile: "This is just right, eat it with fried food, and it will relieve the tiredness."
Han Qi followed suit and laughed too, watching Cui Tao take a piece of golden-fried spring roll into his mouth, and with a click, crumbs dropped from the side of his mouth.
"Hmm—" Cui Tao chewed in surprise, while looking at Han Qi with joy, his expression was like telling him that the spring rolls tasted extremely delicious.Cui Tao took a piece and handed it to Han Qi, and almost gave it to his mouth, but she restrained herself because of the inappropriate occasion.
Han Qi took it with his own chopsticks and tasted it too.The same deep-fried spring rolls, Han Qi's expression in his mouth was faint, as if drinking plain water, no different.
Cui Tao admires Han Qi's resistance to food, but she can't.The outer skin of this spring roll is crispy and has the fragrance of miscellaneous grains. The red bean paste inside is peeled, which is very delicate. It is filled with sweet-scented osmanthus sugar. Anything wrapped into stuffing and fried will explode when you bite the first bite. , can be described as the most incomparably refreshing.The sweet red bean fragrance and the faint sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance linger between the lips and teeth for a long time. How can it be indifferent to such a delicacy?I can't do it!
After Cui Tao ate two fried spring rolls, she took a sip of tea lotus seed soup, which was really refreshing.And this bowl of Han Qi is slightly iced, which can not only remove the greasy fried food, but also neutralize the heat brought by the brewed water from the previous drinking.
After eating these, Cui Tao felt that her stomach was also round.
On the way back, Cui Tao heard Han Qi ask her if she was full, and there was a good restaurant ahead——
Cui Tao immediately told Han Qi not to say anything, she wanted to eat, but she had more heart than stomach, and had no place to eat.
"It's already plump." Cui Tao rubbed her stomach and sighed.
Han Qi lowered his eyes and glanced lightly, but he didn't see any roundness, and his waist was still slender, but he felt that she seemed a little too thin.
"If you don't believe me, feel it, it's really round." Seeing that Han Qi didn't believe it, Cui Tao patted her stomach and asked her to touch it.
Han Qi pursed his thin lips into a line, glanced at Cui Tao, and continued walking, of course he didn't touch her.
"Liulang hates me?" Cui Tao chased him up and asked him.
"No." Han Qi immediately denied it, and then met Cui Tao's smiling eyes, only to realize that she was joking.
"It's a rare opportunity for Liu Lang to feel my round belly."
Cui Tao is like an unethical goblin, seducing the monk to break the precept.
Han Qi's breath was stagnant, but he only cared about moving forward, ignoring Cui Tao.
Cui Tao tilted her head to look at Han Qi's back for a while, then ran to his side and hooked his little finger with his little finger.
Han Qi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he also raised his fingers, hooking Cui Tao tightly.
After a while, Cui Tao asked Han Qi to go back before arriving at Kaifeng Mansion.
"Just send it here, go back and rest early. There is a case today, maybe there are many people passing by the door, and they saw it." Cui Tao said goodbye to Han Qi.
"Ah."
Han Qi watched Cui Tao disappear at the intersection, Fang turned and left.
Cui Tao raised the corners of her mouth, held a lamp in her hand, swayed, and walked forward with cheerful steps, humming a little song.
When she reached the last alley near Kaifeng Mansion, the person behind her finally appeared.
The humming stopped abruptly, Cui Tao turned cold and looked back at the person who came, "Are you finally willing to show up?"
The masked man in black froze for a moment, then raised his knife.
"Don't dare to say anything, are we old acquaintances?" Cui Tao asked again.
"Stop talking nonsense! I'm going to avenge the pavilion master today!" The female voice was sharp, and she was about to strike Cui Tao with a knife.
Cui Tao immediately picked up the lantern, and the woman in black stepped back one after another out of precaution.
With the light of the lantern, Cui Tao could clearly see the facial features of the masked woman.
She really recognized that when the Kaifeng Mansion wiped out the Bianjing Dizang Pavilion sub-rudder, someone used Gu incense to silence them. Based on the description of the shopkeeper of the incense shop, she finally drew a pair of suspect's eyebrows and eyes.
That pair of eyes is almost exactly the same as the current one, with willow-leaf-shaped eyes, double eyelids, and the eyebrows are the willow-leaf eyebrows painted by Shi Dai.
Of course, this pair of eyebrows alone can't prove anything. There are many people with similar eyes.But the woman who dared to wear a black dress and shout for revenge for the pavilion master under such a dark night, must be her, and she can't be wrong.
"It was you who burned the incense and killed the entire Bianjing branch?"
Chun Li stared back at Cui Tao in surprise, she just showed up and yelled a word, how could Cui Qiniang be sure that it was her who did it?
No wonder Pavilion Master Su and Jiao Gu would die under her calculations, this woman is really not simple, even scary!
"Die!" Chun Li stopped talking nonsense, and quickly slashed at Cui Tao with a flying knife.
After Cui Tao dodged for a few rounds, she flew two silver needles towards Chunli's acupuncture point, but she dodged it in time.
Whoops, good work!
Cui Tao had already expected this.
She had been quietly following her and Han Qi for an unknown amount of time.
Because of Han Qi's shyness before, Cui Tao purposely held her breath to listen to Han Qi's heartbeat, but suddenly found someone following them, so she realized that this person's skills must be good, so they didn't notice.
Cui Tao deliberately sent Han Qi away in advance, creating an opportunity for her to show up.
"Who is Su Yuwan to you?" Cui Tao asked.
The other party didn't answer.
"Are you trained by Jiao Gu?" Cui Tao asked again.
The other party didn't answer either.
"What's the relationship between Han Zong and you?" Cui Tao asked third.
Chun Li was stunned for a moment, and then she dodged in time, and Cui Tao got a silver needle in her shoulder.
"you--"
Chun Li just opened her mouth, but immediately controlled it and closed it again.Obviously she realized in time that Cui Tao was trying to provoke her with words, and she was trying to get more information from her reactions and words.
The place where the silver needle was inserted precisely paralyzed her entire arm, but luckily the other arm was still working.
Chun Li pulled out the silver needle on her shoulder neatly, and glared at Cui Tao bitterly.
"I guess you want to ask me how I know you have something to do with Han Zong? Look, you're scared, you don't even dare to say anything, and you still want to assassinate me?" Cui Tao's rhetorical question and sarcasm made Chunli She was so angry that she clenched the knife tightly, intending to attack Cui Tao again.
"Eh? Then do you still want to know the answer? Why would I know that you have something to do with Han Zong?"
Cui Tao laughed, looked Chun Li up and down nimbly, and took note of her figure, height, and shoe size by the way.
"Tell me, how did you know that!" Chun Li urged.
"You smell like him, especially in your hair."
Cui Tao's words made Chunli panic for a moment, and then became even more angry, probably because Cui Tao knew the key information, which was a fatal blow to her, so Chunli attacked Cui Tao again.
People are full of flaws when they are emotional.When Cui Tao fought Chunli just now, she found that she was struggling a little and might not be able to match her.
But now rationality defeated hysteria, and Cui Tao felt that she could win.
Chunli noticed that Cui Tao flew out five silver needles at the same time, and after dodging all of them, she was breathing a sigh of relief when she was hit on the acupuncture point on her chest by the sixth silver needle.
"Actually, I shot six of them, and the last one was a bit slower."
When Chun Li heard this, her face flushed with anger, and her angry eyes wanted to eat Cui Tao's skin, but now her body was paralyzed and she could hardly move.
Cui Tao smiled, and was about to step forward to catch Chunli, when suddenly another man in black with a black hat and cloak appeared, and he flew out three white ball-like things.After Cui Tao dodged, the three balls fell to the ground and emitted a strange smell.After being choked, she covered her nose, and saw that the man in black grabbed Chun Li and pulled out the silver needle on her chest, and they ran away immediately.
After chasing for a few steps, Cui Tao stopped when he heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the end of the alley.
Cui Tao returned to the place where the fight was just now, and retrieved the silver needle she had just thrown.These things are quite expensive, strangely valuable, of course they should be recycled in time.
Then she glanced at the three packs of 'white dumplings' thrown out by the man in black afterwards, which were bull dung mushrooms.
This man actually used the trick she used to catch the murderer, and turned it against her.
interesting.
……
When Cui Tao returned to Huangyuan, Wang Siniang and Ping'er were eating wontons in the gazebo.
When they saw Cui Tao, they hurriedly asked her if she had eaten.
Cui Tao said that she had eaten, and then sat with them, "The shop is almost done, so just hire someone to do the work, and you don't have to be so tired all day long."
"Then how do I do it, I have to check everything, otherwise I don't feel at ease." Ping'er said.
"Choose two people who know the basics and are reliable, and write the contract of employment clearly, so you won't make any big mistakes."
Cui Tao asked them back, knowing why she was only in the hair care lotion business.
"Didn't you just have this formula?" Wang Siniang asked stupidly.
"But it's not true. Madam Cui is very good at appreciating delicious food. If she opens a restaurant, the business will be good. The medical skills are also good, and it will definitely be good for people to recuperate the body." Ping'er pondered, "But all of these must Mrs. Cui did the work herself, is it because the business of hair care lotion is more convenient?"
Cui Tao nodded: "Convenience and safety: first, I don't want to make the layout too big and too ostentatious; second, the things in the entrance are easy to be dangerous, and if the hair care lotion is tricked by others, at most it will make people bald."
Wang Siniang and Ping'er suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the black sesame balls were made by Baxianlou.
"So I have considered all the dangerous aspects, it's nothing, you should let it go."
In addition to not wanting them to be too tired, Cui Tao also needed their help when there was a case in Kaifeng Mansion.
The two obediently agreed.Later, when he heard that Cui Tao met an assassin when he came back just now, Wang Siniang slapped the table and got up.
Both Cui Tao and Ping'er looked at her in surprise.
"No matter how busy we are in the future, Ping'er and I must have at least one person following Mrs. Cui!" Wang Siniang said forcefully.
"It's okay to sit and talk about it." Cui Tao said warmly.
"That's right, I was shocked! I swallowed a whole wonton." Ping'er complained.
Wang Siniang laughed and sat back awkwardly, expressing that she would pay attention in the future.
The yamen guard at the gate came to pass a message, telling Cui Tao and Lu Xiang's family that someone had come, and wanted to invite her to visit.
Both Wang Siniang and Ping'er couldn't help thinking of Lu Erlang, glanced at each other, and secretly smiled and felt that Cui Tao's peach blossoms had come again.
Cui Tao immediately said to the yamen servant who sent the message: "Go and inform Wang Xingshi that we will meet at the Jianyi Mansion."
The Jianyi Mansion is Han Zong's home.
Wang Siniang was stunned, and quietly tugged on Cui Tao's sleeve, reminding her that she was wrong, the person looking for him was the Lu family, it should be the Prime Minister's residence.
The yamen servant was also a little confused, and looked at Cui Tao for confirmation again.
"That's right, notify me as I ordered."
The servant who delivered the message for Lu Gongbi was still waiting at the door. After seeing Cui Tao, he was about to explain the situation, but was told by Cui Tao that she was going to admonish the government.
The man then rode away.
The servant had no choice but to pass on the original words to Lu Gongbi.
When Cui Tao dismounted in front of the Admonition Mansion, Wang Zhao was already waiting here, and Lu Gongbi followed.
After Wang Zhao learned from Cui Tao about the situation of her assassination just now, he immediately went to the Jianyi Mansion to report the situation and discuss about entering the mansion.
When Lu Gongbi heard that Cui Tao was in danger, he frowned and looked at her solemnly, asked if she was injured, and told her to be careful.
He also wanted to say that a girl like Cui Tao is not suitable for doing such dangerous things in Kaifeng Mansion, but he knew that saying this would only provoke Cui Tao's dislike, so he endured and endured the words, and in the end it was swallowed.
"Second cousin is looking for me today, what's the rush?" Cui Tao guessed that this would bring someone from Lu Xiang's family to look for her, and it probably wouldn't be Damascus.Damascus is a woman with a clear mind, she has already invited her during the day, and after being rejected by her, she will never force her to invite her again.
She told the servants of the Lu family that way just now, because it is so late now, and it is inconvenient for her to see Lu Gongbi alone.After all, she is now a non-single person, so try not to do things that are misleading.
Now that Lu Gongbi is here, seeing his serious expression, he must tell her something important, so he chooses to appear on this occasion.
Lu Gongbi was about to talk to Cui Tao, when he suddenly heard Li Cai complaining and feeling emotional.
"Visiting the high gate is a little troublesome. Even for the purpose of investigating the case, you can't directly enter the mansion, and you have to wait for a pass. If the suspect knows the situation in the mansion, wouldn't he have the opportunity to run away immediately?"
Lu Gongbi went directly to the gate of Jianyi Mansion, and the servants guarding the gate naturally recognized Mr. Erlang of Lu Xiang's family, so he quickly invited them in.
Han Zong was at home, and he rushed over immediately when he heard the news of someone from Kaifeng Mansion.Seeing that Cui Tao was really there, he fixed his eyes for a moment, then smiled on his face, and asked them politely and politely why the group of people came here.
Cui Tao showed Han Zong the portrait of the eyes she had drawn before.
"Do you recognize it? The remnants of the Ksitigarbha Pavilion are right by your side."
When Han Zong heard that it was related to the Dizang Pavilion, the smile on his face subsided, and he looked at the eyes on the portrait.
"that's it?"
Cui Tao nodded.
Han Zong took a closer look at the eyes on the portrait, thought for a while, and then shook his head.
"There are too many. The maids that Aunt chose to be next to me probably have the same eyebrows and eyes." Han Zong ordered all the maids in his room to be called over.
There are a total of 24 maids, sorted according to rank, standing in the house in four rows and six rows.
Cui Tao checked the eyebrows of each maid one by one, Han Zong was right, the maids in his room had similar eyebrows, all of them were Liu Yemei.
"Is this... a fashion in your mansion?" Cui Tao asked curiously.
"That's it."
Han Zong's aunt, Wang Shi, likes maids who are more beautiful and decent.So in order to cater to her preferences, the servants in the mansion also dressed like this. Of course, it was also because of the old lady in charge.When choosing a room for her sons, Mrs. Wang would choose someone who is pleasing to the eye and beautiful, especially the ones in Han Zong's room.
The mistresses of other families were afraid that their young sons would be seduced by some young and beautiful maids, but the Wang family did the opposite.
Now is not the time to be curious about these little things, Cui Tao asked Han Zong if everyone is complete.
"It's all set, who else is missing?" Han Zong glanced casually and asked.
"It's all set." The leading servant girl agreed.
With her hands behind her back, Cui Tao paced slowly in front of her, then moved to a servant girl and smelled it.The personal maid will stay in the house for a long time, if the incense burner is lit in the house, it will naturally be contaminated with the same fragrance as the master's house.
"Do you all use the same incense in your house?"
The maid said that the incense was arranged and selected by Wang, and the incense of San Lang and Shi Lang was different, but they changed because they didn't like it.Han Zong didn't raise any objections, so he used it like everyone else.
"Not these people."
Although the eyebrows and eyes were similar, Cui Tao already knew the female assassin's figure, height and shoe size just now, and the 24 maids in the room did not match.
Could it be that she made a wrong judgment?That female assassin is not by Han Zong's side?But when she mentioned Han Zong, the female assassin's reaction was obviously telling her that she was the person next to Han Zong.
She is from Dizang Pavilion, and Su Yuwan's subordinates are likely to be arranged beside Han Zong just like Jiaogu who is beside Cui Liu.
Moreover, when the Kaifeng government wiped out the Tibetan Pavilion branch, Han Zong was invited over.The person who released Yin Gu incense at that time learned of the situation by accident, and now went to the incense shop to make Yin Gu incense.At that time, everyone wondered why the news leaked so quickly, but if this person was someone close to Han Zong, it would make sense.
"Are you sure there is no one else?" Cui Tao described the female assassin's height and figure, "Half a head taller than me, with a waist circumference of two feet, a bust of two feet six, feet of about seven inches three, and shoulder width of about one foot two three." Left and right, the skin is fairer, and the neck is slightly longer than ordinary people."
Everyone was amazed after hearing the words, didn't they say that the female assassin was covering her face at that time?Know so much information!
"To put it simply, she has plump breasts, a long neck, big feet, and fair skin. She must have been in contact with Han Erlang." Cui Tao said it again in straightforward words, and asked the maids what impression they had.
"Sounds like Chun Li?"
"It's like Chunli."
……
Cui Tao asked Han Zong who Chunli was.
"It turned out to be the maid by my side. My mother begged her to serve by her side a few days ago." Han Zong didn't care much about the maids around him, and sometimes he didn't even look at their faces, let alone pay attention to other maids. How is your figure?
Seeing Han Zong's behavior, Cui Tao suddenly understood why the maid in his room was "especially so".This is unfeminine, causing the aunt to worry.
Han Zong immediately took Wang Zhao and others to apprehend Chunli, but they couldn't find her in the mansion.The maids around Mrs. Wang didn't even know when Chun Li left the house.
Cui Tao realized this possibility, even if she couldn't find anyone, she could also check her room.Li probably didn't expect that she would deduce that she was related to Han Zong. Now that she was caught off guard, her identity was exposed, and there was very likely something in the room that she hadn't had time to clean up or destroy.
Chunli is a first-class maid in the mansion. She has her own room. The room is not big, but it is spacious enough for one person to live in. It has a complete wardrobe and dowry.
Wang Zhao immediately led people to conduct a careful search in the house. At first, they only found the woman's daily use and clothes. Later, he found that the wardrobe had been moved, so he found a long wooden box under the stone slab under the wardrobe. The box is placed vertically in a deep pit dug under the stone slab.
Inside the box were two daggers, a few darts, ten sheets of Jiaozi with a denomination of ten guan, and three small porcelain bottles of different colors, which contained unknown powder, which looked like poison.There is also a small wax-sealed porcelain jar the size of an adult man's fist, and a small gray and white cloth bag the size of a palm.
When Wang Zhao picked up the cloth bag, he could feel that there were large particles inside the cloth bag, which were bigger than peanuts.He opened it to have a look, his face immediately turned pale with fright, he threw it on the ground, calling everyone to stay away, it's Gu worms!
Everyone knows how powerful the Gu worms in Dizang Pavilion are when they attack, so when they heard Wang Zhao shouting like this, everyone backed away in fright.
After the cloth bag fell to the ground, half of the black shell insects inside spilled out.
Seeing that it was indeed an adult insect of that kind of Gu, everyone backed away in fright.
"Dead bug." Cui Tao said.
"Yes, dead bugs! These bugs deserve to die!" Li Yuan echoed angrily.
Cui Tao: "I mean these bugs are dead."
Only then did everyone realize that the bugs on the ground were indeed motionless.
"It must be dead, otherwise it would have crawled out with such a cloth bag."
The mouths of larvae are like knives, which can easily bite through human skin, let alone adults.
Last time in Anping, Han Qi asked a person from Miaojiang who knew about Gu to help make Gu Yinxiang. Cui Tao asked the person from Miaojiang for advice. She took the worms she raised and asked him how to distinguish between male and female, so Cui Tao Tao is now able to distinguish the difference between male and female bugs.
Cui Tao took a closer look at these insects, and found that they were all female insects, and the female insects could be used to induce Gu incense.
The worms in this bag are not considered full. Thinking about the day when the sub-helm of the Dizang Pavilion was suppressed, Chunli was able to make Gu-inducing incense under the circumstances of a temporary incident, which shows that she has the habit of carrying these female worms with her. Maybe he also carried Gu poison with him, and used it in conjunction with it.
"What's in this little porcelain jar?" Li Cai picked it up curiously, ready to break the sealing wax, and opened the jar.
"Don't move! Don't break it! This small airtight jar looks like it contains insect eggs for laying down Gu."
Cui Tao suggested that it is more appropriate and safe to ask that Miaojiang native to open this thing.
Li Cai quickly and carefully put the porcelain jar back.
"The length of this wooden box is just about the same as her saber, and it should be used to hold the saber. But today, Chunli took the saber away when she wanted to move."
Wang Zhao and others nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Cui Tao's scrutiny.Subsequently, the poison was tested with living things, and it was confirmed that the powder in the three porcelain bottles was poisonous.
Generally speaking, this is a murder wooden box, except for Jiaozi, it contains all murder things.
After that, Wang Zhao and others conducted a second round of search of the room, but found no other useful clues.
Cui Tao has been standing by, calmly looking at the situation of the whole room.
Han Zong and Lu Gongbi were waiting outside the house. They didn't speak to each other at first, but then they looked at each other twice.When Lu Gongbi met Han Zong's eyes, he opened his mouth first.
"I heard that you encountered many situations in Anping?"
"Fortunately."
Han Zong responded coldly, and then found that Lu Gongbi was still looking at him.
"It's not much. It's just that I cooperated with the Kaifeng government to arrest all the villains who should be arrested."
Hearing what he said nicely, Lu Gongbi sneered, "I know Han Jianyi and the prince pleaded for mercy, and you have shown that you have made atonement, so your matter will not be pursued anymore.
But the human heart is selfish and cannot be deceived.I am also selfish, so I can see you clearly.It's clear that you are plotting against her. The so-called care and rescue are just destroying her. "
Han Zong closed his eyes.
"You know how she was robbed, how she was trapped there, and how much she hates those who harmed her. But you can ignore these, enjoy the kindness of those who harmed her, and selfishly want Satisfy your own desires, use your "good" to bind her. You let her fall into greater pain, life would be worse than death.
I know that since you came back from Anping, you have closed your door at home and thought about your past, and you haven't gone out for a day.But what are the sorrows you have encountered compared to hers? "
After a long while, Han Zong chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I can't compare, I owe her all my life."
"If you really feel that you owe her, then don't bother her any more, and don't make things difficult for her," Lu Gongbi said.
After listening to Han Zong's words, one corner of his mouth twitched, and he leaned against the vermilion lacquer pillar in the porch, looking sideways at Cui Tao who was still busy in the room.
Lu Gongbi followed Han Zong's gaze to Cui Tao, and then looked back at Han Zong, "I have decided to let go, and I hope you will too."
After Han Zong heard Lu Gongbi's words, he immediately looked at Lu Gongbi. When he met his eyes again, his eyes flashed with a strange determination, "Sorry, I will never. As you said, I am a Selfish people. People live for a lifetime, and the ghost knows whether I can be a human being in the next life, so I must work hard to fight for what I want in this life.”
Han Zong immediately stood up straight, walked in front of Lu Gongbi, and patted him on the shoulder, "You can't do it, so don't talk about others."
After Han Zong finished speaking, one corner of his mouth curled up, his face was extremely gloomy, and when he walked to the door of Chunli's house, his face suddenly became gentle, and he asked Cui Tao if he had found anything useful.
"We have to check again, is it convenient?" Cui Tao asked out of politeness.
"It's convenient, you can check at will, other people in the mansion, other rooms, you can. I will inform the housekeeper and ask him to cooperate with your investigation." Han Zong then said goodbye to Cui Tao, saying that he had to personally investigate the Wang's side. Just explain the situation.
When Cui Tao heard this, she hurriedly said, "I'm causing you trouble."
Han Zong twitched the corner of his mouth, shook his head lightly at Cui Tao, said it was okay, then turned and left.
Cui Tao felt Lu Gongbi's gaze, and remembered that there was still something to say, so she said to Lu Gongbi: "When I entered the mansion just now, thank you for your help, second cousin."
Lu Gongbi simply told Cui Tao of his decision and apologized to her for causing her a lot of troubles a while ago.
"Since I've made my decision, I won't change it. You don't have to avoid me the next time you go to the Prime Minister's mansion. After a while, I will follow my mother's wishes and make a marriage arrangement."
Cui Tao promised, "Second cousin deserves better, I will bless you both."
"That's all, I feel at ease after talking about it, and it's time for me to leave."
Lu Gongbi bid farewell to Cui Tao after saying that, when he turned to leave, he turned back again.
"Han Erlang, it's better to stay away from him."
Cui Tao was stunned for a moment, then Lu Gongbi took his leave and walked away.
"We still haven't found anything. We should be the only ones who found the wooden box." Wang Zhao reported.
Cui Tao looked around the room again, and finally her eyes fell on the bronze mirror in front of the dowry.He suddenly remembered the bronze mirror in his memory, so he went to the bronze mirror in a mysterious way, took it down and checked it.
Knocked.
Cui Tao unexpectedly discovered that there was something wrong with the bronze mirror.
Cui Tao then found a picture from the bronze mirror. I don't know where this picture was drawn. There are many mountains, and there are two small rivers beside the mountain. Where it converges into a river, there is a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides on its southeast side, and the small red circle is enclosed there.
It looks like a treasure map. Of course, the location of the red circle may not necessarily be a treasure, but it may be something else, but it must be not simple, otherwise the map will not be saved in this way.This picture of the bronze mirror does not seem to be a coincidence. Could it be that Chun Li still has something to do with the dead Meng Da couple?
Cui Tao handed over the picture to Wang Zhao and others, but no one knew where the picture was drawn.
"There are so many mountains and rivers all over the world, where can I find them?"
After interrogating the maidservants who had made friends with Chun Li, they did not find any important clues, so everyone ended the search and returned to Kaifeng Mansion.
After Cui Tao came back, he didn't expect that Han Qi was waiting for him in Kaifeng mansion.
When she entered the side hall, she saw Han Qi sitting quietly at the top, with a pale face and cold eyes.
Cui Tao guessed that Han Qi must have been angry after hearing the news of her assassination, and hurriedly apologized to him, but Han Qi didn't respond.
"I've been assassinated, why doesn't Liulang care about my safety?"
"I've cared about it." Han Qi said.
Cui Tao suddenly realized that when she was investigating at Han Zong's mansion, some government servants ran in and out, and even took a few glances at her. It is very likely that the people sent by Han Qi confirmed her situation with their own eyes.
Cui Tao realized that he was causing trouble.She didn't notify Han Qi as soon as she was in danger, nor did she specifically notify him after investigating the case in the Admonition Mansion for so long.
And before she dealt with the assassin, she even found an excuse to send Han Qi away ahead of time.With Han Qi's IQ, when he learned that she had encountered an assassin, he would definitely be able to deduce that she wanted him to go back early because she was deliberately sending him away.
In fact, Cui Taozhi's original intention of leaving Han Qi was to let Chunli show up as soon as possible. Afterwards, when she went to the Remonstrance Mansion to investigate the case, she was in a hurry to find out the clues, but she didn't pay attention to the notice.
I'm afraid that Han Qi will think that he is not important, so he will be ignored.She would think that when she was in danger, not only did she not think of him at the first time, but she also wanted to send him away, thinking that he was holding her back.
"It's not what you think."
"What kind?" Han Qi asked back.
"Don't get me wrong." Cui Tao hurriedly moved to Han Qi's side and grabbed Han Qi's sleeve, "I don't know how many heart-rending and heart-wrenching sadomasochisms all started from misunderstandings, we can't let them sprout Opportunity."
Han Qi stared at Cui Tao, but still didn't speak.
"I sent you away to lure the assassin to show up. I didn't tell you in time when I went to the Remonstrance Mansion to investigate the case. I didn't want you to take a rare day off to worry about such trivial matters. Anyway, it's not an urgent matter. Just wait until the next day -"
Cui Tao was explaining in a rambling manner, when she suddenly found that her hand was held tightly by Han Qi.
The man's profile was unprecedentedly cold.
Cui Tao realized that something was wrong. Things didn't seem to be what she thought. Han Qi shouldn't be such a stingy person.
"The identity of the female mummy has been found out, it is my aunt."
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