sirius

"Crack!" A note fell to the front of the steps, almost hitting Cao Weishan on the forehead, the huge Chengming Hall was silent, Cao Weishan knelt on the ground and shivered, not even daring to breathe.

"Heavy place in Gyeonggi! What happened to burglary and arson?! The one who died was Dali Siqing, the third-rank official of our court?! Cao Weishan! What are you doing in the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion on weekdays?!"

Your Majesty only left the capital for a few days to hunt, and such a murderous case happened in the Yuan capital. There was an uproar in the court, rumors spread everywhere, and everyone was in danger. Da Chen Jianguo has never seen such a case under the feet of the emperor for a hundred years. One can imagine the chaos now.

His Majesty hurried back to the palace all the way from Baiyan Mountain, Cao Weishan was already kneeling in the Chengming Palace, but such a big case, what's the use of kneeling, His Majesty was furious, if the case could not be solved, Cao Weishan would undoubtedly die.

"The humble minister is guilty, the humble minister deserves to die! I beg your Majesty to calm down, Your Majesty to calm down."

"Damn you! I'll give you five days, if you don't get any criminals before the Mid-Autumn Festival, you hang yourself on the tower!"

"Yes, Wei Chen's decree."

Cao Weishan got up tremblingly, and stumbled out of the Chengming Hall. If Zhang Suian hadn't supported him, he would have almost rolled down the stone steps in front of the hall.

"Lord Cao, please slow down."

"Hey, thank you, Eunuch Zhang, thank you."

"Come here, send off Mr. Cao."

Cao Weishan left, but the atmosphere in Chengming Hall was still tense and oppressive.

His Majesty paced back and forth, showing that his anger had not subsided, and even the more he thought about it, the more angry he became.

It has been rainy these past few days. Although the rain in the city is not as heavy as Baiyan Mountain, the rain stopped last night, but it is still humid. How can it be so easy to catch fire?

Burglary into Dali Siqing's mansion?Dali Temple is in charge of the prison, what did this thief eat? !That's all for stealing, but he dared to kill and set fire!What kind of felony is it to assassinate a court official?Ling Chi was executed and extended to the three clans.

Stealing and being caught is at most exile. Which thief is so stupid that he insists on seeking his own death?

Theft fails, kills by mistake, sets fire and escapes!Cao Weishan's remarks are delusional!

His Majesty was so angry that his hands were shaking, he just wished he could drag Cao Weishan out and chop him up.

"Your Majesty, rest your anger."

At this time, Cui Yao, the commander of the five city guards, was the only one who dared to speak in Chengming Hall, "I have ordered the five city guards to search for the suspects in the whole city, and I will do my best to help Mr. Cao solve the case as soon as possible."

His Majesty sat back on the high seat, raised his hand to rest his forehead, and the Chengming Palace fell into a heart-shattering silence again.

Qi Xiao stood at the end, without saying a word or moving, almost standing himself as a pillar in Chengming Hall.

He was also shocked by such a big case in the Yuan capital, but he is an idle prince with no power, no power, no official and no position, what else can he do besides pretending to be dumb while standing in the Chengming Palace?He didn't even understand why His Majesty wanted to bring him with him when he drove back to the palace from Baiyan Mountain.

In the morning, he heard that Tang Ling had caught a cold, and had a low-grade fever in the middle of the night. He was still worried, but he was ordered to drive back to Beijing without seeing anyone. He was not interested in Cao Weishan's case, and now he wanted to know about Tang Ling's situation. How, is it better?

After an unknown amount of time, the Fifth Prince Qi Li suddenly stood up and said, "Father, why don't you send a team from Wudu Mansion into the city to listen to Cui Dutong's dispatch to help Master Cao.

In addition, starting today, the curfew will be advanced by one hour, and patrols will be strictly enforced. "

The seventh prince, Qi Ting, followed closely behind: "I would like to inform my father that the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and the Lantern Festival is a centuries-old tradition. If it is abolished at this moment, it may cause panic among the people. Right now, five cities guard the entire city to search for suspects, which has already caused panic. If five The armored soldiers of the capitals entering the city will inevitably make the people feel uneasy, and my son thinks that it is better to remove the armor of the five capitals and enter the city at night, so as not to disturb the people, and secondly, so as not to scare the snakes."

His Majesty sighed, nodded and said, "Let's do it."

"The minister leads the order."

His Majesty waved his hand: "Go down."

"My minister retire."

"My son retire."

"Pei Qing stay.

Old Ninth, you stay too. "

Just as Qi Xiao bowed down and bowed, before he could take half a step back, he was suddenly stopped by His Majesty. Not only did he not react for a while, but everyone else looked at him in unison.

Qi Xiao didn't understand why Pei Hao, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, must be left behind because His Majesty wanted to order him to handle the affairs of Dali Temple.Qi Xiao was puzzled, but he didn't dare to disobey, so he could only stand still and continue to install the pillars without looking sideways.

Most of the people in the Chengming Palace had gone, and the atmosphere became more and more gloomy. Qi Xiao thought about it carefully, and now His Majesty is in a bad mood, but compared with the incidents such as Dali Temple Qing being killed at home late at night, his drunken mischief last night is nothing at all. What, you won't be left behind and reprimanded, right?Even if he really wanted to reprimand him for losing his temper, it shouldn't be in front of Pei Hao, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, right?

"Pei Qing, what do you think of this matter?"

Pei Hao is only in his early forties, and he is upright, and Dali Temple is a place where people are easily offended. His forehead is deeply wrinkled, coupled with his serious manner, he looks ten years older.

When Qi Xiao came, he glanced at Pei Hao hastily, and seeing his firm eyes, he knew that he was the complete opposite of Cao Weishan's slickness, and he was an extremely serious person.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I personally went to Lord Luo's residence early in the morning, and the most serious fire was Lord Luo's study, and the important books and files were either burned or flooded, almost completely destroyed.

Yesterday, Mr. Luo and his ministers talked about a piece of evidence..."

Pei Hao stopped before finishing his sentence, and the rest of it was his guess. I'm afraid it's not appropriate to say it at this time.

Qi Xiao couldn't help frowning when he heard this, this matter is not simple, what kind of evidence does he have to assassinate Dali Siqing?The involvement in it may be bigger and deeper than he thought, and it must be a shocking case.

"Aren't all the files of the military payment case in Dali Temple?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Luo didn't explain it, only said that the supply and demand of this certificate need to be checked carefully."

"Old Nine."

His Majesty suddenly clicked on Qi Xiao, and Qi Xiao immediately responded with a jolt: "My son is here."

His Majesty threw a jade tablet the size of half a palm to Qi Xiao: "You can help Pei Qing to investigate this matter together."

Qi Xiao quickly took the jade card, knowing that the muddy water is very dangerous, he can push it if he can, and it is wise to protect himself. He raised his eyes and looked at His Majesty: "Father, my son..."

"fear death?"

As soon as Qi Xiao opened his mouth, he was blocked by the word His Majesty, and he choked up and down his throat when he wanted to excuse himself. He is an idle prince, let him investigate the case, what is he trying to do?How dare Qi Xiao respond.

"Keep away the jade token, there is a strategy to protect your life."

Tiance camp? !Qi Xiao opened his mouth, really surprised.

This case is not only troublesome, but also fatal!

"The matter is very important, don't mess around, and learn from Pei Qing when you encounter problems."

His Majesty didn't give Qi Xiao a chance to shirk at all, and arranged Qi Xiao to Pei Hao in a few words.

Qi Xiao had no choice but to agree: "Yes, my son is in command."

After leaving Chengming Hall, Qi Xiao realized that he was sweating all over.

The old five and the seven came back from Baiyan Mountain together, and they were all there just now, so why did such a big disaster fall on him for nothing?The Sacred Heart is unpredictable. Is he, the emperor's father, going to kill him?

"Your Highness Ninth."

"Lord Pei."

Pei Hao looked at Qi Xiao with bitterness and hatred on his face. He never thought that His Majesty would use the Tiance Camp, let alone hand over the Tiance Camp to Qi Xiao.

It is rumored that His Royal Highness the King of Chu has no rules and no rules. He is young and has never been involved in the court. How can we help him?

Pei Hao sighed: "His Highness Nine returned to Yuanjing for the first time, and I'm afraid many things are still unclear. Please also ask His Highness Ninth Highness to go back to Dali Temple with his ministers, so that I can discuss it with His Highness in detail."

"That's very good, Mr. Pei please."

Qi Xiao pocketed the jade token in his hand, sighed silently, and followed Pei Hao's footsteps.

***

In the wing room of Dali Temple, Pei Hao was drinking tea slowly, while Qi Xiao was reading the dossier carefully, his brows furrowed deeper as he looked at it.

The first file was closed and archived, and it was the case of military pay not long ago.

The sixth prince was sent to Liaoshan County to guard the border two years ago. He lived a life of eating and drinking in that barren land, and gradually he was almost forgotten.

This year, Chen and Zhou fought in the Taihua River for several months. The Ministry of Households used the excuse of the tense battle between Chen and Zhou to drag the military pay of Liaoshan County. It dragged on for more than half a year. The Northern Hu Department took the opportunity to harass Liaoshan County and plunder , and Liaoshan County, not to mention reinforcements, did not even have food and grass, and those who died in battle were worse than those who died of starvation.

The sixth prince, Qi Ji, sent an impeachment memorial to Beijing. His Majesty was furious. He searched the household department and tracked down the whereabouts of the military pay. Those who were killed were killed and those arrested. He and the Gongsun family tried every means to stuff their own people into the household department.

Qi Xiao thought the case was over. Who would have thought that after seeing the complete case files in Dali Temple today, he would know that the matter is far from over.

The sixth prince, Qi Ji, is a prince no matter what, and the Ministry of Finance didn't have the guts to swallow all the general's salary. A sum of 3 taels was paid, but when the 3 taels arrived in Liaoshan County, it turned into [-] shi of old rice mixed with wheat bran and gravel. killed.

Qi Xiao read the case file, trembling with anger, how is this any different from disregarding human life? !Da Chen's corruption has become like this? !If the person in Liaoshan County wasn't the old sixth Qi Ji, without the support of the Gongsun family behind him, how many people would have to die to bring such a big case to the surface?

"Crack!" Qi Xiao threw away the case file, startling Pei Hao.

Qi Xiao was so angry that he stood up and walked quickly back and forth twice, and asked: "Master Pei, there is a problem with the rations, who is responsible for escorting the rations? This matter should not be difficult to investigate, why can't we bring someone to trial?"

Pei Hao shook his head: "Your Highness, please read this copy."

Pei Hao pushed another file in front of Qi Xiao.

Qi Xiao had no choice but to sit down and continue to read the case file.

The household payment was sent to Liaoshan County. When it arrived at Jinzhou Prefecture, only 2 taels were left, of which 1 taels had disappeared. Jinzhou Prefecture used 2 taels to raise grain and grass and sent it to Liaoshan County to escort the grain and grass. Chang Shi committed suicide after the incident, and Dali Temple didn't even have a chance for interrogation. Li Changyan, the prefect of Jinzhou Prefecture, has been arrested and imprisoned, but he refused to admit his death. Dali Temple sent people to Jinzhou Prefecture , found that Li Changyan's family was desolate, and there was only one old servant in the family to serve him. Even if he dug the ground three feet, he could not dig out three taels of silver from Li's house, let alone 1 taels of military pay.

Either Li Changyan is very good at disguising and has another secret library, or he was wronged and the corruption of ink has nothing to do with him, he is just a scapegoat.

But in any case, the case could not be closed if the military and food were not found.

After reading the file, Qi Xiao couldn't help sighing, slowly put down the file in his hand, raised his eyes to Pei Hao, and asked directly: "I have one more thing to ask Mr. Pei."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

"Your Majesty, why did you order me to assist Lord Pei?"

The Xuanji and Tiance Battalions are not within the imperial system, and only obey the emperor's orders. For a hundred years, they have always been external and not inward. If His Majesty wants to use the Tiance Battalion, he must not directly hand it over to Pei Hao, but a prince can only do it temporarily.

The issue of military pay involves the Eldest Prince, but the old five and the seventh all grew up in front of His Majesty, don't they understand the joints better than Qi Xiao?Why let Qi Xiao intervene?

Pei Hao looked at Qi Xiao, then lowered his head to drink tea, and didn't reply for a while.

Pei Hao did have some guesses in his heart, but the holy will is hard to guess, what if he guessed wrong?He has devoted himself to doing things for more than ten years and has not been involved in party disputes. It is very inappropriate to say those things to Qi Xiao now, and there is no guarantee that he will not cause trouble in the future.

After waiting for a long time for Pei Hao to answer, Qi Xiao nodded, "I understand."

Pei Hao glanced at Qi Xiao curiously, did he understand?

Pei Hao's reticence has confirmed Qi Xiao's conjecture. The military pay case may not only involve the eldest prince, but also the Qin family and the Gongsun family, so His Majesty is not at ease handing it over to the fifth or seventh child, just when Qi Xiao returns to Yuan Jing, he has nothing to do with the two parties, and he is also the person who cannot be bribed or threatened, so he is the best candidate.

Thinking back on this, His Majesty has shown favor towards him recently, and has repeatedly tested him. He may have intended to let him intervene in the case, but he did not expect Dali Temple Qing Luo Yu to be killed.

"Where should we start the investigation? Does Mr. Pei have any clues?"

The author says:

I'm talking about love, but I still have to write serious things. Aya Ayako will be back in the next chapter, don't worry!