Cheng Ruxin's Bizarre Adventure

In the 17th year of Qinggeng, the rivers and seas of the world were cleared, and the world was peaceful.

In October of this year, when the leaves in the capital were just falling, at dusk when the colorful glazed tiles were illuminated by warm light, a luxurious and dignified carriage passed through the bright Suzaku Avenue and stopped outside the palace.

A person got out of the car, and there was a solemn black official uniform, from the shoulder to the hem, embroidered with a golden quill, the man was wearing a black gauze hat, he was not tall and petite, but his waist was straight, and his whole body was not weak , entered the palace gate and went straight to the East Palace.

At this time, the prince was pacing anxiously back and forth in the main hall with his hands behind his back. He was overjoyed to see the visitor, and hurried forward to meet her in person.

"Shaoqing, you are here! It really made me wait!"

When Cheng Ruxin saw the prince, she first bent over to salute, but was interrupted by the prince before the salute was finished.

"No courtesy, no courtesy, this matter is extremely urgent, Shaoqing quickly come with me!"

With that said, he led Cheng Ruxin into the main hall, and slammed the door behind his backhand, isolating all the maids and guards.

"Your Highness, I don't know why you called me here?" Cheng Ruxin inadvertently glanced at the prince's desk as the palace door was closed, and spoke unhurriedly.

The prince closed the door and went to close the window until the whole main hall was sealed tightly, then wiped off his sweat, and said hesitantly: "This matter is of great importance, I trust Shaoqing to call you here Therefore, I hope that Shaoqing promises to me first, that Shaoqing will keep everything that I said here today a secret, and not reveal a single word!"

Cheng Ruxin heard the words, and said seriously: "If Your Highness entrusts you with important matters, I will never hesitate to say a word to other people."

The prince patted his heart, and his face was relieved, "Shaoqing is indeed my right-hand man. It seems that Gu is right to call Shaoqing here today."

Cheng Ruxin frowned again, "Your Highness, what is it that makes His Highness so fearful?"

The prince said "Hi!", paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and said as he walked, "That's... that is, a few days ago, the emperor ordered Gu to go to Lingnan to deal with the military chaos. Didn't he give me a tiger talisman that can command thousands of troops? Went to the Empress Dowager's Longevity Banquet, ended up drinking too much accidentally, came back at night unconscious, dropped a lot of things, and couldn't remember anything when I got up the next day..."

"Your Highness." Cheng Ruxin interrupted him, "Since the matter is urgent, please make a long story short, so that I can solve His Highness' worries in time."

The prince put on a face, and finally, as if he decided to break the can, he patted the back of his hand, and said with a loud voice: "That tiger charm... I lost that tiger charm!"

...

At the moat outside the capital city, a large crowd of people gathered at this time, all looking into the river with their heads probed.

In the river, several Jinwu guards were fishing for something together. They found a big net, supported by four people, and pulled it to the bank together.When all the "things" came out of the water, the onlookers saw what it looked like, and they all backed away in fright.

What is there? It's clearly a corpse that has been soaked and turned white!

"This, who is this! How did he die in the river?"

"He is wearing the clothes of the Jinwu Guard, is this a Jinwu Guard?"

"It should be, no wonder there is such a big battle."

"Tsk tsk tsk, these days, even Jin Wuwei can drown in the river."

Everyone chattered and discussed in low voices, and gradually, the whole city knew that the body of a Jinwu Guard had been fished out of the moat.

...

Cheng Ruxin had just entered the gate of Dali Temple that day, when she heard her colleagues discussing something in a hurry, she listened carefully for a few words, and probably heard that she was talking about the Jinwu Guard who was fished out of the river a few days ago, and she knew it in her heart.

She had also heard about that incident. Speaking of which, this case happened to be handed over to Dali Temple for investigation. It has been five days, and I don't know what they have found out.The sudden death of a Jinwu guard is not a trivial matter, and the emperor must blame him if he can't find out.

Moreover, Cheng Ruxin had a faint premonition in her heart that the sudden death of the Jinwu Guard might be related to the lost Tiger Talisman in the East Palace.

She thought about it, walked to the seat and sat down, just as she sat firmly, a temple official came to report that it was exactly what she was thinking about.

"We have negotiated with the Jinwu Guard. They said that a person suddenly disappeared a few days ago and has not been found yet. However, because the appearance of the deceased has been unrecognizable, it is impossible to confirm that the deceased is the person they are looking for." With a stack of papers.

Cheng Ruxin nodded after listening, "What about the others?"

Sizheng spread out the paper on the table, "We went to investigate whether there have been any missing cases in the capital and other surrounding places recently, and finally found out that in Hexiang County, there was a county citizen who was about the same age as the deceased at ten. He died strangely a few days ago, and our investigation later found that his body was not in the coffin when he was buried, and it was stolen at some point."

Cheng Ruxin picked out a confession and read it carefully, after reading it she pondered: "Let Zuo inspect the corpse again, mainly according to the descriptions of other county residents, to compare whether the deceased has corresponding characteristics."

Si Zheng said solemnly: "The test is already underway, and the result should be available soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, a person rushed in from outside the door, ran up to Cheng Ruxin, gasped and said: "Shaoqing, Wu Zuo said, the deceased is confirmed to be a citizen of Hexiang County!"

When Sizheng heard this, his expression changed, and he turned to look at Cheng Ruxin, "Shaoqing, this..."

Cheng Ruxin frowned in thought, and involuntarily squeezed the paper in her hand, and said in a deep voice: "From now on, this case will be handed over to the official for investigation, and you don't need to intervene anymore."

...

When Cheng Ruxin returned home from Dali Temple, it was almost dark. She had just entered the door, and before she could sort out her thoughts, she suddenly saw two sparrows standing on the wall.

The two sparrows looked very human, and when Cheng Ruxin stared at them, they just tilted their heads and chirped twice, with no intention of flying away at all.

Cheng Ruxin rubbed her eyes, her face was a little tired, but she still managed to go to the backyard.

After opening the back door, there was a person leaning against the corner in the alley. Seeing her coming out, he raised his hand and threw a small bamboo tube at her.

Cheng Ruxin caught it, pulled out the wooden peg skillfully, pulled out the small note inside, and read it carefully. After remembering it, she took out a fire pocket from her pocket and lit the note in front of the person.

"Tell His Highness, so that he can rest assured." Her voice was flat, with no ups and downs.

After finishing speaking, he no longer cared about that person, and turned back to the yard.

The next day, Cheng Ruxin came to a spacious alley in a carriage in casual clothes, and was led into a vermilion lacquered gate by the housekeeper.

Walking through the nine-turn corridor, you can see a small pond. In the pavilion opposite the pond, you can vaguely see a person sitting. Judging from his posture, he should be playing chess alone to relieve boredom.

The butler led Cheng Ruxin into the courtyard, and said respectfully to Cheng Ruxin: "Vipulent guest, please wait here for a moment, I will call my master right away."

Cheng Ruxin nodded, looked at the back of the butler leaving, and stood there waiting obediently, she waited for a long time, but she didn't see the butler bring someone back, she was just about to see the layout of the Shangshu Mansion, when she looked up, she saw people are looking at themselves.

Only now did she see that person's face clearly, and she felt that this girl was really good-looking, she had a long and weak face, and she was wearing a water blue dress, but upon closer inspection, she seemed to have a fierce air.

This person does not seem to be as gentle as the surface.

Seeing that Cheng Ruxin realized that she was looking at her, the woman didn't feel embarrassed, but stretched out her hand to beckon, as if calling Cheng Ruxin to go over.

Cheng Ruxin walked over suspiciously.

"What's your name?" the woman asked.

Cheng Ruxin couldn't feel much favor for this girl who asked someone else's name instead of giving her name first, and asked instead, "I don't know what the girl's name is?"

The woman smiled, stretched out half of her thin white arm to support her head and said, "You can call me Shulan, what about you?"

"Cheng Ruxin."

"Young Minister of Dali Temple?" The woman seemed a little surprised.

Cheng Ruxin nodded slightly, as a tacit consent.

"This is really strange. Why did Cheng Shaoqing come to Liu Shangshu's mansion without knowing why?"

"Of course it's for official business."

"What official business? Why don't you tell me about it, so that you can relieve my boredom."

Few people would dare to talk about Dali Temple's official business, Cheng Ruxin just felt that this person was inexplicable, and said coldly: "It involves Dali Temple's private affairs, so it's inconvenient to talk to others, miss forgive me."

"You don't need to say girl, just call me Shulan." The woman smiled with crooked eyes.

Cheng Ruxin didn't want to get close to her. After a few words, except for this face, she felt bad about this person in every aspect.

"Let Shaoqing wait for a long time."

At this time, the housekeeper suddenly brought over a man in a fancy dress. Seeing Cheng Ruxin and the woman in the pavilion, the man was a little dazed at first, then he recovered and said with a smile: "This relative from our family hasn't seen him for a long time, so he came here specially to walk around. Yes, so I don't know what happened in the capital recently, if Shaoqing has anything to say, you can just ask me."

Not a local?

After listening, Cheng Ruxin watched the woman carefully, but she didn't see anything unusual, so she decided not to leave her, and planned to talk to the man about business, "I'm here for Liu Sheng, I wonder if the eldest son can take a moment to talk?"

Liu Sheng is the missing Jinwu Guard.

Young Master Liu showed a distressed expression, "This... my father and disciples are discussing in the main hall at this time. There are many people in the family, and the partition wall has ears. It is inconvenient. I wonder if we can discuss here?"

Cheng Ruxin hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Shulan who was sitting beside her.

But Shulan didn't seem to notice the atmosphere at this time, and concentrated on feeding the fish on her own.

Young Master Liu quickly said: "Miss Shulan is not an outsider, so Shaoqing just speaks out when she has something to say, and she will definitely not let others listen to her."

Hearing what he said, Cheng Ruxin hesitated for a moment, but after all, it was in someone else's house, and she couldn't control many things, so she had to sit down in the end, "Then I will ask directly, can the eldest son tell me what happened before Liu Sheng disappeared? , where have you been?"

Young Master Liu thought about it seriously, "Although Liu Sheng is from my Liu family, he is a foreigner after all, and we don't know much about him. But as far as I know, Liu Sheng never had any abnormalities before he disappeared. The place he likes to go on weekdays is not only Fu'an Restaurant, which is Guangyang Temple in the north of the city. Liu Sheng is dedicated to Buddhism and often donates sesame oil money to Guangyang Temple. He should have been to Guangyang Temple two days before his disappearance."

Guangyang Temple?

Cheng Ruxin recited it silently, and then asked: "Before he disappeared, did he say anything strange?"

Young Master Liu shook his head, "Liu Sheng usually has a withdrawn personality and rarely talks with his family. He disappeared without warning, which we didn't expect. I think Kuan Heng from Guangyang Temple might know some clues. Shaoqing might as well go to check Zicha."

It seems that there are more clues in Liu Shangshu's mansion, Cheng Ruxin closed her eyes and nodded, "Thank you for your help, eldest son, then I will rush to Guangyang Temple now."

"Don't worry, Eldest Prince, Dali Temple will definitely investigate this case as soon as possible and bring Liu Sheng back safely."

Before Young Master Liu could speak, a voice suddenly came from the side.

"Coincidentally, I'm going to Guangyang Temple too. Cheng Shaoqing, it seems that we're on the way, why don't we go there together?" Shu Lan, who had been quiet for a long time, suddenly interrupted. She threw all the leftover fish food into the pond and took a picture. Clap your hands and stand up.

Cheng Ruxin frowned, looked at her harmless face, and wanted to refuse, but Young Master Liu said first: "Miss Shulan and Liu Sheng used to be old acquaintances, if we are together with Miss Shulan, maybe Miss Shulan can help Cheng Shaoqing If you find more clues, why not Shaoqing and Miss Shulan go together."

Cheng Ruxin wanted to sternly refuse, but when she heard that Shu Lan and Liu Sheng were old acquaintances, she hesitated.

Seeing her hesitation, Shulan smiled at her and asked again, "Cheng Shaoqing, what do you think?"

Cheng Ruxin thought about it, weighed it up and down, and felt that it was not impossible, so she reluctantly agreed.

...

Abbot Kuanheng of Guangyang Temple heard that Cheng Ruxin had come to investigate the case and received them personally.

"Liu Xiaowei does often come to Guangyang Temple to chant scriptures and meditate. In the past, he would stay here for a few days every month." Kuan Heng said, leading Cheng Ruxin to push open the door of a wing room.

"This is the room where Captain Liu usually lives here. You can find it yourself."

"Thank you abbot."

Cheng Ruxin and Shulan walked in and saw that it was neatly tidied up, so they asked, "When has anyone lived in this room?"

Kuan Heng replied: "Four days ago, a female pilgrim lived here."

"Female pilgrim? But someone you recognize?"

Kuan Heng shook his head, "I don't know."

Cheng Ruxin glanced from the door to the room.The wing room is not big, so you can see the whole thing at a glance, she thought about it, and searched inch by inch from the door.

Shu Lan stood beside her and watched without any intention of moving. Cheng Ruxin found her near her and told her to avoid her. Shu Lan asked lazily, "Can I help you?"

"No need." Cheng Ruxin focused on the things in her hands, "It's enough for you to stay there and not move."

"I really don't know good people."

Cheng Ruxin ignored her complaints, and continued to search, finding the bed all the way.

As soon as the quilt was lifted, a thin piece of paper fell out of it and flew to the ground.

Cheng Ruxin was startled, bent down to pick it up, and saw three words "Two Star Building" written on it.

"Huh? What did you find?"

Shulan came over curiously, Cheng Ruxin hid the piece of paper in her sleeve, so that she didn't see a word.

"It's just a clue."

"Let me take a look?"

Cheng Ruxin glanced at her, and said coldly: "This case has not been clarified yet, even you are under suspicion, don't try to interfere with me anymore."

But Shulan didn't mind what Cheng Ruxin thought of her, and asked instead: "Do people in Dali Temple investigate cases like you do?"

"No."

Cheng Ruxin answered her indifferently, and walked out.

"What did Cheng Shaoqing find out?" Abbot Kuanheng asked when he saw her come out.

"There are indeed some clues, and the abbot is here to help."

Kuan Heng said a word about Amitabha, "It would be great if I could help Shaoqing, and I hope Shaoqing will find Xiaowei Liu back as soon as possible, so that I can rest assured."

"I shall do my best."

After leaving Guangyang Temple, Shu Lan still followed Cheng Ruxin slowly, showing no intention of leaving.

"You should go back." Cheng Ruxin stood at the gate of the temple and looked at her, "I will go back to Dali Temple next time, if I don't get along with you, let's say goodbye here."

"That's a pity." Shulan looked at the temple with her hands behind her back, "I want to stay with Shaoqing for a while longer."

Cheng Ruxin didn't want to talk nonsense with her, she got a note today and had other things to do, so she didn't have time to stay here with her.

"Farewell first."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Shulan to reply, she left without looking back.

Shulan looked at her back, turned the jade bracelet on her wrist, chuckled lightly, and got into the carriage that was parked by the side of the road.

Cheng Ruxin didn't go back to Dali Temple as she said, but went home directly.

The first thing I did when I got home was to throw the piece of paper into the stove, watch it turn into ashes, and then went to the study to write a letter.

There was a person standing in the alley as usual, Cheng Ruxin handed the letter to him, turned back to the yard without saying anything.

When she was taking a bath at night, she thought of Shulan, chewed the name over and over again, but couldn't remember where she heard it, so she just stopped thinking about it and closed her eyes to sort out her thoughts.

The next day, Cheng Ruxin woke up early, packed some things, and prepared a carriage for Hexiang County.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the county gate, he saw a person standing by the county gate, saw her get off the carriage, and smiled at her.

Cheng Ruxin frowned, and became more and more resistant to this lingering person, so she wanted to ignore her and go in directly, but when she rubbed shoulders with Shulan, her wrist was pulled.

"What's the hurry, Shaoqing? Can't there be a ghost chasing you behind?"

Cheng Ruxin wanted to withdraw her hand right away, but she didn't twitch when she twitched her hand, her wrist was firmly held by Shulan. If Cheng Ruxin hadn't experienced it personally, she would never have imagined that this seemingly gentle and pleasant woman would have such a big size. strength.

"Let go." Cheng Ruxin said two words coldly.

"I just want to investigate the case with Shaoqing, why is Shaoqing so impatient with me?"

"Why are you following me?"

"Because Liu Sheng and I are old acquaintances." Shu Lan's eyes were innocent, "He disappeared, I was worried, and wanted to find him personally, can't you?"

"Hindering Dali Temple's handling of the case, I can convict you for this alone."

But Shulan was not afraid at all, "Condemn me? Even if Shaoqing doesn't take me seriously, why don't you give Liu Shangshu some shame?"

"you!"

Cheng Ruxin was furious with her anger, but there was nowhere to break out, she flicked her sleeves violently, pulled out her hand with some strength, and took the lead into the county gate.

Shulan followed her slowly, "I remember that Shaoqing found a note in the room of Guangyang Temple yesterday, can Shaoqing show it to me?"

"No."

"Why? Then Shaoqing told me what was written on the paper."

"No comment."

"Does Dali Temple have this attitude towards ordinary people?"

Cheng Ruxin stopped in her tracks, turned around and gave her a look, "No, it's only for certain people."

But Shulan smiled, "Then I'm really honored."

The two walked in the county one after the other, although Cheng Ruxin deliberately shook off her, but Shulan stared too closely and almost followed her with a good step, which caused her a great headache.

When they circled the county for the third time, Shu Lan looked at the sun above her head and complained: "Shaoqing doesn't investigate the case, what's the purpose of just walking around the county?"

"If you can't read the clues on that piece of paper, you might as well give me the piece of paper, maybe you can see something else."

Cheng Ruxin stood resting under the shade of the tree, glanced at her, and said nonchalantly: "Stop making papers, I won't give it to you."

"Does Shaoqing not want to give it, or can't take it out?" Shu Lan suddenly asked quietly.

Cheng Ruxin's heart tightened, and she said calmly, "Of course I don't want to show it to you."

"That's good." Shulan turned her head and looked at the restaurant opposite them, "I'm still a young lady who lost the paper."

"It's fine if you don't lose it."

Cheng Ruxin stared at her side face, narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking in her heart, she opened her mouth, but stopped, and finally said nothing.

The sun moved a little further to the west, and the road was no longer so hot, but Cheng Ruxin still stood under the shade of the tree and had no intention of leaving.

Shulan looked at the passers-by on the road for a while, then looked away, "Shaoqing, why don't we sit in the restaurant opposite?"

The plaque of the restaurant opposite is written with three big characters "Two Star Building".

Cheng Ruxin just didn't want to take Shulan to the so-called two-star building to find clues, so she took her around the county three times, but now it seems that she can't get rid of this person.

Cheng Ruxin agreed unhappily, Shulan smiled slightly, and the two entered the gate of Erxing Building side by side.

Someone led them to sit down at the table, Cheng Ruxin ordered a pot of tea, and asked while Xiao Er was pouring the tea: "Is there anything interesting going on in the county recently?"

Xiao Er replied: "There are no interesting things, but there are too many strange things."

"Oh?" Cheng Ruxin asked casually, "Let's listen."

"Not to mention, in our restaurant, there was a waiter surnamed Wu a few days ago, who somehow died at home!"

"Dead?" Cheng Ruxin stopped drinking tea, looked up at him from the cup, "How did you die?"

"Killed by someone! I heard that the enemy came to the door, and he was hacked more than ten times, and the murderer has not been found yet!"

Shulan interjected quietly: "What a big hatred."

"That's right!" Xiao Er was still a little scared when he said it, "I don't know if I messed with someone who can't be messed with."

Cheng Ruxin took a sip of tea, not wanting to continue this topic, "What about the others?"

"Others." Xiao Er thought for a long time, "There is nothing else, and the corpse of the dead in the county was stolen. This is a big deal, and you may have heard of it."

"Three days ago, who was on duty at the tavern?" Cheng Ruxin asked suddenly.

"It's what I said just now, the dead Wu San, why did the guest officer ask this?"

"It's nothing." After Cheng Ruxin finished speaking, she put a few copper coins on the table, "I'm just curious, it's none of your business here, go down."

Xiao Er left in a daze, and Shu Lan sat opposite Cheng Ruxin, without taking a sip of the tea in the cup, fiddling with the lid of the cup, "Did Shaoqing find out any clues?"

Cheng Ruxin blew away the foam, and said calmly: "Wu San is very likely to be the last person to see Liu Sheng, but there is no proof of death, and now there is no way to start."

"Then what do we do next?"

This woman seemed to naturally put herself and Cheng Ruxin in the same team, which made Cheng Ruxin feel a little disgusted, "I'm going back to Dali Temple, as for what you want to do, that's your own business, and has nothing to do with me."

"But stop following me."

Shulan put down the old cup lid in her hand, looked at Cheng Ruxin and said, "Shaoqing is really unreasonable."

Cheng Ruxin was about to lose her temper because of her annoyance, and was thinking of drinking morning tea to drive this person away, when she suddenly heard a sudden commotion from the street outside.

Cheng Ruxin looked out the window, and saw passers-by in twos and threes walking towards the west.

"Go and see, the yamen has been promoted again."

"What's going on today?"

"I heard that a thief was caught! Anyway, you will know when you go, so go!"

The conversations of passers-by fell into Cheng Ruxin's ears verbatim. She frowned and looked at the direction the crowd was heading for, thoughtfully.

"It seems a bit interesting, how about Shaoqing generously accompany me for a while and go to the Yamen with me to have a look?" Shu Lan glanced out of the window and then looked away, continuing to look at Cheng Ruxin's expression.

Cheng Ruxin had a headache, and a bad premonition filled her heart.I didn't want to pay attention to Shulan, but I was really worried, so I simply said "um", which was considered to be my agreement.

The corner of Shulan's mouth curled up, and she got up and walked out together with her.

When the two walked slowly to the yamen, a large group of people had already surrounded the yamen, so they had no choice but to stand on the outside and try to see the scene inside through the gap of the crowd.

It was vaguely visible that a man covered in blood was kneeling in the middle, guards were on both sides, and the county magistrate was sitting in the middle, and at the moment he slapped the table with a gavel.

The surroundings fell silent, the magistrate read the crimes of the prisoner one by one in the main seat, but Cheng Ruxin didn't listen to a word, and all his attention was on the prisoner kneeling in the hall.

The prisoner turned his back to her, and she couldn't see his face clearly, but she could vaguely see the tattoos protruding from his back.

Cheng Ruxin frowned, and suddenly heard Shulan ask: "You know Shaoqing?"

"I don't know." Cheng Ruxin replied without thinking, looked away, and regained a calm look on her face.

She looked at Shulan and asked, "Now that we're done watching, can we go?"

Shu Lan seemed to be a little bit unsatisfied, and looked into the yamen for a few more times, before she backed out, sighing: "Since Shaoqing is not interested, and I am not good at forcing others, then let's go."

The two walked out of the yamen together against the flow of people. Just as they were about to leave, they heard the county magistrate shouting: "Put him in prison! He will be executed in three days!"

Shulan looked back again, but Cheng Ruxin didn't seem to hear half of it, and walked away with her back to the Yamen.

When she arrived outside the county gate, Cheng Ruxin's carriage was still waiting in place, and she was about to get in the carriage, but she heard Shu Lan say: "Can Shaoqing give me a ride?"

Cheng Ruxin asked, "Where's your carriage?"

"When I came here, I didn't want to bother the Liu family, so I rented a car." After she finished speaking, she asked Cheng Ruxin with a sincere expression: "So if Shaoqing doesn't drive me back today, I'm afraid I'll have to wait for tomorrow and the people who enter the city. The caravan went back together."

"How can Shaoqing bear it?"

Cheng Ruxin was too patient, she wished she could just leave him here and walk away by herself.

As a result, just as she was about to get in the car, she heard Shulan say again: "Oh yes, before I left, I told the young master that I was going out with Cheng Shaoqing to investigate the case. If I didn't go back for a long time, maybe the young master would go to Shaoqing's mansion Inquire about my whereabouts."

After Cheng Ruxin listened, the knuckles of her hand grasping the wall of the carriage suddenly appeared, and it seemed that she was about to make a handprint on the wooden frame.

Shulan still smiled at her as if she didn't see it.

"Shaoqing, can you?"

In the end, Cheng Ruxin had to accept her fate and sent her back to Liu Shangshu's mansion.As a result of all the tossing, when she got home, it was almost dark.

Cheng Ruxin glanced at the time, and without delay, she quickly changed into another light-weight clothes, pulled out the steed she seldom rode from the stable, and hurried back to Hexiang County.

When I returned to Hexiang County again, the night had completely enveloped the entire county town. There was no pedestrian on the street, not even a single lamp. It was eerily quiet.

No one thought that anything would happen on such a night, so when Zhixian was picked up from the bed just as he fell into a sweet dream, his mind was still in a daze.

"Open the cell door, I want to see the prisoner you are interrogating today."

Before the magistrate could digest what the black-clothed and masked man was saying, a token was suddenly thrown in front of him. He took a closer look and saw the word "Chu" engraved on it, and his face turned pale with fright.

"Xiaguan, Xiaguan, let's go!"

He got up from the bed all at once, and without caring about identifying who was coming, he put on his clothes indiscriminately, grabbed the key and rushed into the prison.

Cheng Ruxin followed him until he came to the outside of a separate prison cell, saw the half-dead Liu Sheng lying on his side inside, and waved towards the county magistrate.

The magistrate retreated in fear, Cheng Ruxin opened the cell door, woke Liu Sheng up from the ground, saw Liu Sheng looked at her vigilantly as soon as he opened his eyes, and took out the token again.

"At the order of the King of Chu, I came to meet you. Where are the things?"

Liu Sheng didn't believe it at first, but Cheng Ruxin threw him the token for him to check, and after confirming it was true, he almost burst into tears.

"I was discovered by someone. They chased me for two days. I was afraid that the things would fall into their hands, so I buried them under the third tree from the left outside the abandoned temple in the south of the city."

Cheng Ruxin took down the location silently, and then heard Liu Sheng say again: "They were watching too closely, so I hid in the county government office in a hurry, but if they knew that I was not dead, they would definitely come and kill me. Go away, you can't do it here. Stay long!"

"It doesn't matter if I die, but you must deliver the things safely to the hands of the Second Highness, otherwise the plan we have planned for so long will fall short."

Hearing that someone was chasing him, Cheng Ruxin suddenly realized the urgency of the matter, confirmed it with Liu Sheng again, and was about to leave quickly, but before leaving, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you know Shulan?"

"Who?" Liu Sheng looked blank, "I've never heard of this name."

Cheng Ruxin thought sure enough, clenched her hands angrily, turned her head to look at Liu Sheng, said take care, and walked out of the prison quickly.

As the night deepened, the cold moonlight shone on Cheng Ruxin, making her seem very small in the deep darkness.

A watchman passed by on the street, shouting that the sky is dry and the things are dry, be careful of the candles as they passed by, but they didn't find Cheng Ruxin.

The ruined temple is outside the city, some distance away from the county government. When Cheng Ruxin arrived, she was covered in a thin layer of sweat.She didn't care about resting, and found the tree where the tiger talisman was buried according to what Liu Sheng said. Seeing that there was no trace of digging in the soil under the tree, she first breathed a sigh of relief, and then took off the knife from her waist and started digging with bare hands.

After a while, half of the small tiger talisman and a scroll of bright yellow imperial edict appeared in front of her eyes.

Cheng Ruxin didn't expect that Liu Sheng not only stole the tiger talisman, but also stole the imperial decree along with it.She remembered the day when the prince called him to the East Palace. The prince only said that he had lost the tiger amulet, and she became more and more contemptuous of the prince.

But this has nothing to do with her, as long as she gets the Tiger Talisman, there will be no possibility for the prince to stand up in the future.

After getting the things, Cheng Ruxin was worried that Liu Sheng's pursuers would come after him, so Cheng Ruxin buried the ground in a hurry and was about to leave, but just a few steps away, she saw several figures approaching from a distance.

Still a step behind.

Cheng Ruxin gritted her teeth and stared at the killer who was approaching her in a siege, glanced at the ruined temple behind her, and sneaked in.

Seeing that she was about to run, the killers showed their weapons and quickly chased after her.

Before the temple was abandoned, it used to be a place where incense was at its peak. There are many twists and turns inside, and the houses and pavilions are even more scattered.

Cheng Ruxin turned around and found a corner to hide, looking outside through the cracks in the wooden boards.

The number of killers outside seems to have increased, and people everywhere are searching for her whereabouts. If this continues, she will be found out sooner or later.

No, things must never fall into their hands.

Cheng Ruxin was thinking about a way to break the situation, and when she lowered her head, she saw the imperial decree in her hand and the broken wooden boards all over the temple, and suddenly she had a plan.

She stared at the movement of the people outside, and took out a fire pocket from her bosom.

The flames first engulfed a corner of the imperial decree, and then expanded to the entire area. Cheng Ruxin casually threw it on the half-worn curtain beside the Buddha statue, and the flames climbed up and spread instantly.

Thick smoke billowed out of the hall, and the assassins quickly rushed in to check, and saw that the inside had been covered in flames, and the wooden beams collapsed as the flames raged.

"Don't let her die! The Third Highness wants to live!" Someone shouted in the thick smoke.

The rest of the people immediately went in to search against the fire, but at this time Cheng Ruxin had already jumped out of the window and ran into the forest behind.

Her throat was choked by the smoke several times, she coughed a few times in discomfort, turned her head to look at the temple engulfed in flames, with a hint of mockery on her face, and was about to leave the path when she suddenly saw a person standing in front of her.

"Shaoqing, don't come here unharmed."

Shulan stood in front of her with her hands behind her back, her eyes were as bright as moonlight, and there was still a smile on her mouth, but no matter how she looked at it, Cheng Ru felt chilled.

Holding the tiger talisman in her hand, Cheng Ruxin asked coldly, "Who are you? No, who are you?"

Shulan's face remained unchanged, "You don't need to know this, you just need to understand that our purpose is the same, and that's enough."

Cheng Ruxin narrowed her eyes, "Are you from King Wei?"

Shulan didn't speak, but her smile deepened, "I didn't expect Cheng Shaoqing, who is the prince's powerful confidant, to be the eyeliner of the King of Chu."

"To be honest, I really thought you were serious about investigating the case at first." Shulan said, shaking her head suddenly and sighing, "Who knew that you were helping Liu Sheng destroy traces."

"You're smart." Cheng Ruxin said expressionlessly, and took off the small knife at her waist and held it in her hand.

"Don't worry, I've changed my mind. I didn't come to grab your things." Shu Lan glanced at the knife in her hand, and said in a calm tone, "I just came to say goodbye to you. You can treat me better."

"I don't know why." Cheng Ruxin frowned, "If possible, I don't want to see you again."

"Shaoqing, it's up to you." Shu Lan said softly, "Remember what I said, don't worry, we will meet again."

After she finished speaking, she turned sideways to move away from the mountain road, "Shaoqing, please."

Cheng Ruxin looked at her suspiciously, and saw that she really had no intention of stopping her, so she stopped entangled with her, quickly went down the mountain, found the horse and rushed back to the capital.

...

Another five days passed.

In the East Palace, the prince paced back and forth anxiously, "Shaoqing! What should I do? Today, my father asked me why I did not leave for Lingnan. I, I can't find an excuse to refuse!"

"Is there still no whereabouts of the Tiger Talisman?"

Cheng Ruxin stood in the distance, with regret on her face, she shook her head, "I am incompetent, I failed to retrieve the tiger talisman, please forgive me."

"Why do you still have to convict and not convict? Hurry up and look for it!" The prince was sweating profusely, and when he was about to say something, the eunuch's voice suddenly yelled shrilly outside the door.

"The Emperor is here—"

"It's over." Upon hearing this voice, the crown prince's eyes suddenly lost their luster, and he said anxiously: "Why did the father come over suddenly? Did he know? I... Shaoqing, what should I do!"

Cheng Ruxin lowered her head, did not speak, let the prince's legs go limp and fell to his knees, weeping bitterly.

Cheng Ruxin looked at the prince expressionlessly, moved her gaze up a little, saw the dragon robe slowly approaching outside the door, and sneered at the corner of her mouth.

A month later, the crown prince was abolished due to the loss of the tiger talisman, which was known all over the city.

After another half a month, Cheng Ruxin, the young minister of Dali Temple, made great contributions in recovering the tiger talisman, and was promoted to the post of Minister of Dali Temple, which attracted many people to go to Cheng's mansion to express their congratulations.

When everything calmed down, it was already two months later.

On this day, Cheng Ruxin was kidnapped by the Queen Mother.