The Bamboo Horse Dressed as the Emperor

Last night at the Qionglin Banquet, Mr. Xie had clearly ordered that Jiang Ping's affairs should not be spread to the outside world. Why did it spread everywhere overnight.

Obviously someone is behind the scenes.

Song Jiao arranged for people to investigate. At this time, the Qingguo caravan had already left the long street, and the carriages and horses on the long street began to flow again.

Song Jiao put down the curtain of the carriage, sat back in the carriage, and said to Fan Kai, "Uncle Fan Kai, let's enter the palace."

"Yes." Fan Kai gave instructions to the outside of the carriage, and the coachman waved his whip, and the carriage rattled along.

Song Jiao looked dignified, and Fan Kai said: "Your Highness, the population of Fengxiang City exceeded one million last year, and this kind of investigation is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack."

"I know, but I don't have any clues right now, so I can only investigate in this way first." Song Jiao thought for a while, "Uncle Fan Kai, do you think other than caravans, where else can you spread the news like this?"

"People from Qing Kingdom have opened many shops in Fengxiang City over the years, even your good friend Chu's family is also doing business..."

"That's right." Song Jiao had a flash of inspiration.

Just at this time, the carriage passed by the Chu family's silk and satin village. Song Jiao immediately took out the pen and paper that he carried with him, wrote a note, and handed it to the attendant: "Take it to the Chu family's shop and ask them to hand it to Master Chu."

He was going to meet Master Chu in the afternoon. If anyone had the biggest business in Fengxiang City, it would be Master Chu.

It would be great if Master Chu's fellows around the city could help to pay attention.

Song Jiao sat back in the carriage, turned around and saw the faint smile on Fan Kai's face, and suddenly understood something.

"Uncle, didn't you think of it a long time ago?"

Fan Kai was noncommittal, Song Jiao pursed his mouth: "Then Grandpa Xie let you check it alone, why do you still call me? I didn't sleep all night last night, and I was thinking about this matter. It's on vacation."

Fan Kai smiled and said, "Your Majesty is training your Highness."

Song Jiao leaned on the soft pillow: "Woo——"

He hates summer practice.

The carriage quickly entered the palace and stopped in front of a remote palace.

Jiang Ping was temporarily detained here.

When Song Jiao entered, he was leaning against the window, wearing a single suit, practicing calligraphy with his fingers dipped in water, when he heard the sound of the door opening, he looked up, saw Song Jiao, smiled at him, and stood up up.

"Mamao, do you want to interrogate me?"

Song Jiao was a little embarrassed: "No, it's not yet time for interrogation, so I brought two books to relieve Brother Jiang's boredom."

Fan Kai stood beside him and coughed.

"Oh." Song Jiao adjusted his expression, straightened his face, put his hands behind his back, and said seriously, "They are all sage books, Jiang Ping, you have to reflect on yourself here."

Jiang Ping smiled, and bowed and saluted cooperatively: "Yes, Xiaomin takes orders."

Song Jiao took out the two books she had prepared earlier from her arms and handed them to him.

After finishing this matter, Song Jiao and Fan Kai went to the next room.

In the next room were the things found on Jiang Ping's body last night.

Song Jiao sat in front of the table, turned away the others, took out the gloves from his arms, and put them on for himself.

He raised his hands towards Fan Kai and raised his eyebrows: "Uncle Fan Kai, look how professional I am."

Fan Kai: "..."

Song Jiao first picked up two pieces of paper on the table, which were found in the inner pocket of Jiang Ping's clothes. The two pieces of flower paper were the popular poetry paper among literati nowadays. There were two signatures on the poem paper, one was Jiang Ping's , one of course is Liu Yi.

Song Jiao frowned, and took the poem paper away: "Hey, these two people are too tired and crooked."

Fan Kai dutifully took the paper, roasted it with fire, and washed it with water.

Song Jiao said: "Uncle Fan Kai, according to my intuition, these two pieces of paper must be fine."

Fan Kai was very dedicated to his work, but Song Jiao couldn't persuade him and continued to check the rest.

An official uniform, a jade belt, a jade crown, a matching jade ornament, and a gold pen.

Song Jiao looked at the first few things, and finally fell on the golden pen: "This is also Brother Jiang's thing? Why haven't I seen it?"

Fan Kai said: "Yes, I found it myself."

Song Jiao was thoughtful, holding the gold pen in his hand, and then turned around, suddenly felt that there was some looseness between the tip of the pen and the barrel.

He paused for a moment, Fan Kai also realized that he seemed to have found something, put down the letter paper, stepped forward, and took the pen from Song Jiao.

The tip of the pen can be turned. Fan Kai held the pen, and under Song Jiao's gaze, he gently turned the tip of the pen. When it turned to a certain place, he heard a "click", and the tip became looser.

Song Jiao said: "There should be a mechanism inside, just go around a few more times."

"En." Fan Kai tried to turn around again, but he couldn't hear the "click" again. He turned his head to meet Song Jiao's expectant gaze, feeling a little embarrassed. Fortunately, at this time, the pen opened.

The barrel of the pen is hollow, and Fan Kai took out a neatly rolled piece of paper from it.

The two looked at each other, Fan Kai unfolded the paper, and on it was the official position list of a new scholar.

Just like what Li Xu said.

unambiguous evidence.

Song Jiao pursed the corners of her lips and calmed down: "The official job list is not something important. As long as you inquire carefully, anyone can know these things. There is no need for Brother Jiang to risk giving away such a useless thing. If Brother Jiang If you were framed by someone, then that person should not be very well informed, and you can only inquire about this."

Song Jiao lifted up his robe and sat down on his seat: "Uncle Fan Kai, keep the evidence and bring Jiang Ping to interrogation."

Jiang Ping was brought in, Song Jiao pointed to the things on the table.

"Jiang Ping, these are all the things that were taken from you last night. Can you explain the source of these things in turn?"

Song Jiao didn't directly write Jinbi, but asked him everything, out of caution.

Jiang Ping lowered his eyes, with a humble expression: "Your Highness, I attended the Qionglin Banquet yesterday, and the official and jade crowns were all sent by the weaving office in the palace."

"Two pieces of poetry were found in the inner pocket of your official uniform."

"It's a poem note for me and Mr. Liu Yiliu."

"Where's the jade pendant?"

"The jade pendant was also given to me by Mr. Liu."

"Oh."

Jiang Ping raised his eyes to look at him, and then continued: "There is also a gold pen, which was bought by Jinshi from the same department at the goldware shop. Every Jinshi has one."

Song Jiao nodded, but didn't tell him about finding the official job list from the gold pen, and asked him some more things before someone took him back.

After Jiang Ping was taken down, Song Jiao stood up: "Jiang Ping looked frank, as if he didn't know that he was really carrying that thing on him."

Fan Kai nodded: "My opinion is the same as your Highness."

"Take the handwriting on the paper for comparison, as well as the paper and ink marks. You can check it. I just checked. The paper is made of rubbed gold paper. The ink marks have a faint fragrance, which is not very common."

"There is also the goldware shop where the gold pen is made. You can send someone to ask if anyone came and gave instructions during the pen making period. Perhaps Brother Jiang's gold pen was made in another shop, so go ask Other shops in the city. You can also ask Brother Liu, who proposed the matter of making gold pens."

Song Jiao thought about it for a while and walked out without missing anything: "By the way, send someone to deliver a message to Grandpa Xie."

Fan Kai asked: "What does your Highness want to tell His Majesty?"

Song Jiao said solemnly, "I'm going to have lunch at Grandpa Xie's at noon. I want to eat barbecue and milk tea."

"..."

In the emperor's bedroom, Song Jiao and Mr. Xie had lunch together.

Just the two of them, Fan Kai tried to persuade the elderly Mr. Xie to eat less barbecue, but Xie didn't listen at all, and Fan Kai was so angry that he left.

Song Jiao and Mr. Xie sat face to face, Song Jiao counted the meat that Mr. Xie ate, and then pushed the vegetable leaves in front of him.

"Thank you, grandpa, you have eaten ten pieces of barbecue, now it's time to eat vegetables."

Master Xie reluctantly put down the barbecue, picked up a vegetable leaf, and took a bite: "I'm getting old, I've become a grass eater."

Song Jiao smiled and picked up a piece of barbecue: "Then you are allowed to eat another piece."

Master Xie put down the vegetable leaves, picked up the sliced ​​meat, and looked at the light: "Oh, it's really not easy, grandpa wants to eat it bit by bit."

"If it was Brother Shen, he would—" Song Jiao held the bone of the leg of lamb, picked up the whole leg of lamb, and took a bite, "Wow! He's like a wolf."

Master Xie laughed loudly: "What about Grandpa Xie?"

"Grandpa Xie used to be like this too, woo! But after Uncle Fan Kai came over, Grandpa Xie will become like this." Song Jiao picked up a little bit of shredded meat, "'Oh, why can't you even eat meat when you become an emperor? '"

Song Jiao and Mr. Xie looked at each other and laughed.

Song Jiao was full, took a nap at Mr. Xie's house, and was ready to investigate the case.

Before leaving, Master Xie showed him a memorial.

It was sent by General Liu, the garrison general of Pipazhou. Song Jiao opened it and took a look. The matter was very simple. After the eighteen tribes of the grassland surrendered to the Qi State, not long after the tribes were peaceful, various rumors began to spread, saying that Qi The reason why the State of Qi subdued them was to allow them to fight against the State of Qing in the future, which was considered a trivial matter. What's more, they even said that the State of Qi had drugged the seeds they gave them.

Although Haona tried his best to suppress it, it was still not enough.

In short, these days, Pipa Island is not very peaceful.

Song Jiaodao: "It's very similar to the situation in Fengxiang City. They are all far-fetched rumors that spread for no reason. Don't worry, Grandpa Xie, I will communicate with Xie Chen. If we can catch all the spies in Fengxiang City and Pipa Island, That would be the best."

Master Xie looked at him very lovingly: "Okay, Grandpa believes in you."

Song Jiao left the palace and asked about the results of the investigation sent in the morning.

Fan Kai replied: "Rumors are everywhere, it is difficult to find out where they came from. However, the group of people who spread the most fiercely have been found out. As expected by His Highness, it is the caravan from Qing Kingdom .”

Song Jiao understood: "Okay."

"Do you want to limit the activities of the Qingguo caravan?"

"Not for the time being, don't startle them, just send someone to keep an eye on their whereabouts." Song Jiao got into the carriage, "Let's go to the Chu Mansion first."

He left a note to Master Chu in the morning, saying that he would visit in the afternoon, and Master Chu would go home at noon.

"Mamao?"

Song Jiao cut to the chase: "I want to borrow two people from my uncle."

Master Chu waved his hands proudly: "Of course, we can tell who we are with, let's talk, how many do you want?"

Song Jiao smiled and said, "All of them."

Master Chu:? ? ?

A quarter of an hour later, all the shopkeepers of the Chu family's branches in Fengxiang City arrived.

In the past year, Master Chu intends to move all his business in Qing to Qi. There are already a dozen shops in Fengxiang City, and a dozen shopkeepers stand below, the youngest of which is older than Song Jiao.

Song Jiao sat at the head, not afraid: "Anyway, all the shopkeepers, please tell your subordinates to pay attention to the news and movements in the city, especially the caravan from Qingguo. Master Chu reported. These days, the wages are three times the usual wages, and those who make meritorious deeds will be rewarded according to the rules of the military camp, and they will be promoted to rank; if there is someone who leaks secrets with a big mouth..."

Song Jiao didn't go on, just stood up: "Everyone here is older than me, and I think you have experienced the time when Qi Guo was in the bandit village. From the bandit village to Fengxiang City, you have finally become a Shopkeeper, now someone wants to destroy our national destiny and force us back to the backcountry, I think, no one can bear such a thing."

The shopkeepers said yes again and again, stood up, and answered yes in unison.

After finishing this matter, Song Jiao went back to wait for the news.

That night, he received a letter from Xie Chen from Pipazhou.

——How careful you are, just speak up if you have any questions.

Xie Chen finally added a sentence - everything is fine in Pipazhou.

But Song Jiao already knew that Pipazhou was not good.

He immediately wrote back to Xie Chen, and when the two of them agreed on what to do, the eagle flew back and forth, and the whole eagle lost a lot of weight.

Fan Kai took people to trace the source of the golden pen on Jiang Ping's body, and Master Chu's buddies went deep into every corner of Fengxiang City.

In a few days, Fan Kai had the result.

"The paper, ink, and handwriting have all been found. It is the paper, ink, and handwriting of a ghostwriter on Xuanwu Street. Someone dictated it, and he wrote it. The gold pen stuffed with the note was made by an old craftsman outside the city. There is also his gold pen on it." mark."

"Ghostwriter and old craftsman, do you know who came to them?"

"I know, just these few days, the palace is going to paint portraits for Xinke Scholars, so I took the two of them to see the portraits."

Song Jiao asked: "How is it? Is there any result? Is it a member of Jinshi?"

Fan Kai nodded: "Yes."

Song Jiao understood: "It's Zhang Mozhang Tanhua."

"That's right, His Highness guessed it right."

"He was originally upset. I'm afraid he colluded with Li Xu when he entered the palace. But he is not smart at all. How could he find someone by himself?"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have failed the exam for ten years." Fan Kai asked, "Then, Your Highness, should we arrest Zhang Mo immediately?"

"En." Song Jiao nodded.

"What about Li Xu? We want to arrest him too? But he hasn't shown his feet from the beginning to the end. If we want to arrest him, I'm afraid there is not enough evidence."

"Don't move him first, and we can't move him. He is not important, but those who spread rumors behind him are important."

Fan Kaidao: "However, there has been no news from Master Chu's buddies recently, and there seems to be no new rumors recently. It's always about Jiang Ping's affairs. They don't need to come forward, and this matter is very serious. of."

Song Jiao raised the corners of her lips: "Then create a new rumor for them."

He clasped his hands together: "Uncle Fan Kai, you send someone to arrest Zhang Mo and take him away quietly, don't act like you are arresting him. Let the guys pay attention tonight, if there is no accident, tonight,' His Royal Highness Song Xiao is Jiang Ping, a spy of the Baoqing Kingdom, and sent people to arrest Tanhua Zhangmo. Rumors that Zhang Tanhua was innocent and wronged will spread in Fengxiang City. Let them pay attention and see where the news comes from. Report in time, everyone is ready, we will go out at night."

Fan Kai still hesitated: "But what if they don't know that Zhang Mo was arrested?"

"No, the matter has developed to the present, and the entire Fengxiang City is in their rumors. They will definitely pay attention to the trend of this matter. If they can push the reputation of the Qi State Court to the other side of the cliff, they Will not let this opportunity go.”

"Okay." Fan Kai nodded, immediately ordered a few people, and led them away.

All day long, Song Jiao stayed at home, and after sending a letter to Xie Chen, he began to read and play chess, waiting for news from outsiders.

At noon, Fan Kai came back.

"Zhang Mo has been arrested, and together with the evidence, put it on His Majesty's desk."

The whole afternoon was calm, and in the evening, Song Jiao and his grandfather were eating, and before they had eaten two bites, Fan Kai came over again.

"Your Highness, here we come."

Song Jiao immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and went out with him.

"Grandpa, I'm leaving first."

Grandpa Song asked with a smile: "Will you come back for dinner later?"

"No, Uncle Fan Kai and I are eating outside."

Song Jiao and Fan Kai went out together, a young man saw them coming and rushed to meet them.

"Your Highness, in Dongshi, I was drinking tea at the herbal tea stand next to the silk and satin shop. I vaguely heard two people singing and gossiping, saying that Zhang Tanhua was taken away by someone sent by His Royal Highness, and that it was Commander Fan Kaifan." The person who was arrested personally, His Highness arrested Tanhua in order to keep the second place in the ranking." To put it bluntly, when I came, many people had already surrounded him and listened to him."

Fan Kai asked, "Have you notified the nearby soldiers?"

"Notification, notification, two military masters are watching at the herbal tea stand, and one brought me to His Highness and Commander Fan."

"Okay." Fan Kai nodded towards him, "Come here, take this young man down to collect the reward money, and reward for merit."

"Thank you, Commander Fan, and thank you, Your Highness."

Fan Kai took off his official hat and threw it to his followers: "Immediately send people to surround the exits of the East City, and the others change into plain clothes. Let's have a pot tonight."

Not long after, countless soldiers dressed in plainclothes went to Dongshi silently. Fan Kai in plainclothes followed Song Jiao. , with a hair tie on her head, and a big yellow dog on her hand.

Take the system to visit the night market.

When the lights are on, it is the busiest time in Dongshi.

Song Jiao led the big yellow dog to the herbal tea stall that the buddy called.

There were quite a few people around the stall, and exclamations came from the crowd from time to time.

Song Jiao and Fan Kai walked into the crowd as if nothing had happened, listening to what they said while walking.

"No way? How could Your Majesty allow His Highness to do such a thing? And His Highness is quite a good person, so don't talk nonsense."

"Why not? Your Highness is close to Jiang Ping, the spy of the Qing Dynasty. In order to protect him, wouldn't he be a fool for a while? I'm afraid Jiang Ping's collusion with the enemy has solid evidence. His Highness can't find a way to excuse him, so he has to deal with Zhang Ping. Tan Hua."

"It's always true that Zhang Tanhua was arrested, right? Go and see for yourself, Zhang Tanhua was really arrested by someone sent by His Highness, and now I'm afraid... well, life and death are uncertain..."

The next second, there was a loud "bang", Fan Kai grabbed the man who spoke by his collar, pressed his head, and slammed his forehead on the table.

Upon receiving the signal, the soldiers in plain clothes acted immediately, pushing all the members of the Qingguo caravan not far away who had not had time to unload their cargo to the ground.

The crowd was taken aback by such a sudden change, Fan Kai asked people to keep them all, and then he said loudly: "I am the one who took Zhang Tanhua away, the person I arrested this morning only brought my cronies, are you How do you know?"

Song Jiao also said: "I am Your Highness, the person I ordered to be arrested this morning, because Zhang Tanhuali colluded with the enemy country and framed his colleagues. This matter is originally a court secret. How did you know?"

The man was pressed on the table by Fan Kai, and he tried to defend himself: "I... I saw that Zhang Tanhua didn't go out all day..."

Song Jiao put one foot on the bench: "You, a member of the Qing Dynasty caravan, came to Fengxiang City on the first day, why do you know where Zhang Tanhua's mansion is?"

"Zhang Tanhua is a scholar. Originally, he took the imperial examination for ten years in Qingguo, and it was common for him not to go out for three to five days. Qingguo scholars even wrote a poem praising him for not putting down the book. You, a Qingguo, should not know why. He came to my country of Qi, but he didn't go out for a day, so you are going around saying that His Highness captured him?"

The man naturally hesitated and couldn't answer: "This...I..."

"Answer your Highness's question, why did you insist that it was His Highness who took Zhang Tanhua?"

"I... I was confused for a moment, I was talking nonsense and bragging..."

"You talk nonsense all by yourself, why do everyone in the caravan like you like to talk nonsense and brag?" Song Jiao turned his head and looked directly at him, "It turns out that talking nonsense is the nature of you Qing people?"

Over there, the plainclothes soldiers had subdued several caravans and brought them in front of Song Jiao, making them stand in a row.

Song Jiao led his big yellow dog and walked slowly in front of them.

"Start from the left. Tell the truth. If you refuse to tell the truth, I will let the dog go."

His eyes fell on the first person on the left, the big yellow dog bared its teeth vigorously, showing its sharp canine teeth.

Song Jiao said indifferently: "Anyway, I am a lawless little Highness. To tell you the truth, in fact, this system of mine grew up eating raw meat. I stabbed it..."

With a stab, the big yellow dog flew up with its front legs and pressed on the man's shoulders, biting his clothes.

The man screamed and tried his best to hide back, but was held down by the soldiers behind him.

The big yellow dog opened its bloody mouth wide, and its hot, humid breath hit his face. The man didn't dare to move, shaking like a sieve, and couldn't even speak.

Suddenly, Song Jiao covered his nose and dodged back: "Pull him down and pollute the market environment."

The soldier dragged the first man as if he were a dead man, and dragged him away.

Song Jiao's eyes fell on the second person again: "You..."

Before he could speak, the second person hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Highness, please forgive me, please forgive me, Your Highness, I will say what I say."

Song Jiao wrapped the rope leading the big yellow dog twice around his hand, and raised his chin at him: "Well, tell me."

The man cried bitterly: "I am a spy of the Qing Kingdom, I am a spy of the Qing Kingdom, I spread rumors, and I can receive rewards when I return to the Qing Kingdom, so I..."

Song Jiao stepped on the bench and stood on the table, Fan Kai picked up the man and threw him on the table.

Song Jiao said loudly: "What did you say just now, you can say it again."

The man stood beside Song Jiao, trembling: "I am a spy of the Qing Kingdom, spreading rumors..."

"louder please!"

"I am a spy of the Qing Dynasty! I spread rumors!"

"What rumors are you spreading?"

"I said that His Royal Highness bent the law for personal gain and killed Zhang Tanhua! I deserve to die, I deserve to die!"

As soon as Song Jiao stretched out his hand, he pushed him down: "Change to another one, and explain the matter to the people of Qi State today."

Fan Kai fished it casually, and grabbed a person: "Come on, come on."

Another person was pushed onto the table by him, and he also stood up tremblingly: "Little...Your Highness."

Song Jiao looked him up and down: "How long have you been in Qi? Answer louder."

"Two...two months!"

"what have you done?"

"Spreading rumors!"

"What did you say?"

"It is said that this year's imperial examination is unfair, and His Royal Highness is partial to the senior brother. I also said that Jiang Pingjiang's second place in the ranking is a spy of the Qing Kingdom."

Song Jiao pushed him down too, and Fan Kai threw another one up.

Back and forth, Song Jiao interrogated one by one like this, and more and more people gathered around. The audience held their breath and were completely silent, only the voices of Song Jiao's questioning and the spy's answering could be heard.

Song Jiao stood on the table like this, with a lantern on his head, and the warm yellow candlelight shone on his face and body.Although his face was still immature, his eyes were firm, and the candlelight burned all the way to his eyes.

The people just looked at him like this, like looking at a little fairy.

After questioning more than a dozen spies, Song Jiao's mouth was parched. He pushed the last spy off the table, and stepped on the bench himself to the ground.

He said to Fan Kai: "Uncle Fan Kai, take everyone back."

He then said to the people present: "Go back and tell your relatives and friends. If you encounter suspicious people spreading rumors again, you should go to the nearest government. Qingguo has good intentions and wants to force us back to the bandit village. against their plan."

The common people nodded one after another. Song Jiao turned his head, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the dirty table that he stepped on just now.

Suddenly, a commoner took the lead and shouted: "Your Highness is wise!"

Then countless people shouted loudly: "Your Highness is wise!"

Song Jiao was a little embarrassed, took back the handkerchief, led the system to leave, and then was surrounded by the people.

"Your Highness has been talking for so long, drink some tea, drink some tea."

"Have some snacks, has your Highness eaten? Take it and eat on the way."

The common people were basically divided into two sides, one side surrounded Song Jiao and Fan Kai and fed them, and the other side surrounded the Qing spies and threw vegetable leaves at them.

That night, Song Jiao picked a dozen or so people from the army led by Fan Kai, used the confiscated items from the Qingguo caravan, dressed them up as a caravan, and sent them immediately northward to Pipa Island.

After the caravan pretended to be by the Qi army arrived, they successfully broke into the interior of the local caravan.

One morning not long after, on the grassland, as soon as the Qing State caravan stepped out of the tent, it ran directly into the trap of Qi State soldiers.

Xie Chen was riding a horse with a halberd in his hand, watching them being pulled out of the tent one by one and put into cages.

Xie Chen and Song Jiao followed this route and found the top lines of these spies. Not long after, Qi Guo sent a righteous memorial to Qing Guo, asking them to explain the matter.

If there was no explanation, or if the explanation could not convince the people of Qi, the two countries had no choice but to break off the war, and Li Xu, Qing's proton who remained in Qi, would be the first to sacrifice the flag.

In Stone City, General Liu wrote a memorial to the court, very happy: "Your Highness still has a way, so I sent a dozen people over, and the matter was resolved."

Xie Chen stood aside with his arms folded: "Then give him military merit."

"Oh, the little Highness is not our garrison here, how can I remember it for him? Your Majesty will remember it for him."

Xie Chen said lightly, "Then write it down for me."

"what?"

"I discussed the solution with him, and the one who passed on the letter was my eagle." Xie Chen said confidently, "My wife's military medals are half of mine."