Northern Song Dynasty: The City of Qingquan Mystery Case

"Yes. Reed."

Xiang Quan just looked down at it and kept fiddling with it.

"The knot on it is rather strange... what is it for?"

"Fishing." Xiang Quan was still playing with the willow leaves in his hand.

Qianqing looked at the grass knot in surprise, recalling what Xiangquan said yesterday, and murmured: "Is there really a reed for fishing?"

"Indeed, reeds are ordinary reeds. What's interesting is the method of fishing with reeds. But willow leaves don't seem to work. It's a pity that I made it all night." Xiangquan raised his head and threw away the willow leaves in his hand.

The willow leaves are flying in the summer air, hovering in the night sky, leaving only a little shadow under the illumination of the light, and then falling into the thick colors of the night without a trace.

Ganqing didn't understand what he said, but the corner of his mouth twitched, and said: "It turns out that reeds can be used for fishing. I'll see it someday."

Xiang Quan was riding on the donkey, his eyes followed the willow leaf little by little until it fell to the ground and disappeared.

"There are some things that are unbelievable, but can happen. Some things, when you try, you end up failing."

Qianqing sneered, puzzled: "What did you realize?"

"It's not me, it's you. You ran here and there just out of curiosity. You wanted to find something to do during the city's lockdown, and you wanted to know the truth. In the end, it was nothing but reeds and willow leaves."

Clearly disdainful, he stopped: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Xiangquan has only one mouth opening and closing, like a Buddha statue: "Some facts you think are impossible, but they are facts, and you need to accept them; some things you dig and create yourself, but the result is not what you want. , you have to accept it too."

Qianqing didn't know what he wanted to say, and at this moment the Yongcheng government office arrived.Xiangquan stopped and said, "Take the donkey in."

"Take it in? It's not good..."

Xiang Quan patted the donkey and said, "It's easier and faster. Take it directly to Mr. Zhao's room, and I have something to tell him personally. It's too laborious to move, are you willing to carry me in?"

"You're really crazy," Qianqing spat, and shouted, "Who is riding a donkey into the house? That's Mr. Zhao! No matter how anxious you are, you can't do this!"

His voice was so loud that a few birds flew up from the night sky. Xiang Quan didn't say much to him, and directly asked the guard at the gate to report. Afterwards, Mr. Zhao agreed, and someone really led the donkey into the house.

There was no way to clear it up, so I could only stare blankly at the reflection of the candlelight in the room.Yi Xiangquan had been riding on the donkey, and after a simple salute, he began to talk.Qianqing felt unreasonable, this move was unheard of, let the donkey enter the house, Master Zhao actually agreed to let him enter the house!

They seemed to have been talking peacefully.

After about half a stick of incense, Xiangquan came out.Mr. Zhao opened the door himself, and Qian Qing led the donkey out of the house.

Gan Qing originally thought that Xiang Quan came to Master Zhao because he wanted to borrow some guards to find the Tsing Yi Bandit, but Xiang Quan didn't seem to do anything.After Qianqing and Xiangquan left the Yongcheng government office, they turned around and walked towards West Street. They were still the only two of them on the alley.

The sky is high and the dew is thick, and the crescent moon rises from the west and hangs quietly in the sky.The willow branches were about to hang down the winding path, and the willows passed by in the dry breeze, only to hear the willow branches hitting Xiangquan's body, and there seemed to be autumn insects singing intermittently in the weeds beside the road , very quiet.

Gan Qing couldn't hold back and asked, "What did you say to Mr. Zhao?"

Xiang Quan still rode upside down on the donkey without looking at the road: "You will keep it a secret, right?"

When Qianqing heard this, he stopped immediately.

"What secret?"

"Of course it's a secret, otherwise how could I go in alone?"

"Then you might as well tell me...of course I'll keep it a secret." Gan Qing looked at Xiang Quan with a sincere face, but couldn't hide his inner excitement.

Xiangquan said slowly: "I deduced this matter from what you told me. You said that there was a general living in West Street on the day of the crime, and Mr. Zhao didn't know about it until the day the street was searched. In order to search Street, Mr. Zhao went to discuss with the general, and later he broke a teacup, and finally, Mr. Zhao came out of the house by himself and said that he could search the street—is there such a thing?”

Qianqing nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "I don't know very well, the official position of the prisoner seems to be much lower than that of the general of Fuguo, so it is not possible to discuss with the general, so I-"

Xiang Quan shook his head, and said slowly: "First question, Mr. Zhao looks like a civil servant or a military officer?"

"Civilian, civil servant...Although he has the temperament of a military officer, he also understands the guards. But isn't the civil servant who handles the case mentioned? I am a grassroots. How can I know this? Don't ask me this."

"Second question, Mr. Zhao, how is he?"

Gan Qing thought for a moment: "If you talk about being an official, you must be an honest official. He is fair and strict, and very kind, but with a bit of extravagance."

"The third question, how does he compare with Yang Fu Yin?"

Gan Qing sneered and said: "That stupid fat man? Yang Fuyin is naturally a bit stupid, and he is afraid that if something happens, he will lose his life. This is in stark contrast to Mr. Zhao, who seemed to be not afraid of anything when the accident happened."

Speaking of this, Qianqing also felt a little strange.

He looked at Xiangquan, only to see that his face was hidden in the night, and there was no expression of joy or anger.

"The fourth question, how is the general who lives on West Street?"

Ganqing concluded honestly: "I just heard that he has a bad temper and likes to visit brothels. The reason why he keeps a low profile is that he is afraid of conflicts with the court's arrest of thieves. He must be a timid person."

Xiang Quan patted the donkey's butt and urged him to move forward: "The fifth question, how did the teacup break?"

Ganqing was annoyed by being asked, so he yanked the donkey's rein severely.

"How do I know, I touched it accidentally. Wait, why do you ask this question? Did someone break it on purpose? What the hell—"

"The sixth question, have you seen the jade pendant on Mr. Zhao's body?"

Ganqing thought about it patiently: "I didn't see clearly, he seemed to have taken it on the first day he entered the city, and then took it off."

"Last question, what is Master Zhao's name? What's your last name?" Xiang Quan turned his head to look directly at Qian Qing, his eyes were shining like stars.

Xiangquan's expression like this is extremely rare, but Qianqing said angrily: "I really don't know what Mr. Zhao's name is, what's his surname? You haven't woken up yet! Of course Mr. Zhao's surname—"

Qian Qing suddenly froze.

Yi Xiangquan laughed softly.He sat on the donkey safely and smiled, with a bit of slyness and a bit of sarcasm.

With distracted eyes, Qianqing repeated in a murmur: "Master Zhao's surname is of course Zhao."

"Then it all makes sense." Xiang Quan smiled, "Zhao, the country's surname."

Qianqing was stunned in vain: "You mean, Mr. Zhao himself—"

Xiangquan pondered for a moment: "According to the reflection of that general, he is at least the king of the county."

"What is the general's reflection? The king of the county? The brother of the current emperor?" Qian Qing was like five thunderbolts, his eyes staring like copper coins, "How is it possible!"

Xiang Quan said unhurriedly: "The sage is young, so he should be an uncle. Nowadays, being an official is either an imperial examination or hereditary. Mr. Zhao is not like a civil servant. He is not civil or military. Cheng Ti Xing—how did he become an official? There is a high possibility of hereditary. If it is hereditary, it means relying on connections. Look at Mr. Zhao, even if he is backed by someone, how can he stand the anger of the officialdom? Not afraid? When I first met him, I said he was a theatergoer—he was just a theatergoer. He wasn’t afraid of taking responsibility for something, because he didn’t have to take responsibility at all.”

"I don't believe it!" Gan Qing shouted loudly.

His voice was so loud that the bugs around him stopped humming.Xiang Quan disdainfully pulled the rein, and the donkey stopped.

"I would like to point out that a person who comes from a criminal prison must have some real skills in solving cases. Although he is calm, he likes to do things himself. He has a strong ability to order guards, dispatch personnel, and adapt to changes. It is possible for him to be a court official, but in He doesn't have much skill in dealing with the details of the case, but it's not as useful as you Xia Qianqing who is walking around on the scene alone. It's really unreasonable. He is so leisurely every day, but he is not afraid of being dismissed in an accident, and he is not afraid of that general. Why? Because he doesn't have to I'm afraid. Except for the emperor and a few prime ministers, this person is almost under one person and above ten thousand people. Speaking of the teacup, Mr. Zhao probably saw the general. Seeing the general's stupidity, he lost his temper and dropped a cup. A teacup... But that's just speculation, I'm not too sure."

Don't say a word, just think about it by yourself.

Seeing that he didn't believe it, Xiang Quan smiled lowly, and continued to add: "And his quick jade pendant. I didn't look too carefully when I first saw it, but I knew the royal totem on it. I just asked tentatively, and he was very straightforward. , directly admitted."

Qian Qing was really shocked: "Admitted? He is really—"

"King Sipu, the fourth uncle of the emperor."

The author has something to say: The official system and the clan system in the Northern Song Dynasty are notoriously difficult to remember, and they have been changed over and over again.I'm a dog of science and technology, and I don't like to read history books. If the writing is not right, you can just read it, I'm sorry... The novel has elements of fiction. The number of kings in the Northern Song Dynasty was very small, and Mr. Zhao actually has no real power.

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