Tang riddles

Shen Sui felt that there must be something strange about the hollow bamboo pole and the gunpowder blowing up the fish, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.I have to keep it in my heart and put it on hold for the time being.

Wang Zhongsi had been waiting outside for a long time, so she and Li Jinyue bid farewell to Qin Zhen and rushed to investigate the crime scene again.Before leaving, Shen Sui deliberately asked one more question:

"Duke Qin, what's special about the corpses of those ten people after the autopsy?"

Qin Zhen thought for a moment, and said: "There is no difference from what you experienced. I was so horrified that I had a heart attack and suffocated, and then I drowned and died. However, I remember Wu Zuo specifically mentioned that the smell of the ten dead people was a bit weird, but Where is the specific weirdness? He only said that the smell was washed very lightly by the lake water, and he couldn’t distinguish it. The clerk in my Dali Temple is an old clerk with 30 years of experience. He inspected too many corpses, and he already accumulated A kind of feeling, he said this is speaking by feeling. Although there are countless things to do, every feeling will work."

Shen Sui nodded to indicate that he had written it down, and then bid farewell to Qin Zhen with Li Jinyue, met Wang Zhongsi at the door, and the three of them rushed to Xiyuan.

On the way through the imperial city, Shen Sui and the others happened to pass by the Yushitai, and they saw a gray-robed official hurrying towards him with a bulging rucksack.Shen Sui took a look at his face and suddenly felt familiar and kind, but for a moment he couldn't remember where he had seen this person.

Immediately, she, Li Jinyue, and Wang Zhongsi rode past, brushed shoulders with the little official, and walked away.

In the middle of the journey, Shen Sui suddenly patted the saddle and said:

"It reminds me of it."

"What do you remember?" Li Jinyue asked her strangely.

"Just now we passed by a gray-robed scribe. I wonder if the princess will pay attention."

"Of course I've noticed, but this is where the government offices gather in the Imperial City. There are so many clerks here, don't be surprised," Li Jinyue said.

"No. I once met that clerk in Chang'an. He was the secretary of the Yushitai Document Library. His name was Yang Bi, and he was the fourth in the line. He was usually called Yang Si. I heard that he seemed to be What does it have to do with Yu Wenrong, the former censor Zhongcheng, who was arranged to be the secretary. Ming Shaoqing told me that he is surly and difficult to get along with."

Li Jinyue hadn't spoken yet, but Wang Zhongsi, who had been silently following behind, spoke:

"Yang Si is the concubine of Hongnong County's public house, and he is a concubine's brother with Yang Sanlang of Hongnong County's public house. He is a concubine, and his mother is unknown. When he entered the house, he was already seven or eight years old and not very intelligent. He has no talent, and has a weird temper. He took the Jinshi exam 11 years ago, and then took the Mingjing exam twice in succession. They both failed the rankings because of the difference of one rank. Although the preface is in four lines, it has not been included in the genealogy, and the name is not listed in the generation. After the crown, the Hongnong County Government used Yu Wenrong's relationship to find him an errand as a clerk in the Yushitai Bookstore. I wanted to marry him, but he flatly refused."

"I heard he has broken sleeves?" Shen Sui asked with a faint smile.

"Hehe, it's possible, I'm not sure." Wang Zhongsi said with a sneer.

"Zhongsi is very clear about the affairs of the Hongnong County Government." Li Jinyue said.

Wang Zhongsi replied: "Yang Sanlang is my good friend. He doesn't dislike me as a martial artist. He is vulgar and ignorant. He is willing to play with me. He also mentioned his family affairs to me more or less. Sanlang sympathizes with his concubine brother very much. Every time, I would be asked to bring some money into the palace to help Yang Si, so I am more or less familiar with Yang Si. He is not a very difficult person to get along with. I always feel that Yang Si is a deep-featured person, very powerful, and somewhat respectful. .”

Shen Sui didn't answer these words, and the three fell silent.Not long after, the three of them entered Xiyuan again along the narrow road through Xuanhui Gate.

The guards in Xiyuan are still tight, but the heavy fog has cleared, and the sky is bright today, somewhat dispelling the haze that enveloped Xiyuan.The scene in the garden is clearer than it was the day before yesterday. Although the beautiful royal courtyard has been murdered and stolen, it still does not change its original splendor.It's just that a large number of imperial guards guarding the garden, with black helmets and black armor running through it, has become a disharmonious color in the beautiful scenery.

Shen Sui, Li Jinyue, and Wang Zhongsi went straight to their destination. Shen Sui was an expert in investigating the case, and Li Jinyue and Wang Zhongsi were just assisting in the investigation.Therefore, where to investigate is entirely up to Shen Sui, and Li Jinyue and Wang Zhongsi just follow closely behind.

Shen Sui's first goal turned out to be to find a boat, and she wanted to go down to the lake to investigate.Li Jinyue transferred four soldiers of the imperial army, and accompanied them to the plank road on the north bank to board the boat. The two sampans were rowed by the four imperial soldiers, and followed Shen Sui's instructions all the way to the waters where the incident happened.

Li Jinyue was on the same boat as Shen Sui, and Wang Zhongsi was on the other boat.Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shen Sui whispered to Li Jinyue:

"Maomao, pay attention to that Yang Si, this person is not simple, he must have a great talent, maybe he can be used by us."

Li Jinyue looked at Shen Sui for a while, but didn't ask the reason for a while, only said:

"I know."

Shen Sui added: "Don't startle the enemy for now, and don't be in a hurry to win him over. This person may have some secrets that haven't been revealed, and his position is also unclear. Let me talk about it after further investigation."

"Why do you pay so much attention to this person?" Li Jinyue couldn't help asking.

"Just now what Wang Zhongsi said, I am very surprised by one thing. Yangsi took the imperial examination three times, once for Jinshi, and twice for Mingjing, and all failed by one rank. If it is a coincidence, I absolutely do not believe it. I I thought, this should be his intention. And if he did it on purpose, then this person's knowledge cultivation ability, grasp of the examination questions, and even his observation of the court situation can be said to be the pinnacle. He knows how the examination paper is written It can make the examiner judge him outside the top three. And it happens to be the top one outside the top three. This level of precise control is terrifying, and I can't do it."

"Could it be that you are too sensitive, maybe this is a coincidence?" Li Jinyue frowned.

Shen Sui shook his head and said: "No. My judgment on him comes from two points: one is his appearance. This Yang Si is hiding something, I can't see it wrong. His eyes are deep and deep, his expression is serious and indifferent, serious and unsmiling , as if he doesn't care about anything. He has a mustache on his lips, covering his middle, but when he looks closely, he can find that his middle is long and deep. Looking at his face, he appears to be a taciturn and cold-faced person on the surface, but in fact there are deep gullies hidden in his heart. He usually hides his talent and knowledge, and shows others with an ordinary appearance, but he is actually the same person as me. I can feel it when I meet him. He has a hidden temperament, but he can see that he has a high level of knowledge in his belly, and he is not surprised. First meeting in Chang'an On that day, he had a meeting with Ming Gui, I watched from the sidelines, and saw that although his expression was humble, but there were occasional flashes of mischief in his eyes, I felt extraordinary.

The second is the difference between Jinshi and Mingjing.Wang Zhongsi said that he took the Jinshi examination 11 years ago, which happened to be the year of my examination 11 years ago, and I know the situation that year.The Jinshi course was extremely difficult that year. The few students I met in Chang'an were full of talents and all failed the rankings. He was only one place short of the Jinshi examination, which shows that his level is already very good.The Ming Jing subject is relatively easier, and it is just something to memorize by rote. He still failed to pass the exam by one place, which is very explainable. "

Li Jinyue nodded, Shen Sui's analysis made sense, although looking at appearances could not be regarded as very strong evidence, but Shen Sui had a good way of observing people, so he was still convincing.It is indeed strange that Jinshi and Mingjing are all short of one.

"If this person is really hiding something, what is his purpose? He is a concubine of the Yang family, and his status is low. Maybe he wants to cover up his edge and avoid fighting with his son and causing trouble. But why did he hide to such an extent? In addition, there is another point that makes people puzzled. If he really wanted to hide his ability and talent, why did he do such a laborious thing to be only one place short. He could have done worse in the exam, but it would not attract the attention of others. "

Li Jinyue's eyes flashed, and she took over the conversation:

"Unless, he is also an ambitious person, when someone finds out that his pearl is dusty, he will be his bole."

Shen Sui nodded.

While speaking, they had arrived at the waters where the incident happened.Shen Sui stopped talking, stood up from the sampan, and began to carefully observe the surrounding scene.

This large lake in Xiyuan, known as the "Little East Sea", was excavated manually and diverted from Luoshui. It is full of running water, with perfect diversion canals and water exchange gates. It is connected with the water system of Luoyang City outside the imperial city. Connected, reciprocating, and endless, to ensure that the water quality is clear and transparent.Looking to the bottom of the lake, you can see the scene within two or three meters.There are also a large number of aquatic creatures in the lake, not to mention fish, shrimp and crabs. It is also said that there is a turtle sleeping at the bottom of the lake, and the shell of the turtle emerges from the water. There are three islands, namely Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou.

Of course, this is nonsense, but there are many people outside who believe it.

As far as Shen Sui knows, the deepest water in Xiaodonghai is only 21 feet (about six and a half meters), and the average depth is only ten feet (about three meters). It is not deep enough to hide a turtle as big as a mountain in it. .And the location of their sampan happened to be a deep water area.After the boat stopped, Shen Sui measured it with a penny, and it could reach fifteen feet (about four and a half meters).

It is not far from the shore, and the reason why the water is so deep is because below it is the gate on the east coast of the Xiaodonghai Sea. The water in it flows through the underground channel through the bottom of the imperial city and flows into the moat, then flows out around the city and flows into Luoshui.The waterway here is actually connected to the Doumen Sluice by the Tianjin Bridge in the southeast of the imperial city.

These are all the information that Shen Sui learned from the Xiyuan waterway project drawing that Li Jinyue gave him.This picture was specifically told by Shen Sui in the biography that Li Jinyue went to Pei Yaoqing overnight to get it.Pei Yaoqing returned to Luoyang half a month later than Shen Sui. When he came back, he brought a map of the Yangtze River to dedicate to the saint. The saint was overjoyed and immediately transferred him to the Ministry of Industry to be in charge of water conservancy. Of course, it also includes this engineering drawing of Xiyuan waterway left over from the former Sui Dynasty.Pei Yaoqing was already on good terms with Shen Sui, knowing that she was handling the Holy Grail case this time and was authorized by a sage, so she actively cooperated.

After Shen Sui measured the water depth, he began to untie his belt and take off his clothes. Li Jinyue was taken aback, and hurriedly stopped her and said:

"what are you doing!"

"Get into the water, I want to see the bottom of the water for myself." Shen Sui said it as a matter of course.

"How can you take off your clothes casually!" Li Jinyue's forehead burst out with veins.

Shen Sui smiled and said: "I have prepared myself, the princess does not need to worry."

As he said that he had untied his belt and was still on the board, there was a loud "clang", and the board shook for a moment, which startled the crew on board.She took off her outer robe again, and Li Jinyue was surprised to see that she was wearing a strange material of clothing, which was gelatinous and clinging to her body, like fish skin.After taking off the underpants, Li Jinyue found that the clothes turned out to be jumpsuits, which were so weird that they couldn't be described at all.The two soldiers who rowed the boat for them were stunned.

"What kind of clothes are you wearing?" Li Jinyue asked.

"Diving suit. The clothes my people invented when they were fishing for pearls in the East China Sea were pressed out of rubber brought by Nanyang Kunlun slaves and fine silk with a very dense texture. It's very difficult, there are only three sets so far. If you are interested, I will lend you some clothes next time." Shen Sui said casually.

What is rubber?Do you still need to wear a wetsuit for diving?Li Jinyue seemed to be in a fog, she could only look at Shen Sui in astonishment.

Shen Sui was helpless, sitting on the edge of the boat, while re-fastening his belt, said:

"In short, it is waterproof and warm clothes. If you stay underwater for a long time, you will lose temperature." Then she sighed and whispered to herself:

"Hey, let me explain something to you, a rabbit who is afraid of water. Wait for me on the boat, and I will come up soon."

As she spoke, she smiled slightly at Li Jinyue, turned over and fell backwards, and fell directly into the water, splashing a big splash, drenching Li Jinyue's whole body, but she herself disappeared instantly.

The sampan swayed back and forth, and finally stabilized.Li Jinyue firmly grasped the edge of the boat with both hands, her face was covered with water, and she was in a panic.She freed her hand to wipe it, and cursed secretly:

Akashi, you lunatic, I won't investigate the case with you next time!

The author has something to say: The earliest recorded use of rubber is by indigenous South Americans in the 11th century. "Kunlun slaves" is a general term for the dark-skinned foreigners in Indonesia and Africa.I don’t need to mention Indonesian rubber, but rubber was not introduced to my country until very late, and diving suits appeared even later.After all, the novel allows me to do part of the artistic creation, and I try to write it reasonably, so let me skip the textual research for this part.

PS: It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it now, you will understand it soon. Here’s a little tip. The layout of Luoyang City, the Tianjin Bridge confrontation and other scenes described in the previous article were not written casually.