Tang riddles

On the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, Shen Sui set off from Luoyang with the members of Qianyumen and his family members and headed northeast.On the evening of the same day, we checked in at Guiyan Station in Heyang County, and set off at Yinshi the next morning. The whole team moved forward at full speed and rushed to Hebi County, Xiangzhou, Hebei Province.

This journey took six days, getting up early and getting late, wearing the stars and wearing the moon, and when I entered Hebi County, it was already the evening of June [-].

A group of people arrived at Hebi Guiyan Inn, already exhausted, but Shen Sui didn't dare to delay, stayed behind at Huyan Zhuoma, took Xuanweizi and Congyun Congyu brothers and sisters, and rushed all the way to the inn where the incident happened.Fortunately, Hebi County is not big, and the inn is located in the busiest market, not far from Guiyan Station, and we will arrive soon.

When Shen Sui stood at the door of this inn, he saw four large characters on the plaque above his head - Baizhan Inn.The outside of the inn is deserted and the gate is closed. In the evening, when the curfew is approaching, pedestrians rush home. When passing by the inn, they all avoid it and walk around the road.

"Bai Zhan..." Shen Sui murmured.

From the side, Cong Yu said: "I heard it means 'white crane spreads its wings'. This inn was originally the largest inn in Hebi, and it was funded by a few local gentry. will stay here.”

Shen Sui smiled, and said: "King Wu defeated Zhou and destroyed Shang, and Duke Zhou divided the world. At that time, the largest vassal state in the Zhou Dynasty, Weiguo, was sealed near here. This place used to be the famous capital of Shang. Wei Yi, the No. 18 monarch of Wei State, was fond of cranes. He raised a lot of cranes here, and the cranes lived on the cliffs of Nanshan Mountain, so it was named "Hebi". mean."

It was the first time Congyun and Congyu heard about the meaning of Hebi's name, and suddenly felt that he had learned a lot.Xuan Weizi at the side frowned, looking at the Baizhan Inn in the twilight, silent.

Shen Sui noticed his expression, and couldn't help asking:

"Master, do you have any questions?"

"Master, when I look at this inn, I always feel that there is something discordant. But I can't figure it out for a while, and I can't help feeling a little suspicious."

Shen Sui raised his eyebrows, stepped forward, pushed the door open and walked in.

Baizhan Inn is a rare large-scale building in Hebi County.On the front of the five rooms, there is a pair of stone drums standing outside the main gate.The main building has two floors and is in the shape of a sun. A courtyard is circled in the center. What is strange is that there is a suspended attic spanning from east to west, dividing the entire atrium into front and rear.Below the attic is a hallway.The eaves of Xieshan Mountain are not very wide.The wood used to build the house is exquisite, and the grilles on the doors and windows seem to imitate the architectural style of Jiangnan Water Village.It's no wonder that in recent years, merchants from the Jiangnan area have traveled to and from the Central Plains, and the people there are extraordinarily wealthy, bringing wealth to the declining Central Plains. The inns here will inevitably want to please the Jiangnan people.

Shen Sui led people through the foyer, bypassed the carved screen wall, did not rush upstairs, and directly entered the central courtyard.The meaning of the courtyard's flattery is even more obvious. The mountains and rivers, the mossy koi, all of them follow the regulations of the south of the Yangtze River.It's just that right now, such an exquisite courtyard has become a place of great danger, and no one sets foot there.

Standing in the vestibule, Shen Sui looked at the suspended attic spanning the corridors on the east and west sides, and said:

"Is that the Tianzihao room?"

Cong Yun said with a smile: "Master, you are really powerful, you will know where the Tianzihao room is when you come in."

"Hahahaha..." Shen Sui laughed loudly, pointed at Congyun and said, "You're the one who killed me. When Huyan Zhuoma described it to me, he said: "The Tianzihao house is open from north to south, with the north door and south window, and the outside of the door." It is a corridor, the courtyard is outside the south window, and there are rooms on the east and west sides. The hall at the south entrance is the dining hall on the second floor, and the guest room at the northernmost entrance is the north window and the south door. No need to talk about it. Tell me, looking at the entire inn, apart from the suspended attic, where else can meet these characteristics?"

"Hey, that's true." Cong Yun scratched his head, but was glared at by Cong Yu, feeling bored.

"Go, go up and have a look." Shen Sui turned around and walked towards the stairs, where two brothers who followed Tang Shisan had been waiting for a long time.

While walking, Shen Sui whispered to Xuan Weizi who was beside him about Li Jilan's confession of identity to her a few days ago. She didn't shy away from the fact that the rest of her subordinates were listening, but this was the first time besides Zhang Ruohan. Talked about it with other people for the first time.She thought about it for a few days, and it was difficult to make a judgment. She didn't plan to continue to hide it now, she needed to listen to the opinions of the people around her.

"Miss Yan is Li Jilan's righteous sister?" Xuan Weizi was also surprised.

Shen Sui nodded:

"According to what Li Jilan said, in order to avoid marriage, she became a monk at the age of 15 and was kicked out of the house because of this. Later, because she corresponded with many men and did not respect the rules and regulations, she was kicked out of the Taoist door again, and she has been living in prostitution ever since. During the years, she met a sister in Pingkangfang, Lady Yan, who helped her to gain a foothold. Since then, she has been making a living by selling calligraphy and painting, composing music and lyrics for others, and her life is actually rich. In this friendship at that time, she and Mrs. Yan became Jinlan sisters. They were like brothers and sisters.

Only later, in Pingkangfang, Nestorianism began to preach secretly.Mrs. Yan and she were both bewitched and joined the sect, and it has been difficult to escape since then.She said that Mrs. Yan has never done anything harmful to nature, and everything is manipulated behind the scenes, and she is just a puppet pushed onto the stage. "

"The person who bewitched Zhang Ruijin and Zhou Da to take revenge, and sent a report letter to Abbot Ci'en, wasn't Mrs. Yan?" Xuan Weizi asked.

Shen Sui said: "According to what Li Jilan said, these things were done by others, Mrs. Yan is just a puppet to take the blame."

"But isn't she a saint? The underground believers in Pingkangfang we caught all identified her as a saint." Xuan Weizi was not willing to believe this argument.

"She is a fake saint, just because she is too famous in Pingkang Square, so she is more appealing. But she, a saint, has no real power. The real saint of this cult will definitely not be so easy Show up." Shen Sui said.

"Master, do you believe what Li Jilan said?" Xuan Weizi asked with a frown.

Shen Sui sighed, and said: "I don't know either. From the point of view of her attitude, her expression is very sincere, and I can't see any flaws. There are no loopholes in her words, so I can't prove it to be false for the time being. But I don't dare to trust her completely. After all, this person is not simple, it is hard to say what purpose she has for approaching me."

"Since she wanted to surrender, she didn't say anything?"

"She said that she didn't know the purpose of approaching me. Although there was an order from above, she didn't tell her the purpose and what to do. She just asked her to try to contact me and wait for the next order. She said that the person inside the door The transmission of orders is not direct, neither the messenger nor the boss can be seen. They all receive tasks in places of secret gatherings. It is the chapel of the secret association we found out, and the pulpit in the center of the chapel is not Is there a Bible? Every time there is a meeting, there will be a mission release list under the Bible. Those who make the list will go to the designated place to receive a sealed mission letter, which contains the details of the missions that need to be performed. Moreover, the words on the letter were all lead type, which were engraved and printed, and the fonts could not be distinguished at all.

Li Jilan knew a little bit about the case of kindness back then.Because Mrs. Yan also received the task of that case, she was required to copy an informant letter by herself. The contents of the letter made her feel uneasy, so she took the risk and secretly talked to Li Jilan.As soon as the Ci'en case was over, the superior sent Li Jilan to contact me, the cracker, and she sensed that something was wrong right away.She already had doubts about the organization she belonged to, and now she was even more frightened, so she voluntarily gave up contacting me.In addition, she knows very little about who is in that organization and how big is the scale. Everyone in this organization can know only limitedly, not to mention that she is only a member from the outside and has never gone deep into it. internal. "

"Does she know the details of the informant letter?"

"She said she didn't know, because Mrs. Yan had a lot of worries and didn't dare to talk about it. She only mentioned that the informant letter involved a big case many years ago."

"Fire and Phoenix?" Xuan Weizi asked cryptically.

Shen Sui's face sank like water, and he nodded slowly.

"Then, the Jinzuifang on the letter wasn't painted by Mrs. Yan?"

"No, Mrs. Yan was only responsible for copying this letter with her own hand. After handing in the task, she never saw that letter again."

"Hmm..." Xuan Weizi put his hands behind his back and pondered for a moment, "By the way, I heard that Li Jilan and General Pei Min have been in and out of a pair for a while, but why?"

"Pei Min and Mrs. Yan are good friends. When Pei Min came back, he wanted to redeem Mrs. Yan's life and marry her as his wife. When he went to Pingkangfang to look for her, he never thought that she would disappear. Later, he bumped into her again. Li Jilan. Afterwards, the two have been discussing countermeasures for this matter. Li Jilan made many inquiries and heard the news that Mrs. Yan was haunting Heshuo. Bedridden, she can only move alone." Shen Sui explained.

Xuan Weizi remained silent, Shen Sui took a breath, then sighed slowly, and said:

"These are all Li Jilan's one-sided words. There is no evidence to prove it. Only Li Jilan knows whether it is true or not. It's just..." While speaking, she was already standing at the closed door of the Tianzihao room, and continued, "Reverse Thinking about it, if she had never had the identity of the secret organization behind the scenes, let alone admitting that she was a member of the organization, she would not even know that there was such an organization. Therefore, she is indeed a member of this organization, which can be Definitely. In addition, the murder message left by Tang Shisan also supports her statement. That message was reserved for a hidden stump who betrayed the organization and had a relationship with Qianyumen. Except for Li Jilan, everyone around me I have been with me for at least eight years, and the origins are clear. The lotus maid and her people are also old faces, and I have known them well before the disaster. The Qianyumen sent messages with encryption, and the handlers along the way, Without the secret key, the contents of the letter cannot be unraveled. I checked, Tang Shisan left the murder message, all the people who handled it had never opened the envelope, the seal was intact, and the secret key was up to date. Not in hand. Therefore, only Li Jilan is the most likely."

"What does the sect master mean?" Xuan Weizi asked.

"I tend to believe her words for the time being, but it's important to be cautious." Shen Sui said, while speaking, she had already pushed open the door of the Tianzihao room, but stood at the door, not rushing in.

Xuan Weizi nodded: "I agree with the Sect Master's opinion. Li Jilan's words are worth believing. So, the purpose of her following us is to save her sister-in-law?"

Shen Sui nodded, and looked at the scene in the room: "No matter what, she can't play tricks by our side, you tell our people to be on guard, keep an eye on her, and see if she will What kind of tricks are you playing in private? When we find out the clues of this organization and follow the clues, we will be able to tell the truth from what she said."

"The subordinate understands." Xuan Weizi said.

Shen Sui finished looking at the scene in the room, and suddenly said:

"Let's go, let's go back to Yanyi Station."

"Huh? Sect Master, don't check anymore?" Cong Yun asked in confusion, not only him, Cong Yu and Xuan Weizi also looked puzzled.The two brothers who were in charge of tracking Tang Shisan at that time also looked puzzled.

"There's no need to check, there is no mechanism in this room. Tang Shisan's escape method is very old-fashioned and not worth mentioning." Shen Sui turned around and walked downstairs.

"What do you mean?" Cong Yu asked.

"When the dead person was found, the inn was in chaos. Several people ran out and screamed that the dead person was dead. Tang Shisan, Snake Witch and Qianhe were three of them who disguised themselves as those people and fled. After escaping, I only remembered to block the inn, but I failed to recover those who escaped from the chaos in the inn, where can I find them?"

"Ah?" Everyone present had incredible expressions on their faces. Could it be that simple?

Shen Sui looked back at Congyun Congyu, and said with a smile: "Eliminate all impossible situations, and the remaining situations, no matter how unbelievable, are the truth. This time, we were the ones who fell, and our attention was completely blocked. They lead up to the enclosed structure of the inn itself, forgetting that we're supposed to be watching people."

She strode out of the Baizhan Inn, looked back at the plaque and said:

"That's all, I hope my Qianyumen can let the white crane spread its wings and regain freedom."

The author has something to say: Block printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the late Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, which has promoted the progress of world civilization since then.

This chapter borrows Lao Fu’s words, hahaha.