Brocade tears

On the third day of March, after noon, Zhongcheng soldiers and horses were on duty.Cao Guang burped, leaned lazily on the edge of the earthen kang, and held a bamboo stick for picking teeth in his mouth, staring listlessly in a daze.

Not long after, another person entered the value room. Cao Guang turned his head and found that it was his subordinate Liu Shichang.He got a handful of tobacco from somewhere, and came over to give him some.Cao Guang smiled, took his filial tobacco, threw a pinch into his mouth and chewed slowly, with an expression of enjoyment.Recently, this kind of thing that was introduced to Beijing from the smoggy area of ​​Minyue is popular among the Beijing army. Chewing it in the mouth can refresh the mind, and it will make you feel ecstasy after a while, which is very addictive.Some people save it with a copper pipe, light one end to inhale, and the breath is intoxicating.

"Ah..." Cao Guang sighed, and read like that sour literati: "Guan Guan Jujiu, in the river island, a fair lady, a gentleman is so good... What's going on behind it?"

"Hey, Master Cao, you are embarrassing me. I only know a few big characters, and I can't even write my own name properly." Liu Shichang laughed.

Cao Guang looked at him contemptuously, and Liu Shichang said with a smile:

"Master Cao, what's the matter? What kind of ladies are you looking for? This is because you want a woman? Which woman is there that you can't ask for?"

"Although you, Master Cao, and I are considered figures in the Army and Horse Division, it's okay if we meet Jin Yiwei. Just a few days ago, didn't we meet an exotic beauty at the racetrack?"

"Ah! It's the one from Lingji Hall!" Liu Shichang clapped his hands.

"Yes, I passed by there this morning, and saw a sixth-rank Jinyi guard coming out of her house, wearing a ghost mask. He was so terrifying. He even said hello to that boy Zhan Yu. You said, a medical center in Lingji Hall , how could Jin Yiwei come out of it? And what is the relationship between that foreign beauty and Lingji Hall? Why does she live there?"

"Could it be the mother-in-law of Jin Yiwei?" Liu Shi had just finished speaking when Cao Guang slapped him on the forehead, and he hurriedly changed his words:

"Master Cao calm down, calm down, I'm talking nonsense, don't count."

"A dog can't spit out ivory, and she doesn't have a woman's hair in a bun, so she's obviously not married yet." Cao Guang said with staring eyes.

"Yes, yes, my eyesight is clumsy, you should observe carefully."

Cao Guang turned and continued: "I couldn't hear them clearly from a distance, but judging from the situation at the time, that Jin Yiwei should be the head of Lingji Hall, either the brother of Dr. Meng or the boss. Tell me, do you have any knowledge? figure out?"

"Hiss... you said just now that he was wearing a ghost mask? Could it be Meng Shisan who has just been promoted to the [-]th Taibao that has been rumored in the army recently? He came out of Meng's house again. I'm afraid the surname Meng didn't run away. .” Liu Shichang thought suddenly.

"It's that 'Teng Dao Shura' Meng Shisan?"

"Correct."

"Thinking about it like this seems to be really possible. Ah, if it's true, wouldn't it be even worse, we can't afford to provoke such a vicious dog from Beisi." Cao Guang said.

"Hey, don't worry, Mr. Cao. I know a person who is very familiar with the area around the entrance of the school. I'll take you to meet him. He is a master who does things when he gives money. As long as you donate generously, he will definitely make you think. become."

Cao Guang suddenly became interested and asked, "What character?"

"King of Nine Fingers."

"What Nine Fingers?"

"His surname is Wang, and he only has nine fingers, so he is nicknamed the King of Nine Fingers." Liu Shichang explained, "This man is a horse dealer. He used to work for the Imperial Horse Supervisor, but now he supplies horses for the Beijing Camp. He is outside the Great Wall. I have connections, and I know a few Mongolian Tartars who raise horses outside the Great Wall, and they can supply many good horses to the Imperial Horse Supervisor every year. Later, Zhang Jing fell, and he also fell into bad luck. He came to this school yard. The school yard is him He is also in charge of the large stables in the school yard. This guy was a member of the horse racing gang in the early years. He actually fought with horse bandits and had a finger cut off. He is a powerful person. The situation around the entrance of the school yard He has a clean family, and he is a master who recognizes money but not people, so you must be right to ask him."

"You actually know such a person?" Cao Guang asked curiously.

"Hey, you know that little brat brother in my family is causing trouble all day long. If he didn't work under him, he would have been beaten to death. This man can be regarded as my benefactor. My brother can do things for him faithfully. Look how thin I am." Liu Shi said long.

"Then Cheng, you arrange for me to meet this character as soon as possible, money is not a problem."

"Okay! Leave it to me. I'll go find my brother right away, and I think I can arrange for you to sit down with him for a drink tonight."

……

After the face-to-face meeting, Meng Kuang followed Luo Sigong, Luo Xun and Guo Dayou back to Beizhen Fusi for lunch.After they came back, they still didn't see Zhou Jintong. Guo Dayou was a little surprised and sent another Jin Yiwei named Zhang to look for him.In the afternoon, Luo Sigong and Luo Xun were going to make arrangements for spying on the Northwest military, while Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang returned to the palace to investigate the disappearance of the maid.The reason why they had to go out of the palace was because wearing Jinyiwei uniforms was too high-profile. If they wanted to conduct a secret investigation, they would not be able to reveal their identities, so they had to change into other clothes.The Internal Supervisor prepared internal attendants for them, and the two changed into their upper bodies. Meng Kuang took off the mask and covered the lower half of his face with a black scarf instead. Although the eyes were still pierced, it was not so scary at least.In order to cover his bearded face, Guo Dayou followed Meng Kuang's example and covered the lower half of his face.

Seeing how she always covered herself tightly, Guo Dayou couldn't help but joked: "It's really interesting, I cover my face to cover my ugliness, and you cover your face to cover your beauty. I said thirteen, but you actually covered your face It’s because you’re afraid that the women will jump on you. If you walk around the inner court without covering your face, I don’t know how many court ladies will follow you and disappear.”

Meng Kuang rolled his eyes as an answer, and Guo Dayou couldn't help laughing.This Meng Shisan, despite his usually taciturn and indifferent appearance, is actually quite interesting to get acquainted with.

"Hey, tell me the truth, are you really unable to speak or are you pretending that you can't? I see that your chin has no scars, and it's okay to bite after eating. Actually, you can talk, right?" Guo Dayou asked with a smile.

Meng Kuang paused, raised his finger to point to his chin, and gave a thumbs up to indicate that he was cured. Then he put his palms together in an open and closed shape, and then separated them suddenly, indicating that there was nothing wrong with him. Afraid of dislocation with force.Then she pointed to her throat again, and shook her hand calmly, indicating that she was actually unable to speak because of a throat problem.

Guo Dayou asked: "Can't you make a sound?"

Meng Kuang nodded.

"Oh... can I ask the doctor to see it?" Guo Dayou asked again.

Meng Kuang nodded, then pointed to his throat and shook his hand, indicating that it could not be cured.

"That's really strange." Guo Dayou muttered.

Meng Kuang gestured to express that she hoped that Guo Dayou would keep her inability to speak a secret, and she didn't want others to know.Guo Dayou nodded to express his understanding. During the selection of Jinyiwei, people with disabilities will be shaved off. If they can’t speak, they are dumb and cannot be admitted to Jinyiwei.Although Meng Kuang entered Jinyiwei through the back door and was looked after by a few old Jinyiwei who had a good relationship with her deceased father, she still had to fabricate lies to pass the selection process.It was not easy for this young man, no wonder he had to hide this matter, Guo Dayou finally understood.

Because of Meng Kuang's usual attitude of rejecting people thousands of miles away, he has been in Beisi for two years and has never chatted with anyone, let alone the reason why she can't speak.Even Guo Dayou, who had been her partner for a year, didn't know about it.At present, most of the insiders in the Beisi think that she cannot speak because of her jaw injury. This is the old coach who introduced Meng Kuang to the Beisi, but they didn't expect it to be because of a throat problem.

Only Meng Kuang knew that if he wanted to conceal his woman's identity without any flaws, sometimes he had to deliberately expose it to others.There is no lie that can deceive everyone forever. If you want to maintain a lie for as long as possible, you must learn to break through the psychology of others.There are too many people who pretend to be smart in this world, especially in this imperial city of the imperial capital, which is scheming against each other.You can't tell the truth all at once, and you can't tell all the lies at once. Underneath the lie of "can't speak due to jaw dislocation", there is a layer of lies of "can't speak due to throat injury", plus a hidden reason of "fear of not being able to enter Jinyiwei because of throat injury", so as to prevent those curiosity Strong and prone to prying by the suspicious.

This is what the second brother taught her.Thinking of her second brother, her heart couldn't help but sink again.In recent days, the family has not received a letter from the second brother. Luo Daochang went out to travel, mainly because he was worried about the second brother and went to look for him.I heard from Meng Ai that Daoist Luo had sent back a letter before Meng Kuang returned home. At that time, he was in northern Anhui and would arrive in Nanjing soon.Counting the days, he should be entering Nanjing now. I wonder if he has found his second brother?Did the second brother go north again?

Now is not the time to think about these things, Meng Kuang collected his thoughts and entered the palace again with Guo Dayou.At present, it is impossible to hide Sui Er's experience in the palace, she can only find a way to help those people who have helped Sui Er in the palace.There is also the old aunt, Sui Er is very worried about her, and Meng Kuang also hopes to find out the situation of the old aunt when he enters the palace this time.

The first place they went was the Shangfu Bureau, where a palace official surnamed Cui was in charge.Guo Dayou recruited her to a secret place, secretly showed her identity token, and asked her about Li Huier's situation in detail.That Cui Shangfu knew everything, told the whole story, and was very afraid that he would be involved in this matter, so he kept picking her out.Meng Kuang listened quietly, and there was no difference between what she said and what Sui Er said.And she obviously hasn't figured out how Sui'er disappeared, she just said that someone must have helped, but she doesn't know who helped or how.

"Let me confirm again, Li Huier was in the Shangfu Bureau all day on February [-], and was witnessed by others, but she disappeared after dinner while lighting the lanterns. Is this the case?" Guo Dayou repeatedly confirmed.

"That's right, that's how it is. Master Jun, I dare not lie. The internal officials have come to ask me many times, and I always answered this way." Cui Shangfu said anxiously.

"I heard that February [-]th is the day when the palaces select tributes. Does your Shangfu Bureau have personnel coming in and out of the inner court?"

"A group of servants from the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau came to deliver fabrics, but this is a routine matter, it will happen every few days, and it is not a tribute." Cui Shangfu said.

"Can you notice anything special?"

Cui Shangfu thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said: "I really didn't notice anything special. Besides, those people from the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau came before noon and left soon. Li Huier was still in the Shangfu Bureau at that time. Woolen cloth."

"But no one can see her face, right?" Guo Dayou said with a smile.

Cui Shangfu was full of surprise, and was interrupted by Guo Dayou when he was about to speak: "Thank you, Cui Shangfu, I will leave after this. Please keep this matter strictly a secret, and do not spread it to the outside world."

"I know, I absolutely dare not say a word." Cui Shangfu nodded hurriedly, she still wanted this little life, and she would never dare to confront Jin Yiwei.

"In addition, please carefully check the number of people in the Shangfu bureau that day. Is the number the same as usual, or one is missing? After confirming, let me know. I will come to the palace tomorrow to ask questions." Otomo said.

Cui Shangfu could only nod his head to express his understanding.

Meng Kuang at the side really felt admiration for Guo Dayou at this moment, even though she had admired his wisdom countless times.This person really had a clear mind, and after just a few questions and answers, he figured out how Sui'er Jinchan escaped from its shell.In time, this matter must be clearly investigated by him.Meng Kuang could only wait for the opportunity silently, and followed him to check.I hope he can be misled into the wrong direction of the investigation.

Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang came out of the Shangfu Bureau and said, "Let's go to the Inner Prison next." Then they headed north first.Meng Kuang followed him, walking among the empty palace walls, looking at the cloudy sky above his head, Meng Kuang couldn't help but feel a terrible oppressive feeling of slipping into a huge cage for a moment.Thinking that Sui'er had lived in such a deep palace for nine years, she couldn't help feeling a faint pain in her heart.

How could she let her be caught again, even if she risked her life, let her spread her wings and fly freely like an auspicious bird.

……

While Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang were investigating the case of the missing court lady in the deep palace, Zhou Jintong woke up with a dirty body in a dark pigsty in the capital, and the big fat pig beside him snorted and hugged him, Seems like he's being used as fodder.Zhou Jintong spat out the mud in his mouth, leaned on the mud wall and stood up unsteadily, almost fainted again by the stench for a moment.

Before he had time to think about it, he quickly ran out, smashed through a fence outside the pigsty, and fell to the street outside, attracting the attention of the passers-by.And these passers-by, all in ragged clothes, staggered on the side of the road, looking like displaced refugees.

I am... where?What have I been through?He couldn't help asking questions from the depths of his soul.

At the same time, on the other side of the capital, an old fish seller carrying a bamboo basket passed by the backyard wall of Lingji Hall. Taking advantage of no one's attention in the surrounding area, he flipped his wrist and threw a bamboo basket into the courtyard. Then walk away.