Dragon Pattern Roll Set

Eunuch Huang provided a lot of clues worth noting, but the case is still confusing.

After sending off Eunuch Huang, Wang Chao and Ma Han came running, and with them, there were black shadows and white shadows.

Chao Mahan was sent by Master Bao to Yaoxiang Pavilion to investigate the case before. After all, the boss and the three female workers died in the alley for no reason, and the death conditions were too tragic. This case was caused by Si Tong when he was overly frightened. Shouting the name of "Qu Zhongyuan", he was linked to the case of the ghost-faced man.

And Hei Ying and Bai Ying were sent by Zhao Pu to keep an eye on the suspicious Minister of Justice, Si Tong, to see what he was doing behind his back.

The four rushed over, probably because they had discovered something.

Everyone let Chao Mahan speak first.

After the incident, the two rushed to the Yaoxiang Pavilion with the yamen servants. There was no one in the pavilion, and the room was very messy. It seemed that someone had rummaged through it, but the valuable gold, silver and jade articles were not taken away. Not for money.

"What are they looking for?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

Ma Han said, "All the ledgers are gone."

"Ledger?" Everyone frowned slightly.

"Yeah." Dynasty also nodded, "There are also a lot of medicinal materials, raw materials for cooking, and recipes."

"Even take away the recipe?" Gongsun was curious, wondering if he was snatched away by his colleagues?

"It's very strange!" Ma Han said, "Yaoxiangge is in the business of high-end ingredients. In fact, there is only one business like theirs in Kaifeng, and there is no more than one table a day. To be honest, they haven't taken away many customers. There should be no peers who need to compete to kill people." Degree."

"That kind of killing method is based on hatred." Bai Yutang said indifferently, "There is no other reason for killing people like this other than revenge."

Both Zhan Zhao and Lin Yehuo nodded. This is the method of the Jianghu people, a typical example of paying blood for blood, or the assailant has a mental problem.

"The other party took all the papers away." Ma Han and Wang Chao said, "But we suspect that they didn't find what they were really looking for, because we found a lot of kerosene in the corner of the wall and on the cloth in the room. "

"Fire oil?" Ouyang frowned, "Do you want to set it on fire, and it will be over once and for all?"

"That's right." Ma Han nodded, "But maybe we rushed there in time, and the large number of officials and servants were also quite noisy, so we didn't have time to light the fire."

"Oh?!" Zhan Zhao's eyes lit up, he rubbed his chin and began to think.

Zhao Pu looked at Hei Ying and Bai Ying again, "How are you two staring at Si Tong? Do you have any clues?"

"Yes!" Hei Ying took out a letter from his arms and said, "Si Tong felt as if he was on pins and needles after he returned, fidgeting and sighing, and he looked like he was in dire straits."

Later we saw that he wrote a letter in the study, but after putting it in the envelope, he hesitated again, and finally turned left and right, and stuffed the envelope under the bed.

We waited a long time, and we stole the letter when he got up at night.

Zhao Pu took it over to look at the envelope, frowning slightly, "Written for Mr. Bao?"

The shadow guard nodded.

Zhao Pu handed it to Zhan Zhao.

Everyone looked at each other, and they didn't have to wait for Mr. Bao to come over, just open it and have a look. What if some important clues were delayed?

So, Zhan Zhao took out the letter and unfolded it. After everyone saw it, they frowned slightly—it turned out that this was a letter from Si Tong who surrendered himself.

The content of the letter is roughly as follows.

Si Tong said that when he was studying, his grades were not outstanding, and his official career was bleak at first, but he was promoted by Mr. Bole Wang Feng, and now he is able to achieve the third rank of the great scholar, shining on the lintel.

Si Tong of the department has always been puzzled, why did Wang Feng recommend such a mediocre person as the servant of the Ministry of Punishment?It wasn't until later, when Wang Feng asked him to do things, that he realized that it was because of his mediocre intelligence that Wang Feng used him.Not long after Si Tong became the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, Eunuch Ning, who was next to Wang Feng, came to him and asked him to do two things for the son-in-law.

The first thing is that repeat offenders in the Ministry of Punishment, especially those on death row, are transferred before execution.

As for how to switch the package, Wang Feng didn't need to worry at all, as long as he told the exact time to the people sent by Eunuch Ning before the execution, but on the day of the execution, surrounded the execution platform with white cloth, and sent someone to collect the corpse after the execution.As for whether the corpse belonged to the original condemned prisoner, no one knew at all.Anyway, they were all wearing prison uniforms, bloody, and the condemned prisoners were buried at that time and were not handed over to their families.

The second thing is that the Ministry of Punishment often distributes felons at border crossings. Mr. Ning asked Si Tong to tell him the number of people, the time, and the route they traveled, and arrange for the officials sent by him to escort them.

Si Tong was full of doubts, what would a person like Wang Feng want a death row prisoner for?At first, Si Tong thought that Wang Feng had personal enmity or friendship with those felons, but it was really suspicious that the other party wanted such felons frequently.

Whether people are smart or not, they are all curious. Si Tong once sent his confidantes to follow the prisoners who were being escorted, and found that they were not sent to the border, but were knocked out when they walked halfway to a deserted place. It was packed into a box, and then, without anyone noticing, it was transported away and disappeared.

Si Tong wrote in the letter that he originally went to Yaoxiang Pavilion because of his father's [-]th birthday, and wanted to book a table on a date, but found that Yaoxiang Pavilion was in a mess, the proprietress and the cooks were not there, only a few The men in black were rummaging through boxes and cabinets to find things. The back of one of them...although he only took one look from a distance, he recognized that it was Eunuch Ning from Haotian Building.

Si Tong's mind was in a mess at the time, and he was timid, so he didn't know whether Yaoxiang Pavilion was a thief or something else.He ran away quietly. On the way back, by such a coincidence, he saw Liu Yaoxiang from Yaoxiang Pavilion and three cooks rushing into an alley with a burden on his back as if fleeing for his life.

Si Tong was also curious at the time, and he happened to be passing through the alley on his way home. He walked to the entrance of the alley by accident, and saw the head of a cook roll out, the body fell down, and the ground was covered with blood.

In that bloody alley, there was a person standing next to the corpse, and that back... Si Tong will never forget it for the rest of his life.

The man turned his head, and Si Tong saw a white ghost face with blood on it. He fainted from fright at that time, and when he woke up again, he found himself in the pile of corpses, and was found by people from Kaifeng Mansion.

Si Tong said that that figure from the back belonged to Qu Zhongyuan, and Zhongyuan turned into a ghost and came back to take revenge. What happened to Qu Zhongyuan back then was only known by heaven and earth, gods and ghosts.Si Tong didn't know the details, but he once heard Eunuch Ning talk about Qu Zhongyuan with Wang Feng by chance. At the same time, there was another sentence that impressed him deeply - 20 years, how many 20 years in a lifetime?This is the last chance.

At the end of the letter, Si Tong said that although he hadn't really participated in any bad things in his life, there were some things he knew and didn't report, which was equivalent to sitting in this official position with his eyes closed and against his conscience. Shan Li is weak and has no intelligence, so he dare not report and investigate. He only asks Mr. Bao to find out the truth. If he is still alive, he will resign and return to his hometown. After all, he spared his life, which made him feel very guilty and uneasy.

After reading the letter, everyone remained silent for a long time. Why did Qu Zhongyuan disappear back then, and so does Shi Ye now... What kind of person lives for 20 years?There is a 20-year difference between Ji Changtian and Qu Zhongyuan, and another 20 years between Qu Zhongyuan and Shi Ye. Why does Wang Feng want so many death row prisoners?What is the relationship between these people and the so-called 20 years?

Zhan Zhao handed the letter to Wang Chao Ma Han and asked them to take it to Mr. Bao. Zhao Pu asked the shadow guards to keep watching Si Tong, and at the same time, asked Zou Liang to contact Si Tong secretly.It would be best to find out what Wang Feng wanted those dying felons to do, and find a chance to follow them.

Everyone split up and Zhan Zhao poked at Gongsun, pointing at the fourth son who was about to wash up and go to bed, "Gongsun, let me use it for the fourth son."

Gongsun was a little puzzled, but still handed over the fourth son to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao held the fourth son in his arms, and pulled Bai Yutang, "Let's go, let's go to Yaoxiang Pavilion."

Bai Yutang understood that Zhan Zhao probably wanted to find something that those people hadn't found, wanted to set fire to it but couldn't have it in time, and the best way to find something that no one else could find was the fourth son. Lucky shit.

Gongsun and Zhao Pu were very curious, so they followed him. As for Xiao Liangzi, he would go wherever the fourth son went. Anyway, he is good at kung fu and smart, so it doesn't hurt to take him with him.

There was nothing to say on the road, everyone rushed to Yaoxiang Pavilion as quickly as possible, and found that many government servants were stationed, airtight.

Zhan Zhao carried the fourth son into the Yaoxiang Pavilion, and as soon as he entered, Gongsun rubbed his nose, "It smells like a lot of medicinal herbs, did it overturn something?"

"There are some yellow medicinal powders on the ground." Bai Yutang pointed.

Gongsun frowned, leaned over to pick it up, looked at it, put it down, "It's sulfur powder."

"Sulfur powder?" Zhao Pu frowned, "Can this stuff be used for cooking?"

Gongsun laughed dryly, saw some black powder again, looked for it along the way, and found a lot scattered beside a cabinet, so he went to the front of the cabinet to have a look...

"There may have been a lot of bottles and jars here." Gongsun checked the smell with his nose and frowned, "In addition to sulfur, there are saltpeter, cinnabar, realgar, yellow wood, alum..."

"Is there something here that won't kill you if you eat it?" Zhao Pu couldn't help but ask, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also walked over to have a look.

"It's not for food." Gongsun stared at the cabinet for a while, then said, "It's for alchemy."

"Alchemy?" Zhan Zhao was surprised, "In addition to cooking, Yaoxiang Pavilion is also alchemy?"

Gongsun took out a piece of yellow paper from his pocket, wiped it on the wooden cabinet, raised his hand, and saw a layer of green on the yellow paper.

The corners of everyone's mouths twitched—usually, whether it is paper or needles given by Gongsun, it is basically not a good thing if it changes color when you touch it. Green, purple, black, and red are all poisonous.

Gongsun put away the paper and stood up, "These are not cooks, but witches."

"Witch?!" Everyone was surprised.

"What they refine is poison, the highly poisonous one." Gongsun frowned, "while refining the medicine, they also opened a restaurant. It's really easy to eat here."

Everyone frowned, the legendary spending money to buy sins?

"I've never heard of someone dying after eating in Yaoxiang Pavilion." Zhao Pu was curious.

Zhan Zhao also nodded.

Gongsun frowned and shook his head, "Very poisonous is not necessarily the kind that poisons people to death. Many of them can produce hallucinations, some can be addictive, and some can control people. This is a very evil type of alchemy. These women are absolutely No ordinary cook."

"It's a pity." Gongsun sighed, "The medicinal materials, prescriptions, and ledgers have all been taken away. Otherwise, we would have been able to find out something, at least know what kind of medicine they are doing."

"Maybe there is still hope." Zhan Zhao said, picked up the fourth son, put it on an empty table, and said, "The fourth son."

The fourth son blinked at Zhan Zhao.

"Yeah." Zhan Zhao looked at him, "Is there anything else hidden in this house?"

The fourth son tilted his head, "What are you hiding? Private money?"

Gongsun pinched his cheek, do you know about private money?

"Anything is fine." Zhan Zhao said, "Look carefully, there is something suspicious."

"Hmm..." Sizi rubbed his chin, turned his face up and looked up. After looking around, Sizi tilted his head and pointed to a window on the wall, "There."

Everyone also raised their faces and looked at the window, not sure what was suspicious about the window.

However, Bai Yutang still jumped up, looked at the window, smiled, stretched out his hand and gently yanked... and pulled the window down.

Everyone looked again, and found that behind the window was a recessed wall, which did not lead to the outside.

"It turned out to be a fake window." Gongsun was also surprised, "It looks like it's real."

Bai Yutang put the window on the table, looked at it, and found it was a box, so... opened it.

When the box was opened, apart from a few large-value banknotes of thousands of taels, there was also a book inside.

Take out the book and open it, and you will see that it is just an ordinary account book, which records in detail what year and month, which business, what dishes you prepared, how much it costs, and how much you earn.

However, there is an unusual thing about this ordinary account book, that is, some words are marked with a red cinnabar pen next to certain transactions.For example, on the back of an ordinary sweet-scented osmanthus cake, mark with a cinnabar pen, add spice one, or mark next to the bird's nest soup, add spice two.

There are about a dozen kinds of spices in total, and the spices added to each dish are specially marked. At the same time, there is also an extra amount of money added to the final income.Everyone found that the prices of spices were different, but they were all ridiculously expensive!The minimum starting price is 100 taels.

"What kind of spices are so expensive in hundreds of taels or even thousands of taels?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled, "How much is this banquet?"

Everyone continued to scroll down, and finally found that at the end of the ledger, there were several prescriptions, which were written, Spice [-], Spice [-]...

Gongsun picked up the prescriptions and looked at them, and finally opened his mouth wide, "It turns out that these spices are different grades of psychedelic drugs, each with different effects. Light doses can make people addicted and produce beautiful hallucinations. Gradually increase the amount, and it will cause people to feel better. It produces increasingly intense hallucinations, which may be terrifying, and can also make people lose their memory. The heaviest dose can make people crazy. Although these kinds of medicinal materials cannot make people die, they can make people go crazy and become disabled directly. .”

"This is really a witch who lives here." Zhan Zhao suddenly felt that being a foodie was also very dangerous.

Gongsun collected all the account books and account books, "I need to go back and sort it out."

Everyone was deciding to leave, but when Zhan Zhao was about to reach out to hold the fourth son down, the fourth son suddenly pointed to the wall not far away, "There."

Everyone was slightly taken aback.

Bai Yutang looked at the flat white wall, and looked at the fourth son with some puzzlement, "What's there?"

The fourth son rubbed his chin, "There seems to be something too."

Everyone looked at each other.

Xiao Liangzi ran over and touched the wall, "It's flat." Then he knocked... Xiao Liang's fingers tapped on the surrounding wall panels. , the sound suddenly went blank.

Everyone frowned.

Bai Yutang went over, looked from the side, and found that there was a very, very slight warp on the wall, as if the wall skin was warped, but...he stretched out his hand and pulled it lightly, and found that it was very smooth, and it was almost impossible to pull it off.

Xiao Liang took out the small dagger he carried with him and gave it to him. Bai Yutang took it and pried it up. He pried up the whole wall. It turned out to be a piece of white paper glued on it. out.

After tearing off the fake wall, I found that there was a hidden compartment underneath, and when I opened the door of the hidden compartment, there was a hole inside, and a box was hidden in the hole.

Bai Yutang took out the box and put it on the table.

When they opened the box, they saw a roll of sheepskin inside.

Opening the sheepskin, I found that it was quite big, with a picture drawn in detail on it, the picture was very scary, there was a pill furnace in the middle, and several people lined up, holding trays of things and pouring them into the pill stove, Looking carefully at the items on the plate, they turned out to be human organs. Not far away, many people were taking out the internal organs from several tied up people...

Zhan Zhao subconsciously covered Xiao Si's eyes.

After Gongsun looked at the picture in detail, he frowned, "Is this the alchemy picture that Liu An, the king of Huainan, left behind? It might be a copy!"

"Alchemy map?" Bai Yutang was puzzled, "What kind of pill do you need to use living people?"

"It is said that the King of Huainan was keen on the art of alchemy. In order to maintain his youth and prolong his life, he recruited alchemy warlocks to make alchemy. Some of them were quite extreme and used people to make alchemy... What are these women studying?"

After listening to Gongsun's words, everyone looked at each other, inexplicably thinking of those death row prisoners that Wang Feng had obtained through Si Tong.

"Could it be that those condemned prisoners were used to make alchemy raw materials?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang felt that he didn't need to eat again these days.

Zhao Pu also frowned, "Who wants to make alchemy? Wang Feng? He wants to live forever?"

"I don't know." Gongsun shook his head, carefully studied the picture, and found that there are many details that need to be pondered.

Everyone put away their things and looked at the fourth son again, what does that mean—is there any more?

The fourth son said there was no more, so he stomped his feet and prepared to leave. As soon as his lambskin boots stomped on the table, everyone heard a "click", and then looked... something fell from under the table.

Xiao Liang reached out to pick it up and showed it to everyone.

Zhan Zhao took it over, it was a roll wrapped in oiled paper.

When I opened the paper bag, I saw some licorice inside.

Gongsun looked at it and said, "This is a very rare herbal medicine. After it is ground into powder, no matter what kind of poison is added to the ingredients, as long as it is mixed with this powder, the silver needle will not be able to be tested."

Everyone was horrified—how dangerous this world is!

The fourth son stretched out his hand to hug Zhan Zhao, that meaning - this time it was completely gone.

Zhan Zhao held it up like a baby, this baby is really - worth more than gold!

Bai Yutang was flipping through the account book. He seemed to be more concerned about one thing... When he turned to the last page, he frowned slightly and waved to everyone, "Look here."

Everyone leaned over to take a look, and saw the last comparison, the recorded time happened to be tomorrow, the place was Haotian Building, the dish they wanted was sauced pork belly, and the marinating time needed was two days.And the latter is famous again, with spice six and golden licorice.

Gongsun shook the licorice in his hand, "This is commonly known as golden licorice because it is more expensive than gold."

"Sauce hoof..." Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched, "Is there anyone else in Haotian Building besides us tomorrow?"

Everyone frowned silently—could it be that Wang Feng wanted to treat them to Spice Six?

Zhao Pu was a little curious, and asked Gongsun who was reading the prescription, "What is the effect of Spice Six?"

Gongsun glanced at the prescription and said, "It should cause memory loss, and if you eat too much, you may even experience memory confusion."

Everyone was silent, Bai Yutang suddenly asked, "Who likes to eat pork belly?"

After another moment of silence, Zhan Zhao silently raised his hand, and the fourth son and Xiao Liang also raised their hands. Zhao Pu curled his lips, "I like it too."

Gongsun's face darkened, "That thing belongs to the main course, and the sauced pork belly in Yaoxiang Pavilion seems to be very famous, everyone except monks will go to eat it?!"

So, everyone looked at each other - are you sure it's not the Hongmen Banquet tomorrow?Did you go and just sit and eat nothing?