treacherous world

Gongsun had a nightmare, and Zhao Pu cut down all the trees in the palace in a fit of anger.

Within three days, the rumor spread all over the country.Based on the people's love for Zhao Pu, no one expressed dissatisfaction with it. It just became an anecdote in the market. Everyone joked that Zhao Pu was "the blue face when he was angry with the crown, and the blue face and the dream tree suffered."

In fact, it was just because the trees in the palace were cut down with so much fanfare, it would be more or less true, so I had to pick any reason to convince people inside and outside the palace, so I said that Gongsun had a nightmare seeing the big tree with its teeth and claws.Anyway, Zhao Pu's willful and reckless behavior is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Other princes and nobles may be regarded as lawless, but Zhao Pu seems very reasonable.And the most wonderful thing is that Zhao Zhen not only did not object, but rather agreed, and planted some peach blossoms and pear blossoms by the way, so that Zhao Pu could cut them again when he had time.The common people think that these uncles and nephews are quite funny.

On the day the trees were cut down, Gongsun inspected all the trees and found that some of the most pleasant-scented osmanthus flowers were strange.Compared with other sweet-scented osmanthus trees, the ones at the gate of the Imperial Garden are of a special variety. The color is not light yellow, but deep yellow. It is only gorgeous when viewed alone, but it looks weird when compared with other sweet-scented osmanthus trees.

Gongsun inspected carefully, "This tree is watered with poison, and there is still poison in the veins, which are a kind of blue particles that have never been seen before, shining brightly, somewhat like salt.

Gongsun scraped off the poison, took it back and studied it slowly. After that day, no one had any more nightmares.Zhao Zhen was finally able to sleep peacefully, and his spirits improved.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang investigated the steward in charge of planting the flowers.

The flowers of the palace are selected from certain places every year, and the officials in charge of the decoration of the palace are very nervous.If it is found out who is responsible, it is estimated that the head will not be saved.

Everyone was glad that Kaifeng Mansion was in charge of the investigation this time. If it was the Dali Temple trial, it would be over.At least during the investigation of Kaifeng Mansion, Zhan Zhao will ask you the reason in a friendly manner. When you enter Dali Temple, one or two evil spirits will kill you half of your life.

Zhan Zhao quickly asked about the source of the sweet-scented osmanthus.After the Mid-Autumn Festival, many places will pay tribute to autumn flowers, mainly sweet-scented osmanthus and chrysanthemum.These few plants are called Jingui Baoyue, they are beautiful in shape, color and flavor, pleasant in aroma, and quite refreshing, so they were specially selected and planted in front of the imperial study room.This flower is entangled in an osmanthus garden in the west of Kaifeng Mansion. The flower grower is an old farmer, surnamed Zhang, very ordinary... No one can imagine that an honest old farmer would assassinate the king.

According to the address provided by the officials, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found Uncle Zhang's Osmanthus Garden.

Unexpectedly, there is no one at home, all the flowers have decayed, and it seems that no one has watered them for a long time.Zhan Zhao asked the nearby villagers, saying that Uncle Zhang was dead.

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned, and asked about the cause of death in detail.

It is said that the old man has often been in a trance recently, and sometimes suddenly cried and howled in the middle of the night. Later, a monk came to see him and he felt better.But not long ago, while drinking in a restaurant, he died of a sudden heart attack.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found the cemetery where the deceased was, dug up the body and asked Gongsun Yi for an autopsy - the result proved that it was a homicide, and the poison was poisonous, which was the same as the method used to kill Gong Xue.

The deceased also collapsed suddenly while drinking tea in the restaurant.Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a look at the roof of his restaurant, there were some scratches left, which showed that it was related to the vulture, and the person who poisoned him should also be the person who killed Gong Xue.

After running around, the clues were broken again, and it was nearly midnight when Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned to Kaifeng Mansion.

Just as he sat down and changed his clothes, the fourth son trotted in at the door, holding a big food box in his hand.Take out two plates of dim sum from inside and put them in front of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Night dim sum!"

"Ice skin dumplings?" Zhan Zhao was pleasantly surprised.

"Well, Aunt Jiang said that you like to eat stuffed shrimp." The fourth son smiled.

"Aunt Jiang...Jiang Hongyue?" Zhan Zhao clicked his tongue twice while eating the dumplings, "No wonder it's so delicious, is her injury better?"

"It's ready." The fourth son picked up the food box again, turned around as if to go out.

"Let's go now?" Zhan Zhao didn't see him for a day, and hooked his finger at him, "Come, let's have some dumplings together."

The fourth son bulged his cheeks, "I don't want to eat, I have to help Xiao Mantou and the others."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, "What can I do for you?"

"There are a lot of books to read!" The fourth son said earnestly, "It was brought back from the fire scene that time."

"Oh..." Knowing that it was the diary written by student Gong, Zhan Zhao picked up a plate with dumplings in his mouth, "Let's go, I'll go with you and ask about the progress."

Bai Yutang helped the fourth son carry the food box, before he entered the yard, he heard the commotion inside.

"Little Mantou, what word is this?"

"puppet."

"What's wrong?

"Puppet's puppet, you're so stupid!"

"Oh!" Pang Yu raised his eyebrows, "If you put it together, you can't recognize it if you take it apart!"

Bao Yan couldn't look up at the sky.

"You said that there is a puppet in this person's name. Does it sound bad?" Pang Yu shook his head, "This is too unlucky."

"You are so annoying, watch it carefully, or go back to sleep and don't disturb me!" Bao Yan watched it all day today, and now he is dizzy, covering his head and chasing Pang Yu, Pang Yu came here to eat and drink Said, and made trouble with him.

"I'm not leaving."

"You don't go to another courtyard to accompany your sister, why do you come to my place?"

"My sister said, don't let me accompany you, I'm useless, let me do serious things in Kaifeng Mansion!"

The two of you said something to each other, and then they heard a "cough cough" cough at the door, and raised their heads...

Bao Zheng stood at the gate with a serious face.

Bao Yan quickly bowed his head, he was about to be punished!

Behind him, Zhan Zhao walked in with Bai Yutang's fourth son, carrying a plate of ice-skin dumplings.

"My lord, do you want to eat dumplings?" Seeing Bao Zheng's dark face, Zhan Zhao probably wanted to teach the two of them not to be careful, so he quickly handed the plate to his eyes.

Bai Yutang and Xiao Sizi looked at each other—the so-called one thing for one thing, the whole Kaifeng Mansion also had Zhan Zhao have something to do with Bao Zheng, but Bao Zheng had nothing to do with Zhan Zhao.

Bao Zheng actually ate a dumpling, and after chewing a few mouthfuls, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, looking at Zhan Zhao, "Is there any more?"

Zhan Zhao looked at Xiao Sizi with the dumplings in his mouth, and Xiao Sizi was also a little stunned, and pointed to the kitchen, "The kitchen is much better, and there are mixed-picture wontons with swallow skin. Bao Zheng raised his eyebrows, pretending to be calm but hurried away Went to the kitchen for snacks.

Everyone couldn't laugh or cry when they came back to their senses, Bao Yanjian avoided scolding and quickly slapped his chest.

Zhan Zhao sat beside him, "Any clues?"

"Well... This Gong Xue has been taking notes since he was very young. I suspect he is ill." Bao Yan said seriously.

"Sick?" Bai Yutang didn't quite understand.

"Isn't that right?" Pang Yu crossed his legs, "This person doesn't care about anything big or small. He even writes down what clothes and shoes he wears every day, and where he has been. If he is sick, what is it?"

"Oh!" The fourth son went to the crowd, found a small bench and sat down, "Daddy and I have seen a patient named Jiangzi before!"

"What patient?" Bai Yutang picked up a file and flipped through it, feeling that this kind of behavior was really abnormal.

"Daddy said it's called forgetfulness disease, it's rare in the world." The fourth son stroked his chin and said, "People can only remember what happened today, but not yesterday, so most of these people carry a notebook with them." , and record everything."

"Have you got this kind of disease?" Zhan Zhao wondered.

"Yes." Xiao Si nodded, "This kind of person usually has a photographic memory, but only for one day, and forgets all the previous ones the next day. You need to read the notes carefully to remember."

"No wonder these notebooks are all torn." Pang Yu shook the paper in his hand.

"Gong Xue, is there anything special about him?" Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand to hold Xiaohu who came in and rubbed his hair, and asked Bao Yan, "I heard that he is on the rise, promoted very quickly, and even went from the local to the capital all at once. .”

"Well, according to his own records, there is one very special thing. Before Gong Xue was a local official in the south, he served as the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture. He was transferred to Kaifeng three years ago to serve in the Ministry of War. Not long ago, he was appointed Sergeant of the Ministry of War."

"Shaoxing Mansion, you are from my hometown!" The fourth son clapped his hands.

"Yazhu Village, where the fourth son has been living, is Shaoxing Prefecture, right? Have you heard of this magistrate?" Zhan Zhao reached out and touched his head.

"Yeah." The fourth son shook his head, "It seems not."

"It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Minister of War." Bai Yutang felt puzzled.

"When he was in Shaoxing Mansion, he seemed to be looking for something all the time." Bao Yan showed Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang the part he drew that he thought was suspicious. Take his orders."

"Eldest young master?" Bai Yutang frowned, "Did you mention anyone?"

"The specific name has never appeared." Bao Yan shrugged, "The eldest young master told him to find something, which is called the life and death box here."

"Life and death box..." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had never heard of this thing.Pang Yu and the fourth son were also unclear.

"Finally found it?"

Bao Yan was silent for a while, and said in a low voice, "I found it. I found it in what he called 'Guo's Escort Bureau'. Then it recorded the operation that night, hired killers, and left no one behind."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned, could it be the Guo Family Escort Bureau that Gongsun heard about before, and the whole family was killed by dead leaves?

"Do you have any details about the bodyguard?" Zhan Zhao asked Bao Yan eagerly.

"Not yet. We checked the materials sent from Shaoxing Mansion, but a large part of them are lost." Bao Yan shook his head, "Someone may have destroyed them on purpose."

"Tsk." Bai Yutang frowned, "There are at least a dozen or twenty escort bureaus all over the country, who opened them?"

"I have to send someone to Shaoxing Mansion to inquire about it." As soon as Zhan Zhao finished speaking, he felt his sleeves being tugged lightly.

Zhan Zhao lowered his head, only to see the fourth son lowered his head, and whispered, "The master's name is Guo Zaixing, there are three wives, five children, two elderly people, six stewards, 24 bodyguards, 33 apprentices, eight Maid, five servants, three grooms, two gatekeepers, and eight dogs."

Zhan Zhao and the others were taken aback, looking at the fourth son in horror.After he finished speaking, he sniffled with red eyes and whispered, "Don't tell Daddy." Then he turned around and ran away.

"Little four!" Zhan Zhao hurriedly chased him out.

Pang Yu and Bao Yan looked at each other, and both looked at Bai Yutang—what's the matter?

Bai Yutang frowned and shook his head. Gongsun didn't want the fourth son to know that the dead leaf he saved was the killer who killed hundreds of people, but he didn't expect... the little guy still knew.

Isn't that right? After all, it's a village, and the news is so loud that the fourth son can hear it from anywhere.He didn't remember it before, maybe he forgot these unhappy things on purpose, but now that he mentions it, he naturally remembers it, it's just that he didn't want to worry Gongsun, so he just pretended not to know.Fortunately, how did he, a little fool, hide it, don't hide in the quilt alone at night and cry, right?No wonder he saw Dead Leaf for the first time before - he said he was a bad person and wouldn't let Gongsun follow him.

After a while, Zhan Zhao came back dejected.

"How about it?"

"Let Gongsun take him away." Zhan Zhao basically told the matter to the bewildered Pang Yu Baoyan.

Pang Yu looked regretful, "I knew I wouldn't talk about dead people in front of him."

Bao Yan held his chin, "With the wisdom of the fourth son, you will definitely figure it out quickly. Is it a sin to save someone? With Mr. Gongsun's compassionate heart, even if you know that the other party is heinous, the doctor's bounden duty is to save people. The fourth son There is also the wisdom and compassion of Mr. Gongsun!"

Bao Yan sighed to himself, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him with admiration. After a long time, Pang Yu finally couldn't help but slapped him on the forehead with the back of his hand, "You are too accurate in seeing people!"

Bao Yan held his head and stared at him, then said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Here, Gong Xue recorded that the box of life and death was obtained and secretly transported to Kaifeng. Life and death box."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Gong Xue is proficient in various organs, so he should be the best person to protect this box."

"Where did that box go?" Zhan Zhao asked.

At this time, Zhao Pu walked in at the door.

He came back from the barracks just now, and when he got to the gate of the courtyard, he saw that the fourth son was crying. He was startled. Gongsun motioned him not to enter the house and would come back later, so he wandered here.

"Do you know what the Life and Death Box is?" Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Pu.

Zhao Pu was stunned for a moment, raised his eyebrows slightly, "I seem to have heard of it."

Everyone immediately raised their spirits, "Where did you hear it?"

Zhao Pu scratched his head and thought for a while, "The former emperor... I seem to have heard of it when I was young."

Everyone stared at him and signaled—specifically!

"The box of life and death originated from a legend."

Just at this time, Bao Zheng came in at the door, obviously full and happy, his black face was shiny, and he immediately became black with his eyes.

"Yes, I remembered." Zhao Pu was reminded by Bao Zheng, and he also understood, "It is said that Li Shimin, the king of Tang Dynasty, got a box in his later years, which was given by a god. Inside the box was hidden a blue-eyed beetle, It can turn the world upside down and change the world. Tang Wang built a big box with many organs that no one can open. He packed the box and sank it into the bottom of the sea. He said in the past that if the box is not opened, the country will remain. If the box is opened, the country will be lost. It is a life-and-death box for the Li family of Tangmen. Moreover, the mechanism of the box is very delicate. The world is so big that only the key can be opened. If the key is used incorrectly, the mechanism of the box will be triggered. If they survived, they would all die. Hence the name—the Life and Death Box. The former emperor once wanted to find this box...it is a peerless treasure."

"Key?" Bai Yutang stretched out his hand, took out the box from the beam compartment of Wu Ming's study, opened the box and took out a key for everyone to see.

"Is this the key?" Zhao Pu was surprised.

Bao Zheng took the key and looked at it, "It's really extraordinary."

Bai Yutang shook his head uncertainly, "If it's really an exquisite mechanism in the world, there should be more than one key."

"Fifth Master is indeed an expert!" Bao Yan nodded, "It is recorded here that there are four keys, which are hidden in the four boxes of the heavenly stems and earthly branches, and are hidden in different directions. After many years, they have been lost. Gong Xue has been taught all over the country Looking for the key, it says there is one in hand."

"Is there any in Gong Xue's study?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang shook his head, "No!"

"It's not in Gong Xue's hands." Bao Yan turned to the next few pages, "Here it says, not long ago, the life-and-death box was snatched by an unknown person, and the young master was furious. Gong Xue knew that he might die soon, so I entrusted the secret key to my good friend, Brother Liu."

"Who is Brother Liu?" Zhao Pu grinned, "There are many Brother Liu in this world, right? There are more than ten or twenty officials in the court."

"To be precise, there are 24 surnamed Liu." Bao Zheng replied.

Everyone secretly admired - as expected of Mr. Bao.

"It's not mentioned here, but it's mentioned that brother Liu is from the Jianghu, and he doesn't have much contact with the government when he's not in the government. Moreover, he has a deep friendship with the head of the Tianshan School, so he should be able to protect the key from being stolen."

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, "He knows people from the Tianshan School, does Mo Fei have a relationship?"

Bai Yutang looked up at the sky, where would he know where to go? The old men from the Tianshan sect like to travel all over the mountains and plains to recruit apprentices and make confidants. They have a deep friendship with everyone, and there are probably quite a few people with the surname Liu.

"I'll write a letter to ask him later." Bai Yutang said, and saw Zhan Zhao rubbing his chin to think about it, as if he was troubled.

At this time, Gongsun walked in at the door with a gloomy and worried face.

Zhan Zhao hurriedly asked him, "What's the matter? Is the fourth son still crying?"

Gongsun sighed, "He's still depressed, I'm afraid he's thinking wildly, and Xiao Liangzi is coaxing him right now."

Zhao Pu frowned, "His grandma, I went to grab the dead leaves and chop them off in front of him."

Gongsun glared at him, Zhao Pu scratched his head, "Then what should we do?"

Bao Zheng was curious, "What happened? Who bullied the fourth son?"

Zhan Zhao told Bao Zheng about the general situation, but Bao Zheng was overjoyed, "The government has a solution."

Everyone was puzzled, so they saw Bao Zheng waved his hand, "I will be promoted to the hall, and I will lead someone to commit a crime against my fourth son."

... Everyone was dumbfounded.

If Gongsun hadn't fought Bao Zheng with his arms around Zhao Pu in the morning, he wouldn't give Bao Qingtian any face right now!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were also puzzled - did the fourth son commit an adult crime?

After a while, the hall was brightly lit, and three classes of yamen servants stood on both sides, beating the ground with ruthless water and fire sticks and shouting mighty. The fourth son was brought up by Zhang Long and Zhao Hu tremblingly, pinching his fingers and lowering his head, not daring to look at the bag grown ups.

Mr. Bao picked up the gavel, put it down gently, and asked with a "click", "Little Si?"

All the yamen servants suppressed their laughter. They have never seen Bao Zheng judge ordinary people so kindly. Of course...their water and fire ruthless sticks hit the ground, and the sound they made was not much louder than chopsticks.

The fourth son blinked, glanced at Bao Zheng, and quickly lowered his head.

Gongsun felt distressed watching from behind the screen, and wanted to rush out, Zhao Pu covered his mouth and pulled his arm, telling him to stay calm.

Bai Yutang also leaned against the screen and watched with great interest.

Pang Yu asked Bao Yan in a low voice, "Little Mantou, your father won't really beat Xiaosi, right?"

Bao Yan raised his eyebrows, "How is it possible, of course it is to find a way to make Xiaosi not feel sad!"

In the hall, Bao Zheng continued to ask, "Little Si, what bad things have you done, do you want to turn yourself in?"

"En." The fourth son hesitated for a while, then nodded.

"Truthfully invite!"

The fourth son stammered, "I saved a bad guy. He killed a lot of people before, and he killed a lot of people afterwards."

"I see!" Bao Zheng nodded, "Then when you saved him, did you know he was a bad guy?"

The fourth son shook his head.

"If you don't save him, will he die?"

The fourth son thought for a while, but the dead leaves were not seriously injured, so he shook his head, "Probably not."

"Then after you found out, did you tell your father?"

The fourth son then shook his head.

"Are you still forgetting about this?"

The fourth son pursed his lips and nodded.

"Why not? You want to protect the bad guys?"

"No." The fourth son had a resentful expression on his face, "I forgot about it for some reason, but when I remembered it later, I was afraid that Daddy would worry."

"Oh." Bao Zheng nodded, "Little Si, how old were you when you committed the crime?"

"Four years old."

"Under the laws of the Song Dynasty, children under the age of five are not liable for crimes." Master Bao asked him with a smile, "Do you know that?"

The fourth son blinked, "Jiang Zi?"

Bai Yutang was puzzled, and asked Zhan Zhao, "Is there such a thing?"

Zhan Zhaowangtian asked, "Who can a child under the age of five harm?"

"It is not illegal for children under the age of seven and elderly people over the age of 70 to forget important events and delay the case," Bao Zheng continued.

The fourth son scratched his head, "Really?"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao wanted to laugh, children under the age of seven and old men over 70, what can they remember?

"It's wrong to conceal your father, but you are out of filial piety, so you can offset the crime." Bao Zheng patted the gavel lightly, "The government now acquits you. As for the bad guy, you also said, His injury is not serious, even a four-year-old baby can be healed, and he would not die. So whether he did evil or not, it has nothing to do with you. You saved his life, but he didn’t kill you It means that he has realized something, maybe he even burned and killed some people because of this, you are not only innocent, but you have made meritorious deeds, which is worthy of praise, and you will save more people in the future, you know?"

With a serious expression on his face, Master Bao raised the Jintang wood and lowered it down gently again, "Little Si is released in court, retreat!"

……

Bao Zheng and the yamen servants all retreated, and the fourth son stood there dumbfounded, feeling that he was really innocent!Mr. Bao is right, he will not die if he saves the dead leaves, and he will continue to kill people in the future, and maybe he will kill more people in the first place, so saving him once is not a bad thing, right?So, the little fourth son who had been crying all the time calmed down, and took Gongsun Zhao Pu back to his room to sleep.

Pang Yu said to Bao Yan with admiration, "Your father is really good at coaxing the younger brother!"

"It's not coaxing, it's reasoning!" Bao Yan told Zhan Zhao Bai Yutang that he hadn't finished reading the rest of the materials, so he stayed up all night and told them tomorrow morning to go to bed early.

Seeing that everyone had dispersed, Bai Yutang originally wanted to drag Zhan Zhao back to sleep, but Zhan Zhao grabbed him, "Yutang!"

Bai Yutang was taken aback, looked at him, "Huh?"

"Actually, it's not the first time you've died!"

With Zhan Zhao's words, Bai Yutang's forehead was sweating, "Huh?"

"I said, it's not the first time I've dreamed that you died!" Zhan Zhao said with a serious face.

Bai Yutang couldn't laugh or cry, "Cat, you think about it every day and dream at night, don't you..."

"Go!" Zhan Zhao said earnestly, "What I heard for the first time was not the buzzing, but the wind!"

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, thought for a while, after all, he is smart and has a good memory, "Mao'er, you mean, when you were sick that night?"

Bai Yutang did recall the night when he just returned to Kaifeng, Zhan Zhao woke up in the middle of the night after drinking the medicine, grabbed himself and dangled, his expression was tense and his behavior was out of control, probably it was that time.

"That day..." Bai Yutang began to think back, "What's special is that we passed the ruined temple and met some people."

"The brothers and sisters are from your Tianshan sect, do you remember?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile.

"That's right." Bai Yutang also remembered, "They did say they were going to find Master Liu, who knew the Master Liu of the Tianshan School, could it be the brother Liu that Gong Xue mentioned?"

"Are there any weirdos that night?" Zhan Zhao smiled, "Except for Zhao Cong."

Bai Yutang suddenly remembered, "There is also a man in black named Cen Jing, and a young monk... People in the village mentioned that a monk went to Guiyuan, maybe he is also related to this matter? "

"So, it's on that little monk now!" Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "It's not easy to find a passer-by in Kaifeng Mansion, so finding a passing monk...is easy!"