Northern Song Dynasty: The City of Qingquan Mystery Case

The waiter is the strange thief in Tsing Yi?He wouldn't believe it even if he was killed!

Gan Qing argues: "He may not be, maybe he really is the helper hired by Uncle Zhou! Even if it is, he is just an accomplice of the Tsing Yi Bandit. The Tsing Yi Bandit himself is not like that, he is quite tall—"

Xiang Quan waved his hand, Gan Qing has described the appearance of the Tsing Yi Bandit countless times since shooting arrows, and he never tires of talking about it.

"What happened after I was knocked out? The Tsing Yi Robber ran away, but where did he go? Obviously he didn't leave the city. Don't you want to look for it?"

"It's not necessary." Xiang Quan just looked at the begonia beside him, already looking depressed.Under the flowers, the Ge Kiln basin still has its unique brilliance. As long as it is not broken, it can be safely stored for thousands of years.

Some things are all there; since they are there, don't be in a hurry.

Xiangquan wanted to look at the flowers, but of course Qianqing had no intention of watching them: "Why don't you look for them?"

"We will see each other in the future."

Ganqing turned his head to look at Xiangquan. There was no excessive expression on his face, and the candle was dimly lit, nor did he add any color to his face.Qianqing squeezed out an ugly smile: "You mean, he will steal in the future?"

"Not necessarily." Xiang Quan just picked up the green and white tea bowl and drank some tea, but felt that both the tea and the tea bowl were extremely cold.

Qian Qing couldn't believe it: "No stealing? Then you are not in a hurry? Where did you come to these conclusions?"

Xiang Quan unconsciously scratched the rosewood tabletop lightly: "Eight spanners, four hairpins, a pair of chopsticks, a tripod, and a Ganoderma lucidum."

"Eight, four, two, one, one..." Qian Qing was stunned.

"It's pretty smart, but according to my opinion, the Ganoderma lucidum definitely doesn't count, because it's different." Xiang Quan praised inadvertently, and then yawned lazily.

"Wrench fingers, chopsticks, hairpins, and tripods, are they the same kind? What do you mean?" Gan Qing suddenly turned his chair and looked at Xiangquan seriously.

Xiangquan raised his sleepy eyes: "It's just speculation. The production time of these batches was from the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the beginning of the Warring States Period. When you saw the rhinoceros bone, when you heard this time period, you would naturally think of someone, me too."

Gan Qing asked in surprise, "Lu Ban?"

Xiangquan nodded: "Lu Ban. The best carpentry comes from him."

Qianqing pondered silently, and Xiangquan continued: "Although I don't know the connection, I can think of some clues. Lu Ban was the most famous craftsman in that era. The craftsmen are superb. This group of craftsmen are not all carpenters, there are also goldsmiths and jade makers. They have distinctive characteristics, not only good craftsmanship but also quick thinking. For example, Lu Bansuo is an exquisitely conceived object. Some people say that he has done meeting The flying wooden kite was put into the imperial mausoleum, and then released by Xiang Yu. If it is true, he can be called a master craftsman."

"What about this?"

"A group of people with superb craftsmanship and good mechanism skills gathered together, and it was an uneasy age. Isn't it fascinating? The purpose of stealing things is not pure. To steal worthless things with big money, that thing It is obviously of great use. Eight, four, two, I am just guessing, if such a regular number is used as a mechanism, the possibility is very high."

Qian Qing frowned: "According to your wishes?"

"They may want to open something. The lock system is special. Eight fingers, four hairpins, two chopsticks and a tripod are used to open it. Ding, I don't know if it is really useful. Ganoderma lucidum, I don't know either. [-] Two—an even number. If some kind of utensil needs to be opened with these things, it must be done very symmetrically.” Xiangquan smiled: “It’s really just speculation.”

Gan Qing felt that Yi Xiangquan was making nonsense, which was purely guesswork—what kind of tricks, there is no evidence at all!

However, Qianqing still felt worried.What if what Xiangquan said is true?His heart sank, and he said: "If it's true, then he has already stolen everything! Wouldn't the Tsing Yi Robber disappear from sight in the future?"

"I'm afraid that's the case." Xiang Quan just raised his eyebrows, casually playing with the metal fan in his hand, and seemed to be looking forward to asking questions with great interest.

However, Qianqing just sat down in frustration, unable to ask questions.By this time the sky was pale, and the air was filled with the chill of dawn.Ganqing stared blankly at the hazy whiteness of the window paper, his whole body was lifeless, like that pot of begonias, gorgeous and splendid but with the tendency of withering.

Seeing him sluggish, Xiang Quan just smiled: "But, I'm afraid there is another mystery. I found something before the Tsing Yi thief stole it. And it proved afterwards..."

"What? Prove what?"

Xiangquan played with his fan and showed an indescribable smile: "Qianqing, don't you think it's strange? I'm referring to the theft method of the Tsing Yi Bandit—he uses salt water and uses density."

Gan Qing frowned and nodded, "I'm also surprised by this. This method of identification is extremely accurate, and it's simply impossible, unless—"

"Unless he knows what he's trying to steal extremely well and knows how much salt to add to make the real chopsticks float and the fake chopsticks sink."

Xiang Quan turned around and pushed open the window, a gust of cold wind blew in, and the shadow of the candle on the rosewood table swayed.Looking at the vast and gradually fading night, he clearly realized that Yongcheng is about to usher in the day when the city gate will be opened.

"Everything is associated with the production time and characters. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States period, there was an unwilling prince and king, and a group of talented craftsmen—they had contacts with each other. This kind of craftsman is rare, but... ...What exactly do the princes and kings want to do? For power. But he is under house arrest, how to take action?"

"You must be aware of the importance of secret letters in the war years. After all, the world we live in is not stable," Xiang Quan smiled wryly, "and this technology is still in use today."

"What technology?"

Xiangquan just said indifferently: "Secret letters. Sending letters with things like food boxes, a person under confinement can only communicate with the outside world in this way, because three meals a day are essential, so communication is not suspicious .”

Qian Qing shook his head: "You haven't explained the problem of salt water yet."

Xiangquan raised his eyebrows and turned around, leaning on the window sill with one hand: "Ten thousand rhinoceros... How did I come up with the method of covering the few with more? This is a way of the ancients to cover up secrets. I have heard of a method , that's it."

Ganqing stared at Xiangquan but listened patiently.Qianqing is very different from the past, partly because of seeing Fu Shangxing dying right now, even though his expression is still so nonchalant, his eyes are not deceiving.He was tired and tired, and he didn't want to refute.

Xiangquan just closed the window and smiled: "The encrypted story I heard came from a far away place. There are also dynasties in the west. This is their secret letter story. The background is similar, and they are all in troubled times. However, it is a plate rather than Chopsticks. After eating alone, hide the secret in the interlayer of the plate. The bottom interlayer of the plate is not well concealed. The only thing that can hide it is...there are so many identical plates that no one checks them one by one. And the person who washes the dishes is the one who receives the secret message."

"So, they invented a method of adding spices to the water. Because of the interlayer, the inside of the dish is hollow. Although the difference from a solid dish is extremely small, because the dish is specially made—made for the purpose of secret communication, it is deliberately controlled. The proportion density is improved, so the person who recognizes can control the amount of spices added. Therefore, it can cause the bowl with the interlayer to float up and the other to sink.”

Ganqing was surprised to hear that, if it were the past, he would definitely start to yell, but this time he asked quietly, without any complaints: "Since you know, why didn't you prevent it earlier?"

Xiangquan sighed: "When I got the rhinoceros, I thought of the story of the saucer. Because the situation was similar, I thought of it directly. It was the same as that story, using a lot of chopsticks with the same number to hide people's eyes and ears. I immediately started to ask people to make .”

"But when I continued to think about it, I felt that the situation was too similar. Troubled times, secrets, people in confinement—I had a bold idea. I got up the next morning and looked at the rhinoceros bone again. I looked carefully, and sure enough," Xiang Quan smiled, "Those are not ordinary chopsticks."

"I didn't understand," Qian Qing extended an interrupting gesture, staring at Xiang Quan with wide eyes in disbelief, "What does 'not ordinary chopsticks' mean?"

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