Beijing, Forbidden City.

The thirteenth year of the Republic of China, November 4, 1924, night.

The Forbidden City, the palace in the center of the central axis of the imperial capital, was built in the era of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, using one million migrant workers, which lasted 14 years, exhausted the Nanmu in the deep mountains of the southwest, the white marble of Fangshan, and the gold bricks of Suzhou, and built 9,999 and a half houses and palaces. The thirteen monarchs of the Ming Dynasty ruled Shenzhou again, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in the coal mountain, Li Zicheng briefly occupied for forty days, and only ascended the throne and was crowned on the last day, and then ushered in a new master with a whip from outside Shanhaiguan. After the death of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, after the ten dynasties of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuantong, the last weak-crowned young man named Aixin Jueluo Puyi still lives in this deep palace, and according to the etiquette of the Republic of China to foreign monarchs, he is the emperor behind closed doors......

Tonight will be the last night of China's last emperor in China's last imperial palace.

On the eighth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, the crescent moon in the sky is like a hook. Just seven days after the Winter Clothes Festival, it was a cool season of autumn rain and a burst of rain. The youngest member of parliament of the Republic of China, the youngest member of parliament of the Republic of China, Timur was dressed in a Mongolian robe of black satin, staring at the Forbidden City behind the moat.

Accompanied by Ye Kenan of the Beijing Police Department, the detective is almost forty years old, and he is still the dream lover of the eldest girl and little daughter-in-law in Sijiu City, and he is also the protagonist of the lace news and detective serials in the Beijing tabloids. The two whiskers on his lips became thicker, the dark blue coat and long coat were wrapped around his neck, and the brim of his hat was deliberately lowered to hide a pair of bullet-sharp eyes.

They passed through the Donghua Gate and entered the dark night of the Forbidden City. The ancestors of the little kings, every time they entered Kyoto, they would pass through this gate and come to this red-walled and blue-tiled palace to pay tribute to the Manchu Emperor, who would then reward countless silk and satin on the backs of dozens of camels and return to the Ordos grassland.

The little king stood on tiptoe outside the Wenhua Palace, across a row of palace walls, looking at the towering roofs of the three major halls of the Forbidden City. After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, the three major halls of the Forbidden City and other "foreign dynasties" have been taken over by the government of the Republic of China, and the inner court behind the Qianqing Gate still belongs to the Qing Dynasty royal family.

Tonight, the spine beast on the roof of the Taihe Palace, riding the phoenix fairy to the owl kiss, lion, seahorse, heavenly horse, ap fish, fox, hedgehog, bullfighting, and Xingshi, is clear and discernible in the moonlight. Xiaojunwang remembered that five years ago in Paris, Qin Beiyang said that the stone carvings on the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral would soar freely in the night sky of Paris in the middle of the night, and these little monsters in the Forbidden City would also live? It's like a gravemon.

An old man wearing a Qing Dynasty official robe with braids, like a zombie crawling out of a grave, was greeting them under the palm lamp of two eunuchs, this person was Shao Ying, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. One of the leaders of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the chief housekeeper of the Forbidden City, respectfully greeted the guests: "Xiaojun Wang and Inspector Ye, you two can come to help, Shao Ying is grateful." ”

The little county king pretended to return the salute: "Lord Steward, you are polite, my family is the hereditary county king of Mongolia, and I have received the grace of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, such a bizarre thing happened in the palace, my father ordered me to do my best to protect the emperor's safety, this is our duty as courtiers." ”

"Good! Now, there is a shortage of soldiers outside, Feng Yuxiang launched a coup d'état and occupied the city of Beijing, this murderous rebellious minister and thief, shouting every day to invite the emperor out of the Forbidden City. At this time, the guards of the Forbidden City have been disarmed and withdrawn by the National Army. The minister in charge lowered his voice and said, "Tonight, the walls of this palace will be papier-mâché, and the palace will not be defended!" ”

"My lord, can you elaborate more about the murders that have happened in the Forbidden City these days?"

Ye Kenan didn't want to talk nonsense with the head of the Internal Affairs Office, so he still went straight to the point like a detective.

"Hey, Inspector Ye, I haven't slept peacefully in a few days...... From last month to yesterday, this number has died. ”

The Governor brought the five fingers of his right hand together.

"Seven dead?"

"Yes, the seven old eunuchs died mysteriously one after another. Those who were poisoned, hanged, wiped their necks, and even met the ghosts of the palace maids of the previous dynasty on patrol in the middle of the night and were scared to death. ”

"The ghost of the former court maid?"

In the era of the Republic of China, the so-called "former dynasty" was the Qing Dynasty, but in the mouth of the last Minister of Internal Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, this "former dynasty" was the Ming Dynasty.

"That's right, a little eunuch said that the old eunuch who was scared to death called Yang Jinying's name before he died, which is very terrifying!"

"Yang Jinying? Isn't it the Ming Dynasty maid who almost strangled Emperor Jiajing? That was nearly 400 years ago. ”

"Isn't it? It is said in the palaces of all dynasties that after the palace maid Yang Jinying was executed by Ling Chi for killing the king, the soul of the wrongs has been floating. ”

Ye Kenan sneered and shook his head: "I have already checked the bodies of several fathers-in-law, and it has been confirmed that they were killed by others. ”

"Inspector Ye, you said that there were traitors who killed people in the palace in a row?"

"I heard that these seven murdered fathers-in-law have two things in common: one is in charge of the treasury in the palace, and the other is honest and honest."

The chief manager sighed: "Yes, now that the etiquette is broken, whether it is the old and the young or the eunuchs and palace maids, they only think about when the building will fall and flee for their lives as soon as possible, and by the way, they will touch the gold and silver treasures in the palace." Over the years, fires in the palace have occurred frequently, that is, some eunuchs stole treasures such as calligraphy, painting, porcelain, etc., and deliberately set fires in order to hide people's eyes and ears. ”

"Well, these seven fathers-in-law are the ones who can hardly get out of the mud without staining, but they also lost their lives because of this."

"You mean that the murderer's target is the treasure in the palace?"

The little prince finally interjected: "Lord Governor, I have long heard that there are many eunuchs who steal cultural relics from inside and outside, I am afraid that these killed fathers-in-law do not want to be imprisoned and steal together, and are assassinated by the wicked." ”

"This ...... Little Junwang, do you doubt me too? ”

"No, I'm just saying it casually. My lord, where is the place where the most cultural relics are stored in the palace today? ”

"Since the emperor's abdication, most of the treasures of the Forbidden City have been concentrated in Yanxi Palace."

Ye Kenan said loudly: "Okay, please take us to see, I will stay all night to see what the origin of that wicked man is?" ”

"If there really is a wicked person who commits murder, he must be arrested and brought to justice."

Shao Ying, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, took Ye Kenan and the little county king through the east road of the Forbidden City, passed through the south three places where the prince of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived, which is commonly known as the East Palace, and came to the Fengxian Hall where the tablets and portraits of the ancestors of the Manchu emperors were enshrined. Looking up at this majestic hall in the dark night, but in the era of the fall of the empire, there was a gloomy aura coming from the soles of the feet of the little county king......

Further inside, it is the East Sixth Palace area of the inner court, lined up with six palaces, including Jingren Palace, Chengqian Palace, Zhongcui Palace, Jingyang Palace, Yonghe Palace, and Yanxi Palace. Passing by the north gate of the garden of Ningshou Palace, I saw a snow-white wild cat illuminated by the moonlight, stepping on the glazed tiles of the palace wall, and the cat's eyes in the dark night shimmered like jewels, staring directly at the eyes of the visitors.

Ye Kenan's eyes narrowed, the black hole-like cat's eyes reminded him of a young girl who was the master of the Assassins......

Somehow? The detective has some kind of wonderful sixth sense - this night, Ah You will appear in the Forbidden City.

Just when Ye Kenan and the little county king were admiring the cat's eyes under the moonlit night, the head of the Internal Affairs Office let out a terrible scream, muttering to himself: "Zhen...... Master Jane's ......"