Jinling, as the imperial capital of the Great Liang, is naturally full of vermilion and purple, and is full of nobles. In order to facilitate the passage of the official sedan chair, and at the same time to avoid the pain of the common people from time to time, so the streets are built to be extremely wide, unless it is a high-ranking prince to travel, generally there will be no officers and soldiers to open the road, the situation of chickens and dogs jumping, there is a situation where ordinary officials sit in a sedan chair, often only take a dozen or less entourage, leisurely walk through the street, the residents of the imperial capital have seen and are accustomed to the flashing action when they meet, and they are also very skillful. Cai Quan, the secretary of the criminal department, was born in a poor family, entered the official by the imperial examination, and was a low-ranking official all the way, and has always acted in a low-key manner, does not love Yaowei and publicity, and only hangs a light sign in front of the sedan chair every day, in addition, there is no other mark indicating his status as a second-class member, but after a long time, his four-person sedan chair with blue and white sauce noodles has gradually been recognized, and some official sedan chairs that are not as good as him but are luxurious and extraordinary, have learned to take the initiative to retreat when they meet on the road.

After the coronation ceremony in the East Palace, although Cai Quan was not as busy as in previous months, the affairs were still heavy, and even on the way back from the Yamen, he would take some files and sit in the sedan chair to read.

But on this day, as soon as he opened the paperwork in a swaying manner, he was rudely interrupted by an arrow.

The arrow came from nowhere, piercing the roof of the sedan chair upright, and there was no movement after the arrow, obviously not for assassination.

The guards of the Criminal Department quickly took off the arrow, and presented it to Lord Shangshu along with a scroll of notes tied to the arrow. Cai Quan took off the note, flattened it, and saw that there were only a few concise sentences on it.

"The commander of the forbidden army, Meng Zhi, has taken the opportunity of visiting the prison to exchange the rebel Xia Dong from the prison, this is definitely not a false accusation, if you don't believe it, you can go to investigate it in person."

Cai Quan's eyes were slightly condensed. After pondering for a moment, he slowly folded the note and put it away, and raised his voice outside the sedan chair: "Go to the heavenly prison and turn the blue and white official sedan chair. After turning around and heading back to the east, he came to the gate of the prison for a quarter of an hour. The warden on duty came out in a panic to greet him. But he only heard a brief command: "Open the door of the women's prison." ”

The warden couldn't see anything from the face of his boss and didn't dare to say more, so he quickly ordered the cell boss to take the key and accompany him in. The Zhu number is located slightly inward on the flat floor of the women's prison, and is surrounded by solid walls. Only a high window opens to the west. It was also the only natural light source in the entire cell.

A woman in prison uniform was sitting on a straw bunk when she heard someone open the door, and she turned her face slightly to the side of her cheeks, and the long wisp of pale flickered on her cheeks. Although the temples are scattered and there are stains on the face, at a glance, it is indeed summer and winter.

Cai Quan's sharp gaze was as sharp as a needle, staring closely at the female prisoner's face, and as time passed, her pupils gradually contracted, and her face was even more iron-blue.

"Someone! Take her to the interrogation room! The criminal department Shangshu ordered sharply. All the way

The two guards immediately stepped forward as promised. One left and one right dragged Gong Yu up. At this time, although Gong Yu knew that the situation was bad, it was impossible to resist. He could only hang his head and be dragged and pushed into an interrogation room outside the cell. Racked to torture.

Cai Quan took a basin of cold water. The head of the pocket was splashed and motioned for his subordinates to scrub violently with a cloth towel. Gong Yu's own fair and delicate skin was quickly revealed.

"Who are you? How can it be in prison in summer and winter? Who brought you in? Where did Xia Dong go? Faced with the furious interrogation of the Criminal Department, Gong Yu closed his eyes as if he hadn't heard.

Cai Quan's gaze locked on all the subtle expressions on the young girl's face, changing quickly and making judgments. In the end, he did not rush to torture, but ordered someone to take a look at the list of people who had been in and out of the Heavenly Prison Women's Prison in the past two months, and Meng Zhi's name was impressive.

Since she was imprisoned, except for those who came to interrogate her by order or on the orders of the ministry, there was basically no one else to see her, and there were fewer of them since she returned to Luan from Jiu'an Mountain, among them, Meng Zhi, who was secretly informed, came the most diligently, and of course the most suspected.

Cai Quan has always regarded Meng Zhi as a loyal and honest minister, so at this time, he was still angry, took a step forward, grabbed Gong Yu's head hard, lifted her face, and his eyes shot straight over like a sharp knife, and people who were a little discouraged must be frightened in their hearts under such a fierce gaze.

But Gong Yu still gently closed his eyes, curled his long eyelashes, casting a shadow on his eyelids, without the slightest trembling.

"My lord" followed Cai Quan, and a principal suddenly said: "I recognize her, she is the original Miaoyinfang local musician, named Gong Yu." ”

"Wonderful Sound Workshop?" Cai Quan's thick eyebrows furrowed slightly. He has never been involved in Fengyue, but Miaoyinfang was confiscated by Zhu Yue, the former Zhengqing of Dali Temple, because of the name of bandits, but he knew about it, and his heart was foggy for a while.

Miaoyinfang was confiscated by Zhu Yue, Zhu Yue is a person from the land of Yuwang, and the king of Yu conspired with the Hanging Mirror Division to frame King Jing, and then conspired against the Hanging Mirror, so that after Xia Dong was rescued, the person who replaced her in the cell was a musician in Miaoyinfang......

This Shangshu of the Criminal Department, who has always been known for peeling off the cocoon and sorting out the order, now feels that his brain is a little insufficient in the face of such a complex relationship of twists and turns.

"Your Excellency......" Seeing that he was silent for a long time, the chief beside him called out in a low voice.

Cai Quan's face sank and said: "Don't be idle, try to find a way to let this girl open her eyes and introduce her to the torture tools in this house, it's best to let her know something interesting, say it as soon as possible, and don't trouble us." ”

"Yes."

Cai Quan glanced at Gong Yu again, slowly turned around, sat down on the chair behind the interrogation table, closed his eyes and pondered, and no longer paid attention to any other movements in the interrogation room.

Although the change of Gong Yu being recognized and taken away was born quickly and unexpectedly, fortunately, Meng Zhi was just in case, and an eyeliner was originally installed in the prison, Cai Quan took people with the front foot, and just entered the news room, this eyeliner and the back foot passed the information out.

When Meng Zhi received the letter, he happened to be resting in the house after being on duty. Hearing that Gong Yu was exposed, his first reaction was to change into civilian clothes and go straight to Su's house, but everyone rushed into the backyard, and suddenly worried about Mei Changsu's current physical condition, and hurriedly stopped his steps.

"Master Meng," Li Gang greeted him, "You don't look right, what's wrong?" ”

"What about General Nie and Mrs. Nie?"

"It's all in the South Courtyard."

Meng Zhi turned around. Went straight to the south courtyard, and as soon as I entered the courtyard gate, I saw Xia Dong and Nie Feng sitting side by side on a bench. With their hands clasped, they looked at each other and smiled. The atmosphere was very warm and pleasant.

"I really don't want to bother you," the Commander of the Forbidden Army shook his head and sighed, "but I can't help but talk about the bad news. ”

"What's wrong?" Xia Dong stood up and said, "There's something going on in the prison." ”

"Mrs. Nie is really keen," Meng Zhi wiped his face. The voice said worriedly: "It's Gong Yu who appeared when Cai Shangshu was in prison, and is now being interrogated." ”

"When? Today? ”

This question was answered very quickly, but it was not said by Xia Dong, but from the corner of the east wall. Although the voice sounded light and fluttering, very soft, Meng Zhi was greatly startled.

Under the honeysuckle trellis on the east wall, Mei Changsu, who was dressed in a pale green robe, had almost blended with the light green branches and leaves, and even the pale face was almost the same color as the white petals of honeysuckle.

"Xiaoshu...... "Mengzhi eats authentically." Why are you here

"I was here." Mei Changsu replied lightly, and then asked repeatedly: "When was Gong Yu revealed?" ”

"It's today. About an hour ago. "I can't let the palace girl suffer for me," Xia Dong said decisively. "Lord Meng. I have to go back right away. ”

"It's already here, what's the use of you going back and throwing yourself into the net?" Meng Zhi said urgently.

"Nope. Sister Dong should go back immediately. Mei Changsu walked over slowly, sat down on a bamboo chair, and motioned for Meng Zhi and Xia Dong to approach: "Don't worry, these days, I have already thought about how to deal with it in case something happens to Gong Yu, and I have also drawn up a few methods." Fortunately, it is only Cai Quanxian now, and it is not the worst situation, you two will probably be able to do what I say. ”

"Okay." Xia Dong and Meng Zhi are both people who absolutely believe in Mei Changsu, and there is no doubt about coming over and listening carefully to what he said, and he secretly remembered it in his heart.

"This set of rhetoric still needs to be changed by the two of you on the spot, but this is nothing difficult for Sister Dong." Mei Changsu looked at Nie Feng with a smile and said, "It's just that the two of you are going to be separated for a while." ”

Nie Feng had already walked over and looked calm. There was still a layer of white hair on his face at this time, and his facial features were still slightly distorted, but the cowering and curled posture was no longer waistless, and his eyes were very bright. After he walked to Mei Changsu's side, he bent down and held his hand tightly, and a few thick syllables came out of his throat, Meng Zhi guessed, and he didn't guess what he said, but Mei Changsu smiled and nodded.

"Xiaoshu, you look good today, have you recovered from your illness?" Meng Zhi asked with some joy.

"Well, it's impossible," a lazy voice interjected, "but there is a difference between having a Mongolian doctor and not having a Mongolian doctor. ”

Lin Chen said and came slowly from the other end of the side corridor, but unfortunately before he could put his leisurely posture, he saw Dr. Yan walking by the other side of the moon gate, spraying a white beard, snorting a few times, his face was gloomy, he had to hurry up and then chased after him, and explained while chasing: "Old Yan, don't be angry, I don't mean that, it's really not ......."

Mei Changsu shook his head and smiled, and stood up with the help of Meng Zhi and said to Xia Dong: "Sister Dong is better than a woman, I have nothing to say, take care." ”

"Take care of yourself, too." Xia Dong walked and bent his knees to salute him, then turned back and glanced at his husband deeply, and said crisply: "Brother Feng, then I'm leaving." ”

Nie Feng nodded, um-hmm, a few times, and saw the two of them out, and waited until the figures were gone, before retracting his gaze, and now Mei Changsu had already sat back in the chair, wrinkling his brows, not knowing what he was thinking, he leaned down and gently patted his shoulder, and shook his head at him.

"I'm just thinking about it, and I don't bother thinking about it." Mei Changsu smiled and relieved him: "There is something strange, you don't let me think about it, but I feel uncomfortable." ”

"What's weird?" Nie Feng asked.

"Cai Quan is a member of the second rank of the Criminal Department, although the prison is under his jurisdiction, but for no reason, how could he go to patrol the prison?" Mei Changsu leaned back and narrowed his eyes slightly, "If Sister Dong and them go well, this ...... Ask ......."