At night, Qinglan went to the study to add a few candles, and when she glanced over, she saw Xue Bai sitting there pondering, and Da Xi Yingying moved the stool in front of him, leaned over and muttered quietly.

"Lang Jun just returned to Chang'an, and the person died, the slave family didn't believe it was a coincidence, it must have been arranged by someone......"

Qinglan didn't pay attention to this, but her mind was taken away by Da Xi Yingying, and when she fell asleep, she still hugged Xue Bai and sighed quietly.

"Lang Jun."

"Huh?"

"Daxi Lady is so rich."

Xue Bai felt funny, held Qinglan's slender hand, and said, "Don't compare, it's cute to be delicate and small." ”

So, Xue Bai got up late the next day, and he was not in a hurry to go to Chang'an County to order something, and planned to play chess and eat snacks with Qinglan in the house. The little girl can't play Go, but she can play backgammon.

However, the chessboard has not yet been opened, and the palace has sent someone to summon it.

There is no way, attached to Guo Jingcheng, obviously not in charge of Yanshi County.

……

The five-rank officials who were supposed to go to the court didn't need to go to the court, and Xue Bai arrived at Xingqing Palace in a cyan official robe early in the morning. was led to the Nanxun Temple, and I already smelled a smell of wine mixed with the fragrance of fat powder.

Last night, it was Fan Nu who led the dance, she wore a long silk dress and a delicate bun, which was more temperamental than a year ago.

After she finished dancing, she sat down next to Li Longji with her skirt on, ready to help read the cards, and when she saw Xue Bai coming in, she was stunned for a moment, brushed the broken hair that did not exist in her ears, and bowed her head slightly.

Xue Bai stood still and found that there were still chicken feathers dropped by the fighting on the carpet under his feet. Looking at this situation, Li Longji probably drank again last night.

"Sage, Xue Bai has arrived."

Li Longji unhurriedly played the cards, got up, walked to the imperial couch and sat down, his expression gradually became serious, and he recovered from a merry son to a majestic king.

"Please be well-being, saint."

"You were there on the night Wei died, tell me what you saw?"

Xue Bai told the truth in every detail, including the process of going to Yingniang's house for questioning, in short, people couldn't find faults.

Li Longji said impatiently: "Tell me your opinion." ”

Xue Bai didn't seem to expect to ask him for his opinion so quickly, and hesitated: "The minister has just taken office, and I am afraid that Jia County Ling and Wang Jingyin know more about this case." ”

"I've been an official for a year, and I've learned to pass the buck?" Li Longji asked lightly: "Is you still the honest and loyal minister who only told the truth in the past?" ”

"I don't dare." Xue Bai said: "To be honest, the minister has not yet found out the truth, so the minister neither dares to assert that Wei Hui committed suicide, nor does he dare to order Wang Juma to silence his words, and he does have the intention of observing the changes in the situation." ”

"I don't want to hear vague words."

"The minister must find out about this case."

A burden fell on him for no reason.

But this is precisely the result of what Xue Bai has been doing, he wants to be promoted and wants the emperor's trust, so when something happens, the emperor will look for him. If someone deliberately pushes behind this, it will be a matter of course.

Before Xue Bai retreated, he noticed that Wang Zhun was in the hall, standing on the side with Jia Chang, looking quite relaxed.

He was then considering, how much damage could Wang Zhun be caused by Wang Xuan's killing?

If he were Wang Zhun and had a chance to accompany the saint to fight cocks all night, he would be able to resolve his suspicions, no matter what.

"Wang Miao deliberately harmed me! My grandfather's official reputation is not good, I am just a cockfighting child, I was lucky to get the grace of the saint, but I fell into a big crime in front of their high-ranking clans, I beat Wei Hui, Wei Hui teased the disciples of Liyuan and committed suicide in shame, Wang Miao planted me on my head for the sake of fame, and designed to frame me. ”

In the final analysis, it is still necessary to follow the wishes of the saints and bet on the likes and dislikes of the saints......

~~

On that day, in Princess Yongmu's mansion, Wang Miao got an edict from the palace.

"The saint decreed, let the horse keep to himself, and don't make trouble because of Wei Hui's death."

"What?" Wang Xuan's face suddenly turned like earth, "I didn't ......"

The eunuch who delivered the decree rolled his eyelids and gave him a blank look, with some warning.

"Command, thanks."

Wang Miao had no choice but to quickly lean over to accept it, personally sent the eunuch, returned to the house, sat down on the couch, and lost his soul.

Princess Yongmu then came over and shook his hand, and said, "Why should the horse be like this? This result should have been thought of a long time ago, we must not get rid of Wang Zhun at once, but take your time, the saint will always alienate him. ”

"Don't you understand? The saint hates me. ”

Wang Xuan was bitter in his heart, of course he knew that dealing with Wang Zhun was a long-term thing, and he was disappointed by the attitude of the saint.

When he asked his parents to be buried together, his father Wang Tongjiao was beheaded by Wu Sansi for the crime of rebellion, and Emperor Ruizong succeeded to the throne for his father to rehabilitate, posthumously presented the crown prince Shaobao, Langya Wenlie Gong, and was loyal and strong.

But his father threw away his head for the surname Li Sheji, but after his death, he still had to watch his wife be buried with others?

When he married Princess Yongmu, he should have used higher etiquette standards to show the merits of the Wang family, but he was rejected by the example of Princess Taiping.

But because the saint had killed his mother's second husband with his own hands, he never liked his mother. In addition, there are many children, few contacts, estranged relationships, and even all kinds of suspicions...... In short, he never took his nephew and son-in-law to heart.

"In the eyes of the saints, we are really inferior to a fighting."

Disappointment to disappointment, on the afternoon of this day, Wang Miao and his wife still got a piece of news - the sage ordered Xue Bai to continue the case of Chawei Society.

Wang Miao thought about it, and deliberately went to see Xue Bai, completely forgetting that the saint had told him to keep to himself.

~~

Changshou Fang, a stall of mutton noodle soup not far from the county office, is steaming.

"Lao Chong, come to three bowls of noodle soup, add one mutton each, and nine Hu cakes."

Diao Bing and Diao Geng brothers glanced at each other when they heard this, their faces showed joy, and they felt that it was really good to be a guard, they lived an easy life, and they had meat to eat every day.

Xue Bai wrapped a simple cloak and covered his official robe, sitting on a small stool, looking at the steam in a daze.

In fact, he was looking at the clay kettle on the stove, thinking that he could cast iron and stone into an iron pot and transport it into Chang'an.

"A bowl of mutton noodle soup."

A voice suddenly sounded behind him, Wang Miao sat down opposite Xue Bai, and said, "What is Xue Lang thinking?" ”

"The colt is still here for Wei Hui's case?"

Wang Jian wiped the table with a handkerchief, and then put his hand on it and said: "The county lieutenant actually knows that Ah Hui was killed by Wang Jie's father and son in collusion with Jia Jilin. ”

"Why?"

"They have a grudge."

"I also have a grudge against Wang Zhun."

"Ah Hui has got their incriminating evidence." Wang Xuan said, "He said that sooner or later he will get rid of Wang Zhun." ”

"Wang Ji is corrupt and full of evil, and I have a lot of criminal evidence."

"What does Xue Lang think?"

"The clue is broken." Xue Bai said: "So I need time." ”

"Okay, I believe Xue Lang."

At this time, the mutton noodle soup was served, Wang Miao didn't move his chopsticks, sat there and watched Xue Bai eat, and suddenly said: "My grandfather was killed by Brother Song Zhiwen." ”

"Song Zhi asked?"

"Although the Song brothers are talented, their character is extremely despicable and shameless. They were attached to Zhang Yizhi, and after the Shenlong coup, they were sent to Lingnan. It was my grandfather who secretly sheltered them and took them in. I don't want to, but they are ungrateful and tell my grandfather about his plan to get rid of Wu Sansi. So, in the second year of Shenlong, on the seventh day of the third month, my grandfather was beheaded at Duting Station for the crime of treason, and Song Zhiwen's brothers put on scarlet robes again, and their official robes were dyed by the blood of my grandfather! ”

Speaking of this, Wang Xuan's hand trembled slightly, leaned forward a little, and said, "I wanted to thank Xue Lang the last time I saw him, I heard it...... Luhun Villa was destroyed, and it was very happy. ”

"Who told you?"

"Ah Hui said."

"Wei Hui? Where did he find out? ”

"I don't know." Wang Miao said: "Xue Lang avenged me, but if there is a sending, just open your mouth, I will never refuse." ”

After Wang Miao left, Xue Bai looked at his back for a while, and fell into the eyes of those who cared, which could already prove that there was collusion between them.

When he returned to Chang'an, he seemed to be caught in the whirlpool of power struggle and couldn't extricate himself, or the Tang Dynasty Hall in the Tianbao period had been flooded by the power struggle, and no one could be left alone.

"Aaron."

Diao Bing pointed to the bowl of mutton noodle soup left on the table and asked, "He won't eat it, can we eat it?" ”

~~

The accident of Luhun Villa has nothing to do with Xue Bai on the bright side, and the Henan Mansion has decided that it is Song Mian and Gao Shang who colluded to wash the Song family in blood.

Then, Wei Hui can know about this, and it must have been told to him by someone who is well-informed and has guessed the inside story.

There are not many such people.

Xue Bai then began to investigate the whereabouts of the Wei Society before his death.

He went to Wei Hui's house in the name of Chang'an Wei to ask, and asked Wei Hui's wife and entourage, and Da Xi Yingying secretly sent a guy to inquire, and finally found out a general context.

To Xue Bai's surprise, he didn't find any trace of Wei Hui's contact with Li Linfu...... He originally thought that this matter must be related to Li Linfu.

At night, Da Xi Yingying wrote down Wei Hui's whereabouts and handed it to Xue Bai.

"Wei Hui will either go to Nanqu or go to the teaching workshop, or party with his group of fox friends and dogs, such a wine bag and rice bag, will someone really deliberately kill him?"

"Chongzhenguan?"

Xue Bai looked at Wei Hui's whereabouts repeatedly, and indeed found nothing unusual, but thinking that Wei Hui's wife said that he had been burning incense at the Taoist Temple every day recently, he asked, "Where is the Chongzhen Temple?" ”

"Anshanfang."

"It's in the south of Chang'an City, and almost all of the Wei Hui are active in the north of the city, how can they burn incense in the south of the city?"

"Unless it's a female crown watch?" Da Xi Yingying joked.

……

Chongzhen Temple is not a female crown view, but a Taoist temple with very strong incense.

When Xue Bai arrived, there was already a long queue in front of the Taoist temple, and the people waiting to pray for blessings were all very pious.

He and the Diao brothers went separately to find out the situation.

"Dare to ask the eldest lady, why is everyone waiting here instead of going to Jiuhuaguan on West Street?"

"Ren Dao Chang Spell Spirit, if you can give a pill, you can eliminate all diseases and live a long life."

Diao Geng went to ask a few people to come back, scratched his head, and whispered: "Lang Jun, they said that the Taoist chief here is called Ren Haichuan, but God, give a sachet to hang under the crotch, so that the weak men can regain their strength." ”

"Then Wei must be here for this."

Xue Bai walked past the crowd in line, took out the warrant, and said, "Chang'an County Ya handles the case, let you Taoist come to see me." ”

The two little Taoist boys standing by the door were all frightened when they heard this.

"Master, he'...... He wandered away. ”

In this situation, Xue Bai knew that it was wrong at a glance, ordered the people to retreat, escorted the little Taoist boy, and searched the Taoist temple.

"Say, what about people?"

"Master, he, he escaped......"

Diao Geng took out a few sachets from the Dan room, sniffed them, and asked, "Is this really useful?" ”

"Its ...... In fact, it is some nourishing medicinal materials, and the master spends money to let people be trusted, touting its efficacy, but he ran away with the money a few days ago, and we want to take advantage of the master's fame to earn some travel expenses. ”

"Liar." Diao Geng threw the sachet away.

"What day did you escape?"

"Four days ago."

That was the same day as Wei Beina.

Xue Bai asked them again if they had Wei Hui, and had planned to take them to identify the body, but after describing Wei Hui's appearance, they quickly remembered.

"There is such a noble gentleman who often comes to see the master, but unlike other pilgrims, the master always goes to the guest room alone with him to talk."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, but everyone else is giving the master money for medicine, but the master is giving him money."

Xue Bai thought about Ren Haichuan's so-called ability to make people live a long life and regain his majesty, and asked, "Your master, have you ever wanted to enter the palace to face the saint?" ”

"Seeming...... It seems to have been said. ”

After asking a few more questions, these disciples already knew a limited amount of information, and Xue Bai began to observe carefully in this Taoist temple.

He had an intuition that Ren Haichuan and Wei Hui escaped and died, and there must be a connection between the two things, and even the matter of Luhun Villa was also told to Wei Hui by Ren Haichuan.

If this is the case, then there must be a commander behind this Taoist priest Ren Haichuan, such as Li Linfu.

Maybe they were chatting about how to get close to the saint, and at the same time they got the news from Luoyang that something had happened to Luhun Villa, and then Li Linfu said that "it must be Xue Bai's poisonous hand...... These images are all guesswork.

Thinking of this, he flipped through the scriptures in the library, and unexpectedly found nothing, so Xue Bai turned to the incense hall.

There are many prayer plaques on the hall, engraved with various wishes.

"The tablet of Fu Lu Shou three stars, pray for the health and longevity of the mother, and Yang Hangong, a native of Chang'an."

Looking further back, one named Jiang Qingchu hopes to marry a good wife, and the other named Liu An hopes to have a son.

Xue Bai looked at a few rows of flowers, suddenly stared, picked up the fire candle on the case, and glanced under the prayer card, the traces of dust were wrong.

The tablets have been in place for a long time, with a thick layer of dust around them, but a few have apparently been rearranged in recent days.

So, he reached out and put the prayer cards back in their original places, and found that there was one missing in the middle.

"What is the content of the original prayer card here?"

"Back to the county lieutenant, we really don't remember this."

"Is there a record?"

"No, no."

Xue Bai glanced at the vacant position again, and there was no way to get it back.

He just wondered, why did it need to take a blessing card away?

~~

Chang'an County Ya.

When Jia Jilin heard that Xue Bai had captured a few Taoist priests and returned, he shook his head and said, "Please ask him to come and see me." ”

He had no intention of dealing with other official duties, got up and paced, and finally stood in front of the window and watched Xue Bai come over.

"The county order is looking for me?"

"I heard you're still in the Chawei Society's case?"

"Yes, even the saint was alarmed by this case, and he had to investigate."

Jia Jilin said: "I asked you to block Wang Xuan's mouth a long time ago, why did you come to such a dilemma?" ”

Xue Bai watched the officials retreat and close the door, so that there was no one else in the house, so he said slowly: "Part of the truth has always been obvious, that is, the county ordered you to deliberately take down Wei Hui, and then instructed Wei Chang to strangle him, isn't it?" ”

Jia Jilin did not deny it, but sighed.

"When the saint asked, I didn't say that, because there was no evidence." Xue Bai said, "But it can't be completely without traces, the evidence will be there sooner or later, how does the county order plan to deal with itself when the time comes?" ”

"You didn't say it, it's the smart thing to do, do you think the saint wants the truth? The sage summoned you to question, just to give an explanation to the Wang family, just like it is impossible for Princess Ding'an to be buried with the king, and Xiahou Quan, who decided the case, was demoted to give an explanation to the Wang family, understand? The saint didn't care that Wei would die, even if he knew that someone had killed him. ”

"The saint's nephew died, and the county order said that the saint didn't care?"

"Wei Hui was killed by the saint himself, what if Wei Hui died? Such a simple and small case, what is there to chase after it? ”

Jia Jilin said, approached Xue Bai, and said earnestly: "You are a disciple of Qingchen, and now you are under me. I'm not teaching you to investigate cases, but I'm teaching you to be an official, if you can be the most difficult official in the capital, your future career will be smooth. ”

Xue Bai said: "What the county order said is very reasonable. But this matter is not as easy as the county order hopes. ”

"What do you mean?"

"We all know that it was Wang Jiao who asked you to hunt and kill Wei Hui, generally speaking, the saint doesn't care about Wei Hui, you have nothing to fear. That's why you told me not to look into it a few times, thinking that if I stopped, the matter would end there. But...... Didn't the prefectural order find out? Others are adding fuel to the fire. ”

Jia Jilin had an obvious stunned expression.

"Just before Wei will be imprisoned, how did his family guess that he would die in prison and make trouble in front of the emperor for this? It happened to be when I, the lieutenant of Chang'an County, had just taken office. ”

"You mean?"

"Wang Zhun dared to threaten Wang Xuan, that is, he was determined that this concubine would not be allowed to be a saint, and he would shut up after scaring him. But in fact, on the contrary, Wang Miao made the matter to the ears of the sage, and the sage had to summon me again to ask questions and give an explanation to the Wang family. ”

Xue Bai unknowingly snatched the initiative of the conversation and asked, "Obviously, someone gave Wang Miao confidence. Why do you still think that Wei Hui's death is a small case? At least I don't dare to be perfunctory. ”

Jia Jilin stroked his long beard and slowly sat down in his position, thinking to himself, his eyes rolling.

Xue Bai continued: "What I wonder about now is, why did Wang Ji kill Wei Hui, and why did Ren Haichuan escape? What kind of things can be worth doing? If this matter is used by Wang Jie's political enemies, how far will the case go? Will it involve me and the prefectural order? ”

"I don't know." Jia Jilin said, "I just think that Wang Zhun will not be pleasing to the eye, Jing Yin has a life, I have to do it." ”

"Is it Wang Zhun or Wang Ji who asked the county order to take people?"

"Yes......" Jia Jilin stopped talking, and finally raised his hand and pointed up, and said again: "I thought it was Wang Zhun who asked Jing Yin." ”

"The county order really doesn't know the reason?"

"I don't know."

"Then make an assumption, if the right minister secretly pushes it, and finally this case comes out, can we afford it?"

"I ......," Jia Jilin said, "I really don't know." ”

"I don't know, how dare the county order help suppress it?"

"Don't be alarmist, this matter has its own balance between the county and Jingyin, no matter what, don't investigate it for the time being." Jia Jilin said, "Go ahead." ”

Xue Bai was about to retire, walked outside the door, and suddenly stopped.

He turned around, looked at Jia Jilin's son Guanyin, who was enshrined in the Ling Mansion, and muttered, "The county order is still hiding from me. ”

"Don't talk nonsense."

"The county magistrate recognizes Ren Haichuan, right?"

"The county...... I don't recognize it. ”

"But the county order enshrined a prayer card for the son in his Taoist temple, isn't it?"

Jia Jilin's face immediately became bitter, and he saw that he was exposed in front of him, so he spoke.

"Originally, Wang Jingyin's brother Wang Weld was a stupid ...... Wang Weld was very easy to deceive and was deceived by Ren Haichuan. Ren Haichuan claims to know how to do immortal arts, which can prolong people's lives, especially to improve their ...... To improve the method of the house in the art, Wang Weld intended to recommend him to the saint, but fortunately, we were cautious, and did not believe him because of the initial utility, I was going to wait for a while, but I didn't expect that he was actually sent by Wei Hui, and he planned to run away with the reward after offering medicine to the saint. ”

"If according to Wei Hui's plan, after Ren Haichuan escaped, the blame will be on Wang Weld. Therefore, Wang Jingyin was furious when he learned of this and ordered me to hunt down and kill these two. I then asked Wei Chang to take down Wei Hui, but I didn't expect that Ren Haichuan was very alert, and he fled directly when he saw that things were not good......"

~~

At the same time, Wannian County, Xinchangfang.

Cui Youfu strode forward, his face was extremely solemn.

"County lieutenant, just ahead."

In front of it is a Taoist temple in Xinchangfang, which is called Xinchangguan, and there are many people around it, pointing and talking about something.

"It's that Ren Immortal, right?"

"How could the gods die......

"Let's go! Get out of the way, the county lieutenant is here! ”

Cui Youfu pushed aside the crowd and looked at it, only to see that the land in the backyard of the Taoist temple had been dug up and a corpse had been dug up.

The one who died was an old Taoist priest, although he had become a messy corpse, but he could still see the original fairy wind Dao bones.

He leaned down, removed the clothes on the corpse, looked at the wound that had begun to rot and grow worms, carefully examined it, and said: "There is water seepage on the skin, it stinks slightly, it has been dead for four or five days, the murder weapon should be a six-inch dagger, there are no other wounds on the body, and it will ......kill you with one knife."

Cui Youfu frowned, turned to look at the onlookers, raised his hand and beckoned a few people, and said, "Do you recognize him?" ”

"I recognize it, it is the Taoist chief of the Chongzhen Temple in the south of the city......"

This is the first major case that Cui Youfu has encountered since he served as Captain Wannian, and he is secretly determined to investigate it thoroughly.

However, before he brought the body back to the county office, he was summoned to the order by Feng Yongzhi, the commander of Wannian County.

"Please order the county to be healthy, there is a murder in the city today, I will ......"

"This case should not be publicized, let's close the case by falling to death after drinking."

Cui Youfu was stunned for a moment and refused to respond for a long time.

Feng Yongzhi sighed, got up and approached him, and reminded: "Wannian County is just a small county attached to Guo Jingcheng, and there is Jingzhao Mansion above the county government, this case ends here, understand?" ”

"Yes."

Cui Youfu was a little lost, walked out of the county office, walked through the long street of Xuanyangfang, and suddenly stopped and looked at a person not far ahead.

"Why is Xue Lang here? You have always been well-informed, but for the murder of Wannian County? ”

"It's not." Xue Bai pointed to the northwest, "I live in Xuanyangfang. ”

Cui Youfu was stunned for a moment, smiled bitterly and prepared to leave, and the next moment, he realized that Xue Bai must have come for the murder case, and he was waiting for him here on purpose, otherwise it would be impossible not to be curious.

"By the way, what's going on with Wei Hui's case?"

"Jingzhao Mansion wants to press." Xue Bai said: "I don't care, but obviously someone wants to let these cases come out, and Jingzhao Mansion is afraid that they can't hold it down." ”

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Then we're all caught up in it." Cui Youfu thought about it again and realized that Ren Haichuan's body was suddenly discovered, and the matter was very suspicious, so he calmed down and said, "If Xue Lang is empty, how about a few drinks together?" ”

"Unfortunately, it's really not empty today, next time?"

"Okay." Cui Youfu said: "There is always a chance. ”

~~

Xue Bai seemed to be very busy, but in fact, he didn't have anything to do at all, so he went back to the house to change his clothes and went to Dunhuafang to see Yan Yan.

He said that he wanted to bring her some fun, and in the past few days, he asked the craftsman to make some small props for board games.

Several copies of this prop were also made, and one copy could be offered to the palace to make up for Li Longji's disappointment at the previous Calyx Tower Imperial Banquet, which was a double win.

From evening to night, Xue Bai was nothing more than playing with Yan Yan and Yan Yan, they were amazed and had a lot of fun, and in the end they refused to let him go.

"One more game?"

"The elders are staring at me and waiting for me to go."

"It's a curfew." Yan Yan looks like a little nerd on weekdays, but for what reason is it to play, "Brother can't go back after the curfew." ”

"How can the county lieutenant of Chang'an be stopped by the curfew?"

Xue Bai showed his majesty in front of the children, and rode his horse away from the Yan family, thinking that Li Longji should like this kind of little game of wit, and he could offer it tomorrow.

He didn't seem to care about Wei Hui's case, and he didn't wonder who was behind it.

At night, he had a very strange dream.

He dreamed that he was playing werewolf killing with Li Longji, Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, Wang Jie, Zhang Quyi, Wang Xuan, Jia Jilin, Cui Youfu, Wei Hui and others, and Wei Hui died on the first night, and he had a bottle of poison that could poison the werewolf, and planned to poison Li Linfu, he believed that it would definitely not be poisoned.

But even in a dream, Xue Bai could realize that there was more than one werewolf......

(End of chapter)