Chapter 38: Suspicion (5)

"Border of the cliff?" Zhou Jingyuan finally realized the seriousness of the problem. She couldn't help but take a step back: "Chen Lang, don't be anxious. If Lord Di Renjie is unreliable, we can also find Prince Liang, or the two half-man and half-women in the palace. They are all very powerful..." Chen Huai put his blood-stained face straight to her: "It's too late. To put it bluntly, the reason why I can escape today is to say that the other party is merciless. I think once they know that I have lost Di Renjie's trust, they will inevitably come to force you and me to hand over the "life and death book" without any worries. With their skills and power, they want to kill us, or make us worse than death, it will be easy. Your father is the lesson of the past! I'm afraid that by then, we will not even touch the door of the backer!" "Then... what should we do?" Zhou Jingyuan was so scared that she lost her mind and had no idea.

In the night of Rumo, Chen Huai's cold smile exuded a breath of death: "It's all my fault for being greedy for a moment, and I was tired of you, a woman. Forget it! It's a fate! I didn't expect that Chen Huai would fall to such a desperate situation today!"

The morning court has finished, under the corridor outside the Guanfeng Hall of Shangyang Palace, a group of officials are bathing in the warm autumn sun and leisurely enjoying the food under the corridor. In recent times, memorials reported from various places have been good news for national peace and stability. The grain harvest in Guannei Road was booming, and Luoyang, a large granary in the country, was smoothly harvested in autumn. It is reported that the warehouses for storing grains are not enough. The emperor also needs to allocate funds to build them urgently, so the money is naturally very happy. With the frequent good news, officials found that the food under the corridor in the past half month has been much more abundant than before, and everyone has eaten very comfortably.

The sun shines, Di Renjie narrows his old eyes, thinking about the cake on the plate in front of him, and a diligent greeting sounds in his ears: "Mr. Di, is the meal today worthy of your appetite?" Di Renjie slowly raised his eyes and made a gesture: "Oh, it's Eunuch Duan, my old eyes are dizzy, I didn't see it for a while." Duan Canghai half-beared, and hurriedly stretched out his hands to support him: "Mr. Di, the emperor asked the old slave to see how good Mr. Di eats?" "Okay, very good , This cabinet can see that the meal I gave me is different from others, and I was about to ask Eunuch Duan, but why is it?" Duan Canghai replied respectfully: "Yes. This is the emperor's special instructing that the elderly and elderly people in the country have weak teeth and prefer to use soft food. Therefore, what I prepared for Lord Di was mung bean porridge, date paste cake and boiled lamb, which was naturally different from other officials." Di Renjie bowed up and said: "The emperor's kindness is great, and the old minister is grateful."

Eunuch Duan smiled: "Mr. Di eats well, so I feel relieved and take my leave." As soon as he retreated, Di Renjie stopped him: "Eunuch Duan, our cabinet is about to walk around. If there is no urgent matter, how can you and I work together?" "Yes, Master Di asks." "Please." The two walked side by side down the steps in front of the palace and walked slowly along the palace wall on the west side.

After walking for a while, Di Renjie seemed to have just remembered something and stopped and said, "Oh, Eunuch Duan, there is a rebellious son Jing Hui in this cabinet. He was given the grace of the emperor and appointed him as the imperial merchant who served medicine to Shang Pharmacy. Since he was sent to the mission, he has been repeatedly advised by Eunuch Duan. This cabinet has thanked me here." As he said that, he was about to bow down, but was blocked by Duan Canghai: "Mr. Di is too polite. Jing Hui is both smart and open-minded, and is really a person with a temperament. He was praised by the Fengyu General Manager of Shang Pharmacy for a short time. Why do you need the old slave to take care of me?" Di Renjie laughed happily with Duan Canghai after hearing this.

After laughing, he continued to move forward, and the steps and expressions of the two men became much more relaxed. Di Renjie frequently stroked his long beard and greeted casually: "If it weren't for Jinghui's advice, this cabinet wouldn't know that Eunuch Duan has a hobby of treasures." Duan Canghai shook his head and sighed, with a faint feeling of confusion in his tone: "Well, I'm not afraid of Lord Di's jokes. You also know that people like us are homeless and have no money to serve the priest for the rest of their lives. If you have little savings, there is nowhere to be available. You can only find some hobbies to talk about spending your life."

Di Renjie was quite moved: "Eunuch Duan's words are sad. However... Eunuch Duan's hobby is not enough, but gold and silver alone, and he also needs the knowledge of treasure appraisal and treasure appraisal." Duan Canghai's eyes flashed: "Haha, I don't have the knowledge of treasure appraisal and treasure appraisal. Just play around with it, and the blind cat catches the rats." "Oh?" Di Renjie said inadvertently: "The rats that Eunuch Duan caught are all the treasures of the Four Barbarians collected by the Honglu Temple. In the eyes of this cabinet, your cat is not only not blind, but has a torch-like look."

"Oh, Lord Di is joking, joking! I am ashamed." Duan Canghai was polite, his eyes wrapped in fine wrinkles were full of meaningful smiles. Di Renjie simply stopped and looked directly at the other party with a smile: "This cabinet speculates randomly that Eunuch Duan must have had a connection with the Honglu Temple, otherwise how could he collect all the tributes lost by the Honglu Temple Sifang Pavilion in recent years into his pocket without any omissions?" "Mr Di is indeed wise and unparalleled in the world." Duan Canghai gave a compliment as usual, and the two immediately understood and smiled at each other: The circle is almost the same, and it is time to get to the point.

"Oh, it's a long story. I recall that I entered the palace at the age of ten and served by the late emperor since I was fifteen. It has been nearly forty years since today. Master Di asked me how I had a relationship with the Honglu Temple, so I had to talk about it more than 30 years ago. At that time, the old slave had just started serving the late emperor, oh, of course, I was only worthy of doing some miscellaneous work. Once, the envoy of Tochar came to pay tribute. It is said that he was a treasure expert who was the only one in the world. The late emperor asked him to appraise the treasure. As a result, this person ignored all the treasures in the Celestial Dynasty, but pointed out one, but refused to explain the wonderfulness. The late emperor was deeply upset about this, so he ordered the Sifang Pavilion of the Honglu Temple to crack the secret of the treasure. So, the old slave was assigned to the Sifang Pavilion to supervise the progress of the matter..."

Duan Canghai said this and stopped like a silence. Di Renjie said calmly: "If this cabinet is correct, the chief clerk of the Sifang Pavilion at that time was the later Minister of the Honglu Temple, Lord Zhou Liangkun?" "Yes. Lord Zhou was very happy because of this matter. Since then, his career has been smooth and he has been promoted step by step in the Honglu Temple."

Di Renjie sneered: "So that is, 'Success is Xiao He, failure is Xiao He', I'm afraid Lord Zhou will eventually destroy the treasure?" Duan Canghai said solemnly: "Mr. Di is indeed very clear, and I admire it very much." Di Renjie ignored his feelings, but looked at the distant palace walls indifferently. An unknown kingfisher was singing among the stacked black tiles. He stopped his eyes on the colorful and brilliant wings and sighed: "Under the most luxurious appearance, there are often the most sinister murderous intent. It is really hard to imagine what kind of secret hidden in that unparalleled treasure carpet that actually took away Lord Zhou Liangkun's life. Eunuch Duan..." He turned to Duan Canghai: "Can you give me advice?"

Duan Canghai bowed again: "I really don't dare to give advice, but Lord Di, as I know, the one burned in public at the bottom of Zetianmen Tower on August 1st was definitely not the treasure carpet identified by the Tocharian envoy more than 30 years ago." "Oh? How could I see it?" "Because the real treasure carpet is not afraid of water and fire, it is what I have seen with my own eyes, and there will never be any mistakes." "Eunuch Duan is so sure?" "Of course, if the old slave hadn't accidentally knocked the candle over the treasure carpet, the secret of this treasure might have not been discovered yet." "...Is this happening?"

It turned out that Duan Canghai, a young eunuch more than 30 years ago, escorted Baojie to Sifang Pavilion, and stared at the young chief clerk Zhou Liangkun there every day and asked him to find out the strangeness of Baojie within ten days. Zhou Liangkun was at a loss and was worried about Baojie day and night. Duan Canghai was so tired that he had to accompany him. After a few days, both of them were sleepy and couldn't be fooled. Duan Canghai accidentally knocked over the candlestick at hand, rolled the candlelight on the treasure blanket, which scared Zhou Liangkun to death and picked up the teacup and splashed water. The two of them were lucky in disguise and accidentally discovered the mystery of Baojie not afraid of water and fire.

Speaking of this, Duan Canghai also had a little melancholy looking back. Di Renjie nodded slightly: "It sounds like this, it is a good story. Then the friendship between Duan and Lord Zhou was caused by that treasure carpet." Duan Canghai sighed slowly: "Oh, not only that, in fact, even the old slave's life was saved by Lord Zhou." "Help?" "Yes, Lord Di doesn't know that the treasure carpet was a rare thing in the world.

The special colored threads are made of soaked fire, so they cannot be damaged, and the texture is particularly light. But the four corners of the blanket are mixed with ordinary weaving threads. At that time, the old slave accidentally knocked off the candle and fell on one corner. Although the other parts of the treasure blanket were safe and sound, only the pattern on the corner was burned out with a big hole! Lord Di just imagined that just cracking the mystery of the treasure blanket and burning it out, wouldn’t the old slave have committed the sin of losing his head?”

"Well." Di Renjie was slightly worried: "It was a serious crime, but I don't know how Lord Zhou saved his father-in-law?" A mysterious smile appeared on Duan Canghai's face: "Lord Zhou found the number one embroiderer in the capital at that time. The woman was extremely intelligent. After several thoughts, she really weaves the treasure blanket as old as before, and the overall look is flawless." Di Renjie was also surprised: "Is there such an inside story?" Duan Canghai leaned forward again: "The embroiderer also explored a mystery. It turned out that there was a mezzanine in the middle of the blanket. The four corners of the blanket were woven with ordinary thread to facilitate disassembly, sew thin paper or silk cloth, and then weave it into one with the treasure blanket. Since the treasure blanket is not afraid of fire, flooding, or even knife cuts, it can protect the hidden items well. If it is to be taken out, it must be disassembled according to the original weaving method."

The more Di Renjie heard the frown, the tighter he frowned. He murmured in a low voice: "Real blanket, fake blanket, embroiderer, hidden objects... What kind of mystery is there between all this? Will it have some connection with Lord Zhou's tragic death?" Di Renjie fell into deep thought. After a moment, he suddenly woke up. Just as he met Duan Canghai's meaningful gaze, Di Renjie coughed: "Eunuch Duan just said that made me feel quite touched, so I was lost. I hope Mr. Duan forgive me." "Oh, is it that the old slave's past also caused some thoughts from Lord Di?" Di Renjie smiled: "Yes, I remembered some old times. Old friends, and now I recall it. After all, it is the most precious thing in a person's life. Oh, it's too far, it's too far... Then, Eunuch Duan learned the ability to identify treasures from Honglu Temple more than 30 years ago?"

Duan Canghai shook his head: "What is the skill? It's just that I have the opportunity. I always appreciate some general knowledge after seeing it. However, the old slave has collected it for several years and has not found a truly valuable treasure." "Is that right? But the list listed on the list that Duan asked Jing Hui to show me a few days ago are all first-class national treasures?" Duan Canghai looked at Duan Canghai seriously: "Mr. Di knows the origin of those things?" "I know." Di Renjie looked at Duan Canghai and said word by word: "Those are all stolen by Liu Yifei, the former young minister of the Honglu Temple, who stole the treasures of the Honglu Temple. This cabinet is confused. How did they all fall into the hands of Eunuch Duan?"

Duan Canghai looked down: "It seems that Lord Di is well aware of Liu Yifei's case, so the old slave said it straight. Liu Yifei stole the treasure and wanted to sell the stolen goods. Because of the value and source of the treasure, he did not dare to find the usual buyers, and only secretly contacted several merchants in Luoyang City who bought and sold treasures privately. It was also the heavens who had eyes. The old slave had collected them for many years and had contacted these merchants. After receiving the news, I went to see the things and immediately recognized them as the treasures of Honglu Temple. The old slave did not dare to delay and immediately informed Lord Zhou."

Di Renjie was a little surprised: "So... Lord Zhou learned about Liu Yifei's crime very early?" "It can't be considered very early. It should be said that we have observed what Liu Yifei did since the beginning of the second year of the Shengli period." "But Lord Zhou did not personally remove Liu Yifei until the night of the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month at the end of that year? This is too incredible..." Di Renjie wanted to say something but stopped, Duan Canghai immediately interfered: "At that time, Lord Zhou repeatedly expressed his willingness to handle this matter properly. Old Nu also felt that it was related to the internal affairs of Honglu Temple and should give Lord Zhou some room for maneuver, so he did not pursue it. He just used some means to gradually collect the treasures. But strangely, after waiting for more than half a year, Lord Zhou did not deal with Liu Yifei at all, Old Nu felt that things were very strange. After the old Nu's repeated inquiries, Master Zhou admitted that he was threatened by Liu Yifei."

"Haunt?" Di Renjie looked at Duan Canghai in disbelief: "Eunuch Duan, it seems that what you and I told today is really a very complicated story." Duan Canghai frowned his sparse eyebrows, and the unique smooth face of the eunuch seemed a little funny because of his stern expression, but when he struggled to spit out the three words "Life and Death Book", Di Renjie was still shocked.
Chapter completed!