The three generations of emperors of Daxia all loved golden elixirs, and Taoism also flourished. In the western suburbs, there is this popular "Qingming Temple", and there is also the Qingming Tower that enshrines the "Eight Treasures" of Taoism.
The tower is eight feet high and has eight floors inside. Each floor is guarded by two Taoist priests. The top of the tower is guarded by Taoist Master Zifeng himself.
Each outer tower has tower corners, tower bells, and extremely smooth eaves. There is no master in the world who can jump from outside the tower to the top.
No matter what kind of treasure watcher you are, you must walk up the steps from the tower in a disciplined manner.
Tonight's visitor, wearing black tights and a black scarf covering his face, quietly passed by the Taoist priests who were patrolling the temple at night. After touching the bottom of the tower, he jumped up with courage.
Several tower bells were disturbed, making crisp sounds in the silent rainy night.
However, no one took a second look over there.
There was also a young Taoist priest who felt annoyed and pulled up his senior brother's sleeves and asked, "Why do birds ring bells on rainy nights?"
The tower horn bell, also known as the bird-scare bell, is used to prevent birds from "misbehaving" on the eaves of the tower.
It has been raining continuously for several days and nights, and the bells are ringing from time to time every night. The Taoist priest was frightened and nervous at first, but every time he looked at it, he could only see birds that could not rest peacefully on a rainy night flying around. Then I took it for granted and no longer paid attention to it.
Otherwise, it would be very annoying to wet the clothes several times a night.
And just because of fear of trouble, something happened that night.
When dawn was about to break, there was no sound of morning bells in the temple. The lower-level Taoist priests went to the top to check, only to find that Taoist Zifeng, who was responsible for guarding the top floor, had been killed.
The "Eight Treasures" made of the finest Hetian Nuanyu - the eight treasures that have been enshrined by the "Qingming Temple" for hundreds of years, have all disappeared.
The master of the temple, Taoist Master Ziyang, was shocked and quickly reported to the palace.
This is more serious than the sky falling.
Why? Because the golden elixir your Majesty takes must be offered in front of the eight treasures for seven or forty-nine days in order to be filled with the spirit of heaven and earth.
The next batch of elixirs is only three days away from being fully supplied. Unfortunately, like the "Eight Treasures", they are all missing.
His Majesty was furious.
It is not difficult to make the "Eight Treasures" again, but those eight pieces have been worshiped for hundreds of years and are full of spiritual energy. What's more, these forty-nine days...
Now if he doesn't take it for a day, he feels like the King of Hell is around him.
I immediately knew that someone was going to kill me by doing this. The old emperor then strictly ordered Dongchang to investigate the case thoroughly, and ordered: No matter who is involved in the case, Qin Haoxian can kill them first and report later.
In fact, the old emperor secretly thought that this was Qin Haoxian's conspiracy to get rid of the prince.
Because according to the news, the prince happened to rest in the Royal Hot Spring Resort, which is twenty miles away from the "Qingming Temple" last night.
Moreover, only the old emperor and the prince had people who could kill Taoist Zifeng, and they did so quietly.
And if this case was really Qin Haoxian's handiwork, then the treasures and golden elixirs were not missing.
After the old emperor pretended to be furious and gave the order, he waited with peace of mind.
He believed there would be results in a few days.
After receiving the order, Qin Haoxian went to see Zheng Lianze first.
He suspected that this was Zheng Lianze's dirty trick to harm the prince.
Zheng Lianze was confused, shook his white hair out of his bun, and gave an irrefutable reason: "Do I need to put in that effort?"
Qin Haoxian was right when he thought about it.
If Zheng Lianze really wanted to prevent the prince from returning to Beijing, he could do it even if he falsely conveyed the imperial edict. After all, Zheng Lianze would not kill the prince at all. Qin Haoxian did not want to take the blame, and Zheng Lianze would not even think about it.
If Qin Haoxian had to do this by himself, he would fake the imperial edict and transfer the prince to the northwest. When he comes back everything will be in order.
After thinking about this, Qin Haoxian half-covered his face with a silk handkerchief and asked Zheng Lianze in a sweet voice: "It's not you, and it's not the Xi family. Then who do you think it is?"
He is not anxious about the elixir, let alone the "eight treasures."
The so-called eight treasures are the magical weapons used by the eight immortals in the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. Flute, lotus, iron crutch...
If the case cannot be solved, at worst he will find someone to carve eight more pieces.
As for the elixir... Qin Haoxian has no worries.
Taoist Priest Ziyang has the final say as to whether that thing has been offered to you or not. And if he didn't want to die too soon, he would definitely cooperate with Qin Haoxian.
Therefore, Qin Haoxian is not in a hurry, and he does not believe that this case is the work of Zheng Lianze, who is also capable of doing this.
Too boring and painless.
Zheng Lianze thought the same thing after hearing the question. He raised his hand to straighten his white hair and reminded Yin Yin: "Whoever it is, you should check it out anyway."
No matter what happens, we have to give an explanation to the Taoist temple.
Qin Haoxian's body was trembling with fat. He smiled sweetly and asked him, "Is the prince not coming back?"
Zheng Lianze is responsible for this matter.
Zheng Lianze glanced at him, with an unreadable expression in his thin eyes.
Looking at the corner of the ground, he replied with a mocking tone: "The prince has fallen ill in the hot spring villa due to overwork. He needs to take good care of himself for some time."
Qin Haoxian let out a sweet chuckle, flicked the veil, twisted his fat body, and left.
Zheng Lianze covered his ears.
Every time he heard the sound that sounded like a rooster laying eggs, he felt extremely uncomfortable.
Qin Haoxian also knew that his laughter was annoying. But the more annoying others are, the more he likes it.
I went to the "Qingming Temple" in a large chariot. After being served by Taoist Priest Ziyang and drinking a cup of good tea, I entered the Qingming Pagoda to personally inspect the scene.
Then I found a palm-sized Huizhou inkstone in the corner of the floor where the tower clock was located.
The preciousness of this kind of inkstone lies in its small output.
A piece as big as a palm is worth a thousand taels of silver, and each piece must be marked.
He casually handed it to his confidant Qianhu You Jingyang: "Go check it out."
Qin Haoxian believed that the owner of this inkstone should be someone close to the prince.
But what the old man said after examining the body of Taoist Zifeng made Qin Haoxian suspicious of Ye Feng.
What the old man said was: "On the back of the deceased, there was a palm-sized area covered with tiny needle holes, like those pierced by hedgehogs. Although the holes were not deep, they were poisonous. It was also that kind of thing. The poison made the deceased paralyzed and unable to speak or act, so his throat was cut with a knife. The cut was very clever, only cutting off the trachea and not cutting the major blood vessels and Adam's apple."
The old man almost said it was Ye Feng who did it.
But an inkstone?
Ye Feng couldn't afford it, everyone knew he was poor.
While Qin Haoxian was thinking about it, You Jingyang, who went to check the inkstone, came back.
Report: "Zhang Jian bought the inkstone. I heard that on the day Ye Feng went to the Yamen, Tuo Yefeng gave it to Chang Leyong."
Chang Leyong?
After Qin Haoxian heard the name, he looked at one of his subordinates.
"Chang Xin, is this happening?"
Chang Xin, Chang Leyong's son. He was good at painting portraits and was recruited into Dongchang.
Chang Xin listened to the question and stepped forward to salute.
He took the inkstone again, looked at it, and nodded in recognition. "Yes, my father said it was sent by Zhang Jian."
It seems that this case is really related to Ye Feng.
Qin Haoxian's painted eyes flashed with interest.
But the inkstone had already been sent away, so how did it appear at the place where the murder took place?
Qin Haoxian decided to go to Chang Mansion in person.
He was very interested in using this case to get rid of Ye Feng's disobedient "Xiu Yida".
Chang Leyong doesn’t know anything yet.
Since he took up the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Justice, the various gifts he received on a daily basis almost filled his two private treasuries. It was a small inkstone, but he didn't take it seriously at all.
What's more, Ye Feng has been working in the Ministry of Justice for a day, and he no longer needs the care of his assistant, so there is no point in returning the gift.
On the contrary, Zhang Jian has been promoted. When there is some happy event in the Zhang family in the future, he will give it back several times more. Of course, objects cannot be restored, so Chang Leyong doesn't remember where the Fang Inkstone is.
Today he took a break and went fishing by the lotus pond in the mansion.
Fishing in the drizzle is particularly poetic.
I kept fishing, and a big fish took the bait.
Pulling and pulling, I plunged in...
