The sultry weather lasted for three days. Amidst the thunder, the majestic heavy rain finally fell with overwhelming force.
The raindrops fell on the green tiles like rapid drumbeats. Su Shi, wearing a raincoat, looked at the rain like a bead curtain with a sad expression on his face.
Since it is really not appropriate to go out today, the best thing to do today is to lie on a chair, drink tea, and listen to the sound of rain hitting lotus leaves.
"After a shower, it's like pearls scattering randomly, covering the new lotus." Su Shi murmured, held up an umbrella, and walked slowly into the wind and rain.
Lin Mo followed closely, but when he reached the back door, he was still stopped by the guarding guard. He was unwilling to give in and was about to argue with him when Su Shi patted him on the shoulder.
"Go back, don't make things difficult for them."
"But……"
As soon as the words "Lin Mo" came out of his mouth, Su Shi waved his hand, then walked out of the house and disappeared into the rain.
Perhaps the sudden heavy rain made Lin Mo nervous. He stared blankly in the direction where the young master disappeared, with a trace of uneasiness and nervousness in his eyes.
In the pouring rain, a carriage parked quietly in front of the door. Even with the heavy rain, the horses pulling the carriage remained quiet.
Su Shi came to the carriage, put away his umbrella and hung it on the corner of the carriage, and then got into the carriage. Although the carriage is not gorgeous, it is very spacious and practical, and the thick curtains block the wind and rain outside.
Su Shi untied his raincoat and sat down with satisfaction. The carriage began to move forward slowly.
It was raining heavily, so the carriage was not moving very fast. As time went by, the rain became less intense and the carriage gradually became faster. At three o'clock in the morning, Su Shi arrived in front of Qianqiu Zhiku.
After getting off the carriage, Su Shi held up an umbrella and walked into the warehouse. When they came to the lobby, Chen Xiaolan was already waiting there. When she saw Su, she had already greeted him.
"It's raining heavily today. Did the young master get wet?"
Su Shi smiled and shook his head: "I can rest assured that you will do the work. Treat the groom well and ride in his carriage when you return home."
Hearing Su Shi's compliment, Chen Xiaolan couldn't help but lower his head and smile, then nodded lightly.
"Are they here?"
"Her Royal Highness the Princess and Sister Nan have been waiting in the study for a while. But..."
"But what?" Su Shi asked hurriedly when he saw that Chen Xiaolan was hesitant to speak.
Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaolan just shook his head gently, and then fell silent.
Su Shi was confused for a while, but Chen Xiaolan had already walked towards the study, so he had to suppress his doubts in his heart.
As soon as he walked into the study, he immediately understood what Chen Xiaolan meant, because the atmosphere in the study was as dull and depressing as the weather before a sudden rain.
Both Zhou Jin and Qin Nan seemed to have countless things on their minds. Not only were they silent, but their eyes looked heavy and blurred.
Su Shi looked at Chen Xiaolan, whose eyes looked helpless and confused, indicating that she didn't know the reason either.
Zhou Jin and Qin Nan finally looked better when they saw Su Shi coming in, but Su Shi could also tell that even if they were smiling, their smiles were as forced as those on clumsy puppets.
Su Shi sighed: "I also know that it is very unpleasant to ask you out under such bad weather today, but I really have something to discuss with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Jin looked at it blankly and suddenly said: "Yesterday at three o'clock in the morning, purple smoke rose from Guangdu Temple."
Qin Nan and Chen Xiaolan were slightly stunned. They knew where Guangdu Temple was. It was normal for fireworks to rise in a temple. They didn't know why Her Highness the Princess mentioned this matter.
But as soon as Su Shi heard the news, his expression immediately became solemn.
"Have you ever found the person who set off the purple smoke?"
Zhou Jin seemed to be worried, and slowly shook his head: "It happened suddenly, and when the purple smoke rose, there was no time to deploy manpower outside Guangdu Temple."
Zhou Jin saw Qin Nan and Chen Xiaolan looking confused at this time, so he told them Su Shi's speculation, and they suddenly realized it, and then looked at them in shock.
Qin Nan said silently: "If Mr. Su's guess is correct, then the rising purple smoke means that the other party has already started to act?"
Zhou Jin seemed a little upset, but she still calmed down and said: "After a secret investigation, the secret guard found that on the day when the handkerchief was stolen, blue smoke also rose from Guangdu Temple. It seems that the other party should be Use strange smoke to contact people lurking in the palace at Guangdu Temple."
Su Shi asked: "How many times did the smoke go off each time?"
"It was only set off once."
"Only one time?"
Zhou Jin nodded affirmatively: "The other party may know that setting off strange smoke can easily attract other people's attention, so they only set it off once each time."
Qin Nan frowned, feeling that this was extremely strange.
At this time, Zhou Jin said again: "After the strange smoke rose, one hundred and forty-three people came out of the palace to do business within an hour, and thirty-five of them were on the list of people who left the palace last time. Now the secret guard is focusing on Investigating these thirty-five people, but so far there has been no progress.”
"What clues can be found at Guangdu Temple?"
Zhou Jin shook his head: "The incense burner of Guangdu Temple is in the square. Anyone can go and burn incense. Some people have seen strange smoke, but no one knows who is burning the incense."
Qin Nan suddenly said: "If we want to talk about who is the most convenient and least noticeable person to offer incense, it is the monks of Guangdu Temple."
Zhou Jin obviously thought of this as she pondered: "There are currently twenty-six monks in Guangdu Temple. No one left the temple after the purple smoke rose, and no one who left the palace went to Guangdu Temple."
Qin Nan added: "There shouldn't be many places in the palace where you can see strange smoke, right?"
Zhou Jin nodded: "The secret guard has tested it. In the palace, with the Zhonghe Hall as the center, the observation limit is a radius of two miles. This includes Qingzhong, Lide, Shaoyang, and the East Inner Courtyard."
Then she added: "There were 18 or so people who left the palace last night, and two of them, the secret guards, are the key targets of investigation."
Su Shi asked, "Did these two people also leave the palace on the day the handkerchief was stolen?"
"yes."
"Is there any result?"
Zhou Jin shook his head and said: "After these two people left the palace, the secret guards followed them secretly and found nothing suspicious. However, since it was such a coincidence, the secret guards still focused on them, and the people who came into contact with them are now under the surveillance of the secret guards. middle."
"After the purple smoke rises, what will happen in the palace?"
"At present, everything is normal in the palace and nothing happened."
Although nothing was happening in the palace now, Zhou Jin felt flustered.
Not only Zhou Jin, but also others seemed to be in a very heavy mood. Everyone was silent and looked solemn, and the study suddenly became silent.
Although the heavy rain stopped suddenly at this time, it did not sweep away the dull air, which seemed to indicate that a bigger storm was coming.
