To the north of Saronga's house is not only the Fire Temple, but also a place called the Elephant Trunk Pit, and the pit is divided into three different areas: in front of the pit, in the pit, and behind the pit.
Xiao Letian would definitely be confused if he knew the name of this place, because he had never heard of this place despite living in Beijing for so many years in his previous life.
You must know that this is near the very prosperous Dongdan. How come there is such a weird place name?
In fact, it is normal for Xiao Letian not to know. In his previous life, only some real old Beijingers were familiar with this term!
This place is actually within the current Chunyu Hutong and Chunyu Erxiang Hutong in Dongdan. This is an ancient place name that modern people have long abolished.
The name Xiangbikeng is weird! But the name is really vivid and accurate, because elephants were really raised here in ancient times!
This has to be said about the great Emperor Qianlong. When he was in power, he would bring several elephants from the south to Beijing to celebrate his birthday every year. This elephant trunk pit was the place where the elephants were bathed and cooled.
Many areas of Sijiucheng in the Qing Dynasty were very different from those of later generations. At that time, there were indeed many ponds and reed fields in the city, which was completely different from the high-rise buildings in the 21st century.
Elephant Trunk Hole is a large reed pond, and the scenery here is still very beautiful in summer!
After the Qianlong Dynasty, the Qing Empire's national power began to weaken, and the number of elephants transported from the south became less and less, so the elephant trunk pit became in name only.
Without government management, people began to seize land from the water surface. With the long-term landfill construction and housing construction, the huge pond was divided into three parts. This is the origin of the place names of "front of the pit, middle of the pit, and behind the pit".
At present, Elephant Trunk Hole has been divided into three small stagnant ponds by alleys and houses. As time goes by, this place may be completely filled up.
When he thought of the landscape of the Elephant Trunk Hole, Li Tuo understood that Salonga would not be able to escape in a hurry. The large reeds in the Elephant Trunk Pit were definitely a good place to hide people.
Following Li Tuo's order, Isiha and the soldiers of the Nine Admirals surrounded him. Some soldiers even climbed over the back garden wall of Salong'a's house and jumped directly to the edge of the pit in front of the elephant's trunk.
"Light the torch...search carefully...lock Salonga..."
"Outflank...outflank...quickly,quickly...block any alley for me..."
"Salonga... come out... you can't hide... come out quickly..."
"Come out...if you don't come out, we will set fire..."
The reed pond in late autumn has long been withered and yellow, and even if it were set on fire, the Fire God would not be able to escape... We searched from the back pit to the middle pit, and finally to the front pit.
All the people for miles around were awakened, and even the Prime Minister's Office in the north faintly heard the chaos here.
"Look... I found... Is that black figure a person..."
The crowd suddenly became excited, and Isiha rushed over immediately, dragging out a black man who looked like a dead dog from the mud beside the pit.
Salonga, who was hiding in the reed mud, was finally captured!
Li Tuo looked at the stinky black mud lying limply on the ground in front of him, and quickly pinched his nose with his hands in disgust, "Give him a change of clothes... Ouch... After all, we are all members of the same palace, so don't freeze to death..."
There was no need to think about taking a shower. A few government officials randomly found a tattered cotton jacket and cotton trousers, not knowing they were the clothes of a servant of the Salonga family, and put them on for him.
After putting on dry clothes, Salonga, who was half-frozen to death, finally regained some consciousness. Li Tuo, who shook his head and sighed, pointed at his teapot, "There is still half a pot of hot tea here, Mr. Sa... take a sip." !”
Salonga held the hot tea and drank it gurglingly. This was a pot of resurrecting soup!
The female relatives who were looking at him through the window in the wing all cried, "Master... Oooh... Master... What should I do..."
"Every home is gone...Every home has been ransacked..."
Salonga drank half of the pot of tea and was finally able to speak. He sat on the stone floor in the back garden, looked up at Li Tuo and gasped.
"Li Tuo? I have never offended you. What do you mean by this today? Why did you raid my home?"
Li Tuo looked at him as if he were a fool, "I say Saronga... you have been an official for much longer than me, why do you still need to ask about this kind of thing?"
"What is your identity? You are a Manchu with a blue flag. How valuable is your father's identity? Moreover, he is also a doctor in the Ministry of Justice and a member of the Military Aircraft Department..."
"With your status, can I confiscate your home? I'm a fool. I can mobilize the soldiers of the Nine Sect Admirals and Shuntian Mansion without a decree?"
Salonga stopped talking for a moment. Of course he knew that Li Tuo didn't lie to him. Who would dare to ransack a house without a will?
"Li Tuo... for the sake of our friendship in working together, tell me the truth. Who did I offend? Who made the decree?"
"Salonga! You still don't understand? Are you still pretending to be stupid?"
"According to the order of the Queen Mother of the West, Chief Li Lianying has arrested all the Little Sura eunuchs in the Military Aircraft Department one by one for interrogation!"
"Don't you know anything about the missing gold seal of the Pseudo-Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?"
"Ah? The gold seal is lost? I don't know...how do I know? You won't doubt me, will you! O conscience of heaven and earth, you can't unjustly accuse people!"
Even now, Salonga still refuses to admit his guilt. Li Tuo shook his head, "Master Sa... all the eunuchs in the palace, Little Sula, have identified you, and you still don't admit it?"
"It's a frame-up! This is a frame-up! I want to see the queen mother, I want to see the prince..." The struggling Salonga was about to jump up and rush out, but Isiha rushed over and kicked him in the knee.
"Kneel down... Mr. Li is asking you a question. How dare you rebel..."
With a pop, Saronga's knee hit the stone slab, and his face turned pale in pain. "Li Tuo... you... you can't accuse me unjustly... we two brothers are not having fun!"
"Brother, I beg you. Send a message to the Queen Mother. I really didn't steal anything. Send a message to the Queen Mother... I beg you!"
Li Tuo knelt down in front of Salonga with a grimace, "Master Sa... it's hard to handle! Why, the court has found a witness. Someone proves that you stole it, and the court has to do errands..."
"Where is the physical evidence? What do you mean by your empty words? You ransacked my house. Did you find the gold seal?"
"To catch a thief, you need to catch the stolen goods; to catch a traitor, you need to catch both! Don't you, Li Tuo, understand this truth? Where is the stolen goods? Where is the golden seal?"
Li Tuo shook his head, "I did not find a gold seal in your house...but just because it's not here doesn't mean it's not available elsewhere!"
"Come here... show Master Saronga our harvest..."
