The public hall was very quiet, with no human words, only the sounds of breathing and grunting one after another.
The man walked in with ease. Although everything was dark and people were sleeping on the floor, he didn't meet anyone. He walked to a bed very smoothly. With a flick of his sleeve, a bag fell on it. Next to the man's cheek.
He didn't look back, and walked over with a calm face, walked past three or four bedding sheets, and finally got into the bed where the warmth was still there.
When the bag fell, the sleeping man opened his eyes in an instant and looked around with a burning gaze. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he stretched out a hand from the quilt and held the bag in his hand.
Everything was quiet, as if nothing had happened, and everyone seemed to have been sleeping.
He Zhenfu stood outside the official hall and gave a few words to the guards hiding in the dark before returning to the third floor.
He respectfully reported back clearly what had just happened: "Sir, Yu Qing and Li Jie have been in contact very frequently."
Han Changmu said attentively: "The Imperial Guard named Rong said that the bag contained a bamboo whistle?"
He Zhenfu nodded: "Exactly, according to Young General Rong's description, the bamboo whistle is yellow in color and looks like an old thing."
Han Changmu asked in confusion: "Bamboo whistle, why did you go to all the trouble to send a bamboo whistle in and give it to Li Jie?"
He Zhenfu shook his head: "This is a humble job."
Han Changmu tapped the desk with his fingers: "Who can use a bamboo whistle?"
"According to Young General Rong's description, the bamboo whistle is not big and is probably just a toy." He Zhenfu thought.
Han Changmu thought for a moment: "Does Li Jie have any children?"
He Zhenfu said: "Yes, Li Jie had one wife and two concubines, and gave birth to one legitimate son, one legitimate daughter, two concubines, and three concubines. Both the legitimate daughters and concubines were married, and the legitimate sons and concubines were also married. We have seven grandchildren, the oldest is sixteen years old and the youngest has just turned three."
Han Changmu was shocked when he heard this. He never expected that Li Jie's family background was so complicated. Since he had children at home, it was reasonable to use a toy like a bamboo whistle.
His eyes flickered. Perhaps the bamboo whistle belonged to one of Li Jie's grandchildren and was used by Yu Qing to blackmail Li Jie.
He reached out and patted the desk gently: "Stare at Li Jie."
He Zhenfu should claim it is.
Watching He Zhenfu leave, he added: "There shouldn't be any movement tonight. Let the internal guards guard it. You all should go and rest early."
At dawn the next day, the air after the rain was particularly crisp, the clouds drifted away with the wind, the faint sunshine shone dimly, and the roof tiles and green bricks were washed clean and clear by the rain.
On this day, both the east and west dormitories were empty, and there were no entrance examinations for scholars, but the Gongyuan was the busiest.
Many officials in the Mingyuan Building had sealed all the examination papers the day before, and today they had to mark the examination papers with "red numbers" according to the "Thousand-Character Classic", and then transcribed the ink scrolls with a red pen, which was called "Zhu". "Scroll", and it was this "Zhu Juan" that was finally sent to the examiner for review.
This is a method that was explored in provincial examinations one after another to prevent fraud in the imperial examinations.
At first, it was enough to cover up the candidate's name and hometown, but later someone secretly marked the exam paper, and a unique font was required for the examiner to recognize.
Such cheating methods are difficult to guard against.
Finally, after the name was sealed, transcripts were added. The examination papers handed in by the scholars were called "ink scrolls", and the examination papers transcribed with a red pen were called "zhu scrolls".
This method eliminates fraud to a great extent.
At dawn on this day, after the morning meal, many officials in the Mingyuan Building drew lots in the official hall to select the test paper that they were responsible for transcribing that day.
After drawing lots and receiving the test paper they needed to transcribe, the officials had to transcribe it in the official hall under the supervision of many forbidden troops.
Han Changmu and his party arrived at the official hall at this time.
The hall was very quiet, with the rustling of pen writing coming and going.
When transcribing red scrolls, the handwriting must be neat and neat without any scrawl, and there must be no errors or omissions. Therefore, there cannot be any distraction. Everyone must concentrate on writing quickly.
When Han Changmu and his party walked in, there was no big commotion. After all, it had become commonplace for people from the Internal Security Department to walk around in the office hall.
Only a few people looked up at the door, including Yu Qing and Li Jie.
Seeing this, Han Changmu raised his eyebrows slightly, walking slowly around the rows of desks as if on a casual inspection, with his hands behind his back.
The same goes for Yao Yao and Meng Suigai. They walked slowly and casually, seemingly without putting pressure on anyone, but they looked at everyone with burning eyes.
Han Changmu walked around and when he came to Li Jie, the booklet in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.
The "pop" sound of the booklet falling to the ground startled Li Jie. He put down his pen, moved his feet, and was about to get up when he saw Han Changmu already squatting down and reaching out to pick up the booklet.
He calmly breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again. Unexpectedly, he heard Han Changmu's clear voice.
"Raise your feet and step on the booklet."
Before he could recover, he subconsciously raised his feet.
Han Changmu lowered his head and glanced at Li Jie's soles. Then he stood up with the booklet and patted the dust on the booklet. He didn't even look at Li Jie and only looked at Yao Yao who was standing behind Li Jie. After a glance, he turned around and walked away unintentionally.
Yao Yao raised his eyebrows and turned to the other side.
Li Jie looked at Han Changmu's back with a blank expression, not realizing that someone was standing behind him just now and glancing at his hand.
He didn't notice anything unusual, picked up the pen, and continued writing.
There were not many rooms on the third floor of Mingyuan Building. Han Changmu lived in the largest room, which was divided into two rooms inside and outside with a four-fold screen. The outer room was a study, used for discussing affairs, and the inner room was used for sleeping.
The remaining rooms were used by the inner guards to rest in shifts. Only Meng Sui and three other people were given a separate room.
Han Changmu sat behind the desk and looked at Yao Yao with raised eyebrows: "What did you see clearly just now?"
Yao Yao nodded and said: "Li Jie's tiger's mouth, index finger and thumb are touching each other, and there are extremely thick calluses on the palm and the abdomen of the four fingers. This is not caused by holding pens for many years."
Han Changmu nodded very appreciatively: "In such a short time, you can see these things, your eyes are really bright."
Yao Yao didn't feel embarrassed at all, but looked in agreement.
Meng Suijie stayed without knowing it, and asked confusedly: "It's not a callus left by holding a pen, but what is the callus left by?"
Yao Yao glanced at Meng Suigai's hand and chuckled helplessly: "Mr. Meng Qi, do you usually practice calligraphy?"
Meng Sui smiled dryly: "It's so tiring to practice calligraphy."
Yao Yao said again: "Then look at your hands."
Meng Suige opened his hands and looked at them in confusion, and found the same layer of cocoons in the same position.
He twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "This is the cocoon left behind by using a sword." He was puzzled: "He is a scholar, what kind of sword does he use every day?"
Han Changmu tapped his hand on the desk a few times: "A scholar who does not hold a pen, but a sword." He sneered: "Just now I took a look at the soles of his shoes. They were splayed, and the wear and tear looked like Xia Yuanji's. The pair of shoes placed in Baocheng's exam basket are the same."
Yao Yao frowned: "I hold a sword all the year round. I am a doctor in the Ministry of War."
She carefully recalled Li Jie's figure, the way he walked, and the direction of his eyebrows, eyes, and lips when he spoke. No matter how he thought about it, she felt that he looked very familiar. Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind, and she blurted out: "Sir, is Wang Cong also in the Ministry of War?" manage."
Han Changmu was stunned for a moment, his face was full of shock, and he felt unbelievable. He urgently ordered Meng Suigai: "Send a message to Cheng Chaoyan and ask her to check the whereabouts of Wang Cong."
Meng Suige hadn't come back to his senses yet, but subconsciously said yes. When he turned around, he remembered to ask: "Sir, what is the relationship between Li Jie and Wang Cong?"
Han Changmu grinded his teeth, almost wanting to reach out and slap Meng Sui across the face. After grinding his teeth for a long time, he gritted his teeth and uttered two words: "Go quickly."
Meng Sui let out a sigh, shrank his neck, and ran out of the door.
Han Changmu sighed helplessly, raised his eyes and asked Yao Yao: "Do you think Li Jie looks like Wang Cong?"
Yao Yao thought to himself: "I have never met Li Jie, but I have met Wang Cong. I thought it couldn't be such a coincidence. Two people who are so similar happen to be in different places. A doctor named Ren." , one is in charge." She paused slightly, and continued: "Furthermore, Li Jie is already over fifty years old, and Wang Cong has just been in his thirties. How come his appearance, steps, and expressions all seem to be nothing? resemblance."
Han Changmu closed his eyes, and all the details that he had not noticed at first filled his mind.
There was no words for a whole day, the Gongyuan was extremely quiet, and nothing happened.
The transcription of examination papers in the public office also went very smoothly. However, due to the large number of candidates for this provincial examination, even if the officials worked day and night and wrote non-stop, it would still take three or four days to complete the transcription of these astonishing number of examination papers.
After finishing his meal, Jiang Shen checked the progress of copying the test papers, sighed sadly, and ordered someone to invite Han Changmu.
Han Changmu pushed the door open and saw Jiang Shen's sad face. He was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "Mr. Ge, what's wrong with you?"
"Jiuchao is here, sit down and talk." Jiang Shen pointed to the bed next to him: "I just went to check the progress of copying the examination papers. It will take at least four days."
Han Changmu nodded: "There are many candidates for the provincial examination this time, so the number of examination papers that need to be transcribed is naturally astonishing."
Jiang Shen said sincerely: "Jiu Chao, the longer it takes to transcribe and the longer the examination papers are in the public office, the more accidents will happen. This provincial examination has just begun and there have been frequent twists and turns. I really can't worry about it."
After entering the Gongyuan, the Internal Security Department, the Forbidden Army, and many officials became like grasshoppers on a rope. One was prosperous and the other was damaged. No one could run away if something happened.
