Imperial City Division.
Under the crooked neck tree.
Li Chenan and Changsun Jinghong had a simple lunch together.
Changsun Jinghong did not talk about the changes that were likely to happen next, but instead told some stories about the past.
For example, Queen Lu's literary talent was extremely high, and she studied under Mr. Chunfu for three years.
He is a classmate of the current emperor.
For example, Princess Yun'an's martial arts is extremely high!
Her teacher is none other than Changsun Jinghong!
Take the county horse Qiao Zitong for example. He doesn't have any extraordinary life experience, he is just a poor scholar.
In the spring of the first year of Zhaohua, the late spring cold of that year was extremely severe.
Qiao Zitong entered Kyoto to prepare for that year's Enke competition. He stayed at the Wenchang Temple, but almost froze to death.
Princess Yun'an accompanied Queen Lu to offer incense at Wenchang Temple and happened to meet him, so she rescued Qiao Zitong back.
That year Enke, Qiao Zitong was the top pick in high school.
Princess Yun'an was overjoyed and asked the emperor to issue an order to recruit Qiao Zitong as a county horse. Perhaps Qiao Zitong was grateful to Princess Yun'an for saving his life, so he gave up becoming an official in the court and married Princess Yun'an in Meiyuan.
That was the second year of Zhaohua.
Changsun Jinghong seems to be really old.
He talked a lot and didn't need any response from Li Chenan. He seemed to just need a listener.
It wasn't until the third year of Zhaohua that he stopped talking.
"Well, I haven't said so many words for a long time, my mouth is sour."
"Go ahead..."
He stood up and lay down on the rocking chair again, looking at the fragmented sunshine separated by the leaves of the big leaf banyan tree.
"Go and see the seven good places."
"If, if you feel uncomfortable, come out and slowly adapt to it later."
Li Chenan stood up and bowed his hands: "Is it really the Palace of Hell?"
Chang Sun Jinghong grinned and waved his hand. Wang Zheng Jinzhong also looked at Li Chenan's back and smiled knowingly. He led Li Chenan towards the seventh place.
…
…
The Imperial City Division occupies a huge area!
Walking southeast from this crooked neck tree, Li Chenan saw many houses hidden in the forest.
Black roads, black walls, black tiles, black doors, black windows.
Except for the occasional light yellow osmanthus flowers on the osmanthus trees, Li Chenan has not seen any more beautiful colors except black.
Such an environment can be described as solemn.
But in fact it feels extremely depressing.
"Why does it have to be so dark?"
Wang Zheng Jinzhong thought for a while, "I guess everyone who enters the Imperial City Department will ask this question."
"Actually, I heard from Mr. Changsun that this was not the case when the Imperial City was rebuilt twenty years ago."
"Empress Lu likes to be more showy. She thinks that although the Imperial City Division did things that were rarely seen in the light in the past, it is better to stand in the sun now."
"So at that time, many flowers and plants were planted here, and most of these houses were made of green bricks and blue tiles."
Li Chenan was slightly startled. Looking around, there were no traces of the past that Wang Zheng Jinzhong mentioned.
"What happened next?"
Wang Zheng Jinzhong stood next to an osmanthus tree, "Of course it was what happened in the third year of Zhaohua!"
"When we got in the car, Lu Zhanxiao was killed all over the house, and I was very angry."
"He wanted to do something at that time, but Queen Lu dissuaded him, so he endured it."
"But in the winter of the third year of Zhaohua, when you were only a few months old, Queen Lu hanged herself to death, and you were nowhere to be found!"
Hanged?
This word caught Li Chenan's attention.
"This time I completely angered the adults!"
He leaned over and whispered in Li Chenan's ear: "Your Excellency had a big quarrel with the Emperor, and then he took all the seven people from the Imperial City Department in Kyoto... thousands of them!"
"My lord took these more than a thousand people and chopped off the heads of many people that night!"
"There were high-ranking officials in the court, female eunuchs in the harem, and the Qianniu Guards who were guarding the palace at that time..."
"At that time, my subordinate was just a little spy from Section 7, and he was lucky enough to participate."
Wang Zheng Jinzhong pointed to a small dark building opposite and said:
"This blackness is not all paint, but...mixed with the blood of those people!"
"My lord said, this is my condolences."
"Your Excellency also said... it is better for the Imperial City Division to walk in the dark. Under the sun... no one will be afraid!"
Li Chenan was suddenly shocked. He opened his mouth wide, "...how many people need to be killed?"
Wang Zheng Jinzhong continued to walk forward, "Not many, only 1,800."
"How come I haven't heard of such a big thing?"
"Because the emperor suppressed this matter... That night, fires broke out all over Kyoto, and many mansions were burned down. Of course, those mansions were actually empty, and the corpses were all brought here. Later, the people were informed that it was bandits causing trouble."
"Jingzhao Mansion arrested many people from the Jianghu and chopped them up randomly, and the matter ended casually."
"Since you are now the deputy director of the Imperial City Department, you will know these things sooner or later."
"Jitai, that old bastard, officially came to power after that bloodbath."
"Lord Changsun led people from the Seventh Division that night to kill Prime Minister Liang, who had already retired at that time... It can't be said that it was full of people. After checking later, a few of them still escaped."
Li Chen'an pondered for a moment and asked: "I heard that the incident in Zhaohua Year 3 was planned by a person named Xi Wei?"
"Well, that guy is the mastermind. The Imperial City Division has been looking for him all these years... Your Excellency said that he might have something to show for it in just the past two days."
"Caught his tail?"
Wang Zheng Jinzhong shook his head, "It was you who scolded Ji Tai to the point of vomiting blood today. Sir, I said that Ji Tai will definitely ask Xi Wei for advice, because there is not much time left for Ji Tai."
"So the Military Intelligence Unit has been mobilized in full force today, and the entire area within ten miles of the Prime Minister's Mansion is under surveillance."
"If someone really goes to the Prime Minister's Mansion, I'm afraid they can really wait and catch that old guy Xi Wei."
After turning around a dark courtyard wall covered with dead vines, Wang Zheng Jinzhong stopped.
Li Chenan looked up and suddenly heard a burst of heart-rending screams, wails and wailing for mercy.
Wang Zheng Jinzhong shook his head, "My lord has always said that interrogating prisoners should not involve such a big battle. Could it be that these bastards have forgotten it again?"
He pushed open the ajar door.
There is a plaque as big as a palm on the lintel.
The plaque reads "Seven Places".
He followed Wang Zheng Jinzhong and walked in. What hit him was the strong smell of blood.
This is a square courtyard.
In the yard, five people were stripped naked and hung on a cross with blood all over their bodies. One person on the left was holding a whip, and the other person on the right was holding a butcher's knife.
There is another person ahead.
He was sitting on a chair, holding a roast chicken in his hand.
There is a bottle of wine next to it!
While eating chicken and drinking, he said slowly: "Now that you think about it, you want to recruit?"
"late!"
"Skin them!"
"I heard that our Imperial City Department has a new Mr. Li, who can sew a thick human skin coat by peeling off a hundred skins!"
"Leave it to the commander-in-chief to give it to Mr. Li. I guess our Seventh Office will have more work in the future!"
As soon as he finished saying this, he suddenly raised his head, and his little eyes suddenly opened wide.
He stood up from the chair, holding a chicken in his left hand and a can of wine in his right hand, and ran towards Wang Zheng Jinzhong.
He grinned oilily:
"Commander, please eat chicken!"
