Chapter 340: Auspicious Signs Appear
"What's really big?"
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind.
The doorman was startled, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who was behind him. He said unhappily, "Dayou, you scared me to death."
Xu Dayou leaned out and looked outside, saying, "If you don't do anything wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. Did you do something bad?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Close the door quickly." The previous doorman said unhappily.
Xu Dayou saw Ruyu's back and said, "Did that woman go out shopping again?"
"She said that the master's study's pens and ink are running out, so she went out to buy some. You quickly close the door, I'm going to the toilet." The doorman said and hurried away.
"Didn't you just buy it a few days ago?"
The more Xu Dayou thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He looked around, took out a piece of paper and a small piece of carbon from his arms, wrote a few words on the paper, looked around again, and walked out.
Outside the side door is a small alley with few people. Only people from the mansion go in and out when they go out to buy things.
There was no one in the house at this time. Xu Dayou looked around, pressed the paper under a brick beside the door, went in and closed the door.
…………
"Your Majesty, Commander Yin requests to see you." Sanshui reported.
"Let him in."
Zhao Xing put down his pen and rubbed his eyes.
"It seems that the cabinet's affairs have to be put on the agenda. It's too tiring to deal with these things every day."
Zhao Xing had the idea of forming a cabinet before, but it had to be shelved because the time was not right.
However, he felt that he could find a few more people like Zhang Qingzhi to assist him in handling government affairs, first set up a prototype of a cabinet, and share some of the work with him.
After a while, Yin Hanzhang came in and saluted, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"
"No need to be polite!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and asked, "How are the things I asked you to prepare going?"
"Everything is almost ready and we can take action at any time." Yin Hanzhang replied.
"How's the investigation into the source of the rumor going?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Majesty, I came to the palace this time because of this matter.
I have investigated for several days but have not found many clues, and have not discovered any officials in the court who were involved.
However, there is something wrong with the maidservant in the residence of the Minister of Personnel Hu Zhongyan. I sent someone to investigate carefully and found that this maidservant went to a bookstore in Bianjing that sold the four treasures of the study many times..."
Zhao Xing waved his hands and said impatiently, "I don't want to hear what happened. Just tell me, what's wrong with this maid? Or is there something wrong with the store you mentioned?"
"Your Majesty, we haven't found out yet, but the pens, ink, paper and inkstone that Minister Hu used before were all bought from Moxuanzhai, and he has been using them for many years. It was only in the past month that he suddenly switched to the current store, and even the person who purchased the goods was changed. When I asked someone to investigate this store, I found that Wen Sheng and the third son of the Gu family often went to this store to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone." Yin Hanzhang said.
"Are you talking about the fourth young lady of the Sheng family?" When Zhao Xing first heard the name Wen Sheng, he was a little unresponsive.
"That's right!" Yin Hanzhang said, "It seems normal, but I have investigated and found that Wen Sheng rarely asked people to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstones before. Even if she did, it was the servants who went there. She has been going to this shop frequently in the past month. She said that her husband will soon take the imperial examination and needs a lot of pens and ink."
Zhao Xing frowned slightly when he heard this. Although he didn't know what Molan's relationship was like after she married Wen Yanjing, it was certain that Molan looked down on Wen Yanjing given her personality.
The news of Enke had spread several months ago. Even though Molan hoped that Wen Yanjing would pass the imperial examination and treated him well, she could just let the servants do things like buying pens and ink. There was no need for her to show up in person.
What's more, pens and ink are consumables. Since we know that they are consumed quickly, we should buy more.
Since Yin Hanzhang said it was frequent, it means Molan has been there frequently recently.
There were also problems on Hu Zhongyan's side. He knew Moxuanzhai, a shop specializing in selling the four treasures of the study, but the most famous item was ink.
The ink produced by Moxuanzhai was very popular among the dignitaries in Bianliang.
Men of note are so used to using things like pens, ink, paper, and inkstones that they won't change them easily.
"Find out the person behind this shop as soon as possible, and keep the fourth lady of the Sheng family and Gu Sanlang under surveillance. Remember not to alert the enemy. I want to see what these people are trying to do." Zhao Xing sneered.
"Yes!" Yin Hanzhang replied.
"Once you have prepared what I asked you to do, just start right away. There is no need to ask for my permission." Zhao Xing said.
"I obey your order!" Yin Hanzhang replied.
"Go!"
Zhao Xing waved his hand and sent Yin Hanzhang away. "Molan, Gu Sanlang, and Hu Zhongyan, what is the connection between these three people?"
Zhao Xing frowned slightly. It seemed that three seemingly unrelated people were connected. It was strange no matter how you looked at it.
"No, they are not unrelated!"
Zhao Xing thought about it for a long time, and suddenly realized that there were indeed things in common between the three of them.
Lin Xiaoniang's death was entirely due to him. If he hadn't sent someone to the Sheng family to pass on the message, Sheng Hong would never have killed Lin Xiaoniang with his personality.
The reason why Gu Tingwei's mother, Xiao Qin, was sent to the Ministry of Punishment was because he went to see Empress Dowager Cao.
As for Hu Zhongyan, although Zhao Xing did not do anything to him, he would definitely not let him go for what he had done before.
Hu Zhongyan must be aware of this, so the common point among the three is that they all have a grudge against Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing didn't believe that if the king ordered him to die, he had to die.
They might not dare to retaliate alone, but if they unite, they may have the courage to do so.
"Is it Hu Zhongyan?"
Zhao Xing quickly shook his head. Hu Zhongyan did not have that ability. After all, he was just a Minister of Personnel. Although he was in a high position and had great power, could he dare to rebel?
Moreover, if it were Hu Zhongyan, there would be no need to choose a store selling study tools as the contact point.
It seems more like the person behind the store is the one who connects the three parties.
So who is the person behind this store? And what is his purpose?
"It's getting more and more interesting." Zhao Xing sneered.
…………
In early September, people in Kaifeng Prefecture were busy planting winter wheat.
In Zhongmou County, a family found a tortoise shell in a field with some runes on it.
After being identified by a scholar from Murakami, it was found that the runes on it were actually oracle bone inscriptions.
The scholar did not recognize it, so he sent it to the county school, where the provincial education official identified the words on the tortoise shell and confirmed that they were "The Great Song Dynasty is rising."
The words on the tortoise shell do not seem to have any traces of human carving, as if they were formed naturally.
The academician did not dare to delay and immediately found the county magistrate to send the tortoise shell to Bian Jing.
Regardless of whether it is true or false, the tortoise shells were dug out from the ground and so many people were watching.
Those who can become officials are not stupid. Even if this kind of thing is false, the court will spread it as true. As the people who report it, they will definitely be rewarded.
Not only do the words on this tortoise shell have good meanings, they also know that the current emperor's name was "Xing" before he ascended the throne.
Although the name was changed after he ascended the throne, it still has a dual meaning.
When the tortoise shell was discovered in Zhongmu County, similar incidents occurred in several counties in Kaifeng Prefecture.
In one county, a Buddha statue emerged from the ground. At first, only the head of the statue appeared, which attracted many people nearby to worship it and shouted "Buddha appeared."
The most important thing is that at first only the head of the Buddha statue appeared, but as the people worshipped, part of the body of the Buddha statue appeared, as if it was slowly coming out of the ground.
Soon the government got the news and sent people to guard the surrounding area.
However, the people did not disperse. They saw with their own eyes that the Buddha statue gradually emerged from the ground, and finally most of the statue came out.
Now, the news has become even more mysterious, and people are saying all kinds of things.
Auspicious signs frequently appeared near Bian Jing, and with the help of someone's deliberate guidance, all the previous rumors disappeared in an instant, and all the people praised Zhao Xing instead.
Naturally, all of these were done by people arranged by Zhao Xing.
The only thing that can defeat magic is magic.
Zhao Xing had no way to explain the theory of the connection between heaven and man.
But he can artificially create auspicious signs. Those TV dramas he watched in his previous life were not in vain. He still knows how to play tricks.
(End of this chapter)