Chapter 518: Rest in peace, Li Sicheng
Yueqing Temple has a nice environment and is surrounded by big trees. It looks like a paradise from a distance.
At this moment, this paradise has become a killing field.
Jiang Qingzhi's guards stood in front of the hall with murderous intent. More than ten corpses stretched from the gate to the steps in front of the hall.
The two Taoists who were still alive knelt beside them. Sun Bu Tong said with a smile, "Do you want to tell them yourself, or wait until you are tortured?"
Before the two Taoists could speak, Sun Bu Tong said happily: "If you resist stubbornly, you will be punished."
"I am willing to speak!"
"I am willing to confess!"
Sun Bu Tong sighed, "I finally learned a few tricks from the housekeeper, and I was just about to find someone to try it out. Can't you... use more force?"
"I am willing to confess. We are not Taoists..."
Jiang Qingzhi was standing at the back, with his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery inside the Taoist temple in the sunset.
The sunset illuminated the main hall and the buildings to the east with a golden splendor, but beneath the golden splendor were dark walls, floor tiles, and moss...
The statue also looked particularly majestic in the darkness, as if it would break free from the wooden frame that bound it in the next moment.
"Uncle."
Sun Bu Tong is here.
"Tell me about it." Jiang Qingzhi stood in the middle of the yard, looking at the mottled stone slabs on the ground. He felt that this Taoist temple had a history of at least five or six hundred years.
"Those people were sent to the Taoist temple when they were young. They were called Taoist priests, but they just trained their muscles and practiced with guns and sticks all day long. From time to time, someone would hide in the Taoist temple, sometimes for a year or so, sometimes for a few days. Some would flee far away, while others would return to Beijing..."
"So it's a hiding place?" Jiang Qingzhi was a little disappointed.
"Yes." Sun Bu Tong stood with his hands folded. "One of them confessed that five of the people hiding here were killed."
"Not surprising." The old dandy once said that the families of the powerful and wealthy may seem glamorous, but in fact, there are many shameful things going on inside.
"My Lord." A guard came over, "There are a few people outside, saying they are from the palace."
"Let them come."
Jiang Qingzhi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the sunset, feeling more peaceful than ever before.
"Meet Long Wilbur."
The man's voice was sharp. After saluting, he said, "I am from the Yanqi Army. I was ordered to track down the two men. Seeing that the guards of the Lord followed them, I didn't intend to take credit for it. But I didn't expect..."
The visitor smiled at Sun Bu Tong and said, "I just didn't expect that one of them would run away."
The Yanqi is the emperor's personal force. They have been lurking in the palace with Dao Ye for many years. Their only mission is to investigate the cause of death of the late emperor. Now they have an additional mission, which is to investigate the murderer who poisoned the late crown prince.
But Emperor Jiajing let Jiang Qingzhi join in, and after several moves, Jiang Qingzhi suppressed the Yanqi. According to Yan San, the Taoist asked Jiang Qingzhi to participate in this matter because he felt that the Yanqi had more than enough force but not enough brains.
In other words, Jiang Qingzhi used the brain and Yan Qi took action.
How could the proud and arrogant Yanqi accept this?
So this time they followed Jiang Qingzhi's guards all the way and did not show up until they found someone escaping from the Taoist temple, then they showed up.
This is a beautiful counterattack!
"Is this the person you are talking about?"
Something was thrown over, and with a puff, it landed beside the man riding Yan. Everyone looked over and saw that it was a Taoist priest.
Mo Zhan came over and saluted, "Master, the brothers who were waiting outside discovered this man and wanted to follow him to see where he went. Who knew that this man panicked and ran in the opposite direction of the capital, so he attacked him."
Jiang Qingzhi glanced at the man from Yanqi. He looked normal, but his fists were clenched tightly.
"Thank you for your hard work." Jiang Qingzhi said to the visitor.
The visitor took a deep breath and said, "Goodbye!"
When they walked out of the Taoist temple, two men bowed their heads and apologized. The man cursed, "How could you be so careless that you didn't realize that Jiang Qingzhi's guards were lurking nearby?"
A man smiled bitterly, "The man was hiding in the tree. We looked carefully at first, but we didn't know how he hid. We didn't find him."
Another man said, "Now I remember it."
"Say!"
"The Tiger Guards were trained by Chang Wei Bo. It is said that there is an elite unit among them, who are better at hiding their whereabouts and gathering information than the Beijing Guards."
The visitor was stunned for a moment. "Yes, if a man can teach a powerful army like the Tiger Guards, how can his own guards be bad?"
"The commander said that we use our hands, and Long Wilbur uses his brain..."
"Damn it! I wanted to turn over, but I didn't expect to be slapped down again."
"Go, go back!"
In the setting sun, several riders rode away.
A flock of birds flew over and landed on the big tree outside the Taoist temple.
Amid the gurgling sounds, the two charlatans also began to confess.
"…It was Li Yuanhai who contacted us in the beginning. He promised us some benefits and asked us to tamper with the divination. The land selected by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory was considered extremely unlucky, and then the land selected by the Imperial Temple was considered extremely auspicious."
"Who is looking after that piece of land?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
A charlatan said, "We two saw it."
"Can you also read Feng Shui?" Jiang Qingzhi was a little curious.
"It's just... it's just fooling around." The charlatan looked like an immortal with a sincere expression, the kind of person who would make you feel that his spiritual power is unfathomable as soon as you meet him.
Hey!
Thinking that his nephew's tomb had been tampered with by a charlatan, Jiang Qingzhi felt that the Taoist priest would most likely get furious.
"Oh, right." Another charlatan said, "Yuan Ze asked me that question that time."
"What did you ask?" "How can you make a person's soul restless?"
Jiang Qingzhi's eyes narrowed, "Return to the city!"
……
At night, in the long alleys of the Imperial Prison, the idle prisoners were either sleeping or in a daze. Some were reciting something in a low voice, while others were well-treated, with all the necessary writing tools and candles, and were writing furiously.
There was an oil lamp not far away, the light flickered, and it seemed as if countless figures were surging in the darkness.
Li Huan's treatment was neither good nor bad. There were no candles, but the cell was relatively clean. The jailer said that if anyone had a headache or fever, they could shout.
At first, Li Huan thought that the Imperial Prison was quite humane. However, during dinner, he actually found two pieces of mutton in his bowl. Suddenly, the Imperial Prison became a paradise in the eyes of this gentleman.
But before they started eating the mutton, the prisoner across from them started to grumble, "Why does he have mutton? And the bread is made of white flour."
Li Huan was startled, and then he heard the jailer scolding: "If you have the ability, find a good son-in-law for your daughter, and I will naturally send you mutton and white flour cakes."
Li Huan was stunned.
The jailer turned around and smiled, "We don't ask for Chang Wei Bo's appreciation. If Li Si Cheng can get out, Chang Wei Bo will definitely ask. So please ask Li Si Cheng to say something fair."
It turned out that these people treated him well not because of the rules of the imperial prison, but because they were afraid of revenge from his son-in-law.
Li Huan smiled bitterly, looked at the mutton, and suddenly started eating it in big mouthfuls.
"Li Sicheng has a good appetite. Some people come in and have trouble sleeping and eating for several days. They can lose a lot of weight." The prisoner next door was surprised when he heard the sound of his chewing.
"Eat well and take good care of yourself!" Li Huan bit into a piece of biscuit with a determined look in his eyes. "There's not much I can do as a father-in-law, but standing in the court to cheer for that kid will at least help him gain some momentum."
After the meal, Li Huan pondered over the incident again and again, trying to find doubts and evidence to overturn the situation.
But after thinking about it, those two charlatans are the most suspicious.
I guess those two are being interrogated right now!
Li Huan felt relieved and went to rest.
The night outside was getting darker, but the prison was the same all year round. The only way to sense the seasons was to judge by the temperature.
In the dark alley, a dark shadow suddenly appeared.
The steps are light.
The prisoners on both sides were not asleep. They sensed something and secretly opened their eyes, only to see a dark shadow slowly moving inside.
He quickly closed his eyes, chanted Buddhist mantras, and prayed for the unlucky prisoner...
……
Yuan Ze didn't sleep and was drinking in the study.
The food had already gone cold, and he was too lazy to ask someone to heat it up. He just ate it with a plate of dried beans, a sip of wine, and a few dried beans, thinking it tasted better than delicacies from land and sea.
"Is it time to take action now?" Yuan Ze looked at the sky outside.
Li Yuanhai said that his brother-in-law wanted three hundred strings of cash.
An advance deposit of 100 strings of cash has been paid. According to the agreement, Li Yuanhai's brother-in-law will take action tonight.
"To be honest, I have no grudge against you, but someone has to take the blame for this. If no one else can do it, then you, Li Sicheng, are the right person." Yuan Ze raised his glass as if in a toast, "Li Sicheng, have a safe journey!"
……
Several riders arrived outside the capital.
There was the sound of horse hooves and bows being strung from the top of the city wall. Someone shouted, "Who?"
The people coming down from the city looked up at the top of the city wall and said, "We are returning to the capital on business orders."
A lantern was hanging from the top of the city wall, and a general poked his head out, "Sign up!"
"Xin'an Lane, Jiang!"
"Long Wilbur?" the general said, "But in the middle of the night..."
"I have a letter from His Majesty!" Jiang Qingzhi rode over.
There was a basket hanging from the top of the city wall, and Jiang Qingzhi placed the letter in it.
After some inspection, the city gate was quietly opened a crack, and Jiang Qingzhi and others led their horses in.
The general bowed and said, "My Lord, I am sorry for offending you earlier."
"You are loyal to your duties, how could you have offended me?" Jiang Qingzhi said.
The general looked respectful as he watched Jiang Qingzhi go away. Someone around him asked, "Captain, why is Chang Wei Bo coming back to the city so late at night? Is there something important going on in the city?"
"Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask." The general turned around, and the people around him muttered, "In fact, we should use baskets to get them up. After all, opening the city gate is risky. If someone investigates, we will not be able to escape punishment."
Although Jiang Qingzhi had the handwritten letter from Emperor Jiajing, according to the rules, the city gates of the capital could not be opened at night unless it was a major event.
The general walked up to the top of the city wall and watched Jiang Qingzhi and others rushing into the city.
"When Lord Bo asked us to watch the training of the Tiger Guards and Left Guards, I didn't think much of it at first, but after two days, I was really impressed. It turns out that soldiers can be trained in this way!"
The general's eyes were blazing. "Speaking of which, Lord Bo can be regarded as half of my mentor. I don't want to be a watchdog in the capital. If I lead the army to war next time, I will definitely go to Xin'an Lane to beg you to accompany me."
"I heard that the cavalry under Altan are very brave!" The person next to him was the general's confidant, and he whispered, "Just a watchdog, it's safe!"
"My uncle once said that a man should fight the enemy when he joins the army. He also said something to encourage us..."
The general held the hilt of his sword and thought for a long time.
"When a man joins the army, he should kill for his country! He should kill people all over the land!"
The general's eyes seemed to be burning with fire, "My greatest wish in this life is to follow Lord Bo and kill people everywhere!"
(End of this chapter)
