Gui Yuan

Chapter 44

On the way back to the mansion, Wei Yao roughly recounted what Emperor Xiangfeng said.

Changzhou is the last barrier of the imperial capital, and it is also the fortress with the largest number of defenders. Its role is self-evident.Generally speaking, the soldiers, horses and weapons used in combat are all managed by the Ministry of War. After Emperor Xiangfeng established the Great Wei Dynasty, in order to reduce the burden on the Ministry of War, he specially created the Changzhou Wusi. In addition to managing the [-] garrisons in Changzhou, he also had the important task of supervising the manufacture of weapons. .The Armed Forces Headquarters was built in Changzhou, under the jurisdiction of the Changzhou Armed Forces Division. Several people from the Armed Forces Supervisor of the headquarters drew up sketches, which were distributed to the various factory divisions, made according to the drawings, and then transported by the Ministry of War to various states for use by the entire army.

A few days ago, Emperor Xiangfeng received a secret report from Bai Dingguang, the deputy military envoy of Changzhou. The letter said that the military envoy died at home the day before yesterday, and none of the dozens of people in the mansion noticed anything unusual.At the same time, a military supervisor of the general headquarters of military equipment disappeared. Bai Dingguang knew that this matter was of great importance, so he dared not make decisions without authorization, so he asked Emperor Xiangfeng to express it clearly.

The Changzhou Wusi was built by Emperor Xiangfeng himself, so he was naturally very concerned about it, and the military equipment involved the country's major plans, so it should not be underestimated.This kind of matter should have been handled by the Ministry of War, but although Changzhou Wusi belonged to the Ministry of War, it had always been directly appointed by Emperor Xiangfeng, so it was not appropriate for the Ministry of War to handle it, so Emperor Xiangfeng thought of Wei Yao.

Ning Qing lowered her eyes and chuckled, "Your Majesty won't let you be idle, but after only a few days back, I found another job for you."

Wei Yao smiled indifferently: "It's not about leaving tomorrow."

"Speaking of which, what kind of tour is this? It's clearly an official business." Ning Qing got out of the carriage, walked a few steps before remembering, and turned around, with a somewhat unhappy tone.

"There are mountains and rivers everywhere. Although it's official business, you can enjoy the scenery of other places in your spare time. It's not a lie." Wei Yao passed by him, stopped and glanced at him, "Go into the mansion."

Before leaving, Ning Qing went to the East Palace to meet Ning Huan. Ning Huan was just pregnant and had her first child again. After sitting for a while, he left first.The prince comforted Ning Huan, followed him out of the room, and walked to the study with Ning Qing to discuss matters.

"It just so happens that you are entering the palace today, so I won't let someone pass it on to you." Zhu Yu took a notebook from the desk drawer, handed it to Ning Qing, and said, "The spies came to the East Palace yesterday, and the records they found In the file, leave it to me."

The records in the file are very detailed, Liu Ping's background and assets registered in the register are all listed one by one, and the members of the main family and even the offshoots are also slightly mentioned.Ning Qing turned a page and found a piece of yellow paper in the book. When he opened it, the words "Xiangfeng Five-year Scholars List" came into view, obviously transcribed by the spies.Ning had heard it mentioned by Chen Chunluan early in the morning, and it was not surprising to see Du Yuan's name on it at this time, but he was taken aback when he saw "Zhan Guiyou" in the last line.

The name is somewhat familiar, as if it has been heard somewhere.

Zhu Yu glanced at it and said: "This is a strange thing I found. Zhan Guiyou, the military commander of Changzhou, and the two of them are Jinshi in the same class. This is nothing. There are quite a lot of Jinshi in the same class. It's just strange that Zhan Guiyou was killed suddenly two days ago."

Ning Qing put down the recording file. The fact was strange, and he became more and more suspicious. He turned his head and asked, "Does he have a personal relationship with Liu Ping?"

"The two of them had a good friendship when they were officials in the imperial capital. Later, Zhan Guiyou was transferred to Changzhou as a military envoy. I don't know if there is any contact in private." Zhu Yudao, "What is suspicious is that on the night Zhan Guiyou was killed, Liu Ping quietly went to Zhuangzi outside the city."

"What?" Ning Qing asked in shock.

Originally, because Liu Ping was cautious, Chen Chunluan sent people to watch outside the village for a long time without any results. Then he changed his mind and found the clue of Liu Ping from Jukezhai. How could such a cautious person go outside the village suddenly?Unless there is something urgent that forces him to go there himself.

It is impossible to know what the reason is. Ning Qing has no other skills at the moment, and entrusts this matter to Zhu Yu to continue to send people to investigate.

Three days later, Wei Yao and Ning Qing went to Changzhou in a low-key way. Xiao Yuan stuck his head in the ancient book library and enjoyed reading ancient medical books every day, so Wei Yao only brought Zhao Min and Tian Cheng, while Ning Qing brought Fei Tian and Lin Rong.What Emperor Xiangfeng wanted was a secret investigation, and only a few people knew about their trip. They only said that Wei Yao took Ningqing to travel around the mountains and rivers, which attracted the envy of the wives of the imperial capital's official family, and the reputation of An Guogong and his wife's good relationship spread Come.

A group of people set off in the morning and arrived at Changzhou Wusi before dusk. Bai Dingguang received the news in advance and did not dare to leak the news. .”

Wei Yao nodded, and looked around the room when he turned around. The decorations in the room were bright in color, but the cups and cups served with tea were dark and introverted, which didn't seem like one person's preference.Wei Yao asked: "After Zhan Wusi died, did you take over his official duties?"

Bai Dingguang was taken aback for a moment, and replied: "Yes, after Zhan Wusi's death, I asked His Majesty for instructions. Your Majesty did not mention a candidate for succession. The military affairs are cumbersome. A lot has been accumulated in the past two days, and there are many urgent requirements. The lower officials will make their own decisions and deal with them first."

Wei Yao patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You should handle everything emotionally and rationally, so don't panic."

The deputy envoy could take over the duties of the envoy in an emergency, but from Bai Dingguang's appearance, he was obviously a man of his own accord, and he was afraid that others would misunderstand him at this time.

"Your residence is ready, why don't you take a shower and change your clothes to wash away the dust from the journey? The next official will order someone to prepare meals."

Ning Qing glanced outside the door, the afterglow was strong, and a ray of dizziness leaked into the room, reflecting on half of his face, making his face softer.He turned his head and said: "It's still early, why don't you go to Zhan Wusi's residence first?"

Bai Dingguang obviously didn't know his identity, he was stunned for a moment, and replied immediately: "Of course, I wonder who this is?"

"It's my wife, Ning Qing, the son of Prime Minister Ning." Wei Yao introduced.

Bai Dingguang had heard the good talk about the marriage between General Zhenbei and Ning Xiang, but he didn't want the two to be inseparable in such an official business.He cupped his hands towards Ning Qing, but when he was about to speak, he found an embarrassing thing, he didn't know what to call Ning Qing.

Wei Yao rescued him and said, "Just call the young master."

Bai Dingguang said casually: "Then according to what Mr. Ning said, the next official will take you to Zhan Wusi's residence first?"

Wei Yao nodded, and Bai Dingguang was relieved to lead them the way.

Lin Rong followed Ning Qing closely, with a look of fear on his face, and he whispered suspiciously: "My lord, it will be dark soon, why are you going there? Didn't you hear that people died terribly?"

Ning Qing smiled at his timid look: "People have cleared away long ago, and there are so many people with us, so there is nothing to be afraid of. If you are really afraid, you can stay in your room by yourself, and we can go. "

Lin Rong grasped his sleeves tightly when he heard the words, shook his head and said, "No, no, the little one should follow the young master."

Zhan Guiyou's mansion is near Changzhou Wusi, and it took less than a cup of tea to walk there. Because something happened a few days ago, the servants of Zhan's mansion saw him with horror on their faces, saluted and then retreated. He refused to say more than half a sentence.

Mrs. Zhan was sick in bed and did not entertain them. She only ordered her servants to tell them that they could speak up if they needed it. There was only one request, and they must find out the truth.

Zhao Min and Tian Cheng took Fei Tian to patrol the yard, Lin Rong was timid to get close to acquaintances, so he followed Ning Qing.

Zhan Guiyou was alone in the study when the accident happened. He was busy with official duties on weekdays, the study was always brightly lit, and he didn't like outsiders to disturb him. Mrs. Zhan was used to this and didn't think there was anything special that night, so she went to bed early.According to the servant Xiaomeng, before midnight, she went into the study to change a pot of tea, and Zhan Guiyou asked her to go down to rest. She didn't know what happened until the next day.

Ning Please looked at the study room, not wanting to let go of any clues, so he asked after listening: "So, that servant is the last person in the mansion to see the envoy Zhan Wu?"

"Yes, but she really doesn't know more. I have checked with the officials. She is the dowry girl who has served Mrs. Zhan since she was a child. She has been in Zhan's house for more than ten years. She is an old man. I heard from people that Zhan Wusi is a human being. Generous and friendly to servants, Xiaomeng is a weak woman, she must not be able to use such means to kill people, I don't think it will be her who did it."

"Hmm." What Bai Dingguang said was well-founded and convincing, but there was one thing that made him curious at the moment, Ning Qing asked, "How did Si Zhan Wu die?"

From the beginning to the end, Bai Dingguang did not directly mention the cause of Zhan Guiyou's death, and it is not difficult to hear the taboo in his words.

Bai Dingguang was in a dilemma for a moment, then sighed and said, "Emissary Zhan Wu was strangled to death from behind by someone cutting off his hyoid bone, but there is one strange thing... When he was found the next day, his eyes were wide open and his lips cornered. The appearance of festering and bleeding, and the lips are purple, which is obviously a symptom of poisoning."

Wei Yao also felt strange: "Since it is going to be strangled to death, why bother to poison?"

"The lower officials also couldn't understand this point, and after careful inspection, they didn't find the source of the poison, so they couldn't figure out when, where, and where the poison was underground."

Ning Qing asked: "Wu Zuo has examined the corpse, do you know what kind of poison it is?"

"It's mercury."

Ning Qing turned his head and glanced at him, feeling a little strange: "Using mercury as poison is not common."

Ning Qing turned around, and Bai Dingguang must have sent someone to look over the places that should be turned over. He also looked at a few places at random, and there was nothing suspicious.

Seeing that Ning Qing shook his head at him, Wei Yao knew that he hadn't found anything, so he changed his attention and asked, "In addition to Zhan Wusi, there seems to be another military guard missing?"

Bai Dingguang replied: "It's Mr. Zhong Hui and Zhong. After the founding of the country, His Majesty specially appointed five military supervisors. Mr. Zhong is one of them. He has a good reputation among his colleagues. Mr. Zhong did not come the day after Zhan Wusi's accident. In the military equipment station, after the officials sent someone to his residence, they found out that he hadn’t returned all night, Mrs. Zhong thought he stayed in the military equipment station for another night, and when the officials left, they found out that something had happened.”

Overnight, two adults from Changzhou Wusi and Armed Forces Headquarters had accidents one after another. It really doesn't make sense to say that there is no connection between them, but what exactly is the connection?

Ning Qing has no clue at the moment. Zhan Gui's friend is dead, and clues are hard to find. In contrast, although Zhong Hui's whereabouts are unknown, no matter whether he is dead or alive, there will always be clues. Discovered something.He glanced inadvertently, and it was dark outside the window at some point, no wonder the room always felt dark.

When they came out, they ran into Fei Tian and the others, Wei Yao said: "It's getting late, go back to the military division to rest, and then go to the military equipment station tomorrow."