Chapter 23 Chapter two

Half a day later Captain Pan came, and Di Gong saw that he was fully clothed, as if he was waiting to go into battle.After saluting and making some greetings, he looked at Di Gong arrogantly and coldly. Di Gong said with a smile: "Your Majesty is the young master of Pan Cishi, so I am easy to find! Half a year ago, I went to Suzhou on business, and I paid a visit to your lord. Your lord's knowledge and morality are popular all over the world, and I, Di, admire him very much. When we parted My father held my hand and said: "The dog is serving in the barracks of Dashikou in the neighboring county. Please take care of me when it is convenient." Yesterday, Zhou Dudu called me here to inquire about the military affairs of Lanfang. .”

"Master Di is a wrong award. He is a martial artist in a small school. He doesn't read much. He knows the great righteousness of serving the country. He only hopes to make meritorious deeds. He is born in a jade family. He is hardly disgraceful to his family. If he is neglected or disrespected by Shicai, I hope the sea will not be ignored. Oh, Di When the master met my father, did my father mention the misfortune of the small school?" "My father was shocked and surprised by the unfortunate death of Xianhu..." "My father shouldn't have forced me to get married. I was young and ignorant of worldly affairs. I had a family before I had established a career. It was inevitable that I would have frequent troubles, and it would also frustrate the small school's ambition to serve the country all my life. But that misfortune happened again, which called me Depressed day and night, with nowhere to go to sue."

"Could it be that Captain Pan has a sweetheart of his own?" Di Gong was secretly startled. "Heaven and earth don't allow it. ——How can a real man behave in a mediocre way? Besides, I am very respectful, and the love between husband and wife is deep..." "Xianyu was murdered by villains?" Di Gong sideways.Colonel Pan sighed, his face ashen ashes: "Master Di, it was an officer from the same battalion who killed Jian Jing. This man is a hungry ghost, who only hunts flowers and asks willows, and abuses women. For some reason, he moved After being reprimanded by Jianjing, he became so angry that he strangled Jianjing to death. God has eyes and the law is clear. At dawn, he will be tied to the West School Field and beheaded. After that, he sighed again and again, covering his face with his hands.

Suddenly he raised his head, and said: "It's all right now, Xiaoxiao broke free from entanglement and saved a lot of troubles, which is also a blessing. Captain Wu gave me a helping hand..." Di Gong was silent, knowing a little about the truth in his heart.After waiting for a while to speak, an officer came looking for him with sweat all over his face: "Magistrate Di, it was hard to find me, and Governor Zhou wants to see you. When Governor Zhou happened to pass by the Yuanmen, he heard that Mr. Di Renjie, the magistrate of Lanfang County, was coming. The camp is doing business, so I specially asked the villain to look for it. ——Come on, come with me to the main hall of the military office of the Governor's Mansion in the 'Hunting Palace', and the Governor of Zhou is waiting for you."

Inside the huge palace - the main hall of the Military Yamen of the Governor's Mansion - the lamps and candles are brightly lit, as if it were daytime, but it is surprisingly quiet.A dozen generals gathered around a long desk and looked up at the mighty Governor Zhou, as if they were waiting for his final decision.Dudu Zhou paced back and forth, the iron armor all over his body gleamed under the light, and a golden chinchilla coiled on the iron helmet kept shaking.His hand pulled out and inserted the sword at his waist, hesitating very much, as if he was about to make a major decision. Duke Di kowtowed at Dudu Zhou, only to find that Dudu Zhou's left eye was wrapped with a black cloth—unfortunately shot through by a Turkic archer in a big battle last month—his right eye was staring at Duke Di sternly.

"Di Renjie, I heard that you are like a god in breaking prisons, and you are the best at solving riddles. I have a riddle for you to solve. This riddle is not only very difficult, but also very urgent. —— Not only must the analysis be correct, but also the analysis must be accurate. Just in time. It’s almost dawn, I don’t have time to linger, General Miao and General Liu come over!” Generals Miao and Liu respectfully walked in front of Dudu Zhou, wearing armor, and just nodded slightly to show that they greeted Duke Di.General Liu is the vanguard of the left army, General Miao is the envoy of the Chinese army, and the chief dispatcher of the army.The vanguard of the right army, General Shang, was on the western front and had not returned in time. ——The three generals Miao, Liu, and Shang are the three legs of Zhou Dudu, controlling the entire situation of the Western Front War.

Governor Zhou signaled Di Gong to come with him.Generals Miao and Liu followed closely behind.The four of them walked towards the apse without saying a word, passed through the arched stone gate carved with dragons, clouds and waves, descended more than a dozen white jade steps, and came to a spacious stone interior hall.Zhou Dudu waved his hand, and the two guards hurriedly opened a stone door on the back wall of the inner hall.Inside the stone gate was originally the tomb of the prince of the East Palace. Under the dome, there were two huge red lacquered coffins placed side by side, each three feet long, one foot five high, and one foot wide, with the same punishment system.The crown prince is buried in the one on the right, and his concubine is buried in the one on the left.

Zhou Dudu went forward to kowtow to the coffin, and the three of Di Gong followed suit. "Di Renjie, I want you to come tonight to break the mystery of the coffin. In the afternoon, General Shang, the vanguard of the right army, came here and secretly reported to me that General Liu had secretly concluded an alliance with the Turkic leader. Once we launched a counterattack on the western front, he would Then he led his troops to mutiny and turned to the enemy. What is the evidence of rebellion? General Shang revealed that General Liu had secretly hidden two hundred pairs of iron armor in the prince's coffin, all of which had flags of rebellion on them. When the time came, General Liu I led my relatives to split open the coffin with a sharp axe, distributed the iron armor to the conspirators, turned and rebelled. class……"

Di Gong glanced at General Liu beside him in surprise. General Liu was standing upright solemnly, with sweat profusely profuse on his pale face. Governor Zhou continued: "But I dare not trust General Shang's words, even though he is a battle-hardened general with illustrious military exploits. I firmly believe in General Liu's loyalty to the imperial court, but General Shang's words have a beginning and an end, so I am in a dilemma. Undecided. Di Renjie, you know that the time for the counterattack is coming. According to the original strategy, General Liu led 15,000 elite troops from the left to enter the right wing of the Turkic cavalry battalion first, cutting off their connection with the Turkic leader. Then I personally led five The Wanjun Mazhong Road broke through and went straight to the camp of the Turkic Central Army. If it is time for the counterattack, I still cannot judge whether General Liu has any signs of rebellion, that is to say, I still cannot solve the mystery of the prince's coffin. ,The consequences could be disastrous."

"General Miao and I have carefully inspected the prince's coffin, and found no trace that the coffin had been pried open and put into iron armor. A hole was drilled in the lid of the coffin, and after the iron armor was hidden, it was covered with red lacquer leather. The head is different, I am afraid that the nine clans will be involved. Without the permission of the Holy Majesty, I dare not even remove the layer of paint on the coffin. If the truth is told to the Holy Majesty, it will take more than ten days and a half months for the memorandum to come and go. ?——We had to retreat a hundred miles, give up the last chance to counterattack, and watch the great rivers and mountains being trampled by the enemy cavalry. Di Renjie, now I just ask you to dissect this mystery and tell me General Liu before the counterattack across the board at dawn. General Shang Which one is traitorous?"

Di Gong carefully looked at the coffins of the crown prince and his concubine, and asked, "General Shang didn't say that the concubine's coffin was also filled with iron armor?" "Well, where did I mention the concubine's coffin?" Governor Zhou was a little impatient. Di Gong said: "I heard that the prince's jade body was put into a small golden coffin during the burial. It was covered with a nanmu outer coffin. There is a big gap between the coffin and the inner and outer coffins. The two hundred sets of iron armor are hidden in the gap. The concubine His coffin was made in the same way as the prince's example, if there is no iron armor hidden inside, wouldn't it be much lighter than the prince's coffin?" Governor Zhou was enlightened, but he frowned again and said, "These two coffins are huge and very heavy, how do you compare their weight?" Di Gongdao: "The next official has a plan. I heard that when the concubine's coffin was buried in this tomb, a large lake was dug behind the tomb. Because the prince and his concubine liked to swim in the lake, there was a capital boat parked on the lake. It’s a cruise ship in the style of the Imperial Palace. Now, you only need to send soldiers to push the two coffins into the lake, and see how deep they sink into the lake, so you can tell whether there is iron armor in the coffin of the prince. —— If so, It must have sunk deeper than the concubine's coffin, and General Liu's crime of collaborating with the enemy and plotting rebellion is clearly revealed." Zhou Dudu nodded frequently, then shook his head suddenly and said: "Di County Magistrate said it was very easy, and sank the coffins of the crown prince and concubine into the lake without authorization. In the future, the Holy Majesty will punish me. How can I tell? Isn't it a dead end? " Di Gong said with a smile: "The governor of Zhou said that the war is getting tighter, and the Turkic leaders are coveting the treasures in the prince's coffin, and they always want to rob them. In order to prevent the prince's body from falling into the enemy's hands and being insulted by him, you buried the coffins of the prince and concubine in advance. People in the lake, just in case. The Holy Majesty heard this, not only will he not blame the governor, but he will have words of praise." Zhou Dudu said: "This coffin is originally hollow, how can it sink?" Di Gongdao: "It is said that the body of the coffin is bound with iron and stone. People can't help but believe it. There is no reason to worry about the sinking of the coffin. Once the two coffins are launched into the water, the mystery of the iron armor will be solved immediately." Zhou Dudu was overjoyed: "Di Renjie, it is true that you have the help of ghosts and gods. Quickly, send a hundred soldiers to open the back wall of the tomb and prepare logs and ropes." General Miao flew back to the barracks to deliver his orders, and in a moment a hundred soldiers brought logs.Rope down to the tomb.