Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty

Back in the Yamen Hall of the Army Village, Di Gong ordered Jun Ding to bring up the large desk at the account of the Blue Bird Inn, and ordered him to take a pot of hot alkaline water and a piece of plain crepe.Wen Dong and Kang Wenxiu sat on one side, while Monk Zhang Er was puzzled. Di Gong pondered for a while, and then said: "This imperial envoy is here to analyze the case of the jade bead string. The one who stole the jade bead string is the accountant of the Blue Bird Inn just now. His name is Dai Ning, a young man. This Dai Ning is a gang of villains. Hired with a lot of money, he boldly sneaked into the Bishui Palace to steal."

Kang Wenxiu was stunned, and couldn't help asking: "I hope the imperial envoy will tell you how this Dai Ning sneaked into the Bishui Palace to steal." Di Gongdao: "Dai Ning drove a small boat into the forbidden area outside the Palace of Clear Water in the dark night, sneaked under the water gates around the palace wall in the northwest corner, and then climbed up the palace wall along the arched ledge of the water gate. It is the gazebo where the three princesses admired the moon. Before the three princesses watched the moon, the three princesses took off the jade bead string from their necks and put it on a tea table outside the pavilion. Dai Ning stole it without any effort while the three princesses were watching the moon."

Kang Wenxiu's face turned pale, and she groaned in her heart: "In this way, there is an omission in the defense arrangement of the humble official, and he was taken advantage of by the villains. What the humble official is puzzled about is that this Dai Ning is no more than a commoner, how can he know the omissions of the official wall and guards? How did he know that the water gate in the northwest corner of the palace can be climbed along the wall? What is even more surprising is how he knew that the third princess would go to the gazebo to enjoy the moon that day, and she would definitely take off the beads between her neck and put them in the gazebo on the coffee table outside."

Confused and suspicious, Kang Wenxiu's face was full of sweat. Di Gong glanced at Kang Wenxiu indifferently, and said with a smile: "The agency is here. It turns out that the group of gangsters were also hired by someone, and the gangster surnamed Huo was behind the hook. The gangster told me that at a certain moment, In this way, the jade beads string can be successfully stolen. It is guessed that the surname Huo must have an internal response in the palace, and the principal culprit of this case must live in the palace to plan strategies and perform such a thrilling drama."

"The imperial envoy won't reveal the name of the chief culprit for the time being, but said that after Dai Ning stole the string of jade beads, he cherished them so much that he was reluctant to give them up, so he secretly hid them. He wanted to sell the string of beads for gold and silver. Happy to use, in fact, he has already disassembled the beads, intending to sell them one by one. He quietly went back to the Blue Bird Inn to pack his luggage, and then went straight to Shilipu in the neighboring county along the mountain road, going there Hair off beads..." Wen Dong couldn't help being furious, and cursed: "This little thief slave is lawless, and when he is caught, his body will be broken into pieces."

Di Gong smiled: "Mr. Wen has forgotten the confession made by shopkeeper Wei just now. Dai Ning has been killed. This young man is short-sighted. How can he know the pros and cons of this string of beads? He has a dream of making a fortune in his heart. Then The gangsters in the next room had already laid a net. Dai Ning was caught by his employer before he walked out of the mountain ridge. He asked him for beads, but he said that he hadn’t stolen it. The employer is someone who has experienced the world, so how can he believe it? Dai Ning thought he was young and could survive, but who would have thought that gangsters were too aggressive and killed him. Lieutenant Zou Liwei, tell me what the patrols of the military camp found in his luggage when they found his body .”

Zou Liwei knelt down and said: "Dai Ning's body was found on the south bank of Daqing River. At that time, he was covered with wounds, his stomach was cut open, the blood was indistinct, and he was barely human. There was a coarse cloth bag hooked on his right arm. In the bag, there was a stack of Name cards, a map, a string of copper coins and an abacus." "Wait a minute." Di Gong waved his hand, signaling Captain Zou to step aside. "Although this Dai Ning is short-sighted, he is full of scheming. He also knows that his employer will not let him go without handing over the beads. He came up with a brilliant plan, using scissors to cut the eighty-four beads one by one. Take it off and hide it lightly."

Kang Wenxiu opened his eyes wide and pricked up his ears. He didn't quite understand, and asked urgently, "These eighty-four beads are so round that they can't be lifted with both hands. How can he hide them lightly?" Duke Di nodded, reached out and opened the right drawer of the desk, and took out the abacus. "Here is the bead." He held up the abacus. Everyone looked at each other in astonishment, but they didn't know what kind of medicine was buried in Di Gong's gourd. Di Gong ordered a soldier to carry the porcelain vat filled with hot alkaline water, and he broke the abacus frame with all his strength. With a "click", the frame fell apart, and the abacus beads rolled into the porcelain vat slippery, and there was only a hissing sound. There was a hissing sound, and wisps of water vapor rose from the porcelain vat.

"Daining stringed eighty-four beads into this abacus!—He painted each bead with cinnabar juice and fine gold ink, then dipped it in water glue, and then threaded it on the twelve thin copper rods of the original abacus , but discarded all the wooden beads, fixed the wooden frame, and carried it with him. It was really seamless. As a accountant, he never left the account books and abacus. Who would doubt that his abacus was originally made of eighty-four pieces worth It is made of strings of jade beads that connect to the city." "The employer was naturally deceived, so you and the bag were thrown into the Daqing River together with the body. On the day the body was recovered, it was Captain Zou Liwei who entrusted me to send this abacus back to the Blue Bird Inn. I personally delivered the abacus He easily handed the abacus back to the shopkeeper Wei, but it took two days and two nights of thinking to solve the mystery. It turned out that there was only one person who tied the bell and undid the bell. , it’s all effortless.”

The crowd was thunderous, they just woke up from the dream, and each of them stretched their necks to look into the porcelain vat on the desk. Di Gong picked up two beads from the porcelain jar, rubbed them lightly with plain crepe, and then spread his palms, and suddenly two shining white lights shot out from the palm of Di Gong, and the exquisite, crystal-clear and dazzling jade beads suddenly appeared in front of everyone's eyes .Everyone in the seat was dumbfounded and shocked. Di Gong ordered the beads to be placed in a carved gold plate and covered with a yellow silk imperial decree.Not long after, all eighty-four beads were put into the gold plate.He also asked a jade craftsman to re-string the beads, and they were as good as before, without any difference.

Di Gongnai ordered to drive into the palace. ——Eight people carried a sedan chair to sit on Di Gong, Wen Dong and Kang Wenxiu stepped on their respective horses with carved saddles, guarded by the imperial army's tooth cavalry, Lu Buyi followed neatly, and two teams of drummers led in front, marching towards the Bishui Palace Yi Li came.Fireworks bombarded all the way, drums and music blared, and the people on the street dared not look up, they all avoided the road one after another. A flying cavalry had reported to the inner palace long ago, and the imperial envoy would come into the palace to pay homage to the three princesses shortly after receiving the imperial decree.The three princesses were overjoyed, knowing in their hearts that Di Renjie had found the jade bead string, and hurriedly sent orders to all the court ladies and eunuchs in the inner palace to gather under the golden jade bridge to welcome them.The outer palace has long been handed down by General Kang's army, and the gates of the palace are opened wide, and Xiao Shao serves wine and waits for the order. Di Gong's sedan chair and horse entered the main gate of Bishui Palace. After receiving the etiquette, Di Gong entered a small pavilion with colorful railings and painted couplets to rest for a while.When the tea was served, Di Gong felt thirsty, took a sip, felt refreshed in his spleen and stomach, and refreshed his spirits, so he asked: "Wen and Kang, do you know that there is a man named Huo who often goes in and out of the palace." Kang Wenxiu shook her head and said, "I've never heard of a person named Huo in the palace." Wen Dong frowned. "The outer palace is inspected by General Kang, a low-ranking guard, but he has never let a man surnamed Huo come into the palace. The inner palace is in charge of Mr. Lei. We don't know everything about the Jinyu Bridge, and there are other ways to get in and out." "Mr. Wen's Jin Yi recently went out to take pictures, but he was wearing black clothes and black trousers." Di Gong asked again. Wen Dong replied: "Jinyi under the humble officer never wears black clothes, and has never had any errands recently. By the way, Mr. He came to borrow four from the humble officer yesterday." "What Manager Wen said was referring to Lei Chengfeng, the internal official at the Jinyu Bridge?" "Returning to the imperial envoy, Mr. Lei's boss is the master of Nahe, so it's not easy to make excuses, but you can't get rid of the master's face. As usual, brocade clothes are not allowed to be borrowed. I beg the imperial envoy to abdicate." Di Gong understood three points in his heart, and asked Kang Wenxiu: "At midnight four days ago, what happened to the formation of the guarding palace wall?" Kang Wenxiu thought about it for a while, and then replied: "Yes, in the middle of the night, the kitchen in the inner palace caught fire, and under the order of Eunuch Lei, half of the guards at the palace wall and city walls were sent to rescue it." Di Gong was silent, took a few more sips of tea, got up and gave orders to enter the inner palace. Wendong and Kang Wenxiu led Di Gong through several water pavilions, pavilions, cloisters and marshes, along the way, clusters of flowers, trees and precious fruits, butterflies and bees, and fragrant winds. They saw the golden jade bridge beside the lotus pond. The fat eunuch led four little yellow men to prostrate themselves on the ground, waiting for the imperial envoy. Di Gong ordered everyone to wait under the bridge, and he went to the Yazhai to see Eunuch Lei. The elegant Yazhai is next to the lotus pond, quiet and empty.A burst of floral fragrance makes people slightly intoxicated.Eunuch Lei stood beside the railing of the water, staring at the clumps of ice-clear water lilies in the pond in a daze.Di Gong walked behind Eunuch Lei, but Eunuch Lei slowly turned his face. "Your Excellency Di Renjie, I didn't expect to be an imperial envoy in a blink of an eye." His tone was not without contempt. Di Gong cupped his hands and saluted, "Today, I entered the palace according to the imperial decree, and made a special trip to present the jade beads back to the third princess." Eunuch Lei breathed out his nose: "Your Excellency's name has been heard a little when he was in the capital. After analyzing many strange cases and suspicions, all of them are clearly understood. You can not help but appreciate it. You can go to the inner palace to pay a visit to the third princess. Today With the holy decree in hand, the old man can't stand in the way." Di Gonggong said in disbelief, "Lei Chengfeng tried to harm this official over and over again. I don't know why?" Eunuch Lei smiled faintly: "The ancients said, don't talk about what's done, don't talk about what happened in the past, why should you and I talk about it in detail today. Look at the clump of white lotus in the pond, which withered and failed early this morning. I knew that there must be someone to respond. Every drink and peck is pre-determined, and now it seems that this statement is true." Duke Di sneered. "For ordinary people, there are criminal laws and ghosts and gods. Therefore, the law of heaven is clear and should not be deceived. Lei Chengfeng also heard that people must insult themselves, and then others insult them. Lei Chengfeng does not know self-respect. , to this day, otherwise who would dare to disrespect you?" Eunuch Lei laughed aloud: "You are self-inflicted, you can't live. I saw you the night before, and I knew you would have today, but I don't want to hurt your future, so I can't bear to do it. What a pity for the old man, haha. I want Go take the medicine, let's talk in the inner room." As he spoke, he swayed into the office room, went to the desk drawer and took out a small purple gourd, shook it, poured a pill into his mouth, took another mouthful of fragrant tea, and healed swallow. "Di Renjie, Mr. He is in the back garden, don't let him go. This old man is going to the fountain, and he still needs a follower to serve him, haha..." Eunuch Lei's face changed, he was out of breath, and his whole body was convulsed. Di Gong hurriedly went into the Yazhai to support him, but Eunuch Lei was already limp and collapsed on the ground, his eyes rolled up, and he straightened his neck.