Chapter 11 Section ten

As expected, the emperor flatly rejected Pei Xuanjing's request to meet Han Xiang and Duan Chengshi. Just one day later, the wrinkles on Master Jing Zhaoyin's forehead seemed to have deepened a lot.He was almost begging Pei Xuanjing: "For the sake of the Buddha bones and the people of Chang'an, please help Master Pei Lian no matter what." Pei Xuanjing nodded and said, "Master Guo, please don't be anxious. Regarding this case, I have thought of a suspicious point." "What doubt?" "I remember Mr. Guo said that Mr. Duan checked the list of monks from other races who entered the city at Honglu Temple, and deduced that someone pretended to be a Khotan monk to offer incense to Da'an Guo Temple. It turned out that the person pretending to be a Khotan monk It is the Persians led by Li Jingdu."

"Exactly." "There is a problem here." Pei Xuanjing said, "These Persians already lived in Chang'an City, why did they steal the Khotan monk's customs certificate?" Guo Wei was stunned, and after thinking for a while, he said, "But they really pretended to be Khotan monks?" "They only need to pretend to be monks in Khotan, and they can offer incense to Da'an Guo Temple. There is no need to steal the customs document. The only function of the customs clearance document is to enter Chang'an City, but they are already in Chang'an City. Why do they want to steal the document? ?” After a pause, Pei Xuanjing said, “I thought about it, the only possible purpose is to let other people enter the city, and they are barbarians.”

"A fool again?" "Yes, otherwise there would be no need to steal the Khotan monk's customs certificate. It's just that these Hu people are not Persians who died in front of the Da'an Temple." "Then what kind of barbarians are they?" Guo Wei became more and more confused, "Uyghur? Shiguo? Dashi? Tubo?" "Tubo!" Pei Xuanjing interrupted him. Guo Wei was stunned: "Tuban? Why Tubo?" Yesterday Pei Xuanjing went to Sanqing Hall to confront Liu Bi, just because Liu Bi had done something against Buddhism in the past, so Pei Xuanjing decided to check his tone first when the Buddha bone suffered.But there is not enough evidence to insist on putting this case on Liu Bi's head.On the surface, Liu Bi had a bright future. In fact, in the past two years, he, like Pei Xuanjing, was imprisoned by the emperor in the Daming Palace, and it was basically impossible for him to carry out such a thorough plan outside the palace.From this point of view, I still have to admire the emperor's handling of Liu Bi: he not only cut off his wings, but also made use of his only ability, which was absolutely just right.

During the conversation with Liu Mi, Pei Xuanjing found no more clues, except...his unconcealable extreme panic caught Pei Xuanjing's attention.If Liu Bi has nothing to do with the Buddha bone case, then what is he afraid of? Han Xiang once spied on the secret of Liu Mi's collusion with the Tubo people.Judging from the current situation, the emperor must still know nothing about it, otherwise, even if Liu Bi could really practice the elixir of immortality, the emperor would never spare him. It is precisely this that Liu Bi is afraid of - Tubo. When Pei Xuanjing tested Liu Mi, she deliberately didn't say clearly that the person who exploded the Buddha bone was a Persian, but only vaguely said that it was a Hu.However, because of the bad deeds of colluding with the Tubo people, Liu Mi immediately thought of the Tubo people with a guilty conscience, so she panicked like that.

Is it possible that the person who pretended to be a monk from Khotan and sneaked into Chang'an City was from Tubo?Compared with the barbarians from other small countries in the Western Regions, the Tubo people are indeed more likely to dare to make trouble in Chang'an City. Pei Xuanjing asked Guo Wei: "Master Guo, Dashi and Persia don't believe in Buddhism. What about the other barbarians?" Guo Wei said: "As far as I know, there were many Buddhists in the countries of the Western Regions, but in recent years, with the expansion of the power of the Great Food, many small countries have changed their course and no longer believe in Buddha."

"Where's Tubo?" "Only the Buddhism of Tubo came from the origin of Tianzhu, so the people of Tubo believe in Buddhism more than those in the Central Plains." "So, it shouldn't be from Tubo." Pei Xuanjing thought, "There are two reasons. First, Tibetans respect Buddha, so they can use their own identity to apply for pilgrimage to Da'an Guo Temple without arousing suspicion; They believe in Buddhism, so it is impossible for them to conspire to destroy the Buddha bones." Guo Wei asked hesitantly, "So...they replaced it with Persians to blow up the Buddha's bone?"

"That's right!" Pei Xuanjing stared at him and said, "First, the Tubo people pretended to be Khotan monks and sneaked into the city, and then the Persians carried out the operation of blowing up the Buddha's bone. But... why is it so troublesome? And whether it is Tubo or other barbarians, where did they go after sneaking into Chang'an City, and what are they doing now?" Guo Wei murmured: "Do you still want to do something to the Buddha bones?" "If they were from Tubo, they would not." Pei Xuanjing said resolutely, "Their belief in the Buddha is extremely firm, how could they destroy the bones of the Buddha?"

She looked at Jing Zhaoyin whose face changed suddenly: "Master Guo, is there something else you are hiding from me?" "I……" Pei Xuanjing sternly said: "This is the end of the matter, if Mr. Guo still deliberately conceals it, I really can't help it!" Guo Yu said anxiously: "Master Pei Lian! Cough, let me just say it straight - in the case of the Flying Thief, the Jingzhao Mansion was also stolen." Pei Xuanjing was really angry and funny, and asked, "What was stolen from Jingzhao Mansion?" "...It's a drawing of the underground ditch in Chang'an City."

"The blueprint of the underground ditch in Chang'an City?" "Yes, and it was redrawn in the eleventh year of Yuanhe, which is much more detailed than the original drawing." Guo Jue glanced at Pei Xuanjing, "Master Pei Lian still remembers the snake case that year?" Of course she does. "At that time, Li Jingdu, a Persian, conspired with Cui Miao, a quack doctor, to cause snake problems everywhere in Chang'an City. Cui Miao used the excuse of killing snakes to explore the underground ditches in various places in the city and draw them into blueprints. After the incident was revealed, Li Jingdu's My father, Li Su, the supervisor of Sitiantai, came to me with the blueprint and guaranteed that there would be no copies of it. For Li Su's sake, I followed the principle of calming things down, and Cui Miaolang rescued the prince Shisanlang. I made a great contribution, so I made my own claim and didn’t pursue it. The blueprints they drew, I kept in Jingzhao Mansion. I didn’t expect..."

Pei Xuanjing remained silent in shock. Guo Wei waited for a while, and added: "Because I hid the blueprint from the Holy Majesty, so this time the blueprint was stolen, and I didn't dare to mention it to the Holy Majesty." Pei Xuanjing said in a hoarse voice: "Cui Miao is no longer here...so besides Mr. Guo, the only people who know the blueprints are Li Su and Li Jingdu and his son." "yes." "Okay." Pei Xuanjing nodded, "We already know that Li Jingdu is the mastermind behind the catastrophe of the Buddha bones in front of Da'an Guo Temple, and the things stolen in the flying robber case are all related to him, so Li Jingdu is undoubtedly the mastermind behind the flying robber case The map of the ditches in the capital hidden in the Jingzhao Mansion must have been planned and stolen by Li Jingdu, because only he knew that the blueprints were hidden in the Jingzhao Mansion. It seems that Li Su, the supervisor of Sitiantai, told the truth at the beginning, and Li Jingdu did not have a copy , otherwise there is no need to steal."

"But why did he steal the drawings?" "Did Mr. Guo ask Mr. Li Su?" Guo Kui sighed: "As soon as Li Jingdu died, Li Su went to the court to beg His Majesty to punish him. The Majesty has not yet answered, so Li Su confines himself in the mansion without drinking or eating. When I went to see him, he was already emaciated. It's not in shape. He turned a deaf ear to my questions and kept silent. Alas! I think he has the will to die." "That's why Mr. Guo didn't ask anything from Supervisor Sitiantai." Guo Wei bowed his head and remained silent. Pei Xuanjing thought for a moment, then asked: "What is the difference between the stolen drawing and the original drawing of Jingzhao Mansion, Mr. Guo still remember?" "Remember, remember." Guo Wei hurriedly took out a scroll from his sleeve, and carefully spread it out in front of Pei Xuanjing.Pei Xuanjing couldn't help but cast a sidelong glance at him. It seemed that the honest and honest Lord Jing Zhaoyin had already prepared for it. Guo Wei turned a blind eye to Pei Xuanjing's eyes, pointed to the drawing and said, "This is the original drawing of Jingzhao Mansion, but I have marked the different parts of Li Jingdu's and Cui Miao's drawing on it." On the entire piece of yellowed old paper, several fresh ink marks are particularly abrupt and distorted like worms. Pei Xuanjing saw it at a glance: "Golden Immortal Temple!" For the position of Jinxian Temple on the drawing, first draw a line with black ink, winding to the wall of the square.From the end of the square wall, there is another new line drawn in red ink, extending into the interior of the imperial city.There is only this red line on the entire drawing, so it is particularly eye-catching. Guo Wei said: "The crypt under Jinxian Temple, and the connection point between the crypt and the underground canal, were all marked by Li Jingdu and Cui Miao, and they were not on the original blueprint of Jingzhao Mansion." Pei Xuanjing's heart beat violently - yes yes.Cui Miao once asked He Niang to coax Li Mi to go to the crypt in the backyard of Jinxian Temple to find out.Later, Duan Chengshi took the prince Thirteenth Lang Li Chen to look for "Sea Eye" under the crypt, and was almost drowned by the river water gushing from the culvert.Duan Chengshi swam desperately out of the ditch, and happened to be rescued by Cui Miao, and his and Thirteen Lang's lives were saved—she knew all of this. It turned out that the secret of Jinxianguan Catacombs was marked on this map. But——she pointed to the abrupt red line and asked, "What's going on? Is this also marked on Li Jingdu's map?" "No." Guo Wei's tone was very strange. "no?" "On Li Jingdu's map, only the part of the black line is marked, and it is interrupted at the position of the square wall. As far as I know, there is an iron gate under the square wall, which has been sealed for many years. The last time Duan Chengshi and ten When San Lang went to play in the burrow, somehow he touched the mechanism and opened the iron gate, causing them to stray into the underground culvert behind and nearly died. However, Cui Langzhong and Li Jingdu used the excuse of killing snakes, and only explored the iron gate as far as possible. So the road is blocked. Therefore, only the position of the square wall is marked on the map they drew." "Master Guo, what I'm asking about is the part of the red line!" Pei Xuanjing was about to lose her temper, "Who drew it? Besides, how did this red line lead to the inside of the imperial city?" Guo Wei looked at Pei Xuanjing: "Master Pei Lian, I drew the red line. This is the real secret of the Jinxianguan Catacombs." She seemed to understand his meaning: "You mean, the crypt under the Golden Immortal Temple can directly lead to the inner palace?" Guo Wei nodded slowly. There was a bang in Pei Xuanjing's mind - I understand everything! Why the backyard of Jinxian Temple became a royal forbidden area; why when the emperor found that the sewage was gushing out of the pond, he immediately ordered the crypt to be filled, even at the expense of Thirteen Lang's life; why the emperor sealed the pond after the incident subsided , And sent the forbidden army to guard Jinxian Temple closely. She murmured: "Cui Lang only explored the burrow up to the iron gate, so Li Jingdu's blueprint only draws the square wall. And the secret behind the square wall..." "Apart from the Holy One, only Li Su, Supervisor of Sitiantai, and I are insiders." Guo Wei still had a look of lingering fear, "Although Mr. Duan opened the iron gate that time, he and Thirteen Lang were in order to avoid the influx of river water. , took a fork in the road, came out of the underground ditch, and did not reach the tunnel leading to the palace." After a pause, he said with a wry smile, "Fortunately, both Cui Miao and Mr. The secret passed by, otherwise, as early as the eleventh year of Yuanhe, all of them would have died." Pei Xuanjing asked: "Where does the tunnel lead to inside the palace?" "Huh?" Guo Wei seemed to be losing his ears. Pei Xuanjing asked again with a more emphatic tone: "Master Guo, where does the crypt of Jinxianguan lead to in the palace?" "Leading to—Xi Nei Taiji Palace. To the north is Dacang, and to the south is Yeting Palace." "Where is it?" Guo Wei wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "There is an open space between Yeting Palace and Dacang. Under the open space, there is a dungeon." "Dungeon?" Pei Xuanjing asked, "The dungeon built in the palace must be used to detain some serious criminals, right?" "As far as I know, since the dungeon was built, it has only housed two... Tibetan prisoners." "Prisoner from Tubo?" Pei Xuanjing's voice also changed. "The first person to be imprisoned was Tubo Nei Da Xiang Lun. In the 16th year of Zhenyuan, Tang Dynasty had a war with Tubo. At that time, Jiannan Jiedu envoy Wei Gao captured Tubo Nei Da Xiang Lun Mangre, and sent him to Chang'an. Emperor Dezong decided to take Lun Mangre as a hostage, and he was imprisoned in the dungeon in the west corner of Taiji Palace. However, Lun Mangre escaped in the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan." "Escaped from the dungeon in the palace?" Pei Xuanjing felt unbelievable. Guo Wei said embarrassingly: "Hey, I won't go into details about Qu Zhi here. In short, after Lun Mangre escaped from Chang'an, Emperor Dezong ordered the prince, the former Emperor Shunzong, to hunt him down. At the end of the year, Lun Mangre was killed by the killers sent by the first emperor on the border of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was his younger brother Lun Mangti who went from Tubo to meet Lun Mangre. As a result, Lun Mangti fell into the hands of the defenders of the Tang Dynasty. He was also sent to Chang'an, just like his elder brother, and locked up in the dungeons in the Taiji Palace. Until... until today." "Today?" Pei Xuanjing asked, "The Tubo hostage, Lun Mangti, is still locked in the dungeon of Tai Chi Palace until today?" "Yes, it has been closed for almost twenty years." Pei Xuanjing couldn't help clenching her fists. Hostages in Tubo—Dungeons in the Palace—Golden Immortal Temple—Li Jingdu—Brimstone Fuming Method—Flying Thieves—Tuban people! Pei Xuanjing asked: "Master Guo, are there any Jinwu Guards guarding the Golden Immortal Temple?" "Since the alchemist entered the palace, the Holy Majesty ordered all the female crowns in the Golden Immortal Temple to be dismissed. The Golden Immortal Temple has been closed again, and there are only a few Jinwu guards on patrol at ordinary times. However, the Buddha bone case happened recently, and the manpower is very serious. Insufficient, I transferred those Jinwu guards to protect the Buddha bones." Guo Wei seemed to have realized something, and asked guiltily, "Why, does the alchemist think there is a problem?" "Do I think there is a problem?" Pei Xuanjing asked sharply, "Master Guo still doesn't understand? The real target of the thieves is not the Buddha bones, but the Tubo prisoners!" Guo Wei was tongue-tied. Pei Xuanjing's words came out quickly: "According to my rough guess, the whole process should be like this: the spies of Tubo have been ambushing in Chang'an City. But they have never found a suitable solution. Until recently, they finally hooked up with the Persian Li Jingdu. After the news that the Holy Majesty was going to welcome the Buddha bone came out, the Tubo people conspired with Li Jingdu to make a plan—first, the people lurking in Chang’an The Tubo people in the city are responsible for stealing the materials needed for the sulfur fire method, as well as the secrets of alchemy and the blueprints of underground ditches. Sometimes they act alone, and sometimes they gang up, and they set up painted faces in the way of Tubo, so that people cannot recognize their true faces. People They mistakenly regarded it as a ghost with a green face and long fangs. And because the Tibetans did not bathe all the year round and had food habits, there was a peculiar smell on their bodies, which made the people misrepresent it as a so-called vixen." "It turns out that the Flying Thief is from Tubo..." Guo Wei was dizzy when he heard that. "The Persian Li Jingdu did not respect the Buddha and deliberately destroyed the Buddha's bones. But if he used the Persians under his command to collect sulfur and other things, he would draw the suspicion on himself, so the Tubo people acted on his behalf, which was in his favor. And In the hands of Li Jingdu, there happens to be a crucial secret that can be exchanged with the Tibetans." "Golden Fairy Temple!" "Yes." Pei Xuanjing said, "Although Li Jingdu and the others failed to break through the secret behind the iron gate during the snake trouble in the 11th year of Yuanhe. But Master Guo said just now, Sitiantai supervisor Li Su is clear about this And Li Jingdu, as his son, must have known this secret. So the Tubo people and the Persians took what they needed, and created this disaster of Buddha bones! As for the day before welcoming the Buddha bones, he mixed in The people in Chang’an City must also be Tibetans. On the one hand, they used the identity of Tian monks to apply for incense in Da’an Guo Temple, creating conditions for Persians to get close to the Buddha bones. On the other hand, I believe that these new Tubo people who entered the city must have He is an elite soldier who was specially sent to meet Lun Mangtai!" Pei Xuanjing sternly said: "Master Guo! In my opinion, the Tubo people will use the huge power generated by the sulfur fire method to break through the cave barrier of Jinxian Temple and enter the Taiji Palace through the tunnel. Once they enter the Taiji Palace, It's like luring a wolf into a house, not as simple as taking hostages from Tubo!" "Then, what should we do then?" Guo Wei jumped up, "I'm going to set up the Jinwu guards and guard the Jinxian Temple with heavy troops!" "Wait!" Pei Xuanjing stopped, "Going to guard the Golden Immortal Temple now is a far-sighted move. Mr. Guo, I suggest that you go to the dungeon of Taiji Palace to transfer the Tibetan criminals immediately!" "The alchemist is right! I'm going to the Taiji Palace now, but the Holy Majesty..." Pei Xuanjing said: "I will go back to the Holy One on behalf of Mr. Guo, what do you think?" "Then there will be a labor trainer!" Guo Yu didn't have time to say more, and led his men to leave in a hurry. The sudden silence, the very different atmosphere made Pei Xuanjing confused for a moment - what's wrong with me?Why did you take the initiative to invite Ying to meet the emperor?But again, this is the inevitable outcome.Two full years have passed, and it's time to see each other again. Pei Xuanjing straightened her clothes and walked towards the highland in the southeast direction.The time for the court meeting has passed, and the emperor should be in the Hall of Qingsi.