novelAbuy Chapter 062: Taking Action
Chapter 062: Taking Action
"Have Feng Yi inform Zhao Bocong," Consort Wei pondered for a moment.
"Qin Hui has already set his sights on the southern suburbs. It's best to avoid any large-scale mobilizations before the winter solstice, so that he can conserve his strength."
"This old servant will send the message tomorrow."
"And another thing," Consort Wei stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the cold rain hitting the withered branches of the plum tree outside the window. Her voice suddenly became very deep.
"If Qin Hui makes a move before the winter solstice, I don't need to worry about it. I'm just an old woman, and the Imperial City Guard won't dare to touch me."
But Zhao Bozong told him to bury the informants deeper, because every one of his men was a descendant of Yue Fei, and they couldn't afford to die a second time.
Zhang Quwei lowered his head, his eyes slightly red, but he quickly wiped them with his sleeve and turned to leave.
The next morning, Qin Keqing received a message from Feng Yi in the small house in the side courtyard.
She closed the intelligence report, picked up her pen, and wrote a single line in her letter to Jinbao.
"Fritillaria cirrhosa should be stored in the warehouse and not exposed to sunlight."
This is a stop order from the Zhenjiang direction, meaning to suspend all non-essential water activities of the Jiaoshan troops and to sink people and equipment into the daily cover of the fishing village.
After making these notes, Qin Keqing closed the booklet but did not immediately go to deliver the letter.
She sat at the table, seemingly lost in thought.
The cat jumped down from the windowsill and rubbed its head against the back of her hand. She looked down at the calico cat and suddenly remembered the question Shen Qingci had asked her last night.
"Miss Qin, will His Highness be in danger on the Winter Solstice?"
I've noticed that Liu An has been inspecting all the doors and windows of the Prince's mansion these past few days, even replacing the latch on the back door. Chun Tao and the others patrol all the courtyards before dawn every day.
She did not answer Shen Qingci.
Just like she never answers the same questions that are on her mind.
But as she sat at the table, the writing on the three pieces of paper in the bamboo hairpin was slightly blurred by sweat.
One document shows the date of the secret meeting in the Qin family study, another shows the guest list for the banquet hosted by the Jin envoy, and the third shows the early warning issued in Zhenjiang before the Battle of Jiaoshan.
Every single one of them was earned with her life.
If Qin Hui makes his move before the winter solstice, these three pieces of paper will be her final backup for Zhao Bozong.
After a moment, Qin Keqing twisted the bamboo hairpin back into place, put it back in her hair, stood up, picked up the bamboo basket, and pushed open the door to walk into the cold rain.
......
November 15th, thirty-nine days until the winter solstice.
An event occurred that day that forced Qin Hui's covert investigation to be temporarily halted.
The incident began with a bullet that fell from the sky.
During the morning court session, Chen Dafang, the chief clerk of the Censorate, suddenly submitted a memorial impeaching Zhao Bocong, Xin Qizong, and no one even connected to Yue Fei's army.
Chen Dafang impeached the Imperial City Guard for abusing its power in Lin'an City, falsely accusing innocent people of theft, and extorting money from merchants, which led to a joint lawsuit filed by shopkeepers on three streets of Xihefang.
This chapter was delivered extremely suddenly.
In his memorial, Chen Dafang listed seventeen irrefutable facts about the Imperial City Guards extorting protection money in the western part of Lin'an.
Every time, place, and witness statement is detailed and clearly not fabricated.
More importantly, Chen Dafang added a sentence at the end of his memorial: "The Imperial City Guard was originally established to investigate rumors and maintain the security of the capital, but now it has become a source of disturbance to the people. If it is not thoroughly investigated, we may lose the hope of the people."
Qin Hui's face turned ashen in the court. Wan Qixie stepped forward to defend the Imperial City Guard, saying that these accusations were "fabricated by unruly people under instigation."
But Zhao Gou shut him down with a simple, "It would be good to investigate."
When Zhao Gou said these words, his tone was very indifferent, as if he were talking about a trivial matter. But all the officials knew that Zhao Gou had been sidelined by Qin Hui for too long in the past few months, and this was just an excuse to give him a warning.
Qin Hui returned to his residence that day, summoned the head of the Imperial City Guard to his office, closed the door, and lectured him for a full hour.
Then, the three hidden sentries of the Imperial City Guard outside the old camp in the southern suburbs were all withdrawn within three days.
Zhao Bozong received the news in his study that evening.
After reading the excerpt from the court report that Feng Yi handed him, he looked up at Qin Keqing. "Was Chen Dafang's memorial arranged by you?"
Qin Keqing put down her teacup and shook her head. "It wasn't me. I didn't touch anyone from the Censorate."
"Who could it be?"
Both of them were silent for a few moments, then Zhao Bozong's brow twitched.
"Zhao Shiji".
Qin Keqing was slightly taken aback, then nodded.
"The Grand Master of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs has been in the court for forty years, so it's not surprising that he has old acquaintances in the Censorate, but the Grand Master of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs has never mentioned this matter to Your Highness."
"He won't mention it. He never makes a fuss about what he does. Even when he helps someone, he finishes the job and then glossed over it. This time, he simply didn't mention it at all."
Zhao Bozong chuckled softly, "If he finds out about this, he'll probably reply with eight words—'This old man has a bad memory, I forgot.'"
The cold night of the year Gui Si was as if someone had poured a thin layer of ice onto the roof tiles of Lin'an City.
Zhao Shiyi, leaning on his peach wood cane, slowly walked back to the Imperial Clan Court from the end of the Imperial Street. The night official on duty came up to him and lit a lamp for him.
He waved his hand and went into the inner room where the archives were stored. He took out the Record of Imperial Clan's Favors for Escorting the Prince of Anding out of Bianliang in the year Gui Si, turned to the page that recorded Xin Qizong escorting the Prince of Anding out of Bianliang, and wrote a note in very small characters in the blank space.
After finishing writing, he put the record of grace back into the bronze box and locked it.
Then he sat down at his desk and stared blankly at the empty archives for a while.
The old member of the royal family glanced at the neatly stacked bronze boxes and suddenly grinned.
"I've lived for over seventy years, and in the end, I find it more interesting than when I was young."
......
On November 20th, Qin Keqing was urgently summoned to Xiuzhou.
Two nights ago, Manager Wang's tea shop was vandalized. The vandals weren't wearing Imperial City Guard uniforms, but they left an iron ruler on the counter after they finished smashing it up. It was the standard iron ruler of the Imperial City Guard's inspectors.
"I didn't dare make a sound." Manager Wang's left arm was in a sling, and there was a scabbed wound on his face. "The account books in the shop were all burned in the stove and didn't fall into their hands, but Old Zhou from the coffin shop next door—"
He didn't continue speaking.
Qin Keqing stood in the smashed teahouse, looking at the broken porcelain shards and scattered tea leaves on the floor.
The scroll painting "Tea and Zen are One" on the wall was torn down and stepped on, leaving a muddy boot print on it.
"Have someone from the Zhou family come to me." Her voice was calm. "The Zongzheng Temple archives will provide him with a compensation payment."
Qin Keqing squatted down in the smashed tea shop and picked up a piece of broken porcelain. On the porcelain shard, there was still the price tag written by Manager Wang: "Pre-rain Longjing tea, twelve coins".
She held the porcelain shard in her hand for a long time.
Qin Hui has already begun to take action. Perhaps there are some things he doesn't need to do personally, but his subordinates will do them for him.
Subsequently, Qin Keqing arranged for a second observation line at the Xihefang Tavern on the Tiantai Terrace to send back a more detailed report.
The report not only recorded Yuwen Xu's daily routine of arriving at the tavern at 5 PM and leaving at 7 PM, but also a crucial detail.
Every three days, the tavern owner would leave Yuwen Xu a jar of unopened aged Shaoxing wine. The owner never accepted money, saying, "Consider Mr. Yuwen's wine debt as if he were still in charge of the bells at the Imperial Palace."
Qin Keqing drew a line under this sentence with charcoal and wrote the annotation: "The shopkeeper has a life-or-death friendship with Yuwen Xu, so he can be used."
In addition, a line of small print was attached at the end of the report.
Yuwen Xu once drew a picture on the table after drinking.
The shop assistant saw it by chance while wiping the table for him. The picture showed the distribution of the copper bell frames of the watchtowers, with the bell lines extending like a spider web to watchtowers throughout the city.
But the strangest thing was that Yuwen Xu dipped his finger in wine and drew an extra line directly below the Observatory, connecting it to a location that had not yet been labeled.
The man didn't dare look too closely, only remembering that the line roughly pointed towards the south of the city.
Qin Keqing copied this clue onto a separate piece of paper and locked it in a hidden compartment of the rattan box.
She decided to find an opportunity to publicly verify the direction of the Minglingjia. For this step, she needed Zhao Bozong to obtain an old file on fire prevention deployment from the Zongzheng Temple.