novelAbuy Chapter 076: Warning
Chapter 076: Warning
The carriage from Cining Palace drove into the main gate of Dali Temple.
Qin Keqing was the first to get off the carriage. She was dressed in the robes of a female official from the Imperial Clan Court, holding a bronze box in her hands, and her steps were steady.
Zhao Bocong followed behind her, dressed in the royal robes of the county, wearing a seven-tassel crown, and with a jade sword hanging at his waist.
Xiao Bieli was the last to get off the carriage. He lowered his head and held a stack of case files sealed in a copper box in his hands. His sleeves covered the faded red rope wrapped around his wrist.
The magistrate of the Dali Temple looked surprised when he came out to greet him.
He never expected that Prince Puan would come to verify the documents in person, and he was even more surprised that he was accompanied by a female official from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.
But when Qin Keqing handed the bronze box to him, the seal of the Imperial Clan Court on the lid was intact, and the document stated that "the Imperial Clan Court is ordered to investigate unresolved cases related to the imperial clan," with Zhao Shi's vermilion seal stamped below.
This document is genuine, and the seal on it is also genuine.
On the night of the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Shi entered the palace and submitted this official document to the Ministry of Personnel under the pretext of "reviewing the cases of members of the imperial clan before the new year".
Qin Hui could stop others, but he couldn't stop the legally mandated verification process of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. The rules set by Emperor Taizu clearly stated that the authority to verify the files related to the imperial clan before the end of the year belonged to the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs and did not require the approval of the Ministry of Personnel.
"Lead the way." Qin Keqing's voice was calm and indifferent. "First check the relatives of the imperial family detained in the medium-sized cells, then check the criminals awaiting execution in the low-sized cells."
"The conditions in the lowest-class prison cells are filthy, I'm afraid—"
"Then we should investigate even more." Qin Keqing interrupted him. "The rule for the pre-New Year's registration is to check every cell. If there are any omissions, you can explain it to Minister Zhao yourself later."
Tui Cheng dared not stop him any longer. He personally held up an oil lamp and led the way, passing through the prison corridor, past the medium-sized cells, and heading towards the lower-sized cells.
The lowest-class cells were lit by only a few oil lamps, the light so dim that the outline of the iron bars on the cell door could barely be seen. The dampness and musty smell mingled together, and the water droplets seeping from the stone walls looked like tiny crawling insects in the candlelight.
The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard leaned against the iron fence opposite. When he saw Xiao Bieli, he was stunned for a moment, then grinned. The scab on the corner of his mouth was torn open again, but he didn't care.
"Xiao Xianfeng, your sister is waiting for you." He said this in a hoarse voice, but every word was steady.
Xiao Bieli paused in front of his cell. The two men stared at each other through the iron bars for a moment. Xiao Bieli said nothing, but simply tilted the copper box containing the case file he was holding slightly toward the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, as if in salute.
Then he continued walking forward.
Turn left, the third shop.
Xiao Jinluo sat on a straw mat, braiding a new straw rope tail for the ragdoll rabbit. The straw rope was braided very finely, much neater than the one she had braided before.
With nothing to do in her cell, she took apart the straw rope on the rabbit and re-wove it. She took it apart and re-wove it, and re-took it apart and re-wove it, and had already done so six times.
When she heard footsteps and looked up, Xiao Bieli was standing outside the iron fence.
He squatted down, placed the bronze box from the Imperial Clan Court on the ground, and reached through the iron bars to hold his sister's hand.
"Aro".
Xiao Jinluo jumped up from the straw mat and rushed to the iron fence. She first touched his hands, which were cold, then touched his face, which had dried bloodstains, and then saw that his eyes were bloodshot.
"Brother, you're injured."
"no."
"You're lying." She reached out and touched the bloodstains on his face very lightly, as if afraid of hurting him.
Xiao Bieli didn't speak. He just squatted outside the iron fence, holding his sister's hand through the two rusty iron bars.
He had so much to say, but he wouldn't say it. He never did. At most, he would just say "Ah Luo."
But this time he said a few more words.
"Did you receive the Ragdoll rabbit?"
"Received it." Xiao Jinluo held up the plush rabbit in her arms for him to see. "The eyes are sewn crooked, but they're sturdier than before. Did you sew them up?"
"Yes."
"Brother, you're so clumsy. The stitches are crooked and you still pricked your hand. Look, there's a little bit of blood on the rabbit's ear."
Xiao Bieli looked down and saw a faint stain that was not easily noticeable. He had pricked his hand with a needle while sewing in the ruins of the old watchtower that night, but he hadn't paid attention to it, nor did he care about the blood seeping into the cloth.
"It's alright," he said.
Xiao Jinluo looked at him for a while, then released his hand, bent down to pick something up from the straw mat, and handed it out through the gap in the iron fence.
It was a little horse she had woven from straw in the prison cell; its mane was made from strands of straw she had torn apart, and its tail was from a newly woven knot.
"Here, this is for His Highness. Please give it to him for me. Sister Shen made me osmanthus cake, and His Highness gave you copper coins. They helped us, so we should thank them."
Xiao Bieli looked down at the straw pony and took it.
Then he slowly, very slowly, pressed his forehead against the iron fence.
His shoulders were trembling, but he didn't make a sound, not even a sob.
He swallowed all the sounds down his throat.
In the cell opposite, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard turned his head away. He didn't look; he just leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.
Shen Shi (3-5 PM).
Qin Keqing's pre-New Year's registration at the Dali Temple lasted for nearly an hour.
As a female official of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, she checked the list of prisoners one by one, asking each name three times: name, place of origin, and date of imprisonment. She asked very slowly, so slowly that the accompanying official couldn't help but yawn several times.
But she wasn't in a hurry.
She is waiting.
When the copper bell rang, signaling the exact noon test from the watchtower outside the Dali Temple, she couldn't discern it from deep within the Dali Temple prison area. However, her informant, whom she had placed opposite the main gate of the Dali Temple, would come in and report as soon as he heard it.
The second quarter of Shen time was precisely the time when Yuwen Xu planned to send the second test signal.
"Female prisoner number C, Xiao Jinluo—" Qin Keqing opened the roster and moved her finger down the list.
Just then, the copper bell on the watchtower outside the Dali Temple suddenly rang.
It is an extremely piercing, rapid sound—the bell-like tongue strikes seven times in succession, pauses for one beat, and then strikes three more times.
This wasn't a time signal from the Observatory, but rather someone ringing a bell directly from the outer watchtower.
Fire alarm.
Three days ago, the Imperial City Guard had already prepared an extremely precise trigger command for the "accidental fire".
If the outer watchtowers sound a series of urgent alarms outside of the designated time, all on-duty officers will immediately initiate an investigation, block the main gate, guard all entrances and exits, and forcibly suspend the ongoing registration process at the Imperial Clan Court under the pretext of "protecting the safety of the imperial clan."
"Recorder Qin," the Assistant Magistrate hurried over, "a fire has been reported from the outer watchtower of the Dali Temple. Please come with me to the main hall for safety—"
"No rush." Qin Keqing closed the register and glanced at Zhao Bocong.
Zhao Bocong stood at the end of the prison corridor, with the back wall of the Dali Temple prison behind him.
Outside the wall was the open space where the Cining Palace cotton quilt carts were parked. The carriage was still there, with its curtains hanging low and the Cining Palace lanterns hanging on the carriage shafts swaying gently in the wind.
However, if someone walks up to the carriage and looks closely, they will find a small section of a copper bell reed sticking out from under the curtain. That is a modified part that Yuwen Xu had hidden in the quilt core, which he had not yet fully installed into the bell frame of the outer watchtower.