Xian Xian

Chapter 143: Suspect

With a smile in Li Chaoge’s eyes, he directly asked, “Then what do you want to grab?”

Gu Mingke looked at her and couldn’t help but smile: “It depends on what you think.”

There was someone in front of them calling them, and Li Chaoge retracted his gaze, glaring at him with a smile and anguish: “Since you are running out to listen?, then concentrate and don’t be lazy.”

Li Chaoge went to the front door to read the handwriting. Gu Mingke, who was accused of lazy paddling, followed slowly. The scene was right in front of him, but Gu Mingke didn’t squeeze forward, just quietly following Li Chaoge’s body.

Li Chaoge stretched out his hand and stroked the paint on the door, and asked: “Does the handwriting have any rubbings?”

The butler shook his head: “No?.”

Zhang Yanyi was so angry that she saw her door being painted with words. How dare the housekeeper and others keep the handwriting. Naturally, as soon as I found it, I quickly sent someone to wipe it.

Li Chaoge looked at the vermilion door and asked, “Is the handwriting style consistent over the past seven days?”

“This villain doesn’t know.” said the butler, “but on the last day, this morning, the writing on the door was very scribble, not quite the same as the previous few days.”

Li Chaoge pondered?, and asked: “When did today’s characters appear?”

The housekeeper remembered it very clearly, and said fluently without needing to think about it: “Five shifts? Two? o’clock, after the first wave of morning drums, the concierge ran over to me and told me that there was no one writing tonight. The younger one was very happy, so he hurried to report. Erlang. But the third wave of drums hasn’t fallen yet, and the people who went out to sweep the floor found that there were words on the door again.”

Li Chaoge asked: “You go to tell Zhang Yanyi the time, is there anyone at the door?”

The housekeeper was embarrassed and rubbed his hands and said: “The concierge has done a big deal and wants to go to Jiro to ask for a reward. The others are afraid of leaving? So they all came over…”

Li Chaoge understood, that is to say, between the first wave and the third wave of the morning drum, there was no guard in front of the gate of Zhang Mansion. The butler couldn’t help muttering: “It’s also weird. Even if the concierge isn’t there, but the gate is already open at that time, and there are people walking on the street. If someone pretends to be a ghost, they will be seen by others. Why doesn’t anyone know? Dao? What the **** is this and why it can deceive so many people’s eyes.”

Li Chaoge stood in front of the door and looked at it. The door had just been scrubbed this morning, but ink stains were inevitably left in the cracks. Li Chaoge stepped forward and carefully identified the smell of the ink. The taste is pungent but not condensed, not counting the good ink platform, it seems to be a commonplace goods everywhere. Li Chaoge stepped back and asked, “Do you have anyone reading or writing in your house?”

The housekeeper shook his head, thinking about it, and said, Zhang Family leaned on the younger brother of the male favorite in the palace to turn over. It only became popular this year, so how could Zhang Mansion prepare the calligraphy of writing. Li Chaoge asked again: “Where are the handwritings in the past few nights?”

The butler called to the concierge, and the two men said and made gestures to Li Chaoge. Li Chaoge looked at it for a while, and probably understood the height of the person writing.

The clues at the door were almost found, and Li Chaoge went back to Fangmen to ask the witnesses. She knocked on the house closest to the square door and asked: “Did you hear any suspicious movements in the past few nights?”

This is a family of five with parents with three children. Seeing that an official came, the mother hurried the three children into the house. Father stood at the door, respectfully and cautiously? “I never heard?”

Li Chaoge swept across the yard and asked, “Your family lives next to the square wall, and the sound of communication should not be small. You didn’t even hear anything? Didn’t you hear anything?”

The children were locked up by their mothers, but they still couldn’t hold them back, quietly peeping through the door and looking out. The children’s father rubbed his hands, looking nervous and restrained: “The Caomin slept to death at night, and he couldn’t hear anything when he fell asleep? Didn’t he really pay attention to the outside?”

The mother hung her head and never looked at Li Chaoge. Li Chaoge looked at the main room, and the children in the door saw her and shrank their heads timidly, but couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful official. When the couple saw Li Chaoge looking at the child, they were obviously nervous. The father stammered and said, “Lady, we are ordinary people and we don’t know anything. The children of the grass people have never seen the world, so please don’t embarrass them.”

The attendant behind listened, and sternly reprimanded: “Bold, do you know who this is?”

Li Chaoge raised his hand and stopped the attendant’s words. When she knocked on the door, she only spoke to the government for questioning, but did not say her identity, so the family did not know that she was Li Chaoge. Li Chaoge quietly glanced at the couple who were facing the enemy, turned around and went out.

Li Chaoge then went to ask about the next house. It was also surprising. The neighbors in the neighborhood looked up and saw them. On weekdays, they would always see some traces, but none of the houses around Zhang Mansion noticed any movement at night. Li Chaoge asked for a while, but got very little. She gave up, planning to break through from within Zhang Mansion faster.

Li Chaoge walked nearby into the side door, she walked in front of the door, raised her head again, and glanced at the high door wall of the Zhang family.

Zhang Yanyi also knew that Dao had a guilty conscience and repaired her courtyard wall extremely high. Unless you have learned martial arts at this height, it is difficult for ordinary people to climb.

Li Chaoge beckoned, and the butler ran over immediately and asked diligently: “Princess, what do you want?”

“Is there a guard at this side entrance at night?”

“Of course?” the butler replied, “Princess, wait a moment, the younger one will call people over.”

The man guarding the side door came soon. The side entrance is not as honorable as the front entrance, and the gatekeeper is just a half-old man in a coarse old shirt. Li Chaoge glanced over him and asked, “Are you responsible for guarding the side door?”

The janitor saluteed unskillfully, shrank his shoulders and said, “It’s a villain.”

“During this time, are there people coming in and out through the side door at night?”

The gatekeeper immediately shook his head: “No?.”

Li Chaoge looked at his performance, and asked without hesitation: “You don’t want to think about it, just just say no?”

The doorman froze, he thought for a while, and he squatted and said: “The little one really didn’t see it. Recently, it has been cold and this side door is on the side. Very few people usually come in and out from here. Especially this For a few days, there are always unclear writings outside. Rumors in the house are haunted, and no one dares to go out after dark. After the villain closes the side door, he will not open again all night, really no one enters? out.”

Li Chaoge turned around and asked the housekeeper: “There are rumors of haunting in your house?”

The housekeeper smiled awkwardly: “Come on? People are timid and ignorant, and they will be shocked by the slightest disturbance. Those? The maids are indeed in the pile? Such gossip…”

Li Chaoge was noncommittal, she held her hands and paced slowly in the Zhang Mansion Garden. Zhang Yanyi became rich, and the house was repaired to the utmost luxury, and even the garden was very spacious and magnificent. However, after all, their home is shallow, and the garden is empty, but there are not many trees.

Li Chaoge walked along the corridor, looking slowly at the bare flowerbeds on both sides, while casually asking: “Such a large open space? It is estimated that a lot of things can be buried. Has anyone died here before?”

The housekeeper was so frightened that his legs were soft, how could Li Chaoge say such scary words in such a casual tone. The housekeeper grinned reluctantly and said: “The princess laughed. This house is a treasure-gathering place for Mr. Feng Shui at a high price for Erlang? How can there be such a thing in the mansion?”

“There is no contradiction between the dead and the gathering of wealth.” Li Chaoge said lightly, “Don’t you know? Dao, the top feng shui treasure land? Is bone gathering energy?”

Li Chaoge really didn’t talk nonsense, right? Under the palace? With so many bones buried in his face, isn’t it the most powerful array of gathering wealth and power? The power of the emperor’s family can gather, let alone ordinary people. The housekeeper was frightened, and his face was pale, completely speechless. Gu Mingke couldn’t see it, and said, “Don’t talk nonsense, it is a fierce formation that gathers energy with bones, and it will cause endless harm.”

Zhang Yanzhi followed, and when he heard this, he thought of Xing Gong, and then said: “Does the princess mean Xing Gong?”

Li Chaoge snorted and said, “I don’t know Feng Shui, so ask Gu Siqing about these things, don’t ask me.”

Obviously this topic is very horrible, but when Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke talked about it, they looked like flirting. Zhang Yanzhi paused for a moment. Even though he was trying hard to find the topic, he could still clearly feel that he couldn’t get in? The two people in front of him.

Zhang Yanzhi looked at Gu Mingke with unclear meaning: “Gu Siqing comes from a family of literature and history, and he can learn without a teacher? It’s amazing enough to know the law. I didn’t expect Gu Siqing to know Fengshui?”

Zhang Yanzhi’s eyes were full of suspicion. Everyone said that Gu Mingke had been weak since childhood and was passively avoiding the world. However, according to Zhang Yanzhi’s observation during this period, Gu Mingke is not like a sick person at all, and many habits are attributed to healthy talents.

Gu Mingke looked at Zhang Yanzhi without evasive, nodded and said: “Zhang Fengchen has ordered too much praise, I? I don’t want to be motivated since I was a child? I read a mixed book and know a little about everything, but unfortunately I am not very proficient.”

Li Chaoge smiled lightly in front of him, then looked back at him: “You said that you are not proficient. You mean that you have been admitted to Mingfa Division in one month after preparing for it?”

Gu Mingke said lightly: “That’s a simple question.”

Li Chaoge rolled his eyes and didn’t want to ignore him. Standing beside Zhang Yanzhi, he felt a subtle feeling of rejection.

Obviously they are standing very close, but the other two? They seem to be a world of their own, and they can’t blend in no matter what Zhang Yanzhi does. At this time, someone was walking with a bucket. The butler saw it and yelled: “Presumptuously, haven’t you seen Wulang, Princess Shengyuan and Gu Siqing here? It’s not enough to please peace!”

The strong man carrying the water put down the wooden barrel and gave a gift to Li Chaoge: “See the princess, Gu Siqing, and see Wulang.”

This gardener is a tall man. Although his salute is awkward, he has done the details correctly. Li Chaoge was curious and asked, “What are you doing here?”

The gardener bowed his head and replied: “Jiro will hold a plum appreciation banquet, and let all the plum blossoms bloom a year ago, and the common people will come over and water the plum trees.”

After Zhang Yanyi developed arty, she also had to learn from the big family in Beijing to hold a flower-watching banquet. Their house is newly built, and there is no soil in the garden, so how can they grow live flowers and plants? But Zhang Yanyi didn’t care, she insisted on holding a flower viewing banquet in the first month, and dug up plum blossoms at a high price, and forced them to plant them in her garden. Plants and trees are inoculated? It is seasonal, Zhang Yanyi transplants in winter, how can it be possible to bloom.

However, how does Zhang Yanyi care about these? The queen can let the flowers bloom in winter, and he can let the plum blossoms bloom? Why not? Zhang Yanyi invited the gardener to care for the flowers and plants day and night. No matter what method is used, we must make the plum blossom bloom beautifully before the banquet.

Li Chaoge understood Zhang Yanyi’s virtues, did not ask any more, and waved his hand to let the gardener go. After the tall young man walked far away, Li Chaoge stretched out his hand and stared at his finger silently.

Seeing Li Chaoge’s movements, Zhang Yanzhi couldn’t help but look at his hand: “Princess, what’s the matter?”

Li Chaoge’s tone is not hurried or slow, I don’t know? Dao is talking to himself or asking people: “What do you think of a pair of hands that hold a pen all year round?”

Zhang Yanzhi’s subordinates became conscious, but Li Chaoge looked at Gu Mingke and naturally stretched out his hand and said, “Show me? Take a look? Your hand.”

Gu Mingke stretched out his hand and let her look through it. Zhang Yanzhi was stunned, shook his fingers quietly, and secretly put them back in place.

Li Chaoge turned to look at Gu Mingke’s hand over and over again, squeezing here and there, Gu Mingke was indifferent and let her play around. Li Chaoge finally enjoyed the game. He let go of his hand and said, “Sure enough, what is a person’s identity? His mouth can lie, but his hands can’t deceive. Same.”

Zhang Yanzhi couldn’t help asking: “Princess, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Li Chaoge curled up his sleeves, looked at the empty garden, and said lightly, “He can write.”

It is not uncommon for a gardener who works in a large family to be physically strong, but it is not common for him to be able to write. Li Chaoge quietly thought, he could stir up such a big two buckets of water, and it would be no problem to want to cross the wall of the square.

Zhang Yanzhi raised his head to look at the back of the gardener. Li Chaoge called the housekeeper and asked, “What was the name of that person just now?”

The housekeeper frowned, thought for a while, and said uncertainly: “It seems to be called Shi Xuguang.”

“What is the origin.”

The housekeeper scratched his head: “This little one is not very clear. I only remember that he is from the suburbs of Beijing, and his farming skills are not bad, and he is also practical and capable, so he recruited him.”

Didn’t Li Chaoge make a statement and asked: “Where does he live?”

“He lives in the house like other day laborers.”

“Call in his roommate.”

“Yes.”

The butler went to call someone, and Li Chaoge sat in the pavilion and waited. Soon the other party came over, and Li Chaoge asked, “Are you Shi Xuguang’s roommate?”

The roommate was a man in his early twenties, with dark cheeks and thin body. He was from the countryside at first glance. He was trembling: “Go back to the princess, it’s me.”

The butler beside him widened his eyes: “Bold, how can you call me in front of the princess?”

“It’s alright.” Li Chaoge stopped the housekeeper and said, “It’s just a small matter, don’t worry about it.”

The roommate knelt on the floor, and her body couldn’t help shaking: “The princess is forgiving, the Caomin didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay.” Li Chaoge asked, “These? Did Tianshi Xuguang go out at night?”

The roommate lowered his neck and shook his head indiscriminately, unable to speak. Li Chaoge raised his eyebrows and asked, “Never?”

The same room tremblingly? Said: “The Caomin slept to death at night and didn’t find it?.”

Li Chaoge asked a few more questions. Seeing that he was so frightened that he didn’t say anything in the beginning, he knew that he could not ask anything, so he sent him back.

After someone left, Zhang Yanzhi asked: “The princess thinks it is this gardener?”

“There is no evidence at the moment.” Li Chaoge stood up holding the stone table and said, “The side door said no one was going out, and the roommate said that he hadn’t noticed Shi Xuguang leaving. If you didn’t enter through the side door, you could only jump through the wall from the front door. But There were four people guarding the door, and a young man in charge of the garden could not fail to see it. What’s more, even if Shi Xuguang was lucky that night, he happened to have a hole in it, but for seven nights, how did he know? ? The concierge shifts the time, and it happens to escape every time?”

Zhang Yanzhi was circumvented by this information, so he didn’t know who it was. Standing in front of the corridor, Li Chaoge laughed suddenly: “Those who have the time to commit crimes do not have the ability to commit crimes, those who have the ability to commit crimes do not have time to commit crimes, and the people who have the most motivation for committing crimes have no action. . Really hell, could it be a case made by a ghost?”

Gu Mingke put his cloak together and stood at the mouth of Shuosuo, and said, “You don’t have to be in a hurry to solve the case, and you can always dig out clues. Let’s go? Let’s go to eat first.”

Zhang Yanzhi’s eyes moved, and he said: “We have prepared hot wine and hot dishes…”

Gu Mingke grabbed Li Chaoge and smiled politely and distantly at Zhang Yanzhi: “It is not convenient for public officials to accept gifts from the people. Let’s go out to eat.”

Afterwards, he turned his head and asked gently: “What do you want to eat?”

Li Chaoge smiled but didn’t smile: “I? It’s okay, it’s up to you.”

Gu Mingke pulled Li Chaoge away in a high-profile manner. After he went out, Li Chaoge called Jin Wuwei and asked them to patrol the entrance of Zhang Mansion at night. Jin Wuwei and the improvised family members of Zhang Mansion are different. They are from regular yawei, tall and burly, with long swords on their waists according to the law. When Jin Wuwei stopped at the gate of Zhang’s house, no one in the street dared to speak loudly.

Li Chaoge also wanted to see what was going on.

After Li Chaoge had done this, he went out for dinner with Gu Mingke, and then returned to the imperial city together. Li Chaoge was delayed in Zhang’s house for a long time. After eating, it was too late. Not long after she returned to the Demon Division of the town, the retreat drum rang.

Li Chaoge returned to the princess mansion and learned that Gu Mingke was in the study. She entered the study and saw Gu Mingke sitting behind the table with tall scrolls on the table.

Li Chaoge sat at the table, took out a volume and looked at it, and smiled softly: “I? I thought you were really free today.”

Gu Mingke made a special trip to Zhang’s Mansion, wandered around with her inquiries, and finally went to Nanshi for a meal, which basically took a whole day. During the day, he looked calm and leisurely and elegant, but at night, he moved the files back to the mansion to work overtime?

Li Chaoge fastened the scroll and put it back in for him: “Look at these amounts, I won’t say anything tonight, and I will approve it until Haishi. Congratulations, take your time.”

Talking about love at public expense during the day, and staying up late at night without pay to work overtime, this is called swollen face and fattening, and it deserves it.

Gu Mingke didn’t care about Li Chaoge’s mockery. He temporarily finished writing a scroll, put down his pen, and asked, “Are you going to Zhang’s Mansion tomorrow?”

Li Chaoge put his arm on the table, and looked at him with a smile but a smile: “Why, I stayed up for one night today, but I have to stay up tomorrow?”

“I want to ask you something.”

Li Chaoge leaned on Pingshi, relaxed his wrists, and said, “Not necessarily. I think that gardener has a problem. I’m going to check him tomorrow.”

Shi Xuguang’s joints are wide and his palms are rough. He is a pair of hands accustomed to farm work, but he has a pen callus on his index finger. Li Chaoge knows that there are some scholars from the Taoist family who work in the rain, and help the family cultivate the land on sunny days. They read under the lights at night and on rainy days. Such a person has a strong mind and is unlikely to be a gardener.

And he’s also the gardener of Zhang’s family.

Hearing that Li Chaoge was no longer going to Zhang Mansion, Gu Mingke secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That’s good, as long as Li Chaoge doesn’t go to Zhang’s house, Zhang Yanzhi will not be able to catch up by himself. Gu Mingke asked: “Where is Shi Xuguang’s ancestral home?”

Li Chaoge found out the news at the end of the afternoon. She said: “Qingyun Village, Dayuan County, suburb of Beijing, backed by Mang Mountain and facing Luoshui in front, is a fertile land.”

Gu Mingke frowned, “How much distance is there in Mount Mang? Can I go back and forth in one day?”

“It’s okay.” Li Chaoge didn’t care, and said, “If it’s too late, I will stay there for one night. You don’t have to wait for me tomorrow. Go home by yourself.”

Suddenly, Gu Mingke had to stand alone in his empty boudoir. Li Chaoge saw Gu Mingke put down the pen? He was surprised? “What’s the matter?”

Gu Mingke sorted out the unapproved files and said: “Don’t rush to ask for it, you can take it a little later today.”

Tomorrow he will have one night to read the file. In contrast, he should do something more important today.

Li Chaoge was surprised? Staring at him, he didn’t know who it was: “You would delay official duties? Is something urgent?”

“If you are not in a hurry, you can’t rest?” Gu Mingke glanced at her and said, “Didn’t you say that there was an incoherent sword move last time? I’ll accompany you to see it.”

When Li Chaoge discouraged him, he made a bend and swallowed it back immediately. It’s good for Gu Mingke to be willing to point her, but Gu Mingke is always busy, and Li Chaoge is embarrassed to delay his business. Now, when Gu Mingke took the initiative to mention it, Li Chaoge naturally had nothing to say.

Two people casually found an open space to make a move. With Gu Mingke accompany her to open up the trick, Li Chaoge soon became sweaty, and the originally stagnant place was also completed. Li Chaoge was in a very happy mood. She went back to the house and changed her clothes. After she came out, she asked the maid and learned that Gu Mingke was painting in the study.

What painting is he okay? Li Chaoge ran over to see and found that Gu Mingke was drawing a map. Li Chaoge looked at the side for a while and asked, “What are you doing with this painting?”

“The Geographical Scriptures are unclear on the note, and there are problems with the proportions of many places. Let me draw a new one.”

At this time, books are mostly spread by manual copying, and the text drawings on the books are easy to make mistakes, misunderstandings or even lost in the copying over and over. It has been noted that the picture above is getting more and more deformed, some of which are still inconsistent. Gu Mingke’s progress was seriously delayed, so he simply did it himself to draw an accurate and complete map.

This is not a small project. Li Chaoge sat next to him, helping him with his pen, researching ink, looking up information, and checking old pictures. Li Chaoge asked, “Why do you suddenly think of painting a map?”

“Sure some? Things.”

Li Chaoge leaned in immediately: “What’s the matter?”

Li Chaoge was leaning against Gu Mingke’s arm, but Gu Mingke’s hand holding the pen was not affected at all. His wrist was steadily suspended in the air, and he drew a line straightly, and said, “I’m not sure now. I will tell you after I find out.”

Li Chaoge remembered the last time she was visiting? The palace asked Gu Mingke who was the person who buried the bones and set up the formation. Gu Mingke was silent for a long time, saying that he needed confirmation. After he came back, he was reading maps of various places. Could it have something to do with that person?

Li Chaoge’s thoughts turned, did not say any more, quietly and quietly laid hands on Gu Mingke. The two people kept tossing until late at night.

The maid looked at the princess and the horse, reluctantly, and slandered. The nightlife of other couples is stable and poor, but their princesses are the only ones who have new tricks every day.

Playing the piano, drawing and painting, contesting martial arts and swordsmanship, from piano, chess, calligraphy and painting to astronomy and geography, from mountains and rivers to daily life in the market, two people dabble in everything, but they just don’t sleep.

It’s so annoying.

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