The Golden Hairpin

She turned her head slowly and saw Li Shubai's carriage parked at the door. He pushed the car door and walked out, standing in the car looking at her, condescending and facing the light, unable to see his expression for a while.

She stood there and stayed for a long time before calling him in a low voice: "Master..."

The doorman had already paved the steps. He walked down from the car. His green lotus-colored clothes were more distinctive than usual, making her look up at him involuntarily, as if he were a shining sun. The rising in front of her made her reluctant to look away.

He approached her step by step, his hand was slightly raised, as if he wanted to touch her cheek. But after hesitating for a while, he slowly put his hand down again, only staring at her silently, and for a long time, he said, "Come here."

Huang Zixian lowered her head and silently followed him to the palace.

Zhou Ziqin followed them inside and said, "Look, you see, I used to cry out to run, how come I'm so behaved now."

Huang Zixian glared at him weakly and continued to walk inside.

As soon as he walked to Jingyutang and waited for the tea to be served by the next person, Zhou Ziqin immediately looked around, then closed the door, took out something from his arms, and put it on the table: "Dagger, silk thread, Broken jade..."

Li Shubai drank his tea and watched without saying a word.

Zhou Ziqin said: "We just found this from the Royal Palace of E. Guess where did the prince find it?"

Li Shubai looked at the gray marks on it, and asked, "Did the King E incinerate it in the censer of Chen Taifei?"

Huang Zixian held the tea cup, looked down at the three things, and said: "Yes, and if it is usually done, it is estimated that it will be discovered soon. It is said that on the winter solstice day, King E closed his door before going out. For a long time, I thought...it should be that time when he destroyed these three things."

"The dagger, is it that of Aunt Gongsun?" Li Shubai asked again.

Huang Zixian shook his head: "I don't know, because we don't know whether the other 23 cold iron daggers are the same as the one of Gongsun Aunt. If they are the same, it may be one of the 23."

"When we go back to Shu to check and see if the dagger in the evidence room is still there, maybe we can know it." Zhou Ziqin said, sighing in annoyance, "but Shu is It will take days to come and go from here."

"I will send someone to check it as soon as possible." Li Shubai said, finally put down the tea cup and took a careful look at the things on the table. "This bracelet should be sure that we sent it to the Royal Palace of E and brought it from Fu Xinruan. bracelet."

Zhou Ziqin said: "Yes, I find it very strange, why did King E smash Fu Xinruan's things in front of his mother's spirit and bury them in the incense ashes? No, it should be, why do you want him? Give this bracelet to King E?"

Huang Zixia glanced at Li Shubai silently, without answering. Li Shubai said casually: "This is the love of King E's mother, and it was given to Fu Xinruan by King E after her mother's death."

Zhou Ziqin was suddenly struggling with his tongue, with a look of "discovered a great secret" on his face.

Huang Zixian's gaze shifted from the dagger, the jade bracelet, and the concentric knot one by one, and then said: "There is another concentric knot. It was a few days before the winter solstice that someone entrusted the name of the Royal Palace to the Royal Palace of E. Send it off. The people of the stuff don't seem to be afraid of others to check it, so there is no sealing box. After the concierge checked it, it was determined that there was no danger, and then it was passed to King E."

"It's not me." Li Shubai said lightly.

Zhou Zi Qin Meng nodded: "Of course it's not the prince, but who on earth pretended to be, and what is the purpose of giving these things?"

"Especially the concentric knot...what is the purpose of this?" Huang Zixian said in deep thought.

Li Shubai pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Huang Zixian and asked, "Other than that, what else do you find in the Royal Mansion of E today?"

Huang Zixian did not dare to look at him, only raised his hand to hold the hairpin that was holding the hairpin, and drew the white hosta from the silver hairpin, lightly drew a circle on the table, and said, "Everyone in the Royal Palace of E said, from the top After King Tsui came to return the bracelet, King E stayed behind closed doors and never saw anyone again. But at that time, the King took me with me. I absolutely knew that King E had nothing to do with us, and also asked for it. We investigated the cause of his mother. I believe that King E had never been subjected to contemplation at that time-but during this period of time when he stayed behind closed doors, he had a grudge against King Kui, and he did not hesitate to do so. In death, the prince must also be given the greatest stigma, in order to make the prince into a situation where he cannot be recovered."

Li Shubai nodded slightly, but said nothing. However, Zhou Ziqin was dumbfounded and asked: "Respect the ancients, so you mean that King E was kept behind closed doors, so he was not captured by others? Everything he did was from his own heart?"

Huang Zixian drew a line on the table again, touching the first circle: "Unless, someone gave him contemplation during the time he was out of the house and the winter solstice sacrifice to the sky. Then this way, What we need to check is anyone he can reach within half a day."

She drew a second line connected to the circle: "Also, maybe there is a certain person in King E's mansion who has been lurking by King E for a long time and is good at contemplation."

Li Shubai shook his head, raised his hand to cross the line, and said: "Impossible. If there is such a person, he will not be sent to lurking in the Royal Mansion of E. After all, his influence on the political situation is really minimal, and it is used by others. There will definitely be a lot of use around."

"Then, there is another possibility." Huang Zixian stretched out another line on the circle and said, "The king of E has already been subjected to spiritual contemplation, but he has been lurking and has never occurred. The dagger and the concentric knot may be a hint After receiving these two things, contemplation will occur, controlling him to do things against King Kui in accordance with the will of others."

Li Shubai frowned slightly, and after a long time, he said, "Such a magical technique, does the world really exist? If there is such an expert, do you still need to look for Master Mu Shan to enter Beijing?"

"Well... it's very small, but it's also a possibility." Huang Zixian said, frowning again, "And the biggest mystery in this case should lie in the body of King E, how can it disappear in the air."

Zhou Ziqin asked, "Is it possible that he was the first person to run downstairs and hid the body?"

"The first person to run to Your Excellency Xiangluan was Wang Yun." Huang Zixia said lightly, "He was not there alone at the time. He was also followed by a team of Imperial Forest Army. When they ran down, they found a trace on the snow. No, there is absolutely no sign of things falling below, and no footprints of people coming and going."

Zhou Ziqin frowned and thought for a long time, patted the table, and said, "I know! I know why King E jumped off the building on the other side of Xiangluan Pavilion instead of jumping off in front of you!"

Huang Zixia looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Because, he built a shelf on the upstairs, or hung a soft cloth pocket on the wall, you look at him as if he jumped off the railing, but in fact, he jumped It’s on a shelf or a soft cloth pocket, so it’s unharmed.” Zhou Ziqin was triumphant, with an expression of tomorrow’s affairs, “and after the jump, there was a chaos in Qifeng Pavilion, while you bypassed the Hanyuan Hall. When chasing, he picked up the shelf or soft pocket and ran away quietly!"

Huang Zixian said: "It could have been guessed this way, but there was a thin snowfall that day. The prince and I were one of the first to arrive at that time. But I had already checked the railings at that time, and the snow on it was intact and even. Incomparably, I have never found any traces of hanging a soft pocket."

"Then...what about the shelf outside?"

"Later, we also went downstairs to check. There was nothing on the wall where King E jumped down. The snow dust stuck to the wall was very even, and nothing touched it."

"Okay, then I'll think about it..." Zhou Ziqin said frustratedly, then looked at Huang Zixian, "Otherwise, is there anything else Chonggu found?"

Huang Zixian shook his head and said, "Perhaps we can trace the person who gave the concentric knot and the dagger, but since it is a fake, it is likely to be makeup, I am afraid it is not easy to find."

"Or, let's check it along the box?" Zhou Ziqin thought for a while and said, "I remember that in the corner of that box, I seemed to have seen the word'liang'. It should have been made by Liang Ji Mu Zuopu."

Huang Zixia nodded: "You can ask."

Seeing her affirmation of her opinion, Zhou Ziqin became excited and jumped up and said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up."

Huang Zixia gave a "um", stood up and followed him, but couldn't help but glanced back at Li Shubai.

Li Shubai looked at her, put the tea cup in his hand on the table, and said, "Wait a moment."

Huang Zixian and Zhou Ziqin sat there. Li Shubai had returned before a cup of tea was finished, and changed into a bead-grey Ruijin round collar embroidered with a dark purple mirror pattern, in order to be less conspicuous.

The three of them went to Liang Ji Mu Zuo Pu. The New Year's Eve is approaching, the East City is crowded with people, and the front door of Liang Ji Mu Zuo Pu is also a lively scene. Although the prices of things here are a bit more expensive than other stores, Dongshi City is already close to the residences of dignitaries, and the things are exquisitely made. Many civilians also buy a makeup powder box and the like during the New Year. , So there are so many people at the door, it's really like a cloud of guests.

When they walked to the store, they saw the kind of box on the counter, the size and shape were exactly the same as the one in King E's Mansion. Zhou Ziqin asked: "The shopkeeper, who has come to buy this kind of box recently?"

The shopkeeper gave him an "idiot" look and said: "There have been more than fifty sold today. When did you ask?"

Zhou Ziqin suddenly lay weakly on the counter. Murmured: "More than fifty..."

Li Shubai patted him on the back, motioned him to get up, and then said: "The shopkeeper, I bought a wooden box with nine square grids from your side before, which was made by Master Huo. Now I want to make another one. I wonder if the master is here. ??"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "Master Huo has passed away almost four years ago. However, his apprentice is now on our side and has inherited the master's craftsmanship. It is quite good. You should be able to make a similar one. Would you like it?"

"Please take us to see him, and I will discuss with him the words engraved on the box."

"Oh, please." The shopkeeper immediately called a young man over. Huang Zixian and Zhou Ziqin had roughly guessed that the box was supposed to make him a lot of money.

The Liangji Muzuopu store is in Dongshi, but the things are made in a courtyard in the south of the city. Li Shubai had already been here last time. This time he followed the boy and was familiar with the road, and walked directly to a small room at the east end of the yard.

Said he is an apprentice, in fact, he is already a middle-aged man in his forties, and he is working listlessly in planing wood.

The guy knocked on the open door and said, "Master Sun, someone is looking for you to make a wooden box with nine square grids."

Master Sun immediately lifted his spirits, and his face bloomed with a smile: "Oh, it's been a long time since no guests made this kind of box. Are the three of them doing it?"

Li Shubai said: "Yes, make a nine-nine-nine-eighty-one grid box."

Master Sun was so happy that there was only one gap left in his eyes: "Nine-nine-nine-eighty-one squares? The price is not low, one hundred dollars per square, plus the secret box mechanism, a total of...ten tongs."

Li Shubai nodded and said, "No problem, when can I come over and set up a secret message?"