Although the people of the Tang Empire were ferocious, Chang 'an was the most benevolent city. Numerous imperial courts, government offices, and military camps were scattered in the city. High officials and nobles lived in the city, so the security was very good.
Except for a few corpses in a duel of life and death, there were very few cases of abnormal deaths in Chang 'an. Of course, the murder at the Spring Breeze Pavilion, which was approved by His Majesty in the palace, was not included.
Therefore, when the murder happened at the lakeside in the Southern City, the Chang 'an Local Government suddenly became nervous in the morning. The new Judicial Military Adjunct and the coroner squatted in the autopsy room and did not dare to go out. The head on duty led more than a hundred government runners to run between the streets, sweating profusely. The current magistrate of Chang' an, Shangguan Yangyu, who had just gotten up, looked extremely gloomy.
"Your Honor, the murderer must be an experienced killer. We searched around the murder scene but found no clues. We only found a piece of clothing in the side alley of the Vermilion Bird Avenue. I guess it was left by the murderer."
The criminal official in charge of investigating major and important cases respectfully handed over the tattered coat and another piece of cloth in his hand, saying, "It's not that my subordinates are incompetent, the Yulin Royal Guards have also lost them."
Shangguan Yangyu took the ragged coat and then looked at the piece of cloth against the morning light coming in from outside the hall. His triangular eyes shrunk so much that they almost turned into two soybeans, but he couldn't find anything. He said in a hoarse voice, "Ask the old man to check this coat. If he can't find any clues about the material, then focus on the needlework."
"This is a ready-made garment from the Lan Embroidery Workshop. Someone had knocked on the door and asked. This ready-made garment of this style and size was produced a few years ago and sold many pieces. This one is obviously old, so …" The subordinate looked up at the expression on his Honor's face and said carefully, "Neither the needlework nor the material of the garment can be checked."
Shangguan Yangyu gently stroked his sparse beard and said indifferently without any expression on his face, "The imperial court keeps us officials to do things. If it's not easy to check, shouldn't we?"
After hesitating for a moment, the subordinate came forward and said in a low voice, "Sir, the coat left behind by the murderer has been cut countless times by the blade of the sword, but there is no trace of blood on it. According to this subordinate's judgment, there are only two possibilities."
"Say it." Shangguan Yuyang said angrily, annoyed at his slowness.
"The first possibility is that the murderer is wearing a very expensive soft armor, but look at the rips on the clothes, especially the places where the rips are. Even the best soft armor in the Empire can't protect those places."
The subordinate glanced at him again and lowered his voice even more, "Then there is only the second possibility … This murderer is an expert at the peak of martial arts. Ordinary weapons or even flying swords can only cut open his outer clothes, but can't penetrate his protective yuan qi layer at all, so naturally there is no blood."
Shangguan Yangyu's fingers that were stroking his beard suddenly froze when he heard the words "strong man at the Peak of Martial Arts". He looked at his subordinate with cold eyes … A strong man of Martial Arts who could resist the flying sword of a Sword Master with only his protective primordial qi must be very fierce. There were not many such strong men in the whole empire.
"Nonsense!" Shangguan Yangyu stared at his subordinate's eyes coldly and said coldly, "The four generals with outstanding achievements are the strongest men at the Peak of Martial Arts in the Tang Empire. Not to mention that the four generals are ordered by the emperor to guard the frontier all year round, even if they are now in Chang 'an City, do you think they will commit murder?"
The subordinate bowed again and again, indicating that he didn't mean that.
"If it is a strong man at the Peak of Martial Arts from a foreign country … it is even more impossible."
Shangguan Yangyu said with a gloomy face, "Once such people enter Chang 'an City, the imperial court will closely monitor them. If they dare to do anything, aren't they afraid that the Nation Master will directly suppress them?"
This is impossible, that is impossible, then what is possible? The subordinate complained in his heart and raised his head to look at his Honor expectantly, thinking that he had to show them a way.
"According to the regular procedure, the lakeside murder case will be archived first, and then you will investigate the case diligently and strive to solve the case as soon as possible."
Shangguan Yangyu said slowly, and the hidden meaning in his words was very clear. The so-called strive to solve the case as soon as possible, the key was to strive. Even if you could not solve the case as soon as possible, as long as no one in the imperial court questioned you, no one would care.
Looking at the subordinate who took the order and retreated, Shangguan Yangyu shook his head and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe the sweat on his face. His slightly red nose suddenly became redder because of the wipe.
Hearing that the real murderer of the murder case was very likely to be a strong man at the Peak of Martial Arts, the new prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an City had the intention to retreat, because he knew that this matter must be very troublesome.
As a senior official of the Tang Empire, although Shangguan Yangyu had a despicable temperament, he was not so weak that he could not even bear this responsibility. But he knew that if this murder case involved a lot of people, it was not a problem that could be solved by the Chang 'an Local Government alone. If other departments did not take action, it meant that someone in the imperial court did not want to make trouble.
"His Majesty is very benevolent."
He cupped his hands in front and bowed respectfully to the far north. His ugly face was full of gratitude, "His Majesty has promoted me from the Judicial Military Staff to the prefectural magistrate of Chang 'an City. How dare I make trouble for His Majesty?"
…
…
There was an old tower made of yellow bricks in the Southern City. The tower was badly damaged and entangled with green vines. It seemed that it would collapse at any time. However, after so many years, the old tower still stood among the small temples. It was silent and peaceful, watching others build tall buildings, and others build brothels.
Every spring, countless wild geese returned from the south. Before the geese went to Xunyang Lake in Gushan Commandery to spend the summer, they would fly over Chang 'an City and circle around the old tower for many days. At that time, the shadows of the geese would cover the sky and the birds would sing. It was a spectacular scene.
No one knew why these wild geese, who flew high in the sky and slept by the water, would appear in the bustling Chang 'an City and be so interested in the old tower. But after a long time, they got used to it. In recent years, the scene of tens of thousands of flying geese had become another wonderful scene for the people of Chang' an to enjoy the spring. And the old tower also had a name: Wanyan Tower.
Today, there was a monk living at the top of the Wanyan Tower, accompanied by the lamp and the Buddha statue in the shrine and the scriptures on the table. He rarely went down from the tower and rarely met the good Zen women in the back garden.
This monk called himself Huang Yang, the younger brother of the Tang Empire's emperor.
Today, he welcomed a guest who was equally distinguished.
Li Qingshan, the Nation Master of Tang, looked at the monk who was copying scriptures at the table and said, "Last night … the Vermilion Bird woke up."
Monk Huang Yang replied calmly without raising his head, "The divine object left by the previous generation of sages has its own meaning. How can it be known to us ordinary people who are still trapped in the world of mortals? Brother Qingshan, why bother yourself?"
…
…
(I have to finish a chapter. Otherwise, this writing method, with three chapters and each chapter is painstakingly written, will kill me. Besides, this chapter only has two thousand words. That's because the last chapter yesterday had four thousand words. So … I'm not cheating, right? Tonight, I'll try my best to finish it as soon as possible. I'll bow and spit out blood. The blood on your shoes …) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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