Song Qingshu took a bronze mirror and placed it on the table. He moved a stool and sat down. He opened the bag of groceries that he carried with him and started fiddling with it.
Not long after, the handsome young man in the mirror disappeared and was replaced by a wrinkled, weather-beaten middle-aged man. Song QingShu turned around and looked at his master. Song QingShu nodded. It was already difficult for others to tell the difference between the two of them with the naked eye.
After putting the two under the bed, Song Qingshu sat cross-legged on the bed and started to practice his Qi. After an unknown amount of time, there was a hurried knock on the door. Song Qingshu opened his eyes and a proud smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Sure enough, you're here."
"Who is it?" Song Qingshu pretended to be unsteady and staggered to open the door. He saw a group of soldiers in bright armor.
"Officers, this is?" Song Qingshu put on a humble smile.
"Are you blind?" A soldier on the side ran forward and pointed at the leader and said, "Old man Liu, this is the number one expert in Prince Bao's Mansion, Chief Sai."
"Forget it, he's just a commoner. What does he know about experts?" The one called Chief Sai waved his hand casually. "Old man Liu, His Royal Highness invites you over."
"Master, did I do something wrong?" Song Qingshu's face showed a hint of fear and said timidly.
"You'll know when you get there. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Oh right, bring your usual weapons." Chief Sai waved his hand impatiently.
"Alright, alright." Two soldiers escorted Song Qingshu back to the house. They picked up a box from the cabinet and pressed it against the door.
Along the way, Song QingShu did not speak a word. He looked like a coward who was afraid of death. In the end, they entered Prince Bao's Residence.
After a few turns in the Prince Bao's Mansion, Song Qingshu was brought to a hidden courtyard. Hong Li had been waiting in the room for a long time.
Glancing at Song Qingshu, Hong Li pointed at the table at the side and said, "Old Liu, I heard that your imitation skills are the best in the city. Look at that scripture over there. Can you replicate it?"
Trembling with fear, Song Qingshu came to the table. On top of the table was an exquisite brocade box. Inside the brocade box was a white-covered Buddhist scripture — Forty-two-chapter Sutra.
He carefully picked it up and casually flipped through a few pages. Song Qingshu's gaze froze. "It really is that Zhengbai Qi's' Forty-two-chapter Sutra '." He turned around and respectfully answered, "It can be replicated."
"That's good," Hong Li stood up and motioned for the guard at the side to bring the gold ingots on the plate to him. "If you can copy this Buddhist scripture as soon as possible, these two ingots of gold will be yours. If ben wang can see the difference in the copied thing, heh heh …" Hong Li did not finish but the threat in his tone was self-evident.
"This lowly one is in this line of work. No problem at all," Song Qingshu bowed and replied humbly.
"Alright, Chief Sai. I'll leave this to you. Keep your eyes on him. Do not move even half a step away. Do you understand? "Hong Li instructed Chief Sai before he left.
"This subordinate understands. Farewell, Royal Highness." The group of people in the room quickly bowed to Hong Li. After saluting, Song QingShu took this opportunity to, with lightning speed, take out a sutra book he had prepared earlier from his bosom and exchange it for the real Forty-two-chapter Sutra.
When Chief Sai came to his side and monitored him as he replicated the scripture step by step, Song Qingshu could not hide the pride in his heart.
The last time when he bargained with Su Quan, Su Quan's original intention was to numb Song Qingshu. Song Qingshu was also hiding his true motive.
From the beginning, he did not plan to split the spoils with Su Quan. Firstly, he did not believe that the crafty Shen Long jiao people would obediently give him half of it. Secondly, he did not believe that with the Shen Long jiao's ability, they could really get the 'Forty-two-chapter Sutra' from Hong Li's hands.
Song Qingshu simulated in his mind if he was in Hong Li's position and encountered the Shen Long jiao people who used his only grandson to exchange for the equally precious' Forty-two-chapter Sutra ', how would he handle it? The Residence of Prince Bao was powerful and had many masters. Although they had the ability to catch all the Shen Long jiao people in Shengjing City, it was hard to guarantee that one or two of them would not slip through the net. Using the real 'Forty-two-chapter Sutra' to exchange with the other party would be too risky. After thinking about it, Song Qingshu felt that Hong Li's most likely choice was to directly substitute the real one. He would use a fake scripture book to replace the real scripture book. As long as it was done to perfection, the Shen Long jiao people would not be able to tell it was the real one. By the time he got his grandson back, Hong Li would be able to hunt down the Shen Long jiao people in Wuji without any fear.
Although Hong Li might have some other simple and crude choices, Song Qingshu had never underestimated the intelligence and wisdom of those top people in this world. Since Hong Li was able to reach this position, the stratagem that Song Qingshu could come up with, he would certainly be able to think of it as well. Therefore, Song Qingshu decisively put all his chips on this possibility. On the surface, he was haggling over every penny with the Shen Long jiao people on how to distribute the profits after this, but in reality, he had secretly inquired about Old Man Liu, who was the most famous book maker in Shengjing City. He spent more than half a day observing his behavior and habits, as well as his work flow. When he received the news that the Shen Long jiao people had kidnapped the twins, he immediately disguised himself and replaced him, waiting for the Prince Bao's summons.
Since he had already stolen the real scripture book and put it in his pocket, Song Qingshu could naturally copy it leisurely. In the present age, perhaps only Emperor Shunzhi, Wei Xiaobao, and Shuang 'er knew the secret of the' Forty-two-chapter Sutra '. Other people like Kangxi and Hong Li, even if they knew that there was a great treasure hidden inside, they would not know that the map was on the shredded sheepskin inside the cover of the scripture book.
It was true that the Shen Long jiao people could not distinguish between the real and fake scriptures, but could Hong Li do the same? Of course, as a precaution, not only did Song Qingshu hide the fake sheepskin inside the fake scripture book, when he deliberately flipped through the scripture book in front of Hong Li just now, Song Qingshu had already discovered the marks that Hong Li had secretly made on the book. There was a crease on one of the pages, and there were also light scratches on a few characters.
"Even if you are as crafty as a ghost, don't you still have to drink the water that laozi washes my feet with?" Because of Xia Qingqing's matter, Song Qingshu did not have a good impression of Hong Li. While he was cursing in his heart, he left the same mark on the fake scripture book without leaving any trace.
A few hours later, Hong Li returned to the room. He looked at the two identical scriptures and nodded his head in satisfaction. Suddenly, he frowned and asked, "Which one is the real one?"
Chief Steward Sai and Song Qingshu pointed at the one in Hong Li's right hand at the same time. Hong Li threw the fake scripture book to one side and calmly flipped through the scripture book in his right hand. He found the secret code that he had left on the scripture book in advance. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief. He revealed a trace of a smile and said, "Take him away first."
"Yes!" Chief Steward Sai led Song Qingshu out. Song Qingshu pondered in his heart: Hong Li would not kill him to silence him, would he? This was also the only thing that he was worried about. If the other party really wanted to make a move, how could he escape without alerting Hong Li …
Fortunately, the other party did not seem to have this intention. Chief Steward Sai led Song Qingshu to a room and said, "You are not allowed to leave the residence during this period of time. You will stay here for the time being."
"May I ask Master Official, how long will this lowly one be staying here?" Song Qingshu behaved like a frightened commoner. He even quietly stuffed a gold ingot that Hong Li had rewarded him into Chief Steward Sai's hand.
Chief Steward Sai's expression became much better, "I didn't expect you to be so tactful. Don't worry. After this period of time, you will be released from the residence. I am not too sure about the specific time but I will inform you as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Chief Steward Sai. Thank you, Chief Steward Sai." Song Qingshu was moved to tears as he sent him away.
Not long after, Song Qingshu opened the door and was about to go out when a soldier stopped him at the door, "What do you want?"
"This lowly one wants to go to the toilet." Song Qingshu smiled and said.
"Follow me." The soldier looked at him in disdain and led him out. His mouth kept muttering, "Yes."
Song Qingshu followed behind the soldier. Although he looked like he was bowing, the corner of his eyes was still glancing around.
Suddenly, his body trembled. Song Qingshu noticed that there were a few soldiers standing next to a fake hill. There seemed to be a dark hole behind it. His heart moved and he walked over there.
"What are you doing?" Noticing that Song Qingshu was walking over, the few soldiers took out their swords and looked at him vigilantly.
"I … I am looking for the toilet." Song Qingshu said timidly. His eyes kept glancing inside.
"Are your dog eyes blind? Can't you see what place this is? Do you want to live in it too? "The few soldiers scolded.
"Brothers, I am sorry. Chief Steward Sai asked me to look after this old man. I was not paying attention and he got lost." The soldier who led the way just now hurriedly ran over and apologized to the few guards.
"This time because of Chief Steward Sai's face, I will not pursue this matter. Next time, be careful and keep an eye on him!" The guard scolded and waved his hand to signal the two to leave quickly.
"What kind of bullshit is this? They are just a few guards. How dare they be so arrogant." As soon as the two left the guard's line of sight, the soldier scolded.
"Sir, it is all this lowly one's fault. I caused you to offend a few superiors." Song Qingshu quickly apologized.
"Bah!" The soldier scolded. "They are just a few prison guards. Bullshit superiors."
"Yes, yes, yes …" Song QingShu nodded his head, as he looked back thoughtfully at the fake hill, firmly memorizing the terrain in his mind.
After returning to his room, Song Qingshu rummaged through a few things in his bag. After thinking for a moment, he got up and walked out.
"You want to take a dump again?" Seeing him walk out again, the soldier guarding the door suddenly became angry.
"Sir, please calm down. It is just that when this lowly one helped the prince forge the Buddhist scriptures, I seemed to have found something strange in the scriptures. At that time, I did not dare to say it. Now that I think about it, I feel that it is necessary to report it." Song Qingshu hurriedly explained.
The soldier's eyes lit up. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "You stay here. I will go find Chief Steward Sai."
Song Qingshu nodded. Looking at the soldier's figure disappear at the end of the corridor, he thought: In today's world, a subordinate will only inform his superior if he is very sure of the source of the information. Otherwise, he will just listen to the wind and disturb his superior with some false information. After a few times, he can no longer be a subordinate. Chief Steward Sai looks like a wily old fox. I hope he will not be so careless and directly report it to Hong Li.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the corridor. It was accompanied by the voice of Chief Steward Sai reprimanding his subordinate: "How can you be so careless? You let him stay in the room alone. What if Old Liu took the opportunity to run away?"
When Chief Steward Sai saw Song Qingshu, he stopped reprimanding his subordinate. He waved his hand and ordered his subordinate to leave first. Looking at Song Qingshu, his eyes lit up: "I heard that you discovered the secret of the scriptures?" As Hong Li's confidant, he naturally knew how important this scripture was to Hong Li. If he were to discover the secret of this scripture and report it to his superior, it would be a great merit.
"Yes, when this lowly one was forging the scriptures, I discovered …" Song Qingshu lowered his head. His voice was getting softer and softer.
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