The passage isn't very long, but the walls are polished and smooth, and it looks like it's been carefully repaired.At the end, Su Qi looked up at the small piece of sky above his head, and he didn't have the idea of going up the steps along the wall of the well for the time being.The subordinate who was in charge of investigating whether there was anything else hidden in the secret passage came to report: "My lord, no other secret doors have been found in this secret passage, and the subordinates speculate that this secret passage should only be used for communication." ”"Then let's go back first."
The group returned the same way they came.After returning to the courtyard, Su Qi said to Wen Jiuming: "Please also ask Lord Wen to keep this courtyard unmoving, and after the official finds out the reason for this secret passage, he will work again." ”"As it should be.""
And Lord Wen's manpower can also be withdrawn, and the investigation of the merchant's family of three will be taken over by the Criminal Department.""
Yes."
Qin Zhenniang was having dinner with her son and daughter.No matter how busy Buzhuang's business is, she will finish her business early every day and rush home to have dinner with her children.Thunder doesn't move.Seeing that her son took the lead in stopping the chopsticks, Qin Zhenniang hurriedly looked over, "Why do you only use so much today?"
Shuo'er is approaching the county exam, nervous?
”Feng Shuo shook his head, and there was a trace of calmness on his face that did not match his original age, "My son is not nervous, but in the past two days, my son always feels that someone is secretly following me, but he often can't find out the traces." ”Seeing the nervous looks of his mother and sister in an instant, he hurriedly relieved and said, "Mother, sister, don't worry, maybe it's just a son's illusion." ”Qin Zhenniang waited for her son and daughter to return to her yard before getting up and going back to rest.On the way back to the main courtyard, she passed by a closed courtyard gate, and she paused in her footsteps, and stood there for a few moments before turning to leave.The next day, Qin Zhenniang was going to go to the cloth village under her hand as usual.Because of the pretense in her heart last night, she slept a little late, and got up late the next day, so she naturally arrived later.As soon as she entered the gate of the cloth village, she saw the shopkeeper who was invited by her with a nervous face to greet her, and the other guys in the cloth village were not as enthusiastic as before, and looked in the direction of the second floor from time to time."
What's going on?""
The owner," the shopkeeper saw Qin Zhenniang as if he saw a life-saving straw, "You can be regarded as coming."
Early this morning, we have a wonderful guest in the cloth village, who will be waiting for you on the second floor for tea. ”Qin Zhenniang chuckled in her heart, and asked without a trace, "Do you know which guest it is?"
”"I don't know," the shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly, "it should be a rich son of a family with several guards." ”"I'll go up and have a look."
The shopkeeper was busy, "Alas, the subordinate will go and get busy first." ”This is the first time he has received such a big pomp and circumstance, and he is still feeling empty in his heart, but fortunately the owner did not let him follow.Going up the stairs to the second floor, Qin Zhenniang looked at the door of one of the rooms in the corridor, and there was a guard dressed in a black short fight and a sword at his waist standing on the left and right.Take a deep breath and walk slowly.One of the two guards turned his head to look over, stretched out his hand to open the door of the room, and made a gesture of please: "Boss Qin, my family is invited." ”My lord?
Qin Zhenniang's footsteps paused again, there are only a few yamen who can be called adults and can still be guarded with swords in this Shangjing City.Why did you find her?
in the room.Su Qi sat at the table, originally facing the bustling street scene outside the window, but when he heard the sound of the door opening, he turned around, and looked at Qin Zhenniang's shocked eyes, and he was a little more sure in his heart.He didn't open his mouth to urge, just watched quietly.Qin Zhenniang looked at the young official in the room with a gentle but cold gaze, and knew that she couldn't avoid this see today no matter what, so she stepped into the door calmly, "The woman meets your lord." ”Su Qi got up and stretched out his hand to help him, "Boss Qin doesn't have to be polite, this official came this time just to ask Boss Qin some old things." ”"My lord, excuse me."
Su Qi made a gesture to sit down, and after waiting for people to sit down, he looked at Qin Zhenniang and said: "Boss Qin should have also heard that Qinghe Garden is now being rebuilt into Yixue, unfortunately, just a few days ago, a craftsman in Qinghe Garden accidentally found a secret passage under a dry well in a courtyard in the garden. ”Qin Zhenniang put down the fingers under the table and tightened suddenly.Su Qi looked at the change in the expression of the woman in front of him with a wrong gaze, and naturally noticed that her expression stiffened, hooked his lips and continued, "What's more coincidental is that the secret passage actually leads to Boss Qin's house.This official has also checked the file about this house in the past two days, Boss Qin's cloth village has been passed down for three generations, and now this cloth village is getting bigger and bigger, and I think I have made a lot of silver, I should have been able to use enough silver to change the family to a bigger and better house, why did I move from my ancestors, until now, I still live in that house that has been used for decades and has been a little dilapidated?
”"Could it be because of that secret passage?"
In the already cool weather in mid-September, the sweat on Qin Zhenniang's back was already wet with her underwear."
Boss Qin, what do you want to say to this official?"
Seeing that Qin Zhenniang was silent, Su Qi tapped his finger on the table, "I heard that the little son of Boss Qin's family is now preparing for the county examination, Your Majesty is lenient and allows the children of the merchant family to participate in the imperial examination like others, and now that the county examination is imminent, Boss Qin should be able to guess that the official did not choose to visit Boss Qin's home, but chose this cloth village, right?"
”Qin Zhenniang's shoulders finally couldn't help but collapse, and the last trace of luck in her heart was also exhausted."
Back to my lord, this matter has to start with the mother of the people's mother, that is, the grandmother of the people's woman" Wei Xi and Zong Xu guessed that the story of the secret passage should be quite bizarre, but they didn't expect it to be so bizarre.That courtyard was indeed the residence of King Duan's staff in the dark.There is no prince who doesn't want to be the emperor, and Duanwang is the same.And the prince secretly raised some staff to make suggestions for himself, not only King Duan himself, but many princes will also do this.It's just that King Duan, who originally only planned to be as obscure as other princes, fell in love with someone.That person was also the daughter of one of the staff members he recruited, Qin Huai.is just a girl, even if it's just the daughter of a staff, as a prince, she can still bring people to the mansion and spoil them.But Duanwang didn't do that.Because he will fall in love with Qin Huai, precisely because she has the wisdom to not lose to her father.A beautiful, brainy girl, King Duan couldn't bear to trap her in his back house.What's more, the two of them can get along more freely outside the house.But the girl he likes is not only a smart mind, she also has a vigorous ambition.It was this Qin Huai's ambition that ruined King Duan's life and his desire to rise to the palace as a concubine.The sudden death of King Duan in the prime of life recorded in the book was indeed the hand of his father at the time, Emperor Jingchen.Because King Duan listened to Qin Huai's instigation, he was ready to kill his father and kill the king.Even if his conspiracy was later revealed, he did not confess to Qin Huailai.Later, King Duan was secretly executed, and King Duan's Mansion and the Qinghe Garden he built specially for Qin Huai were all taken back by the royal family.As soon as King Duan died, his staff also quietly left, and in the end, only Qin Huai was still guarding the house.Qin Huai was shocked to realize that his hope of entering the palace as a concubine was shattered after the death of the person, and it was far less than the blow brought to her by the death of King Shang.At that time, she already had the flesh and blood of King Duan in her belly, and finally ignored her father's persuasion, resolutely stayed in that house, and finally gave birth to a daughter, raised her as an adult, and used the money left by King Duan to run a cloth village.That daughter is also the only bloodline left by King Duan in this world, but she didn't dare to give her daughter the surname Zong, so she had to use her own Qin surname.Before he died, Qin Huai told his daughter about himself and King Duan, which can be regarded as indirectly telling his daughter's life experience, and finally said that the dry well in the courtyard and the secret passage under the dry well can be regarded as leaving such a back road that future generations may be able to use.Qin Huai's daughter did not marry because of this, but recruited a son-in-law who still lived in the old mansion, and then had Qin Zhenniang.She learned from her mother, and her daughter's surname still used Qin.When Qin Zhenniang grew up, she inherited this house and the deeds of this house, and like her mother, she still guards this house and the place where her grandmother regretted it all her life.It's just that she gave birth to a pair of children, and her daughter still uses the surname Qin, and she thinks about her son's surname again and again, and finally decides to use her husband's surname.Before, Qinghe Garden suddenly started construction to build a righteous school, and she was still worried about the secret passage if it was discovered.But if he wants to seal the secret passage on his side, he will inevitably alarm a pair of children in the family.My daughter is better, and she is about to tell her about the secret passage.But her son was at a critical juncture in preparing for the scientific expedition, and if she knew about the secret passage, she would inevitably be distracted, and after hesitating for a long time, she still did not move the secret passage.Just thinking about it, there shouldn't be anyone who runs to the bottom of a dry well on a whim to see.But someone actually went down to see it.This can only be said to be a matter of not leaving anything to chance.After that, there was the subsequent investigation.Wei Xi listened to Su Qi finish telling Qin Zhenniang about these things that Qin Zhenniang confessed, and tapped his chin with his finger, "So, Qin Zhenniang, and her two children, are all descendants of that Duan Wang?"
”Zong Xu nodded, "That's right. ”"That king almost killed the king back then, if he had descendants at that time, what would be the crime?""
Three generations of direct family members sit in a row, and they are sent into exile."
Wei Xi gasped, "Then Qin Zhenniang's son happens to be the third generation, can he still participate in the imperial examination?"
”Qin Zhenniang returned home dejected, and when she saw her son, who had just returned from school with a schoolbag on her back, she couldn't hold back her tears.