Chapter 59: Little Skeleton
February 15th
Xu Chong led Shen Kuo through the back garden to the armory of the imperial guards near Xihua Gate. Along the way, he described the situation at that time. According to him, palace maids and eunuchs discovered something strange here. Bao Longtu and Yang Weide were in Erying Pavilion, so they were also the second group to arrive at the scene.
Shen Kuo looked in the distance and saw a palace with a plaque that read "Erying Pavilion". However, the closest to the back garden was not the palace but Kunning Palace in the south. The back door of Kunning Palace faced the Imperial Garden directly.
This is worth pondering. Imagine if someone wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the palace and sneak into the Imperial Garden to cause trouble. Entering the backyard from Yingyang Gate in Qingshou Hall or Linhua Gate next to Jingfu Hall, it would be easy for the gatekeepers to see them. After all, there were people on duty there. Even if they didn't ask about it at the time, there would still be witnesses who remembered someone had gone there. Moreover, Shen Kuo felt that the person should have something in his hand.
If you come in from Kunning Palace, there will be no palace gate or guards. Of course, you have to first go through the front palace gate and sneak into the Queen's Kunning Palace.
He was thinking about various possibilities, and Xu Chong was still talking about the little skeleton holding a long spear and the eight characters of the imperial concubine engraved on its leg bone. He had a good memory. It had been more than a month since the incident on the eighth day of the first lunar month, but he still remembered everything he had asked the witnesses about at that time.
He said that it was Bao Longtu who found the little skeleton from the ground, which shows that the skeleton was not buried deep, just under the smoke. This little skeleton is very strange, not only small but also very light. Old Bao once suspected that it might be the bones of some apes, but the coroner said that monkeys have two , but the skeleton does not have them. So Bao Longtu suspected that it might be the bones of a premature baby who died, but the coroner said that even if it was a premature baby, as long as the bones were formed and one foot long, it would be much heavier than this skeleton.
The two of them went to the armory of the imperial guards near Xihua Gate. The guards here were strict, and unlike other places in the palace, there were no palace maids or eunuchs walking around. There were only a dozen infantry guards.
Xu Chong naturally recognized these people. Shen Kuo used the token to verify their identity, and the two of them entered the yard together.
This armory is probably the most deserted place in the palace. As soon as you open the door, you can feel a gloomy atmosphere. Some people actually think that this is a place with the most yang energy.
Xu Chong waved his hand to disperse the choking dust, then turned to the garrison sergeant and said, "Brothers, no one has been to this warehouse this morning, right?"
"This is a godforsaken place with few visitors. Apart from you two, there was only one monk who went in."
"A monk?"
"He hasn't come out yet. You'll meet him when you go in and walk to the end."
I think there were many monks and Taoists who came to the palace today. Some of them didn't want to go to a crowded place to pray for the souls of the dead, so they came here to chant sutras.
Shen Kuo stepped over the threshold with curiosity. It was not only dusty but also dark inside. Xu Chong suddenly backed out, probably because he thought it was choking with dust and dark and there was nothing to see.
"Brother Shen, just go forward. There is a long table at the end. That is the little skeleton."
"Xu Jieji, aren't you going in with us?"
"I won't go in, I'll just chat with my brothers at the door."
Shen Kuo was not in a position to force him, so he went in alone. There was nothing unusual inside. There were weapon racks all around, with long-handled weapons such as halberds placed on them. The cloth covers on the tips of the spears were torn, and the exposed tips were mostly rusty. It was said that the swords and guns of the imperial army were put into storage, and the military equipment was neglected. Seeing what they said today, it seemed to be true. This place was already an important place for guarding the imperial palace, and no one cared about it. Even Xu Chong was unwilling to go in. Looking down at the thick layer of dust on the ground, he could see several large footprints moving forward, probably from the monk who went in this morning.
Shen Kuo walked forward, relying only on the little light coming in from the open door behind him. He saw spider webs on the weapons around him and rats running in the dark. It made sense that Xu Chong didn't want to go in. With every step he took, he felt the dust blowing in his face, making him suffocate.
He walked in quickly. In addition to the swords and guns, there were some boxes in front, stacked up one by one, like a small mountain, each with a seal of different ages. It seemed that this place was also used as a warehouse for the palace. However, judging from the words on the outside of the boxes, they were filled with coarse cloth clothes and copper and iron utensils, not precious things.
The armory was not small, and after walking for a while, I still hadn't reached the end, but I heard the sound of a wooden fish in the darkness ahead.
The footprints on the ground also pointed forward, and the monk was in the darkness ahead.
He straightened his clothes and walked forward, feeling somewhat puzzled. Although many monks and Taoists had entered the palace today, they were all here to hold the Three Religions Dharma Assembly. Who would come here to beat the wooden fish?
After walking two more steps, he saw a monk in a white cassock sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of him. Although his back was facing Shen Kuo, he recognized it at first sight, that it was Huai Liang, still wearing the cassock he had worn more than ten years ago.
Shen Kuo was about to cough and go forward to say hello, but when he saw two things in the open box in front of the monk, he couldn't help but gasp in fright.
They turned out to be two human heads, two heads that were soaked and painted with tung oil and vermilion lacquer. The heads had distorted expressions, showing that they were in extreme pain before death. One of them had its temples pierced and an iron chain was passed through the head, which was wrapped around the head several times.
He was so shocked that he cried out "Ah!" The monk stopped beating the wooden fish and chanting.
"Donor Shen, you are here too." Huailiang said. He didn't even look back, but he knew Shen Kuo had arrived. This was probably the first time he called Shen Kuo "donor".
"Master, why...why...are you here?"
"I am using this Dharma Assembly specifically to help the deceased to attain salvation."
He stood up slowly.
"The head on the left is Nong Zhigao. Although he is an unforgivable bandit, I have a glimpse of his presence."
"On the right is..."
"That was Wang Ze, who was executed after Beizhou City was captured. He was also the leader of the Maitreya Sect. I have never seen it, but after opening the box, I saw that it was placed together with the head of Nong Zhigao. Monks should be compassionate and should not only save acquaintances. Although they were all traitors to the country, the Buddha's teachings are vast and do not discriminate. When a person dies, we should chant sutras to help him pass away. Amitabha, good, good."
"Isn't this too cruel? Hiding the head in the armory?"
"Emperors of all dynasties wanted to suppress rebellion with the armory. When Wang Mang was defeated and killed, his head was kept in the armory by Emperor Guangwu to deter those who had rebellious intentions. It was kept until Emperor Hui of Jin, when the kings rebelled and burned the armory, and the head disappeared. The head of a rebel went through three dynasties and could not be buried for 290 years. What a pity, what a pity."
"But why put the chain through Wang Ze's head? Why would he do this if he was already dead?"
"Because Wang Ze falsely claimed to be the reincarnation of Wu Zetian, we took extreme precautions."
Shen Kuo looked closely at the two heads. Although they were painted red with vermilion lacquer and had lost water and become shriveled, one could still see the pain they endured in their last moments of life.
Huailiang placed the two heads into the box and closed the lid without any fear. He then lit a stick of incense in front of the box and prayed silently for a while.
When Shen Kuo saw him stop chanting, he quickly asked, "Master, you just called me Shen the donor when your back was turned to me. Did you know I would come?"
"Yes. I know you must come here when you enter the palace. You want to see the little skeleton that Bao Longtu dug out in the imperial garden on the eighth day of the first lunar month. Bao Longtu also invited me to the palace to see it, so I know the skeleton is here."
"You haven't seen it yet?"
"Not yet. I am not here for the water and land rituals today, but just to find my old friend first." The monk did not hesitate to mention his sympathy for the rebels, probably because there was no one else here except Shen Kuo. "Since these two rebels are together, it's just right to help them to be liberated first."
"I heard from Xu Chong that the little skeleton is just ahead."
"Let's go and have a look together."
The two walked forward side by side.
"Master, why do you know Nanong Zhigao?"
"It's because I went back and forth several times in and out of the city to rescue the people trapped in Huzhou City and passed on the message to him."
"Pass it to Di Qing?"
"Exactly."
"Master, I have something to ask you."
"Speaking."
"Do you really still think that Xiao Ping has something to do with the whole thing?"
"Unless you can come up with some new evidence."
"There is no new evidence. It's just that Xu Jieji and I went out of the city and found the demon flag that was dancing wildly on the Baifan Building that day in a forest beside the Yellow River in Zhongmu County."
"Oh!" Huailiang's reaction was a little flat. He didn't seem to want to ask any further questions. He just waited for Shen Kuo to continue.
"We also ran into a few Maitreya thieves who took the banner away."
"Did you run into those people?" Huailiang asked.
"Well, I followed them for a while and eavesdropped on their conversation."
"say something?"
Huailiang asked, his reaction was a little surprising because he once said that he was only interested in the agency and didn't want to know anything about the case.
"They said that the Maitreya sect leader Saint Lady has disappeared."
"The Saint Lady is missing?" Huai Liang seemed a little surprised.
"Well, the Minister of Literature said: In Maitreya Buddhism, the Saint Lady and the Dharma King are both called the Two Saints. The Dharma King is Wang Ze, and the Saint Lady's name is unknown."
"What else did you hear?"
"No, but this does give rise to a guess on my part."
"What guess?"
"Do you remember the five dead bodies you saw when you came to Old Crow Lane that day? You even chanted sutras to pray for their salvation."
"Remember, four men and one woman."
"I suspect that they are all members of the Maitreya sect, and that middle-aged woman is the Saint Lady."
"What's the evidence?"
"The evidence is the skin on their waists and hands that was burned. They must have been burned after being struck by lightning."
Huailiang stopped asking questions, just paced a few times and then stopped.
"You mean, when the puppet ascended that day, there was actually something in the sky that we didn't see? The wind was southeast that day, so you went northwest to find the Yellow River ferry?" Shen Kuo was amazed by the monk's quick thinking. It was always easier to talk with him.
"That's right. However, I didn't find what I wanted, but only the demon flag."
Shen Kuo had to admire Huai Liang because he only gave the beginning and the rest was guessed.
"Yeah, that makes sense. But if that's the case, then the puppet is indeed being manipulated, and Xiao Ping is even more suspicious."
"Yes, I think so too. I don't know how to get rid of her." Shen Kuo said with difficulty.
"Why did Master Shen have the obsession that Xiao Ping must not be involved in this matter?"
"Master, why do you always feel that she must be involved?"
The two of them were silent for a while, and Shen Kuo suddenly remembered that he actually had a business trip here, which was to see the little skeleton dug out in the imperial garden that day. Bringing up this matter also happened to ease the current embarrassment.
He suggested to Huailiang to go and see the skeleton puppet first. Huailiang no longer mentioned Xiaoping's suspicion, and the two went to the depths of the armory together. Sure enough, at the end of the warehouse, he saw the magic array of copper coin flying lines. This array was to use red lines to pass through copper coins and block in front of the objects that needed to be blocked. It was like a red spider web and looked a bit weird. The red line looked very new, probably a formation made by Li Cheng'an. Behind the red line was a long table with a box on it, and a seal on the box.
The two men crouched down and got through the red line, and walked to the table. Shen Kuo was ordered to come and see today, so he was not afraid of the seal, so he tore off the seal and opened the box. There was indeed a white human skeleton inside. He reached out to take it, but was a little scared. While he was stunned, Huai Liang took out the small skeleton puppet with both hands. After looking at it for a while, Huai Liang put the skeleton on the table. Seeing that this small skeleton was no different from the human bones scattered around the graves at the edge of the mass grave, it was just smaller and more slender.
"Isn't this made of paper or bamboo?" Shen Kuo asked.
"I have seen Jingguan and piles of bones. This skeleton must be real, but it is not human."
"The skeleton is real, but it's not human?"
"Yes, you will know if you hold it in your hands."
Shen Kuo no longer hesitated, picked it up with both hands, and felt it was very light.
"Master, I just feel it's a little light."
"Look at the bones. The bone walls are so thin that light can almost penetrate them. They must be bird bones."
"Bird bones? But why?"
"For a bird to fly in the sky, it must not be too heavy. Just like when you make a kite or a Kongming lantern, you must choose light and thin bamboo strips for the skeleton. If the bird skeleton is too thick and heavy, it will not be able to fly."
"However, I have also seen whole chicken and duck bones, all of which had cross bones inserted into the heart and long thin necks, which were not like this."
"Then there is only one conclusion. This skeleton was spliced together to make it look like a human. Look at the left and right forearm bones. They are a little different in length. They are clearly selected from different bird bones, but they were not carefully measured. If they were really human bones, wouldn't this person's left and right hands be of different lengths?"
"However, although this arm is thin, it is forked at the front and clearly has fingers."
"This..." Huailiang seemed to have encountered a difficult problem.
"And this skull is clearly human bone, and there is no bird beak?"
"I still can't figure this out. Come to my shop at night, and I may have an answer then."
The two put the skeleton back into the box and walked out of the armory together. Xu Chong was still there chatting with the guards. He knew that it was all dusty inside and he would just eat dust if he went in, so he just waited outside. Seeing the two people come out, the other one was Huai Liang, who was also a little surprised.
Huailiang said he had to attend other religious ceremonies, so he left. Shen Kuo told him that the suspicious bodies were in the new courtyard of Laoya Lane. He could come and see them, and then discuss the case in detail. The monk did not agree to it immediately, and left.
