Chapter 87: Blending with the Light
Noon on the fourth day of June
Lao Bao and Shen Kuo are still discussing whether this strange guest star is auspicious or ominous. Although Lao Bao has always rejected the Sitianjian's business of using astrology to sing praises, he still holds the same attitude as Confucius, not knowing and not speaking nonsense about this inexplicable strange thing. However is still very curious and hopes that Shen Kuo can give him an explanation different from Yang Wei De's.
Shen Kuo thought for a moment and finally spoke:
"Perhaps the stars perished thousands of years ago, when there was no Song Dynasty, so it may not be related to the fortune of our country."
"Oh!" Lao Bao couldn't help but scream in shock, "Cun Zhong thought that it would take time for the light to travel outside the universe? It can actually travel in the void for a thousand years?"
"It's just my guess."
"Speculation? Any ideas?"
"Light is also a thing. If it is a thing, it has its own speed, just like an arrow. It's just so fast that it's hard to tell whether it's fast or slow. Since it has speed, it must take some time to travel through the vast void."
"Light is also a thing?" Lao Bao frowned, trying hard to think about this idea that challenges common sense.
"Sir, this is just another guess of mine. The Tao Te Ching says: 'Harmony with light and dust'. Although people interpret these four words as the way to deal with the world, I think that maybe at this time, we are light, and at that time, we are dust, or at the same time, light and dust, without distinction. It just depends on the viewer's thinking, dust is dust, and light is light. As Zhuangzi said, this is also that, and that is also this. However, these are just fantasies and cannot be verified."
"Yes, if you ask all the questions, I'm afraid you will never find the answer, right?"
"Perhaps it is just that there is no answer at the moment. I remember Huailiang once said when talking about this kind of pain: the unanswerable question is probably because the time has not come yet. Perhaps seven or eight hundred years later, when all opportunities come, we can exhaustively clarify the truth."
"Now that we've mentioned Master Huai Liang, what I'm most worried about at the moment is not the good or bad fortune of the guest star, but that someone with ulterior motives will secretly cause trouble." Lao Bao quickly changed the subject. He really didn't want to talk about mysterious things anymore.
"My husband is worried about the remnants of the Maitreya sect?"
"That's right. Cunzhong, do you really not know where Xiaoping and Huailiang have gone?" This was the second time Lao Bao asked this question. He had always been very restrained about this question.
"I really don't know where Xiaoping is, and I don't know where Huailiang is either." Shen Kuo replied cautiously. Xiaoping did not tell him where she was, and he wrote to her but she didn't reply. So he didn't verify it, and it was indeed unknown. He hoped that he could avoid lying and still cover up the issue.
Bao Zheng certainly would not tolerate any injustice, and the reason he was able to let it go was simply because he didn't want to delve into it further.
"That's all I can do." Lao Bao also noticed the difference in his words for the two of them, so he stopped asking. Not delving into the whereabouts of the two of them was also a tacit understanding between the two of them.
"My husband, I think they will not do evil again."
"But even if they no longer do evil, we still can't be at ease. Especially Xiao Ping, who acts sneakily and seems to know some magic to escape. Although she has made great contributions in reporting Huai Liang and arresting Yu Jing, she herself is shrouded in mysteries. I think she is the most difficult one to solve among all these puzzles. It is easy to explain that Huai Liang acts out of hatred, but what role does she play as an enemy and sometimes friend? If we can understand her, many things will be solved, right? Cun Zhong, she hasn't come to see you recently?" Lao Bao couldn't help but throw out another expectation.
"Students also want to find out who she is. However, she hasn't contacted me in recent months and I have no clues."
"Clues, clues... Can you think about it again? See if there are any clues that have been missed?" Lao Bao almost begged.
"I understand. I will definitely consider all the details carefully..."
"There is another person who is also like a mystery."
"Are you talking about the last hexagram master of the Maitreya sect who has not been arrested?"
"Yes, this person has never shown up, and neither his real name nor his pseudonym has been left."
"I also heard Xiao Ping and Huai Liang mention this person. But they didn't know the details. Maybe he is no longer in Maitreya Sect."
"Cun Zhong, if you are a remnant of the Maitreya Sect and want to use this guest star to clean up the mess, what will happen?" Lao Bao suddenly asked seriously.
"Me? I haven't thought about it carefully, so I dare not say it."
"But I have guessed it," said Lao Bao.
"How do you think they will act?"
"Based on my understanding of the Maitreya sect's methods of operation, they are very scheming and will definitely make plans before taking action. The shining of this guest star was unexpected for us, and it must be the same for them. If I were the remnant of the Maitreya sect, I would naturally not act immediately. I would first spend a few days finding my old subordinates, persuade them with heresy, and enlighten them with twisted logic, and then spend a few more days planning. Seeing that this dazzling star has been shining for several days and does not seem to be going away, I can now secretly instigate folk legends and wait for two or three days to pass. If the guest star shines more brightly and the plan has been roughly planned, we can start the incident according to the plan. It has been almost ten days since the guest star appeared. If everything goes well, we can probably take action. At that time, there will probably be nursery rhymes first to match the celestial phenomena, and then the hat monster will do mischief. We will be unable to defend ourselves."
"Or maybe they won't act?"
"I can only be lenient with this group of opponents. If it were a group of evil people from a normal society, they would not be able to start a rebellion for a few years after their two leaders were killed. However, the Maitreya Sect is different. We know that they have financial support from foreign enemies, so they will definitely revive when the opportunity arises. Although we have killed Yu Jing, we have not uncovered the real traitor behind the scenes. We must not take it lightly."
"My lord, are you referring to the Liao State, which provides gold and silver to Maitreya, and their accomplices in the capital?"
"Yes, judging from the prophecy of the riot that started in the first month, the mastermind and hidden spies behind the scenes must be in the city to be able to respond freely in Bianjing. When the Song Dynasty fought with the Liao State, they would always reveal their military secrets before taking any action, which shows that the Liao State is the best at using spies. I also know that when you went to the palace to investigate last time, you had already discovered that there might be a traitor in the palace. If there is a traitor, it should not be someone like Yu Jing, a small craftsman working in the East and West Eight Works Department, who can be inserted. It is more like an internal ghost arranged by the Liao State for a long time. Yu Jing is just a chess piece, and he may not know the deeper details. If it is Huai Liang, he is just a monk selling roasted pork outside the Daxiangguo Temple, and it is unlikely that he can set up such a big chess game. Since the time of Emperor Taizong, Kaifeng Prefecture has found several Liao State spies. Guess what? They are all female spies, either hiding in the streets as beggars or hiding in brothels as singing girls, and they succeed repeatedly. It is said that there are many female rulers in the Liao State and they are good at using women as spies. This is true."
"So my husband still doubts Xiao Ping?"
"Xiao Ping, it's like a dream. I also saw her suddenly change from the house to the other side of Caihe River. It seems like some magic. However, I also thought, if she is really a female spy from Liao, and has such a skill of passing through walls, it would be easy for her to sneak into the confidential place and steal the military secrets of the country. Why would she pretend to be a ghost with Maitreya? How strange, how strange."
"Yes, I think there are many connections here. I want to go to the places where the Hat Monster has appeared and check. Maybe I can find some clues?"
Shen Kuo volunteered.
"Just go on your own. Those places are now guarded by the Kaifeng government's messengers, and they all know you."
Lao Bao stood up, probably intending to go back to the inner hall to rest.
"My husband, I have another matter to attend to today."
"Are you going to the military camp to see Xu Chong?"
"Exactly."
"Xu Jieji has been a little depressed recently. It's a good opportunity for you to go and have a chat with him. Maybe it can help him heal his worries."
"He would still be depressed?" Shen Kuo was shocked. He felt that Xu Chong was the most optimistic person in the world and the one who should least be depressed.
"Xiao Ping's personal maid is called Jin'er. She turned herself in a few days ago. Kaifeng Prefecture has already detained her in the female prison, but they haven't found anything yet. I've also read the case files, and they all match up, so it doesn't seem like she was lying. According to the dates, she was sold from the palace only last year, and was sent to the countryside by Xiao Ping's aunt to serve Xiao Ping in December last year. It is said that the Maitreya followers who were with Xiao Ping were all from the same family, and the Jiu Gong who was struck by lightning was Xiao Ping's father-in-law. Now Xiao Ping and her aunt's family have all disappeared, and I don't know if what she said is true or not. I heard that someone close to the Queen spoke up for her, and Kaifeng Prefecture closed the case with a light sentence, saying that the death penalty could be avoided and the matter was settled by selling the official."
"Xu Jieji told me about this several months ago. He said that if Jin'er was sold by the government, he would wait for the government to give him money to redeem her. Otherwise, she would be bought by a rich man to be a concubine for his stupid son."
"Xu Jieji actually has such an unrequited love, how sad. Let's see if he can keep his word when the emperor summons him this time. Oh... just go and see him. Advise him not to sigh all day long for a woman who is already a prostitute and a slave."
"I understand. I just need to wait for the government to give me the reward, and then it will disappear naturally."
"That would be the best." Lao Bao sighed and returned to the back hall, seemingly not optimistic that the government would honor the reward. He probably knew something about the government's temper, but it was inconvenient to say it.
Shen Kuo went straight to the military camp, but found that Xu Chong was no longer there. When he asked the imperial guards in the same camp, they said that he had gone to Kaifeng Prefecture on crutches.
I think she went to see Jin'er. Shen Kuo also wanted to go to Kaifeng Prefecture to look for him, but was afraid that he would return and miss her, so he went to the residence by the Cai River where Xiaoping had performed the paper doll clone.
Although three months had passed since the case, there were still two Kaifeng government guards guarding the place. However, they recognized Shen Kuo and let him in. He looked at the Huixian Tower from the second-floor window for a long time, but he couldn't figure out how that trick was played. Even a smart man like Huai Liang couldn't figure it out. After thinking for a while, he really couldn't find an answer, so he went to Kaibao Temple in the northwest of the city while it was still early. There were also a few acquaintances guarding there who let him go when they saw him. He only took a torch and borrowed a shovel from the guards, and then went down from the Kaibao Tower to the tunnel.
He had been to this tunnel several times, and most of the evidence had been moved out. The evidence was now piled in the warehouse behind the Military Headquarters. He had looked through it countless times but had not found anything strange. So he came here today to find out if there was anything he had missed. When Lao Bao almost begged him to find out if there were any missing clues, he had a strange premonition: the clues must exist, but he had missed them.
Recalling the day before the discovery of this tunnel, it was Xiao Ping who reminded him that Zhuge Suizhi was here. Xiao Ping was obviously the troublemaker. What role did she play?
He thought about this matter thousands of times, and lost so much hair that he still couldn't figure it out. It was because Xiao Ping's motives were not as consistent as Huai Liang's, and her behavior was always inconsistent. However, another thing is also worth pondering. He followed Huai Liang at first, thinking that Huai Liang had gone to the top of the tower, but he didn't see Huai Liang at the top of the tower, but met the hat demon. In the end, he was chased by the hat demon outside the tower and missed the exit of the first floor. He went down to the first floor by accident and found the tunnel. In other words, Maitreya didn't find him at that time, so there was no hidden entrance to the tunnel, but why did he meet the hat demon? It can be seen that Maitreya also practiced the magic of the hat demon here?
However, among all the evidence found underground, no trace of the hat demon's existence was found. He searched the place where the fake dragon was burned again, and the ashes were still there. Obviously, these things that were not worth collecting as evidence were left there. He wanted to search again to see if there might be anything left in these ashes. So he stuck the torch in the cracks of the nearby stones, rolled up his sleeves and began to dig in the ashes. He dug from the beginning and found nothing. There was only a bamboo frame, which was also burned beyond recognition. He took the bamboo out of the ashes and tried to piece it together. Halfway through, he found that some of the bamboo strips were very thin. If they were used to make the skeleton of the dragon, they would probably be blown apart by the wind. It is known that this paper dragon that can fly with the wind actually has extremely high strength requirements. Not only can it fly with the wind, but it also needs to control the puppet below through pivots and strings. These bamboo frames made of thin bamboo strips are obviously not part of the dragon.
He picked up the bamboo strips and found that they were still connected, like... like a rope ladder. This brought back his memories. He must have seen this ladder somewhere before. So he closed his eyes and thought about it. He didn't care even though the torches outside had gone out.
When he suddenly opened his eyes, the torch had gone out and it was pitch black all around, but he finally remembered where he had seen this string of things.
That day, on the second floor of Xiaoping's residence by the river, he used the paper doppelganger technique and watched her suddenly transform to the second floor of Huixian Building on the other side of the river. However, Xu Chong had already rushed downstairs and kicked open the door. When Xu Chong rushed to the attic, Xiaoping was standing outside the railing on the second floor. A hat demon was rising in the mist and approached her in a blink of an eye. A ladder dropped from the mist. She grabbed the ladder and disappeared into the mist.
Afterwards, not many people were sent to search the houses on the other side of Cai River, mainly because too many people saw Xiaoping climb onto the rope ladder that the Hat Monster had dropped, and the Hat Monster went far away, so there was no need to search around for her.
Now it seems that what he has in his hand is the ladder that fell from the Big Hat Monster. It is obviously thin and soft and will break if pulled. How can he take a person away?
In a flash, his brain suddenly understood a lot of things.
If it was a trick, then Xiao Ping should have hidden somewhere under the eaves, and waited for the hat monster to leave and the officers to disperse before she escaped? If this assumption was true, then he had reason to be confident that he was not far from the truth, including the trick that Xiao Ping's clone escaped from Cai He.
However, Xiao Ping said that she didn't know what the hat monster was. If that was true, how could the hat monster save her at the right time? There was no answer to this question for now, so I had to ask her when I met her later.
