Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 582: White Falcon in the Colorful Clouds

Liu Shangqiu has been very busy recently. He is responsible for setting up the "Quezifang" intelligence agency against Western Xia.

Now that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty is on a western tour, intelligence is particularly important. He must not only strengthen the intelligence arrangements of the Machine Speed ​​Room on Western Xia, but also strengthen cooperation with the border scout agencies of the Western Army.

More than half an hour had passed since the court was dismissed before he was able to leave the machine room and return to Liu's mansion.

As soon as he entered his residence, Yu Yao Nu told him that Yang Yuan had arrived and was now accompanied by his sixth sister.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shangqiu was no longer in a hurry to meet him.

The sixth sister is in love with Yang Yuan, but they have few opportunities to meet. As a younger brother, he should create more opportunities for his sister.

However, the housekeeper came in time to tell him that Lord Yang had said that if the young master came back, he should see him as soon as possible.

Only then did Liu Shangqiu realize that Yang Yuan was not looking for an excuse to see his sister, but really had something to discuss with him, so he rushed to Qiyunxuan.

Amid the flowers and trees, Old Man Liu and his wife did not feel tired and watched there for a long time with great interest.

The old couple felt that, except for the sixth daughter, all of their six daughters had happy marriages, and they felt really sorry for the sixth daughter.

You know, the sixth girl is the youngest of six girls, which means that when she entered the palace, her five older sisters were already married.

Therefore, the five sisters married rich or noble men, and it was not because of the help of this imperial concubine.

But on the other hand, it also shows that the Liu family has long been rich and powerful, and there is really no need for them to send their daughter to the palace.

If they didn't want their daughter to enter the palace, it would have been easy to find a way to avoid her.

The Song Dynasty imperial court selection did not require a nationwide screening. Instead, it selected unmarried girls of marriageable age in the capital and surrounding prefectures and counties according to the Yellow Book, which did not cause much disturbance to the public.

But it also needs to go through four selection stages.

In the first stage, the eunuchs in the inner court were responsible for examining the appearance and voice of the concubines.

Those with ugly appearance (hair, ears, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin) and body (shoulders, back, legs, feet) are not accepted;
We do not accept applicants with bad voices, who cannot speak Mandarin, or who speak with a strong dialect.

The second review was still conducted by eunuchs, who examined the concubines' figures and etiquette.

This stage is not a visual inspection, but requires the use of measuring tools.

Hands, arms, waists, legs, and feet whose sizes exceed the set range will be eliminated;
Do not allow any frown, smile, or gesture that is not in accordance with etiquette.

The third review is conducted by the palace ladies-in-charge, as it involves some private matters and involves examining the organs, body odor, intelligence and living habits.

Don’t accept non-virgins, people with bad breath, body odor, or smelly feet, people with scars on their bodies, people with dumb brains, people who fart and talk in their sleep while clenching their teeth…

Only those who have passed these three stages will be selected by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor for the final round. Who to choose and who not to choose will depend entirely on the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's preference.

Therefore, if the Liu family did not want their daughter to enter the palace, they could have their daughter successfully eliminated by paying a bribe to the eunuch or female official in charge at any of the first three selection stages.

However, the old couple felt that their daughter was extremely outstanding and that only the imperial concubine would be worthy of her beauty.

Besides, the emperor was only about 40 years old at the time. Considering his noble status, this age could not be considered old.

So, the old couple thought they made the best choice for their daughter.

Who could have thought that this emperor had such a short life? He died before he was fifty, leaving his daughter as a widow.

Moreover, precisely because of his status as an emperor, his daughter's choice of a good man was greatly limited.

Although the old couple didn't say it, they believed in their hearts that it was their wrong choice that caused their daughter to be alone at such a young age.

The old couple are no longer concerned about urging their son to get married. They are only focused on choosing a son-in-law for their sixth son because of the guilt they feel.

Therefore, seeing that her daughter had a man she liked, and that Yang Yuan was very young, even one or two years younger than her daughter.

Yang Yuan is very handsome, even more handsome than his beloved son.

At the same time, he was the youngest official of the same rank in the court of the Song Dynasty who held real power, and he was also a marquis...

Taking all these conditions into consideration, the current six girls are absolutely not worthy of him, and it is impossible for her to become his wife.

Of course, being someone's second wife is very different from being someone's concubine.
But... Marquis Yang's principal wife is the eldest princess of the Song Dynasty!
By making such an analogy, it seems that there is not much difference between being a royal concubine and having a queen above her.

Therefore, due to various psychological factors, the old couple had no psychological pressure to accept Yang Yuan.

They don't want anything now, and don't care about anything, power, status, identity, reputation...

They just want Xiaoliu to be happy every day in the future.

The old couple were peeping there, and when they saw Yang Yuan and Xiao Liu secretly kissing each other, they were so happy that they smiled from ear to ear.

Just at this moment, the short-sighted Liu Shangqiu walked towards Qiyunxuan.

Mr. Liu's face suddenly darkened and he was filled with displeasure.

"This kid has no sense of propriety. I'll go get him out of here."

Madam Liu said, "It's getting late. It's a good time to invite Lord Yang to a dinner. I'll go and make arrangements."

In Qiyun Pavilion, Liu Wanrong was startled when she suddenly saw the younger brother coming towards her. She quickly moved some distance away from Yang Yuan's arms.

She had already warned the maids and servants not to break in without reason, but she forgot that her brother had already been dismissed from work and time passed so quickly.

Liu Wanrong raised her hand unnaturally to tidy up her hair. Seeing that her younger brother did not see her snuggling into Yang Yuan's arms just now, her embarrassment faded away.

Liu Wanrong pretended to be generous and said, "I came at the right time. Erlang wants to talk to you about something. You two can chat."

After that, she turned to Yang Yuan and said seriously, "It's getting late, Erlang, please have dinner at your house. Since you have something to do, it's a good opportunity to talk while eating."

Yang Yuan returned the greeting in a serious manner: "In that case, thank you very much, Sixth Sister."

Liu Shangqiu smiled and nodded: "Yes, you can't leave at this time. It just so happens that I just got a jar of good wine, let's taste it, hehe."

As he walked over, Liu Shangqiu saw at a glance that the Sixth Sister was shyly rubbing into Yang Yuan's arms, and Yang Yuan's hand was around the Sixth Sister's slender waist, which scared him and he turned his face away hurriedly.

He didn't know whether Yang Yuan and Sixth Sister had noticed his actions, so he pretended not to know. After Sixth Sister left in a hurry, he asked seriously, "Erlang, is there something important that you came here for today?"

"Yes, there is something important!"

Yang Yuan is now also a young man. When he and Shishi were having sex, he clearly noticed that there were people outside, and even knew who it was, but he pretended not to know. Now it was just some intimate little movements, so naturally he would not show any panic in front of Liu Shangqiu.

Yang Yuan said frankly: "Brother Qingyang, the great achievement I told you about has come now."

When Liu Shangqiu heard this, he was overjoyed. This brother-in-law without the title of brother-in-law is the best. Other brothers-in-law only knew how to give me delicious and fun things, but only the sixth brother-in-law knew that I liked to achieve success.

He quickly poured a cup of tea, handed it to Yang Yuan and said, "Sister... hehehe, that's great, I've been rubbing my hands and waiting for this moment. Erlang, you've worked hard."

"Haha, it's not hard."

Yang Yuan took the tea and took a sip, then told Liu Shangqiu about his discovery at the "He Qiqi Silk Reeling Workshop" in Xiaoshan, and then told Liu Shangqiu about his plan.

"it is good!"

Liu Shangqiu became excited: "I know what to do."

Ever since he knew that Kou Heiyi was a suspicious person, Liu Shangqiu probably had a bit of the mentality of "the man from Zheng suspicious of the axe". It was obvious that Kou Heiyi had not done anything suspicious in the Privy Council, but Liu Shangqiu thought he was sneaky everywhere.

Now we can finally catch this big fish in the net.

Not far away, Liu Taigong arrived a step late after all.

Seeing his son enter Qiyunxuan and Xiaoliu leaving to avoid suspicion, Grandpa Liu could not help but stamp his feet in hatred.

"How about...I'll give Yang Hou a few more glasses of wine tonight..."

As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Liu Taigong dismissed it from his mind.

No matter how willing his daughter is, there is no reason for him as a father to do such a thing. It is too embarrassing.

I should try to create more opportunities for them to interact with each other in the future. For things like this, we should just let nature take its course...

……

The next morning, Liu Shangqiu went to the "Bafu Hall" when he arrived at the yamen.

He did not say the specific source of the information.

However, as the Western Xia occupied Lintao and the emperor launched a western tour, the possibility of a conflict between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia greatly increased.

This possibility now exceeds the possibility of war with the Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, the Jisu Room put the task of establishing intelligence on Western Xia at the top of its priority list and strongly supported the establishment of the Que Room.

Now the Que room is expanding rapidly. Some of its members are drawn from the Chan room, some are drawn from the Yu room, some are drawn from the Imperial Archery and Horse Command Post, and some are drawn from Liu Shangqiu's old subordinates who are familiar to him from the Imperial City Division. The membership is very complex.

Among them, Yuzifang and Huangchengsi are both internal intelligence organizations. It would not be surprising if some of the personnel drawn from them made some discoveries.

Because the prices in Lin'an, market conditions, etc. are also the subject of daily supervision and observation by the Imperial City Administration.

It is naturally possible that someone discovered the source of the circulation of fake Jiaozi.

The imperial court already knew that fake Jiaozi was in circulation, and the degree of counterfeiting was extremely high.

However, once this matter was publicized, the losses caused by the market panic would be far greater than the influx of fake Huizi and fake Jiaozi, so the news had to be controlled and the investigation was carried out intensively in secret.

After listening to Liu Shangqiu's report, Zheng Yuandong immediately called the current officials of the Yu and Chan rooms. Among them, the official of the Chan room was Kou Heiyi.

Because the clue to the location where the fake meeting was forged was provided by Liu Shangqiu, the arrest was presided over by Liu Shangqiu.

In front of Zheng Ducheng, the officials from the three rooms, namely, the Sparrow, Fish and Chan, carefully considered and arranged the arrest operation.

After Zheng Yuandong approved the action plan, the three officials returned to the signing rooms in various places and began intensive dispatch and arrangements.

Around noon, Kou Heiyi walked out of the Privy Council, apparently to choose a place to have his meal.

The situation was urgent, and Kou Heiyi had no time to alert He Qiqi's silk reeling workshop through normal communication channels.

He could only risk the trip himself.

Things like using police from other places, keeping all personnel involved in the operation on standby and not allowed to go out before the operation, and confiscating all communication tools, these are some of the systems that were gradually explored and summarized very late, even in modern society.

In this era, there is no awareness in this regard at all, so there was absolutely no problem with Kou Heiyi's departure.

The current situation is that if Kou Heiyi does not go to warn, "He Qiqi Silk Reeling Workshop" will not have time to move, and the person will inevitably be caught red-handed.

If Kou Heiyi rode quickly to Xiaoshan, he could return to the Privy Council before the evening action without anyone noticing.

"Master Liu, you called me!"

The concierge, Lao Qin, carried a food box and walked into the imperial decree signing room of the Quezi Room. When he handed the food box to Liu Shangqiu, he whispered, "Emperor Kou has left the Privy Council."

"Thank you for your help. This is the money you paid for the meal and the money you claimed."

Liu Shangqiu smiled and handed a silver coin to Lao Qin.

Liu Shangqiu did not have lunch. As soon as the doorman Lao Qin left, he turned around and went to "Bafutang" again.

When he came back, he immediately summoned the elite members of Quezitang to prepare for action, and the time had been advanced.

At the same time, the official in charge of the Yuzifang was also called into the "Bafu Hall", and Zheng Ducheng had a grim look on his face.

When the elite of the Quezi Room gathered at the Chengzhi Signing Room, they found that the left and right guards Yuan Chengju and Guo Xuzhi were not there. They were Liu Chengzhi's right-hand men.

Not only were they absent, but some of their more skilled colleagues in the Que room were also not present at this time.

……

Kou Heiyi hurried out of Lin'an City and rode straight to Xiaoshan at full speed.

Time was running out, so he only had time to put on two fake mustaches and put on a hat to cover it up a little.

However, he did not enter Huantan Town. He Qiqi's silk reeling workshop was located outside Huantan Town, in a relatively remote place.

In fact, all silk reeling workshops are far away from residential areas because the smell of fermenting silk cocoons is really unpleasant.

He Qiqi's silk reeling workshop is also adjacent to a printing and dyeing workshop.

After the reeling process is completed, the silkworms become silk.

There are two types of silk printing and dyeing techniques: printing and dyeing before weaving and printing and dyeing after weaving.

After weaving, it is printed and dyed, usually the entire piece of silk is the same color.

Pre-weaving printing and dyeing is to dye the silk. When weaving silk, silk of different colors is directly selected, and the silk is woven through warp and weft to finally form an exquisite pattern.

The silk woven in the latter type has the highest market value, so generally medium to large silk reeling workshops will be equipped with a printing and dyeing workshop next to it.

Some are collaborations between two companies, while some are two workshops that belong to the same owner.

Kou Heiyi did not break into the silk reeling workshop directly. He rode his horse to the printing and dyeing workshop behind the silk reeling workshop, left the horse outside the wall, climbed over the wall and entered the printing and dyeing workshop.

In the yard of the printing and dyeing workshop, there are rows of racks on which the printed and dyed silk and satin are hung to dry. They sway in the wind, looking as gorgeous as clouds.

Of course, there were people guarding the courtyard, mainly to prevent anyone from stealing silk threads and silk.

However, when Kou Heiyi walked quickly through the door connecting the printing and dyeing workshop and the silk reeling workshop, no one stopped him.

Because he left in a very elegant manner and with nothing in his hands.

The people in the printing and dyeing workshop thought he was from the silk reeling workshop, and the people in the silk reeling workshop thought he was from the printing and dyeing workshop, so naturally no one stopped him.

He Qiqi is a very "young" name, but the owner of the shop is already in his early fifties.

At this moment, he was standing with his hands behind his back, chatting with several silk reelers under the silk reeling shed.

The silk reeling method at that time was to soak the retting silk cocoons in hot water, draw out the silk by hand, and then wind them on the silk basket to form rolls of silk.

There are more than twenty silk reelers under the shed, most of them are women.

Women are meticulous and patient in doing this kind of work, and it is not heavy physical labor, so they can handle it.

Master He was a very amiable and generous boss. The silk reelers had a very good impression of him and talked and laughed with him in harmony.

Kou Heiyi walked quickly to the silk reeling shed, and as soon as he saw He Qiqi's clothes, he knew that he was the owner of this shop.

Kou Heiyi and He Qiqi had never dealt with each other directly, so he called out to verify it.

"Master He Qiqi?"

He Qiqi was talking to a woman who was reeling silk when he suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned around and frowned slightly.

There was a man standing outside, with his head slightly lowered and a straw hat on his head. He didn't look like someone who came to discuss business.

He Qiqi raised his guard a little, walked out and said, "It's me. I wonder who you are..."

Kou Heiyi took a step forward, and He Qiqi immediately took a step back, still keeping a distance from him.

When Kou Heiyi saw it, he was not worried whether the silk reelers under the shed had sensitive ears and could hear it.

Anyway, this place has been exposed and we must move immediately. By then, He Qiqi's identity as a Jin Dynasty spy will be known to the public.

Kou Heiyi said in a deep voice: "You don't have to care who I am, move immediately!"

He Qiqi was stunned and asked in astonishment: "What?"

Kou Heiyi said: "This place has been exposed, and the arrest will be carried out tonight. The copperplate and papermaking craftsmen must be moved immediately, otherwise it will be dangerous."

After Kou Heiyi said this, he turned and left.

He didn't need to say too much to He Qiqi. Since he could tell her these key things, He Qiqi would have no reason not to believe him.

Kou Heiyi hurriedly returned along the same path. He Qiqi was startled for a moment and her face turned pale.

He immediately hurried to the silk reeling warehouse.

The silk reeling warehouse is located in a corner of the workshop, where the finished silk is stored. Only he, the boss, has the key to the warehouse.

In order to avoid suspicion, the silk reelers usually don't come here.

He Qiqi hurriedly opened the two large copper locks and rushed in without even closing the door.

He passed through the wooden shelves where the silk baskets were stacked, came to the second door at the end, and took out the key again...

Kou Heiyi returned along the same route, not caring whether anyone in the yard saw him at this time. He jumped up, put his hand on the top of the wall, and jumped out nimbly.

Before he landed, Kou Heiyi's face changed.

There was originally weeds growing outside this wall, with only a small path.

But now, more than twenty officers in official uniforms were standing solemnly on the wild grass, each holding a knife.

At the front of these twenty-odd people, two people stood side by side.

Kou Heiyi recognized them. These two men were Yuan Chengju and Guo Xuzhi, the right-hand men of Liu Shangqiu, the Secretary of the Que Room.

"Kou Chengzhi, you..."

Yuan Chengju had a teasing smile on his face, but his expression changed just after he said half a sentence.

Kou Heiyi jumped out, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he jumped up like a jack of the valley. He placed his palms on the top of the wall, which was more than ten feet high, and then he flipped back over.

The whole process was incredibly smooth, without any hesitation, any pause, or even a single word.

"Chase!"

Guo Xuzhi was both angry and anxious. He didn't expect Kou Heiyi to react like this.

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't he be horrified, then engage in a verbal battle, and then draw his sword and gun to fight?
However, his reaction was not slow. He immediately pounced on the high wall, leaped up, pushed his toes against the wall, and instantly jumped up a bit. He put his palms on the top of the wall and jumped over the wall like a vulture.

While he was in the air, he saw Kou in black flash by and pass through a piece of fluttering silk.

"Kou Heiyi, you can't run away!"

As soon as Guo Xuzhi landed, he ran after him and bumped into a bunch of silk threads that were drying.

The silk thread was not the same as the woven silk. Guo Xuzhi was immediately mixed in it. The silk had no strength at all and he could not get rid of it for a while.

"What a fool!"

Yuan Chengju also jumped over, but when he saw Guo Xuzhi's miserable appearance, he was too lazy to go forward to help him pull the silk. He just made a sarcastic remark, picked up a piece of silk with a knife, and chased after him.

Behind them, the experts from the Que room climbed over the wall one after another, spread out and searched separately.

Guo Xuzhi finally managed to tear off the silk thread that had entangled his head and face, and shouted angrily: "Cut off the pole, don't let him hide."

When Kou Heiyi saw the scene outside the wall, he immediately knew that he was exposed.

Although this scene of being exposed just happened, it has happened countless times in Kou Heiyi's rehearsal.

When he successfully broke into the Jin Dynasty's "Blood Pagoda" from Western Xia, he had thought about the scene where his identity would be exposed.

He was sent to the Song Dynasty by "Xue Fu Tu" and successfully replaced the identity of a good family's son. When he was recruited into the Imperial City Bureau due to his outstanding personal conditions, he also imagined the scene of himself being exposed.

Now that the moment has really come, he is not nervous anymore.

It’s like the boot that has been hanging for a long time has finally fallen to the ground.

"Let's go and get out of here immediately!" This was the only thought in Kou Heiyi's mind at this moment.

Whether those Jin Dynasty secret spies could escape was no longer a consideration for him at this moment. He wanted to escape.

With a "swish" sound, a bamboo pole pierced through a piece of silk and suddenly stabbed towards him, quickly, accurately and sharply.

The silk was soft and effortless, but the bamboo pole stabbed too fast.

The soft silk didn't even have time to absorb the force before it was pierced by the bamboo pole and stabbed into Kou Heiyi's left rib.

Kou Heiyi was running quickly between two rows of colorful silk clouds.

Suddenly, he heard a sound, and immediately he moved like a cat with its fur standing on end, with his sword unsheathed.

With a "snapping" sound, the bamboo pole was cut off a piece by the knife in his hand, and it became sharper.

Kou Heiyi had not noticed the movement of the bamboo pole. If he had heard the movement of the bamboo pole, it would have been too late for him to dodge.

He heard the subtle sound of the soles of the pole holder's boots pressing on the sand and stones on the ground, and he reacted immediately.

"Swish, swish, swish", the bamboo pole stabbed three times in a row, stabbing in different directions.

Kou Heiyi dodged once, the bamboo pole missed once, and was cut off by his knife once.

The bamboo clips that fixed the silk between the two people had already been stretched open, and the smooth silk floated to the ground.

The silk was still in the air, just sliding down from the pole, and the man opposite just revealed his hair, forehead, and eyes...

The silk had not yet fallen to a height that revealed the man's mouth, but Kou Heiyi's eyes shrank to the size of a needle tip.

Yang Yuan!

Kou Heiyi recognized the person who almost saw through his heart, Yang Yuan.

The silk fell down, but before it reached Yang Yuan's neck and just exposed his mouth, the corner of Yang Yuan's lips curled up, and the bamboo pole stabbed him again.

This time, it was stabbed on the colorful silk that was falling like clouds, pointing directly at Kou Heiyi's throat.

Kou Heiyi was stunned and his movements slowed down for a moment.

In just a moment, the sharp bamboo spear attacked.

Kou Heiyi was unable to dodge and had to raise his sword with the tip facing Yang Yuan and push forward with all his might.

The bamboo spear broke as the blade struck it, making a sound like tearing cloth.

Kou Heiyi held the handle of the knife with one hand and pushed the back of the knife with the other, and he rushed forward following the movement of the knife.

“Ka La La…”

The bamboo pole was split by the blade and was about to reach Yang Yuan's palm. Kou Heiyi's sharp blade was pushed to Yang Yuan's palm along with the cracked bamboo.

(End of this chapter)