Cypress Boat Floating

"Second brother, you just asked me to listen carefully to what these people said. After listening to what these four people said, I don’t know if what I thought is right." Lu Ci Qiu thought for a while before speaking slowly.

"It's okay, just say whatever you think. You have to learn to grow in every case. I can't protect you forever, so while I'm still here, I will do my best to teach you everything I can." Lu Zhixing sat on a stone chair, looking at Lu Ci Qiu tenderly.

He wants to fight with the prince, which is a very risky thing in itself. Now in the court, the prince's popularity far outweighs his. He is not sure if he can really defeat the prince, so he must take advantage of the time and opportunity now to teach Lu Ci Qiu everything he can, for fear that if he dies in the battle for the throne in the future, he will still have some ability to protect himself.

To Lu Ci Qiu, these words sounded like a last will, which made him a little dissatisfied. He called out "Second Brother" in a slightly serious tone.

Lu Zhixing laughed a few times and patted his head: "Go ahead."

"Second brother, you should have asked Qing'er to investigate Cheng Tianhe's situation just now. How could Cheng Tianhe, who has a wife and children, have been living in the Ministry of War? This matter itself is a suspicious point, but I think he seems to be pushed out more as the one to attract attention. Because he is too obvious. If he stole the march distribution map, what reason or motive did he have to steal the march distribution map? Did he plan it so long ago? And then move to the Ministry of War in advance?" Lu Ci Qiu had a lot of doubts about Cheng Tianhe. In his opinion, this person was really too obvious.

He believed that since even he could see the problem, Lu Zhixing should be able to see it as well, so he asked Ye Jianqing to investigate Cheng Tianhe.

Lu Zhixing was very satisfied with Lu Ciqiu's findings. He kept nodding while he was talking. When he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Ye Jianqing and asked, "Did Cheng Tianhe's investigation yield any results?"

"Yes, I got the result when I just came here." Ye Jianqing nodded and continued, "According to Cheng Tianhe's neighbors, Cheng Tianhe used to go home every day and he and his wife loved each other very much, but I don't know when he started to stay out all night and was often not at home. Even his wife didn't know where he went.

Later we found out that he had been led to gamble by someone unknown. He went to the casino every day after leaving the Ministry of War. He gambled away all the money in the family and even sold his wife's dowry. He owed a lot of money.

Finally, his wife couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to go back to her parents' home with the children. She was persuaded to stop, but she said she didn't want to see him again. Cheng Tianhe also swore to his wife that he would never gamble again. From that day on, he moved to the Ministry of War and went home only on the day when he received his salary every month, saying that he wanted to quit gambling and would go home only after he had completely quit gambling. "

"Debt and gambling, these two points are enough to drive him to steal the march distribution map." Lu Zhixing snorted coldly. He has never had any good feelings towards these gamblers.

"Second brother, how do you know he is a gambler?" When Lu Zhixing just gave instructions to Ye Jianqing, he naturally did not miss it, and also heard Lu Zhixing asking Ye Jianqing to pay special attention to whether the other party was involved in gambling.

"It's very simple. I noticed there was a dice cup in his room." Lu Zhixing's answer made Lu Ciqiu drop his jaw. That's it? That's it? That's it?

Ye Jianqing did the same, looking at Lu Zhixing in surprise.

That's it? That's it? That's it?

Lu Zhixing looked at the two surprised faces in front of him with disdain, feeling helpless: "Don't think I'm that great, and don't think solving a case is that complicated, okay? In fact, many things are hidden in the details. As long as you pay more attention, you can find them."

"I thought you discovered it through something? But why didn't I notice it?" Ye Jianqing was puzzled. She was also observing, so why didn't she see the dice cup?

"Of course you couldn't see it from outside. He hid the dice cup. I only vaguely saw a corner of it. It seems that although he said he wanted to quit gambling, he didn't actually do so. And I'm afraid it would be more convenient for him to live in the Ministry of War." Lu Zhixing sneered. He felt ashamed of his behavior. In order to gamble, he deceived his wife and children and left them at home without caring about them.

"I asked someone to check his whereabouts. He hasn't had any interactions with any strange people these days, and he doesn't go to the casino every day, but only once every two or three days," Ye Jianqing added.

"Does anyone else have any other discoveries?" Lu Zhixing asked Lu Ci Qiu.

Lu Ci Qiu carefully recalled the responses of the three people who followed: "Lin Xuan's answer was perfect and impeccable. Although Lu Jiaxiang was hesitant, it was because of family reasons, which is understandable. And the last one, Liu Zhihong, looked like a playboy who relied entirely on Mr. Qiu to lead him. He looked like a hopeless case."

"You don't need to worry too much about Liu Zhihong. I have already investigated his relationships yesterday. He only knows how to eat, drink, gamble and whore all day long, but his family conditions are pretty good. What's more, his uncle is a minister. Although his father is not a member of the court, he is also very wealthy. It is very difficult for such a person to steal the military distribution map." Lu Zhixing continued what Lu Ci Qiu said.

"Shouldn't the focus now be on where the map is? If you're suspicious, why can't you search him? The most important thing is to find the map, right?"

Ye Jianqing was listening to their conversation and felt a little confused. If something was lost, wasn't it the most important thing to find it first? The suspects were all here, so wouldn't it be enough to just search them?

Don't tell her that there were human rights in ancient times. What she doesn't believe the most is that these royal nobles talk about human rights. Other people's lives are like grass to them. Life and death are in their hands. Do they care whether these people can search their bodies?

"We searched it yesterday, but the map was not with them. It seems that they had moved away before Lord Qiu came back." Lu Ci Qiu sighed and spoke silently.

Body search was naturally their first step. Not to mention body search, they even searched the entire Ministry of War thoroughly, but still could not find the map. So now they could only catch the thief and let the thief tell them where the military distribution map was.

Lu Zhixing: "The one who was able to steal the blueprints was one of these four people. The thief was among them."

Sure enough, Ye Jianqing knew that this group of people would definitely search her. It turned out that they had already searched her. She was wondering why they kept questioning these people.

"Eighth brother, have you found anything else?" Lu Zhixing asked. He already knew who the thief was, but he just wanted to train Lu Ci Qiu and teach him little by little.

Lu Ci Qiu frowned, and suddenly remembered that just after questioning Lin Xuan, Lu Zhixing went to the Shangshu study. Could it be that there was something wrong with Lin Xuan?

Lu Ci Qiu asked uncertainly: "Is there something wrong with Lin Xuan?"

"Oh~" Lu Zhixing raised his eyebrows: "Why do you say that?"

"Because after asking Lin Xuan, you went to the Shangshu study. When you came out, you obviously found what you wanted, so you looked like that." Lu Ci Qiu said honestly, and suddenly as if he thought of something, he exclaimed, and then said excitedly: "Lü Jiaxiang, Lu Jiaxiang said that when he went there, the tea prepared by Lin Xuan had already cooled down, but there was only a quarter of an hour difference between the two of them, and Lin Xuan said that he had been making tea in the study. If that was the case, the tea in the pot should not have cooled down so quickly."

Lu Zhixing looked at him with satisfaction and nodded for him to continue.

Encouraged, Lu Ci Qiu's confidence obviously soared, and he continued, "If he was not making tea during the tea time in the study, then what was he doing? He could only be looking for the mechanism of the secret compartment. Only Lord Qiu knows where the mechanism is. He could secretly copy the key of the secret compartment, but if he can't find the mechanism, no key will work, so he was looking for the mechanism at that time."

Lu Ci Qiu was very excited, but his voice dropped as he spoke: "But..."

"But what?"

"Lin Xuan, how did he get the key to the secret compartment? And he went in at the time when Lord Qiu normally left court. How could he guarantee that Lord Qiu would not come back at that time?"

Lu Ci Qiu's two questions really stumped Lu Zhixing. This was also the question he had been thinking about, so he kept questioning it over and over again. All kinds of evidence proved that he was the one who stole the picture, but his timeline was very tight and in line with his daily schedule, so his timeline was the most perfect. This was why after asking him, Lu Zhixing ran to the Shangshu study to take another look.

"Indeed, this is also a problem. The key point is how he knew that Lord Qiu would not be back so soon. The key is easy to explain. He has a good relationship with Lord Qiu. Moreover, according to investigation, he and Lord Qiu occasionally go to restaurants together for meals. There are too many opportunities to steal."

"Your Highness, can I ask a question?" Ye Jianqing really couldn't help it, and stood aside with his hand raised, ready to ask a question.

"You say." Lu Zhixing nodded in agreement.

"Are you usually so late for court?" Ye Jianqing was not asking nonsense. Ye Jianqing remembered that his history teacher once said that the emperors in ancient times actually hated going to court. So if there was nothing important, going to court was just a formality. The court officials would pay their respects, and then if there was something important, they would talk about it, and if not, they would disperse. Generally, there would be no delay.

According to the law, the ministers would probably be waiting behind the Meridian Gate at yin hour, and the emperor would probably summon the ministers to the palace at Mao hour.

According to what they said yesterday, they stayed in the hall until the hour of Chen, which is a full two hours. According to modern time, that is four hours.

What kind of good person would hold a meeting for so long?

Ye Jianqing's gentle words stirred up waves in Lu Zhixing's heart. He looked at Ye Jianqing closely, and a surprising discovery suddenly jumped out of his mind. Yes, that's right, he understood, he had figured it out. Why didn't he think of this?

He finally understood why Lin Xuan was so confident that he could come here at that time.

That's it, that's it.

Why did we get off court so late yesterday? Because it was all intentional.

Someone was deliberately delaying, not allowing Qiu Xingwei to come back so quickly, in order to buy more time for Lin Xuan, but where did Lin Xuan hide the marching distribution map?

He has always lived in this office. According to other people's testimony, Lin Xuan has not left the Ministry of War since he came out of the Shangshu study. It can be seen that the marching distribution map is still in the Ministry of War, but where did he hide this map?

Why can't I find it in the entire military department?