The Golden Hairpin

On the second day, the weather was fine, and the sky in early summer was blue and high, so bright that it was dazzlingly bright.

According to the agreement, when Huang Zixian went to the stable to meet Li Shubai, he was already riding a black vigorous horse, running at a small pace, flexing his muscles and bones.

Huang Zixian stood under the wall and looked at him. He wore a gray-purple dangled satin coat. Occasionally, when the light turned to the side, you could see the densely woven blue-purple interlocking pattern hidden on it, lined against the smoky blue sky, looking lofty and clear. .

Seeing her coming, he took the rein of the horse, raised his whip and pointed to the stable behind: "Pick one."

Huang Zixia looked at it, untied the white horse she had ridden last time, and jumped onto the saddle. When she went to see Zhou Ziqin last time, she rode another horse and brought this white horse. This horse is gentle and obedient, and has a fast footwork. Following her all the way to Zhou's mansion, it is not sloppy at all, which really impresses her.

Li Shubai also admired her vision, and when he took her out, he said: "This horse is not bad. I used to ride it often. It's called'Nafusha'."

"Strange name." Huang Zixia said.

"It is said that'Nafusha' means noble and gentle in Dawan. It has always been very obedient, but it is easy to be approached and tamed, so it is easy to forget who it belongs to." Li Shubai frowned slightly, as if Thinking of some long past events, but then raised his hand and patted the arrogant and arrogant black horse under his crotch, and said, "Compared with it, this'cleansing evil' is much better."

"Purge evil?"

"In Dawan, it means daylight, but it looks like this. It's not wrong to call Die evil." He was half a horse away from her, and the two of them climbed up the steps and left the mansion gate. Huang Zixia didn't ask where he was going. Just follow him to the west.

"The evil temperament is much worse. I used it for three days and four nights to tame it at the beginning, and stayed up until the early morning of the fourth night. It finally couldn't stand it and bent its forefoot to me." Li Shu Baiyun said lightly. , "In this life, no one else can control it."

Huang Zixian scrutinized the evil, and was still calculating the possibility of riding it. The eyes under the long eyelashes of the evil were slanted, and the right hind hoof was already kicked towards her, and he was very steadfast, and hit it all at once. Fusha's horse hissed with pain, and took a step forward. Huang Zixia almost didn't fall off, and in anger, she also raised her foot and kicked it hard to cleanse evil.

He was kicked in the neck and was furious. When Li Shubai took its rein, it also slowed down obediently, but there was still rough air in his nostrils, which was obviously very depressed.

Huang Zixia looked at the look of anger, she couldn't help pointing at it with a riding whip, and laughed out loud.

She suffered from accidents and was always depressed. At this time, for the first time in front of him, she laughed and laughed, which made Li Shubai slightly surprised and stared at her for a long time.

Her smile was extremely gorgeous in the early summer sun at this time, as if the sun in the world was shining between her clear eyebrows, and the brilliance could not be looked directly at.

He turned his face as if he was afraid of being burned by the sun, and did not dare to look at her again.

Huang Zixian got in without knowing it, and glanced at him with open eyes, he coughed lightly, and said, "Go, go to the Royal Mansion of Hubei."

King E Li Run still met them in the tea room that was so delicately furnished. When Li Shubai mentioned that he wanted to see Chen Nianniang, he looked surprised and asked, "Why did the fourth brother ask about her today?"

"There are a few small things to ask her."

Li Run helplessly said: "It's really unfortunate, Chen Nianniang has already left."

"What? Chen Nianniang left?" Huang Zixia was stunned, Li Shubai looked back at her, and then asked Li Run: "When did you leave?"

"Yesterday. She packed her things and left Prince E's Mansion. She left without saying goodbye. She only left a letter. I'll ask someone to show it to you."

Chen Nianniang’s letter came immediately, saying it was a letter, but it was actually just a plain paper with a few numbers written on it——

Enlightenment from His Royal Highness King E:

Since being taken in by the prince, Chang Si Daen Dade will never be remembered. Only now that the old woman has her wish, she has never returned to Beijing since then. In the future, the mountains will be high and the river will be long.

Chen's reciting mother paused.

The handwriting is very graceful, but it reveals a kind of scribble, a feeling of rush. Li Shubai scanned the letter, and then handed it to Huang Zixia.

Huang Zixian's eyes fell on the words "I have had my wish", and he pondered for a long time before handing it back to King E, saying, "If this is the case, the chance of seeing Nianniang again in the future is pretty slim. It's a pity that my piano skills are not good. I want to learn from her for a while."

King E Li Run smiled and said: "That's nothing. Most teachers at home and abroad are luthiers, and there are also excellent masters. By the way, yesterday was the day of hope. I went to the palace to ask the Toffee for peace. Chen Nianniang once asked me to say, Toffee. I like pipa the most. There was a portrait of Yunshao's six daughters in Yunshaoyuan, Yangzhou. Some people said that there was a deep taste of pipa. Said, the toffee only smiled, and rejected a painting."

Li Shubai asked: "Then, when you came back from the palace, Chen Nianniang had already left?"

"Well, so if the Toffee is really interested, I still can't come up with that painting." Li Run smiled. He has a really good temper, with a loose smile between his eyebrows and eyes, and he obviously has no complaints about Chen Nianniang.

Li Shubai nodded and said, "Since the person is gone, I can't find her if I can find her. Today, I asked my seventh brother to make tea by himself. Thank you very much."

"No matter what, the third brother can come, I can't ask for it."

The two made a few more polite words before Li Shubai took Huang Zixia out.

It wasn't until Li Run who had sent them out was left far behind that Li Shubai held the horse's rein, and stood on the streets of Chang'an with Huang Zixia, and stopped for a long time.

Both of them saw some speculation about this matter in each other's eyes.

Li Shubai asked: "Where is the one you said you want to investigate yesterday?"

"The water canal outside the Guangzhaifang. If it is still early today, there may be people carrying water over there. It is better to go there in the afternoon."

Li Shubai nodded, raised his head and pondered for a moment, turned his horse's head to go west, and said, "Let's go to the West Market."

Huang Zixia flicked the whip, swept it on Fusha's **** one after another, and asked, "Oh? Going to watch the trick again this time?"

He did not answer, only asked: "What do you think is the biggest problem and difficulty in this case?"

Huang Zixian said without hesitation: "Although this whole case is confusing, but in my opinion, the biggest doubt lies in how Wang Ruo suddenly disappeared from the impregnable Yongchun Palace, from the heavy guards of two hundred people. Obviously only. In the blink of an eye, people can disappear after entering the East Pavilion. What is the trick?"

"Yes, Wang Ruo's disappearance should be the key to the entire case. If this mystery is solved, perhaps the case can be outlined and hit the key point." Li Shu Baisong held the horse's rein and let the two horses go slowly. Said, "I have also thought about this issue recently. I think maybe because the trick we saw when we visited the West Market last time had too much influence on us, because there are mechanisms in the bird cage that will make the birds escape, so it is always Go to the Yongchun Temple for the sake of whether there are secret tunnels and other places."

"But the direction of people's thinking is always this. A big living person, in a room with almost no furniture, how many places are available for entering and exiting? Above it is a mochi with palace lanterns hanging, not to mention no skylights or even houses. Liang. Four walls, two solid earth walls, no gaps, and one side opened a door leading to the main hall. At that time, the door of the hall was wide open, as long as someone came out, the guards at the door need not be mentioned, the eunuchs in the hall at that time I'll see it for sure. The last wall has a window open, and there are guards outside the window to make sure that no one comes out. Then there is the tunnel or the secret cell below, and we didn't find it either."

Li Shubai concluded: "In a room tightly surrounded by bird cages on all sides, people just disappeared."

"Well, a few days later, an unrecognizable corpse appeared, but not the one who disappeared."

The two whispered, they had arrived in the West Market.

They tied the horses to the West Market Supervision Office, merged into the hustle and bustle of the West Market, and slowly moved forward with the flow of people.

The West Market is still a bustling and lively scene, with hundreds of businesses, rare gatherings, Lanling wine, blue-eyed Orchid. The luxury and extravagance driven by the current emperor is permeating the city of Chang'an in Datang.

The owner of the fish tank is still sitting there and teasing the fish, as if he is indifferent to the customers. Li Shubai bought the same fish food as last time. Looking back at Huang Zixian looking at him with complicated eyes, he was too lazy to explain, but when he walked to the door, he still said, "That fish likes this fish food. It seems to have gained weight recently."

Huang Zixia felt that the corners of her mouth were twitching slightly, and said, "Let's go and see the couple who conjured."

The couple was still playing tricks on the street. This came back with an egg-to-chicken trick. Although Huang Zixian knew it was just a trick of stealing a post, she still thought it was cute when the fluffy chicks ran around on the ground. , To help them pick up the chickens running around in the cage.

The crowd dispersed, the wife pursed her mouth when she saw her, but glanced at Li Shubai and asked, "Do you want to learn any tricks this time?"

Huang Zixia said: "The trick you taught us to make the birds invisible last time hasn’t been used anymore—it’s okay if you can’t tame the birds! I wonder if you have any tricks that are easier and more convenient than the last time. Finish?"

The woman smiled and turned around to greet her husband: "Bring the bird cage and the cloth, yes, it's the black one."

The woman shook the black cloth, indicating that it was indeed a fluttering piece of black linen cloth that did not hide anything, and then covered the cloth on the empty birdcage.

Huang Zixia knew that this was the secret of the trick, so naturally she couldn't teach it to herself so easily, so she reached out to Li Shubai - nonsense, the last eunuch's salary this month has not been paid yet.

Li Shubai knew what she meant as soon as her eyes moved, and she took out a small silver ingot from her purse and handed it to her.

The conjurer got the money, and her face was full of brilliance. Her right hand grabbed a chicken in the cage and approached the bird cage covered by black cloth, and her left hand gently lifted the black cloth on the bird cage, under the gaze of Huang Zixia and Li Shubai. , She stuffed the yellow chicken into the birdcage covered with black cloth. She opened her five fingers like a flick of a lute, and left the bird cage, indicating that both her hands were empty.

Behind her, the black cloth moved twice, and it seemed that the chicken had actually entered the birdcage.

The lady of tricks smiled at them, and then lifted the black cloth on the birdcage, only to see that the cage was empty.

Huang Zixian subconsciously raised the birdcage and looked at it carefully, but it was really empty inside, and the birdcage was made so rough that it didn't seem to have any tricks.

The trick lady laughed: "This is a cage that hasn't moved any hands or feet. The chicken has just hatched from an eggshell and has not undergone any training. Moreover, the trick is very simple. No matter who you know, you just need to know it. I can definitely learn the mystery."

Huang Zixian and Li Shubai looked at each other, and their eyes fell on the piece of cloth held by the juggler lady at the same time. Inside the black cloth, something was whispering.

The lady of tricks smiled and shook the black cloth away. There was a small pocket on the inside of the black cloth. The yellow chicken was coming out of the pocket, looking at them innocently.

It was such a simple technique, Huang Zixia couldn't help laughing, and muttered: "So that's it..."

Before she finished speaking, countless fragments flashed in her mind for an instant--

The prophecy of the man who appeared suddenly in Xianyou Temple; the assassin in the Penglai Temple with no traces; the golden hairpin with leaf veins that fell under the rockery; the Yongchun Temple, which was heavily guarded and impenetrable,... all were penetrated by an invisible silk thread, meandering The twists and turns were quickly connected in her brain.

This kind of continuity and sense of sudden enlightenment made her involuntarily take a deep breath, as if she couldn't bear the shock of peeping through the heavens, and she fell into a trance.

Seeing her standing motionless on the spot, Li Shubai raised his hand and patted her on the shoulder. Who knew she was still unresponsive, so he had to take her hand, turn her sleeve and walk away.

Her hands are slender and soft, like a small young pigeon lying quietly in his palm.

Inexplicably, he felt a little sweat coming from his palm.

Huang Zixia followed him to an elm tree, and said, "I'm going to find Zhou Ziqin."

Li Shubai slowly let go of her hand, frowned slightly and asked, "What did you think of?"

"I want to verify my guess, so I need Zhou Ziqin's help." She said, looking up at him again, and asked, "Do you want to go back to the house first?"

Li Shubai snorted and gave only two words to her behavior of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge: "No reply."

"Then Lord, do you want to find Zhou Ziqin with me?"

He looked indifferent and turned to look for his horse: "It's okay anyway, you can go."