Ink Burns

Chapter 131 The Leaky Gourd

In the third month of mid-spring, I toured the eastern suburbs of the city and visited Silk and Cotton Farm.

There is an ordinary old wooden plaque hanging at the head of the village. The red paint on the engraved door has long been mottled, and the courtyard wall is only half a person's height. The only thing that still has some deterrent effect is the big black dog raised at the door and the uneven iron nails inserted diagonally on the wall.

Outside the village, there is a bustling market. Today is the eighth day of the first lunar month, and it is the market day. Street vendors are set up everywhere.

A donkey cart was parked in front of the Silk and Cotton Shop.

Xiong Laowu saw the prosperous street scene through the window, feeling uneasy and incredulous: "Right, right here?"

Rumor has it that the Censorate’s top secret is right here?
Even the pub at the corner of the street has better security than this - at least they have a strong waiter!

What's here!?
Who on earth can this old broken door stop?

Is this a hidden business? Or is it simply because the rent is cheap?

Yao Zao was following Xiong Laowu inconspicuously, looking outside and silently memorizing the route in his mind.

The man in black driving the car said nothing. He handed a sachet to Xiong and Yao respectively, then whipped the whip and drove away.

Xiong Laowu nervously pushed open the creaking, dilapidated wooden door and cautiously poked his head inside.

As soon as the door opened a crack, a huge black dog as tall as a man suddenly pounced on Xiong Laowu's legs.

"Ah——" Xiong Laowu pointed his index finger upwards and screamed louder than a Peking opera actress.

The big black dog sniffed something with its wet nose, and then wagged its tail a few times. It found a place on the sand to lie down again, looking listless, and stared at Xiong and Yao with its drooping eyes half-closed.

Xiong Laowu was still in shock and sang: "It's gone!"

Yao Zaozheng glanced at the sachet on his waist calmly: "It's the sachet. It recognizes the special smell of this sachet."

What would happen if you trespassed into Silk Cotton Shop without the sachet?

Yao Zaozheng lowered his eyes silently.

There was only one low room in the sand, so naturally we entered from there.

Xiong Laowu pushed open the door and found the inner room empty except for a statue of Lingbao Tianzun standing arrogantly in front of the wall. The Taoist ancestor was holding a jade ruyi and was dressed in red and purple. There were six shriveled apples stacked on the altar and a futon under the altar.

Xiong Laowu was stunned.

What does that mean?

This temple was opened by me, and this statue was sculpted by me. If you want to pass this way, please leave some money for merit?

Xiong Laowu honestly stretched out his paw to touch the copper coin.

Yao Zao was following Xiong Laowu quietly.

"Wang Wang Wang-"

At some point, the big black dog appeared behind him, barked twice and stopped Xiong Laowu from donating money, then leaped to the statue of Lingbao Tianzun, and slapped his paws on the fruit plate, and a downward passage appeared in the northeast corner of the room. After the big black dog finished his work, he swung his tail and continued to lie down on the sand with his eyes closed.

Xiong and Yao walked down the winding corridor for an unknown period of time before they saw the light. In the hazy chaos, they closed their eyes and opened them again, and saw a wide underground city that stretched out vertically. The underground was domed, with high ground and wide space. Every ten feet, a bunch of blazing torches were tied to the wall. There were dozens of thick wooden tables lined up side by side, and the end was endless. The people coming and going were all dressed in black and waist-tightened clothes. They were all young men, tall and strong, with square faces and straight eyes. Some were holding documents, some were sitting at the table writing furiously, and some were whispering to each other.

Xiong Laowu opened his mouth slightly.

There was a gleam of light in Yao Zaozheng's eyes.

"Now that you're here, don't just stand there!" Xiao Bo, the fifth-rank assistant censor of the Censorate, stepped forward with a roll of documents in his hand. He was a typical southwestern man, not tall, with fair skin, delicate features, and a soft voice: "Boss Xiong, follow me to Qiantang. Supervisor Yao will merge the documents here. Pick out all the documents related to the grain route from the third year of Zhaode to the present, and copy them down in a new book. The year, month, and day of publication should be complete, and the author, the cabinet's reviewer, and the cabinet elder who stamped the seal should all be clearly written."

Xiong Laowu said in a gruff voice, "Master Xiao, what kind of place is this? The Censorate is so big!"

Isn't the Censorate just to see which official is late or leaves early, which official drinks too much, and which official is disrespectful to his parents? Why is there such a large underground place to do things? If this bragging is spread out, won't those high-minded officials in the six ministries and the Hanlin Academy drool!

Xiao Bo said: "After all, the Censorate deals with scholars and officials. It is not easy to lock people up in ordinary prisons. This underground is hidden enough and intimidating enough. If you can't get the truth from outside, once you are underground, the door is closed and the torches are extinguished, the defense line will not be that strong--"

Xiong Laowu nodded: Yes! It's just as he guessed!
After a pause, Xiao Bo said solemnly: "All words and events in Tianbao Temple must be kept in Tianbao Temple. If even a word is leaked, the person will be sentenced to death by slicing according to the law. The female members of the family within the fifth mourning period will be sent to the teaching room, and the male members will be beheaded at noon!"

Xiong Laowu's joke: He really can't keep secrets.
"I, can I still go back?" Xiong Laowu was about to cry.

Xiao Bo nodded silently.

Xiong Laowu was overjoyed.

"Cut your tongue and leave your thumbs, then you can go." Xiao Bo said softly.

Xiong Laowu: Let him stay here, along with his tongue and thumb, and stay here happily.

Xiao Bo took Xiong Laowu deeper into the cave. Yao Zao was observing silently without making any noise. It was not until lunchtime that he saw Xiong Laowu. "Qiantang. What is this?"

Xiong Laowu kept his mouth shut, his mind and eyes filled with the braised eggs and pork in front of him.

Yao Zaozheng lowered his head and keenly saw a trace of fresh blood on the corner of Xiong Lao's clothes. A light flashed in his mind: "Could it be that the Grand Protector is imprisoned in Qiantang!?"

Xiong Laowu's eyes wandered, and fell on the sauerkraut fish soup next to the braised pork with stewed eggs: I don't know about other things, but the food in Tianbao Temple is really good. There are eight main dishes in one meal!
Yao Zaozheng lowered his head and said in a low voice: "What a ridiculous boy! The son is the earth, the father is the sky, and the father is the leader of the son. Xue Xiaogong took personal revenge and tortured his biological father without authorization. If he goes to the underworld a hundred years later, he will be punished by heaven!"

Ever since Xiong Laowu was rescued by Xue Xiao and brought into the mysterious Tianbao Temple with rich food, in just half a day, he, who was once a well-known salted fish, turned into a thousand-mile horse, and his gratitude to Xue Bole was as endless as a torrent of river.

Xiong Laowu subconsciously corrected him: "Don't talk nonsense! This is not a personal vendetta at all!"

"What's that?" Yao Zaozheng chuckled. "Although Xue Taibao holds a high position, he has long ignored the complicated affairs of the court. If he had not proposed to transfer the Duzhou dam breach case to the Censorate for trial a few years ago, the court would have long forgotten that there was such a person! What is there about him that is worthy of being interrogated by the Censorate? If it is only for the crime of murdering his wife, is it worth sending him to this Tianbao Temple? Is it worth torturing him? If it is not Xue Xiao's revenge, then what is it!"

Xiong Laowu made a "tsk" sound, and just as he opened his mouth, he remembered Xiao Bo's advice to him in the morning, and hesitated for a moment: Lord Xiao said that "the words and matters of Tianbao Temple should stay in Tianbao Temple", and he is now in Tianbao Temple and has not left, so if he tells Yao Zaozheng, there should be some problem, right?

Xiao Yao is a scholar, a scholar from a poor family, different from him who is a second-generation rich man who gets a job by relying on his family's influence.

If Xiao Yao develops a grudge against his superiors because of this matter, he will be the one who suffers in the end!

Xiong Laowu stretched out his palm, put four fingers together, and hooked it towards Yao Zaozheng: "This matter involves the former crown prince. The saint takes it very seriously."