When Master Jingming arrived, although he brought the key to the underground palace, he looked a little nervous, "Master Hou, the underground palace is usually opened every 30 years, with the meaning of protecting the national line, and now it is opened for investigation. If it affects the national destiny— "
Huo Weilou looked at Jingming with some surprise, "Master is an eminent monk, you should know that it is the Buddha's spiritual bone that protects the Great Zhou Kingdom, not this empty underground palace. Now the spiritual bone relic has been lost, how did the master think Opening an underground palace can affect the fate of the country?"
Jingming's complexion changed slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Since that's the case, the poor monk will take Master Hou into the underground palace."
Huo Weilou nodded, Lin Huai and others naturally followed, Bo Ruoyou followed behind, and Eunuch Fu beside him said excitedly: "The underground palace is normal but you can't enter it. Ten years ago, our family never entered the underground palace. It is rumored that only eminent monks who have attained the Tao will be blessed to enter the sacred place where the relic bones of the Buddha are kept, and ordinary people will lose their lifespan if they enter.”
Bo Ruoyou didn't show any expression when she heard it, but Eunuch Fu looked at her, "Youyou, you're not afraid..."
Bo Ruoyou was in a bit of a dilemma, "To tell you the truth, when Minnv was young, it was said that she would not live to be eighteen, and now she is only half a year away from turning eighteen. If it is true, it will not be much less."
Eunuch Fu took a breath, "Bah, bah, don't say that, the Buddha and the gods in the sky are listening, it would be bad if you take it seriously..."
Bo Ruoyou laughed, and Eunuch Fu asked suspiciously: "How can someone assert like that? Is it a deceiving monk or priest? Did he still tell you that as long as you give me a lot, I can help you solve the robbery?"
But Bo Ruoyou said: "My father-in-law guessed wrong, and the Taoist said that even giving money won't work."
Eunuch Fu let out a "huh" in surprise, "This is unreasonable..."
Bo Ruoyou bent her lips and smiled, as if she didn't take this matter seriously. She turned her eyes and looked at Master Jingming who was walking in front, "When did you leave after the father-in-law participated in the relic ceremony ten years ago?"
Eunuch Fu sighed, "At the time when the relic was lost, His Majesty was furious. It is an auspicious thing to sacrifice the grand ceremony, but if the relic is lost, it will affect the fate of the country, and it is also a bad omen. Your Majesty was already tired when he went south, and he felt a little unwell that night. , originally scheduled to leave on the third day, but early the next morning, His Majesty went down the mountain and returned to Beijing by water. At that time, the matter was handed over to the prefect of Luozhou for investigation. Mr. Wu and Mr. Wang are in charge of the ceremony, and they want to leave behind the aftermath, so they will also investigate this matter together with the two of them."
Eunuch Fu said helplessly: "But after a month of investigation, nothing was found. Mr. Feng was reprimanded for this, and he was promoted to Beijing Middle School five years late. Both Mr. Wu and Mr. Wang were affected to some extent."
Bo Ruoyou stared, "What about General Yue?"
Eunuch Fu conveniently said: "General Yue naturally couldn't avoid it, but later General Yue made great contributions in suppressing the bandits, so he joined the Zhenxi Army. Bandit Wei'an, it's still hard to climb up."
Bo Ruoyou didn't know much about official positions in the imperial court, and only after hearing Fu Gonggong's words did her eyes suddenly lighten up.
A group of people left the courtyard of the mortuary, walked north along the main road in the temple, and went up the steps all the way, passing the abbot's room, the Dharma hall, the Tibetan scripture building and other places, and came to a high platform with pines and cypresses on the high platform. Towering, the bluestone slab main road is divided into two, all the way up to the Changming Pagoda on the top of the mountain, and all the way to the east.
Jing Ming pointed to the east, "The entrance to the underground palace is on the east—"
While walking through Jingming, he said: "The underground palace was built according to a natural cave in the previous dynasty. The main body is inside the Qixia Mountain. The two uncles went in, and those two uncles were also watched by De Gao, and they passed away one after another a few years ago."
Huo Weilou was noncommittal, and soon, the group saw a bronze door embedded in the stone wall in the dense pine forest.
The stone wall is straight, with stone carvings of Buddhist verses on both sides, and a thick and simple bronze gate in the middle. Two monks are guarding the gate, and they are a little surprised to see Jingming appear.
Jing Ming said, "On behalf of His Majesty, Marquis Wu Zhao came down to visit the underground palace."
The two monks looked at each other, retreated to the sides, stood with their sticks in their hands, Jing Ming said again: "They are monks from the Arhat Hall, and they are responsible for guarding the underground palace. They can guard here for six hours, rain or shine. It is difficult for monks who are not strong enough to hold on."
After Jing Ming finished speaking, he took out a few palm-sized keys and opened the first lock.
It hadn't been opened for ten years, the copper lock was hard, Jing Ming had to use some effort to open the door, once the door was opened, a damp and noisy atmosphere rushed towards him, Jing Ming made people hold the lamp, and led everyone into the corridor .
There are five heavy doors, and only after entering the last one, did they really enter the underground palace. Everyone was silent all the way, and when they reached the fifth heavy palace door, they all held their breath and concentrated their attention. They only heard a "click", and the copper lock opened in response. The heavy copper door When it was opened, the underground palace of Famen Temple hidden behind the mysterious veil came into everyone's eyes.
There are seven to forty-nine stone steps in sight. Up the steps, there is a stone lotus pond platform. At the end is a corridor. Inside the corridor is the front room of the underground palace. Jing Ming pointed to the direction of the front room, There is a middle room, a back room and a secret niche in the front, and the five-fold treasure box contains relics, which have been enshrined in the secret niche—”
As soon as he entered the front room, he saw a pagoda of King Ashoka enshrined in the center. Inside the pagoda was also a secret treasure of Buddhism. Huo Weilou didn't ask any more questions. He passed the stone gate and went to the middle room. There was a white marble tent in the middle room. , inside it is enshrined a Buddhist instrument, and in the back room is a triple treasure box, which also enshrines the secret treasure of Buddhism. After passing through the stone gate here, Huo Weilou saw the copper box enshrined on the lotus platform at a glance.
The copper box is simple in shape and has a lock, but at this moment, the rivets on one side of the lock are loose, and there are several Buddhist verses engraved on it, and it is impossible to tell whether there are relics inside it just by looking at the appearance. Seeing the copper casket clearly, he seems to be recalling the events of the past, "Brother held this casket with his own hands to welcome out the relic, but it was placed on the grand ceremony for less than a day, and then something happened. Know how the relics disappear out of thin air."
Huo Weilou asked, "Did the copper box be opened during the grand ceremony that day?"
Jingming shook his head, "No, these five-fold treasure letters were all consecrated by eminent monks in the previous court. Every time the ceremony is held, the copper box is invited out instead of the relics directly, and the key to this copper box has long been It was lost in the previous dynasty, and it has not been opened in this dynasty for more than a hundred years. When the incident happened that day, His Majesty ordered someone to open the copper box, but the guards pried it open with a knife. Because of this, the poor monks felt even more strange , well done, who can steal the golden coffin and the glass bottle containing the relics through the copper box and the wooden box."
Huo Weilou picked up the copper box, this Buddhist treasure, but he took it very casually, Jing Ming hesitated to speak, and finally kept silent, Huo Weilou beckoned to follow the last Lu Ke, "You come and see."
There is no light in the underground palace. The five heavy doors and the inner stone gate have protected the several palaces very well. Lu Ke took the copper box in his hand, and it was hardly stained with dust. He only glanced at the copper box. The lock said: "This is the northern Jin lock. The lock is square, but the keyhole is very strange. The key grows into a spoon shape with a hollow pattern on the bottom of the spoon. Only when the pattern is embedded in the keyhole can the lock be unlocked, and the inside of the lock is dark. There are different patterns, one lock and one key, if you don't know the structure of this lock, it is absolutely impossible to open it without damage."
Emperor Jianhe ordered the copper box to be opened that day, and the rivet on one side of the copper lock was pried off, but at this time, the top of the copper box was damaged to this point, so how did the person who stole it open the copper box
Huo Weilou didn't believe in the technique of extracting things through walls, he opened the copper box again, and saw that there were sandalwood wooden boxes and silver coffins inside, the two treasure boxes were also very delicate, but there was no deadlock.
"Take the copper box out." Huo Weilou instructed Luke.
The several palace rooms are all separated by a stone gate, which can be said to be full of obstacles. Huo Weilou scrutinized each place and asked: "Does anyone outside know the structure of this copper box?"
Master Jingming shook his head, "It should not have happened. This thing existed in the previous dynasty, and it has been enshrined in the underground palace since then. Very few people have seen it."
Huo Weilou was silent, Bo Ruoyou was far away and was also looking at the copper box, Huo Weilou beckoned, "Come here—"
Bo Ruoyou stepped forward, Lu Ke didn't dare to be scornful today, and hurriedly showed the copper box, Bo Ruoyou looked at the loose rivets, and then opened the lid to take a look, the sandalwood letter and silver coffin inside were intact , she said: "This thing was only opened once ten years ago?"
Master Jingming nodded, "Exactly."
Bo Ruoyou said casually: "Master Hou, it's dark here, you can only go out and observe carefully."
There were no clues in the underground palace itself, and Huo Weilou did not delay, leading a group of people towards the outside, Bo Ruoyou took a step behind, and when he left the dark room, he couldn't help but glance at the lotus base enshrining the copper box.
This base is also the same seat, because it is old, the color has already been simple and dull, she thought about it, and then came out with everyone.
The underground palace was cramped and dark. The moment they walked out, everyone exhaled in unison, and the group returned to the mortuary yard.
Ming Guilan was still doing the bone test, and was a little surprised to see the crowd coming and going quickly. Lu Ke held the copper box and put it on the long case, Jingming saw the way and said "Amitabha", and hurriedly took off his cassock. "The donor please put this thing on the cassock."
Lu Ke touched his nose and did as he did.
Seeing that Jingming was really tight on the object, Bo Ruoyou went up to inspect it after cleaning his hands. The walls of the copper box were as smooth as a mirror, not to mention the opening, and there was not even a trace of scratches. It shows that it has been well preserved for many years, except for loose rivets Apart from taking it off, there was no trace of damage on the lock. Bo Ruoyou frowned and said, "Minnv once heard that the Jinbei lock was made by a very famous locksmith in Jinzhou in the previous dynasty. It is complicated and the workmanship is complicated, and ordinary people rarely use this lock, so it seems that the method of unlocking the lock will not be widely spread."
Huo Weilou didn't expect that Bo Ruoyou knew so much, so he said, "Even so, those who stole the relics will never have the technique of extracting objects from space, and there are no traces of damage on the copper box, most likely from Lock it in."
Bo Ruoyou responded, and checked carefully, Lin Huai said from the side: "But the copper box was under the eyes of everyone back then, how would the thief unlock and steal things?"
There was a sneer on Huo Weilou's lips, "There must be a way, no matter how mysterious the thieves are, unlocking the lock is unavoidable, let's see if there is any evidence left in this box."
Seeing Ming Guilan inspecting the pile of human bones, Huo Weilou asked him, "What did you find out?"
Ming Guilan shook his head, "Master Hou, I'm quite at a loss what to do this time."
Huo Weilou said, "No rush."
At this time, there were rustling sounds from Bo Ruoyou's side, Huo Weilou turned around, and saw Bo Ruoyou took out her own snow-colored handkerchief from her sleeve, she was wiping something in the corner of the sandalwood box, and she was about to put the handkerchief When I took it out, I saw a black stain on the snow. The stain was dry, and I couldn't see what it was for a while. Bo Ruoyou rubbed it with her fingertips, "Like lamp oil."
"show me-"
Ming Guilan made a sound, Bo Ruoyou hurriedly handed over the handkerchief, Ming Guilan took a picture under the light, "It's indeed a fat-like substance, turpentine, or ghee, it's all possible, it's been too long, it's all dried up. "
Bo Ruoyou looked at Master Jingming, Jingming's expression changed slightly, "This... After opening it ten years ago, no one touched it again, and it was sent back to the underground palace."
In other words, in the last hundred years, only ten years ago.
Lin Huai hesitated for a moment, "Either it was left by the guards when His Majesty ordered it to be opened, or it was left by the thief."
Jingming said casually, "At that time, it was opened by the imperial guards next to His Majesty. After opening it with a knife, it was the senior brother who came forward to check. The senior brother has always respected the sacred objects, so he should not get dirt on his hands."
That's what the thief left behind.
Huo Weilou stared, "It's not surprising that the thieves got some lamp oil on them in the temple. Where was there lamp oil in the monastery that day?"
Jingming smiled wryly, "Eternal lamps are lit everywhere."
Huo Weilou pondered for a moment, "Draw a sketch of the arrangement of the ashram that day, the position of the altar, what is placed on it, and where the ever-burning lights are lit. Be sure not to miss it. If you still remember, please send the person closest to the relic. Draw them all."
There was a burst of thin sweat on Jingming's forehead, and he wiped off the sweat when he heard the words, "The poor monk will draw it for Lord Hou within today."
Huo Weilou nodded, Jingming retreated, Bo Ruoyou carefully checked the wooden letter and silver coffin in the copper box, and found the same stain in the dark pattern of the silver coffin. There are more than one stain, which proves that someone opened the copper box, but how the thief got it in full view that day is really unimaginable.
"Master Hou, the adults have arrived."
Outside, Eunuch Fu reported softly, Huo Weilou looked back, and saw Wang Qingfu and Wu Yu arriving, and the three of them stepped forward to salute, Wu Yu said: "I wonder if Lord Hou has any orders?"
The three of them arranged the grand ceremony back then, and Huo Weilou was about to ask about the details of that year, so he ordered the three of them to enter the right chamber for questioning. Seeing Huo Weilou leaving, Bo Ruoyou carefully checked the inside and outside of the copper box, but found nothing. It turns out that although there is no pain in the underground palace and the interior of the palace is even more dry, after ten years, the evidence may still be annihilated.
She is beautifully wrinkled, her face is dignified, and her whole body is immersed in the concentration and coldness of looking at her. Ming Guilan looks at Bo Ruoyou like this, and his eyes are glued to her for a while, when Bo Ruoyou realizes that Ming Guilan is looking at him After a while, she met Ming Guilan's gaze, and was a little surprised, "What advice can you give me, my lord?"
Ming Guilan smiled and shook his head, "Of course not, just looking at your appearance reminds me of someone."
Bo Ruoyou raised her eyebrows, Ming Guilan pointed to the right room, "Master Hou, it reminds me of Master Hou."
Bo Ruoyou was even more surprised, and Ming Guilan said: "With persistence and no other distractions, such a person will excel no matter what he does. At a young age, your martial arts skills are far superior to ordinary martial arts. If you are a man, you can become an official It's a shame that you are a daughter, so you want to learn medicine?"
There are similarities between medical skills and Wu Zuo's skills, and Ming Guilan was born in a family of famous doctors. If you want to study medicine, it is really close to him to recommend a teacher. It’s hard to concentrate on what you’re involved in.”
Ming Guilan was a little surprised. It is not a long-term way for his daughter's family to work as a scorpion, but if he practiced medicine to help the world, he would not only be decent and respected, but also win a good name for himself. He sighed, "Miss Bo is admirable."
Bo Ruoyou bluntly said "I don't dare to do it", seeing that there was nothing to find in the copper box, she had to put it aside, and went to the case to look at the pile of bones. Apart from broken ribs, there were no scars or signs of poisoning on the bones, but it was difficult to determine a person's identity based on the pile of bones alone. Split or connect, check it out.
Not long after, Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, "Young master is good at medicine, you know that if a person has no trauma, but a person's joints have bone spurs, what is the disease?"
This is the director of Ming Guilan, and he immediately said: "Many joint pain diseases are like this, big bone disease is one, swelling of knuckles, ankles, knees, etc., wind pain is two, this Sometimes the joints will also be painful and swollen, and osteophytes will grow inside them, what kind of bone spurs are you talking about?"
Bo Ruoyou gave Ming Guilan two finger bones, "Minnv only found small bone spurs on her knees and other places at first, but after murdering the deceased, the murderer dismembered the body with a sharp weapon. , but right now the women find that there are also knuckles, but the murderer will not dismember even the knuckles, so these bone spurs must have grown out of the deceased himself."
Ming Guilan took a closer look at the two phalanxes, "If this is the case, patients will often have pain in their knuckles, especially after fatigue."
Bo Ruoyou was certain that a single piece of evidence could not determine the identity of the deceased, but it would be quite different if he got ironclad evidence from the corpse, so he went out and asked the embroiderer, "Are the two masters Shicai Fan and Liaojue still alive?"
Liao Fan and Liao Jue didn't follow to the underground palace, and when they came back, they didn't see them, the embroidered clothes envoy said: "They have already gone back, Miss, do you want to see them?"
Bo Ruoyou was about to nod her head, but she heard voices outside the courtyard, and the words were fierce, as if they were arguing. The noise caused Eunuch Fu and Lin Huai to come out from the right chamber, so they walked to the gate of the courtyard together.
Outside the courtyard, Liao Fan was arguing with a monk who looked older than him.
"Master Liaofan, what's the matter?"
Seeing that people were disturbed, Liao Fan turned around and put his hands together to salute, "The little monk heard that Master Hou came out of the underground palace, and wanted to come to inquire, but saw Senior Brother Qing sneaking around in the outer courtyard—"
When the other monk heard this description, his face immediately flushed red, "Junior brother, what are you sneaking around, don't talk nonsense, I just came to see it."
Liao Fan sneered, "Brother Liao Qing is not a disciple of Master, why are you so concerned about this case?"
Liao Qing raised his chin, "Everyone should be concerned about what happened in the temple." Seeing Father Fu and others looking at him, he quickly bowed, "In that case, I will leave and don't disturb the benefactors. .”
After saluting, he turned around and left, his face was angry, but his pace was extremely fast.
Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said, "Master Fan, do you dare to ask Master Jingkong if he has wind pain? Especially after being tired—"
Liao Fan's eyes were fixed, and he nodded hurriedly, "Yes, Master is getting old, and he does suffer from wind pain."
Seeing this, Lin Huai asked, "Did the girl get tested?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "The deceased suffered from arthralgia."
Lin Huai hesitated, "But most of the elderly suffer from this disease."
Bo Ruoyou casually said, "Minister thought about it, so I asked Master Fan to think about it. Where does Master Jingkong feel pain? Or has it ever swollen?"
Liao Fan frowned, "Master's right middle finger and big finger are a bit thicker than ordinary people. Sometimes after worshiping Buddha for a long time, it is even difficult to knock the wooden fish or twist the Buddha beads. In addition, the right knee is bent. Yes, Master's right leg was once difficult to move." Strength, every autumn and winter must be raised to be able to walk."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes lighted up slightly, "I checked just now and found that the deceased's skeleton indeed had some pathological changes in these places. Although elderly people are prone to wind pain, they have many joints in their bodies, but there are not many of these three places, and their bone age and stature are similar. , together with other physical evidence left with the bones, it can almost be concluded that the deceased is Master Jing Kong.”
Liao Fan's eyes immediately turned red when he heard the words, "Young monk... I know that it is the master. The master has never left Famen Temple these years. He died of injustice. That's why the statue of the venerable has a crack, and everything will be revealed to the world..."
Bo Ruoyou didn't know how to speak to appease her, the bones were only exposed in front of people after ten years, it was really sad, she turned to look at the statue of the venerable in the hall, and suddenly asked, "The statue of the venerable will not be used again in the future, right? "
Liao Fan smiled wryly for a moment, "How can a Buddha statue that has hidden bones be worshiped by people?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, and Eunuch Fu hurriedly asked, "What is Youyou going to do?"
Bo Ruoyou said casually, "The girl wants to break open the statue of the venerable, to see if there are any clues left inside."
When the sound of "bang bang bang" sounded, Huo Weilou stepped out from the right chamber, and saw the Buddha statue being carried out of the main hall and laid down on a felt carpet. Two embroiderers took hammers and were smashing the Buddha statue , the first thing to break open was the lotus base. As soon as it was broken open, many shriveled corpses of corpses fell out, which made people's scalp numb.
The people standing around dispersed, only Bo Ruoyou squatted beside the corpses all over the floor, carefully looking at the inner wall of the bronze statue, Huo Weilou looked at her back with narrow eyes, and Ming Guilan slowly came to him at some point.
"Miss Bo is really cute."
"Hmm..." Huo Weilou responded, but quickly frowned, "Huh?"