The sky gradually darkened, and the rainy night came especially quickly. At Guo's residence, the lanterns on the main door and the corridors under the eaves were lit up one after another, shining on the wet floor tiles, with a cold and watery light.
The rain had gotten lighter, still drifting diagonally in the air, but it had not yet stopped.
In the hall, Guo Shao, Zuo You, Cao Tai, Jing Niang and the other four were carving a piece of wood, and the only sound they could hear was the squeak of sawdust. Guo Shao finished carving first, and he carefully dipped it into the inkwell, then covered a piece of white paper with it, and a red square seal appeared immediately.
He asked Cao Tai: Is this the Queen's private seal
At first glance, they look very similar. Cao Tai said, but it is still easy to see that this part is not smooth enough.
Guo Shao said: "It is impossible to make a high imitation in a hurry. Anyway, I have never seen the Queen's seal, and I guess most people have never seen it. It's probably like that. He glanced at the wood that was less than half carved in Cao Tai's hand, and said, "You fix this one, I am strong and responsible for carving."
Cao Tai said: "That's fine. The Queen's seal is made of gold and jade, so it needs to be polished to be smoother."
The characters on the seal were drawn by Cao Tai according to his memory, and then everyone carved them. It was definitely different from the real seal, and the original shape was immediately revealed when compared with the real seal; but it didn't matter as long as it could fool people who had never seen it, and others would not have the opportunity to compare.
There is also Cao Tai imitating the Queen's handwriting to write the imperial edict, the handwriting cannot be exactly the same. But it is also difficult to identify.
The Queen's seal was left over from the previous dynasty, but she had her own private seal, but she had never seen it used. The seal I drew now was roughly the appearance of the Queen's private seal. Cao Tai thought about it and said with certainty that I had never seen the Queen use her private seal since I was with her in Yedu. There was no trace of her handwriting. She had never taken out anything written by herself, and she always passed on her orders orally.
Guo Shao nodded and said: That’s right, I have never heard a single word from the queen, and I haven’t even seen what her handwriting looks like.
Cao Tai said: So unless you give it to the Queen Mother for personal identification, outsiders will not be able to tell the authenticity.
Guo Shaodao: It would be better if we ask the Queen to identify it.
Several people did not have time to eat, and later they were hungry, so they asked Jingniang to go to the kitchen to get some cakes and cakes, and everyone ate them with tea. They were busy like this until the evening, and Guo Shao felt that the forged edict was almost real, so he asked people to prepare carriages and horses for escort.
Then he took Cao Tai, Zuo You and others on a carriage and left the mansion under the escort of a team of horses. There were always one or two hundred people in Guo Shao's mansion, and there was a lot of traffic, but he was afraid that he was being watched.
He set up sentries around his residence, but he never found any suspicious spies. I don't know how Zhao Kuangyin deployed his troops, whether he set up intelligence spies or not, but he must be careful.
Guo Shao went straight to the west of the city. It was already night in Tokyo, and there were still some pedestrians on the street. The city gates had been closed long ago, but people could still walk freely in the city. After the disintegration of the city structure of the Tang Dynasty, the commercial development was promoted, and there were no more divided and closed streets. Therefore, you can still do business in the streets without going to the east and west markets.
There are still official shops on the streets to maintain public order, but the officers do not care about high-ranking officials.
Guo Shao's team went to Chen Jiali's mansion in the west of the city. At this time, even if Zhao Kuangyin's people had spread intelligence spies like Guo Shao, he certainly didn't pay attention to Madam Chen, a merchant. Was it worth the effort to keep an eye on her? Guo Shao hadn't interacted with Madam Chen since the situation became tense recently, and there was no sign of it.
Guo Shao asked someone to knock on the door and handed in his visiting card. Soon the corner door opened and Aunt Sun came out. She looked at the carriages parked at the door. Guo Shao came out and his attendant shone a long pole light. Guo Shao raised the umbrella above his head. Aunt Sun immediately recognized Guo Shao and knelt down and said: "I didn't expect General Guo to come here now!"
It is indeed too late, which has caused great inconvenience to Mrs. Chen. However, I have to see Mrs. Chen for something important. I wonder if I can just see her once and leave. Guo Shao said sincerely.
Aunt Sun hesitated a little and said quickly: "General Guo, please forgive me. Please wait for a moment at night. I will go and ask your wife."
Not long after, Aunt Sun came back and said directly: "General Guo, please come in."
Guo Shao and his group entered the mansion holding umbrellas, and then left some people at the door and went into the main hall in the courtyard with Cao Tai and others. Guo Shao had been to this place before.
Aunt Sun said: "General Guo and the others please wait here. I will ask someone to serve tea. Madam will be here soon." After saying that, she glanced at Zuo You and Cao Tai, probably because she thought they were men.
Mrs. Chen is still so pretentious, but it is not easy for her to let Guo Shao into the house so late at night.
When Guo Shao saw servants in the hall, he said: Please take us to see Madam Chen immediately.
After that, he walked unreasonably toward the small door inside. Mrs. Chen had come out from that door last time. Aunt Sun couldn't stop him by force, so she hurriedly followed him. Guo Shao walked out of the small door and saw a corridor with a few small rooms next to it. Mrs. Chen and several maids had already come to the corridor.
Mrs. Chen was surprised to see this, but she remained calm and knelt down and bowed: "I meet General Guo, thank you for avenging my late husband."
Guo Shao said: "I am sorry to bother you tonight, but I really have something to ask you. I wonder if I can spare you a moment to talk." Then he looked at the maid beside her.
Mrs. Chen looked serious, pursed her lips slightly and said: You go down first.
Yes. The maids bowed and left.
This wealthy family paid great attention to etiquette and appearance, and looked unhurried. But Guo Shao was a little anxious at this time. He only wanted to stay for a while at Mrs. Chen's place, but he had to waste some time.
At this time, Guo Shao casually opened the door of a room and saw that there was no one inside. He said, "Mrs. Chen, let's go in and talk."
Chen Jiali was left with only Aunt Sun. Chen Jiali looked a little panicked and blushed, and whispered: General Guo, what do you want to do
Come in and talk. Guo Shao said.
Chen Jiali hesitated for a moment, lowered her head and went in with Aunt Sun. Guo Shao immediately called several people who were with him to go in and bolted the door. He didn't care about other people's feelings and situations at all, and started to take off his clothes without saying a word.
General Guo and Chen Jiali covered their faces.
I only change my outer clothes. Guo Shao frowned and asked several people to change clothes together. He said, "I came to ask Madam Chen for help today because I want to get out of here. Suddenly, I remembered that Madam Chen's place is the least likely to be noticed, and the mansion is not easy to watch. Even if my opponent wants to send people to follow me everywhere, it is too late. Madam Chen, don't be like this. If I want to do something to you, do I need to be in such a hurry?"
Mrs. Chen finally agreed with Guo Shao's statement, put down her hand and asked: "Why did General Guo want to get away?"
It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later. Guo Shaodao, although I’m only staying in the mansion temporarily, Mrs. Chen has also helped a lot.
Now Guo Shao is determined to do his best in every small detail at all costs.
He changed into a cloth robe and a futou, and quickly threw his own military uniform to Zuo You: "Put it on, and when you go out, take my car and go straight back to the mansion. Remember to open your umbrella and hold it down."
Zuo You clasped his fists and said: I understand.
Guo Shao turned to Chen Jiali and said: There must be a small door in other directions of the mansion. Ask Aunt Sun to send people away along the way. I will leave here through the small door in a while.
Chen Jiali looked confused and gradually became nervous.
Guo Shao glanced at her and said: I will remember Madam Chen’s kindness this time.
I didn't do anything, how can I say I'm doing you a favor? General Guo, you're exaggerating," she said.
Guo Shao pondered for a moment: If someone comes to ask about what happened tonight, people usually don’t have the energy to pay attention to these details. What I mean is, if someone asks, you should tell Aunt Sun that I am here to say goodbye, because I have to leave Beijing tomorrow to find elixir for the emperor; and Madam Chen had better move to another place and stay away for ten days before showing up again.
Madam Chen said: Find the elixir for the emperor
Guo Shao nodded and said: Just do as I say.
After everything was ready, Guo Shao and Cao Tai, led by Aunt Sun, walked out of the Chen family mansion through a small door in the inner house, and immediately walked into an alley. The two of them walked quickly along the street holding umbrellas.
After walking through several streets and alleys, they saw Jingniang at the entrance of an alley. She was leading three horses, and when she saw Guo Shao, she handed over two bamboo hats. Without saying a word, Guo Shao and Cao Tai immediately put on their bamboo hats and got on their horses.
The three riders jogged along the small street and headed straight to the east of the city.
Recently, Guo Shao had been accompanied by his personal armed guards when he went out, and he hadn't ridden in Tokyo for a long time. But now he didn't care about the danger at all. He had already risked his life to go to the general of the imperial guards for a secret discussion. He couldn't just walk around with a crowd of people around him.
Guo Shao and three others went straight to Li Chuyun's mansion.
When they reached the vicinity of Li Chuyun's residence, Guo Shao asked Cao Tai to deliver the visiting card, which was sealed in an envelope. After waiting for a long time, Cao Tai returned to report, and Guo Shao and Jing Niang led their horses to the gate of the residence quickly, pulled their bamboo hats very low, and were let in directly when they saw Li Chuyun.
The three of them followed Li Chuyun and walked quickly into the inner house. At this moment, they suddenly saw Madam Li standing in the corridor and called out in a trembling voice: General Guo.
Guo Shao lifted his hat and looked up at her.
Li Chuyun scolded: What are you doing here
Guo Shao couldn't say anything in front of Li Chuyun, he just looked at Li Niang and looked back. In this situation, he naturally couldn't care about Li Niang's affairs, so he could only say: The wait won't be too long.
The people present could not understand what he meant by this sentence, but they seemed to feel that he was talking to Madam Li, because only Madam Li spoke to him just now. Guo Shao could only speak in this mysterious way, and it was inconvenient to speak too directly.
Asking for the free monthly ticket refreshed at the beginning of the month.