Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

The Big Dipper, this organization is code-named after the star numbers, so let’s call it the Big Dipper Organization for now.

In the Beidou organization, the three known people are Yuheng, Tianquan and Tianji, and they are now dead.

The other three stars, Kaiyang, Tianshu and Yaoguang, were held back by the Cui family of the Five Surnames and Seven Families. He learned this from the intelligence detected by Wu Ma.

Tianshu is still in Bingzhou, entangled with Chenlong and others.

Yaoguang...this star has disappeared.

Then the last star is the most mysterious Beichen. According to the information Chenlong has obtained from years of battles with them, they have more or less information about the other six stars, but only Beichen has remained a mystery from beginning to end.

It was as if he didn't exist in this world, without any trace, and he never cooperated with the other six stars.

So……

Such a mysterious star may even be the founder of the Beidou organization. Will his information be revealed by a small soldier?
"It's probably a trap."

Shen Lian chuckled.

But he still kept the two pieces of information in mind.

These are the only two clues he currently knows about Beichen.

One is a Taoist priest, the other is Guiguzi!

What does Taoist mean?
Does it mean that Beichen is a Taoist priest, or that he often wears Taoist clothes? Or is it related to Taoist priests?
There are too few clues to be sure.

As for Guiguzi, there is something to say about this.

How could Shen Lian not know the name of Guiguzi!

The founder of Guiguzi School and the founder of Zongheng School!
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, whenever his students came out, they would cause bloody storms.

Whether it is Su Qin, Zhang Yi, or Sun Bin and Pang Juan, they are either unparalleled in strategy or god-like in military tactics. In short... this is a super ruthless character!
Mysterious and powerful!
The world will be at peace if Guiguzi doesn't appear, but will be in chaos if Guiguzi appears. This saying has become a fact.

But... Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty had already burned books and buried scholars alive. The books of various schools of thought had long been burned. Hundreds of years have passed. Is there really a successor to Guiguzi?

Shen Lian frowned slightly and began to think carefully.

As he thought more deeply, it seemed possible.

He followed the trend and thought of a new family, the Warring States period, the strategists, who were good at thinking, understood the power of hardness and softness, were proficient in the art of strategy, and had unique wisdom...

If Beichen of the Beidou organization is the descendant of Guiguzi, then the person who founded the Beidou organization is most likely a member of the Zongheng family.

Maybe... Beichen is the founder of the Beidou organization, so he is not only the descendant of Guiguzi, but also a member of the Zongheng family. It is possible.

The diplomats use the world as a chessboard and all living beings as chess pieces. Under this philosophy, all previous events such as the locust plague and the disruption of order in Chang'an City make sense.

Thinking of this, Shen Lian narrowed his eyes: "Zongheng Family... If this is true, this is really fun."

The ancestor of scheming.

Guiguzi is the ancestor among ancestors.

There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Now that Guiguzi has been mentioned, the Beidou organization is becoming clearer and clearer.

Shen Lian chuckled. He didn't like to play tricks, but he liked to play with his brain.

Then, it will depend on who can think further and who has stronger chess skills.

The corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his eyes looked at the two white pieces on the chessboard. This time, he used the merchant and the ugly ox as chess pieces. It depended on how the mysterious guy who might be Beichen would respond next.

The next day.

As soon as Shen Lian arrived at Changyuan Tea House, Xu Gou found him.

He held an unsigned secret letter in his hand and said, "Master, when our shop opened this morning, a letter fell from the crack of the door."

"The servants don't know when or by whom this letter was slipped through the door. I also asked Chouniu and his men, but Chouniu and his newly hired guards also don't know."

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes and chuckled: "So mysterious?"

"After hearing this, I actually became a little interested."

He took the secret letter and returned to his office.

After sitting down, he slowly poured a cup of hot tea, and then looked at the secret letter carefully.

There was no writing on the envelope, not even a trace of ink. It was obvious that the identity of the writer was deliberately concealed.

He tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter inside.

Then I saw a few paragraphs written inside...

"You are truly worthy of your reputation as the smartest man in the Tang Dynasty. You have found the most important merchant so quickly. I would like to congratulate you here."

"But I think that merchant won't speak so easily, right? Even if you catch the merchant, Lord Qin Jue, I'm afraid you will still get nothing."

"So, Lord Qin, are you interested in taking a gamble?"

When Shen Lian saw this, his eyes narrowed.

Take a gamble... Is this a challenge to yourself?
He continued to look down.

"The relic was lost at the Huasheng Temple in Chang'an a few days ago. So far, no clues have been found. I heard that Lord Shen is very good at unraveling the mystery, so we're going to make a bet on this."

"Within three days, if Lord Shen solves the case and retrieves the relic, Lord Shen will win. That abandoned relic merchant doesn't need to ask for anything. I will take the initiative to reveal some of my information to you. I promise... you will be satisfied."

"But if Lord Shen cannot solve this case, then Lord Qin should release Zhao Deshun, or get rid of him, or let me get rid of him."

"Given Lord Shen's personality, I think... Lord Shen will definitely not accept such an exciting and challenging thing. So if you don't accept it, then your wife Changle, who is still shopping on Suzaku Street, will be my next target."

Seeing this, Shen Lian narrowed his eyes slightly and did not continue reading.

"The dog."

He called softly.

Xu Gou quickly ran in, "Master, are you looking for me?"

"Well, where is she now, ma'am?"

"This... let me think about it. Madam and Xiaolin were at Suzaku Street a quarter of an hour ago. They went there to buy roast chicken for the young master."

After the words fell, Shen Lian exhaled, "I understand, you go out first."

"it is good!"

After Xu Gou left, Shen Lian just lay quietly on the chair, looking at the ceiling, thinking about something.

"I put the letter down this morning, and Xu Gou and his friends found it when they opened the shop. My wife and I were still asleep at that time."

"That is to say... the writer of the letter predicted my wife's route of action."

"Then, there are two possibilities. First, he is someone my wife is very familiar with. Second, he has observed my wife for a long time and can predict the daily movements of my stupid wife."

Shen Lian murmured, then continued to open the letter and began to read the unfinished content.

"I believe Lord Shen will accept it. Of course, since it concerns your wife, I know you will definitely accept it. So the challenge will begin the moment Lord Shen receives the letter!"

"Wait for the results in three days."

The secret letter ends here.

There is no signature and no normal letter formatting.

It seemed like an invitation to Shen Lian to participate in the challenge and gambling, but in fact, the letter was simply a statement, as if it was explaining something that had already happened.

He didn't even give Shen Lian a chance to choose. Or rather, he knew that Shen Lian would definitely accept the challenge.

And Shen Lian indeed accepted it.

He crumpled the letter into a ball and said unhappily, "I haven't seen such an arrogant guy for a long time. Interesting."

"Perhaps... this guy also threw the vendor to me on purpose."

Shen Lian sneered: "This arrogant guy really doesn't know me, Qin. By the way, is the relic of Huasheng Temple lost?"

He narrowed his eyes. This was not a fairy-tale world like Journey to the West. What use were the relics?

How could anyone steal something like this?

Moreover, Shen Lian was somewhat familiar with the name Huasheng Temple.

He remembered that in Journey to the West, after returning from his journey to the West, Tang Sanzang preached Buddhism in the Huasheng Temple.

It can be said that Huasheng Temple was the most powerful Buddhist temple in the early Tang Dynasty when Taoism was the state religion.

He is also the leader in Buddhism, and exists to counter Taoism.

Therefore, the influence and power of Huasheng Temple are not weak.

The loss of his temple's relics was not a small matter.

In addition, there is the relic case.

If he wins, he will take the initiative to leak some information.

What does this mean?
Provocation? Or was he too confident and thought that even if he was given some intelligence, he wouldn't be able to catch him?
Such a simple letter contains a lot of information for Shen Lian!

First, he knew that the vendor had been arrested by him. He did not mobilize any external forces to arrest Zhao Deshun. They were all his own people, and it was very secretive. The mysterious man found out about this a day later, which means that the mysterious man had been keeping a close eye on the vendor.

The second, and most important point...the intelligence behind the vendors indicated that the mysterious man was related to Taoist priests and Guiguzi.

Neither the Taoist priest nor Guiguzi has any connection with Buddhism.

So, was the case chosen by "Beichen" himself chosen randomly?

Or is there a secret in this case that I'm not aware of?
Judging from Beichen’s various methods and calculations, this person would never do anything casually.

Therefore, it is very likely that there are some unusual things in this Huasheng Temple.

These two points are the most conspicuous, and the other seemingly plausible information is even more frightening.

If Xu Gou and the others were to see it, they would probably only see the word "challenge".

But Shen Lian...can infer too many things.

This is also a terror that belongs only to him.

He is not afraid of what the enemy will do, but he is afraid that the enemy will do nothing.

But if the enemy does it, Shen Lian will definitely find the clues.

This is how Shen Lian discovered the secrets of Yuheng and Tianquan bit by bit, and solved them bit by bit.

And this person who is suspected to be the founder of the Beidou organization, this Beichen... Shen Lian believes that it is the same.

"Master."

At this time, there was a voice outside the door. It was the voice of the Xu Dog.

Shen Lian put away the crumpled secret letter and said, "Come in."

The dog pushed the door open and came in.

He bowed to Shen Lian and said, "Master, there is a case that has been reported to us by Lord Zhao Xianye, the Jingzhao Yin. Lord Zhao hopes that Lord Shaoqing can take action."

"What case?" Shen Lian asked.

Xu Gou looked at Shen Lian and said, "The relic of Huasheng Temple in Chang'an was stolen five days ago. Three days ago, a letter was sent to Huasheng Temple, requiring Huasheng Temple to raise 5,000 silver taels within three days to redeem the relic, otherwise the relic will be destroyed by him."

"And today is exactly the three-day period."

"Before, Huasheng Temple reported the case to Jingzhao Yin, and Lord Zhao wanted to seek your help immediately. After all, this matter was extraordinary. However, because it was the Qiqiao Festival at that time, Lord Zhao couldn't bear to disturb you and Miss, so he planned to solve it himself."

"However, in the past two days, Lord Zhao has conducted investigations but found nothing. In desperation, he had to ask for help from you, young master."

"Today is the deadline, so Lord Zhao has no choice but to ask the young master to help. After all, five thousand silver taels is really not a small amount."

…………

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise on his face.

"Five thousand silver taels? From what you said, Huasheng Temple is also willing to exchange five thousand silver taels for the relic?"

Xu Gou nodded and said, "The relic was brought back from the Western Regions by the first abbot of Huasheng Temple. It is of great significance and represents the spirit of Tang Buddhism, so Huasheng Temple cannot refuse it at all."

"During these three days, Huasheng Temple has also been actively raising funds and has informed pilgrims of the matter. Those devout pilgrims were also filled with righteous indignation and have stepped forward to help Huasheng Temple. So far, 5,000 silver taels have been raised."

"However, both the monks of Huasheng Temple and the pilgrims were very angry about this matter. They hoped that the court could catch the thief rather than redeem the relic in such a shameful way."

Shen Lian was a little surprised when he heard what Xu Gou said.

Five thousand silver taels were collected in less than three days!

This Huasheng Temple is quite scary!

At that time, Wei Zheng begged everyone to borrow money from him, but the only thing he could get was two thousand silver taels.

The Huasheng Temple raised five thousand silver taels in just three days.

This is really not a small amount of money.

No wonder Zhao Xianye was so active, it turned out that the amount of silver involved could affect the country.

Horrible, terrible!
Moreover, the pilgrims were making quite a commotion, so this matter was no small matter. If it was not handled properly, it might affect the government's standing in the hearts of the people.

Shen Lian slowly stood up and said, "In that case, let's go."

He walked straight out and said, "Remember to call Renjie and ask him to go with me to Huasheng Temple to take a look."

Yesterday afternoon, Di Renjie came over, and Shen Lian planned to take his disciple out for some experience.

Xu Gou nodded quickly and went to prepare.

Shen Lian took another look at the letter he had put away, his eyes flickering a few times.

As soon as I got the secret letter, the case of Huasheng Temple came to me...

Is this a coincidence?

Or has Zhao Xianye been thoroughly studied by the mysterious person? Just like my silly wife Changle.

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Or has Zhao Xianye been thoroughly studied by the mysterious person? Just like my silly wife Changle.

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(End of this chapter)