After meeting with Master Chen, Qiao Youyou settled him in Jinxiao Pavilion and had Lao Yan take care of him personally.
She immediately went to Yuxiang Pavilion to meet Zhu Lan.
"Lanlan, did you say before that... the Li family and Ma Yan made a Dongzhu bracelet that was the same as the old one of the late Empress Dowager in order to sow discord between the Emperor and Yu Wei?"
After Qiao Youyou finished speaking, she took out the blueprint she got from Craftsman Chen, which happened to have a Dongzhu bracelet on it.
"Could it be... that this old craftsman Chen is the one who copied that bracelet?" Zhu Lan asked.
"It's very likely." Qiao Youyou said.
"I guess the bracelet that the late Empress Dowager wore was made by Master Chen, and later Li Zhengqing found him and made a fake bracelet to deceive the Emperor.
Later, when Master Chen went to sell his property, he was manipulated by the Li family into losing his mind, and ended up here with me by accident."
Zhu Lan nodded and said:
"You said earlier that Master Chen's condition was sometimes good and sometimes bad, and that he could occasionally regain some sanity.
If that is the case, then we only need to bring Master Chen before the emperor to prove that he is indeed capable and has copied that Dongzhu bracelet for others, and then Ma Yan's lies will be exposed."
Zhu Lan paused for a moment, raised his eyes and asked:
"But Youyou, don't you think... this incident happened a little too coincidentally?"
"Yes, there are some..." Qiao Youyou said.
“However, there are also a dozen or so Dongzhu in my Jinxiao Pavilion collection. I have already given them to Master Chen. His eyes lit up when he received them.
I also found tools for him. If he can really make another bracelet exactly the same, it will explain the problem.
If he can't make it, it won't do us any harm."
Although Zhu Lan still thought that the whole thing was too complicated, Qiao Youyou's analysis was not unreasonable, so he nodded slowly and agreed with her idea.
As the two were talking, Gu Chaoyang came with Xiao Yuan.
The two of them had just gone to observe the terrain near Qiushan and seemed to have gained something.
Zhu Lan saw Gu Chaoyang frowning and asked him what was wrong.
Gu Chaoyang hesitated for a while, then asked Zhu Lan slowly:
"Do you remember what I said last time? We found a group of people disguised as imperial guards near Qiushan. They seemed to be private soldiers?"
Zhu Lan nodded. Of course she remembered it.
Gu Chaoyang looked a little puzzled and continued:
"We went to Qiushan again on the same day. Strangely, we met another group of people outside Qiushan..."
"There is another group of people?" Zhu Lan was a little surprised.
Moreover, these people appeared near Qiushan, but were not discovered by the imperial guards?
"Let me tell you." Xiao Yuan stepped forward and said.
“There are about 40 to 50 of them, and their hiding place is extremely secretive.
I used to be the commander of the imperial guards and participated in several Qiushan patrols, so I know every tree and blade of grass in the Qiushan area very well, which is how I was able to discover their traces.
It is no exaggeration to say that even the current commander Yan Zheng may not be able to find them."
Gu Chaoyang added:
"We secretly observed for a while and discovered something important -
That group of people is different from the last time we saw them. Judging from their body shape, age and behavior, they all seem to be veterans who have been on the battlefield and their fighting ability is absolutely first-rate. "
Gu Chaoyang has lived in the military camp for many years and chatted with the soldiers. He judged that those people were veterans and should not be wrong.
"Veteran?" Qiao Youyou opened her eyes wide, somewhat unbelieving.
"I heard that the imperial court has files on veterans who have served in the battlefield and returned to the countryside.
Who has the ability to gather all these people together?"
Gu Chaoyang and Xiao Yuan didn't say anything, obviously not knowing the answer.
"No, there is someone who can." Zhu Lan suddenly raised his eyes.
"Don't forget that Duke Weiguo Li Lie was a military man who fought with Emperor Gaozu in many battles.
Later, the King of Zhenbei became powerful, and the Duke of Weiguo took away the military power and enjoyed a life of wealth and luxury.
I have seen relevant files in the Hanlin Academy before. There was a team under the Duke of Weiguo, which was disbanded after returning to Beijing. At that time, many systems in the court were not perfect, and there was no record of the final resettlement location of those veterans.
Because there were not many people involved, the court did not pursue the matter any further and the matter was left unresolved.”
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