The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 242 Old Stories of the Prefecture
In the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival has passed, and the Dragon Raising its Head Festival on the second day of the second lunar month has also passed. It has been more than a month since Emperor Zhao Xu led his army away from Tokyo.

At this time, winter goes and spring comes, all things sprout, grass sprouts, and rain falls from the sky.

Zhao Ti walked along the bluestone alleys of the capital, with A Zhu holding a light green oil-paper umbrella painted with daffodils beside him, and Tong Guan following behind, heading towards the Kaifeng government office.

Zhao Ti had just visited Bai Zhan's home, which was located in a lane called Heyi Lane.

Although it is just a small alley, it is well-maintained and unlike other dirty and messy alleys, it is paved with stone slabs.

The houses in this alley are all neat and orderly, as if they were built at the same time, showing a good sense of order, unlike the houses in other alleys, which are of varying heights and are built according to individual preferences.

This Heyi Lane was the official residence of the Kaifeng Prefectural Military Patrol Office. It was built during the reign of Emperor Renzong and was awarded to the patrol officers, judges, and meritorious subordinates of the Military Patrol Office.

As long as the descendants continue the family line and do not break the law, the imperial court will not take back these houses, allowing them to live there indefinitely, but they cannot be sold.

This special welfare benefit for military patrol officers only existed once, in the first year of Emperor Renzong's Jiayou reign. After that, those who served in the military patrol officers did not receive it.

That year, Bao Zheng served as the acting prefect of Kaifeng and solved many strange cases. The officials of the Military Patrol Division made great contributions but also suffered heavy losses. Emperor Renzong was grateful for their loyalty and bravery, so he made an exception and built this public residence as a reward. Otherwise, given the rank of the Military Patrol Division, they would not have received such a favor.

Living in Tokyo was extremely difficult, especially in the inner city where land was incredibly valuable. Heyi Lane, with its excellent location and proximity to the Kaifeng government office, became the place where the descendants of those military patrol officers settled down.

Bai Zhan's great-grandfather served as the Right Army Inspector of Kaifeng Prefecture. In a major case in the first year of Jiayou, he led the charge and unfortunately died. He was granted a house here, where his family has lived ever since.

The Left and Right Military Patrol Divisions were the left and right arms of Kaifeng Prefecture. The duties of the Left and Right Military Patrol Divisions included handling official business, solving cases, arresting people, and maintaining the daily security of Kaifeng City. The yamen runners inside the prefecture were only responsible for holding court inside and did not care about matters outside the yamen.

Zhao Ti came here because Bai Zhan's wife, Bai Dingshi, had given birth and was celebrating her one-month birthday. He came to offer his greetings.

Because they didn't want to make a big fuss and attract attention, they didn't take a car and walked with A-Zhu and some of their men.

After finishing their meal, he left with Azhu and Tongguan, telling Zhou Tong, Su Da, and the others to continue drinking, as they planned to head towards the Kaifeng government office.

At this time, the acting prefect of Kaifeng was named Lu Changheng. He was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and had served as the deputy transport commissioner of Jianghuai and Shaanxi. He had also served as the prefect of Guangzhou, moved to Jingnan, and then to Tanzhou.

After Zhao Xu assumed personal rule, he was appointed as the Director of the Dragon Pavilion and the Prefect of Qingzhou. Last year, he was summoned to serve as the Commandant of the Guards and the Minister of Justice. He was later promoted to Vice Minister of Works and then appointed as the Acting Prefect of Kaifeng with the title of Attendant of the Baowen Pavilion.

This man was a fence-sitter, supporting the new laws on the one hand, while maintaining close ties with Sima Guang and others on the other. In recent years, he had been demoted and dismissed several times, experiencing ups and downs in his official career. Finally, he managed to become a high-ranking official in the capital, holding the important position of Prefect of Kaifeng. He could be considered to have achieved his goal.

However, this person was somewhat muddle-headed. Zhao Ti remembered that two years later, this person was demoted and exiled by Zhao Xu for making a mistake.

Later, when Zhao Ji ascended the throne, this person continued to hold different official positions, rising and falling repeatedly. Surprisingly, he was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng again, which was quite a miracle.

At this moment, a light drizzle was still falling from the sky, as if weeping and lamenting. The government office was in sight ahead. After walking over, the soldiers on guard on the steps hurriedly opened the gate. Some of them came down with large umbrellas to greet us, while others ran inside to report.

Zhao Ti entered the yamen with his hands behind his back. A Zhu put away her oil-paper umbrella and looked on curiously. Kaifeng Prefecture was not a place where you could go straight into the courtroom, but rather a huge mansion.

It contains dozens of places of varying sizes, including the Precept Stone, Left and Right Halls, Left and Right Military Patrol Halls, Main Hall, Council Hall, Plum Blossom Hall, Qingxin Building, Mingli Academy, Yingwu Building, and Training Ground.

At this moment, A'Zhu looked at the huge stone standing in front of the main hall. This was the Inscription on the Stone of Admonition. The three characters "public interest brings clarity" were engraved on the south side, and the words "You receive your salary and emoluments, the people's blood and sweat; the common people are easily oppressed, but Heaven is hard to deceive" were engraved on the north side.

Passing the inscription on the stone, you will find the public hall of Kaifeng Prefecture, where government decrees are issued, government affairs are handled, and important cases are tried.

Not far away is the Plum Blossom Hall, the legendary site where Bao Zheng sat upside down in the Southern Courtyard and cleverly investigated strange cases such as the Chalk Circle.

Zhao Ti stopped in front of the main hall, looking up at the plaque of integrity and incorruptibility hanging above the hall door, lost in thought.

Just then, Lu Changheng, dressed in official robes, jogged up from behind. He ignored the umbrellas offered by the yamen runners, and the light rain soaked his hair and face. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, "This humble official greets Your Majesty." Zhao Ti smiled and said, "I just came to visit. Although I've been here a few times before, I was always in a hurry and didn't get a good look at the yamen."

Lu Changheng was slightly taken aback and said, "Please come behind me, Your Highness. I have already had tea brewed in the main hall."

Zhao Ti said, "No rush. The scenery is quite nice in this drizzle. Come with me and show us around. The mansion is quite large. You haven't explored it all since you took office, have you?"

Lu Changheng said, "I am ashamed to admit that there are indeed many places I have not been to, such as some warehouses and old buildings that I have never been inside."

Zhao Ti nodded: "I have a subordinate whose ancestors served in the military patrol and were also patrol officers. Today, there is a happy occasion in his family, and many of the guests are descendants of the military patrol officers from that time. I heard something there."

Lu Changheng was taken aback and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the matter?"

Zhao Ti thought for a moment: "They all say that Bao Zheng had three guillotines back then, and this has been heard of among the common people, but it has never been recorded in the imperial records. I don't know if it's true or not?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Changheng pondered and said, "I have also heard of this matter. I am from Xiangfu in the capital. I heard such rumors when I was a child. My parents often used this to scare me and told me not to go out and cause trouble. But after I became an official, I asked my colleagues, and they all said it was false. It was just a rumor spread by the people."

Zhao Ti glanced at him: "It's one thing for others to say it, but it's a bit problematic that the descendants of those patrol officers are also saying it with such conviction. You should know that many of those people are descendants of patrol officers who died in the first year of Jiayou."

Lu Changheng's expression changed upon hearing this. He was from Tokyo and naturally knew about the events of the first year of the Jiayou era. Many strange cases occurred that year, resulting in numerous deaths. Kaifeng Prefecture racked its brains to solve the cases, and although they were all eventually solved, the military patrol officers who were at the forefront suffered heavy casualties, with both of their officers dying.

He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty means..."

Zhao Ti glanced at the weather and said, "Since we're here, Scholar Lu, please come with me and take a look around. If there really are three guillotines, they must be stored somewhere. When Bao Zheng stepped down as the prefect of Kaifeng and went to work for the Censorate, he wouldn't have taken the guillotines with him. He couldn't very well execute people in the Censorate, and later when he became the Minister of the Three Departments, he was even more useless."

Lu Changheng nodded: "What you say is absolutely right. So, where should we look?"

Zhao Ti said, "Let's take a look at some old storehouses and ruined palaces that you haven't been to before."

Lu Changheng acknowledged the order and immediately summoned more than a dozen yamen runners, who led the way with fire and water sticks, then proceeded towards the back of the main hall.

The Kaifeng government office is extremely large, with the Yingwu Tower, armory, and drill ground behind it. The places that Lu Changheng said he hadn't been to are mostly in this area.

First, we arrived at Yingwu Tower, where there were many ruined halls. Looking at them one by one, we found that most of them were piled up with scrolls, including some from the founding of the Song Dynasty and even some from the Later Zhou Dynasty. However, many of them were incomplete due to insect and rodent damage.

Then we went to the armory. Although there were many bows and swords, as well as spears and hammers, there were no guillotines. According to the rumors, those three guillotines were quite large and would be very noticeable in the armory, but they were not there.

Finally, we arrived at the martial arts arena. On one side of the arena, connected to the western prison of the prefectural government, there were several rows of hidden warehouses. We checked them one by one until we reached an old warehouse at the back, whose door seemed to be sealed.

Although the warehouse seal was not completely destroyed by rainwater because it was covered above the door, it was so old that it was incomplete and the writing was blurry.

Zhao Ti looked around and asked, "Where is this place? Why are there seals posted inside the government office?"

Lu Changheng shook his head: "This humble official has never been here before. This humble official will have someone ask right now."

He hurriedly sent his yamen runners to fetch someone, and a moment later the official in charge of the archives and documents of Kaifeng Prefecture ran over. This official was in charge of the preservation and retrieval of the archives and documents within the prefecture and knew about the past events within the prefecture.

The newcomer stepped forward and bowed, addressing the king as "Your Majesty, Your Majesty." He was an elderly man with white hair, whose age was unknown.

Zhao Ti nodded and asked, "Do you know why this warehouse is sealed off?"

(End of this chapter)