The capital has finally calmed down in the past two days, and it seems that without the-stirring stick named Su Mo, everything has returned to square one.

This made many people celebrate with their heads, and some people breathed a sigh of relief. Only the ordinary people in the capital felt faintly bored, as if something was suddenly missing, and there was no such frequent stimulating conversation as a few days ago.

Just when everyone thought that this peace might last until someone returned, something happened that shattered the peace again. And the resulting waves, with the fermentation of time, became bigger and bigger, and finally formed a tide that no one could have predicted.

Xueshi Lane, Li Mansion.

Li Dongyang rarely had a free day this day, and began to sort out some notes, preparing to compile them into a collection and print them out, so that they could be used as heirlooms.

A cup of tea curled up, and when the pen was just about to fall, I suddenly heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then the voice of the old servant came in: "Master, Liu Ge sent someone to see me, please meet you in the pavilion quickly." ”

Li Dongyang was stunned for a moment, and the pen full of ink was immediately paused, and when he dipped a good piece of paper, he couldn't help frowning slightly, sighed and put the pen down, and said loudly: "Got it." ”

The footsteps of the old servant outside the door were far away, and Li Dongyang in the room frowned, and his face was a little suspicious. While changing into his official robe, he thought about going to the front yard.

Liu Ge is naturally Liu Jian, but he is cold, why did he suddenly send someone to him?

You must know that although he, Liu Jian, and Xie Qian are both cabinet assistants, they rarely had private contacts in the past. After all, their identities are too sensitive, and there are some taboos that should be avoided or avoided. Otherwise, what do the three cabinet ministers want to do when they get together privately when they have nothing to do? Isn't there enough time to talk about during the day? Or is there something that is not good to talk about in the cabinet, for fear that people will know?

Of course, the emperor is wise and martial, so he shouldn't think so. But there is never a shortage of villains in this world. If you are slandered by some well-intentioned people, it is not a good thing after all. Therefore, the three of them can even say that they have never visited each other since they left the court.

And this time, Liu Jian actually broke the routine to make people shout, I am afraid that something really happened! Thinking about this, Li Dongyang's expression became more and more solemn, and he hurried out of the second door under his feet. There, a rudimentary car was ready to go.

Without a moment's delay, Li Dongyang hurriedly got into the car and knocked on the carriage without waiting to sit down. With a shout, the car went straight out of the side door and headed straight for the cabinet.

Within half an hour, the car had arrived outside the palace gate. Li Dongyang, supported by the servants, lifted the curtain and went down, but he heard the sound of hooves on the other side, and when he looked up, the car had stopped in front of him, and the door curtain was raised, and he saw that Xie Qian had just arrived.

"Yu Qiao, you are also Xixian to shout?" Li Dongyang waved his hand and sent the servant, beckoning Xie Qian to go inside together, and asked in surprise.

Xie Qian nodded, frowned, and said, "Isn't it his turn to be on duty today, but I don't know what happened, so in such a hurry." ”

Li Dongyang nodded thoughtfully.

Xie Qian paused, and suddenly said: "Isn't there something wrong with the border pass? Calculating the time, if you are in a hurry, Su Neyan should almost arrive." ”

Li Dongyang paused slightly, but then recovered. After a little hesitation, he said, "It shouldn't be so fast." With that kid's temperament, I'm afraid it will always take a trip of three to five days. ”

Xie Qian couldn't help but laugh, and said, "That's right." That little bastard is a bad thing, and I heard that there are a hundred unhappy and a thousand reluctant people who are always thinking about his mansion in the West Mountain. If His Majesty hadn't been angry, he would have rolled on the ground and refused to go. ”

Li Dongyang didn't speak, just shook his head slightly. The two of them said no more, and their feet sped up a little more.

When he entered the cabinet, he saw Liu Jian frowning, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands in his hands, and his face was extremely gloomy. Hearing the movement of the two entering the house, he turned around and saw the two of them, and said in a deep voice without caring about politeness: "Binzhi, Yu Qiao, something happened! Early this morning, King Ning was assassinated!"

What the?!

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian suddenly shook their bodies at the same time when they heard this, and their faces changed greatly. Fortunately, both of them are important ministers who are used to seeing wind and waves, and after a short period of distraction, they quickly reacted.

"Have you ever gotten an assassin?" Xie Qian asked anxiously.

Li Dongyang groaned slightly, and said in a deep voice: "What's wrong with King Ning? Who will report the letter?"

The two asked questions one after another, but the angles were obviously different. Up and down, obvious.

Liu Jian glanced at Li Dongyang appreciatively, nodded and said, "The person is fine, but he was injured a little, and the person was also frightened and passed out." As for those who come to tell the news, they are the servants of the Shuntian Palace. ”

After that, You turned his head to look at Xie Qian and said, "The assassin also took it, but it was just a corpse." The people from Ning Wangfu, who came with him, said that they had been handed over to the East Factory. ”

Xie Qian came to his senses after asking the question, and he couldn't help but be a little ashamed. Liu Jian, who listened to Liu Jian's answer at this time, didn't react for a while, but just sighed.

But Li Dongyang's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he said in surprise: "Dongchang?"

Liu Jian glanced at him meaningfully, nodded and said, "Dongchang." ”

Li Dongyang stopped talking, and sat down with his hand on his beard, with a thoughtful look on his face.

Xie Qian finally reacted at this time, and said in surprise: "How did you get involved with Dongchang?

You must know that the capital is responsible for criminal cases, and the first thing that should be questioned is the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion. However, it is mainly aimed at the level of ordinary people in the capital, and generally only cases that cannot be clarified by Shuntianfu will be submitted to the Criminal Department for review.

The Criminal Department, on the other hand, is on the other hand, mostly facing some major and important cases, or cases involving officials.

This is not the case with Dali Temple, whose status is equivalent to that of the Supreme Court. Unless the following two levels of audit are unclear, or special cases, they will be handed over to Dali Temple for investigation. Or they will come forward for a serious case appointed by the emperor to be tried together with the three divisions.

But that's it, Dali Temple is the highest judicial body. As for Jinyiwei and Dongchang, although they are also responsible for arresting, they are different from Dali Temple, the Criminal Department and Shuntianfu.

They are mainly supervising hundreds of officials, eyes and ears of the world, and most of their role is intelligence gathering affairs. As for the direct arrest of criminals at every turn like Hongwu and Yongle, it was a product of the special political atmosphere at that time and should not be the norm.

Therefore, when they heard that the assassin's body had been handed over to Dongchang, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian both immediately noticed the strangeness inside.

Liu Jian nodded, turned back and sat down in the chair, nodded his fingers on the table, and said indifferently: "The assassin is a eunuch. ”

Xie Qian exclaimed, "What?!"

Li Dongyang seemed to have expected it, and when he heard this, only a gleam flashed in his eyes, but he did not have any other expressions.

Xie Qian looked at him, then turned his head to look at Liu Jian again, his face changed a few times, and then he asked tentatively, "Can you confirm the way you came?"

There are more than 10,000 eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, each of whom belongs to different bureaus and prisons, but there are also some eunuchs who belong to each royal palace. In addition, there are some people who have been castrated by themselves, and they want to sell themselves into the palace with this. That's why Xie Qian asked.

However, Li Dongyang and Liu Jian both understood that what Xie Qian was asking was by no means asking whether the assassin was from the palace or outside, but whether he was from the palace. It's just that this is not easy to say clearly, so it is vaguely replaced by "the way to come".

Liu Jian shook his head slightly and sighed: "There is no conclusion yet, but the old man faintly feels that the people in Ning Wangfu seem to be hiding something." It is precisely because of this that the two of them were called to make some preparations early, so as not to be caught off guard when the time comes. ”

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian understood in seconds, and their faces couldn't help but become solemn.

Li Dongyang thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty has a will?"

Liu Jian shook his head, "This matter came suddenly, I'm afraid that Your Majesty has just learned about it, and there has been no news for a while." Now that Dongchang has joined in, it is always necessary to wait for the ins and outs to say. ”

Li Dongyang nodded, pondered slightly, and then said, "Based on what Brother Xixian sees, how should we deal with it?"

Liu Jian twisted his beard and groaned slightly, and said slowly: "What does the old man mean...... Wait. ”

Li Dongyang showed a clear look and smiled: "The hero sees the same. ”

Xie Qian's eyes flashed with a complicated color, among the three, he was the most Geng Jie, and sometimes he could even be said to be pedantic. Although he knew that the attitude that Liu Jian and Li Dongyang said was the best at this time, he was still a little uncomfortable in his heart. It's just that the three of them are one, and it is really not appropriate to move at the moment, so he swallowed back the words that came to his lips and nodded slowly.

At the same time, in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Hongzhi, who had just been reported, turned pale, and his hand on the imperial case was holding on to it so hard that the joints were a little pale.

A pair of slender phoenix eyes were full of might, like a Nine Shadows Ice Cave, staring at Mu Bin and Jiang Jing who were lying on the ground below.

"Okay, under my nose, in Gyeonggi, the best place, you can even perform the scene of assassinating the king and killing the driver. Okay, good, that's good! You two are really giving me a long face. He gritted his teeth and said with a sneer that almost jumped word for word.

Below, Mu Bin and Jiang Jing secretly glanced at each other, and their bodies couldn't help but tremble slightly. Both of them are responsible for investigating the world and supervising all parties, and now this kind of thing has happened under the emperor's nose, and it is also a vassal king who was assassinated, isn't it the dereliction of duty of the two of them.

The factory guard is the private slave of the Son of Heaven, and represents the emperor's face to the outside. Now because of the negligence of the two of them, it is naturally equivalent to the emperor losing people in front of hundreds of officials and ministers, so it is no wonder that Emperor Hongzhi is so angry and angry.

In recent years, the filth between the emperor and his ministers has become increasingly serious, and the struggle between the emperor and his ministers has intensified. At this time, such a big basket will inevitably make the Son of Heaven have to make concessions in some aspects.

Even, because the two of them were already responsible for supervision, they had already noticed that it seemed that some forces were about to move and were secretly planning something. It's just that first, after all, it has not yet been revealed, and it is difficult to detect deeply; second, several forces are participating in the competition, and the water is so mixed that it is difficult to distinguish for a while, and the two of them have not suffered a headache because of this.

But who would have thought that before they could come up with a good way to solve these problems, such a big case suddenly popped up, which completely made the pool of water even more muddy. If I want to extract it in detail, I don't know what year or month it will be.

Thinking of these, both of them were bitter in their hearts, but they didn't dare to defend a word. was stubbornly accepting the emperor's anger, when suddenly a rush of footsteps came from outside the door, and when he arrived at the door, he obviously hesitated, as if someone was hesitating.

"Which daring minion, sneaky, won't let me get in!" Emperor Hongzhi was so angry that he couldn't help but shout angrily.

Du Fu next to him had already floated over, and soon came in with a small yellow door. The little yellow door trembled in fright, and as soon as he entered the door, he fell to his knees and shouted in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty forgives your sins, Your Majesty forgives your sins." The slave and maid have gone back and forth to the case, and have already ascertained the identity of the assassin......"

As soon as these words came out, several people in the palace were startled at the same time, and Emperor Huo Ran of Hongzhi got up and shouted: "Don't talk about it yet!"

The little eunuch trembled, opened his mouth, but did not make a sound, and his eyes were indiscreably aimed at Xiao Jing who was lying in front of him.

Xiao Jing was so angry, he stared at him fiercely, gritted his teeth and said: "In front of Your Majesty, you dare to delay!

The little eunuch's face turned pale, and he didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and said in a trembling voice: "Yes, yes." The Assassin was ...... It's the people next to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince......"