Assassination is about surprise. The Assassins underestimated Qu Shaojie's strength, first losing the target of the assassination, and then alarming the patrolling soldiers, they had already lost the opportunity. They are all people who are rolling in the field of life and death, but they are not afraid of danger, and they quickly re-locked Guo Maohuai's position in the chaos, and pounced again regardless of it.

Qu Shaojie clenched the weapon in his hand, stood tall and tall, blocked in front of Guo Maohuai, and forced back the attacks of the top two. Before he could catch his breath, another Assassin lunged on him. At this time, Qu Shaojie's guards also saw clearly from the chaos, and followed one by one to protect the master.

Guo Maohuai pressed his back against the stone wall, frightened by the clanging of blades, as if he was forced to calm down, his eyes widened to see the situation clearly. Helplessly, there were many figures in front of him, he had never practiced martial arts, and he couldn't tell the difference.

Two blocks away, well-trained patrolmen quickly split into two groups, one group returning to the camp to report to their superiors, and the other group rushing to the place where the accident had occurred.

Qu Shaojie was in danger, but his mind was even more sober: only he and Guo Maohuai knew about entering the palace, and even his cronies only knew that the master was going to take the prisoner out of the prison of Dali Temple, and he didn't know the destination, and he was actually ambushed on the way to enter the palace, proving that the people behind it were extraordinary: either they were lurking in Dali Temple and secretly overheard their conversation, or they accurately guessed that they were going to enter the palace.

Fortunately, the patrolling soldiers acted quickly, and discovered the movement here in time, and rushed over with a light of tea, lighting up the whole street with bright lanterns. The assassin fell into the encirclement, was completely exposed in the light, and knew that the assassination was hopeless, so he abandoned Guo Maohuai and broke out. In the end, they saw that there were more and more soldiers, and it was difficult for them to successfully break through, so they simply committed suicide.

It wasn't until all the soldiers in the brigade arrived that Qu Shaojie let go of the blade in his hand. His clothes were stained with blood, the wounds on his chest were extremely hideous, the flesh was rolling, and the blood was still pouring out. He leaned against the wall and slowly sat down, which frightened the guards and hurriedly bandaged him.

Reinforcements were busy counting the battlefield: six assassins, all now corpses; More than half of Qu Shaojie's cronies died, and only four were left alive, all of whom were wounded; In addition, nearly 30 soldiers on patrol were killed, and there were no wounded - they were just ordinary soldiers, unable to escape the attacks of professional assassinations, and were killed in one blow without a chance of being injured.

- What a terrible assassin!

"It's an idle pavilion." Guo Maohuai suddenly spoke, his voice trembling.

When the news spread, the emperor sympathized with Qu Shaojie's hard work and granted a half-month vacation. Qufu has been deserted for many days, and people come and go, and it is very lively. Qu Shaojie ordered the housekeeper to welcome all the visitors into the front hall for tea, and then politely sent them out the door, hiding in the backyard by himself, refusing to see any visitors in the name of recuperation.

Guo Maohuai was still sent back to the prison of Dali Temple, and the guards were all drawn from the Praetorian Guard, and the emperor was directly responsible. Except for Qu Shaojie, who was directly in charge of the case, no one was allowed to visit without the emperor's will.

In September 170 of the Great Apocalypse, Qu Shaojie returned from his injuries and was summoned by the emperor alone. After that, the murder case of the little prince was officially filed: Guo Mao confessed when he was pregnant with a saint, and the little prince did not die of illness, but was deliberately murdered.

The emperor has only been on the throne for more than a year, and there are no heirs under his knees, only at the beginning of the year, a concubine gave birth to a prince, and died a few days later. What Guo Maohuai said is the little prince who died young.

The court and the opposition suddenly exploded.

If there was no assassination, "The little prince did not die accidentally", it can be regarded as Guo Maohuai's nonsense. But this happened, and none of them lived, but it proved that there must be an inside story. The emperor was furious, and Guo Maohuai was heavily guarded from then on, but he refused to confide a word. These inside information are his lifesavers, and he can't let go lightly. He let out the news and said: If he dies unexpectedly, someone will definitely bring something to everyone. Those things weren't enough to drag everyone into the water, but enough to pull a few burial companions for him.

So none of the people who hid in the shadows dared to act rashly. No one knows who will be dragged to the burial. It won't be all, but what if it's yourself? No one dares to risk anything related to their lives. The emperor wanted to bring out everyone behind him and prevent future troubles, so he couldn't kill Guo Maohuai lightly, but the prison of Dali Temple was not peaceful, and there would be some special visitors every few days, and he would visit Guo Maohuai through a special way, forcing him to dare not open his mouth lightly.

It was in such turmoil that he was sent to the Nuan Yu Pavilion - the largest green building in the capital. There are many frequent visitors to the Nuan Yu Pavilion, many of whom are dignitaries of the imperial court, such as Xu Zhongze, the prime minister of the dynasty. With his outstanding looks, Nineteen quickly attracted a lot of attention. A month later, she was taken back to her home by Xu Zhongze, and her mission was to listen to the movements of the imperial court. Xu Zhong is a veteran of the two dynasties, and his official rank is secondary, and when he inquired about the news, Xu Mansion was obviously a suitable place.

Thirteen is still on the periphery on assassination missions. He and Nineteen did not participate in the assassination of Qu Shaojie. At that time, they were not in the capital, and Mr. He was helping the pavilion master plan other things, and the fourth was in charge of this operation. No. 4 is the first batch of numbered elite killers cultivated by Xian Ge, and when he heard that all six people, including him, were lost in the hands of Qu Shaojie, Thirteen believed in his ability even more, and their private contacts gradually became closer.

At the beginning of November, he found an opportunity to sneak into the Xu Mansion to see Nineteen. She grew taller again, and when she saw thirteen, her eyes widened and she said, "It's good here." But he tightly tugged at Thirteen's sleeve in his hand. Thirteen noticed her small movements, and knew that she didn't like Xu Fu, and she didn't want to worry about it, so she said it was good, and she was immediately distressed, and she couldn't wait to take her away immediately. But thinking of the consequences of doing so, he had to be cautious, raised his hand to cover the back of her hand, and comforted her softly: "Give me some more time." We're going to get out. ”

Nineteen blinked and repeated, "I'm fine." Xu Zhong has some special fetishes, saying it can't change reality, it will only make Thirteen more worried, and she would rather be silent.

Thirteen hugged her tightly and didn't speak. He knew her too well, and he could see at a glance that the Xu Mansion was not to her liking.

Nineteen subconsciously tilted his head, afraid that he would do something in a hurry, and quickly explained: "This place is really better than the pavilion, I just miss you a little, don't worry." You don't take risks, I don't want you to work hard. ”

It's rare for her to say so much in one breath. Thirteen smiled, relieved himself a little, and nodded in agreement: "Okay." I'll come and see you when I have time. ”

At the end of the month, Xu Zhong celebrated his 40th birthday, and he posted all over the post to invite colleagues to a banquet at home. This is a good opportunity to win over people, except for Su Lihe and other extremely low-ranking officials, almost all the court officials have received posts. Qu Shaojie said that he was busy with official business, and sent someone to send a congratulatory gift, but did not attend the banquet in person. In addition, Ji Huaiyong, an upstart in the army, also received a post. He was clean and self-conscious, did not like to form parties, and gave a simple congratulatory gift under the pretext of being unwell, but did not show up.

Yang Zhongxian first impeached Jin Ming, then Guo Maohuai, and then did not attract attention, maintaining a posture of neither humility nor arrogance, wandering at a distance not far or close, not knowing what he was planning. Xu Zhong acted more steadily and didn't like the character of stirring up trouble, so he didn't post to him. Yang Zhongxian didn't care.

On the day of the birthday feast, Xu Zhong, who was anxious, didn't have the heart to speculate about them at all, and he was hurriedly directing people to rearrange the seats. Because there was an unexpected big man at the birthday feast: Lan Lietian, the Marquis of Dingguo.

Lan Lie has been very lazy since he was free, and he has never shown up at various gatherings and banquets. Xu Zhong handed a post to the Hou Mansion, just a formality to show respect for the Marquis of Dingguo, and he didn't expect him to come at all, so there was no place reserved for him in the seat. Lan Lietian actually didn't plan to go to the banquet. He temporarily thought about it today, and wanted to go to the play, but he heard that the best opera troupe in the capital had been invited away, and he was preparing Xu Zhongze's birthday banquet in the Prime Minister's Mansion, so he paced over leisurely, and he didn't even prepare for the birthday ceremony, and stepped into the Prime Minister's Mansion empty-handed.

Xu Zhong complained bitterly in his heart, but he didn't dare not greet him, with a formulaic polite smile on his face, he bowed down and invited the Marquis of Dingguo into the banquet hall. Lan Lie was unceremonious, directly ignoring everyone in the hall, Shi Shiran sat on the main seat, and then tilted his body and hugged the attendant who came with him into his arms, without any image.

Under normal circumstances, the birthday banquet is naturally the largest birthday star, and Xu Zhong should sit in the main seat. But strictly speaking, Lan Lietian's official rank is one order higher than Xu Zhongze's, and he is a royal family, and the royal bloodline alone is much more noble than Xu Zhongze. Therefore, he occupied the main seat, and even if Xu Zhong was unhappy, he couldn't blame it, so he had to add a new seat to himself in the position slightly lower on his left hand side, which was counted as the second main seat.

Lan Lie arrived relatively late, and almost all the people who should have arrived. As soon as he sat down, he quickly opened the table. Xu Zhong was trembling, for fear that there would be another accident here with the Marquis of Dingguo, but after looking at it for a long time, he found that he only cared about messing with the favorite concubine who accompanied him, so he slowly relaxed and let go of his hands and feet.

Many people know the favorite Ji he accompanied him, who was the beauty given by the emperor at the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet, and her name was Xueji.

On this occasion, the officials also brought their wives, but they would not show their faces in the men's pile, but Mrs. Xu would set up a banquet in the inner courtyard to entertain them. Those who drink in the front yard with men are generally favored maids, from humble backgrounds, and some of them are redeemed in the green building. They are beautiful, have a peugeot figure, and some can also order poems and songs, and know how to entertain men.

Lan Lietian didn't have much interest in the program at the banquet and the conversation during the banquet, his expression was faint, and he didn't mean to participate at all, and he didn't cheer up until the troupe came out, knocking on the cup and laughing with Xue Ji. Seeing that the Marquis of Dingguo on the throne was wandering, Xu Zhongze's courage was completely released, and he bowed his head to the girl standing behind him and said two words, and soon, a small figure cat came over and was hugged into his arms.

It is the most favored nineteen in the Xu Mansion.

Lan Lie chuckled, and inadvertently glanced at it, and it happened that the person in Xu Zhongze's arms also looked in this direction, and his eyes touched, and he couldn't take his eyes off it. The immature face looks like he is only fifteen or sixteen years old. The eyebrows and eyes that are a little too slender reveal a different kind of softness, the facial features are small and delicate, and the powder is lightly applied, with a little unconscious sultry taste.

Those clear eyes, clean and beautiful, with innocence that are not polluted by the world, and a little familiarity, knocked hard into Lan Lietian's heart. He couldn't sit still for a moment, muttering in his heart, and he couldn't wait to pull the person over immediately, rub it into his arms and take care of it. They have lived half their lives, but they have no resistance to innocence.

At that time, Lan Lietian didn't know how harsh she had been trained and how much she had suffered in order to practice such eyes. He only knew that she was still a child, but Xu Zhongze was not a good thing, and he couldn't put her by Xu Zhongze's side. Although he is not a good person, he will definitely treat her better than Xu Zhong.

So he raised his glass and greeted Xu Zhongze: "Lord Xu." ”

Xu Zhong was taken aback and hurriedly replied: "What does Master Hou command?" ”

Lan Lie looked at the person in his arms: "I can't talk about orders." What is the name of this child? ”

Xu Zhong was immediately displeased. Xue Ji, who was nestled in the arms of the Marquis of Dingguo, had a pretty face and a stiff smile.

Lan Lietian asked rudely when he said this. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this woman is being favored by Xu Zhongze, and teasing her is a slap in the face of Xu Zhongze in public. What's more, today is his birthday. But Lan Lie is the general of Dingguo, he is named the marquis of Dingguo, and he is the most favored younger brother of the emperor today, Xu Zhong can't afford to offend, so he has to endure his anger and answer: "The lower official brought it back from outside a few days ago, he has no relatives since he was a child, and he has no name. ”

When Lan Lie heard this, there was obvious pity in his eyes. I even forgot that if ordinary people have not been cared for by relatives since they were children, how could they still have such clear eyes after so many years. Such a clumsy lie, everyone will know that it is just an excuse to prevaricate, and there will be a background that is by no means simple, so it cannot be mentioned. The so-called authorities are obsessed, Lan Lietian didn't figure it out at this time, and when he figured it out, he was already addicted to it and didn't want to extricate himself.

At that time, Lan Lie shook the remaining liquor in the glass, and pondered the words: "There is a shortage of such a ...... in the Benhou Mansion."

A woman who can be brought to this occasion by a man cannot be a wife, at most she can only be a concubine. After Lan Lietian said this, the smile of Xue Ji beside him became very reluctant. Because this means that the Hou Mansion will have an additional powerful contender.

Xu Zhong was still prevaricating: "The lower official knows where to find it, and he will send it to the Hou Ye tomorrow." ”

"You don't have to look for her, just her." Lan Lietian said very simply, not giving him a chance to shirk.

Xu Zhongze's face was ugly, and he couldn't directly refuse Lan Lietian, so he leaned into Nineteen's ear and lowered his voice to threaten: "You dare to seduce the Marquis of Dingguo, you are not small." While taking advantage of the cover of the table, the hand hidden under the sleeve of the robe quietly pinched the fine flesh around her waist and used it hard. Lan Lietian saw it very clearly, she straightened her body in an instant, and inhaled in pain, but she bit her lip, and didn't dare to make a sound

(l~1`x*>+``+