Although Su Lihe didn't know the reason for Twelve's stay, he was very happy when he found out about it, and he couldn't wait to run to the inn where she was temporarily staying every day. Twelve was afraid that he would be discovered and lose his life, so he had to force his careful thinking and avoid him tangled.

After hiding a lot of times, Su Lihe came back to his senses from his anger and unwillingness, understood the meaning of Twelve, and was no longer attached. Twelve breathed a sigh of relief.

By this time, it was approaching the end of the year. Su Wan's letter was delivered from the post station, asking Su Lihe if he would return to his old house in Yangzhou for the New Year.

It is rare to keep such a close distance from the pretty woman, Su Lihe was reluctant to leave, and replied to invite the little sister to come to the capital for the second New Year, and at the same time politely invited **** Yan to enter Beijing together. After reading the receipt letter, Su Wan knew that her brother intended to match, but she pretended not to see it, calmly set up a good shop, settled the accounts for a whole year, and explained all the matters clearly, before she said hello to **** Yan and followed the caravan into Beijing alone.

The last time I suddenly withdrew a large sum of money, there was a problem with cash flow, and the business in the shop became difficult. Fortunately, the Su family had a good reputation in the early years, and there was a Su Lihe who served in Dali Temple, coupled with Su Wan's intelligence and flexibility, first owed a part of the payment on credit, and then discounted a part of the goods, and the business partners were not too difficult, and they said goodbye to the constrained situation in just a few months, and this year's business was almost smooth.

Soon it was Chinese New Year's Eve. As usual, the emperor came forward to feast the ministers in the palace. When the Marquis of Dingguo went to the banquet, he was followed by Xue Ji.

According to the usual rules, it is not allowed to bring family members and concubines on such occasions. The Marquis of Dingguo was bored with the wine banquet and was too lazy to socialize with everyone, so he wanted to have some fun. He has always ignored all kinds of rules, and the emperor of the dynasty has been more lenient towards him, and his behavior has become more and more unbridled. He originally wanted to take Nangong Xueruo, but when the girl heard that she was going to spend the night in the palace after the banquet, she immediately became distressed, and stared at the marquis with bright eyes: "I recognize the bed, I won't be able to sleep." So he changed to Yukihime.

Yukihime is naturally extremely beautiful. Her beauty is soft to the bone, seductive. Nangong Xueruo can also be very soft, but after getting along for a long time, she found that behind her soft appearance, there are arrogant edges and corners. Like a white plum blossom in the ice and snow, the faint fragrance reveals a fatal attraction. The white expanse around it is the only color in this world. The petals are white, as if they are integrated with heaven and earth; The branches are thick ink-colored, strong and tough.

As the night grew darker, the banquet came to an end. The courtiers with family members retired one after another, and the Marquis of Dingguo and the Marquis of Huaiyang, who had recently entered Beijing, stayed in the palace to keep the New Year.

Qu Shaojie did not go home after retiring, and went directly to Dali Temple.

Guo Maohuai's recent love has been abnormal, so thin that only a handful of bones remain, his mouth is tightly pursed from morning to night, and his expression reveals unconscious despair. Qu Shaojie suspected that he was threatened, but no one could approach him except himself, and all kinds of investigations were fruitless. According to his many years of experience in adjudicating cases in Dali Temple, people's feelings in the festival will be somewhat subtle, and today is Chinese New Year's Eve, perhaps a breakthrough, and he can be heard confiding some content.

When he was about to arrive at Dali Temple, a man dressed in the clothes of a jailer, with his head down, hurried over and passed him.

Qu Shaojie was slightly stunned. He had a habitual vigilance, but he had just drunk wine at the banquet, and his mind was a little dull, and he squinted his eyes and stared at the man's back.

It wasn't until he confirmed that this back was very strange that he suddenly reacted and rushed to the prison, forgetting to call someone to chase: everyone on Chinese New Year's Eve is easy to let down their vigilance, and if something happens at this time, it will never be a small matter. Because of the seriousness of Guo Maohuai's case, Qu Shaojie did not dare to be negligent, and specially asked the saint in advance to strengthen the guard. The people on duty in the prison tonight are all his hand-picked henchmen, how can there be strangers appear?

Stepping into the heavily guarded prison, Guo Maohuai hid in the corner, unmoved when he heard the door open, staring blankly at the straw at his feet, like a stone statue. His hair was disheveled, his eye sockets were sunken, and only half of his pale face was revealed, revealing a bit of strange horror in the shadow of the candle flame.

Qu Shaojie was a little relieved: at least the person is still alive.

"Son......" Guo Maohuai's mouth suddenly made a sound similar to a whimper, which frightened Qu Shaojie, and the little alcohol left was completely awakened. He slowly walked to the bars and stood through the gates.

Guo Maohuai's body did not move, his eyes slowly rolled, he saw the person by the door clearly, moved his lips, and called vaguely: "Lord Qu." His sanity gradually returned, and his eyes suddenly became sad and angry, with real hatred: "You should have guaranteed the safety of my family, but now my son has lost his life?" You pay back my son! ”

Qu Shaojie sneered: "This prisoner is probably from a nightmare and has not woken up yet. Come on, let him sober up! ”

Before the jailer could act, Guo Maohuai bounced up from the ground when he heard the sound, stretched out his skinny hand, and grabbed Qu Shaojie from the crack in the prison bar: "Give back my son's life!" ”

Qu Shaojie couldn't help but take a step back, avoiding Guo Maohuai's sharp nails. He didn't have the slightest affection for this person, because he was an important breakthrough in the case, so he had to pay more attention to it. What made him strange was that Guo Maohuai's recent love was quite calm, why did he suddenly get excited? Thinking of the strange figure he encountered on the road, Qu Shaojie's eyelids jumped, and he always felt that something had happened.

At present, Guo Maohuai is in a state of semi-madness and cannot be interrogated, Qu Shaojie observed for a while, asked people to be strictly guarded, recorded all what he said, and sent it to Dali Temple for future reference, so as not to miss important clues, and then turned around and went home. He was tired from running around all day.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, news came from Jinzhou: Guo Maohuai's eldest son was stabbed to death, and the time of death was Chinese New Year's Eve.

Since Guo Maohuai's case, Guo Fu has been accused by the people of the imperial court, and everyone in the Guo family, including slaves, has been placed under house arrest. Later, Guo Maohuai confessed that the prince was murdered, and the guards of Guo's mansion were transferred from the local area to Wu Jin, the commander of the Praetorian Guard. On Chinese New Year's Eve, the eldest son was scolded by his wife because of his willfulness, and he refused to keep the New Year with his family, and ran back to the room to sleep alone. At dawn on the second day, the housekeeper went to call him to greet his wife, knocked on the door for a long time and did not hear any movement, only to kick the door open and find that the body was already cold.

There was only one scar, in the heart. It is very similar to the scene of Kang Zhao's death back then.

Qu Shaojie frowned, and his intuition was that the two cases were bound to be related. He flipped out Kang Zhao's dossier, put it together with Guo Maohuai's, and compared it carefully, all kinds of thoughts flashed in his mind, intertwined into a mess, and he couldn't figure out the slightest clue. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and simply removed the complicated reasons, and only looked at the results of the case: Kang Zhao, the deacon of Dali Temple, died because of the investigation of Jin Ming's case, Jin Ming and his distant cousin Jiang Shi worked for Guo Maohuai, Jiang committed suicide after Su Lihe found clues in Dali Temple, and then Guo Maohuai was imprisoned by Dali Temple, Guo Maohuai's eldest son was stabbed, and the death scene was similar to Kang Zhao.

- There is no doubt that if Kang Zhao and Jiang had not died at that time, Guo Maohuai would have been implicated, and these two murders successfully protected him; Now that Guo Maohuai is in the hands of Dali Temple, he confesses the inside story of the murder of the prince, and the death of his eldest son is a warning! The evidence is Guo Maohuai's abnormal behavior on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, when the news had not yet reached the capital, but he already knew the death of his eldest son, and someone had been in prison under martial law to sue him, and he believed it! Because he knew the strength of the other party, he didn't even have the slightest doubt.

Thinking of this, Qu Shaojie opened his eyes suddenly: Who is manipulating this qiē behind his back?

According to the records of the guards and jailers, on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, Guo Maohuai mentioned "idle pavilion" when he went crazy. Qu Shaojie knows this name, and it is rumored in the rivers and lakes that it is a murder organization that buys and sells human lives. When Guo Maohuai was first imprisoned, Su Lihe tried to ask him about the news of the idle pavilion, but Qu Shaojie did not take it to heart; Later, Guo Maohuai's will to be removed from office was handed down, and Qu Shaojie took him to face the saint, and on the way into the palace, he encountered an assassin, Guo Maohuai told him that the assassin was a person from the idle pavilion.

This Jianghu organization has strung together a series of cases. In the past two years, the situation in the imperial court has changed dramatically due to the impact of the case. Because there was no suitable candidate, the position of Jinju Taishou is still vacant to this day.

Qu Shaojie didn't believe that an ordinary Jianghu organization would dare to try to manipulate the situation in the imperial court. But if it's just a simple purchase of murder, so many coincidences, will it be a coincidence? Is the real murderer behind the scenes and the idle pavilion just a simple business relationship, or is it the relationship between the master and the master?

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the traditional Shangyuan Festival of Qiguo.

Nangong Xueruo carried the lanterns that Lan Lie had bought, and squeezed into the crowd with a smile. The waves in the eyes are flowing, more dazzling than the lantern in the hand. Reflecting the clear moonlight, it adds a bit of softness, but it reveals a little indescribable and inexplicable alienation. Lan Lie pondered her thoughts, and stayed by her side, holding her waist so as not to get separated. She didn't dare to look too closely at the pedestrians around her, pretending that her mind was all on the beautiful lanterns on the side of the road. The whole street was full of people, and after a whole hour, none of the guards brought out by the Marquis of Dingguo were scattered, and they always kept a distance from them.

She's waiting for thirteen. Fifteen followed the flow of people and walked past Nangong Xueruo, she didn't even recognize this companion - she thought it would be thirteen or seventeen. Fifteen stared at the lantern in front of her like a passerby, and her gaze did not linger on her for a moment. It wasn't until after he left that Nangong Xueruo noticed that the lantern in his hand was different, and he knew that the person was fifteen. Lan Lie was too close to her, he temporarily changed his mind, did not touch Nangong Xueruo, and quickly hid the newly made red pill into Nangong Xueruo's lantern.

Fifteen days are silent.,Seldom speak.,The appearance is an ordinary public face.,The kind that makes people forget at a glance.。 The whole person has a very low sense of existence, and it is very easy to be ignored. After Nangong Xue found out about him, she knew that Thirteen was on other tasks. Because if he didn't have a mission, he would definitely come to see her in person. As for Thirteen's safety, she wasn't worried at all. For them, as long as they are alive, they are safe. She believes in Thirteen's abilities.

After getting the newly made red pill, Nangong Xueruo looked tired. Lan Lietian likes to have fun and likes to go to lively places, but he still quickly noticed the change in her expression, stopped considerately, and kissed her lightly on the forehead: "Tired? ”

Nangong Xueruo nodded. She likes to stay quietly, she doesn't like noisy occasions in the first place, and she doesn't need to pretend to be when she gets the red pill.

Lan Lietian didn't say a word, and took her back to the house directly. It's just that his expression was obscure along the way, and Nangong Xueruo was slightly apprehensive, wondering if he had discovered a small move of fifteen.

Entering the gate of the Hou Mansion, Lan Lie ordered the maid to take Nangong Xueruo back to Xia Yuan to rest, but he did not follow. He didn't find fifteen, but from his recent observations, he found that Nangong Xueruo picked a lot of people every time and went out, but he didn't like this kind of occasion. Just like tonight, after she achieved her goal, she didn't bother to perfunctory anymore.

In front of him, she was really getting bolder. Lan Lie was a little relieved, but she couldn't stop the bitterness in her heart: she really had other intentions. If you don't kill her, it will eventually become a hidden danger; But when I thought of her innocent eyes, I couldn't help but make excuses for her: she must have been coerced, there was nothing wrong with her, she stayed for two more days to watch.

From Lan Lie to Nangong Xueruo out, Xue Ji sent someone to wait at the door. On Chinese New Year's Eve, Dingguohou took her to the banquet, but the favor of these days did not increase by half a point. Hearing that Dingguo didn't go to Luoxiayuan tonight, she was secretly happy in her heart, thinking that her opportunity had come, but she waited until nearly midnight in Qingyuan, but she didn't wait for Dingguohou's figure. She thought about it, and the next day she still depicted her makeup in detail, and took Yaoqin to the east courtyard early in the morning to find Lan Lietian.

Lan Lie sat behind the bookcase, with an open book in his hand, but his eyes did not fall on the page, staring at a certain point in the void in a daze. Xue Ji deliberately pressed her steps, Lan Lietian was awakened by her voice, and swept her eyes lightly, without speaking, as if she had not come back to her senses. Xue Ji smiled and snuggled over, glanced at the bookcase, saw the words "kun, dui", hugged his arm and coquettishly: "What's so good about Yi Shu, I have composed a new tune in the past two days, and I will play it to Hou Ye?" ”

Lan Lietian casually closed the book and agreed, "Okay." ”

Xue Ji immediately ordered someone to set up the yaoqin, she walked over gracefully, adjusted the two notes, looked up and threw Xia Jing a provocative look, and the music flowed from her fingertips. Lan Lie leaned on the side of the table with one hand, propped up his head, his eyes half-closed, hiding the intimidating edge, revealing a little smile. Encouraged by Yukihime, her fingers flew and the strings became smoother and smoother. She has been learning the piano since she was a child, and her skills are naturally very good, plucking out the noisy and tangent piano sound with lingering tactful affection. Lan Lie lowered his eyes and listened quietly, and praised: "I played well, I want to reward you." Like what? ”

Xue Ji tended to snuggle into his arms and complained: "Master Hou hasn't come to Qingyuan for many days, I'm afraid I have forgotten about others." Where do you dare to ask for any reward? Lan Lie grabbed her hand and chuckled: "It's only a few days, look at this grievance, it seems that I really forgot you." He changed his words, held her arm and walked out: "Then let's go over now, Rong Benhou will make up for it, how about it?" ”

Xue Jifei's cheeks were red, her face was infinitely shy, and her feet kept up with Lan Lietian's pace

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