Chapter Forty-Nine: Send the Letter!

In the East Palace, in a firewood warehouse where sundries were placed, there were crowds, and more than a dozen miscellaneous servants and servants of the Prince's Mansion were sitting around a gambling table with concentrated expressions, staring at the big silver ticket on the table with bright eyes. This group of people are all idle people in the East Palace, who are responsible for handling the sundries of the Prince's Mansion on weekdays, and belong to the lowest status of the people.

At this time, a figure suddenly kicked open the door of the firewood warehouse, and the faces of the gambling crowd inside were as earthy as earth, but when everyone saw the person clearly, they were relieved, and then focused their attention on the gambling table.

The person who came was also a slave who often spent money in this small firewood warehouse, named Kong Fu.

Kong Fu didn't seem to be here to gamble, and after sweeping his eyes around the crowd, he locked on to a person sitting in the dealer's position, and shouted: "Zhang Papi, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has summoned you to the Wude Palace!"

Zhang Ran was holding a deck of pai gow in his hand, and suddenly heard someone call his nickname, so he stood up in shock, and he didn't hold a few pai gow in his hand, and scattered them on the ground.

"What?!

"Nonsense, hurry up, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Steward are waiting for you!" The servant named Kong Fu frowned, glared at Zhang Ran, and shouted with a displeased expression.

"Lord Steward......"

Zhang Ran's eyes rolled, and there was a hint of hatred in the depths of his eyes, but there was a wry smile on his face, and the chicken nodded like a peck of rice.

"Okay, okay, I'll go now...... Here it goes. ”

Since Zhang Ran was beaten by Li Yiqi last time, the news of him stealing the property of the East Palace has spread among the servants of the East Palace. Although Li Yiqi, the newly appointed 'head of the East Palace', did not deal with him because he was the queen's mother, he was also removed from his official position as a six-rank counselor and reduced him to an ordinary East Palace handyman.

Now, Zhang Ran's status in the East Palace has plummeted, and even some of the little minions and doglegs that he used to look down on dare to point fingers and show off their might in front of him. In this regard, even if Zhang Ran was indignant in his heart, he didn't dare to be as arrogant as before, for fear that Li Yiqi would hand over the evidence of his theft to the hands of the Zongren Mansion.

"Eh, I'm lucky today, and I'm out of the brothers' wine money, hahaha. ”

A hint of shrewdness flashed in Zhang Ran's eyes, and he smiled at the people on the gambling table, pretending to be generous and threw out a silver ticket with a face value of ten taels of silver, and quickly stuffed the silver tickets with the largest denomination that he had just won into his arms.

"Hmph, virtue ......"

"Whoever is rare, if he wins, he will run ......"

Everyone at the table glanced at each other, they all rolled their eyes, and muttered a few grumbling words at the corners of their mouths, but they all rushed to compete for the silver ticket of ten taels of silver......

......

"Hah-"

In the Wude Palace, the crown prince Xia Qing leaned sideways, supported his head with one arm, and kept yawning.

"Your Highness, didn't you rest last night?" Li Yiqi noticed the trace of tiredness between the prince's eyebrows, and asked with a smile.

"Yes, after hearing the news of the queen mother last night, I couldn't sleep. Xia Qing hung his head and responded with a wry smile, his eyes began to be a little confused.

"Your Highness, you go and rest for a while, Weichen will try his best to send someone to find out the news of the queen's mother, and as soon as there is news, he will immediately notify His Highness. Li Yiqi looked at the prince and said softly, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Martial artists practice martial arts, which is not a dragon spirit and a tiger, full of energy, only this prince looks sick all day long, his skin is as white as ice and snow, and he is more delicate than a woman.

Ordinary people can understand at a glance that His Royal Highness the pampered Crown Prince is also lazy and accustomed to practicing martial arts on weekdays. Because Li Yiqi couldn't cultivate martial arts himself, when the prince practiced martial arts, although he followed on the side, he never spoke, so as not to be told that he didn't know how to pretend to understand. However, he knew that it seemed that the prince's current martial arts cultivation was worthy of the fifth order of the Yuan Qi Realm......

Although a martial artist with the strength of the fifth order of vitality at the age of sixteen cannot be said to be too weak, since Xia Qing was born in the royal family and inherited the position of the crown prince, his qualifications will naturally be compared with the rest of the royal disciples by others. In comparison, Prince Xia Qing's martial arts talent is not so good.

If the talent is not good, and he doesn't work hard, Li Yiqi doesn't know what to say about His Royal Highness the Prince.

Sometimes, Li Yiqi couldn't help but secretly think in his heart: "If it weren't for the fact that the crown prince had a queen mother who was in charge of the Great Xia harem, even if the sun hit the moon, the position of the prince would not fall on his head." ”

"Okay, I'm going to go and have a little fun. ”

Xia Qing hesitated for a while, but still nodded, and muttered: "The queen mother's side will be handed over to you, tomorrow I will enter the palace to ask my father to see the emperor and ask him to pardon the queen mother." ”

Li Yiqi stood up and said, "I'll send His Highness out." ”

After Xia Qing returned to the dormitory, outside the gate of the Martial Arts Palace, Li Yiqi turned his head to look at the two tower-like figures, his gaze turned to one person, and said, "Han Li, you come in with me." ”

“...... Yes!"

Hearing this, Han Li was stunned for a moment, glanced at Dong Xiong, and when he saw the other party, he also looked puzzled, so he had to bow down and clasp his fists and salute, following behind Li Yiqi.

Not long after, Zhang Ran, who was suddenly recruited by Li Yiqi, also hurried to the outside of the hall, and under the steps, Zhang Ran looked at the glorious hall in front of him, and suddenly felt a sense of tension in his heart.

"What is the matter with the prince summoning me......?"

Zhang Ran's eyes rolled, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva, Zhang Ran lowered his head and tidied up the messy clothes on his body meticulously and neatly, and then stepped up the steps.

In the Wude Palace, Zhang Ran knelt down respectfully, lowered his head, raised his eyes and secretly looked up, and saw Li Yiqi, who was dressed in a white Confucian robe and sitting on his lap, but did not see the prince, and his heart suddenly 'chuckled'.

"Small...... Ever seen...... Bachelor Lee. Zhang Ran's voice trembled a little.

Zhang Ran had seen the method of reading with the prince before, and in less than a month, he drove nearly half of the courtiers and subordinates of the prince's mansion out of the East Palace, and they were all conclusive, with real evidence, not speculation.

Those minions who gambled in the corner of the East Palace like him, once they talked about the new prince's companionship, everyone talked about the tiger's color, as if some of their own handles had fallen into the hands of this 'chief manager', for fear that they would be the next to be sent to the Zongren Mansion......

"Master Zhang, don't be stunned, sit down. Li Yiqi smiled and said to Zhang Ran.

Hearing this, Zhang Ran's face showed a touch of surprise and surprise, and he glanced up at Li Yiqi, and the afterglow of his eyes naturally aimed at Han Li behind Li Yiqi.

I saw Han Li dressed in hideous black armor, standing like an iron spear, holding a golden horse broadsword in his big rough hand, his palm tightly clutching the handle, and his body exuded a fierce and fierce murderous aura.

"Ahh

Seeing this scene, Zhang Ran's heart suddenly tightened, his body trembled, and he sat down on the position of Li Yiqi's finger like a roll.

Li Yiqi quietly pushed a cup of hot tea in front of Zhang Ran: "Lord Zhang, drink tea." ”

Zhang Ran respectfully took the tea, very confused in his heart, raised his eyes to look at Li Yiqi, and asked cautiously: "This...... Lord Li, where's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Your Highness has rested. Li Yiqi responded indifferently.

Li Yiqi's appearance made Zhang Ran's heart uneasy, like sitting on pins and needles, his eyes flickered, and he responded tentatively: "Your Excellency, ......"

Li Yiqi didn't answer, and after a while, he seemed to finally come back to his senses, looked at Zhang Ran, and laughed softly: "Lord Zhang, the firewood warehouse behind the south wing is fine, so let's go less, beware of small bets, big bets are fatal." ”

Hearing this, Zhang Ran was suddenly frightened, and subconsciously glanced at Han Li, his heart was cold, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing again and again, and at the same time said in a trembling voice: "Villain...... Damn the villain!"

After he was caught stealing by Li Yiqi, he committed the mistake of gathering crowds to gamble again.

However, this kind of thing is not big, it is not small, in the palace, although gambling money is not taboo, even in the summer palace, those who have been dilapidated for many years and have been abandoned in the cold palace side hall will often have some eunuchs gather to gamble a few.

However, after all, gambling money is a low-level, vulgar way of fun, how can it not be put on the surface, if it is discovered by the master, it will be a shame, how can the slave be punished, Li Yiqi really wants to use this matter to deal with him, he really can't argue.

"Get up. ”

Li Yiqi said coldly: "Master Zhang, I didn't come to you for your dirty deeds, but for other important things. ”

When Zhang Ran heard this, his body trembled suddenly, and his heart suddenly shook, wiping the cold sweat on his forehead again and again, looking at Li Yiqi, and asked cautiously: "Master Li, I don't know...... What are you looking for?"

Zhang Ran bent over, his expression was quite humble, and he tried his best to please him, and said with a sneer: "Although the adults command, as long as the adults open your mouth, the small ones will definitely do it for you." ”

"Hehe, it's not a big deal. ”

Seeing this, Li Yiqi couldn't help but smile, hurriedly waved his hand, and said indifferently: "I just want to ask you, is the line where you sent information to Kunning Palace still there?"

"Your Excellency...... Why do you suddenly ask about this?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ran's eyelids couldn't help jumping.

In the palace, the speed of gossip is the fastest, and he also heard that the queen was grounded by Emperor Xia, but in his opinion, these things have nothing to do with him, because no matter who he is, he is just a small person, not a confidant, and naturally he doesn't care much about the life and death of the master, after all, the queen just bought him with silver.

"You just said yes or no, right?" asked Li Yiqi with a frown.

"Yes!" Zhang Ran was apprehensive in his heart, and nodded hurriedly.

"Good!"

Li Yiqi's narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and the moment his eyes flickered, several thoughts flashed in his mind, looked at Zhang Ran, and said, "Lord Zhang, I want you to connect that line, you don't have to do anything, just send this letter to the queen's mother." ”

After that, Li Yiqi picked up a piece of letterhead on the table, stuffed it into an envelope, sealed it with a lead seal, and then handed it to Zhang Ran.

"This ......"

Zhang Ran took it, and looked at the envelope stamped with the jade seal of the prince of the Eastern Palace of the Great Xia Dynasty, and his face suddenly changed.

Li Yiqi's eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth hooked up a playful smile, looked at Zhang Ran, and said indifferently: "Don't worry, after the matter is completed, you will have your own benefits." ”

"Master Li...... I'm afraid it's ......"

Zhang Ran's eyes kept rolling, and he hesitated in his heart.

Everyone in the palace knew that Emperor Xia ordered the closure of Kunning Palace, if he just inquired about news or something, he might be able to do it with his connections in the East Palace for many years. However, if something like letterhead wants to be introduced into the harem, it must be passed through the hands of many people, so it is not an easy task.

"Can't you do it?" Li Yiqi frowned, and his face inevitably showed a hint of disappointment.

"The little ones do their best. Zhang Ran gritted his teeth, lowered his head and said nothing, only after half a sound did he suddenly raise his head and say with a straight face.

"Very well, go ahead. ”

Li Yiqi waved his hand and waved Zhang Ran away.

Han Li, who was standing behind Li Yiqi, had a somewhat strange face, Zhang Ran didn't know the contents of the letter, but from his angle, he could clearly see that the letterhead that Li Yiqi stuffed into the envelope was just a blank piece of paper.

It's just that he doesn't understand why Li Yiqi recruited so many people, handed these people one letter after another, and asked them to find a way to send it to Kunning Palace, but he didn't write anything on the letterhead......

......

"Father-in-law Tian, this matter is left to you. ”

"Don't worry, don't worry, Master Zhang. We have been friends for more than ten years, and there are only a few of us left of those individuals who entered the palace back then. ”

On the edge of the imperial city, in a dark corner, two figures whispered, and a male duck's voice seemed to sigh.

"Alas, that's really ...... you say"

When Zhang Ran heard this, he also sighed in his heart, sighed secretly, took out the letterhead from his arms and handed it to the other party, and said a few more words before turning around and leaving.

......

After Zhang Ran left, the eunuch's eyes flashed with a strange light, and after looking around, he did not enter the harem, but turned around and quietly walked towards the depths of the west of the imperial city.

The palaces in the summer palace are all gold bricks and jade tiles, continuous, one after another, but only in the west corner of the imperial city, there is a lonely building made of cold stones.

Within a radius of 100 zhang of this building, there is no other palace to be seen, not only that, but even the palace maids and eunuchs who can be seen everywhere in the summer palace cannot be seen. Even the patrolling Dragoons will deliberately avoid this place when passing by, making this building feel eerie and terrifying.

The eunuch came to the front of the building, smelling the faint smell of blood in the air, and couldn't help but shiver. He didn't go to the main door, but shook his body, came to the darkness in the corner of the building, and easily found an extremely hidden secret door, pressed the switch and walked in.

"My lord, this is Zhang Ran, the counselor of the East Palace, who asked me to send it to the harem and give it to the queen. ”

In the building, in a dark room, the eunuch was prostrate on the hand, handing over the letterhead, looking a little nervous. In front of him stood a middle-aged man, dressed in a gorgeous black robe, wearing a jade crown, and his face was expressionless.

"Got it. ”

The man took the letterhead, glanced at it, and a different color flashed in his eyes, his eyes turned, looking at the eunuch who was prostrate on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "You did a good job this time, the credit of the past few years is enough to be the main thing, I will give you the Ming Sect Order, go down." ”

"Yes, thank you, Master Zongzheng!"

Hearing this, the eunuch was overjoyed and kowtowed three times.

After the eunuch withdrew, the man immediately opened the letter, glanced at its contents, and frowned.

Blank!

It's blank again!

The man shook his head silently, and took out a small stack of envelopes from his cuffs, there were six copies of these envelopes, and the outer seals were all opened without exception, and on the envelopes were the same jade seal representing the prince of the Eastern Palace of the Great Xia Dynasty......

With a flick of his hand, the man took out all the letterheads and flattened them, only to see that all the letterheads were empty, blank on the front and back, and there was not a word.

"Is there another place that we missed?"

The man frowned deeply, was silent, thought about it, got up, left the gloomy room, and walked into the depths of the building.

This place is in the underground space of the building, the space is huge, it is separated by several floors, the man walked up the stone steps all the way to the lowest level, there is only an empty room here, there seems to be some kind of air flow in the room, exuding a chill, from the outside, it seems that a figure can be faintly seen sitting cross-legged.

"Father!" said the man, standing outside the door, bending down, respectfully.

"What's the matter?" a majestic voice came from inside the room, and it sounded like an ancient well, without any emotion.

"That's ......"

As he spoke, the man took out all six of the letterheads in his arms and recounted them in detail.

Bang Dong –

"Idiot!" the figure snorted coldly, and a burst of energy burst out of the door, shooting directly at the man's letterhead, shattering it.

At the same time, a cold breath poured out of the room like a cold wave, and the whole space suddenly seemed to be in the depths of the sea, the temperature plummeted, and even the marble floor was covered with thin ice chips.

"Shhhh

The man suddenly felt a rush coming at him, and he gasped and almost fell to his knees. It wasn't that he took the initiative to kneel, but there was a biting coldness, like a sharp needle, piercing his body fiercely. This cold breath pierced into the bone marrow, devouring people's internal organs, making people feel like they were facing a great enemy.

"Father's situation is even more serious......" The man's brows furrowed slightly, and he sighed in his heart.

With a wave of his sleeves, a stream of true qi erupted from the palace of life, turning into a barrier to block the oncoming cold current.

"Ahem, ahem—"

A few coughs rang out in the room, and soon, the cold current that permeated the entire space retracted into the room like a tidal wave.