When King Guangping and his son Gao Zhen returned from the palace, it was already dark. The king of Guangping drank some wine, but he was in a good mood, and he refused to rest. Gao Zhen couldn't, so he had to order someone to cook hangover soup.

The head of the palace saw that the king of Guangping was sane and the prince was free, so he hurriedly stepped forward to report the news of Zhao Wei and Gong Sergeant to them today, and presented the two worship boxes.

Although Gao Zhen wanted to open Zhao Wei's box to see what he had written, and whether Zhao Xiu had clipped the letter, as a child of the royal family, he was quite sensitive to politics. King Guangping paid a little attention to Sergeant Gong's post, and he noticed it, and asked casually, "Didn't he follow General Fan to Liaodong?" Could it be that he sent a letter back on behalf of General Fan? ”

The head of the palace hurriedly said: "I heard that the emperor ordered General Fan to return to Beijing to participate in the New Year's Dynasty, so General Fan sent Sergeant Gong to return to Beijing first to report to his family. The little one told him that the prince and the prince had gone to the palace and were not in the house, so let him come back tomorrow. However, he said that there was very important news, and he must report it to the prince and the prince, for fear that if he left and turned back, there would be changes in the middle, so he would rather wait for the prince and the prince to return in the palace. When I asked, I realized that as soon as he entered the city, he came to our palace, and he hadn't even been to the Fan family. ”

King Guangping frowned: "Confused! What matters so much? Since he returned to Beijing to report the news for Fan Benzhang, he should have gone to Fan's house first, but what did he do with me? People outside don't know, and they think that the model chapter has a secret letter to me. Although it's not a big deal, and the emperor won't believe the gossip of others, it's always good to avoid suspicion. When the model chapter went out of Beijing. I told him not to think of himself as a member of the Quang Binh royal palace again. He has also kept my instructions in mind all these years, and has never committed taboos. Why are you confused now? ”

Gao Zhen guessed: "Maybe General Fan really has something important to tell his father?" His eyes suddenly lit up: "Could it be that the assassin of the year has news?!" ”

King Guangping's face changed slightly, and then he calmed down again: "The matter of the assassin, your imperial grandfather has already made up his mind, and it was done by the Qing soldiers. "Since the first emperor has made a conclusion, as a son of man, he cannot overturn it, whether that conclusion is right or wrong. He can not care about his reputation. But I can't help but think about my brother. He absolutely did not want to see his brother on the throne being branded as unfilial.

Gao Zhen was a little sullen. What did the Qing soldiers do? When the Qing soldiers attacked outside the city, how could they shoot arrows from inside the city to the top of the city? This shows that the inner ghost did it! Only the emperor's grandfather would believe the so-called investigation results in a daze. Make such a conclusion. When the emperor's grandfather made this conclusion, Zhu Lifei was still rampant in the harem, King Ying's reflexes were not revealed, and the Marquis of Shanyin was still the sixth prince of the stars holding the moon. Hong Wencheng is also a general who is trusted and reused by the king. Who knows how that conclusion came about? It's a pity that after the first emperor was poisoned and fell ill, his health has not been good, and he didn't think about it at all, let alone order a re-investigation. In order to deal with the bad influence of King Ying's rebellion on the government and the opposition, his father and uncle were busy rectifying the court and eradicating the rebels for several months, and they also did not mention the retrial of the assassination. The assassination of the blind abdication of the prince of a country is gone. His father didn't care, but he was the Son of Man. How can such an outcome be accepted?

Even if you have already guessed who is behind it, that person is already dead. He still wants to know who the perpetrator is!

King Quang Binh has always understood his son, and even if his son is silent, he can guess what his son thinks. He smiled slightly, and said softly to Gao Zhen, "Zhen'er, you don't have to be angry. The only people who could have calculated me back then were just a few, and now they are either dead or imprisoned, can they find out who ordered or did it, and what does it matter? That's just a knife, and if you change someone else, you will be able to do the same. It is enough for the main culprit to bow down. ”

Gao Zhen was noncommittal: "Father, let's first ask Gong Ziqiang what he wants to report to you." ”

Gong Ziqiang soon met the king of Guangping under the leadership of the governor. He was originally the personal guard of the king of Guangping, he hadn't seen him for many years, and when he saw the other party's dim eyes, his eyes turned red first, and he choked up and fell to the ground: "Lord Wang!" ”

Listening to his voice, King Guangping seemed to remember his former childish appearance, and couldn't help but show a nostalgic and gentle smile: "Get up, I haven't seen you for a few years, it seems that you are doing well." ”

Gong Ziqiang lowered his head, wiped the tears from his face indiscriminately, and sniffed: "Yes, thanks to the blessing of the prince, the little one is fine, and he is doing a good job under General Fan." He saluted Gao Zhen again: "I have seen the son." I haven't seen him for so many years, but the son has grown up. ”

Gao Zhen smiled slightly, and stretched out his hand to help him up: "I haven't seen you for many years, Gong Guard has changed a lot, and I almost can't recognize it." ”

Gong Ziqiang scratched his hair embarrassedly: "Are you old?" When the young one left the palace, he was still stunned. ”

"How can you get old? I think Gong Guards have become more and more heroic after they get a few years older. Gao Zhen praised him, and then his tone changed, "When you returned to Beijing this time, I heard that you came to General Fan's house to report a letter, why didn't you go to Fan's house first, but came to the palace?" ”

Gong Ziqiang's expression was solemn: "Yes, General Fan has an order, and he ordered the little one to send a secret letter, which is related to an important matter, and he needs to inform the prince first." If the prince allows, the small one will be reported to the emperor to know. ”

King Guangping was slightly moved: "What is the matter?" ”

Gong Ziqiang tore open the placket, took out an oil-paper bag from his arms, and then opened it, wrapping a letter with ink in layers of silk cloth. Gao Zhen took the letter and checked it, and found that the imprint on the ink was complete, and it was indeed the private seal of Fan Benzhang himself, so he opened the letter with confidence, and then quickly scanned it.

After reading the letter, his face changed, and he looked back at Gong Ziqiang awe-inspiringly: "What the letter said is true?" ”

"It's true!" Gong Ziqiang said categorically, "The corpse was personally examined by the small one, the body shape and clothes match, and there is a small arrow on the right shoulder that was shot back then, so it can be seen that it is indeed the original assassin!" ”

King Guangping heard the clue and hurriedly asked, "What?" Found the Assassin at the time? Is he dead? ”

Gao Zhen did not answer directly. Instead, he ordered the head of the palace to go out first: "Keep an eye on the door, and no one is allowed to approach." ”

The head of the palace was excited when he heard it, and he didn't think much about it. Only when the prince trusted him ordered him to guard the door, he hurriedly left the room and closed the door with his backhand.

Only King Guangping and Gao Zhen father and son and Gong Ziqiang were left in the house, and Gao Zhen said to King Guangping: "General Fan said in his letter that because the war in Jinzhou City gradually stopped, some people returned to the villages in the western suburbs to live in peace. A shepherd boy was tending his sheep when he found a corpse on the back of a secluded hillside, seemingly hastily buried in the soil. Half of it was dug up by wolves and eaten by it. Because he was wearing a soldier's clothes, the local governor thought he was a soldier of his own country, so he reported to Jinzhou. The people below the guard looked at it and found a waist card on him. The name on it shows a soldier on the Jinzhou front. But the soldier was still alive, and there was no way he could have died in the western suburbs. Wei felt that something was wrong, so he reported it. ”

Gong Ziqiang said: "The general sent the little one to investigate the matter, and the little one personally examined the body, and the height and shape of the person did not match the owner of the name on the waist card, not to mention that the person was still alive, and the dead person must be impersonating." The younger one found a rusty arrow in the place where the body was buried, and recognized it as his own arrow. Only then did it be confirmed that this person was most likely the same assassin back then. He was hit by a small arrow that year. He was stabbed by someone else, but managed to escape. Several generals ordered the entire city to be locked down, but no one was found. Now it seems that this man escaped from the city by some means, but was killed in the western suburbs. ”

"Killed?" King Guangping was stunned, "Didn't he be bitten to death by a wolf?" ”

"It's not. He was bitten by a wolf only after he died. Gong Ziqiang said, "Although the body has been shattered, judging from the clothes, he was killed from behind, and there is a large blood stain on the vest." It's a pity that there was no murder weapon left, so the little one doesn't know what he was killed, looking at the traces, it looks like a knife, and it is the same size as the standard saber of the Jinzhou garrison. ”

King Guangping's expression was a little subtle, and Gao Zhen also heard the implication in Gong Ziqiang's words: "Are you suspicious...... He was killed? And the person who killed the mouth is in Jinzhou? At least in Jinzhou back then? ”

Gong Ziqiang nodded: "The small one is not speculation, in addition to the traces found on the corpse, there is other evidence to prove it." ”

Gong Ziqiang was a very careful person, and when he found out that the corpse on the hillside in the western suburbs was most likely the assassin of the year, he immediately began to investigate, how did the assassin successfully escape from the heavily blockaded Jinzhou City? I don't know if it's a coincidence or other reasons, the soldier that the assassin pretended to be was under Zhao Jue in the past, because of Zhao Jue's identity and relationship with King Ying's mansion, after the assassination of King Guangping, he was once one of the most suspicious people, so Fan Benzhang sent a lot of people to monitor his actions, and found that since the assassination of King Guangping, he has never left the public eye, and his behavior is not suspicious, it is as clean as a white lotus.

Soon after that, Zhao Jue took a few of his soldiers to follow others out of the city to clean the battlefield, somehow, separated from others, and when he got it back, he dragged back two enemy corpses, one of which was a small military attache with a bit of identity in the Qing army, and Zhao Jue's saber was also inserted in his body, it is said that Zhao Jue met him who was injured by chance, and hacked people to death after a desperate fight. After that, Hong Wencheng, who had not yet revealed his identity, promoted Zhao Jue to an official in the name of this "war exploit". It didn't take long for him to receive an order from the military department and go back to the capital.

Fan Benzhang didn't notice any outrageous behavior of Zhao Jue at the time, but now that he thinks about it, he killed the Qing military attache just near the slope of the western suburbs, maybe he went to meet the assassin and killed him. As for what happened to the two corpses of the Qing army, it is difficult to say. But after the assassination, Zhao Jue never left the sight of others except for this time out of the city, so the assassin's escape must not be his handiwork, who could it be? Zhao Jue is dead, he must be guilty, what Fan Benzhang wants to know more is whether he still has accomplices who have not been caught? It was about King Guangping, and he couldn't allow this matter to be hastily concluded, so he ordered Gong Ziqiang to continue to investigate, even if the murderer had already been punished, there must be a definite result.

Gong Ziqiang investigated for several days, and finally, from the impersonated soldier, heard a message. The soldier said that not long after his former boss Zhao Jue was promoted, someone once went to the guard office to look for him, claiming to recover the rent, but after seeing his face, he said that he had found the wrong one, it was someone else, but the name was his name. The soldier thought he was mistaken, and didn't take it to heart. In retrospect, maybe it was the Assassin who used his identity to rent a house in the city? Gong Ziqiang asked him who the landlord was, and he found that the rented house was not far from the city, and the situation on the top of the city wall could be seen very clearly from the back window. He also learned an important piece of information from the landlord: the reason why the landlord rented the house to a person with a new face in the first place was not entirely because the other party had a garrison waist card, but also because he had seen the other party sitting and talking with an adult, and his attitude seemed to be quite familiar.

The landlord thinks the adult is a big man. Of course, there would be no problem with someone who was familiar with such a big man, so he happily rented out the house. Later, when he found that the tenant was missing, there was nothing left in the house, and the rent had not been paid, so he felt that he had been trapped, and found the guard according to the name, but found that the name did not match his face, and he wanted to find the big man to inquire, but he never saw the trace of that person again. Fortunately, the tenant had not been renting for long, and he had to consider himself unlucky.

If the tenant was an assassin, who was the big man he knew well?

Gong Ziqiang said to King Guangping word by word: "The little one asked, although he didn't know who the other party was, but he remembered that on the day the prince entered Jinzhou, the people greeted each other, and he was also in the crowd at that time, and he clearly saw that the big man rode a horse and followed behind the prince." ”

King Guangping and Gao Zhen were taken aback. (To be continued......)