The door of the side hall opened, and Qing Xia walked in. After closing the door lightly, she blessed Concubine De's short body.

There are palace lamps that are lit all night long, but although this kind of lamp can be lit for a long time at a time and does not need to be supervised by oil on the way, the light it emits is not very bright. Concubine De didn't call Cui Chun to add a lamp after she got up, Qing Xia stood in such a dimly lit side hall, her face and expression looked a little blurred.

What Concubine De ordered Qing Xia to do this time, Qing Xia took the longest time in her mission history. Now that she's finally back, she's a little less proactive.

Concubine De looked at her face, and although she couldn't see it clearly, she could already feel that things didn't seem to be going well this time. Because of this, she had some unpleasant feelings in her heart, but she did not immediately show this unhappiness on her face and tone, but only said softly: "I didn't expect to go for so long, I have worked hard for you." ”

As soon as Concubine De's words were finished, Qing Xia suddenly knelt down on her knees in front of her.

The knee bone hit the ground with a muffled 'bang', and Qingxia didn't seem to feel any pain, and the trills caused by the pain could not be heard in the steady voice when she spoke, but the apologetic tone in her words was very obvious. She directly punished her body by kneeling heavily in front of Concubine De, and her heart was also full of self-condemnation.

Qing Xia said in a deep voice: "Niangniang, Qing Xia is incompetent, this time I failed to complete what Niang Niang told me, please punish you!" ”

When Concubine De heard this, the expression in her eyes froze slightly.

Although he had a bad premonition from the moment she watched Qing Xia push the door in, he really heard this speculation confirmed from Qing Xia's mouth, and she still felt unhappy after being mentally prepared.

However, she will not punish Qing Xia for this matter.

Before ordering Qingxia to leave the palace to do business, Concubine De carefully considered the difficulties of this matter. She was ready for something else on her own, and was about to make a move. But he reluctantly adopted the prime minister's proposal. When things come to the moment, you suddenly change your mind, and it is difficult to think everything through in a hurry, and it is inevitable that something will go wrong.

Concubine De sighed softly, raised her hand, and helped Qingxia to get up, and then said indifferently: "That's it!" This was a bit beyond my plan from the beginning, and if it didn't work out, it would be as I had assumed before, driven by providence. So how can you be blamed for success or failure? ”

Qing Xia hesitated. Finally stood up. After thinking for a while, she said slowly: "If it weren't for the sudden bump into a few people halfway, Qingxia would definitely be able to succeed." ”

Concubine De bowed her head and said, "That old man, he does have some skills under his hands. So even if he even offended the emperor, there are still many people in this world who really want him to live and do things. ”

After a pause, she asked, "The person who rescued Liao Shi, do you know your identity?" ”

"They are masked. The servants could only see a little bit from their martial arts routines. But they also seem to have noticed this, and made a conservative arrangement on the traces of the shot. When Liao Shi was taken away, only two people made a move, and the maid couldn't see it very clearly, but he felt that their martial arts path was a bit like the technique of a master in the interior. The more Qing Xia said the back, the more hesitant her tone became.

Concubine De heard her. The eyebrows moved because of the doubts in their hearts, "It only takes two people to stop you, or in the case of protecting others." This is really a master! ”

After a moment of silence, she said slowly: "According to the notes you sent back in the past few days, Liao Shi returned to Beijing a little earlier than when the Lin family caught fire. However, if the people who prevented you from killing Liao Shi were really masters of the Great Interior, then why didn't they go to the Lin family to rescue? And you have to wait for Li Gai, who is a step too late, to take people there? There's something unreasonable here. ”

Qing Xia lowered her eyes and said, "So Qing Xia doesn't know." What you see and judge is accurate or not. ”

Concubine De slowly walked back and forth in the side room for a few times, and suddenly stopped. Lost in thought.

After a long time, her eyes raised slightly, and she said in a deep voice: "I said that you can't kill Lin Shan directly, but if you can kill Liao Shi, this matter will be half done." Thinking about it the other way around, if the person who rescued Liao Shi didn't need to use his stunt medical skills for something, then we thought about it, he thought that saving Liao Shi was equivalent to saving Lin Shan. ”

Qing Xia's eyes flickered for a moment, and he said puzzledly: "Emperor Xià must not want Lin Shan's trouble, but if His Majesty wants to make a move, he can directly ask someone to rescue Lin Shan." Going around such a big circle is a big risk, and it will also complicate things. ”

Concubine De suddenly smiled and said, "The way of thinking about problems can't always be controlled by personal thoughts. Putting aside His Majesty, let's just say that among the noble families in Kyoto, there are many people who don't want Liao Shi to die. But if you just consider this, it is not comprehensive. ”

She pondered for a moment before she said, "I always listen to the doctor who says, 'Argument is the only way to cure', and we might as well argue about this matter." Imagine, I don't want Liao Shi to die or Lin Shan, my tentacles can reach out to the money bank opened by the royal family to access account information, and I have a group of subordinates whose overall ability is close to that of the master of Ouchi, and finally, who would be such a person if I don't want the emperor to notice their traces? ”

"They don't want His Majesty to know?" Qing Xia was puzzled.

"Hmm." Concubine De nodded and said, "With the skills you mentioned, if you go directly into the forest house to save people, it may be faster and easier." It's just that in this way, against such a large group of killers, my own people may not be able to avoid leaving a few corpses......"

If you leave a corpse, you are very likely to be recognized, and no matter how strong a master is, he has to eat and live, and he has to intersect with ordinary people. will leave its own traces, and it will attract people who trace the origins.

Qing Xia's eyes showed a sudden expression. After she left the palace with Concubine De's instructions, she focused on chasing and killing Liao Shi, but she flawlessly considered too many other details.

At this moment, Qing Xia thought of the corpses of those killers who died in the Lin family's old mansion and were finally cremated to ashes, and suddenly had some other sighs. It is related to the safety of subordinates who do things for their masters, and it all depends on whether the person in charge can think about things carefully in advance, otherwise the subordinates will really only have to sell their lives.

"If you think about it carefully, the master who manipulated the passer-by to do things was a person who was as careful as a hair." When Concubine De said this, she saw that Qing Xia was stunned for a while, and she didn't say a word for a long time, so she asked again: "What do you think?" ”

"This ......" Qing Xia's eyes showed a wry smile, and he said hesitantly: "If you still use the medical Tao to explain, then Niangniang's inference is like a doctor writing a prescription, but he can't find the medicinal materials that match it." ”

"It's a bit hard." Concubine De smiled faintly, and a figure suddenly flashed in her mind, but soon she denied that idea in her heart.

After pondering for a moment, she suddenly said, "Maybe what I should think about now is not who the person who helped Liao Shiyan is, but I should worry about whether we are being watched." ”

When Qing Xia heard this, she couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

Indeed, if someone monitored all of Concubine De's movements, then as long as they knew Liao Shi's whereabouts, it was equivalent to those who were monitoring them also knew the news, and they would not need to penetrate the power of the money bank's account.

But thinking of this, Qingxia was a little confused again.

Xiaohuai Palace has never lacked people placed by the prime minister to monitor Concubine De's movements, otherwise Concubine De's attempt to kill Lin Shan would not have been stopped by the prime minister so quickly. But the prime minister's people have always only reported the affairs in the Xiaohuai Palace to the prime minister's side, and the prime minister's mansion does have a few masters with the title of the housekeeper, but if the prime minister does not allow Concubine De to kill Liao Shi, he himself will come in directly from the secret passage to stop Concubine De's actions like last time, instead of calling a few martial artists to take action on the streets of the city and save Liao Shi.

What's wrong?

Qing Xia frowned and thought for a long time, and suddenly said, "Could it be that there is something wrong with the prime minister's family?" ”

"Prime Minister...... He is indeed a veteran of spying on others, otherwise His Majesty would not have been able to pick out any fault with him for so many years, and he would not be afraid of being troubled by his own family and raising so many 'guests'. Concubine De laughed without any warmth, "If someone can spy on him, and can spy on him to spy on me, then he is an extremely shrewd person." However, the eyes of the multi-thinker are more spiritual, and such a shrewd person cannot wait for a long time in the prime minister's mansion without being noticed by the prime minister. ”

"Listening to Niangniang's words, Qingxia is becoming more and more clueless." Qing Xia sighed softly and asked again, "What should I do next?" ”

Qing Xia realized the seriousness of the problem and was a little nervous, but Concubine De's mind gradually calmed down, and she said slowly: "There is no need to be too anxious about this matter for the time being. Whether or not someone is spying on the palace, as it stands, no one is really threatening us yet. However, although we don't know what the people who do these things mean, we also need to prepare early, and it is best to find out their roots, so as not to be taken advantage of by others in future activities, but this matter still needs to be pondered by me. ”

Qing Xia nodded when she heard this, and didn't say anything more.

Concubine De breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the table and sat down, speechless for a long time.

She has been operating for several years for this plan, but she didn't expect to change the way she moved forward by the prime minister's words. But after the detour, it seemed that something went wrong again, and this series of changes made her disappointed and bored.

After sitting quietly for a while, she suddenly raised her eyes to look at Qing Xia and said solemnly, "Where did that passerby send Liao Shi?" ”