Yuwen Chengchao sneered and said: "The cat over there in the horse farm, you are not unclear, from the day the horse farm was established, there are two horse books, this yin and yang horse book is true and one false, and the fake horse book is used to deal with the capital and the imperial court, and only the real horse book can figure out the number of horses in the horse farm." Merely...... Even I, who have lived until now, have never seen a real horse book. ”

Ning Zhifeng nodded and said: "What the eldest prince said is right, the old marquis handed over the horse farm to Uncle Meng to take care of, and the real horse book is also in Uncle Meng's hands." In addition to offering 400 horses to the imperial court every year, the horse farm also sells them privately, and the horse dealers in Kannai take at least a few hundred horses from the horse farm every year. Every year, the newborn calves or the horses that die of illness, or even run out of the horse farm to escape, these accounts are impossible for outsiders to make a clear mess if they are not in charge of the horse farm. ”

"Over the years, many things have been left to Uncle Meng and others to do, and the number of horse farms is based on the horse book presented by Uncle Meng." Zhao Yi said in a low voice: "If you shouldn't say something, whether the horse book that Uncle Meng presented to the old marquis is true or not, it can't be determined." ”

Several people present had solemn faces.

Qin Xiao thought to himself that Yuwen Chengchao had suffered such a big loss this time, with his temperament, of course, it was impossible to give up.

Tusun people ride Xiling horses, everyone knows that there is something strange behind this, Yuwen Chengchao will certainly not endure this breath, and will inevitably find a way to find out the real culprit behind the scenes, catch the evidence in hand, and then make trouble.

He is now depressed, in addition to the loss of a few brothers under his hands, in addition, it is also because he knows that someone is going to attack him, but he has no evidence to take revenge.

"By the way, eldest prince, what can the captured Tusun people explain?" Fat Fish asked suddenly.

Yuwen Chengchao said: "I interrogated him with the master, and according to what he said, he just obeyed orders. After a pause, he continued: "This group of people made a detour from the Moxi Grassland to the territory of Wutuo, and then came to Xiling from Kunlun Waiguan. ”

"It came from the west." Fat Fish nodded slightly.

The Moxi grassland borders the territory of the Vedic people, and the two sides will also have conflicts from time to time, but there is no big war, whether it is the Vedic people or the Tusun people, they all feel that the other party is poor in materials and is not worth desperately, only the Tang Empire and Xiling are rich in products, and it is worth fighting for their lives to loot the place.

"They are a small tribe in the Moxi grassland, and this tribe was annexed last year during the tribal fighting." Yuwen Chengchao said: "This group of people escaped, and they have been wandering in the Moxi grassland, and later they were chased and hid in the territory of the Vedic people. Originally, they had no food and clothing, and they could only loot and live in the territory of the Vedas, but they were also hunted down and killed by the Vedas. ”

Dapeng suddenly said: "I heard that in recent years, the Tusun Durhu tribe has been rising day by day, and a new patriarch was elected a few years ago, this person is as vicious as a wolf but cunning as a fox, and in just a few years, many tribes have been annexed in the Monan grassland. There are also rumors that this new patriarch is the chosen son of the Tusun people and wants to unify the Tusun tribes. ”

"The Chosen Son." Zhao Yi sneered: "It's just a group of barbarians, when the 200,000 army went south, it didn't turn into birds and beasts in the end, a group of rabble." These people can't beat Datang, so they can only kill their own people. ”

Yuwen Chengchao said: "You don't have to care about them. This group of Tusun people plundered in the territory of the Vedas, and naturally they could not please them, and they were hunted down and killed by the Vedas. Suddenly their leader got a sum of silver, and then the gang went into Kunlun Pass in batches, and then gathered at the appointed place, and the captives confessed, and the leader told them that they had entered the pass because they were hired by someone to take my life, and that they would have more money to take later. But apart from the leader, no one else knew who the target of the attack was. ”

"Employed?" Ning Zhifeng sneered: "To be able to hire a group of Tusun people to work hard, silver is naturally indispensable. ”

"They had been lurking more than a month ago, and they had been provided with horses and weapons." Yuwen Chengchao was very calm at this time, and said slowly: "Just yesterday, someone told them the location and time of the leader's attack, so they went straight to us to kill last night. He sneered: "But after going up the mountain, their leader was quickly shot by me, and without the leader, he was scattered, but he wanted to complete the task and get the silver, so he had to catch up." ”

"I didn't get the money, and my life was gone." Zhao Yi sneered: "Eldest prince, did the captives confess who hired them?" ”

Yuwen Chengchao shook his head and said, "He's really just a little minion, and he doesn't know much." ”

"The identity of the eldest prince is extraordinary." Dapeng said: "And the eldest prince is righteous and squandering money, and he is also kind to others, there are not many enemies, and no one will spend so much effort to take the life of the eldest prince." ”

"Dapeng is right." Fat Yu agreed: "On the ground of Xiling, there are not too many people who want to harm the eldest prince, and those who dare to make a move are even rarer." ”

Ning Zhifeng said: "I'm just a strange thing. ”

"What?"

"In the three counties of Xiling, there are not a few rogues." Ning Zhifeng said: "Although a few groups of bandits were wiped out at the beginning, there are still more than a dozen bandits who have shrunk up, and they have had a chance to breathe in the past few years, and many of them have recovered. At the beginning, we joined forces with the government to suppress the coquettish, so that those grandsons did not dare to show their heads, and they naturally hated us to the core. ”

"What the hell are you trying to say, madman?" Zhao Yi urged: "Speak faster, let's talk about Tusun people, what are you doing with bandits?" Don't talk irrelevantly. ”

Fat Yu glanced at Zhao Yi and said, "If your brain is not bright, just shut up and don't speak, listen to what others say." ”

Zhao Yi rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"If you want to attack and kill the eldest prince, it stands to reason that wouldn't it be more convenient to find those robbers?" Ning Zhifeng deliberately slowed down his speech: "Those people already hate the Yuwen family, even if they don't give money, if they have the opportunity to attack and kill the eldest prince, they may also make a move, if they hire a lot of money, those dogs will definitely agree." Most of the Xiling thieves are good at equestrianism, and they hide in the mountains all year round, if they really make a move, they are more sure than the Tusun people. ”

"The madman has a point." Fat Yu nodded and said: "It takes much more energy to hire Tusun people, to find this group of people from Wutuo, and when they come to Xiling, we have to find a way to help them hide their whereabouts from being discovered, if you directly hire thieves, it is not only more convenient, but also more certain." ”

Yuwen Chengchao smiled faintly: "That's only one reason. ”

"The eldest prince is saying that if you hire a thief, it will be easier to find out who is the real culprit behind the scenes?" Dapeng asked.

Yuwen Chengchao said: "The Xiling robbers are much more cunning than the Tusun people, and they know the situation in Xiling better. The thieves are bold, but if they come at me, they will still think about the consequences, or at least they must find out who hired them. ”

Everyone bowed slightly.

"Once the attack fails, the robbers may not be tight-lipped either." Yuwen Chengchao sneered: "And those thieves have never had any faith at all, even if they succeed, it is hard to guarantee that they will not use this as a threat in the future and continue to blackmail." He picked up the wine bowl, raised his head and drank it all, then put down the wine bowl and said: "In comparison, the Tusun people have a much better reputation, and they use silver to do things, and the captives do not know who the target is, which proves that their leader is indeed very particular, or rather, the leader does not care who hired them, only how much silver can be paid." ”

Zhao Yi clenched his fists and said: "So the mastermind behind the scenes is worried that we will find evidence and find out who he is, so he will go to great lengths to hire Tusun people to do it." ”

"If those horses are from our horse farm......!" Dapeng was halfway through his words, but he didn't continue to say the rest of his words.

Everyone present changed color slightly, but Yuwen Chengchao looked quite calm.

Qin Xiao didn't interject from beginning to end, but he heard what several people said.

There is no doubt that Dapeng did not finish his words, naturally because of scruples.

He already knew that the direct reason why Yuwen Chengchao was excluded in the Hou Mansion was because Mrs. Qiong and Young Prince Yuwen were favored, and Uncle Meng was likely to be brother and sister with Mrs. Qiong, otherwise he would not be called uncle, even if he guessed wrong, the two did not have a brother and sister relationship, but from the master's words, it can be judged that Uncle Meng and Mrs. Qiong are on the same front.

The struggle between the Yuwen brothers, like the purpose of the open and secret struggle of the heirs of all large families, is nothing more than to obtain the inheritance and control of the family.

Although Yuwen Chengchao has fallen behind in this battle, he is the eldest son after all, according to clan customs, common sense Yuwen Chengchao has the qualifications to inherit, and because of this, even if Mrs. Qiong's faction has the upper hand, they do not dare to take it lightly, and they must still be hostile to Yuwen Chengchao.

The most important thing is that Yuwen Chengchao moved out of the Hou Mansion, which shows that the battle between the two sides was really fierce before, and there is no brotherhood between each other, and they will only regard each other as enemies.

Whoever eventually inherits the title, the other is bound to be even more miserable.

In other words, if there is a change in the future and the title is inherited by Yuwen Chengchao, of course Mrs. Qiong and the young son will not have a good life.

Uncle Meng is in charge of the horse farm, and it is Mrs. Qiong's faction, if the Tusun people's horses are transferred from the Yuwen family's horse farm, then behind this attack, it is likely that Mrs. Qiong's faction will be inseparable.

Qin Xiao believed that these people, including Yuwen Chengchao, must be suspicious of Mrs. Qiong and the young prince in their hearts, but after all, there is no evidence in their hands, this matter is very important, and there is no real evidence, so it must not be said easily.

The house was silent, and suddenly there was a knock on the door, and everyone looked at the door.

Just now, Ning Zhifeng closed the door in order to facilitate the conversation inside, logically speaking, no one should dare to come over to disturb, hearing the door being knocked continuously, Ning Zhifeng got up and went over, opened the door, and a person had already pushed Ning Zhifeng open, and broke in directly, carrying a silver wine jug in his hand, swept around, saw Yuwen Chengchao, raised his hand and pointed at the eldest prince, and said with a drunken smile: "The eldest prince, you are really here, you haven't been here for a few days, I just heard them say that you are here today, I thought they were laughing, come and take a look." ”