At dusk the next day, the Queen Mother's chariot left the palace with light travel and returned to her parents' home on the pretext of visiting relatives.

The Xiao family's mansion in the middle of Kuishou Street is located directly opposite the Lu family, and like the Lu family, it is only a temporary place for the children of the family to enter Beijing.

The queen mother got out of the carriage in front of the two stone lions and entered the palace with the accompanying palace maids.

However, Xiao Ting, the queen mother's precious nephew, didn't know where to hide at this time, and no one could be found in the whole house.

The Queen Mother naturally didn't come to Xiao Ting to be angry this time, and after a few polite words with the housewife, she came to the residence in the back, the residence of Prime Minister Xiao Chuyang.

The Xiao family worships the prime minister throughout the three dynasties, and their status is transcendent, but they are not as poor and extravagant as the princes of Shangjia, and their family education is extremely strict, and they are even a little simple. There are no chaotic mountains and seas in the house, and once the school, study building, and residence are put aside, there is no place to visit.

Xiao Chuyang's official character has always been faulty, and he has gained some reputation when he was a teenager, because he is the second son of the concubine, he has been released as an official like other children of the Xiao family, and he has slowly climbed up from the bottom.

At first, Xiao Chuyang was just the county commander of a small place near Lingnan, and he couldn't even run a horse in the poor mountains and bad waters, so Xiao Chuyang walked around the mountains and mountains in the county.

There are many children in the Xiao family, and there are many surnamed Xiao, Xiao Chuyang never revealed his background during his time as the county commander, and even his direct superiors did not know that this barefoot county commander turned out to be the sister-in-law of the Huainan Xiao family.

Later, Xiao Chuyang's father and eldest brother suffered from stubborn diseases one after another, so they called Xiao Chuyang back from other places, and he became the prime minister directly after entering Beijing, until today.

The courtyard where Xiao Chuyang lived only had his wife and two old servants, most of the rooms were empty, and the remaining rooms were all kinds of books and files, and because it was getting dark, only the study was lit with a light.

The Queen Mother is Xiao Chuyang's youngest sister, and she is very familiar with the courtyard, so after letting the accompanying palace maid wait outside, she entered the courtyard alone and knocked on the door outside the study.

"Second brother?"

Soon, Xiao Chuyang, who was dressed in a Confucian shirt, opened the door, and first raised his hand according to the rules: "See the Queen Mother." Then he turned and walked back, sat down behind the wide desk, picked up half of the dossier, and raised his eyebrows:

"Why did you come back again? Can't stay in the palace? ”

As the saying goes, 'the eldest brother is the father', the age difference between the queen mother and Xiao Chuyang is huge, and as a younger sister, she is naturally a little afraid. At this time, he entered the study with a proper posture and closed the door, walked to the chair next to the desk and sat down, and hesitated for a moment:

"I'll just come back and see...... Well, a few days ago, it seemed that the saint was going to set ten martial warriors, and the martial artists were already powerful, and all the vassal kings and generals were heavily armed......"

"Personal bravery has nothing to do with the overall situation. The Ten Martial Warriors are nothing more than to appease the people who practice martial arts in the market, fighting privately all day long, and dare to do anything for the sake of fame, it is better to give them a name to fight. ”

"Oh......"

The Queen Mother nodded, pondered for a moment, and chuckled: "Xu Buling's martial arts are good, can you be lined up?" ”

Xiao Chuyang said calmly: "Gonggong Jia admires Xu Buling, and originally wanted to rank him tenth. However, the son of the vassal king lost his identity in the competition with the Jianghu Han, and the direct decision also made the warriors dissatisfied. If he has this intention, let him fight for it himself. ”

The queen smiled and made a reminiscence: "Xu Buling has been hit by the Lock Dragon Gu, there is no one in ten martial arts, it is a little difficult to compete for ten martial artists, and I don't know when I will be able to detoxify the poison...... By the way, I remember Jiazi Qianping Baiyue, it was those cottage bandits that my grandfather led the troops to exterminate, and the lock dragon Gu is rare in the world, did my grandfather leave some at that time? ”

After speaking, the Queen Mother carefully observed Xiao Chuyang's face.

It's just that what the Queen Mother didn't expect was that Xiao Chuyang was as calm as ever, turned the page of the book, and said casually:

"At that time, I left one and put it in Huainan, it was just a poisonous insect, and I didn't find a way to raise Gu, so it was useless to keep it."

“！！！”

The Queen Mother was stunned, and was stunned for a long time before she came back to her senses, and said with a little doubt:

"Hmm...... Xu Buling was poisoned, and the imperial court has been checking the lock dragon Gu, it won't have anything to do with my Xiao family, right? ”

Xiao Chuyang shook his head: "Originally, it was just kept at home, but when my father was still there, bandits were rampant in the rivers and lakes, and in order to prevent the loss of too many manpower, I secretly used it a few times. Until the spring of the second year of Zhaohong, the imperial court iron eagle hunted deer, and the master poured out of the nest and still couldn't help Zhu Silk Mountain. The Cui family in Youzhou and my Xiao family are world friends, and they were both military advisors with their grandfathers back then, and when they knew about it, they came to me to borrow the lock dragon Gu, but because of the situation, I wrote a letter to your sister to hand over the lock dragon Gu to the Cui family. ”

"Huh?"

The Queen Mother's eyes showed a bit of seriousness: "Could it be the poison of the Cui family?" ”

Xiao Chuyang sighed lightly: "After Zhu Silk Mountain subdued the law, there was an accident on the way to transport the Lock Dragon Gu back, and there was no news of the dead man and the Lock Dragon Gu, and there is no news so far. ”

The Queen Mother was anxious when she heard this: "Then why don't I even know about this?" If the Lock Dragon Gu in Xu Buling is from my Xiao family, if you don't explain it clearly in advance......"

Xiao Chuyang closed the book and shook his head: "When the hundred Yue was broken, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, Emperor Xiaozong issued a royal order to clean up such poisons, and my grandfather's unauthorized stay is equivalent to disobeying the military order, and being known by outsiders will inevitably ruin my grandfather's reputation in my life."

Moreover, the lock dragon Gu is not the only one in my Xiao family, before the loss of the lock dragon Gu, there were several cases of Gu death on the rivers and lakes, and there must be a way to raise Gu. It is difficult to determine which one the lock dragon Gu in Xu Buling is, not to mention that he has damaged his grandfather's reputation by saying it in advance, and he is also provoking right and wrong in vain.

Secondly, my grandfather and father have studied for half a lifetime, and my Xiao family's lock dragon Gu has no cure, if it is really my Xiao family's lock dragon Gu, if you don't die, you will be a waste person, even if you confess, you will be angry, how can you let your brother confess? ”

The Queen Mother's heart sank, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Do you know who robbed the Lock Dragon Gu?" ”

Xiao Chuyang frowned slightly, tapped his fingers on the table, glanced in the direction of the imperial city, and shook his head:

"If Xu Buling's one is the Xiao family's, I'm afraid it's very involved, and I can't see through the situation...... Don't spread the word about this matter, there will be all kinds of harm but no benefit. ”

"If it is finally found out by the Holy Lord or the Xu family......"

"The poison is not under my Xiao family, even if my Xiao family is pulled into the water in the end, I have my own way to deal with it, just wait and see what happens."

"Oh......"

The Queen Mother nodded, as long as the poison is not under the Xiao family, it is fine, and after chatting a few words, she got up and said goodbye and left the study......