At night, in a clearing on the outskirts of the city, a dozen men were fighting, with only the occasional clash of weapons, the rustling of leaves in the wind, and the strange cries of night birds filled the night with the danger of slaughter.

They were two factions, both dressed in black, and at first glance they thought they were in a group, and they were in the dark, with only a few stars in the sky, but they could still tell who was the enemy by their tacit understanding with their companions.

It's basically a one-to-two pattern in terms of numbers, but the side with fewer people is gradually showing an advantage, and they are superior in terms of skill, moves, speed, and on-the-spot reactions.

In the dead of night, it was dark in the east palace, only the prince's study was still lit, the prince was waiting for news in the study, it was already late, and he guessed that they should come back.

He calmly walked out into the courtyard just in time to see a dark figure deftly leap down from the roof in front of him.

The black shadow knelt on one knee and reported to him: "Your Highness, our people chased to the outskirts of the city but encountered their ambush, and more than a dozen people were seriously injured. ”

"What do you say? Ambushed? ”

The prince sent more than a dozen of his most powerful masters, obviously following Duanmu Rui's tracks, seeing that he was alone, he planned to get rid of him in a no-man's land in the suburbs, but he didn't expect to encounter an ambush, and his men were defeated.

It was difficult for him to accept this result, Duanmu Rui had been stared at by the emperor all the time, and he had no idea when he had this terrible strength.

It seems that the last time he planned to make a move on Su Wanyan, he really provoked Duanmu Rui, and he even did not hesitate to expose himself to bring heavy damage to himself. The prince looked up at the night sky, his eyes were hideous, but this is fine, he used to think that killing him was a bit invincible, but now that he is exposed, he can let go of his hands and feet to get rid of him.

After almost half a year, the emperor finally quit his addiction to opium poppies and took over the government, and when he learned that Duanmu Rui had successfully suppressed the rebel forces in the Yanhe River Valley, he still didn't believe it, so he sent someone to investigate, so he knew that he secretly pushed the situation to dig out a large amount of silver from the hands of the local rich gentry and officials, and then part of the silver was used to repair the river embankment, and part of it was distributed to the poor people. Coupled with his persuasion, that force was disintegrated.

The perfect solution to this matter is that the officials who have been operating in the imperial court for many years are not able to shoot it, which shows that Duanmu Rui's real ability is not what he usually shows.

Feeling that he had been played with and deceived, the Emperor was furious and furious, sending several groups of assassination forces. Duanmu Rui knew that he was exposed, so he naturally took precautions and deployed, and he also knew a lot about the forces behind the emperor in years of confrontation and maneuvering, so although it was difficult, it could be perfectly resolved every time.

During this time, he always left early and returned late, or sometimes he didn't go back to the house at all, Su Wanyan secretly guessed that it must be after he exposed his strength, the emperor and the crown prince felt the threat and wanted to get rid of him, this matter started because of her, so she wanted to help Duanmu Rui, at least she should be concerned.

She often asked the maids to pay attention to Duanmu Rui's movements, waiting for him to come back at night, knowing that he was safe and sound before sleeping peacefully, this day until the middle of the night to hear that Duanmu Rui returned home, made up her mind and quickly changed her clothes to see him.

Duanmu Rui was very alert, as soon as she walked into the courtyard, he flew out, still holding a long sword shining with cold light in his hand, exuding a strong killing intent all over his body.

Seeing that it was her, he stood his sword on the ground and asked her, "Why haven't you slept yet, is there something wrong with coming so late?" ”

Su Wanyan saw that he was bare-shouldering and arm-barred, and there was a wound four or five inches long on his arm that was still bleeding, and her heart was full of worry.

Seeing her staring at half of her body, Duanmu Rui was a little embarrassed, pulled up her clothes to put them on, and said, "I'm sorry, this king is out of shape." ”

"Are your injuries alright?" Although his body is very strong and eye-catching, Su Wanyan has no heart to watch it, and is more concerned about his injury.

"It's just a little flesh wound, it's okay."

"I'll take care of it for you."

"Okay." Duanmu Rui smiled and invited her into the house.

The two sat opposite each other, Su Wanyan carefully medicated and bandaged him, he kept looking at her with his eyes down, with a soft smile on the corner of his mouth, feeling that no matter how seriously he was injured, it was worth it.

After treating the wound, Su Wanyan helped him put on his clothes before asking, "Has the emperor been pressing hard recently?" ”

Duanmu Rui didn't hide it from her, and nodded, "Assassinate again and again, just want to kill me." ”

"Do you need my help?" Su Wanyan frowned, and her heart became more and more worried.

"No, you'd better not get involved now." Duanmu Rui propped his hands on his knees, and stared at Su Wanyan, who was sitting sideways, with shining eyes, knowing that she was caring about herself, he was in a good mood.

The emperor's ability cannot be underestimated, if he finds the intervention of a force, he will definitely investigate, and if he finds out about the Surprise Words, he will definitely send someone to suppress it.

Su Wanyan also knew the seriousness of the matter, nodded her head and said, "I don't know when it's a head, you have to be careful." ”

"Okay, I will." Duanmu Rui smiled and said, "It shouldn't be too long, he knows that if he can't help it, he won't send someone to assassinate me again." ”

The last time Duanmu Rui went to the Yanhe River Valley to deal with the uprising and riots, he came into contact with many local officials, and with the help of those upright officials, he had found evidence of the prime minister's corruption, and after a period of sorting, he found a place where the prime minister hid a large amount of gold, silver and antiques in the capital.

He went to Qin Qingfeng's house to see him again, and Mrs. Qin was very enthusiastic about him and talked a lot of common words, so she led him to the study to see Qin Qingfeng.

Qin Qingfeng already felt his ambition, and he could easily solve the matter of repairing the embankment of the Yanhe River without revealing the mountains and water, and like the emperor, he keenly felt his strength, so when he saw him coming, he was silent and stared at him with an inquiring gaze.

Duanmu Rui smiled, calmly sat down opposite him, then pushed a booklet in front of him, and said to him: "During your serious illness, I said that I would help you find evidence, you see, the content in it is still consistent with what you found." ”

Qin Qingfeng slowly picked it up and opened it for a look, and then pushed it back for him, "These things are useless, just a few pieces of paper, the emperor will only feel that this is a false accusation when he sees it, there must be real evidence, the things on it must be seen in real objects, and it must be confirmed that these things are owned by the prime minister." ”

"Then ask the captain to go with this king, and this king will let you see it." Duanmu Rui's eyes were full of confident smiles.

Qin Qingfeng stared at him with a sharp gaze, "You really found a hiding place?" ”

Duanmu Rui nodded, "Really, if you can't find me, you won't come to see you." ”

Qin Qingfeng stood up, "Okay, then I'll go with you to have a look." ”

The two went out and got into an inconspicuous carriage parked at the door, the carriage drove all the way, and stopped at a mountain villa in the suburbs after more than an hour.

He helped Qin Qingfeng off the car, pointed to the villa and said: "This is the property in the name of the prime minister, everything is hidden in it, you see, there are many people guarding here, and it seems that there is nothing to do." The people of the lodge do not do farm work, but wander around at will, so their task is to guard the large treasure inside. ”

"Did you go in and find out for yourself?" Qin Qingfeng asked thoughtfully.

Duanmu Rui nodded, "Yes, this king has already seen it, but they are not placed in the open, they are all buried in the ground." Moreover, it's not all here, there is an antique shop in the capital, and there are more treasures in the back hall, which are also things in the prime minister's corruption list, as long as someone checks it, they say that these things are sold by the shop, and they also accept others', the other party is very mysterious, and I don't know what it is. ”

"So you controlled the people in the shop?" The expression on Qin Qingfeng's face was finally not so serious, and Duanmu Rui's gaze was much kinder.

"Yes, he will testify as long as he needs to." Duanmu Rui had a little smile on his face.

Qin Qingfeng nodded, "Okay, I'll go back and prepare to hand the book to the emperor again." ”

The two returned to Qin Qingfeng's home and sat down to discuss in detail.

Duanmu Rui asked Qin Qingfeng: "Taiwei thinks it is very likely that the emperor will accept the letter this time?" ”

Qin Qingfeng rubbed his temples and let out a long breath, he knew that Duanmu Rui had a skeptical attitude, and he couldn't be completely sure now, so he sighed and said, "Do your best, do your duty as a courtier." ”

Duanmu Rui hooked the corners of his mouth, "That's good, Taiwei must not be as unacceptable as last time and fall seriously ill, this king is still counting on you." ”

Qin Qingfeng snorted twice and did not say anything.

Three days later, Qin Qingfeng presented the chapter to the emperor again, and this time he did not choose to play it in front of all the officials in the early dynasty, but handed it to the emperor in private.

The emperor glanced at it and saw that it was still those contents, so he put the booklet with the list of evidence on the table, and said to Qin Qingfeng with a cold face: "Taiwei, I remember that I had already dealt with this matter in front of hundreds of civil and military officials last time, and I also searched the prime minister's house. There is no empirical evidence, and it is no problem for someone to write 180 copies a day of what is written on it, so what do you mean by handing it over? ”

He banged on the table with a clatter, looking impatient.

"This time I found the evidence, as long as the emperor goes to check, he will definitely be able to find it." Qin Qingfeng was already as calm as water in front of the emperor's dragon might.

The emperor's eyes moved left and right in the hall, his fingers tapped on the tabletop, as if he was thinking, and as if he hadn't heard what Qin Qingfeng said, he spoke for a long time: "The prime minister is an old minister, just like you, he is still the prince of the Yue family, I trust him, as if I trust you, if the prime minister is not clean, then no one in our court is clean." ”

The emperor is unabashedly protective, if it was put on other officials, he would have suspected it a long time ago, and then he would not stop without checking it, but listen to what he said, the prime minister is not clean, everyone is not clean, what is he Qin Qingfeng, what is it, he has been honest all his life, but he has to be compared with the prime minister.

Qin Qingfeng didn't answer the emperor's words, and directly said two places, "The suburbs of Nancheng, the prime minister's villa, and the Yayuan antique shop on Hongwu Street." These two places, if the emperor is interested, he can check them. ”

The emperor's heart trembled, and he glanced at Qin Qingfeng a little weakly, but he didn't make a sound.

Qin Qingfeng pushed to the end, "The minister has said everything he should say, so he won't disturb the emperor's heart, so he will retreat." ”

He stayed at home for a few days, and did not get any news that the emperor went to check on those two places, and his heart became colder and colder, and he drank some wine at home to relieve his boredom and soothe the resentment in his heart.

Duanmu Rui didn't know where he came from, and sat opposite Qin Qingfeng familiarly.

Qin Qingfeng glared at him, "I'm not welcome you here. ”

Duanmu Rui didn't care, "There is an empty chair opposite Cheng, don't you just want to find someone to accompany you to relieve your boredom?" ”

Qin Qingfeng took a peanut and threw it into his mouth, chewed it slowly, and did not answer.

Duanmu Rui picked up the wine jug and poured a glass into the empty wine glass, picked it up and smelled it, felt the aroma of the wine, and exclaimed: "Good wine." ”

After taking a sip of himself, he said: "The emperor called the prime minister into the palace for a secret talk, and the prime minister secretly filled the emperor's private treasury with 100,000 taels of silver, and sent countless jade antiques into the palace, and the emperor will no longer care about his corruption." ”

Qin Qingfeng put down his chopsticks, propped one arm on the table, and one hand on the arm of the chair, looking at the grape trellis in the yard, and didn't say anything.