The Imperial City of the Eastern Capital, the Royal Houshan Hunting Ground, the beginning of Youchu

Five sika deer fled through the woods, followed by three groups of men on tall horses.

At this time, the mountain behind the imperial city has been covered by a vast snowfall, and the bare and dry trees can no longer be covered and protected by the sika deer, and their earthy yellow fur with white spots is very conspicuous in the white ice and snow, and the traces are completely exposed to the sight of the horseman.

From left to right, each wearing three cloaks of blue, yellow, and red, all of them wearing fox fur and soft armor, wearing jade crowns, swords decorated with various colored gems, holding longbows, heroic postures, and six entourages in armor and iron helmets were followed by each of them.

The yellow-robed young man saw the opportunity, quickly pulled out an arrow from the quiver hanging on the side of the horse, looked at the adult deer closest to him, drew the bowstring, and shouted: "Go! The feather arrow flew away from the bow and hit the deer's head, and the adult deer screamed miserably and fell to the ground, and the rest of the sika deer were even more shocked to scatter and flee when they saw that their companions had been killed, and the red and green teams that had not yet been captured also hunted in different directions.

And the yellow-robed young man had already obtained the prey, so he no longer continued to chase, and the entourage behind him applauded loudly: "The prince is good at archery!" ”

The yellow-robed young man just smiled and said nothing when he heard this, he was eight feet long, about twenty-three or four years old, with a strong posture, sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a face like white jade, and a smile like a warm sun, this person was Song Yu, the prince of the East Palace.

An entourage about fifty years old, with a beard on his upper lip, panted and smiled on his face, and stepped forward and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince, young and heroic, and superb in Confucianism, will definitely be a wise ruler in the future." The old minister will do his best to assist His Highness. ”

The prince waved his hand and said: "Hey, my father is diligent in politics and admired by all the people, and this palace still needs to learn more." By the way, Lord Jiang, it's really embarrassing for you to let a literati wear these iron armor and steel helmets this time. ”

Si Nong Siqing Jiang Bi crossed his hand and said: "Don't be embarrassed, it is an honor for the minister to accompany His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to hunt, and it just so happens that the old minister also tries to feel strong and stubborn." ”

While the two were talking, a group of young men in green robes had already returned from hunting deer, rode horses, and shouted: "Brother Huang, look at the deer I shot, it's not smaller than yours." ”

The young man was only sixteen or seventeen years old, still very immature, but his momentum was high, he was the eleventh son of the emperor, Song Qi, the king of Huai.

The prince smiled: "That's that, the eleventh brother is unrivaled in courage and has the wind of a general, if you go to the north in the future, the Rongdi barbarian will definitely flee from the wind." ”

King Huai laughed happily when he heard the prince's praise: "Of course! It's a pity that I have begged my father many times to ask him to transfer me to guard the border, but he always thinks I am young. I'm not an ordinary family, I'm a prince, how can I compare with those ordinary people? What about being young? You can still decide the situation immediately. Since ancient times, heroes have been teenagers, but Kunpeng has no way out of spreading his wings. When King Huai said the back, he shook his head like a little adult, sighed, and deliberately made a look of worrying about the country and the people.

The crown prince was amused by him: "Okay, eleventh brother, my father is not wrong, you are not suitable to go to the frontier now, in case you have three long and two short, then I will not be distressed that my father and I will be brothers." Don't worry, when you reach your twentieth birthday and receive the gift of a weak crown, I will personally tell my father that how about letting you go to the front line to exercise? ”

Huai Wang said happily: "Really? Brother Huang is not trying to trick me? ”

The prince smiled: "I'm the prince, and it's hard to chase after me." ”

King Huai stretched out his hand and said, "That word is a certainty!" ”

"Okay, it's a deal!" The prince said that, and swore by King Huai three times in a row.

At this moment, the red-robed young man's team rushed back, but they did not return with any prey.

"Fifth brother! What's the matter with you? Didn't hunt a single deer? "Huai Dynasty, your red-robed young man asked loudly.

The red-robed young man said: "Seeing the eleventh brother, the deer I chased were still too small, and I saw that they were pitiful, so I couldn't bear it, so I didn't kill the killer." ”

This red-robed young man is seven feet long, with delicate facial features, a fair face, very delicate, about the age of his early twenties, this person is the fifth son of the emperor, King Ning Song Mill.

The prince smiled: "Fifth brother Bodhisattva heart, foolish brother let you hunt together, it's a bit difficult for a strong man." ”

King Ning smiled and said: "That's not true, it's good to ride a horse, which can not only warm up your body, but also move your muscles and bones." ”

At this time, a person dressed as an entourage rode a horse, and then dismounted and knelt down to the prince: "His Royal Highness the Prince, Hu Shen asks to see you." ”

When the prince heard this, his face suddenly became serious.

King Ning knew that it was "their" "internal affairs", so he crossed his hand to the prince and said: "Imperial brother, there are other things to do in the younger brother's mansion, so I will leave first." ”

The prince nodded and said, "Fifth brother, please." ”

King Ning didn't say much, and rode directly to lead people away.

The prince turned back to King Huai and said, "Eleventh brother, you also go back first, and I will come in a while." ”

King Huai was a little reluctant: "Brother Huang, there is something I can't listen to, I'm a ······ with you."

Before the word "guy" was finished, the prince's face immediately became stern and said, "If you are disobedient, I will not intercede with my father." ”

Seeing that the prince was really angry, King Huai was so frightened that his neck shrank, so he had to say obediently: "Okay, brother Huang, I'll leave immediately, you have to come quickly, the queen mother made red date cakes and told us to go back early." With that, he led his team of men and horses to run out of the back mountain.

When the prince saw King Huai leave, he immediately turned to the attendant and said, "Take him to the pine forest ahead to meet me." ”

"Whoa."

Eastern Capital, East City, Jingkangfang, Tiwei Mansion, Youzhong

"You send a brother to send this secret letter to the Prime Minister's Mansion late at night," Xiao Chongguang handed a letter to Lu Yunsheng, "Help me pass on a message, tomorrow night, I will go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to personally visit the Prime Minister." ”

"Got it." Lu Yunsheng nodded and went down the hall.

Xiao Chongguang looked at Yunsheng's back, sat on the chair, and fell into deep thought.

He knew that in Liu Yuanzhen's case, Liang Xiang was the key, Liu Yuanzhen was his wing, and on the night of Liu's assassination, Liang Xiang knew exactly where he went, what he went to do, and who he met. Since the prime minister is willing to cooperate with the case through transactions, he can swagger to investigate the prime minister's party, and maybe the prince's affairs can also get some useful information from their mouths.

At this moment, a guard ran into the hall from outside the mansion, knelt down with his hands crossed towards Xiao Chongguang and said: "Xiao Tou'er, some brothers have found that five corpses were found in a private house one mile away from Lord Liu's assassination. ”

Xiao Chongguang got up and straightened his clothes: "Let's go, call ten brothers to the scene." ”

The Imperial City of the Eastern Capital, Qingning Palace, Youmo

Prince Song Yu sat on the main seat in the palace, holding a teacup, tasting the tea brought back from Yangzhou last year, this kind of tea is put for a longer time the more mellow, it is purchased by the prefect of Yangzhou from Yuzhou, treasured for more than ten years, the prefect in the prince inspected the Yangzhou Silk Weaving Bureau, endured the pain and sent it.

At this time, a group of people of different ages, wearing plain clothes and black silk crowns, entered the Qingning Palace, and faced Song Yu, kneeling down together: "The ministers knock to see the prince." ”

"Let's all be flat." The prince did not raise his head.

"Prince Xie." Everyone got up and stood around the crown prince Song Yu.

"Do you know what happened when I suddenly summoned all the adults to the palace today?" After taking a sip of tea, the prince looked at the ministers.

"I don't know." Everyone shook their heads in reply.

The prince put down the teacup and walked back and forth: "I just received a secret report that the Tiwei Mansion investigated the assassination of Liu Yuanzhen, and the two guards of the Tiwei also went to the Liu Mansion this morning, and after visiting the dead man, they actually found the head of the prince!" And put me as a suspect! ”

When the prince said the last sentence, he almost roared, and all the ministers lowered their heads in fright, not daring to speak.

"Tell me, what should we do?" The prince's gaze was like that of an eagle falcon, scanning everyone.

A young man in his thirties stood up: "Prince, Liu Yuanzhen is one of Liang Xiang's henchmen, we have been fighting against the Prime Minister's Party for many years, and now he was suddenly assassinated, anyone will think of the prince." Tiwei Mansion is His Majesty's name to investigate and deal with this case, and now it is a time of confrontation, and any remarks that are unfavorable to the prince will be a sharp weapon in the hands of hostile forces in the future, and the prince should clear his suspicion as soon as possible. ”

"I don't agree with Lord Cao."

As soon as the young man finished speaking, a middle-aged man with long hair stood up and said, "Prince, the minister thinks that the Tiwei Mansion is very likely to be bought by the Prime Minister's Mansion. ”

"Oh," the prince raised an eyebrow, "and tell me about it." ”

The middle-aged man said: "It has been two days since Liu Yuanzhen's assassination, and if he really suspects the prince because of the case, then we should have received this kind of news on the day we learned about the case, after all, we are hostile to Liang, and no one in the capital knows about it." However, Tiwei didn't, but it was only after going to Liu's Mansion today that they had this idea, isn't this suspicious? If you want to talk about doubts, Liang Xiang is gone? Maybe he broke up with Liang, or because of their internal disputes and was killed by others, why do you suspect the prince? This can only prove that there is collusion between Tiwei Mansion and Liang Xiang. ”

When everyone heard this, they were like being empowered, and they all said yes.

"Prince, if that's the case, you should have made plans early."

"Prince, it seems that Liang Xiang wants to use this case to frame you with the Tiwei Mansion."

"Prince, we also have to make a proper response."

"That's enough," the prince waved his hand, and everyone immediately shut up, "I still believe in the loyalty of the imperial capital Sanwei to my father, Tiwei is famous for not eating hard and soft, it shouldn't be so easy to be bought by Liang Xiang." Without evidence, we must not be reckless in this matter. However, it is also not possible to fully trust. Now that this matter is about us, we have to do something. ”