The conversation is very happy, and the wine is less than a thousand glasses of confidants. Qin Mubai, Zheng Anshun and Li Ke, after experiencing this water ghost turmoil, can be regarded as "sharing hardships and prosperity", they are the same kind of sons and brothers, and now they feel more and more speculative.

As a prince, Li Ke has an extremely rare advantage, which he inherited from his father Li Shimin - Corporal Lixian, who has no shelf.

When the wine was half-drunk, the three of them had long forgotten who was the prince and who was the general, and who was the son of the richest man in the Tang Dynasty. The three of them only know that they are confidants and close friends in front of them.

Under the influence of alcohol, some words that are usually not spoken can be said are also unscrupulously chaotic.

"Mu Bai, in this way, your wife who has not passed through the door is coming to Xiangzhou. This is a blatant and righteous elopement, which is really gratifying! Li Ke smiled a little shamelessly, his eyes were bright and bright, and he whispered, "But, what should you do with the delicate Chen woman in the golden house?" ”

"What should I do?" Qin Mubai took advantage of the wine, squinted his eyes drunkenly, and hummed stupidly.

"Hey, you're still pretending! Believe it or not, I shook everything about you to Wu Meiniang and Gao Yang? When the time comes, you won't be able to eat and walk around! Li Ke said angrily, "I can't get used to you pretending to be stupid and stunned!" ”

"Ho-ho!" Qin Mubai smirked unscrupulously, "You have threatened no less than eight hundred times, and it will not work!" ”

Zheng Anshun on the side also laughed: "Brother Qin, you are really romantic!" Wherever you go, you must also drive a colorful skirt to fly. As far as I know, there are all kinds of families in Xiangzhou, from wealthy families to ordinary people, but there are many women who love you wholeheartedly. ”

"Not really." Qin Mubai smiled hesitantly, "They are at most Aiwu and Wu." If you follow His Highness for a few days, it is estimated that it will be about the same. ”

Li Ke was angry and funny, and scolded: "People Zheng Anshun praise you, but you hurt me!" You're not kind! Quickly answer the question, if Wu Meiniang comes, what will you do with Lady Chen? Could it be that you still dare to continue to hide Jiao in the golden house? ”

"Why don't you dare?" The wine is so strong that Qin Mubai opened his mouth and shouted, "It's a big deal!" ”

"Haha, this guy, the guts are getting fatter and fatter! You just have a hard mouth, and when Wu Meiniang comes, you won't be so arrogant. Li Ke laughed loudly, "Even if you can deal with Wu Meiniang, I think that if Gao Yang also comes, you won't die!" ”

"Ahh Qin Mubai was really excited at this moment, "You-what did you say?" ”

"Haha, did you see it, he panicked!" Li Ke and Zheng Anshun laughed together.

"Your Highness, you quickly make it clear, what does 'Gao Yang is coming' mean?" Qin Mubai asked.

"Hmph, listen up!" Li Ke said seriously, "Didn't you talk to King Qi a few days ago when you wanted to take Gao Yang to Xiangzhou to meet?" Li Youke is an impatient, and he will definitely do what he thinks. No, he sent someone to pick up Gao Yang, and the person was already halfway there. A letter was sent today to inform me of this. Let me ask you to come along, and when I have time, I will go to Dengzhou to meet and pick up Gao Yang. ”

Qin Mubai's eyes widened and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "Did he really do it?" ”

"What's strange." Li Kexing sneered, "In the past, Gao Yang didn't spend half of the time in Chang'an every year, and mostly stayed at her uncle's house. But now her uncle Yin Hongzhi has gone to Dengzhou with the king of Qi as an official and moved here. Gao Yang is going to come to stay, it's normal. ”

Qin Mubai's eyes turned slightly, and he said in his heart: My obedient, it's okay to have a Wu Meiniang, it's not difficult to let her and Chen Yan get along well; If only that lawless little demon Ling'er also came...... Three women in a play, maybe it's still a martial arts play, and they play martial arts together, and I will play cannon fodder and a dragon.

"Miserable!" Qin Mubai cried out in a lost voice, and then showed a wry smile on his face.

"Haha!" Li Ke and Zheng Anshun laughed treacherously and proudly together.

"The vicissitudes of the sea show the true colors of heroes! I'm not afraid of them! Qin Mubai had a strong attack, slapped it on the table and drank this sentence with righteousness and awe-inspiring disdain, and glared at the two people in front of him with disdain, and reprimanded, "At the critical moment, I know that the world is hot and cold, and I can see you clearly!" ”

"Hahaha!" Li Ke and Zheng Anshun laughed even more rampantly, almost laughing out of tears.

At this time, a woman hurriedly walked into the hall and said to the three people: "Hey, you should be quiet, the princess has just slept peacefully, don't wake her up!" ”

The three of them saw that it was Su Lianqing, who had just entered the mansion and became the princess's personal maid and bodyguard.

Li Ke feigned an angry face: "There are no rules!" Is that what you say to the king? The princess couldn't get up after sleeping, take two balls of cotton, and bet on her ears! ”

"Don't, don't." Qin Mubai hurriedly waved his hand, "Your Highness, it's better for us to be quiet." Su Lianqing, go back and serve the princess! ”

"Got it!" Su Lianqing pursed her lips, muttered 'three drunks' in her mouth, and went away in a daze.

Qin Mubai asked, "Your Highness, I heard that the princess is seriously ill, what happened?" ”

"Hey, don't mention it!" Li Ke knocked on the table a little annoyed, and said, "Since the day she got married, her health has not been better. All year round, I have never left the medicine jar. I can't figure it out, how can her body be so weak? Wasn't I relegated to Chang'an at the beginning of last year, when she was on the verge of giving birth and had a bumpy journey, so she stayed in Anzhou to recuperate without accompanying her. Soon after, she gave birth to a daughter, and her body became weaker and weaker. Not long ago, he was captured by a water ghost, and was frightened and stimulated. After returning home, there are twelve hours a day, and eleven hours are nested on the couch, like a wasted person. Don't scold me for being negative, for her illness, I asked for medical advice and medicine to worship God and Buddha, but it was really a lot of toss. But it didn't improve at all. Because she was not in good health, I never married her for fear of irritating her. ”

"If you don't take a concubine, it doesn't mean you don't have another woman." Qin Mubai said, "Your Highness, as the saying goes, a wife who is bad cannot be abandoned. Don't be impatient. ”

"Not really, it's just a little annoying. I don't know how to cure her. Li Ke twisted his brows and said, "Romance is romance, feelings are feelings." I've always been very clear about this. ”

"It seems that you have reached a certain level." Qin Mubai smiled narrowly, "I heard that the princess and your mother are still relatives, and they have the blood of the former Sui royal family. This marriage can be regarded as a match made in heaven! ”

Li Ke smiled indifferently and said: "To be honest, I just got married to her by order, and I don't have any deep feelings, and I can only be regarded as respectful at best." But I will never abandon it for a hundred days in one night. ”

"That's fine. Affection and righteousness have a beginning and an end, and Fang is the true character of a man. Qin Mubai nodded.

Li Ke knew that Qin Mu had something to say in the vernacular, but he didn't make it clear, and nodded vaguely. In his heart, he couldn't help but think of Qin Shuang'er who was far away in Chang'an, and he couldn't help but feel a trace of inexplicable sourness in his heart. After so many years, the two admire each other but have never been together. Seeing that Wu Meiniang and Gao Yang were coming to Chang'an, Li Ke had a little jealousy in his heart, and he also had some thoughts, which were about to move. But when she thought of the princess who was sick in bed, she had to keep such thoughts in her heart and didn't dare to say it.

Zheng Anshun is a clever person, seeing that Qin Mubai and Li Ke both fell into silence thoughtfully, knowing that they were both thinking about their hearts, he took the initiative to provoke the topic to divert the attention of the two and break the temporary coldness.

"Two, this wine is going to be cold."

"Oh?" Li Ke came back to his senses and called, "Come on, exchange for wine and food!" ”

The drinks and dishes were changed, and the three of them were still sitting and eating. Li Ke suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, I almost forgot when I was happy!" Mu Bai, do you remember Zhao Chong on death row? ”

"Remember, what's wrong?" Qin Mubai asked.

"He sent a message to him that he would see you again before leaving." Li Ke pursed his lips and said, "It is customary for people in prison that all prisoners on death row can eat a sumptuous meal of severed heads and fulfill a punishment wish such as 'meeting with family'. But Zhao Chong's wish is not to see any family, but to see you. It's weird! ”

"Is it that if I don't go, it means that I am disrespectful to the deceased, and he will not turn a blind eye to death?" Qin Mubai asked.

"That's pretty much what it means! Generally speaking, even the most vicious death row inmate, as long as his punishment is not too excessive, he will be satisfied. Li Ke said, "Besides, will you not go?" ”

"Of course I will." Qin Mubai picked the corners of his mouth and said with a smile, "As you know, my curiosity has always been strong. ”

Death row prisoners were all beheaded after the autumn, and Zhao Chong still had some time to survive among the death row prisoners. Moreover, Zhenguan Datang has always advocated "prudent punishment", that is, death row prisoners who have been sentenced to death must be uniformly escorted to Chang'an, and only after the emperor's approval can they be executed after the autumn. Moreover, before the execution, Li Shimin had to personally patrol the prison. If a death row inmate complains, the case will be retried.

Because of this, a few years ago, Li Shimin's prison patrol left a good story for the ages. It is said that this time, he patrolled the prison before the autumn execution as usual, and there were 390 death row inmates in the prison, but no one cried out for injustice. Li Shimin had a whimsical idea to let these people go home for the New Year, and then return to prison to be punished after the autumn harvest of the following year.

This sounds like a fantasy, but Li Shimin did it. You must know that in this era, there is no high-tech tracking technology, let alone online pursuit of fugitives and sea captures.

But what is really fantastic is that these 390 death row inmates will really come back after the autumn harvest next year, and there are many of them! Among them, there are several young and strong, after returning home, let the daughter-in-law get pregnant, so that the family has a follow-up incense, and finally under the supervision of their old family, they came to Chang'an with a grateful heart to die!

Li Shimin, Junchen and others were all moved, and immediately released the 390 death row prisoners for capital crimes and returned home to be good citizens.

It's just a pity that there may only be one case of such a thing in Chinese history, and it will only happen once. Even Li Shimin will not do it a second time. Otherwise, the law will be lawless.

After the dinner was dispersed that night, Li Ke left Qin Mubai and Zheng Anshun to sleep in the Assassin's Mansion. Qin Mubai saw that it was still early and he didn't feel sleepy, so he brought a pot of wine and called the officials to lead the way, and when he arrived in the prison, he visited Zhao Chong.

Zhao Chong, as a serious prisoner on death row, was held alone in the same iron cell that Qin Mubai had seen before.

The iron door opened, and Zhao Chong sat on the grass pile against the wall, looking up at Qin Mubai and smiling: "I knew that you would definitely come." ”

Qin Mubai called the cell to close the cell door from the outside, walked to him and sat down on the grass, shook the wine jug in his hand, and said, "Take a sip?" ”

"You've drunk a lot, give me all this pot!" Zhao Chong was not polite, his shackled hands reached over and snatched the wine jug, pulled the stopper and poured it into his mouth, dripping half of his body.

"Rejoice! Sure enough, it's good wine! Zhao Chong took a deep breath, smacked his lips, looked at Qin Mubai and said, "You're curious, aren't you, guessing why I called you?" ”

"Yes." Qin Mubai nodded directly and acknowledged.

"You're smart, so I want you to do me a favor." Zhao Chong said, "There is a secret left by my grandfather, but it has never been solved since my father's hands, and I can't do it anymore." ”

"What's the secret?" Qin Mubai asked.

"I don't know. It was given to my father by my grandfather when he was dying, but unfortunately, he died before he finished speaking. Zhao Chong said, "My father has been thinking about it for half his life, and I have been thinking about it for almost 20 years, and I haven't thought it through." Although I don't know what this secret is about, I have a vague feeling that it may be a treasure, or a great secret that has been hidden for a long time and forgotten by the world. ”

"Oh?" Qin Mubai raised his eyebrows in interest, "You mean, treasure map?" ”

"It's kind of a thing." Zhao Chong nodded, looked at Qin Mubai seriously, and said, "Originally, I wanted to bring this secret to the ground together. Later, after all, he was unwilling. It's not that I'm reluctant to give up any treasures, but I'm not willing to lose to this secret. It's not that I'm boasting, but for so many years, I haven't met a person who is smarter than me and deserves to study this secret in detail. Later, I finally met one, but unfortunately, it was an adversary who dug my grave for me. It can be said that I am both regretful and relieved to bump into you. General Qin, you are much smarter than me, if it is up to you to crack this secret, you will definitely be able to do it! ”

"If you can trust me, I can give it a try." Qin Mubai was also very interested, so he nodded.

"I invited you here with a torture wish, can I still believe you?" Zhao Chong grinned and said, "I'm not interested in any treasures or secrets. I just want to see with my own eyes that someone has cracked this secret and fulfilled a long-cherished wish of our father and son. ”

"Okay, I'll help you." Qin Mubai nodded and said, "If I can crack it before the autumn punishment, I will definitely send someone to Chang'an to tell you the secret." ”

"Thank you!" Zhao Chong nodded solemnly, walked to the door vigilantly and glanced at it, beckoned to Qin Mubai, and asked him to come over with his ears.

Qin Mubai stretched his head over without the slightest hesitation, and Zhao Chong smiled: "General Qin, aren't you afraid that I will take you and strangle you with shackles and iron locks?" ”

"You won't." Qin Mubai smiled indifferently, "Say it quickly!" ”

Zhao Chong stared at Qin Mubai for a moment, nodded, and smiled: "It is indeed a character." Okay, I'll tell you where the drawings are! I only have one request, I don't care what you do with this blueprint and the possible treasures, but if you crack the secret, whether I am in the yang world or in the underworld, you must let me know! ”

"I promise you."

……

Out of the prison, Qin Mu rushed to the location of the hidden map mentioned by Zhao Chong - the old house of the Zhao family, not far from the prison.

Zhao Chong used to be a night incense picker, and there was nothing else at home, so there were many dung buckets. The backyard, which had not been inhabited for a long time, was overgrown with weeds and a large pile of dung. It's been a few years since it came in handy, but the stench still lingers.

Qin Mubai tied a masked towel around the corner of his robe to cover his mouth and nose, and endured the stench and opened the dung bucket one by one. Finally, I found the dung bucket that Zhao Chong said was 'missing a bucket ear'. Flip it over and take a look, sure enough, the bottom is very thick. He threw hard to break the barrel, and the bottom of the barrel cracked, revealing a tiny interlayer with a small piece of oiled paper wrapped in it.

Qin Mubai was overjoyed in his heart - this is it!

Casually restoring the messy courtyard, Qin Mubai took a small paper bag and returned to the guest room of the Assassin's Mansion. When I opened the packet with the help of an oil lamp, it turned out to be five pieces of thick oiled paper about the size of an ordinary book, all of the same shape and size, with some scattered lines drawn on them, and some incoherent words written in a staggered manner.

Qin Mubai tried to spell back and forth, but he couldn't spell out any shaped graphics, and those words couldn't be understood.

I pondered for a long time, confused, and had no clue.

He couldn't help laughing, and said in his heart, if it's just a simple piece of paper, then do you need me? Don't be in a hurry, just think about it slowly!

No matter what treasure secrets he had, Qin Mubai was really not in a hurry. Put away the pieces of paper and fall asleep peacefully. I had no dreams all night, and I slept until I woke up in the morning.

Li Ke had already gone to the government to handle official business. may have been grounded in Chang'an for a year and suffered enough, but since he came to Xiangzhou, Li Ke really changed his appearance and became much more diligent. Every day, he went to the yamen to deal with public property, and carefully interrogated everything big or small, and devoted most of his energy to political affairs. In the past, when he was the governor of Anzhou, he only remembered that he was the prince and did not think about the so-called governor. So he spent nine points of energy on eating, drinking, and having fun, and used one point of his mind to handle official business, which was still sloppy and perfunctory.

The backyard of the Assassin's Mansion, that is, the place where Li Ke lives, is very large, and the subordinate officials and personal soldiers in the mansion can live and station here.

Qin Mubai heard the roar of a fight coming from the large school yard in the backyard, and knew that it was the soldiers of the palace who were training in the morning. With his mind moving, he decided to check it out.

Now the commander of the royal palace is already Xue Rengui, the captain of the military academy, and there are two other deputies, Yin Yang and Yuwen Hongtai. I don't know how these three people are training the recruits of Wu Wangfu now? There is also Xue Rengui, although he has talent and potential, but he has no military experience from the white body, what should the morning training he presided over look like?

Qin Mubai was very curious and strode towards the school grounds. I was still thinking about it in my heart, I had to think of a good way to fool Xue Rengui from Li Ke, the "iron rooster", and borrow it for a while.