The Jinyi Qi family and the Yuan family can't talk about friendship, but Yuan Rong has always been good friends with Qi Ning, but Yuan Laoshangshu has never had real contact and communication with Qi Ning.

Yuan Laoshangshu knew Qi Ning, and he had only met him at the court meeting, and the two had not even spoken a word before.

But Lao Shangshu still recognized at a glance that it was Qi Ning standing in front of him at this moment.

Yuan Lao Shangshu's face was full of surprise at first, but he quickly relaxed, and looked at Qi Ning with a strange look, Qi Ning sighed, and said: "The younger generation knows that Lao Shangshu is very strange in his heart, but this is also a helpless move, and I hope that Lao Shangshu will bear it." ”

Yuan Laoshangshu stared at Qi Ning, and finally spoke: "Not long ago, Chi Fengdian led hundreds of Yulin officers and soldiers out of Beijing, does it have anything to do with you?" ”

"Yes, they used the holy decree to trick me into returning to Beijing, set up an ambush in the middle of the road, and teamed up with the Shenhou Mansion to take my life!"

Yuan Laoshangshu asked again: "The whereabouts of the Ximen Shenhou are unknown, it stands to reason that Xuanyuan Po should succeed the position of the Shenhou, why did he become Qu Xiaocang?" ”

"Xuanyuan Po was killed by Qu Xiaocang himself in that ambush." Qi Ning didn't hesitate: "Originally, it was difficult for me to escape, but I was lucky and escaped death." ”

Yuan Laoshangshu raised his hand and stroked his beard and said, "The last question, what is the crime of ordering you to be killed?" ”

"Treason!"

Yuan Laoshangshu groaned slightly, and then raised his hand and said: "Sit down and talk first, it is relatively safe here for the time being, and you should not be monitored, otherwise you won't be able to enter." ”

Qi Ning frowned, and Lao Shangshu said this, which proved that the old man had already noticed it, walked over and sat down on the chair, and then arched his hand and said: "The junior also has a few questions I want to ask Lao Shangshu!" ”

"You sneaked into the old man's mansion tonight, of course, because you had something to find the old man." Lao Shangshu said: "You say." ”

"How is the emperor now?" Qi Ning asked.

Yuan Lao Shangshu groaned slightly, and then said: "If the old man says that the saint is fine, he doesn't even believe it, but if he says that the saint is harmful, the old man can't produce any evidence." ”

"I got the news." Qi Ning said: "The crime of rebellion by Xiao Zhang, the king of Huainan, has been ordinary, not only did not rebel, but he had the merit of protecting the country, Xiao Shaozong succeeded to the title of the king of Huainan, and was called into the palace, and has remained in the palace so far." ”

"Not bad." Yuan Laoshang said: "This is the emperor's decree. ”

Qi Ning said again: "A few days ago, Xue Lingfeng, the commander of the Tiger God Battalion, was assassinated, and it was rumored that it was done by the Jiutianlou assassin lurking in the capital, and the day before yesterday, the Ministry of War made a fold and recommended Lu Xiaochao, the deputy commander of the Tiger God Battalion, to replace Xue Lingfeng as the new commander, and early this morning, the will was issued, and Lu Xiaochao sat in the position of the Tiger God Battalion, that is to say, from today on, the three thousand Tiger God Camp are in the hands of Lu Xiaochao. ”

Yuan Laoshangshu said: "Lu Xiaochao's father used to be an errand in the military department, and later passed away due to illness, but this person still has some connections in the military department, which is not important, the most important thing is that Lu Xiaochao is an all-night soldier, and his martial arts are not weak, and he can be promoted all the way to one of the three deputy commanders of the Tiger God Battalion, which is also due to his own strength, this person has a good relationship with Xue Lingfeng, he is obedient to Xue Lingfeng, and he hates Xue Lingfeng's weight, this time Xue Lingfeng was killed, and someone needs to replace him, The most suitable candidate is to choose one of the three deputy commanders to be promoted, in comparison, Lu Xiaochao is the strongest among the three, and has the highest prestige in the army, plus his relationship with the military department, it is natural for him to take over as the commander of the Tiger God Battalion, and it is not surprising. ”

Qi Ning nodded and said: "Lu Xiao feels that Lu Xiaochao has a relationship with the Ministry of War, and this person is under the control of the Ministry of War, and it is easier for Lu Xiaochao to replace Xue Lingfeng by the Ministry of War." ”

"It doesn't matter what Lord Lu thinks." Yuan Laoshang said: "You mentioned Lu Xiaochao, of course, it won't be for no reason. ”

Qi Ning thought for a moment before asking: "Old Shangshu, on the northern side, Beitangfeng just succeeded to the throne not long ago, and the situation in Luoyang has not stabilized, does Jiutianlou still have the heart to create a bloody case in Jianye at this time?" ”

"It is precisely because the Qinhuai army is pressing step by step and the Northern Han front is tight, that they sent people from Jiutianlou to lurk in Jianye Capital and even kill people to create chaos, but it makes sense." Although Yuan Laoshangshu is old, his eyes seem to be cloudy, but there is still a trace of essence in the depths of his eyes.

Qi Ning nodded and said, "If the people of the Nine Heavenly Towers wantonly kill and create chaos in the capital, I can also understand their dying feelings. After a pause, he said: "But in fact, Jiutianlou is on the side of the capital, and the only person killed is the commander of the Yulin Battalion, except for Xue Lingfeng, there are no other bloody cases in the capital, and the chaos that Jiutianlou wants to create may not be too simple." The assassination of Xue Lingfeng did cause a riot in the Tiger God Camp, but such a riot only lasted for two days, and after Lu Xiaochao was promoted, he immediately stabilized the morale of the army, and the capital did not fall into any chaos because of Xue Lingfeng's death. His eyes were like knives, and he sneered: "Old Shangshu, if I were a person from Jiutianlou, since I was ready to be exposed, I should create as many bloody cases in the capital as possible, so that the entire capital would fall into panic, but killing Xue Lingfeng alone would not play a big role." ”

Lao Shangshu frowned and said, "You seem to have doubts about the cause of Xue Lingfeng's death. ”

"It's easy to be misled about anything if you're just staring at the surface." Qi Ning sighed: "If you want to know the truth of the incident, there is one best way, which is to pay attention to the direct consequences caused by this incident. If it was Jiutianlou who assassinated Xue Lingfeng, of course, their purpose was not to kill people for fun at the risk of exposure, but only to cause chaos in the capital, but such a result did not appear, so Xue Lingfeng was assassinated by Jiutianlou, and it could only be that someone deliberately framed him. ”

"Framed?" The corners of Lao Shangshu's eyes twitched: "Do you know that this case was not tried by the Ministry of War, and the Yamen of Kyoto Prefecture did not contact this case, from the night when Xue Lingfeng was found to be assassinated, this case was handed over to the hands of the Shenhou Mansion." Staring at Qi Ning, he stroked his beard and said: "Xue Lingfeng was assassinated by Jiutianlou, and it is also a final decision submitted by the Shenhou Mansion, for which it is said that the Shenhou Mansion has found more than ten spies from the Jiutianlou in the capital in the past few days. ”

"Old Shang Shudon't forget, set a trap to ambush me and Xuanyuan Po, and the Shenhou Mansion is involved." Qi Ning said: "The Shenhou Mansion is no longer the previous Shenhou Mansion!" ”

Lao Shangshu leaned back on the chair and asked: "The Shenhou Mansion and the Yulin Camp joined forces to ask for your life, and they received your treasonous will, if you really commit treason, the emperor secretly ordered you to kill you, it is naturally justified, even if the old man, although he has no power to restrain the chicken, but when he encounters a traitor, he will fight to the end." ”

"Lao Shangshu thinks that the younger generation is suspected of treason?"

"Otherwise, why would the Holy One have that will?" Lao Shangshu said: "Could it be that the emperor has wronged you? ”

Qi Ning sighed: "This is what I can't understand, why did the emperor issue that secret decree, he would think that I had betrayed the Chu State!" ”

"So you should explain it to the old man now." Lao Shangshu sighed: "Otherwise, you only have two ways to go, either kill the old man, or tie your hands and let the old man send you to see the emperor." ”

Qi Ning said: "Lao Shangshu can calm down and listen to me, which proves that you always believe that I am not treasonous, otherwise with Lao Shangshu's temperament, of course I will not live in the same room with the traitorous thief!" ”

Lao Shangshu stared at Qi Ning, didn't speak for a long time, and after a long time, he spoke: "Who do you think Xue Lingfeng was killed?" ”

Qi Ning breathed a sigh of relief, Lao Shangshu asked this sentence, which also showed that the old man still trusted him very much in his heart, and he did not ask about treason, which also showed that in this old man's heart, he did not believe that he was really treasonous, and immediately said: "Old Shangshu, after Xue Lingfeng's death, at first glance, it seems that the benefits are from the Golden Dao Tai family. Although the old marquis of Shantai and the governor of Lantai have both passed away, the power of the Golden Dao Marquis in the Chu State has not disappeared because of this, at least Lu Xiao is still maintaining the power of the Golden Dao. ”

Lao Shangshu said: "Yes, although the old marquis of Tangtai has passed away, but the Golden Dao Tangtai is the founder of the country, and he still has a deep foundation in my Great Chu, at least the East China Sea Master still belongs to the Golden Dao family." After a slight groan, he said: "Previously, Xue Lingfeng commanded the Tiger God Camp, in the eyes of the ministers, Xue Lingfeng came out of the Qinhuai Legion, and this Tiger God Camp naturally belongs to the forces of your Jinyi Qi family, this time Lu Xiaochao replaced Xue Lingfeng, Lu Xiaochao has a deep relationship with the military department, and naturally people will feel that the Tiger God Camp has become the force of the Golden Sword Tai family." ”

"If I just look at it this way, I would suspect that Xue Lingfeng's death is related to Lu Xiao or even the Ministry of War." Qi Ning smiled faintly, "As the younger generation Fang Cai said, the truth of a matter depends on who benefits from the result, the direct beneficiary of Xue Lingfeng's death is Lu Xiaochao, because of the relationship between Lu Xiaochao and the Ministry of War, it will make me doubt the Ministry of War, but the premise is that Lu Xiaochao is indeed Lu Xiao's person." Gazing at Lao Shangshu, he asked, "Lao Shangshu, with your old age, is this Lu Xiaochao indeed a person who belongs to Lu Xiao?" ”

Lao Shangshu thought for a while, and then said: "You should know about Xue Lingfeng, after Xue Lingfeng served as the commander of the Tiger God Battalion, he did not have personal relations with any officials in the DPRK and China, although Lu Xiaochao and Xue Lingfeng had different temperaments, but they were very similar in dealing with the world, and they only obeyed Xue Lingfeng's dispatch, and they almost did not have any dealings with officials in the DPRK and China. Although his father used to be an errand boy in the military department and was promoted by the old marquis of the golden sword, his father had passed away for more than ten years and died before Lu Xiaochao entered the Tiger God Camp, so Lu Xiaochao actually didn't have too deep contacts with the military department. After a pause, he continued: "It makes people feel that he has a friendship with the military department, and he is even considered to be the person from the Golden Dao Stage, just because Lu Xiao took some care of the Lu family back then." ”

Lao Shangshu is an old minister of several dynasties of Chu State, and he is very familiar with the affairs of the Chu court and the intersection of officials, although the Yuan family itself does not form a gang, but the intricate intersection of forces in the court, Lao Shangshu naturally has an account in his heart.