Dawn is approaching, and there is no movement in the imperial city, but Xiao Shaozong is very calm.

The imperial city is already in his hands, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses surround the imperial city, and when to launch an attack is just a matter of his order.

Lao Shangshu pondered for a moment before he said, "You mean, when Qi Ning was kidnapped, someone from a master helped him?" ”

"What the hell is going on, Xiao Wang doesn't know." Xiao Shaozong sighed: "However, when Qi Ning recovers his senses, things will naturally become very tricky. After the witness found out, he was always worried, but it was inconvenient for him to inquire about the matter himself, so the burden of monitoring Qi Ning fell on his father. ”

"You mean..... Old prince? ”

Xiao Shaozong bowed his head and said, "Exactly." The witness trusted his father very much, and he did not tell anyone about it, but told his father that his father was in the court and could monitor the Qi family at any time, and it was that witness who entrusted the matter to his father. ”

Lao Shangshu thought that he could let King Huainan do this in person, and the identity of that witness was naturally not ordinary.

"Lord Wang, since that witness already knew that Qi Ning was not the bloodline of the Qi family, why didn't he report this matter to the emperor?" Lao Shangshu asked: "As long as the emperor knows about this matter and does not reuse Qi Ning, Qi Ning has no power, so naturally there will not be much threat to the imperial court." ”

"That witness had been hiding this matter earlier, and my father knew about it after Qi Jing's death." Xiao Shaozong said: "At that time, Qi Ning was respected by the emperor, and Qi Ning was indeed assisting the emperor to deal with Sima Lan, for the sake of the overall situation, the witness concealed this matter from the emperor. ”

"I see." Lao Shangshu bowed slightly, although Xiao Shaozong said with a nose and eyes, but it was all one-sided, and he couldn't even come up with decent evidence, Lao Shangshu was naturally still suspicious of what Xiao Shaozong said, and he groaned slightly, and then said: "The prince told the old minister this secret this time, I don't know why?" ”

Xiao Shaozong said solemnly: "Xiao Wang just wants to tell Lao Shangshu that this time Xiao Wang will kill Qi Ning at all costs, not only for the emperor, but also for the sake of my Great Chu's Jiangshan Sheji." After a pause, he continued: "Master Lu is still suspicious, and he doesn't understand what reason Qi Ning wants to rebel. ”

"Lord Wang, with all due respect, even if Qi Ning is really not the blood of the Qi family, it doesn't mean that he has the reason to rebel." Lao Shangshu said: "Could it be that the prince wants to say that Qi Ning was abused by Mrs. Qi when he was young, so he hated me Da Chu because of this, so he wanted to rebel?" ”

Xiao Shaozong shook his head and said: "Naturally, it's not for this reason, it's just a personal grudge between him and the Qi family, and the emperor treats him with great grace, so he has no reason to rebel because of this." ”

"Then the old minister is puzzled."

"Boss, since Qi Ning is not the bloodline of the Qi family, then he will not come out of the ground?" Xiao Shaozong sneered: "He is indeed born to the Liu family, but his father is someone else...... ”

The corners of Lao Shangshu's eyes twitched again, Xiao Shaozong leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Once Qi Ning knows who his biological father is, he will definitely have resentment, as far as I know, he has actually already doubted his origin, and he has been secretly investigating his own background, if I am not mistaken, he already knows who his father is, so there will be this act of killing the monarch and plotting rebellion." ”

"Who is his father?" Lao Shangshu asked anxiously.

Xiao Shaozong hadn't spoken yet, and suddenly heard the sound of drums at the head of the city, and everyone in the city looked up at the city, only to see that Qi Ning had appeared at the head of the city, looking down at the city condescendingly, and soon heard Qi Ning say in a loud voice: "Boss, the queen and several nobles in the palace have already come, and you can go out of the city now." ”

Lao Shangshu immediately bowed his hand and said: "The ministers are waiting for the queen to leave the city!" ”

"Boss, there are many attendants who accompany the queen and several nobles out of the palace, please settle them well." Qi Ning moved his gaze to Xiao Shaozong and said loudly: "Xiao Shaozong, if any of them are injured in the slightest, the responsibility will be on you." ”

Xiao Shaozong put his hands behind his back and said lightly: "The palace maid can leave the palace, and none of the eunuchs are allowed to go out of the city." ”

Qi Ning frowned and said, "What do you mean by this?" ”

"You sneaked into the palace to assassinate you this time, with many killers." Xiao Shaozong said: "If you let them pretend to be eunuchs and get out of the city, it is not impossible. None of the assassins who entered the palace this time wanted to come out of the city. ”

Qi Ning laughed and said, "It makes sense, it makes sense." He said in a deep voice: "Open the city gate!" ”

The gate of the imperial city soon made a "quack" sound, the heavy city gate slowly opened, Qi Ning mainly arranged for the queen to go out of the city, but also sent several concubines from the inner palace near the Fengyi Palace out of the city, there are many nobles in the harem, naturally it is impossible to organize everyone out of the palace in more than an hour, although the queen and a few nobles are out of the city, but there are many eunuchs and palace maids who accompany them, the long queue has already been waiting behind the city gate, the city gate is wide open, and a group of palace maids will gather around the queen's phoenix chariot out of the city gate.

Xiao Shaozong did not allow the eunuchs to leave the city, and those eunuchs who accompanied him could only retreat and stay in the city.

The long procession came out of the city, like a long snake, and hundreds of palace maids accompanied them out of the city, the queen's phoenix came closer, Xiao Shaozong and Lao Shangshu were already kneeling on the side, and the military array had already dodged a wide passage.

"Lord Wang, although Sima's Mansion has been confiscated, the courtyard has not been damaged, and it has always been sealed." When the queen's phoenix passed, Lao Shangshu got up and said to Xiao Shaozong: "The old minister thinks that the queen and a few nobles can be temporarily settled in Sima Mansion for the time being, I don't know what the prince wants?" ”

After the Sima family was exterminated, the family property was confiscated, the original Guogong Mansion has also been sealed, and the imperial court has not dealt with it specifically, but the Sima family has been in the business for decades, and the noble family has been dignitary for many years, and the Sima Mansion also covers an extremely wide area, with many courtyards, after the queen went out of the city, a group of hundreds of people, it is really not easy to find a place to live in the capital temporarily, and Sima Mansion is indeed a good place to be temporarily settled, Xiao Shaozong immediately said: "Everything depends on the will of the boss." ”

"Yuan Moxian!" Lao Shangshu shouted, Yuan Moxian immediately came over, and Lao Shangshu ordered: "You escort the empress to the previous Sima Mansion, and send someone to inform Yin Tiezheng of Kyoto Mansion immediately, so that he can dispatch the messengers of Kyoto Mansion to protect the safety of the Empress and all the nobles." ”

Yuan Moxian retreated and hurried away.

When the last person came out of the city, the gate of the imperial city was immediately closed, Qi Ning looked at the long procession, he knew that Chi Danmei was among them at this time, but there were too many people, and he didn't know where Chi Danmei was, just waiting for the team to pass through the military formation, Qi Ning looked up at the sky, and found that there was already a trace of fish belly white in the east sky.

The dawn has come!

"Qi Ning, the queen has already left the city, do you want to tie yourself out of the city?" Xiao Shaozong looked up at Qi Ning at the head of the city: "This king has no patience to continue waiting." ”

Qi Ning laughed, suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Xiao Shaozong and said sharply: "Xiao Shaozong, you are still pretending here, the emperor was killed by you, you actually beat me upside down and framed me, it is simply shameless." ”

"Oh?" Xiao Shaozong was calm, and a chuckle appeared on his lips: "Do you have evidence?" ”

Qi Ning sneered: "I have already sent someone to look for evidence, and I have also found clues, but soon there will be sufficient evidence to prove that the emperor was killed by you." ”

At this time, Dou Kui and the others stepped forward, Dou Kui raised his hand and pointed at Qi Ning at the head of the city and scolded: "Qi Ning, you are a rebellious murderer, you are dying, and you are still spewing blood here." You infiltrated the palace with an assassin and assassinated the emperor, even your father-in-law can testify, and you are still quibbling? ”

"Qi Ning, you insulted the statement of the Jinyi Qi family." Another person shouted loudly: "If you still have a sense of shame, immediately tie yourself out of the city and ask the prince and the Manchu civil and military to plead guilty!" ”

"If you are stubborn again, the army will attack the city, and after the city is broken, you will be broken into thousands of pieces!"

A group of people shouted insults at Qi Ning, Qi Ning sighed, and said: "This is not a vegetable market, don't be a shrew here to scold the street, they are all members of the imperial court, it is better to retain a trace of decency." His voice was not very loud, but his energy penetrated and easily suppressed the voices of the crowd.

Yuan Lao Shangshu raised his hand and signaled everyone to calm down, Lao Shangshu was highly respected in the court, and everyone was giving Lao Shangshu some face, the sound gradually subsided, Lao Shangshu waited for everyone to calm down, and then said to Qi Ning at the head of the city: "Qi Ning, the current situation, you have also seen that with the strength of the guards in the city, it is impossible to resist the siege of the army, inside and outside the imperial city, are the warriors of my Great Chu, do you really want my Great Chu soldiers to kill each other?" Knowing that you can't do it, harming others and yourself, why do it? ”

"Boss, I don't hide it, I will defend the city, not for anything else, just to find evidence." Qi Ning said loudly: "I believe that the emperor was killed by Xiao Shaozong, this person is sanctimonious, but in fact, he is the real traitor!" ”

"You said that the prince harmed the emperor, what evidence do you have?" Yuan Laoshangshu had a cold face: "Everyone can see that it was you who brought the assassin into the palace, if not, why were you trapped in the city?" ”

"That's exactly what the old man said." Dou Kui immediately said: "This person is dying and struggling, knowing that he will definitely die, but he wants to frame the prince in turn, it is really a loss of conscience, such a traitor, at all costs, he must be eradicated." He also said to Xiao Shaozong: "Lord, don't talk nonsense with this traitor, immediately order the siege of the city, after the city is broken, this person will be cut by a thousand knives, and the head will be hung at the head of the city to show the world!" ”

Xiao Shaozong was very calm and did not speak.

"I've found some evidence." Qi Ning said loudly: "As long as I am given some more time, I can prove that everything was done by Xiao Shaozong." Staring at Xiao Shaozong in the crowd, he said coldly: "Xiao Shaozong, Skynet is magnificent and not leaky, what you do will eventually be revealed to the world!" ”

At this time, Lu Xiao, the secretary of the Ministry of War, suddenly said in a loud voice: "Qi Ning, if you don't have evidence to frame the prince, it is a bloody mouth, you say that there is evidence to prove that the emperor was killed by the prince, then you will take out the evidence?" ”

"Master Lu, I said, it will take some time." Qi Ning said: "It's just that I'm worried that this prince is afraid that I will find out the evidence completely, and he will immediately order the siege of the city, and he is always afraid that the truth will be revealed to the world!" ”

Xiao Shaozong suddenly smiled and said, "Qi Ning, you just want to delay time. You said that you can find evidence to prove that it was the king who murdered the emperor, then the king will give you half a day, and the clear will clear himself, and the king will see what tricks you can play. ”

"Xiao Shaozong, it seems that I underestimate you." Qi Ning smiled: "In this way, how about I make a bet with you, within twelve hours, if I can find evidence to prove that everything is done by you, then there is no need to say more, if I can't find it, I will be bound out of the city and sent by you, what do you think?" ”

Dou Kui immediately said: "Lord Wang, don't talk nonsense with him, he is just delaying time, the army is in full array, the prince can attack the city with an order, why bother talking to him more, let him live one more day." ”

Xiao Shaozong glanced at Lu Xiao and several ministers behind him, and then at Yuan Laoshangshu, and finally said lightly to Qi Ning at the head of the city: "Okay, after twelve hours, I will wait for you to present your head!" ”