Is city search a stupid trick? Xu Ji didn't think so, except for being a little dizzy, he didn't feel that any of his actions were wrong.

"I lied to Fei Xun, so Fei Xin wants to take revenge and come back, it's good, it's fair." Xu Ji at least controlled the anger in his heart, "Since General Cao doesn't know, then stay and 'help' me find out the assassins that Fei Yu left in the city." ”

"I can't help."

"It's okay to take a look, Fei Yu asked afterwards, and General Cao made it clear."

Cao Shenxi wanted to say that he probably didn't have a chance to see Fei Xin again, but when the words came to his lips and swallowed back, this was no longer the Wu King Xu Ji who asked him to govern the Eastern Capital, so he couldn't refuse at will.

"Hmm." Cao Shenxi glanced at King Wu deeply, and then lowered his gaze.

Xu Ji returned to the place where Meng Shenglun and others were discussing, and the first batch of news had already arrived, Wu Jun had found many young and strong men in Nancheng, and was strictly investigating whether they were from Jizhou.

Xu Ji said to Meng Shenglun: "All of them will be detained, and the assassins planted by the officers and soldiers in the city are not just from Jizhou. ”

"Yes, in power." Meng Shenglun was a little surprised, but he was very careful now, acting as ordered, and didn't ask a word.

Xu Ji took Cao Shen out of the wash, "When Fei Xun planned to defend the Eastern Capital, he recruited more than 200 soldiers in the city, but when he left the Eastern Capital, those people never showed up. Does General Cao have anything to say about this? ”

Cao Shenxi shook his head, "I only hid Lord Fei, and I don't know anything about him. After a pause, he added, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't have said." ”

"Haha. General Cao can at least provide one or two people who are familiar with the streets and alleys of Nancheng, right? ”

"Yes." Cao Shenxi didn't need to refuse everything, anyway, King Wu could always find a guide.

Xu Ji led 300 guards out of the camp, and was tightly surrounded, with swords and guns in front of him, and no pedestrians were allowed to stay on the street.

There were no people on the street, and occasionally the family members of the descendant army came out, saw King Wu's team, and hid early.

Part of the palace has been searched, especially the place where Cao Shenxi used to conduct affairs, and all the walls have been carefully examined, and it has really found seven secret rooms, which contain some jewels, but no one else.

The jewels were piled up on the ground, there were very few, Xu Ji knew that most of them had been divided among the soldiers, he didn't say anything, now was not a good time to take military discipline seriously.

Dozens of old officials stood aside and trembled, Cao Shenxi summoned the two of them and said to Xu Ji: "These two people have been the catchers of Nancheng for a long time, and they are the most familiar with the streets and alleys. ”

Xu Ji looked at it a few times, the two officials were not young, their faces were colorless, and their beards were shaking.

"Don't be afraid, I know that the assassins have nothing to do with you, I just want your help in finding these people as soon as possible."

When the group officials heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and an old official reluctantly spoke: "The two of us can lead the righteous army to search Nancheng, and we will never miss a household." ”

"Not necessarily." Xu Ji ordered a search of the whole city, and there was no need to identify the streets and alleys, "Which of you recognizes a person named Tian Jiang?" ”

The two officials looked at each other, obviously recognizing the Tian craftsman.

"Take me to Tian's house."

The Tian family is located in an ordinary alley, after the battle the day before yesterday, half of the courtyard wall collapsed, the doors and windows were smashed, and the house was in a mess, this is the "masterpiece" of the Descendant Army, they took everything that could be used.

Xu Ji stood in the courtyard, imagining the daily life of Tian Jiang here, and said to the two old officials who led the way: "Go and ask, has Tian Jiang come back recently?" Where might it be to hide? ”

The guards escorted the old man to the neighborhood.

Cao Shenxi stepped forward and said, "King Wu thinks that this Tian Craftsman is an assassin? ”

"Stragglers are not enough to succeed, Fei Xun can find the only person in charge in the city."

Xu Ji ordered someone to go to the place where the young man was imprisoned, and also asked about the whereabouts of Tian Jiang, and the news came quickly, before last night, someone had indeed seen Tian Jiang, but they didn't know where he was.

The two old officials asked carefully, came back a little late, and got a lot of news.

"Since the death of his mother, Tian Jiang has not lived here, and he has come back once in a while, and he has not been back once in the last three days. He usually has very little contact with his neighbors, and he also handled his mother's funeral alone, and he didn't ask anyone to help. So no one knows where he went. ”

"Where is Tian Mu's coffin?" Xu Ji asked, the whole city is closed, it is impossible for Tian's mother to go out of the city for burial, and with the filial piety of Tianjiang, it is impossible to find a place to bury it casually.

The old official asked everything, and replied: "It is said to be in the Wuyun Temple." ”

Wuyun Temple is not far from Tian's house, Xu Ji personally went to check, as soon as he came out of Tian's house, a messenger came on horseback.

"The incarnated general asked King Wu to go back and finalize tomorrow's array."

Xu Ji hesitated for a moment, and said to the messenger: "Go back and tell the descendant general that the battle is decided by her, and I will go back soon." ”

The messenger left, and Xu Ji still went to the Wuyun Temple.

The temple is not big, located at the end of an alley, where coffins are not usually stored, and the old monks in the temple are to thank Tian Craftsman for a favor many years ago, so he made an exception to accept Tian Mu's coffin.

There are more than ten monks in the temple, three of them are relatively young, Xu Ji made a question, ordered the three to recite the scriptures, and confirmed that they were true monks before letting them go.

The coffin was placed in a side room, the coffin lid had not yet been nailed shut, and the two old officials recognized Tian's mother and checked it correctly.

"Go and spread the message: Before dark, if Tian Jiang does not come to Wuyun Temple, King Wu will burn the coffin and destroy the body." Xu Ji said coldly.

The two old officials obeyed the order and hurriedly went out to spread the threat of King Wu.

Xu Ji asked people to find two chairs, and sat outside the wing room, and the other chair was left for Cao Shenxi.

It was still very cold, Xu Ji was wearing an iron armor and a cloak wrapped outside, and sat there silently, without saying a word.

Cao Shen is old, a little afraid of the cold, he wears several layers of cotton clothes, and he is also silent, he has never been a person to admonish, let alone King Wu, he just wants to see how this matter ends.

It was already past noon when Xu Ji spoke, and he didn't have much time left for Tian Jiang, but he believed that Tian Jiang must be nearby and would not hide too far.

Xue Jinyan and Meng Shenglun took turns to send people over, and Xu Ji sent them all back, he must find all the assassins today, and never leave a future trouble.

Tang Weitian woke up and ran from the camp, and even he sensed that the atmosphere was wrong, and quietly stood behind King Wu, also silent.

Meng Seng Lun personally came to visit, "The search of Nancheng has been completed, and the other three sides are also about to end, and a total of 8,760 men between the ages of fifteen and fifty have been arrested......

"So much?" Cao Shenxi interjected in surprise, in order to defend the eastern capital, he had recruited troops throughout the city, and he didn't expect that so many people would be missed.

Xu Ji sneered, "Search again, there must still be one." ”

Meng Shenglun asked cautiously: "Do you want to search again?" ”

Xu Ji shook his head, "Go on, how many officers and soldiers are there?" ”

"Forty-five." Meng Shenglun was worried that this tiny number would not satisfy the ruling government, so he hurriedly added: "This is a Jizhou soldier who can be confirmed, and there are some who refuse to admit it, and we are investigating." After being reminded by the government, we also checked the people of Dongdu, and we can confirm that at least 800 people have hidden weapons and have received orders from Fei Xun. ”

Fei Xun claimed that there were only more than 200 people available, but I don't know if he lied, or Meng Shenglun and others were eager to make meritorious contributions, so they exaggerated the number.

Xu Ji didn't care much, and asked, "Who is the leader of their confession?" ”

"Most people don't admit to participating in the assassination, and a few claim they heard rumors that it was ...... It is said that it is a reward in Yecheng, which can kill a soldier of the righteous army in the city, reward a hundred taels of silver, kill a general, a bounty of one hundred taels, a five-grade official rank, kill a king, a bounty of a thousand taels, a third-grade official rank, and a marquis. ”

"Hey, if Tiancheng was so generous earlier, wouldn't it be much easier?" Xu Ji felt amused.

"And."

"Huh?"

"Rumor has it that if you kill...... If you kill the king of Wu......"

"How?"

"The bounty is two thousand taels, the rank of the third grade, and the title of marquis ......"

"Only a thousand taels more?" Xu Ji smiled, feeling that his price was not high.

"You can also marry the Lord of Fangde."

Xu Ji was stunned, the lord of Fangde County was the daughter of the king of Jibei and the first wife of Xu Ji, who once wrote the "Hugh Fu Book", but was not recognized by his family.

Xu Ji laughed at first, and then became angry, "What a Fei Xun, take me for entertainment." ”

"Those people didn't say that the rumors came from Fei Xin." Meng Shenglun must be reminded so as not to mislead King Wu.

"Don't ask again, it must be the reward that Fei Xin came up with, and the Tian craftsman preached it in the city for him. Leave the Jizhou soldiers and those who hide weapons, and the others are incorporated into the army, and in tomorrow's battle, if the officers and soldiers kill the Wu soldiers, the righteous army will use these more than 800 people to worship the gods, and then use the remaining people of the eastern capital to break through the enemy camp. ”

"Yes." Meng Shenglun retired, knowing that he had escaped the catastrophe and did not have to be sent to death, but he was still uneasy in his heart, feeling sorry for the ruling power, sorry for the dead Song Xingci and Wang Dian and the soldiers who fell into the hands of the officers and soldiers.

It was almost dusk, Tian Jiang had not yet appeared, Xu Ji did not drink food or water, just sat like that, not tired at all, but more sober, and even the feeling of dizziness only appeared occasionally.

"The East must be clean." Xu Ji was not only talking to himself, but also talking to Cao Shenxi, "Fei Xun made a move in a hurry, thinking that he would make the people of the Eastern Capital angry and resist. Hey, he's wrong, the only people who can fight for him are a few people like Tian Jiang. ”

"But King Wu wants to kill more than 800 people." Cao Shenxi said.

"General Cao is also wrong, Fei Xun doesn't want to see my faint moves, he wants to see my weakness." Xu Ji laughed, "He thought that my soft-heartedness would make the kings have a different heart for me - you are all wrong." ”

Cao Shenxi didn't answer, at this moment, he really didn't think that King Wu would show mercy.

Before dark, Xue Jinyan also came, with the overall plan for tomorrow, and said in detail one by one, Xu Ji did not make any adjustments, "Very good, just follow your arrangement." ”

"There's only one thing for you to decide, which way to rush out?" Xue Jinyan asked.

"East Side. After the Ning army engages the officers and soldiers, you can send troops out of the city. ”

"I will only lead troops out of the city, not send troops." Xue Jinyan corrected, wanting to walk and stopping, "You have to sleep for a while, look at your appearance, like a ghost." ”

Only Xue Jinyan dared to say such a thing, and Xu Ji squeezed out a smile, "Soon, soon I will be able to rest." There will be no more threats in the city, you are safe, everyone will be safe. ”

"I'm not afraid of assassins." Xue Jin snorted and led the people away.

Looking at Xue Jinyao's back, Cao Shenxi couldn't help but say: "Mrs. Wu Wang is quite talented, but there are some problems with her playing style." ”

Xu Ji didn't squeak, only the gradually approaching night in his eyes, and the torches that had been prepared.