As one of the four major furnaces in later generations, Nanjing City, even in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years ago, was quite hot in summer. Even though it's only a short time into May, the weather is still very hot, and even at night, it's not much better.

But even so, Xu Chengzong, who was guarding the spirit in the main hall of the Wei State Mansion, had no intention of leaving the summer heat, and he didn't even let people prepare ice cubes for himself to cool off, so he let his sweat soak his clothes and accompany him in front of his brother's coffin.

Around the third watch, the whole house had already rested, and Xu Chengzong's eyes looked at the brother in the coffin with a little worry, with a little guilt: "Big brother, soon the number of five or seven will be over, and I can no longer be by your side all the time, I hope you don't have to blame me......"

"Brother Xu, you have a deep brotherly relationship with Wei Guogong, how can he blame you? As long as you can do your duty in Nanjing City and help the imperial court stabilize the place, Wei Guogong will also be very pleased with his heavenly spirit. Lu Jin's voice suddenly came from outside the hall, making Xu Chengzong, who was a little caught off guard, tremble suddenly.

He was really a little afraid, if what he said in front of his brother's coffin just now that he shouldn't have said reached the ears of Lu Jin, who suddenly ran over, it would be difficult to clean up the matter. But soon, Xu Chengzong calmed down again, slowly stood up from the futon, and said with a wry smile: "Brother Lu, do you know that people are scared to death. This is the mourning hall, and you are suddenly talking behind your back......"

"I was negligent, thinking you heard my footsteps." Lu Jin threw his hand at the other party apologetically: "But if it weren't for that, I wouldn't know Brother Xu's affection for your brother." ”

"People are gone, what's the use of talking about it? But you're right, what I should do in the future is to glorify the lintel of my Xu family as the first priority. Xu Chengzong said vaguely before asking, "By the way, Brother Lu, why did you come here in the middle of the night?" ”

"Isn't there something on my mind that I can't sleep?" Lu Zhen sighed softly and said.

"But is it because of the fact that those adults came to pester?" After seeing Lu Zhen nodding, he couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect that after many years of not seeing you, you actually began to care about this." I remember that your Lu Jin's courage was quite great back then, even those powerful people in the DPRK and China dared to carry it, why are you afraid of these powerless and powerless Nanjing idle officials now when you become a squire? ”

"This time and that time. Besides, I'm not afraid of them, I'm just feeling a headache. They come to disturb me every day, not only messing with my mind, but also hindering the Guogong Mansion, right? ”

"Hmph, that's all they have left now." Hearing him mention this, Xu Chengzong's face also sank: "Actually, you don't have to take them too seriously, our Xu family has been here for many years, and we have really never seen any officials who have fallen here and have the possibility of turning over, let alone what impact they have in the court." ”

"Really?" Lu Jin replied noncommittally, and then smiled: "What you said may also have some truth." But I can't sleep, so I'm still walking around and relaxing. Is there any forbidden land in this Wei State Mansion? ”

Xu Chengzong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Naturally, there is no such thing as Brother Lu...... In this case, I will accompany you for a walk around the neighborhood, and you should be relaxed. "Now that everyone in the mansion has been arranged by him to rest, he can only personally accompany Lu Zhen around with him.

Lu Zhen was not polite, and immediately nodded and said, "In this way, there is Brother Lao Xu." Actually, I do have something I want to talk to you about. ”

So, the two walked out of the mourning hall side by side and walked along the bluestone paved road to the side. While walking, he also whispered about his experiences in the past two years, as well as his views on the current situation, which was quite harmonious.

And not long after the two of them left the mourning hall, a swift figure jumped out of the darkness, and after glancing around and confirming that there was no problem, they directly entered the mourning hall in a few steps.

Without much delay, they went straight to Xu Xianzong's coffin that stopped at the back of the mourning hall, and when they came to the front and back, they first hugged their fists, and then they were offended, and then leaned down and carefully looked at the whitish corpse.

This person looked at it quite carefully, and even picked up Xu Xianzong's body from the coffin a little rudely, checked his back and other places, and untied the shroud on his body, looking up and down for a while.

But after a period of time, there was still no gain, which made a trace of doubt flash in his eyes, and he whispered softly: "Isn't it my lord, he misjudged?" Although he said that, his movements did not slow down, and he continued to observe and explore carefully.

It wasn't until his right hand touched Xu Xianzong's neck that his movements suddenly paused, and he said a word softly. Then, he groped back and forth carefully, and with a finger at the major artery, he gently peeled off a thin layer of skin.

"This is ......" Looking at the layer of skin in his hand that was almost the same as the skin on Xu Xianzong's neck, and seeing the shocking wound under it by candlelight, this person obviously took a breath, and finally knew the truth about Xu Xianzong's death.

"Sure enough, as the adults suspected, there is another inside story in this matter." While thinking about it, he quickly put the layer of skin back on, then helped Xu Xianzong tidy up his clothes, respectfully put him back in the coffin, and finally bowed a few more times before leaving quietly.

From the time he entered this mourning hall to the time he finally left, it was only half an hour. So when Xu Chengzong sent Lu Zhen back, and then turned back, he didn't notice anything unusual here.

It was Lu Jin, and after returning to his room, he saw a solemn Qinggel waiting there. Seeing this, he guessed the answer: "How about it, did you really find a clue from Xu Xianzong's corpse?" ”

"My lord really guessed right, there is indeed an inside story about Xu Xianzong's death, he did not die of illness, but was killed!" Qingler immediately told the truth everything he had found.

When Lu Zhen heard this, his face changed for a while. Even if things did go as he expected, when the truth was in front of him, he still had some difficulty accepting it. Because he has a very close relationship with Xu Chengzong, he really doesn't want the other party to really become such a cold-blooded person that even his relatives can kill at will.

"My lord, I still don't understand, why did he do this? Also, how can you be sure that there is something else going on with Xu Xianzong's death? After enduring it for a while, Qingler still asked the doubts in his heart.

Lu Zhen sighed: "If what I expected is right, it should be Xu Xianzong who hindered the big things he was about to carry out, so he had to make this killer." After all, what he wants to do now is not just a matter of losing his head, if one is not good, the entire Xu family, as well as countless people who conspire with him, will lose their lives, and he has no other choice. Until this time, he was still unconsciously excusing Xu Chengzong and making excuses.

After a pause, he said: "As for how I found out, it is that Xu Chengzong's reaction is a little unreasonable. Even if he had a good relationship with Xu Xianzong, after so many days, there was really no need for him to be in front of his brother's spirit all day and night. Especially at night, even the people were sent to rest, but he, who was the master, was still with him in front of the spirit.

"There must be demons when things are unusual, and I naturally feel that there is something wrong. Perhaps he stayed in front of Xu Xianzong's spirit not only to accompany his brother for the last time, but also to ensure that others were not allowed to approach the corpse so as to discover the problem. In the final analysis, it's just a thief's mentality. ”

Hearing his explanation, Qinggele also understood, and nodded again and again: "My lord's view of things is really much more far-reaching than ours, and my subordinates admire it." Then, he asked, "Then my lord thinks, what should we do next?" Did you send someone to warn the court in a hurry? ”

"I'm afraid it's too late." Lu Zhen shook his head and said, "Judging from the clues we have so far, they have almost done all the preparations. Maybe the day of the incident will be set in these two days, and at this time, it will be difficult to send someone to deliver a letter to the imperial court, even if it is an eight-hundred-mile expeditious. What's more, this Nanjing is the territory of the Xu family for many years, maybe the person we sent to report it was intercepted by them before they left far.

"Moreover, even if we take a step back, our people really send the news back to the capital, and this turmoil together will cause too much damage to the world. Now the people and the imperial court have just recovered from the disaster of the original Warat invasion, and they can no longer withstand another turmoil. ”

"What else can you do?"

"For now, the only way to do this is to try to dissuade Xu Chengzong from taking this last step." Lu Jin's expression was firm and gave his decision.

This made Qingler stunned: "This ...... How can it be? ”

Yes, rebellion must have been planned and prepared for many years before it came to the final step. For this reason, Xu Chengzong even killed his brother, in this case, how could Lu Zhen stop him by himself? Even if the two have a deep friendship, it is difficult to convince each other, right?

Faced with this question, Lu Zhen couldn't give much certainty, so he could only say: "I can only do my best." But even if there is little hope, you must try to persuade him. Qingele, would you like to help me? ”

"What the adults said, since the subordinates have followed you, they will not back down even if they go to the soup. Just say, what do you want your subordinates to do? ”

"The day after tomorrow is the day when Xu Xianzong enters the ground, and it is also likely that he is about to make a move, so I will break everything on that day. And what you have to do is to go to Xiaoling......" Lu Jin said his plan in a low voice.