Xue Shao didn't know if he was assassinated and injured this time, whether it was lucky or unlucky. It is unfortunate and painful to be injured, but it is a blessing in misfortune not to die. Another unexpected gain is to uncover a layer of deeply hidden conspiracy!

On the third day after the emperor's death, that is, when Wu Zetian's deadline for Di Renjie arrived, Xue Shao was carried to Dali Temple by Xue Chuyu and others.

Di Renjie, with the assistance of Guo Yuanzhen and Helian Guchuan, gathered the combined efforts of the government, the army and the green forest, and really solved the case within three days. They even caught a live mouth and invited Xue Shao to come, just to let him hear for himself what the other party's conspiracy was.

The one that Di Renjie captured was one of the leaders of the Mengjin Water Owls, and he also had some friendship with Helian Guchuan. Mengjin water lords are all very fierce and not afraid of death. Except for this one who obeyed Helian Guchuan's persuasion and surrendered after being wounded, the others were killed or self-executed in the process of resisting arrest.

The interrogation was conducted in secret, and Wu Zetian also sent his henchmen to observe. The captive confessed that there were about 30 people in their Mengjin Water Lord's group, and they had been "forced" bought by a group of mysterious people a few months ago, and then participated in a period of foolishness, brainwashing and various assassination training.

The reason why it is said to be "forcible" bribery is because that group of mysterious people do not know how to have great magical powers, and they actually detained and charged their families.

The actions of that group of mysterious people are extremely secretive, ruthless and shrewd, and so far the people of Mengjin do not know what the true face of the leader of the other party is, only that he is called "mastermind" by his subordinates. This term was common among the Turkic military aristocracy, so it was most likely Turkic.

The captives confessed, and the biggest purpose of the mastermind to manipulate and train the Mengjin water lord was to target Xue Shao. First of all, they were always staring at Xue Shao's every move, but they didn't startle the snake. They even managed to buy off the eunuchs who often went in and out of the palace, so as to further grasp Xue Shao's behavior in such a special place as the palace confinement.

After all, the captured living mouth is only a hired killer, not a core member, and that's all he knows. Before the assassination began, the "mastermind" sent a man to deliver information and give orders, and then disappeared without a trace.

After the interrogation, Xue Shao discussed and analyzed with Di Renjie and others.

"Di Gong, I feel very strange." Xue Shao said, "Why is the other party staring at me for so long but refusing to kill me?" Do they want to do something else about me? ”

Di Renjie wrinkled his eyebrows in contemplation, and slowly shook his head, "General, this official is a little inscrutable now. The mastermind on the other side spent a lot of time, energy, manpower and material resources on a deliberate basis, as if it was not just to murder the general. Otherwise, they would have sent their own killers, and they wouldn't have had to go through such a big effort. This official believes that the reason why they bought and controlled the Mengjin water owls was because these people were all locals in Guanzhong, who were familiar with the land and people here and were used to hiding their heads and tails, so it was easy to hide and hide and not be discovered. The mastermind's greatest intention seems to be to spy on the general. As for this assassination, it is more like a dog jumping over the wall in a hurry and being forced to be helpless. ”

"yes, that's how I feel, too." Xue Shao said, "The other party wants to kill me, there are too many opportunities, there is no need to wait until now." But this makes me even more puzzled - if it wasn't just to kill me, then what was the other party trying to do to me? ”

Di Renjie and the others thought about it for a while, but they couldn't think of a reason for it.

"The other party is too cunning, and there are too few clues left." Di Renjie said, "In the absence of evidence and clues, the official can only infer - could it be that there are internal differences on the other side? Someone wants to kill the general, but someone doesn't? ”

Xue Shao's heart suddenly lit up, could it be that Ai Yan had really become one of the leaders of the Turkic rebellion now? Ashina Gu Dulu and some other Turkic nobles who had encountered me wanted to kill me, which was a logical thing. If Ai Yan has now also achieved an important position and voice among the Turkic nobles, then she has the slightest possibility of advocating "not killing me".

But what if you don't kill? Can you still catch me on the grassland and get married?

The more Xue Shao thought about it, the more confused and absurd he felt, and couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile, "Forget it, don't guess!" The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, and thousands of troops and horses are not afraid, am I still afraid of his little killers? ”

"General, it's easy to hide from open guns and hard to defend against dark arrows." Di Renjie reminded, "This time it is already very dangerous, if the other party will take another action, next time it will definitely be more secretive and thoughtful." Moreover, the general should not only pay attention to his own safety, but also pay more attention to the safety of his relatives. The other party is scheming fiercely and viciously, and he is afraid that he can do anything. ”

"Thank you Di Gong for reminding me!" Xue Shao bowed his hand, and he was indeed vigilant in his heart, even if I was not afraid, in case that group of miscellaneous hairs used the method of dealing with Mengjin water lords against me, it would be indeed tricky. In any case, we must not let that group of miscellaneous hair hurt Taiping, my brother and sister-in-law and others.

"The general doesn't have to be polite. This official is ineffective in his work, and he has failed to suppress the thieves, which is really ashamed. Di Renjie bowed back and said, "This case, this official will continue to investigate until all the truth is revealed, until the other party's 'mastermind' culprit is caught!" ”

"Good! I firmly believe that with Di Gong's ability, it will be done! Xue Shao turned his head to look at Helian Guchuan, the "big man in Guanzhong", who was standing on the side, and was a little curious about him.

Helian Guchuan, judging from his appearance and temperament alone, will definitely not be reminiscent of him as a "mixed underworld" guy. He was in his early thirties, tall and strong, but not rough and wild at all, on the contrary, he was relatively handsome. But what impressed Xue Shao the most was not his good appearance, but his unique and transcendent temperament.

It has always been "the people are afraid of officials" and "thieves are afraid of soldiers", which is even more natural in the Tang Dynasty. But Helian Guchuan, a thief, went to the court to face a group of military leaders and court officials, he was not even afraid at all, and he was not even restrained, and he always had a faint smile on his face, like a high-roller who came to the Dali Temple to travel and sightseeing.

"Guo Yuanzhen, your brother-in-law is interesting." Xue Shao couldn't help laughing, "He seems to be not afraid of anything." ”

Guo Yuanzhen smiled bitterly, "He was born with such virtue, I have never seen him have any fear!" ”

Helian Guchuan smiled, stepped forward and hugged Xue Shao, and said: "I have heard the name of the prince of Lantian for a long time, and I can see it today, which is enough to comfort my life." ”

"I haven't been a Lantian boy for many days." Xue Shao said with a smile, "Guanzhong Daxiao, Helian Guchuan - the things you committed are enough for you to die more than ten times." But not only have you survived to this day, but you can also talk and laugh in the Dali Temple, the highest judicial yamen of the Tang Dynasty - it is not easy to be a thief and do your job! ”

"General Xue, no one is born to be a thief." Helian Guchuan smiled very calmly, "Actually, I also want to be a noble son like General Xue, but unfortunately I was born in the wrong place; I also really want to be a genius boy like Guo Yuanzhen, an eighteen-year-old jinshi and the first official, but unfortunately I became an orphan at the age of eight, and then followed my adoptive father and began to mix in the green forest until I was caught by the queen of heaven. I am fortunate enough to be alive to this day and cooperate with the government to catch thieves, and I feel that my life is so interesting! ”

Xue Shao and Guo Yuanzhen both laughed. Di Renjie neither smiled nor made a straight face on the side, his expression was very calm, but it was obvious that he was paying close attention to the conversation of Xue Shao and the others.

"Di Gong." Helian Guchuan bowed to Di Renjie and said, "I have heard your name for a long time, and you are just upright and straightforward in judging the case like a god. Even in the next recklessness, I have always been very in awe of you. If the court were to put me to death, I would never say anything, because I did sin for a reason. But if the imperial court still has a place where I can be used, I will be happy to serve. But I have one condition, I only work under Di Gong. ”

"Why?" Di Renjie asked calmly.

"Because I am a thief, I naturally have no good impression of the government, and I hate and hate the people who are officials." Helian Guchuan smiled bluntly, "In addition to my sworn brothers Guo Yuanzhen and Di Gong, of course, there is also the former Lantian Gongzi and today's General Xue. There are only a few of you officials, and I feel good to get along with. But I don't want to work in the army, and fighting is definitely not my life. Then, I can only serve Di Gong. ”

Xue Shao smiled, "Helian Guchuan, it's easy to understand that you respect Di Gong and make good brothers." But Xue doesn't seem to be familiar with you, and there's nothing worth your optimism, right? ”

"Not much." Helian Guchuan smiled and said bluntly, "You only have one thing, which makes me feel that you are still a man with affection and righteousness, and you may be worth befriending." ”

"What?"

"I have no roots, and the end of the world is drifting away. Fallen into the autumn wind, there is no burial flower man. Helian Guchuan actually chanted a poem above the court.

Xue Shao's expression changed slightly, he was actually talking about this old thing!

"Big brother, don't talk nonsense!" Guo Yuanzhen hurriedly reminded.

"None of the outsiders present were present, didn't Di Gong also go to Zhongnanshan in person and accompany General Xue to mourn for Zhang Miao?" Helian Guchuan smiled disapprovingly, "Don't say anything, originally I wanted to kill Xue Shao, a person with little affection, and avenge Zhang Yaomiao." But after understanding the whole story, not only did I not want to kill Xue Shao, but I also wanted to make Xue Shao a friend. ”

Xue Shao frowned, "What do you have to do with Zhang Yaoyao?" ”

"A thief and a prostitute, what kind of relationship can it be except for a dewy husband and wife?" Helian Guchuan smiled indifferently without hesitation.

"Just a dewy couple, are you willing to avenge her murder?" Xue Shao asked.

"Even if I hadn't been a dew couple, I would have wanted to do it." Helian Guchuan said, "Because, all the unrighteous people in the world deserve to die!" ”

"Interesting." Xue Shao said with a smile, "It seems that it is no accident that you have reached today's status on the Green Forest Road. ”

"But now, I don't want to mix it up anymore. Helian Guchuan smiled calmly, "The Queen of Heaven promised me in advance that as long as I assisted Di Gong in solving the assassination case of the general, she would let me live, but the premise was that I was not allowed to do evil again." I, Helian Guchuan, am not such a person who does not know what to do, since I am reborn as a human being, I want to be an upright person, not a thief. Di Gong, how come you often need one or two errand runners to accompany you when you are out to handle cases, and guards who know the rivers and lakes and understand martial arts, right? ――What do you think of me, Helian Guchuan? ”

Guo Yuanzhen was overjoyed when he heard this, "The eldest brother has been reborn and the prodigal son has turned back, and the younger brother is overjoyed-Di Gong, why don't you think about it?" ”

"Di Gong, I'll see it!" Xue Shao was happy on the spot, how could Yuan Fang be missing from Di Gong's side?