Emperor Masahito looked straight at the case in front of him, still unable to believe that the Tokudaiji public security officer, who had spoken to him more than an hour ago, had been killed.

But the blue and white jade flute placed on the desk was still stained with the dried blood scabs of the ministers in the Dedai Temple, which was clearly reminding Zhengren that the public security of the Dedai Temple had indeed been killed, otherwise the jade flute that he had never stood up would not have been placed in front of him.

Masahito felt a little dazed for a moment, he didn't understand why these people would attack a powerless minister. Although Tokudaiji Gongyougui was the Minister of the Interior, even the Imperial Court was left with the power to sell official titles to the princes, and he, the Minister of the Interior, had basically no other powers except to speak on behalf of the Emperor.

What requirements the local princes or the Osaka and Edo shogunates have for the imperial court, they can basically be met, and the imperial court will accept them one by one, and it is rare to offend these local powerful princes. But now they didn't even mention the request, so they used knives against the ministers beside them, which made the royal family in the palace and the ministers outside the palace suddenly feel the same hatred, for fear that this kind of assassination would expand in Kyoto and turn Kyoto City into a bloody battlefield.

Masahito stared at the jade flute for so long that even the light began to dim, and he didn't notice it for a while. When the jade flute in his vision began to blur, he opened his mouth and asked Yuan Jiren, the lieutenant general of the guard who brought the jade flute into the palace, "Are you sure?" Is this the work of those who claim to be kings and righteous men? What did they find at the scene when the Imperial Palace guards arrived? What last words can the Minister of the Interior have left? ”

Yuan Jiren knelt down and replied honestly: "Back to the emperor, the minister is sure." The minister found the household servants of the Cabinet who had fled, and all of them answered the same thing.

As is customary, after leaving the Imperial Palace, they turned onto the road to Xiangguoji Temple, and at the fork in the road not far from Xiangguoji Temple, a group of ronins jumped out of the reeds on the side of the road. At first, they thought that the bandits had rushed into the city, so they turned around and ran back to the Imperial Palace to warn them.

However, before they could run far, they heard this group of ronins shouting something to honor the righteous man Sojiro and Ono Kiyobei for the country and rush to the sedan chair of the Minister of the Interior. By the time the palace guards arrived at the scene, the Minister had bled profusely and died in the sedan chair, holding the jade flute tightly in his hand, and there was not a word left..."

"Rebels, they are all a group of rebels..."Zhengren suddenly shouted angrily, and the ministers below immediately lowered their heads, not daring to answer the emperor's words. After all, they still knew in their hearts that the emperor was scolding not necessarily the murderers of the ministers at the moment, but it was possible that the Edo and Osaka shogunates hated more. No matter what they say at the moment, it is wrong, it is better to let the emperor vent his grievances, and then everyone can be more comfortable.

When these ministers below were bowing their heads and making small calculations, a palace person stood outside the hall with an embarrassed look of wanting to enter or not, which happened to be seen by the right minister Ichijo Zhaoliang, and he immediately said unhappily: "We are discussing with the emperor, what are you doing standing outside the palace?" Is it trying to eavesdrop? ”

After hearing a reminder from Zhaoliang, Zhengren finally suppressed his temper and looked at the palace people outside the palace viciously, wanting to know who was so bold and dared to come and eavesdrop on his discussion with the minister.

I saw that the palace man knelt on the ground with a "bang", put his forehead tightly on the floor and pleaded: "Back to the emperor and the minister, the slaves and maids did not come to eavesdrop, it was the prince of Xingzi Nei and his husband Mu Tianbo, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, who entered the palace together, and now they are coming towards the inner hall, and the slaves and maids did not dare to intercept, so they came to report it." ”

Zhengren's expression suddenly changed a little, and he said with some surprise: "What are they doing in the palace at this time?" Isn't the palace gate going to close soon? ”

Before Masahito's words were finished, the floor in the corridor had already "creaked", and soon Mu Tianbo, who was wearing armor, had already appeared at the door of the hall, he stopped and bowed to Masahito, then strode forward and knelt down beside the right minister Ichijo Zhaoliang.

Then, without waiting for Zhengren to ask, Mu Tianbo spoke: "The younger son-in-law heard that the Minister of the Interior was attacked on the way home, and now there are rumors spreading everywhere among the residents of Kyoto, saying that someone is going to attack the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and hold the Emperor and the Emperor hostage to cause chaos.

After thinking about it, the son-in-law felt that he should enter the palace to help his father-in-law, lest the rumors really happened, and there was no one around his father-in-law to protect him. Since several ministers and father-in-law are discussing countermeasures, they also ask their father-in-law to show countermeasures, and the son-in-law is willing to do the work of dogs and horses. ”

Zhengren was overjoyed when he heard this, and nodded again and again and said: "In the end, he is a figure in the kingdom, and he knows what benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom and faith are." Okay, you're here just in time, we haven't been able to figure out who attacked the Minister of the Interior, and we haven't worked out any countermeasures yet, so since you're here, let's discuss it together, right? Didn't Xingzi enter the palace with you? Where did she go? ”

Mu Tianbo looked a little surprised and said: "What's the important thing to study who attacked the Minister of the Interior at this moment, isn't it important to ensure the safety of the palace and the ministers first, and then arrest those murderers in the whole city?" As long as the murderer is caught, are you afraid that you won't be able to find the mastermind behind the attack on the Minister of the Interior?

The Imperial Palace has not been overhauled for many years, and the castle outside is full of gaps. I heard from the citizens of Kyoto that there were outsiders who first came to Luojing and wanted to see the interior of the Imperial Palace, and as long as they gave a few dollars, someone would come in with a gap to visit, and Yu Linwei turned a blind eye to this. If this group of thieves is allowed to enter the palace while it is dark, how can the safety of the father-in-law and the rest of the palace be guaranteed? ”

After hearing this, Zhengren subconsciously glanced at the jade flute in front of him, and suddenly found that the blood stains on it were bright red and terrible, and his eyelids jumped up quickly unconsciously, so he hurriedly asked: "Then according to the opinion of the virtuous son-in-law, what should we do now?" ”

Mu Tianbo didn't push back, so he said bluntly: "I have asked Xingzi to gather all the important people in the palace, and then let them all come here for the night, and then ordered the palace Yulin to block and guard outside the palace, and no one is allowed to enter or leave." Then let the son-in-law take the rest of the people out of the palace, close the four cities, and the whole city, and be sure to loot these traitors from Luojing. As long as the traitor is caught, won't everyone be safe? ”

Zhengren was still nodding, but when he heard it, he said in a panic: "You led the troops out of the palace to arrest people, so who is protecting us in the palace?" ”

After Mu Tianbo glanced at the ministers beside him, he said humbly: "Lieutenant General Yuan Jiren, the right minister Ichijo Zhaoliang can lead the Yulin Army to defend the palace, but I also ask my father-in-law to reappoint a minister of the interior, so that he and his son-in-law can keep in touch at any time." If something is wrong, the son-in-law should come back in time. ”

Zhengren glanced at the fat guard lieutenant general Yuan Jiren, and then at the heroic Mu Tianbo, and was hesitating whether to let the two of them change, or Mu Tianbo to stay in the palace to protect himself. However, before he could speak, the right minister Ichijo Zhaoliang interjected and said: "What Qianguo Gong said is extremely true, now it is the most important thing to arrest talents, and Qianguo Gong has been in the battle formation, so he knows how to deal with such a scene better than us people." As for the Minister of the Interior, the minister thought that it was right to say that Longji was suitable, and asked the emperor for permission. ”

Zhengren finally accepted a Zhaoliang's suggestion, but after Mu Tianbo said goodbye and left, he couldn't help but quietly ask Zhaoliang why. As a result, the other party replied: "Emperor, in such a situation, even if the Duke of Qianguo is your son-in-law, it is not as reliable as the Lieutenant General Yuan Ji Rendian." After all, it is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty who is loyal to the Duke of Qianguo, and it is the Emperor who is loyal to the Yuan Jiren. ”

Masahito finally didn't say anything, this night was actually quite quiet in the palace, except for a few little princes and little princesses who regarded this kind of collective activity as a rare game and refused to sleep noisily, the others slept quite comfortably. Only Masahito and Ichijo Akira didn't sleep much because they were waiting for news from outside the palace, and they took a nap when it was almost dawn.

However, the two of them had just been confused for a while, and they were woken up by Yau Xiaolu Longji, who had just been promoted to Minister of the Interior, and Masahito didn't care about Yuan Jiren, who was sleeping against the pillar, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and anxiously asked Yau Xiaolu Longji, who had reported to the palace, "Did anyone catch it?" Who did it? Where are these people? ”

Although Youxiao Lu Longji hadn't slept all night, his eyes were full of bloodshots, he replied energetically: "The minister accompanied Qianguo Gong to search for a whole night, and finally found their traces in a tavern on Sitiao Street.

These people are really bold enough, and after attacking the Minister of the Interior, they dare to return to the tavern to rest as if nothing happened. However, under the operation of the whole city, they finally failed to hide, attacked the police who went to investigate, escaped from the tavern, and then fled to the northwest.

When Qian Guogong heard about it, he personally led the team to pursue, and finally blocked them on the edge of the Tianshen River. However, these bastards refused to surrender, and instead attacked the Yulin army, and were finally killed by the Yulin army with muskets. Except for the three who jumped off the Tenjin River, the remaining nine were killed. Now that Qianguo Justice continues to pursue the fugitives along the Tianshen River, the minister is afraid that the emperor will be too anxious to wait, so he will come back first to report the good news. ”

Masahito's face suddenly fell, in his opinion, this is not good news at all, he can't find the mastermind behind the scenes, even if others fail this time, God knows if he will plan next time.

However, when Mu Tianbo returned, he still brought him the news he wanted. Although Mu Tianbo failed to catch the three people who jumped into the river, from the belongings of these people he brought back, someone recognized their identities.

“… This is a road opened by the Choshu Domain, which proves that they were the foot merchants of the Choshu Domain, and they came to Kyoto to sell tea. Although the name of the swordsmith has been sharpened from these knives, judging by the quality of the knives and the way they are made, they are supposed to be swords made by Satsuma craftsmen using Tanegashima tamako, which are extremely rare anywhere except for the Satsuma samurai and ronin..."