In the evening, Xiao Zhi and his party returned to the palace, and when they heard that Xiao Jie and they wanted to see him, they put on a camel-colored kudzu robe and drove to Yuqing Palace. Sima Ni, Luo Shi, Guo Zhaozhi and several other ministers of the ministry stood outside the hall to wait to see him, and when they saw him coming, they knelt down.

Xiao Zhi comfortably climbed the steps and smiled at Sima Ni, but when he saw Sima Ni looking at him strangely, he was stunned, and hurriedly stepped into the hall, but saw Cao Ze and Xiao Jie kneeling on the ground side by side, and his heart suddenly became suspicious, and he stopped hesitatingly, stabilized his mood, and sat on the royal chair in the middle casually, and smiled faintly: "The two secretaries, please speak flat." Uncle Seven, please see, what do you have to play? ”

Xiao Jie looked up and saw Xiao Zhen's sharp gaze, he was completely free from the easy-going of the past, he cowered and avoided it, knelt down and bowed his head and said: "Xue Bilong, please guard the tomb case, the servants and others have been drafted, and the king is invited to issue a decree." ”

Xiao Zhi glanced at Cao Ze, and saw Cao Ze standing solemnly, with a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth, knowing that something was wrong, he slowed down and said, "Why 'slave wait'?" Didn't I just entrust you? But since you've waited for the meeting, read it to me. ”

Xiao Jie trembled and unfolded the excerpt, and read it with a sigh of antiquity: "I hereby serve the ......" Fang read half a sentence, and Xiao Zhi interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "I don't bother you to read my criticism." How are you going to send Xue Bilong? ”

"Yes......" Xiao Jie gritted his teeth and kowtowed: "Xue Bilong does not repay the grace of heaven, but barks wildly and despises the lord's ......"

"Slow!" Xiao Zhi stopped in a trembling voice: "I didn't hear clearly, read it aloud!" He was shocked and angry, gritted his teeth and said, "How to deal with such a big crime?" ”

Xiao Jie saw that Xiao Zhi had changed color, and became more and more frightened, and looked back at Cao Ze, although Cao Ze stared at him with a smile, his eyes showed a fierce light, and he couldn't help but think of the conversation that day, so he stubbornly played: "Bully...... If you deceive the Lord, you should be guilty of treason, and you will be executed by Ling Chi, and the whole family will be beheaded ......"

As soon as the words came out, the huge Yuqing Palace was as dead and silent as an ancient tomb, and only a gilded Western self-striking bell in the corner of the hall sounded mechanically. The ministers of the ministry kneeling outside the hall looked at each other, and Sima Ni suppressed his extremely nervous mood and carefully listened to the movements in the hall.

I thought about the worst, but I didn't expect it to be like this!

Xiao Zhi grabbed the back of the chair with both hands and sweated out, so he forced himself not to scold the case, and only asked with a slight stutter: "Xue Bilong, please guard the tomb of the first emperor, but his words are a little fierce, how can he be involved in rebellion?" Besides, I'm just sending you a decree to ask, how did you even get condemned? ”

Xiao Jie knocked again and again, only saying: "This-this", but he couldn't answer.

Cao Ze looked at the prince's nest appearance, and secretly laughed in his heart, feeling that his time to speak had come. So, he flicked his sleeves briskly, knelt down in his robe, and raised his head and said: "Xue Bilong has failed to live up to the grace entrusted by the previous emperor and disrespected the current king, which is no different from rebellion. There is nothing wrong with this point, and the slave thinks that what the king of the council has played is very good! ”

Xiao Zhi sneered: "Punish people to death, Shang Yan is 'mean'." Which sage are you reading? I would like to know what kind of enmity Xue Pilong has with you, and I will definitely get rid of him! ”

Cao Ze thought for a moment and said loudly: "There is no enmity between the minister and Xue Bilong, just deal with it impartially!"

"What a loyalty!" Xiao Zhi sneered.

Cao Ze didn't kowtow either, knelt down and arched his hand: "It seems that if thieves like Xue Bilong don't deal with it heavily, their subordinates will be bullied in the future!" ”

Before the words fell, only the sound of "pop" was heard, Xiao Zhi slapped his palm on the dragon case, and his eyes seemed to be on fire: "Bullying the king, why not in front of you!" I think Xue Bilong still knows that the request is played, but there are still some rules! ”

Cao Ze was also angry, thinking to himself, today is to say that it is dark, and Xue Bilong must be killed, otherwise this heel will be planted to the end. He jumped up from the ground, rolled up his sleeves, waved his fist and said, "Didn't the king say that I was a bully? As he spoke, he approached the throne with a menacing attitude.

Xiao Zhi couldn't help but gasp, in front of the public, he wouldn't really want to do it! The guard on duty was also shocked into a cold sweat, and took a step forward to block between Cao Ze and Xiao Zhen. Almost at the same time, Rong Xuan, who was guarding in the shadows, also jumped out.

Sun Fei, the guard outside the hall, and other Cao Ze's henchmen had already heard it clearly, and several people gave each other a look, and stepped into the hall door with swords. Xiao Jie, who was kneeling on the ground, didn't know them, and hurriedly shouted, "What are you doing?" Retire! ”

Sun Fei replied with a smile: "The guard Sun Fei and others are here to serve!" ”

When Xiao Zhi saw a few guards coming in, his heart was relieved at first; As soon as he heard Sun Fei's name, he suddenly felt that the situation was serious, and cold sweat immediately oozed out of his forehead, and he shouted: "What do you want to serve, retreat!" Xiao Jie also got up, and scolded with a blue face: "You are the poor of Yuqing Palace, what is the matter with you here, go out!" ”

The king and the king of Yizheng both spoke, and Sun Fei and the others had to hesitate to stand still and watch Cao Ze's gestures. At this moment, I heard Sima Ni outside the hall singing loudly: "Your Majesty, the guard Xie Lan, please meet!" ”

Xiao Zhen's spirit suddenly perked up, and he commanded sharply: "Come in!" Before the words fell, Xie Lan was covered with sweat and stepped into the hall. As soon as Sun Fei saw Xie Lan, his eyes were on fire, and he blocked sideways, but somehow Xie Lan had quickly bypassed. With good skills, Cao Ze turned around and looked at the young man, and asked with a smile: "What is the matter with the king?" ”

Xie Lan didn't seem to hear it, and he didn't reply, he knelt down directly and said to Xiao Zhen: "If you don't retreat from the dynasty so late, the old queen mother sent a servant to come and see." ”

Xiao Zhi waved his hand and said, "Since you are here, you will wait here first, and then return to the palace together." ”

"Yes—" Xie Lan agreed, then stood up, and then said to Cao Ze: "Back to the general's words, according to the order of the old queen mother, come to serve the king." With that, he walked past him with a big grin, and stood straight to Xiao Zhen's left side, scanning the hall with bright eyes.

Xiao Zhi was a little relieved. But seeing that Sun Fei and the others retreated to both sides, and they were all carrying swords, they finally felt that the force was too single and very dangerous. When he looked at Cao Ze, he still had a fierce face, and sighed in his heart: "I have to take a step back first!" As soon as his heart calmed down, he spoke more fluently: "You don't have to be so impetuous." I mean, even if Xue Bilong is guilty, he won't be put to death! ”

At this moment, Cao Ze also quickly assessed the situation, although Xiao Yan persuaded him to do it as soon as possible, but he was making a big move here in front of him, and the certainty of killing Xiao Zhi was very small. Let's talk about a Xie Lan, there are several hidden guards such as Rong Xuan in this hall, all of whom are good players, and a few of Sun Fei's guards are under the porch outside, how can they deal with it? Besides, there were still Sima Ni and other ministers standing outside the hall, how could they stand by and watch?

After weighing for a long time, he looked left and right and replied: "According to the law, Xue Bilong is the crime of Ling Chi, but since the king is merciful, it will be exempted, but the punishment is inevitable!" ”

Xiao Zhi eased up when he heard Cao Ze's words, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief: his safety problem is not big. But when he thought of killing Xue Bilong, he couldn't bear it, so he was silent for a while, "Xue Bilong is an old minister after all, and the crime of Ling Chi will only make the court uneasy, and the countries laugh at me for not being considerate of the old minister."

Seeing that Cao Ze was silent, he continued, "Since he asked to guard the tomb of the first king, let him go." ”

Xiao Jie, who was kneeling on the side, knew that if he didn't deal with Xue Bilong ruthlessly, he might make a big mess if he was entangled, so he kowtowed and said, "If Yichen meets him, he will ...... Just dismiss your position, demote yourself to a concubine, and take the whole family to guard the mausoleum! ”

Xiao Zhen's body shook for a moment, gritted his teeth and still didn't speak.

Cao Ze smiled and said: "Look at the king's face, cheap him, leave him a dog's life!" After speaking, he didn't bow down, and a long man said: "The minister will deal with this matter!" He turned back and roared at Sun Fei and the others: "Bastard boy! What are you doing standing here, and you don't come with me? He stomped his feet and walked away with a few people.

Looking at Cao Ze's arrogant figure going away, Xiao Zhi was so angry that he softened, and he got up and wanted to leave, but when he saw that Xiao Jie was still prostrate and didn't dare to move, he paced slowly and said coldly: "Prince Xiao Jie, you raise your head!" ”

Xiao Jie raised his head in horror, dodging Xiao Zhen's forced gaze, and wanted to speak a few times, but he didn't say anything.

Xiao Zhi wanted to kick him to death at this time, thought about it, sighed and waved his hand: "That's it, you...... Kneel down! ”

Seeing Xiao Jie retreat resignedly, Xiao Zhi could no longer control the anger in his heart, and picked up the inkstone on the table and smashed it.

Sima Ni walked into the main hall at this time, only lowered his head, and only spoke for a while, "The king is angry." ”

"I'm sorry Xue Bilong!" Xiao Zhen's voice trembled a little, "Cao Ze, sooner or later, one day, I will dispose of him with my own hands!" ”

Although Cao Ze has Sima Zhao's heart, there are very few deeds of his rebellion. From the moment of view, the plan to cover up the killing will definitely mess up the court, and this will lose a lot - it is still necessary to think of working the word 'take', examine the evidence, and make a big edict, and the canonical punishment is the perfect strategy. Sima Ni, looked around, arched his hand and said, "The king still has to be calm and patient, don't talk about this every day, he has the most cronies among the guards in front of this palace, so be careful." ”

This is almost the same as Shen Lian, Sima Ni is really the strategist of the country!

Xiao Zhi couldn't help but look up at him, he was not only an excellent courtier, but also about to become his father-in-law, and he was one of the few people who could be trusted.

It's okay to be honest with him!

"Oh, really." Xiao Zhi stood up and helped Sima Ni up, "I really don't want to deal with Xue Bilong - he is a loyal minister. ”

"Actually, it's not necessarily a bad thing, Cao Ze has long been a thorn in Xue Bilong's side, and it will be a matter of time before he kills him." Sima Ni calmly analyzed, "At least his family's life has been saved now, and the old minister will help him more in private." ”

"Yes, no matter what, you have to live, and you have everything to live."

"After the pro-government, I wanted to run Cao Ze and establish myself as a prestige." Coldly, Xiao Zhi said, "When the time comes, please plan more for me." ”

Stating his purpose so bluntly shows that the king trusts me, which is the greatest guarantee as a courtier.

"This matter needs to be considered in the long run." Sima Ni bowed deeply: "The old minister is willing to serve the work of dogs and horses." ”