"Your Highness, I don't know what to call the ministers so late?" Liu Yuanzhi, the head of the household, was sitting in the front hall of Yanwang's Mansion, looking at Shi Shi who was sitting not far from him. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Su asked Liu Shangshu to be loyal to the monarch and sympathetic to the people, I don't know if the support for this king is true or false." Shi Shi took a sip of tea, gently put down the teacup, looked at Liu Yuanzhi and asked.

"His Royal Highness is both benevolent and virtuous, and the minister is naturally loyal to His Highness, does His Highness have any doubts about the minister?" Liu Yuanzhi is not shy about it.

"Lord Liu is a young talent, among the various books, you are the youngest, and everyone outside says that you are stained with the light of Sister Ling, I don't know what Lord Liu thinks?"

Liu Yuanzhi replied calmly: "The sister has the grace of His Majesty, and the minister naturally has some light, but the minister has always been conscientious and does not dare to neglect his duties. ”

"If one day, Ling Mei stands on King Qing's side, will Lord Liu be influenced by Ling Mei?"

As soon as Liu Yuanzhi heard Shi Shi's words, he immediately stood up from his chair and asked, "What does Your Highness mean by this?" Could it be that my sister said something unfavorable to His Highness in front of His Majesty? ”

Shi Shi shook his hand and replied with a smile: "Lord Liu, don't be nervous, this king didn't say that Ling Mei helped King Qing, but this king has something to tell Lord Liu." ”

"Your Highness, please speak!" Liu Yuanzhi has already made a little wave in his heart.

Shi Shi stood up, walked to Liu Yuanzhi's side, and said, "Sister Ling is now in the Qiansheng Temple on Wolong Mountain, and it just so happens that King Qing is also there!" ”

Liu Yuanzhi was shocked and asked, "How did Your Highness learn about this?" ”

"In the afternoon, Zhang Bao sent someone to inform the king that he had gone to the Qiansheng Temple, just to see what King Qing wanted to do with Ling Mei."

Liu Yuanzhi hesitated a little and said: "The sister should not listen to King Qing's words, King Qing is very scheming and ruthless, although the sister is a woman, she should also be able to see the bad." ”

"I hope it will be as Lord Liu said."

Liu Yuanzhi nodded a little embarrassedly.

"By the way, how did last year's household registration record go?" Shi Shi suddenly asked.

"Back to Your Highness, last year's household registration has been completed, and compared with the year before, the number of household registrations seems to have decreased." Liu Yuanzhi whispered.

"Have you analyzed the reasons for the decline in the number of household registrations?"

"Last year, there was a famine in the area of Licheng, and many people died......"

"Didn't Lao Jiu receive food for disaster relief? He also reported to his father that the disaster had eased, and only a small number of people starved to death before the food was allocated, how could this be? ”

"The ministers already knew about this matter, and in order to win over the lower officials, King Qing specially ordered his housekeeper Tan Yuan to send two boxes of jewelry to the lower officials, but the lower officials had already refused."

"It seems that last year's disaster relief food must have been swallowed by Lao Jiu, so in this way, Ling Mei must be the object he wants to woo, so as to win you over through Ling Mei."

Liu Yuanzhi was stunned, knelt down to Shi Shi and said: "Your Highness, Xiaguan is not the kind of person who chases fame and fortune, even if King Qing tempts me with profit, Xiaguan will not acquiesce in his behavior of disregarding people's lives." ”

"Then why didn't you report to my father and me about his embezzlement of grain?"

Liu Yuanzhi replied with some embarrassment: "Back to His Royal Highness, the lower officials are only suspicious, and there is no evidence......"

Shi Shi glanced at Liu Yuanzhi with some resentment, and said, "You find out this matter as soon as possible, and then inform your father." ”

"Xia Guan knows, but Xia Guan has one thing he doesn't understand." Liu Yuanzhi raised his head and glanced at Shi Shi.

"What's the matter?"

"A few years ago, Xiaguan reported to His Majesty the problem of the decrease in the number of household registrations around Licheng, and His Majesty also asked the reason for the decline of Xiaguan, and Xiaguan said that it was very likely to be the cause of the disaster, and His Majesty listened to it and did not react."

Shi Shi frowned slightly, stood up, and said to himself: "Could it be that my father already knew that Lao Jiu did this?" ”

Shi Shi suddenly raised his head and asked, "Have you checked those who have less household registration?" Is it mainly Han Chinese or Qian? ”

Liu Yuanzhi was stunned for a moment and replied: "The lower official is ashamed, I didn't expect this...... So I haven't checked ...... yet."

"You go check it out, give the king the results as soon as possible, okay, you go back."

"Your Majesty will take your leave, and Your Highness will rest early." Liu Yuanzhi was a little embarrassed to leave.

Shi Shi waved his hand and motioned to retreat.

Liu Yuanzhi silently withdrew from the front hall of Yanwang's Mansion.

Just after the hour, the cold wind blew through the Qiansheng Temple, and the whole Taoist temple was peaceful, only the "rattling" of tree branches and gusts of wind could be heard.

A guard on night duty was leaning against a pillar and taking a nap.

Suddenly, the guard was kicked from behind, and one stumbled and fell to the ground, and quickly got up and turned around to draw his knife.

"Deputy Commander ......" When the guard saw that it was Wen Cang, he immediately wilted.

Wen Cang scolded in a low voice: "What a big courage, let you dare to take a nap here at night, if something goes wrong with the safety of the concubine Niangniang, you and I and the brothers will not be in danger!" ”

The guard immediately knelt down and said, "Deputy commander, my subordinates know that I am wrong, I ...... last night."

"What people!"

Wen Cang suddenly vaguely saw a black shadow flashing a hundred steps away, shouted loudly, and immediately drew his knife and rushed over, the guard who was kneeling on the ground was completely awakened by Wen Cang's sudden voice, and hurriedly ran over.

Wen Cang ran to the place where the figure appeared just now, held the knife in his right hand, and cautiously looked around, but did not find anyone.

The guard was also next to Wen Cang, and he searched around for a long time, but he didn't find anything, so he whispered to Wen Cang: "Deputy commander, there is no one here." ”

Wen Cang looked serious and said, "Impossible, just now I clearly saw a figure flashing by." ”

Wen Cang said, walked a few steps forward, walked to the position where the figure appeared just now, squatted on the ground and took a closer look, there were a few footprints on the ground, obviously someone had just passed by.

Wen Cang's face suddenly became a little ugly, this person's martial arts are extraordinary, his skills are extremely fast, he can disappear from his eyes so easily, if he really wants to assassinate, I am afraid it will be difficult to prevent.

"Vice-Commander, what's going on?" A few guards nearby had just heard the movement and rushed over.

"Someone must have passed by here just now, you guys hurry back to your posts, you go and call everyone up! No one is allowed to sleep tonight. Wen Cang pointed to the guard who was napping just now and ordered.

At this moment, a scream came from Liu Guifei's room: "Someone! There are assassins! ”

"Not good! Just go! Wen Cang was shocked, rushed to Liu Guifei's house in three steps and two steps, and kicked open the door of Liu Guifei's room, Liu Guifei was hiding from the slashing of a man in black.

Suddenly, Liu Guifei fell to the ground, and the man in black swung a knife at Liu Guifei, seeing that a knife was about to fall on Liu Guifei's neck, only to hear the sound of "bell", Liu Guifei opened her eyes and saw that it was Wen Cang who took out the knife to block the fatal blow of the man in black.

"Mother, let's go!" Wen Cang shouted at the panicked Concubine Liu.

Liu Guifei was shouted back to her senses by Wen Cang's voice, and hurriedly dodged and prepared to run out of the door.

At this moment, the man in black took advantage of Wen Cang's unpreparedness, kicked Wen Cang to the ground, and turned around to chase Liu Guifei.

After Wen Cang fell to the ground, he saw that the man in black wanted to chase Liu Guifei again, so he swung his knife and slashed at the man's heel in a hurry. Seeing this, the man in black hurriedly dodged, and Wen Cang took the opportunity to "turn over" with a "harrier", jumped up from the ground, and formed a confrontation with the man in black.

Wen Cang and the man in black looked at each other, and suddenly the man in black waved his hand and threw out a flying knife, hitting Wen Cang's front door, Wen Cang hurriedly dodged, and the flying knife was nailed to the pillar with a "bang", and the man in black took the opportunity to run outside the house.

At this time, Liu Guifei had already rushed to the courtyard, and Wen Cang's guards were already entangled with several other black-clothed people, and several of the guards had fallen to the ground.

Liu Guifei's frightened face turned pale, and she hurriedly fled for her life to the side room where Shi Zun lived.

The man in black rushed out of the room, and when he saw that Liu Guifei was running away, he immediately chased after him, and Wen Cang also followed behind him.

At this moment, Liu Guifei stumbled and fell again, she hurriedly looked back at the man in black, and wanted to get up and escape, but it seemed that her foot was injured and she couldn't stand up.

Seeing this, Wen Cang hurriedly waved his hand and threw the knife in his hand towards the man in black, wanting to distract the man in black, but he never thought that the man in black seemed to have eyes behind him, so he easily dodged Wen Cang's knife, jumped in front of Liu Guifei with an arrow step, and raised his knife to cut down.

"Ah~" Liu Guifei covered her face and screamed in fright.

At this moment, a long sword stabbed at him, and the man in black suddenly jumped up again to dodge.

After the man in black dodged the sword, he stood firmly on the ground, Liu Guifei heard the movement, opened her eyes, and saw Shi Zun dressed in a single coat, standing in front of her with a sword, looking at the man in black.

"What people! Dare to assassinate the concubine! Shi Zun shouted.

The man in black didn't speak, waved his hand and raised his knife to slash at Shi Zun, Shi Zun raised his sword to block, and shouted to Liu Guifei behind him: "Niang Niang go first." ”

Liu Guifei nodded in a panic, and crawled to find a place to hide.

Seeing that Shi Zun was distracted, the man in black turned his blade and slashed at Shi Zun's shoulder, Shi Zun reacted and hurriedly dodged, but he didn't expect the man in black's knife technique to be extremely fast, Shi Zun's left arm was still cut, and blood flowed out immediately.

Wen Cang had already rushed over, pulled out a short sword from his waist, and fought with the man in black, and the two turned over and jumped into the courtyard. Shi Zun endured the pain in his arm, held the sword in his right hand, and hurriedly joined the battle, joining forces with Wen Cang and the others to deal with the man in black.

The man in black scratched his skills, and under the attack of Wen Cang and Shi Zun, he fought for more than a dozen rounds in a row, and he didn't fall behind at all with one enemy and two enemies.