For more than ten days, the Yue Wangfu has been shrouded in gloomy clouds and miser.

The princess washed her face with tears all day long, and suffered from Si'er. Zhu Zhandong, the king of Yue, always locked himself in the inner room and closed the door.

Early this morning, a degraded officer came from outside the palace gate - Xu Gong, the former commander of the Jinyi Guard and now a thousand households.

After Zhu Qiming was taken captive, Wang Zhen angrily reprimanded Xu Gong for repeatedly dereliction of duty, believing that if he continued to take charge of the Son of Heaven's army, he would have endless troubles. As a result, a holy decree came down, and Xu Gong's position was directly demoted by three levels, and the commander skipped the command of Tongzhi and commanded affairs, and became a thousand households in name only. And the commander Tongzhi Ma Shun successfully ascended to the position, and became the leader of the most powerful Son of Heaven army in Jinyiwei.

In terms of martial arts, Xu Gong is the third most powerful master in the Beijing army, second only to the commander of the horse and the governor of the left, Mao Fushou. He has high martial arts skills, is a decent person, and is not a driller, so although he is degraded, he has no resentment. Not only that, but because he is unofficial and light, he can ******** secretly investigate the case of Zhu Qiming's abduction.

After the assassination of Prince Yue's lamp market, the Empress Dowager secretly ordered him to secretly investigate the matter, but before the previous case had any eyebrows, Prince Yue was taken away. For more than ten days, he ran all the places in the capital that should be investigated, and his efforts paid off, and he finally found some clues in the documents and records of the General Administration Department and the Huitong Pavilion.

However, the Empress Dowager's holy body violated the harmony and could not listen to the government, and the emperor did not want to see him at all, so he had no choice but to come to the palace to find countermeasures.

After the doorkeeper passed the word, Shi Ouyangtong, the head of the palace, came out to pay a salute.

"Let Lord Xu wait for a long time, His Royal Highness King Yue does not want to see guests, I hope Lord Xu will understand." Ouyang Tong arched his hand.

"There are clues about thieves, it is related to the safety of His Royal Highness the Prince, and Ouyang Changshi is also asked to be accommodating." Xu Gong said hurriedly.

"Lord Xu's kindness, His Royal Highness King Yue understands it, but there are too many people who report like adults, and His Royal Highness is really ······" Ouyang Tong stopped here, and it was inconvenient to say the explicit words later.

Xu Gong can understand when he thinks about it, these days, there must be many people who are eager to come to the door to report the news, claiming to have found clues, but it turned out later that those so-called clues are just chasing after the wind and shadows, and King Yue must be overwhelmed.

Since that's all there is to say, it is useless to say more. Through the gate, Xu Gong glanced at the deserted palace compound, then said goodbye to Ouyang Tong, and turned around and left extremely lonely.

He wandered aimlessly to the Xuanwu Gate, and suddenly saw Hongli getting down from a carriage and preparing to return to the palace. Without thinking, he walked quickly to the side of the red knotweed, hugged his fists and said, "Miss the red knotweed." ”

Hongli was slightly stunned, and the expression on her face looked a little unnatural.

She is an older young woman who has reached the age of twenty-six, and she is at the age when Shaohua is flying, and in another three or five years, she will become a senior palace maid at the level of a grandmother, so she is already mentally prepared to die alone in the deep palace hall.

However, when she saw Xu Gong for the fourth time, for some reason there were ripples in her heart.

Although Xu Gong left an excellent impression on her and paved the way when she met the chief officer of Jinyi Wei on the orders of the Empress Dowager Yi the first three times, she did not expect this chance encounter to be so heartfelt. The strange feeling came too suddenly

Xu Gong is nearly thirty years old, and he is in charge of a pro-army of the Son of Heaven at a young age, with high martial arts and a well-known character, coupled with the extremely charming single identity of being unmarried, he has naturally become the "fifth diamond king" in the hearts of many women.

However, it is not these that attract Hongli, but the heroic look on Xu Gong's body, as well as the gentle temperament that is very different from the rude and rebellious martial arts.

And Wang Zhen's calculations and Ma Shun's ambition made her completely inclined to Xu Gong's side in the psychological balance.

"There has been a lot of turmoil in the capital recently, don't you come unharmed?" Seeing Xu Gong's lonely look, she felt pity.

"Thank you girl, fame and fortune are just a passing moment, I don't care. There is only one thing, which is related to the safety of Prince Yue, and he has to bother the girl to help. Receiving the greeting from the red knotweed, Xu Gong's heart was filled with warmth.

"Found a clue to Prince Yue's captivity?" Red Lotus asked excitedly.

"Not bad. The emperor doesn't want to see me, and the queen mother has violated the eucharist and can't listen to the government, and now the only hope is to see the queen mother as soon as possible. ”

"I understand, are you worried that your request to see the Queen Mother will be hindered by the celebrant supervisor, so you asked me to pass it on your behalf? This matter is not difficult, you quickly go to the noon gate and wait. ”

Hongli said goodbye to Xu Gong, hurriedly returned to the palace, and told the Queen Mother what Xu Gong asked to see.

The Queen Mother was silent for a long time, looking very embarrassed.

She had to weigh the pros and cons repeatedly.

Although he has the right to listen to the government, but there is an emperor in the previous dynasty and a queen mother in the harem.

In the past few days, she has lived in a simple house, dedicated to worshipping the Buddha, and her state of mind is no longer what it used to be. She found that the quiet days were pleasant, but the feeling of standing on the wind was unsettling.

However, interrogating the case of Qi Ming's abduction is enough to show her the virtue of the queen mother, and this temptation is irresistible.

What's more, she really likes Qi Ming's child.

Seeing that the Queen Mother hesitated, Hong Lian persuaded: "The Queen Mother, it is a matter of the safety of Prince Yue. ”

As soon as the red knotweed urged, the balance in the queen mother's heart tilted.

"You go to Qingning Palace with the mourning family."

······

When she arrived at Qingning Palace, the only thing the Queen Mother could do was to wait patiently for the Queen Mother to wake up.

More than ten days ago, in order to deal with the undercurrent in the harem of the former dynasty, the Empress Dowager was exhausted, and caught up with Zhu Qiming's captivity.

After seeing it, the doctor kept his mouth shut and didn't talk about the condition, only saying that he needed to recuperate on the couch.

These days, she has been sleeping on the couch, and occasionally waking up, she is also delirious.

The Queen Mother waited for half an hour, and the Queen Mother woke up slowly.

The Queen Mother cautiously walked to the front of the couch and said softly: "The concubine respectfully invites the Queen Mother Sheng'an!"

The Empress Dowager only glanced at the people around her with a confused gaze, then turned her head sideways, drowsy.

"Xu Gong found the clue of Qi Ming's captivity, and wanted to report to the Empress Dowager, at this moment, he was outside the noon gate." The Queen Mother said urgently.

The Empress Dowager's eyes lit up and her body moved. The maid hurriedly and carefully helped her to sit up.

"The Emperor······ Emperor. The Empress Dowager muttered two words.

"Oh, Xu Gongfang is belittled, and the emperor doesn't want to see him."

After a moment's hesitation, the Empress Dowager snorted: "You go ······"

"Are you the concubine who summoned Xu Gong?"

The Empress Dowager bowed her head, and then laboriously spit out two words: "Regulation······ System. ”

······

According to the system, foreign ministers are not allowed to enter the harem, and the queen mother is in her prime, so it is not appropriate to show her face in front of foreign ministers, so the queen mother ordered people to set up a curtain in the Yongsu Palace, and did what many queen mothers have done in history - to listen to the government.

She also ordered someone to send Jin Ying, a minister trusted by the Empress Dowager, and asked him to serve in Yongsu Hall together with Hongli.

Xu Gong walked into the Yongsu Hall with steady steps.

"The minister, the Jinyi, the guard, the thousand households, Xu Gong greeted the Queen Mother." Xu Gong knelt and hugged his fists.

"Flat."

"Empress Dowager Xie!" Xu Gong got up and said: "For more than ten days, the minister has checked all the places in the capital that should be investigated, and the minister thinks that it is not the Tatars who have captured the prince of Yue, but the Warats. ”

Jin Ying and Hongli were taken aback, and the Queen Mother in the curtain stood up in shock, fortunately there was a curtain in the way, otherwise, she would have to lose her posture in front of the internal and external ministers.

After a long time, a voice from behind the curtain came with obvious doubts: "You make it clear." ”

"Yes. The minister consulted the customs clearance documents reported by the Xuanfu and the records of the stay of the same hall, the Tatar envoys entered the customs six people, stayed in the same hall six people, on the sixteenth day of the first month, the Tatar envoys left Beijing, that night at the right time, someone saw six Tatar envoys in Tongzhou, and at that time, it was the time when the prince of Yue was taken captive in the capital. ”

"In this way, when Qi Ming was taken captive, the Tatar envoys were already far away from the capital?" The Queen Mother seems to have understood.

"Exactly. The minister inadvertently consulted the customs clearance documents reported by the Datong Mansion, and the Wara envoy entered the customs with twelve people, while only seven people stayed in the same hall, and the other five were missing. Coincidentally, there were exactly five thieves who appeared at the scene of the abduction. ”

"Ahh There was a soft sound of surprise from behind the curtain.

"Yesterday, Datong Mansion sent someone to send out of the customs documents, when the Wara envoy went out of the customs, there were still only seven people, the minister asked the people sent by the Datong Mansion, he happened to see the Wara envoy, and then described to the minister the figure of the missing five people, which is very consistent with the appearance of the thief described by the captain of the Jinyi Guard."

The air in the main hall seemed to be about to freeze.

This is the most valuable clue found so far about Zhu Qiming's abduction.

However, the closer to the truth, the more strange the atmosphere became, which made the Queen Mother feel unbearable.

"What are the Warats trying to do?" The Queen Mother asked quietly.

"I think it is related to the war between Warat and Tatar, and the minister found out that on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, the king of Yue and the envoys of Warat will meet in the light market ······"

"That's the end of it, Hugh has to mention it again! When Warat and Tatar were at war, the Ming Dynasty watched from the wall, which was the meaning of the ministers in the court, and had nothing to do with the Empress Dowager. The Queen Mother interrupted Xu Gong's words, she had heard a little about the secret meeting of the Queen Mother of Yue, and the details were probably only known to the Queen Mother, the Emperor, the King of Yue and the cabinet Yuan Fu Yang Shiqi, she didn't want to hear the secrets of the Queen Mother, especially taboo others to reveal the secrets of the Queen Mother in front of her.

"Slave ······" The red knotweed wanted to speak and stopped.

"It is a taboo for the palace maid to discuss politics, but today it is not forbidden to mourn the family in the Yongsu Palace." The Queen Mother said.

"Yes. The slave and maid dared to speculate on the empress dowager's foresight, and the empress dowager must intend to take in the remnants of the Tatars as a bargaining chip to contain the Varat in the future, and the Varat must be very jealous of this, so they deliberately blamed the Tartars, so that the Ming Dynasty completely eliminated the intention of taking in the Tatars, even if the blame failed, as long as they had hostages in their hands, the Ming had to watch from the wall. ”

Jin Ying looked at the red knotweed, and her face was solemn. "The girl has such a delicate heart! The Empress Dowager did have this intention, but the plan of the Warat people still succeeded. The four Tatar tribes sent a letter to beg for surrender, and the emperor was convinced of the rumors that the Tatars had taken away the prince of Yue, so he replied to the letter three days ago. ”

The queen mother's head is big, it turns out that listening to politics is so laborious! She doesn't have the foresight of the Queen Mother, she only cares about the case.

"How did the Warat people know Qi Ming's whereabouts?"

Although the Queen Mother's voice was extremely soft, it sounded like thunder to Xu Gong and the others.

In the past ten days, countless people have had the same question, but no one wants to think about it deeply, because the thought of the internal response of thieves in the Forbidden City is even more terrible than a nightmare!

"On that day, the prince of Yue was escorted out of the palace, and the order was given to Feng Duo, the servant of the Qingning Palace, and the minister was the minister, but the minister and Feng Duo were both people under the lamp, and they couldn't be thieves.

The Queen Mother only felt a chill down her spine, and she secretly reminded herself that after returning to the palace, she would immediately replace the Empress Dowager and the Emperor with strong martial arts guards.

"Do you want to search the palace?"

Xu Gong hesitated for a moment and said: "If you have no clue, you will find nothing in the palace, but you will be startled." The minister thought that the top priority was to rescue Prince Yue. ”

The Queen Mother suddenly sobered up, yes, only to save Qi Ming would not violate her original intention of hanging the curtain and listening to the government.

"Qi Ming should be rescued at all costs! Xu Gong, I'll leave this matter to you. ”

"Yes, the minister! Since it is to blame the trouble, the five thieves will abandon Datong and go to Xuanfu, so as to wait for the opportunity to leave Xuanfu. The minister immediately set off and went straight to Xuanfu. ”

"Good! The mourning family ordered people to pick out hundreds of strong people from the brocade guards, and you will lead them. ”

"Qi Yu Empress Dowager, it is too risky to intercept and snatch people, and I am afraid of hurting Prince Yue, this is the next policy; And there are many people, and it is easy to leak the rumors, so the minister is willing to go alone. ”

The Queen Mother thought about it for a long time, and said quietly: "Fortunately, everyone thinks that Qi Ming was taken away by the Tatar envoys, and the guards of the Yue Wangfu have chased to Xuanfu, and the Jinyi Guard has also arrived at the border of the town with a thousand men, which is really crooked!" Xu Gong, you can contact these two people as appropriate, and the mourning family will give you the right to act cheaply. ”

"Yes!"

The Queen Mother sighed: "In the vast north, looking for a needle in a haystack, when will we be able to find Qi Ming!" Hongli, you take some silver from Xianxi Palace and give it to Xu Qianhu. Jin Ying, when you go to report to the emperor, you will say that Xu Gong has received a mission here in the mourning family, and the time for the end of the mission is uncertain. Remember! Don't talk about today's things to others, as for the queen mother, the mourning family will report it. ”