At that time, Zhang Heng sat on the side, and heard that the two commanders of Yang Guang's hussar battalion had something to report, and was about to get up to avoid it, but was stopped by Yang Guang waving his hand.

"Let him two in." Yang Guang first instructed Li and Pei Er to enter the post station to meet each other, and then said to Zhang Heng with a smile, "Jianping, as soon as the King of Han arrives, you will hand over the official duties of Taiwan, and you will also follow the king back to Chang'an. ”

Zhang Heng nodded yes and stayed.

After a while, I saw Li Hun and Pei Qiantong follow into the hall sweating profusely, and saluted Yang Guang with a fist: "The last general will see the prince." I've seen Zhang Shangshu. ”

"Why did you two come back together? Pei Qiantong, did he ever bring the king's message to Su Shangshu (Su Wei was also the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Jing Zhaoyin at this time, so Yang Guang called it so)? Yang Guang saw that the second general was anxious, and he was secretly surprised in his heart, so he took the lead in asking Pei Qiantong.

Pei Qiantong glanced at Zhang Heng, and replied without saying anything: "Lord Qiqi, before the last general returned to Chang'an, Su Shangshu had already received a message from the falcon. This time, the last general was ordered by Su Shangshu to urgently return to Bingzhou with General Li Hun to see the prince. Because I heard that the prince had come to this Fenhe Station, I specially rushed to ask for a meeting. ”

"Zhang Shangshu is not an outsider, if you have anything to say, you might as well say it directly."

Pei Qian understood Yang Guang's words, so he dispelled his worries and said directly: "After Su Shangshu received the message from the prince, he wanted to follow the prince's instructions and send Zhang Xutuo to the state as soon as possible. But unexpectedly, Zhang Xutuo escaped from prison seven days ago. So, Su Shangshu ordered the end to rush back first to inform the prince, and at the same time, Tomo will tell the prince that he will do his best to find Zhang Xutuo in order to live up to the prince's trust. ”

Yang Guang stood up with "Teng", stared at Pei Qiantong with his eyes, and asked, "What are you talking about, Zhang Xutuo escaped from the prison of Jingzhao Yamen?" Tell me in detail, what the hell is going on? ”

Li Hun took a step forward and replied with his fists clenched: "When Su Shangshu sent someone to the palace to report the news, the last general was also there, and after learning the news of Zhang Xutuo's escape, he immediately rushed to Jingzhao Mansion with General Pei to inquire about the details. According to Su Shangshu's introduction to the two of us, seven days ago, Su Shangshu had urgent matters to deal with because of the urgent affairs of the Ministry of Civil Affairs that he was also in charge of, and he was not in Jingzhao Mansion at that time, so who knew that such a thing happened. Su Shangshu also summoned the jailer who was in charge of Zhang Xutuo in front of the last general and the other two, and the confession of the existing jailer is here, please take a look at it. ”

As he spoke, he took out a signed confession from his arms and presented it to Yang Guang.

Yang Guang hurriedly took the confession from Li Hun's hand and looked at it with a frown.

The jailer's confession wrote: The night before he was on duty, he had not seen any abnormal reaction of Zhang Xutuo in the cell where he was being held, but at four o'clock that night, he suddenly heard Zhang Xutuo moaning in pain in the cell, at that time, he was worried that Zhang Xutuo would have a sudden attack in the middle of the night, so he opened the door of the cell, walked into the cell to inquire, did not admit that Zhang Xutuo took advantage of his unpreparedness, knocked him unconscious with a punch, and fled the door, and when he woke up, Zhang Xutuo had already disappeared.

At the end of the confession was the name of the jailer, and his fingerprint was pressed. Yang Guang saw at a glance that the jailer's signature was Xue Shixiong's three words, and he vaguely felt that he had heard of this name somewhere, but it was difficult to think about it for a while, so he handed this confession to Zhang Heng, and continued to ask Li Hun: "Su Shangshu didn't tell you two of you, Zhang Xutuo is so dignified, why did he injure the jailer and escape from prison?" ”

Li Hun shook his head and replied: "Su Shangshu only said to the last general and the other two at that time, since Zhang Xutuo was imprisoned, the prince Neifang ordered Ji Wei to go to Jingzhao Yamen every day to urge him to send Zhang Xutuo to the west as soon as possible. Therefore, Su Shangshu suspected that Zhang Xutuo's bizarre escape from prison was likely related to Ji Wei. However, no definite evidence has been obtained at the moment, and he is still continuing to investigate. ”

"Su Shangshu ordered the two of you to return to Bingzhou immediately to report to this king, does it also mean that the two of you are ordered to search for Zhang Xutuo's whereabouts along the way?" Yang Guang thought for a moment and asked Li Hun.

"The prince sees it clearly. However, the last general did not find any news of Zhang Xutuo along the way. Li Hun replied helplessly.

After instructing Li Hun and Pei Qiantong to step back for the time being, Yang Guang briefly introduced to Zhang Heng the process of Zhang Xutuo staying in Chang'an on an errand and being unjustly imprisoned, and then asked for his opinion: "Jianping, in your opinion, Su Wei has received a reply from this king, and is willing to send Zhang Xutuo to Bingzhou as soon as possible, in this case, why did Zhang Xutuo escape from prison?" ”

Although Zhang Heng didn't know very well what Yang Guang had done in Chang'an, he had heard him say that Zhang Xutuo was wrongfully imprisoned for peeping at the prince's concubine, and he also knew that this matter was very tricky, so he lowered his head and thought about it before he said in a deep voice: "If it is inferred from common sense, when Su Wei detained Zhang Xutuo, he must have hinted that he would report the news of his unjust imprisonment to the prince as soon as possible, and when Su Wei received the reply from the prince, the situation became more favorable for Zhang Xutuo. Unless he was threatened to a considerable extent after that, he would never have made such an unwise move as escaping from prison. ”

"Do you mean that Zhang Xutuo was threatened with his life in the cell of Jingzhao Yamen before he escaped from prison, and he was forced to take the risk?" Yang Guang looked at Zhang Heng and asked.

According to the analysis of the current situation, this is the most likely reason to force Zhang Xutuo to escape from prison. However, judging from the fact that General Li Hun'er failed to find Zhang Xutuo's whereabouts on the way back to Bingzhou from Chang'an, it is very likely that the other party had blocked the path of Zhang Xutuo's escape back to Bingzhou before forcing Zhang Xutuo to escape from prison, and it cannot be ruled out that they wanted to force Zhang Xutuo to escape from prison and then try to get rid of him. Zhang Heng tightened his eyebrows and replied.

"These bold traitors, in order to cover up their corrupt and perverted the law, actually wanted to kill people and bully the king! Why don't I immediately repair a letter and present this matter to the eldest brother, but I want them to take a good look! Yang Guang couldn't hold back the anger in his heart for a while, and shouted loudly.

"The prince must not." Zhang Heng hurriedly got up and dissuaded, "If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first learns about this matter from the prince, even if he severely disposes of Ji Wei and the others based on brotherhood, he will inevitably have a grudge against the prince in the future, and this matter must not be rushed." According to the speculation of the lower officials, there was such a big thing as the escape of the suspect from the Jingzhao Yamen, Su Wei would not dare to hide it, and most of them had already made it clear to the emperor, as long as the emperor learned of this and strictly ordered Su Wei to hunt down Zhang Xutuo, Ji Wei and other people who were secretly doing wrong would not dare to blatantly pursue and kill Zhang Xutuo. In addition, the prince will return to Beijing by order, and in time, this matter will definitely come to light. ”

"When the Han Dynasty first arrived and merged with the state, it will take some time to settle the matters. It's better to bother Lao Jianping to take the first step, lead Li and Pei Er to return to Chang'an as soon as possible, and cooperate with Su Wei to try his best to find Zhang Xutuo's whereabouts, what do you think? ”

"The subordinate obeys."