Chapter 412: Anguo Temple (3)

The imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty, at the foot of the Son of Heaven, the center of imperial power.

As a royal temple, Anguo Temple receives guests who are not only emperors but also nobles, and the people who come and go are rich and noble. This means that the so-called Pure Land of Buddhism is actually a whirlpool of disputes or entanglements of interests.

Ankokuji Temple does not rely on incense money to survive, and all of it is supported by the royal family. But this does not mean that the incense money of Ankokuji Temple is a small amount - in fact, it is not a small amount, but a very large number.

You must know that including the emperor, all the guests who come to the incense are not empty-handed, and these super pilgrims can imagine how big they are, so over time, the incense money of Anguo Temple is definitely a huge benefit cake.

So, where does all this money go? It's scary to think about.

Ordinary monks of Anguo Temple are not qualified to intervene, but monks with a certain status in the temple probably understand that this piece of fat has been plundered by the power and eunuchs of the Inner Service Province - this has become the largest source of external money for eunuchs at all levels in the Inner Service Province, of course, as the high-level monks of the temple, the old monk Deyuan and others can also get a piece of the pie.

This is a huge chain of interests, and if you dig deeper, you will definitely be able to dig out a lot of people.

Therefore, in Anguo Temple, the eunuchs of the Inner Servant Province actually come and go often. In the opinion of the old monk Deyuan, this probably has nothing to do with the tragedy that happened in the Ten Princes' Mansion, but only related to interests.

The old monk Deyuan turned his head to look at Yue Peng with an embarrassed expression.

In fact, the old monk didn't know when Yue Peng entered Anguo Temple, but he knew that Yue Peng was the confidant of the eunuch Yu Chaoen in the palace, and the fat fish Chaoen of Anguo Temple was not suitable for him to come forward in person, and Yue Peng had always done it for him. Yue Peng often goes in and out of Anguo Temple, and he has long been familiar with the monks of Anguo Temple.

Yue Peng's face was pale, his head hung down, and his shoulders were trembling slightly.

The old monk Deyuan was also a little restless in his heart. If this matter is really stabbed on the table by Kong Sheng, it is a trivial matter for him, the host master, to be ruined, or even killed.

The corner of Kong Sheng's eyes swept over Yue Peng, and his heart slowly became a little brighter.

There is no doubt that Yue Peng's appearance in Anguo Temple is no accident, and all kinds of suspiciousness directly made Kong Sheng suddenly realize that he had ignored the most important suspect - Yu Chaoen, the powerful eunuch in the palace and the provincial supervisor of the inner chamberlain who is now covering the sky with one hand, and the red man around the emperor.

So, could it be like this?

Yu Chaoen sent people to secretly instruct these thirty-eight spies who had infiltrated Shenlongwei, instructed them to falsely pass on the holy decree and rush into Xingqing Palace under the banner of Shenlongwei, and kidnapped more than 100 horses of Emperor Li Longji, his original intention was not to provoke Li Longji, but to lead the dirty water to Shenlongwei and Kong Sheng, and add blockage to Kong Sheng's heart.

Under Yu Chaoen's arrangement, 38 Shenlong guards who committed the crime wrapped more than 100 horses and hid in the Ten Kings' Mansion unknowingly, which was controlled by Yu Chaoen. The Ten Princes' Mansion is essentially managed by the Ministry of Internal Servants, and Yu Chaoen has this authority.

But what Yu Chaoen didn't expect was that the backlash on the side of Xingqing Palace was too much - not only did the Emperor Li Longji personally enter the palace to question the emperor, but also the variable of the general Chen Xuanli rushing to the palace with armor.

After the bloody conflict at Suzaku Gate, this incident began to escalate invisibly, shaking the entire government and the opposition. Whether it was Kong Sheng's reaction, or the emperor's anger, as well as the high attention of all parties, they all greatly exceeded Yu Chaoen's expectations, which also forced him to continue to push the flames.

Later, Kong Sheng's investigation became more and more intense, the Shenlongwei and the forbidden army blocked the whole city, the emperor was always concerned, Yu Chaoen had no chance to transfer the Shenlongwei and horses out of the city, in order to protect himself and eliminate the traces of the crime, he decisively ordered all the horses to be shot together, and the criminals involved included Li Fuguo and others who were controlled by him in the Ten Kings' Mansion, all of them were poisoned and killed.

And the one who replaced Yu Chaoen to do all this is most likely Yue Peng.

If Kong Sheng can't track down the Ten Princes' Mansion, over time, Yu Chaoen will have the energy to clean up all traces of this matter. But unexpectedly, Kong Sheng got the news for some reason, preemptively surrounded Anguo Temple and the Ten Kings' Mansion when Yu Chaoen was caught off guard, and invited the emperor to personally inspect it, and the next tragic scene was exposed in broad daylight.

Kong Sheng stood tall and gloomy, he combed his messy thoughts little by little, and slowly pointed all the fingers at Yu Chaoen.

Then, if it is really Yu Chaoen who is the main culprit behind the scenes, this Yue Peng is a key figure. As soon as he thought of this, Kong Sheng's expression was awe-inspiring, and he turned around to look at Yue Peng with a murderous aura, his eyes were as sharp as a knife, and he saw Yue Peng's creepy cold sweat.

He has a ghost in his heart, how can he not be afraid?

Kong Sheng raised his hand and pointed at Yue Peng, and said in a deep voice: "Nanba, immediately bring this person back to the Shenlongwei Yamen, send heavy troops to escort him along the way, first put him in the Shenlongwei prison, and then the official will have a good talk with him!" ”

Nan Jiyun received the order, and immediately ordered the forbidden army to collect the team, tied up Yue Peng and the other three eunuchs, and then violently withdrew from Anguo Temple and wanted to return to the Shenlongwei Yamen.

Kong Sheng glanced at the old monk Deyuan, and arched his hand casually, "Master, this official is on official business, so don't pass by-come here, withdraw!" ”

Kong Sheng led all the forbidden troops and the Shenlongwei to roar out, withdraw from Anguo Temple, and retreat to the Shenlongwei Yamen.

The old monk of Deyuan turned pale. What he cared about was not the safety of Yue Peng's three eunuchs, but the various evil consequences of the vines of interests in Anguo Temple. If that time comes, even the emperor will not be able to protect him.

In fact, when a Buddhist monk suddenly became a greedy parasite, the saliva of the religious community and the criticism of the people of Chang'an alone could kill him.

……

The spring breeze was still cold, with a slight chill sweeping across the city. Hundreds of forbidden troops and Shenlongwei guarded the prisoners and quickly passed through Changle Fang, retreated south, and prepared to return to the Shenlongwei Yamen outside Chengtianmen along the junction of Yongxingfang and Anningfang.

The people in the fang have been accustomed to the fact that the forbidden army and the Shenlongwei roared through the streets and alleys during this period of time, but it did not cause too much turmoil, but many people who were interested saw that the soldiers of the forbidden army were escorting several prisoners dressed as eunuchs in the palace as if they were facing a great enemy, and they were secretly awe-inspiring, guessing whether something big had happened.

Generally, the crimes of eunuchs in the palace are dealt with by the internal servants, and they are rarely handed over to the external stewards and yamen to investigate. The forbidden army and Shenlongwei went against the norm, and actually arrested several eunuchs in the palace and openly swaggered through the market, which was the first time in the history of Chang'an City.

Kong Sheng took several Shenlong guards directly from Jianfu Gate into the Daming Palace, preparing to report to the emperor. After all, Yue Peng, the chief servant of the Inner Servant Province, was arrested from a royal temple like Anguo Temple, and because Yue Peng was also a well-known leader of the eunuchs in front of the emperor, although Kong Sheng had the power to be arbitrary, he could not help but report to the emperor.

But before Kong Sheng arrived at the Lin De Palace, where the emperor was stationed, Nan Yong galloped into the Daming Palace with an ugly face, and came a bad news that made Kong Sheng's mind change drastically - on the way back to Shenlongwei, as soon as the escort of the forbidden army left Changle Fang, several black-clothed masked assassins with high martial arts skills swept across the sky like a dragon out of the water, and shot Yue Peng with a hidden weapon in full view of everyone, and then disappeared.

These assassins echoed back and forth, high and high, and they were not at all able to resist the ordinary soldiers of the Forbidden Army.

Kong Sheng had a stirring spirit in his heart, knowing that something was wrong, and he couldn't help but secretly regret that he was too careless, if Yue Peng was really involved in the tragedy of the Ten Princes' Mansion, then Yu Chaoen, as the main culprit behind the scenes, would definitely not let Yue Peng be escorted into the Shenlong Guard alive, in order to protect himself, he had to kill people.

Yue Peng was killed, the clues were immediately interrupted, everything was just Kong Sheng's suspicion and judgment, without Yue Peng's confirmation and testimony, it was difficult to find out the suspect Yu Chaoen.

As for the remaining two little eunuchs, since the killer spared these two, it obviously means that they have no knowledge of this case.

Yue Peng's body was delivered outside the Jianfu Gate by the Shenlong Guard. Kong Sheng's face sank like water, staring at the sharp dart with a strange shape stuck in Yue Peng's throat, he was silent for a long time, and his eyes flashed.

Nan Yong looked at Kong Sheng with some apprehension, silently waiting aside, while the other forbidden army soldiers became even more frightened. Yue Peng is one of the few eunuch leaders in the palace, Kong Sheng actually took a certain political risk to take him down from Anguo Temple, obviously because he had a major relationship with the tragedy of the Ten Princes' Mansion, and he was such an important criminal, but he was killed and assassinated in public under their escort, which obviously put Kong Sheng in a very embarrassing and dangerous situation!

Whether Yue Peng committed the crime remains to be investigated, and he is currently only a suspect. And the suspect was killed, Yue Peng, as the chief eunuch of the Inner Serving Province, died on the way to the forbidden army's guard, how could Yu Chaoen of the Inner Serving Province give up, and Kong Sheng was also difficult to explain clearly - saying that there was no evidence for his crime, and even if the evidence of the crime was conclusive, Yue Peng's life must be preserved without the emperor's will and the judgment of Yousi.

Kong Sheng has not completely cleared up the trouble of the Ten Kings Mansion tragedy, and now there is Yue Peng being killed, which is a big headache to think about.

Nan Yong led a cadre of soldiers to kneel on the ground: "General, the last general and other escorts are ineffective, so that they are killed by thieves, please punish the general!" ”

Kong Sheng sighed lightly: "Nan Yong, this matter actually has nothing to do with you, it is all to blame for the inconsiderate and negligent nature of the official." Obviously, Yue Peng's extermination is inseparable from the culprit behind the scenes, since he took the risk to send assassins to assassinate Yue Peng in public, it obviously shows that we have touched his root - this kind of highly skilled Jianghu people come and go without a trace, and it is difficult for ordinary soldiers to deal with it, that's it, Nan Yong, and stop Yue Peng's body here, this official will enter the palace and ask His Majesty for guilt! ”

Nan Yong was so ashamed that he couldn't stand it.

In fact, Kong Sheng has already explained that Yue Peng and the three are important criminals and need to be strictly escorted by the forbidden army. But Nan Yong never thought that in Chang'an City, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, among the heavy guards of hundreds of forbidden troops, there were even swordsmen with strong martial arts in the rivers and lakes, and he was caught off guard and directly killed Yue Peng. (To be continued.) )