"What did Xie Shaoqing say?" Quietly blocking between Xie An and the screen, the crown prince Li Wei said lightly, "My younger brother Xiao Wu has always followed the rules and kept to himself, how could he do such a thing?" - What's more, Yu He is the confidant of Prince Ben, and Xiao Wu is a fellow brother of Prince Ben's mother, so how can Xiao Wu harm Yu He? ”

"......" frowned and glanced at the crown prince Li Wei, Xie An glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye, because in Fangcai, he vaguely heard a burst of rapid breathing, but when he looked closely, he couldn't really see it because of the dim light in the room.

Behind the screen...... Someone in attendance?

As if thinking of something, Xie Anxin moved and said deliberately, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince misunderstood, His Royal Highness didn't say that His Royal Highness the Fifth Highness would frame His Royal Highness the Prince...... Just now, Xia Guan has untied the message left by Lord Yu He before he died, and he cut off his sleeves, this is also! It is written in the "Sayings": Small and bottomless, big and bottomless. And [sac] is the original word for [east], which means to nail luggage to wood. Therefore, the message left by Lord Yu He before his death is the word [Dong]! ——Mentioning the word [East], Xia Guan thought that most people would think of [His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace], but Xia Guan thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not know about it this time, otherwise, he would definitely not give the Criminal Department to Xia Guan as a gift to resolve the conflict, so there is only one possibility...... Dongling Assassin! ”

"Xie Shaoqing's words are the same as not saying them, doesn't Xie Shaoqing know that the Dongling assassin is the same as the prince's person?"

"No, no, no," Xie An shook his head and said with a straight face, "[Dongling Assassin], and [Donggong Prince], the meaning is completely different!" - The Dongling Assassins are the helpers recruited by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and they can be instructed. I'm afraid it's not just His Royal Highness the Prince! - The lower officials have investigated, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a very good relationship with His Royal Highness Li Cheng, the fifth prince, and if you think about it, His Royal Highness Li Cheng can also dispatch the Dongling assassins, isn't it? ”

"......" Prince Li Wei opened his mouth and was about to speak, when he suddenly heard Xie An say again, "Therefore, the lower officials concluded." The three adults who killed Yu He, the imperial envoy of the right capital of the Imperial History Terrace, Zhang Ji, the waiter of the Chinese book, and Cai Jin, the servant of the door, were the brothers of His Royal Highness the Prince, the fifth prince, Li Cheng! ”

Zhang Ji, the waiter of the Chinese book, and Cai Jin, the waiter of the door?

The crown prince Li Wei was stunned, after all, Xie An hadn't mentioned these two ministers before. Suddenly, he noticed Xie An's intently looking at the back of the screen, and secretly screamed in his heart that something was wrong.

Before he could say anything, Li Cheng walked out from behind the screen with an angry face, pointed at Xie An and said angrily, "Xie An, you don't want to spew blood!" ——Zhang Ji, the Chinese scholar, and Cai Jin, the servant of the door. I didn't kill you! ”

Looking at this man in gorgeous clothes who was unusually similar in appearance to the crown prince Li Wei, Xie Anxin laughed secretly and said jokingly, "Say so." The killing of Lord Yu He, did His Royal Highness admit it? ”

Li Cheng's face froze, and he was a little at a loss.

Seeing this, Prince Li Wei's face sank. glared fiercely at his younger brother Li Cheng.

In fact, as early as when Xie An deliberately mentioned Zhang Ji, the Chinese scholar, and Cai Jin, the servant, the prince Li Wei, had already realized it. This Xie An probably noticed Li Cheng behind the screen, so he deliberately squeezed Li Cheng with words and lured him out.

Although the crown prince Li Wei had just reminded his younger brother not to make a noise no matter what he heard, he never expected that Li Cheng would be so breathless and forced out by Xie An in a few words.

"Xie An, the young secretary of the Xiaguan Great Prison Temple, has seen His Royal Highness Li Cheng, the fifth prince!" In front of the crown prince Li Wei, Xie An respectfully bowed to Li Cheng.

Maybe others don't know what Xie An is doing, but the crown prince Li Wei knows this too well, but in his impression, Xie An's consistent approach is to salute first and then soldier, it is not difficult to guess that after Xie An's worship, he will carry out his imperial order and take his prince Li Wei's younger brother Li Cheng to ask for guilt.

Thinking of this, the crown prince Li Wei took a step forward, blocked between Xie An and Li Cheng, looked at Xie An and said in a deep voice, "Xie Shaoqing, do you have to take Xiao Wu to the Great Prison Temple to ask for the crime?" - This prince thinks that this matter is not appropriate! ”

"Oh?" Xie An raised his eyebrows, chuckled and said, "Why is it inappropriate?" ”

I saw that the crown prince Li Wei glanced at Xie An deeply, and said in a deep voice, "What Xie Shaoqing said just now is all your words, if you want to take Xiao Wu, you must have real evidence!" ”

Frowning slightly, Xie An said inexplicably, "Lord Yu He......"

Immediately interrupted Xie An's words, and the crown prince Li Wei said in a deep voice, "This prince thinks that maybe Xie Shaoqing's solution is wrong?" - Half-amputated sleeves alone are not much evidence, are they? - Or does Xie Shaoqing want to forcibly take people? In the second half of the sentence, there was a hint of menace in his words.

Xie An frowned when he heard this, if he were last year, most of them would feel afraid, but unfortunately, he is no longer what he used to be, and he is no longer what the crown prince Li Wei can threaten.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is well-informed, and it should be clear that His Majesty has given the official the sword of the Son of Heaven! - As long as the subordinate thinks there is a suspicion, no matter who is arrested, he can be arrested and questioned! ”

"......" Prince Li Wei's face froze, and after glancing at Xie An, his tone suddenly softened, and he said in a low voice, "Xie An, I, Li Wei, did have a lot of misunderstandings with you before, but right now, the eighth is our common opponent, isn't it?" ”

Seeing that his brother, who was the prince of the East Palace, was talking to a mere fifth-grade official in such a low voice, Li Cheng looked incredulous, and said in disbelief, "Brother, why talk nonsense with him......" However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Wei.

"Shut up!" After drinking Li Cheng's words in a deep voice, the crown prince Li Wei turned his head to look at Xie An, and said in a deep voice, "This prince heard that [the grace of a meal will be repaid, and the grievances of the eyes will be repaid], which is the principle of your conduct in the world, and this prince dare not say that he is kind to you, but it is undeniable that if it were not for the support of this prince, you would not be able to be the secretary of the criminal department!" - Xiao Wu's matter should be regarded as the favor of the prince! ”

"......" Xie An was silent when he heard this.

In all fairness, both Xie An and Li Shou have a grudge against the prince of the East Palace, after all, at the beginning, it was the assassin sent by the prince of the East Palace who killed Xie An and Li Shou's benefactor and the palace housekeeper Fu Bo, so that Xie An and Li Shou swore in front of Fu Bo's tomb that one day, they would kill the prince Li Wei to pay for his blood debts.

However, the eighth prince, Li Xian, returned to Jijing. The situation of the two sides has changed slightly, Xie An could never have imagined that the crown prince Li Wei, who is usually arrogant and arrogant, would take the initiative to negotiate with him to resolve the conflict, and even gave up such a vital official position as the secretary of the criminal department.

You must know that the reason why Li Ji, the son of heaven, promoted Xie An exceptionally, how could there be no prince Li Wei to contribute from it?

Li Wei is right. He Xie An has always been [the grace of a meal must be repaid, and the grievances of the eyes must be repaid], and he never owes favors to others, but he can't tolerate inexplicable losses for himself, and because of this, he is not afraid of how to face his former enemy Li Wei. Xie An was a little overwhelmed.

"Human Favor...... Is it? Xie An frowned slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing that Xie An's attitude was a little shaken, the crown prince Li Wei struck while the iron was hot and said, "This prince knows that he has treated you and Xiao Jiu in a bad way...... This prince will never ask for forgiveness from the two of you, but things need to be taken seriously! - Right now. You already have the handle of this prince in your hands, even if this prince inherits the throne in the future, he will not dare to harm you, not to mention that you are the grandson-in-law of the powerful Liangqiu family of the Donggong Mansion! ——This prince thinks to himself that he has no unforgettable hatred for you and Xiao Jiu. But the eighth child is different, what you take is the princess after the eighth child, and the hatred of taking his wife. Different Dai Tian! If the eighth child is allowed to gain power, I am afraid that Xie Shaoqing will be in a situation in the future. It won't be much better than Prince Ben! ”

Hearing the words of the crown prince Li Wei, it is undeniable that Xie An was a little moved, after all, the eldest grandson Xiangyu did make a marriage contract with the eighth prince Li Xian when he was a child, and now that he has set foot in a third party and forcibly took away Li Xian's future princess, even if it is the gentle [Eight Sages King] Li Xian, I'm afraid he won't allow this kind of thing, right?

And he alone can't fight Li Xian, this Xie An is still clear, rather than this, it is better to ask the crown prince Li Wei and the eighth prince Li Xian to fight each other, he just sits on the side and watches the tiger fight, after all, according to the meaning of Liang Qiu Gong, as long as Xie An does not intervene in the battle for the throne, with the golden sign of the Liang Qiu family in the Donggong Mansion, no matter which prince succeeds to the throne, it will not be able to be defeated, otherwise, it will definitely make people's hearts turbulent, and the harm will outweigh the benefits.

Thinking of this, Xie An glanced at the fifth prince Li Cheng, who was silent on the side,

Hesitantly, he said to the crown prince Li Wei, "But this matter is ...... adults."

Prince Li Wei is not a stupid person, he knew his elegance when he heard the strings, and immediately nodded and said, "Since Xie Shaoqing concluded that it was the Dongling Assassin who did it, then this prince will naturally call the Dongling Assassin to take the blame!" - As for Yu He, this prince can only take care of his widow and orphan with a good life, and he is always loyal to this prince......"

After thinking about it, Xie An nodded slowly, then looked at the crown prince Li Wei and said seriously, "In this way, His Royal Highness the prince's favor will be paid off!" ”

"Hmm!" The crown prince Li Wei nodded, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, after all, although Xie An is cunning and has a lot of tricks, he has always been a man of his word, since he said that he would no longer ask about Yu He's affairs, he would not ask again.

"That's right," as if remembering something, Xie An frowned and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince, two days ago, at the Lantern Festival on the Shangyuan Festival, did His Highness ever see the two adults, Zhang Ji, the waiter of the Chinese book, and Cai Jin, the waiter of the door?" ”

"Huh?" Prince Li Wei was stunned when he heard this, frowned and thought for a while, shook his head and said, "I don't remember much, I seem to have seen it, but I don't seem to have seen it...... Why did Xie Shaoqing ask such a question? ”

Xie An said in a deep voice when he heard this, "Because the lower officials suspect that these two adults were killed in the palace!" ”

Before the words were finished, Li Cheng, the fifth prince next to him, was stunned when he heard this, and asked with a little anger, "...... You're actually fooling me?! ”

Xie An smiled playfully, which made the fifth prince Li Cheng's face even more angry, but fortunately, the crown prince Li Wei knew the seriousness of the matter, raised his hand to stop his younger brother, looked at Xie An and frowned and said, "Have you been to the study?" ”

Xie An shook his head and said truthfully, "It's not early today, and the lower officials only have time to return yesterday's favor to His Royal Highness the Prince, so they don't have much time to go to the study to find out...... According to the lower officials, the murderers of the two adults, Zhang Ji, the servant of the Chinese book, and Cai Jin, the servant of the door, are quite skilled in martial arts, extremely cautious, and rich in the city, so they can even think of using the design of the two of you to cover up their murder on the Yuan Festival......"

Prince Li Wei thought for a while, and said with a chuckle, "Ji Hong, who is next to the eighth child, is a first-class master!" ”

Seeing that the crown prince Li Wei intended to splash the dirty water on the side of Li Xian, the eighth prince, Xie Anxin secretly felt a little funny, shook his head, and said, "His Royal Highness the crown prince don't bother, His Royal Highness sent Jin Ling'er to pretend to assassinate the eighth prince." It just gave the eighth prince Li Xian and his escort Ji Hong the best alibi......"

"Humph!" The crown prince Li Wei snorted lightly, and after thinking about it carefully, he shook his head and frowned and said, "It won't be the third child, although the third child has some background, but this prince has never heard of him recruiting first-class masters...... In all fairness, Prince Ben thinks that none of my brothers did this! - As you said, the matter of the emperor's edict. The stakes are very high, if he gets involved, I am afraid that my father will no longer stand by and watch......" Speaking of this, he looked up at Xie An and said with a frown. "Xie Shaoqing has any suspicions?"

Xie An shook his head and said, "According to the conjecture of the lower officials, most of the murderers wanted to borrow the lantern festival of the Shangyuan Festival, and when His Majesty and the hundreds of officials were enjoying the lanterns at Zhengyangmen, they quietly slipped to the upper study to look for His Majesty's imperial edict, but they didn't want to." During the period, I bumped into Zhang Ji, the Chinese scholar, and Cai Jin, the servant of the door, and in order to cover up their whereabouts, they killed people and killed them! - The two adults were crushed to death by the murderer at the same time, in other words. The murderer is a person who two adults know! ”

Hearing this, Prince Li Wei's eyes narrowed, and he said in a tight voice, "You mean, the murderer is an official serving in the palace?" ”

"Exactly! - According to the guess of the lower officials. It should be an official who can freely enter and exit the major outer halls of the palace! ”

"The only one who can freely enter and leave the major palaces of the Imperial Palace is the Janissaries of the Northern Army......" muttered to himself. Prince Li Wei's face changed slightly, and he said in disbelief, "Are you suspicious of Guanglu Temple? - Wen Qin is the confidant of Prince Ben......"

Seeing that the crown prince Li Wei seemed to have a misunderstanding, Xie An shook his head and said, "Of course, what the lower official is referring to is not Lord Wen'......" Speaking of this, he paused, lowered his voice and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince, among the Northern Army, there are several people with outstanding martial arts, right?" ”

"How do you know?" Prince Li Wei glanced at Xie An suspiciously.

Xie Anxin smiled bitterly.

To tell the truth, if it weren't for Xie An's brother-in-law Chen Bei who broke into the palace drunk that day and was injured by several Northern Army worshippers, I'm afraid Xie An would never have imagined that there were still a few peerless masters in the deep palace whose martial arts were comparable to his wife Liang Qiu Dance.

But think about it, if it weren't for the presence of such first-class masters in the palace, Xie An's brother-in-law Chen Bei would have entered the palace alone, after all, as long as Li Ji died, Da Zhou would definitely be in chaos, and where did he need to secretly accumulate strength?

Of course, about the matter of his brother-in-law Chen Bei, Xie An obviously wouldn't tell the crown prince Li Wei, thinking about him, he said in a casual manner, "Hearsay, I've heard a little!" ”

The crown prince Li Wei nodded in disbelief, and then frowned and said, "Yes, among the Northern Army [Beiwei], there are four people with outstanding martial arts, who are deeply trusted by their father, and they are given the names of the four spirits of [Qinglong], [White Tiger], [Vermilion Bird], and [Xuanwu], and call them to guard the Great Forbidden Palace, called [Four Spirits General], and their existence is only known to a small number of people such as the father, the prince, and Wen Qin...... These four masters are all excellent martial artists, although they belong to the Northern Army [Beiwei], but they are not under the command of the prince, and directly obey the orders of their father...... Why, do you suspect it's these four masters? ”

"Probably one of them! - Can His Royal Highness the Crown Prince elaborate on that? ”

"......" frowned and glanced at Xie An, the crown prince Li Wei hesitated, nodded, and said, "[Qinglong General] He Xing, if you are good at making an iron rod, one hundred and ten people can't stop it; [White Tiger General] Xu Fei is good at fists and feet, destroying gold and destroying stones; [Vermilion Bird Divine General] Geng Nan, making a red iron halberd, extraordinary bravery; [Xuanwu General] Zhongsun Lin, superb swordsmanship, no one in the world is unsurpassed...... Are you sure it's one of them? - The status of these four masters in the palace is beyond your imagination, why do they want to do such a thing? ”

Xie An shook his head silently, and after asking carefully, he excused himself and said goodbye, after all, he wanted to go back to the mansion to sort out his thoughts.

Looking at Xie An's back when he left, a trace of hatred flashed in the eyes of the fifth prince Li Cheng, and he said in a low voice, "Brother, you are the prince of the East Palace, why do you want to talk to Xie An in such a low voice?" - I don't believe he dares to do anything to me! ”

"Father gave him the sword of the Son of Heaven!" Prince Li Wei frowned and glanced at his younger brother, and after thinking deeply, he said, "In short, Cheng, you have to clear up your relationship with those assassins in Dongling as soon as possible......

"Skimming?" Li Cheng obviously understood what his brother's mouth meant, and said in disbelief when he heard the words, "Brother, those people in Dongling are rare characters!" - Just give them some gold, silver, and women, and they will work for us......"

"Desperate?" Prince Li Wei frowned and said, "What is the use of such outlaws who have no loyalty at all? ”

Li Cheng was a little angry when he heard this, and muttered in a low voice, "That woman Jin Ling'er doesn't necessarily have any loyalty at all!" ”

"You know what! - As long as that woman still thinks about Jinling for a day, she will be used by me for a day! - There are many people in the world who can give such things as gold and silver, women and so on? So, what loyalty did the Dongling Assassins have? But Jin Ling'er is different, the Jinling she wants, only the prince can give it to her, this is called loyalty! - Got it?! ”

Seeing that his brother's tone was aggravated, Li Cheng nodded hurriedly, and then asked, "Brother, ...... those Dongling assassins?"

As if he had guessed what Li Cheng was thinking, Prince Li Wei frowned and said, "What are you still thinking about those people?" At the beginning, my brother told you to have less dealings with those people......" As he spoke, he seemed to think of something, and said in a deep voice, "Those people, didn't they plan to recapture the corpses of their companions who were placed in the morgue of the Weiwei Temple a few days ago?" ”

"yes......"

"Tell those people to do it, don't make too much noise...... In addition, send someone to tell Xie An about this, and this prince will do what he says! - Tell him to use those Dongling assassins to deal with the court and his father! ”

"Brother?" Li Cheng looked at his brother in disbelief, and said hesitantly, "Those people in Dongling are good hands here, isn't it a pity to abandon them so in vain?" ”

Prince Li Wei sneered and said meaningfully, "Of course it won't be abandoned in vain...... It can be seen from what happened just now that Xie An is between your brother and the eighth child, and it is obvious that he chooses your brother mostly...... Knowing this, wouldn't it be a pity that we don't make good use of this layer of involvement? ”

Li Cheng was stunned, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"See you!"