Shen Mu came back from Longyou, and he had already entered the Gyeonggi area, and he would arrive in Chang'an in one day.

Shen Mu went to Longyou this time to visit Mrs. Li, although Shen Mu and Yang Fan made a game, put the seven families together, and took the opportunity to get rid of the control of the family, but the heir hall was born in the seven families, and the relationship between them could not be broken if the bones were broken and the tendons were connected.

The reason why they were able to get rid of the control of the family was because if they wanted to fight a fish and break the net, it would be harmful to the family, and although the cooperation was not as good as the family intended, it was still within the range they could accept, so the families took the initiative to let go.

Otherwise, the family will still be a family without the family, and the family will wither rapidly, at least at this stage, the family will not have the ability to leave the cooperation of the family and still guarantee to have such a large liliang at present.

The seven clans and five surnames have been in business for hundreds of years, and their "root system" has long been deeply rooted in the middle and lower layers, while the "branches and leaves" stretch out in the middle and upper layers, forming a towering tree.

Their shili is vast and secretive, permeating all levels of society, and their relationships with each other can be described as intertwined. Every family has people who serve in the court, but they do not necessarily have important positions in the court.

These sons who served in the court actually only played a role as a bridge, bridging the gap between the family and the court bigwigs, and the family rarely took the risk of pushing their descendants to the top, and their eyes were often on hundreds of thousands of years later, how could they care about the momentary scenery.

For example, the Li family in Longxi, there are only a few children in the court who hold some important positions, and they have no real power in their hands, so no matter which side they are on, once they lose the court battle, it will be a disgrace and dismissal at most. There won't be a bloody ending.

At the local level, especially in the Longxi area, where the Li clan is based, there are a large number of middle- and lower-level officials in key positions in the state capital and county, and local real power figures controlled by the Li family's children. They are far away from the political whirlpool of the imperial court, they are not afraid of being involved in the wrestling of the imperial court, and they have considerable strength, so they have a certain influence on the direction of the political situation.

Their influence on the court is subtle, secretly pushed in a way that you can't notice, you don't see it meddling, but it's already unwittingly pushing or inducing you to develop according to his intentions.

For example, this time, Empress Wei opposed the canonization of Li Chongfu as the crown prince, and as a result, Li Chongfu was demoted to the local government. Li Chongjun became the crown prince, and the emperor also used this dispute to force the prime minister to surrender his military power, which in the eyes of the world was just a political rivalry between the court bigwigs. Nothing to do with anyone else.

However, if you know that the one who has a close relationship with the crown prince Li Chongjun, Li Chengquan has already been bought by Lu Binzhi. If you know, several of the most trusted eunuchs and palace ladies around Empress Wei have received generous gifts from Lu Binzhi. If you know that Cui Xiang and Zheng Su, who were relied on by Wu Sansi as their right-hand men, are also Lu Binzhi's people, do you still think that it is only the emperor, King Liang, and Empress Wei who played liliang in this matter?

Lu Binzhi is like this, the family is like this, Shen Mu and Yang Fan are like this, most of their methods of manipulating the political situation are like this, although they have a huge shili. But they don't have the kind of operational efficiency of the imperial court, so the way they exert influence is also slow and secretive, and they won't let you see clearly, what a stupid pig person would show this kind of liliang to the emperor for the sake of temporary prestige?

Therefore. Even if the family suffered a small loss, Shen Mu did not despise the family's liliang because of this. This time, the pattern of the court has changed so much, and he urgently needs to unify each other's opinions with the family. What's more, putting aside the cooperative relationship, Mrs. Li is Qiqi's grandfather, and this family still has to go.

Today's Longyou is not as turbulent as ten years ago, and Shen Mu's return to Longyou naturally did not use the same pomp and circumstance as when he and Yang Fan went to Longyou, making a radius of ten miles full of scouts.

Shen Mu does not have the proud martial arts of Yang Fan, if compared to a person who has practiced martial arts, he is weak, so he is very concerned about safety, especially in a place like Longyou, where the situation is treacherous and complicated.

But no one is forever tense their nerves, eating, sleeping, bathing, walking, all the time without relaxation, no one can do this. When Shen Mu entered the Gyeonggi area, they naturally relaxed their vigilance. Especially when you come to this town, which is only a day's journey from Chang'an.

This town is the main road for pedestrians and business travelers from Chang'an to and from the Western Regions, so there are many guests coming from the south to the north. The people here are simple, and it is difficult to see the abduction and fraud of customers in this town, and if someone wants to make black money, his shop must not be open for long, and the people of the town will publicize his notoriety without the travelers being "well-known".

Every time Shen Mu went to the Western Regions, he would stay in this town, and now he could even accurately call out the names of some people in the town. So when he arrived in town that evening, he stayed here, and here he was as comfortable as in his own back garden.

Before dinner, Shen Mu took a bath and took two guards to take a walk on the street. The golden sunset, the green trees, the secluded alleys, the loess roads, the simple but alluring aroma shops on the roadside, the hawkers shouting on the streets, the Hu people from the Western Regions leading camels, and the old people on crutches......

All of this adds up to a special atmosphere. It is both casual and lively, warm, lazy, and leisurely, so that people can't help but relax when they are in the middle, and their steps will become more and more lazy and their posture will become more and more leisurely.

Shen Mu traveled all the way, his body was quite tired, and he immersed his body and mind in this slow rhythm full of fireworks, enjoying this rare leisure. But he would never have thought that danger and murder would come from this time and from such an atmosphere.

The camel bell was melodious, and a few Hu people from the Western Regions in oblique leather jackets led the tall camels slowly, on the road of the town that was not wide, this row of pedestrians and camels was enough to occupy most of the road, Shen Mu heard the voice and looked back, and slowly retreated to the side of the road.

He also smiled and said hello to the vendor who was setting up a roadside stall selling tangerine peel, star anise, pepper noodles, pepper noodles and other food condiments. This vendor has been setting up a stall here, Shen Mu has traveled west many times, and he has seen him more than once, and the vendor also recognized him, and said hello with a smile.

Sudden change happens at this moment.

Shen Mu saw that the vendor's smile suddenly froze on his face. His eyes widened to reveal a frightened gaze, and he immediately felt bad. Shen Mu's skills were not fast, but his brain turned quickly, and it was this that saved his life, he did not instinctively turn back, but immediately pounced forward and pounced on the frightened peddler.

Shen Mu felt a pain in his back, and a sharp knife slashed through the air, raising a string of blood droplets in the air. Crystal like a string of amber in the setting sun.

"Childe!"

Shen Mu's two subordinates never expected that they would be attacked in this familiar town, and their bodies paused for a moment in shock, but after a moment's delay, the sharp knife stabbed straight into Shen Mu's heart, and the two guards were only shocked and scattered.

Fortunately, Shen Mu saved his life with the most correct reaction. If he had turned around to watch or tried to dodge left and right, he would not have been as quick as the Assassin had been. After all, it is inevitable to die. But he pounced forward, and although the sharp knife stabbed him in the back of the heart, it did not penetrate deep into the flesh due to the unloading force.

The assassin stabbed him, and he was overjoyed, but Shen Mu pounced forward, but he didn't hurt the vital point in the slightest. He wanted to swoop forward with Shen Mu, but he jumped in and stabbed Shen Mu's heart with all his strength with a lunge, and the knife was exhausted to the end. There's no time to lean over and stab again.

When he wanted to pounce on it again, one of Shen Mu's guards had already waved the knife and swept towards him like a match, he hurriedly put the short blade upright, and took the knife with a "sonorous" sound, and was shocked by a huge force and took a few steps back, and the short blade in his hand almost flew away.

At the same time, the group leading the camel pulled out their short blades from under the saddle and pounced viciously at Shen Mu, and the other guard pulled out his waist knife and roared: "Son, go away!" Then he swooped down and fought in all directions at night to block everyone. Seven or eight short blades were like the fangs and sharp teeth of a group of wolves that tacitly preyed on, and they shrouded him mercilessly.

Yang Fan knocked the vendor into a rolling gourd, he turned over, and he didn't care about the huge pain in his back, he reached out and grabbed the piece of sheepskin that was spread on the ground, and looked into the air suddenly, and all those jars and jars flew into the air.

Those pepper noodles and pepper noodles were really genuine, and they were flying all over the sky, and they suddenly choked on their breath and coughed in the smoke. When the smoke and dust cleared, I saw that Shen Mu's guard had been stabbed many times, and the blood was stained with dust, and several killers who had fallen into Shen Mu's yin trick were embarrassed and burst into tears.

Shen Mu picked up the condiments, got up with a smoke, and quickly rushed into a small restaurant next to him, Shen Mu had eaten in this small restaurant, and understood the situation in the store, there were several guests in the store who were eating, Shen Mu passed through the table and chairs like a gust of wind, and rushed to the back kitchen with a curtain lifted.

The fat master was busy in the smoky stove, and suddenly felt a whirlwind blowing behind him, he looked back in surprise, there was nothing behind him, the master turned around without care, and continued to boil the pig's intestine.

Shen Mu ran to the back kitchen, and a diner was relieving his hands in the corner, Shen Mu didn't say a word, gritted his teeth, and ran wildly along the narrow alley, dripping with blood behind him.

Shen Mu's second guard had already swooped over when he rushed into the small restaurant, slashing across his chest, putting on a posture of being a husband, and several killers rushed towards him with red eyes and tears, he was doomed to die, but he bought the most precious time for Shen Mu.

These assassins followed Shen Mu for a long time, and they never found a chance to attack, until they came to the town, and were pleasantly surprised to find that Shen Mu had come out for a walk, giving them an excellent opportunity, so they hastily arranged this operation.

The time and place of the assassination operation were completely up to their choice, and the opportunity was fleeting, no one could predict whether Shen Mu would suddenly go back, making their only chance come to naught, so they followed Shen Mu for a moment and made a decisive move.

The location they chose was okay, but no matter how they calculated, they didn't count the pepper noodles flying in the sky, who would have thought that this street vendor would become the key to the success or failure of the operation? But it was precisely a can of pepper noodles on this hawker stall that made them fail.

Shen Mu ran wildly all the way and slammed open the door of the mansion he rented. After an instant, an arrow pierced the sky, and the counterattack of the Hidden Sect began.

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(To be continued......)