The beginning of spring has passed, but the weather still does not show any signs of warming, the north wind is blowing, blowing the withered willows of Baling, but it can't keep the people who travel far away.

Today, Li Tao passed away, Xue Ne helped in the British Mansion, if there was nothing important, Mrs. Liu would not send someone over, Xue Ne hurriedly walked out of the mourning hall, only to see that the little servant who came to find him was Xue Wang, and asked urgently: "What happened at home?" ”

"Fang Cai seems to have moved, didn't Da Langjun feel it?" Xue Wang said while gesturing, "Our house shook so badly, Chu Yulangjun and Liu Yu were so frightened that they rushed out of the garden, churning around the Buddha statues in the back garden, as if saying that the Buddha statues were shaken out of the hole......"

If there is anything in this world that makes Xue Ne worry and afraid, it is nothing more than the underground palace being discovered, and he is so anxious that he grabbed Xue Wang's clothes: "Buddha, how is the Buddha statue?" ”

"Lang Jun rest assured, the Buddha statue is not broken, Chu Yu Lang Jun checked there for a while, and hurriedly rushed into Da Lang Jun's Shen Si Garden, and he didn't see anything bad, so he went to the Buddha Hall to find Mrs., Mrs. called me to invite Da Lang Jun back to the house!"

Xue Wang's mind was simple, thinking that it was because of the earthquake, and Mrs. Liu specially called Xue Ne back, but Xue Ne understood the stakes. Xue Chuyu went to see the Buddha statue first, and then came to his own garden, and eighty percent knew the secret of the underground palace. The British Mansion is adjacent to the Pingyang County Mansion, but he didn't feel the ground move at all, indicating that only his own side of the territory was moving, and it seemed that something had happened to the underground palace.

Whenever things involve Fan Ning, Xue Ne will change his calm and wise in the past, and become blank in his mind, he remembers that Fan Ning had mentioned the mystery of the underground palace to him, and he has a little bit of a calculation in his heart, and he walks towards the door of the house.

In the Pingyang County Mansion, Mrs. Liu and Xue Chuyu's mother and son were in the Buddha Hall, I didn't know what to say secretly, but I saw Mrs. Liu's face was pale, her expression was very angry, and Xue Chuyu frowned beside her, looking worried about the country, the people, and the family.

Xue Ne was wearing a mink fur, and it was inconvenient to enter the Buddhist hall, so he faded under the corridor, handed it over to Xue Wang, and whispered: "After a stick of incense, call me, and say that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is summoned." ”

Xue Chuyu saw Xue Ne through the window, and his expression was very strange. Xue Ne met his gaze, walked into the Buddhist hall, and saluted Mrs. Liu: "Mother looking for me? ”

Mrs. Liu motioned to Xue Chuyu to close the doors and windows, and looked at Xue Ne with a worried face: "Do you know everything about the underground?" ”

It seems that Xue Chuyu wanted to report himself to the Criminal Department with this, so he was angry and became angry and changed to sue Mrs. Liu. is already eighteen or nineteen years old, how can he still engage in these naughty children's tricks, Xue Ne bites the bullet and denies it, and says: "What does mother mean? ”

"Brother, don't pretend", Xue Chuyu roared like a little beast that suppressed his anger, "Then Fan Ning is hiding in the underground palace under our mansion, facing my brother's Shensi Garden, does my brother dare to say that he doesn't know anything?" ”

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Xue Ne feigned surprise, his pretty face was dumbfounded, his eyes were clear, and he looked incredulous, "Where is the murderer?" Can you catch it? You also know that the military order made by my brother to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is almost time, if you have clues, you should tell me, and my brother can catch her, and I have an explanation earlier. ”

"Didn't my brother try his best to assert that the demon girl was not a murderer in the Criminal Department? Why are you going to arrest her again today to confess her sins? I'm afraid that the confession is fake, the gold house is hidden, and the dark song is real? ”

"Do you have any evidence for that?" Xue Ne was the worst at lying, and he didn't want to be with Xue Chuyu anymore, so he asked directly.

is different from Xue Ne's introverted and quiet, Xue Chuyu grew up under the care of his parents since he was a child, and he is very easy to get carried away, not to mention that he doesn't know how to investigate the case, where does he know what evidence to keep.

Sure enough, when Xue Ne asked him like this, Xue Chuyu was dumbfounded for a moment, and when he came back to his senses, he couldn't help but raise his voice: "You don't have to think that if you let that demon girl collapse half of the realm, I won't be able to find evidence." Just let the criminal department dig three feet into the ground, and it will definitely ......"

"That's enough", Mrs. Liu interrupted the feud between their brothers in a suppressed and restrained manner, "No one is allowed to talk about the underground affairs, let alone find the criminal department to dig the ground." ”

"But my mother and brother harbored the stubbornness, which is a big disaster for our family. Hengzhu's family only moved in two or three months ago, and this underground palace was not built by us, so now we should report to the Criminal Department and Jing Zhaoyin, and then ask the emperor to decide. Emperor Shengming will certainly not blame our ......"

"Emperor Shengming, but your father is far away in Liaodong, if someone in the court is trapped, the lives of our mother and son will be difficult to protect, your father's rear is in chaos, if the enemy army takes the opportunity to break it, it will be the danger of my Tang Dynasty, no matter whether it wins or loses, the Xue family will inevitably suffer, do you understand the benefits? For now, you two brothers must keep their mouths shut, and when your father returns to Beijing with the troops, the mother will inform him of this matter, and then go to the second saint to ask for guilt, and maybe you can be exempted from punishment. You can't tell anyone about this for the time being, haven't you told anyone about it? ”

Mrs. Liu's words woke Xue Chuyu up, and he thought of the person in the Guanyin Temple, and his heart was quite flustered. But this matter was told to him by that person, not by him, Xue Chuyu was afraid that his mother would blame him, so he didn't dare to look at her, and nodded weakly.

"You go down and rest first", Mrs. Liu breathed a sigh of relief, with a loving smile on her face, "Mother has something to say to your brother." ”

Xue Chuyu glanced at Xue Ne, thinking that her mother had left Xue Ne, and she was estimated to clean him up, so she sneered proudly, saluted Mrs. Liu, and turned around and walked out of the Buddhist hall.

But Mrs. Liu has not been silent, when Xue Ne did not exist, respectfully and meticulously wiped off the floating ash for the Buddha statue, set up the fruit, and after all the work was done, she took three sticks of incense and handed three more to Xue Ne. Xue Ne didn't understand what Madame Liu meant, but she still learned from her to stand in front of the oil lamp and light the incense.

After Madame Liu kowtowed, she inserted the incense into the incense burner. Xue Ne also wanted to get up, but was pressed by Liu's shoulder: "Kneel, I have something to ask you for my mother." You already knew about the matter of the underground palace that Chu Yu said, right? ”

Now, there is no need to hide this matter, Xue Ne held incense with both hands, looked straight ahead and replied: "Yes, I found it a month ago, but I haven't had time to show my parents ......."

Xue Ne's answer was more crisp than Mrs. Liu imagined, she suppressed the anger in her heart, and asked again: "Then Fan Ning is hiding here?" Where are the people now? ”

Xue Ne could not answer this question, just as Li Hong said in the British government just now, this case is a very important matter, not only Fan Ning is involved, but also does not know the conspiracy that followed, so it must not be taken lightly. Xue Ne was silent and did not respond to Mrs. Liu's question.

"You only think about your friends, but have you ever thought about your parents? Once she is caught, she confesses you, do you know what will happen to your mother and your grandfather? ”

Xue Neduo wanted to tell Mrs. Liu that he would protect Fan Ning and would never let her be unjustly arrested, and took 10,000 steps back and said that even if she was really arrested, he would not confess. These words were on his lips, but Xue Ne couldn't say them, I really don't know if it was because he was not good at words since he was a child that caused the incloseness between their mother and son, or because of the incloseness with his parents, which caused him to be taciturn. The incense in his hand burned, and the incense ash fell, which made Xue Ne shake, but he never made a sound.

Mrs. Liu said "oops", wanting to see if Xue Ne's hand was burned, but she hesitated, and Luo Socks ran around on the ground and did not come forward. Xue Ne waved away the incense ash by himself, leaving two blurry burns on the white and slender directly, both gray and red, and it looked very painful, but Xue Ne Bingxiang looked ahead and still didn't say a word.

Time passed little by little, the Buddha Hall was like an infinite pool, and the silence between the mother and son was like a slow flow of water, drowning them from head to toe, and gradually suffocating and breathing, until Xue Wang called outside the stone steps under the Buddha Hall: "Madam, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has sent someone to find Da Langjun for something important!" ”

The suffocating atmosphere was broken in an instant, and Mrs. Liu finally took a breath and sighed for a long time: "Since it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince looking for you, you can go." If you are a mother, you have to keep it in mind, and don't cover that girl anymore. Are you going to Lantian tomorrow? Is the accommodation arranged? ”

"Yes, we left this afternoon. Mother rest assured, when Shen Yan went to Lantian, no matter what happened, the family would not be implicated...... Your Highness has something to do, so Shen Yan has taken a step ahead. ”

After that, Xue Ne inserted the incense in his hand into the incense burner, saluted Mrs. Liu again, turned around and walked out of the Buddhist hall, the footsteps gradually faded away, and soon he was inaudible.

The cigarette smoke in front of the Buddha is swirling, and the faint aroma is calming, but Mrs. Liu's mood has not been calmed for a long time. She really blamed Xue Ne for not telling the family about the underground palace, but when she asked him about going to Lantian, it was out of real concern, why is there such a difference between their mother and son, can they only tolerate distrust and interrogation?

It is said that the Buddhist hall is a pure place, and every time Xue Ne comes here, it is difficult to achieve "no heart, four are empty", and his heart is unspeakably uncomfortable. But now that half of the underground palace has collapsed, Fan Ning is nowhere to be found, Xue Ne has no mind to think about the side matter at all, he took the Qiu Shang in Xue Wang's hand, and praised in a low voice: "You came at the right time, I went out, if it is ......"

"Hey, Lang Jun don't run around", Xue Wang's thin monkey-like Ma Li jumped forward and blocked Xue Ne's way, "It's really His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who sent Lang Jun to the East Palace, and the guards Zhang personally came to inform him." ”

They only met in the early morning, why did Li Hong pass him to the East Palace now? Xue Neji hung on Fan Ning, and was worried that Li Hong had important matters related to the case, so he was embarrassed and hated for his lack of skills, and finally reluctantly put on his clothes and rode his horse to the East Palace.

On the line between life and death, Fan Ning rushed through the outer city of the underground palace that fell to the ground, and was almost buried alive under Xue Ne's bedroom, after successfully drilling out of the small door, Fan Ning sat under the pear tree in the Shensi Garden, only took a breath, and hurriedly climbed over the wall and went out of the Pingyang County Mansion.

Crazy and didn't know how long he had been running, Fan Ning came to an alley with no one in the back, leaned against the wall and gasped for breath for a long time, shaking off the dust, thinking about where to go.

She was a little anxious just now, and she escaped without wearing a face at this time, although she was covered in mud, which made her look like a muddy rap figurine, but she had only fought with the officials of the Criminal Department and the soldiers of the Yulin Army last night, and it was too ostentatious to wait for Xue Ne to wait outside in such a grand manner.

But in this huge Chang'an City, where can there be accommodation? Fan Ning thought about it, and suddenly his heart was blessed, and he quickly ran towards the slightly vague address in his heart.

When Xue Ne rushed to the East Palace, Li Hong was preparing the documents to be used in tomorrow's court meeting. Xue Ne hurriedly saluted, and when he saw that there was no one around, he bowed and said: "Your Highness, there was an accident in the mansion just now, Fan Ning doesn't know where to go, the minister has to hurry up and find her back, otherwise, once it falls into the hands of the officials of the Criminal Department, the consequences will be unimaginable......"

"You speak fast today", Li Hong's face was rarely solemn, he took out a page of yellow paper from the document and handed it to Xue Ne.

Xue Ne took it, only to see that it was written on it, "If it is near, it is not inferior, and if it is far away, it is resentful", and on the back of the letterhead are four big characters "Yonghui five years".

"Someone sent this item to the East Palace last night, and the bread was a cloth bag with an official letter. This palace looks like this is common, but the words 'Yonghui five years' are quite meaningful, so I came to you to take a look. ”

Xue Ne didn't bother to respond to Li Hong, and looked at the letterhead, as if he was in a fixed position, motionless.

Li Hong knew Xue Ne's habits, so he didn't bother, and waited silently until Xue Ne tilted his head slightly, as if he had turned his mind, and asked, "How is it, Shen Yan, have you found anything?" ”

Xue Ne raised his handsome face, Huo Ran smiled, his eyes flowing with joy and emotion: "Go back to Your Highness, minister...... I didn't understand the meaning of this statement, but this font is like Master Li's words......"

"Master Li? Li Chunfeng? Li Hong's expression became more and more solemn, and he ordered, "Come on, bring the submissions from the Secret Bureau Pavilion over the years." ”

Whenever Xue Ne came, Zhang Shun was the only one left outside Li Hong's hall, and when he heard Li Hong's call, he responded loudly, but after half a cup of tea, he hugged a bunch of papers.

Xue Ne and Li Hong divided into two stacks and looked at each other, and soon finished flipping, and the two looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.

Where did Li Chunfeng go, and why did he disappear on the day of the arson case in the annex of Hongwen Pavilion, and he sent a letter today, but he didn't know what to do?

Xue Ne realized that Li Chunfeng's concern may lie in the fact that there was a traitor in the East Palace, and said in a very soft voice: "'Only women and villains are difficult to raise, those who are close are not inferior, and those who are far away are resentful', the minister doesn't know why Master Li wrote a sentence of "Analects" and sent it, Fan Ning stays with Master Li every day, maybe he can better understand the connotation. ”

"I don't understand, but this 'Yonghui five years' is the year of Anding's birth and death, thinking of the recent case, this palace has to be careful...... Where are the Fan Ning people? Hongu wants to ask her personally. ”

In the alley of Pingkangfang away from the main road, Fan Ning climbed the wooden pillar of Xisheng Pavilion, Mali climbed up to the second floor briskly, pushed open the small window and got into the room, she looked around, but there was no one everywhere, scratched her little face, and called softly: "Sister Honglian...... Sister Red Lotus? ”

Fan Ning and Red Lotus once grew up under Li Chunfeng's knees, the two had very different temperaments, but they got along well, ate together, slept together, and went missing until Red Lotus was lost on the Shangyuan Festival that year. I heard the gopher say that she followed a handsome son of the Li family in Longxi, but yesterday I found out that it was Li Hong, so it was convenient, just find the red lotus, you can contact the prince, and you can find Xue Ne.

Fan Ning thought about it, and found it here according to the address mentioned by Li Chunfeng, I have to say that this room is really beautifully arranged, the place is not big, but it is scattered, every brick and tile is carefully selected, and it is very commensurate with the stunning color of red lotus and clear water hibiscus.

But the ground here is very cold, and there is nothing on the bed, it doesn't look like someone lives there, Fan Ning muttered in surprise: "Why isn't it there?" It's not going to be a mother in the East Palace......"

Downstairs, there was a sudden sound of another door, and when he heard it, he was not the owner of the house, Fan Ning was very vigilant, and wanted to escape by jumping out of the window first, to see who was the second, and then protect the red lotus. Who knew that someone happened to pass downstairs, and Fan Ning could only climb up the rafters along the pillar, hiding in the corner, and didn't dare to come out.

In the blink of an eye, the thief came up to the second floor, Fan Ning was condescending, and saw that he was about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, with excellent facial features and body, and he was three points similar to the crown prince Li Hong, but his eyes were a little inexplicably lewd, as if the people in his sight were not wearing clothes. He seemed to have drunk two taels of soju, swayed as he walked, looked around, and went crazy with his throat: "Red Lotus girl! Minzhi came to see you, I haven't seen you for the New Year, do you miss me? ”

It seems that this person is Helan Minzhi, a bachelor of Hongwen Hall, and he has long heard that this person loves to hunt for beauty, and now he should be eyeing Red Lotus, maybe Red Lotus is just to avoid him, so he moved out of here.

Seeing that this person had reached his feet, and estimated that he would leave after touching and turning over this half, Fan Ning pursed his lips, held his breath, and did not move. But the dust on her body was not obedient, and the dust fell, choking Helan Minzhi and sneezing twice, and involuntarily raised her eyes.

Seeing that Fan Ning was exposed, Huo Di jumped down from the rafters, startled Na Lan Minzhi's eyes widened, and he spat out a sound in his mouth, and was slammed on his neck by Fan Ning, rolling his eyes and fainting.

Fan Ning didn't listen to it, he wanted to drag the man downstairs, so as not to cause trouble to Honglian, and he didn't know where to throw him. When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly saw the window on the third floor of the Zangcui Building on the opposite side half-open, and a stunning beauty showed half of her face, not who the red lotus was. After Helan Minzhi made the second time from that day, Li Hong arranged for the red lotus to live here temporarily, and heard that Helan Minzhi came back from Luoyang in the past two days, she was a little uneasy in her heart, and she had been quietly paying attention to the movement when she heard the movement, and saw that Fan Ning knocked Helan Minzhi unconscious, she hurriedly opened the small window, pursed her lips and pointed to the wooden pillar next to the Zangcui Building, signaling Fan Ning to come quickly.

Fan Ning didn't have time to think about why Honglian was on the opposite floor, jumped down the Xisheng Pavilion, and climbed up the Zangcui Building along the wooden pillar, and almost dropped his shoes and socks three or two times. After Fan Ning came in, Honglian hurriedly closed the doors and windows: "Why are you here?" Just now I heard the sound of Helan Minzhi calling the door, and I wanted to see the movement, but I didn't expect to see you......"

Fan Ning fell to the ground in a dejected manner, took the clean cloth handed by Honglian, and wiped his sweaty head: "Today is really a fateful crime Tai Sui, and I almost died a few times...... Sister Honglian, can I borrow your place to take a bath, there is too much soil, and it will turn into mud when you wipe it. ”

"Wait a minute, I'll arrange it," Honglian said and walked out of the room, but after a while, a servant and a maid came into the room with hot water and filled it with a barrel behind the screen. Fan Ning hid under the bed, and when they all left, Fang Drill came out and took a comfortable hot bath.

While helping her pick up the dirty clothes, Honglian asked, "Aren't you with Xue Yushi?" How did you make such a mess of yourself? ”

Fan Ning took the shirt handed by Honglian, only to see that it was a navel Tianzhu dancing robe with upper and lower parts, she couldn't help blushing, and said angrily: "What kind of rare clothes is this?" Sister Honglian, does she wear this to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on weekdays? ”

"Don't you talk about it", the red lotus has a thinner skin, where can she afford such ridicule, "This is what I just went downstairs to borrow for you, oh, this dress has a veil, which can cover half of the face, I will decorate it for you, no one should recognize you." ”

When Fan Ning heard this, it was very good, not only could he become beautiful, but he could also hide his identity, and he didn't care whether he wore a frozen stomach or not on a cold day, he put it on and sat in front of the mirror, decorated it with a red lotus, and put on a veil.

The beauty in the mirror is quite exotic, and it really looks like a Tianzhu dancing girl, Fan Ning stood up, picked up the burning stick that the red lotus used to stab the earth dragon, and danced impenetrablely: "I, the Tianzhu dancing sword girl, may I eat here with you?" But...... Sister Honglian, why did you go back to this workshop again, does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince know? ”

Honglian Xianyan's little face was covered with gloomy clouds, and she raised her cheeks and said: "Isn't this just to hide from Helan Minzhi, His Royal Highness asked me to live here temporarily, but I had already told my mother that I didn't need to play the pipa anymore." I'll move out when the new house is ready, but you came today. Just before you took a bath, Helan Minzhi woke up, walked around outside, and left. ”

"Will today's events affect you?" Fan Ning was extremely nervous, rubbing his little hands, afraid that he would harm the red lotus.

"That's not going to happen, Helan Minzhi was admonished by the emperor and queen because of those romantic things, and he loves face very much, how can he go out and talk nonsense about being knocked out by you."

Fan Ning was relieved, and said: "Sister Honglian, can you help me find someone to send a message to the Pingyang County Mansion, and ask Xue Shenyan to come here ......to pick me up."

"It's a coincidence that His Royal Highness left a small servant here, here to help me, I don't know Xue Yushi, you want to go from the beginning, let him go and pass the word", after speaking, Honglian got up and summoned the little guy in.

Fan Ning was frightened stupid just now, her mind was blank at this time, and she couldn't think of anything good to do, she looked at the clothes on her body, her face was full of embarrassment, and she said to the little guy: "But, can you go to the Pingyang County Mansion and help me find Xue Ne Xue Yushi, he, he is my benefactor...... I have something important to look for him. ”

Not only the little guy, but even Honglian was stupid when she heard this, the little guy hurriedly closed his mouth that was round from shock, looked Fan Ning up and down, and thought to himself that Xue Yushi was really a real person who didn't show his face, and Ping Suli didn't look close to a woman at all, how could he have such a charming and enchanting look.

Seeing that the little guy turned around and wanted to leave in a daze, Honglian hurriedly said: "Hey, that's it, let's go to Your Highness, say that I have something important, and beg Your Highness to bring Xue Yushi to come with you......"

After about a stick of incense, Li Hong and Xue Ne, who were dressed in regular clothes, came in a carriage, and the two avoided the guests who ate tea and listened to music, and went straight to the third floor.

Honglian opened the door and invited the two of them to sit down, and when they saw Fan Ning wearing the costume of Tianzhu Dancing Queen, he was both startled, Xue Ne's face was straight to the base of his neck, and he stumbled and said: "God, God, how can you have less skin and exposed flesh......"

Fan Ning was angry, and stepped forward and punched Xue Ne: "Less skin and exposed meat? Your dying brother almost killed me, and I almost lost my soul! ”

"You just met Helan Minzhi?" Li Hong heard that Helan Minzhi had returned to Chang'an from Luoyang, but he didn't expect him to come here to find Red Lotus for the first time, which made Li Hong quite unhappy.

"Yes, I just climbed up to the second floor, and he came", Fan Ning still has palpitations when he thinks about it now, "He also shouted 'extinguish' at me, and I killed him." ”

"Extinguish?" The other three spoke almost in unison, as if they didn't understand why Helan Minzhi would shout such a sentence. Li Hong pondered for a moment, as if he suddenly thought of something, his body shook, and he raised his eyes to look at Fan Ning: "What he said is not 'extinguish', you quickly take off the veil and let me see!" ”