In the underground palace of Guanyin Temple, one of the twenty-four cushions is vacant, which is Xue Chuyu's position. The remaining twenty-three disciples formed a large circle and competed to make fun of Xue Chuyu's tragic situation of being beaten with forty boards.

"I didn't expect that Xue Xiaolangjun to be so spineless, I looked up to him last time when I stood up to testify against his brother."

"Yes, after only a few boards, he immediately changed his words, crying and begging the executioner's subordinates to show mercy. If Xue Rengui knew that his son was so uncompetitive, he was afraid that he would faint in anger. ”

"But to say that although Xue Rengui's eldest son has a little white face and looks like he relies on women to eat, his brain is quite good. It's just that now that I'm in prison, I'm afraid I won't be able to make any waves. ”

"Yes, exiled for 3,000 miles, got Lingnan, right? Or is it Bangxi? ”

The leader wearing the mask of the word "Zhao" listened to the discussion of the crowd, beckoned, and signaled the person wearing the word "Lai" next to him to turn his head. After whispering a few words, the man with the mask of the word "Lai" got up and clapped his hands, and said to everyone: "Today's meeting master has a private training, and those who have received the admonition order in their hands will stay, and those who have not obtained it will disperse." ”

When everyone heard this, they didn't dare to pause for a moment, and got up and left. You must know that the so-called private training is either that the leader has an important matter that needs to be discussed on a small scale, or that the leader of the association reprimands a certain disciple in private, in short, it is not a trivial matter. The four of them suddenly became empty, and only "Zhao", "Lai", "He" and "Zheng" remained on the spot.

Hearing the muffled sound of the secret passage at the entrance, the leader wearing the mask of "Zhao" stood up, slowly walked behind the person wearing the mask of "River", and kicked the man in the back. The man immediately threw himself forward, and even the mask flew out. When the man raised his head, he showed his teeth and grinned, and his expression was very painful, not who Shi Yuannian was.

"Polly!" The person wearing the mask of the word "Zheng" called softly, it was a woman's voice, seeing that Shi Yuannian was injured, she didn't care about the lord's obscenity, and knelt down beside him.

"That night, I ordered you to personally go and capture Fan Ning back, why didn't you go?" The meeting master asked coldly, although he deliberately suppressed his voice, his voice still did not sound mature and sophisticated.

Shi Yuannian gritted his teeth and trembled his lips, as if he was annoyed and unconvinced, and did not answer.

The master snorted coldly, took out the prepared leather whip from the sleeve cage, and used twelve points of strength to hit Shi Yuannian's back, scolding while smoking: "Don't forget that you lived on the streets of Chang'an back then, and almost died in a fight with Wufang Xiaoer, who pulled you out of the garbage heap to save you, and who gave you the money, and asked the government to come to the official mansion to buy a shop for you and this Hu Ren Mao girl in the West Market, so that you have a place to live?" Do you feel like your wings are stiff now? Can you not listen to the call? It's really like its name, the ungrateful Zhongshan wolf! ”

The whip was whipped down on Shi Yuannian's body, beating him so that his skin was open and his flesh was blurred, but he just gritted his teeth and endured it, neither defending himself nor resisting and begging for mercy.

The woman wearing the mask of the word "Zheng" was Anal, she also lost her mask when she was protecting Shi Yuannian, kept kowtowing, and cried again and again: "Please, don't fight again, we know it's wrong......"

But the master of the meeting did not have the intention of pity for the jade, until he was tired of whipping, and finally stopped the whip: "I know the purpose of your coming to Chang'an, 'If you can't bear it, you will make a big plan', you have learned it very well." But you all remember for me, without me, you wouldn't even be a fart! In the future, no matter what I say, you have to do it, otherwise don't blame me for turning my face and denying people, handing you over to the government, and leaving you messy henchmen all in different places! Get lost! ”

After that, the master kicked Shi Yuannian in the back again, and kicked it in the most serious place where the skin and flesh bloomed, and the pain made Shi Yuannian almost faint. Anar hurriedly stepped forward to help Shi Yuannian and fled quickly with him.

The person in the mask with the word "Lai" came to the side of the master, bowed down and asked, "Right now, Fan Ning is very likely to be at the crown prince Li Hong, I don't know what the master plans to do next." ”

The master turned around and said unhurriedly: "It was expected that the criminal department could not control that girl, but the saint was anxious and would never leave it alone." Now that everything in Luoyang has been arranged, whoever brings Fan Ning to Luoyang will not affect my plan, it's just that Xue Ne's kid is cheaper", he snorted coldly, brushed his sleeves away, and did not stay any longer

"The Lord is wise!" The man wearing the mask of the word "Lai" bowed behind him, and respectfully watched the master walk out of the underground palace.

Shendu Luoyang...... It seems that the legacy of the Yonghui period is blowing to the east again.

Time flies like water, and it has been 15 or 6 days since he was taken into custody to today. Early that morning, Xue Nefang woke up from his dream and heard the sound of unchaining outside. A slightly slender male voice of an internal official said "Youlao", and then heard a sound of footsteps approaching unhurriedly.

This place has always been dim, and in front of him, Xue Ne saw clearly that it was a kind and kind imperial history, and he should also be on an errand in front of the two saints, and he came here on purpose, and it is estimated that there is a new holy oracle coming down.

Xue Ne hurriedly got up, knelt down and bowed, only to listen to the imperial history in pure Luoyang official dialect, Lang Lang said: "Xuan Sheng's message: Xue Shenyan was detained for punishment last time, and I was very relieved to hear that the Hongwenguan case had been solved." And the secret case in the palace has not yet been solved, so Xue Shenyan's free body was restored, the official was reinstated, and the case was ascertained within one month, and the subject was brought to the palace. Bong Yi Yi. ”

"Thank you, saints!" Xue Ne bowed to the chief again. After Yushi left, Gao Min walked to the cell door with a smile, took out the key, and opened the cell door: "Xue Mingfu, congratulations!" To be able to get the favor of the saints, the future is limitless. Gao is fortunate to be acquainted, he is rising day by day, don't forget that you and I have a relationship, and I will carry Gao a lot. ”

Today, Gao Min has returned to the appearance he had when he first met him in Gongchuan that day, hearty and sunny, not at all as aggressive and messy as he was a few days ago, Xue Ne couldn't figure out which one was this person's true temperament, and replied: "Where is Brother Gao, it's really tormenting Xue." ”

Changing into regular clothes and leaving the gate of the Criminal Department, Xue Ne didn't know where to go for a while. His horse didn't know where it went, and Xue Wang's bastard boy didn't come to pick him up, whether to walk back to Pingkangfang to see Xue Chuyu, who had just been punished with a cane, or simply go to the East and West City to find an old man who came to the city to sell firewood, and hitchhiked back to Lantian When the two were weighing, Xue Ne heard someone calling from afar: "Xue Lang!" Xue Lang! ”

Xue Ne turned his head and saw that it was Zhang Shun standing at the mouth of the alley, he was leading a carriage, obviously to pick him up. I thought that Li Hongshang was thinking about it behind closed doors, in order not to cause trouble for him, it was better to exchange letters, but I didn't expect that he didn't mean to avoid suspicion at all, Xue Ne stepped forward, still a little uneasy: "Your Highness is still thinking about it, will you come to pick me up in such a grand manner, will it ......?"

Zhang Shun took Xue Ne's burden, and couldn't help but urge him to get in the car: "Xue Lang doesn't have to think so much, His Royal Highness said, avoiding suspicion at this time is suspicious, get in the car quickly!" ”

said that he didn't want to go to the East Palace, naturally it was fake, and when he arrived at the East Palace, he could meet Fan Ning, Xue Ne's handsome face was red from the corner of his forehead to the root of his neck, but the joy in his heart increased sharply, and he immediately lifted the curtain and got into the car.

Before he could sit down, he was pulled by someone, and Xue Ne looked at it, and there was a girl in a skirt dressed in a female official uniform sitting in the car, it was Fan Ning.

Before Xue Ne came back to his senses, Fan Ning twisted his lean waist and said angrily: "Let you be a hero, can you sit in prison and enjoy it?" ”

After careful calculation, since that separation in Lantian, it has been nearly a month since he could talk to her face-to-face, and finally met again, Xue Ne couldn't feel the pain on his body at all, and just looked at Fan Ning, his eyes were full of infinite affection.

Fan Ning's eyes were also sour, but he was ashamed to admit his intentions, and when he saw Xue Ne looking at him, the peach blossoms flushed, and his heart beat suddenly.

Suddenly, the wheels of the moving carriage snapped onto a small stone on the road, causing the carriage to sway. Fan Ning didn't sit down firmly in order to make room for Xue Ne, and this moment was not tight, which made her lose her center of gravity, and her whole life fell into Xue Ne's arms.

"You, are you alright?" Xue Ne felt the thin and warm person in his arms, and he was so ashamed that he almost stumbled, but he was more worried about Fan Ning and hurriedly went to help her. Unexpectedly, the carriage was reversed again, and when Xue Ne pitched up, Fan Ning raised his eyes, and his thin lips rubbed against her cherry red little mouth impartially.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the car became awkward, the two realized what was happening, took a step back like an electric shock, sat on the opposite corner farthest from each other, deliberately turned their heads not to look at each other, and looked out the window, the car was filled with the sound of a pounding heartbeat, but they couldn't tell whether it was their own or each other's, and they were full of embarrassment.

After a while, Fan Ning suppressed the embarrassment in his heart, and said without words: "Sit down...... After sitting in prison for so many days, I don't see you dirty and smelly, but the high director also took you to take a bath? ”

"Wash what?" Xue Ne seemed to hear something terrible, and her brows jumped, "Gao Min took you to take a bath?" ”

It's better not to say this, Fan Ning was so ashamed that she almost got into the crack in the ground, but she couldn't take back what she had already said, she forced herself to calm down: "Ah...... Ah, yes, didn't His Highness tell you in his letter? He took me to Li Qianyou's private house of the fox, bathed me, gave me food, and combed my hair and changed into women's clothes...... No, it was the maid who changed it for me. Anyway, it was at that time that he firmly said that I was Princess Anding. ”

When Xue Ne heard this, where could he care about any fox weasel, the princess was in charge, and he only felt that it was not a taste to be full of sourness. Unexpectedly, when he was busy investigating the case, Gao Min's kid dared to take the opportunity to approach Fan Ning, and there were so many incidents.

Xue Ne has never liked to compete with others, and in the face of his brother's pressing step by step, he just forbears to retreat, but there are three things in this world that he swears not to retreat, one is the truth of the case, the second is victory or defeat on the battlefield, and the third is Fan Ning.

He didn't care if Fan Ning would think he was petty, and said: "Gao Min makes people suspicious, you don't have to have more dealings with him......"

Fan Ning slapped his palm, as if he agreed with his words: "Right? I think so too, and he doesn't have a word of truth in his mouth. I was acquitted that day, and he wanted to take me back, but I refused, and when I returned to Guanli that night, I was chased by assassins......"

"Chase?" Xue Ne was stunned, "Who is chasing you?" Can you identify yourself? ”

Fan Ning Nunu's mouth was quite aggrieved, and he whispered: "I heard the prince say that it is the person of Wu Sansi, the general of the right guard, who may have been sent by the Empress Wu." ”

No matter how dull Xue Ne was to emotion, he could see at a glance the fear and confusion in Fan Ning's eyes. Growing up in the Taoist temple since she was a child, she has long been accustomed to not being loved by her father, but how can she not yearn for it.

Once he was told his life experience, he was faced with the killing intent of his parents and relatives, not to mention Fan Ning, who in the world could stand it? Xue Ne's thoughts returned to the prison of Lantian County that day, she once asked, "Will Xue Lang also have a lot to say to me", how much he hoped that he could be her safe haven at this time, telling her that there was no need to be afraid of him in this life.

But in this walking carriage, the ears are filled with the cries of street vendors, and it is too inappropriate to discuss the important matters of life. Xue Ne hesitated, and just as she didn't know how to relieve her, she saw Fan Ning sighing sadly: "I really want to see the master and ask him what was going on back then, whether I brought it from the Empress Wu." But I'm more afraid of something happening to him than that......"

"A few days ago, Master Li also sent me a letter, that is, before the second court defense, it was written, 'Standing alone, hanging from each other', and I remembered to check the details of Tian Liu. In my opinion, Master Li is fine, it's just that it's inconvenient to show up, so you don't have to worry too much. ”

"Really?" Fan Ning opened his round eyes, blinked his long eyelashes, and was very cute, and then turned into a look of disgust: "I think this old man is really getting more and more itchy, just caring about himself and throwing such a big mess to us." ”

Xue Ne smiled when he heard this: "Don't say that, maybe Master Li really has something unspeakable." ”

While talking, the carriage drove into the East Palace, and after passing through the two gates, Xue Ne and Fan Ning got out of the car and walked to Li Hong's study on foot.

Seeing that everything was as usual with Xue Ne, Li Hong relieved himself and said to Fan Ning: "Chef Ku has started cooking, as if you have just roasted mutton and Hu cakes." ”

Fan Ning knew that Li Hong had something to say to Xue Ne alone, so he jumped out of joy and went to the kitchen without looking back.

When Fan Ning walked away, Xue Ne arched his hand and said, "These days, thank Your Highness for taking care of her." ”

"Hey, you're thanking me. She may most likely be my sister, you not only saved her several times, but also made her aggrieved, and it is too late for this palace to thank you. Anyway, what kind of grace do you want, but whatever the palace can give, although you bring it up, you don't have to be polite. ”

Xue Ne replied with a smile: "The minister doesn't dare, Fan Ning is the chief of the minister, and it has nothing to do with her life experience." Finding out the truth and not being wronged is also a promise made by the minister to His Highness that day, and he does not ask for any grace. ”

"I haven't seen you for a few days, but you have become a lot sharper-tongued, can you argue with that high master, and let us make up for our only shortcomings? Speaking of which, if there is any new discovery, it is not in vain that the school scrivener of Chongwen Hall copied the case on the food basket mat cloth for more than ten days. ”

Speaking of the case, Xue Ne immediately straightened his face: "Your Highness, the minister suspects that Director Gao was a fugitive when he was young. ”

"Oh?" Li Hong looked at Xue Ne with interest, "Why do you say this?" ”

Director Gao claimed to be from Luoyang, his parents died early, and he was fostered in his aunt's house in Chang'an since he was a child. According to the facts of Master Gao's affairs, his father's name is Gao Qing and his mother is Lai, but when he talked to me, he did not shy away from his parents' secrets, calling the sage's edict 'favoring me', and saying that he had to be 'cunning' with me before. It can be seen that these two people are by no means his biological parents, and their biological parents are other people. In addition, the minister read the genealogy of the Gao family and found that there was a pattern in its name, and all those who were the same generation as his father had the word 'month' in their names, such as his uncle 'Gao Hao' and his father's 'Gao Hao'. And those who are the same generation as the high chief have 'day' in their names, such as his cousin's name is Gao Xiao, and his younger brother is called Gao Ming, only the name of the high master does not have the day. When Master Gao moved to the Gao family, the children of his two clans had not yet been born, so he must have been negligent for a while, so he did not ask about the method of naming him. Therefore, the minister thought that the so-called early death of his parents and foster care in his aunt's house since he was a child was just a cover for his childhood escape. Judging from the actual records, Gao Qing and Lai died in a fire in the third year of Xianqing, so the migration of Gao's hometown to Chang'an should have occurred three years after Xianqing. ”

"Then, in your opinion, do you want to put the high director in prison?"

"That's not necessary, although the criminal department is weird, Director Gao may not be the mastermind behind the scenes, the real culprit must be from a famous family, and it may be related to Queen Wang. If you act rashly, you may be shocked and the mastermind behind the scenes will get away with it. The minister thought that it was better to send someone to watch every move of Director Gao and the Criminal Department first, and wait and see what happened, and the mastermind behind the scenes would definitely take action. ”

"Good! Bengong knows that you will definitely be worthy of the prison meal I prepare for you every day", Li Hong joked, and then felt that he didn't like to listen to it, and said, "By the way, I still have something here, I want you to help me take a look, maybe after reading this, you will know whether that girl is the sister of Bengong or not." ”

Saying that, Li Hong handed over the strangely shaped booklet, Xue Ne took it with both hands, and looked at it, there were some poems written on it in four or six or eight sentences, some were escorted, some did not rhyme, and the rest of the book was copied with dense Chinese characters, but the meaning was not known, but it was like a calligraphy book written indiscriminately by practicing calligraphy, he looked at it for a while, and asked Li Hong blankly: "Your Highness, where is there any record of Fan Ning here?" ”

"This palace wants to ask you, you are asking about me", Li Hong smiled helplessly, raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows, his mind was tired, "This book is a record of the physical characteristics of the emperor's heir when he was born, and it is said that it was compiled with what "Taihao Heavenly Book" was used, but this palace asked Fan Ning, but she said that it had nothing to do with "Taihao Heavenly Book". However, according to Fan Ning, she doesn't have any birthmarks, and whether she wants to remember it in this book or not, it doesn't mean anything. ”

"She has a birthmark, under the butterfly bone behind her back, and she can't see it", Xue Ne still thought about the words in the book, and didn't want to reply.

Li Hong was stunned and stood up unconsciously: "She doesn't know herself, how do you know?" ”

Xue Ne came back to his senses, felt that it was inappropriate, and replied with a smile: "When I was a child, we took a bath together......

Li Hong stared at Xue Ne's handsome and honest face, as if he still didn't believe it, and asked carefully with his words: "When you grew up, didn't you do anything strange to her?" ”

"What's strange?" Xue Ne was even more dazed, completely unable to understand Li Hong's hints.

"Hey, that's it...... It's just that the two of them are naked......" Li Hong was speechless for a while, and he really didn't know how to describe it.

Xue Ne looked sincere, as if he really didn't understand, and replied: "It's never been that two people are naked, but if you want to say that I was naked alone, I did have ......."

Hearing this, Li Hong's face was so black that it seemed to be smeared with carbon deposits, but Xue Ne couldn't see it, so he only told the story of the day when he found Fan Ning hiding in the cabinet when he was changing clothes in the room on the day of the Hongwen Pavilion case. He was indeed naked that day, wearing only obscene trousers.

Li Hong was dumbfounded when he heard this, neither hate, nor laughing, he was speechless for a long time, and Zhang Shun, who was guarding the door, was even more uncomfortable.

After a long time, Li Hongfang said: "This matter is really disturbing the palace, a few days ago, the palace wanted to send a letter to Luoyang, to ask his father, whether Li Qianyou and Gao Min secretly investigated the stability. But I heard that my father had another head attack in the past two days, and the palace was worried that this letter would be sent to Luoyang and seen by the queen mother...... Although Bengong didn't believe that the queen mother would do such a thing, for the sake of the overall situation, he still had to take precautions. In this way, the clue can only be started from this document, and this book will be placed with you, so think about it in the next few days. ”

"Your Highness rest assured, the minister will return to Lantian in the next two days to study quietly and give an explanation to His Highness as soon as possible. Other than that...... Your Highness, in today's edict, the sage asked the minister to take Fan Ning to Luoyang. ”

"What?" Li Hong was extremely surprised, and seemed to have no idea about it, "But when did you write that you would leave?" ”

"No, I just said that within a month, the minister was thinking about the summons, can you not tell her yet. She has just experienced a major case, and she has been hunted down and killed, and she has been physically and mentally exhausted along the way, and it is not too late to inform her after the minister finds out the truth. ”

Xue Ne's protection of Fan Ning was clear, and Li Hong said: "I don't need you to say it, this palace will also protect stability, this matter has evolved so far, and where it will go in the future, this palace can't see clearly." Prudently, this case is widely implicated, and what a heavy burden it has, you know it in your heart, so you don't need to say more about it. Whatever you do, as long as you open your mouth, this palace will do everything we can to help you...... In addition, your dying brother heard the news two days ago, and knew that he couldn't escape, so he went to the criminal department to confess his guilt, saying that he had followed the trend and falsely accused you, and was beaten with forty sticks. Yesterday, Zhang Shun was ordered by the palace to see him, and he still looked like he was wronged and aggrieved, you don't have to go back to the Pingyang County Mansion first, so as not to have extraneous branches, and after eating, the palace asked Tao Mu to pick you up and go back to Lantian directly. ”

Xue Ne gave up his hand to receive the order, but before he could respond, Fan Ning took the lead: "I'll go too!" ”

Seeing that he had already gone to the kitchen to rob, Fan Ning strode over, holding a Hu cake in each hand, and eating it with a bow left and right, and it didn't look very good. Li Hong knew that she had followed Li Chunfeng since she was a child, hungry and full, and felt even more distressed when she saw this situation, and said like a child: "Lantian is far away, and there is no good food in the palace, what are you going to do there?" It's better to stay here, and you can still have a companion with Red Lotus. ”

"I don't want to, I want to go back to Lantian with Xue Lang", Fan Ning took Li Hong's words as a deaf ear, "It's good here, but it's too restrictive, I want to go back to Lantian, it's close to stargazing, it's rare to be at ease." ”

Hearing Fan Ning say that he wanted to go with him, Xue Ne was very happy and responded: "Lantian garden, I have been asking Tao Mu to clean up and go back to ......"

"No", Li Hong objected, "No matter how good you two are, they are both the eldest and not too young, you are at the age of marriage, what does it look like for a lonely man and a widow to live in one place?" ”

"What about His Highness and Sister Red Lotus? Isn't it also a lonely man and a widow staying in one place? Besides, it wasn't His Highness who asked me to go to Lantian with Xue Lang quickly, why is it not allowed now? ”

Li Hong was choked by Fan Ning and couldn't speak, but the fact is that in his eyes, Xue Ne and Fan Ning were handsome and honest noblemen and bewitching and arrogant crazy girls, but now they have become bad boys who have coveted their sisters for many years and simple little girls who are ignorant of the world. Li Hong couldn't say why there was such a big change in his psychology, and he couldn't announce it, so he said with his back in an official tone: "You are the most important witness in this case, and this palace does not allow you to leave here for half a step, otherwise if something really happens......

"I'm also here to handle the case", Fan Ning had an idea and said, "I haven't had time to explain the details of many things to Xue Yushi in detail, and it will definitely affect the cracking of the case." ”

How could Li Hong not see the affection and sweetness in the eyes of these two people, at this moment he didn't feel like a crown prince at all, but like the queen mother who took apart the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. But even so, he can't be soft-hearted, if he really lets Fan Ning go, these two people will be on a whim, and his sister will be able to pay back if she suffers a loss. Fan Ning has a wild temperament, it is useless to be afraid of it, Li Hongpo feels that it is not easy to be a brother, as if he is more than ten years old, his soul is blessed, and he retreats as an advance: "One or two days, it should be enough for you to say, right?" Zhang Shun, go and clean up the room where Xue Lang lived last time, and then go and talk to Lantian that their county order will handle the case in Chang'an in the past two days, and after two days, the person will return it. ”

After that, Li Hong no longer paid attention to Fan Ning's entanglement, flicked his sleeves, and walked to the backyard as if he was fleeing.