In the middle of the night, the people who admired the lanterns had not returned, and the Pingyang County Mansion was quiet, only Mrs. Liu's Buddhist hall was still lit, and occasionally a little more leaky sound could be heard.

At the small door of the backyard, a black shadow flashed in, followed the corridor, and quietly came to the Buddhist shrine. The snow light is faint, illuminating half of the outline, and it can be vaguely seen that this person is handsome, similar to Xue Ne, but his expression is very different, revealing an excessive shrewdness, it is Xue Ne's brother Xue Chuyu.

In the evening, seeing Xue Ne going out, Xue Chuyu also changed his clothes and followed him out. Xue Chuyu has always been sure that Xue Ne must have harbored Fan Ning, but the hounds of the Criminal Department did not smell Fan Ning's breath on him that day, which made Xue Chuyu very confused. But today in Xishi, seeing Xue Ne walking side by side with a woman, Xue Chuyu recognized it as Fan Ning at a glance, not because of how familiar he was with Fan Ning, but because Xue Ne looked at her.

Xue Chuyu suppressed the urge to go up and lift Fan Ning's face, and followed them quietly, and when it was confirmed that Xue Ne and Fan Ning had gone to the ghost market, he hurriedly turned around and went back to the house, and came to the stone table and chair in the backyard.

It was already three o'clock, Xue Chuyu held his breath and concentrated, swept the snow off the stone table, and then held the table with both hands, turning it clockwise for half a circle, with the slight sound of the stone door rubbing the ground, the Buddha statue in the Buddhist shrine slowly turned around, revealing a small hole that only allowed one person to pass over.

Although it was expected, what he saw with his own eyes still made Xue Chuyu's face look surprised, he calmed down slightly, stepped into the stone gate, and walked slowly down the secret passage.

Before the New Year, on the day of the secret meeting in Guanyin Temple, he proposed to everyone, saying that he knew his brother, and with Xue Ne's character, he would definitely not hide Fan Ning elsewhere, but must be hiding by his side, and Bacheng was in the Pingyang County Mansion, but he didn't know where it was.

Hearing this, everyone laughed at Xue Chuyu as if he didn't say it, only the person with the mask of the word "Zhao" in the seat was convinced, and after everyone dispersed, he deliberately left Xue Chuyu behind, telling him the secret about the underground palace of the Pingyang County Mansion, and said that if Xue Ne harbored Fan Ning, he would definitely hide in the underground palace, and instructed Xue Chuyu not to make a mistake for the time being.

Xue Chuyu was so surprised that there was an underground palace under his mansion? After living for three or two months, he didn't even know about it, and how did this person know? Xue Chuyu wanted to ask about this person's identity, but seeing that everyone else was very respectful to him, he didn't dare to make a mistake, and nodded honestly.

After the first day of the first day, someone sent Xue Chuyu the arrangement of the fifteenth day of the first month in the name of the New Year's greeting. Xue Chuyu didn't think that these people could still be dispatched to the head of the Criminal Department and buy off the people who got the ghost market, but he was a little frightened, after all, all he wanted was for Xue Ne to lose power and let him inherit the title justifiably, and he didn't want to introduce the Pingyang County Mansion too much into right and wrong. Just when he hesitated, the news came from Luoyang that Xue Ne had cracked the Longmen Mountain Industry Fire case, and the praise of the Emperor and Queen of Heaven and Yang Jiong's praise made Xue Chuyu jealous and angry, he no longer hesitated, and finally made up his mind to get rid of Xue Ne first and then try to do anything else.

How many years have he been depressed in his heart, and it has gradually become a stubborn disease, Xue Chuyu only feels unconvinced, is it just because he was born a few years earlier, his brother can inherit the title? Obviously, he is better and more in line with the words "Jiangmen Huzi", but he still has to rely on charity to get all this. Xue Chuyu is eager to prove himself, he wants to let his parents know, let the second saint know, and let everyone in the world know that he Xue Chuyu is better and more powerful than his father and brother, and he is the future star of the Tang Dynasty and the best candidate to inherit the title.

Xue Chuyu thought so, Bing Candle came to the underground palace, although he had been mentally prepared, when he saw the scale of the underground palace and the weapons and armor stored, he couldn't help but be shocked, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time.

Xue Chuyu was both angry and excited, only hated the three-day festival, the government was still releasing the government, and the emperor and queen were not in the court, otherwise he really wanted to bring the people from the criminal department here now, and immediately arrested Xue Ne to confess.

After looking around, Xue Chuyu determined that Fan Ning was hiding here, forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart, and quietly withdrew from the underground palace, laughing silently in the wind and snow, unable to stop.

After leading the soldiers of the Dragon and Tiger Army back to the camp to settle down, Xue Ne and Li Yuanyan rode back to Chongrenfang together. The night was too dark, and there were many pedestrians on the road, so Xue Ne sent Li Yuanyan to the back door of the British Mansion to rest.

Seeing that Xue Ne wanted to ride away, Li Yuanyan grabbed his arm and said, "If someone asks about that arrow, you will say that I accidentally missed it, and with my great-grandfather here, no one dares to ...... me."

"Then how can it be done", Xue Ne categorically refused, "You have helped me a lot, how can you still make you apologize for me, when I shot that arrow today, I have already thought about it, and I will definitely not implicate the county lord." ”

Li Yuanyan was dressed in a military uniform, holding the reins of a horse, and there was an indescribable charm: "You don't have to feel that you owe me anything, my great-grandfather once told me that it is good to follow your heart for a lifetime, look ahead and look backwards, and care about gains and losses." I help you, admittedly, because I am pleased with you, but this pleasure makes me very happy, and you don't want anything in return, and you don't have to have any worries or avoid taboos. Tonight's incident is that I led the troops, and it is only fitting that I should bear it, even when it comes to the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven, I am not familiar with Fan Ning, let alone friends, and there is absolutely no suspicion of releasing the imperial court. But you're different, once I'm convicted, I'll also be implicated, so don't be a gentleman at this time, and put the overall situation first......"

Li Yuanyan's words were indeed reasonable, but Xue Ne didn't want her to be too involved in this matter, and before she could say her words, she heard a noisy sound from the British mansion, and a small servant ran out of the door with a roll, and when she saw Li Yuanyan, she said with a crying voice: "Why did the county lord come back, his father-in-law...... Dead ......"

Li Yuanyan only felt that the sky was spinning, and she almost fell off her horse, staggering and rushing to the mansion.

Xue Ne was also shocked and saddened, Li Tao is not only a loving ancestor, but also the pillar of the Tang Dynasty, after his death, the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion were all returned to the dust, and the heroism of the troubled times and disputes decades ago was also lost in the rich and prosperous song and dance of the Tang Dynasty.

The Li family is now in need of people, not only Li Yuanyan is righteous towards Xue Ne, but Li Tao is also kind to Xue Rengui, Xue Ne turned over and dismounted, and went into the British mansion to help. From the burial to the funeral hall, and then writing the obituary, and sending documents to the court, everything is complicated, even if there are hundreds of families, they are also a little in a hurry.

Before dawn, the crown prince Li Hong came from the East Palace by chariot, needless to say, Li Tao is the most relied on courtier of the emperor Li Zhi, and now he is sick and old and returns to the west, Li Hong as the prince of the prison country has come to mourn since now, he is the gift of the younger generation, the incense to mourn, and relieved Li Jingye and his wife for a long time. Li Jingye and his wife thanked the emperor and the crown prince for their care, bowed and thanked them, and then went to work according to Li Hong's request.

Xue Ne had been guarding the side, and after a few weeks of courtesy, Li Hong dragged him to the side and asked, "Shen Yan, I heard about last night's incident, where is the Fan Ning people?" Can you get out of danger? ”

"Your Royal Highness Xie cares, she's fine, she should settle those friends in the ghost city now, and the minister hasn't met her yet......"

"There hasn't been much movement in the Criminal Department recently, as if all the things on the mind have been used on a stable case, and the sudden coming like this really scared the palace. You have to be more vigilant, and at the same time speed up the cracking of the case of the Hongwen Pavilion Annex, so as not to have too many dreams at night. ”

"Yes", Xue Ne replied, "I think that behind the Criminal Department, I am afraid that there are other forces involved in this case, otherwise with the power of the heads of the Criminal Department, it will not be able to infiltrate the ghost market at all." His Royal Highness is the crown prince of the prison country, and he has henchmen in the six departments, can you secretly investigate to see who is behind the criminal department and why he is meddling? ”

"Don't bother Xue Yushi", Li Hong half-jokingly, "After hearing about this, the palace has already arranged it." At the point where this is the case, Bengong vaguely feels that there should be a lot of conspiracy after this case, and all the plots behind the scenes must be dug up...... However, this palace thought that you would wait for that Fan Ning at home, but you didn't expect to come here, can you really rest assured? ”

The arrow that Xue Ne shot today was quite suspicious, and he had an old friend with Fan Ning, which would inevitably arouse Gao Min's suspicions. Fan Ning's skills are very agile, and others can catch up, but Xue Ne's whereabouts can still be traced, and they are likely to test whether he has anything to do with Fan Ning according to Xue Ne's reaction. The more this is the case, the more Xue Ne can not show the slightest concern, coinciding with the death of the British Duke Li Tao who is kind to the Xue family, and the only way to condolence and help here is the main chapter.

But how could he not remember her in his heart, I don't know if she was injured in the chaotic arrows last night, I don't know if she is afraid, whether she is alone and sad.

Xue Ne seemed to answer the question, but she was to the point, and muttered back: "I think she should understand my ......"

The sky is getting brighter, and in the early morning after the snow, the birds are all out of their nests and chirping to feed. Outside the Pingyang County Mansion, kind-hearted cooks pile up leftover rice dregs under tree pits or in the corners of walls for birds to survive the winter.

A slender figure took advantage of everyone's unpreparedness, turned over and entered, quietly entered the Shensi Garden, and quickly burrowed into the underground palace, she faded away the crow-black big cloud, revealed her blood-stained arm, took out the medicine box, and slowly cleaned the wound for herself.

Although they were injured, fortunately, they were all fine, and they saved some money on weekdays, so they went back to their hometown to hide for a few days, and then they could go back to the ghost market to do business in the spring. It's just that she didn't expect that Xue Ne would bring troops to save her, Fan Ning's peach eyes were red, and she couldn't help but scold him in her heart for being a big fool.

The ghost market is destined to be unbearable, Fan Ning thought about going to Lantian County with Xue Ne, and was afraid of dragging him down, so he was entangled in every way, and he was even more puzzled about why Xue Ne was not in the mansion, was it because of that arrow that he was implicated?

Seeing that the sky was already bright, Xue Ne should not have returned all night, which was a rare thing for him, the more Fan Ning thought about it, the more he couldn't sit still, and planned to find out whether Xue Ne had an accident through the snooping hole of the underground palace.

Although she lived here for more than half a month, Fan Ning has never done such a thing once, and has never had such a thought, today is really a last resort, she silently apologized a few words, closed her eyes and heart, and walked to the peep in front of the Buddha Hall, only to see Mrs. Liu was sitting in front of the table to copy the scriptures, different from the slow copying in the past, today she seems to be in a hurry, and her wrist aches and can't take care of it, so she continued to write under slight movement. Fan Ning looked at it for a while, didn't think anything abnormal, walked straight forward, bypassed the front yard, and came to the peep of Xue Chuyu's garden.

I wanted to go up and see it directly, but I was afraid that this guy was taking a shower and changing clothes, if he saw something that shouldn't be seen, wouldn't he be disgusted and have a needle's eye. Fan Ning thought so, and attached his ears first, it didn't matter what he heard, it was Xue Chuyu who was talking to the housekeeper Liu Yu, the two of them seemed to be coming back from outside, and they couldn't help but make a "hissing" sound, their hands were folded and rubbed their arms, and it took a while to slow down, only to hear Xue Chuyu say: "I have been guarding for most of the night, then Fan Ning has not come back at all, Xu is being chased by the Yulin Army and fleeing for his life." It's such a cold day, I wouldn't have waited if I had known. ”

"The small one is guarded, if it freezes, what will happen to our Lang Jun", the dragon in the room is caged, it is already very warm, but Liu Yu still boils tea and pours water, and does his best to stutter.

Xue Chuyu nested in the warm blanket, very comfortable, propped his head and said: "That's it, today is all a happy thing, don't mention these things...... Scholar Helan is about to come back from Luoyang, you prepare some good things and give them to him as a gift. ”

"Lang Jun should know that Helan University scholars love beauties the most, and we can send some gold and jade calligraphy and paintings, but we can't send them into his heart."

Xue Chuyu smiled and sighed, with three points of helplessness in her lightness: "You also know what kind of character your parents are, it doesn't matter how you mess around on weekdays, you can't do anything to force people to become prostitutes, if you really make trouble, it will be bad." Besides, I don't think the Helan scholars are very popular with the emperor and queen, and they are probably suspected of losing power, and the New Year's gift with him doesn't have to be too rich, so people can't find fault or miss. ”

"Lang Jun is thoughtful, but I'm stupid", Liu Yu hurriedly patted the horse, coaxing Xue Chuyu very happy.

"That's right", Xue Chuyu suddenly lowered his voice, and his handsome and extraordinary face showed a bit of ruthlessness, his right hand clenched into a fist, and his thumb pressed his index finger tightly, as if he had made up his mind, "I'll write a letter in a while, you personally send it to Uncle Taichang of the Criminal Department, and my brother is harboring stubborn things in the underground palace in Fuzhong, and it must be passed on to Zhongshuling's desk tomorrow......"

Unexpectedly, Xue Chuyu already knew the secret of the underground palace, Fan Ning's face was cold, and he returned to his residence quietly and quickly, sitting on the couch, his head covered with cold sweat.

When did Xue Chuyu discover the underground palace? Thinking about his rhetoric, it should be last night, he knew that the criminal department had something to do with the theft, and took advantage of her and Xue Ne's absence to come to the underground palace to search, and he still wanted to arrest her outside the underground palace.

If it weren't for Xue Ne, Fan Ning really wanted to jump out of the underground palace and kill him with a sword. This man had already been deluded, and in order to prove that he was better than Xue Ne, he had even ignored his parents and relatives, and did not think about how the emperor would feel when he learned that there was such a mansion in the general's palace with heavy troops.

At present, Xue Rengui's generals are in Goryeo, once something goes wrong, it will hurt the soldiers' hearts on the battlefield, the more Fan Ning thinks about it, the more angry he becomes, and once again suppresses the urge to strangle Xue Chuyu, and tries to think of countermeasures.

People like Xue Chuyu will not shed tears if they don't see the coffin, they must be burned on themselves to know that it hurts, and their parents and brothers will not scruple about it, let alone talk about the love of the family and the country. Fan Ning thought so, raised his eyes and looked around, and the peach blossom eyes showed a little reluctance.

But nostalgia for the past is useless, even if it is blocked by high mountains, she has to split the mountains as roads, what is a mere Xue Chuyu? Fan Ning stood up, walked to the middle of the underground palace, turned the yin and yang eyes of the gossip diagram on the ground, and only heard a loud sound, and the ground rose a half-high platform, and there was a round glass bead inlaid on the table.

The design of this underground palace is extremely exquisite, and it is also like the imperial palace, with the inner and outer palace forbidden points, this mechanism is to prevent foreign enemies from invading the underground palace, once it is rotated, it can crush the rammed earth of the outer palace beams, destroy the outer palace, bury the intruder alive, and the ground is not affected in the slightest. There is no doubt that Xue Ne's Shensi Garden is in the direction of the underground outer palace, once it collapses, it will cover up the traces of Fan Ning's residence, if someone is harboring fugitives in the underground palace, it is Xue Chuyu who lives above the underground palace is the most suspicious.

Fan Ning's small hand held the glass beads tightly, ready to focus. Because it has not been used for many years, this organ is fastened very tightly, and it seems that there is a place to rust, Fan Ning exerted his strength to eat, holding the stone platform with his left hand, and screwing the mechanism with his right hand, and his head was full of sweat.

This mechanism is extremely hidden, even if Liu has lived here for half a month, she didn't realize it, but when she asked the gopher to help her open the small door, the gopher found that the soil layer under Xue Ne's room was unusually rich, so it reversed the existence here.

Not only for herself and Xue Ne, but also for the peace of the soldiers of the expedition and the Tang Dynasty, Fan Ningying's lips trembled, as if she had exhausted her strength to the extreme, with a click, the glass ball finally turned, and the ground trembled, and the exclamations of Xue Chuyu and Liu Yu could be faintly heard above her head. Fan Ning let out a sigh of relief, thinking that if she came out of the main gate now, she would definitely be captured alive, and only by escaping from the small gate made by the gopher before the outer palace was destroyed could she survive, she turned her head to look at the outer palace that had begun to fall and collapse, and rushed over.

Noon was approaching, and the Li family's clan relatives came from all over the place one after another, and Xue Ne saw that things were almost busy, and got up to prepare to resign.

Li Jingye's wife stepped forward and said to Xue Ne: "Child, you have really worked hard today, and you have not rested all night. ”

"Aunt's words are serious", Xue Ne hurriedly bowed and bowed, "The British public is kind to the Xue family, my father is not in Beijing, and my mother is inconvenient to go out, so I am cautious and reasonable." ”

Mrs. Li looked at the handsome and polite young man in front of her, and stopped talking: "Child, you and Yuan Yan grew up together, can you comfort her now?" She was brought up by her great-grandfather when she was a child, and I don't know how uncomfortable it will be......"

Xue Ne was going to ask Li Yuanyan for his resignation, and responded: "Shen Yan has been friends with the county lord since childhood, even if the aunt doesn't mention it, Shen Yan will also go to comfort him from now on, and the aunt can rest assured." ”

After saying that, Xue Ne saluted again, got up and walked to the mourning hall. Li Yuanyan knelt in front of Li Tao's spiritual seat, her face was covered with tears, and she became much haggard overnight. Xue Ne knelt beside her and said lightly: "The county lord mourns, you can't eat for the past three days, you have to keep a watch for the British Princess, but you always have to drink some warm water, if you don't eat or drink like this, you will burn your body, how worried will the British Princess's spirit in the sky." ”

"Is the person who came here to eat and drink?" Although Li Yuanyan did not leave the mourning hall, she knew that her relatives had disregarded the etiquette of filial piety and ate and drank as usual.

"'Relatives or sorrows, others have also sung', the British public is a person of spaciousness, and will not care about those people. But if the little county lord he has been holding in the palm of his hand is sad and cries, the British prince will inevitably be distressed, and he will ask the county lord to mourn. ”

In front of others, no matter how sad she was, she could bear it, but after listening to Xue Ne's words, Li Yuanyan couldn't hold back anything, and the tears that she couldn't hold back fell again, she hurriedly wiped them away in a panic, and sobbed for a long time.

"I'm sorry......" Xue Ne looked at Li Yuanyan's thin figure, and felt uncomfortable, "If it weren't for Xue Mou's own private affairs today, the county lord would still be able to accompany the British Duke and send him on his last ......"

Li Yuan was stunned, looked back at Xue Ne with a guilty face, and said with a smile: "What kind of stupid words are you, my great-grandfather has fallen into a coma two days ago, and no one can hear him call him, what can I do if I am not there?" However, it is the right chapter to accompany him here now, otherwise when the mourning enters the tomb of the first emperor, you will not be able to worship as you like. ”

When Taizong was repairing the mausoleum in the world, he specially repaired the burial tombs for several of his favorite ministers, which is naturally a supreme honor, but for the family members, it is also sad to not be able to worship at any time.

Xue Ne didn't know how to be relieved, and was hesitating, when he heard Li Yuanyan say: "I saw her last night, I know why you love her so much." Although she often quarrels with me on weekdays, she is very righteous towards her friends, and I am ashamed of myself, envious but not jealous. My great-grandfather once said that the most taboo in life is 'heroes and jealousy', if everyone is for themselves, it will not benefit the world and the country. Xue Lang, there is a place where I can be used in the future, as long as you speak, I, Li Yuanxi, will never refuse, you don't have to be polite with me, okay? ”

The reason why Li Tao was so appreciated by the emperor and the emperor is inseparable from his open-minded and noble character. Li Yuan's wife grew up under Li Tao's knees, her temperament is cute and refreshing, she can be regarded as a rare good friend, Xue Ne was very emotional, and she wanted to thank her, so she heard a small servant outside the mourning hall hurriedly called: "Xue Lang, Xue Lang, someone from the Pingyang County Mansion is looking for you, saying that something happened to your mansion, please Xue Lang go back quickly......"