Putting on such a thing, not only was it difficult for Li Hong to accept, but Fan Ning was even more uneasy, following behind Honglian, his steps became more and more broken and slower.

God knows, she really doesn't have any idea of climbing the dragon and attaching the phoenix, she has a loose temperament since she was a child, like Li Chunfeng, she is used to idle clouds and wild cranes, she can't stand the slightest control, she never likes to climb to the big family, and Li Hong is the only royal relative she has dealt with. For this young and promising prince of the prison country, her impression is that he is approachable, fair and scheming, he is Xue Ne's confidant and best friend, and he is extremely compatible with Red Lotus, and there is nothing else. Once said that they were the biological brothers and sisters of the same mother, Fan Ning was shocked and even a little resistant, and even retreated.

I thought that no father, no mother, no relatives is the worst in the world, I don't think there is a situation that is better than nothing, I used to think that I was a rootless duckweed, and now I hope that the experience of the past half a year is a dream, when I woke up, I was still on the small couch for stargazing, pushed the door and stretched out, turned around and saw the master sitting on the old locust tree playing chess, and the boiling water in the kitchen was about to boil dry, but the little old man didn't know it. Every three or two days, when the sunset hung in the treetops, Xue Ne would ride a horse from Chang'an City and gossip with her about what he had seen and heard in the past few days. He was not good at words, but she was often fascinated by it, giggling, and with a girlish flush on her little face.

It would be great if we could go back to that time, those days that were once thought to be ordinary are beautiful that cannot be returned. If Master hadn't disappeared, if Xue Ne hadn't been imprisoned, maybe she wouldn't be so at a loss right now.

Honglian, who was walking in front, noticed Fan Ning's hesitation, turned around and grabbed her little hand. Fan Ning was stunned, raised his eyes, and saw that Honglian was looking at him, smiling very gently, and his cold heart finally had a little warmth, he held Honglian's hand back, and walked into the main room of Yichun Courtyard with her.

Li Hong was dressed in Yanju regular clothes, and was brewing tea, when he saw Honglian and Fan Ning, he chuckled and put down the bowl and beckoned, "Sit down first." ”

It seemed to be the same as usual, but Honglian still caught a little imperceptible confusion in Li Hong's smile. Although he has been secretly investigating the matter of Princess Anding, and he has also worried about his relationship with Honglian, in his heart, he has always been more inclined to someone deliberately framing Empress Wu.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, the queen mother is majestic, iron-fisted, and a little unkind, but for Li Hong, she will always be her closest person, and she will look at him with loving eyes and praise him for every progress.

If Princess Anding is still alive, the origin of "abolishing the king and establishing martial arts" does not exist, the martial queen is not the master of the harem, and he is not the eldest son of the righteous concubine, no matter how hard he works, he can't afford the words "prince of the prison country". Once the incident at the east window occurs, the court still doesn't know what kind of turbulent waves will be set off.

Fan Ning didn't know what Li Hong was thinking, so he sat on the futon beside him blankly, pursed his cherry lips, and made up his mind: "Your Highness...... If it is for the stability of the Tang Dynasty, it doesn't matter if you want me to die, it's just ...... Can you release Xue Lang, don't let him be implicated by me......"

"Huh", Li Hong didn't expect that Fan Ning would use this as his opening remarks, and he was full of sadness in the ridicule, "When people next to me recognize their relatives, they always have to cry, why do you say that you want to die as soon as you come up?" Let's not talk about these things first, what did the surname Gao say to you, you tell this palace in 1510, and this palace should protect you thoroughly. ”

Fan Ning calmed down, and relayed all the words Gao Min said to Li Hong after being imprisoned in the Criminal Department, and even the rat that died and lived after taking medicine did not let go.

Li Hong originally believed in three points, and didn't believe in seven points, but after listening to it, he turned it upside down, and even believed it for seven or eight points, looking at Fan Ning in front of him, with a little confusion in his kindness, he didn't speak for a while, and a certain subtle atmosphere spread in the room, like the fragrance of tea in a copper kettle, which could not be seen or touched, but it was everywhere.

"Your Highness", Honglian, who had been silent, opened her mouth and said to Li Hong in a soft voice, "Since the chief surnamed Gao said that there are physical characteristics about Princess Anding in the file, why don't you compare it with Ning Er?" ”

"There are some characteristics that children will have, but she is now sixteen or seventeen years old, and it is not known what has changed......

Fan Ning was so impatient by this incident that he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Then, how about a blood test?" As she spoke, she lowered her head and bit her right index finger, oozing blood.

Li Hong hurriedly raised his hand to stop it, which made him helpless and funny: "It's all bluffing, it's useless." ”

Honglian took out the silk handkerchief she was carrying, and quickly stepped forward to stop the bleeding for Fan Ning, but when she saw her raise her eyes and smile, she said indifferently: "It's okay, it's almost healing......"

Li Hong's heart jumped, and a thought came to him: If this Fan Ning is really stable, he is his biological sister of the same father and mother, I am afraid that he will die of distress, and I can't imagine how much suffering and how many sins she has suffered in the years she has been adrift.

Fan Ning saw Li Hong frowning and looking at him, thinking that Fang Cai's behavior was too indifferent and startled him, and he laughed extremely embarrassed.

Li Hong hid his thoughts very well, and said quietly: "It's okay, there is a question in this palace, it may be a little abrupt, it is related to the royal bloodline, and I hope you will bear with me...... What birthmarks did you have on your body when you were a child? ”

Fan Ning tilted his head and thought about it, and replied: "I don't know if there was one when I don't remember, but now I don't." ”

Li Hong paused for a moment, nodded, and was about to speak again, and then heard Zhang Shun call outside: "Your Highness, the waiter who arranged to deliver meals and clothes to Xue Lang has arrived." ”

"Let him sit less in the side hall", Li Hong responded loudly, and said to Honglian and Fan Ning, "This palace has found an opportunity to send a letter to Shen Yan." Fan Ning, if you have something to say, this palace can order someone to carry it together. ”

Hearing that she could talk to Xue Ne, Fan Ning swept away her sadness, and her eyes lit up sharply, as bright and dazzling as a bright lake in spring, but she immediately hesitated again, and she didn't say a reason for a while.

"That's it, there is a pen, ink, paper and inkstone in the side room, you can write it down with him."

Fan Ning suddenly intervened and flew out of the house. Honglian saw that Fan Ning was far away, so she asked lightly: "Your Highness, is the birthmark you asked about just now from Princess Anding?" Ning'er doesn't have it, does that mean she's not? ”

Li Hong didn't answer, but reached out his bony hand and pulled the red lotus to his side, the red lotus sat down with him shyly, lowered her eyes and didn't dare to look at Li Hong, only heard him say: "Listen to the female official's report, you have not been resting well these days, why don't you take the medicine you are dispensed with?" ”

"Taking medicine, the fear in my heart will not go", Honglian seems to be as weak as water, but the words she says are windy, "Now like this, although it is difficult, but once I get through, I will not be afraid of him anymore......"

When Li Hong heard this, he felt even more guilty and distressed: "I have been thinking about it behind closed doors in the past few days, and I haven't seen you because I am afraid that someone will chew the root of my tongue again and anger my father and queen mother." When the limelight passes, it will all be fine. I picked the most credible one among the officials of the East Palace, as your maiden family, and when my father's birthday is over this year, I will take you into the East Palace, first seal it as a five-grade emblem, and then enter the seal when he has a festival. ”

What Li Hong said, Honglian longed for it, but she kept forcing herself not to dare to hope extravagantly, she fixed her mind and changed the topic unnaturally: "His Royal Highness just asked Ning'er about the birthmark, it should be related to the princess, Ning'er didn't, can you rule her out?" ”

Li Hong thought that Honglian was shy, so he didn't make much guesses, and replied: "When Anding's remains disappeared, I ordered someone to take all the records in the Yonghui Five-Year Palace, and burned them after seeing them. According to the record, stability has a birthmark, but it is possible for a child's birthmark to fade when it grows up, and this kind of thing is not easy to use as proof, so it can only prevaricate the person with a heart......

Honglian understood Li Hong's temperament, and when she heard him say this, her heart couldn't help but hang: "

Your Highness said so, could it be that she would ...... her?"

"In the fifth year of Yonghui, a few days after his death, the only ministers who had been in and out of the palace were Li Chunfeng and Li Jucheng. And that Fan Ning does look similar to Mrs. Wei Guo, and my sister Taiping, although she is still too young, it can be seen that they are more similar between their eyebrows and eyes. What's more, Fan Ning is too much like the queen mother......"

"Thinking that Ning Er is not only like Mrs. Wei Guo, but also like Her Royal Highness Princess Taiping, naturally she should be very much like the Queen of Heaven", Honglian became more and more worried about Fan Ning, and replied to Li Hong, slightly distracted.

"I'm not talking about looks, to be honest, I don't know what my mother looked like when she was young......" Li Hongzheng said, Fan Ningxing rushed in, he hurriedly stopped, picked up his letter on the table, "Take it together, give it to the waiter." ”

Fan Ning turned back, handed over the things to the chamberlain, and returned to the room. Obviously, after writing a letter with Xue Ne, her mood was much brighter, she sat down cross-legged, took out the fish talisman from her pocket with great difficulty, and handed it to Li Hong: "Your Highness, when we returned to the stargazing view the night before yesterday, thirty or forty assassins descended from the sky, and they were hypnotic incense and crossbowmen, and all the tricks were for my life. I...... I, out of righteousness, killed, killed a few, this situation...... Shouldn't I be convicted? ”

Li Hong originally had the intention to bluff Fan Ning so that he could keep her in the range under his control, but when he saw her nervously rubbing her clothes, he was quite frightened, so he couldn't get angry at all, and said helplessly: "Yesterday, Lian'er sent a message to the palace, and the palace sent someone to see it, except for a little blood on the ground, there was no sign of a fight at all, not to mention any corpse, obviously it was restrained and left, you don't have to be too ......"

Li Hong said, his eyes touched the fish talisman handed by Fan Ning, and his expression was shocked, as if he had taken dumb medicine, and he lost his words when he landed.

As the prince of the prison country for many years, Li Hong boasted that he was deep in the city, and his joy and anger were invisible, but at this time, he was a little uncontrollable, and his handsome face changed three or four colors in layers, from gray to red to dark blue, showing his complicated mood.

Fan Ning naturally keenly caught Li Hong's uncomfortable expression, and turned his head to ask, "Your Highness recognizes this fish talisman, right?" ”

Li Hong knew that Fang Cai had not been able to control his expression well, and if he tried to explain it strongly, he could only lose Fan Ning's trust, so he said truthfully: "If this palace is not mistaken, this is the talisman of the military camp of the right guard general." ”

"General of the Right Guard?" Fan Ning muttered in his mouth, and a woman in a gorgeous dress flashed in his mind, with similar eyebrows and eyes to himself, but her eyes were not so clear, and she deliberately used her eyebrows to accentuate the hanging tips, making her eyes more and more cold, her charming face was pale, and her plump and small lips were red, although she was extremely beautiful, she was also extremely alienated and indifferent.

Is it the Empress of Martial Arts? Fan Ning couldn't help but tremble slightly, could it be that the Empress Wu ...... It was really her mother, sixteen years later, she regretted that she failed to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, and specially ordered the right guard general Wu Sansi to send someone to assassinate Fan Ning in the stargazing view.

In the whole world, a "mother", a "mother", where is not the most beautiful and affectionate title, for Fan Ning, it is a mirror that can never be touched, and today I want to touch it, but what I encounter is a hundred feet of ice.

The chill in her heart seemed to devour her, and suddenly a thin arm hooked Fan Ning's body, she instinctively shocked, raised her eyes, and saw that the red lotus moved from Li Hong's side to her side at some point, wrapped her tightly, and murmured softly: "I'm here, Your Highness is also here, in broad daylight, don't worry about ......"

Fan Ning couldn't sort out her emotions, but she couldn't hold back her crying, the surroundings were very quiet, only her sobbing sound was so noisy, and even Li Hong's sonorous words were interrupted and shattered: "Yes, no matter what, I won't let you be innocently implicated." ”

After a long while, Fan Ning's mood finally calmed down, and Li Hong said again: "When you come to the East Palace, you can rest assured." In the past few days, you will stay as a female official first, and don't go back to stargazing. ”

"Thank you, Your Highness, but, Xue Lang, he ......"

"The palace has summoned Yuan Gongyu, the young man of the punishment, and waited for him to come and ask about the situation first. Although it is not more affectionate than the two of you, this palace has always recognized Shenyan as a confidant, and will never ignore him, you can rest assured. The lady in charge is ready, you can go to her with Zhang Shun now, change your clothes and freshen up, so that you can look like one. ”

How could Fan Ning not hear Li Hong deliberately biting the words "deep love and righteousness", his face was red and white, and he opened his mouth, not knowing what to say, so he could only smear oil on the soles of his feet and immediately slip away.

The door opened and closed, bringing the light and shadow of the building, which was not dazzling, but it still made the people in the room feel a little dizzy. Honglian rolled up her wide sleeves and added two scoops of water to the teapot that Li Hong was about to boil dry, only to hear the sound of a faint green smoke rising in the room, wrapped in the fragrance of tea, with a slight hint of bitterness.

"Your Highness, is the right guard general still in Luoyang? If you learn that the assassination of Ning Er was unsuccessful, will you ......?"

After Fan Ning left, Li Hong didn't hide his emotions anymore, and held his forehead with a tired face. Although he had heard Fan Ning relay many of Gao Min's words before, he never believed that the queen mother would kill Fan Ning. Maybe...... Perhaps due to the urgency of the situation in the palace, the queen mother had to let Anding fake her death, and sent the little baby out of the palace, and she also benefited from this, overthrew the queen and successfully ascended to the throne. The harem is treacherous, the dynasties and dynasties are not peaceful, the queen mother is his own hardship, he can't question the speculation, but today, will she really send Wu Sansi to kill Fan Ning for her own status?

Li Hong was silent for a while, and then adjusted his mood: "If Fan Ning is stable, he should not die; If it weren't for stability, she wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't let her have anything to do. Yuan Gongyu came, I went to the front hall to see him and ask about Shen Yan. You wait for me here, I haven't seen you for many days, and I'll come back to accompany you when I'm done. Just now, I have asked Zhang Shun to prepare your favorite food, and I will send it over later, you can eat as much as you like, if you are tired, you can crook on the couch for a while. ”

Honglian originally wanted to send Fan Ning here, so she went back immediately, so as not to trouble Li Hong, but she hadn't seen her for many days, and her thoughts had already become ill, so where could she go away, she smiled and got up to send Li Hong to the front hall.

Every brick and tile in the East Palace is extremely delicate and beautiful, Li Hong walked three or five steps, turned around and smiled, waved his hand at the red lotus, signaling that it was still cool in the morning, and asked her to go back quickly. Red Lotus smiled, adding color to every grass and tree, she knew that she was greedy for the scenery here, but what she cared about was not wealth and glory, but the young man who was tied at the end of her sight.

The day before yesterday, Zhang Shun came to visit the house, Yuan Gongyu knew that it was for Xue Ne, and he came early this morning, and when he saw Li Hong sitting down, he hurriedly replied: "Your Highness, when I was inspecting the cell yesterday afternoon, the minister went to visit Xue Ming's Mansion, everything is fine in Xue Ming's Mansion, and the couch is full of all kinds of books, and I am very fascinated by it. I heard that Mrs. Liu came to deliver it early in the morning, and she also took care of Li Si's punishment, so His Royal Highness can rest assured. ”

"Oh?" Li Hongyi raised his eyebrows, a little incredulous, "Mrs. Liu remembered that there is such a son?" ”

Xue Chuyu is flamboyant, and often talks about his parents' partiality for him, so all the dignitaries and nobles in Beijing know about it. Yuan Gongyu heard that Li Hong was upset about Xue Neming, and said with a smile: "This parent is often eccentric, but the palms and backs of their hands are full of meat, how can Mrs. Liu not feel sorry for Xue Mingfu when something happens?" In terms of age and experience, Xue Mingfu is still a child, and Mrs. Liu will naturally take care of him. His Royal Highness has not yet become a parent, and when he has children, he will know that there are no parents in the world who do not love their children, how can they be willing to let him suffer a little grievance? ”

Li Hong was stunned, and then remembered the queen mother, Fan Ning and the fish talisman, his heart was inexplicably irritable, he forcibly changed his mind, and asked Yuan Gongyu: "This palace asked Yuan Qing to secretly investigate, who reported Shen Yan, but is there a result?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, this kind of report and cover-up case requires at least three witnesses before it can be found to be imprisoned. The minister has ascertained that the people who reported Xue Mingfu for harboring Na Fanning were Anar, the head of Fei and the owner of the leather shop in Xishi, and Xue Chuyu, the younger brother of Xue Mingfu......"

"Xue Chuyu?" Li Hong didn't expect that this guy would also participate in this matter, and sneered, "Mrs. Liu is afraid that she doesn't know the good things that her precious son has done?" Zhang Shun can be in? ”

Zhang Shun had been waiting outside the hall, and when he heard Li Hong's instructions, he immediately pushed the door and walked in.

Li Hong said: "Within today, if you want to spread the matter of Xue Chuyu's false accusation to Mrs. Liu's ears, you must be unaware, understand?" ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, let the Xue family's Xiaolangjun suffer his mother's heartwarming feet tonight", Zhang Shun hugged his fists and saluted, and immediately retreated to arrange.

Although Zhang Shun's words were rough, they were also very relieved, Li Hong couldn't help but chuckle, and asked Yuan Gongyu again: "According to the "Yonghui Law", is there a way to get Shen Yan out of prison?" ”

"It's not difficult, except for the leather shop owner Anar, whether it is Xue Chuyu or the fat owner, they have never seen Fan Ning with their own eyes, but they just saw him take a girl wearing a mask to look around at the lights on the day of the Shangyuan Festival. As for the Hu woman named Anar, she has something to do with Shi Yuannian, the murderer in the Hongwen Pavilion case, and the mansion where Shi Yuannian and Tian Laohan joined is in her name. Although she came to the Criminal Department to explain that Shi Yuannian had just rented her house, as a person related to the suspect in this case, she only had to break this relationship, and her testimony was difficult to count. ”

"That's wonderful. It is inconvenient for the palace to come forward, and Lao Yuanqing has a last concert with his father to explain the reason. In addition, this matter can't be counted like this, Shen Yan worked hard to solve a big case, and he was imprisoned without a reward, where does the majesty of my heavenly family exist? Where is the justice of the world? Xue Chuyu rebelled against his brother for his own benefit, if he was not punished, how would he dare not betray the country in the future? As for the fat master, he is jealous of his ability, not only a mediocre person, but also a bad embryo. ”

"Your Highness's meaning has been understood, and you will definitely give an explanation to Your Highness. However, the official document was sent to Luoyang, and it took fifteen or sixteen days to come and go, and during this period, I am afraid that I would have to wronged Xue Mingfu. ”

On weekdays, Li Hong found an opportunity to match Xue Ne and Fan Ning, hoping that his best friend could get his wish, but since he knew that Fan Ning might be his own sister, he looked at him everywhere, and always felt that this kid was not good enough, so he waved his hand and said: "It's okay, it's also an experience to keep him for two more days...... Is there a clue in the first year of the history of the thief? If he escapes this time, he will definitely make waves one day, so he must be arrested as soon as possible. If not, Shen Yan said that this case is also in vain, and the criminal department must put this case first. In addition to this matter, this palace also wants to inquire with you, what is the origin of the chief named Gao Min? ”

The prison of the Criminal Department has not seen the light of day, and after moving in, Xue Ne has been reading books all day long, unable to release the papers, and his three meals are irregular, and he doesn't know what time it is.

At noon, Xue Mansion sent someone to deliver something again, and the jailer took Xue Wang's dots, so he naturally took care of it, knocked on the fence of the prison with a copper kettle containing worthless green ant wine, and shouted: "The house has sent a newly made Hu Cake, saying that it is Xue Ming's favorite food, so use it while it's hot!" ”

Xue Ne's mind was roaming in the book, and he didn't know where he went, when he heard the word "Hu Biscuit", he suddenly came back to his senses, and finally had an expression on his handsome face.

Mrs. Liu has always looked down on these snacks, afraid that they are not clean, and they are not allowed to be made in the house, and he rarely eats them, only Fan Ning loves Hu cakes as much as his life. Could it be that in the meal sent by Xue Wang today, there is news about Fan Ning?

Xue Ne leaned over and dragged the food basket and opened it anxiously, only to see that there were two letters in it, and looking at the handwriting on the envelope, it was from Li Hong and Fan Ning respectively. He didn't want to think about it, so he opened Fan Ning's letter first, only to see three big words splashing ink at the beginning, expressing his chest directly: "You are very stupid."

Xue Ne was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing, he could imagine how angry and helpless she looked when she wrote the letter. But he was willing, in addition to gritting her teeth and stomping her feet, she only had a little unspeakable distress.

Xue Ne flipped through the colored paper, and half of the slightly burnt red ribbon was revealed in the palm of his hand, which was the day the courtyard burned down, and Fan Ning fell into the ruins. In the past six months, he has been close to him, as if no matter how difficult the case is, he has a head, and the whole person is full of motivation.

Fan Ning's letter is not long, in addition to the anger, there are a few words of advice to worry, Xue Ne read it several times, and saw that she wrote at the end "The rest of the things will be clarified by His Highness", only then did he remember that Li Hong's letter had not been read, so he hurriedly opened it and read it carefully under the cover of the food box.

"Princess Anding?" Seeing what Li Hong said, Xue Ne frowned, but he didn't expect that when he was idle, there would be waves and another incident, not only implicating Fan Ning, but even colluding with the Tang Sheji, he thought about it slightly, and wrote a few words on the reverse side of the letterhead, wanting to ask Li Hong to send all the household registration files of Gao Min for him to check.

Yes, it is not clear whether this person is entrusted by the emperor or not, and what the purpose behind it is, Xue Ne picked up the pen and wrote down the word "Gao Min", and then heard Gao Min's voice sounding outside the prison door: "It seems that Xue Mingfu is busy, Gao Mou...... Doesn't it seem like it's time? ”