Luziguan is located in the northwest of Yanzhou, close to Shuofang, and further north is the vast desert. Although this place is still more than 1,500 miles away from Luoyang, it is the closest place to the two capitals in the Saiwai grassland.

Some time ago, Xue Chuyu said goodbye to Mrs. Liu and left Chang'an with his entourage, saying that he would go back to his hometown in Longmen, Jiangzhou to rest and relax. After arriving at Longmen, he went hunting with his old friends, put on a bow and knife on his back, put on a Hu suit, and rode all the way to the northwest, passing through Yanzhou and strike, and arrived at Saimen, an important town in the border area.

In recent years, the national policy of the Tang Dynasty has been extremely tolerant of Hu people and Hu businessmen, and the Hu and Han people in the town live together, and they are happy. At present, the cold winter has not passed, and many shepherds who are grazing sheep outside the fortress have abandoned their felt tents and lived in tiled houses in the town, waiting for the cold winter to pass, and when the spring breeze blows the green water and grass, they will drive the cattle and sheep out of the city.

It's a cold day, and the people on the street, regardless of Hu Han, are wearing felt hats and Hu clothes, after all, compared with the Chinese neon clothes with wide robes and big sleeves, or the cold protection effect of Hu Fu is more outstanding.

Xue Chuyu walked to an inn, cocked his felt hat, looked at the book on the plaque, it was the place he was looking for, then turned over, handed the horse to the horse at the door, and then walked into the inn, ordered a mutton soup cake and a roasted leg of lamb, and ate it himself.

After a long time, it was false to say that he was not hungry, and after the dishes were cleaned, Xue Chuyu motioned to Xiao Er to settle the bill. Before long, the shopkeeper handed a narrow note with the recovered copper plate to Xue Chuyu with both hands. Xue Chuyu took the note, waved his hand to indicate that the copper plates were counted as rewards, and then pretended to have nothing to do and hurriedly walked out of the inn and rode out of the town.

When he arrived at a place where no one was around, Xue Chuyu quietly unfolded the note, peeked at it, and galloped into the poplar forest outside the town according to the above.

Several Hu merchants were sitting by the charcoal fire to keep warm, there were several big cars parked behind them, and there were several large wine jars on them, and the person at the head was burly, with a scar on his face, it was Shi Yuannian.

Seeing Xue Chuyu coming as promised, Shi Yuannian grinned, glanced at him, and his face was full of ridicule: "Xue Xiaolangjun really does what he says." Without further ado, let's go visit your father's old ministry. ”

Xue Chuyu wanted to ask a few more words, but he didn't know that Shi Yuannian stepped forward in two steps, put his arms around his neck, bowed his head and said in his ear: "Don't expect those wine bags and rice bags guarding the customs to have my opponents in them, if you dare not listen, or have any strange behavior, tomorrow will be nothing more than an extra nameless corpse in the desert!" ”

Although he had long known that the other party was not a good person, hearing Shi Yuannian's words, Xue Chuyu couldn't help but shudder. Since that day when he was beaten for "falsely accusing his eldest brother", Xue Chuyu's anger has not been smooth, and he vowed to take revenge on Xue Ne at all costs.

Therefore, when he came to Guanyin Temple again and met the president of the so-called "Qingyun Society", when the other party said that there was an opportunity to let him overwhelm Xue Ne in front of the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven, he immediately agreed.

So the lord of the meeting gave him a face-to-face lecture and told him that there was a batch of Western Regions tribute that needed to be urgently transported to Luoyang to celebrate the birthday of the queen of heaven. However, in order not to leak the news in advance, it is necessary to enter the customs before the approval of the imperial court is issued.

The general stationed in Saimen happened to be Xue Rengui's old department, so as long as Xue Chuyu could come forward and make them turn a blind eye to the tribute that entered the customs, he asked Xue Chuyu to lead the team to transport the tribute all the way to the imperial front, and when the emperor and queen saw the tribute, it would not be a problem to give him the knighthood directly, and he would no longer need to look at his eldest brother's face to act.

Faced with such a suspicious statement, Xue Chuyu did not question, but pushed the boat down the river and accepted it with a hippie smile. In his opinion, it doesn't matter what the purpose of this person is, if you want to really suppress Xue Ne, you might as well poke a big basket, let Xue Ne can't clean it up first, and then appear at the most critical moment, rescue the two saints, and turn the tide, so as to trample Xue Ne under his feet and show off in front of the emperor and queen.

But when he actually arrived, he found that the situation was far more complicated than he had imagined. But now is not the time to show weakness, Xue Chuyu boasted that he was born in a general, had seen many big scenes, was slightly frightened but still pretended to be calm, and followed Shi Yuannian and those Hu merchants who were full of wine altars, and walked down to Luzi Pass not far away.

The general who guarded Luzi Pass was surnamed Yan, about forty years old, and was Xue Rengui's fellow villager, who joined the army with Xue Rengui to join Li Shimin's subordinates, and after several battles, as Xue Rengui's general, he was seriously injured and could no longer cross the knife immediately, so he was arranged to Luzi Pass to handle the pass. In recent years, the north has been in Dading, this place is peaceful, and most of the exchanges are business travels, so there is no need to worry about the short contact with the enemy army in this pass, and the training of the soldiers is also much lazy, and even collude with the Hu and Han merchants who often come and go, to help the other party to count less of the goods of the merchant to declare taxes, so that the other party can get a higher interest rate difference, and he can also fill his own pocket.

Seeing this convoy full of wine jars, the general wanted to scold and stop it, Xue Chuyu quickly took two steps forward, took off his felt hat, and smiled at the general surnamed Yan: "General Yan, it's me, Chu Yu." ”

Seeing that it was Xue Chuyu, the general was overjoyed and said, "Why is Xue Xiaolangjun here?" Could it be that Xue Xiaolangjun also started to buy and sell in the Western Regions? ”

General Yan laughed. It will be the birthday of the queen of heaven in a few days, and my grandfather specially ordered people to choose a few rare things from the Western Regions as tribute, but there are many people in the army who want to take this opportunity to cling to the queen of heaven, and there are many checkpoints all the way to the eastern capital, so I am afraid that there will be eyeliner to leak the news, so I can't surprise the queen. General Yan is a playmate whom his father has known since childhood, and his feelings are naturally extraordinary, so he specially instructed Chu Yu to enter the customs here...... The weather is cold, the brothers are all hard, Chu Yu specially brought amber wine from Chang'an, it is not a tribute, let me drive the cold away for General Yan and his brothers. ”

When the general heard that the wine was given to him, he immediately burst into joy and beckoned a group of soldiers to come and carry the wine jar from the car one by one.

After three rounds of drinking, taking advantage of Xue Chuyu and the generals surnamed Yan, Shi Yuannian walked up to the city tower and made a sound like a wild goose chirping towards the grassland outside the pass. Although the sun had set, there was still light left in the dome, and at the end of the vast horizon, a group of cavalry that had been dormant for a long time gathered from all directions, like a black cloud. And the ** guarding the gate actually fainted to the ground one by one, which made Xue Chuyu dumbfounded, and after a period of chills, he instinctively retched.

It turned out that this wine was not an ordinary wine, and it was mixed with a large number of hidden **. The soldiers of the defenders had lived at the border for a long time, and almost never drank such high-end wine, so they drank no less than three bowls one by one. And once the amount of more than three bowls is exceeded, ** will accumulate in the body and will attack, making people sleep to death until the next day.

Xue Chuyu was slightly glad that he had been paying attention to his eyes and had been persuading him to drink, almost not drinking, but it was only a blink of an eye, and the small happiness in his heart was replaced by a strong sense of fear. Looking at the steppe cavalry approaching the border pass, he finally realized that he had caused a catastrophe, and he wanted to be colorful, but he saw Shi Yuannian laughing and walking down from the city tower; And the "Hu Shang" beside Xue Chuyu changed their faces in an instant, took off their felt hats, opened their leather jackets, and revealed the swords on their waists.

"If you don't want to die, be honest with Lao Tzu!" Shi Yuannian shouted at Xue Chuyu.

As soon as the words fell, Xue Chuyu felt that the back of his head was slammed with a blunt object, and there was a "buzz" in his head, and he fell to the ground. The "Hu Shang" took out the ** bag that had been prepared a long time ago, put him in it, and threw it directly on the horse's back. Shi Yuannian rode on a horse, led the Hu soldiers who entered the customs, and recited the proverb in "***" aloud:

"The festival is full of my eyes, and the mountains and rivers are full of my feet. The first time the pass-breaker came, it made the Central Plains cry! ”

From the digging of the Grand Canal, the rain in Luoyang spring and summer is much richer than in previous years, and this year it is drizzle continuously since the opening of spring, and it is rare to see sunny days, which will decorate the hinterland of the Central Plains like the south of the Yangtze River.

Early in the morning, the car of the Dragon and Tiger Army drove to the front of Xue's Mansion to pick up Xue Ne and Fan Ning to Guanghua Temple. In order to facilitate travel, Fan Ning wore Xue Ne's new clothes for her, which is the most fashionable boudoir women's improved Hu costume, although it is still a men's clothing style, the materials, embroidery, and color are completely different from men's clothing, but it is a light blue peach budding, embroidered with a little bit of fine stamens, lined with Fan Ning's delicate little face, indescribably beautiful and beautiful. In order to investigate the scene today, Xue Ne did not wear a wide official uniform, but a narrow-sleeved shirt, adding a bit of the heroic spirit of young people.

As soon as he got on the car, Xue Ne rubbed his eyes, leaned on the carriage and looked sleepy, which caused Fan Ningjiao to laugh and joke: "A few days ago, I begged me to teach you more martial arts, but I got up early today and practiced for half an hour, so it's no wonder that the master said that you are not this material at all." ”

"Master Li said that I am not this material, he is saying that I am not your opponent," Xue Ne recalled when he was a child, and a light smile appeared on his lips, "When I learned martial arts, you were already very powerful, and my body was thin when I was a child, so it was really difficult to match you." Now that I've grown up, I feel that I have benefited much more than when I was a child. It's just that the practice is a little fierce, and the body is inevitably a little sore......"

Before the words fell, Fan Ning grabbed Xue Ne's shoulder and broke it hard, causing Xue Ne's "hiss" and hurriedly dodged.

Fan Ning crossed his willow waist, frowned, and said unhappily: "I kindly helped you dredge your muscles and bones and relieve fatigue, why don't you appreciate it?" ”

Seeing that Fan Ning was unhappy, Xue Ne didn't dare to hide anymore, his eyes were closed, and his heart was horizontal, allowing Fan Ning to beat. After a long period of storm, Xue Ne took Fan Ning's little hand and coaxed in a pleasant voice: "I'm afraid you're hurting, take a break...... Come with me today, are you still a little nervous? ”

"I believe in you," Fan Ning's heart swelled with melancholy, looking at Xue Ne's eyes but still clear and convinced, "No matter what, we know each other's intentions, and this life is not in vain." But...... Have you found the remains of the princess? Yesterday we had been wandering around the back mountains with Di Facao, and you were reading the case file copied by Tao Mu at night. If I can't find the remains of the princess, how can I prove that I am not a princess of Anding, and how can I return the innocence of the queen? ”

"You'll know later," Xue Ne raised his hand and pinched Fan Ning's little nose, avoiding answering, as if he was deliberately selling Guanzi, he lifted the curtain and looked at the long street, only to see that there were few pedestrians, and occasionally crossed the road, either carrying wormwood, or carrying live chickens in the basket, Xue Ne wondered, and asked the horseman who was driving, "Dare to ask if there is an epidemic in the city?" ”

"Exactly, the day before yesterday, various squares reported one after another, saying that someone was sick, so the city was closed today, and the road was much easier than usual."

Xue Ne noticed that the horseman was actually wearing a Hufeng felt hat, and asked with a smile: "Hey, your hat is good-looking, where did you buy it?" ”

The groom was a little embarrassed, scratched his face and replied: "I bought it in Nanshi a few days ago, and it was cold this winter, so the hat was popular. This felt hat is big and thick, and it is quite warm to protect from the wind and rain, and it usually takes fifty Kaiyuan Tongbao to wear one, but it was only half that day, which is simply too cost-effective. ”

Xue Ne nodded thoughtfully, if it is said that on this cold spring day, the felt hat is indeed extremely warm, but it is also very easy to hide people's faces. In addition, the epidemic that suddenly began to appear in various squares in Luoyang has to make people worried. Could it be that Shi Yuannian is secretly laying out behind the scenes? So what is the purpose of his move?

The car goes out of the city, to the foot of the west mountain, the mountain gate of Guanghua Temple appears in front of you. Xue Ne and Fan Ning walked up the stairs, and after entering the temple, they went straight to the tomb where Princess Anding was buried. Di Renjie had already taken the first step, pouting his ass to check the soil on the ground.

Xue Ne immediately stepped forward and saluted Di Renjie and said, "Di Facao is really diligent, and he came to check early in the morning. ”

Di Renjie stood up, patted the dust on his body, looked at his eyes and smiled: "The ten-day period has arrived, and the two saints are already on their way here, Xue Mingfu is not in a hurry, as if the head on the item belongs to someone else." ”

"Yesterday, I went with Di Fa Cao, and naturally I already had a conjecture, everything can only wait for the emperor and queen of heaven to come to the holy car, take a gamble, and have Di Facao to accompany you, what regrets does Xue have?"

Di Renjie looked Xue Ne up and down a few times, stroked his goatee and smiled: "Can't you see that Xue Mingfu is actually a good gambler?" Since Di promised Xue Mingfu yesterday, he will naturally report to the emperor and queen of heaven according to the agreement. Di Mou is just a state law, the big deal is to go back to his hometown and pout his ass to farm, but Xue Mingfu is different, and he will talk about that unbelievable rhetoric with the two saints, aren't you afraid that the two saints will be angry and implicate Ling Zun? ”

Xue believes that there are no gods and ghosts in this world, if there is only one possibility left in this case, then even if it is difficult to believe, it must be true. Xue is not talented, but he is also a character who breaks the casserole and asks to the end, if he really has the trust of the two saints, he will do what he says, and hand over the head of the item, which will not affect his parents and relatives. ”

"What the hell are you talking about?" Fan Ning was confused when he listened, "Where is the princess's remains?" The two saints will arrive in a while! ”

"Li Qianyou, the chief of the criminal department, Yuan Gongyu, the chief of the criminal department, and Gao Min, the director of the criminal department!" Yu Shilang, who was in charge of communication at the gate of the courtyard, said.

Hearing that someone was coming, Xue Ne, Fan Ning and Di Renjie hurriedly stood on the side of the designated driver's seat. When Li Qianyou saw Xue Ne and Di Renjie, there was a bit of disdain in his eyes, while Yuan Gongyu behind him cast a comforting and expectant look at the two.

The position of the people is demarcated according to the rank of the imperial history, Gao Min is on the sixth grade, and Xue Ne is on the seventh grade, and the two are just next to each other. Xue Ne couldn't stop rubbing his hands, as if he was very nervous, and said to himself: "Know its white, keep its black, for, for the world's style...... For the world's ......"

"'Knowing its whiteness, guarding its blackness, is the world's style. For the world's style, Changde is not distant, and it returns to the void. 'What's wrong with Xue Mingfu?' Isn't it nervous? How can you memorize the Tao Te Ching, but you also stumble? ”

"It's not a secret," Xue Ne smiled shyly and replied, "Xue will endorse when he is nervous, and he will memorize whatever he has in the "Three Character Classic" and "Tao Te Ching", but today he is so nervous that he can't even remember this." After all, the case is a big one...... I don't know what progress Director Gao has made in the past few days, and has he found more evidence that Fan Ning is Princess Anding? ”

"The evidence is ironclad, what else do you need Gao to prove?"

"What can be proved by an unknown so-called secret book, whose editor has passed away?" Xue Ne still smiled modestly, but the words he said were sonorous and thorny, "I'm afraid that someone has presumptively speculated about the emperor's taboo and designed this scene by himself?" ”

"Heh," Gao Min smiled lightly, looking Xue Ne up and down, "The emperor's evasion, in fact, mortals can easily speculate?" Xue Ming's mansion hides needles, even if it is aimed at Gao, it is useless, it is better to think about how to confess his guilt later, in order to seek the emperor's forgiveness. ”

A casual sly smile flashed in Xue Ne's eyes, he nodded, clenched his fists, and stopped arguing with Gao Min.

Before long, the imperial history outside the door said loudly: "The abbot of this temple, Master Yuankong, and all the Taoist monks have arrived!" ”

Under the gaze of everyone, an old monk in a red robe walked into the courtyard with a group of senior monks about ten people, only to see that the Yuankong Master was less than seven feet tall, his beard was white, and his eye sockets were deep-set, and he looked like a high-ranking monk, and behind him were several young monks with cuffs rolling up and holding shovels.

Seeing that the hour was approaching, several officials who were still gossiping and chatting at this time all closed their mouths and waited eagerly, with a voice of "The emperor and queen have arrived!" The prince has arrived! Immediately they fell to their knees and bowed their heads. Surrounded by a group of palace guards and maidservants, Li Hong supported Li Zhi and walked into the courtyard with Wu Zetian. Today's Li Zhi is not as energetic as he was ten days ago, and he must have begun to have a head attack again. After being supported by Li Hong and sitting on the bench on the right side of the tablet, Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Everyone Aiqing is flat." ”

The leaders stood up, and stood beside them with their heads bowed. Li Zhi's gaze swept away everyone, and finally fell on Empress Wu, who patted the empty seat beside him and motioned for her to sit beside him.

Needless to say, the matter is still inconclusive, and even if the emperor has doubts about the queen, he will not embarrass her too much. Wu Zetian bowed down and sat beside Li Zhi without giving in, the two exchanged looks, she lightly opened her lips and said: "Ten days ago, someone regenerated waves with the matter of stabilizing the princess, saying that sixteen years ago, the palace ordered the princess to fake her death in order to frame the python clan, and the real princess was adopted by Li Chunfeng, the secret bureau pavilion. His Majesty ordered the Punishment Department to conduct a thorough investigation, and the palace summoned Xue Shenyan and Di Huaiying from Chang'an and Bingzhou, and now that the ten-day period has arrived, has this case been cracked? ”

Di Renjie took two steps forward and bowed again: "Back to the two saints, the minister and Xue Mingfu have been investigating for more than ten days...... No robbery holes have been found. Previously, it went viral between the two capitals, saying that His Majesty saw the princess's remains missing, and Fang had a head wind, and the minister dared to ask......"

Li Zhi's weak face was full of suspicion, and he frowned and said: "I have never seen the theft of Anding's remains with my own eyes, and the last time I came here with the queen, I was angry when I saw the feast and the spiritual throne tilting to the west. As for the princess who has not been buried, and the matter related to the python family, it is all a secret report from the Royal Historical Observatory. ”

That is to say...... The remains of the princess should still be in the coffin of the grave. Back to the two saints, the remains of the princess have been found, please ask the two saints to break it. ”

Hearing Di Renjie's words, everyone in the hall burst into laughter, and Gao Min sneered: "Di Facao's joke is really too inappropriate? All kinds of signs are said that the princess was not buried at all, but was taken out of the palace by Li Chunfeng to raise her, that is, Fan Ning, but Di Facao said that the princess was in the coffin? If it disturbs the Holy Hearing, its heart can be punished! ”

Li Zhi's face turned two points pale, he looked at Fan Ning who was standing at the end of the crowd, then looked at Empress Wu on his side, coughed and gasped a few times, and said, "No matter what, this matter must have a result today...... Mage, let's open the museum. ”

Master Yuankong folded his hands, bowed deeply to Li Zhi, and then nodded to the young monks holding shovels. The young monks immediately gathered around and prepared to shovel the soil, and the other monks stood beside the tomb and chanted together with Venerable Yuankong, hoping not to alarm the possible soul of the princess.

Fan Ning watched all this from afar, her expression was in a trance, she knew very well in her heart that if there was really no princess remains in the open coffin, then there was a chance that she was a stable princess. Once this matter is confirmed, the queen of heaven will be affected, and even the entire court will have changes, and she will also be in the palace cage, I don't know if I can see Li Chunfeng and Xue Ne again, let alone whether they will be convicted for this matter.

Time is like rain, bit by bit, I don't know how long it took, the tomb of Princess Anding has been dug a one-person-deep shaft, and the shovel in the hand of a monk suddenly touched a hard object, making a "bang" sound. Several monks immediately sped up, and after peeling away the floating soil nearby, a huge sarcophagus was revealed.

Master Yuankong immediately turned around and asked the two saints for instructions, and Li Zhi propped his forehead and said, "Open the coffin." ”

The two monks jumped down the shaft with vigor, only to see that the coffin was bound with iron chains and stone locks hanging from the side, which had been buried in the earth for many years, and had been rusted. A monk took the hand axe handed by him and swung it vigorously, only to hear the clanging of iron and stone, and the iron chain was brittle. Two monks jumped down from the ground, and the four of them came to the four corners of the coffin, shouted loudly, gritted their teeth together, and finally lifted the lid of the coffin.

Everyone couldn't wait to step forward, Li Zhi also supported his weak body, and stepped forward with Li Hong's support, he strengthened his mind, tried to focus his chaotic eyes, and looked down, only to see that the coffin that was about to decay was really empty, and there were no remains in it.

Li Hong, who witnessed all this, was shocked, and before he could react, he saw Li Zhi stumbling, he hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and said hurriedly: "Father! Father, beware of the body......"

Li Zhi didn't care about the discomfort of his body, turned to look at Wu Zetian, his expression was extremely complicated, there was shock, sadness, comfort, anger, all kinds of accumulation mixed together, so that his heart couldn't fluctuate, and finally only said: "Mei Niang...... What else do you have to say? ”