In the sound of firecrackers, the good period of Shangyuan is coming, the sun is setting, the vast territory of the Tang Dynasty is filled with a festive atmosphere, from the snowy north country to the sultry Jiaozhi, from the east coast of the sea to the desert of the Western Regions, the streets and alleys are full of tourists who enjoy the lanterns and guess the riddles, they are wearing fashionable spring shirts, wearing all kinds of noodles, rubbing shoulders, laughing and laughing.

In the west city of Chang'an, in the bustling crowd, a slender girl wearing a skirt and a raccoon face walked side by side with a head taller than her and a suave young man wearing a dog face.

Needless to say, these two people are not on the side, they are Xue Ne and Fan Ning. Fan Ning has never visited Shangyuan Lamp Market, it is very novel, lingering in front of the snack stalls of Tianzhu, Persia and other vendors, but she has not put on the skin today, and her hidden identity is completely dependent on this noodles, she can't take off and eat at all, she can only swallow saliva and get over her eyes.

Xue Ne followed behind Fan Ning, and he was still a little worried, but seeing that many pedestrians on the street were wearing noodles, the style was about the same as them, and it should be the most fashionable style this year, in case someone really bumped into it, it was very easy to get out or blend into the crowd, so he relaxed a lot. What's more, today Fan Ning wore a skirt that she had never worn before, fine makeup, and a glamorous crown of Jinghua, and the tomboy who didn't apply powder in Pingsu was like two people, and even Li Chunfeng couldn't recognize it.

Xue Ne had a light smile on his lips, secretly sighing that letting her disguise be not only for safety reasons, but also for his little thoughts. When Fan Ning was a child, she dressed like a little Taoist priest all day long, and when she grew up, she only liked to wear Hufu men's clothes, not to mention that after she was wanted, she wore an official uniform every day and wore a virtuous crown, and her face was covered with Ning Chungong's face, which was a pity for her good appearance. On this Shangyuan Festival, he finally persuaded Fan Ning to wear a moon-white six-piece skirt and a moire gilt red half-arm that he bought from the best silk village in the city, with the green jade double phoenix hairpin he personally selected, which looked very pretty. It's just that Xue Ne has to learn to comb her hair in person, so as to help her pick up her hair, her soft black hair flows through the touch of her fingertips, which makes Xue Ne's heartbeat intensify, and her hands that have always been dexterous become clumsy, and she is busy for most of the day before she finally finishes it.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Xue Ne's heart was full of indescribable joy, and he was a little hesitant, he wanted to hold her hand, just like when they were children, no matter where they went, they clasped their fingers tightly and never let go for a moment.

Fan Ning turned his head and saw Xue Ne looking at him intently, and asked curiously, "What, is there anything wrong with my face?" ”

Xue Ne's face turned red, and he stumbled: "No, no, I'm just thinking that this place is very good, far away from Chongrenfang, the people in our mansion and Li Mansion must have gone to Dongshi......"

"Why bother to worship the pickled goods that are high and low", Fan Ning grabbed Xue Ne's sleeve very naturally, "There are several lantern riddle halls over there, and there are prizes for all the answers, let's go and take a look!" ”

Xue Ne looked at the little hand that was clutching his sleeve, his heart was full of indescribable warmth, and he mustered up the courage to oppose the guest, and stretched out his big hand to hold her little hand.

Fan Ning was stunned, her little face trembled and reddened, she didn't expect that these movements, which were extremely normal between them in the past, were now so blushing and heartbeating.

Last year, there was a meeting of all nations in the autumn, so this year's Shangyuan Festival was more lively than in previous years, under the infection of the festive atmosphere, the Wuhou on duty couldn't help but be a little lax, leaning on the pillar of the Wuhou shop on the street to talk, it was very leisurely.

When Xue Ne and Fan Ning walked around a few lantern riddle halls, it was already completely dark, and Fan Ning was very happy with the small prize he had earned. Xue Ne saw that she rubbed her hands from time to time, she should have been cold, and said: "The fox fur I ordered for you should have been ready, it is very cold today, why don't you try it first, if it fits, you put on it and we will play, how about it?" ”

Fan Ning glanced at Xue Ne helplessly, and gently twisted him: "Just earn a little money and spend it indiscriminately, just like the master......"

Xue Ne pursed his lips and smiled, pulled Fan Ning to look for a beard shop, passed by the Pingzhuan Bureau in the middle of the West Market, and saw a large group of people gathered here, clapping and applauding for some reason. The last time Fan Ning saw such a large number of people here, or the day he saw his wanted warrant, he stepped forward curiously.

Under the willow tree outside the leveling game, a large group of people cheered around a round ring of a mound of earth, and on the mound, two shirtless wrestlers were holding each other with four hands, and the green tendons were bursting out, fiercely confronting. Seeing this, Xue Ne couldn't help but smile and patted Fan Ning's shoulder, and teased: "These people are stupid, if you go up, you will knock them down in three or two strokes." ”

"Hey, I'm not going, I've put on new clothes so easily, and if I get the smell of Nalux's sweat, I won't have to pay for it."

After Fan Ning finished speaking, he pressed his finger on the raccoon face, made an expressionless grimace, and turned away. Before going out of three or five steps, the two of them were attracted by the cheers of another place, looking for prestige, only to see that there are pot throwing shops, flying knife targets, and ring piles on the open ground on the side of the street, and there are a variety of prizes displayed outside the shop, which provokes many people to come to watch and try, so it is not lively. Fan Ning has loved to play these things since she was a child when she came to the city with Li Chunfeng, and now that she saw how she was willing to let it go easily, she immediately begged Xue Ne to help her buy a bet. Xue Ne saw that there were still a lot of broken silver coins in his purse, and he could save himself from carrying them after spending them, so he readily agreed.

When everyone in the audience saw a slender hairy girl, they didn't take her in their eyes, and they didn't care about it. Fan Ning stood calmly in front of the flying knife target, moving his slender and white wrist, holding the handle of the knife between the index finger and middle finger of his right hand, and waving his long sleeves, only listening to a few "whoosh" sounds, all of them hit the bull's-eye, and even the target that was only the size of a bowl three zhang away could not escape the fate of being pierced through the red heart.

This skill immediately amazed the four seats, attracting all the onlookers to applaud, and the shopkeeper reluctantly presented a pair of gold ingots with a pair of gold ingots in the midst of everyone's coaxing with an incredulous gaze.

Xue Ne had no choice but to hold his forehead, he originally wanted to make the money bag a little easier, but who knew that it became heavier. Fan Ning crossed his waist and watched Xue Ne try to stuff the two ingots into the money bag, and couldn't help but giggle.

Xue Ne also laughed helplessly, raised his hand and rubbed Fan Ning's little head, the two left together, and only after they walked out of three or two feet, they heard a few sharp shouts from nowhere, and carefully identified the vaguely audible screams mixed with a few "Murder!" "Dead!"

The sudden accident caused the crowd to disperse immediately, screams, cries were endless, and the ground was full of hairpins, Xue Ne hurriedly protected Fan Ning, and took her to the side of the alley to avoid the panicked pedestrians. Fan Ning broke away from him, grabbed an old man who was running for his life on the side of the road, and asked, "What's the matter?" Who died? ”

"Yes, it's an official!" The old man trembled like chaff, and he was frightened stupidly, "Suddenly he died, and there was a knife stuck in the back of his heart, spraying a lot of blood!" ”

Hearing that something had happened, Xue Ne was anxious, but he was afraid of Fan Ning and seemed very hesitant. Unexpectedly, Fan Ning was more anxious than him, and pulled him forward: "Let's go, go and see what's going on." ”

"But you ......" Where there is a case, there must be a Wuhou, although Fan Ning changed his clothes and wore a noodle, but Xue Ne was still not at ease.

"It's okay, I'll hide back, there must be someone brave to watch the excitement, I'm wearing a noodle, and I'm wearing it so beautifully, they can't recognize me", Fan Ning turned his head to look at Xue Ne, his peach blossom eyes were crooked, "I don't know you yet?" The person is still here, and the soul has long since drifted away to solve the case. You don't have to worry about me, if anyone really doubts, I'll go over the wall, and they won't be able to catch up. Go quickly, don't delay any longer. ”

Fan Ning's compassion filled Xue Ne's heart with indescribable warmth, and he no longer hesitated, escorting her against the fleeing crowd and rushing to the place of the incident.

At the intersection of a long alley, Xue Fan and Li Hong met unexpectedly, Li Hong was dressed in regular clothes, followed by Zhang Shun and a graceful girl, she was half-wearing a veil, only revealing a pair of beautiful eyes like water, it was the red lotus, presumably they also came here to enjoy the lanterns and play, who knew that there was a murder.

Seeing the red lotus, Fan Ning almost screamed, but suddenly realized that he couldn't reveal his identity, so he was busy talking. Honglian also felt that the figure of the girl wearing a face in front of her was a little familiar, but she couldn't tell where she had seen it, so she gently bowed her head as a greeting, and stood beside Li Hong obediently.

Xue Ne took off his noodles, stepped forward and said, "There was a murder case ahead, has Li Gongzi heard about it?" ”

"Where is the pile", Li Hong's face was as pale as iron, he stretched out his hand, and compared four slender knuckles, "In the four corners of the southeast, northwest, a total of four people died......"

"What?" Xue Ne's expression was grim, and his face was full of shock, "Are they all officials?" ”

"Yes", Li Hong glanced at Fan Ning and guessed her identity, but he didn't have the mood to tease Xue Ne, "The one who died in the north was Xiao Wei in the Jinwu Guard, named Zhang Yong; To the south died was Fu Baolang Wei He of Menxia Province; The one who died in the west was Wuhou Duan Jiu of this West City; The one who died in the east was a thousand cows from the main palace, named Zhou Xiannian......"

"Wei He? What about him? "Xue Ne used to be the city gate lang, and Fu Baolang was in the same province under the door, all from the six products, but the responsibilities are different, the city gate lang is responsible for guarding the gate lock key of Chang'an City and the palace ban, and Fu Baolang is responsible for taking care of important objects such as Fu Jie's jade seal. Xue Ne is very familiar with that Wei He, and still remembers that he is a good old man who smiles all day long, how could he suffer such a catastrophe during the Shangyuan Festival, and even Jin Wuwei and Qianniu of the East Palace were killed...... You must know that these are all military attachés, each with their own martial arts, how could they die so inexplicably.

"The bodies of those four people have been dragged to Wuhou Shop, I will go with Xue Yushi to take a look", Li Hong turned sideways to Zhang Shun and said, "It's still very dangerous here, you send the girl back first, and then come directly to look for me outside the Wuhou Shop at Xishikou in a while." ”

Zhang Shunsheng clenched his fists, but Honglian was a little uneasy, looked at Li Hongyi, and said lightly: "Son, be careful......"

"Don't worry, I'll go to see you in two days", Li Hong shook the little hand of the red lotus, and hurriedly rushed to the Wuhou shop at the entrance of the west market with Xue Ne.

Fan Ning followed behind the two of them, his little face full of surprise. Unexpectedly, Honglian and Li Hong have such a relationship, it seems that it is rumored that the noble son of Longxi who bought Honglian with a lot of money is Li Hong. If you talk about appearance, the two of them are really a pair of talented and beautiful women, but their identities are as different as mud, no wonder when Li Chunfeng mentioned the red lotus before, he always sighed for a long time, it should be both happy for the red lotus, but also uneasy.

When the group hurried to the Wuhou shop at the entrance of the West Market, he was performing an autopsy on the four people. Such a bad murder case occurred in the most prosperous place of the Tang Dynasty, and the people present all looked solemn, and they should have gone to the scene of the crime to investigate, but there were more than 100,000 unaware people in the West Market who were enjoying the lanterns and playing, if the corpse was left in its place, causing a commotion and stampede, I don't know how many people would suffer, so I could only record the file and order Wuhou to carry it here.

Xue Ne walked forward with Li Hong, and Fan Ning stood outside the fence pulled up by the Wuhous, stretching his neck to watch the movement with the onlookers, but he didn't expect that there were still acquaintances, the main officer on duty in the Criminal Department tonight was actually the "fat" in the "two fat intestines", Fan Ning couldn't help but "sigh" when he saw him, thinking that this idiot dared to come to the prince's eyes, and he wouldn't say that it was her who killed people for a while?

Xishi is the most prosperous place in Chang'an City, the number of Wuhou is far more than other places, there are about hundreds, the rank of Wuhou is naturally higher, I have seen Li Hong several times, at this time I recognized him at a glance, strode forward and knelt down and saluted: "Meet His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

The fat chief caught a glimpse of Xue Ne at a glance, stepped forward with a hemp pole leg, and wanted to warn him that he was just the supervising imperial history of the Hongwen Pavilion case, don't want the dog to meddle with the mouse, who knew that the words were not spoken, and suddenly heard the Marquis of Wu called "His Royal Highness the Prince", the fat master was not surprised, and then he paid attention to the young man in front of Xue Ne, who was busy saluting with his thin body, smiled and showed two long teeth, and flattered: "Meet Your Highness......"

Li Hong raised his hand, signaling that everyone did not need to be restrained, and asked with a solemn face, "What are you doing?" ”

A young man in uniform stepped forward, bowed down and said: "The minister is here, the deceased has already been examined, and the murder weapon is the knife in the back heart, and if you kill with one blow, the person will be lost on ......the spot."

"Where did the first incident be? Why did four suddenly die, were they attacked at the same time, or did they happen separately? ”

"Back to Your Highness, the first incident occurred in the north, then in the south, then in the east, and in the west, all in the crowd," the Marquis Wu responded.

"Did anyone see the assailant?"

"Back to His Royal Highness, there was a noisy flow of people nearby, and most of the people who witnessed the crime had been scared away, and the few who stopped them all said that the lights were dark and they didn't see the suspect."

"In four murders, four court officials died, and not a single eyewitness was found?"

Seeing that Li Hong was annoyed, the Marquis of Nawu hurriedly knelt on the ground: "The subordinates are not doing well, please punish Your Highness!" Fang Cai has sent several Wuhou to look for witnesses again, and I believe that they should ......"

Seeing that Marquis Wu was reprimanded, the fat master realized that it was time to behave, so he stepped forward and saluted: "Your Highness, rest assured, Fang Caichen has sent the most astute subordinate officer of my criminal department to investigate near the place where the crime occurred. The Wuhou brothers may be good at catching murderers and thieves, but this kind of brain-consuming work is still a full-time ...... of our criminal department."

While he was talking, three subordinate officials of the Criminal Department hurried here, and the fat chief saw them with sharp eyes and smiled extremely brightly: "Just saying that they are coming, Your Highness will wait a while, Rong Chen stepped forward to ask." ”

After that, the fat master took care to meet him, stretched out his thin hand like a plow, and compared it to a trumpet in his ear, signaling others not to eavesdrop. The subordinate officials stepped forward and whispered to the fat chief for a while.

Outside Wuhou Shop, Li Hong, many officials, and dozens of ordinary people all focused on the fat chief. Fan Ning looked at him with great interest, only to see that the arrogance around him was getting lower and lower, and his face was red and white, which was very funny.

After listening to the words of several subordinate officials, the fat master waved his hand impatiently, signaling them to continue investigating the case, and he returned to Li Hong with a smile, and arched his hand: "Your Highness, today's Shangyuan Festival, everyone is enjoying the lanterns, and when I saw these people killed, the handle of the knife was already inserted in the back of the heart, it is really ...... I don't have any certificates......"

Li Hong didn't expect anything from this fat master, frowning and saying nothing.

The one who was able to kill four people in a row in the crowd in such a short period of time, and was able to hide and escape as invisibility as air and escape smoothly was definitely not a mortal, but whether he committed the murder randomly, or deliberately selected these military attachés, or what else was important, Li Hong couldn't guess, and asked Xue Ne, who was squatting in front of the corpse to check, "Shen Yan, do you have any doubts to ask?" ”

Xue Ne squatted beside the corpses, frowning and not knowing what he was thinking, and the whole person did not move, like a sculpture. Seeing that he didn't reply to Li Hong's words, Wuhou Chang stepped forward to pat Xue Ne, but was stopped by Li Hong: "Don't care about him, let him think slowly." ”

I don't know how long it took, Xue Ne covered the white cloth on the corpse again, got up and stepped forward, and bowed to Li Hong: "The minister is a little puzzled, and wants to ask Marquis Wu: When this fourth case occurred, Xue was nearby, and immediately asked the hour, it was the first moment of Xuzheng, dare to ask when the first case happened?" ”

"About three quarters of the first month, the difference is about half an hour."

The murders occurred in half an hour, and it is no wonder that Wu Hou had no time to go to various places in the city to deploy defenses. Whenever a crime is committed, there should always be a motive, except that these four people are all from official families, they don't seem to have anything in common, is it possible that the murderer is walking on the street and killing people casually?

Xue Ne was touching the door and couldn't find it, and suddenly heard a little boy say in a loud voice: "In the ninth year of Yonghe, the age is in Kwai Chou, and at the beginning of late spring, it will be in the Lanting of Huiji Shanyin......"

Xue Ne turned around and looked, only to see that the little boy was holding a few pieces of caramel in his hand, and he was standing in the position of Fan Ning, and Fan Ning had moved to the other side to continue to pretend to be stupid and watch the excitement in order to avoid suspicion. Xue Ne was stunned, and immediately understood Fan Ning's hint: The names of the four people "Zhang Yong", "Wei He", "Duan Jiu", and "Zhou Xiannian" are actually the first four words of Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Collection Preface" "Yonghe Nine Years", what does this matter have to do with Wang Xizhi? Wasn't the original of "Lanting Collection Preface" already buried by Emperor Taizong and brought into the Zhaoling Tomb? If the murderer really killed people according to the "Lanting Collection Preface", will the murderer continue to kill them one by one according to the words in "Lanting Collection Preface"?

Thinking of this possibility, everyone shuddered, and immediately began to count whether their relatives had names and Chinese characters that coincided with the "Lanting Collection Preface". Fan Ning looked at Xue Ne with a worried face, just because the word "Yan" was also in it, but it was only slightly lower.

The fat master memorized it silently, and found that his name was very safe, not even homophonic, and he was indescribably cheerful, but he didn't dare to show it on his face at all, so he stepped forward and asked Li Hongdao: "Your Highness, for the sake of today's plan, see if you want to block the exits to prevent the murderer from escaping?" ”

"Absolutely not", Xue Ne objected bluntly, "Your Highness, the fierce and strong martial arts, can kill people in front of everyone, if you order the blockade of the West Market now, it will definitely startle the snake, whether you can block this person is not yet known, and it is easy to cause panic." The purpose of the murderer is not clear, and once this person is provoked, he does not know whether he will go on a killing spree and cause innocent people to suffer, so he ......"

Before Xue Ne finished speaking, he saw a martial marquis staggering over, and said to the martial marquis out of breath: "Report!" Just ...... again Another person died, and he was fatally hit by a throwing knife......"

"Who, say it quickly!" Xue Ne was so anxious that he couldn't care about the order of humility, so he pulled Nawu Hou over and asked.

"His name is Zhang, Zhang Sui, and he is the shopkeeper of the shop selling roasted humps on Middle Street!"

Wu Hou and the surrounding onlookers all let out a frightened shout, Xue Ne's expression was terrified, and he thought that there was indeed the word "year" in his name, and it seemed that the murderer was indeed killing people in accordance with the "Lanting Collection Preface".

The Mobao of the former dynasty left over more than 300 years ago is now lying in the coffin of Emperor Taizong. Xue Ne raised his clear eyes, looked at the lanterns on the long street with no end in sight, and secretly decided that he must find the next target faster than the murderer, and this blood-soaked night should stop here.