There are guards inside and outside the palace gate, and someone can break through the layers of defense lines and come in and release cold arrows? Is it a thief who is strong in martial arts, or is someone guarding and stealing himself?

Xue Ne and Fan Ning were very close, and the sound of arrows whistling overhead was gradually muffled by heavy breathing and heartbeat, Xue Ne looked at the red face close at hand, and her already sensitive sense of smell was even sharper at this time, only to feel that the whole world was haunted by the fragrance on her body, and couldn't help but think of the sweet taste of her lips when she kissed her that day, and couldn't help but bow her head and kiss her lightly on her lips.

Fan Ning was nervous, her small fists were clenched, ready to shoot at any time, and she was suddenly kissed by Xue Ne, she seemed to have secretly drunk Li Chunfeng's wine when she was a child, fluttering and flickering, even the strength of the small fist was reduced by ninety percent, and she beat Xue Ne's shoulder, and the words she said were obviously resentful, but she had a bit of coquettishness: "The arrow is flying on the head!" Are you a chicken still talking about rice here? ”

Xue Ne knew that he had forgotten his feelings, and was very embarrassed, nodded to indicate that he knew that he was wrong, and stood up to listen intently to the sound.

The sound of arrows stopped, replaced by the sound of footsteps and conversations, and the man's shoes were wrapped in thatch, and the movement was extremely light, obviously knowing that Xue Ne's hearing was excellent, and he came prepared. Fan Ning prepared the Hidden Blade, but he couldn't judge the specific position of the other party, and hesitated to make a move. Xue Ne motioned for her to be calm and listen to the other party's movements.

There are no weapons in the study, only the two sleeve swords in Fan Ning's sleeves can be relied on, there are heavy guards outside the mansion gate, and the number of assassins who can cross the Dragon and Tiger Army and enter the Xue Mansion should not be much.

It has been raining for the past two days, and although it has stopped, the sky is still cloudy, without stars and moons, and it is pitch black, and there is no clear distinction between friend and foe. Xue Ne quietly helped Fan Ning sit up, and the two of them walked lightly to the chest of drawers by the slip door to hide, and waited quietly.

It is common sense that they are still alive at this time, and they should shout to the guards outside the courtyard, and at this time they are deceived to death, so that they can lure the enemy deeper into the mouth of the living, so that they can clearly know who wants their lives.

With the slight sound of the door being slammed, two long figures reached into the room, and seeing that there were not many people, Xue Ne's heart finally fell, and he nodded to Fan Ning. As soon as the two cats walked into the study, Fan Ning immediately flew out from behind the chest of drawers with two hidden swords and stabbed the two black-clothed assassins hard.

The assassin was all shocked, the man in front of his head dodged sideways, the hidden blade flew by, and a long blood mark immediately appeared on his arm, he held a bow and crossbow to fight back against Fan Ning, but found that his companion was stabbed in the center by a sword, and fell to the ground, so he no longer had the intention of fighting, and hurriedly dragged his companion out and fled.

Fan Ning got up and hurriedly chased, Xue Ne couldn't stop her, hurriedly followed, and walked to the courtyard, only to see the seriously injured assassin suddenly open his eyes, raise the crossbow machine and shoot at Fan Ning is arrow.

Fan Ning only cared about chasing people, and when he reacted, he couldn't stop his legs and feet, and when he saw that the arrow was about to go straight into his heart, Xue Ne, who followed her, instinctively protected her in front of him, and he was bruised by the arrow, and his arm was red.

"Xue Lang!" Fan Ning couldn't care about chasing people anymore, and grabbed Xue Ne, his eyes were red, and he was distressed, and said hurriedly, "I'll call someone to ask the doctor to come, and then ask the people from the Dragon and Tiger Army outside the hospital what they eat!" ”

Xue Ne grabbed her little hand, and Junshengsheng's face had a weak smile: "No need, when they came, they quietly avoided people, but when they left, they only thought about running for their lives, they would definitely be discovered, presumably the guards will come in soon to see our situation......"

Before the words fell, Li Yuanyan rushed into the courtyard with more than a dozen soldiers of the Dragon and Tiger Battalion and seven or eight Xue Mansion miscellaneous servants, and saw that blood was splattered on the ground, Xue Ne was injured, she was anxious and distressed, and hurried forward two steps, and knew that she had no position, stopped halfway, and asked with a sense of proportion: "I just saw two thieves sneaking in, I didn't expect to fight with you, where is Xue Lang's injury?" Hurry up and ask a doctor to take a look. ”

"It's not a thief," Fan Ning dodged away and showed the large and small arrow holes on the door to everyone, "It's here to kill you, can't you hundreds of people watch a courtyard?" ”

Li Yuan's heart was shocked by the dense arrow holes, she felt guilty, for fear that one of them would be careless, and the two of them would really lose their lives, not only could not live with their father's trust, but also sorry for their old friends for many years, and apologized again and again: "It's night, everyone is a little sleepy, and it's about to change shifts, and it is estimated that the assassin knows the shift change time of our Dragon and Tiger Battalion, and he is really a thief." But don't worry, they just escaped with their feet exposed, and our men are still chasing them, so they will be caught alive and give you an explanation. ”

"Both of them were wounded by the Hidden Blade, and you couldn't catch them? When will the Dragon Tiger Army be so useless! ”

"I almost caught him, but the guy suddenly fired a shot backwards, and our men paused and let him slip away."

Seeing that Li Yuanyan inadvertently imitated the other party's movements, Fan Ning's heart tightened, and the hand holding Xue Ne couldn't help but tremble.

Xue Ne noticed her abnormality, her voice was not obvious, and she instructed her subordinates: "My injury is not a big deal, just let Zi Ning'er bandage me later, the county lord doesn't have to worry too much." Although the other party may not come again, he prudently thinks that it is best to double the patrol, report the case again tomorrow morning, and ask the Togi Provincial Government to send someone to the scene to investigate. ”

Li Yuanyan heard Xue Ne say this, and it was not good to be concerned anymore, so she just told him to have a good rest, and then took people to the side and negotiated with the housekeeper under the corridor to increase the defense.

Fan Ning helped Xue Ne back to the small garden where she lived, took out the medicine box, and bandaged the wound for him, she always loved to wear military uniforms, like a waterfall with long hair tied up high, heroic and compelling, and now she was wearing a skirt, pretty and cute, patiently looking at his injuries, gentle and demure, which really made Xue Ne unable to take her eyes off. But when he was thinking nonsense right now, Xue Ne calmed down and asked, "Ning'er, what did you think of when Master Li learned the assassin's movements?" The people who came tonight are afraid that they are old acquaintances, right? ”

"It's Wu Sansi's person," Fan Ning replied very affirmatively, because he had fought with the Right Guard Army in Stargazing before, and escaped death, and their fists and swordsmanship were all memorized by Fan Ning, "Didn't Empress Wu already promise to ensure our safety, why did she let her nephew kill people?" ”

Xue Ne's gaze was calm and unusually deep, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking, but the aura around him was obviously a little colder.

Fan Ning also knew that this matter was tricky, and he also quickly turned his little brain: "Thanks to your ear report to the gods, otherwise we will really die in vain." I don't know if the soldiers under the command of Lord Li will be able to catch them. If you can't catch it, the arrow ...... Possibly proving the identity of the Assassins? ”

"I just saw it, they deliberately didn't use the arrows in the right guard, if it was Lord Li, they couldn't catch people, but I was afraid that they couldn't prove that it was Wu Sansi's people. But...... Is the fish charm you picked up last time still there? ”

"What?" Fan Ning was stunned for a moment before he figured out what Xue Ne was asking, and replied, "In my room, I'm afraid that it will be useful in the future, so I'll keep it away, what are you going to do?" ”

"No one knows which day you picked it up, and tomorrow morning, I'll take it to meet the queen."

"You're going to see the diva?" Every time Fan Ning thought of the picture of the saint that day, his heart was twisted, "If she really has murderous intentions, won't you go to the palace to die?" ”

"If she really has murderous intentions, I won't enter the palace, and you and I will have nowhere to hide. Don't worry, the case is unclear at the moment, I went to the palace, but the queen of heaven is not good at attacking me, not to mention, I always feel that with the means of the queen of heaven, even if I want to do something to you and me, I will not pick at this time. ”

It has only been three or two days since he met the two saints, but Fan Ning has tried his best to forget all the scenes of that day, and at this time, the appearance of the two saints is only a vague shadow, but the unhappiness and humiliation of being judged at that time are still with him. But she didn't want Xue Ne to face the crisis alone, and said with trembling lips: "That...... I'll go with you. ”

Xue Ne didn't know that Fan Ning didn't like to go to the palace, shook his head and smiled: "I know you're worried about me, but if you go, it may anger the queen of heaven." I have an official position, and I was ordered to investigate the case thoroughly, and it is much cheaper to enter the palace. Early tomorrow morning, I will go to the East Palace first to say hello to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, if anything really happens, I believe His Royal Highness will protect me, you can rest assured. ”

What Xue Ne said was reasonable, Fan Ning had no better way, so he could only follow what he said, hanging his long eyelashes, hiding all his worries and attachments, and said with a smile: "You go early and come back early, I'll wait for you at home......"

Early in the morning of the second day, before dawn, Xue Ne went out of the house from the side door and rushed to Ziwei Palace in the light rain of the early morning.

Needless to say, in order to guard such a huge empire, the geopolitical customs, hydrology and landforms of each prefecture must be well understood, and any situation must be made at the first time to ensure that the people live in peace, the government decrees are issued, and all walks of life are smooth and smooth.

In the past few days, the emperor's health is not in danger, and the queen is still in charge of it. Xue Ne waited quietly in the outer hall, watching the officials from all walks of life go back and forth like a marquee, and when it was right, it was finally his turn.

After a routine search, Xue Ne was taken to the door of the study by the internal officials, and after bowing, Empress Wu, who was sitting in front of the bookcase, finally raised her face and ordered: "Xue Qing is here, but what is the matter, come in and talk." ”

Xue Ne bowed to Xie En again, stepped into the study, and handed over the fish talisman in his sleeve to Wu Zetian's personal female officer. The female official bowed down and presented it, Wu Zetian looked at it, and asked Xue Ne in a quiet voice: "What does Xue Qing mean by this?" ”

"At three o'clock last night, the minister and Fan Ning encountered the assassin and almost died, this waist card is the assassin accidentally left at the scene, today I came here to ask the queen of heaven to be the master of the minister and Fan Ning!"

Wu Zetian still didn't have any expression, and the coldness in his eyes covered up all his puzzlement and suspicion, "Three moments, where was you assassinated?" How many assassins are there? Be detailed. ”

In the study of Yu Chen's house, the two assassins first attacked with crossbow machines, and then entered the room with knives. Chen and Fan Ning fought back desperately, injured their elbows, and the gangsters were also injured and fled over the wall. The soldiers on duty of the Dragon and Tiger Army pursued them outside the camp of the Right Guard, and the gangsters were nowhere to be found. When cleaning the courtyard, a waist plate was found, which was carefully identified as belonging to the right guard under General Wu Sansi. According to Fan Ning, on the day when the Hongwenguan case was settled, she returned to the stargazing temple alone and was assassinated, and her fist and knife skills at that time were very similar to the assassin last night. In addition, on the eve of the minister's departure to Luoyang with His Royal Highness the Prince, General Wu Sansi led troops to threaten the East Palace and begged for Fan Ning. The minister is bold, please raise your noble hand and let Fan Ning go, otherwise this case has not been clarified, Fan Ning will suffer bad luck, and even if the innocence of the queen of heaven is proved, it will be abandoned by the people of the world......"

Wu Zetian still spoke slowly, but there was obvious anger on his face: "Listening to your words, do you think that this matter was instructed by this palace to Wu Sansi to take that child's life?" ”

The wrath of the Queen of Heaven is indeed terrible, but if she is not provoked, she will not be able to achieve her purpose today. Xue Ne bowed again, neither humble nor arrogant: "The minister doesn't dare." If the minister really believes so, he should submit evidence to the Criminal Department, which will report it to the Imperial Historical Observatory, or send a letter to the Emperor. Although the minister was reckless, he still understood that if Fan Ning was in danger at this time, it would be the most unfavorable to the queen of heaven. He heard that the queen of heaven had made an oath in front of the emperor, and he was worried that with the wisdom of the minister, it would be difficult to recover the remains of the princess within ten days, implicating the queen of heaven and the Wu family, so he made this decision to kill Fan Ning. After all, as long as Fan Ning disappears, no matter how much Yu Shitai participates, he will lose his most important witness. But the minister thought...... What the queen of heaven is most concerned about is not whether the Imperial Observatory will be impeached, but how the emperor views the matter. Therefore, the minister dared to ask the queen of heaven to severely punish Wu Sansi, otherwise I am afraid that there will be other people who will misunderstand the intention of the queen of heaven, which is not good for Fan Ning! ”

A few days ago, it was here that Wu Zetian promised to keep Xue Ne and Fan Ning safe, but this time he was forced to come to the door like this, as if he was being reprimanded for negligence. What's more, Helan Minzhi and Wu Sansi are both close relatives of Wu Zetian, only the crown prince Li Hong, several princes and Princess Taiping are closer than them in terms of kinship, and the risk taken by Xue Ne's move is self-evident. But otherwise, Fan Ning would not be able to obtain real safety, and Xue Ne would rather risk death than fight for Fan Ning.

Wu Zetian pondered for a long time, glanced at the fish talisman, and instructed the female official: "Remove Wu Sansi from the post of the commander of the right guard, think about it in the secluded mansion, and order Dali Temple to investigate thoroughly to see if he has such disloyal and illegal acts, once he is confirmed, he will not be tolerated!" ”

The female officer obviously didn't expect Wu Zetian to give such a heavy punishment, and after being stunned for a moment, she said "Woo", intervened, and hurriedly walked out of the study to give orders.

Xue Neda breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart, and the sharp blade hanging over Fan Ning's head was temporarily removed, but if the case was not solved after eight days, even greater trouble would follow. Xue Nefang wanted to kowtow to thank him, but he heard Wu Zetian say: "'Guo Hui Yi Yao', Xue Rengui gave you the word 'Ne', but he was clever." ”

Hearing that Wu Zetian had something to say, Xue Ne said with a smile: "Thank you Queen of Heaven." My father used to say that if I didn't give my ministers this word, maybe I wouldn't be as stupid as I am now...... The minister retired. ”

Wu Zetian bowed his head slightly, and Xue Ne bent down and withdrew from the study. Wu Zetian picked up the secret color porcelain teacup on the table, took a sip, and after being stunned for a moment, she picked up the song on the table and carefully reviewed it, and I don't know how long it took, she inadvertently said to the female official: "The East Palace has been so lively these days, and the palace should also take time to go and see Hong'er......"