After the heavy rain, the weather is getting warmer, from Chang'an to Lantian all the way, the spring flowers bloom, the mountain air is swirling, there is a bit of "the day is warm and the jade is smoking".

It was already afternoon when Xue Ne rushed back to the county yamen, it was quiet in the yamen, and no one knew where to go, only Tao Mu sat on the stone bench in the courtyard in a daze, and when he saw Xue Ne, he got up and patted his buttocks: "The chief officer is back!" ”

"Where have all the people gone?" Xue Ne looked around and saw no one, his face full of doubts, "It's not time to release the government yet." ”

"I heard that the chief official lost the lawsuit, and they all rushed home to rest", this person obviously saw the wind and steered, which made Tao Mu very embarrassed, "Xiaguan...... If you don't have any family members, you don't need to go home to Zhang Luo, and you are here at the disposal of the chief officer. ”

It seems that Fan Ning's whip can only control them for three or two days, and after the time limit, it is time to go back to the furnace and rebuild it. If Fan Ning was there, it was estimated that they would take off their shoes and slap each other's faces as punishments.

Thinking of Fan Ning, Xue Ne's lips hooked up a slight smile, and his eyes were full of longing and affection, but then he was slightly stunned, as if he suddenly remembered something, and raised his hand to pat Tao Mu's brain: "Quick, go and call the guards in the other courtyard and take them all to the back hall." ”

Tao Mu didn't know why Xue Ne suddenly wanted to summon those guards again, after yesterday's trial, they each felt innocent, but they were afraid that they would not cooperate well. But since Xue Ne had a fate, Tao Mu didn't refuse, and his plan was to bring them with him, so he responded and ran quickly.

In less than half an hour, all the guards were assembled in place, Shen Qi was still so timid, supporting Tian Laohan, Feng Erwang Wu's expression was also good, only Zhang San's face was impatient, as if he was complaining that Xue Ne had summoned him again, delaying his good thing of eating, drinking and listening to music.

And Xue Ne's next words made everyone even more dumbfounded: "Tired of ranking, remove all the clothes and pants on your body......"

The guards erupted into a noisy and unhappy discussion, and Zhang San scolded directly: "If you want to see people barefoot, look at the bathhouse by yourself, I, Zhang San, will not accompany you!" "Grab Tao Mu away, raise your legs to leave.

"Wait", Xue Ne stretched out his hand to block Zhang San's way, and said word by word, "Do you think yesterday's debate is the final verdict?" Six days later, the three divisions will be tried, the punishment of Taichang Bo, Dali Siqing and Yu Shi Zhongcheng are among them, your suspicion has not been cleared, if you don't want to be undressed in front of the court and be looked at, now follow the orders of the official, otherwise in the name of resisting the trial, report to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion! ”

Unexpectedly, there was another round after the end of the round, in order to prove his innocence, Feng Er and Wang Wu scrambled to take off their clothes, Shen Qi also hurried to follow when he saw this, Tian Laohan's body was not solid, trembling but he was not slow to take off, for fear that if he was a step too late, he would be recognized as a confrontation with interrogation, and for a while, the smell of feet in the back hall was overwhelming, and Xue Ne stumbled, coughing and wheezing.

Afraid that these guards would be frozen and cold, Tao Mu brought a charcoal basin according to Xue Ne's instructions, and when he saw the smell in the house, he hurriedly opened all the wooden windows, causing the guards to cover their chests and hide their stomachs, screaming again and again. Xue Ne finally took a breath and said busily: "Ladies and gentlemen, there are only a few of us inside and outside the county government at present, and if the official investigates quickly, everyone will be able to go home early." ”

After hearing this, everyone stood up and tried to stand as well as possible, and did not make unnecessary coverings. That Zhang Sanai was the only one of the four who didn't take it off, and seeing that everyone had seen each other sincerely, he really couldn't, sighed, scolded his mother, and took off his clothes.

I thought that Zhang Sanhui was the most smelly one, but Xue Ne and Tao Mu both quietly took a step back, never thinking that he was clean and clean, without any peculiar smell, and even the hair on his gray thighs was neatly arranged, but he took off his dirty clothes, and he actually wore this red hood inside, which made the guards stunned, patted their legs and laughed, and their two buttocks trembled.

"This vest looks good, just put it on, sentry at the gate of the other courtyard, don't care about the red-clothed yaksha, even the king of heaven Lao Tzu is scared", Tian Laohan is the oldest and the most qualified, and he teased first. Everyone stopped laughing, and when they heard this, it was another round of laughter.

Zhang San blushed and scolded angrily: "Go, go!" This year is my natal year, what's so funny! You don't wear red in your natal year? You old man don't wear red? ”

While everyone was laughing, Xue Ne had already circled them twice, and the reason why he wanted everyone to take off their clothes was because many torture instruments were found in the remnants of the Hongwen Pavilion annex that day. Thinking that it should have been the chief of the guard who set up the lynching, and Feng Erwang Wu had said that the chief of the guard would beat them if he had nothing to do, Xue Ne wondered if someone could not bear the bullying of the chief of the guard, so he colluded with outsiders to put the chief of the guard to death.

Judging from the whip marks and scars on his body, among the four people, Wang Wu's injuries were almost the same as Feng Er's, Shen Qi was the most serious, and Zhang San and Tian Laohan were almost none. Tian Laohan is old, his body is not good, and if he doesn't do it well after two strokes, he will return to the west, and it is normal for the chief of the guard not to beat him; Zhang San is burly, and he has a lot of dealings with the three sects and nine streams, and the chief of the guard will inevitably be taboo; Judging from Shen Qi's body, it is considered a fate not to be killed, so will he hold a grudge against the head of the guard and create this case? Thinking of Shen Qi's confession being the most unfavorable to Fan Ning, Xue Ne couldn't help frowning frequently, but Shen Qi had almost no contact with the outside world, and Fan Ning personally went to his hometown to see him for a few days after the incident, and he didn't see any suspicious behavior, why is this?

Tossed a toss, saw the same, and the people were half smoked, Xue Ne waved his hand, said "hard", and asked them to dress up and go home.

In the middle of the night, Tao Mu was lying on the table, snoring loudly, but Xue Ne was still reading the file, he couldn't understand it, the physical evidence was so conclusive, why did the human evidence not match it? Whether it is Zhang San, Shen Qiyi or others, they all seem to be suspicious, but they are ethereal and rootless, and they can't catch any real evidence.

People are sophisticated, he is really not good at it, the more Xue Ne thinks about it, the more confused he becomes, his clear eyes are foggy, and in the fog, he doesn't know where to find the answer he wants. At this moment, the closed window suddenly opened, and a strong wind pushed a short arrow, wrapped in a white cloth, and landed on the table, apparently for fear of hurting him. Xue Ne was startled, got up and hurried to the window, but saw that there was only a moon shadow in the four corners, and there was no popularity, and it didn't look like someone had been here at all.

Xue Ne turned back to the table, picked up the arrow, and saw a Supa tied to it, he hurriedly removed it, opened it and took a look, but the calligraphy was written "Standing alone, hanging from each other" Eight big characters, looking at the handwriting is the same as the handwriting sent to the East Palace that day, it should be from the hand of Li Chunfeng.

"Master Li", Xue Ne muttered in a low voice, he guessed that Li Chunfeng had sent a letter to Li Hong before, and the "five years of Yonghui" he said was the birth year of Princess Anding, and "only women and villains are difficult to raise", the "villain women" referred to were all Princess Anding who was less than one year old at that time, and it should be Li Chunfeng reminding Li Hong that someone wanted to challenge the queen of heaven with the matter of Princess Anding.

So what does today's sentence "standing alone, hanging from each other" refer to? Is it a further point to the case of Princess Anding, or is it a matter of his immediate crisis?

Xue Ne stepped on Tao Mu's snoring rhythm and paced back and forth in the room, although he didn't understand why Li Chunfeng was dodging, but judging from the hints given by Li Chunfeng, this Tang Dynasty No. 1 God Operator's grasp of the situation in the world is far stronger than himself, and even far stronger than Li Hong, the prince of the prison state, then he must know that Fan Ning is in prison in the Criminal Department, and he must also know his constraints, and this letter was not sent to the East Palace, and the reference should be Fan Ning's injustice.

"Standing alone, hanging from each other", Xue Ne chewed the meaning repeatedly, and his mind swept over the figures of the guards in the annex of the Hongwen Pavilion, and suddenly his soul was blessed, and his thoughts were fixed on that person, he clapped his fists and stepped forward to pull up Tao Mu, who was sleeping in a daze: "Quick, help me find all the personnel tables since the completion of the annex of the Hongwen Pavilion." ”

Tao Mu got up in a daze, rammed his head on Xue Ne's chest, hit Xue Ne staggered two steps, turned over his body, pointed to the gate and said, "...... over there"

Tao Mu scratched his head, sobered up for two minutes, and walked outside the official hall, and after half an hour, he came back with a stack of files and looked at it with Xue Ne. Xue Ne flipped through the files of the past five years, got up and asked: "How can it be that there are only five years of files, and the other courtyard has not been built for five years and a half?" ”

"There is still half a year, it should be in the Hongwen Pavilion, and the scholars of Helan University were in charge before, and they have not been able to come out, these days...... Uh, wasn't he injured by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? I'm going to try it, and I guess there's a show. ”

Five days later, early in the morning, Gao Min came to the prison of the Criminal Department again, and saw Fan Ning leaning against the cell door for breakfast, so he squatted aside and waited respectfully.

Fan Ning didn't ask him what he meant here, so he grabbed a piece of oil cake and threw it to the mouse in the corner: "Look at you squatting there for a long time, reward you with a piece of food, get out of here after eating, don't make people annoy here." ”

Gao Min couldn't hear that Fan Ning was scolding him, and he wasn't angry, he raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Gao Mou knows that he is disgusted, but today, it is Taichang Bo who is sympathetic to His Royal Highness's long-term boredom here, and he is not allowed to bathe, I am afraid that it will be very uncomfortable, so he specially asked Gao to arrange for His Highness to freshen up and burn incense......"

"I don't wash", Fan Ning refused directly, leaving no mercy, "Your uncle Taichang looks like a weasel, and he is not a good product at first glance, and I don't know what kind of ecstasy is given to me in the bath soup." ”

"Although Uncle Taichang is a bit like a weasel, His Highness is not a chicken, so what's so scary? Tomorrow there will be a three-division trial, when the imperial history of the Cheng will also come, if he sees His Royal Highness unkempt, the next day to inform the emperor, Taichang Bo and Gao are not guilty? If Li Sixing has any selfish intentions, it is because of this. Your Highness is magnanimous, and for the sake of the two of us having no merit and hard work, give us three points of thin noodles. ”

When Fan Ning heard that there would be a triage of three divisions tomorrow, he turned around and asked, "What is the process tomorrow?" Who was there? ”

"In addition to the three chief officers, there are also Yuan Gongyu, Xue County Ling and Gao. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was punished by His Majesty for cutting off the power of the country because of his love for Ji, and he was in conflict with the Duke of Zhou. ”

"What?" Fan Ning was taken aback and said hurriedly, "How is the prince's love concubine?" Bullied by Zhou Guogong? ”

"I heard that no, when he was about to make trouble, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived and beat Zhou Guogong severely, and he still can't get off the bed. Although it is indeed the fault of Zhou Guogong first, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed heavy, his two are cousins, let the world know, how to view the family affection of the heavenly family? Therefore, no matter how well His Highness did during his imprisonment, the Emperor also had to reward and punish clearly, and he had to reprimand His Highness. ”

Knowing that Honglian was fine, Fan Ning's high heart finally let go, she lowered her head and thought about it, thinking that she was still worrying about how to save herself and how to communicate with Xue Ne these days, but she didn't expect to be able to meet him so soon. However, after staying in this prison for so long, the whole person is really dirty and smelly, how can you be embarrassed to meet Xue Ne? Thinking of this, Fan Ning's peach blossom eyes rolled around, and she said, "That's it, although I don't believe a word of what you say, but I don't want to embarrass you, so I will arrange a bath for me." ”

Gao Min responded, hurriedly went down to prepare, and after a while, he returned with a black cloak on his left arm, and opened the door of the prison with the lock key. Fan Ning took the cloak and put it on, put on a hat to cover his eyebrows, and walked out with Gao Min.

Finally saw the day, the sun was too dazzling, which made Fan Ning a little uncomfortable, closed his eyes for a moment before opening his eyes, quietly looked around, and sure enough, he saw that he was really out of prison.

She was imprisoned until this time that day, but she held the belief that she would die, but she didn't expect to come out so easily today, so easy that she couldn't help but start wondering, is she really a princess? If not, how could the high-ranking officials of the Criminal Department release her as a heinous criminal so easily?

Out of the first door, a delicately decorated carriage stopped beside the road for the two of them to drive, and it seemed that it should be the chariot of Li Qianyou when he traveled on weekdays. Fan Ning sat down in the car with Gao Min, took off his hat, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, Gao took you to Uncle Taichang's private residence. His Royal Highness's daughter and noble body should be extraordinarily noble and graceful, and Uncle Taichang has driven out all the idle people, leaving only two girls who are close to him, His Royal Highness can only rest assured. ”

Fan Ning asked three points of truth and seven points of falsehood: "Master Gao, you keep calling me 'Your Highness', as if you are very sure of my identity, I want to ask, in the five years of Yonghui, it is not only my master who has adopted children, why do you think I am a princess?" ”

Gao Min smiled, revealing a mouthful of neat white teeth: "No matter what Gao says now, His Highness will not believe it." What I can say is that we are looking for His Highness, not in the past two years, and when the day the truth is revealed, His Highness will know how much effort Gao has spent in order to find you. ”

Sure enough, seeing Gao Min so strict-mouthed, Fan Ning let out a "sigh" and turned his head to ignore him.

Gao Min was still smiling, but he remembered the scene when he first met Fan Ning a few years ago. It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month three years ago, Fan Ning was only fourteen years old, dressed like a little Taoist priest, braved the wind and cold at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, helping Li Chunfeng to distribute the talisman paper blessed by the heavenly officials, his cheeks and the tip of his nose were red from the cold, and a pair of peach blossom eyes were dripping, full of indescribable cuteness.

At that time, Gao Min had just determined that she should be Princess Anding, and she didn't dare to go forward, but she also stood there for an afternoon, and when she came home in the evening, her legs were frozen and stiff, and she could barely gallop.

She would never know that in the following three years, he often went to see her near the stargazing area, so that day in Gongchuan, he saw through at a glance that "Ning Chungong" was Fan Ning, whom he had been looking for for a long time.

Being able to look at her so closely was like in a dream, but Gao Min didn't dare to look at her for too long, so he lowered his eyes in a moment, with a bit of youthful melancholy in his eyes, and stopped talking, until the coachman pulled the reins and stopped the horse, and he lifted the curtain to look out the window, and said, "Your Highness, we have arrived, and we are ready to get off." ”

In the same Chang'an world, a man entered the city from the Xianmen Gate, and sneakily walked towards the West Market.

Although there is a sense of melancholy in my heart, it is more joyful. After half a year, from early autumn to early spring, the case in the annex of Hongwen Pavilion finally landed, and the female doll entered the prison of the Criminal Department, and he was finally able to get his share of the remuneration.

The thought of the money made it as if he had been given the whole world, and the man's footsteps unconsciously thundered by two points, humming the tune of the music in his mouth, but his eyes looked around from time to time to see if there was any suspicious person following him.

The kid surnamed Xue is really annoying, born with a golden spoon, he doesn't understand the people's suffering, and he causes chaos everywhere. But he also had to admit that the kid was really smart, and he actually relied on the burned ruins to deduce that there were eight or nine inseparables.

But eight or nine are not far from ten, after all, it is still a thousand miles wrong, and there is no witness, so the kid can only watch the girl being escorted to the single willow and cut off her beautiful head. The man snorted twice, and there was a sense of pity in his evil smile, and suddenly, his smile stopped abruptly, as if he noticed that a man who looked like a woodcutter had followed him two crossings, and he hurriedly slowed down, as if looking for a way, and staggered into the side alley.

In a moment, the woodcutter walked briskly with the firewood, and without looking at him, he hurried towards the market where the fires were sold. The man breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head and moved his muscles, and continued to walk towards the agreed place in the West Market.

When he arrived at the stall, the peddler stood up, and he was so frightened that he almost ran away, but he heard the hawker just greet him as usual: "This guest officer, come from afar, come from afar, let's try a piece of hu cake?" ”

"How do you know I'm coming from afar?" Seeing that the vendor had no malicious intent, the man breathed a sigh of relief, but was still alert.

"The guest officer wears bamboo shoes, which are used on rainy days, and the ground in our city has long been dry, so I guessed casually."

Yes, in order to come here to make an appointment, he went out when it rained last night, and walked for most of the day before finally entering Chang'an City. This cake was delicious, and he was reluctant to buy it before, thinking that there would soon be an endless amount of money, this man trembled and felt out the money bag, gritted his teeth and said, "Bring me a piece." ”

The peddler hurriedly took the money, wrapped a crispy and fragrant oil cake in oiled paper, and handed it to the man. The man took a heavy bite and sighed comfortably, only to feel that the suffering he had suffered in the previous years was only a passing cloud, and the joy at this time was the true meaning of life.

After a while, Hu Biscuits had all been eaten, and the man finally came to the agreed place, which was one of the Hu Ren shops in Naxi City, he looked around at no one, and stepped forward to knock on the door according to the agreed rhythm.

Soon, there was a response from inside, it was a few taps with a different rhythm, the man responded a few more times, the door finally opened, and a nine-foot-tall bearded man beckoned him to come in, and then closed the door tightly, and asked in a low voice, "Didn't anyone notice?" ”

"Why, I used to be the head of the guard of the other courtyard, where could I be so careless", the man said, stretched out his hand, and said with a smile, "Today, is it ......?"

Hu Renfang was about to respond, when he heard a knock on the door, which made the two of them stand up in shock, and Hu Ren stepped forward and asked, "Who!" ”

"Deliver firewood, Lady Anar asked me to send it here."

Hu Ren said impatiently: "Just the door of the room!" ”

"But," said the woodcutter, who left the firewood at the door, refused to leave, "and the money has not yet been settled." ”

Hu Ren couldn't, scolded his mother, signaled the man to hide, opened the door a crack, and then stretched out his hand to hand out the money, and was ambushed by Wuhou broke through the door, not only the talented woodcutter, but also the vendor who sold Hu cakes, Xue Ne followed and walked into the store, looked at Nei Ying hidden under the table and smiled: "Tian Laohan, I haven't seen you for a few days, don't come unharmed." ”