Karshu Imperial Palace

Wen Zhao looked at the sky that lit up a little bit, and it seemed that he couldn't feel the cold of the second day of the Lunar New Year in Kazhou City.

There was a sound of footsteps from the Chenxuan Palace behind him, and he turned his head to see that it was the Hou Ye who came out of the palace. The uneasiness and nervousness in his heart reached its peak, and he breathed a long sigh of relief, trying to make his expression appear indifferent, and then strode up to meet it.

Hou Ye didn't speak, but still strode in the direction of leaving the palace. Wen Zhao looked at his face, and had no choice but to follow closely without saying a word.

After a long time, he finally couldn't hold it back, and asked carefully: "Master Hou, does the emperor have any orders?" ”

Sure enough, Hou Ye stopped abruptly and cast a surprised look at him: "What? ”

"The message sent by His Royal Highness to the Hou Mansion ... Can you talk to the emperor? Wen Zhao gave up his hand and buried his head very low. And the emperor invited you into the palace at night, what the hell is going on? ”

"Wen Zhao, if you are sensible, you should know that this kind of question is not something you can ask." Hou Ye reprimanded sharply, "You, a general of the Hou Mansion surnamed Wen, don't you want that head to care about the family affairs of the royal family?" ”

"Hou Ye is angry!" Wen Zhao knelt on the ground in a panic, "It's the last general who is abrupt, and the last general is not thoughtful, so he shouldn't ask His Majesty and the princes about it!" ”

Hou Ye closed his eyes tiredly, raised his head and sighed. It took a long time before he picked up Wen Zhao and continued to move slowly. "In the final analysis, you are also afraid that this time the prince will suffer and it will affect Benhou. But Wen Zhao, since Your Majesty can still find me to enter the palace at night, you should understand that he still trusts Lifu. ”

"Yes..."

Wen Zhao didn't dare to say anything, but only slowly walked forward with Hou Ye's footsteps. The two walked to the waiting place of the sedan chair in the Yuanwu Palace, and he saw that the Hou Ye was still moving forward in a daze, so he waved his hand to the sedan chair man. The sedan chair drivers understood, so they carried the empty sedan chair and followed quietly after a hundred and ten steps of the two.

The sky is bright, and the long night dawns.

"The crown princess has escaped from prison."

Wen Zhao staggered in front of Hou Ye, causing Hou Ye to cast a surprised look. He hurriedly retracted his steps, and couldn't help but press his head lower and lower.

"Do you mean that the crown princess who was accepted as a righteous daughter by you last night was in our mansion for more than a month..."Wen Zhao tried to make his tone appear less concerned, "She has such a ability... But in this way, wouldn't it be unjust for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be unjust with you? ”

"Perhaps..."Hou Ye's tone seemed to be thinking about something, "Fortunately, judging from His Majesty's attitude of being suitable, his daughter-in-law, who is strong in martial arts and has a suspicious identity, is not the person who worries him the most at the moment." ”

"Then what does the Hou Ye think the emperor is worried about now?"

"Wen Zhao, who do you think is behind last night's incident?"

"Nowadays, most of the courtiers in the court have been cut in power. Among the princes, the two who seemed to be the most unlikely to do it were suspected. Wen Zhao said in a deep voice, "The last general is bold... I'm afraid it's the handiwork of Prince Huan and King Pengjun. ”

"Even you can see it. Your Majesty has found the pyrotechnician's family again, do you think he can't ask the name of the mastermind behind the scenes? ”

"What does the Hou Ye mean that the emperor already knows that it is the Third Highness?" Wen Zhao exclaimed, "In that case, why didn't the emperor issue an order to ask His Royal Highness for the crime?" ”

"At this moment, Wei'er is indeed the target of everyone. It's just Wen Zhao, if you were a palace curtain, would you want to use the pyrotechnic master personally selected by the prince to deal with the prince? ”

"This Wanshou fireworks is organized by His Royal Highness the Prince, and the craftsman is also a one-line contact with His Royal Highness. If His Royal Highness wants to deal with the East Palace, he will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity, this is ......"

Wen Zhao suddenly lost his tongue in the middle of speaking, Hou Ye stopped, slowly turned his head to him, and saw the stunned look on his young general's face.

"Too obvious, too deliberate, isn't it?"

"The prince is planning... Something went wrong with the prince's people... It's really obvious......" Wen Zhao's voice trembled slightly, "It's too obvious! His Royal Highness wouldn't do that, he wouldn't let everyone doubt him! But... But who could he be? His Royal Highness was mediocre, and he asked us for help before he went to prison. Don't... Could it be the bitter meat trick of the East Palace! ”

"You and I both know that Donggong doesn't have such a mind. But if it is the plan of the new crown princess, it is somewhat credible. ”

"—how could she!" As soon as these words came out, Wen Zhao regretted his words and hurriedly continued, "Even the girl has been in the Hou Mansion for a long time, and her character and temperament have also been heard... What's more, she even did such a thing as escaping from prison, so it can be seen that she is not a scheming person! ”

"You know her character and temperament, but others may not know. As for the prison escape, in the eyes of others, it is just a self-reliance on martial arts and barbarism. ”

"It's... However, she was also imprisoned because she was framed by the craftsman. Since she escaped, she is bound to look for the relatives of the craftsman and bring them to the palace to prove her innocence! ”

"If people have preconceived notions that she is the mastermind, then even if she can bring the witnesses to the palace, it is just a preconceived confession, singing and harmonizing to make a scene."

"How so... How is this a good ......" In addition to being anxious, Wen Zhao suddenly became suspicious, "But Master Hou, why do you say that the emperor is not in a hurry to deal with Miss Lian right now?" ”

"That's why Your Majesty called me here today."

"Master Hou... The last general ...... foolishly"

"If it is said that the crown princess framed the second son of Wei Wei in order to consolidate the position of the East Palace, then why is another person involved in this situation?"

Wen Zhao stopped in a daze, and under the morning sun, the tired and old figure of Hou Ye slowly moved forward. But at this moment, he had no intention of keeping up, shocked to catch his footsteps, he clearly felt that there was a tumbling malice, accompanied by the rising sun, diffusing every corner of this majestic forbidden palace.

"If you push it step by step, when it comes to him, the person is already in prison." Hou Ye stopped and looked back, and saw the frightened look on his face in the thin twilight, so he helplessly showed a tired smile. "Wen Zhao said to you, how can a person who has been killed step by step and is in prison be the real murderer who planned all this behind his back?"

——

I was able to easily find the pyrotechnician's house in the West Market.

At No. 36 Huaihua Street, I repeatedly confirmed that it was the one in front of me, so I pushed the door and broke in. To my surprise, the wife of the pyrotechnic maker, who looked like a folk woman, was not too surprised or panicked when she saw me enter the hospital. But after a faint glance, she still sat in her dilapidated yard chopping firewood.

"It's a disaster that can't be avoided, it's coming quickly......"

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"Xu Jin has caused such a big disaster, what do I not know?" The woman blew her nose and casually rubbed a handful of snot on her clothes under her fat belly, "The people from the palace have already come last night, and you were sent by His Majesty to carry out the execution, right?" ”

"I'm not from the emperor, and I'm not here to kill you." I glanced at the dilapidated courtyard and the mildewy walls, and continued to say calmly, "It's your husband, and before he died, he asked me to bring you a few words." ”

For the first time, the woman's dark and loose face showed a slightly surprised look, and she threw away her axe and slowly approached me, and asked in a trembling voice, "Will he have something to say to me?" ”

"He told you to sell your house and marry another good family as soon as possible. He also said that in this life, he is sorry for you and told you not to wait for him to come home in the future. ”

The woman listened to me with wrinkled eyes, and was silent for a long time, and then burst out laughing.

"Xu Jin, you don't have a conscience to go home for half a year, and you think I'll wait for you before leaving?"

She laughed harshly, and at the end of her laugh, she was already laughing with tears. I watched her face full of ash burst out of tears, and I was distressed. However, time was pressing, so he could only say in a deep voice: "It was the palace curtain who threatened the lives of you and his parents and let him assassinate the emperor, isn't it?" ”

The woman still laughed to herself, until the laughter could not hide her crying, and she said coldly, "You know everything, why bother asking?" ”

"Because I need you to testify for me, I need to take you into the palace to face the saint and tell the truth to the emperor!" I said sincerely, "I need your help, and my life and that of another person are still counting on your words, and this is the only way for you and your in-laws to live!" ”

"My in-laws? My in-laws! Ha ha! She suddenly burst out laughing again, "Since last summer, those two old men have long been angry and scared to death when they found out that their precious son was doing this kind of desperate thing for money!" If he, Xu Jin, had known that the third prince would harm his father and his own lives, would he not have returned home for most of the year! ”

A vague layer of doubt arose in my heart, and I was about to say more, but I heard a chaotic sound of footsteps approaching quickly. And when he looked back, the black-pressed Praetorian Guards had already surrounded the dilapidated wooden gate of the courtyard.

"Return to Hotaru! Don't ask anymore, come back with me! ”

I was surprised to see an old figure in court clothes walk out of the way that everyone had given way, and when he saw me, he walked quickly towards me.

"Master Hou! How did you get here? I was pleasantly surprised, "I've found proof of my innocence and that of Miyahata!" This is the craftsman's wife, and she has already told me that Gong Wei is the mastermind behind the scenes, and as long as we plead to the emperor, we can—"

The blood froze in the body almost instantly. I wanted to scream, I wanted to pounce, but it was too late, the knife fell in the hand, and the woman had already fallen to the ground, and the blood gushing out of her throat reddened Chen Xue, who had accumulated dust on the ground.

"Come, help the princess back to the prince's mansion."

Two Praetorian Guards grabbed me in time when I was about to fall to the ground, one left and one right, and dragged me out of the courtyard without saying a word. When I regained consciousness, I was about to rush back to the courtyard when I was grabbed by a hand. I looked back furiously, but I hallucinated at Wen Zhao's face.

"The emperor has decided not to pursue this matter any longer, and the five princes have been released." He said slowly word by word in a subtle voice that only I could hear, "Obedient, go back to the prince's mansion first." ”