Although Hong Yan's seizure of the Yan family was a long time later, now that Ji Erlan thought about it, he should have started to implement the plan after Chun Yan became the top three tripods. If he wants to get the attention of the Yan family, he must become a hot figure in the eyes of the capital family and even the emperor.

At this time, the news confirmed by Yang Yan made Ji Erlan feel that there might be someone else behind Hong Yan. "Can the prince find out the specific matter?"

Yang Yan's hand was half clenched into a fist, blocking his mouth and nose and coughing lightly, and said: "When Hong Yan was young, he had been living with an old beggar in Yangcheng, but it is unknown whether the two are grandparents or grandchildren, or something else. After the old beggar entered the earth, he was adopted by a ranger from Yasukuni by chance, and left Yangcheng with the ranger, during which it is unknown where they went, but every once in a while, they would return to Yasukuni for a long time. Three years ago, Hong Yan returned to Yangcheng alone, and the ranger was nowhere to be found, and his identity could not be ascertained. ”

Ji Erlan and Hong Yan have been married for many years, and she has heard a little about him running away from the Yan family when he was young, she silently listened to Yang Zheng's narration, guessing that the old beggar may be the house slave who protected the young Hong Yan to escape from the Yan family. "Perhaps, Hong Yan returned to Yangcheng to participate in the Autumn Festival because of the old beggar's relationship."

Yang Zhen said: "I also think that he is thinking of this old love, and I heard that he often goes to worship the old man. ”

Ji Erlan didn't answer his words, and she felt as if she was in a deep fog. The truth drifted around her, as if it was so close, so close that she could breathe. It seems to be far away, only scattered shadows in the distance, and they can't be touched or spliced. The more she thought about it, the more gently the things scattered, and when she gave up thinking about it, it swayed and wandered to stir her mind.

She took a deep breath and said, "The more you try to find out about some things, the more you have nowhere to start, and if you don't think about it, you will have a turnaround. There is such a thing in front of him, and the prince will definitely feel very coincidental when he hears it. ”

"Oh? What is it? ”

"Li Chaosheng, who often works with me now, does the prince know who his dead mother is?" Ji Erlan smiled incomprehensibly, paused, and said, "She used to be an errand in the palace. ”

Yang Zhen was surprised: "It's a palace maid? ”

"When Li Chaosheng's mother was on an errand in the palace, her name was Fang Ting. When he was ten years old, he was selected by a father-in-law from the hands of officials, entered the palace as an errand for fifteen years, and left the palace at the age of twenty-five. Later, she married Li Chaosheng's father, and died in childbirth when she gave birth to Li Yu. ”

"Could it be that she has had something in touch with Tinglan?"

"The day before the winter solstice, I ordered someone to go to Li's house to send some things, and I came back in late spring and told me that although Mr. Li didn't have any great ability, he was infatuated, especially when it came to the New Year's Day. She saw that the woman in the portrait was very upright and beautiful, not like an ordinary peasant woman, so she asked a few questions, and Uncle Li said that his wife had been an errand in the palace in the past. ”

Ji Erlan also had to admire the cleverness of the girl in Duchun, knowing that she had been looking for the palace maid who left the palace more than ten years ago, and immediately told her about it when she returned home. "I immediately asked the Li family father and son to confirm the matter. Li Chaosheng said that when her mother died, he already remembered, although her mother did not often mention things in the palace, but she often remembered a few good sisters. And Mr. Li also said that the most common mention of Fangting at that time was Tinglan. ”

Yang Zheng's pupils shrank slightly, and then he felt that something was wrong: "Fang Ting died sixteen years ago, and Ting Lan happened a year before the emperor ascended the throne, and it has only been ten years now. Even if they know each other, I'm afraid they don't know anything. ”

Ji Erlan shook his head and said, "Uncle Li said that when he and Fang Ting got married, Ting Lan gave her makeup as a gift from her sisters. After Fang Ting's death, Tinglan also sent a letter from the palace to ask about the situation of the Li family, and received help several times. It is enough to show that when the two were in the palace, they had a great friendship. Fang Ting was eight or nine years older than Ting Lan, and when she left the palace, it was almost when Ting Lan had just arrived to serve the emperor. ”

Ji Erlan took out a few letters from his arms and put them in front of Yang Zheng, and said: "According to Uncle Li's recollection, every time Fang Ting mentioned Tinglan, she said that she was a very smart and kind little girl, and her life in the palace was not easy. Therefore, the communication between them is very dull, but they will help each other when they are in trouble. ”

Yang Zhen opened the letters and read them cursoryly, and then read them carefully, they were all the common words of some women's considerate and caring families, and there was nothing special about it, and one of the letters was empty, without a word, and a corner of the paper was burned. He looked at Ji Erlan in confusion and said, "What's the matter with this blank letter?" ”

"I also asked Uncle Li like this, and he said that this letter was like this when it was sent, and he thought that Tinglan had misplaced it, but after all, it was sent by the deceased, so he received it with other letters. I've tried several things, but nothing has been found. She reached out and took a few letters, and said, "This blank letter aside, I read and read the other letters carefully, but I found something. ”

The handwriting on the letter is very neat and beautiful, and each letter has only a few words, all of which tell Fang Ting to pay attention to his body and the like, and say that he has a good life in the palace. At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but after reading it repeatedly, Ji Erlan found that there was something strange about all four letters.

"Lord Wang, look here." She unfolded the letters and arranged them in order, pointed to one place, and said, "The sixth word of each letter is as blurry as short ink when it is closed. ”

Yang Zhen took a closer look, and if this was the case, his gaze fell on the last stroke of the sixth word, and he didn't move for a long time. Usually in such a situation, it must be a warning or a reminder. He looked underneath the word, and the seventh word was exactly the word 'I'. He looked down to the seventh word in the second line, which was the word 'knowledge'.

The seventh word of each line of the first letter joins together as a single sentence: 'I know a secret'. Yang Zheng was startled, and hurriedly looked at the second letter, which was still the seventh word in each line, connected by a sentence: 'life-threatening conspiracy'.

The third letter is: 'I have no way out'.

The fourth letter was: 'The emperor can't protect me'.

And the fifth letter was the last letter from Tinglan that the Li family received after Fang Ting's death, but it was blank.

Yang Zhen's hands trembled almost uncontrollably, and it took him a while to suppress the storm in his heart and say, "Ting Lan didn't know the secret before he died......

Ji Erlan patted his arm comfortingly and said, "I think so too, these five letters are sent to the Li family every year after Fang Ting leaves the palace. Moreover, from the order of Tinglan's words, it can be judged that she first knew the secret, and then determined that she couldn't get out, and after hard work, she found that the emperor couldn't protect her. ”

Yang Zhen naturally thought of this, and said: "So, when Tinglan was serving by the side of the Empress Dowager Song, she knew what was going on. Then, she did everything possible to go to the emperor's side, and she did everything possible to get the emperor's attention, all the while to save her life? He turned his gaze to the blank letter in astonishment, and said, "If it makes sense, this letter ...... It is likely to be a letter stating that ulterior secret. ”

The answer is right in front of you, but you can't reach it. Ji Erlan understood his mood and said softly, "I've tried many ways, but I still can't figure out whether this letter is hidden or something else. However, I think that although Tinglan knew something early on, the Empress Dowager Song should not have found out, otherwise, Tinglan would never have lived until the emperor ascended the throne. ”

Yang Zheng said: "After the fifth letter was sent, Ting Lan never wrote to the Li family, but only occasionally received help. It is impossible for the Empress Dowager Song to discover the abnormality of these letters, otherwise, Tinglan will not live until the emperor ascends the throne, and the Li family will not live to the present. ”

Ji Erlan was also convinced of this, and said: "Moreover, since Tinglan wants to save her life, she will naturally subconsciously avoid it and not touch the reverse scales of the Empress Dowager Song, why was she suddenly disposed of by the Empress Dowager Song?" Obviously, the Empress Dowager had promised the emperor to let Tinglan stay by his side. ”

Both of them were stumped, compared to Yang Zheng's life at stake all the time, there were a lot of scattered and trivial worries around Ji Erlan. For example, the matter of Qin's being given chronic medicine has not yet been resolved. If you want to harm the Qin family, there are many Ji families. If you want to harm yourself by returning the Qin clan, there are even more.

Outside the window, the wind and snow suddenly went wild, and the plum petals whirled with whimpering and whining. Yang Zhen summoned Lei Ze to come in and make tea again, the warmth flowed into his abdomen, and the whole person relaxed a lot. "It's good that things are going this way," he said. ”

Ji Erlan smiled: "The prince is thanking me for his words?" ”

Yang Zhen glanced at her, didn't answer this, and said, "In a few days, the wife of the Yan family will have her birthday, you have to be careful, don't say anything." ”

Ji Erlan raised her eyebrows, thinking of the pair of difficult brothers and sisters of the Yan family, she also felt uncomfortable all over her body, and said: "The prince broke the situation set up by the Yan family, do they have a new move today?" ”

"Not yet, but this birthday may not be an opportunity." Yang Zheng stood in front of the attic window with his hands in his hands, perhaps against the relationship of the light, making the outline of his body deep and clear.

Ji Erlan sighed: "Sister Song Yuheng will enter the palace after this year, and the Yan family seems to be determined to win the princess candidate." The prince really has a problem for me......"

Yang Wei curled his lips and looked at her and said, "No way, this is what you promised the king." ”

Ji Erlan rolled her eyes in her heart and asked, "I heard that Xiao Xun is pregnant?" ”

"Well, since she entered the palace, she has been very favored by the emperor, and she has the help of Empress Dowager Qi and Princess Duan from time to time, and it is difficult to think about it unsatisfactory." Yang Wei laughed at himself softly: "If she really became the princess of Du, it would be really difficult for this king to guarantee that she would have a better life than now." ”

What he said made Ji Erlan not know how to take it, and it took a while to hold back a sentence: "In the future, there will always be someone who can be with the prince through thick and thin, side by side, but fate has not yet arrived." ”

Yang Zhen looked at her and was silent for a long time before he said, "Although it is an extravagant hope, I hope so." ”