It was night, everything was quiet, a bright moon hung high in the night sky, and the cold moonlight shrouded the entire Yu'an City. It was curfew, and there were no more pedestrians in the streets, except for the occasional three or two wild cats and the passing husband, and the deep sound of the change spread far away.

At this time, there was a sudden sound of uniform footsteps at the end of Xuanwu Street, and a glittering silver light could be seen in the moonlight. The silver-armored sword, decorated with snowflake patterns on the sword, is actually the frost and snow camp directly under the East Palace. They were in a hurry, but they lined up in a neat lineup, and they passed through Xuanwu Avenue at a very fast speed, heading straight for the east of the city.

*

Shangshu Mansion

The usually well-guarded vermilion gate is open to both sides at this moment, and there is no one in the strong servants guarding the door, only two wind lamps are swaying slightly under the eaves, and the lights are swaying, illuminating a blurry yellow.

And in the center of the courtyard, at this moment kneeling full of men, women and children, there are gorgeously dressed old men and women, and there are also maids and maids in green cloth linen, all of whom are full of panic and trembling without exception. I wanted to look up, but I was bluffed by the guards with knives standing in the courtyard of the cloister and bowed my head and knelt on the ground.

The whole courtyard was silent, except for the crows chirping in the branches, which heralded the unquiet and ominous night of the night.

At the end of the corridor, there was a faint sound of footsteps, and the landing was light.

Lu Qi knelt at the front of the crowd, shaking like chaff.

He had already guessed who the visitor was, hunched his waist and lowered his body a few more points, and stretched his hands forward to prostrate on the ground, his body shrinking again and again, only to shrink himself into the crack in the ground.

The footsteps grew closer, and finally stopped in front of the porch, as if looking at a group of people kneeling in the courtyard.

In the coolness of early autumn, the sweat rolling down Lu Qi's forehead became more and more rapid, but he didn't dare to wipe the sweat, let alone raise his head, so he could only kneel motionless under the court and wait for it to fall.

There was the sound of chairs moving in front of the porch, as if someone was sitting down, and after a while, a slightly smiling voice sounded.

"Lord Lu, this palace just looked at your house, the carved railings are exquisite, beautiful, as if they were from the hands of a master!"

"The house is rough and unbearable, which makes His Highness smile......"

"If Master Mo's craftsmanship is still called crude, then wouldn't the craftsmen in the world be rotten wood," the voice of the head smiled leisurely, and then asked, "It's just that Master Mo is not a daughter, and this palace really didn't expect that a little Lord Shangshu would have this kind of financial resources, I don't know if Lord Shangshu has other ways to make money besides the imperial court?" ”

Lu Qi's heart sank suddenly, knowing that he couldn't hide after all.

"Several generations of courtiers in Weichen's family still have some family backgrounds......"

"Oh? Isn't it the greedy ink who was ordered to mend the river three years ago? Lu Qi, who was startled by the fluttering question, raised his head sharply and looked at the person who looked up.

said in a trembling voice, "Weichen...... Wechen didn't dare to ......"

"This palace looks at you, but you dare very much!" With the words, a woman wearing a golden-winged crown and a red wide-sleeved palace robe walked out of front of the corridor.

She hooked her red lips and smiled, and circled around Lu Qi unhurriedly, counting his crimes one by one,

"In the eleventh year of Tian'an, he was ordered to repair the river, greedy for 200,000 taels of silver......"

"In the winter of the 11th year of Tian'an, the second son rode a horse on the street and trampled to death an innocent young child......"

"In the thirteenth year of Tian'an, he occupied 10,000 acres of fertile land and assassinated the five members of the Wen family who petitioned ......"

Every time the woman said something, Lu Qi shuddered, he didn't expect to be investigated so clearly. After the woman finished speaking, Lu Qi lowered his head deeply, knelt on the ground and wept incessantly, "Weichen...... Confess the crime, and ask His Royal Highness to forgive the lives of the young and old of the Wechen family for the sake of the ancestors of Weichen's ancestors......"

The woman snorted lightly, did not say anything, raised her feet and went to the outside of the house. The voice came unhurriedly, "Lu Qi, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, is corrupt and perverts the law, beheaded and decided, and the corpse at the street corner is three days!" The second son, Lu Zhuang, killed people on a horse, and he was decided! The rest of the Lu family, etc., became lowly citizens, the men were assigned to Ye Cheng, and the women were punished to the Teaching Workshop Division! ”

When the woman in purple who was kneeling behind Lu Qi heard this, she instantly collapsed to the ground and muttered, "I don't want it, I don't want it, what's the matter with us!" What does this concern us? ”

She suddenly felt a sense of loneliness, straightened up and wanted to hug the woman in red's legs, "Your Highness! Your Highness is merciful, please ......"

It's just that before the words were finished, and before the person got closer, he was coldly slapped out of nowhere by the black-clothed guard.

In an instant, she only felt a sharp pain in her chest, and she couldn't help coughing up a mouthful of blood, and she was still struggling to crawl over there, "My father made a mistake, how can he ...... How do you want us to bear it! ”

When the woman in red heard this, her footsteps stopped slightly, "The hairpin family is both prosperous and lossy, don't you understand this truth?" Obviously, it was still a light and pleasant voice, but it was a little cold for no reason at the moment.

After that, take another step and go.

In the last blurred vision of the woman in purple, the soft-soled boots exposed by the woman as she walked, the edges of the boots were embroidered with delicate dragon patterns with gold thread, showing the supreme dignity and glory, and deeply pierced her eyes.

This is Her Royal Highness the Empress Dowager who represents the supreme authority of the Northern Underworld - Mu Lingkong.

*

The next day in the morning dynasty, no one noticed the shocking changes in Shangshu Mansion, but a few adults who knew each other secretly muttered before entering the hall that Lord Lu had mistaken the early dynasty.

But when they saw the bright yellow figure standing under the dragon chair at the front of the main hall, all the adults invariably felt that the cold hair stood on end, and there was an illusion that a mouse saw a cat.

Of course, there are exceptions, the right prime minister Su Qinghe saw the figure standing in front of the hall, his eyes were slightly bright, and he walked a few steps forward. is obviously not very stable behavior, but when he sees the corners of his robe flying, his pace is fast and not chaotic, he shows a bit of chic and uninhibited.

"Your Highness," he bowed slightly.

Mu Lingkong was rubbing his slightly aching temples, and when he heard the words, he turned around, and met the young man who was standing tall in front of him, wearing a purple court dress, with sparse eyebrows and a face like jade, it was Su Qinghe, so he raised his hand to signal him to be exempt.

Seeing that she seemed uncomfortable, Su Qinghe took a step forward, "What's wrong with Your Highness?" The complexion doesn't seem to be good! ”

"Probably because I stayed up late last night!"

Su Qinghe didn't dare to ask His Royal Highness about the private affairs of the princess, so he could only tell slowly, "Your Highness is the prince of the country, and I hope to focus on my body!" ”

Mu Lingkong put down the fingers on his temples and said with some sighs, "Su Qing is the second person who doesn't talk about state affairs, but wants the palace to pay attention to his body!" ”

Su Qinghe's fingers shrunk in the sleeves of his wide robe unconsciously shrunk, "Weichen guesses, the first person to say this must be King Jing'an!" ”

Speaking of his brother King Jing'an, Mu Lingkong's cold face softened a lot, "This palace is in a hurry to return to Beijing this time, and I haven't gone to the palace to visit the imperial brother, if Su Qing goes with me later, the imperial brother will be happy to see you!" ”

"Obey the order!" Su Qinghe saluted respectfully and retreated into the ranks of courtiers.

In the early dynasty, Mu Zhao, the emperor of the Northern Underworld, was stunned when he saw Mu Lingkong standing in front of the ministers, and in his impression, the princess should have inspected the river thousands of miles away, and returned to the city without a sound. But after seeing the fold she presented, her face was cloudy for a moment, and finally she threw the fold down the royal stairs, "Lu Qi should be damned!" The Punishment Department immediately and thoroughly investigated the relevant people, etc.! ”

The ministers below were silent, and from the eyes of each other, they all saw the word "inexplicable". It wasn't until the early dynasty that everyone knew that the princess returned to the city overnight last night, and she ran the Ministry of Industry and Shangshu without a sound. Everyone has long been accustomed to the vigorous and resolute behavior of the princess, but they still can't help but feel a chill down their backs.

*

Cars come and go, on the bustling Xuanwu Street, a team of black-clothed officials on the street beat the gong, and the pedestrians who were originally tightly blocked consciously began to avoid, and when the officials came, it was already unimpeded.

Someone recognized it as a person from Dali Temple by looking at the clothes of the official, and even whispered to others who were well-informed: "I heard that today is the day when the Shangshu family of the Ministry of Industry was assigned to Yecheng......

"Is it Lu Shangshu who hung up at the entrance of the vegetable market for three days that day?"

"This kind of corrupt officials and corrupt officials should be killed, greedy for the people, fat and ointment, and it is cheaper to kill......"

On the second floor of the tavern facing the street, a young man leaned against the raised window, one black hair half tied behind his head with a hosta, and the other half snaked down his neck, lazily hanging over his shoulders. Holding a glass of wine in his right hand, he didn't bring it to his lips to taste it until he watched the escorted crowd pass by, the wine glass tilted slightly, and slowly poured the clear wine on the ground.

When he turned around, a man in black knelt silently behind him, "Master, this time the princess was not confused by our tricks, it was a dereliction of duty by her subordinates!" ”

The man waved his hand, "It would be too disappointing for me if the lady was so easy to fall for the scheme, this matter is over, let's go back!" ”

A gust of wind blew into the room through the wide open window, and the man's hair swayed gently in the wind.

Finally, he glanced back at the direction of the palace, and there was a clear smile in his slightly hooked peach blossom eyes.

Mu Lingkong, I haven't seen you for two years, and I'm looking forward to meeting you more and more!