"You don't know what killed the little emperor, but you know that the head was pierced?"

"Are you suspicious of me?"

"Ah, that's not what I meant," Ye Liancheng was stunned, he didn't expect him to misunderstand what he meant, "Isn't this strange? Since it is through the head, it is nothing more than a sharp object such as a bow and arrow, a knife, etc., it should be easy to find the murderer in the direction of the shot, right? Even if you can't find the murderer, you should be able to prove your innocence—provided that you are not the murderer." ”

"Indeed......"

Zhang Kezhao did not react to the second half of the sentence, but was thinking about what weapon the real murderer used, which convinced Ye Liancheng that he was unjustly imprisoned.

In fact, when he was imprisoned in a deep-water dungeon, Zhang Kezhao seriously thought about who did it, what methods he used, and what his purpose was, so as to clear his grievances as soon as possible, but he finally came to purgatory.

There is no place to redress grievances here, even if the real culprit is found, it will only add to the trouble, so he rarely recalls the day of the murder of the monarch in Lanyue Pavilion, it was not he who died that day, but for him, he was buried in the fire on that day.

"I saw something flying out of the little emperor's head......" he struggled to recall.

The platform was so high that he could only look up at a small field. The back of the little emperor's head bloomed with a bloody cuckoo, and then the whole person slowly fell down in an arc in the air like slow motion - this is a scene he will never forget, there is absolutely no mistake, something runs through the little emperor's head, from front to back.

"A very small thing, I remember," he meditated...... "and it blended with the flowers of blood and was very well matched." ”

"Flowers?"

"Just an analogy. ”

"No, that's pretty important. Ye Liancheng's intuition told him that the "flower" was the key to this assassination, "Since it is commensurate with the flower, it is the stamen." ”

"Stamen? No way, that thing is too soft, unless it is wrapped in zeal, it can penetrate its head. But none of the warriors at the scene were suspicious. ”

"The warriors at the scene, the emperor is on the platform, why are there warriors? That's not a place of sacrifice?" Ye Liancheng still remembered those rituals.

"It's a martial arts conference," Zhang Kezhao explained, "this time is different, the little emperor decided to put on a bronze crown for the leader in the Lanyue Pavilion." ”

"Who is the leader this time?"

"A girl in Wudang. ”

“...... Shen Yile. ”

"That's the name, do you remember?"

"I remember all the disciples of Wudang, not to mention that she is outstanding and can win the top spot, I am not surprised. Ye Liancheng sighed kindly, "But time flies so fast! I taught her for a while, and she was still a girl of few words. Hah-" He smiled with a smile that only appeared on the faces of older people. "That's fast!"

"yes. Zhang Kezhao was moved.

"In other words, you were mistaken for the real culprit of the emperor's assassination and sent to purgatory. Ye Liancheng nodded, "This is really unlucky." ”

"It's not just unlucky, sometimes I wonder if someone has premeditated this. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"From the assassination of the little emperor to my imprisonment, it was only a week. ”

"How can it be so fast?"

Zhang Kezhao shook his head, with anger in his words: "Someone has already arranged everything, and I was used as a scapegoat." ”

“...... Speaking of which, since my time, there have been signs that purgatory has become a royal lynching. Ye Liancheng said, "Fortunately, the King of Shenyue escaped, but he was sent to the frontier - is he still alive now?"

"I didn't hear he died. ”

"Life and death are uncertain?"

"Almost. Zhang Kezhao said, "Don't you know, since Princess Tilting Lian controlled the government, the entire Western Dynasty has changed." What struck me most strange was that the princess didn't seem to covet royal power, she either had other motives or—"

"It's controlled. ”

"That's right. ”

"I've met the princess a few times, but she's a woman she can't see. But I didn't expect her to become the regent. I have an idea that this kind of ambition can be understood by anyone, but it is not for her. ”

Zhang Kezhao nodded slightly in agreement.

The last time Ye Liancheng saw the princess was at the funeral of Emperor Dayan-

"She was there. The Emperor of Great Words suddenly collapsed, and she looked like no one else...... How to put it, it gives people a sense of extreme indifference. Even if she is a royal family, there is a world of difference from our identity, but no matter how you say that it is her biological father who died, can't you even feel family affection?

She took the Son of Heaven to kneel in front of the tomb of the first emperor, motionless, and the little emperor cried very sadly. She was like attending a boring but had to attend a sacrifice, and everything was fine when she took him through the process.

"First kneeling in front of the tomb according to the little emperor, and then pulling him away with his body when the little emperor was grief-stricken, it doesn't matter how long they stay, even if the little emperor wants to cry from morning to night, the ministers will stand aside without complaint. ”

Ye Liancheng also made up his mind at that time that he would never let such a little emperor who had no assertiveness and no majesty inherit the throne.

But he didn't expect that Princess Tilting would be in the future. He only thought that the two children were too immature, that the princess was rigid and a little sluggish, and that the little emperor was very weak, very different from his father.

He couldn't help but think: maybe it's time for their bloodline to end, this is the fate of all dynasties. Supporting Xu Zhongheng, the king of Shenyue with the same surname, to ascend the throne, maybe he can steal the Western Dynasty without bloodshed—it is still the Western Dynasty, but it is another more capable Xu dynasty.

If it goes well, nothing will happen.

Ye Liancheng looked at Zhang Kezhao, this left guard also had something to say.

"Princesses do. She is indifferent to everything, and she never hides it, even if ordinary people are indifferent to her father's death, they will cover it up a little in front of everyone, let alone the death of the emperor...... She's really not an ordinary person. Zhang Kezhao sighed.

He then remembered a trivial incident that happened when he was arranging the Praetorian Guards in the East Palace-

"I don't remember what happened, but the royal family increased the number of Praetorian Guards, and all transfers needed to be fine-tuned. I was very busy at that time, and one morning I happened to meet the princess, and I later learned that she used to pass the time in that garden.

"She asked me what I was doing there. I was puzzled - how could the princess, who was now the one in charge of the world, not know about the movement of the forbidden army, but of course I would not ask these questions, but told the truth what she was doing, and she looked a little surprised, and I could not say whether she was surprised or not, after all, she had no expression, as if she had suddenly realized, and said, 'There is still such a thing.'

"It's strange, isn't it? It's her place, the place where she spends most time, but she doesn't know that the people who protect her are changing. And there was no reaction when I found out. ”

"Probably...... She doesn't care. ”

"Why do you say that?" Zhang Kezhao was puzzled, and immediately understood what Ye Liancheng meant, "The head of the family said...... Team Gonglian?"

"yes, the people who really protect her are the guys from Gong Lian's team. ”

"Team Gonglian? Then she's going to be out of luck. ”

Ye Liancheng understood what he was talking about.

They all thought of the same thing - Chen Jian, a member of the Gonglian team who was framed by his own people, was also in purgatory at this time.

The two couldn't help but look at each other and smile, and Chen Jian suddenly became a joke.

"How did we talk about the princess?" Ye Liancheng asked.

"Well, I think I said it first? ”

"Oh...... Right. You are the left guard, working in the court, and I haven't heard of anyone escaping from purgatory?"

"It's a pity that Dali Temple has nothing to do with the Praetorian Guard, I've never heard of those things, and I don't care at all - who would have thought that I would one day be framed for violating such a taboo. ”

"The world is impermanent. Ye Liancheng felt sorry for his situation. "But I've always thought that maybe there was a way out of purgatory. ”

"Why do you say that?" Zhang Kezhao's eyes lit up.

"I came to Purgatory a few years before you, and I have heard many things, and did you know that there is a profession in Purgatory? ”

"I know, prisoners who specialize in exploring purgatory. ”

"Several travelers suddenly disappeared. ”

"Eaten?"

"Nope. Probably escaped from purgatory. ”

“...... And where did they go when they went out? Didn't they get back to Jizo's house?"

"Yes, the problem is that the disappeared people have never reappeared, and they may have fled forever, to a place where Jizo Gong could not find them. Ye Liancheng said, "That's not the most important thing - if you think about it, we've heard a lot of rumors about purgatory in the human world, and how terrifying it is, right?"

"Yes. ”

"Have you ever wondered where these things come from?"

"Do you mean...... Someone escaped and spread the news of purgatory?" Zhang Kezhao sat up as if he had suddenly woken up, "yes! Why didn't I think of it?"

"That being said—" Ye Liancheng was unmoved, "Actually, many people have thought of this, and this is also the source of strength that supports the travelers to go forward and find a way to escape from prison. But how many prisoners actually left?"

"The vanished traveler didn't leave a way?"

"In fact, there are only two travelers who are widely known as 'suddenly disappearing'. None of them left anything behind. ”

"You mean, there's something else you don't know?"

Ye Liancheng agreed: "That's what I think. Purgatory is so wide that some people may have found the exit to Purgatory far away, but we haven't reached it yet. ”

Zhang Kezhao pondered for a long time and said:

"Is this the true intention of the Commander......

"What?" Ye Liancheng didn't understand what he was muttering.

"Let me tell you," Zhang Kezhao looked around, no one was eavesdropping, and he said in a voice as thin as a mosquito, "The commander told us one thing, he said that purgatory is round!"

"What do you mean?"

Ye Liancheng didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, and he didn't know how this matter was related to the previous topic.

Zhang Kezhao explained the well-known facts of the 21st century to Ye Liancheng, and after speaking, he asked:

"How, doesn't it make sense?"

He gave examples everywhere, Ye Liancheng thought about it, and said by analogy:

"According to you, isn't the world also round?"

"This ...... This is a taboo subject. ”

"Huh?" he thought Zhang Kezhao hadn't reacted, "Do you think, we saw that the sailboat also showed its mast first, and then went out of the hull, doesn't it mean that the sea is curved?"

He stood up, thinking that he must be crazy to say these words, but on closer thought, this might be the case.

"'Heaven envelops the earth, and the shell is wrapped in yellow', Zhang Heng has already glimpsed the mystery of the universe!?"

"Shhhhh Zhang Kezhao calmly pressed him back into place.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Zhang Kezhao muttered to himself, "I think of the missionary who was executed many years ago. ”

"Who?"

"I can't remember the name for a long time, aren't all Western names weird?

"Anyway, a man from the Western Regions brought a ball with colorful tiles and announced to the Emperor that this was our place of residence. Do you understand what it means for the Son of Heaven to 'the world is round'?"

Ye Liancheng shook his head.

"The Son of Heaven is not at all in the middle of everything - this is a rebellion!"

Ye Liancheng couldn't speak for a long time.

Thinking about it carefully, if he was in the world, maybe he would have laughed at this matter as a style of speech, and it was precisely because he had experienced too many things that he could not think and solve with a normal brain in purgatory, that he had the courage to believe this fact.

Since purgatory is round......

"Could it be that the Commander decided to go around the Purgatory and attack the Bird Country from behind?"

"That's right!" Zhang Kezhao's eyes sparkled, "This will be the longest war, and we are bound to win!"