A war without gunpowder has slowly unfolded in the capital, and the first round ended with the emissaries of the northern border.

The warm winter breeze soothed the throbbing heart, and Bian Liangtu pretended to walk calmly on the way home, the cerebral cortex was beating nonstop, and the moment when Xu De was beheaded kept reproducing in his mind.

What really happened then?

He doesn't know martial arts, he can't understand the cause and effect, he only knows that the princess was blackmailed by Xu De, and in the end, Xu De's head fell off. It's very simple, but it's full of mystery. He had seen many warriors and killers in his life, and from the first time he saw Xu De, he knew that the strong man from the north could overwhelm the others.

But what happened in the court today can only show one point, there is also a secret master in the court, not a maid, not an archer, and it is impossible to be Zhong Yan Pang Zheng who is present, the mysterious man has always protected the princess, even in that dangerous situation, he - or she - still quietly killed Xu De.

Bian Liangtu once thought that the most direct way was to buy a murderer, as long as the princess was killed, there would be no worries at all. At the moment, the assassination was not a wise move, and the princess had left too many hole cards.

When did she prepare such a large and complete defense force?

Bian Liang Tu recalls the life and deeds of the princess.

She used to be just a little girl in the palace, although her status was noble, but she was no different from the children of the emperors of all dynasties, she lived a nourishing and moist life, and the emperor loved her very much, and her laughter often echoed in the court, and because she was a woman, she didn't have to read the scriptures all day long like the little emperor, she was born to get married. But when she was eight years old, Emperor Dayan's attitude towards her changed greatly, and she was placed under house arrest in the palace, staying at home......

The emperor is known as a princess, and only the old and confused queen mother will be deceived by this kind of lie.

Everyone understands that sending to the North means the same as sending the North, and the princess has gone from being a child of the king of a country to a prisoner. No one knows what happened that year, not even the eunuch closest to the Emperor - he died mysteriously after the princess's comeback, and it is clear who did it.

When the princess returned from the North, her previous cheerfulness was gone. It is said that the north can completely change a person, which is true, but the original meaning of this sentence is "the north can make people completely crazy", but the princess obviously does not belong to the original situation, she seems to have been taken away by something and become another person.

Speaking of which, the princess is eight years old...... Wasn't it thirteen years ago?

The flat beam diagram suddenly froze in place.

Thirteen years ago, the kokuko priest sake, black soup...... And the North.

He faintly saw a myriad of intertwined threads, and they floated silently in front of him, and with a little more effort he could find out the whole picture—but the question was, was it necessary for him to pursue them? Or was he qualified?

Besides, there is more important business at hand.

Find out who is behind the assassination of the Little Emperor.

His head was a little swollen and painful, his body was overwhelmed by years of taking care of interpersonal relationships, the violent death of the little emperor made him always maintain a high degree of nervous tension these days, and the severed head of Xu De that happened in the court just now was even more shocking, and he was determined to go out of the city to find an old friend.

*

This is a simple Taoist temple outside the capital, the Taoist temple should have been built on the top of the mountain, but this Taoist temple is ingenious to fall on the mountainside, trickling from the hidden place of the mountain forest into the swamp around the Taoist temple, the fresh and sweet smell emerges from the yellowing branches and buds, and before long, only the evergreen trees are still colored.

Flat beam figure steps on stone steps. The moss seems to be unable to distinguish between spring, summer, autumn and winter, and is still firmly attached to the dark wall trough, and a yellowed leaf flutters in front of you with the mountain wind, and the water droplets attached to it shine with the sun's light. Every time I come here, I think of the same sentence - this is a treasure.

The eaves of the temple are covered with cobwebs, on which only a few insect carcasses hang on them, and predators have long since fled this cold realm and taken refuge in a hotbed.

He walked into the Taoist temple, and there was no one.

"What kind of wind blew Zong Zhengqing over?" Xie Ruyun quietly appeared behind him in a Taoist robe, "I heard that something big happened in the capital. ”

"Long time no see, hermit. ”

"Yes," Xie Ruyun said with a smile, "Let's talk upstairs?"

"Good. ”

The two went upstairs to sit down, and Xie Ruyun served a bowl of hot tea.

"The well water has been smelling lately. Bian Liangtu just took a sip of fragrant tea, and Xie Ruyun suddenly said so.

"What do you mean?" he put down the tea bowl in surprise, looked down at the tea, and saw his face in the lush green.

"The day before yesterday, when I was picking up well water, I noticed that the well water had become very smelly. ”

Bian Liang Tu let go of the hands that were grasping the tea bowl and placed them on the sides of the chair. The hermit spoke in a roundabout way, and liked to say things, even if he said that the well water was smelly, it was not necessarily true.

"I'm curious to go and see, you should know the well, right?"

"Yes. This is true, on the hill behind the Taoist temple, there is a well dug by the predecessors, the water of the well is clear, and they used to make wine and chant poems by the well.

"There was a black shadow inside, not my shadow, but a man. ”

"People?" Bian Liangtu looked at Xie Ruyun in a daze.

"yes, people. Xie Ruyun sighed regretfully, "I scooped him up, it was a child, his body was already swollen, white and white, and there were some purple-red and brown duckweed sticking to it, he almost split it in half when he fished it up, and it seems that he has been dead for a long time." ”

Bian Liang Tu looked down at the tea.

The green tea suddenly turned into a bottomless abyss, and a child crying for help cried out in the darkness.

"Why did the child fall to the bottom of the well?" Xie Ruyun asked.

He shook his head, his fat jaw like another organ, unable to keep up with the frequency of his cheek swaying.

"I also wanted to know the reason, so I fished at the bottom of the well for a while," Xie Ruyun's eyes flashed, "and I found a dog." ”

A child, a dog. Bian Liangtu nodded as if he didn't understand, and motioned for him to continue.

"The dog also died. Xie Ruyun leaned back in his chair, "He has been dead longer than a child, his hair is as hard as an iron sword, his eyes are soaked in well water, his mouth is wide open, maybe he is starving to death, and his skin is so soft that his bones are misaligned." ”

"Died a terrible death. ”

"yes, it's miserable. I wondered later that the boy might have fallen into the well in search of the dog. ”

"Possibly. ”

Bian Liang Tu suddenly didn't understand why he was sitting here.

He's here to listen to Xie Ruyun's story? No.

"You're thinking about what the truth is in this, right?" Xie Ruyun smiled.

He nodded.

"Actually, I sometimes say things that don't matter, like this story about Fang Cai, which happened just a few days ago. ”

It happened just a few days ago......

Bian Liangtu felt sick to his stomach and couldn't help but want to vomit.

"You use that kind of thing to make me tea?!"

Xie Ruyun laughed twice, picked up the tea in front of him, raised his head and drank it in one gulp, and then said:

"As compensation, I'll drink with you!"

"What the hell are you thinking?" Seeing that Xie Ruyun was drunk cleanly, Bian Liangtu didn't know what to say. He pushed away the tea in exasperation and stared at the cynical hermit.

"Just kidding. Xie Ruyun said, "What are you looking for me?"

"Is this water clean?"

"If I say it's clean, it can be clean?" Xie Ruyun smiled lightly, like a gentleman who teaches and educates.

"......" Bian Liangtu couldn't get around him, so he had to put down his tea, "Too many things have happened recently." Have you heard? The little emperor was assassinated. ”

"Of course, I live outside the capital, how could I not have heard of it, the mourning flags all over the city are for fear that outsiders will not know. ”

Bian Liangtu smiled bitterly: "Then you shouldn't know what happened just now." ”

"What's wrong again?"

"Two men came from the north and said that they wanted us to cut the land, or else we would go to war. ”

"It's great to come out of the North alive. ”

Bian Liangtu felt that Xie Ruyun was praising the princess for a moment.

He glanced at the hermit suspiciously, but the other party still had a freewheeling smile. I'm too preoccupied, he thought, and the recent spate of emergencies has made me suspicious.

"How did you solve it after that?" Xie Ruyun asked.

"One of them was beheaded, and His Majesty had his companion's head taken back and told the guys in the north that they were going to war. ”

Xie Ruyun nodded thoughtfully and stroked his beard and said, "That's not a big deal, the northern border will make a fuss every few years, and it's almost time now." ”

"Having said that, but this time the people of the North may be stronger than in the past - forget it, not to mention these things that have nothing to do with us, His Majesty entrusted me with a task a few days ago to find out the real culprit who killed the little emperor. What do you think Your Majesty means?"

"Your Majesty asked you to find the real culprit? You are Zong Zhengqing, why do you do these things? Isn't that what Dali Temple and Jinyi Wei should be in charge of?"

"I also think it's strange that I'm worried these days. ”

"You might as well go directly to the people from Dali Temple and ask them to assist you in your investigation. ”

"Dali Temple...... I know some people—" Bian Liangtu shook his head suddenly, "the question now is not how to find the real culprit, but why let me find the real culprit." ”

"Could it be that Your Majesty suspects that you have something to do with the real murderer, so he uses this to test you?"

"Your Majesty suspects me—"

"Did you really do it?"

"Nonsense. Bian Liang Tu immediately shook his head. He was too old to make such a move.

"That's okay, the body is not afraid of shadows, since Your Majesty has entrusted this matter to you, you should seriously investigate, wouldn't it be beautiful to gain Your Majesty's trust?"

Bian Liangtu pondered for a moment: "You live outside the south gate of the capital, and you haven't heard any trouble?"

Xie Ruyun turned his head sideways and stared at him for a moment: "I don't know much about the affairs of the capital. ”

"But the Son of Heaven died on the platform, which is not the capital. His tone hardened. His instincts told him that the elusive hermit in front of him knew part of the truth.

"Definitely. Lanyue Platform is outside the capital, it is not heavily guarded, even if there is a forbidden army arrangement in advance, there may be omissions, if someone lays a trap near Lanyue Platform one step earlier, maybe this matter will be ......" The hermit seemed to be talking to himself, "I heard some rumors when I traveled the rivers and lakes, there is a small town in the west of the capital, and it is rumored to be a killer city on the rivers and lakes, spending money to buy lives and eliminate disasters for people, they can even be important ministers of the court"

"Killer City...... What is it?"

Nine times out of ten, the rumors are false, and even if they are true, they are not as true as rumors. But even so, at least you have to know what the place is called.

"Bodhi Village. ”