On the Heqing Pond, everyone saw that Wei Ran had not returned for a long time, and they couldn't help but start talking to each other.

Cui Huan said to Yuan Muzhi at this time: "I want to come to the palace because something big happened, although Your Majesty is still there, but the King of Qin and the Queen have not returned after leaving the table, and Princess Yanran is also worried. His Majesty may seem motionless, but his mind is clearly no longer here. ”

At this time, Xiao Ju was indeed very nervous, although he was still sitting on the main seat, his eyes had been wandering around, examining the ministers.

Hengxian was also paying attention to Xiao Ju, and when he saw Xiao Ju's eyes, Hengxian's heart suddenly cooled.

The majestic murderous aura in his eyes was chilling, Heng Xian let out a long sigh, and then said to Heng Xuan: "Master Heng, you didn't secretly hide anything from me, right?" ”

Heng Xuan, who asked this, had a blank face, and he didn't know what Heng Xian was asking.

Heng Xian carefully examined Heng Xuan and saw that his expression did not seem to be fake, so he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I look at Your Majesty's expression, and I am already extremely angry at this moment. Something terrible must have happened. ”

Heng Xuan only looked at Xiao Ju at this time, but when he saw that Xiao Ju's face was really gloomy, he was about to drip water, so he knew that what Heng Xian said was true.

The man who broke into Fengyi Palace had been taken by Wei Ran to an empty hall, and Wei Ran was just sitting quietly opposite the man at the moment, playing with the sword he had taken from the Imperial Forest Army in his hand, and from time to time he used the sword to make a sound of rubbing on the ground.

The man didn't know what Wei Ran was going to do, but seeing that Wei Ran didn't move for a long time, the man gradually relaxed his guard.

Wei Ran saw that his expression changed from nervous to calm, and suddenly cut off the man's left hand with a sword.

After the sword light, there was only a severed hand in the room, and a person who was howling in pain.

After a long time, the screaming in the room stopped, and Wei Ran cut off a piece of flesh from the man's thigh with another sword.

The man screamed again, and his gaze at Wei Ran also became extremely frightened.

"Give me a good time." The man said.

Wei Ran didn't speak, just picked up the sword and stroked in front of the man's lower body, as if he was considering what angle it was better to strike.

"Give me a good time, please."

Wei Ran just sneered after hearing this, and said coldly: I am not a righteous gentleman, I will not get any respect for pretending to be a hero, and only by pretending to be a grandson can I suffer less. ”

Wei Ran then circled around the man, and said, "I know that you either don't know anything, you are hired to do things, or you are a dead soldier raised by some people. Whatever the reason, you won't open your mouth easily. ”

After a while, Wei Ran slowly slashed at the man's lower body with his sword: "Only eunuchs can enter the harem at will, since you have come in, then become a eunuch before you die." ”

The man was shocked, he didn't expect Wei Ran to really not prepare to interrogate him, so he would go straight to him.

Watching the sword in Wei Ran's hand slowly go down, he even deliberately made him feel the coldness and sharpness of the sword.

Watching the sword fall from his body, the man was sweating like rain, he was really panicked.

He was not afraid of death, but no one could endure such mental torture.

Especially when he looked at Wei Ran, he found that there was no expression in Wei Ran's eyes, as if doing such a thing was a normal thing.

"My name is Li Hu, and I'm a gangster on Suzaku Street." The man finally spoke.

Wei Ran frowned slightly, he guessed that this person should not be a dead soldier raised by some family. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to subdue a few women for so long, but I didn't expect it to be a gangster on the street.

Wei Ran then sat down and said, "Go on." ”

It turned out that Li Hu owed the casino 500 taels and was unable to pay it back, and he was about to be robbed of his wife and family property.

At this time, someone found him and said that he could help him pay off his gambling debts and help him support his wife and children, and he only needed to do one thing.

Enter Fengyi Palace from Taicheng and beat the children inside to death.

"Which door did you come in from?"

"South Gate"

"The South Gate is under martial law today, how did you get in?"

"The villain didn't know, the villain came to the south gate at the appointed time, found the side gate according to the guidance, and followed the team to carry the vegetables into Taicheng."

"How did you find Fengyi Palace?"

"I walked in the line of food delivery as agreed, and when I got around the corner, someone exchanged a code with me. So I followed the man. When I got there, he gave me a stick and told me that the first courtyard ahead was the Fengyi Palace, and that there were only a few eunuchs and a woman in it. ”

"Aren't there any Kingsguards along the way? Has no one interrogated you? ”

"I didn't see the sergeant, but a few eunuchs and palace maids looked at me, but the person who led me in seemed to be quite capable, and those people were quite respectful when they saw him, so no one questioned him."

"Where are you gambling money?"

"Dengeibo on Suzaku Street."

Wei Ran stood up after hearing this, and then prepared to leave the courtyard.

"My lord, I've recruited everything, what should I do now?" The man said urgently.

Wei Ran ignored him, but asked the eunuch to keep an eye on him and not let him die.

Then Wei Ran walked out of the courtyard and headed towards Heqing Pond.

At the corner, Wei Ran went directly to the adjacent courtyard, and then walked along the corner of the wall and climbed to the wall of the courtyard where the man was held.

Sure enough, I saw a eunuch walking out of the courtyard in a panic, and after leaving the courtyard, he wanted to go east.

It was impossible to follow the eunuch in Taicheng, so Wei Ran climbed over the wall, galloped forward a few steps, and stopped the eunuch.

"Where does this father-in-law want to go?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

When the eunuch saw that it was Wei Ran, he knelt down and said, "The villain is in a hurry and wants to go to the toilet." ”

Wei Ran slapped him directly: "This king doesn't have time to listen to your gossip here." ”

Then Wei Ran grabbed the eunuch, pulled him back to the courtyard, and dragged him into the house.

At this time, there were still a few eunuchs in the room guarding the prisoners, and when they saw Wei Ran arresting the eunuch who had just left, everyone was terrified

"Who is this eunuch?" Wei Ran asked.

"It's Steward Wu, Father-in-law Wu." The eunuch didn't dare to fake, and hurriedly said.

Wei Ran nodded slightly, and then made people look at this eunuch: "If he runs away or dies, this king will definitely kill you." ”

Then Wei Ran casually asked a palace maid on the road: "Where is Steward Wu?" ”

"The slave doesn't know, I haven't seen Steward Wu much today, so I think I might be busy. After all, today is the prince's 100-day banquet. The palace maid lowered her head and said.

Wei Ran immediately came to the Taicheng Imperial Forest Station and summoned the adjutant. ordered him to take people to arrest Wu Gonggong.

At this time, an hour has passed since the opening of Heqing Pond, and the banquet has come to an end.

Everyone saw that Wei Ran was late, and there were still blood stains on his body.

All the ministers didn't know why, but Wei Ran went directly to Xiao Ju and whispered a few words.

Xiao Ju was silent on the surface after hearing this, but secretly there were already stormy waves.

Then Xiao Ju announced the end of the banquet, and at the same time, Jiankang was under martial law, Cui Huan, and Yuan Muzhi went to Shangyuan Palace.

In Shangyuan Palace, Xiao Ju took the lead and said, "Has Gonggong Wu found it?" ”

"I found it, the moment the Imperial Forest Army broke the door, Gonggong Wu shouted Great Qin Wannian, and he hit the wall and died." Wei Ran said.

"Isn't that a death without proof?"

"No, normal people's behavior, if they participate in this, will definitely die quietly. And Gonggong Wu has 10,000 ways to kill himself early, why do he have to wait until the Royal Forest Army enters before choosing to commit suicide? Wei Ran analyzed at this time: "The explanation deliberately made us think that it was Northern Qin who planned this case." ”

Cui He also nodded when he heard this, and then said: "The guards at the south gate of Taicheng will inevitably be inseparable, and Taicheng is well defended, how can Yixiao enter Taicheng so easily." ”

Yuan Muzhi added: "Today's prince's 100-day banquet, the ingredients used in the palace are all transported on the same day. This matter can also be investigated in depth. Are today's ingredients and past ingredients supplied by the same merchant, and which door is this merchant taking? Transporting grain to Taicheng is not transporting grain to large households. All the numbers must be registered, and the South Gate Imperial Guards must be released according to the list and number of people. ”

Xiao Ju was silent at this time, but anyone could feel the chill emanating from Xiao Ju's body.

Xiao Ju roared angrily: "Who is it that wants to harm my son." ”

"Your Majesty, Li Da is suspicious. If the crown prince dies, who will benefit the most? Cui Huan said at this time: "Zhao Wang Xiao Yin, Ding Wang Xiao Ziyin." The two of them are the most beneficial to this, but Dingwang Xiao Ziyin is only five years old now, and there is no staff around him. Zhao Wang Xiao Yin's back to the Heng clan is the most suspicious. ”

"What does Cui Aiqing mean? Suspect Heng's involvement? ”

Wei Ran interrupted at this moment: "Your Majesty, Weichen feels that this matter is still strange. If the Heng clan joined them, even if it was not a problem to give the man an iron weapon, why only give a wooden stick? ”

"Now the top priority is to first put Zhong Kan, the guard of the South Gate Imperial Forest Army, the shopkeeper of Jiankang Dengrongfang, and the shopkeeper of the grain transportation firm to prison, and then interrogate carefully, and after combining all the clues, you may be able to see the clues." Yuan Muzhi analyzed: "If there is a common connection between these people and some people, then this person is the most suspicious. ”

Xiao Ju nodded slowly, and then looked at Wei Ran.

Wei Ran said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Weichen has just mobilized the Royal Forest Army to arrest the relevant people, and ordered Gao Xiaoshun to go to the Eastern Mansion to mobilize the Tianxiong Army to assist in guarding the Nine Gates of Jiankang. ”

At this time, Cui Huan's face changed and changed, but after all, he couldn't hold back and didn't make a sound.

Wei Ran actually directly mobilized the Imperial Forest Army, which made the courtiers catch it.

Then Wei Ran said to Xiao Ju: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to discuss with His Majesty alone. ”

Xiao Ju understood, and then ordered Cui Huan and Yuan Muzhi to go home first.

After the two left, Xiao Ju exclaimed: "These two are confidants, why did Brother Wei bother to support this wicked person?" ”

"Cui He and Mu Zhi are both righteous men and gentlemen, and what Wei Chen said below will definitely make them feel ashamed."

Xiao Ju was very suspicious at the moment, what was it that could make Wei Ran speak like this.

"Your Majesty, according to Wei Chen, this case is going to be difficult to come to light, and now that Steward Wu is dead, he is the closest person to the person behind the scenes. The rest, whether it is Dengrongfang or a commercial house, are all chess pieces in the hands of others, and Zhong Kan, the guard of the South Gate, will find Zhong Kan when Weichen is just in the South Gate, if his family is no longer in Jiankang, and he commits suicide, this is a headless unsolved case. ”

After hearing this, Xiao Ju had no choice but to nod: "What Wei Di said is right, if Zhong Kan is also dead, then it will be difficult for the rest of the people to find out the details." ”

"But why do we really need to get to the bottom of it?"

Wei Ran's words shocked Xiao Ju directly.

"The thieves want to blame Northern Qin, and there are only two intentions, one is to clear their own suspicions, and the other is to force us to start a war with Northern Qin. Once the war starts, it will inevitably be our Tianxiong Army, Huainan Army, and Jiangling Army that will be damaged. Your Majesty, do you think so? ”

Once the war starts, the Yangtze River battlefield will inevitably be the Huainan Army, and the Xiangfan battlefield will definitely be the Yongzhou Army and the Jiangling Army.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ju suddenly said: "Someone intends to take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, not only to get rid of my beloved son, but also to make Wei Di's strength suffer greatly. ”

Wei Ran nodded: "That's right, although Li Da suspects that this is good, but if it's really the case, the biggest benefit is not Xiao Yin, but the southern party and the northern faction of the DPRK, in my opinion, this matter may not be a family matter, and may even implicate many families." Since they said that it was done by Northern Qin, then Weichen's troops had just experienced the southern expedition, so let the vassal kings and Hengzhi's northern troops attack Wancheng. ”

"What if they don't want to?"

That means that they are not loyal to the country, so they will directly surrender the northern faction. From then on, those who moved from the north to the south were also exempted from tax deductions. The vassal king directly weakened the military power in his hands. Since he has soldiers in his hands, he is unwilling to contribute to the country. So what else do they need military power for? ”