Li Zhiyun left the yamen of the state capital with his entourage, followed Huang Renjie through several streets, and walked into an alley. Finally, they stopped in front of a mansion, and Huang Renjie stepped forward and slapped the door panel hard.

A moment later, the courtyard door was opened, and a man in a loose robe appeared in front of Li Zhiyun. He looked to be twenty-seven or eighteen years old, not very tall, with a long thin face, slightly yellowish skin, blistered eyes, a collapsed nose, thin lips, and a few rat whiskers on his chin.

Huang Renjie took a step back, pointed at Li Zhiyun and said, "Zhang Gui, this is the King of Chu, the emperor sent him to investigate Dou Jin's case." The prince has something to look for you. When Zhang Gui heard this, he looked at Li Zhiyun and seemed to be taken aback, and then arched his hand and said: "Zhang Gui, the master of Qizhou, see His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" ”

Li Zhiyun smiled and nodded, and said, "Zhang Gui, can we go in?" When Zhang Gui heard this, he reacted, and hurriedly spread his hands and said, "Lord Wang, please!" ”

Li Zhiyun followed Zhang Gui into the room and looked at it, the furnishings in the hall were very simple, only a square table and a few chairs. He sat down at the square table, and Zhang Gui brought a cup of tea and put it in front of him. Li Zhiyun took out the letter from his sleeve, handed it to the other party and said, "Zhang Gui, did you give this letter to Huang Changshi?" Zhang Gui took it and looked at it, folded it again, handed it back to Li Zhiyun, and said, "What the prince said is right, it was handed over to Lord Huang by the villain." ”

Li Zhiyun motioned for him to sit down across the table, and then said, "Zhang Gui, this king wants to know, how did you get this letter?" Zhang Gui looked at him and said, "Things have to start from three months ago." On that day, the villain received an urgent official letter from the imperial court and needed to be dealt with immediately. However, Lord Thorn has already returned home. The villain had no choice but to go to the assassin's house to find him, but the assassin was not at home, so the villain could only stay and wait. Because he was a regular visitor, the housekeeper brought the villain into the study and let the villain wait there. The villain saw that there was a pile of books on the table, and he was also bored, so he went up to look through it, and happened to find the letter. When the villain saw that the matter was important, he hurriedly left the house of the assassin, found Huang Changshi, and handed him the letter. ”

After Li Zhiyun listened, he pondered for a moment and said, "In this way, Dou Jin wrote this letter originally to send someone to Xue Rengao. However, before you could send it out, you happened to find out, right? Zhang Gui listened, nodded, and said, "It should be like this." ”

Li Zhiyun thought about it, but couldn't find anything to ask, so he stood up and said, "Zhang Gui, excuse me." In the future, if there is anything unclear, this king will come to you. Zhang Gui hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, the villain is waiting at any time." ”

Zhang Gui sent Li Zhiyun and others out of the house. As soon as everyone walked into the courtyard, they saw a man in his twenties wearing a robe walk in through the door. He walked in a hurry, holding a roll of paper in his hand, and was stunned for a moment when he saw everyone, and then said, "Zhang Gui, do you have a guest?" Zhang Gui agreed.

Li Zhiyun saw that this man had a white face, a slender figure, and was full of Wenhan's aura, so he turned his head to Zhang Gui and said, "Who is this son?" ”

"Oh, he's Feng Lan, the villain's friend."

When Li Zhiyun heard this, he turned to the son, and arched his hand: "It turned out to be Feng Gongzi, fortunately, fortunately." ”

"Who are you?"

"He is the king of Chu of the Tang Dynasty." Zhang Gui introduced.

"It turned out to be His Royal Highness the King of Chu." Feng Lan hurriedly returned the salute.

Li Zhiyun looked at the paper in the other party's hand and said, "Feng Gongzi, what are you holding?" ”

"Oh, this is a painting drawn below, I want to ask Zhang Gui to help frame it." Feng Lan said, opening the paper and handing it to Li Zhiyun.

Li Zhiyun took it and took a look, this is a picture of the three gentlemen of Songzhulan, the painting is lifelike, and it is very skillful. After he praised a few words, he handed the painting back to Feng Lan, turned his head to Zhang Gui and said, "Zhang Gui, can you still frame the painting?" Zhang Gui smiled and said, "Don't hide it from the prince, the villain worked as an apprentice in a pasting shop for a few years when he was young, so he learned some crafts." ”

After Li Zhiyun said goodbye to Zhang Gui and Feng Lan, he left Zhang Gui's house with his entourage and Huang Renjie.

The next day, Li Zhiyun decided to meet Chang Da, the leader of the Qizhou garrison. Chang Danai was a general of the chariot cavalry, and after Dou Jin was arrested and imprisoned, he acted as the assassin of Qizhou.

Li Zhiyun took Zhang Zheng, Cai Hu and several guards to the barracks. After the sentry standing guard at the gate went in to report, a captain came out and politely led them in.

After everyone entered the barracks, the captain pointed with his hand and said, "Lord Wang, General Chang is on the court over there." Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "Then you can lead us over." "The group walked through a few barracks and came to the vicinity of the stadium. In the distance, they saw a large group of soldiers, about one or two hundred, gathered beside the court. The soldiers did not know what they were watching, and from time to time they let out bursts of applause.

The group walked over and found that the soldiers were not watching a game, but a special performance. In front of them lay a table with a stack of copper coins stacked in the middle of it, about five or six. In the distance, a horse galloped up, and immediately sat a dark-skinned general with a polo club in his hand. The horse was lightning fast, and in the blink of an eye it was in front of him, and the general waved the polo club in his hand, which drew a beautiful lone line in the air, and struck it with great precision on the stack of copper coins. However, only the top coin was knocked flying, and the other coins did not move at all.

The soldiers erupted in cheers. Li Zhiyun was stunned: This is too accurate, right? It's incredible! After the general rode over, he made a big circle and returned to his original starting place. Then he rode his horse again, waved the polo stick in his hand again, and hit the top coin with the same accuracy.

The general turned over and dismounted amid the cheers of the soldiers, handed the reins to his own soldiers, and ended the show. The soldiers slowly dispersed, and the lieutenant walked over and said a few words to the general, who turned his head to look this way, and then walked over.

When the man walked up, Li Zhiyun took a look at him and saw that he was more than seven feet tall, with a straight figure, a dignified face, and a long beard under his chin. He walked up to Li Zhiyun, knelt down on one knee, hugged his fists and said: "General Che Cai, acting Qizhou Assassin Shi Changda, meet His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" ”

Li Zhiyun hurriedly pulled him up, and said with a smile on his face: "General Chang doesn't have to be so polite, please get up and speak." General Chang is extraordinary, and the king admires him very much. Chang Da smiled and said, "A little carving insect skills make the prince laugh." ”

"General Chang, this king was ordered by Emperor Aba to come to Qizhou to investigate the case of Dou Jin's rebellion, and I hope that the general will help more."

"Don't worry, the prince can rest assured, but if anything goes wrong, he will obey his fate." Chang Da said and paused for a moment, "Does the prince inspect the barracks?" ”

"Okay."

Under the leadership of Chang Da, Li Zhiyun inspected the barracks, armory, and granary, and finally came to the playground. A group of soldiers sat around the playground, watching a joust and cheering from time to time. In the open space among the soldiers, a one-on-two peak duel is in full swing.

A black-faced man was shirtless, holding a large knife in his hand, and the two men facing him held spears. The two spears wound around him like poisonous snakes, heading straight for his life. The big knife in the black-faced man's hand danced like a flywheel, and the knife flashed, protecting his body like an iron bucket, and he couldn't splash water.

The two sides come and go, you attack and I retreat, swords and guns collide, and sparks fly. Just when they were holding each other, the black-faced man suddenly shouted, his arms shook, and the big knife in his hand slashed horizontally, cutting off the tips of the two big guns together. The onlookers erupted in applause. When the two men saw that they had lost the tip of their guns, they had to throw their guns and admit defeat.

The black-faced man retracted his posture, threw the broadsword to one of his own soldiers, and took the towel handed by the other person to wipe his body. Chang Da smiled and beckoned, "Shizheng, come here." When the black-faced man saw it, he hurriedly threw away the towel, took the clothes from the hands of his own soldiers, put them on, and then walked over.

When he walked up, Chang Da introduced to Li Zhiyun: "This is my deputy general Chu Shizheng. Then he pointed at Li Zhiyun and said, "Shizheng, this is His Royal Highness the King of Chu." When Chu Shizheng heard this, he hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "The last general will see the king of Chu!" Li Zhiyun returned the salute with a smile: "General Chu's martial arts are extraordinary, which has opened the eyes of this king. ”

In the evening, Li Zhiyun sat next to the desk, and by the light of the candle, he looked at the letter repeatedly. He had read the letter countless times, but he didn't see any flaws. This case was handed over to him by Abba himself, and he felt a great responsibility. However, so far, there is no clue at all, and his heart can't help but feel anxious.

At this time, the door was pushed open, and Liu Yinglian walked in. When she saw Li Zhiyun sitting next to the desk, she walked over and said, "What are you thinking?" Li Zhiyun glanced up at her and said, "Naturally, I'm thinking about the case." Liu Yinglian looked at him and said with concern: "Is there anything new?" Li Zhiyun shook his head and said, "I found a few parties, but there was no loophole in what they said. Therefore, there has been no progress on the merits. ”

"Then don't sit here and meditate, go out and breathe." Liu Yinglian said, reaching out to pull his arm.