The hustle and bustle of Jinling City, at the turn of the old and the new, finally reached the extreme.

At this moment, the firecrackers in the whole city were boiling, and the atmosphere belonging to the New Year was boiling in the entire Daliang territory.

Countless fireworks bloom in the night sky, as brilliant as day, and the sound of firecrackers is a year old.

Wuwei Hou Mansion.

Lu Ze sat on a soft chair in the pavilion, he slowly peeled a few chestnuts, and looked up at the night sky that was rendered colorful.

As the New Year's bell rang, the whole courtyard of the Hou Mansion had been gathered, led by Lu Yi to the pavilion corridor, kowtowing to the head of the house one by one, Lu Ze listened to the festive words, and personally distributed the prepared thick red envelopes.

Most of the people in the Hou Mansion of Wuwei grew up in the mansion when they were young, and there were the guards who returned to Jinling City from Ganzhou with Lu Ze, and there were many people in the mansion who had not taken anything directly from the Hou Ye, and several of them were a little speechless with excitement.

Today's Lu Ze is already a real powerful figure in Jinling City.

On weekdays, the people who come and go are the Nihuang County Lord, His Royal Highness the Prince, and the King of Yu, who are extremely honorable, and these people in the Wuwei Hou Mansion are very respectful and respectful to the young family master, and they can get a New Year's red envelope from the Hou Ye, how can they not be happy?

Lu Ze waved his hand to everyone in the courtyard and said with a smile: "Let's go eat dumplings, we have prepared a total of three copper coins this year, see who can get these three blessings." ”

After the joyful crowd saluted, they retreated.

In the courtyard on the other side, several large tables have already been put together, on which fruits, wine and dishes are prepared, and hot dumplings are served on the table like flowing water, steaming white and fragrant.

"Master Hou, you..."

"Uncle Yi, you can also go over there to eat dumplings."

Lu Yi bowed and left.

Soon, there were more steaming dumplings on the small table in front of Lu Ze.

Liu Qiushuang personally brought it over.

Mrs. Tai listened to the bustle coming from the courtyard next door, looked at the fireworks in the night sky, and sighed: "The New Year is coming, but I always feel that Jinling City in the new year will be more treacherous than last year. ”

Liu Qiushuang stroked Lu Ze's back and sighed.

Not only her, in fact, many people in Jinling City clearly feel the changes in the situation, but most of them are like a flat boat in the frenzy, they can only be coerced by the general trend, trapped in it, and it is difficult to get out.

Lu Ze gulped down the hot dumplings, dipped in a small dish of green onions and ginger vinegar, and said while eating: "You can't sigh in the New Year, otherwise you will sigh all year long." ”

Liu Qiushuang smiled helplessly.

Lu Ze immediately changed the topic: "I don't know how many dishes Your Majesty will enjoy this year?" ”

Every year at the annual palace banquet, His Majesty the Emperor directs some of the dishes from the banquet to important ministers' palaces, and the dishes that can be ordered by the emperor on Chinese New Year's Eve have always been a supreme favor for courtiers.

People who are not saints are generally not honored.

On Chinese New Year's Eve a few years ago, only in the year of the death of the old marquis, the Wuwei Hou Mansion received a jade Xiangxiang chicken.

If there is no accident this year, you will definitely be able to receive the imperial dishes from the palace.

But unexpectedly, the steward who had been waiting at the gate of the Marquis of Wuwei Mansion for a long time had not seen the figure of the inner supervisor who came to deliver food in the palace.

The old steward is an old man who followed Liu Qiushuang, named Liu Xue, and after noticing that something was wrong, he hurriedly went to the mansion to inform Mrs. Tai, and the entire Jinling City knew that our family master was now highly valued by His Majesty, but if he really didn't even receive a single imperial dish on Chinese New Year's Eve, I am afraid that rumors would spread in Jinling City tomorrow.

After listening to the old steward's words, Liu Qiushuang also felt that something was wrong.

She quickly found Lu Ze, and now Lu Ze is the head of the house.

"Could it be that His Majesty really forgot the Hou Mansion on His Majesty's side, or for some other reason..."

Liu Qiushuang's brows furrowed.

Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor felt that he had given too much to the holy family of the Marquis of Wuwei's mansion, and wanted to knock it out at this time today?

Lu Ze listened to Liu Qiushuang's various speculations, he shook his head, his eyes lit up slightly, looking at the inky night, at this time, there were still sporadic firecrackers, and fireworks would bloom in the night sky from time to time.

"There's a more direct reason."

"What is the reason?"

"Your Majesty appreciated the food, but the internal supervisor who was responsible for delivering the food couldn't get to the Wuwei Marquis Mansion for some reason."

Liu Qiushuang gasped, and by the way, she understood what Lu Ze meant, and there was an unconcealable shock in her tone: "It's impossible..."

Could anyone really dare to assassinate the palace supervisor on Chinese New Year's Eve?

Isn't this a resounding slap in the face of the emperor?

Lu Ze didn't look surprised, and said with a smile: "At that time, someone assassinated me, the Marquis of Wuwei, in Jinling City." ”

Liu Qiushuang said angrily: "Can this be the same?" ”

Lu Ze twisted up the brand-new copper coin on the table, and suddenly said, "My luck has always been very good. ”

......

Time goes back a moment ago.

Emperor Liang, who drank and enjoyed himself in the palace, distributed the dishes to the mansions in Jinling.

"The Marquis of Wuwei's Mansion... Let's enjoy three dishes this year. ”

As soon as these words came out, the royal family at the banquet was shocked.

His Majesty the Emperor gave a total of thirteen dishes to the palaces of important ministers of the imperial court this year, and the first twelve, only King Mu's Mansion received one more pigeon egg, and when it came to the Wuwei Marquis Mansion, Emperor Liang directly gave three dishes, which was beyond the other twelve important ministers.

In the palace city, the inner supervisor who gave the food, a team of five people galloped out, and there was a small team of forbidden guards by his side.

The inner wardens of each team rushed to the highly pampered destinations scattered on all sides of the Imperial City.

In addition to the inner prison in the middle with a food box, the four inner prisoners around them all carried special glass lamps made in the palace, and the main road surrounding the palace also carried bright red lanterns on both sides.

It's just that no matter how bright the lights are, compared to the dark silence around the palace wall, it is only a sporadic light.

The walls of the palace city were still heavily pressed down, and there were still large areas of dark shadows, so when there was a sudden change in the shadows, the forbidden troops who were guarding did not react, and someone dared to commit murder outside the imperial city.

Several human bodies fell heavily from the horses.

The blood cooled in an instant on the night of the winter Chinese New Year's Eve, and the faint screams were muffled by the continuous sound of firecrackers.

I don't know if it's an accident or a coincidence, the pair of assassinated internal supervisors are exactly the pair of people who are responsible for delivering food to the Wuwei Hou Mansion, and the two black-clothed people who committed the murder are as fast as a shadowless whirlwind, coming and going quickly.

The two quickly moved away from the scene of the crime.

One of the young voices rang out: "Father, shall we go back now?" ”

The man in black next to him took off his mask, revealing a slightly old face, only to see him shake his head.

"We... Go to Luoshi Street. ”

......

Lu Ze turned the copper coin in his hand with a strange expression: "The assassin will not really target me, right?" ”