Murong Xue returned home dejectedly and couldn't help but sigh.

Since the last White Horse Temple incident, it has been the seventh day. In the past seven days, every time he went to the palace to order an errand, he would be ruthlessly blocked outside the palace by the inner palace eunuch, and there was only one sentence over and over again: Your Highness's orders, I won't see you today.

As the chief butler of the East Palace Zhan Shi and His Royal Highness the Prince, His Royal Highness actually refused to see him, what is the reason?

At the beginning, Murong Xue guessed that this might be because Li Bing was frightened at the White Horse Temple, so he was unwell and needed to recuperate and rest, so he canceled his daily official duties and did not see his subordinates.

But it didn't take long for him to find that Xie Guang, Lao Jianhua, Shan Tingxian and others still entered the palace as usual to discuss matters, and they didn't delay a day, and even the appearance of Yuzhou Thorn Shi could meet the prince without any obstruction.

Only he, the dignified prince Zhan Shi, was rejected by others.

Although Murong Xue was annoyed, she also knew very well in her heart that such an unusual situation must be related to the White Horse Temple, to be precise, it was because of her various seemingly suspicious arrangements that day that caused the prince's fear, so he would treat him like this now.

If the expectation is good, Li Bing probably plans to wait for Shan Tingxian to come up with the results of the investigation ten days later, and then make a judgment on Murong Xue.

At the same time, Murong Xue also especially wanted to meet the people of the Reverse Scale Division, and asked Tao Yuan to find out what happened in the White Horse Temple that day? However, it is a pity that he hung the token he used to communicate outside the gate of the courtyard for several days, but no secret agents from the Reverse Scale Division came to meet him as promised.

Could it really be as Shan Tingxian said, that all the people and horses of the Anti-Scale Division were exterminated? Including Tao Yuan, who held the flag, no one was spared? Or is it that there is a living mouth that has fallen into the hands of Xie Guang and Lao Jianhua, and they are being brutally tortured to extract confessions in a secret place at the moment? ?

Thinking of this, Murong Xue's heart became more and more worried. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince began to doubt himself, and Beiya's foreign aid was also completely cut off, and an indescribable sense of loneliness was pressing heavily on Murong Xue's heart at this time.

He had never felt so deep despair as he did now, as if all his previous efforts had been lost in one fell swoop.

What made him even more anxious was that it was expected that in the next few days, the edict on the governance of the main road of the Golden River would be formalized, and the issue of the choice of the commander of the Long Sword Legion might have begun to be finalized with His Highness.

In such a critical period, he was actually blocked out of the game, and he didn't have any chance to fight against Xie Guang and his gang, how could he not be anxious?

Murong Xue began to regret it, regretting that she shouldn't have agreed to Tao Yuan's request so hastily and recklessly launched a raid and arrest against Lao Jianhua. It is this seemingly bold and prudent approach, but in fact a big gamble out of thin air, that has completely changed the situation on Luoyi's side.

Now that I look back and think about it, the biggest problem is actually himself.

In the past half a year, he and Lao Jianhua have repeatedly quarreled over the discussion of politics in the court, and the more intense the contradiction between the two, the more Murong Xue feels that Lao Jianhua is both hateful and difficult, and the anxious and angry emotions in the young people's hearts are getting heavier and heavier.

Therefore, when Tao Yuan proposed to him that he planned to secretly arrest Lao Jianhua, from Murong Xue's heart, the first thing he thought of was not what the overall situation was, but a hint of secret joy - he finally had the opportunity to kill that annoying old guy!

It was precisely because of the interference of this emotion that he lost his square inch at that time, not only did he not firmly stop Tao Yuan and their rebellious advances, but he also secretly persuaded himself to think about things for the better, and coaxed himself to make the big mistake he made today.

At the same time, Lao Jianhua and Xie Guang were so clever, as if they had seen through his and Tao Yuan's plans in advance.

Murong Xue would never believe Shan Tingxian's explanation.

Even if it was a coincidence, Xie Guang took a shit luck, urging Shan Tingxian to come to escort him in time without knowing what was going on, and accidentally bumped into the actions of the Reverse Scale Division, but what kind of level was the level of the people of the Reverse Scale Division, as early as the time of the rebellion in the imperial capital, Murong Xue had already learned something.

Since Tao Yuan said that they did their best to act, they were by no means general.

Eighteen masters of the Reverse Scale Division, well-trained, tacit cooperation, and all of them are outlaws who are not afraid of death, how could Lao Jianhua get out intact without even the slightest flesh injury? And how could Shan Tingxian easily take down those well-prepared dead soldiers?

Among them, there must be something Murong Xue hasn't figured out yet.

-

Rui Ji felt very distressed when she saw that her Murong Gongzi had been sullen and unhappy for the past few days, and she didn't think about tea and dinner. As soon as Murong Xue came back from outside, she directly locked herself in the study, alone in a daze, and sighed from time to time.

The bowl of meat soup on the stove was already hot and hot, but it was never served.

After hesitating for a moment, she decided to cover the porcelain bowl with a sarong, turn around to prepare the tea set, and begin to fry this year's newly picked Peacock Tea on the fire.

This sparrow tongue tea is Murong Xue's favorite on weekdays, because the amount is small, so Rui Ji herself is never willing to taste it. Now in order to please Murong Xue, she plans to take out this magic weapon and try it.

After a while, Rui Ji took the fried tea and walked lightly to the study.

"Childe, please have tea."

"Oh, it's so fragrant," Murong Xue raised her head when she heard this, and asked Rui Ji, "Is it a finch tongue?" ”

Rui Ji bowed slightly, smiled and held the teacup in front of Murong Xue, and stuck out her tongue playfully: "Well, the concubine saw that Gongzi was unhappy these days, so she specially prepared this tea so that Gongzi could relax." ”

Murong Xue smiled apologetically: "I'm really sorry, Rui'er." I've been worrying about business for the past few days, so you are worried too. ”

"Childe, don't say that," Rui Ji hurriedly waved her hand: "It's all because the concubine didn't serve the son well, and she can't share her worries for the son." ”

Murong Xue was greatly relieved to see this, fortunately, there was such a gentle and delicate jade man by her side, so that she would not be completely lonely. Thinking of this, he stretched out his tiger arm and gently took Rui Ji into his arms.

At this moment, Murong Xue needed Rui Ji, and he needed to temporarily forget about those thoughts that made him extremely troubled and anxious.

-

On the tenth day after returning from the White Horse Temple, that is, Li Bing set a deadline for Shan Tingxian to investigate the case, and someone suddenly came to the palace to summon Murong Xue to the palace for an audience. Murong Xue came to the palace with her inner attendant with a nervous mood, and found that Xie Guanglao, Jianhua and the others had been waiting here for a long time.

When Li Bing saw Murong Xue kneeling and bowing, he only nodded slightly: "Okay, everyone has arrived, Tingxian, you can tell me carefully about the investigation." ”

Hearing this, Shan Tingxian stood up and replied: "Your Highness Qizuo, Wechen has been searching around for the past few days, and he has already gained something. The weapons used by the assassins in the White Horse Temple were all ordinary goods that were commonly used in the rivers and lakes, and there were no special markings on them. However, in the leader of those people, the minister found a hidden weapon. ”

As he spoke, he ordered the guards to bring a wooden tray containing a small, unique miniature bow and crossbow, and several short arrows beside it.

"Hidden weapon?" Li Bing took the short arrow, looked at it carefully for a long time, and asked, "What does this mean?" ”

Shan Tingxian replied loudly: "Your Highness, Weichen has never seen such a delicate weapon before, so he inquired around through friends on the rivers and lakes, and finally learned a news that this small bow and crossbow came from a sect in Shu, the Nangong family. ”

He subconsciously glanced at Murong Xue and continued: "The Nangong family is very low-key in the rivers and lakes, the clansmen are good at using secret weapons, and they are proficient in the art of pure poison refining. Because they are located in the southwest corner, they are rarely known in the Central Plains. ”

"You mean, the assassin is from the Nangong family?" Li Bing was puzzled: "This palace has never had anything to do with the Xishu or Nangong families before, who are they instructed by, and why did they come to assassinate this palace?" ”

Shan Tingxian appeared unhurried: "Your Highness, according to the analysis that Wei Chen came up with after inspecting the scene, the target of the assassin was not His Highness, but someone else. ”

Hearing Shan Tingxian mention the "Nangong family", and now saying that "the target of the assassination is someone else", Murong Xue couldn't help but be secretly surprised, and at the same time probably guessed what the other party wanted to do.

Li Bing's face sank like water, and he asked coldly: "You said that there is another person, what is going on?" ”

Shan Tingxian continued: "Judging from the traces at the scene, the eighteen assassins were all ambushed far away from His Highness at that time, and after waiting for Master Chen and Master Lao to leave, they followed one after another in concealment. When Master Dust had just entered the Scripture Pavilion, the assassins suddenly appeared and attacked Lord Lao, who was walking behind. Fortunately, Lord Lao reacted quickly at that time, and at the last moment, he avoided the poison arrow that attacked him, and then relied on the defense of the palace, which was able to save his life. ”

Hearing this, Li Bing suddenly couldn't help but sneer: "Lao Aiqing, according to what you say, someone wants your life?" ”

Murong Xue felt a cold sweat break out on her back, and lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at Li Bing's gaze.

Lao Jianhua bowed beside him and replied: "Your Highness, when the minister was serving in the Northern Ya Reverse Scale Division, he had offended many enemies of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and it was not the first time that he had been retaliated against. It's just that this time His Highness was frightened, and I ask you to forgive me. ”

Shan Tingxian smiled and said, "Master Lao, don't be in a hurry to draw conclusions, whether it is your original enemy or not, it is not certain." ”

Lao Jianhua heard Shan Tingxian say this, and asked with interest: "Master Shan, according to your judgment, the mastermind behind the scenes is locked?" ”

Shan Tingxian did not answer this question directly, but turned to face Murong Xue and asked, "Lord Zhan Shi, I would like to ask you a question, do you know Nangong Yuping?" ”

Murong Xue was slightly stunned, and then replied stubbornly: "Yes." He and I used to study art at the Xishu Divine Arrow Gate, so we can be regarded as brothers. ”

"Brother-in-law?" Shan Tingxian laughed and said, "As far as you know, you two should be said to be like brothers." Nangong Yuping has lived in your house for half a year and worships your mother as her godmother, isn't it? ”

Seeing that Murong Xue was a little hesitant, the crown prince Li Bing asked coldly: "Tingxian, who is this Nangong Yuping?" Nangong family? ”

Shan Tingxian replied very simply: "Your Highness Qiqi, that's exactly the case." Nangong Yuping is the eldest son of the current head of the Nangong family, and the biggest suspect in this assassination! ”