As soon as he heard that he had discovered the secret passage, Zhang Yangzeng suddenly came to his senses. He rushed into the side courtyard in three steps and two steps, and was guided by his men to the room where the secret passage had been discovered.

"Where does it lead? Got it figured? Zhang Yangzeng looked at the steps that stretched all the way to the ground and asked in a deep voice.

A tiger and leopard rider replied: "The general direction should be outside the west wall of the Horse Mansion." If it is close, it is an alley outside the wall, and if it is farther away, you can get out of Cheng'en Fang. ”

"Down!" Zhang Yangzeng waved his hand: "Send someone in to investigate!" If you encounter a suspicious person, let it go! ”

The subordinates obeyed the order, and immediately named several tiger and leopard warriors. The men tightened their armor, raised their torches, and rushed in.

After about a stick of incense, one of them descended the stairs back to the ground.

"Report to Lord Lieutenant, we just found out. The exit is in a small alley outside the Horse Mansion, separated from the Horse Mansion by an independent house, but it does not leave the range of Cheng'en Fang. ”

As soon as he heard this, Zhang Yangzeng's heart suddenly cooled, and he couldn't help but ask: "What's the situation outside, are there any traces of other people fleeing from there?" ”

The warrior shook his head: "Impossible. As soon as we climbed up from the exit, we were spotted by the brothers of Team Seven, which happened to be their cordoned off zone, guarded by hundreds of people all night and brightly lit. Even if a mouse slips out, there is nothing to hide. ”

Zhang Yangzeng's heart was completely cold this time.

After searching for such a long time, even the escape secret passage that Princess Li Xi and Murong Xue would only use in times of crisis were turned out, but none of the targets were found.

Thinking of this, he turned his heart sideways and gave his deputy a look. The deputy understood and hurriedly ran out to make arrangements.

After a while, the deputy walked over with a few soldiers and a man in black: "My lord, the thief who stole the treasure has been caught, and the Qibao phoenix hairpin has also been found." ”

Zhang Yangzeng nodded fakely: "Okay, since we have caught the thieves and recaptured the national treasure, tonight can be regarded as a great harvest, all of them are there, collect the team and return to the palace!" ”

The forbidden army's tiger and leopard cavalry and the Beiya anti-scale division came to take advantage of the excitement, and returned in defeat, making a fuss all night but finally pounced, but it cannot be said that they made a mistake in judgment and acted slowly, the main reason is to blame their own bad luck.

If it weren't for Shen Lie's belief that the rebel spies were about to take action, so he went to the Wannian County Prison to ambush one step earlier, then he, Yuan Bin and other intelligence department personnel would still stay in the Horse Mansion. Once surrounded by tigers and leopards, it is inevitable that the other party will find out their whereabouts.

I'm afraid it's going to be a bad situation.

Li Xi smiled and watched the forbidden army slip away, and then turned his head to express his gratitude to the royal ministers, thanking them for coming to support the siege at night. Li Maoxun, Li Xiuming and others were full of righteous indignation, and they all said that when the early dynasty was in the morning, they must ask for an explanation in front of the emperor.

The seventh princess was happy to see Li Bing worried, and praised it with a smile, and then watched everyone board the sedan chair and leave.

Before leaving, Dong Tianxing also deliberately asked about Shen Lie's situation quietly, and Li Xi quietly told him that everything was safe and there was no need to worry.

Not long after the confrontation in the Horse Mansion ended, Li Bingchengwen, who had been waiting for news in the palace, received a report from Ouyang Lin at the same time. When they heard that Rui Ji had been robbed by a mysterious master, and then the body of Wen Xiao, who was suspected to be an iron hand, was found in a deserted courtyard in Dongcheng, Rui Ji herself was nowhere to be found, and they couldn't help but be stunned.

What happened tonight was so strange that it was clear that the Imperial Court and the Imperial Palace had lost critical control of the whole situation.

Shen Lie didn't catch it, Rui Ji ran away, Wen Xiao and other rebels were in the deserted courtyard, what is going on?

Looking at the emperor with a bad face, Tian Mu was already panicked in his heart, but Ouyang Lin still seemed confident.

I only heard him say aloud: "Your Majesty, Niangniang, the situation in front of you is actually very clear, and it is not difficult to make inferences behind it. The minister thought that the thing was roughly like this, the one who robbed Rui Ji from the Wannian County Prison tonight was the rebel spy disguised as the forbidden army, and the person who was the leader was Wen Xiao. However, the praying mantis caught the cicada and the yellow finch behind, and after Wen Xiao and them succeeded, before they could get out, they were attacked by Shen Lie, who was hiding in the shadows, causing heavy casualties. It is precisely because of this that Lord Tian and Zhang Yangzeng will pounce on the side of the Horse Mansion. ”

Li Bing bowed slightly when he heard this: "Well, your analysis is very reasonable. From this point of view, it is very likely that the people who drew our attention to the Horse Mansion were also the rebel spies of Wen Xiao, so they chose to go to the prison tonight. ”

Cheng Wen glared at Tian Mu first, then turned to Ouyang Lin and asked softly, "Do you have any good countermeasures?" ”

"Niangniang, Weichen's countermeasures have not changed, and they have been advancing." Ouyang Lin responded: "After Wei Zixuan Fufa and Rui Ji were arrested, the minister's goal was to lure out Shen Lie or the rebel spies. Now that the Wannian County Prison has been robbed, both Shen Lie and Wen Xiao have appeared from the shadows, revealing their whereabouts, and then they are not far from closing the net. ”

Cheng Wen nodded appreciatively: "The best thing is that after the Horse Mansion has been thoroughly investigated, it only needs to send someone to carry out close surveillance, and Shen Lie will no longer be able to use it to hide, right?" ”

Ouyang Lin smiled: "That's true. The Horse Mansion implicates Princess Fenyang and Commander Murong, which is originally a very tricky place, and now that the forbidden army has cleaned up that side, Shen Lie has fewer and fewer places to hide in the imperial capital, and Weichen continues to exert pressure, and finally he and the Zhenjiang Army Intelligence Department can be wiped out! ”

Cheng Wen smiled and said to Li Bing: "Your Majesty, your vision for knowing and employing people is really accurate, Ouyang Lin is thoughtful and worthy of a great responsibility." ”

This kind of untraceable compliment made Li Bing very useful, and he also nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Ouyang, how to implement it, you can talk about it carefully." ”

"Your Majesty, from now on, Weichen needs a lot of eyeliner, closely monitor the Horse Mansion and various city gates, and arrange some veterans to scatter them on the streets of the imperial capital to check for suspicious people one by one." Ouyang Lin said eloquently: "At the same time, let Jingzhao Yin's Mansion cooperate, secretly notify the Lizheng of each square in the city, find out the residents in the area to which they belong, and provide necessary clues." ”

Prior to this, Ouyang Lin had already taken advantage of the opportunity of martial law to master a lot of mobile troops of the forbidden army's tiger and leopard cavalry, and now he proposed to call in a large number of spy eyeliners and the Lizheng system of Jingzhao Mansion, obviously his ambition is not small.

Once the emperor nodded and agreed, Ouyang Lin would immediately become the most powerful person in the imperial capital realm.

Tian Mu felt a pang in his heart when he heard this, and was about to say something. Unexpectedly, Li Bing originally valued Ouyang Lin very much, and faintly had the intention of deliberately cultivating him to become his descendant, and at this time, Queen Cheng Wen was helping by his side, and immediately agreed: "Okay, as long as you can find Shen Lie and clear the various eyelines planted by the Zhenjiang army and the rebels in the imperial capital, you can just let it go, I fully support it!" Tian Mu. ”

"The minister is here."

"From now on, all of you in the Reverse Scale Division will be mobilized and on high alert, and obey Ouyang Lin's unified dispatch!"

"Minister...... Compliance. ”

-

As soon as the court dispersed the next day, Tian Mu, who was full of grievances, immediately went to the Zhenguo Mansion, he wanted to find Cheng Dong to complain, and by the way, ask the other party, why the queen didn't help him speak, but supported Ouyang Lin's kid.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Dong seemed to have guessed that Tian Mu would come, and as soon as they met, he took the initiative to mention what had happened in the past few days, and reassured him when he heard the words, saying that Niangniang had her own arrangements, so that Tian Mu did not have to worry.

Seeing that Zhen Guogong said so confidently, Tian Mu couldn't help but be confused, and asked tentatively: "Could it be ...... Then Ouyang Lin is also from our side? ”

Cheng Dong first showed an unfathomable smile, and then shook his head: "Yes and no." Carefully calculated, Ouyang Lin is still a descendant personally cultivated by the emperor to balance the old ministers and generals in the court. Lao Tian, you don't have to worry about Ouyang Lin, he is just a sharp knife, the key point is to see whose hand the handle is in. ”

Tian Mu nodded as if he didn't understand, and then said with a sad face: "But now that the emperor has given him all the power, even the Beiya Reverse Scale Division has to be controlled and dispatched by him, and if it continues like this, I am afraid that my position in this long history will not be guaranteed." ”

Cheng Dong smiled: "You, you're too confused!" The position of the head of the Reverse Scale Division is not an official position appointed by the imperial court, but a private soldier raised by the emperor, who is qualified to sit in this position, not by rank and seniority, but by origin and loyalty. Ouyang Lin has no background foundation, he can only be loyal to the emperor wholeheartedly, and this alone is much stronger than you, a civil official who has been up and down for many years and has a very complicated background. ”

He took a sip of tea and continued: "When the emperor asked you to be the head of the Reverse Scale Division, it was not because he took a fancy to your ability, but because if he wanted to seize Shen Lie's power at that time, he had to rely on you, Wei Zixuan and others to play a role of checks and balances. You, you're just a temporary top shift, and sooner or later you will be replaced by Ouyang Lin and the like, don't you understand? ”

Tian Mu was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then nodded depressedly. Although he is more than ruthless and lacks ability, after all, he has been in the officialdom for so long, and the court struggle is still very clear. What Cheng Dong said is reasonable, he is just a chess piece that Li Bing used to deal with Shen Lie, and it is normal to throw it away when he runs out.

Seeing that he was in a low mood, Cheng Dong smiled slightly, and persuaded again: "Lao Tian, I advise you to still want to open a little." In a place like the Reverse Scale Division, it's better to get rid of it as soon as possible, if I were you, I wish the emperor would quickly replace me. ”

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Tian Mu earnestly asked: "Guogong, you must know that Beiya belongs to the emperor's close ministers, and has always held the power of Qingtian, if I am in this position, wouldn't it be more beneficial to Niangniang and you?" ”

Cheng Dong shook his head: "You are wrong. The power of the Reverse Scale Division does not come out of thin air, but comes from the heart of the emperor. As the saying goes, a companion is like a tiger, you see, in the history of the past generations of directors of the reverse scales, how many of them ended up well? Either they were abandoned or died tragically, and almost none of them died well. If you are a long history, not only will you not be able to really help your mother, but it will cause the emperor's suspicion and cause everyone to die together. If you want me to say, it's better for An Ansheng to be your imperial doctor, responsible for supervising hundreds of officials, and it is easier to play a role. ”

Tian Mu bowed slightly, and then asked, "What about Ouyang Lin?" This guy is not simple, how should we deal with it? ”

"Cooperation." Cheng Dong burst out of his mouth with two words: "Niangniang said, one is that the well water does not interfere with the river water, and the other is that the interests are in line and the enemy is together." Like Ouyang Lin, our biggest enemy is Shen Lie, Li Jiangyao and the Zhenjiang Army. ”