Weiyang Palace.

It was stormy outside, but it was warm as spring in the flower room.

It is said to be a flower house, but it is actually a house with square holes dug on all sides, and the roof is cleverly organized, which can be opened like a skylight on a sunny day, and can be put away when it rains. There was a charcoal fire burning in the house, and the delicate orchids were warmly smoked.

"These are my proudest works."

The emperor rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, like a farmer working in the field, and raised his hand to signal others to look at the swaying flowers and plants in the huge flower room, "Sage Yun: 'Governing a big country is like cooking small fresh', in my opinion, governing a country is the same as taking care of these flowers and plants." ”

Chu Zhixia is not good at these elegant things, and he can't say one, two, three, so he has to praise Pei Zhang's quotations. Pei Zhang coaxed the emperor to a great extent, and the gloom between his eyebrows dissipated a lot.

"Why did you two enter the palace together?" The emperor was in a good mood and only then remembered to ask.

"The minister entered the palace to play chess with His Majesty," Chu Zhixia said with a hippie smile, "I just picked up Pei Gongzi by the way." ”

"What is playing chess with me," the Emperor snorted, piercing her, "do you want to see if I am angry with you because of Wang Xianfu's affairs?" ”

Chu Zhixia smiled "hehe".

"Wen Ruo, why are you here?" The emperor looked at Pei Zhang.

Pei Zhang remembered Chu Zhixia's coercion and temptation before going out, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

With a warm spring breeze on his face, he said, "The minister heard that the cabinet intends to interfere in the approval of the red palm seal, and he has come to relieve His Majesty's worries. ”

The emperor was annoyed when he talked about this, and slapped the table heavily and said, "Zhuang Songbai, this old thing, is silent, I thought he was honest, but I didn't expect him to behave like this." What is the best way to do it? ”

"The minister thinks that the position of the eunuch in charge of the seal should no longer be vacant, so as not to lose power."

This is a dangerous thing to say, and if you are not careful, you will be charged with "forming a party for personal gain and planting a confidant", which is tantamount to licking blood on the tip of a knife.

The emperor narrowed his eyes and asked a little dangerously, "If Wen has someone to recommend to me?" ”

"No, the minister doesn't know anything about the palace attendants." Pei Zhang said respectfully, "It's just a lesson from Wang Xianfu's past, and I hope that Your Majesty can keep it in mind and advise one or two." The new palm print eunuch can no longer be like Wang Xianfu. ”

"Elaborate." The emperor raised his chin and said.

"Wang Xianfu and the official eunuch have privately taught and received, Your Majesty knows." Pei Zhang said eloquently, "That Wang Xianfu's land and grange, does Your Majesty know how it came about?" ”

"Naturally, it was the officials who bribed him and wanted him to buy him at a low price." The emperor frowned, wondering why Pei Zhang said this.

Pei Zhang was also ordered by Chu Shixia before entering the palace.

All the officials have a lot of money, and they will only have a thousand taels of silver if they are given a grange, where can they bribe Wang Xianfu so much? The granges of the officials were taken from the hands of the common people, either by force or by clever names, bought at a very low price, and then kept or transferred to higher people as the case may be.

However, there is only so much land in the world, and the officials and nobles occupy more farms, and the common people have less land to cultivate. The imperial court pays taxes every year, and the big men have opened up the middle joints, so naturally they don't have to pay taxes anymore, and the extra gaps in the court's money bags will be filled by the people's hard-earned money.

Pei Zhang has been in a high position for a long time, and he is not very transparent about these things, and he only felt covered in cold sweat when he heard it.

Wang Xianfu's death is not a pity, but those people who are in dire straits are still worse than dead. They don't care who is the emperor and who is the eunuch of the palm seal, they only have today that they can barely live, and tomorrow who can't survive.

Chu Zhixia repeatedly deduced the emperor's possible reaction in the carriage and Pei Zhang, looking for a natural entry point, and arranged this rhetoric.

"At this time, it is the time when the new policy is implemented, if the people around His Majesty go wrong, it will inevitably make people suspicious of His Majesty's love for the people, and the petty officials below will not care, and the new policy may be defeated here. This is one of them. ”

"Second, if the palm seal eunuch buys and sells official positions and bewitches the world becomes a business that everyone acquiesces in, it is the way to eliminate loyal ministers and good generals. It is simply ridiculous that His Majesty's world, His Majesty's courtiers, should be shaken by a eunuch adding oil and vinegar. ”

"Third, if the privateling of the fields continues, I am afraid that the people will have no way to live, and their good deeds will be turned into grass bandits, and it is not known whether they will cause rebellions among the homeless. There may be people in the DPRK and China who have evil intentions to take advantage of the topic, and His Majesty's grand cause will be far away. ”

After Pei Zhang finished speaking, he took a sip of warm tea, "Therefore, although the position of the eunuch of the palm print can no longer be vacant, Your Majesty must not rush to the doctor." The land is the foundation of the people's life, and it can no longer withstand twists and turns. ”

After listening to Pei Zhang's words, the emperor was very relieved. As soon as he rolled his eyes, he saw Chu Zhixia holding hot tea, his head little by little, as if he was extremely sleepy.

The Emperor raised his hand amusedly and tapped it on her head, "Come back to your senses - I don't know how your brother taught you, and the face saint can also fall asleep?" ”

"Your Majesty, forgive me, it's really Pei Gongzi's head is too expensive." Chu Zhixia yawned and said half-truthfully, "The assassins who have visited the minister's mansion in the past few days have been able to line up from the Qiande Gate to the Xuanzheng Palace. ”

This was another blow to remind the emperor that the people in the court were eyeing the enemy and would do whatever it took to obstruct the New Deal.

The emperor's expression was solemn, and after thinking for a moment, he summoned the attendants.

"Since Wang Xianfu's name has plundered the township, he will return it to the villagers. It is also my fault that he relied on me to harm the people. ”

——

Chu Zhixia's carriage had just left the palace when it was stopped by Yan Jue.

"Zhonglang will be unharmed." Chu Zhixia smiled comfortably.

"Miss Chu, Yan has something to entrust, can you talk about it?" Yan Jue was dressed in a cloak and hat, and the golden armor and red robe of the Zhonglang general were still underneath, and the young man was proud.

"Little Hou Ye, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

Yan Jue got off the horse and walked into the carriage. Pei Zhang sat in a little to make room for Yan Jue. Yan Jue pulled out a large bundle of dossiers from his arms and simmered warm by his body temperature.

"What is this?"

"Miss, do you still remember that there were people fighting in the Jianghu Pavilion last night?" Yan Jue quickly spread out the dossier, and did not see Chu Zhixia's faint expression.

"There are a total of six people who died in the Dian Xiang Pavilion, there is no customs clearance document, no road guide, nothing, I don't know how to enter the imperial capital."

In other words, the government could not find out their names, places of origin, or identities at all, and even did not know why they came to the imperial capital.

Yan Jue said to himself: "These people appeared in the Jade Fang out of thin air like lonely ghosts, and they were all killed last night, that is, on the sixth day. The killers left no traces, and an examination of the bodies revealed that the wounds on the bodies of the dead were even inflicted by their own weapons. ”

One private room, six people.

Some people die from a broken heart, some die from a broken throat, some die from a twisted neck bone, and so on. The only thing that is the same is that all the wounds inflicted by the sword are extremely thin, deep, and long, as if a hot knife cut wax.

The human body is very complex, and the muscles, bones, flesh and blood are all barriers. To achieve such a wound, it is necessary to avoid hard bones and strong veins, and go straight to the most vulnerable parts, in other words, to be very familiar with the human body.

Yan Jue has been practicing martial arts for many years, and he asked himself if he couldn't reach the level of this person.

"This seems to be a matter under the jurisdiction of Jing Zhaoyin, why is the little marquis investigating?" Chu Zhixia asked casually.

"Because on the same night, someone else died. The new waiter of the Ministry of Rites transferred from Jiangnan died in the post house the same night, and the wound was exactly the same as that of a deceased in the Dianxiang Pavilion. ”

Chu Zhixia's pupils shrank suddenly.

The depth, size, and direction of the wound depend on the shape and material of the weapon, the angle, force, speed, and even the move of the attacker.

Chu Zhixia knew who the people of the Dian Xiang Pavilion were dying, but Shen Zhou would never have the possibility, reason and time to kill the new waiter of the Ministry of Rites.

The only explanation is that the Nine Shadows deliberately sold the flaw. After Shen Zhou attacked, they returned to the scene to observe the death of the bait in the Incense Pavilion, and then assassinated the new waiter of the Ministry of Rites. Shen Zhou's mastery was passed down from the Nine Shadows, and it couldn't be easier for those people to imitate his methods.

If you don't go with us, we'll kill everyone until they find out who you are.

A demon crawling out of the Yellow Springs Hell, who will believe that you are innocent?

You may be able to get out, but the eldest lady you have in mind can only die and have no place to be buried.

Raising soldiers privately and assassinating court officials are all capital crimes.

"I want to ask Miss Chu to go with me to see if the two assassinations were carried out by one person." Yan Jue said unconsciously, "Or, Miss Chu's martial arts are exquisite, and she can recognize the school of the murderer's inheritance." ”

As the sun sets, the last rays of pale golden brilliance shatter and dissipate in the torrential rain, like gold buried in quicksand. Dark clouds rolled in, sweeping over the glass-colored roofs of Miyagi, and the cloud-like pavilions.

Dark.

The blood on Chu Zhixia's face faded cleanly, and it was so white that it didn't look like a living person. She only felt that her limbs, hands and feet were cold, as if she was naked and snuggling against the blade, and the cold was close to her bone marrow.

"How many people know about this?" Chu Zhixia asked.

Does Shen Zhou know?

Shen Zhou is just ignorant of the world, not a fool. He was all too familiar with the style of the Nine Shadows, and he knew what those people were planning as soon as he heard it. If he had known about it, he would have solved it himself.

The matter of the assassin cannot be decided unless life or death.

Yan Jue thought for a while and said, "The incident happened suddenly, and only Your Majesty, me, and a few henchmen knew about it. Just now I went to the Akiba Mountain Residence to look for you, and when I met a sinking boat, he asked me what was the matter, and I told him. ”

Still can't escape.

Chu Shixia closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Little Hou Ye, I can't do anything about this matter. ”

Yan Jue was a little surprised, "Why?" ”

"Those people who died in the Incense Pavilion wore silver masks, right? They came from the Jianghu assassin organization called the 'Nine Shadows', and they bought their lives with money, and they were extremely vicious, far beyond Yu Linwei could deal with. I advised the little marquis not to risk his life. ”

Chu Zhixia pressed his shoulder and said in a low voice: "You still have a sister to take care of, if you have three long and two short, dead or disabled, or the future is cut off, those relatives in your family still don't eat her alive?" ”

Yan Jue was shocked and stopped talking.

"Little Marquis, please go back, I still have important things at home."