Shen Zhou pushed the door open, and the drenched cat jumped out of his arms and sped into the house. Shen Zhou carried an umbrella and looked at the warm and bright lamp on the table, and Chu Zhixia, who had been waiting for a long time under the lamp. Chu Zhixia stretched out his knuckles and knocked on the table, and there was a plate of picked snow-white crab meat on the table.

"Where?"

Shen Zhou stared into Chu Zhixia's eyes through a lamplight, and found that he couldn't see the joy and anger in her eyes at all.

"Find the cat." The surface of the sinking boat does not change color.

Chu Zhixia didn't say anything, just picked up the back of the cat's neck and looked at it twice. The white cat's eyes looked at her with dripping eyes, and she didn't dare to make a mistake.

"The crabs left by Yuzhu for you are cold, don't eat them." Chu Zhixia said.

Shen Zhou nodded, not intending to get closer.

"Are you still angry with me when you're so far away from me, or are you afraid that I'll smell your blood?" Chu Zhixia looked at him fixedly and said bluntly and affirmatively.

"Both." Shen Zhou replied without any weakness, "Or you will come back after I take a bath." ”

"I'm not here to sleep with you, I have to wait for you to take a shower." Chu Zhixia's face was terrifyingly calm, "You can't come over?" ”

Chu Zhixia let go of the cat and dragged the hesitant sinking boat over. Shen Zhou pressed on her shoulder with some resistance, worried that the strong smell of blood would smoke her. Such an action fell in Chu Zhixia's eyes, but it was unusual, she gritted her teeth and grabbed Shen Zhou's wrist and threw him on the bed.

Shen Zhou was thrown a little dazed. Chu Zhixia carried the lamp and put it at the head of the bed, casually ripped off the thin bed tent and twisted it into a rope, and pressed Shen Zhou's hands on the top of his head to tie them. Shen Zhou was tied up inexplicably, struggled subconsciously, and slapped Chu Zhixia on the waist.

"When the hell will you be obedient?"

Chu Zhixia viciously ripped open Shen Zhou's clothes, revealing his white body as white as jade, with smooth muscles. Chu Zhixia pressed his lower abdomen and carried the lamp inch by inch to check whether there were any wounds on his body. Shen Zhou tilted his head and said nothing, but the red tide spread from his neck to the root of his ears, and it was amazingly hot.

"You're going to scare me to death, aren't you, when will you learn to be good?" Chu Zhixia didn't see any wounds, they were all old scars, and his heart was relieved and sour at the same time. She pinched Shen Zhou's cheek in particular and condescendingly pressed him.

Shen Zhou was pinched by her so that his lips pursed, and he whispered pitifully, "I feel a little cold." ”

Chu Zhixia's stomach was punctured by Shen Zhou's words, and he angrily pulled up his clothes for him and turned over from him. Shen Zhou broke free of the unstable restraints, slowly sorted out his clothes, and rubbed a little beside Chu Zhixia.

"Who are you going to kill?" Chu Zhixia suppressed his temper and asked.

"Which one do you ask?" Shen Zhou asked innocently.

Chu Shixia was almost laughing out loud in anger by him, pinching his neck like a kitten, and asking him to look at the open file, which showed traces of the broken back wall of the carriage.

Chu Zhixia learned swordsmanship with Li Qingbai when he was a child, and he knew the traces left by swords, guns, swords, and halberds well, and the traces left by different sword materials, user genres and martial arts were subtle differences. Chu Zhixia specially asked Yan to take her to see the carriage, and determined that the sword that broke through the back wall of the carriage was Shenzhou's.

The sword may be able to be imitated, but the swordsmanship of Shen Zhou's Nine Shadows Assassination Technique and Li Qing's Bai Cangliu Sword Technique is difficult to imitate, and no one will imitate it.

"Did you do it?" Although Chu Zhixia had a question, he already had an answer in his heart.

Shen Zhou nodded obediently.

"What the hell are you going to do?" Chu Zhixia was irritable by Shen Zhou's good temper that always answered questions, "You'd better have a reason to convince me." ”

Shen Zhou looked at her with blank eyes, as if to ask, "Otherwise?"

It's a bit pampered and arrogant, guess you don't want to indulge me.

"Otherwise, I'll go to live with Pei Zhang." Chu Zhixia said coldly.

Shen Zhou immediately said, "The regent has a mountain ghost clan under him, and they will definitely recognize that it is my handiwork." It was too slow to find out the location of the mountain ghost clan one by one, so he simply assassinated the Chen party officials and forced the regent to send the mountain ghost clan to attack. ”

"The Nine Shadows Division is in civil strife, the Luo clan and the mountain ghost clan are not dying, and there will be a battle. I want to rely on this prestige to control the underground forces of the entire imperial capital in my hands. ”

Sounds plausible.

"'Gongzizhou' appeared, and the mountain ghost clan couldn't hold it. If they want to kill me, I'll wait for them to come to the door. ”

Chu Zhixia slapped Shen Zhou on the back of the head, slightly angry.

Shen Zhou shut his mouth and looked at her meekly, his eyes wet.

Chu Zhixia felt that Shen Zhou had something else to hide from her, and asked, "What else?" ”

"I saw Deng Mian's father today." Shen Zhou said truthfully.

——

The "Xijinghu Assassination Case" shocked the imperial capital, and all the guests at the banquet were assassinated except for Dali Siqing, many of whom were rich businessmen and high-ranking officials, and their methods were bloody and cruel. Dali Siqing said that he was sick and on leave, and the assassination case was shelved along with the previous murder case of Shangshu of the Criminal Department. The emperor weighed it and ordered Yulin Wei Zhonglang to overstep Yan Du's authority to deal with the case.

The last rain of autumn fell.

Deng Mian held the prescription and hid under the eaves of the library.

The bookstore was full of people, and the storyteller talked about "Longxiang Pingyi Record" with affection. "General Long Xiang" refers to Chu Mingxiu of the Chu clan in the clouds, this performance is about the old story of Chu Mingxiu's surprise attack on Baishabu, describing him as an immortal body with three heads and six arms, God blocks and kills God, and Buddha blocks and kills Buddha, which is exaggerated to the point that it is staggering.

Deng Mian dodged quickly, but he was still drenched in the rain. He kept stamping his feet and shaking off the rain.

A cloak fell from the sky and covered Deng Mian's head.

Deng Mian looked blankly at Chu Zhixia, who appeared at some point.

"I heard that Dali Siqing was frightened during the assassination and did not go to court for several days. Are you going to find a doctor for him yourself? Chu Zhixia asked calmly and naturally.

Deng Mian nodded sullenly and said, "I have changed several batches of doctors, but they all said that there is no way but to live and raise." My father locked himself in the house all day and wouldn't let me go out. I'm really worried that I'll sneak out. ”

"I'm afraid it's not just frightened." Chu Zhixia lightly uncovered the fig leaf of Dali Siqing, and Deng Mian looked at her inexplicably.

"One after another, Chen Party officials have been assassinated, Dali Siqing is both a survivor and an official investigating the case, but he said that he was sick and did not want to go to court, have you ever thought about why?"

Deng Mian couldn't help but take a step back, not even having the courage to ask.

Chu Shixia didn't care if he wanted to hear it or not, and said toughly: "The regent originally wanted to frame the King of Qi with this, and your father is his most powerful henchman, why did your father retreat at this time?" Did he ever wonder what the Lord Regent thought of his evasion? The Assassin killed everyone, so why did he keep him? ”

The guest sent by the regent to Dali Siqing was an assassin of the mountain ghost clan. Dali Siqing has long understood that the regent is aware of this series of assassinations. Dali Siqing was the only witness to the assassin, and as long as he fabricated evidence, he could count this blood debt on Bai Ziche's head and send him to a place of no return.

But he didn't.

The sudden betrayal of Dali Siqing has nothing to do with integrity, justice and justice.

It's just because Dali Siqing can't figure out why "Gongzizhou" left him dead, so he didn't dare to speak. The regent must also be skeptical, and is examining Dali Siqing's loyalty to him - did he betray the Chen clan out of fear of death?

"Do you want to ...... Say what? Deng Mian asked almost in a panic.

"It's going to be winter, and it's going to snow." Chu Shixia handed him an umbrella and said, "Let your father resign and go back to his hometown to recuperate." ”

Deng Mian trembled and did not take the umbrella, and said, "My father didn't say what the assassin looked like, but only told Yu Linwei that he had fainted. But when I was keeping vigil, I heard him have a nightmare and shouted, 'Childe Boat.'" ”

Chu Zhixia didn't speak, and quietly let Deng Mian's tears fall.

"Is it a sunken boat?"

"Let's go home." Chu Zhixia just said.

Deng Mian wiped his tears and said, "I won't tell anyone. Thank you Shen Zhou for me. ”

He turned and ran into the rain.

——

In the ninth year of auspicious symbols, at the end of October.

The assassination case that caused panic in the imperial capital began to emerge, and the dead gradually changed from court officials to peddlers and pawns - some were people who had been rooted in the imperial capital for many years, and some were fresh faces from other places, and the only common characteristic was that they were usually inconspicuous and shy and gentle.

Yu Linwei organized three teams to strengthen the night patrol of the imperial city and the protection of officials. But there were no living people caught by Yu Linwei, all of them were corpses, and they almost became corpse collection teams. Zhonglang held Yan Du accountable and punished him for several months.

Blacksmith Alley.

"I went to see the eldest princess."

Chu Zhixia, who was tinkering with the bonfire, and Pei Zhang, who was pondering the warm wine, were all stunned, and then they all looked up at Bai Ziche who was talking. Only Shen Zhou was unmoved, pulling a big hood to cover most of his face, and sleeping against Chu Zhixia's back.

"It was the eldest princess who asked Xu Yan to come to me, and she asked me about the assassination of my official." Bai Ziche rubbed his stiff fingers against the lit fire and said, "The regent's loss is not small, and His Majesty took the opportunity to place his own people in the six departments. The regent wants to define this series of assassinations as partisan feuds, and blame me. ”

It's not a blame. Chu Zhixia turned his head and glanced at the sleeping Shen Zhou, and said in his heart.

"Your Majesty won't believe it." Pei Zhang took the lead in saying, "In this matter, Your Majesty is the one who has benefited the most. Even if the regent can really forge ironclad evidence, His Majesty will cover it up for you. ”

Chu Shixia shook his head and said, "Your Majesty doesn't believe it now, it doesn't mean that you won't believe it in the future." The prince has an army that is proficient in assassination, and even Dali Temple, the Criminal Department and Yulinwei are helpless, and the emperor will not be unguarded and unscrupulous. ”

Chu Zhixia stretched out his hand and poured the green plum wine into the wine jug, and put the wine jug in the boiling water. The mellow aroma of plum wine was steamed and overflowed the whole room, but everyone's face was not good-looking.

"What the regent lacks is just an opportunity." Chu Zhixia covered the coffin and said.

Pei Zhang thought for a moment and said to Bai Ziche: "Your Highness, it is not appropriate to be too sharp at this time. In the last few days in the court, don't speak. ”

"Not enough."

Shen Zhou suddenly spoke, and several people were a little surprised.

Shen Zhou sat upright as if he was not awake, turned out a grain of osmanthus candy in Chu Zhixia's sleeve and put it in his mouth, and said vaguely: "Even if you say that you are sick and do not go to court, the regent can arrange for his own people to assassinate him or Bai Huan." Anyway, they are all their own people, and they can't die. Once this kind of thing is planted, it is like a weed, which cannot be cut down and burned endlessly. ”

Bai Ziche was frightened by him and humbly asked for advice: "Then what should I do?" ”

"He's going to doubt you anyway, so it's better to strike first......"

Chu Zhixia slapped Shen Zhou on the back of the head lightly and scolded, "Go to sleep." ”

Shen Zhou glanced at her a little aggrieved, turned his head and sulked behind her.

"In short, before that critical opportunity comes, Bai Huan will definitely make His Royal Highness a domineering and disrespectful person, in order to achieve the final fatal blow. Your Highness only needs to back down, forbear, and be sure to save face in front of Your Majesty. ”

Pei Zhang, who is proficient in people's calculations, said.

Bai Ziche summed up succinctly: "Pretend to be pitiful, I know." ”

Chu Zhixia poured a glass of green plum wine for one of them with a heavy heart, and patted Shen Zhou's neck with his backhand. Shen Zhou twisted his body unconvinced, and refused to talk. Chu Zhixia neatly stuffed the cup into Pei Zhang's hand.

Pei Zhang held two wine glasses, innocently glared at Shen Zhou, who turned over and sat up, smiled helplessly, and handed him the green plum wine. Shen Zhou poured a whole glass of green plum wine angrily, pinched the cup and glared at Chu Zhixia.

"Still angry?" Chu Shixia raised his eyebrows.

"I still have to drink." Shen Zhou said.

Bai Ziche chuckled silently, but he couldn't bear to lower his gaze anymore.

——

The next day, the Academy.

The sixth prince has grown a lot taller, and he is no longer a small ball that can be drilled into Bai Ziche's arms casually. Bai Ziche held his hand to draw prawns, and the ink frustrated with the brush, smearing the cute shrimp on the rice paper.

The sixth prince looked up at Bai Ziche embarrassedly.

Bai Ziche said with a smile: "The shrimp painted in the previous dynasty paid attention to thinness and fineness, with a sense of ruggedness and clarity, and it was even more stylish. Ayan's prawns are in a class of their own, very plump and fat, like a dish on the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner of the water village. ”

"It's so hard to draw." The sixth prince hung his head and said, "I'm not as good as my little uncle in reading, and I'm not as good as my fourth brother in painting, otherwise I'll go and learn the art of war from General Yan, and in the future, I will be like General Long Xiang Chu Mingxiu, and I will be on the same side!" ”

"The teacher in the martial arts hall told me that you didn't get up to go to class for three days." Bai Ziche didn't mean to blame, touched his head and smiled.

"The gentleman who talks about martial arts is too old-fashioned." The sixth prince hugged Bai Ziche's arm and coquettishly, "Fourth brother, why don't you let Miss Chu tell me?" I want to hear the story of her quelling the rebellion and laying down Gyeongju! ”

Bai Ziche was silent for a moment and said, "She may not be very willing to mention the matter of Gyeongju, but you can ask her to tell you about the Northern Expedition." ”

This doesn't work, that doesn't work, the sixth prince sighed and went into the house to dry the painting. Bai Ziche sat under the eaves and watched the fine snow slowly cover the evergreens in the yard. I don't know when, a bright yellow figure stood at the door of the painting academy.

Bai Ziche was stunned, and looked at the emperor with a cold face through a scene of wind and snow. Xu Yan was half a step behind, held an umbrella for the emperor, covered the fluttering snow, and quietly shook his head at Bai Ziche.