For many nobles in Beijing, this is destined to be a sleepless night.

Hou Yu, the general of the Southern Ya, was assassinated in Moyuan, and there was a deep wound on his right shoulder, if it weren't for his extensive experience in facing the enemy on the battlefield, this sword would have almost killed him.

The effects of this incident are still brewing, but the night in the capital has become noticeably restless.

The palace had received the report, and the enraged Son of Heaven immediately issued an order, ordering the masters of the Weaving Department and the Criminal Department to hunt down the assassins, and at the same time, the two generals, Wang Yan and Liu Shouguang, were ordered to mobilize the Northern Yajing army and impose full martial law on the city defenses to prevent the assassins from fleeing the capital under the cover of night.

Hou Yu was inconvenient to return home because of his serious injuries, so he had to continue to stay in Moyuan, and the Son of Heaven sent two imperial doctors to treat him, so there would probably be no problems.

In order to prevent the mysterious assassin from returning, the ink garden was staffed by the master of the warp weaver inside and out, and was heavily guarded like an iron bucket.

Qin Zheng personally presided over the hunt for the Assassins, but there was very little effective information about the Assassins.

According to Hou Yu's description, the assassin was a woman in red, probably in her early twenties, with a slender body and beautiful appearance, who was good at wielding a long sword, and had a strange martial arts path.

These claims were confirmed by Hou Yu's personal soldiers and some of the Moyuan guards, but the problem was that there was no similar record in the archives of the Warp Weaving Division, which meant that the identity of the red-clothed assassin was like a fog, and it would definitely not be possible to find out in a short time.

Mo Yuan was temporarily taken over by the Warp Weaving Division, and after Lu Shen's previous reminder, the second prince had already understood the danger of this matter, so he could only withdraw immediately, so he greeted everyone and left first.

Outside the courtyard where Hou Yu lived, Qin Zheng and Lu Shen stood side by side, and the secret agents of the Warp Weaving Division were far away.

Looking at the back of the second prince and his party leaving, Qin Zheng said calmly: "Hou Yu actually didn't suspect that the assassin had something to do with you. ”

For the middle-aged man beside him who controlled thousands of secret agents in the Warp Weaving Division, Lu Shen's impression was not bad, probably because Qin Zheng's position was both important and difficult.

The Son of Heaven needs such loyal eyes and ears as the Weaving Division, but the ministers of the court and the central government naturally hate this kind of privileged yamen, Qin Zheng must be loyal enough, and at the same time his skills and abilities must not be weak, otherwise it will only attract the siege of the Manchu civil and military forces.

For more than ten years, Qin Zheng has handed over a qualified answer sheet to the Son of Heaven.

It stands to reason that in this special situation, Qin Zheng will definitely be one of Lu Shen's trustworthy people, but Lu Shen does not dare to believe in the other party without reservation.

Therefore, Lu Shen said unhurriedly: "Nan Anhou and I are both in the army, and we advocate a straightforward style, and besides, I only had a quarrel with him before, so it won't be to the extent that you live or die." ”

Qin Zheng was noncommittal about this, he stared at the deep night, and suddenly said in a shocking voice: "Is there a possibility that the assassin is someone arranged by Hou Yu himself?" ”

Lu Shen frowned slightly, and turned his head to look at the other party: "Why?" ”

Qin Zheng seemed to say to himself: "His journey from Chengzhou to the capital was not smooth, as far as I know, he was attacked several times, and I think it should be an assassin from the Seven Divisions of Shazhou." As soon as he arrived in the capital, he sent people to the Warp Weaving Division to ask for help, hoping that we would be able to catch the Assassins who might come to the capital. During this time, I sent someone to track and protect it, but I have never found anything abnormal. However, after he came to Moyuan, he rested for one night in the territory of His Royal Highness King Xiang, and met such a skilled assassin. ”

Lu Shen retracted his gaze, lowered his eyes and said, "Why did he arrange for an assassin to assassinate him?" ”

Qin Zheng repeated: "Because everyone in the world knows that Moyuan is the territory of the second prince. The dignified Marquis General was assassinated in Moyuan and was so seriously injured, do you think the second prince can completely stay out of the matter? ”

Lu was silent.

Qin Zheng stopped on point and asked, "Are you going back home tonight?" ”

Lu Shen said: "Let's go back first, I'll leave it to you to investigate the case here." ”

Qin Zheng glanced at him meaningfully, and then walked towards the courtyard, he still had some things to ask Hou Yu.

That's the difference.

……

Green courtyard.

Xue Susu looked at Lu Shen, who looked indifferent, and asked cautiously, "Master Hou, are you going back to the house?" ”

Lu Shen bowed his head and said: "I have already explained to the people of the Warp Weaving Division, no one will make it difficult for you, just some routine checks." ”

"Thank you for your care."

Xue Susu bowed, as if he wanted to speak and stopped.

If it weren't for the assassin who suddenly killed tonight, maybe she would have to follow the instructions of the second prince and serve the young prince in front of her wholeheartedly.

Naturally, she didn't need to mention it now, but she didn't know what she was thinking in her heart.

There may be some loss, or a little relief that is not enough for outsiders.

The so-called beautiful eyes and clever smile are probably to describe a beauty like Xue Susu, although she didn't say anything, but those bright eyes have said everything.

Lu Shen said: "You live here for the time being, if the Second Highness asks, you bluntly say that this is what I mean." ”

Xue Susu couldn't help but feel a tightness in his heart.

Lu Shen said again: "When the assassination of Nan'an Hou is over, you will follow me when the time is ripe." ”

A faint and grateful smile appeared on Xue Susu's face, and he saluted again: "Yes, Master Hou." ”

At this moment, her eyes were lowered, so she didn't see Lu Shen's eyes quite complicated.

There was no hint of men and women in his eyes, but a bit of scrutiny and solemnity.

After a while, the spacious and comfortable carriage slowly drove away from Moyuan in the night, and headed towards the Shanyang Marquis Mansion surrounded by more than a dozen elite cavalry.

When he returned to the Hou Mansion, the carriage stopped in the Yimen, and when the soldiers outside signaled that everything was in order, Lu Shenfang stepped out of the carriage.

Surprisingly, he actually held a long sword in his hand, and the blood stains on the blade did not completely dry.

Qin Zilong, the commander of the pro-soldiers, looked at him slightly, and hurriedly said to the brothers next to him: "Be on guard!" ”

Lu Shen shook his head slightly and said, "You take them down to arrange, just be careful during this time." ”

"Obey!"

Qin Zilong left with the rest of his own soldiers, and then personally went to inspect the light and dark sentries in various places in the mansion.

The carriage door was pushed open again, and the first to come down was the mild-mannered Wei Chigui, and then a young woman in red.

She stared at Wei Chigui's back, with both fear and confusion in her eyes.

Turning back the clock to more than an hour ago, when she found that Hou Yu's situation was a little different from the information, it didn't look like she was in a drunken state of losing her mind at all, and she immediately realized that this was most likely a trap set by the other party.

After making an attempt, she realized that she would not be able to complete her revenge tonight, so she immediately chose to retreat.

Not only did she have a map of the interior of the Ink Garden, but she had also found an opportunity to survey the site before, so she was confident that she could escape calmly if the guards of the Ink Garden were not sufficiently prepared.

However, when she shook off the guards of Moyuan and was about to escape, a middle-aged man who did not look amazing blocked her way.

In just five moves, her long sword fell into the hands of the other party's seemingly breezy but endless internal strength.

After two more moves, she was completely subdued by the other party, and then she was taken into the carriage, where she could breathe fresh air again until this moment.

The woman in red is not an arrogant person, she dared to come to the capital of Qi to find Hou Yu for revenge, in addition to all aspects of preparation, she also has enough confidence in her own martial arts, but this middle-aged man's martial arts are obviously one level above her.

In the cold night, she looked at Lu Shen, who was standing opposite, and said coldly: "Are you Lu Shen?" ”

Lu Shen didn't answer, but turned to look at Wei Chigui and asked, "Senior, where did she come from?" ”

Wei Chigui glanced at the woman in red and muttered: "Judging from her martial arts style, she should be from Shazhou." ”

Lu Shen bowed slightly, and then said to the woman: "Let's talk about it when we enter the house." ”

The woman in red's eyebrows and eyes were cold, but the unfathomable middle-aged man had made a few prohibitions on her veins, so that the internal strength in her body could not function freely, and she could only obey at the moment.

When he came to the inner study, Lu Shen poured tea in a pot, first handed a cup to Wei Chigui, poured another cup and put it in front of the woman in red, and then sat opposite her, still looking at the bloody long sword on the table.

The woman in red looked at the teacup in front of her, her gaze obscure.

After a while, Lu Shen asked calmly, "Why did you assassinate Hou Yu?" ”

The woman in red frowned slightly, and it was clear that this was a very stupid question in her opinion.

She still knows a lot about the affairs of Qi State, and knows that although the man in front of her is young, he is a powerful prince with brilliant military achievements, and he is a leading figure among the young generation of Qi State, and he is not weaker than those old bureaucrats in terms of scheming and city government strategy, so there is no need to ask this question anyway.

Why did she assassinate Hou Yu?

Naturally, it is to avenge the countless tragic deaths of the clansmen.

Lu Shen didn't care about her reaction, and said lightly: "The grievances between Shazhou and Daqi have been going on for a long time, and I don't want to talk about those past events tonight." The reason why this senior captured you was because I suspected that this assassination was a bitter scene arranged by Hou Yu, so I didn't hand you over to the warp weaver right away. Originally, I wanted to use you to open a breakthrough, but now it seems that there is a big deviation, you are not the assassin Hou Yu found himself, but the person who really wants to kill him. ”

The woman in red sneered and said, "Since you know the hatred between Shazhou and Qi, why do you bother to ask?" ”

"Because Hou Yu should not be at the top of your Shazhou people's revenge list."

Lu Shen stared at the cold eyebrows of the woman in red, and then said: "If this is Chengzhou, you can understand no matter what you do, after all, Hou Yu is the governor of Chengzhou who is in charge of military power, and he is the biggest obstacle to your eastward attack and disturb the people of our dynasty." But now that he is no longer the governor of Chengdu, you actually followed him for more than 2,000 miles to the capital of Daqi, which is full of crises, to assassinate him, which is indeed an incomprehensible behavior. ”

The woman in red said word for word: "Because he deserves to die." ”

Lu Shen said slowly: "According to the relevant files I have read before, when Hou Yu was the governor of Chengzhou, your Shazhou Seven Divisions raided the border countless times, and perhaps he killed your clansmen on the battlefield. But the war was provoked by you, and the border army of Daqi was only forced to defend, and I don't know where such a deep hatred in your heart came from? ”

"I don't know where it came from?"

The woman in red looked at Lu Shen fixedly, repeating these six words.

She burst out laughing, but it was like a jackdaw's wail.

It's terrible.

Lu Shen frowned slightly, but didn't interrupt her.

The laughter stopped, and the woman in red didn't explain, and said coldly: "You and Hou Yu, that brute, are all the way, or there is no difference between you and the officials of the Qi Kingdom, don't expect me to say anything." Now it's in your hands, if you want to kill it, you have to kill it! ”

(End of chapter)

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