Pingnanfang, Li's mansion.

Twelve-year-old Li Gongxu looked at the old man leaning on the couch and asked with concern, "Grandfather, are you unwell?" ”

Li Daoyan's eyes narrowed slightly, shook his head and said, "It's okay." ”

Today, the court is closed, and Li Daoyan still gets up early as usual, which is a normal situation for the elderly, but only he knows in his heart that he has a feeling of uneasiness since he opened his eyes this morning.

It's a very strange thing.

It has been 14 years since he supported Li Duan to ascend the throne as emperor and was promoted to the left minister, and I don't know how many ups and downs he has experienced.

What is the cause of this uneasiness?

Li Daoyan couldn't figure it out for the time being, he looked at his young grandson's upright body, and said gently: "Juvenile fish, you can't learn from your unsuccessful third brother." ”

Li Gongxu knew that this sentence was referring to his third cousin Li Yunyi, and replied respectfully: "Yes, grandfather." ”

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked briskly into Jinlin Hall, but after saluting, he didn't say a word.

Seeing this, Li Gongxu got up and said, "Grandfather, grandson retires. ”

"Okay."

Li Daoyan bowed slightly, and then looked at the middle-aged man with a solemn expression.

This person's name is Li Yuliang, a disciple of the Jinlin Li family, who has been following Li Daoyan since more than 20 years ago, and now holds a very secret news channel for Li Daoyan.

Li Daoyan slowly sat up straight and said indifferently: "Say it." ”

Li Yuliang lowered his head and said: "Xiangye, Shanyang Marquis Lu Shen went to Fengyuan Garden for a banquet at noon today at the invitation of the eldest prince, and the discussion during the banquet was not known to outsiders, but judging from Shanyang Hou's demeanor when he left Fengyuanyuan, there was no conflict between them. However, when Shanyang Hou and his entourage passed through Qingfeng Street on their return journey, they encountered a large number of assassins and dead soldiers, as well as a middle-aged swordsman with extremely high martial arts, but fortunately, Shanyang Hou also had a top master by his side. The Assassins were unsuccessful, and the Marquis of Shanyang was safe, but several of his own soldiers were killed. ”

Li Daoyan listened as he reached out to the celadon tea cup on the small table next to him.

Li Yuliang continued: "Xiangye, those dead soldiers have strong bows, hand crossbows, and waist crossbows. ”

Li Daoyan's hand suddenly stopped, and then slowly retracted, and a cold light suddenly appeared in the old man's eyes: "Waist crossbow? ”

"Yes."

Li Yuliang responded, looked up at the old man with extremely sharp eyes, as if he was more than ten years younger for a moment, and hesitated: "Xiangye, the villain compared according to the description of the eyeliner, and found that among the five assassins who were stabbed by the Marquis of Shanyang and his own soldiers, one of them had appeared in the Li family's manor in the western suburbs outside the city. ”

"Huh."

Li Daoyan laughed expressionlessly, and when Li Yuliang said the Western Suburbs Manor, he already understood who this sentence meant.

The old man raised his eyes to look at the picturesque screen in front of him, and said coldly: "Bring Li Yunyi here." ”

"Yes!"

……

On Qingfeng Street, with the arrival of a thousand cavalry, the atmosphere was instantly tense to the point of no return.

In the previous period, under the organization of Qin Zilong, the Hou Mansion's personal soldiers had already conducted a preliminary interrogation of the remaining four living people.

Although these men in the army are not as professional as the masters of the warp weaving department, they have a very unique set of methods of torturing people, and they can ensure that the other party will not worry about their lives.

It's just that the four dead soldiers who are alive know very well that they will never survive, and they can still benefit their relatives by gritting their teeth, and relenting is that everything is over, so they did not say half a word from beginning to end except for screaming.

The wails continued to come into his ears, and although Wen Yingzhang couldn't help but feel a little chill at this moment, although the official residence weaving department mentioned it, these screams were far less than the fear brought to him by the appearance of a thousand cavalry.

Not shock, but fear.

In Wen Yingzhang's personal opinion, the assassination of the prince on the street is naturally an extremely serious incident, if Lu Shen dies on Qingfeng Street, I am afraid that no one can afford the anger of the Son of Heaven, but Lu Shen is unscathed, for a mature nobleman, he naturally has to use this matter to seek the greatest benefit.

According to common sense, since the assassination was unsuccessful, the next step is to investigate the truth of the case, and then catch the mastermind behind the scenes, and punish the crime in accordance with the laws of the imperial court.

But the young prince in front of him actually transferred a thousand cavalry, what did he want to do?

Two young generals came to Lu Shen and saluted, "Master Hou! ”

Lu Shen bowed slightly, walked straight past Wen Yingzhang, and said to Qin Zilong: "The leaders of the five assassins and the dead soldiers, the corpses of these six people are safe to keep. Although the dead cannot speak, I believe that there are always people in this huge capital who have seen them, and they will definitely be able to find out their clues. As for the four survivors, I want them to live well, let them watch the backers behind them fall, watch their homes and exterminated, and then let them die. ”

Qin Zilong said in a deep voice: "Yes! ”

When Wen Yingzhang heard this, a chill appeared in his heart.

Lu Shen said to the two young generals in charge of the cavalry: "There is no need to check the remaining dead soldiers, the mastermind behind the scenes must have already hidden their identity information." According to our old habit, take them with those standard weapons. ”

"Obey!"

The two generals responded in unison.

Wen Yingzhang didn't understand what his previous habits were, when the two generals left, the next scene made him frown, and his heart became more and more flustered, and he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Lu Hou——"

The words came to an abrupt end.

Lu Shen just glanced back, and the cold light in his eyes made Wen Yingzhang subconsciously shut his mouth, and the words of persuasion behind him could no longer be spoken.

He watched Lu Shen turn over and leave Qingfeng Street with a thousand cavalry and those evidences, he didn't dare to leave without permission, turned around and looked at his subordinates who were also at a loss, raised his hand and said to a cronie: "You go to the palace immediately to find a way to inform Lord Tiju, and the others will go with me." Remember, as long as the Marquis of Shanyang does not give the order to kill, you must not stop his soldiers, and at the same time ensure his safety! ”

Everyone knew the precipitousness of the situation from this complicated order, and said in unison: "Obey!" ”

At the same time, Lu Shen left Qingfeng Street with the cavalry of the army, and walked south without hurry.

Wei Chigui and Lin Xi rode their horses to Lu Shen's left and right, although the two of them had slightly different concerns about this assassination, they both wanted to find out who was behind the scenes.

Lu Shen was also thinking about this problem.

Today, these assassins are not simple, and there are also masters of the level of Yin Qianjue, ordinary people are definitely not capable of organizing such a killing situation.

The Jiangnan clan is undoubtedly the first group to be suspected by Lu Shen, for these powerful gate lords rooted in Jiangnan, it is a common thing to recruit scum in the rivers and lakes and raise the dead soldiers, and they also have enough confidence to invite the sixth Yin Qianjue on the martial arts list. Coupled with the irreconcilable contradictions between them and Lu Shen, the possibility of sending someone to assassinate them is extremely high.

The Beijing army system also has this suspicion, because the Son of Heaven wants to reform the Beijing army, this move is bound to encroach on the interests of many people, they do not have the courage to openly rebel, it does not mean that they dare not attack Lu Shen, after all, Lu Shen relies on the support of the border army and his own reputation, and is the greatest help of the Son of Heaven to the Beijing army.

The princes are also among Lu Shen's suspicions, except for the second prince, there is no need to do so, the other two are possible.

Needless to say, the third prince had a conflict with Lu Shen as early as two years ago, and according to this person's temperament, he took advantage of the complicated situation during this time to quietly make a move, which is very in line with his character that he has always shown.

As for the eldest prince......

Lu Shen's eyes narrowed slightly, not to mention whether the eldest prince would go to an extreme because of what Lu Shen said during the banquet, he couldn't escape suspicion for a single point, because Lu Shen went to the appointment privately today, and only a few people knew the details.

Except for the Son of Heaven, the others are all from Chen Wangfu.

This assassination was very well arranged, and it was by no means a hasty action, and the mastermind behind the scenes obviously knew Lu Shen's whereabouts.

If you think about it, you can see that there are suspicions.

Wei Chigui has been by Lu Shen's side during this time, and he knows a lot about the situation in Beijing, and his judgment is very similar to Lu Shen's, so he said in a deep voice: "There are too many suspects. ”

Lu Shen raised his eyes and looked ahead, and said faintly: "Since they are all suspicious, why do you have to bite someone to death?" ”

Wei Chigui was relieved, and said with his head bowed: "That's right." ”

Lin Xi on the other side didn't speak, she knew that her junior brother needed to meditate and think the most now, and she also knew that he understood his own mind - no matter where he wanted to go, whether it was the sword mountain and the sea of fire, or the Nine Shades Purgatory, she would never abandon and rely on each other.

This murderous cavalry team was silent to the south, and its strict military appearance and fierce momentum attracted the attention of hundreds of people, and some bold idlers followed from afar, while whispering and discussing.

By the time Lu Shen took this cavalry to Shengwu Street, outside the gate of a magnificent official office, there were already many idlers in the distance who were cautious but couldn't bear to leave.

Naturally, the people in this official office had already been informed, and hundreds of sword-wielding armor soldiers swarmed out, but they only dared to stand outside the gate, because thousands of horsemen stood solemnly on the long street, and this kind of formation was enough to make ordinary people tremble in fear of the six gods.

Lu Shen grabbed the reins and turned his horse's head to face the gatehouse of the official office.

On the plaque are three large letters with iron and silver hooks: Privy Council.

In a moment, a middle-aged martial artist walked out of the Great Qi Privy Council with a large number of subordinates, and it was Guo Congyi, the privy envoy of the dynasty.

He stood on the top of the steps, looked at Lu Shen who was sitting on the horse with a solemn face, and said in a deep voice: "Marquis of Shanyang, why did you lead the troops to the Privy Council?" ”

This question is very particular.

As the first person in the Great Qi military, Guo Congyi was not as shocked as ordinary officials, or he was so inward-looking that he couldn't wait to put the charge of rebellion on Lu Shen's head, on the contrary, he maintained enough restraint, obviously he didn't want the contradiction to intensify directly until he figured out what happened.

Lu Shen was not in the mood to be tempted with him at the moment, and said bluntly: "Guo Shumi, Ben Hou suffered an extremely insidious and ruthless assassination on Qingfeng Street in Xicheng half an hour ago, I don't know if you know?" ”

His voice was quite loud, not only Guo Congyi could hear it clearly, but even those idlers in the capital in the distance could hear it.

Guo Congyi's face changed slightly, and his other subordinates were even more flustered, looking at the posture of this young marquis, did he suspect that this assassination was related to the Privy Council?

Guo Congyi took a deep breath and said, "This official has heard about this matter earlier, and I hope that the Marquis of Shanyang will calm down, and the imperial court will definitely give you an explanation." ”

"Confession?"

Lu Shen's tone was indifferent, and he asked again: "I wonder if Guo Shumi has anything to do with those assassins?" ”

"Shanyang Hou, you are so bold!"

A military general beside Guo Congyi angrily reprimanded, but what greeted him was not Lu Shen's rebuttal, but a roaring steel knife!

The general's color suddenly changed, and he quickly fell back, and the steel knife swept over his head, straight into the gate behind him.

Lin Xi looked at this person coldly, raised his hand to the side, and immediately someone handed a knife again.

If it weren't for the general's timely response, this knife would have been able to pierce him in the heart!

There was a commotion in the field, Guo Congyi raised his hand to stop it, then looked at Lu Shen and said: "Shanyang Hou, this official didn't know anything in advance, no matter what grievances you have, the Privy Council is not a place for you to go wild!" Thinking that you have meritorious service to the country, and you have been attacked by great changes and anger, this official can ignore today's affairs, and hope that you will lead the troops back quickly! If you are obsessed, beware of the ruthlessness of national law! ”

"The law of the land?"

Lu Shen smiled coldly, then raised his right hand and waved, and the armor soldiers in front of the gate of the Privy Council were like facing a great enemy, lest the next moment they would be stepping on thousands of horses.

But the cavalry behind Lu Shen did not move, only dozens of people walked quickly in front of him, each holding a standard bow and crossbow in his hand.

In front of the Privy Council gates, there was a dead silence.

In the sunlight, those weapons were particularly dazzling.

Guo Congyi's face became extremely ugly at this time.

Lu Shen's voice then sounded: "Guo Shumi, these are the weapons used by the assassins to ambush Ben Hou. You and I are both in the army, and you have been in the army for more than 20 years longer than Benhou, you should not deny it in public, these are the standard weapons in the army! ”

Guo Congyi was silent, he couldn't argue at all.

The armor and weapons in the army are very strictly managed, not to mention that there are six pairs of waist crossbows, no matter what, the military can't clear the suspicion of assassinating Lu Shen, and he is also to blame as a privy envoy.

When Lu Shen's words spread, there was a discussion at both ends of Shengwu Street.

Lu Shen raised his head slightly, and said in a cold voice: "Fang Cai Guo Shumi said that Benhou has meritorious service to the country, but some people in the army hate Benhou for not dying, and in order to kill Benhou, even the waist Zhang crossbow in the army moved out. Guo Shumi, as the person in charge of the military, Ben Hou really wants to know what you have been doing all these years, and you can't even control the people below, what kind of face do you have to go to your majesty and tell your majesty that this is the result of your nearly ten years in charge of the Privy Council?! ”

Guo Congyi's face turned red, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Marquis of Shanyang, since this matter involves the army, this official assures you that it will definitely be able to get to the bottom of it." ”

"Good, good."

Lu Shen nodded indifferently, and then said: "Since Guo Shumiken made this promise, Ben Hou will hand over the heads of the assassins to you now, I hope you can find out as soon as possible!" ”

Before the words landed, I saw Qin Zilong with dozens of people coming to Lu Shen again, each of them carrying a bloody head in his hand, only to hear Qin Zilong's roar, dozens of heads flew upward, and all fell in front of those armor soldiers.

It's like dozens of extremely loud slaps, under the watchful eyes of countless people, they slapped Guo Congyi's face extremely decisively!

(End of chapter)