The tablet reads "The Spiritual Seat of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty and the Prince of Ruyang County", the handwriting is vigorous, but there is some sadness between the strokes, which is written by Chu Tingxue, a famous calligrapher and painter in the world.

Xue Bai looked solemn, holding three pillars of incense thread, inserted it in the incense burner, and quietly observed the surroundings, but saw that the guests in the mourning hall were all crying.

Du Fu poured a pot of turbid wine on the ground and muttered to himself: "Ruyang let the emperor, Meiyu is really a celestial." The beard is like Taizong, and the color is reflected in the spring ......"

He was saddened by the death of his old friend, and he couldn't help but sing a psalm.

Looking at the time when he was under the gate of the King of Ruyang, he drank with He Zhizhang, and many years passed in a blink of an eye, but there were only a few people left in the Eight Immortals.

Xue Bai listened to this poem and thought to himself that Li Jin had a clear posture and beautiful appearance, and her muscles were shining, when did she "look like Taizong"? Or is it that the Li Jin that Du Fu sees in the eyes of his best friend is not the same as ordinary people?

After the incense, he turned around and walked towards the back court of the Ruyang Palace, and if he was blocked on the way, he took out the documents of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.

"The right minister ordered me to supervise the funeral of the king of Ruyang, where is the king of Ruyang? I'll take a look. ”

"In the Cherry Flower Garden, this side ......"

Walking on the path from time to time can hear the sound of bells, it turns out that the treetops of the flowers and trees in the garden are tied with golden bells, every time a bird comes to peck, the golden bells will ring, drive them away, this is the elegant thing of loving flowers.

Xue Bai walked to a flower hall and saw a row of maidservants through the screen, holding candles. When I looked around, I knew that it was a wood carving dwarf, and the carving was extremely exquisite.

There was a low couch in the hall, and there were various musical instruments in front of the couch, and at this time, a woman was putting away the musical instruments, looked back at Xue Bai, was stunned for a moment, and stopped the movements in her hand.

"Who are you?" Xue Bai asked first, his demeanor was majestic, and his tone was frank, like the master here.

This woman is more than forty years old, her demeanor is deferential, her expression is sad, and now the charm still exists, but it can be seen that she was obviously a stunning beauty when she was young, she did ten thousand blessings, and responded: "Xi Liuniang of the slave family is the concubine of King Ning, after King Ning went, the king of Ruyang ordered the slave family to take care of this cherishing flower courtyard." ”

"From this incident, it can be seen that the king of Ruyang has a good heart, but it is a pity that he died young." Xue Bai sighed and asked, "It is said that he died of illness?" ”

"Yes."

"It's regrettable, but a few days ago, I saw him at An Shaoqing's banquet, and I didn't see anything sick."

"On that day, the king should have put powder on it, and he couldn't see his face."

Xue Bai asked, "His face is not good?" ”

Xi Liuniang said in a low voice: "He likes to take 'Jade Rongsan' since he was young, although his skin is fair and smooth, but the poisoning has been deep. ”

"Yu Rongsan?" Xue Bai asked, "What is that?" ”

Xi Liuniang didn't answer immediately, but looked at him again suspiciously.

Xue Bai then took out the documents of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion and said: "I am the palace servant Yushi, and I was ordered to investigate the death of King Ruyang, there is no doubt about it, you had better tell me everything you know, so as not to leave doubts." ”

"Goshi, wait a minute."

Xi Liuniang was very obedient, turned around and opened a cabinet, there were several porcelain vases in it, she picked up one of them and handed it to Xue Bai.

Unplugging the vermilion cork and sniffing it, Xue Bai couldn't help frowning, because he didn't smell any herbs, but instead smelled a faint mineral sourness.

"What is this?"

"As far as the slave family knows, it contains arsenic, lead powder and other substances."

"Poisonous?"

"Yes." Xi Liuniang said: "Wang often pours a little jade Rongsan mixed with wine to drink, usually at night, which can whiten the skin and make the green silk dense." The slave family persuaded him many times, but he refused to listen, because these things have been used for a long time, and once they are stopped, his face will become very bad. ”

"He took arsenic, lead powder and other poisons for many years, and finally died of poisoning?"

"The doctors have seen it, and they all say the same."

Xue Bai put the porcelain vase in his hand into his sleeve and said, "When King Ruyang died, did you find anything unusual or suspicious?" ”

"Nope. I am the concubine of King Ning, and I do not serve King Ruyang, and I only take care of this one courtyard. Xi Liuniang said, "He was drunk when he returned home yesterday, I thought he wouldn't come, so he rested early, but I never thought that he came over at night and drank some cold wine mixed with Yurong." ”

Xue Bai asked a few more words, but without asking more details, he looked around the hall, but still didn't find it.

Just as he was about to go elsewhere to take a look, he suddenly remembered something and chatted casually: "By the way, I heard Li Bai say that there is a singer in King Ning's Mansion named 'Pet Sister', but is it true?" ”

Xi Liuniang was sending him out of the Cherish Flower Courtyard, and responded as she walked: "Yes." ”

"Where's she?"

"After King Ning died, he got married."

"So?" Xue Bai was slightly surprised.

Li Bai talked about Chang'an scenery at that time, talked about beauties, and said that every time King Ning met guests, he only did not let his favorite sister come out to meet guests, once Li Bai was drunk, and asked King Ning why he was stingy with this woman to show the public, Li Xiancai ordered someone to set up a Qibao flower barrier, and summoned the pet sister to sing in the back.

I don't want to, such a beautiful woman, but she got married after King Ning's death.

"My favorite sister has a good singing voice, and the king of Ruyang is also a lover of music and rhythm, so he is willing to let her go?"

"The king is the most kind-hearted, and if the favorite sister has a sweetheart, he will be fulfilled."

Xue Bai then stopped, not in a hurry to leave, and asked, "What about you?" ”

"Slave family...... Ever married. Xi Liuniang said, "Before entering the palace, the husband of the slave family was a cake seller, and King Ning saw the slave family and rewarded him with a lot of money, so he sold the slave family to King Ning. ”

"And then?"

"Since then, the slave family has lived in the palace."

"After King Ning passed away, you didn't find your original husband."

Xi Liuniang said: "When King Ning was alive, he sent me back to him once, but he only wanted money, not me. ”

"Why did you send you back?"

"Once, at a banquet in the palace, King Ning suddenly asked me, 'Do you remember the cake master', I didn't answer silently, and an official present gave me a poem."

Xue Bai suddenly thought of an anecdote that Yang Guozhong had said, which was about Wang Wei.

"That poem should be 'Don't be favored by the present, rather forget the past kindness.'" Looking at the flowers full of tears, I don't share the words of the king of Chu. ’”

"Yes."

The poem is called "Mrs. Xi", Mrs. Xi was the princess of the State of Xi in the Spring and Autumn Period, and after the destruction of Chu, the king of Chu took her for himself. She was silent in the Chu Palace, and the king of Chu asked her why she didn't speak, and she replied, "I am a woman and a second husband, even if I can't die, and I ridicule her?" ”

At that time, Yang Guozhong said that Wang Wei used this poem to express his ambition, saying that although he became a guest of Princess Yuzhen, he never forgot his childhood sweetheart's wife.

Xi Liuniang's eyes were sad, she shook her head, and said: "Although this poem is beautiful, whether it is 'today's favor' or 'old time', it is just a passing cloud, and it will be scattered." ”

"yes."

~~

Xue Bai didn't find out more that day, and he was soon called back by Li Linfu.

In the Glaive Hall, Li Linfu sat in a dimly lit corner, looking at Xue Bai who walked in.

This time, Li Tengkong was also there, with concern in his eyes, but he didn't know who he was concerned about.

"Do you know why the Prime Minister brought you back?"

"The right phase is for my good." Xue Bai said: "Another important minister of the clan has died, and the kings can make up the ministers by participating in the funeral, so it's better for me not to get involved." ”

"Ahem, ahem."

Li Linfu began to cough again.

Finally stopped coughing, and he followed Xue Bai's words and reprimanded: "Do you still know that every time something happens to the court, you are there, and your life is too long?" ”

"I want to be promoted so much, so I will catch up when I encounter something, so that I can have more opportunities to make meritorious contributions."

"Then have you found out the cause of King Ruyang's death?" Li Linfu asked.

Although he was sick, he was very keen, and he learned the news so quickly.

Xue Bai said: "I investigated, it should be a perennial use of Jade Rongsan, which caused the poisoning to be too deep and died, there should be nothing else." ”

"Really?"

"If you don't believe it, you can open the coffin for an autopsy."

"That's the end of the matter, and then let the Essence find out that you are still exploring......"

Li Linfu said this, but he didn't say anything cruel, but with a sighing tone, he said: "Then you won't come to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion in the future." ”

"Okay."

"Seventeen, you look at him, go ahead."

Li Tengkong was reluctant, but his father's fate was difficult to disobey, so he followed Xue Bai out of the Glaive Hall, and the two walked to the outer study.

The road was quiet until Xue Bai opened his mouth.

"Your grandfather has been warning me. Intentionally or not, what he revealed to me was that the water behind these palace struggles was very deep. Once I crossed the thunder pool, it was against the heavens, and in short, he was teaching me to do things. ”

"Since you understand everything." Li Tengkong said, "I guess you don't need me to look at you. ”

"I understand, but I don't want to be like your grandfather." Xue Bai said, "The sage got rid of Li Ying, Zhang Jiuling, Concubine Wu Hui, and even Li Jin...... Your grandfather seems bold to say this, but what he wants to do is not to change the sacred heart, but to shock me. Unfortunately, I don't want to be a courtier who clings to the Sacred Heart in everything. ”

"Then you won't come to the Right Prime Minister's Mansion again, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion is afraid of being implicated by you."

"Do you think so?"

Li Tengkong shook his head and said, "I don't know. ”

"I think your grandfather is wrong, he is old, and the saint is also old. No matter who inherits the throne in the future, the three people will definitely overturn the case, why not bet on the right prime minister's mansion as soon as possible? ”

Li Tengkong took a step back.

She felt that her dusty Dao heart was splashed with dirty water by Xue Bai's scheming.

But that's what she chose.

Closing her eyes, she dispelled the distracting thoughts in her heart, thought about it calmly, and asked, "What do you say you want to do, I'll think about it." ”

"I want to transfer some files from the Right Prime Minister's Mansion to see ......"

~~

There was still mourning music in the palace of Ruyang, and the crown prince Li Heng had arrived, expressing his sadness on behalf of the saint.

The saint's most respected in this life is the eldest brother Li Xian, and the most beloved is the nephew Li Jin, it is said that when he heard the news of Li Jin's untimely death, he was extremely sad and cried silently in the palace.

Qingwang Li Cong also arrived, Li Cong and Li Cong have always had a good relationship, the most sad, although they didn't say much, but the tears can't be acted.

In this atmosphere, a carriage quietly arrived at the Ruyang Palace, and the attendants set up the carriage to board, and a middle-aged man with a white face and beard walked down and entered the Xihua Courtyard.

Xi Liuniang greeted her and saluted, "I've seen the general." ”

"Let me ask you, why did he suddenly find out about the old things, but someone instructed him?"

"The slave family didn't know, but he went to Anqingzong's banquet and came back, and he began to care about this matter."

"An Qingzong? Was that the crown prince or King Qing's order? ”

Xi Liuniang said: "The slave family doesn't know who instructed it, but I know that this morning, someone came to check on the violent death of King Ruyang. ”

"Who's going to check?"

"A palace servant."

"Whether it is handsome, young and light, looks less than twenty."

"Yes." Xi Liuniang immediately nodded and said, "It's very similar to Wang Wei when he was young." ”

"Xue Bai? Is it him again? He's getting involved in it again? He's really everywhere. ”

At this age, there is only one person in the court who can serve as an official in the palace to serve the imperial history. And if you think about it in series in recent years, there are several large and small rebellion cases, and Xue Bai is really in it every time.

"Where's the stuff?"

"Wait a minute."

Xi Liuniang then went to take out a box and put it on the case.

The white-bearded middle-aged man opened it and looked at it, nodded, picked it up, and tucked it under his armpit.

"I have arranged the carriage and horses, you can go to Luoyang, otherwise you can stay in Chang'an, and you can still serve the king of Sining, the king of Heishen, and the king of Tong'an? You're old and decrepit. ”

"General Xie."

"Gone."

Xi Liuniang was blessed again and sent the other party away.

After that, she packed up her belongings and left the Ruyang Palace, and there was a small car waiting outside the side door, she boarded the car, and the carriage immediately set off.

Although it was bumpy, she breathed a sigh of relief, and she finally gained freedom after serving the prince and prince in Chang'an for more than ten years.

The carriage left Chunming Gate all the way, and Xi Liuniang gradually fell asleep.

……

When she woke up again, she looked in a daze and saw that she was in a house.

"Is this a post house?"

Xi Liuniang asked, and was about to get up, only to find that her whole body had been tied.

When I looked up again, I saw a young man sitting on a stool, dressed as a coachman.

"What do you do? The general asked you to take me to Luoyang. ”

The young man smiled, shook his head, and said, "Since you have done these things, you still want to leave safely?" ”

Xi Liuniang was stunned for a moment and asked, "You want to kill me?" ”

"Otherwise?"

"You promised me that you served King Ning, and then set me free. Now that I have served even the king of Ruyang, you still won't let me go? ”

"You killed the King of Ruyang."

Xi Liuniang said: "It's your order, it's you who want me to poison him all year round......"

At this point, she suddenly reacted to something, and exclaimed: "No, you are not a talented coachman, who are you?!" ”

"Squeak", the door opened, and a beautiful woman walked in, in her twenties, with a bit of pride on her face, and said lightly: "You go down." ”

"Whoa."

The young man, dressed as a coachman, withdrew.

Xi Liuniang became more and more frightened, she looked at the woman who had just come in, and faintly felt a little familiar.

"We ...... Seen it before? ”

"Maybe I have seen it, the king of Ruyang is a good banquet, and it is not uncommon for us to meet."

"You are," Xi Liuniang finally remembered and muttered, "It's Prince Liangdi......"

"No, I'm not Prince Liangdi, you can call me Du Erniang."

"Erniang, what are you doing?"

"Don't be afraid, I'm just asking you something." Du Yan said: "Who ordered you to poison the King of Ruyang." ”

"Erniang joked, the slave family didn't dare to do this."

"You know what? When Xue Bai saw you, he suspected that you were the eyeliner sent by the Inner Servant Province to King Ning's father and son. ”

Du Yan was very patient to arrange her sleeves, and said slowly: "I am the most able to inquire about the news in this Fengweilou, so I know a lot of old things, why did King Ning give up the throne to the sage, there is nothing to be done, when the sage and Princess Taiping joined forces to launch the Tanglong coup, the strength is strong, and the expectations are returned, King Ning knows that he can't compete with it, and in view of the change of Xuanwumen, he gave up the throne, but if you have to say 'brotherly love', the saint killed his wife, killed his favorite concubine, killed his son, and took his daughter-in-law, you let me believe that they have deep brotherhood?" I'm sorry, I can't believe it. ”

Xi Liuniang heard these words, and her trembling tremors were frightened.

She knew very well that since Du Yan dared to say so many rebellious words in front of her, it would be impossible to let her go.

"Therefore, the saint must have sent someone to spy on King Ning's father and son, and even more than one of these people was originally difficult to find, but you are the most obvious one, maybe you didn't want to hide it at all, right? After all, who would dare to strike at someone sent by the saints? ”

"I ......"

"Would a man as white and bright as you be the wife of a bakery seller? Because of Wang Wei's poem, King Ning wants to send you back to the cake seller? The bread seller doesn't want you for the money? The favorite sister sang tactfully, the king of Ruyang still let her marry, but you still stayed in the palace, you must have used the means. ”

Xi Liuniang knew that she really couldn't hide it, and said, "Since Erniang knows, how dare you treat me like this?" ”

Du Yan didn't answer, but asked rhetorically, "Do you know? Xue Bai is my lover. ”

Xi Liuniang was stunned, not knowing what she was doing with herself.

"Also, do you know that Xue Bai is actually the son of the deposed prince Li Ying?"

"What?" Xi Liuniang's eyes widened in disbelief.

Du Yan took her expression in her eyes and said with a smile: "Do you know about this? ”

"If I say it, can Erniang spare my life?"

"Of course, we are short of people, especially witnesses."

Xi Liuniang was a little hesitant, but she knew that if she didn't say it, the words she heard today would have made her certain death, so she said, "I don't know much, but I'm willing to say it." ”

"Don't rush, start slowly."

"I started in the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan, when Concubine Wu Hui intended to compete for the prince of Shouwang, and she was arranged to enter the Ning Palace. Because, King Shou was once succeeded to King Ning and raised by King Ning, and at that time, the Inner Servant Province was already guarding against King Ning and King Shou......"

Du Yan listened, a little sneer appeared on her face, not only laughing at Concubine Wu Hui's mother and son, but also laughing at herself.

Over the years, everyone has been staring at the storage position, but they don't know that the high saint is also afraid of everyone who intends to approach the storage position.

All of them lost unjustly.

"In the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, the case of the three concubines was discovered, and the sage was not very satisfied with the performance of the king of Ruyang, and the inner province made people stare at the king of Ruyang; In the twenty-ninth year of Kaiyuan, King Ning died, but in the first year of Tianbao, King Ruyang gave King Shou a move, and asked King Shou to ask for filial piety for King Ning, so that the saint could not crown Yang Taizhen as a concubine, and from then on, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered me to poison King Ruyang......"

When Xi Liuniang said this, she also felt a little scared, and added: "I can't help it, my life is in the hands of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I don't have a choice." ”

"Go on."

"Originally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not ask when to poison King Ruyang, they all knew that he was addicted to alcohol and had been taking poison all year round, so he would die early. But a few days ago, General Wu asked me why the King of Ruyang began to investigate the details of the Sanshu case again, and I replied that I didn't know, so he asked me to kill the King of Ruyang. ”

"Wu Huaishi?"

"Yes."

"What else?"

"This matter is related to a copper paperweight, and the king of Ruyang wants to find a copper paperweight that killed the emperor's grandson. I don't know why, but as soon as Erniang said it today, I understood...... Presumably, the king of Ruyang has already seen the emperor's grandson? ”

Du Yan nodded and said, "Did he find the copper paperweight?" ”

"Found it." Xi Liuniang's face was sad, and she said in a low voice: "It was he who found it, and I had to poison him." ”

"Where's the stuff?"

"General Wu took it."

~~

The dossier was spread out, and the paper on it was yellowed.

Xue Bai's fingers slid over the column of words, looking for the information he wanted.

Even in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, there is no special file to record the Sanshu case, and with Li Tengkong's power, the most confidential file cannot be retrieved. Therefore, what Xue Bai did was to transfer all the documents related to it before and after the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan.

Most of it was useless to him.

After rummaging for countless hours, suddenly, Li Tengkong said, "Look at this!" ”

Xue Bai looked at it, and saw that the page she was looking at recorded the content of Concubine Wu Hui's funeral, and one of the sentences was "The inner servant Wu Huaishi lives on the right and leads the car".

"Wu Huaishi? Was it Concubine Wu Hui's side back then? ”

Thinking that Wu Huaishi was actually Gao Lishi's adopted son, Xue Bai understood something......

~~

It's night, Du House.

Xue Bai rarely came to see Du Youlin.

However, Du Youlin came back late today, rushed to the flower hall, and saw that Xue Bai was already talking to Du Cheng and Du Yan, and half of the refreshments on the case had been used.

"Xue Lang is here, unfortunately, there are robbers outside the city today, and I rushed to investigate the case."

"Robbers?" Du Yan was curious, "Who dares to rob at the feet of the Son of Heaven?" ”

Du Youlin shook his head and said: "Who knows, it was a carriage that was robbed, and the two coachmen were wiped off their necks and thrown on the side of the road. ”

"Two lives?"

"The most bizarre thing about this case is not only this." Du Youlin attached himself to Xue Bai's ear and whispered: "Rather, the two coachmen who died are both ......"

Xue Bai couldn't help but be surprised, and said, "Uncle is saying that they may be from the Inner Servant Province?" ”

"yes. Therefore, this case is tricky, why did the eunuch of the Inner Servant Province go out of the city in disguise? And who killed them? ”

Du Yan asked, "Does Grandpa have eyebrows?" ”

"There's really a guess about being a father." Du Youlin said, "They probably wanted to escape, but they were robbed and killed by someone sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs." ”

Xue Bai said: "If this is the case, you can take it back openly, how can you lynch it without permission?" ”

"There must be something ugly."

"You talk first, I'll go change clothes first, and then talk about business."

"Uncle, please."

Seeing Du Youlin, the three people in the hall put their heads together and continued to talk about business.

"In this way, Wu Huaishi was also an insider back then, and now he also knows that Xue Lang is investigating the death of King Ruyang." Du Cheng said, "Then he is likely to find out that Xue Lang has had a secret conversation with King Ruyang." ”

Du Yan said: "That's just a combination of new accounts and old accounts, except for him." ”

"He is in the palace, he is trusted by the saints, and he is the son of General Gao, how can he be easily removed?" Du Cheng said: "I think we have done too much recently, and we should keep quiet." ”

Xue Bai said: "Li Linfu also means this, before Li Jin died, he had already sensed Li Longji's jealousy. ”

"Then you still don't retreat?"

"It's rare to be able to grasp the power of the Prime Minister's Mansion, so it's worth taking the opportunity to seek more benefits, and it's worth taking some risks."

"In the past, I was only a saint and open-minded, but now it seems that I feel more and more like a tiger."

“……”

Over there, Du Youlin changed into civilian clothes, ordered the kitchen to bake a leg of mutton, and went to beckon Xue Bai to dine at Du's house.

"Xue Langdang brought his wife over, so he stayed at Du's house after curfew at night, and he should treat this place as his home."

"Yes, bring Sanniang over next time."

"You and I haven't talked about the situation between the DPRK and China for a long time, so let's analyze it today......

Just as he was saying this, someone rushed over, and it was rumored that someone came to find Xue Bai.

As soon as Du Yan heard it, she knew that Yang Yuyao was looking for her, and she couldn't help but worry about whether Xue Bai could handle it.

~~

The Lady of the Kingdom of Qiu.

Yang Yuyao was eating peach meat in an elegant posture, and when she saw Xue Bai coming in, she said angrily: "Since you have time to go to Du Mansion, why don't you come to me?" I'm still thinking about giving you peaches to eat. ”

"Even if Yao Niang doesn't call me, I'm coming."

"I don't listen to you talk nonsense to fool people."

Xue Bai said seriously: "For the death of King Ruyang, I inquired, King Ruyang took arsenic and lead powder all year round and died of poisoning. It's simple, but it's a lot of things for me. ”

"So what?"

"But I'm afraid that someone with a heart will implicate me."

"Rest assured, the time for the saint to trust you."

"I offended Wu Huaishi, he wanted to deal with me during the Taichi banquet, this time I was nosy, I was afraid that I would fall into his hands."

Yang Yuyao hooked her fingers, let Xue Bai come closer, fed him a piece of peach meat, and said, "Can I still ignore you, I will talk to the concubine for you first." ”

"Then thank you Sister Yi."

This time, seeing Li Jin's death, Xue Bai already felt the danger.

He knew that he could survive until now, and the Yang sisters had indeed protected him many times.

"My sister and brother, thank you very much." Yang Yuyao said: "I can't let your 'handle' fall into the hands of others." ”

Xue Bai didn't speak, but expressed his gratitude with his actions.

Yang Yuyao now prefers to talk to him more, leans into his arms, and says, "You know? During the Taichi banquet, I heard people say that you are a righteous gentleman, I really can't hold it back, and now some people say that you and I are innocent......"

As she spoke, she glared at Xue Bai, patted him lightly, and said angrily, "I haven't finished talking yet." ”

"How can I let people talk nonsense?"

"That's how you sit still?"

"If Sister wants me to sit still, it's okay."

"Okay, I'd like to see you sitting in chaos today." Yang Yuyao was interested and said, "Give me a chance to use my means." ”

said that it was a means, and she had already swung her waist and limbs, and she stood up.

The two were having a good time, and Mingzhu hurried over and said a word.

"Yao Niang, the concubine is here."

Yang Yuyao was stunned for a moment, thinking that she had heard it wrong, and said, "It's about to be curfew, why did she come over at this time?" ”

Mingzhu hesitated for a moment and replied, "It seems that the concubine was sent out of the palace because of her will......"

(End of chapter)