Two days later, Ji Benchu packed up the birthday gifts, and after finishing the trivial matters of the sect, he took Qi Jinyu and set off to the west. Huashan is only 200 miles away from the capital Chang'an, and it can be reached in two days. Ji Benchu originally wanted Qin Keji to accompany him, but later thought that the relationship between him and Wang Ji was over, so as to save the two of them from making any trouble if they disagreed, after all, they were entering the palace to face the saint, and they were not allowed to be sloppy, so they only brought Zhu Moqi, Chang Dihua, and one disciple of Chou and Yin, as well as several followers.

Qi Luyao and Yan Wuqi and the others played together for two days, and they were all acquainted, and they were so happy that they didn't want to go to Chang'an to see any more excitement, so they asked Qi Jinyu to leave her in the First Sword Sect and pick her up when they passed by on the way back. Qi Jinyu couldn't wait to get rid of this sticky plaster, and she was at ease, so she happily agreed.

Qin Keji and others sent Ji Benchu and his entourage to the foot of the mountain, and before everyone got on the horse, when they were saying goodbye to each other, Wang Ji was already on the horse, pacing back and forth with the reins, and shouted impatiently: "It's noon soon! If you don't travel, you won't be able to reach Chang'an the day after tomorrow!" Seeing that no one paid attention to him, he muttered a few words and walked away.

"I'll hand over my little sister to Brother Wuji for the time being, this girl has been spoiled by her father, it's hateful, I know brother, you are a cautious person, please restrain her more, Brother Foolish Thank you first!" Qi Jinyu asked Yan Wuji with a smile.

Seeing that Qi Jinyu was belittling himself in front of everyone again, Qi Luyao snorted secretly, glared at him fiercely, and urged him to hurry up.

"Haha! Now I will start to dislike my brother, and I will drive me away, if I marry you here in the future, won't I even be able to enter the door? Before he finished speaking, Qi Jinyu had already set off.

Before everyone could hear what Qi Jinyu said in the end, Yan Tianzong had already laughed so much that tears and snot flowed out, and he couldn't stop laughing: "Erbaozi!hahaha!Your name is Erbaozi!Hahahaha!" Qi Luyao's cheeks have been bulging since she was a child, and she is thirteen years old, and the baby fat has not completely faded, so her family gave her such a nickname.

Qi Luyao turned his head suddenly, gritted his teeth and said, "Yan Tianzong, I'll kill you!"

When Tianzong heard this, he pulled his legs and ran. "Yan Tianzong, you stop! No, three monkeys, you stop!" Qi Luyao didn't fall behind in his mouth. In the past five years on the mountain, Yan Tianzong's body has grown, much taller than his peers, thin and thin, and his limbs are slightly longer than his peers, and he does run like a kind of gibbon monkey on the top of the mountain.

Compared with Yan Tianzong, Yan Wuji and Bai Rose were much more solemn, just looking at these two living treasures playing, then looked at each other and smiled, and quickly followed.

Ji Benchu and his party did not walk fast, and it was noon on the third day when they arrived in Chang'an. Officials from the Ministry of Rites had already arranged a post house for them, and the Yijian Sect and the Vientiane Gate each lived in the same courtyard and stood opposite the door.

Ji Benchu has always been experienced in handling things, and after giving instructions to deal with the matter, he took Zhu Moqi out of the house, and the six departments of the three provinces of the DPRK, the nine temples and the five eunuchs and the One Sword Sect all had contacts, and the person in charge of each department naturally wanted to visit him.

Ji and Zhu had dinner at Shaoqing's house in Zongzheng Temple, and when they returned to the post house, it was already the right time. Seeing a man in cloth at the door of the inn, he was pacing back and forth, and the guards ignored him.

After the two approached, the man in cloth hurriedly greeted him and said, "The two adults are Mr. Ji and Mr. Zhu of the One Sword Sect?"

"Who are you?" asked Zhu Moqi.

The man said: "The villain is the trotting hall of the Weicheng restaurant in Xishi, and he was ordered by the master to invite Mr. Ji to the store." Ji Benchu pondered slightly: "Weicheng Restaurant, I have no relationship with it, what do you want me to do!" The man saw that Ji Benchu did not answer, and said: "Before going out, the master instructed that he wanted to make a deal with Mr. Ji. ”

Ji Benchu became interested, and asked with a smile: "Dare to ask what kind of business it is?"

The man approached and whispered, "A deal that can cut off the Vientiane Gate!"

Ji Benchu's face sank suddenly, and he shouted angrily: "Nonsense!" Then he flicked the sleeves of his robe without looking back, entered the post house, and ordered the guards at the door: "Blow this person away, don't let him approach in the future!"

After returning to the room, Ji Benchu asked Zhu Moqi: "Does my junior brother know that there is a Weicheng restaurant in Xishi?"

"I know about Weicheng Restaurant, but it's not in the West Market, this is a well-known restaurant in Weicheng, merchants from the Western Regions to and from the imperial capital are resting here, the owner of the restaurant is surnamed Mo, and he is a Hu person, as for whether it is related to this Weicheng Restaurant in the West Market, I don't know. After saying this, Zhu Moqi said again: "What are the plans of the senior brother?"

"I'll go to the West Market early tomorrow morning to see what kind of medicine he sells in his gourd. ”

Zhu Moqi knew that this was the Imperial City of the Son of Heaven, and the sect master was ordered to enter the capital to celebrate his birthday, and no one would pick quarrels and provoke trouble at this time, and besides, there were a few people in the huge world who dared to make a mistake on the head of the sect master of the One Sword Sect, so he did not stop it. opened his mouth and said: "Then tomorrow I will go with the senior brother in charge, so I can take care of it." ”

Ji Benchu said with a smile: "Senior brother, don't be nervous, you also said that the Xinghua Village of Weicheng Restaurant is famous far and wide, I just went to taste it a little bit to see if it is really as you said." As for the junior brother, tomorrow you will visit Yuan Hufang's junior brother in the military department on my behalf. ”

Early the next morning, Ji Benchu passed through a group of residences and arrived at the West Market of Chang'an City.

The eastern and western cities of the imperial capital are not only the center of the country's pawn trafficking, but also the hub of the trade of merchants and merchants of the four countries. The eyes are full of prosperous and lively scenes, thriving state, 800 lines of goods in the city, treasures from all directions, all accumulated. The romance of a great country can be seen in the two cities of the east and west.

The East Market is close to the Imperial Palaces such as Daming Palace and Xingqing Palace, so there are many mansions and courtyards of dignitaries and dignitaries around the vicinity of the East Market, such as Yongxing and Anxing Erfang, and the consumption here is either rich or expensive, therefore, luxury jewelry shops can be seen everywhere in the East Market, and because of the proximity to the Imperial Palace Forbidden Garden, the atmosphere of the East Market is more serious.

The West Market is not only a gathering place for ordinary people, but also a distribution center for foreign merchants. Different from the East Market, the West Market is not only full of wine shops and shops, but also has a strong cultural and entertainment atmosphere, where jugglers from Tianzhu, Da Shi and Uighurs all rest, and you can see singing and dancing everywhere.

The imperial court also has strict control over the eastern and western cities, and there are relevant regulations on when the market opens and when it closes. The east and west cities are open every day, with the bell tower hitting the bell as the number, and the city is closed every day, with the drum tower beating the drum as the number.

It was the time of Chenzheng, the market had just opened, and merchants everywhere were busy for the day's work. Ji Benchu was not in a hurry, leisurely strolling in the streets and alleys, and suddenly saw a three-story pavilion standing at the corner, and an apricot yellow flag was hung horizontally outside the window, with the book: "Weicheng Restaurant".

At this time, it was not meal time, there was almost no one in the store, only three or two small servants were cleaning outside the door, no one came to greet Ji Benchu after entering the door, so he went straight to the counter, "Da Da" knocked softly on the counter a few times, the old gentleman who was busy settling the accounts raised his head, and looked at Ji Benchu after getting closer, and said: "Old and clumsy, I didn't hear anyone come in, may I ask the guest officer, are you playing the tip or staying in the hotel?"

Ji Benchu raised his voice slightly, and bowed: "The old man is polite, his name is Ji Benchu, and he came to find your shopkeeper." The old man in the bookkeeper said "oh" three times slowly, and told him to go up to the third floor.

As soon as he arrived at the corner of the third floor, a strong man walked up to him, bowed down and said, "My master has been waiting for Mr. for a long time, please follow me into the inner room for a detailed discussion." ”

Ji Benchu was interested, and thought to himself: "Yesterday I reprimanded the messenger, but I expected that I would come today, interesting!"

He followed the man into a room, it was a big room facing the sun, and there was a balcony sticking out of the street, which seemed very transparent, and there was a row of yarn screens in the middle, and he could vaguely see a person sitting on the ground behind the screen, as if drinking tea. Ji Benchu listened attentively, and the man's breathing was even long, but he had some internal strength.

"It seems that Sect Master Ji is still interested in my deal. A voice came from behind the screen.

Seeing that the man did not open his mouth to invite him in, Ji Benchu was not easy to trespass, and said with a smile: "The store has misunderstood, I am not interested in what you are talking about, I only know that if I capture you and hand it over to Senior Brother Wang Zheng, he will definitely be interested!"

The man was not afraid of these threatening words, and laughed: "The One Sword Sect and the Vientiane Sect are inseparable, everyone in the world knows it, I am honest with the sect master, why should the sect master be mysterious." ”

Ji Benchu was still smiling, his face was gentle, and he said: "Because of this, I want to borrow the head of the store and hand it over to Vientiane Gate, so as to bring the relationship between the two factions closer." ”

Although he couldn't see the face of the person inside, Ji Ben didn't expect it to be much better.

At this time, a voice came from inside: "I know that I am not the opponent of Sect Master Ji, what is the difficulty of asking me to have a few heads, the Sect Master enters to get it, but I feel sorry for the Sect Master." ”

Ji Benchu asked with interest: "What's your regret?"

The man said: "Since the sect master took office, he has been working diligently, turning the tide and saving the First Sword Sect from internal and external troubles, and in less than ten years, it seems to have restored the name of the first sect in the world. However, since the current saint Mount Tai sealed the Zen, the Vientiane Gate has completely gained a firm foothold, and the Ji sect master can't win over it, and he can't ask for it, even if he has a seven-trick heart, he can't return to the sky. ”

After finishing speaking, the man watched inside, and saw that Ji Benchu did not make any reaction, and said: "The strength of the Vientiane Gate is increasing day by day, which is directly related to Wang Jie's favor, and now I have a careful plan to completely bring down Wang Jie, once Wang Jiao dies, the Vientiane Gate will definitely be greatly injured, but his younger brother Wang Jiao, his martial arts are so strong that it is really difficult to deal with!

Ji Benchu's face turned cold: "You want me to kill Wang Yu secretly?"

The man hurriedly denied: "No, no, no, if Wang Ji dies for no reason, Wang Ji will definitely do his best to investigate, such a thing that traps the sect master in a dangerous place, as a friend, he will not do it!"

His face softened slightly, and he said, "Then according to your policy, what should I do?"

"At that time, Wang Lu, who was the head of Hubu Langzhong and Jingzhao Mansion Yin, was the younger brother of Wang Ji and Wang Ji, and there was full evidence that Wang Lu and Tongguan guard Xing Zai conspired to rebel on the day of the concubine's birthday. ”

Ji Benchu was taken aback at first, and then after thinking about it, he always felt that his words could not stand up to scrutiny, so he asked: "How do you know such confidential information?"

The man said: "I can guarantee my life in the next place, this matter is absolutely true, as for where I got this news, please forgive me for not being able to tell me." ”

"What is the motive of Wang Lu and Xing Zai's rebellion?" This matter is very important, and Ji Benchu had to inquire in detail.

"They didn't want to assassinate the Son of Heaven, they just wanted to clear the monarch's side and force the palace to bring down Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong. ”

Ji Benchu secretly thought to himself: "Wang Ji has always been Li Linfu's cronies, and it makes no sense for him to kill Li Linfu. ”

The man seemed to guess his thoughts, so he said: "Wang Lu and Xing Zai conspired, his two elder brothers do not know, as for the motive of the rebellion, now there are three powerful ministers in the court, the first is Li Linfu, Wang Ji is second, and the third is Yang Guozhong. ”

In this way, it makes sense, Ji Benchu has always been cautious, and asked: "How can you prove that what you said is true?"

"There must be a lot of secret agents of the One Sword Sect in this huge Chang'an City, Sect Master Ji only needs to find out if there is any movement in the Tongguan garrison tonight, and everything will be known. In the following, you can also inform all the rebellious plans of Wang Qi and Xing Wei. ”

"Oh?

"Tomorrow night, there will be people who will set fire to the east and west cities to create chaos, and then the Tongguan guards will divide their troops to control the birthday banquet, and then the left and right Longwu army ten thousand cavalry battalions under Wang Wei will take over the ten rate and sixteen guards by surprise. ”

At this time, Ji Benchu had already believed most of it, but there were many involved in this matter, so he didn't dare to be careless, so he just laughed: "Wouldn't it be more beneficial for you to tell the Holy Lord about this?

The man also laughed loudly: "First, Wang Ji has dozens of positions and is deeply favored, if this matter is rashly reported before it is confirmed, Your Majesty may not believe me; second, Wang Ji is strong in martial arts, if he kills him, he still needs the help of the sect master; third, he really wants to make friends with the One Sword Sect, and the credit makes the sect master also talk about sincerity." ”

Ji Benchu was very good, and said: "Since we are already friends, it is not good for Your Excellency to hide it like this, can you let Ji Mou see his respect?"

The person inside replied: "I am also entrusted by others, I am only responsible for passing the word, it doesn't matter if I see it or not, the day after tomorrow, when the dust settles, I will definitely toast the sect master in person to make amends." ”

"Okay! Then it's a word!" After saying this, Ji Benchu turned around and walked out the door, and when he reached the door, he stopped again. Said coldly: "Your Excellency knows this matter in such detail, could it be that you have planned it in advance and want to deliberately frame Wang Jie?"

At this time, the two were far apart, and there was a screen in the middle, Ji Benchu naturally couldn't see what the person's expression was, but with the sound of rapid breathing just now, he already had a certain number in his heart, and he didn't break it, and smiled heartily: "Your Excellency doesn't have to be nervous, I only care about whether my goal can be achieved, as for what you do, I don't care, who framed whom, what does it do to me?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief, regained his composure, and said, "Sect Master won't ask me, is it entrusted by anyone?"

"Don't ask! If you ask, you may not say, and I may not believe what I say. ”

"The sect master is so generous! There is one more thing, Qi Jinyu of the Vientiane Gate, the sect master must not hurt him, the person who entrusted me said, it is still useful to leave Qi Jinyu's life!"

Ji Benchu didn't look back, didn't respond, and left.

After leaving the Weicheng restaurant, Ji Benchu did not go directly to the inn, he walked through a few alleys to a fur store, walked in and said to the guy in front of the counter: "I came from the east and wanted to find some good tiger skins." ”

The guy smiled and asked, "Where do you want the tiger skin?"

"Qin Ling!"

The guy asked again: "The tiger skins in Qinling are all high-quality goods, but they are not cheap, how much are you going to want?"

"Three and five are not too little, and ten and eight are not too much!"

The guy flattered: "You are a big deal, the villain can't be the master, I'll lead you to the back hall to find our shopkeeper." ”

The man led Ji Benchu into the back hall, closed the door and went out first, and after a while, a weak young man wearing a black tight warrior costume quietly came out of the dark corner.

The young man's face was pale, as if he was seriously ill, he walked up to Ji Benchu, bowed down and saluted: "Subordinate Qingqiu to meet the sect master!"

Qing Qiu was a disciple of the One Sword Sect's Wei Sect, and he was the same age as Ji Benchu, but he looked like he was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Just because he had a strange disease when he was a child, he saw a lot of Langzhong without anyone to treat, and was left in Huashan by his family in desperation, the previous sect leader Chai Wanfeng saved Qingqiu's life with his superb medical skills, but he failed to get rid of the root of the disease, Qingqiu is getting older and older, but his appearance and voice have not changed. With nowhere else to go, Qing Qiu stayed in the One Sword Sect to learn assassination and spy skills, because of his own deceptive innate advantage, Qing Qiu can always complete many difficult tasks unexpectedly, and who would doubt a child in his teens! Now he is the leader of the secret agent assigned by the One Sword Sect in Chang'an City.

"You quickly send a message to Bai Yan, let him secretly investigate whether there is any change in the defenders of Tongguan, and report to me immediately if you have the details. ”

"Yes, does the sect master have any other orders?"

Ji Benchu shook his head. In the blink of an eye, the green carp disappeared into the darkness again.

After returning to the post house, just in time for Zhu Moqi to come back from the military headquarters, he told him what happened today, and then asked: "If this matter is serious, junior brother, whose handido do you think it will be?"

Zhu Moqi closed his eyes and pondered for a while, and said: "If it was just to bring down Wang Jie, most of it was done by Yang Guozhong, in the early years, there was a gap between the two when they competed for the position of Imperial Doctor, and now it is even more intense. ”

Ji Benchu nodded yes, and then asked, "Is there another possibility?"

"If overthrowing Wang Jiao is just an excuse, the main purpose is to defeat Li Linfu, the backer behind Wang Jie, if this is the case, then it is not Yang Guozhong's doing, it's not that I underestimate him, although Yang Guozhong really wants Li Linfu to step down, but this person is not so calculating. In this way, it can only be ......" Zhu Moqi did not finish his words.

"It can only be An Lushan!" Ji Benchu's ability to analyze problems was not inferior to his second junior brother.

Zhu Moqi stroked his beard and nodded.

Ji Benchu said again: "That person didn't mention Li Linfu at all, because he couldn't be sure what the relationship between our One Sword Sect and Li Linfu was. ”

Zhu Moqi said: "That's basically it, whether it's Yang Guozhong or An Lushan, as long as we can get rid of Wang Ji and Wang Ji, it will be beneficial to us, and this person also has the heart to make friends with us, which is even more fortunate." ”

"The junior brother is wrong, there are no eternal friends in this world, only immediate interests. The people behind the shop are so scheming that it would not be a blessing if they pointed the finger at us one day. ”

After listening to him, Zhu Moqi laughed, leaned back, slumped on the seat, and then cocked Erlang's legs and said with a smile: "Tomorrow I will explain the day, and a happy day is a day." If Senior Brother could have thought of everything simply, he wouldn't have so many gray hairs. ”

If the people of the First Sword Sect respect Ji Benchu and Qin Keji, and love Zhu Moqi and Yao Shouyi more, both of them are also cute.

Ji Benchu also laughed: "At the latest tonight, there will be news from Qingqiu, if the Tongguan garrison really pulls out to Chang'an, I will immediately fly the pigeon and pass the book to the Zongfu and transfer the old seven over." ”

Zhu Moqi was surprised: "Why is this? Do you still use Lao Qi to clean up the little Wang Ji? I did it single-handedly." Ji Benchu hurriedly waved his hand: "Senior brother, don't be careful, it's not that you are not good at martial arts, but you can't beat Wang Ji, it's just that ...... You and the third child are both from the Prince's Mansion, if you kill him, it will inevitably be suspicious of His Royal Highness the Prince. Moreover, Lao Qi has the Danshu iron coupon given by His Majesty, even if he really kills someone by mistake, he will not be held accountable. ”

In fact, what is the martial arts of his own brothers, Ji Ben knew in his heart that it was indeed difficult for the second child to kill Wang Shu, one of the four protectors of the Vientiane Gate.