Xiao Jinyan didn't sleep all night.

On tonight's trip, whether it was Mr. Ping, the master of the robe, and a number of Emperor Praetorian Guards, the strength shown was far beyond his imagination, not to mention, there was a shocking array that had not yet been activated.

This gave him a clearer understanding of the palace. If you want to save Li Chuntie, it is simply not feasible to rely on brute force.

In the water prison, Li Chuntie wrote a word in the palm of his hand, "tree". What exactly is the meaning of the message?

Since Mr. Ping was on the spot, Xiao Jinyan didn't ask openly, so this also became a puzzle.

There are more trees in the world.

And what is he referring to?

Xiao Jinyan recalled the situation at that time, "I haven't drunk for a long time", is it related to wine?

A thought crossed his mind. He understood what Li Chuntie wanted to reveal.

Trees and wine.

In the Dengwen Courtyard, there is an ancient acacia tree.

It is said that this tree was moved from Mount Tai at the beginning of the establishment of the institute and has a history of 1,000 years.

Under the ancient acacia, there is a jar of wine.

There are not many people who know about this, Xiao Jinyan is one. Moreover, because he used to think about this jar of wine, he was caught by Li Chuntie when he went to steal the wine, and he almost didn't beat him half to death.

He once asked Li Chuntie, but the other party was secretive. Over the years, it has been buried under the ancient locust tree and has never been touched.

He decided to go to the temple to find out.

The sky was about to dawn, and Xiao Jinyan left the Northern Zhou embassy among the servants who went out to buy fruits and vegetables, and Tuoba Lanruo did not stop him.

When I broke into the palace last night, the whole capital was already in a rumor, and there were soldiers and horses patrolling the city, and when they saw suspicious people, they came forward to interrogate them.

Xiao Jinyan noticed that on the long street, there were many plainclothes with martial arts, although they looked like ordinary people, but the momentum exuded by people who practiced martial arts could not escape Xiao Jinyan's eyes.

He was still wearing Mo Jiawei's mask, and he was blocked by officers and soldiers on the way, but fortunately, he had completed the procedures and lived in Dong'anmen, so the officers and soldiers did not embarrass him.

But he knew that he would have to be careful in the capital in the future.

The temple is located north of the Imperial Castle and is separated from the Imperial Palace by two streets. From the outside, the courtyard walls, the gates, and the bricks and tiles of the black sè are full of yīn meaning.

Of the four major spy organizations in the capital, the Dengwen Yuan has been established for the shortest time, but it is the most deterrent among the people, and due to Li Chuntie's strength and the emperor's trust, almost all major and important cases have been handled by the Dengwen Yuan over the years.

Dengwenyuan is directly responsible to the emperor, officials below the fourth grade can arrest people on suspicion, officials below the fifth grade can be cut first and then played, even those who sell their reputation in the Yushitai would rather scold the emperor and be beaten by the court rod than dare to impeach the Dengwen Academy, because the Dengwen Yuan really dares to kill people.

There was no one at the gate of Dengwen Temple, and there were not even residents around. Because of this, there will be a ghost crying wolf howl all year round, and no one around can stand it, even if they usually walk, they will deliberately detour.

There were only a few guards, standing in the doorway, as motionless as statues. At the door, there are two stone-carved foxes, with teeth and claws, and fierce eyes, and some children who have broken into it for no reason pass by, and when they see them, they will be frightened and cry.

Xiao Jinyan released the string force and reflected the situation in the Dengwen Courtyard into the sea of knowledge. He often came here with Li Chuntie when he was a child, so he was no stranger to this courtyard.

There are a total of six offices in the Dengwen Academy, each performing its own duties, except for the five offices responsible for investigating the affairs of Shujian Mountain, and the other five offices are all working here.

Xiao Jinyan finished exploring the road and hid in the distance, waiting for the night to come. There are many people in the daytime, and if you are a little careless, you will be exposed to your identity, and it will be inconvenient to be in the capital in the future.

He took out the package and changed into an unused mask. After wearing it, it looks much younger.

A black carriage slowly stopped at the gate of Dengwenyuan. Two guards came out of the inner courtyard, brought stools, and placed them in front of the carriage.

The curtain opened, and a middle-aged man got out of the car.

Medium build, forty or fifty years old, with a Chinese face, a slight beard on the face, and a sharp gaze.

None other than Vancouver.

At the beginning in Jiangnan, he went to investigate the matter of the black dragon's body, and finally "died" in Suzhou, causing an officialdom chaos, and it was after that incident that Yuwen Tianlu was suspicious of His Majesty in the imperial court.

Now that Yuwen Tianlu has fallen, Li Chuntie has been imprisoned, and the entire Dengwen Courtyard has fallen into his hands, Xiao Hongyu said that Vancouver was the eye arranged by His Majesty by Li Chuntie's side from the beginning, and he was never Li Chuntie's person.

He was a little strange, with Li Chuntie's shrewdness, how could he not see this, could it be that he was hiding too deeply?

It doesn't matter anymore.

If he betrayed Li Chuntie, then he must die. Although Xiao Jinyan is not a person who loves to kill, he is unceremonious when someone touches someone close to him. As for morality and the sub-program of kings and ministers, he doesn't care.

Not today, though.

He had more important things to investigate, and he didn't want to startle the snake.

Just as Vancouver was about to enter the gate of Dengwen Academy, someone suddenly shouted, "Death to the traitor!"

A figure flashed from not far away, and a sword stabbed Vancouver in the back.

Someone sneak attacked!

The sword style was extremely powerful, and in an instant, it came behind Vancouver, and just as the assassin's sword was about to plunge into his chest, one of Vancouver's guards struck with a double sword.

The assassin's sword is fast, and the man's double sword is faster.

The rain hits the white sand, and the chopping wood is disrupted.

When.

The swords intersected, making a piercing jingo sound. The Assassin missed the blow and was about to leave, but the man with the mace was willing to back down, and the two maces were like the wind, circling in front of him and trapping him.

The two are similar in grade, similar in martial arts, and although their blades are different, their moves are similar.

Xiao Jinyan has recognized that it is the second of the four guards of the Dengwen Academy, the sword, the pyramid scheme (Xiao), the book, the sword, the piano, and the flute, which were originally trained by Li Chuntie, but they are fighting together at the moment, needless to say, because of the dispute between Li Chuntie and Vancouver.

In the palace last night, Chuanshu used iron arrows to help him escape, and today he encountered Chuanjian to assassinate Vancouver, and these four guards finally turned against each other.

The sword failed to strike, and he fell into a fierce battle.

If you want to escape, you can't fly. The masters of all walks of life in Dengwen Courtyard had already poured out of the nest and trapped him on the long street.

When!

The sword that passed the sword was knocked to the ground. The crowd trapped him in the center, and the blade was caught around his neck.

Vancouver looked at him and said, "Pass the sword, are you guilty?"

Chuan Jian looked stubborn and said disdainfully, "Selling the master for glory and killing his colleagues, surnamed Wen, can you be guilty?"

Vancouver's face sank, "Li Chuntie betrayed the emperor and plotted to rebel, I captured him to act on orders, what is the crime?"

"Phew!"

A mouthful of phlegm fell on Vancouver, and everyone reprimanded angrily.

Vancouver said, "Among the four guards, I am most optimistic about you, Jiangnan and his party will also take you to experience, but I can't imagine that in the end, you are obsessed, which disappoints me too much." ”

Chuan Jian said, "If you knew your wolf ambitions, when you were in Suzhou, you would have killed you with a sword, and there would be no evil consequences today." ”

"As I said, I am doing things for Your Majesty. ”

"Do things for Your Majesty?" Haha!" Chuanjian looked hideous, "You were found out by Dean Li because you did those dirty things, so you deliberately planted the blame, and framed the Governor of Yuwen by investigating the matter of the Black Dragon." Acting on orders, haha, could it be that the affairs of Qian'an Palace are also the will of His Majesty?"

Vancouver was furious, "Shut up!"

Syllable!

Vancouver slapped Chuanjian in the face, although his martial arts skills were not high, but this slap was extremely powerful, shattering his two teeth, and suddenly blood flowed down the corners of his mouth to the placket of his clothes.

Chuan Jian was about to speak, but Chuan Xiao stepped forward to seal his acupoint.

Vancouver's face was blue, "Get him to the backyard and hammer him." “

The sword was restrained and escorted into the temple.

Xiao Jinyan's heart was full of suspicions, this sword must have known something, but he didn't have a chance to hear it, after everyone entered, Xiao Jinyan performed light skills and turned into the Dengwen Courtyard.

A flower and a grass, it is still the same as it was back then.

It's just that the owner of the temple has changed.

He cautiously came to the backyard, there was a foul smell, Xiao Jinyan looked, only to see that in the backyard, there were dozens of bamboo poles standing, full of human heads, some had just died, and some had already dried, which was very terrifying.

Xiao Jinyan recognized that many people had been colleagues in various parts of the Dengwen Academy, and some of them were brothers who had drunk together.

At this moment, he was in a different place and hung on a bamboo pole.

It is conceivable that after Vancouver took over Dengwen Academy, it used what means it took to control this dark machine.

He didn't expect that Vancouver, who had always been gentle and elegant, would be able to resort to such bloody methods.

No wonder, these people in the Dengwen Courtyard were expressionless. It is not the same as when Li Chuntie was in power.

In the backyard, there is a stone pit.

The mouth of the pit is three feet in size and about a foot deep, and it used to be a well, but now the well is no longer there.

Above the pit, there are two gallows, through the gears, to hang a stone three feet thick and more than one zhang high in the air, like a stone mortar.

It's a killing machine.

Xiao Jinyan understood the meaning of hammering, and his heart was nameless, and he was able to come up with such a killing method.

Chuanjian was escorted here.

His jaw was dislocated, blood was flowing from his mouth, and he wanted to scold, but he couldn't make a sound.

The chuan beckoned, and everyone pushed the sword into the stone pit. At the sound of an order, the boulder above will fall, smashing the sword into a pulp.

Chuan Xiao's face was expressionless, "Those who know the times are Junjie, I advised you at the beginning, but you insisted on not listening, and you ended up today."

In the end, don't blame the ruthlessness of being a brother. ”

The sword is passed on to reveal the intention of death.

In the face of death, he was much calmer, his lips were closed, his eyes were firmly fixed on the flute, there was no rebuke, no anger, only pity.

Chuan Xiao didn't seem to be able to stand this kind of staring, he waved his hand and said, "Execution!"

One of his subordinates dialed the trap, and the boulder fell from the head of the sword.

......

Imperial Palace, Taiji Palace.

Today's morning court time is longer than in the past, in addition to discussing the government, Lu Guogong made a report on the peace talks between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, this matter is not going well, Zhu Liye ordered to reach peace talks with the Northern Zhou Dynasty before the tenth birthday in early October. The people in the court also talked a lot.

Some advocated the withdrawal of troops.

Shenxian Ditch is too far away from the border, although it is a fortress, but the terrain is low-lying, and the Phoenix Ridge is separated by a piece of Gobi, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack for the Northern Zhou, but it is not friendly to the Ming Dynasty. Now the Northern Zhou army was defeated, the vitality was greatly injured, once it was corrected, it will also cause war, although the Ming Dynasty is strong, but years of war, the treasury has been tight, and the maintenance and garrison of the troops, the cost is too great, in this case, it is better to return, by the way to ask for some compensation.

There are those who advocate the garrison.

The power of the Son of Heaven, all nations come to court. Since ancient times, the Qin Emperor, the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Song Ancestors, to achieve the name of the Son of Heaven I, there is nothing more than to open up the territory and expand the territory, since the soldiers exchanged blood for it, there is absolutely no reason to withdraw the army.

The people of the two factions talked a lot, but there was no result.

Zhu Liye didn't say a word, listening to the heated arguments of the ministers, but he made a decision in his heart, but he didn't speak, over the years, he has been used to letting the ministers speak, and then being the referee himself.

"Lu Guogong, what do you think?"

The ministers suddenly stopped and looked at Lu Guogong. In this matter, it was Lu Guogong who was leading the negotiation, and the emperor threw the problem to him, and they also had peace of mind.

Lu Guogong is a master of figuring out His Majesty's will, he knows that His Majesty wants to withdraw the army and ask for compensation, but it is not something that the Son of Heaven can say if he wins and retreats. If the Son of Heaven wanted to fight, he would not take the opportunity to transfer Xue Huai back to the capital on the grounds of "birthday banquet".

If in peacetime, he will definitely return directly, and the credit for the victory is His Majesty's, the decision to withdraw from the army is Lu Guogong's, and if there is a problem in the future, it will also be Lu Guogong's problem, and His Majesty will not be wrong.

Clearly, I like to mention the black pot.

But today is different, because outside the Taiji Palace, there is still a person waiting to face the saint, he walked out of the group of ministers, and said, "Long live Qi Song, the lower officials are not doing anything about the war, so they don't dare to discuss it." ”

Zhu Liye couldn't hear what he meant, "Then according to Aiqing, who can negotiate?"

Lu Guogong said, "It stands to reason that the city was captured by Marshal Xue, and it is most appropriate for him to make a decision, but Xue Guogong was ill and failed to leave the court." However, there is another person, who is at war with Chu and Zhou, and is most familiar with the two countries, so you might as well listen to his opinion. ”

"Who?"

"Zhao Zhao, the king of the hidden sun. ”

Zhu Liye said, "Xuan Zhao blocked the river and entered the hall!"

The eunuch sent an order, and after a while, Zhao Lanjiang wore a scarlet python robe and a golden knife at his waist, and strode to the Taiji Palace.

The civil and military eyes of the Manchu Dynasty were all fixed on this young prince. The golden knife entered the palace, and in the entire Ming Dynasty, only Xue Huai, the king of Dingbei, and he enjoyed the honor, which shows how this newly rising general won the favor of His Majesty, and couldn't help but talk about it.

Zhao Lanjiang entered Beijing, and the matter of the king of Dingbei leading the horse has long been spread throughout the capital. In the past few days, there have been more cars and horses going to visit the old mansion of An Guogong, and even the vendors who set up stalls selling cool skins at the corner of the street have seen that another powerful person of the dynasty has moved in. It's just that the civil and military of the imperial court paid homage to Zhao Lanjiang, and the worship posts at the door were piled up, but Zhao Lanjiang was closed, either practicing knives in the house, or accompanying his wife and teasing his son, and never stepped out of the house. So when Zhao Lanjiang appeared, many people saw it for the first time.

Zhao Lanjiang, burly, with thick eyebrows and big face, walking like a tiger, when several old ministers saw him, they couldn't help but change their faces, they lowered their heads one after another, and couldn't help but look at each other, with a frightened look on their faces.

"Minister Zhao barrage Jiang to see Your Majesty!"

Zhao Lanjiang faced the saint for the first time, and before sunrise he had performed a salute in the Ministry of Rites, and he was no stranger to this, he knelt on the ground, bowed three times and bowed nine times, and performed the courtier's salute.

Zhu Liye said, "Zhao Aiqing is flat." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty. ”

Zhu Liye said, "Last year, you made great contributions in Yinyang, and I was very relieved, but the border was tight, and I never transferred you back to Beijing, you won't blame me, right?"

Zhao Lanjiang said, "The minister doesn't dare." ”

Zhu Liye said, "Raise your head!"

"The minister is afraid of colliding with Long Yan. ”

These words are very boring, but there is no way, the officials of the Ministry of Rites taught them like this, although Zhao Lanjiang was unhappy in his heart, he did not show the slightest emotion, but he thought in his heart, don't come to the capital if you have nothing to do in the future.

"I forgive you for your innocence!"

Only then did Zhao Lanjiang raise his head and look at the great tomorrow.