Guard City

On the edge of the richest street in Wei'an City, a tall mansion stands, the wall is tall and strong, the hundred-year-old pine in front of the door, the white marble lion guards the door, the red gate is magnificent, four zhang wide and five zhang high, the gilt door buckle, the bronze door nail, the eight guards in front of the door are wide and strong, dressed in strong suits, holding a knife at the waist, and the eyebrows reveal vigilance. On the Nanmu plaque above the gate, there are three magnificent golden characters 'Prime Minister's Mansion'.

The study is spacious and bright, the furniture is very elegant, the calligraphy and paintings of celebrities are hung on the wall, the mahogany carved furniture, the half-height vase is as smooth as a mirror, and the bookshelves are neatly placed with all kinds of books, which are spotless.

A man over half a hundred years old sat in front of the bookcase, idly flipping through the scrolls, this person was dressed in a golden brocade robe, his gray hair was tied on the top of his head with a crown of gold hair, his face was relatively thin, and his deep gaze gave people a feeling of not being angry and arrogant.

This person is the prime minister who is above 10,000 people under one person today, Wan Ziyu, the father of Queen Wan Xintong.

At this time, Wan Lin, the housekeeper of the Prime Minister's Mansion, knocked on the door, and the clothes on his body were also of fine fabric, Wan Lin walked up to Wan Ziyu in a proper manner and saluted, "Master, the distinguished guest has arrived and is waiting in the secret room." ”

"Okay, got it. Wan Ziyu responded lightly.

A person dressed in a dark blue embroidered auspicious cloud pattern shirt is sitting quietly in front of a mahogany round table, on which a delicate teapot is placed, soaked in the best West Lake Longjing, the heat rises slowly, and the fragrance of tea overflows.

At this time, a door-shaped outline appeared on the wall, and then the bluestone wall was slowly flipped, and Wan Ziyu slowly entered, showing a deep smile on his face, without losing the way of hospitality, "It is rude to let Ouyang wait for a long time." ”

The person waiting is Ouyang Ze, the head of the Hengshan faction, and Shen Hongfei's previous intelligence said that the big hand behind Ouyang Ze is Prime Minister Wan Ziyu.

Ouyang Ze stood up and greeted him, "Wan Daren is serious, I can take this opportunity to go to the house to enjoy the beautiful scenery and taste this excellent West Lake Longjing." ”

"Master Ouyang joked. Wan Ziyu made a 'please' gesture, "Please sit." ”

Wan Ziyu picked up the teacup, skimmed the tea foam and took a sip, an unpredictable smile appeared on his face, "I don't know if the head of Ouyang has been okay recently, has he had a good relationship with your beloved apprentice, and has he been reset?"

Ouyang Ze chuckled in his heart, knowing that the 'beloved apprentice' in Wan Ziyu's mouth referred to Li Zifeng, and secretly sighed that good things don't go out and bad things spread thousands of miles, and then carefully recalled his words, his brows rose slightly, his eyes sank a little, and then he stood up and made a plea, "With all due respect, it is not a trivial matter for the Hengshan faction to abolish the chief disciple, in addition to announcing the rivers and lakes, it will definitely be reported to the imperial court through the Linxiu Dart Bureau, you are in the position of prime minister, how can you not know?"

Wan Ziyu smiled silently and beckoned Ouyang Ze to sit down, "Don't be surprised by Ouyang Boss, I just asked casually, now that the court is unstable, I, the prime minister, are not careless." Domino effect. Wan Ziyu took a sip of tea and looked at Ouyang Ze with deep eyes, "I wonder if Master Ouyang understands what I mean?"

Ouyang Ze understood what Wan Ziyu meant, the instability of the rivers and lakes is basically the chaos behind the scenes of the Lingye Palace, but the instability of the court implies that someone in the court may be in collusion with the Lingye Palace, and may also involve some royal relatives and nobles, such as ...... Ouyang Ze sighed secretly, if this is the case, the first to bear the brunt is the emperor and the crown prince.

Ouyang Ze's eyes were deep, and his face was calm, "The meaning of the lord is understood, it's just that the founding ancestor of the Hengshan faction had an oath with the reigning emperor at that time, and the imperial court and the Hengshan faction are not allowed to interfere in each other's internal affairs..."

Wan Ziyu stared at Ouyang Ze carefully, and then smiled deeply, "Master Ouyang is inevitably too cautious, and now Li Zifeng is investigating along the line of Hongyuan Villa, why don't you be a favor?"

Ouyang Ze's eyes suddenly contracted, a chill invaded from the outside in, Wan Ziyu's gentle and calm gaze could not hide the frost, Ouyang Ze frowned, and laughed dryly, "Although I am the head of a faction, there are some things that cannot be decided on my own, and this matter is very important, so ......"

"It doesn't matter. I know all of this. So Master Ouyang doesn't have to give me an answer now. Wan Ziyu showed an empathetic smile, and then took out a palm-sized wooden box from his body and handed it to Ouyang Ze, "But in order to show my sincerity, I also ask Ouyang to accept this generous gift." ”

Ouyang Ze took it and looked at the box, the box was made of agarwood, with exquisite auspicious cloud patterns along the edges, delicately carved with flowers and plants, smelling a faint fragrance, Ouyang Ze slowly opened, and on the silk lining inside, it was a bright yellow letter made of special materials, folded into a square, and there was a faint pattern on the back of the letter.

Ouyang Ze looked at it and couldn't help but sigh secretly, he didn't need to open the letter to see that this was probably the list of trusted people in the court that he had been asking for, whether it was in terms of power or financial resources, it could help him completely unify the power of the martial arts rivers and lakes. Ouyang Ze chuckled, silently closed the box, and pushed it back to Wan Ziyu as it was.

Wan Ziyu raised his eyebrows, and his searching gaze locked on Ouyang Ze, "What does Master Ouyang mean, isn't it too polite to get into your eyes?"

Ouyang Ze stood up again, bowed slightly and arched his hand, "My lord forgives your sins, since ancient times, you have no merit and no mercy, how can you be virtuous? How can you bear your love." Moreover, it is also the responsibility of the Hengshan faction to eradicate the Lingye Palace and maintain the stability of the government and the opposition, and it is incumbent on them to do so. ”

This was said quite cleverly, neither refuting Wan Ziyu's face, nor violating the door rules, nor leaving anyone with an excuse to accept other people's property.

Wan Ziyu was silent for a while, stroked his beard and smiled, stood up and excused Ouyang Ze's salute, "It is worthy of being the head of Ouyang, since this is the case, the old man is waiting for the good news of the head of Ouyang." ”

......

After sending Ouyang Ze away, Wan Ziyu returned to the study again, still sitting in front of the bookcase and flipping through the scrolls, as if nothing had happened. The housekeeper Wan Lin brought hot tea and sent it.

Wan Lin bowed slightly, "The old slave has already sent that distinguished guest to the door and watched him leave." ”

"Hmm. Wan Ziyu responded lightly, and his eyelids never lifted.

Wan Lin opened his mouth hesitantly, "Master, you just let him go?"

"Huh?" Wan Ziyu finally raised his eyes and looked at Wan Lin deeply, if this was asked through someone else's mouth, he would definitely scold him for not knowing the rules, but for this henchman, it didn't matter.

Wan Ziyu sighed lightly, "What if you don't let him go? It's not a good thing that the Hengshan faction has lost its head. Besides, King Qingping is eyeing us, hoping that we will make some mistakes. Wan Ziyu's eyes were deep, if Ouyang Ze responded happily and accepted the gift box, he would look down on him.

"But......" Wan Lin wanted to say something, but it didn't follow the rules when he thought about it, so he didn't ask again.

Wan Ziyu patiently explained, "Letting go of his person does not mean letting go of his heart." ”

Wan Lin suddenly raised his head, following Wan Ziyu for many years, he understood what he meant, "You mean?"

Wan Ziyu nodded, "Send someone to keep an eye on it, if you find Li Zifeng's whereabouts, be sure to follow him to protect his safety." Don't let him make any mistakes right under my nose. ”

"Yes. The old slave went to arrange it. Wan Lin stepped back.

Wan Ziyu stared at the ungiven gift box on the table and sighed deeply.

......

That night, Ouyang Ze quietly went to the Linxiu Dart Bureau, talked with the chief dart head Hong Xikun for a long time, and left Wei'an City in the early morning of the next day; at noon on the same day, Shen Zhiping, Li Zifeng, Shen Hongfei, Lingxi's extremely secret protection of the shadow guard, and other people, skillfully avoided the strict surveillance of Lingye Palace, and disguised themselves into the gate of Wei'an City.

What they didn't notice was that there was a pair of eyes watching them secretly.