In late autumn, the early morning wind blows through Qingyang City, and it already has a slight biting feeling. The white sunlight sprinkled on the streets and alleys, not only did not have the slightest feeling of warmth, but added a bit of chill to the hearts of the hurried pedestrians. A jackdaw stood on a withered branch with its head hrunged, and suddenly let out a shrill cry and flapped its wings into the distance.

Directly north of Qingyang City, there is a magnificent complex of buildings.

The rows of houses are neatly and skillfully connected, and when viewed from mid-air, they form a huge Tai Chi Bagua pattern. The two central points of this Tai Chi Bagua diagram are a five-storey library in the middle of a flower garden and bamboo forest, covered with glazed tiles of different colors, which looks like a delicate work of art from a distance, and a small natural lake surrounded by a delicate corridor with lotus flowers growing in the winding lake. However, at this time, most of the lotus flowers and lotus leaves have withered, and only a few scattered lotus flowers are quietly standing in a brown wither, and it is already past the season of lotus appreciation.

The complex is surrounded by a fence several feet high, giving the whole building a solemn look. At the top of the red vermilion lacquer gilt gate, there is a black gold silk nanmu plaque, on which the dragon flies and the phoenix dances four big characters - Qingyang Palace.

This is the most important building in Qingyang City, the famous Qingyang Palace. These four words are the inscription of today's holy royal pen, which shows its grace.

At this moment, on the corridor by the lake in the palace, a young man dressed in the costume of a guard was stopping in front of a person who looked like a butler.

The young guard's face was not good, and he asked in a deep voice, "Steward You, what do you mean?"

Steward You's eyebrows moved, but he deliberately pretended not to understand, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes, and said, "What do you mean? The old man doesn't understand what you're talking about." ”

The young guard's face turned red instantly, and he forcibly held back his anger and said, "There are so many singers in the mansion, why do you have to arrange for Zhen Zhen to go...... To do this kind of thing?"

The disdain in Steward You's eyes was even stronger, but his face showed a sudden meaning, and he lowered his eyelids slightly and said, "It turned out that it was for this?

The young guard's forehead was bruised, and he suddenly clenched the hilt of the knife and said, "However, the prince has already promised to marry Zhen Zhen to me, how can you ignore the prince's order......

Steward You raised his eyelids and looked at the young guard for a moment, and suddenly sneered: "Are you in a hurry? With Miss Zhenzhen's status in the palace, what should you do and what you shouldn't do, how can the old man be the master?"

The young guard was speechless, his face became a little pale, and he was stunned for a moment and asked without giving up, "Lord Wang...... Is this really what the prince meant?"

Steward You was already a little impatient, and waved his hand like a fly: "You should ask the prince about this!" After saying that, he raised his steps and walked forward around the guards.

The young guard clenched the hilt of the saber at his waist until his knuckles turned white, but he still refused to believe it, and muttered to himself, "Lord Wang...... The prince has made a promise, and it will definitely not be like this!"

Steward You stopped when he heard this, looked back at the young guard with an unwilling face, and smiled: "Fang Zhaolin, the prince has a noble status, and he has the blessing of a hundred gods. The assassin carried out the assassination that day, even if it was not for your resistance, it must be no big problem, how can you be proud of your achievements, and always talk about saving the prince? Besides, it is your duty to be loyal to the Lord......

As if humiliated, the young guard didn't wait for Steward You to finish speaking, and then said loudly: "I want to see the prince, and the prince will definitely not lie to me!"

"The prince drank some wine with the distinguished guests and has already rested. You are so noisy, if you wake up the prince, no one can afford it!" Steward You flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly and continued, "The old man who should say it has said it, you have to bear it if you think about it or not." After saying that, he turned around and walked forward again, and several small servants behind him also hurriedly followed, and looked back at the young guard a few times as he walked, with a look of schadenfreude.

Guard Fang stood in place, his face cloudy, seeing that the butler was about to leave, the anxiety that had been in place for several days suddenly exploded, and he shouted loudly at the butler's back regardless of it

"I'll go see the prince now, even if the princess is here, I have to ask clearly-whether this is what the prince means, or what others mean!"

Steward You didn't think that he would dare to mention the princess, he was stunned for a moment, then reacted, rushed back and turned around angrily, and with a flick of his wrist, he swung out the horse whip tightly clasped in his hand, and slapped it the face of the Fang guard.

The matter of the side princess has always been a taboo for the housekeeper, and no one in the house dares to mention it, and whoever mentions it is unlucky.

Guard Fang didn't guard against him making a sudden move, coupled with his mind wandering, he was hit in the cheek at once, and a deep blood mark appeared in an instant, and he glared at Steward You angrily: "You actually did it!"

"Don't talk nonsense just to save the prince's life, I'll give you a long memory today, so that you know what to say and what not to say!" Steward You sneered and instructed the little guys, "Give me a hard beating, smash his mouth!"

When all the servants heard Steward You's order, they all rushed towards the Fang guards.

At the beginning, the guards were still able to resist, but they were outnumbered, not to mention that these little guys were carefully selected by Steward You, and their martial arts were not weak, and the master of Steward You had been coveting the side, and he took the time to whip it over, and soon he was knocked to the ground, holding his head curled up and couldn't get up.

......

A few months later, Qingyang Palace, late at night.

A figure sat on the pillar of a secret room in the palace, panting. One of his arms had been cut off, and the muscles on his face were a little hideous, but he could vaguely recognize that it was the Fang guard who was arguing with Steward You that day. Beside him lay three guards in the same costume, all of whom had died.

After a short rest, he cut off the dead man's underwear and bandaged his severed arm with his remaining right hand and teeth. After hastily bandaging it, he took out a delicate white porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured out a scarlet pill, hesitated for a moment, and swallowed it in one gulp. After doing this, he leaned against the pillar and began to sit cross-legged pranayama.

Soon he opened his eyes, stood up with his strength, and continued to walk deeper.

At this time, on the path not far from the library pavilion, there was a slight sound of footsteps, which quickly aroused the vigilance of the library guards.

"Who?"

"Golden Guard!"

A deep voice came from the darkness.

The guards were taken aback, but the crossbow in their hands was not put down, and one of the guards spoke: "Token!"

"And then!" said that, an object was thrown far away.

The guard who spoke lowered his crossbow and swung a rope to accurately wrap up the thrown object and pull it back. Then he took out an object from his bosom, buckled it with the object in his hand, and it was really tightly matched.

He motioned to the people around him to put down the crossbow, then bowed slightly to the people in the dark, turned sideways to make way out, handed over the objects in his hands with both hands, and said, "Please!"

The men in the darkness came out, three of them, also heavily armed, but their armor was golden, and even their faces were covered with golden masks.

The person in the center is quite tall, half a head taller than the others, but his armor has a lot of damage, and in some places there are even faint brown blood stains, and he holds a rectangular box that looks like black but not black, like wood and not wood, the surface of the box is complicated, and it is very precious to look at.

The three of them ignored the guards and walked straight towards the library pavilion, and when they passed by the guards, the tall gold-armored guard grabbed the token casually and took the token back in the air. One of them stepped forward and pulled out the key to open the door, and the three entered the library, then closed the door tightly, not glancing at the guards the whole time.

When the footsteps of the three disappeared, the guards finally couldn't help it.

"What's the big deal, isn't it just that I've been with the prince for a few years?" said one indignantly.

"You can't say that, Jin Jiawei is a cronie among his cronies, and it is said that he will follow the prince, but he has done a lot of earth-shattering things. I've also heard that last month ......," said another, lowering his voice.

"What nonsense, looking for death, you two go around again!" shouted the lead guard in a low voice.

The two of them immediately fell silent and took the order. The leading guard saw that the two of them had gone away, looked back at the direction of the library, and then looked at the token in his hand thoughtfully, but he didn't notice that a black shadow climbed the eaves from the corner of the library, and got into the library in three or two clicks, and the whole process was as fast as lightning, like flowing water.

After a stick of incense, the two guards on patrol walked back, one of them inadvertently looked up, and suddenly found a faint fire in the library, and his heart chuckled, and immediately shouted loudly: "There is a fire! The library is on fire!" The other quickly pulled out the metal whistle in his neck and blew it with all his might, and the sharp whistle sounded far away.

This exploded, and the entire guard room boiled, and five or six guards rushed out of it in an instant, and quickly ran towards the library pavilion. As soon as they approached the library, they heard the sound of ping-pong inside, and everyone looked at each other, but no one dared to kick open the closed door.

The leading guards hurried over, and when they saw everyone stunned at the door, and then saw the closed gate, they instantly realized that they couldn't help glaring at them fiercely, kicked open the door and rushed in first, and the guards hurriedly followed.

rushed to the second floor in one breath, only to see a golden guard shouting angrily, waving a pair of halberds and fighting with a masked man in black, and a golden armor guard fell in the corner, as if he had been poisoned, his whole face was blue and black, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead.

But the man in black was no better, with a large wound in his abdomen, flesh and blood rolling up, blood already soaking his clothes, and a crossbow arrow stuck in his shoulder.

The lead guard quickly analyzed the situation and drew his saber to join the warband.

The man in black suddenly felt overwhelmed, and as soon as his feet froze, the blade of the golden armor guard brought out an extremely deep wound on his thigh, and blood gushed out in an instant. He endured the severe pain to avoid the left, and just sent his back to the knife of the leading guard, and was stabbed in the back again.

The man in black was injured repeatedly, he couldn't support it anymore, his knees went limp, and he slowly fell to the ground. Everyone was overjoyed and rushed forward to catch him.

Jin Jiawei secretly said that it was not good, and was about to remind him. The man in black had already raised his head, a hint of cunning flashed in his eyes, and the hand covering his chest was swung out to everyone, and the air was suddenly filled with pale pink smoke and a few green lights. The few people who rushed to the front were instantly hit and fell down one after another.

Seeing this, the leading guard held his breath, made a mistake under his feet, and quickly slid out a few meters away, and saw that the golden armor guard had already flashed to the side, and he was angry in his heart, and he was about to speak. Suddenly, seeing Jin Jiawei looking at him with a little horror, the alarm bell in his heart was loud, and he instinctively tilted his head back, only to see a green light passing over his head, and he was shocked in his heart: What kind of weapon is this? Don't dare to underestimate the enemy anymore, he quickly took out a strong crossbow and aimed it at the man in black.

The man in black looked at him coldly, and with a finger, several green lights flew towards him at the same time.

Only then did he see that the green light turned out to be several slender small snakes, with a flat triangular head, green all over, and a pair of sarcomas on their sides, which were extremely poisonous at first glance.

The speed of the little snake was as fast as lightning, and in a hurry, he had to shoot an arrow indiscriminately, and before he could see the result, his body moved, and he used his light body to toss and turn, and finally avoided the attack of the little snake. As soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and the whole person fell down softly. It turned out that in the process of avoiding the little snake, he had unconsciously walked into the range of smoke and inhaled a few mouthfuls of fishy sweet smoke.

He gasped heavily, watching the man in black pull out a porcelain bottle with difficulty, pour out a scarlet pill and swallow it. At this time, he realized that he didn't know when, all the guards he brought fell to the ground, gasping for breath in pain, and the man in black was left standing alone on the entire second floor.

I only heard the whistle in the mouth of the black-clothed people, the little snakes shook their wings and flew towards everyone, the red snake letter in their mouths kept swallowing, and the leading guards closed their eyes and waited quietly for death.

Suddenly, there were a few pops, and the little snakes fell one after another, and after a few convulsions, they stopped moving.

"Very good, but the old man underestimated you!"

An old voice sounded, and then a tall figure slowly descended from the stairs on the third floor.

The man in black didn't have time to make a move, the little snake had already been killed, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes, he didn't answer, he stood up straight and looked at him coldly.

"These little things are a bit interesting, but it's a pity that they are still young snakes, if their fleshy wings grow, even the old man will be taboo for three points! For the sake of the old man, hand over the things, and then gouge out his eyes, cut off his tendons and veins, and spare you from death!" said the tall Jin Jiawei word by word.

"It depends on whether you have the ability to do this!" the man in black sneered, although his voice was slightly hoarse, but he could hear that it was a woman.

She slowly raised the long sword in her hand and pointed it directly at the tall golden guard.

"Toast and don't eat and drink, and the old man will fulfill you!" The tall golden armor guard snorted coldly and waved his palm towards the man in black.

The woman in black, who was already at the end of the crossbow, mobilized her internal breath and was about to fight to the death, when a familiar voice suddenly shouted in her ear: "Go!"

Then there was a flower in front of him, and the woman in black was thrown out, and a figure quickly stepped forward and slapped the tall golden armor guard twice, and the two of them took two steps back at the same time.

"Sure enough, it's you, I haven't seen you for so many years, Brother Jiang, your skills are becoming more and more exquisite!"

"Hmph! Diao Da is not bad, I thought you were Li Xiao's dog, enjoying the glory and wealth, and the kung fu was put aside!"

"You are making progress in both legs, how can I be left behind you! What's more, everyone has their own ambitions, and you don't necessarily have to be a thief to be above board. Just now, the old man only used seven successes, and then, it's not so easy!"

"I'm afraid you won't make it!"

The woman in black was thrown directly out of the Scripture Pavilion and landed in the grass. A black shadow jumped out of the shadows, picked up the woman in black who was already half-unconscious, and ran out of the palace.

In the distance, there was a lot of noise, and a large number of guards were hurrying in.

The black-clothed man was stunned and sped up.

By the time the people of the palace arrived at the library pavilion, it had become a sea of fire, and the wind was blowing, which drove the fire even more. All kinds of burnt and mutilated papers and objects flew in the sky, scattered in the grass, among the branches, in the crowd, and more often blown out of the fence by the wind.

The guards looked at the scene in front of them and couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

"The first team fights the fire! The second team is responsible for picking up the scattered items! The third team is carefully searching! Those who dare to peep and hide - kill!"

A majestic voice shouted loudly, and the voice spread far away, so frightened that the people who had just moved their minds hurriedly put the things they had picked up in their hands into a huge tin box.

"Great butler, a person has been found near the wall!" Several guards hurried over with an unconscious man in black and threw the man in black on the ground.

The chief butler was concerned about the fire, and he didn't look back when he heard the words: "Are you dead?"

The guard replied, "Not dead, but he has a broken arm and serious internal injuries, and I'm afraid he won't live long!"

The chief butler waved his hand in disgust: "Throw it into the dungeon and let him fend for himself!"

"Yes!" a few of the guards picked up the man in black and walked into the distance.

......

The Royal Chamber.

A middle-aged man wearing a purple and gold crown with a wide face and a wide mouth sat on the throne expressionlessly in front of him, and a shivering man stood below, with a fat brain and a face full of meat, who was the Steward You who had a dispute with the Fang guards that day.

“...... Teach him a little lesson, and then he doesn't know. It wasn't until tonight that the villain heard that he had killed the guards of the secret room and stolen, stolen, stole the secret letter!" At this moment, Steward You's face was pale, and he had long lost the majesty of the day, and after stammering these few words, fine beads of sweat had oozed from his head, but he didn't dare to raise his hand to wipe it.

The man's gaze was fixed on the void and did not speak.

The whole secret room was as silent as death, as if he could hear the sound of blood vessels gurgling, and Steward You was even more nervous, and he didn't dare to come out.

"What else?" said the man after a long time.

Steward You couldn't hold on any longer, knelt down with a "poof", his body trembled like chaff, and he cried bitterly and said: "Wang Ye Mingjian, villain, villain really doesn't know that he is so bold, he actually colluded with outsiders to set fire to the library pavilion, and also, also, return, return ......"

"Huh?" The prince's gaze shot at him, his eyes were sharp, and the temperature of the entire secret room dropped suddenly.

Steward You's heart trembled, but he still replied stubbornly: "I also stole the things on the top floor of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion, and even the thing that Jin Jiawei just brought back is gone, but after the villain rushed over, he was gone!" Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment, and didn't know what he thought, he gritted his teeth, and then said, "The villain thinks that this is by no means something he can do alone, so the villain thinks that there are still accomplices in his mansion!"

"Oh?" the prince smiled, and his tone suddenly became gentle, "You have been by this king's side for more than ten years, and this king has never known that your thinking is so thorough!"

Hearing the prince's praise, Steward You was slightly relieved, and flattered: "The villain is loyal to the prince, these are just the duties of the villain, everything is led by the prince!"

"Bang-"

The prince slammed his palm on the table: "Your loyalty is to make this king untrustworthy? Your duty is to make Fang Zhaolin hold a grudge against this king? What do you let those soldiers who were born and died for this king think of this king? Who will swear allegiance to this king in the future? Youde, you are so bold!"

The prince's angry shouts echoed in the empty secret room, causing a buzzing echo.

"Ask the prince to be merciful! I beg the prince to be merciful! I beg the prince to be merciful!" Steward You was so frightened that he kowtowed like pounding garlic, and soon the floor tiles were full of blood.

The prince looked at him coldly, clapped his hands, and two guards walked in.

"Bring Fang Zhaolin here!"

The guards were ordered to leave in a hurry.

His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, lost in thought.

But after a while, the guard who had just gone out hurriedly returned with another guard: "Lord Wang, Fang Zhaolin is gone!"

The prince sneered, and said to himself: "Sure enough!" After a pause, he said, "Pass the order, and capture Fang Zhaolin to this king at all costs!" Remember, you want to live!" After a pause, he said to Steward You, "As for you, fake the order of this king, and it will be a big matter for this king, and it will be delayed!" Someone immediately stepped forward and dragged away Steward You, who was like ashes.

The secret room returned to its quiet, and King Qingyang slowly stood up, walked to a huge map hanging on the wall, looked at a certain place on the map, and said to himself for a long time: "Is this the will of heaven?"

"Let's do it!"

Suddenly, another voice sounded in the chamber.

The night was slightly cool, and the moonlight was like water, drowning out everything that happened tonight.

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.