In addition, Dongfang Changqing is also the only person who is allowed to bring a knife to the court, holding a six-foot long knife, the reason why the blade is so long is because when the enemy attacks, it can kill the opponent one step earlier, which is a means to ensure the safety of His Majesty. Although there is a bit of a sense of covering his ears and stealing the bell, after all, the blade is so long, and the speed of the knife will inevitably be slower, but it is very in line with His Majesty's taste, Dongfang Changqing spent five full years practicing this long knife to ensure His Majesty's safety.

The soldiers of the Empire are like alien creatures, their activities are closely related to the common people, but they are rarely disturbed, except for completing specific tasks, they almost never intervene in local affairs, everywhere is the same.

Imperial soldiers have absolute loyalty and the nature of pursuing honor, they enjoy high salaries, high treatment, pay sweat and hard work, for ordinary people, to be able to become an imperial soldier is a glorious thing, is a life-changing opportunity.

The military tent is filled with the smell of men, this is a place that belongs only to men, slightly smelly but can make you feel refreshed. The voice of the soldiers' shouts is sonorous and powerful, and countless people practice together and speak together, but they can turn into one sound in a uniform manner, which shows unity and strength.

Dongfang Changqing walked to the martial arts arena, which was located at the entrance of the military tent, and when he came in, he could see: "Stop the drill for a while, gather all, and I will introduce you to a person." ”

When he came to the tent, his voice became rhythmic, loud but not harsh, and reached the ears of everyone present.

The officer who was directing the soldiers' actions heard Dongfang Changqing's voice, and immediately said, "The whole army is assembled." "The Praetorian Guard is a special organization, small in size, but one level higher than the local army.

For example, the commander of the Praetorian Guard is a general, alongside the commander of the Northern and Southern armies, the commander of the thousand is treated as a general, the centurion is treated as a thousand, and every ordinary soldier is treated as a centurion. The commander was a commander of a thousand soldiers, and as soon as he gave the order, the soldiers immediately gathered, with the same pace, orderly scheduling, resolute faces, and sweating like rain, and at first glance it was a fierce tiger army that was diligent in drilling.

"This is Tuoba Lie, the deputy commander personally appointed by His Majesty, everyone is welcome. ”

......

On the day that Tuoba Lie was announced, Banzai visited the barracks, personally praised his heroic deeds in front of the soldiers, and told him to cooperate with Dongfang Changqing tacitly to raise the defense of the imperial city to a higher level.

With such strong support, Tuoba Lie felt deeply flattered, and after returning to the palace, he kept talking to Shen Fei about this matter, Shen Fei nodded silently, and said to him: "It seems that the true prince has already posed a substantial threat to His Majesty, otherwise His Majesty would not have promoted you so earnestly. ”

Tuoba Lie thought so, and when it was dark, he got up early to change his clothes, hoping to take a walk around the palace before the morning dynasty and check if the soldiers were lazy when they were on duty. But he never thought that the sedan chair had not yet left the house, and there was bad news first - the seventeenth prince Tuoba Hua died!

It's like a bolt from the blue.

......

Yongning Palace is located in the southwest corner of the harem, quite far from the sleeping palace of the two most powerful women in the harem, the word Yongning was given by His Majesty personally, hoping that this place can be peaceful forever, away from gratuitous fights and killings.

Living in the Yongning Palace is His Majesty's most favored woman at the moment, Concubine Rong, who is known as Mrs. Fist Yu, and her two children, the adopted son Tuoba Hua and the son Tuoba Rui.

At this moment, the stench of the palatial palace was emanating, the maids and eunuchs were summoned together and guarded by the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, and Concubine Rong was holding her infant child and weeping, and His Majesty personally comforted her and embraced her with pity. Dongfang Changqing and Tuoba Lie, as the chief and deputy commanders of the Praetorian Guard, frowned and looked at the corpses that fell in the room, and they both had a very bad feeling in their hearts.

Tuobahua's body was twisted into twists, and the blood that burst out of the veins splattered on the stool, the table, the bed, the window, and the roof, and as far as the eye could see, it was all bloody, and the eyes were full of bloodshots, and the round eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets, and their faces were pale, their mouths were open, and their throats were filled with blood.

"Everything in the room is intact, the sudden death happened in an instant, and even the cry for help could not be done; the body was severely distorted, but the face remained intact, I am afraid that the murderer did not intend to conceal the identity of the deceased, or that it was a provocation to deliberately let us determine the dignity of the identity of the deceased; the lamp in the room was still bright, the quilt was laid without any traces, and the body was only wearing a profane garment, and it fell at the door, according to this, it is not difficult to speculate that His Highness was about to fall asleep at that time, when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, or there was a commotion outside the door, and he got up to check, and was killed the moment he opened the door。 "Dongfang Changqing has been the commander of the Praetorian Guard for many years, and he has seen a lot of various murder cases, and he analyzes the situation at the scene, and he is authentic and Tuoba Lie without reservation.

"The first to find the body was Concubine Rong Niangniang, who got up at night and went to the clean room (toilet) to dissolve, and saw that the lights in His Highness's room were still on, so he went over and knocked on the door, knocked a few times and no one answered, gently pushed the door, the door opened directly, and the body was seen. Dongfang Changqing said methodically.

"I must have been frightened a lot, why didn't there be a single guard in the dignified Yongning Palace, what did the Internal Affairs Office do to eat. Tuoba Lie was worried, such a tragedy occurred in the palace as soon as he took office, which was probably a warning.

"The people of the Internal Affairs Office are all guarding outside the palace, and His Highness's two personal bodyguards were just killed this morning, and the newcomers are still sure that they have not been sent, so there is no one to guard them. Dongfang Changqing knew everything well, which made Tuoba Lie admire, and when he arrived, he had already completed the scene investigation, which showed that as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, he needed to patrol and inspect even at night, perform his duties, and prevent dangers in the palace.

In this way, it should be the work of the inner ghost. ”

"The murderer must have been among the people who participated in the early pilgrimage this morning. ”

"What to do. ”

"Although the harem is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the murderer sneaked in from outside the palace, and the Praetorian Guards failed to find and stop it in time, and it is still difficult to escape the blame, Changqing is indirectly responsible for the tragic death of His Royal Highness, and after the murderer is found, he will take the blame and resign. ”

"If the father is really held responsible, this king will be punished as a deputy commander and the general Changqing. ”

"Your Highness, your future is still very long, don't be rash, this happened when His Highness just took office, I'm afraid it's not that simple, and the position of the commander of the Praetorian Guard will not be so easy to sit in the future. ”

"General Evergreen. ”

"After all, he is old, and according to the current situation, Changqing only wants to protect himself and spend his old age safely. ”

Tuoba Lie knew the meaning of his words, nodded, and did not hold on. Dongfang Changqing is a person who understands, the palace is more important than others, in addition to the Praetorian Guard and the Internal Affairs Office, there are also Lingyin Temple monks guarding day and night, the murderer can actually kill people openly, such as entering the realm of no one, it can be seen that the strength is unpredictable, it can be seen that the battle for the throne has reached the point of life and death, unscrupulous, in this case it should be the best choice to retreat safely.

The two exchanged words for a short time, then walked out of the house and came to His Majesty to salute respectfully. His Majesty sat on the wisteria chair that was temporarily moved in the middle of the courtyard with Concubine Rong in his arms, and a half-person-high stove was placed on the left and right to keep warm, and his eyes looked coldly at all the palace maids and eunuchs of Yongning Palace who were shivering in the cold wind, their faces were pale, and they did not say a word.

Dongfang Changqing and Tuoba Lie knelt on one knee and reported truthfully: "Long live Qiyu, Your Highness ......"

"You wait. His Majesty raised his hand and interrupted him, "Liu Yi, come here." ”

Liu Yi, the great eunuch who had always stood behind His Majesty, heard the tone of the other party, chuckled in his heart, restrained the arrogance when he was favored before, walked out from behind the chair with a hunched waist, and knelt on the ground, "Long live." ”

"Liu Yi, how many years have you been with me. ”

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince was murdered, and the Internal Affairs Office did not protect him well, and he deserved to die, but please Your Majesty for the sake of the old slave's thirty years of service, leave a whole corpse for the old slave. ”

"Thirty years, it's thirty years, since I ascended the throne, the entire harem has been entrusted to you to manage, and I am full of trust in you. ”

"Your Majesty, the old slave deserves to live the most, and the old slave deserves to die. While kowtowing, while crying bitterly, Liu Yi's performance made the eunuchs and palace maids present feel cold, and even their heads were going to die, so what about them, where should they go, and what kind of punishment should they accept.

"The princes are going to stay in the palace to study and live before they are ten years old, and if they are not yet minors, they will all be assassinated, and I will be doomed! The old emperor was word-by-word, the words were sharp, and his tone seemed to be peaceful, but Liu Yi was scared into a cold sweat, and his clothes were soaked, he knew his master better than anyone else, and he had expected that such a big thing had happened, and severe punishment was inevitable, but he never imagined that his life would be endangered.

"Master, for the sake of the old slave's many years of service, please leave a whole corpse for the slave. "How many years, how many years have not been so embarrassed, as a close minister of His Majesty, Liu Yi has been smooth sailing for several years, covering the sky with one hand, but he never imagined that he was involved in the battle for the throne for no reason, and had to face the test of life and death because of the death of a little prince, he instantly understood, I am afraid that the current situation of the empire has really reached the point of life and death, step by step.

"Ask Your Majesty to be gracious, please be gracious. Liu Yi kowtowed like pounding garlic, and after a while, the skin and flesh were opened, and blood flowed, "Ask Your Majesty for mercy, ask Your Majesty for mercy." ”

The sky was bright, Liu Yi's crying plea resounded in the Yongning Palace, making everyone present sweat like rain, another prince died, and died in the palace, the murderer used cruel methods to kill His Royal Highness but only kept his face intact, it was obviously a provocation, he was challenging the imperial power, and he also ignored the imperial power, which brought about the thunderous anger of His Majesty today. The most favored ministers are still facing the death penalty, what will happen to them!

The sky was bright, but everyone felt that the only light in the sky was about to be obscured by darkness, which was an illusion caused by the gap in state of mind, an illusion brought about by despair, and everyone thought that the world they were in was on the verge of collapsing at any time.

"Come on, drag Leo out with a cane twenty. The cold voice came, but it made Liu Yi feel relieved, kowtowed more intensely, and shouted "Thank you Lord Longen, thank you Lord Longen!"

"After all, I can't bear to kill you, but if the same thing happens in the harem again, I will give you a white cloth. ”

"Thank you, thank you. "The great eunuch Liu Yi was dragged down, as the head of the Internal Affairs Office, the torturer will inevitably show mercy, and the twenty canes are just a warning.

The old emperor turned his eyes to look at the group of palace maids and eunuchs who were circled together, and his eyes were cold: "Listen clearly, I only ask once, when the prince died, what did anyone hear or see." ”

Everyone looked at each other, silent like cicadas.

The old emperor sighed helplessly and waved his hand: "Pull me down and behead me, punish the nine clans." ”

"Your Majesty spares your life, Your Majesty spares your life. Everyone cried and shouted, but unfortunately it was too late, and there was no possibility of changing the emperor's order. Until a palace maid broke free from the guards' confinement and rushed to his majesty and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, the slave maid has seen it, the slave maid has seen it." ”

"What do you see? The old emperor leaned lazily on the rattan chair, his right hand against his chin and stared at the palace maid who burst out of potential in a desperate situation, his eyes were cold, he had expected that someone would say something when he was cornered.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid was the one who laid the quilt for His Highness last night, when the slave maid had just laid out the futon and left the room, he saw a white shadow flashing in front of him, he thought he was dazzled, and he didn't think much about it, but now it seems that the phantom should be the assassin who assassinated His Highness. ”

"Do you remember the silhouette of the phantom? ”

"Dressed in white and with loose hair, she should be a tall woman. ”

"Is that all. His Majesty waved his hand again, a little impatient, clearly dissatisfied with the clues she had provided.

"No, no, no, Your Majesty, the slave has more important things to report. ”

"Then let's talk about it. ”

The more the slave thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, and after about half an hour he came to check again, and heard that there was movement in His Highness's room, and approached the window to listen, and it turned out to be a happy murmur of men and women, and the slave thought at that time, it must be the sluts who were looking forward to being pregnant with the royal race, and took advantage of His Highness's young age and ignorance to secretly go to his room to seduce him, and do something unseemly, and went back with a sip, thinking that he would report this matter to his master early tomorrow morning. ”

"What you said is true?" The old emperor was still expressionless, but his eyebrows were slightly raised, obviously arousing interest, there are indeed some palace maids in the palace who will take advantage of the princes' young age and ignorance to seduce him, once he is pregnant with the dragon seed, he can get rid of the status of slaves, but Tuoba Hua is just six years old this year, and it is really unimaginable to say that he can do something.