I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 70 Speculation
It can actually be related to Hua Ling!
Zhang Rui lowered his head, thinking about the clues he had now. According to what the old man in Tian Ye had said, he discovered the painting spirit by chance in a village he passed by, and then collected it. However, he was framed and dragged into the painting market, and almost couldn't get out.

Is this true or false? After all, that guy hardly said a single truthful word, and he is already dead, so there is no way to ask him whether his words are true or false.

If the painting spirit and the Princess of Jialin County are the same person, then could the person behind the scenes be related to the owner of the painting market?
Could it be that the mysterious prince is behind the Tanhua case?

It seems that I can only wait until I get back and interrogate the painting spirit!
While thinking, Zhang Rui retracted his fish-eye magical power and returned to the team with Murong Yunji.

After using the new method, he had his own spiritual power, which made it much more convenient for him to explore the Heavenly Secret Box. However, he did not have enough time to refine it for the time being, so he still used jade to seal the evil spirits.

If it is sealed with jade, the number that can be used is limited. The ability of fish eyes is more controllable. If it is sealed with high-quality jade, it can be used three times, which is the most stable ability at present.

There are now three evil spirits in his hands, namely the painting spirit, the evil spirit (Chun), and the pair of fish eyes.

First of all, the most powerful one is the evil spirit: Chun. In addition to the incredible abilities of decomposition, storage of energy and change of physique, there is also the terrifying ability of disease.

The epidemic ability is the most uncontrollable bomb, an indiscriminate nuclear bomb that cannot be used easily.

The most useful ability is the former. He has used it once before. That time was to scare people in the temple. It was a temporary use of the energy stored by (Chun) for many years to intimidate. At that time, the martial arts officer hit him and broke his hand. It was not because of his physical strength, but simply because he was rebounded by the energy. In fact, there was not much change in himself.

In other words, this thing can only scare people, but can hardly be used in frontal combat, because if you are not careful, your fragile body will be instantly blown to ashes by the energy.

Moreover, each use consumes a lot of energy. Although the evil spirit has collected countless essences and blood over the years and converted a lot of energy, it cannot withstand its own waste. It is better not to use it if possible.

Chun has a second ability, which is to change physique. Its previous host was a disabled person, but he was transformed to almost become a master. Although he is no longer at the age to practice martial arts, he has the opportunity to transform again. As long as he gives himself enough time, he will have the opportunity to become a warrior.

But all of them take time to fulfill, and now that so many things are piling up, what I lack most is time.

When he thought about the attitude of the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards just now, and the fact that the princess might be going to the capital soon, he was afraid that he didn't have much time.

"Your Majesty, the Dali Temple's Chief Justice Zhang Rui requests an audience."

"Xuan!"

The emperor's voice is very unique, a deep baritone that is not heavy and gentle, but it carries a very special kind of pressure. It is not as aggressive as Hong Lie's voice. It is the kind that makes people want to get close to it, but also makes people feel pressured.

"Your humble servant Zhang Rui pays respects to Your Majesty."

Before Zhang Rui came, he had learned some etiquette. Taizu of the Jin Dynasty rose to power as a commoner, and he hated many rules of previous dynasties. He believed that people who kneeled would lose their vitality, and that heaven and earth should not allow others to kneel except parents. Therefore, even commoners without official status did not need to kneel when meeting the emperor.

Naturally, I don’t need it either.

"This common woman pays respect to His Majesty!"

The women of the Zhang family also performed a blessing ceremony.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen." Several people bowed again.

"Lord Zhang, do you still remember me?" The emperor looked at Zhang Rui and smiled slightly.

"Your Majesty, I had the honor of meeting you three years ago, and I will never forget it."

"Hahahaha" the emperor laughed: "It seems that Lord Zhang can't remember it."

Zhang Rui: “.”

"Back then in Qingfeng Tower, you boasted about your lofty ambitions. Don't look down on young people because they are poor. I still have a deep impression of you, Lord Zhang. I just didn't expect that what I thought was just a young man's arrogant and ridiculous behavior was actually an outstanding performance."

Zhang Rui took a deep breath and cursed the AI in his heart. How many embarrassing things did he do when he was AFK?
Not only did he embarrass himself in front of Cui Yan, he also embarrassed himself in public?
When he thought of that scene, he felt so embarrassed that his toes could dig a hole in the ground!
"Your Majesty, what are you talking about?" Zhang Rui raised his head and smiled reluctantly, "I was just stating a fact back then. Look, didn't I take the nightingale back with me?"

"Hahahaha!" The emperor laughed out loud. "What a fact! What a good example of not looking down on young people because they are poor. Are all the children of wealthy families nowadays so good at having fun?"

Luo and Zhang Meng behind him looked at Zhang Rui in astonishment. They obviously didn't expect that the other party had done such a thing before?
The queen beside the emperor looked at Zhang Rui deeply.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

"I haven't seen someone as interesting as Zhang Aiqing in many years." The emperor said with a smile, "Do you know why I asked you to come here?"

"I probably know something."

"Tell me"

"First of all, of course, you want to thank me for saving His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and reward me in person." Zhang Rui said with a smile.

"You are not modest." The emperor rolled his eyes at him. "Then I think he wants to ask about the details of Beihai." Zhang Rui lowered his voice.

The emperor nodded and glanced at the queen, who understood and said, "You guys come with me."

"Yes!"

The women of the Zhang family responded quickly. The old lady and Mrs. Luo looked at Zhang Rui with some concern. Zhang Rui signaled them to rest assured. As for the safety of their family, with Murong Yunji there and they were in the palace, there shouldn't be any problems.

"Come with me."

Zhang Rui nodded and followed the emperor out of Kunning Palace.

"I heard about the Crown Prince's situation in the letter from Yuchi Hong. I never expected that Yuchi Peng would die just like that."

"Everyone in the world believes that the next Grandmaster will be him, Yuchi Peng."

"His Excellency the Duke reached that point at the last moment." Zhang Rui said with emotion.

It’s a dream come true, right?

"It's useless if a person is dead!" The emperor seemed very realistic: "He can ask me for help. He doesn't trust me anymore!"

"It's not that the Duke doesn't trust His Majesty." Zhang Rui recalled what he had said to Yuchi Peng. "I had a chat with the Duke once. He never thought that His Majesty would do anything to the Yuchi family. He said that even if things went wrong, His Majesty would leave a way out for the Yuchi family for his sake."

"What did he say?" The emperor laughed angrily, "Old man, if that's the case, why don't you ask me for help?"

"Under the circumstances at that time, there was no guarantee that any letter would fall into your hands once it left Beihai City. The one who could set up such a grand plan must be a man with great connections. I'm afraid that all the communication routes have been blocked, and asking for help would fall into the other party's calculations again."

"What a man with great connections!" The emperor put away his smile and looked into the depths of the garden: "I didn't even know that among my sons, there is such a great man. I am really blessed!"

Zhang Rui looked at the emperor's back with a complicated expression. He could feel that the emperor was angry, but more sad.

He seems to really care about Yuchi Peng.

It seems that the emperor is not absolutely ruthless. At least this emperor is very friendly to his former comrades-in-arms.

"My dear, which good son of mine do you think it will be?"

"I can't guess this." Zhang Rui smiled bitterly. He didn't even know how many sons the emperor had. How could he guess?

"I heard what Hong Lie did to you outside the palace gate just now. He is a fool. My dear, please don't bother with him."

"The commander-in-chief loves his daughter dearly, and I understand that."

"When you were on the bridge, you really didn't know what was going on below?"

“I really don’t know.” Zhang Rui shook his head. “At that time, my skills were not perfected yet, so my abilities were limited. But anyone who could kill someone right under my nose must have extraordinary skills.”

"What's your guess?"

"Painting Spirit."

"Painting spirit?" The emperor frowned. "Is it related to that painting spirit again?"

"At least there is some connection!" Zhang Rui analyzed, "Think about it, Your Majesty. Those candidates for the third place who died tragically were all young talents carefully selected by major families. They all had special skills. Even if it was a planned assassination, it would be a bit exaggerated to make every one of them die silently, isn't it?"

The emperor nodded upon hearing this. It was indeed so. Those hidden families had many tricks up their sleeves. Moreover, the Tanhua case lasted for seven days, with candidates for the Tanhua dying continuously during those seven days. If one or two at the beginning were not expected, the people later must have been alert, but they were still killed silently, without even being able to ask for help. It was indeed a bit exaggerated.

"There is one thing that can do it." Zhang Rui whispered.

"Painting City?"

"Similar to the ability of the painting market." Zhang Rui analyzed seriously: "The painting scroll is completely isolated from the outside world, which is also the most convenient. If the place where those top scholars lived back then was actually a painting scroll that had been prepared long ago, then it is possible that a closed murder space has been formed."

"So that's how it is." The emperor reacted quickly. If the places where those candidates for the third place in the imperial examination lived had been painted in advance on scrolls, and if they walked in without realizing it, wouldn't they be locked in the painting market?
"But, in order to protect those candidates for the third place," the emperor said quietly, "I arranged them all in the palace!"

　I'm very sorry, the timer was wrong just now. I'm very sorry, it has been corrected.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)