Painting Doctor Jinhua

As soon as these three words came out, Lu Yu's eyes widened with shock!

Liu Taozhi was the most hired assassin of the Northern Qi Dynasty. He was originally a slave of Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan. After Gao Huan died, he served his son Gao Cheng. After Gao Cheng died, he served Gao Yang. He was originally a commander-in-chief under Gao Yang. A blind man heard him and said, "Kings, princes, generals and ministers mostly died at his hands. They are like hawks and dogs, used by people."

Later, Gao Yang made him a full-time imperial assassin for Northern Qi. Gao Dezheng, a senior official of Northern Qi, was the first person killed by Liu Taozhi. Later, under Gao Yang's order, he killed Yong'an King Gao Jun and Shangdang King Gao Huan. He was known as the King's Killer, and he never failed!

This man is only loyal to the monarchs of Northern Qi. No matter if they are royal relatives or important officials in the court, anyone the emperor wants to kill but cannot kill openly will die at the hands of this man!

Therefore, they are also called the emperor's hawks and dogs!

"Impossible, Prince. Although His Majesty is a bit dissolute, he is not so foolish when it comes to state affairs. He would never let Commander Liu kill you. Besides, you are now on a diplomatic mission to the State of Chen under the emperor's order."

Lu Yu was shocked and completely incredulous.

"I know that even if this is true, it was never ordered by His Majesty. I'm just afraid... someone is falsely conveying the king's order!"

After Gao Changgong finished speaking, he looked at the guard Zhao Wu.

"Besides giving away Liu Taozhi, what else did this person say?"

Zhao Wu shook his head: "This man is quite brave. I spent a lot of effort and used all kinds of torture on him to get this sentence out of him. After he said this, he bit his tongue and committed suicide. I didn't have time to stop him!"

"Forget it. Since he can endure all these tortures, we must not take everything he said seriously. I think he is just trying to sow discord between me and Your Majesty..."

At this point, Gao Changgong fell silent. He was not sure what kind of person Qi Lord Gao Zhan was and whether he would kill Qi Lord because his achievements surpassed his own. But Gao Zhan would certainly not do such a thing as sending him on a diplomatic mission and secretly sending people to assassinate him. Moreover, although Qi Lord Gao Zhan had made several military achievements, he was still far from being able to surpass his own.

If it wasn't Gao Zhan's doing, then it could only be "those people" around him!

"Forget it, just bury him if he's dead, and there's no need to make this matter public. How about another assassin?"

"It was also a secret room set up by the Zhou Kingdom in the Southern Chen Dynasty. This time, he said he had received a mission to assassinate the prince at the Tiantai Temple, but he did not know who the mastermind behind it was. The person who came to deliver the message to him was also masked, so he did not see his true face. This person only recognized a spy token from the Northern Zhou Dynasty."

"What kind of token?" Gao Changgong asked.

Zhao Wu took out a piece of parchment and handed it to Gao Changgong.

The pattern drawn on the paper was exactly the same as the one on the token, in the shape of a tiger, but there were complicated patterns carved on the tiger's forehead, making it difficult to tell what it was!

Gao Changgong was silent for a long time, then suddenly murmured, "Tiger? Guard?"

Then he took the parchment and said, "Let this assassin go!"

"Ah? Why should we release it?" Lu Yu was puzzled.

"Someone will come to find him, or he will go back to report!"

……

It was already midnight, and the released assassin was like a released fish returning to the sea. He was very glad that Gao Changgong did not kill him, but this feeling of relief did not last long. When he staggered into a courtyard that was originally a secret base, an arrow hit him in the back.

The assassin died silently in this abandoned courtyard.

"I never thought that Gao Changgong had made preparations in advance. He not only killed several of our hidden guards, but also captured a spy that my father had planted in Southern Chen. Although the spy has been dealt with now, I don't know if Gao Changgong managed to get anything out of him. It seems that this assassination cannot be done again in the future!"

"Father's original intention was just to test the waters. If it succeeds, it will be considered as eliminating a strong enemy for our Zhou Kingdom and preventing the Qi-Chen alliance. But if it fails, then we can only adopt a conciliatory strategy..."

The place where the Zhou envoys stayed was still some distance away from the Qi envoys, but on this turbulent night, like Gao Changgong, Yuwen Hui, Yuwen Zhi and others also found it difficult to fall asleep.

"Tell me, how did Gao Changgong see through the trap we set? Also, he was clearly bitten by Hui Wei's poisonous snake, but he was unharmed. Was it really that Mr. Xie who saved him?"

"In my opinion, Prince Lanling and the genius doctor lady have no private relationship at all. Our speculation has made him suspicious!"

"But regardless of whether there was any ulterior motive, how did he prepare the ambush in advance? Was he just waiting for our people to carry out the assassination? Was he setting a trap for us?"

Yu Wenzhi said, "I'm afraid it has something to do with that miraculous doctor. The people we sent out earlier mistakenly thought that the two of them were having a private meeting. I'm afraid it wasn't a private meeting, but that the miraculous doctor said something to him."

"But our affairs have nothing to do with that miraculous doctor, right?"

Yuwen Hui asked in confusion.

"Then do you still remember the painting of the Eastern Palace Night Banquet?"

Gu Dushan suddenly interrupted and asked.

"That lady, the miracle doctor, said that her paintings can touch one's heart, understand human nature, and judge one's character. Although I was far away that day and did not take a close look at everything in the painting, I saw the expression of Chen Shuling in the painting. The brushwork was very clever in revealing Chen Shuling's ambition."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's faces changed.

"So, you are doubting our expressions in the painting..."

Yuwen Zhi seemed to be suddenly enlightened and recalled the painting he saw that day. At that moment he was just amazed at the exquisite painting skills of the young lady, who was able to depict what she saw in the Eastern Palace on the scroll in just a cup of tea. However, before he had the chance to observe the details, the eunuch presented the scroll to Chen Xu, the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty.

Now that I think about it, there really seems to be something unusual about that painting...

"You mean, that young lady conveyed some information to Gao Changgong through painting, but what could that young lady know? We have no contact with her..."

"I'm afraid that this young lady can really read people's minds... There are many talented people in this world, and it's not impossible for someone to be able to read people's minds!"

Having said this, everyone was silent for a while.

Yu Wenhui's face darkened and he said:

"In that case, we really can't let Gao Changgong get her. Such a beauty has excellent medical skills and can see through people's hearts. If she really becomes Gao Changgong's assistant, it will be even more detrimental to us or the Zhou Kingdom in the future!"

……

An elegant gathering of conversation made Xie Zhen's name the topic of conversation again after the miraculous doctor Xiao Jinyu, and a debate between Xie Zhen and other celebrities, and even a debate with His Majesty Chen Xu, was also widely circulated among many scholars.

"It seems that the Chenjun Xie family still has descendants left in the world. We haven't heard of their names for twenty years. This is really a miracle!"

"Yes! However, twenty years ago, the only one in the Xie family who could be described as having quick wit and extraordinary eloquence was Xie Yuqing, the eldest daughter!"

"Speaking of Xie Yuqing, the talented girl of the Xie family, it seems that there was a good story of a talented man and a beautiful woman with your majesty in the past. However, your majesty was born in a humble family, and the Xie family refused to marry their daughter off. It also happened to be the time of Hou Jing's rebellion, and the girl of the Xie family somehow died during the escape. I heard that your majesty was grieved for her for a long time!"

"Oh, if it's really that sad, how could His Majesty marry less than a year after her death!"

"That was when your majesty was held hostage in Jiangling. In order to win over the Chen family and gain their military power, Emperor Yuan of Liang, Xiao Yi, married his niece to him!"

There was still a lot of discussion in the tavern, but it was rare to hear such bold discussions about the past of the current emperor.

Xiao Jinyu shook his head, glanced at the two middle-aged scholars who were whispering not far from him, then stood up and walked out of the tavern.

"Sister, where are we going today? Sister has been busy these days, and Ling has no time to talk to her."

When they went out early this morning, Xiao Ruoling begged to go with her, saying that she wanted to see the outside world.

Xiao Ruoling, who grew up in a secluded place, really didn't know much about many things in the world except reading and writing, and the private matters in the backyard. Therefore, she felt fresh and curious about many things.

"Let's go to the Qinhuai River and relax! You've been accompanying your grandmother these days and haven't had a good time out. Today I'll take you out to have some fun!"

"okay!"

Xiao Ruoling smiled even more happily, and the few of them walked together to the Qinhuai River. Along the way, Xiao Ruoling heard a lot of rumors about Xie Zhen, and couldn't help but yearn for him. Thinking of that day, Xiao Jinyu and Xiao Xian were not at home. Xiao Ruoling hesitated for a long time, and finally asked:

"Sister, did you go to the elegant gathering that day? Have you met Mr. Xie?" The girl said with a look of longing, "I never thought there would be such a talented person in the world. How great it would be if Ah Ling could have the honor to meet him?"