Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

At three quarters past the hour of Xu, blood from the third floor of Hongyufang dripped along the eaves. When the eighth blood flower appeared on the carpet, the Black Feather Guards of the City Defense Battalion finally broke open the black iron chains.

The moment Shen Zhengqing stepped into the Yunhe Pavilion holding the goose-feather knife, a lamp flower just burst out from the gilded lampstand, casting the shadow of the black bird holding a sword on the screen onto his dark green official uniform, as if he was possessed by an evil spirit.

"Corral all the people in Hongyufang in the southeast corner, and lock all the singing and dancing girls in the cellar without their jewelry."

Shen Zhengqing rubbed the sticky blood scab on his fingertips. This was a habit he developed after becoming the commander of the city defense battalion.

When he squatted down, the black iron wristband collided with half of Master Li's spine, making a sound of metal and stone. The eighteen neatly arranged holes on the broken bone corresponded to the "black bird beak" torture instrument used by the State of Zhao to torture traitors.

When the old woman was dragged here, the jade earrings had already fallen into some puddle of blood.

Her fat body crushed half of the pipa fragments, and she suddenly screamed and shrank back: "It's none of my business, it's really none of my business!"

The tip of Shen Zhengqing's boot lifted her chin, revealing a bruise on her neck - it was the crescent-shaped mark left by the "sparrow tongue locking throat" technique commonly used by Zhao State's spies.

"You Rouge..."

Shen Zhengqing suddenly picked up the cinnabar powder on the old woman's collar and asked, "Is it mixed with the malachite powder from Zhao's property?"

His blade slowly scraped across the other's trembling throat.

The old woman's pupils suddenly shrank, and she finally collapsed on the ground and explained: "The girl held the copper fish talisman of the Ministry of Justice... and said she wanted to offer treasures to Master Dugu...

I... I saw that she was quite pretty and had given me so many benefits, so I thought that if she could be favored by Master Dugu, I... I could also be protected by the Dugu family."

"Hmph!" Shen Zhengqing snorted coldly, knowing that the other party was a greedy person, and turned to go upstairs.

When Shen Zhengqing's deerskin boots stepped through the corridor on the third floor, three sword marks on the door of Yunhe Pavilion caught his attention.

At the top, there is a relief of a black bird that has cut through the gilded door lintel. The sword tip has penetrated three inches into the wood without any vibration. This must have been caused by the person holding the sword in his left hand while slashing in mid-air.

He knelt on one knee at the edge of the pool of blood and picked up a blood-stained candied cherry between two fingers.

Looking closely under the glass lamp, a few strands of silver light were embedded in the fruit fibers.

"Someone, get the magnet."

When the magnet attracted seven ox-hair needles, the guards gasped - these hidden weapons soaked in "Crane's Beak Indigo" were actually hidden in Dugu Yan's favorite sweets.

Shen Zhengqing used a silver knife to cut open the cracks in the carved floor, and three deformed jade bells rolled out. The dried purple marks on the bell tongues confirmed the source of the poisonous fog.

"Commander, there's something fishy about the window frame."

The Black Feather Guard held a fire starter and moved close to the carved wooden window. Shen Zhengqing licked the window frame with the tip of his tongue, and the salty and fishy taste mixed with the taste of rust exploded in his mouth.

He violently ripped open the brocade window screen, and saw that the twelve black iron chains were actually cast with human blood between the mortise and tenon joints, with lapis lazuli powder mixed in the blood stains - this was the secret material that the Zhao royal family used to paint the statues of gods during sacrifices.

When the old woman was dragged to the Persian tapestry, Shen Zhengqing was wiping a severed finger with suede.

The gold threads in the nail crevices are exactly the same as those used in the "Night Banquet of Han Xizai" on the screen.

"You gold screen!"

He suddenly turned around and stared at the twitching corner of the old woman's eye: "You are using the gold inlay method specially provided by the Zhao State Shangfu Bureau, right? You have to melt a gold Kaiyuan for every three feet."

The blood-stained suede was slapped on the other person's face, revealing half a gold coin with teeth marks wrapped underneath.

The old woman was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground.

When the guard presented the silver needle dug out from the back of the corpse's neck, Shen Zhengqing suddenly stabbed the tip of the needle into the wine in the Nautilus glass.

The wine was boiling and producing blue foam, which condensed into a black bird flapping its wings.

"Han Chan's poison-tempering technique."

He crushed the crystals in the cup and said, "Catch Zhao Nu who raises pigeons in the kitchen. This level of 'Crane's Blue' requires the blood and blood of living people to nourish the poison every day."

When the Yinshi bangzi sounded, Shen Zhengqing stood on the terrace and deduced the murderer's movement route.

He noticed that there were scratches on the moss on the third tile of the eaves, and below was the warehouse where the Zhou Shang Dynasty stored frankincense.

When the guards searched out the blood-stained plain gauze robe from the pile of spices, a wisp of silver thread flickered in the moonlight in the gap between the tiles - it was the Tiancan rope specially made by Han Chan.

All signs indicate that this was all caused by the remnants of the Zhao State.

Even the old woman was bribed by the remnants of the Zhao State and became the enemy's accomplice.

The matter was of great importance, Shen Zhengqing did not dare to neglect it and immediately gave the order:

"Seal off this place. No one can enter or leave without the order of the Crown Prince and this general!"

After saying this, Shen Zhengqing turned and left.

Then, the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard on the street, heading towards the palace.

Three quarters of an hour later.

The East Palace clock pointed to the hour of Yin, and the teacup in Chu Ning's hand exploded when he heard the three words "Xuan Niao's beak".

"So, this incident was definitely caused by the remnants of the Zhao State. They deliberately chose to cause chaos at this moment in order to distract our court from recruiting soldiers?"

Chu Ning threw away the broken pieces of the teacup in his hand, with a hint of coldness in his tone.

Shen Zhengqing nodded and said, "I'm afraid that's the case. Otherwise, why would they choose to take action at this moment?"

"Although the curfew tonight gave them the opportunity to act, Dugu Yan usually spends a lot of time at Hongyufang, so she has many opportunities to act."

"Zhao was the first country to be destroyed by our dynasty. Now that our dynasty is expanding its power, the remnants of Zhao want to stop us, so we have no choice but to take action."

The analysis was well-reasoned, and Chu Ning looked at him with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

Although Shen Zhengqing was still very young, when he promoted the other party, some people in the court said that he was nepotism.

But from now on, Shen Zhengqing has grown a lot in the past year or two.

However, youth means impatience and ignoring the most important issues.

"You are right. The purpose of the remnants of Zhao State may be to prevent our dynasty from recruiting soldiers."

Chu Ning said calmly: "However, you have overlooked the most important point."

"Please give me your instructions, Your Highness!" Shen Zhengqing bowed his head and asked humbly.

Chu Ning narrowed his eyes, and a hint of coldness flashed across his face: "If they are just the remnants of the Zhao Kingdom and have no support behind them, how can they develop their power in the capital of our dynasty?"

"Moreover, they were able to conceal it from my Royal Guards, which further proves that the people behind them have infiltrated my Royal Guards."

"Otherwise, it is impossible for me not to know about such a powerful force in Kyoto."

As soon as these words came out, Shen Zhengqing's face suddenly became a little ugly.

"Your Highness, do you suspect that other dynasties are secretly supporting the remnants of the Zhao Kingdom?"

"Not bad!"

Chu Ning sneered, "Only the other four dynasties can do such a thing under my nose."

"This matter involves the Grand Tutor's only grandson, as well as the sons of some other officials. It cannot be underestimated. If we don't investigate it thoroughly, the Grand Tutor and these officials may not be willing to work for me!"

"I'll give you half a month to find out who the murderer is and who is behind it."

"Yes!" Shen Zhengqing responded, then turned and left.

After Shen Zhengqing left the East Palace, Chu Ning rubbed his temples and shouted outside:

"Someone, please ask the Grand Tutor and the others to come to the East Palace!"

The grandsons and sons of these people were killed, and as the crown prince, he had to do something.