Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

From then on, the three of them worked together on cases.

At first, Guo Ziyi was worried that Gao Lishi's appearance would not only be of no benefit to the progress of the case, but that he might also be like Gao Chen, not wanting to do serious business, but only thinking about currying favor with the emperor.

However, his impression of Gao Lishi changed after only a few days.

Looking at all the case files that had been compiled since the Crown Prince's assassination, Gao Lishi pushed them aside and shook his head, saying, "There's no need to look at these anymore. Just a glance is enough to know that these are just things the mastermind behind the scenes wants us to see."

He could tell something was wrong with just a glance?

Guo Ziyi found this intriguing and asked, "What do you think is wrong, Eunuch Gao?"

His Highness Prince Shou said the same thing at the time, but their investigation, from the incident to the present, has taken a very long time. And this Eunuch Gao, does he possess some kind of supernatural insight, that he could hit the nail on the head so accurately? Or is he just being deliberately mysterious, a lucky accident?

Gao Lishi glanced at Guo Ziyi, a smile in his eyes.

It seemed as if he had seen through Guo Ziyi's thoughts.

Guo Ziyi was inevitably nervous and withdrew his gaze.

Gao Lishi said, "I could tell something was wrong just from the first page. Throughout history, there have been two types of assassinations. One is a covert assassination under the cover of night, avoiding the eyes and ears of others; the other is an open assassination in broad daylight, disguised as an identity."

“The former genuinely wanted someone dead, while the latter was more concerned with proclaiming his righteous cause to the crowd. His Highness the Crown Prince said the assassin shouted slogans before launching his projectiles. If he were truly a follower of Princess Taiping, shouldn’t he have done this when there were many people around? There was no one else around, only the Crown Prince whom he was about to assassinate. Who was he shouting his carefully crafted slogans for?” Gao Lishi explained in detail.

He could tell something was wrong from just this one layer.

What's with all the chanting of slogans and cursing of the emperor?

These are all just attempts to cover up the truth.

Gao Lishi laughed again: "But this is also a good thing, as it has truly eliminated the possibility of any remnants of the previous dynasty's faction. Instead, it has drawn our attention back to the palace. If I'm not mistaken, you two, like me, are already suspicious of the palace, aren't you?"

Although Gao Lishi was originally a eunuch, he spoke and acted with composure and dignity. What was even more surprising was that he seemed to have his own theories on solving cases and appeared to be quite experienced.

Li Mao and Guo Ziyi exchanged a glance and nodded.

Guo Ziyi clasped his hands and said, "I didn't know that Eunuch Gao was such a capable person before. I was prejudiced because of my narrow-mindedness. I hope that Eunuch Gao will be magnanimous and not hold a grudge against a rough man like me."

Gao Lishi naturally shook his head, indicating that he didn't care about these things.

He spent several years in the palace, and was then granted special permission by the emperor to leave the palace to serve as an official for several more years.

His temperament is far beyond that of ordinary people.

After that, Li Mao asked Gao Lishi for his opinion and received the response: "Now that the person behind the scenes has not achieved his goal, he will definitely make another move. Although this person is ruthless, he is obviously an impatient person. Let's wait a few days, and sooner or later he will lose his patience."

I thought that with Gao Lishi around, things would progress faster.

Unexpectedly, there was no progress at all, and the three of them waited for three days in a row.

Just as Guo Ziyi was about to lose his composure, a secret letter suddenly appeared in Li Mao's study. The envelope was addressed to "His Highness Prince Shou," and inside was only a slip of paper with a few lines of text: "At midnight, ten miles east, under the old willow tree by the river, one person will keep an appointment."

Li Mao and Guo Ziyi exclaimed in unison, "Indeed!"

As Gao Lishi had predicted, the person behind the scenes couldn't sit still any longer.

Li Mao immediately sent someone to invite Gao Lishi to discuss countermeasures.

Before long, Gao Lishi arrived in a hurry.

The three sat around in the study, the atmosphere tense and serious.

"Eunuch Gao, what does this secret letter say?"

Gao Lishi took the letter from Li Mao, looked at it carefully, and then handed it to Guo Ziyi: "The other party is obviously eager to see Your Highness. In that case, we might as well go and keep the appointment."

His eyes were sharp, and he had the air of someone who wouldn't catch a wolf without risking their cub.

Guo Ziyi frowned slightly, his tone full of hesitation: "But the letter states that only one person will go to the appointment. Isn't that too dangerous? How can we let His Highness be put in danger alone!"

Gao Lishi looked at Li Mao, his tone becoming more serious: "That's right. Your Highness needs to take some risks to find out the other side's true intentions. But don't worry, General Guo and I will follow closely behind you and will never let Your Highness be alone in danger."

"This……"

Guo Ziyi wanted to say something more, but Li Mao gestured for him not to say anything more.

Li Mao said directly, "Okay, let's do it this way. I'll go to the appointment, and you all follow behind me. Since he's keeping me alive to frame me, he certainly won't take my life. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Seeing that he himself had said so, Guo Ziyi could only remain silent.

He secretly resolved to protect His Highness and never let the villains harm him.

At midnight, everything was ready.

Li Mao rode ahead alone, while Gao Lishi and Guo Ziyi followed in the same carriage. To avoid attracting attention, they maintained a certain distance, but enough to react quickly to any unexpected situation.

Inside the carriage, Gao Lishi gently stroked the whisk in his hand and suddenly spoke: "General Guo, do you think the target of this assassination attempt was really the Crown Prince?"

Guo Ziyi was slightly taken aback, then seemed to understand something: "What does Eunuch Gao mean..."

“I feel that it’s more like they’re targeting Prince Shou. The assassination of the Crown Prince might just be a pretext,” Gao Lishi said with certainty. “If the assassination succeeds, all the better. If it fails, so be it. The main purpose is to make His Majesty suspicious of Prince Shouwang. The assassination plan is like dumplings wrapped up to frame Prince Shou.”

“What Eunuch Gao said makes sense. This also explains why the person behind the scenes is reluctant to show themselves and instead tries to lure His Highness out in this way.” Guo Ziyi’s face was grim. It turned out that His Highness had long been a thorn in the side of others.

Guo Ziyi thought to himself, a resolute glint in his eyes: "No matter what, I will do everything in my power to protect His Highness! If anyone tries to frame him, I will not allow it."

As they were speaking, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly became rapid ahead.

Guo Ziyi quickly lifted the carriage curtain and saw Li Mao riding forward, gradually disappearing into the distance.

"Hurry up!" Guo Ziyi said hurriedly.

The driver immediately sped up, not daring to relax for a moment.

Before long, Li Mao arrived at the designated location—under the old willow tree by the river, ten miles away.

He looked around; all was quiet, save for the occasional flight of a few birds that brought a few sounds of nature. A sense of unease crept into his heart. He gripped his sword hilt tightly, cautiously observing his surroundings.

"Your Highness Prince Shou, you have finally shown yourself."