Xiao Qinghuan

Now that the words have been spoken, Jiang Xiaohan no longer has any worries.

He led Yan Qing to the study room, and then took out a small sandalwood box from the hidden compartment on the bookshelf.

The box was painted with gold thread, and a thin strip of red paper was pasted on it. It was locked tightly, and it was impossible to see what was inside.

"My sage ordered me to inspect the two rivers, and gave me the right to act cheaply. I can convict any person below the second rank according to the law of the Great Chu." Jiang Xiaohan put the wooden box on the table, and lifted the seal on it: " When I left Beijing this time, apart from the official seal on my body, I used this seal to order the forbidden army."

The wooden box was made of velvet, and a jade talisman was neatly placed on it.The jade talisman is not the usual pattern of dragon and tiger, but a half-blooming crabapple flower is engraved, and the other branch is slanted to the side. The half-blooming crabapple is cut off by the edge of the jade talisman, which looks like a whole piece of jade. Cut in half.

Yan Qing felt that the lines on the jade looked familiar, so he couldn't help but take a second look.

"Although this inspection on behalf of the Holy Majesty is related to the future affairs of the country, I always feel that His Majesty's allocation of my five hundred forbidden troops is too much." Jiang Xiaohan didn't pay attention to his abnormality, but pursed his lips, which was rare Worried: "Until a few days ago, I received news from Beijing that His Majesty was seriously ill and ordered the two princes to supervise the country."

"Two?" Yan Qing frowned upon hearing this, "How could it be two."

"This is also what I don't understand." Jiang Xiaohan sat behind the desk, leaning forward slightly: "But I think His Majesty's serious illness may have other secrets."

"When I was in Kunlun, I also heard a little about these two princes." Yan Qing sat opposite him, dipped his finger in some tea, and drew a few lines on the table: "Although the third prince Ning Zheng is the eldest son, he is unbearable." Fortunately, it was born by the empress, who took the title of head of the imperial concubine, and the Minister of the Household Department is his relative, and the daughter of the Taichang Temple Li Yuan is also related to his relative."

"The fourth prince, Ning Yu, is the son of Concubine Wen. Although he has the talent for governing the country, he is too vicious. If I remember correctly, the second son of the Minister of Criminal Affairs is his companion." Yan Qing paused, sitting on the table He drew a long line between the two parties, thought for a while, and added another stroke: "Although Ning Yu's relatives are only Wen Zui, who lived in Pingjiang, the servant of the Ministry of Rites seems to be the deceased old lady of the Wen family. favorite student."

Jiang Xiaohan smiled approvingly, and Yan Qing, who no longer hides his clumsiness, is like a piece of chalcedony stripped from a stone shell, warm and dazzling.

"Yes." Jiang Xiaohan said with a smile: "The Kunlun faction really lives up to its reputation, and they can know the world's affairs without leaving home."

"Thank you." Yan Qing lowered his eyes and looked at the water stains on the table: "But apart from these relationships, I have no way of corroborating the rest of the news."

"Yushitai." Jiang Xiaohan said suddenly.

"Ok?"

"Fan Rong, doctor of Yushitai, is Wen Zui's childhood friend." Jiang Xiaohan said.

Yan Qing understood: "So from this point of view, it is Ning Yu who is better." He paused, and then said: "But Shu Chuan, the right minister, is over sixty years old this year, and he is upright... even pedantic. Support Lidi Lichang."

"So it's not an exaggeration to say that the two highnesses are evenly matched in Beijing. No matter which side your majesty favors, at this stall, it is equivalent to appointing a candidate for the crown prince." Jiang Xiaohan said: "I thought that this inspection of the two rivers would It is to pick out the faults and omissions of the two parties. But when His Majesty suddenly complained, I feel that it is not that simple."

"Throughout the ages, those who are emperors have deep thoughts, who can guess it." Yan Qing said lightly: "If you are the two princes, who do you think will be the emperor?"

Jiang Xiaohan smiled, took out two sheets of rice paper from under the paperweight beside him, and gave one to Yan Qing.

"If I say how boring it is, how about Ah Qing and I confront each other."

Yan Qing pursed her lips, folded the rice paper in half with a faint smile, and took a pen from Jiang Xiaohan's pen holder.

After a while, two folded rice paper strips were spread side by side on the table.

——Heaven and man are not far apart, only in people's hearts and people don't know.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

Just after the curfew in Pingjiang City, the watchman of East Street turned around the street with an old oil-paper lantern, and yawned with drooping eyelids.

He has the last two streets left to patrol. The East Street is no more lively than the West Street, and there are no restaurants that need to stay open all night. When the curfew comes, the street is clean, except for the paper lanterns that flicker on and off in his hand. , even a mouse is rare.

The watchman beat the drum in his hand one after another, and sang the watch in a prolonged tone.The candles of the lantern were burned down to the bottom, and the orange light could barely illuminate the distance two steps in front of him. He took out a book the size of a palm, and wrote "Everything as usual" squarely.

He put away the books, blew out the candles in the lantern, and pushed open the door of his house.

The night wind carried the withered magnolia petals down at the street corner, and a ghostly figure silently crossed the street corner and landed in the depths of a certain alley.

The figure flashed away in the night, and within a short while, more than a dozen black-clothed masked people rushed out from the back street, chasing after the figure.

The young man leaned over and shuttled back and forth in the streets and alleys of Linzibi, fine sweat oozes from his forehead, and there is a strong smell of blood in the air.

The black clothes on his back were already soaked with blood, the young man's face was pale, but his steps were not slow at all.He was like a nimble fish moving through the dark night, listening to the gradually weakening footsteps behind him, he stopped slowly in a high wall alley.

The young man touched the wound on his back with his backhand, and the pain shivered.He put the long sword wrapped tightly with cloth strips in his hand on the ground, casually tore the hem of his clothes into several long pieces of cloth, and wrapped them around his body to stop the bleeding.

Under the thin moonlight on a rainy night, the young man's face was covered with a thin half-face mask, only his well-shaped chin was exposed, his eyes had no warmth, and could even be called ice-cold.

He touched his chest, where there was a bulging package.He reached in and touched it to make sure it was still there, then tightened the bandaged cloth, and stood up holding the sword.

He can't stop yet.

The pursuers were still behind, Wen Zui's control over the Pingjiang Mansion was beyond his expectation, from nightfall to now, in just an hour, he had already shaken off two groups of pursuers.

But it's far from over.

The young man knew that Wen Zui would not let it go, but it was already a curfew, and Wen Zui would definitely notify the city gates to conduct strict investigations before tomorrow morning, and he might not be able to leave the city in a short time.

But the East Street is too quiet, and the guards sent by Wen Zui are not lacking in experts. Although he is good at lightness kung fu, he is injured, and sooner or later he will be found out. Early tomorrow morning, he has already become a nameless ghost in the Pingjiang Mansion.

The young man thought, pressed his chest again, and made up his mind.He carried the long sword behind his back, stepped onto the wall in a few steps, and ran in the direction of West Street.

In the deep alley behind him, the two men in black saw that he was going towards West Street, so they stopped following him, and turned back into the night without a trace.