in the world of murder

The sun came out for a while in the afternoon, melting some of the snow, and it froze again in the evening.In the early morning of the next day, the snow was still white and white, but it was not soft at all, and turned into piercing ice.

Cheng Lian was only wearing official robes, without a cape, and was shivering from the cold.He rubbed his palms together and walked towards the East Palace.

Xizhen can also be regarded as his backer, and if something happened to his backer, he had to go and see it out of reason.

The East Palace is heavily guarded, with armored Jinwu guards standing every ten steps. The maids and eunuchs who come and go are all newcomers, and their eyes are full of panic.

He reported to the guarding soldiers that he wanted to meet His Royal Highness, and the soldiers went in to report.After a while, an eunuch came out and led Cheng Lian to the flower hall.It was freezing cold outside, but the flower hall was as warm as spring, and there were even two pots of hibiscus flowers in full bloom, which were very delicate and beautiful.

"His Royal Highness is here." The eunuch's voice was a bit sharp.

Cheng Lian hurriedly raised his clothes and knelt down, saluting.The sound of steady walking came from inside, and in the blink of an eye, a piece of luxurious gold-woven brocade passed in front of Cheng Lian.

"My minister has met the prince, and the prince is a thousand years old."

"Get up." His Royal Highness said calmly.

Cheng Lian got up, and when he looked up, he saw His Highness the Crown Prince above him.

He froze, "You, senior brother..."

Xie Li didn't shy away from him, he just sat down at the head and ordered someone to serve tea.

"Master Cheng, long time no see."

Cheng Lian didn't know what kind of expression to put on, whether he was surprised by the new identity of the elder brother, or surprised by his resurrection from death.At that moment, Cheng Lianfei quickly considered whether to use the past events of Jiuyi Mountain to make friends with Xie Lipanpan.

"I heard someone came to see me?"

A voice suddenly came from inside, Cheng Lian looked, Xi Zhen was dressed in a shiny red silk dress, a gold jade belt around his waist, and pink boots, his long hair was only tied with a hairpin, half of it fell on both sides of his ears, The indescribable coquettish demeanor.

He was probably really sick, his complexion was very pale, but his lips were bright red, with a lazy look.

Cheng Lian raised his eyebrows, all thoughts in his mind disappeared - he almost forgot about Xie Li and Xi Zhen.

"Hello, Mr. Xi." Cheng Lian cupped his hands and said with a smile, "I heard that Mr. Xi has been murdered by villains. I am worried, so I came to see you."

Xi Zhen held the stove in his hand and said, "Thank you."

Xie Li looked at Xi Zhen and said: "Since that's the case, you two can talk here, I won't accompany you."

He got up, ordered people to add two more charcoal basins, and sent Jinwu guards to surround the flower hall.

Cheng Lian hurriedly sent His Royal Highness the Prince away.Xie Li's expression was always calm, he brushed past Xi Zhen, Xi Zhen didn't lift his eyes, pretending he didn't see it.

After His Royal Highness left, Cheng Lian straightened up and teased Xi Zhen, "Little brother is as cute as ever."

Xi Zhen snorted, walked to one side of the chair and sat down.

"I really didn't expect to see senior brother here." Cheng Lian said, "Not only is he not dead, but he is also the Prince of Chongming. No wonder he is willing to show his face in court."

He suddenly walked to Xi Zhen's side again, and said: "Then you may have a better way to compete with him for the direct disciples?"

Xi Zhen sneered, "So what if he is kind or not? If he can't get angry, let him kill me for revenge."

Seeing Xi Zhen's appearance, Cheng Lian smiled and said: "If you want to say that you are powerful, you are more powerful. It is obvious that you killed senior brother for the position of direct disciple, but he is not only not angry, but also treats you like a golden house. .I don’t know, it’s because he’s sorry for you.”

"What kind of golden house hides the beauty?" Xi Zhen frowned and said, "Nonsense."

"This is not nonsense," Cheng Lian said, "the court caused an uproar over the matter of your poisoning, and how many people were imprisoned. People say that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was furious because of you, a beauty. Even Yu Shitai criticizes you, saying that you are not clear with Dong Gong, so you must be a sycophant like Deng Han."

Xi Zhen sneered, "I don't worry about eating carrots salty, just focus on these trivial matters."

Cheng Lian paused with a smile, and said: "This is wronging them. Recently, Yushitai has done a big thing."

"What's the matter?" Xi Zhen asked.He was in a coma for a few days and knew little about the outside world.

"Master Chen Lian was impeached for more than a dozen crimes, including forming a party for personal gain, oppressing dissidents, accepting bribes, disregarding human life, and disrespecting the emperor. The evidence is solid and cannot be denied."

Xi Zhen frowned, and Cheng Lian continued: "In order to protect Chen Lian, the elder of the Chen family apologized to His Majesty, and all the more than a dozen children of the Chen family in the court resigned from office. Although Chen Lian was spared the death penalty, he was relegated to the status of a commoner. , paid tens of thousands of taels of silver to go to exile, and now go back to my hometown."

When Xi Zhen saw Cheng Lian, Cheng Lian straightened his official uniform and said with a smile, "By the way, tell Mr. Xi that I have been promoted again."

Xi Zhen looked complicated and said, "Congratulations."

After Cheng Lian left, Xi Zhen meditated alone, Xie Li came out from behind the screen and said, "How did you know Cheng Lian so well?"

Xi Zhen came back to his senses and said, "It's not considered acquaintance, we all use each other."

"It's better to stay away from him," Xie Li sat down beside him, and said, "Who do you think Chen Lian reported."

Xi Zhen was slightly stunned, "It's Cheng Lian."

Xie Li nodded, "If it wasn't someone close to me, how could I get Chen Lian's account book and correspondence."

He looked in the direction where Cheng Lian was leaving, "Although Chen Lian felt sorry for him, he was sincere to him. If so, Cheng Lian didn't hesitate at all when he stabbed the knife in the back. It's a pity that Chen Lian was so affectionate Pay the water."

Xi Zhen sneered, "Chen Lian is not a good guy either, he deserves to end up today after he has been torturing Cheng Lian over and over again."

Xie Li looked at Xizhen, "Could it be that Cheng Lian did nothing wrong? He approached Chen Lian with ulterior motives at the very beginning. He wanted to get promoted and climb up the ranks. When Chen Lian was useless, he could stab him backhanded. Use him as a stepping stone for your own promotion."

Xi Zhen looked at Xie Li quietly, and after a while, he sneered, "Who are you referring to here?"

Xie Li took a sip of tea and said, "I didn't criticize Sang Huai."

Xi Zhen didn't believe it. He snorted coldly and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Even if I am Cheng Lian, Your Highness is not Chen Lian. No matter how high I climb, I still respect you as king, right?"

Xie Li glanced at him and was about to speak when Xi Shui came over and gave Xi Zhen clothes.

"Young master, why didn't you even forget to wear the cloak." What he was holding in his hand was a dress made of snow-white fox fur and a maroon woven gold lining.

"I don't dare to wear red." Xi Zhen glanced at the clothes and said with a sneer, "I still keep filial piety for others."

Xie Li paused, and said: "Have you already found someone to exorcise ghosts, what are you afraid of?"

Xi Zhen's face was pale and uncertain, he looked at Xie Li, "According to what His Highness said, I can change the court after I exorcise the ghosts? According to His Highness, what kind of family should I find?"

Xie Li's face darkened slightly, Xi Zhen smiled triumphantly, and said: "I just realized now that evil ghosts are not as complicated as people's hearts. In this world, ghosts and gods are hard to see, and there are many pretending to be ghosts!"

Xi Zhen slammed the hand stove on the table with a "slap", and left.

In the afternoon, the East Palace was quiet, Fu Gui came over with the medicine box on his back, looked in from the outside of the hall, and asked Tang Zhi, "What's the matter, have you quarreled again?"

Tang Zhi made a few gestures, and Fu Gui wanted to leave immediately.It's a pity that he came here today for something important, so he couldn't just turn around and leave.

Fu Gui straightened her clothes and hat, and stepped into the hall.

"My master wrote me back," Fu Gui said, "He sent me the detoxification prescription of Aihongdou and a medicine primer, the poison on your body will be cured soon."

Xi Zhen was reading a book crookedly by the bed, and when he heard what he said, he put down the book and stretched out his hand to let him feel his pulse.Xie Li stood at the side, and after looking at the prescription, he gave it to Tang Zhi, asking him to fetch the medicinal materials for decoction.

Xi Zhen didn't speak, and didn't look at him, with a sullen face.Xie Li's expression was always calm, and there was no sign of happiness or anger.After explaining to Tang Zhi, he went out.

Seeing that he was gone, Fu Gui dared to speak, and said, "What's wrong with you, are you quarreling again?"

Xi Zhen said indifferently: "How dare I quarrel with His Highness the Crown Prince? I just want to get rid of the poison as soon as possible and leave the East Palace as soon as possible."

Fu Gui said: "What did he do to make you so angry?"

Xi Zhen endured it again and again, and told him what happened before, "One person plays two roles, thankfully he figured it out! Why, you are so happy to see me in a dilemma? You are so happy to see him being played around by him!"

Fu Gui hurriedly persuaded: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, it will hurt your body."

He comforted Xi Zhen slowly, and said: "At that time His Royal Highness was also angry, so he will inevitably torment you."

Xi Zhen sneered, "That's good, I caused him to fall off the cliff, and he teased me with his status as the prince. We are settled, and no one will owe anyone in the future."

"You said angry words again," Fu Gui said, "Can't you see how much senior brother cares about you?"

Xi Zhen didn't speak, Fu Gui persuaded: "What I said first makes sense, Elder Brother has you in his heart, and he is the Prince of Chongming, in this way, don't you have an unstoppable backer?"

"Besides, you must fight against him, what can you ask for? He is the prince of Chongming, the future emperor, and we really have an inextricable knot with him. How will you and the Xi family deal with each other in the future?" Fu Gui said. : "You never do business at a loss, why can't you settle this account?"

Xi Zhen was silent all of a sudden, the anger and anger on his face gradually faded, and his face gradually calmed down, only his eyes still had unresolved emotions.

"It's not calculated like this," Xi Zhen said, "It shouldn't be calculated like this."

Fu Gui was stunned for a moment, he noticed some things from Xi Zhen's words, those things made Xi Zhen not like Xi Zhen.

Fu Gui sighed, and said: "Okay, if you want to count this, let's count this. Putting aside the old affairs of the mountain gate and family identity, let me ask you, when you saw that Prince Chongming was Xie Li, what was in your mind? The anger of being fooled, or the joy of regaining it.”

The author says:

Fu Gui: A little genius persuading mediocrity