Watch the sea

There had been no rain in Ningzhou for several days, and it was the season when the weather was dry and dry, but the wind blew up again in the evening at Nanshan. When the fire was seen by the patrolling monks, the inner temple and the Zen courtyard were almost burnt into a sea of ​​red flames.

The monk stood there in a daze for a long while before he realized who lived in the innermost monastery where the fire broke out. He was so frightened that he scrambled and cried and ran to the abbot of the Buddhist temple.

The Empress Dowager did not make any public announcements about this ceremony, she kept her car light and kept her car simple, and she did not bring many guards. Except for those who were on duty in the monastery, most of the others were under martial law outside the inner monastery.After all, the people living in this monastery are female relatives. In order to avoid suspicion, the monks of Nanshan Buddhist Temple are not allowed to come close at will. They only sent extra manpower to patrol the outer periphery of the inner temple together with the guards of the imperial city.

A fire burned silently, but it sent a thunderbolt in the hearts of the monks in Nanshan.The nearly seventy-year-old abbot of the Buddhist temple ran over sweating profusely. Seeing the red flames in the monastery, his eyes darkened and he almost fainted.

The abbot shook his head while clutching the prison temple's arm. What was more frightening than the fire was the turmoil that might be caused by the leak of the news.The empress dowager's worship to Buddha this time was a temporary idea, kept secret and low-key.No matter how many people secretly received the news that the emperor had nobles coming to Nanshan more or less, the only ones who could fully know about the Queen Mother's trip were the emperor who was in the imperial capital, except for the Nanshan Buddhist Temple who received the imperial edict.

When the empress dowager was worshiping Buddha in Nanshan, under the heavy martial law, something happened in the Zen courtyard where she lived, and only the emperor's guards and imperial city guards were guarding her.

The more subtle thing is that the Empress Dowager Zhong is not only not the emperor's biological mother, but it is not an exaggeration to say that she has enmity with the emperor. Give each other room.

The blood of the Zhong family's children in Yanxi City has not been "dried", but the Empress Dowager Zhong's trump card is not clear even to this day. Clear details.

The empress dowager is a thorn in the emperor's throat. Regardless of whether the emperor, who has regained the power of the emperor, has any reason and intention to settle with the empress dowager, the death of the empress dowager is enough for some people with ulterior motives to pull out a justifiable questioning of the emperor. It's over.Who made things so coincidental, only the emperor knew about the empress dowager's worship to the Buddha, and only the emperor's people guarded her, and everything was under the control of the emperor alone.It is already a fault for a son not to take good care of his aunt's safety, and to put it more seriously, who knows if the son has the heart to harm his aunt?

As for Nanshan, a place known as a pure place of Buddhism in Kyushu, how could it have the heart to kill indiscriminately? What's more, would Nanshan dare to openly commit chaos on its own territory and attack the current queen mother?

The words "Taiping Chang'an" have almost stood on the edge of the cliff, and Kyushu is going to be in chaos again.

The fire was secretly controlled at the fastest speed. At the same time, under the blockade and deliberate maintenance by the senior officials of the Nanshan Buddhist Temple and the guards of the Empress Dowager, no news leaked out, and Nanshan was still as calm as before.

Babaili hurriedly set off overnight, and at the dawn of the second day, the secret letter had already arrived in front of the emperor's case.

Nanshan is located in the southernmost part of Ningzhou, it can be regarded as the junction of Changning and Ningzhou, and it is only a few hundred miles away from Huaize City.Huai Ze came out with the matter of blowing up the boat at the waterway crossing and the gunpowder in Fangjia Manor. The inside has actually turned upside down, but the news was blocked by Su Lang very well. It was only said that several boats transporting fireworks and firecrackers at the Huai Ze waterway crossing had accidents a few days ago. The fire exploded, and because the casualties were small, the wharf where the accident occurred was quickly restored to order under the command of Lian Songcheng, so the incident did not cause any disturbances in and outside the city. Coming to Huai Ze is still prosperous and peaceful as before.

Although Yuan Zeliang has been secretly imprisoned, he is still the commander-in-chief of Huai Ze in name. Even though the wreckage of Dingkang Zhou's shipwreck has been salvaged, the gunpowder hidden in Fang's manor is right in front of him, but these gunpowder weapons have not yet been clarified. Whether the big head is from Dayin or the western seas, and the high-ranking officials in Changzhou and other states who cooperated with King Jing's rebellion have not yet been found out. Both Su Lang and Xinghui think that it is better for Yuan Zeliang not to discuss the crime publicly for the time being. , lest some people behind get the news and clean up their own head and tail in advance.

Therefore, Yuan Zeliang, the general soldier of Huai Ze, accidentally fell off his horse while hunting outside the city a month ago and was seriously injured. Lian Songcheng, the governor of the state, and the military affairs of Huai Ze City have been handed over to General Lian for the time being a few days ago.

Yuan Zeliang was interrogated for five days, and finally revealed several high-ranking officials in Changzhou involved in the incident, but Su Lang always felt that the governor of Changzhou, Lian Songcheng, could not even hear the news of arms smuggling before. The power in the hands of these high-ranking officials that Yuan Zeliang said, I'm afraid they can't reach this level, and there should be bigger fish in Changzhou.

However, before he had time to continue the interrogation, a group of Emperor's Shadow Guards came from the imperial capital in Huai Ze City in a hurry. One of them has been in the army for a long time, and this time he came to take over from Yuan Zeliang. The position of Huai Ze's commander-in-chief.

What arrived with them was a secret edict from the emperor—Yuan Zeliang, the commander of Huai Ze, flouted the laws of the country and hid arms privately.

Such an uncharacteristically making things public with great fanfare before the dark line is revealed is not like His Majesty's usual style, Su Lang's heart tightened, and an extremely ominous premonition came to his mind.

Lian Songcheng asked directly.

The emperor's shadow guard who came to take over Yuan Zeliang's position as the commander-in-chief had a slight smile on his face, and only said that they didn't know the reason, but His Majesty's will is so, and they will do so.

General Lian Songcheng took the newly appointed General Huai Ze to the city to hand over and reorganize Huai Ze's city defense military affairs, but Su Lang and Xing Hui were invited by the leader of the Emperor's Shadow Guard to hide and hand over a secret decree—— The Queen Mother had an accident in Nanshan.

"Before the situation becomes unclear, the fewer people who know about it, the better. There are too many people right now, and some things are inconvenient to talk about. Please forgive me. Even the general will have someone to inform."

Xinghui asked, "Jingwang's hand?"

The shadow guard shook his head: "It shouldn't be. Jiang Jincheng has not made any move so far. The queen mother's trip was a temporary idea and she didn't make any public announcements. Even in the imperial capital, there is no way to know. What's more, the queen mother is King Jing's biological mother. You are very filial, and even if you want to rebel in a legitimate way, you will not easily attack the queen mother. Unfortunately, the time is too hasty, and the Zen courtyard in the inner temple of Nanshan was completely burned down, and there is still no time to find out the clues of the murderer."

Xinghui's expression was solemn, the queen mother died unexpectedly in Nanshan, no matter King Jing was reluctant or not, but it was actually beneficial to King Jing's rebellion and rebellion, he always felt that someone deliberately pushed behind him.

On the surface, only the emperor is fully aware of it, and only the emperor's people guard him. If he is sleepy, someone will give him a pillow. They all want to prove their innocence. Sometimes a little thing between the mother and child is enough to be used by someone with a heart to set off a huge wave.

Su Lang frowned and crushed the letter paper in his hand into powder. They were not fighting with the real murderer who killed the Queen Mother, their biggest enemy was time.Under the heavy martial law in the Nanshan Inner Temple, something happened to the Empress Dowager in the monastery where she lived. Once this incident is exposed, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. King Jing will not give the emperor any time to find out the truth, and will only use the fastest way to find out the truth. Quickly manipulate public opinion, and accuse the emperor of being a son of man but failing to take care of his aunt's safety, then the imperial capital will only be in a dilemma.

If it is admitted that the Queen Mother's negligence of defense during this trip has given the assassin an opportunity, it is a disguised admission that the emperor ignores filial piety and does not take the safety of his aunt at all. attack.However, if it is claimed that the defense around the Queen Mother is tight enough that there is no possibility of assassins assassinating, it is undoubtedly leading the wind direction to the fact that the death of the Queen Mother was caused by his own hands. King Jing used this as a breakthrough point, and the first excuse for attacking was Suspecting that the emperor's guards committed rebellion, the next is suspecting that the emperor secretly ordered the guards to kill the aunt. The former is the beginning of the Qing emperor's side, and the latter...

Su Lang's heart sank to the bottom step by step, if it was an ordinary guard, it would be fine, but it was the emperor's guard camp. In the Wuying Hall, there are many parents and children of the head of the family who were sent to the imperial capital according to the national law.This time, the emperor's guards who guarded the empress dowager committed crimes, which undoubtedly pointed to the fact that the aristocratic families behind these guards had the intention of committing crimes. Who would dare to bear such a crime?They will definitely not admit the former easily, this is so that these people can only follow King Jing to question the emperor.

"Killing the aunt, virtue is not worthy", he can imagine the "legitimate" excuses that respecting the king would use to plot rebellion, and rebellious officials and thieves become teachers of justice overnight.

Now is not the time to investigate the case in Nanshan with great fanfare. It is impossible to turn around after the death of the Queen Mother, but the place where the accident happened must not be in Nanshan.

King Jing's collusion with Dingkang, Zhou family, Cangwu Fang family and others to rebel and cause rebellion must be known to the world before the news of the Queen Mother's death spreads. The physical evidence already has gunpowder in Fang's manor, and Yuan Zeliang is the key person evidence, his confession must have the shadow of respecting the king.According to the national law of Dayin, the smuggling of arms and gunpowder is punished as treason.Preemptive strikes are the first priority, even if the news of the death of the Empress Dowager spreads at that time, King Jing is a traitor, how can he have the right to question the emperor?

The key to breaking the situation now is whether Yuan Zeliang can reach the imperial capital alive and smoothly, and the second is that the queen mother cannot have an accident in Nanshan. The coffin of the queen mother must first be taken out of Nanshan secretly.

The shadow guard thought carefully: "The coffin is big, so it would be difficult for someone to transport something big from Nanshan for no reason, not to arouse suspicion."

Su Lang thought for a moment, his thoughts turned, and he said in a deep voice: "If King Jing doesn't know about it...my grandfather's [-]th birthday is approaching, and I, as a junior, invited a golden Buddha statue from Nanshan back to Yinghai for his old man. Pray."

The shadow guard's eyes lit up, and with this as a reason, he was able to bring the coffin from Nanshan to Yinghai under the cover of the Buddha statue without any doubt. As for Yinghai sending something to the imperial capital, that is the usual routine .

However, Su Lang's brows still did not relax, he paused and said solemnly: "King Jing is the son of the first emperor, only gunpowder evidence is not enough to completely convict him, Yuan Zeliang must not make any mistakes on the way from Huai Ze to the imperial capital... ..."

Xinghui suddenly said at this time: "My father has nothing to do recently, and it happens to be in Huai Ze right now."

Ye Jianwei, the master of the Eastern Capital!The shadow guard was overjoyed, if this person was willing to go with them, then no matter who came to rob them during this trip, they would be nothing to fear.

They divided into two groups, and Su Lang and Xinghui took their people to Nanshan that day.

At that time, Nanshan was still as peaceful as before, and the inns in and out of the city at the foot of the mountain were overcrowded, and there were pilgrims from all over Kyushu waiting to go up the mountain to listen to the Dharma Assembly of eminent monks.

After leaving the inner temple that day, Princess Qing and the eldest princess sat withered in an inconspicuous inn outside the city all night. If the mother and concubine who had passed away for many years "resurrected from the dead", she was astonished as if she had received a gift from God , then the truth of her father's death was the thunderbolt from the sky, driving her into a darker abyss.

It took her two days to accept this harsh tease of fate, but fate was obviously unwilling to let her go so easily.No one will believe that Yan Zhefei, the master of Qianyong Realm, is the imperial concubine Huiyuan who passed away for many years, and no one will know that it was Concubine Yan Gui, who came back from the dead, who killed the queen mother. Going out, it is self-evident who will be pointed at in the end, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

She remembered that when she was in Brilliant City, Ye Xinghui, the young master of Lishan Mountain, had given her something to support her. Qinghe held the jade talisman tightly in her hand, and sat on the edge of the bed for a long while.

She is 24 years old, and she is also a mother. Her children are almost everything to her.No matter how determined Concubine Yan Gui was when she left her, but before she was 12 years old, Concubine Yan Gui loved her no less than any mother in the palace. She believed that at least for a moment, her daughter was also Concubine Yan Gui of all.

No matter what her mother did, the imperial concubine was the mother who conceived her in October and raised her for twelve years. The imperial concubine hated Emperor Cheng so much, but she was still willing to give her daughter a chance to come to the world.

Qinghe smiled silently. If she could see Yan Zhefei again, she still wanted to call out the "mother concubine" that she didn't say out loud.She wanted to tell Yan Zhefei that no matter what she did, she was Qinghe's mother, and Qinghe missed her very much and loved her very much.

Brother Huang cannot be suspected of ignoring filial piety and harming his aunt, not even a single bit, otherwise those rebellious officials and thieves who respect the king will have the best excuse for rebellion, and Kyushu will be in chaos.Qinghe knows better than anyone else that with the means of the imperial concubine Huiyuan and the ability of the master Qianyong, as long as Yan Zhefei doesn't want to, no one will know that it was her who did it.However, if the news of the Empress Dowager's death in Nanshan is spread, the situation is really at its worst. If there is someone who must be charged with killing the Empress Dowager, then let her, the so-called princess, go.

Princess Qing and Princess Chang were pointed out by the queen mother for a very bad marriage. The queen mother almost ruined her life, and she hated the queen mother to the core.Qing and Princess Chang went to Nanshan for no reason, just to kill the Queen Mother when there were few guards around her.In any case, she was a princess, and it was easy to be alone with the queen mother if she wanted to call her "mother queen", so it was not difficult to kill the queen mother.

She is not only Dayin's princess, but also the daughter of a noble concubine, and she is worthy of any of her identities.Yugong, she didn't want to let King Jing, a traitor who conspired against him, have a logical excuse to raise troops, and Yugong, she also couldn't send her own mother to death row.Qinghe thought, she is really a cowardly and selfish person, she can't be as selfless as the people in the history books to kill relatives, she is so incompetent, just let her do it by herself.

Qinghe looked at the jade talisman in his hand, and gently stroked the lines on it. Lishan Mountain was originally a place like a paradise. With Lishanshan Jun's promise, even if she was gone, her child Jing Xing could live there. well done.

Qinghe looked gentle, until Xiao Er knocked on the door and called softly in the inn outside the door, pulled her out of her thoughts, carefully put away the jade talisman in her hand, got up and walked over.

Every morning at the inn, someone would bring hot water as a routine. Qinghe’s trip was in a hurry, and he didn’t bring anyone beside him except the coachman. With an eager smile on his face, Xiao Er brought the water into the room, put down the barrel and turned around. In an instant, a cold light flashed in his hand.

……

Changzhou, Dingkang, Dingguo government office.

Jing Wang Lingyi looked at the jade talisman in his hand, and asked casually: "Is this what Ming Yu said about Qinghe's hand? This guard is a bit interesting. Didn't he say that his trip was to secretly protect the princess to come to Nanshan, but in the end he never The princess gave me such a big gift?"[1]

The kneeling dark guard should claim: "He said that since he obeys the orders of the Lord Qianyong, it is naturally his duty to serve His Highness."

King Jing was noncommittal when he heard the words.

Duke Ding's son Zhou Mincai looked around on the jade talisman, and knocked on the folding fan in his hand: "Dong Jun Ling, it is indeed a rare and good item, Ye Xinghui is really willing to part with it."

"Yes", King Jing sat down, "It's okay to run to support a princess who has no mother and no mother. No one knows what Lishan is up to."

Zhou Min just poured him a cup of tea: "Didn't the son-in-law's second brother learn Lishan? When the Jiang family discredited the princess, he did a lot of hard work. The Lishan Astrology Pavilion taught such a person. Xu is Lishan." Consciously ashamed, kindhearted compensation to the princess?"

King Jing said, "Then this compensation is really generous."

Zhou Mincai shook his fan indifferently: "Who knows what Lishan is doing."

King Jing put away the joking look on his face, and said to Zhou Mincai: "You used to say that Lishan Mountain was used as a wall to watch, and it's hard to say whether you would like to get involved, but now they are a little too close to the emperor. What a good thing."

Zhou Min then reached out and tapped on the jade talisman, and said meaningfully: "So, a good knife must be used in the right place. We have to thank the young master of Lishan Mountain. He gave this knife."

He picked up the teacup and took a sip, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "By the way, what is the princess doing in Nanshan in private?"

King Jing looked at the dark guard.

The dark guard's heart tightened, and he bite the bullet and replied: "Ming Yu didn't make it clear, and my subordinates don't know."

King Jing withdrew his gaze, there was no discomfort on his face, and he said casually: "I heard that Nanshan held a large-scale Dharma meeting recently. I think it is to pray to God and worship Buddha. She has not had a smooth life in these years. She has no mother and no mother. What can my princess do."

Zhou Min just nodded and didn't care.

They drank tea quietly, the dark guard hesitated again and again, but still asked carefully: "Your subordinates have not dared to do anything, Princess Qing and Eldest Princess are still locked up in the suburbs of Nanshan, how can I ask Your Highness how to deal with it?"

Ling Yi raised his eyelids, casually played with the Dongjun Token in his hand, and moved two fingers casually after a while: "She, it's not a good thing to have extra problems, do it cleanly."

The author says:

【1.】 King Jing didn't know that the queen mother went to Nanshan to pay respects to the Buddha, so he naturally didn't know who Ming Yu was guarding.Ming Yu doesn't help anyone, he is taking revenge on Yan Zhefei.

[2.] It's too difficult for me without an outline. I will never dare to run naked without an outline again.Although the writing is bad, but I still want to be cheeky and stretch out the small (zi) bowl (ji) to ask for some starfish