startled autumn

"Teacher, you are finally here."

In the prince's mansion, the room should have been brightly lit like daytime, but Lu Peixuan, as the prince, just retreated from the crowd, lit a few small firefly lamps in the hall, and drank silently in the deep night until the familiar road After Jin Ping's figure appeared, he half-opened his drunken eyes, and a slight smile emerged from the corners of his numb mouth.

"Now the wall is really falling and everyone pushes... I am the prince of a country, and now my father has only slightly revealed the idea of ​​setting up another prince, and everyone in the court avoids me, for fear of being labeled as a princeling. Teacher, you are right, it is harder to be a crown prince than an emperor... But there is no such thing as a crown prince like me. For so many years, my father refused to let me step into the East Palace..."

The vacancy of the Eastern Palace has always been the crown prince's biggest concern. Some people have always speculated that the reason why Emperor Nanjiang refused to let him enter the Eastern Palace was because he had other candidates for the crown prince in mind.

The figure behind Jinping swayed slightly under the lights, and heaved a sigh: "Your Majesty was already suspicious about Zuo Lan's murder, but now another Wei Dezheng has come and accused you of paying for murder. Your Majesty treats you coldly." , there is indeed a reason for it.”

"What do these things have to do with me?!" The prince became more and more annoyed as he spoke, and knocked vigorously on the table a few times while holding the wine glass. The wine splashed his cuffs, but he didn't know, "And that Han Xun, he put Mo Yi's people to death in the sky prison, just to protect his safety, but now you see, everyone says that Mo Yi and the Han family belong to the Prince's Mansion and obey my orders... I miss them It's really for my use, and the emperor doesn't like me, isn't it because I'm not the empress of Han's own, and the status of mother and concubine is not noble enough?"

The Jinping man smiled and said: "Your Highness, misfortune is where blessings lie. Shen Zhiqiu died in the capital guard. Mo Yi will definitely not let it go. Just tonight, Xiao Shaoling led people to break into the capital guard and make trouble. In this way, Mo Yi and the imperial court have formed a blood feud, you said, such an uncontrolled gangster, will His Majesty still trust them and regard them as a barrier for the capital?"

"What kind of blessing is this? Teacher, I don't understand."

"There is no family relationship between father and son in the royal family, and no brotherhood between brothers. Your Highness, if you break it, you will break it." The tone of the words was very deep, with certainty, and implied a meaningful temptation, "You are the prince, if you want to be the head of a country in the future You can't be more justified, Jun."

The prince paused for a moment, raised the wine glass in his hand, maintained the appearance of not drinking, as if he had experienced a long struggle, he finally drank the wine in the glass, and said in a hoarse voice: "Teacher, please help me. I--"

The Jinping man smiled lightly: "Okay."

In the early spring, it is warm and cold, and it is the breeze that enters the night, blowing and wrinkling everyone's brows, with thousands of thoughts, and I don't know where to return.

In the Han mansion, the evening wind blew in through the window, Han Bi was sitting on the mat, and raised his hand to open the sword box in front of him.

"Where is the Shadow Stepping Sword?" Han Banbu squatted aside, his eyes widened, his expression full of doubts, "What is this?"

Han Bi locked his eyes and replied, "The scabbard of the Fengqiu sword."

In the sword box, the shadow stepping sword that was lying safely has disappeared, replaced by an ordinary-looking scabbard, made of unknown dark wood, wrapped in a layer of hard leather with cracked lines , upon closer inspection, it even looked a bit shabby.

This is the souvenir that Han Bi exchanged for the news of Shen Zhiqiu's death from Mo Yi.

Putting the scabbard in his palm, Han Bi stroked it back and forth carefully several times, but he couldn't find any special mechanism. continent's secrets.

"strangeness."

"What's strange?" Han Banbu asked.

"In general, the scabbard has a wider mouth and narrows as it goes down. The scabbard of Fengqiu Sword is the opposite. The lower the sheath is, the wider it becomes."

Han Banbu scratched his head and said, "I don't see where it's wide."

"The difference you can't see is different when you touch it." Han Bi thought for a moment, then ordered, "Bring my sword."

Han Bi's sword is much thinner than the Fengqiu sword, and it is mainly dexterous. Because the owner doesn't like it very much, this sword has long been shelved, and it has not been seen for a long time. Han Bi inserted the sword into the scabbard of the Fengqiu sword. The two are obviously not suitable, and there is still a surplus between the sheath mouth and the sword body.

Holding the rapier, Han Bi flicked the scabbard left and right casually, only to hear a click, the scabbard was divided into two layers, and the inner layer popped out gently. But pinching the mouth of the sheath and pulling it, the hidden second layer of scabbard was easily taken out.

The sheath end of this layer of scabbard was wrapped with a thin piece of sheepskin, which was brought out little by little with Han Bi's movements.

Han Banbu was shocked and said: "Young master, you actually made this sword, right? Could it be that you are Shen Zhiqiu's father?"

"Nonsense." Han Bi glanced at him coldly before explaining angrily, "You can't see the mechanism on the surface, so of course there must be something wrong inside. Besides, the sheath is deliberately made wider and wider. In order to hide the spring in the inner wall of the scabbard, I tried to find a way to press the spring, and the inner layer of scabbard would pop out automatically. I guess, the width of the Fengqiu sword should be just right for the scabbard mouth, and it is not often used. As long as it is firmly stuck in the scabbard, it will not touch the mechanism."

Han Banbu actually didn't understand, but this did not hinder his personal worship of the young master. He raised his head and clapped vigorously.

Han Bi carefully unfolded the parchment.

On the parchment, there was a short letter written and a strange map attached. Han Bi was doing business in sailing ships, so he recognized it at a glance as a nautical chart with cinnabar red dots on it. But it didn't say where the destination was.

The Fengqiu Sword is engraved with the Nine Heavens Red Crane Seal, and inside the scabbard is a secret organ. Han Bi has long suspected that Shen Zhiqiu's father, Shen Jianxing, may come from Hezhou. Moreover, there are countless ties between Hezhou and Kuting. contact.

Han Banbu glanced at the letter and hurriedly saw something that looked like a date of birth written on it. He frowned and asked, "Jianxi 42 years... when did that come?"

Han Bi said in a deep voice: "The Zhou Dynasty died in the 25th year of Jianxi, Emperor Hui killed himself in the palace."

Since the Zhou Dynasty was destroyed by the Southern Dynasty, how did it come about in the 42nd year of Jianxi?Unless some people are unwilling to admit the change of dynasty, they still use the reign title of the previous dynasty in private, remembering the glory of the past.

Although Han Bi was mentally prepared, what he wrote in the letter still surprised him.

Kuting and Hezhou belong to the same ancestor, they are both descendants of the He clan, but they were divided into two clans early in the morning, the one who stayed in the Central Plains eventually became the royal family, and the one who practiced overseas didn't care about world affairs and devoted themselves to martial arts .

In the end, the Zhou Dynasty was annihilated by the Southern Dynasty, and the rest of the party fled to the south, forming an organization called Kuting, ready to carry out the task of restoring the country, but unfortunately, as time went by, the old country became a hopeless old dream, and used to hide in the south The surviving royal family of the Zhou Dynasty was gradually captured or died for various reasons, and the only hope for the restoration of the country was an unborn fetus of unknown sex.

Fortunately, a prince was born.

The letter stated that the restoration of the country has become empty talk, and everyone in Kuting only wished to keep the last trace of the blood of the Holy Majesty. For the sake of blood connection, let the little prince change his name and surname, secretly continuing the vitality of the He family.

In this way, the nautical chart is the map to Hezhou, and the birth date belongs to the newly born little prince.

However, the fact is that Shen Jianxing did not return to Hezhou, but stayed in Yancheng and became a son with Fengqiu. If this is the case, what about the little prince back then?If Feng Qiujian is the proof of the little prince's identity and is so important, then why did Shen Jianxing leave Yancheng after Feng Qiu's death, but didn't take Feng Qiujian with him?

Why does Lu Zheliu have to get the Fengqiu sword?

Han Banbu murmured and asked, "Could Shen Zhiqiu be the little prince?"

While restoring the scabbard to its original shape, Han Bi swung the scabbard and knocked Han Banbu on the back of the head.

"Do you have any brains? If Shen Zhiqiu is the little prince, why doesn't Shen Jianxing take him back to Hezhou directly? Since there is a nautical chart in the scabbard, it means that Shen Jianxing originally planned to take the little prince back to Hezhou. With such a safe choice in Zhou, why did he bring the little prince to hide his name in the Central Plains? I guess, he may have encountered some accidents later on, which prevented him from returning."

Han Banbu covered his head, crying in pain, and quickly sniffed: "I don't have a brain, but young master, don't you just like people without brains, I'll do what I like."

"When did I say that I have such a preference?" Han Bi was puzzled.

Han Banbu glanced at him furtively, and hinted frantically, "You treat Shen Zhiqiu like..."

Han Bi fell into a rare silence. Thinking of Han Banbu who had followed him for many years, he discovered for the first time in his life that his vision of picking people seemed to be really unified.

After clearing his throat, Han Bi changed the subject and said, "What's going on with the Jingchengwei?"

Han Banbu: "Xiao Shaoling led Mo Yi and his disciples, drew their swords and broke into the Jingchengwei. It is said that they searched inside for an entire hour, but found nothing. Xiao Shaoling said that tomorrow he will turn the dungeon upside down. , in short, if you want to see people and die, you want to see corpses... The people of the capital guards cherish their lives and dare not confront them, but they are all suffocating in their hearts, especially the young master, who was so angry that he said on the spot that he would ask for an imperial edict to lead the troops to settle down Mo Yifeng."

"Where is the prince?"

"It is said that in the early court, several officials joined forces to impeach the crown prince for being corrupt and immoral. His Majesty reprimanded the crown prince in court, revealing the idea of ​​'establishing a heir' in his words, but no one in the court dared to speak for the crown prince. .”

Han Bi frowned: "The prince is narrow-minded, even if he doesn't show it on the face, there must be hatred in his heart."

At this moment, only the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground came from outside, Han Bi glanced vigilantly, and shouted: "Who is it?"

Han Banbu's qinggong is very good, but he rushed out the door in the blink of an eye, and then heard his voice still unable to hide his surprise: "Yan...Little General Yan?!"

Han Bi also went out, only to see a man lying on the floor outside the door, grinning and screaming in pain, it was Yan Yang; beside Yan Yang stood Ning Banque, who bent down and lifted Yan Yang from the door. Lifted up on the ground.

Han Bi waved his hand, retreating from the shadows to protect his guard, and asked in a low voice, "Why are you together?"

Yan Yang, who was disobedient, had already been taught a lesson by Ning Banque, and now seeing Han Bi was like meeting a relative, regardless of how the two were at odds at the beginning, now hid behind him and complained one after another: "Where am I? Do you know who he is? I was locked in the room by my father and slept soundly. Suddenly, several people came and took me outside the city! As a result, those people passed out for some reason outside the city. People came to save me, who knew that as soon as I asked him, he beat me and brought me to you, do you think he is sick?!"

Han Bi winked at Han Banbu, and Han Banbu raised his hand and slashed at the back of Yanyang's neck, knocking him unconscious in his arms, and then dragging him into the room go.

"Tell me, why did you bring him here?" Han Bi asked.

"I got the news that the master of Kuting has issued an order to capture the son of General Yan's family out of the city and send him all the way to the south of the Yangtze River." Ning Banque said with a little doubt in his tone, "This young general Yan may be useful for something else. I understand, so I thought to detain him first, and then send it to you for storage, it would be safer than outside."

Han Bi: "You trust me."

"Since I have already made a deal with Mr. Han, I will naturally use what I can get." Ning Banque smiled at him.

Han Bi carefully scrutinized his expression, and saw that his eyes were hard to conceal the seriousness, so he continued to ask: "The reason why you came on this adventure is not only for Yanyang, right?"

Ning Banque: "I got a piece of news."

Seeing that he said the first half of the sentence but not the second half, Han Bi knew that the news should not be heard in vain, and smiled slowly: "I have asked someone to check carefully the file of your father's crime." Suicide, even if the imperial court did not investigate it deeply, it is impossible that there is no record at all.

Ning Banque's eyes lit up: "What did you find? Is it evidence that can reverse the case?"

Han Bi breathed a sigh of relief, and replied in a low voice: "The case of Fengzhou Captain Ning Zhongyuan's embezzlement of military pay, the evidence is solid. When the incident happened, the army mutinied, and half of the military pay for three years was gone. Ning Zhongyuan was unable to recover. God, committed suicide in prison."

Ning Banque said angrily, "My father was wronged!"

"Why do you think he is innocent?" Han Bi asked.

"My father taught me since I was a child, not to be greedy for fame and wealth, but to be a man who stands up to the sky. I checked carefully, he is generous, he almost never gets angry, and he never makes enemies. He is very good to his family..." Ning Banque Clenching his fists, "How can a person like him do bad things?"

Han Bi smiled and said, "Why not? You have a deep relationship with Master Youming and you are sincere to him. Could it be that when you wantonly killed people for revenge, would you put down your butcher knife just because you thought of him?"

Ning Banque was dumbfounded.

Good and evil, even though opposites, can coexist.A person who is full of evil may be a loving father after returning home, and he is a solid arm for the children; a good person who is blessed with thousands of miles may have many evil habits behind his back, and under the halo, there are secrets that have never been known.

Han Bi tilted his head slightly, and his eyes didn't know where to fall: "Have you ever thought that your father committed a serious crime, why your family can retreat back to the hometown? You think that the owner of Kuting who killed your family must be your father's enemy , but have you ever thought that he might be your father's benefactor?"

Ning Banque shook his head in disbelief.

"The military salary has clearly arrived in Fengzhou safe and sound, but half of it was lost for no reason when it was distributed. As the captain of Fengzhou, Ning Zhongyuan is absolutely impossible to be ignorant, and he has not even reported to the court for three years. The only possibility is that he is willing to join forces. "Han Bi said slowly word by word, although his tone was light, the content was extremely cruel, "After he was convicted, someone sponsored his whole family, so it was the end that the Ning family retreated and returned to their hometown, but Ning Zhongyuan died unexpectedly. Not long after, the Ning family was wiped out. You said—who would be willing to make this guarantee and coax Ning Zhongyuan to commit suicide; and who would be afraid that the Ning family would tell the truth, so they would kill the roots? The owner of the Kuting who instructed him to embezzle the military salary , must make him worship and trust him, he worships enough to be willing to take the blame for the other party, and trusts him enough to think that the other party will take good care of his family."

Ning Banque was deeply involved in the situation, and he was a fan of the authorities. He never thought that there was such a possibility for the truth of the matter.

He never thought that his father, Ning Zhongyuan, might really be a villain, and those so-called grievances might just be a messy deal between Master Kuting and his father; Huai's deep blood feud may be caused by his father's ignorance, which brought disaster to the whole family.

Ning Banque felt like a joke.

"Who is the guarantor?"

Han Bi raised his eyebrows, and instead of answering directly, he made a detour: "Ning Banque, it should be a good deal to use your news to change this name."

Ning Banque took a deep breath, and replied solemnly: "Lu Zheliu has long distrusted me. Fortunately, I also have confidantes in the dry pavilion. They sent a letter to me, saying that Lu Zheliu brought tens of thousands of refugees to the north. Jingshi, the strange thing is that there are no women among the refugees."

Han Bi understood instantly, quickly called Han Banbu, and shouted, "I'm going to the palace right now!"

Seeing his hurried expression, Ning Banque tugged at his sleeve and asked, "You haven't told me yet, who is the guarantor?"

Han Bi smiled and said, "It's the owner of the dry pavilion."

Ning Banque said angrily: "Are you kidding me again?!"

Han Bi put his index finger on his lips, hissed softly, and then smiled lightly: "Don't worry, everything will come to light within three days."

Taiji Hall, Dongxuan Hall.

Emperor Nanjiang was flipping through the memorial in an orderly manner, with a little cinnabar in his hand, he was approving several major events in his family's country, mountains and rivers, and the night was dim before he knew it.Ever since Empress Zhao gave birth to a son, the emperor's interest in the harem has become more and more weak. Not only has there been no draft for many years, but even after being approved for official duties, he often rests alone in the Tai Chi Hall.

Then there were rumors that His Majesty loved the late Empress Han every night, so he sealed the Changqiu Palace and did not allow anyone to enter without permission. A role model, never being jealous, plus no newcomers in the harem, but has always looked orderly.

Not far from the imperial case, a guard stood silently, his eyes were alert, even at night, he was still full of energy.

The emperor put down the vermilion pen, suddenly smiled and said, "Aren't you tired?"

Konoe shook his head.

It is extremely rude to just shake your head and not answer in front of the Holy One, but the emperor did not pursue him, but joked in a good mood: "You have been completely motionless throughout the day. I have seen many guards, but this is the first time I have seen you." You can endure like this, originally you wanted to see how long you can endure, but I didn't expect that it was I who was impatient first."

Jin Wei replied ashamedly: "Your Majesty, I actually moved a little bit, but you didn't notice it."

"When is Ah Xuan coming?"

"……Yes."

The emperor shook his head and smiled: "That's right. After all, someone is going to lose his family. If you don't do anything about it, I won't be worth it for him."

At this time, someone came to report that it was Han Bi who had arrived. He was now the supervisor of the capital, and the emperor had given him a token to enter the palace, so that he could enter the palace at any time to ask for instructions if he had special circumstances.

As soon as he heard Han Bi's name, Jin Wei hid in the dark, and the emperor couldn't help shaking his head and laughing when he saw this.

Monarchs and ministers talk at night, and they talk until late at night.

"I understand." The emperor said to Han Bi with a calm face, "This matter is of great importance, you should stay in the palace for two days."

Han Bi knew that the emperor had always had his own intelligence agency, and he must have summoned them to give orders, and the rest of the matter was out of his control, so he bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the minister is on duty. .”

"Are you used to sleeping on a hard bed?" The emperor glanced at Han Bi, "Let's go to Changqiu Palace."

Han Bi evaded: "After all, it is the former empress's residence..."

"You grew up in Changqiu Palace since you were a child, and now you are still a child in my eyes. Go, so that you can accompany your elder sister for me."

Han Bi still looked troubled.

The emperor said leisurely: "I'll send someone to take you there."

Han Bi smiled and responded in a low voice.

"Shen Zhiqiu." The emperor called out.

The person who had been hiding in the shadows finally stood up reluctantly.