Emperor Renzong of the Great Song Dynasty

Huo Fang is a transshipment envoy along the way, in charge of money, food, soldiers and horses, and a great official in the same feudal border.If such a person is cast under the King of Xiangyang, he will be highly valued.

If he hadn't voted under the King of Xiangyang, the King of Xiangyang would definitely not be able to allow him to be a transit envoy in Yingtian for so long.

There is no doubt that Huo Fang belongs to King Xiangyang.

He is powerful, has been in Yingtian for many years, and is trusted by the King of Xiangyang.

Perfectly fits every trait of the murderer of King Xiangyang.

But what motive does Huo Fang have to kill King Xiangyang?

What secret is he trying to hide with the death of King Xiangyang?

Zhao Yiyi knew little about Huo Fang.

Huo Fang was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu. At that time, Liu E's son was still alive, and Zhao Yiyi was still the beloved little highness of the Nanqing Palace. He never thought that he would actually enter the palace and eventually become the emperor.

After being admitted as a Jinshi, Huo Fang worked as a secretary in the capital for a period of time, and then was sent abroad.When he returned to Bianliang again, the first emperor was already seriously ill, and Zhao Yiyi was still the crown prince in the East Palace.

On the eve of Zhao Yiyi's ascension to the throne, Huo Fang was sent to Yingtian Mansion as a transport envoy.

For Huo Fang, Zhao Yiyi had no chance to get to know him.

But think about his life trajectory - when the queen was in power, he was admitted to the Jinshi and became an official in the court. When he returned to the capital, the queen and the prime minister fought fiercely. After serving as a transfer envoy, he met a prince who was busy rebelling.

What a fate.

If Zhao Yiyi wants to know what kind of person Huo Fang is, he can only ask Liu E or Kou Zhun for advice.

These two are Huo Fang's real former bosses.

Kou Zhun hasn't returned to Beijing yet, so he can only ask Liu E.

He just wanted to test Huo Fang's personality, but Liu E gave him a surprise.

The eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu is the first imperial examination held by Liu E after gaining a firm foothold in the previous dynasty. This imperial examination is of great significance to Liu E, just like the next Enke is of great significance to Zhao Yiyi Major in general.

This is the first time, a complete imperial examination that belongs only to him.

The Jinshi selected by the imperial examination are completely his people.

For Liu E, the imperial examination in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu was the same.

The Jinshi who came out of that imperial examination were her purest and most solid team.

Before Huo Fang turned to King Xiangyang, he must have belonged to Liu E.

Maybe he was still wavering between King Xiangyang and Liu E for a while.

But Liu E's language is very strange.

She said that Wang Xianggong chose Huo Fang as the second place in the list, and Huo Fang's move was a pity for Wang Xianggong's cultivation.

Where has she placed herself?

At that time, the court was in full swing and hot, but she was the queen.

Zhao Yiyi didn't think that Liu E became humble after going through some twists and turns.

Haven't seen her yet heard that Mulian is coming to save her mother!

This is not to tell him clearly, look at Mulian, what your son did, it failed.

Since it wasn't for the sake of humility, then she deliberately disassociated Huo Fang from herself, but it has a lot of connotations.

Either, he was afraid that he would hurt Huo Fang, or he was afraid that Huo Fang would hurt himself.

For the first guess, Zhao Yiyi thinks it is unlikely.

Liu E is not a good man and a believer. When he collapsed, he can deliberately distance himself from his old subordinates who betrayed him.

In her current situation, it is extremely difficult to have the possibility of resurgence, and now she only wants to die, and she only hopes to die with dignity.It is also impossible to maintain subordinates in order to preserve strength.

The second possibility...

Zhao Yiyi clicked his tongue and asked Liu En: "Tell me, does Liu E know what Huo Fang is doing?"

Liu En nodded: "I must know, otherwise the Queen Mother would not be afraid."

Although Huo Fang got involved in the King of Xiangyang's treason case, Zhao Yiyi's previous attitude has been made clear that Liu E will not be involved in the King of Xiangyang's rebellion case - he also plans to use Liu E to recall the King of Xiangyang to Beijing .Liu E should not be afraid of this.

Unless Huo Fang did something other than the King of Xiangyang's incident, Liu E knew about it and was afraid of it.

Zhao Yiyi sighed: "It seems that the death of King Xiangyang is probably caused by Mr. Huo."

Killed King Xiangyang to cover up another secret.

"It's just that what else can he do? They all rebelled with the King of Xiangyang. Is there anything more outrageous than this?"

Liu En glanced at him: "Perhaps he defected to the enemy and treasoned the country."

Zhao Yiyi smiled: "Ying Tian is further south than Tokyo. If he wants to join the enemy, he must have enemies to join."

"In any case, Huo Fang is probably the murderer who killed the King of Xiangyang, and there is another secret hidden. Send a message to Bao Zheng to pay attention to this person, and definitely find out his secret."

It is impossible to expect Liu E to reveal the secret. Liu E has a characteristic, that is, he does not ask people to do things twice.If she wanted to speak and could speak, Zhao Yiyi would have told him about Huo Fang as early as when Zhao Yiyi mentioned Huo Fang.

I didn't say it then, and I won't say it again.

The only time in Zhao Yiyi's life that he told Liu E to turn his back on his promise was the day when he confessed the truth about the replacement of the civet cat for the prince.

Liu En nodded: "Yes."

Zhao Yiyi didn't wait for Bao Zheng in Tokyo for long.

Half a month after he asked Liu En to send a letter to Bao Zheng, Bao Zheng returned to the capital with Huo Fang, who had pleaded guilty.

Zhao Yiyi looked at Bao Zheng's letter, which said that the relief money and grains of Yingtian Mansion and the tax money of previous years were indeed embezzled by the King of Xiangyang. The King of Xiangyang used the money to build a palace and attract people in the rivers and lakes. He was assassinated inexplicably. Industry has died.Seeing that the situation is over, Huo Fang, the transshipment envoy, is willing to abandon the dark and turn to the bright, and confess all the evil things he has done with the King of Xiangyang over the years.

Looking back, Zhao Yiyi saw that it was nothing more than some embezzlement of public funds for repairing the river embankment, the guards and theft of the money and food in the official warehouse to the King of Xiangyang, and the theft of Bao Zheng's imperial decree this time.

"These things are worthy of a decisive decision."

Zhao Yiyi said: "But he is a scholar-bureaucrat after all, and he has the righteousness to abandon the dark and turn to the bright. He should not die if he dies. He will probably be exiled to Qiongzhou."

Are these things worth Huo Fang killing King Xiangyang?

Of course not worth it.

Zhao Yiyi continued to look down.

The first half of Bao Zheng's letter was official, but the second half changed the subject and started to take on a serious meaning.

He wrote that the king of Xiangyang built a skyscraper building in the northwest corner of Yingtianfu, which included all the secrets of the world's organs.

The king of Xiangyang exchanged all the money he had gained from being greedy for ink over the years into gold and hid it in the skyscraper.

Huo Fang once wanted to set fire to the Skyscraper Tower and take out the gold, but after Bao Zheng rejected his proposal, the only King Xiangyang who knew how to safely enter and exit the Skyscraper Tower was assassinated and died.

Zhao Yiyi raised his eyebrows.

Well, sure enough, this Huo Fang is indeed the murderer who killed King Xiangyang, the purpose is to prevent the things in the skyscrapers from being exposed in broad daylight.

Huo Fang's secret is kept in the Sky Tower.

Zhao Yiyi closed the letter: "So, if I want to know this secret, I have to open the Sky Tower?"

It's not because of his curiosity, it's just that Huo Fang killed his boss, King Xiangyang, to cover up the secret. Zhao Yiyi was afraid that the secret would threaten his throne.

Those who became emperors either lived until their death, or died in front of them.Zhao Yiyi didn't want to die in an unclear manner, so he had to treat the emperor as if he was dead.

All factors that may threaten his throne must be ruled out.

As for the Sky Tower, anyone who has read the legend of Bao Qingtian knows that it is the old lair of the King of Xiangyang, which is a collection of tricks.Even if Bao Qingtian gathered several first-class heroes in the Jianghu in the later stage, it took a lot of effort to break down this building.

While breaking through the skyscrapers, he also lost a famous knight.

And now Bao Zheng's team——

Zhao Yiyi counted, Zhan Zhao was there, Gongsun Ce was there, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu Dynasty and Ma Han were there, and others like Yan Chasan and others didn't know where they were.

With just three or two kittens, you still want to break through the skyscrapers?

Zhao Yiyi took out a piece of paper and wrote a reply to Bao Zheng, telling him that the situation was clear, and asked him to send Huo Fang to the dungeon of Fan Zhongyan's Kaifeng Mansion to be locked up.

Liu En watched him write the letter and asked, "How about the Sky Tower?"

Zhao Yiyi dried the ink on the paper: "Who is No. 1 in the modern institution?"

Liu En thought for a while: "There are rumors in the world that Xia Yuqi, a Western swordsman, has reached the top of the bureau. It can be said that he has been No. 1 for hundreds of years. It's just that Xia Yuqi is extremely mysterious, and he has never appeared in front of people in recent years."

Zhao Yiyi nodded: "I'm not afraid of being mysterious. No matter how mysterious it is, I can blow him out."

He hooked his hands to Liu En: "Come, come here with your ears."

Within a few days, a piece of news swept across the entire rivers and lakes like a typhoon.

Legend has it that Xia Yuqi, a Western swordsman who has reached the pinnacle of the mechanism, exhausted all his life's knowledge to build a skyscraper in Yingtianfu, which is a collection of all the world's organs, and hid all his wealth in the building.

He issued a challenge to all the heroes in the world, whoever can break through the mechanism of the sky-scraping tower can take away 10 taels of gold, and he can also be accepted as a closed disciple by him.

The whole rivers and lakes are boiling for it.

As long as this skyscraper is broken, you can get 10 taels of gold and Xia Yuqi's approval.

For a while, all the people in the Jianghu who had a little knowledge of the government were gearing up and eager to try.

Zhao Yiyi smiled.

He didn't believe it. How could this swordsman Xia sit idly by after being arranged in such a way?

Even if Swordsman Xia's mind is as calm as water has reached a certain level, doesn't he have any heirs?Can his descendants endure being used by others like this?

Zhao Yiyi waited quietly for them to show up, and then asked them to help him crack the skyscraper.

Yangzhou, Huixian Tower.

There are fewer cruise ships in winter, but the prosperity of Yangzhou City remains unabated.

Upstairs of Huixian is full of diners who are drinking happily.

In the middle of the lobby on the first floor, a storyteller in a long gown was talking endlessly about recent major events in the Jianghu.

"That Western swordsman, Xia Yuqi, you all know, right? This one usually lives in seclusion. But after avoiding the world for a long time, it is inevitable that he will come to the mundane world for a while. No, in his old age, he has to worry about the inheritance of his master. Here we come. Senior Xia, he built a high-rise building in the northwest of Yingtian Mansion. In this building, Senior Xia has worked hard all his life, and has achieved great achievements in mechanism and mathematics throughout the ages. Senior Xia said, who can break this building? , you can get 10 taels of gold, and be accepted as a closed disciple by Senior Xia!"

"what!"

The diners shouted: "Is there such a good thing? If you break down a building, you can get 10 taels of gold?"

There was a lot of people here, but the storyteller heard a slightly surprised question: "If you break that building, can he be accepted as a closed disciple?"

The storyteller looked at the reputation, and immediately smiled: "Where did you come from, the little beggar, why did you come here?"

The person who asked the question was a little beggar in ragged clothes, about thirteen or fourteen years old, his head and face were black, as if he had been smeared with soot.

The little beggar asked him: "If you destroy that building, can Xia Yuqi accept him as a closed disciple?"

Although his face was dirty, his eyes were as bright as stars.

The storyteller couldn't help but nodded: "Yes, whoever breaks the Sky Tower is Xia Yuqi's closed disciple."

The little beggar nodded, turned around and left Huixian Tower.

The storyteller came back to his senses, and chuckled secretly, a little beggar, unexpectedly he also cared about Jianghu affairs.

The little beggar left Huixian Tower, turned left and right, and entered a secluded alley.

That alley is the back wall of a big house, the courtyard wall is quite high, and the people who are qualified to build such a high courtyard wall must not be ordinary merchants.

But the little beggar didn't pay much attention to the courtyard wall which was much higher than others, he tapped his toes and landed in the courtyard all at once.

There is a large flower garden in the courtyard. In the corner of the flower garden, there is a wicker chair, and a man sits on the wicker chair and basks in the sun.

The man was not surprised when he saw him jumping in from the wall, he squinted his eyes and said, "Little ancestor, where did you go again?"

The little beggar ran up to him: "Master! There are rumors that you are going to accept closed disciples!"

The person basking in the sun widened his eyes: "There is such a thing!"

He sized him up from head to toe: "A close disciple who can be a teacher, isn't it you?"