Murder

·wedge

In Shifang City, Puyun Tea House.

Dr. Tea walked past the middle-aged scribe again, and found that the tea in front of him was still full without taking a sip.

The strange thing is that although the scribe didn't touch the tea and only rested his two fingers lightly on the edge of the teacup, the tea was still steaming, but the fragrance of the tea had gradually dissipated.

At this time, it has been a full hour since Dr. Tea poured tea for this scribe.

Dr. Cha has stayed in teahouses for many years, met many people, and is confident that he has a vicious vision.He could see that the middle-aged scribe didn't come to drink tea, the two fingers were next to the teacup, and he was silently imparting exercises to maintain the heat of the tea in the cup.This kind of master is not accessible to ordinary people like him, so Dr. Cha bypassed that table and continued to serve the rest of the guests.

After walking around, he suddenly saw the middle-aged scribe waving at him.

Dr. Cha wiped off his thin sweat and walked over with a smile: "Guest officer, would you like some more tea?"

But the middle-aged scribe pointed out the window and asked him, "Is this 'Zhu Hongzhaoying', one of the ten sceneries of Yu Lan?"

Dr. Cha couldn't help but look up.

Outside the window is the Yulan River. At this time, the twilight is rising, and the sky in the lower reaches of the Yulan River is black, but the upper reaches are still brilliant.Under the golden-red clouds, the returning birds were singing and gliding between the mountains on both sides. Their shadows fell on the water, and there were countless birds above and below, and their snow-white wings were covered with blood red.The sound of waves crashing on the shore can be heard from a distance in the middle of the river, and the water workers are chanting. On the Linlin River, there are boats returning to Hong Kong.

The vermilion color is like blood and fire, soaking the river and the sky.

"Yes, yes!" Dr. Cha nodded repeatedly, "Only in this season and this cloudy sky can we see such a scene."

That middle-aged scholar with a white face and a slight beard, with an extraordinary appearance, at first glance does not look like a man in the Jianghu at all, but looks like a literati who has read a lot of poetry and books.While Dr. Cha was speculating in his heart, he was still smiling.

"Where is the Shaoyi League?" the scribe asked again.

"You can't see the Shaoyi League from this side, but you can see the pier of the Shaoyi League." Dr. Cha pointed out to him.

The well-known Shaoyi League in Jianghu is located outside Shifang City, and has a larger dock than Shifang City.

"The pier of the Shaoyi League is opposite to each other. It is on the same side as Shifang City, so you can't see the Shaoyi League from the location of the teahouse, but you see, there is the pier on the other side of the Shaoyi League."

The middle-aged scribe glanced at it for a while, then turned to Dr. Cha and asked, "When the Shaoyi League was on fire, could your teahouse see it?"

"Let's see a little bit." Dr. Cha said, "Not only the Shaoyi League is on fire, but also the Shifang City is full of smoke. The same is true under our teahouse. The bosses and customers are all going to fight the fire, and no one pays attention to the fire in other people's houses." .”

Scribe nodded with a smile, took a sip from his teacup.Although the tea is still hot, it has no aroma, let alone the taste of tea, and the taste is unbearably bitter.Dr. Tea watched the scholar drink it, mouthful of bitter tea, but his expression remained unchanged.

The scribe wanted to say something more, when he suddenly heard a chaotic noise from downstairs, and then someone ran up and shouted: "It's terrible! Another dead man!"

The guests suddenly became restless.

The man was full of excitement: "This time it's Mr. Xie's son! It's in the ditch in the west of the city! Naked, it's the same as the previous one!"

Dr. Tea picked up the teapot and walked over, leaving the scribe sitting there alone.There was a lot of people around, and the guests discussed excitedly. Only the middle-aged scribe drank the bitter tea in his cup and counted the gulls flying obliquely in the blood-colored glow with pleasure.

-

·Snake

The two steeds galloped all the way, and finally returned to Pengyang City before the city gate was closed.

Sima Feng and Ah Si were travel-laden, and before they got home to drink a sip of water, they were immediately called to the study by Sima Liang.Ah Si was confused: When Sima Liang talked about things with Sima Feng, he would never call him such a small follower.

"What Jing Qi told me is related to the secret affairs of the imperial court." Sima Liangren straight to the point, "It is also related to Shenying Ce."

Ah Si: "...???"

He thought for a while before he remembered that "Jing Qi" was Sima Shuangtong's husband, Qu Yongchang.

Qu Yongchang was originally a general stationed at the frontier. He was seriously injured a few years ago and returned to the imperial city for treatment, so he got acquainted with Sima and Sima Shuangtong.Qu Yongchang is not a person who vows to make great achievements. He is currently a Cangbu Langzhong under the household department.

"Jing Qi is going to be promoted to be the Minister of the Household Department, but on this condition, the imperial court gave him a secret mission." Sima Liang looked at Sima Feng, then at Ah Si, "It is to thoroughly investigate the matter of the Shenying policy back then. .”

Ah Si rolled his eyes and immediately looked at his young master.

Sima Feng was also full of doubts: "Hasn't the matter of the Shenying Camp been resolved long ago? What else do we need to investigate now?"

"It's Shenying Plan, not Shenying Battalion." Sima Liangren said in a deep voice, "Shenying Battalion is just a part of Shenying Ce's overall plan."

Ah Si keenly sensed that this was not something she could hear.

"Si, I called you here because I know that my son trusts you the most. All the things I said here today are only known to the three of us." Sima Liang changed the subject, "If I die, I will Let Lingrui and you continue to investigate."

Ah Si quickly stood up straight, not daring to take a breath.

"Brother-in-law is from the household department, what does he have to do with these court secrets?" Sima Feng asked, "Why did you find him?"

"Because he is Shuangtong's husband, and Shuangtong is our family. The imperial court asked an official who went to the Ministry of Household Affairs to investigate this matter, because Shenying Policy spent a lot of land, manpower and financial resources back then. and Jingqi, because behind him is our Sima family." Sima Liangren said coldly, "The Sima family doesn't care about temple affairs, but is only responsible for investigating the case. The current emperor does not trust any People can only find me who is absolutely neutral. They know that if they come to me for such a thing, I will not agree, so they came up with such a dirty method."

Ah Si was taken aback, and quickly asked, "Where's Madam?"

"At Shuangtong's place." Sima Liangren looked at Sima Feng, "Before Shuangtong gave birth, she stayed there with her."

"...Brother-in-law dares to detain someone from you?" Sima Feng gritted his teeth fiercely.

"It is true that he detained the person, but..." Sima Liang lowered his voice, "My wife is in that mansion, and Jingqi's wife is also in that mansion. Now there are not only our people in the Qu Mansion, they There is nothing that can be done.”

There was a moment of silence in the room.Sima Feng was silent for a long time, and finally spoke again.

"What exactly is Shenying Policy?" he asked.

"It was an experiment initiated by the imperial court many years ago when the late emperor was still alive." Sima Liangren said softly, "The subjects are all children under the age of ten. The purpose is to cultivate a group of violent people who are only loyal to the emperor." machine."

It was the emperor who decided to name this experiment after "Shenying Policy", and the one who took over "Shenying Policy" was the now deceased King Lu.

At that time, the first emperor came to the throne not long ago, and the world was not peaceful. On the one hand, foreign enemies looked down on him, and on the other hand, the talents of the court and China were withered due to the war. In addition, three consecutive years of drought, floods and locust plagues, the people were really struggling to survive.

A group of officials headed by the old King Lu spent nearly ten years with their strong management ability and diplomatic means, and finally calmed down the internal and external troubles a little.The powerful enemy is gone, and the emperor began to pay attention to people's livelihood. At this time, the old King Lu made a suggestion to him: to cultivate a violent army that is only loyal to the emperor himself.

During the ten years since he ascended the throne, the emperor could not sleep day and night. Under the lobbying of the old King Lu, he quickly agreed to the "Condor Eagle Strategy" and let the old King Lu be in charge of the entire plan.

"So far, the Shenying Policy is quite normal." Sima Liangren said, "The children in the 'Shenying Policy' come from all over the world, and they are all outstanding seedlings. The emperor will go to the Shenying Camp regularly according to the planned date. Review your troops."

He flipped through the paper in his hand.

"'Shenying Strategy' is the original intention of the establishment of the Shenying Camp. It looks like an elite training camp, but in fact every year the children selected to enter the Shenying Camp are seedlings who will become violent machines. They will never return to the army Among them, excellent people can enter the upper echelon and become the emperor's special pawns, while those who fail to meet the standard can only die. The change of the Shenying strategy happened 40 years ago, which is the moment when the Shenying camp began to change gradually." Sima Liang People said, "Old King Lu discovered that the Condor Camp is no longer an elite training camp, but has become a playground for the children of officials."

The old king of Lu planned to report the changes to the emperor, but was surprised to find that many of the children were inextricably linked to the royal family.

He suddenly understood: the emperor no longer trusted him.

The people who came out of the Shenying Battalion were too outstanding. The emperor used these "weapons" that he was good at, but at the same time he was afraid of the "weapon" makers.

"If you ask me whether the old King Lu really has a different heart, I don't think he has. He is very loyal..." Sima Liang lowered his voice, "He is not loyal to an emperor, he is loyal to the country and the entire royal family .”

"...He decided to do it himself?" Sima Feng immediately understood.

"Yes, after the old King Lu found out that he had lost the trust of the emperor, he quickly made his own judgment and began to prepare for the establishment of another 'Condor Camp' that he would personally manage."

After Sima Liangren finished speaking, he twisted his thumb and middle finger on the candle wick, and the candle immediately ignited.

He burned all the papers in his hand before turning back to look at Sima Feng.

"These things about Shenying Policy were collected by Chi Xingjian and Yingsuo 20 years ago. Because it is related to court secrets, I can't afford that much money, and Xingjian and Yingsuo know that I want to stay away from the court. So they didn't tell me the following information, and I don't know if they also searched here. But I guess, the people in Yingbeishe are very likely to have complete information about the Shenying Policy, including the one established after the old King Lu. Secret camp. Because the information is extremely confidential, not everyone can see it, only the key figures of Ying Beishe can get in touch, such as your best friend, Chi Yebai."

"You want me to ask him for information?" Sima Feng asked suspiciously, "Instead of me asking Xiaobai, you should ask Uncle Chi and Aunt Yingsuo."

"The fewer people who know about this matter, the better. Besides, Chi Xingjian and Ying Suo may not be willing to ask Mu Ya to help us."

"why?"

Sima Liangren stroked his mustache.

"The Shenying Strategy has been in operation for a long time before it became a playground for the children of officials. At least fifty children enter the Shenying Camp every year, but at most only half of them can really get out of the Shenying Camp." He slowly Said, "Half of the people made great achievements, but half of them were secretly executed."

Sima Feng: "What do you mean? I'm asking, why Uncle Chi and Aunt Ying Suo won't let Xiao Bai help us?"

"The half of the children who died tragically suffered inhuman treatment before they died. They were not simply executed, but died after undergoing secret torture experiments." Sima Liang continued to speak slowly.

Sima Feng suddenly held his breath.

"The reason why Mu Ya went crazy back then was actually because he read all the early materials of Shenying Strategy in the basement of Yingbeishe. All the people who walked out of the Shenying Camp, all the people who didn't go out, and all the methods of torture , all punishments from life to death..." Sima Liangren said softly, "This is the real reason for his madness. Xingjian and Yingsuo still can't forgive themselves. They took the initiative to let Chi Yebai, who was only a few years old, into the In the basement. So... I feel hung up."