Crossing the East Palace

"Aren't they dead soldiers? Why are they still alive?"

The second prince returned to his study in the palace, immediately furious.

"Uncle, is this the dead man you found for this king? A dead man who will commit suicide no matter whether he completes the task or not?" The second prince angrily said, "This king trusts uncle, but uncle, I have to let uncle believe it. It is not a wrong decision for Wang to trust uncle!"

The middle-aged man in the study was slightly embarrassed, and said: "Those dead soldiers are indeed people who have been supported by their families for ten years. At this time, unless it is the emperor, the prince, and the Ning family, who can raise soldiers in private now? Even these A dead soldier is only raised by the family for His Highness."

The second prince relaxed his breathing a little, and continued to look at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man said: "Originally, with the skills of those dead men, even if they can't kill adults, it's okay to kill themselves. But, but it's a pity that the prince is treacherous, and he went to Baifo Temple. The Second Highness is young, maybe he doesn't know In addition to being famous in Datang for the Zhishan master who is good at hexagrams, fortune-telling and medical skills, Baifo Temple also has another thing that attracts the attention of the world—”

The second prince looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man noticed the impatience in the eyes of the second prince, and hurriedly said: "The martial monks in Baifo Temple are very good at kung fu. But what they learned is not the kung fu of killing people, but the kung fu of subduing people. So the prince chose the place in After entering Baifo Temple, those dead men had no choice but to threaten the lives of those pilgrims, trying to prevent the monks from Baifo Temple from attacking them. Originally, this method was not bad. only……"

"It's just that they didn't expect that the cunning prince would come up with a substitute method, get ten monks similar in stature and appearance to him, and then have cinnabar moles on them, so that they could go see and listen? And then shoot their leader with an arrow? "

The second prince sneered and said, "Uncle, I understand what you said. However, uncle should also know that I don't value the process. What I value is only the result. Now, no matter what uncle said, the reason for this failure It doesn't matter if those dead men were chosen poorly, or the monks from the Baifo Temple were too powerful, or the prince was too treacherous. Uncle must remember one thing. Now, those dead men, if they can keep their mouths tighter Let’s not talk about anything, then, uncle is good, and this king is also good; if they really open their mouths... This king still has a way to survive, but can uncle survive? Can the Jiang family be treated like they used to be? Literati favor?"

The middle-aged man's complexion changed.

The second prince waved his sleeves and said: "Fortunately, those people are only under the control of uncle's subordinates. They don't know who the real order is. Uncle just go, and deal with all the people who were in charge of the dead under his command." It should be fine."

The middle-aged man turned pale, and said: "The person in charge of the dead is also a collateral blood of the Jiang family. He shouldn't have died, and those dead don't know his name..."

"But he is not dead. What if someone among those dead men is good at painting, draws him, and then recognizes him?" The second prince said, "Today, on the way to court, this king saw the Ninth Brother Grandfather Xia, this king looked at his expression calmly, obviously he had found a way out early. But," he paused slightly, and looked at the middle-aged man, "Ninth Brother's mother clan is so cautious and powerful, so he had already thought about it. You know the way out of success or failure, but what about the way out for you and me? Uncle, don’t really learn from your grandfather, you’d be a fool in teaching!”

After finishing speaking, the second prince shook his sleeves and left.

The middle-aged man's face was extremely ugly.

He only thought that the Second Prince was gentle and courteous and respected his uncle and the mother family behind him, but he didn't think that the Second Prince actually looked down on the Jiang family of Jiangnan Academy in his heart?

The second prince guessed wrong this time.

Although the Xia family and the Murong family seemed to be calm and unhurried, in fact, the two families had already started to panic.

If the dead soldier fails, he commits suicide and dies.For them, although it is a pity, they are not in a hurry to become like this.

They would be so anxious, just because those dead men were captured alive.

"Mother, don't worry." Xia Jieyu, the biological mother of the Ninth Prince, said calmly, "Where did the family find those dead men? Who did they find? Will the Xia family and the Ninth Prince be involved? Can we shirk it?" Or... push this matter to the second prince or someone else?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Xia calmed down a bit, and said: "The Murong family has a good relationship with our family, and my mother knows about it. The Murong family usually handles the affairs of these dead men. Our family, your father and elder brother, all of them They all have the loftiness of a literati, and they don't want to touch these things at all." After Madam Xia finished speaking, she suddenly froze, and looked at Xia Jieyu in disbelief, "You mean..."

Xia Jieyu brought a cup of tea for her mother: "Mother, if it's time to break it, then it will be done. If the crown prince doesn't catch the one we sent, then that's all. But, the crown prince obviously came prepared, and since he came prepared, This time, if we don't bite off one of the arms of the Second Prince and the Ninth Prince, how can we let it go? Even if the Emperor is reluctant to bear the death of his own son, since we made a move on the Prince, then we must pay the price."

Mrs. Xia said in a daze: "Perhaps those dead men won't speak at all? If they don't say anything, then it's too early for us to push the Murong family out now?"

Xia Jieyu sneered: "Mother, do you know what the second prince and the dead men we sent out look like? What are their names?"

Mrs. Xia said: "How can we know about the lowly people they wait for? Not only we can't, but the second prince certainly doesn't know about it." .

Xia Jieyu touched the head of the Ninth Prince who had been sitting beside her and listened to her talking to her mother, and said word by word: "That's it. Everyone in the world knows that someone is making trouble in Fujian Baifo Temple, and the prince will It is captured alive. However, among those captured alive, some may survive to confess, some may die on their own ideas, and maybe...there may also be 'confessors' that the prince took the opportunity to insert."

Mrs. Xia finally figured it out.

The Ninth Prince suddenly said: "What Brother Seventh Emperor wanted was never the confession of Brother Second Emperor or the people we sent, what he wanted was to capture those people alive in front of the world, and then he would be able to tell the confession he wanted , send it to the emperor, and tell the 'confession' he wants."

Mrs. Xia was still struggling: "Perhaps, we can find someone to point out that the people sent by the crown prince are not among the dead men at all? Perhaps..."

"However, Baifo Temple has been the crown prince's man ever since Master Zhishan said those words to Brother Qihuang before his death." The Ninth Prince said expressionlessly, "Baifo Temple has stood for hundreds of years. The three dynasties depended not only on the level of Buddhist scriptures of the monks in Baifo Temple, but also on knowledge of current affairs."

Mrs. Xia finally fell silent.

Xia Jieyu touched the ninth prince's head, and sighed: "It's a pity, my son is eight years younger than the prince. If my son and the prince were about the same age, now..."

Mrs. Xia and the Ninth Prince stopped talking.The three of them were silent for a while, and Mrs. Xia suddenly said: "There is one more thing... the crown prince's birthmark, do you know about the crown prince's birthmark? Is that thing true?"

Xia Jieyu and the Ninth Prince looked at each other, and suddenly had a calculation in their hearts.

——Mother and son are very sober, knowing that even if this matter was true, the emperor may call this matter as false in order to protect the face of the royal family and the dignity of the prince.Especially if this matter comes from their mother and son... Thinking back to the incident where the second daughter of the Shen family fell into the water, the Xia family and the Murong family were repeatedly reprimanded and demoted from their positions.Even Xia Jieyu's own status has been dropped again and again, and now several years have passed, and the emperor has never mentioned the matter of raising her status, Xia Jieyu's heart trembled, and she hurriedly suppressed the thought in her heart.

"This matter will naturally be exposed. Whether it is true or not, as long as the matter is revealed, the prince will be humiliated and his prince's majesty will be compromised, it will not be considered a disadvantage for us." Xia Jieyu said, "It's just this matter. We shouldn't talk about things. Mother, come..."

One month later, Tang Luojin returned to Chang'an City with many "dead men" who were still alive.

Along the way, Tang Luojin walked safely, almost no one dared to cause trouble.

After arriving at Chang'an City, it's time for the sweet-scented osmanthus in August.

Tang Luojin entered Chang'an City, visited the Emperor Tianyuan, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress. At the dinner that day, she saw fat crabs on the table.

He was startled, and then he ate without changing his expression.It's just that the fat crab didn't move at all.

The second prince and the ninth prince waited for four or five days, but they didn't see any movement from the prince. They felt strange in their hearts, but at the same time, they unconsciously relaxed their vigilance.

But it was at this time when vigilance was relaxed that everyone passed the Mid-Autumn Festival safely. The second prince and the ninth prince could see nothing on the faces of Emperor Tianyuan and the crown prince.

In a blink of an eye, it was August sixteenth.

Early in the morning, as soon as the two of them got up, the eunuch from Zichen Palace came to deliver the oral order.

"Your Majesty said, let you go to Zichen Palace."

In this case, the eunuch of the Zichen Palace said several times in a row, and called all the princes over four years old and the prince's mother clan to the Zichen Palace.

Emperor Tianyuan and the crown prince are in the court.

A group of people were waiting in the Zichen Palace, and they were inexplicably frightened.

The twelve princes lowered their heads and remained silent.

He remembers this day.It was on this day that Emperor Tianyuan was furious, and there were very few princes who were not affected.

And the prince is the biggest winner.

However, the previous life is the previous life, and this life is this life.In the previous life, when the birthmark was revealed, it was even later.But now, the birthmark... But many people know about it.Who will be the winner this time?

All the princes and relatives waited until everyone was restless before Emperor Tianyuan brought the prince back.

All the relatives retreated temporarily, and Emperor Tianyuan asked Xu Youwei and other eunuchs other than the two close eunuchs to stand guard at a place five feet away from the Zichen Hall. In front of him, he walked back and forth, with inexplicable eyes.

Just when some prince couldn't help but look up at Emperor Tianyuan, Emperor Tianyuan suddenly stopped moving.

Instead, he took a step forward, walked to the table, and suddenly dropped the teapot.

With a "bang", everyone's hearts trembled.

Emperor Tianyuan said: "Kneel down!"

All the princes knelt on the ground, all daring not to speak out.

Emperor Tianyuan continued to walk back and forth, and suddenly stopped in front of the second prince, and said: "I used to think that I was luckier than the previous emperors. Because I have a prince who is respectful and tolerant. This crown prince, my son, will be fully preserved. But," Emperor Tianyuan's voice made people feel happy, "but, what did you do again? Haven't you remembered the lessons learned by the eldest prince? Or... ..."

"Do you really think that since you are my sons, I really won't kill you? Huh?"