Master of Rebirth

"Master Hou." Although Xu Baichuan didn't know what Zhao Rui was going to do, seeing him bring Wang Qi together, he was naturally unwilling.

Wang Qi understood, and immediately said: "Since Lord Hou has something important to do, Cao Min will leave first."

"Prince Wang is not an outsider, so there is no need to avoid suspicion." Zhao Rui smiled and glanced at Wang Qi and Zhao Jing, then turned to look at Xu Baichuan and said: "Besides, Wang Gongzi is very resourceful and has many things. I also want to hear his opinion. .”

Now that Zhao Rui had spoken, Xu Baichuan couldn't say anything more, so he could only shut up reluctantly.

Zhao Jing was very happy, and immediately took Wang Qi's hand and said to Zhao Rui: "My father said that Qiong Ju is an insider, not an outsider."

After hearing this, Xu Baichuan's face became even uglier, and Wang Qi also felt a little uncomfortable.

Zhao Jing seemed to realize that he accidentally spoke his mind, and hurriedly explained: "My boy, what you mean is that Qiong Ju is one of us."

"All right, all right, I know." Zhao Rui smiled ambiguously, then turned and left without looking at them.

Wang Qi, Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan were terrified by his words, and they murmured at the same time, "What the hell does he know?"

The three of them were full of question marks, but no one dared to ask, so they could only follow Zhao Rui silently with their heads sullen.With their own thoughts, the four walked silently through the vast training ground and long corridors, and finally stopped in front of a secluded courtyard.

When the guard at the door saw Zhao Rui, he immediately saluted and opened the door silently.

After entering the gate of the courtyard, a man about 50 years old came in front of him. From his appearance, he was probably a servant.

When the attendant saw Zhao Rui, he hurriedly came up to salute him.

"How are you doing today, sir?" Zhao Rui asked softly instead of entering the room in a hurry, ignoring the attendant's gift.

The attendant said: "If you go back to Master Hou, you just woke up and are taking medicine."

Seeing that the person was awake, Zhao Rui seemed to be relieved, so he asked his attendants to report, and he waited outside.

Wang Qi couldn't help but be curious, who lived inside that Zhao Rui treated him so courteously, and even had to wait outside to be "summoned"?

"The person living inside is a tall man, and he is respected by my father." After entering the small courtyard, Zhao Jing guessed who Zhao Rui was bringing them to see. Seeing Wang Qi's questioning face, he explained in a low voice: " It's just that he doesn't like being disturbed, so he lives here."

"Oh, so that's the case." Wang Qi said, but the doubts in her heart deepened.What kind of expert is he who doesn't even dare to disturb Zheng Xihou?

Fortunately, after waiting for a long time, the attendant came out and said to Zhao Rui: "Sir, please come in."

After tidying up his clothes, Zhao Rui stepped into the room.Zhao Jing looked back at Wang Qi and motioned for him to follow.Wang Qi followed Xu Baichuan and walked in.

The house was filled with a strong smell of medicine, obviously the people who lived there had been ill for a long time and needed to take medicine frequently.Wang Qi walked silently at the end, looked at the furnishings in the house calmly, and found that although it is simple here, it is also exquisite.

At this time, the attendant just now helped a pale and weak man out of the inner room.Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan saw each other and rushed to meet him.

"See Lord Hou." With the support of his attendants, the man saluted Zhao Rui with difficulty.

"Mr. Kong, hurry up and excuse me." Before he could finish the ceremony, Zhao Rui supported him, and then helped him to sit on the soft couch beside him, and ordered the attendant to take a blanket and cover him up.

Helping Zhao Rui take care of the people, Zhao Jing said in surprise: "I haven't seen you for a while, why is Mr. Kong so seriously ill? What's wrong with him?"

"The old man is sick. All these years, he has been taken care of by Lord Hou, so he can survive until now." Kong Yun waved his hand, smiling calmly, as if he was not the one who was dying of illness.

Zhao Jing has only met Kong Yun a few times, and knows that he is Zhao Rui's counselor, and he is deeply trusted.I don't know much about his past and origins.After hearing this now, Zhao Jing looked at Zhao Rui and Xu Baichuan suspiciously.

Xu Baichuan also had a dazed look on his face, apparently also ignorant of the inside story.

"Mr. Kong was once poisoned." Facing Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan's inquiring gazes, Zhao Rui said in a deep voice, "Although he managed to save his life, he injured his foundation, and now he just relapsed."

Kong Yun nodded with a wry smile, and sighed: "The genius doctor who treated me has already said that the poison in me cannot be cured. Even if it is temporarily suppressed, once it recurs, the disease will come down like a mountain. Now I am afraid that it will be the end of the day." Well, the oil is exhausted and the lamp is dying. However, I have lived two years longer than the miracle doctor's assertion, so I should be content. It's a pity..."

Before he finished speaking, Kong Yun began to cough violently, as if he wanted to cough up all the viscera in his stomach.

"It's alright, alright, don't talk..." Zhao Rui comforted Kong Yun while patting Kong Yun's back to smooth him out.

After finally waiting for Kong Yun to slow down, Zhao Jing asked: "Who is so vicious, and actually used such low-handed means to harm Mr.?"

Thinking of Zhao Rui's purpose for bringing them here, Xu Baichuan tentatively asked, "Could it be Mr. Wu Zhu?"

"That's right." Zhao Rui paused before saying, "I never told you that Mr. Kong is actually Mr. Wu Zhu's fellow apprentice."

Now Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan were really shocked. They always knew that Kong Yun's identity was unusual, but they didn't know that he had such a relationship with Mr. Wu Zhu.

As if dissatisfied with the title "junior brother", Kong Yun coughed lightly, and said slowly: "Although I studied in the same sect as him, the master only passed on what he has learned all his life to us, and did not enroll us in the sect wall. Strictly speaking, he and I are not considered brothers."

"Master Hou, Mr. Kong, what's going on? Can you tell me in detail?" Looking at each other with Zhao Jing, Xu Baichuan asked the question that both of them wanted to know.

"Let's talk about these things later." Kong Yun obviously didn't want to bring up the sad things before, he looked at Zhao Rui and said, "Master Hou came to look for me, but do you already have clues about that person?"

"I did find something right now, but I don't know if it's a clue, so I came here to ask Mr. for advice." Zhao Rui didn't hesitate, sat down beside Kong Yun, and said softly: "Some time ago, I had a meeting with Mr. I mentioned a guy named Zou Ran, Mr. I don’t know if you still remember?”

Kong Yundao: "Of course I remember. This person is suspected of defrauding the trust of Wu Zhou, the county magistrate in southern Yunnan, and he got in touch with Huoer Khan to plan the entire southern Yunnan incident. Lord Hou suspects that he is very likely to be instigated by Wuzhu, and even It's Wu Zhu himself."

"That's right." Zhao Rui said: "By coincidence, we found a person in the capital, and we think that he is very likely to be that Zou Ran."

He told Kong Yun about Wang Fang's experience and Wang Qi's thoughts in detail, and asked Xu Baichuan to supplement the results of his investigation.Only then did Zhao Rui humbly ask for advice: "Although judging from his age, Zhou He should not be Wu Zhu himself, but if he is Zou Ran, we can find Wu Zhu through him."

"Father, as long as you change your identity, your age can be faked. Since Mr. Wuzhu knows Wu Zhu, we might as well let him see Zhou He's portrait, so we can confirm it." Zhao Jing glanced at Wang Qi, and suddenly had an idea .

Xu Baichuan said: "That's a good idea, but we came in a hurry and didn't prepare any portraits."

"Qiong Ju is good at Danqing, and I have seen Zhou He, so I should give it a try." Zhao Jing looked at Wang Qi expectantly, hoping that he could perform well in front of Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui looked at Wang Qi and said, "I wonder if Mr. Wang is willing?"

"Let's give it a try." Since both Zhao Rui and Zhao Jing had spoken, Wang Qi couldn't refuse, so he could only accept orders in the face of danger.

Seeing that he agreed, Zhao Rui immediately ordered someone to prepare a pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Wang Qi picked up the pen under the expectation of everyone, and after several times of sketching, a simple line drawing of a portrait came out.No one was dissatisfied with the superb painting skills.

Among them, apart from Wang Qi, only Xu Baichuan had seen Zhou He.After Wang Qi finished painting, Xu Baichuan took a look at it first, and saw that the person in the painting was indeed [-]% similar to Zhou He, so he gave it to Zhao Rui.

"Sir, take a look." Zhao Rui handed the painting to Kong Yun.

Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan held their breath at the same time, staring at Kong Yun's reaction intently, hoping he could see something.

It's a pity that Kong Yun took a look, shook his head and said, "This person is not Wuzhu."

Although it was expected, when the words came out, everyone was still very disappointed.

"Mr. Kong, what do you think of Zhou He?" After a short silence, Xu Baichuan said, "Do you think he might be Zou Ran?"

Kong Yun didn't answer, but looked at Wang Qi who was standing aside and said, "Young Master Wang's painting skills are exquisite, and he can perfectly describe people with just one encounter. realm."

"Mr. Kong has won the award." Wang Qi saluted Kong Yun very respectfully, "These juniors are just trivial skills, how dare you compare them with the saints of painting."

Kong Yun smiled, and continued: "I heard from Lord Hou about the prince. If you hadn't insisted on going to Xiangxi to save your uncle, you wouldn't have rescued Moji Khan by accident, thus defeating Wu Zhu. Conspiracy with Hall. You not only rescued the prince and Zhengxihou's mansion, but also avoided a disaster of war and saved the people from suffering."

"Mr. Kong is serious, this junior is just a fluke." Wang Qi said neither humble nor overbearing: "If it weren't for the young master and the guards of Zhengxihou's mansion to protect each other to the death, the junior uncle and nephew would have died in a foreign land long ago, and there would be no today. Reunion. Zhengxihou Mansion is the savior of this junior, how dare this junior take credit for it."

Wang Qi's words were humble and reasonable, and she calmly put all the credit on Zhengxihou's mansion, flattering her future father-in-law very well.

Although Zhao Rui didn't show it on the face, he was still in a good mood when photographed.Zhao Jing couldn't hide her complacency when she saw her daughter-in-law behaved so well.Only Xu Baichuan felt unhappy when he saw Wang Qi showing off all the limelight, but he couldn't find fault, so he could only be secretly angry.

"Young man, don't be arrogant or impetuous, advance and retreat in a certain way, not bad, not bad." Wang Qi obviously aroused Kong Yun's interest, "Dare to ask the prince, Wang Fang has only met Zhou He twice, and doesn't know his identity. As for the origin of identity, I have never heard of the name Zou Ran, how did you connect Zou Ran and Zhou He through a few words from her?"

Wang Qidao: "The younger generation just thinks that they can plan the affairs of southern Yunnan smoothly, and incidentally blame Zhengxihou's Mansion. They must know the capital and Zhengxihou's Mansion very well. And that Zhou He is the steward of Ning'an Bo's Mansion, and he often talks with people in the middle of the capital. Dealing with the honorable family, even if there is no contact with the Hou's mansion on the surface, it is convenient to inquire about the news secretly. In addition, he had secretly gone to the Prime Minister's mansion to meet Fang Xiangye, and he happened to appear at the mansion of the county magistrate Wu in southern Yunnan. It's too coincidental that this junior has the guts to make a hypothesis."

"Of course, with Zhou He's ability, it is impossible to plan such a big event. As long as we can find out the master behind him, we will be able to find Wu Zhu." Zhao Jing said excitedly.

Glancing at Zhao Jing, Kong Yun showed an intriguing expression, and then said in a low voice: "Then according to the young master, if Zhou He is Zou Ran, who should be the master behind him?"

"This..." Zhao Jing paused, feeling a little embarrassed.

Wang Qi knew that it was not easy for him to testify against Shen Rongchang, so she took over the conversation and said: "Forgive me for my bold guess, Zhou He may be instructed by Ning Anbo Shen Rongchang...or his son Shen Yingjie."

"Shen Yingjie is too young, so he is definitely not Wuzhu. As for Shen Rongchang..." Kong Yun turned to look at Wang Qi and asked, "What evidence does Mr. Wang have? It is impossible for Zhou He to be the steward of Ning Anbo's mansion. Doubt Ning Anbo."

Seeing Wang Qi insisting on Shen Rongchang and showing off in front of Kong Yun, Xu Baichuan was very dissatisfied, and said coldly: "Shen Rongchang can't be Wu Zhu, as for the reason, I have already explained it to Wang Gongzi." , why are you so obsessed with it?"

Wang Qi said slowly: "Master Xu is right, and I really have no evidence to prove that Ning Anbo is Wu Zhu. I just think that Zhou He is the housekeeper of Ning Anbo's mansion, and his every move must be hidden from Ning Anbo and his son." Even if Uncle Ning An is not Wuzhu, he must be inseparable from this matter. Besides, there are no permanent friends and enemies, only permanent interests. The matter in southern Yunnan is very important. It is the Seventh Prince who directly benefits. As the grandfather and uncle of the Seventh Prince, Ning Anbo and Shen Yingjie, it is not impossible for him to take risks and cooperate with Mr. Wu Zhu."

It has to be said that Wang Qi's words were very reasonable, making Xu Baichuan, who hadn't thought of this level, immediately shut up.

"Master Xu is only limited by the evidence he has already obtained. He thinks that Ning Anbo cannot be Mr. Wu Zhu, so he ruled out his suspicion." Wang Qi continued: "But things will change, and so will people's positions. Just like when we do business, yesterday’s competitors may not become tomorrow’s partners, everyone just gets what they need.”

Although Wang Qi's words were not shocking, they also reversed the inherent thinking of Xu Baichuan and others.So much so that after he finished speaking, no one spoke up.

For a moment, Wang Qi was a little embarrassed.When he was reviewing whether he had spoken too bluntly, Zhao Rui was the first to laugh out loud, "Hahahahaha, Mr. Wang is indeed a successful businessman, with brains and insights, I admire him!"

Even though he knew that Zhao Rui had no malicious intentions, Wang Qi's ears were reddened by his half-joking tone, and he said hastily: "The younger generation is playing with an axe, I hope Lord Hou and everyone don't mind."

"Qiong Ju, my father doesn't often boast, so don't be humble." Zhao Jing said with a smile.

After being interrupted by the two, Xu Baichuan came back to his senses, and said coldly: "Although the words of Mr. Wang are reasonable, they are all guesses after all. Whatever the facts, we still have to use evidence to speak."

"Qiong Ju's intuition has always been very accurate, but Brother Xu's words are also reasonable, and we still need to find evidence, otherwise the emperor will not believe us." Zhao Jing rounded up the scene for Wang Qi, and immediately changed the subject.He looked at Kong Yun and said, "Mr. Kong, we know so little about Mr. Wuzhu that we really have no way of doing it. Since Mr. Wuzhu has been in the same class for many years, I think we know him very well."

With a long sigh, Kong Yun said helplessly: "Although I have lived with him for many years, I don't know much about him. Besides, I have already told Lord Hou what I know, but it is a pity that it is all false. Otherwise, Master Hou would not have searched for so many years and still found nothing."

"Anyway, I'm here, sir, can you talk to us again." Zhao Jing said: "Maybe we can find some clues?"

"Okay." Seeing Zhao Jing's insistence, Kong Yun had no choice but to agree.He closed his eyes to sort out his emotions, and then said slowly: "When I was 13 years old, both my parents died. Fortunately, I was taken in by the master, so I was saved from starvation. Wuzhu is six years older than me, two years earlier than me Follow Master. According to him, both of his parents died, and he was saved by Master when he was chased by bullies, so he has been following Master."

Zhao Jing asked: "I don't know who the commander is?"

Kong Yundao: "Master is a wandering Taoist. He has no fixed place and no one knows his name, but he knows the past and the present, and he is familiar with the art of war. He is a very extraordinary expert. When he rescued me, he was already old. He found a mountain and took us to live in seclusion. During the day, we enlightened with the master, and at night we learned the art of war. Wu Zhu took good care of me, and I always treated him like an elder brother. When I was 20 years old, my master passed away. After a year of filial piety, I wanted to go down the mountain to travel around, but Wuzhu suggested to visit the capital first. We came to the capital and lived in Longxing Temple on Fuyun Mountain in the suburbs of Beijing. Later, he was appreciated by the five princes , and left Longxing Temple. Not long after, I was poisoned."

"Longxing Temple?" Zhao Jing was taken aback, "Why didn't I know there is a temple on Fuyun Mountain?"

Zhao Rui said in a deep voice, "Because that temple has been destroyed long ago."

"More than 20 years ago, Longxing Temple was very famous. Many nobles in Beijing went there to offer incense and pray for blessings. The Fifth Prince was also a frequent visitor. Later, for some reason, the Fifth Prince said that someone in the temple was collaborating with the enemy and treason, and took out Evidence. Not long after, Longxing Temple caught fire inexplicably, and none of the people inside could escape." Xu Baichuan frowned and said, "I didn't expect that there was such a secret in it. Wu Zhu lived in Longxing Temple, probably early There is a premeditated approach to the Fifth Prince."

Wang Qi looked at Kong Yunlu's old scars on his neck and back of his hands calmly. Although the scars were very shallow, he could still vaguely see that they were the marks left by the fire.

"Since the master doesn't know Wuzhu very well, why did he kill you, not only poisoned you, but also set fire to the entire temple?" Wang Qi questioned: "Isn't it because you know his secret, so He wants to kill you?"

Kong Yun looked up at Wang Qi, but said nothing.

"Mr. Kong is absolutely outstanding in terms of mental strategy." Although Xu Baichuan was dissatisfied with Wang Qi's attitude, he also felt that Kong Yun might be hiding something, so he said, "Mr. Kong must not know if he says he doesn't know. Mr. Wang is so aggressive. , do you suspect that Mr. Kong is deceiving Lord Hou?"

Xu Baichuan's words were clever, obviously he was expressing grievances for Kong Yun, but in fact he was using Zhao Rui's name to force Wang Qi to question Kong Yun under the guise of Wang Qi.

Although she scolded her in her heart, Wang Qi had to apologize on the face, "This junior is rude, please don't take offense. This junior is just curious, so I asked this question, and I didn't doubt my husband."

"Every man is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying jade." Kong Yun didn't speak, but Zhao Rui smiled and said, "Your Majesty, have you ever heard the story about Qin Prime Minister Li Si jealously killing Han Fei?"

Li Si and Han Fei went to the same school, and later both went to Qin.Knowing that Han Fei was more talented, Li Si was afraid of losing power, so he often slandered Han Fei in front of King Qin.In the end, Han Fei was granted death.

Zhao Rui clicked and stopped, and everyone present was smart, so they could naturally understand what he meant.

"At the beginning when he joined the Fifth Prince's sect, he also persuaded me to work for the Fifth Prince. But I didn't have the heart to become an official, and felt that the Fifth Prince was too domineering, so I refused. Who would have thought, but in the end it was him who fed him I drank poisonous wine..." Kong Yun smiled wryly and swallowed the following words.

People are harmless to tigers, but tigers are harmful to people.No one can accept being betrayed by someone who has treated him like a brother since childhood.

"Sir, don't be sad." Although he knew that this was Kong Yun's sadness, Xu Baichuan had to ask: "You have lived with Wu Zhu for so long, didn't you ask him about his hometown and family?"

Kong Yundao: "He said he was from Yangzhou. After his parents died, he was alone and had no other relatives. There was a childhood sweetheart in Yangzhou. Unfortunately, the girl's parents were too snobbish and betrothed her to a rich family. After her sweetheart got married, he Disappointed, he left his hometown. However, Lord Hou sent someone to Yangzhou to investigate, but did not find any clues. Come to think of it, what he told me was all false. "

"Yes, I searched Yangzhou all over many years ago, but found nothing." Zhao Rui nodded.

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Jing and Xu Baichuan were very disappointed.

Seeing Zhao Jing like this, Wang Qi felt very uncomfortable, so she asked, "What kind of person is Wu Zhu in the eyes of Mr.?"

Kong Yun said: "Eloquent and exquisite. As long as he wants, he can please anyone. If not, he would not have won the appreciation of the Fifth Prince just by meeting him once. However, the abbot of Longxing Temple said that he is warm-hearted and cold-hearted. It is unfathomable. Now it seems that the presiding officer is worthy of being an eminent monk, and indeed has the foresight."

"Since he has no relatives, what kind of enemies does he have?" Wang Qi asked again with the mentality of treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

Amused by these words, Kong Yun thought for a while before saying: "He never told me that he had any enemies, but he did mock the parents of his sweetheart, saying that they were stingy and shameless. When marrying his daughter, he asked the man Asked for a large sum of betrothal gifts, but the dowry for my daughter was only hair oil made by myself. It's a pity that there is no way to know if this is true or not."

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The author has something to say:

I wanted to update yesterday, but unfortunately I didn't catch up.I wish the motherland mother a happy birthday, and the little angels have a happy National Day!