Master of Rebirth

Wang Qi and Zhao Jing had just fallen asleep when they were woken up by a rapid knock on the door.

Zhao Jing put on his clothes and got out of bed and opened the door. Seeing Xiuwen's face turned pale and serious, his heart sank.

"What happened?" Zhao Jing asked hurriedly.

Xiuwen said sternly: "Master Hou, please go to the front hall as soon as possible with the prince."

Zhao Jing and Wang Qi didn't dare to neglect, they hurriedly packed up and went to the front hall.When we got there, we found that the room was full of people.Not only Xu Baichuan, Xiuwen, Yanwu and other confidantes of Zhengxihou Mansion, Anyang Bozhang Bixian was also there.

Xu Baichuan and others were originally from Zhengxihou's Mansion, plus they had been discussing important matters with Zhao Rui yesterday and didn't rest until very late, so it's not unusual for them to be in the mansion.

But Zhang Bixian is Zhou Ying's confidant, and he is in two different camps with the Dingbei Houfu, and the two sides hardly move around in private.The last time Wang Qi saw him was in Hani Town. Later, Wang Qi went to Xiangxi to look for Wang Yao, and the two never saw each other again.Wang Qi was very surprised, it was so late, why did Zhang Bixian come to the door suddenly?

Fortunately, it didn't confuse Wang Qi for long, and Zhao Rui said, "Master Zhang came here at night with a distress letter from the palace, please take a look first."

After Zhao Rui finished speaking, Xu Baichuan gave Zhao Jing a small note.

Zhao Jing quickly picked it up, and Wang Qi followed suit, and saw that the note was not big, it seemed to be torn from somewhere hastily, and there were only a few lines written on it, "Ning Anbo and Shen Yingjie conspired against each other. , the emperor is trapped in the palace, quickly find a way to enter the palace to rescue him."

"Where did this come from?" After being shocked, Zhao Jing couldn't believe it.It's fine to say that Shen Yingjie and the Seventh Prince conspired against each other, but would Shen Rongchang have the guts to do such a thing?

Zhao Rui looked at Zhang Bixian and motioned for him to explain.

Zhang Bixian hurriedly said: "Half an hour ago, the lower official received a letter from the Marquis of Dingbei, and the pigeon is here."

As if afraid that they would not believe it, Zhang Bixian quickly took out a carrier pigeon from his arms.

Xu Baichuan really didn't believe it, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, do you think we are all fools? The gate of the palace was locked at the end of the Xu Dynasty, and foreign officials are not allowed to stay in the palace unless the emperor has an order. Now the time has passed, you It was half an hour ago that the Marquis of Dingbei received the letter from Feige. That is to say, just after Haishi, Marquis Dingbei, who should not have been in the palace, discovered that Ning Anbo, who was also not supposed to be in the palace, had rebelled. The palace sent you a letter asking you to break into the palace to rescue him?"

"I know this sounds absurd, not to mention you, I also feel baffled. But this note is indeed in the handwriting of the Marquis of Dingbei." Zhang Bixian turned his head to Zhao Rui and said helplessly: "Mr. To tell you the truth, before coming to your mansion, I have already gone to Dingbeihou's mansion to inquire. The steward said that Dingbeihou was indeed left by the emperor yesterday. I also sent People inquired, and learned that Ning Anbo had entered the palace by order before the palace gate was locked. If this matter was settled, I would only take it as someone who made a bad joke, but right now... hey, Ning Anbo's residence and The matter of Mr. Wuzhu is unclear, and Shen Yingjie is in charge of the Habayashi Guard in the palace, so I can't blame the officials for thinking too much. I really don't know what to do, so I can only come to you."

Zhao Jing glanced at Xiuwen, and Xiuwen nodded to him.Zhao Jing knew that Zhang Bixian was not lying, and that Zhou Ying and Shen Rongchang were indeed not in the mansion.As for whether they are in the palace or not, it is hard to say.

Wang Qi understood the "dialogue" between Zhao Jing and Xiuwen, and couldn't help but secretly clenched her fists.

"There are so many dignitaries in Beijing, and many of them are high-ranking and powerful people. I don't know why Mr. Zhang would tell our Lord Hou about such an important matter?" Xu Baichuan sneered, "It's a big treason to break into the palace overnight. Ning Anbo really launched the palace change, if not, the one who forced the palace to rebel is our Marquis."

As soon as Xu Baichuan finished speaking, Yan Wu who was standing behind him said sharply: "Oh, Mr. Zhang is really calculating! Could it be that the Seventh Prince wants to bring down Zhengxihou's Mansion and wants to go crazy, but he can't catch any of our mistakes. That's why he and his second uncle sang a good show about coercing the palace and rebelling against him, intending to lure us into the bait?"

Zhang Bixian felt that he couldn't speak clearly all over his body, and was so anxious that he was about to cry. He simply knelt in front of Zhao Rui and said, "Master Hou, I know that there is some misunderstanding between your residence and Dingbeihou residence, but you Both of them are Lord Marquis who were enshrined by the current emperor, and they are only loyal to the current emperor. The reason why the officials came to Zhengxihou's Mansion is that if Anyang Bo really rebelled, only Zhengxihou's Mansion would not have any collusion with him. Take a ten thousand step back, even if Dingbeihou and the Seventh Prince were really planning to blame your house together, it would be impossible to use such absurd reasons. Don't say you don't believe it, if this note is indeed in Dingbeihou's handwriting, next The officials don't believe it either!"

What Zhang Bixian said made some sense. Although he didn't understand why Shen Rongchang launched the palace coup, but Shen Yingjie was in charge of the forbidden army in the palace, and Shen Guifei and the Seventh Prince were the internal support. They did have this ability and had to guard against it.

Zhao Rui asked in a deep voice, "What's happening in the palace?"

"The four doors are closed, everything is as usual, and no movement has been heard." Xiuwen said: "Because there are rules in the palace, we didn't dare to knock on the door rashly."

"Where is the prince?" Zhao Jing continued to ask.

Xiuwen said: "I have already sent people to fly pigeons to pass the letter, but there is no response yet."

"Habayashi guards protect the entire Forbidden Palace. What Master Ruozhang said is true. It has been nearly an hour now. With Habayashi Wei's strength, he can completely control most of the palace. Our flying pigeons are likely to be intercepted by them. Even if there is a response, it may be the other party's trick to confuse us." Zhao Rui said in a deep voice.

Yan Wudao: "Master Hou, if you are really worried, you might as well lie and say that you are in a hurry for [-] miles, and you have to enter the palace to face the saint. The guards at the palace gate are afraid of delaying the battle, so they will not dare to stop you. As long as you are sure that nothing is wrong, the big deal is that you will be killed." It's better to be scolded by the emperor than to be restless here."

"Inappropriate." Xiuwen shook his head and said, "If Shen Yingjie really rebelled, I'm afraid the Hou Ye will startle the snake if he goes here. What if the Hou Ye is also detained, what should we do? Besides, we don't have any Sufficient troops can't compete with the imperial army at all. If you go there rashly, not only will you not be able to save the emperor, but you will die in vain."

Yan Wu was shocked and said: "Although the imperial army is led by Shen Yingjie, they are loyal to the emperor after all, not their Shen family. Even if a small number of people are bought by Shen Yingjie, do most of them really dare to force the palace to rebel?"

"What if they were also deceived?" Wang Qi said softly: "The situation in the palace is unknown now, and everything is our guess. If Shen Yingjie told the imperial army that the prince rebelled and they would not see the emperor, would they believe it? What about Shen Yingjie? If Lord Hou brings people into the palace at this time, will the Imperial Army think that Zheng Xihou is going to support the crown prince? I'm afraid it will be self-defeating."

Xiuwen said: "Young Master Wang is right."

Yan Wu was extremely frustrated and said: "According to this, we have nothing to do?"

"Right now, let's try to figure out the situation in the palace first." Zhao Rui said.

Zhao Jing immediately said: "Father, why don't we discuss it with Sun Bojian and Mrs. Sun."

"As early as when I received the news from Mr. Zhang, Lord Hou had already asked his subordinates to invite Mr. Sun." Xu Baichuan said: "But people in the Sun House said that Mr. Sun was also invited into the palace by the emperor yesterday. return."

"Master Sun has also entered the palace?" Zhao Jing was taken aback, and couldn't help saying: "Why is it at this time? My father, Lord Sun, Zhou Ying and Shen Rongchang were all called into the palace overnight, did it really happen? What's the matter?"

Yan Wu suddenly lost his mind, and quickly asked: "Master Hou, what should we do then? It is impossible to just sit and ignore it. If that boy Shen Yingjie really leads the imperial army to rebel, the guards around the emperor and the prince may not be able to support him." How long?"

These words immediately made everyone's hearts fall to the bottom of the valley.

Zhao Rui looked at Zhang Bixian and said, "Master Zhang, you have been with the Marquis of Dingbei for many years, and you have had a lot of contact with Ning'an Bofu. Do you think Shen Rongchang will rebel?"

"Of course not!" Zhang Bixian didn't even think about it, and said directly: "The Shen family has been greatly favored by the emperor, and Concubine Shen and the seventh prince are the emperor's favorite concubines and sons. I was implicated, but the emperor didn't blame them! Otherwise, Shen Yingjie would not be allowed to continue to command the imperial army. To put it bluntly, if it were someone else, I'm afraid he would have been convicted and sent to prison. According to the officials, Ning Anbo has no reason to rebel."

Yan Wu hesitated for a moment, and said: "Could it be that the Seventh Prince saw that the Emperor's health is not good recently, but he couldn't catch the prince's fault, and was tricked by his grandfather. He felt that there was no hope of abolishing the prince, so he took the risk and joined hands with Shen Yingjie to launch a palace change." ?”

"It shouldn't be possible." Zhang Bixian shook his head and said, "Even if the Seventh Prince and Shen Yingjie have that kind of heart, Ning Anbo has always been timid and afraid, and he doesn't have the guts."

Wang Qidao: "It can be said that Ning Anbo and Shen Yingjie launched the palace coup on the note of Ding Beihou. It seems that Ning Anbo was involved. If Dingbeihou's words are true, this Ning Anbo is probably not as brave as You all think so little. Or, he was forced to do it, and he had no choice but to conspire against him."

"What could have driven Ning Anbo to this point?" Zhang Bixian really couldn't figure it out, "Even if it was such a serious crime as harboring Wuzhu, didn't the emperor not blame them?"

Zhao Rui said in a deep voice: "Jing'er, today you went to the palace to meet the emperor and the prince, what's wrong with them?"

"As usual, nothing out of the ordinary." Zhao Jing lowered his head and thought for a moment, and said, "The emperor's body is still the same, and the prince has been taking care of him. But the prince asked the child to investigate the fire in the west of the city carefully. I want to confirm whether the fire is related to Li Mian."

Zhao Rui said: "Think about it again, did the prince say anything to you?"

"It's nothing." Zhao Jing thought about it again, and then said: "By the way, the prince wants to see the portraits painted by Qiong Ju. I didn't bring them with me at the time, so I asked someone to go back to the house and send them to the palace."

"Portrait?" Zhang Bixian asked suspiciously, "I've never heard that His Royal Highness is interested in Danqing. Young Master, what kind of portrait is it?"

Glancing at Wang Qi, Zhao Jing smiled and said: "There is a master Danqing in our mansion. He has nothing to do and tried to draw a few portraits of Mr. Wuzhu. Although he is far from Li Mian, His Royal Highness I heard about it, but I still want to see it.”

"Master Zhang, please take a look." Xiuwen happened to be carrying a copied portrait, so he took it out and handed it to Zhang Bixian.

Zhang Bixian took a look, pointed to one of them and said, "Isn't this Ning Anbo?"

"Ah?" The people around were taken aback at the same time.

Yan Wu just thought it was funny, "Master Zhang, look more clearly, how could this be Ning Anbo?"

Zhang Bixian looked carefully again, and said embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, the light in the room was too dim just now, so I couldn't see clearly."

"Master Zhang didn't say it, but I didn't think so." Yan Wu leaned forward and said, "If you don't look at the face, this figure and spirit are really somewhat similar to Ning Anbo. Take a look too."

As soon as Yan Wu said that, he covered the face of the portrait for Xiuwen and Xu Baichuan to see.

The portraits of God and Invisibility, the dead old doctor in Ning'an Bo's mansion, the fire in the west of the city... Wang Qi suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and all these scattered fragments seemed to be connected together with Yan Wu's words.

"I heard from Ah Man that before Concubine Shen Gui entered the palace and was favored, Ning Anbo Shen Rongchang was a person with a very low sense of existence." Trying to suppress the excitement in her heart, Wang Qi asked in a deep voice: "I don't know if Lord Hou and Lord Zhang are still there?" Remember what he was like then?"

Wang Qi's words successfully stunned Zhao Rui and Zhang Bixian for a moment, they subconsciously recalled Shen Rongchang's appearance more than 20 years ago, and found that the memory was very vague.All they could think of was Shen Rongchang's current appearance.

"Young Master Wang, what exactly do you want to say?" Zhao Rui guessed something faintly, and the center of Zhao Rui's brows had already frowned into a word "Chuan".

Respectfully bowing to Zhao Rui, Wang Qi said in a slow voice: "Master Zhang, the words of Lord Zhang and General Yanwu have given some inspiration to the grassroots. The most important thing for a painter is to have both form and spirit. I would rather not resemble the form, but the spirit must be accurate. The art of disguise may change a person's appearance, but it can't change his inner temperament. Caomin has a very bold idea. Could Ning Anbo and Shen Rongchang have been replaced by peaches and Li stiffs more than 20 years ago? And the person who replaces him is the real Mr. Wuzhu."

"How is this possible? If Ning Anbo is replaced by someone else, where is the real Ning Anbo?" Yan Wu exclaimed, "Couldn't people in Ning Anbo's mansion find out?"

Xu Baichuan said in a deep voice: "It's not impossible. More than 20 years ago, Shen Rongchang didn't like to show up in front of people, and I didn't hear that he was close to any adult in the capital. If there is an internal response in Uncle Ning'an, Maybe it's possible to hide it without anyone noticing it. Don't forget, Wu Zhu and Ning Anbo's wife, Mrs. Qin, used to be lovers."

"I still think this is too incredible. Even if the Qin family and Wu Zhu conspired to murder Ning Anbo, what about Shen Guifei and the sisters? They can't even recognize their biological father." Yan Wu said: " Besides, the hatred of killing one's father is irreconcilable. With their current identities, they would probably have revenged long ago, how could they tolerate their mother's lover coming in and taking their father's place?"

Zhao Jing looked at Zhao Rui and Zhang Bixian and said, "Father, Mr. Zhang, you have been in the capital, what do you know about Ning Anbo more than 20 years ago?"

"I only know that Ning Anbo's health is not very strong, and his heirs are also very difficult. I heard that he has been worrying about not having a son to inherit the title, and he is afraid that his wife and daughter will suffer after his death." Zhang Bixian said: "After Concubine Shen entered the palace, Ning Anbo The status of the Amber Mansion has also risen. After Shen Yingjie was born, people in Beijing were very sad, thinking that if the emperor did not love Concubine Shen and even took care of their Shen family, Shen Rongchang probably would not have had the good fortune to be born with the dragon spirit and give birth to a son. .”

What Zhang Bixian said was on the side of the road, even ordinary people like Wang Qi had heard it.But in the past, I listened to it as gossip, but now I think about it carefully and fear.Everyone knows that Ning Anbo's heirs are difficult, and the birth of Shen Yingjie's son is all due to the protection of the emperor.Looking at it now, maybe this has nothing to do with the emperor, but Ning Anbo has changed.

The people in the room are all well-cultivated foxes, and what Wang Qi can think of, others will naturally think of it too.

Xu Baichuan said seriously: "Perhaps Shen Rongchang was not killed, but died of illness. Shen Rongchang had no son. After his death, there was no successor in Ning'an Bo's house, and the Qin family and two daughters were left unable to support the lintel. In order to preserve his own glory and wealth, the Qin family obeyed Wu Zhu's suggestion and asked him to pretend to be Shen Rongchang. As long as this 'Ning Anbo' is still there, Ning Anbo's mansion will not fall. At that time, Concubine Shen Gui I haven't entered the palace yet, for the sake of myself and my sister's future, I can only agree with my mother's actions."

"But Ning Anbo is a nobleman with a title after all, not an ordinary boy, so he died like this, it is impossible for him to die silently." Yan Wu was stunned by the information he received.

Zhao Jing said: "It is naturally much easier to have the Qin family and the Shen family sisters to help cover. As long as Ning Anbo is ill and cannot be disturbed, the servants can be prevented from approaching. Anyway, Qin family and Shen Guifei are Ning An Uncle's wife and daughter should take care of him personally, and no one will doubt it. Taking advantage of this time, they can get rid of the servants in the inner house who have had a lot of contact with Shen Rongchang. The rest of the people don't know much about Shen Rongchang. There are sisters from the Qin family and the Shen family who will guide you, and with Wu Zhu's ability, it is easy to fool him."

"It's a pity that a fake is a fake. They can hide it from others, but they can't hide it from a single person." Wang Qi said.

Zhao Jing was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood, "You mean the old doctor who has been taking care of Shen Rongchang?"

"That's right." Wang Qi said, "The face can be disguised, and the demeanor can be deliberately imitated, but a person's pulse condition and physical condition cannot be changed in a short time. It can cause a lot of inconspicuous accidents, why do you have to make such a big fire and make this matter aroused."

Yan Wu hurriedly asked: "Didn't they set up that fire to force the people nearby to sell their properties at a low price? Do they still want to take this opportunity to kill people?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that. They probably want to destroy all the records about Ning Anbo left by the doctor." Wang Qi said in a deep voice.

Seeing that everyone didn't understand, Zhao Jing hurriedly explained: "When we were in Pingyao County, we made friends with a doctor. From his mouth, we know that every conscientious doctor will write pulse records for his patients, and record every detail. The second time the pulse was taken. The old doctor treated Ning Anbo when he was a child, and Mr. Zhang said that Ning Anbo’s health has not been good, presumably the doctor’s pulse case should be quite impressive.”

"That's right." Wang Qi took over the conversation and said, "Wu Zhu is cautious by nature, I'm afraid he won't leave any loopholes in the hands of others, so he killed the father and son of the old man, set fire to their house, and destroyed everything. net."

Xiuwen said coldly: "He also took advantage of the death of the doctor and his son and the fire to buy the real estate of the nearby people at a low price, and then handed it over to the emperor. The emperor has benefited, so naturally he will not care about one or two lives with him It's a good plan!"

"If Ning Anbo is the real Wu Zhu, who is that Li Mian?" Yan Wu asked suspiciously.

Before everyone had time to answer, a guard's announcement suddenly sounded outside the door, "Master Li, Eunuch Li has come to the palace and is waiting in front of the porch."

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The author has something to say:

I caught a cold and coughed to death, it was really annoying! ! ! ! ! !