Datang traitor

After listening to Changsun Wuji's request, Qin Yuan happily asked Changsun Wuji: "But is it true? If you say it, you will write off your former hatred?"

Changsun Wuji almost forgot that Qin Yuan was completely shameless in this regard.Normally shameless people would endure a lot of humiliation and resentment if they were forced to say such things, but Qin Yuan was not like that, he didn't care at all.

"No need!"

Changsun Wuji immediately decided to write down the account first, and then settle it with Qin Yuan later.

"Empress Xiao fled to Turkic with her grandson Yang Zhengdao and several daughters back then. Princess Anping was a staunch character, unwilling to leave and submit to Li Tang, so she set fire to the mansion and killed herself. Concubine Yang was on good terms with her. , seems to be asked by Princess Anping to have sex together, but she refused, and finally chose to follow the saint. Perhaps because of this, Concubine Yang has always felt ashamed. After the saint ascended the throne, seeing that her knot was still there, she With this idea in mind, she is allowed to go to Wantong Temple to pray for blessings on the first day of every month."

"Where is the last corpse?" Qin Yuan asked.

"It should be there. You have to ask the people who were present at the time to know about this matter. I can't guarantee it completely." Changsun Wuji ordered Qin Yuan to ask Yuchi Jingde. After the Tang army entered Chang'an City, Yuchi Jingde was in charge. Handle the affairs of Princess Anping's Mansion.

"This is difficult. Mr. Yuchi told me last time that after he recommended me, the debt of my saving his life will be settled, but the debt of refusal to marry me will continue to be settled. Maybe it's been secretly in the past few days Planning how to get revenge on me, and now I send it to my door, wouldn't I become a fish on the chopping board and be slaughtered by others."

Qin Yuan was very distressed, he scratched his head, and then looked at Changsun Wuji eagerly.

Changsun Wuji naturally understood what he meant, raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Look at what I am doing, now you are the Minister of Dali Temple, and I am no longer in charge of your Dali Temple affairs."

"But this case does not distinguish between you and me, there are still people who are making troubles and subverting Datang." Qin Yuan looked at Changsun Wuji very sincerely, "It is better to solve it early and prevent it before it happens, than to remedy the trouble when it comes. "

"Don't fool me." Changsun Wuji snorted coldly.

"For the entire court, for the saint! This is exactly what you and I should do as officials. Who cares what else? How will he value the eldest grandson? The position of the eldest grandson in his heart in the future will be unmatched by anyone." Qin Yuanyou continued.

The sudden appearance of two dead priests and Taoist nuns in Wantong Temple is really strange, but Changsun Wuji still has no way to connect the situation in front of him with the conspiracy of rebellion.

"The same Taoist nuns, both in their 30s, and the same Taoist temples that appeared in Chang'an City when the Tang Dynasty was first established. These commonalities are enough to show that they belong to the same group of people."

Qin Yuan explained seriously.

"In order to deceive Cai Yang into poisoning me, the Taoist priest deliberately used Mei Yushi as a lure. This trick seems absurd, but it is very likely to succeed. Because there are not many people close to me, and I can still let me take things close to me. There are even fewer opportunities to eat it. Cai Yang is lustful and stupid, probably the only flaw around me. Coax Cai Yang to poison me and kill me, and no one will notice the flaws in the strange case in the future , After all, my strength lies in investigating strange cases. After I die, those people can do whatever they want."

Qin Yuan told Changsun Wuji that if his guess is correct, strange things will happen soon.What is important now is to find out how many Taoist nuns are involved in Wantong Temple, whether Concubine Yang is innocent, and what bad things Taoist nuns Pingyan and Pingyun did during their lifetimes.

"Is it really that serious? Then let's go to the palace and report to the saint." Changsun Wuji asked Qin Yuan to change clothes.

"It's very late now, don't be in a hurry, after all, we don't have much evidence, and it's the same if we go to Chen Ming early tomorrow."

Changsun Wuji thinks about it too.

"The mastermind behind the scenes this time is a bit crazy, and Qian Donkey has no skills, so he plans to fight to the death. These Taoist nuns should be the last people he can use." Qin Yuan reminded his eldest grandson Wuji, "Crazy people are always the most dangerous, we must be careful. You have to be three times more cautious than usual when you travel and eat every day."

"How do you know that he is fighting to the death?" Changsun Wuji asked Qin Yuan to quickly explain to him.

"Mei Ziyan's position in the court is very important, and it will have some effect. In order to quickly lure Cai Yang into the bait, Taoist Miaoshan sacrificed Mei Yushi's life. If it weren't for a lunatic with poor skills, would he do such a thing?" Qin Yuan asked back. .

Changsun Wuji nodded, "If Mei Yushi's death was just to coax Cai Yang into poisoning you, then it would be absurd. But no matter how absurd we think it was, it was done. Fortunately, you are lucky. , fate."

"Yeah." Qin Yuan is actually still puzzled, why he is fine.If it is said that it is because of his immortal physique, but if his body is scratched and bruised, it will take time to recover just like ordinary people, and it will not heal immediately.Poisoning injuries are definitely more serious than abrasions and bruises, and it is even more impossible to heal.Could it be because there was too much vegetable soup on that plate, and he only ate bitter vegetables, so he didn't get the poisonous red bean powder?

After coming out of Changsun Wuji's mansion, Qin Yuan went back to his own mansion and asked the servants who cleaned up and washed the dishes that day.The servant told Qin Yuan that when he was cleaning the dishes, he did see the vegetable soup sinking.

I picked up some powder and wondered what it was at the time, so I remember it very clearly.

"Miss Gu is here, saying she has something urgent to do!" Fang Xi hurriedly reported to Qin Yuan.

"What about people?"

"I arranged for her to wait in the side hall." Fang Xi said.

When Qin Yuan entered the side hall, Gu Qingqing rushed over immediately, grabbed Qin Yuan's sleeve, and told her through tears: "Brother Qin, Xiaolu is dying soon!"

Qin Yuan immediately rode his horse and followed Gu Qingqing back.

As soon as Qin Yuan entered the room, he saw Zhou Xiaolu lying on the couch with a pale face, breathing weakly and disorderly.Zhou Xiaolu focused on breathing in pain, squinted her eyes, and failed to notice Qin Yuan's arrival.

Qin Yuan came closer and called out to Zhou Xiaolu.

Zhou Xiaolu suddenly opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that it was Qin Yuan.At this moment, her face suddenly turned gray, and she completely lost her previous look, as if she had suddenly aged several decades, and her overall condition was extremely poor.

"Why is Brother Qin here?" Zhou Xiaolu pursed her lips and forced a laugh, then she lowered her head and looked at the back of her hand sullenly.

Zhou Xiaolu's state is too abnormal.

"What's wrong with you?" Qin Yuan asked her.

"It's nothing serious, just lie down for a while." Zhou Xiaolu asked Qin Yuan not to worry.

"You agreed not to lie to me again." Qin Yuan's voice was stern.

"Yes, if you don't want to tell me anything, you have to tell Brother Qin."

In order to make it easier for Zhou Xiaolu and Qin Yuan to talk, Gu Qingqing then avoided it.

There was a sudden silence in the room.

Zhou Xiaolu then forced herself to get up, and Qin Yuan hurriedly went to help her.

"Brother Qin, I'm sorry I lied to you again."

Tears fell before the voice.

"What's going on?" Qin Yuan felt that Zhou Xiaolu's condition was very wrong, asked her, but she didn't say anything, and wanted to call for a doctor.

"It's useless." Zhou Xiaolu stopped Qin Yuan.

"Then tell me the truth!"

Zhou Xiaolu hesitated for a moment, then turned around and took out a doll from the cloth bag next to her pillow. This doll was slightly different from ordinary witchcraft dolls. The talisman paper on the body was written with Qin Yuan's name and birth date. It was written with a cinnabar pen; however, there was a piece of talisman paper with Zhou Xiaolu's name and birth date on top of his head, but it was written with blood.

"This is?" Qin Yuan frowned, looking at Zhou Xiaolu with a bad feeling.

"One of the two uncles who left with me was good at divination. That day I heard someone mention that Brother Qin was being followed by women all over the city, but I was not tempted to go back to Chang'an. It was later that my uncle divination said that Brother Qin There will be a catastrophe, life-threatening, so I am anxious. It is said that it is difficult for a doctor to heal himself. Brother Qin can save others, but I am afraid he cannot save himself. I was far away at that time, and I was afraid that I would not be able to rush back to Chang’an to inform Brother Qin. Brother Qin There will be danger, so I made a good idea and asked my uncle to do this ritual, so that I can use luck to Brother Qin to prevent disaster."

Zhou Xiaolu said that this kind of borrowing of luck means that one party lends all of his luck to the other party at the cost of his life.The luck of the other party has become very good in a short period of time, so that when encountering any danger, it can save the day.Cai Yang sprinkled acacia bean powder into the dish of bitter vegetables that day, Qin Yuan should have eaten the poison, but luckily because the dish was full of soup, Qin Yuan did not get enough acacia beans when he ate the bitter vegetables Powder kills itself.It was an almost impossible situation, but it happened.

Now that Qin Yuan listened to Zhou Xiaolu's explanation, he suddenly understood.The reason why he was so lucky was that Zhou Xiaolu got it at the cost of sacrificing himself.

No wonder Doctor Sun checked Zhou Xiaolu's pulse last time, saying that her pulse seemed to be wrong.Because her luck was being lost at that time, her body would be abnormal.

If there is debt and repayment, Zhou Xiaolu will pay the corresponding price for helping him avoid the disaster, and now she doesn't even have the "luck" to survive.

Now every organ in Zhou Xiaolu's body will slowly lose its vitality, and eventually die of exhaustion.

"A few days ago, I was supposed to take poison, but you saved me from the disaster. Now you are doing this because you saved me from the disaster. Do you know that if you do this, there will be no cure?" Qin Yuan solemnly said Looking at Zhou Xiaolu.

Zhou Xiaolu nodded without regret.

Qin Yuan frowned, as if his heart had been hit hard.He is very grateful to Zhou Xiaolu for protecting him from the disaster, because he loves her so much, and because of this kindness, he can't express his gratitude at this moment.

"Why didn't you talk about it when we first met?"

"This is doom, why bother Brother Qin by telling it. Besides, Brother Qin may save me, if I can experience the feeling of being resurrected from death for nothing, it is still a profit. In fact, it cannot be saved. It doesn't matter if you live. I thought it was meaningless to live. The day I saw my father's body, I didn't want to live. So brother Qin, don't be burdened by this. Fate, I am very content."

Zhou Xiaolu raised the corners of her mouth and smiled at Qin Yuan.The muscles around his lips were trembling slightly, but within a moment, she was struggling to even smile.

Qin Yuan was very clear in his heart, Zhou Xiaolu didn't want to 'resurrect from death' at all, otherwise she would come to him directly to explain the situation after returning to Chang'an City, there is no need to hide here with Gu Qingqing.And that day when he came, she insisted on hiding in the haystack.And at that time, I actually suspected that Zhou Xiaolu had bad intentions.

What Zhou Xiaolu just said about returning from the dead was actually to take into account his feelings, fearing that he would feel a burden in his heart.Qin Yuan couldn't be more clear.

In fact, even if Zhou Xiaolu has the idea of ​​being able to come back from the dead to help herself, the way of death she suffered is worse than a thousand arrows piercing the heart.Just being able to bear these things for him is already an unfinished friendship.What's more, Zhou Xiaolu planned to sacrifice herself from the beginning.

"I will definitely save you, but...you will have to suffer for it." Qin Yuan saw that Zhou Xiaolu's face was getting worse and worse, and seemed to be having difficulty breathing, so he quickly changed the subject, "Based on this, you have repeatedly lied to me. Hit me two or three times."

"I really won't lie to Brother Qin again in the future." Zhou Xiaolu tried her best to support her eyelids, seriousness was written on her pale face, and she even raised her hand to swear.

"Forget it, although I don't like people lying to me very much, it doesn't matter if you lie to me in the future." Qin Yuan gently pressed Zhou Xiaolu's raised hand back, and wiped the air in her nostrils with a handkerchief. out of blood.

Qin Yuan asked Zhou Xiaolu to talk less and rest well.

"Ah."

Zhou Xiaolu suddenly closed her eyes and put her hands on her stomach.Her promise contained a lot of pain and forbearance.

Qin Yuan could see that she was sad but depressed, so he ordered someone to bring lychee wine and asked Zhou Xiaolu to drink more.Alcohol can intoxicate people, I hope she will leave with less pain after drinking.

After Zhou Xiaolu drank a few sips of lychee wine, she seemed to be more energetic, and told Qin Yuan that the wine was delicious.

"When you are well, I will give you a drink."

Zhou Xiaolu smiled, suddenly coughed violently, and spat out a mouthful of blood.Qin Yuan quickly wiped her with a handkerchief, Zhou Xiaolu struggled to breathe because of difficulty breathing, but his face did not turn red at all, but turned blue, and finally the skin of his whole body gradually changed from gray to black .

Zhou Xiaolu's blood and skin were failing.

Qin Yuan couldn't do anything to help, he could only hold Zhou Xiaolu's hand and watch her take her last breath in pain.

Qin Yuan frowned deeply, and after a moment of silence, he personally wrapped Zhou Xiaolu's body with a quilt, put a gauze cap on her, and carried her into the car.

"I'll take her back home for treatment." Qin Yuan said to Gu Qingqing after leaving the house.

Gu Qingqing nodded, telling Qin Yuan to ask a genius doctor to diagnose Zhou Xiaolu's illness and healed him.

"Don't worry, it will be fine."

Having said that, Qin Yuan's voice sounded so cold that Gu Qingqing was too frightened to say any more.

Qin Yuan immediately rode his horse and escorted the carriage away.

Aunt Wang next door came over and asked Gu Qingqing in a low voice: "Why did you get wine in just now?"

"Maybe the blood will clear up after drinking wine, but we usually take medicine with many prescriptions with wine." Gu Qingqing explained, "Fortunately, I have a curfew token from Brother Qin, so I can look for it at night. Him, otherwise I'm really afraid that Xiaolu won't survive tomorrow."

"I've never seen anyone get sick so quickly, and their complexion changes every hour, getting worse and worse." Aunt Wang lamented that both Gu Qingqing and Zhou Xiaolu were lucky to meet such a kind and loving person like Qin Yuan.Aunt Wang immediately asked Gu Qingqing to go to bed early, and she would have to do things in the shop when she got up tomorrow.

……

After Qin Yuan returned home, he quietly placed Zhou Xiaolu's body and ordered no one to trespass.

Before dawn, Qin Yuan finished his bath, lay down on the couch and squinted for a while, then changed his clothes and went to Dali Temple.

"Last night, the situation in the city patrol was normal. The gates of the city were opened as usual, and nothing strange happened."

Wang Zhen summarized the situation he had investigated all morning and reported it to Qin Yuan.

After Qin Yuan agreed, he called Dai Zhou, Sun Fujia, and Wen Yanbo, who had just been promoted to governor of Yongzhou Prefecture, to discuss the countermeasures for this case.

"The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the open. It is really hard to think of what methods the other party will use." Wen Yanbo sighed.

"Shangzhou must go there. When Taoist Miaoshan went to Pingda Temple, what she got was the identity letter of the priest of Jing'an Temple in Shangzhou. Check this person, and the whole Jing'an Temple." Qin Yuan looked at Dai Zhou, He hoped that Dai Zhou would be in charge of investigating the case.

Dai Zhou immediately saw what Qin Yuan meant and asked for his order.

"Secretly investigate before you get the evidence, or else bring the suspicious person back to Chang'an City for apology and interrogation." Qin Yuan instructed.

Dai Zhou agreed, and then he was ready to leave.

"Now everything in Chang'an City is as usual, how should we investigate?" Wen Yanbo asked Qin Yuan.

"Everything will not be as usual, there must be something abnormal. First, we must investigate the palace, we must ensure the safety of the palace, and then there is Chang'an City, and Chang'an City must be inseparable." Qin Yuan said.

Sun Fujia and Wen Yanbo nodded in agreement.

"Report!" The clerk rushed into the room and reported to Qin Yuan, "The subordinates discovered something unusual in the East and West Market, and these notes were suddenly scattered on the street out of thin air."

The little official immediately presented the two-slap-wide note in his hand to Qin Yuan.

A line of words was written on the note: "Li Shimin, the first emperor of the future, is actually an emperor who killed his brother and forced his father to be a dog."

When everyone read the note, their eyes widened, scolding who dared to say such a thing.Immediately pass down the order, the whole city is under martial law, and the rebels are arrested.

When Qin Yuan saw the words 'one emperor through the ages', he remembered the corpse poison case that happened at the beginning. The two women who used the poison to control Lu Xiaomei once said 'one emperor through the ages'.

In this case, the suspects involved are also women.

These women all look like they are in their 20s, but they may actually be in their early thirties.

At this time, Changsun Wuji came to ask Qin Yuan to enter the palace together, and told him by the way that he had already asked Yuchi Jingde.

"At that time, the servants of Princess Anping's Mansion saw Princess Anping in the fire scene with their own eyes. After the fire was extinguished, they found the body. Half of the body's face was burnt, and the other half was still recognizable. It is undoubtedly Princess Anping. But the interesting thing is , she was holding a jade porcelain bottle in her hand at the time, and according to the servants of the Princess Mansion at that time, the bottle was filled with Phoenix blood."

"Phoenix blood." Qin Yuan sneered.

Changsun Wuji also laughed: "That's right, there is no real Phoenix blood, it must be the name of the poison."

"It's a big trouble."

Qin Yuan handed the note in his hand to Changsun Wuji.

Changsun Wuji looked at the note, stared, and asked Qin Yuan where the note came from.

"You will be even angrier if you say it. In the East Market and West Market, someone threw it in the street. I don't know how many people picked it up." Qin Yuan sighed.

Changsun Wuji was so angry that he wanted to tear up the note, but was stopped by Qin Yuan.

"I only have this one, and I want to show it to the saint."

After the two met in Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was furious when he saw the note again after hearing about the strangeness of the Taoist nun's case.

Changsun Wuji hurriedly said: "Since there is something wrong with the nun of Wantongguan, and Concubine Yang was a little abnormal that day, why don't your majesty ask Concubine Yang what happened that day that made her stay in the hall longer than usual? longer?"

"She has been ill for the past two days."

Li Shimin casually said a word of emotion, which made Changsun Wuji very upset.

"It's about the world of the Tang Dynasty! If the Queen knows that His Majesty is in trouble, no matter how many difficulties there are, as long as she can help His Majesty, she will do it without hesitation. Now it's just a question to Concubine Yang. Complaining with His Majesty is too ignorant of flattery." Changsun Wuji said indignantly.

"If you don't ask, don't ask," Li Shimin blamed Changsun Wuji helplessly, "but this case has nothing to do with her. If it is said that she is secretly planning a rebellion, it is absolutely impossible."

"The ministers just thought it was strange that Concubine Yang fainted in Wantong Temple that day, and they were afraid that there might be some clues in it that could point to the real murderer."

Qin Yuan told Li Shimin that because of the sudden death of Aunt Pingyan and Pingyun in Wantong Temple, no one knew what big conspiracy they had planned behind the scenes.I'm afraid that the enemy is in the dark, the plan has already been matured, and everyone is completely unaware of it, and they are suddenly caught off guard.

Since the matter was so important, Li Shimin did not shy away from it, and took Qin Yuan and Changsun Wuji to visit Concubine Yang.

Concubine Yang was stunned for a moment after listening to Li Shimin's question.

"The concubine knelt down in the palace as usual that day, fell asleep for some reason, and had a nightmare, which made me panic and shed a lot of tears. Fortunately, the palace guard woke me up later."

"So it wasn't that he was unconscious, but fell asleep?" Changsun Wuji asked for confirmation.

Concubine Yang nodded.

"What dream did you have?" Qin Yuan asked.

"It's just...a scary nightmare." Concubine Yang had a beautiful face, frowning at this moment, with a sad expression on her face, which was exactly the 'very pitiful'.

Li Shimin held her hand and advised her to be fine.

Qin Yuan and Changsun Wuji looked at each other, thinking that they might not get a specific answer this time, but they heard Li Shimin softly asked Concubine Yang to tell the details of the dream, not to deceive.

"The concubine dreamed of the second sister, and the second sister asked the concubine in the dream to...go...go..." Concubine Yang hesitated but still couldn't say it.

Qin Yuan waited impatiently, and gave Changsun Wuji a wink, and Changsun Wuji glanced back at Qin Yuan.It was inappropriate for either of them to open their mouths at this time.

"Tell me the truth, I won't blame you." Li Shimin's voice was a bit stern at this time.

Concubine Yang knelt down and confessed to Li Shimin: "She wants my concubine to fight against Tang with her, and asks my concubine what he wants. The concubine shook her head and said no, so she scolded the concubine for being worthless, a boneless slut, unworthy." The surname is Yang, and she also said that she has treated me for nothing for so many years. The concubine cried in fright, and she rushed over viciously. After that, I don’t remember, and the palace servants woke me up.”

After Yang Fei finished speaking, she kowtowed to Li Shimin to make amends with tears.Concubine Yang repeatedly stated that she had no intention of rebelling against Tang, but she didn't know why she had such a rebellious dream.

"It's just a dream."

Li Shimin pulled Concubine Yang up and sighed that she made a fuss out of a molehill.Li Shimin knew very well what kind of courage and temper Yang Fei had, she would never do anything to betray him.She doesn't have the guts, nor the ability.

"May I ask Concubine Yang, what kind of clothes does Princess Anping wear in the dream?" Qin Yuan asked again.

Concubine Yang: "It seems to be a blue flower dress made of ordinary fabric."

Qin Yuan: "The kind worn by ordinary people? Or high-quality satin?"

Concubine Yang carefully recalled: "It's strange, it is actually ordinary satin material worn by ordinary people, the luster is not good, and it is not luxurious."

"What about her appearance?" Qin Yuan continued to ask.

Concubine Yang: "I forgot to mention that she was wearing a black mask at the time, but I recognized her voice. She called me Zhilan, which was the nickname she gave me when we were playing together as sisters. So when she opened her mouth, I knew it was her.

"Have you said anything else about her?"

Concubine Yang shook her head.

Qin Yuan then cupped his hands and told Li Shimin that he had finished all the questions.

The three monarchs and ministers then paced in the garden, and Qin Yuan told Li Shimin that what Concubine Yang met in Wantong Temple was not a dream, but a real person.

"If Concubine Yang is really dreaming, she should dream of Princess Anping when she was alive many years ago. She is still luxurious, and her face has never aged. She is wearing a mask to cover her up, and she is wearing clothes made of ordinary people's fabrics. The latter is obviously more beautiful. Like real people."

"But Princess Anping has been confirmed dead." Changsun Wuji exclaimed, "Is this—another strange case?"

Qin Yuan: "The princess drank the blood of the phoenix before she died. There has been a saying since ancient times that the phoenix can be reborn after nirvana."

If the saying of 'one emperor through the ages' came from Princess Anping.That Princess Anping is not only alive, but also very strange.She was probably wandering the world after death, experienced the vicissitudes of history, and was reborn on her body back to the Tang Dynasty. She already had a completely different identity and appearance.

Because he had already seen several conspiracies, Li Shimin accepted Qin Yuan's so-called rebirth from Nirvana very quickly this time.

Li Shimin sighed that Qin Yuan's insight into the subtleties was able to pick out these strange truths from the dream described by Concubine Yang by accident.

Li Shimin immediately asked Qin Yuan to apprehend Princess Anping as soon as possible.

When someone caught her, he wanted to see how this Princess Anping lived in someone else's body.