Princess Jinyang of the Tang Dynasty

"Could it be that the sage disagreed? Or was he still reprimanding Duke Xiao, so he didn't have time to reply?" Yuchi Baoqi guessed.

Li Mingda and Fang Yizhi looked at each other and walked over.Li Mingda immediately ordered Cheng Chubi to take someone to check, but was stopped by Fang Yizhi.

"It's fine to send a few guards, it's better for Guard Cheng to stay in charge of the princess's safety." Fang Yi said straight.

"Are you worried that something happened?" Li Mingda asked.

When Yuchi Baoqi and Di Renjie heard this, they were stunned for a moment, and both looked at them.

"No way, Eunuch Tian is the chief eunuch in this huge city of Chang'an, and there are guards by his side, so what can happen to him." Yuchi Baoqi sighed, "If someone dares to touch Eunuch Tian, ​​it will be really heartbreaking. The leopard is daring and doesn't want to live."

"It's useless to think too much, let's send someone to investigate first." Li Mingda said.

Fang Yizhi then suggested that Li Mingda send a group of people to the palace to see if the news had been conveyed.

Li Mingda nodded, and then motioned for Cheng Chubi to order to go on.

The second group of people left, and the first group hurried back to report that Tian Hanshan was back.

Everyone was amazed, and when they heard the sound of footsteps, they all looked over.Li Mingda smelled the smell of blood, and he raised his vigilance.

I saw Tian Hanshu running into the courtyard panting under the escort of the wave of guards just now, his left sleeve was still stained with blood.

Tian Hanshan's face was full of shock, he rushed forward when he saw Li Mingda, cried and said to Li Mingda: "My lord, Cheng Shiwei, he—"

Guard Cheng?

Everyone looked at Cheng Chubi in unison.

"It's Cheng Muyuan." Tian Hanshan hastily corrected, and said to Li Mingda, "I brought four guards back to the palace to return to the palace, but guard Cheng appeared suddenly, saying that the princess was worried and feared that something might happen on the road, so he was also sent here. Escorting the slave, the slave didn't doubt it. When walking halfway, the Cheng guard suddenly called someone, saying that there seemed to be an ambush ahead, and asked us to turn into the alley to take a shortcut. At the end of the alley was a dead man. After Cheng Muyuan came in, he copied the knife and killed people. I shouted in fright. Seeing Cheng Muyuan kill all the guards, he raised the knife and pointed at the slave. The slave has no strength to restrain the chicken, so he can only hug The head suffered death. I only felt a pain in my neck, and then I lost consciousness. Later, I woke up, and the letter from the princess in my arms to the saint was gone. It must have been stolen by Cheng Muyuan, so I ran out and called the policeman. The City Guards helped, and they rushed back."

Just when Yuchi Baoqi and Di Renjie were lamenting why Cheng Muyuan did such a thing, another yamen servant came back to report that he had received a letter.

Li Mingda took the letter and looked at it. The words 'Princess Jinyang' were written on the envelope properly.The handwriting is very familiar, the same as the handwriting of the letter Li Mingda received last time.

"If Xiao Wuniang is the real culprit behind the scenes, why would someone send this letter after she was arrested? Could it be that she did not write the previous letter?" Li Mingda looked at Fang Yizhi suspiciously.

Fang Yi stared at the letter, and tapped the word 'Jin' on the envelope with his slender index finger, "It's flowery, it's a little dirty."

"Did you leave it when you wrote the letter last time?" Li Mingda asked with all his comprehension.

"It is possible, and of course another possibility is not ruled out, that this letter was not written by Xiao Wuniang herself, but by another person related to him. But this person must not be Cheng Muyuan, how about his calligraphy? , everyone knows that he can't even write with his right hand, let alone his left hand."

"It should be like you said, this envelope is leftover from the last time. Xiao Wuniang's calligraphy is good, and it is not difficult for her to write with her left hand." Li Mingda analyzed while pinching the contents of the envelope. It looked like a ring-shaped thing, Li Mingda poured it out and saw that it was indeed a bracelet.And this bracelet was very familiar to her, and she immediately recognized that it belonged to Li Hui'an, and she had been wearing it on her hand recently.

Accompanied by the bracelet was a letter, a few words scrawled in a very different handwriting from the envelope.After Li Mingda finished reading the contents of the letter, he handed the letter to Fang Yizhi, his face obviously paled a little.

Then she ordered her subordinates sharply to enter the palace immediately to check the safety of Princess Hengshan.

As soon as this remark came out, everyone expected something, and the room was suddenly extremely quiet.

Fang Yizhi noticed that Li Mingda's hands were trembling slightly, he stared nervously at Li Mingda and softly called "Princess".

"I'm fine." Li Mingda's tone was low, and he didn't dare to look Fang Yizhi directly in the eyes.She turned away, burning with anger.

After Fang Yizhi quickly scanned the contents of the letter, he invited Cheng Chubi to let him have a look.

Cheng Chubi leaned over to take a look, nodded in embarrassment and embarrassment, and admitted that the handwriting on the letter was written by his cousin Cheng Muyuan.

Cheng Chubi pleaded bitterly: "This subordinate never expected that Mu Yuan would do such a thing, and I dare not argue a word. Please punish the princess."

"You and him are distant relatives, and the relationship is not too close. It's just because you were an official in the same dynasty that you moved around. It's his own choice that he committed a crime, and it's not your fault." Li Mingda's tone was fair. calm,

Both Yuchi Baoqi and Di Renjie felt bad, but without confirming the content, they didn't dare to speculate casually, so they hurriedly asked what was written in the letter.

"Cheng Muyuan hijacked Princess Hengshan and wanted to replace us." Fang Yi said straight.

Yuchi Baoqi and Di Renjie's eyes widened after hearing the words.

Yuchi Baoqi: "Hijacking the princess? He dared to do such a treasonable thing, please seek death! It's really shocking, don't die!"

Di Renjie frowned and agreed: "It's really bold. He is a palace guard. He knew the law and broke the law on purpose. It's time to prepare."

Yuchi Baoqi was stunned, and had to admit that he nodded, then he realized again, "Why was Princess Hengshan taken away by Cheng Muyuan? Isn't the princess supposed to be in the palace? Could it be that he cheated?"

"The princess just sent someone to ask." Di Renjie reminded.

"Did the letter say where the replacement was?" Yuchi Baoqi asked hastily, "If we know the location of the replacement, we will make thorough preparations, and the matter will not be too troublesome."

"Cheng Muyuan, who you thought of, naturally also thought of it, do you think he will let us slaughter him?" Di Renjie asked back.

"The place of exchange was not written in the letter, so there should be more news." Fang Yizhi simply handed the letter to Di Renjie and Yuchi Baoqi after getting Li Mingda's approval.

After Yuchi Baoqi read the letter, she was so angry that she cursed at others, cursing Cheng Muyuan to die.

After a while, news came from the palace at high speed.Princess Hengshan is not in the palace today, she went to Qingyuan to observe incense with Concubine Wei two hours ago, and she has not come back yet.For this trip, Cheng Muyuan was responsible for protecting the safety of the noble concubine and the princess.

"If something really happened to Qingyuanguan, why hasn't there been news yet? Could it be that Chen is just bluffing?" Di Renjie still had hope in his heart, and he didn't want to see the result of Princess Hengshan being kidnapped, so Princess Jinyang would also I won't be so anxious and angry.

"Something must have happened! Concubine Wei Gui is timid and a little afraid of things. If she finds that Princess Hengshan has disappeared under her leadership, she will definitely be very flustered. She is worried that she will be blamed, and she will also think that Princess Hengshan may be looking for it because of fun. I can't see it, so she should send people to search around first, and dare not report it for the time being." After Li Mingda said his conjecture, he immediately sent people to Qingyuanguan to confirm.

"The subordinate immediately led people to set up an ambush around the Mingjing Division. Once Cheng Muyuan comes to deliver the letter again, the subordinate will definitely arrest him." Cheng Chubi asked for orders.

Li Mingda nodded and let Cheng Chubi go.

"Cheng Zuo Taiji Palace, notify the Jingzhao Mansion and the Forbidden Army, and notify the four major city gates to close immediately. From now on, use all available troops to seal Chang'an City tightly." Fang Yizhi immediately sent his subordinates They were all sent out.

Half an hour later, the entire Chang'an City was heavily guarded, the city gates were closed, and martial law was imposed. No one was allowed to enter or leave, including the royal family and nobles who used to have privileges to travel.

Before the sun had completely set, Der Spiegel received the second letter.But Cheng Chubi's ambush outside failed because the messenger was an unsuspecting child.

After careful questioning, I learned that a man had given money to tell the child to throw the letter at the back door of Der Spiegel before sunset.The child got some money and candies first, and believed the man's words. The man also said that he would get benefits after delivering the letter obediently. The child naturally became obedient, and really waited until the sunset to come over.

The Der Spiegel Department is located in a gathering area of ​​high-ranking official residences. Logically speaking, it is not common to see such ordinary-dressed children wandering around on this street.After careful questioning of his identity, he found out that the child's parents were servants of the Cui family.

Di Renjie immediately became suspicious, and said to Li Mingda: "Cheng Muyuan can be instigated by Xiao Wuniang, so the Cui family is also involved? I heard that the Cui family and the Xiao family are quite close."

"Probably not. If the family is really involved, they will not let the children of their servants come over to deliver the letter." Li Mingda speculated, "But it is better to be cautious about this kind of thing. To avoid accidents, the Cui family will also send Let people watch."

The guard ordered, here we go.

Li Mingda interrogated Xiao Wuniang again and asked about her relationship with Cheng Muyuan.

Xiao Wuniang raised her eyebrows, a little surprised, "He's out?"

Xiao Wuniang's mind is indeed extraordinary, Li Mingda just asked a question, and immediately made Xiao Wuniang realize that Cheng Muyuan had already done something for her.

After Xiao Wuniang realized this meaning, she smiled triumphantly.

"What earth-shattering thing did he do? Let all of you worry about him so much, and even dragged me out for questioning."

"No matter what he did, he is a dying person, and so are you." Fang Yi said straight.

Xiao Wuniang was stunned when she heard the words, and then she covered her stomach and laughed, "So, what is there to be afraid of a person who is destined to die? He will only be more ruthless in doing things! I advise you, don't push him, otherwise he is really nothing Everything can be done. After all, there is no one who is not afraid of death to go all out.”

After Xiao Wuniang finished speaking, she scanned the crowd with gloomy eyes, and the smile on the corner of her mouth became more and more treacherous.

"How did you meet?" Li Mingda asked.

Xiao Wuniang covered her mouth and smiled, "The princess can't even think of this? Well, I'll just look at my previous friendship with the princess to clear up the princess's doubts. There are so many palace banquets, and he often guards Princess Hengshan. There are always chances to meet each other. Muyuan is also a child with a bitter heart. His mother died early, his stepmother abused him, and his father is a careless warrior who doesn't care about the affairs of the back house. To be honest, he can live like this He looks promising, and it really depends on his own ability to become a guard in the palace."

"You said him so well, but you still hurt him." Li Mingda looked at Xiao Wuniang coldly.

Xiao Wuniang smiled when she heard the words, and stopped talking.

"Then you usually only meet in the palace? Just rely on the glimpse at the palace banquet? He is a fourth-rank guard, and he can go out of the palace to rest at home when he is not on duty. Have you met outside the palace?" Li Mingda asked.

Xiao Wuniang looked at Li Mingda curiously, "Why is the princess suddenly curious about where I meet him? This is a bit too detailed, so detailed that it makes people think that you are trying to get something out of me."

Xiao Wuniang's eyes were like scimitars, instantly cutting through people's hearts.

Li Mingda looked at Fang Yizhi.Fang Yi nodded his head.

Xiao Wuniang observed the communication between the two of them, and sneered, "It's really a deep love between husband and wife!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Cheng Chubi, who was holding the handle of the knife tightly and with murderous eyes, suddenly yelled.

"Ah, I was shocked." Xiao Wuniang's shoulders trembled, and she gave Cheng Chubi a hard look, "This will scare me, and prevent your princess from getting the clues you want. You are responsible! Can you afford it?"

Li Mingna gave Cheng Chubi a wink, telling him to back off without speaking.

"I know you are not easy to fool, it seems that we can only tell the truth." Li Mingda's tone was a little helpless, she seemed to have finally recognized the fact.

Xiao Wuniang raised the corners of her mouth slightly, as if she silently agreed.

Li Mingda showed Xiao Wuniang the letter he got later.

There was only one line written on the letter, "See you at the old place, if you don't understand, ask Xiao Wuniang."

After Xiao Wuniang saw it, a satisfied smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she couldn't help praising Cheng Chubi for being smart.

"Since I showed you, you should know that we have decided to exchange you for Princess Hengshan. After all, this is a rare bargain." Li Mingda sneered.

Xiao Wuniang: "I don't care what the princess means, is it worth money?"

"Isn't it?" Li Mingda asked back.

Xiao Wuniang glared at Li Mingda and sneered, her expression clearly disapproving, but she didn't open her mouth to refute.

"Out of the Vermilion Bird Gate, go straight to the east, the first mountain you see, go in along the side of the mountain, there is a dilapidated mountain temple."

At this time, news came from Qingyuan to tell Li Mingda that the situation at Concubine Wei's side was indeed as she had expected. Search around for decent people.

Li Mingda squeezed the bracelet in his hand, and looked at Xiao Wuniang. Xiao Wuniang was standing in the middle of the room calmly at this time. Although his expression was not exaggerated, it revealed an indescribable pride from the inside out. , she seemed to be confidently awaiting her impending victory.

Because everyone knows that Princess Jinyang will definitely choose to let Xiao Wuniang exchange for Princess Hengshan. After all, Princess Hengshan's life is too important.Xiao Wuniang is extremely intelligent, so naturally she has already figured this out.

"Hurry up and ask Imperial Physician Gao to come and rescue Princess Hengshan. Someone must check her body." Li Mingda ordered.

After Xiao Wuniang heard this, she couldn't help praising Princess Jinyang for being a good sister.

"Disgusting." Yuchi Baoqi looked at Xiao Wuniang contemptuously, feeling nauseated.

Xiao Wuniang raised her head generously to look at Yuchi Baoqi, "I said the princess is a good sister, but you said disgusting after hearing that, you are so brave!"

"I didn't mean that, I—" Before Yuchi Baoqi could finish speaking, Fang Yizhi pressed his shoulder, and then he heard Fang Yizhi lightly warned him not to talk to Xiao Wuniang again.

Yuchi Baoqi glared fiercely, but she kept her mouth shut and she was obedient.

Xiao Wuniang looked at Fang Yizhi, her eyes slid from top to bottom, and she clicked her tongue twice, "Princess really has a good vision."

"So much love to gossip, it really means that you have suffered less." Fang Yi turned his eyes and hooked Luo Ge.

Luo Ge immediately led someone to hold Xiang Wuniang down, gagged her mouth firmly, then Luo Ge took out a roll of things from his arms, unfolded it, and found that there were silver needles neatly placed inside, Luo Ge Take three random sticks and insert them on the three most painful acupuncture points on Xiao Wuniang's body.Xiao Wuniang was so painful that her eyes were about to burst, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down her forehead one by one.His facial features were distorted, his face was ferocious, he was biting something in his mouth fiercely, the veins on his neck were bulging, his face was fiery red, it seemed that he was in pain so badly that he was about to die.Xiao Wuniang's body wanted to struggle desperately, but she was firmly held down, unable to struggle, and could only let the pain invade her trembling body.

After about half a stick of incense, the blush on Xiao Wuniang's face slowly subsided, and her body didn't struggle so much anymore, and she was numb from the pain at first glance.

Luo Ge took out the three silver needles.

What Xiao Wuniang said was also removed.But the pain she experienced just now made Xiao Wuniang extremely angry. She opened her mouth and scolded Fang Yi for not being a man, but for attacking a woman.

Fang Yi straightly raised his eyebrows, and looked at Yuchi Baoqi.

"It's a big mistake, it's men who attack women." Yuchi Baoqi was overjoyed to see that you were going to suffer this afternoon, and even joked, "If Li Daliang didn't attack your mother, how could you be there? !"

"Get out!" Xiao Wuniang was even more angry when she heard Yuchi Baoqi insulting her parents.But soon she calmed down and realized that they were deliberately provoking her, "Okay, you guys just kill me and see if you can still find Princess Hengshan."

"Continue to plug in." Fang Yizhi instructed Luoge.

Luo Ge then inserted the three silver needles back to their original positions, and Xiao Wuniang regained the original pain.After three more tossings like this, Xiao Wuniang collapsed from the pain, and she no longer had the strength to speak, and she collapsed on the ground.

After she breathed for a long time, she looked up at Li Mingda who was watching the whole process indifferently, "Because I already know the location, why didn't you go to save Princess Hengshan? You tortured me here."

"Someone has been sent there." Li Mingda said.

Xiao Wuniang stared, as if asking why she was not taken, after all, it was agreed to exchange hostages.

Li Mingda ignored him, rested his chin on the books on the table, very quietly, and then everyone found their own jobs.

Not long after, someone came back on a fast horse: "There is no one in the mountain temple outside the city, only this letter."

Li Mingda opened it to read the letter, saying that the place of transaction was changed to a restaurant in Pingkangfang in the city, and he also asked Fang Yizhi to go alone, otherwise he would kill if he found other guards following him.

After reading the contents of the letter, Li Mingda looked at Xiao Wuniang, who was already limp on the ground, thoughtfully.

"Brother Yi Zhi can't be allowed to go by himself, he doesn't know martial arts, so he might be able to plan Cheng Muyuan's tricks. I didn't expect him to be so cunning that he changed the trading place."

"For him, trading with us is no different from seeking skin from a tiger. Naturally, he needs to use some common sense in the art of war. Even a cunning rabbit can know the three caves, let alone a person who can use his brain." Fang Yi sighed.

"So he may continue to change locations."

"There is something wrong with the content of this letter," Li Mingda said, "Chang'an City Gate has been closed, and it is impossible for him to return to the city from outside the city, but this letter is dealing with our restaurant in Pingkangfang."

"That's right, what's going on here. Could it be that he didn't go out of the city at all, and the letter from the temple was prepared long ago?" Di Renjie asked.

Li Mingda nodded, he should still be in Chang'an City, "I'm a bit stupid, I didn't think about the issue that Chang'an City would be banned after he hijacked the princess."

After Li Mingda said this, he took a special look at Xiao Wuniang who was on the ground, as if he despised her for being "unable to teach".

Xiao Wuniang was still in collapse, snorted coldly and turned her head away from Li Mingda, but in her heart she also hated Cheng Muyuan for not doing things properly.

"Brother Yizhi is going or not?" Yuchi Baoqi asked.

Fang Yizhi: "Don't ask too many questions, just take care of your business."

Li Mingda immediately ordered people to prepare.

Fang Yi asked Luo Ge to take Xiao Wuniang with him, and on the way, he gave acupuncture five times.

During the curfew in Chang'an City at night, no one haunted the streets.The surrounding area is very quiet.And the restaurant in Pingkangfang designated by Cheng Muyuan was even more empty, it was not easy to set up ambushes, and it was easy to observe how many people came.

The restaurant is also closed, but the residents inside are still lively, drinking wine and chatting happily, accompanied by singers singing songs.

The man was dressed in green clothes and had a slender figure. He came alone on horseback. After knocking on the door, he showed his identity and entered naturally.

Tianzi No. [-] room.

There was no one in the house, and there was only a letter on the table, changing the location to a private house in the west of the city.

After arriving at the house in the west of the city, they also found a letter pointing to a ruined temple in the east of the city.Going again, it was another letter, and then pointing to other places, and there was no gain after going back and forth all night.

When it was about dawn, a clerk of Der Spiegel who was on duty found a letter at home and hurriedly delivered it.

This time, the words "Princess Jinyang" on the envelope were written very irregularly, which was exactly from Cheng Muyuan's handwriting.

There is also a golden hairpin in the letter, with blood on it.

After everyone read the letter, their faces sank.Li Mingda originally thought that Cheng Muyuan's goal had not been achieved, and he would not touch Li Hui'an for the time being, but he did not expect to lose his patience.Li Mingda looked at the blood on the gold hairpin and found it difficult to control his emotions.

The letter asked Li Mingda to open the city gate and punish him, and escape from Chang'an City, otherwise.She will receive a part of Li Hui'an's body little by little.

"Doctor Gao, please come."

Li Mingda immediately gave orders to open the gates of the four gates of Chang'an City, and the people could come and go as they wished.

At this time, the imperial decree also came, and Li Shimin sent many generals to cooperate with Li Mingda to find Li Hui'an.

After studying the terrain, Li Mingda chose to follow Cheng Muyuan's request and only went with Fang Yizhi.

The letter asked Fang Yizhi and Li Mingda to exchange at the "Dagu Mountain" ten miles west of the city.As the name suggests, the mountain is a lonely mountain, which is quite tall.The situation of this mountain is somewhat similar to that of the restaurant in Pingkangfang, three sides are empty and barren, the north is next to a big river, but there are forests in the mountain.

If you observe the situation from the top of the mountain, you can see at a glance whether soldiers are brought from the direction of the capital.

"Maybe we can rush to where Cheng Muyuan arrives to ambush, after all, his horse must not be as fast as ours." Cheng Chubi suggested.

"We can't take any risks, just the two of us." Li Mingda looked at the bloody hairpin in his hand, and immediately ordered his horses to be prepared.

"But it's too dangerous. How do you know it's not a cover this time? If he doesn't let people go, he will arrest the princess and the prince again..." Tian Hanshan's eyes turned red as he said this, and he stamped his feet angrily, "I still don't believe it, So many of us can't beat him."

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and get ready." Li Mingda trained Tian Hanshan, looked at Cheng Chubi, and then set off with Xiao Wuniang, who was already half-dead.Xiao Wuniang was tied horizontally on the horse's back, and the binding was firmly fixed.Why not Li Mingda rode a fast horse all the time, Fang Yizhi was in charge of leading the horse carrying Xiao Wuniang, and then the two left the city one after the other.

After arriving at the lonely mountain, the two got off the horse and observed the surrounding situation.

Fang Yi looked straight at Li Mingda.

"There is movement on the mountain." Li Mingda said, "This time it shouldn't be a fake."