Shadow Guard stand-in

A good welcome banquet broke up unhappy, and He Jue returned to Qinzheng Hall with an angry expression on his face.

Qi Lezhi followed several cabinet ministers to the Palace of Qinzheng to seek an audience. This matter was too much trouble, and it affected the relationship between the two countries. They had to be cautious.

"That Langdi is so arrogant that he dares to slander His Majesty in public, but no matter how rampant he is, this matter is faintly strange." Qi Lezhi was the first to express his opinion.

He Jue was still angry, and snorted coldly: "Is he out of his mind, or he wants to provoke me, thinking that the winning ticket is in his hands?"

This reminded Qi Lezhi, "Your Majesty, could it be that they really think they have a chance to win, and what cards do they have in their hands?"

Suspicious eyes swept over all the ministers present, no one could think of the joint, but Qin Zhen said: "Your Majesty is too impulsive this time, even if he slanders Lord Shadow Guard, there is no need to imprison him..."

He Jue gave him a cold look, "I, Nan Tang, was afraid of Bei Qi, and was kicked in the face by someone. How can I endure it without saying a word? Uncle, I always knew that you didn't like Jin Jiuye, but what happened?" Until now, if you still mention this, don’t blame me for turning my face and denying people.”

Just at this time, Elder Qi Ge spoke softly: "Your Majesty has confirmed the position of Lord Shadow Guard in public, but do you want to take this matter seriously?"

"Naturally." He Jue waved to the palace servants who were waiting on the side, "The Chuanzhong Shushe drafted an order, and the Taichang Temple and the House of Internal Affairs began to prepare for the canonization."

"This, how can this be so?" Qin Zhen was full of dissatisfaction, and was held down by the elder Qi Ge who was next to him, preventing him from jumping up.

"Since Your Majesty has made a decision, we, as courtiers, should support it with all our strength. But now that Langdi has been imprisoned in the court, I don't know what the Northern Qi prince's attitude will be. How should the Ninth Princess deal with it?" Although the elder Qi Ge was steady, he also Can't help worrying, "And the Seventeenth Prince of Northern Qi can't be found."

Qi Lezhi looked at He Jue and saw that he was silent, so he mentioned another matter, "As early as half a month ago, there was some news from Yushi Pass that the Northern Qi soldiers and horses were waiting for an opportunity to disrupt the border, causing General Ma Xianshou to Two generals were injured in the pursuit of troops. However, because they were only minor injuries, they were not rushed to the cabinet."

He Jue nodded. Qi Lezhi had reported these things to him before. Since the border guards didn't pay attention to it, it meant that the situation was not serious, and those disabled soldiers and sick generals on the border of the Northern Qi Dynasty couldn't cause any disturbances, so he didn't pay much attention to it either. .

"I think it's really strange that the Ninth Princess and his party came to find the Seventeenth Prince, and the whereabouts of the Sun Moon Temple in the Southern Tang Dynasty are suspicious..." Qi Lezhi paused, then glanced at He Jue again, and said, "My minister yesterday Discussed with Lord Yingwei, the assassination of King Li is also inseparable from the Sun Moon Temple. This Sun Moon Temple has been lurking in the Southern Tang Dynasty for a long time, and all of them are fierce killers who are not afraid of death. Home……"

"What Sun Moon Temple? How can there be such an organization?" A cabinet minister panicked when he heard this, he didn't want his life to be threatened at any time, "Can't Xuan Yi Division find out?"

"Yeah, just catch them one by one. Isn't Xuanyi Division established to fight against dark forces and clear the court?" Another person echoed.

When Xuan Yisi and Jin Jiuye were mentioned, He Jue's eyes were like knives, and the other courtiers who were about to open their mouths to complain shut up immediately after seeing this, and dared not speak again.

Old Qi Ge coughed softly, "You can't just rely on Lord Yingwei alone. Le Zhi is right. If Lang Di is so arrogant today, if it's not something wrong with his brain, he has some cards in his hand, and that Ninth Princess, Yichen sees..."

The aged veteran looked at He Jue earnestly, and said respectfully: "If Bei Qi really wants to marry, maybe he can't agree to it first and then watch the follow-up. She's just a weak woman."

Qi Lezhi just heard He Jue's sincere words today, seeing his father's remonstrance, he hurriedly changed the subject: "Let's talk about Lang Di, does your majesty want his life? If it is true, I am afraid that I will let Ma Xianshou and others prepare first."

What to do to prepare, of course, is to prepare for war.

He Jue murmured: "Even if Lang Di is killed, maybe the Northern Qi Prince will not fight with me. Didn't you realize today that the Ninth Princess is not in the same camp as Lang Di and others?"

"This... I didn't pay attention to it." Qi Gelao recalled the situation at the banquet, and felt a little weird in his heart.

He Jue chuckled, "Lezhi, you deal with them the most, and you never doubted it?"

Qi Lezhi said: "I just feel that Princess Nine is not very talkative and has always been very silent. Lang Di is the main mission in the Northern Qi Dynasty. On the surface, Lang Di respects Princess Nine and has no quarrel with her. As for what happens in private, minister It's not very clear."

He Jue nodded, "But today I see that the Ninth Princess seems to have ulterior motives, otherwise Lang Di's words are rude, she should have warned her long ago."

Everyone agreed with He Jue's words, and Elder Qi Ge mentioned again, "The matter of the Sun Moon Temple..."

He Jue narrowed his eyes slightly, and beckoned to a small palace servant: "Go to Xuanyi Division, please come over to discuss with Lord Yingwei."

No one knows more about the Sun Moon Temple than Jin Jiuye.

But I didn't expect Zhang Xiaoxi to run in sweating profusely after a quarter of an hour to report, "Your Majesty, Lord Shadow Guard is not in Xuanyi Division."

"He left the palace?" He Jue asked.

Zhang Xiaoxi said: "Yes, I just received the news that Yang Guogong's family was traveling with their entire family, and they were brutally intercepted and killed."

All the cabinet ministers were shocked and couldn't believe it.

He Jue asked, "What's going on?"

Zhang Xiaoxi said: "I don't even know that the slaves have already brought the dark guards out. It is said that Yang Guogong returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors recently, and brought a group of family members. The carriage was intercepted and killed by a masked man in black twenty miles away from Beijing. , now life or death is unknown."

"Master Yingwei told the servant to report to His Majesty that the killer should be someone from the Sun Moon Temple and related to Northern Qi."

As soon as this remark came out, the audience was in an uproar, and He Jue's face turned ashen.

"Qi Lezhi!"

"The minister is here."

"Lead the imperial guards of the capital, and order Gao Shanying to fully assist and obey the dispatch, and closely monitor all the members of the Northern Qi mission, even a personal guard of the guard team." He Jue clenched his fists and slammed the table hard.

What's so great about those killers? Jin Jiuye mentioned it to He Jue. They acted insanely and brutally, just like the life and death camps back then.Even if Jin Jiuye rushed over immediately, I am afraid that Yang Guogong's family would hardly survive.

This Northern Qi was too courageous, dared to fight at the feet of the emperor, and exterminated the three princes and nine officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It seems that Langdi's nonsense at the banquet can be said to be conservative, and even more arrogant is still here.

"Your Majesty intends to imprison the Northern Qi Mission?" Qi Lezhi asked.

He Jue sneered, "Why not? Lang Yao stretched his claws into Nantang, he should taste the feeling of being cut off! The purpose of the mission is unknown, it is not a good thing!"

After saying that, He Jue glanced at everyone one by one, and said sharply: "Old Qi, all the cabinet ministers, today's matter is that Northern Qi provoked first, and Yang Guogong's revenge must be avenged. No matter what the result is, there is bound to be a war between us and Northern Qi." Tough battles have to be fought, and it depends on who is famous. Weiwei Temple, Taipu Temple, I want you to prepare troops and horses as quickly as possible! Taifu Temple, Shaofu Supervisor, do your best to prepare enough food, grass and clothing for three years !Qi Lezhi, send a message to Yushiguan to tell Ma Xianshou to prepare for the battle without hesitation!"

Orders were passed out one by one. The efficiency of the cabinet today is surprisingly high. All matters have been upgraded to a state of combat readiness, but they are still relaxed externally, loose externally and internally tight. On the surface, they are still amicable, as if nothing happened.

Li Qingyu of the Ministry of Internal Affairs got the news, and in order to please his new master, he went to Taichang Temple overnight to discuss matters such as engraving Jin Jiuye's name on the imperial jade.The ancestors ruled that there were three wives and six concubines. If you were born in a noble family, you could marry one concubine and two concubines.It's just that the status is slightly lower than that of the first wife, but this little bit is almost negligible, because the children born to them can also be counted as the first son and daughter.

The noble concubine, who was the first of the four concubines in the palace, was naturally among the three wives. According to the etiquette system, Jin Jiuye would marry He Jue and be incorporated into the royal jade plate.This can be regarded as the most important event in the palace since His Majesty ascended the throne. It was covered up by this event, and ordinary people could not even notice the turbulent undercurrent.

The ministers of the Palace of Qinzheng dispersed and returned home, He Jue dispatched the Habayashi guards and the imperial guards to protect their personal safety, and asked Zhang Xiaoxi to wait in the Xuanyi Division, and as soon as Jin Jiuye came back, he would go to see him immediately.

He felt uneasy, the man was still wounded, how could he cope with a group of powerful enemies?Will he be injured again, or if he accidentally missed those people's ultimate move, if the tip of the knife hit his throat, if a hidden arrow hit his chest... He Jue didn't dare to think about it, he spent the whole night I can't even close my eyes.

I have never had such a strong worry before. The situation at that time may be more critical than now. At that time, he believed in Jin Jiuye with all his heart, and believed that even if he bleeds all over his body, he would finish before the last drop. The task returned to him to return to life.

But now, maybe his mentality has changed, or maybe his feelings for Jin Jiuye have changed.He Jue even came up with the idea that he would be locked up in the palace for the rest of his life and never let him go out to face any risks. Such an unbearable and grueling wait for the unknown was really unbearable for him.

The night passed, and it was dawn.

Zhang Fu led the servants of the Qinzheng Palace in to wait on him, but He Jue waved his hand, "I will be excused this morning."

The palace people retreated, He Jue called to stop Zhang Fu: "Has Jin Jiuye not come back yet?"

Zhang Fu respectfully replied: "There is no news from the Xuanyi Division, but dozens of remains from Yang Guogong's family have been sent back to the mansion by the Gyeonggi Guards, and the Shadow Guards may..."

The old palace man took a peek at He Jue's expression, He Jue was expressionless, showing no emotion.

"Perhaps they are chasing people from the Sun Moon Temple."

He Jue said nothing, and Zhang Fu resigned.

As the sun rose, the imperial dining room brought breakfast. He Jue used some, and Lin Chi came over to report: "Princess Nine handed the sign into the palace, but was stopped by the guards of Habayashi for questioning, saying that she wanted to meet the concubine according to etiquette. "

He Jue paused in his heart, "People from Northern Qi, what do you do when you see the concubine?"

Lin Chi couldn't think of the reason either. It stands to reason that the incident last night in Beiqi should be more or less taboo, but Princess Jiu went out anyway, and she didn't express any dissatisfaction even though she was accompanied by the guards.

He Jue thought for a while. He knew the details of the concubine, and he definitely had nothing to do with Bei Qi. Even the Zhong family had a deadly feud with Bei Qi.The concubine's father, the old general Zhong Jin, died under the iron hooves of the Northern Qi Dynasty. He was besieged but refused to surrender, tortured to death.

The rescue army arrived three days later, only to find a human figure made of blood, which shows the fierceness and brutality of the wolf smoke rider.Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for the concubine to have an affair with Bei Qi to rebel. He Jue is very sure of this. Even though she is not worthy of being a mother and has countless blood on her hands, she has never thought of treason.

"Perhaps the Ninth Princess thought she was smart enough to find a way to communicate with me." He Jue twitched his lips disapprovingly, "Let her go, Shoukang Palace can enter, and other places are not allowed to step in even if they are dying. .”

"Yes." Lin Chi took the order.

He Jue sat for a while longer, feeling uncomfortable after not sleeping all night, as if he was sweating profusely, so he passed on hot water to wash.

He shunned the palace people, sat in the steaming tub, closed his eyes and rested his mind, his mood sank, and his brows slightly relaxed.

He sorted out the Northern Qi's intentions again, trying to analyze what the Northern Qi was going to do. The civil strife in the royal power was not enough, and he wanted to fight against the Southern Tang at this time?His Royal Highness Lang Yao is not an ordinary person, so he should not be so self-confident, and give the brothers below him an opportunity.There is also the disappearance of the seventeenth prince, why did he disappear?Originally thought it had something to do with the Sun Moon Temple, but Jin Jiuye found out that the young man was very clean.Immediately following was Princess Nine who accompanied the embassy. She was the sister of the Seventeenth Prince, and logically she was the one who worried about her brother the most, but... He Jue couldn't feel her worry.

Outside the screen, a black shadow landed quietly. Without He Jue noticing it, he turned around the screen lightly, walked behind He Jue like a ghost, and stretched out his hands.

He Jue smelled the smell of blood, and Hei Ying pressed his temple with his hand.

He opened his eyes abruptly.