The prince is very fierce

The next day, the rain did not stop.

On Guifei Street, the old tavern that had been open for business before dawn for twenty years was closed. Most of the shops on the street were closed, which should not have attracted attention. But the civil and military officials and the common people who passed by the old tavern glanced at it in confusion, thinking that something was wrong, but they couldn't tell what the problem was. After frowning and thinking carefully, they remembered that there was no waiter sitting on a stool in a daze outside the door of this tavern.

Just like there is a tree on the way home, coming and going for twenty years, from the prime of life to the old man with gray hair, passing by the tree every day, and not paying attention to it. Only when the tree is gone, will you feel that something is missing.

But whether it is a tree or a waiter, they are all insignificant things. After a glance, pedestrians hurried past.

The mansion opposite the old tavern opened its gate at dawn, and the guards filed out. The second prince, Chen Ju, rode a sedan chair to the palace to attend court as usual.

Chen Ju didn't pay attention at first. He got on the sedan chair with the help of the guards. Just as he bent over to enter the carriage, he suddenly stopped and looked at the old tavern.

There were two doors opposite each other. Since the day Chen Ju moved in, he could see the waiter opposite every morning. In the morning when the court was in session, the waiter would wipe the table in the window. When he saw him, he would smile respectfully. He couldn't remember how many years it lasted.

Chen Ju frowned and looked away for a long time until the guard reminded him that he would miss the time for court. He came to his senses.

After all, he was just a waiter. State affairs were ahead and he couldn't delay.

Chen Ju retracted his gaze, leaned into the carriage, and said calmly:

"Let's go."

The carriage slowly left in the rain, everything was normal.

Not long after, the old shopkeeper came to open the door, saw the scene inside, and ran out again in fear; then Shangguan Jinghong came with people, carried a cloth bag and left, and sent it to the imperial concubine's tomb.

By noon, the old tavern had returned to its usual appearance. No one would pay attention to this insignificant little thing, because the story of the old tavern had already ended last night...

————

The sky was overcast and rainy, making the city more desolate.

The civil and military officials entered the palace in an orderly manner and began a day of court meetings. The topics of discussion were all focused on the fact that the Xiliang army marched to the southern border for no reason. The monarch Chen Jin, who was supposed to sit in the court and make decisions, obviously couldn't sit in the chair that belonged to him at this time.

In the rain, Chen Si Ning walked out of Fuyan Palace, still with a bit of annoyance on her face, but this time, she obviously couldn't complain to the nanny like a chatterbox.

Thinking of what happened last night, Chen Si Ning felt itchy.

After Xu Buling left, she remembered that she didn't wear clothes before going to bed, and asked the nanny to wipe the wound on her chest.

That evil thief had been hiding behind the wooden frame, and he must have feasted his eyes and seen everything clean. When he came out, he even pretended to be "don't look at anything indecent"...

It's okay to look at her, and he also kidnapped Ah Qing.

Ah Qing has been spoiled since she was a child and is the most precious. If she is tormented by a wild man for three days, she will lose half her life if she doesn't die. Just thinking about it makes me feel distressed.

While secretly thinking, Chen Si Ning walked through the harem for a long time and came to Chen Jin's bedroom.

Outside the bedroom, the few palace maids stayed in their respective positions, repeating the hopeless days. The eunuch stood outside the bedroom, bowed and stood quietly, as if he didn't hear the cries in the hall. After all, he had heard them for several years and had gotten used to it.

Chen Si Ning asked the maids to wait outside and pushed open the door alone. Inside the hall, Chen Jin was still lying on the sickbed, looking like a dry bone, with faint sobs coming out of her mouth, and it was unknown how much pain she was enduring.

As a daughter, Chen Si Ning had never spoken much to her father since she was a child, but the blood relationship was thicker than water, so she was worried.

She walked slowly to the bed and looked at her father carefully.

Chen Jin's eyes were cloudy and dull, and he didn't seem to notice his daughter next to him. He just opened and closed his lips and made an inaudible cry.

Chen Si Ning remembered what the man said last night and her own guess. After a little hesitation, she knelt in front of the bed and said:

"Father, have you been poisoned? If so, just blink your eyes."

Chen Jin didn't react at all. Only when facing Chen Ju would she awaken a little bit of consciousness. For this daughter, she might have even forgotten who she was.

Chen Si Ning's eyes were obviously a little disappointed. She felt that her thoughts were a little naive. After staying with him for a long time, she got up and left the bedroom.

While walking, Chen Si Ning kept thinking about the conversation last night. She didn't believe what that person said. After all, those unfounded words were too exaggerated. If Zhou Qin, the Duke of Anguo, who had worked in the court for 20 years, was a member of the Hundred Insects Valley, what would be left of the Nanyue court? He would just become a puppet of the Hundred Insects Valley.

Zhou Qin's resume was very clear. The people of Lingshan County still remember the former Magistrate Zhou. Sometimes his classmates from that year would come to the capital to seek refuge. Zhou Qin's official career was not as clean as water, but he never embezzled or accepted bribes. He assisted Chen Ju in handling government affairs. Although he did not make Nanyue soar, at least the internal affairs were well organized and there was no major chaos. He was considered the backbone of the Nanyue court.

Zhou Qin was already an old man in his sixties. In a few years, when Chen Ju inherited the throne, he should retire and return home.

It is nonsense to say that the old minister who has worked diligently and contributed his whole life to the court of Nanyue is a gangster and tycoon in the underworld. He has reached the highest position in the country, so how could he have the time to hang out in the underworld? What is the point?

Chen Si Ning thought about it and felt that the man yesterday must have been deliberately creating confusion, but Ah Qing was in that man's hands, so he couldn't just ignore it, and he had to check the traces of the five missing people.

After thinking for a long time alone, Chen Si Ning dismissed the palace maids, changed into warrior clothes, and left the imperial city alone.

Duke Anguo Zhou Qin now assists the prince Chen Ju in governing. If there is any top-secret information in South Vietnam, it must be placed in Zhou Qin's study. However, Chen Si Ning also kept a watchful eye. If Zhou Qin is really "Shangguan Qinhe", if she dares to enter the study, the person must be gone.

For safety reasons, Chen Si Ning went directly to Chen Ju's house, opposite the old tavern.

Chen Ju was attending court in the palace at this time, and most of the guards were taken away, so the defense of the house was sparse.

Chen Si Ning often came to nag, and even knew the secret room in the study, so she was naturally very clear about the defense of the house. Moreover, Chen Ju handled the government affairs on his behalf, so he must have known a lot of information.

Although the matter of the five border people was too small to appear in Chen Ju's study, it was better to find something than to wander around like a headless fly.

Chen Si Ning covered her face with a veil and walked into the back alley with an oil-paper umbrella. She came to a place where there were no secret guards. After looking around for a few times, she entered the mansion as light as a swallow, came to the back house with familiarity, and entered directly from the back window of the study.

The door of the study was closed, and there were guards walking outside. There was no one in the room. The table was tidy, and memorials, letters, books, etc. were neatly arranged on the bookshelf next to it.

Chen Si Ning often came here and was familiar with these things, but she had never flipped through these things without authorization. She came to the bookshelf lightly and found the matters reported by officials from all over the country recently.

Nanyue is still a large area from Fuzhou in the east to Jiaozhi in the west. The things that can be sent to this study are naturally not trivial matters such as stealing chickens and dogs. Most of them are about taxes, water conservancy, farming in various places, and rebellions in some places.

Chen Si Ning found the memorial sent by the prefect of Liuzhou, but after a quick glance, it did not even mention the small place of "Fei Shui Ling". It only reported that the overall situation of the Xiliang Army outside the pass moved to the south, and how many able-bodied men were captured, etc.

Chen Si Ning first found all the case files sent by Liuzhou in the past three months and checked them one by one, but from beginning to end, she could not find any records about Fei Shui Ling, which made her feel a little headache - how could she check such a small matter? This matter should be run to the prefectural government office in Liuzhou and search in the treasury. How could she find clues in this place?

However, the pet was still in the hands of others, so Chen Si Ning had to check it. At that time, she had to check all the files from beginning to end. Although she did not find any news related to "Fei Shui Ling" from beginning to end, when she turned to the files of Qinzhou, Chen Si Ning narrowed her eyes slightly and said "Huh" softly.

The case file was submitted more than a month ago. The matter was neither big nor small. It said that a hunter in Qinzhou was hunting in Yulongling and saw an unidentified person escorting five old and young women and children into the deep mountains. After reporting to the authorities, he sent a constable to investigate, but he never came back. He requested the capital to send someone to investigate.

Chen Si Ning remembered the description of the man last night and felt that the two things might be related. He picked up the file and flipped through it, but it already had the result sent to Chen Ju by the Court of Justice - the capital had sent elite troops to Qinzhou to investigate, and there was nothing unusual. The constable died of miasma, and the person the hunter saw was also buried there.

Qinzhou borders Yongzhou, and Yulongling is a hundred miles away in the east, located between high mountains. It is said that there is miasma in it, and birds, beasts and hunters who died of poisoning have been found in the mountains before.

There was nothing wrong with the whole thing, but Chen Si Ning always felt that something was a little strange, mainly because the sentence "the suspicious person took five old and young women and children" was only explained with "all died of miasma", without explaining the relationship at all, and even the identity was not found out.

Chen Si Ning thought about it and felt that this was a very critical information. After carefully writing it down, he put the file back to its original place. After making sure that there was no trace left, he quietly left the study...

------

I just finished writing yesterday today...

No money? Give you cash or points, limited to 1 day to receive! Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp] to receive it for free!