Countless thoughts popped up in Lin Ye's mind in an instant. He always felt that something was wrong, but looking at his memories, he could not immediately detect what was wrong.
Shi Yicheng asked subconsciously: "General, what you mean is that Tuoba Lie may have known that he was defeated by His Majesty, so he faked his death and escaped a long time ago?"
Lin Ye shook his head slightly: "I had contact with Tuoba Lie many times when I was in Yunzhou. I also saw the Tuoba Lie who I fought against in Dongbo many times with my own eyes. It's not a lie."
Shi Yicheng said: "The fake Tuoba Lie should have died in Guzhu."
Lin Ye sat there frowning in thought, Shi Yicheng and the others said no more.
After waiting for a while, Lin Ye didn't speak. Shi Yicheng looked at Fu Cundong, who was standing at the door. Fu Cundong understood what he meant and made a sign to disperse with the swordsman in a bamboo hat in the yard.
Lin Ye fell into thinking and didn't know how long it would take to clear up the doubts in his mind. They didn't want to disturb Lin Ye, so they dispersed for the time being.
It was night time.
Lin Ye sat there like an old monk in meditation, with no other movement except for the occasional facial expression.
It was not until it was already dark that Lin Ye moved. Shi Yicheng and Fu Cundong, who had already been waiting outside the door, dared to come in.
Lin Ye stood up and said, "Brother, I've been waiting for a long time. I just think there are some things that need to be thought through."
Shi Yicheng asked: "Has the general figured out the key?"
Lin Ye shook his head and said: "I have carefully recalled all the meetings with Tuoba Lie. Compared with the Tuoba Lie who was captured alive in Dongbo, there is no difference at all. It must be the same person."
Fu Cundong said: "That's right, Tuoba Lie's death should not cause any unexpected changes."
Lin Ye shook his head again. He looked at Fu Cundong and asked, "We all know that Tuoba Lie has trained several substitutes, but what if he later tries to imitate others?"
Neither Shi Yicheng nor Fu Cundong immediately understood what Lin Ye meant, but after a moment they looked at each other and suddenly realized.
"General, what you mean is that Tuoba Lie trained his avatar to look more and more like him, but after the avatar was trained, he deliberately imitated others?"
Fu Cuntong said: "In this way, if he succeeds, he will look like a fake stand-in, and the stand-in will be the real him."
Reverse stand-in?
Lin Ye said: "I can't be sure. We have to investigate this matter from the beginning. If this is really the case, then the substitute who died in Lone Bamboo may be the real Tuoba Lie, because he has been visiting Lone Bamboo all the time. Wife and children.”
Shi Yicheng said: "But that Tuoba Lie is also dead."
Lin Ye said: "That's why I wonder, if that Tuoba Lie is real, will he have the immortal magic power?"
Speaking of this, Lin Ye looked at Shi Yicheng and said, "Brother, you said before that Tuoba Lie is the real leader of the Chaoxin Sect, which makes me feel that there may be something deeper hidden in it."
Shi Yicheng wondered: "Then Tuoba Lie plotted so many things and spent a huge amount of money, material, manpower and energy on it, just to escape in the future? Did he really not think about winning?"
Lin Ye said with some uncertainty: "He may have known, from the very beginning, that he could not win against His Majesty."
All three fell silent.
If Tuoba Lie wanted to escape safely from the beginning, then even if what is inferred now is the truth, is it still necessary to trace the whereabouts of Tuoba Lie?
Of course!
After dinner, Lin Ye met the swordsmen in bamboo hats again and got to know them one by one.
After the introduction, Shi Yicheng said: "There are two more people on the way. If nothing else happens, they will arrive early tomorrow morning. If they are fast enough, they will arrive tonight."
Lin Ye asked: "Who is it?"
Shi Yicheng said: "The general is very familiar with him, that is..."
Just as he was about to leave his mouth, a swordsman in a bamboo hat ran in from outside the compound and clasped his fists, saying, "Those two are here and have entered the city."
When the swordsman in the bamboo hat led the two people to Lin Ye, Lin Ye was a little stunned. With his wisdom, he had never expected that it would be the two of them.
Nie Lingshan and Zhu Xiaozhu!
"I've seen the general!"
After meeting Lin Ye, the two people saluted at the same time.
"It seems that there are really a lot of things to talk about. I thought I knew most of them, but now I realize that I only know a very small part."
Nie Lingshan said: "The general knows a lot, and what he doesn't know is only some details."
A few people sat down in the living room. Shi Yicheng looked at Nie Lingshan and said, "You should talk first."
Nie Lingshan hummed and said to Lin Ye: "Zhu Xiaozhu and I are the adopted sons of my mother-in-law, but we left Wuwei County very early."
Lin Ye nodded: "I probably thought of it when the two brothers came in, but before that, I didn't expect it at all."
Nie Lingshan said: "At that time, His Majesty secretly left Geling under the protection of the master, and went to Yunzhou to meet my mother-in-law in person."
"Your Majesty and my mother-in-law discussed it all night, and my mother-in-law finally believed in your Majesty's determination to avenge the general."
"It's just that my mother-in-law said that as an emperor, there will be many changes. These changes may not even be able to be changed by the emperor. She can't just wait passively."
Zhu Xiaozhu, who was sitting next to him, said: "Nie Lingshan and I were originally my mother-in-law's bodyguards. When the commander-in-chief went to the north, he also thought that my mother-in-law might be plotted against her. He also left a group of soldiers to secretly protect her, including you. The Sui Qingqu I met later was all left by the commander at that time."
Nie Lingshan said: "Your Majesty knew that my mother-in-law did not completely trust him, so he made two decisions on the spot."
Zhu Xiaozhu said: "First, my mother-in-law chooses two trusted people to accompany your majesty back to Geling City. This is to facilitate contact, and also... to keep an eye on your majesty to prevent him from going back on his promise. My mother-in-law originally believed in your majesty. Yes, but she also knows His Majesty’s character too well.”
When they said these words, they were completely on the mother-in-law's side. It would have been awkward if they were on the emperor's side.
Lin Ye also understood at this moment.
Why has Nie Lingshan and Zhu Xiaozhu been in the capital for so many years, but His Majesty has never sent them out to entrust them with important tasks?
With the strength of the two of them, if they really did their best to serve the emperor, they might be able to entrust many important things to them, but the two of them had never left before Lin Ye came to Geling.
Later, Lin Ye also thought that the reason why His Majesty did not use Nie Lingshan and Zhu Xiaozhu was probably because their personalities were too bohemian and they had not found the correct way to use them.
Only now did I realize that these were two clear nails that my mother-in-law placed beside His Majesty.
Your Majesty, you are actually willing to keep these two people by your side.
Both of them served in Yushidao Taichung, and they both held positions that could not be said to be very important.
These two people are inconspicuous enough, but they still have access to a lot of information about His Majesty and other people.
In fact, Lin Ye thought about it later. There were many people in need of help in her mother-in-law's Shoushan Library, and among them there must be brothers who passed the news back and forth. But at that time, Lin Ye didn't know who was who.
At that time, the news sent by Nie Lingshan and Zhu Xiaozhu must have entered the Shoushan Treasury.
Nie Lingshan said: "Your Majesty made two decisions at that time. One of them was to bring us back to Geling, and the other was..."
At this point, he paused and looked at Shi Yicheng subconsciously.
Shi Yicheng said: "I think we can tell the general about other things, but it is better for His Majesty to tell him personally about this matter."
Nie Lingshan thought for a while and nodded: "It is indeed appropriate for your Majesty to mention the dish to the general personally."
Lin Ye said: "Your Majesty asked you to tell me. If he wanted to say something, he should have told me two days ago... Actually, even if he didn't say it, I still have a guess."
Nie Lingshan said: "Your Majesty did not tell the general personally, perhaps because it was really difficult to speak."
Shi Yicheng said: "But if I were to tell the general about such an important matter, it would not be solemn enough."
Lin Ye nodded and said, "When I see His Majesty again, I will just ask him personally."
As soon as he said these words, Nie Lingshan and the others were obviously relieved.
Lin Ye said: "I made another guess before. It's not convenient for you to say, but you can nod or shake your head. If I guessed right, I will nod. If I guessed wrong, I will shake my head."
He said: "His Majesty was actually in danger in the capital at that time. The degree of danger was so high that even the real person in charge was not sure that he could protect him?"
Shi Yicheng nodded: "Yes, although it had been a while since the rebels were defeated, something happened in Northern Xinjiang and Lou Fan's army went south. His Majesty had to transfer General Liu and Tuoba Lie to the north. As a result, there were no close friends around him. Team available.”
Nie Lingshan said: "Although the old master is protecting him, all the major families are planning to launch a second rebellion and push His Majesty from the throne while the general is away. Moreover, at that time, Shangyang Palace It’s no longer reliable.”
"What's even more terrifying is that people from major families have contacted people from the royal family. Except for His Majesty's lineage, other royal families also want to kill Your Majesty."
Lin Ye said: "So... His Majesty doesn't even dare to let others know that he has an heir, so he can only raise it outside secretly?"
Nie Lingshan, Shi Yicheng and others looked at each other. It could be seen from their faces that Lin Ye's guess was correct. They just didn't dare to nod casually.
After a while, Nie Lingshan was the first to nod: "Yes."
Lin Ye let out a heavy breath.
Although he had already guessed, when he got confirmation from Nie Lingshan, he seemed calm, but only he knew the turmoil in his heart.
It was a stormy sea.
Slapping him hard again and again.
The beating made his mind shake.
Shi Yicheng said: "Actually...this is my mother-in-law's suggestion, but it's not to ensure His Majesty's integrity. It's my mother-in-law...it's my mother-in-law who really cares about the child."
"My mother-in-law's four children all died in the war outside the customs. No one knows better than her what it feels like to lose a child."
Shi Yicheng said: "She told His Majesty that no one in the civil and military circles of the dynasty is worthy of your Majesty's confidence, but I am the only one who still has some weight in His Majesty's heart, as a lonely old woman."
"If your Majesty can trust me, send the child to me to raise him quietly, and then send him back when the time is right in the future."
Nie Lingshan said: "At that time... His Majesty's original words were..."
He paused for a long time before speaking out the original words of the Supreme Saint King at that time.
"If I win, then take him back. I will give him everything I have given to win, so I have to ask you to teach him well. If he is not a talent, then I also want to have a good reunion with him. , No matter how hard I teach him, the worst I can do is to do more, so that he can do less, no matter what, I don’t give him the country, but I still want him to live well."
"If...if I lose in the end, then please don't tell the truth about his life experience. Just tell him that he is just one of the many children you adopted."
"It's enough for him to live a prosperous life without having to worry about food and drink, housing and transportation... It's good to be an ordinary person and be happy."
Lin Ye took a deep breath when he heard this, and his eyes became extremely complicated.
Nie Lingshan said: "Mother-in-law said, Your Majesty, you can rest assured that I have raised four children, and none of them are cowards. None of my four children are great talents. At least they know how to behave. Therefore, what I teach , Your Majesty, there is no need to be uneasy."
Zhu Xiaozhu said: "At that time, His Majesty stood up, saluted to my mother-in-law and then strode away."
Lin Ye's mind was filled with the image of the mother-in-law standing in front of His Majesty with her chin slightly raised and saying... I raised four sons, but there was no image of a coward.
It was fixed in Lin Ye's mind, just stopped, and everyone was so clear. Lin Ye could even move around in this picture and see everyone's eyes and expressions from various angles at close range.
And when he walked to His Majesty's side to see his mother-in-law, he seemed to see five vague figures behind her.
The general was in the center, and the four major generals were on both sides. They simultaneously stretched out their hands and placed them on the mother-in-law's back. With their five hands, they helped her to straighten her spine.
My mother-in-law can stand up straight.
My mother-in-law should know, they are all here, and they will definitely help her hold on.
