Murong Xue returned home dejectedly and couldn't help but sigh.
Today is already the seventh day since the last incident at White Horse Temple. During these seven days, every time he went to the palace to order something, he would be mercilessly blocked out of the palace by the palace supervisor. The only thing he said over and over again was: His Highness ordered that he not see you today.
As the chief steward of the East Palace Zhan Shi and His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness actually refuses to see him. What is the reason for this?
At the beginning, Murong Xue guessed that this might be because Li Bing was frightened at the White Horse Temple, so he felt unwell and needed a good rest, so he canceled his daily official duties and did not see his subordinates.
But it didn't take long for him to discover that Xie Guang, Lao Jianhua, Shan Tingxian and others still came to the palace to discuss matters as usual, without any delay. Even the appearance of the governor of Yuzhou could meet the prince without any obstruction. .
Only he, the dignified prince Zhan Shi, was turned away.
Although Murong Xue was upset, she knew very well that such an unusual situation must be related to the White Horse Temple. To be precise, it was because of her various seemingly suspicious arrangements that day that aroused the prince's fear, so now That's why you treat him like this.
If his prediction was good, Li Bing probably planned to wait for Shan Tingxian to come up with the investigation results in ten days before making a judgment on Murong Xue.
At the same time, Murong Xue also wanted to meet the people from Nilinsi and asked Tao Yuan to find out what happened in White Horse Temple that day. However, it was a pity that he hung the token of communication outside the courtyard gate for several days, but no spies from the Nilin Division came to meet him as promised.
Is it true that as Shan Tingxian said, all the troops of Nilin Division were wiped out? Including Tao Yuan, the flag bearer, no one was spared? Or is it that someone alive has fallen into the hands of Xie Guang, Lao Jianhua and the others, and they are currently being brutally tortured to extract confessions in a secret place? ?
Thinking of this, Murong Xue became increasingly worried. His Highness the Crown Prince began to doubt himself, and the foreign aid in Beiya also completely lost contact. An indescribable feeling of loneliness was weighing heavily on Murong Xue's heart.
He has never felt so desperate as he does now, as if all his previous efforts were completely lost in one fell swoop.
What makes him even more anxious is that it is expected that in the next few days, the edict for the management of the main road of Jinhe will be officially finalized, and the final discussion on the candidate for the commander-in-chief of the Long Sword Legion may have begun with His Highness.
At such a critical period, he was actually blocked from the outside and had no chance to fight against Xie Guang and his gang. How could he not be anxious?
Murong Xue began to regret that she should not have agreed to Tao Yuan's request so hastily and rashly launched a raid to arrest Lao Jianhua. It was this approach that seemed bold and safe, but actually made a huge gamble out of thin air, that completely changed the situation in Luoyi.
Looking back and thinking about it carefully now, the biggest problem actually lies with himself.
In the past six months, he and Lao Jianhua had repeatedly had disputes over the affairs of the court. The more intense the conflict between the two, the more Murong Xue felt that Lao Jianhua was both hateful and difficult to deal with, and the young man felt so anxious. The rage became more and more intense.
Therefore, when Tao Yuan proposed to him that he planned to secretly arrest Lao Jianhua, Murong Xue's first thought was not about the overall situation, but a secret joy - Finally got a chance to kill that annoying old guy!
It was precisely because of the interference of this emotion that he lost control at that time. Not only did he not firmly stop Tao Yuan and the others from advancing against Linsi, but he also secretly persuaded himself to think better of things and deceived himself, leading to the current big situation. wrong.
At the same time, Lao Jianhua and Xie Guang were so clever, as if they had seen through his and Tao Yuan's plot in advance.
Murong Xue would never believe Shan Tingxian's explanation.
Even if it was a coincidence that Xie Guang was unlucky enough to urge Shan Tingxian to come to escort him in time without knowing what was going on, and accidentally ran into the Nilin Division's actions, but who were the Nilin Division's men? What kind of level, Murong Xue had already learned a lesson as early as the rebellion in the imperial capital.
Since Tao Yuan said that they were doing their best to take action, they were definitely not ordinary people.
Eighteen masters of the Nilin Division were well-trained, well-cooperated, and all desperate desperadoes who were not afraid of death. How could Lao Jianhua escape intact without even a single flesh wound? And how could Shan Tingxian and the others easily capture those dead soldiers who were fully prepared?
There must be some issue that Murong Xue hasn't figured out yet.
-
Ruiji felt very distressed when she saw that her young master Murong had been unhappy and indifferent these days. As soon as Murong Xue came back from outside, she locked herself in the study room, sitting alone and sighing from time to time.
The bowl of meat soup on the stove has been hot and hot, but it has never been taken away.
Rui Ji covered the fire, took out the meat soup from the steamer, blew on her red hands, and after a moment of hesitation, she decided to cover the porcelain bowl with gauze first, then turned around to prepare the tea set and started frying it on the fire. Make tea from this year’s newly harvested tongue.
This tongue tea was Murong Xue's favorite. Because the quantity was small, Ruiji herself was never willing to try it. Now, in order to please Murong Xue, she planned to take out this magic weapon and try it.
After a while, Rui Ji walked lightly to the study, carrying the brewed tea.
"Sir, please have tea."
"Oh, it smells so good." Murong Xue raised her head after hearing this and asked Rui Ji, "Is it a bird's tongue?"
Rui Ji nodded slightly, smiled, held the tea cup in front of Murong Xue, and stuck out her tongue playfully: "Well, I have seen that the young master has been unhappy these past few days, so I specially prepared this tea to help the young master relax."
Murong Xue smiled apologetically: "I'm really sorry, Rui Gua'er. I've been worried about business these days, which makes you worry too."
"Young Master, please don't say that," Rui Ji quickly waved her hand: "It's all my fault that I didn't serve the Young Master well and couldn't share the Young Master's worries."
Murong Xue was greatly relieved when she saw this. Fortunately, there was such a gentle and beautiful beauty by her side, so that she would not be completely alone. Thinking of this, he stretched out his tiger arms and gently took Rui Ji into his arms.
At this moment, Murong Xue needed Rui Ji, and even more needed to temporarily forget those thoughts that made him extremely troubled and anxious.
-
On the tenth day after returning from White Horse Temple, which was when Li Bing set the deadline for Shan Tingxian to investigate the case, someone from the palace suddenly came to summon Murong Xue to the palace to see him. With an uneasy mood, Murong Xue followed the chamberlain to the imperial palace, and was shocked to find that Xie Guanglao Jianhua and others had been waiting here for a long time.
When Li Bing saw Murong Xue kneel down and salute, he only nodded slightly: "Okay, everyone is here. Ting Xian, please tell us about the investigation in detail."
Shan Tingxian stood up after hearing the words, cupped his hands and reported back: "Your Highness, I have been searching around for the past few days and have made some gains. The weapons used by the assassins in the White Horse Temple are all ordinary weapons commonly used in the world. There are no special marks on the goods. However, I found a hidden weapon on the leader of those people."
As he spoke, he ordered his guards to bring over a wooden tray. The wooden tray contained a small and unique miniature crossbow, and a few short arrows were placed next to it.
"Hidden weapon?" Li Bing took the short arrow, looked at it carefully for a long time, and asked, "What does this mean?"
Shan Tingxian replied loudly: "Your Highness, I have never seen such an exquisite weapon before, so I asked around through friends in the world, and finally learned the news that this small crossbow came from Sichuan. A sect of Nangong Family."
He subconsciously glanced at Murong Xue and continued: "The Nangong family is very low-key in the world. The people are good at using hidden weapons and are good at poison purification and refining. Because they are located in the southwest corner, they are rarely famous in the Central Plains. "
"You mean, the assassin is a member of the Nangong family?" Li Bing asked doubtfully: "I have never had anything to do with Xishu or the Nangong family before. Who was they instructed by and why did they come to assassinate me? Woolen cloth?"
Shan Tingxian seemed unfazed: "Your Highness, according to Wei Chen's analysis after investigating the scene, the target of the assassin was not Your Highness, but someone else."
Hearing that Shan Tingxian mentioned the "Nangong Family" and now said that "there is someone else targeted for assassination", Murong Xue couldn't help being secretly surprised, and at the same time, she roughly guessed what the other party wanted to do.
Li Bingze's face was as dark as water, and he asked coldly: "You said there is someone else, what is going on?"
Shan Tingxian continued: "According to the traces at the scene, the eighteen assassins were all lying in ambush far away from His Highness. They only waited for Master Chen and Master Lao to leave, and then followed them in secret. Bet it. When Master Chen just entered the Sutra Pavilion, the assassins suddenly appeared and attacked Master Lao who was walking behind. Fortunately, Master Lao reacted quickly and avoided the poisonous arrows that sneaked up on him at the critical moment. Only by relying on Shen Dian Pavilion's defense can we save our lives."
Hearing this, Li Bing suddenly couldn't help but sneered: "Lao Aiqing, does that mean someone wants your life?"
Murong Xue felt cold sweat on her back and lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at Li Bing.
Lao Jianhua bowed to the side and replied: "Your Highness, when I was working in Beiya Nilin Division, I offended many enemies of Shengtang, and this is not the first time I was retaliated against. It's just that this time, Your Highness was frightened, and even Please forgive me."
Shan Tingxian smiled and said: "Master Lao, don't rush to conclusions. It's not certain whether he was your original enemy or not."
Lao Jianhua heard what Shan Tingxian said and asked with interest: "Sir Shan, according to your judgment, the mastermind behind the scenes has been locked?"
Shan Tingxian did not answer the question directly. Instead, he turned to Murong Xue and asked, "Master Zhan Shi, I would like to ask you a question. Do you know Nangong Yuping?"
Murong Xue was stunned for a moment, then she answered bravely: "I know. He and I both studied at the Xishu Divine Arrow Sect, so we can be considered brothers."
"Called brothers?" Shan Tingxian said with a smile: "As far as I know, you two should be said to be as close as brothers. Nangong Yuping once lived in your house for half a year and worshiped your mother as his godmother, didn't he?"
Seeing Murong Xue hesitate a little, Prince Li Bing asked coldly: "Ting Xian, who is this Nangong Yuping? Is he from the Nangong family?"
Shan Tingxian answered simply: "Your Highness, that's exactly what happened. Nangong Yuping is the eldest son of the current head of the Nangong family, and he is also the biggest suspect in charge of this assassination!"
