Li Bing nodded slightly when he heard the words: "Yes, the problem of the army must be solved step by step and slowly. If it is done too hastily, it will be counterproductive. Take this incident as an example, although Li Jiangyao was at fault, his contribution is still significant. If it is based on If you fail to cover up your merits, not only will the officers and soldiers cause trouble, but there will also be a lot of criticism from the government and the public. In the final analysis, the Governor's Office is too restless."
He thought for a moment and then told the two of them: "I will have to solve the problem of the Xinjiang Army sooner or later, but Li Jiangyao is not Ma Hongjie, so he is not that easy to deal with, so you must stay calm and don't do any harm to me, do you understand?"
Wei Zixuan and Tian Mu responded quickly: "I obey the order."
Seeing that they were obedient, Li Bing added: "After wiping out the Huaiyang rebels, we can discuss our merits as we wish. There is no need to create extraneous matters. Shen Lie, on the other hand, please bring him back to me as soon as possible and ask about the secret files." My reputation is small, but the innocence of the late emperor and my mother is great. I cannot be careless. If it is finally found out that it was Li Kuang who deliberately fabricated rumors and slanders out of thin air, I will definitely cut this beast into pieces with a thousand swords!"
Tian Mu received the holy order and found Zhou Xing as soon as he came out of Tai Chi Palace, asking him to quickly notify Shen Lie to return to the capital.
Zhou Xing was about to ask why he was so anxious to call Mr. Shen back, but he didn't expect that Tian Mu's nose was not a nose and his eyes were not eyes. He immediately scolded Zhou Xing and told him to handle the errands seriously and not to worry too much. Nosy.
It is said that the first level of officialdom kills people. Faced with the difficulties and harsh criticism from his boss Tian Mu, Zhou Xing had no choice but to accept it. Then he turned around and contacted the Zhenjiang Intelligence Department branch in the imperial capital and asked them to tell Shen Lie.
The news was quickly sent to Jiangnan. After receiving the notice, Yuan Bin immediately reported to Shen Lie that the emperor had summoned him. Shen Lie was slightly surprised and asked Yuan Bin if he knew the reason behind this.
After all, he had been away from Li Bing for more than a year. For such a long time, the former prince and now the Holy Emperor had ignored him from beginning to end. It seemed a bit unusual to suddenly summon him now.
Yuan Bin had no clue about Shen Lie's question, but he did have a good suggestion: "Master Shen, Brother Zhou said that because the court couldn't find you, it was conveyed through our Intelligence Department. That might as well In this way, we will pretend that the notification was a little late, and they have no other choice anyway. When you go to the imperial capital, you will definitely pass by the defense area of the Zhenjiang Army. You can meet the capital guard on the way, and you may be able to find out the reason why the emperor summoned you."
Shen Lie smiled and nodded: "You are still smart. Well, I will drop by to meet Jiang Yao. I have been away for a long time, and I really miss him. By the way, do you have anything you want me to bring to Jiang Yao? ?"
Yuan Bin made an exaggerated expression and laughed loudly: "Sir, my humble position is just a small patrol school in the Intelligence Department. I don't even have a serious rank. How can I talk to the Imperial Guard?"
Shen Lie shook his head: "No, Shen has always judged people very accurately. You are a rare talent. I must recommend you to Jiang Yao."
"No, no, no, no, no." Yuan Bin waved his hand: "Sir, I want to rely on my own efforts and merit to be promoted step by step. If you make the recommendation, the Protectorate will definitely give you face. It’s not fair to a brother who has the ability.”
Shen Lie didn't expect that Yuan Bin would be so ambitious at such a young age, and he couldn't help but like this young man even more. He thought for a moment, took out a booklet from his arms, handed it to Yuan Bin and said, "I'll give this to you as a souvenir."
Yuan Bin took it with both hands, and after taking a glance at it, he suddenly froze: "This... Wind and Thunder Palm?"
"That's right, it's Shen's special skill in the world." Shen Lie smiled slightly: "If you are interested in the Thirty-Six Wind and Thunder Palm Techniques, you can practice it. If you are not interested, it doesn't matter. Think of it as a friendship between us, just keep it as you like."
Yuan Bin danced happily: "Are you still not interested in this? Oh my God! I found a treasure! Master Shen, you have passed down such powerful martial arts to me. I have to worship you as my master."
Saying that, Yuan Bin made a move to kneel down, and Shen Lie quickly supported him: "Don't kneel down! You and I should still treat each other as equals and brothers. I give you martial arts secrets in the hope that you can master more skills." , so that I can follow the Great Protector and protect the country and the people."
Yuan Bin nodded vigorously and said solemnly: "Yuan Bin has taken note of your words. From now on, if you succeed in your studies, you will definitely live up to your expectations!"
-
At dawn the next day, Shen Lie put on a green preacher's robe and personally made some changes to his disguise. Then he said goodbye to his brothers from the Intelligence Department and embarked on the road back to Guanzhong.
Although Shen Lie didn't know the specific reason for the emperor's summons this time, he could more or less guess some clues.
Li Bing wanted to see him because of two things: one was about Lao Jianhua, Bao Yuchun, and Di Xian, and the other was about the emperor himself.
In comparison, the latter is more likely.
Deep in Shen Lie's heart, the mystery of Li Bing's life experience has always been his biggest and most obscure worry. The cause of the heartache was the investigation file of Shen Lie's master and former head of the Nilin Division, Shi Qinzhu.
At that time, Li Bing's mother Cheng Huilin had an affair with Jin Wang Li Chengxing before marrying the late emperor Li Chengwen. When she entered the palace, she used various means to successfully bribe the female official and stable woman who were responsible for the physical examination, and was able to get through. However, because she had sex with two men, Cheng Huilin herself could not tell whose blood the fetus she carried later was from.
Originally, as Queen Hui Lin's position gradually became more stable, this issue was about to become an eternal secret. Unexpectedly, in order to show the value of Nilin Division and avoid being dismissed by Emperor Li Chengwen, Qin Zhu accidentally found out the clues of this matter secretly.
The secret file sealed in Nilinsi's library records all the evidence that Qin Zhu seized at that time, including: the confessions of the palace female officials and Po Wen, the testimonies of the servants of the Jin Dynasty, Hui Lin's maiden family, and the stewards of the Duke's Palace. testimony, as well as the correspondence between the King of Jin and Cheng Huilin.
Later, because Lao Jianhua reported the information in advance, Jin King Li Chengxing and Red Blood Legion Commander Lao Zishang launched a rebellion, and Qin Zhu's secret case was not revealed in time. Afterwards, the rebels were successfully suppressed by He Jingming and other military generals, and the new emperor Li Chengwu also secured his throne. Qin Zhu was worried that causing trouble would bring trouble to himself, so he secretly sealed the case file and pretended that nothing had happened. happened before.
However, two people still knew about this matter. One is Lao Jianhua, who leaked the news to the King of Jin, and the other is Shen Lie, who took over as the new chief historian.
Lao Jianhua fled to the western frontier after being convicted, while Shen Lie stayed in the court to protect the emperor Li Chengwu, while still carrying this shocking secret in his heart.
Shen Lie originally considered that this matter involved the dignity of the royal family and the reputation of the late emperor and empress, so he planned to never reveal a word to the public, just like his master Qin Zhu, and pretend that nothing had happened.
Even if Li Bing is not the flesh and blood of the late emperor Li Chengwen, so what? Could it be that this is still used as a reason to overthrow him?
As long as the world is peaceful and the Holy Tang has no worries, that is enough. It is rare to be confused.
But it's a pity that Shen Lie thinks so, but some people don't.
That person is Lao Jianhua.
Lao Jianhua was afraid that the world would not be in chaos, so he naturally made full use of everything that could be used. Therefore, he told the Turks and Li Bing the secret files of the Nilin Division respectively, in order to subvert the legitimacy of Li Bing's succession to the throne.
Shen Lie is very aware of the machinations of his old rival and enemy, so he also knows in his heart that sooner or later this matter will be revealed and cause huge waves.
Now the emperor suddenly summoned him, and it happened to be shortly after the Huaiyang army was destroyed and Li Kuang was captured alive. Most of his inability to escape was related to the secret file.
Shen Lie felt helpless about this and couldn't help but shook his head secretly and sighed. However, there is no use worrying about this issue. We can only take it one step at a time.
Alone, he took a boat along the canal and went north. After passing through the checkpoints of the Xuanjia Army, he came all the way to Luzhou.
There, he first contacted the Zhenjiang Army stationed there, and with the bronze medal token of the Intelligence Department given to him by Yuan Bin, he successfully met Xu Youchang, who had been away for a long time.
As soon as he heard that Shen Lie was here, Xu Youchang didn't even bother to put on his coat. He ran directly from the bedroom to the front hall, went up and grabbed Shen Lie's arm, and laughed and said: "Master Shen, you are finally here. ! Did you finally catch me this time?"
Shen Lie was also made to laugh by him: "You, you, you are still the same as before! Fortunately, you were smart enough at that time, and quickly wiped the soles of your feet with oil and slipped away to the Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang, otherwise... Well, the past will be hard to look back on. ah."
Xu Youchang pulled him to sit down, ordered tea, and then said with a smile: "This is called a coincidence. If you hadn't brought the Lieblade Army and the Liangzhou Prefecture soldiers to arrest me, I would not have fled to Western Xinjiang, and I would not have I will follow Li Jiangyao and fight alone to conquer the world today. Sometimes I think, if I could turn back time and start everything over again, maybe I would have followed my family and died in the imperial capital, what do you think?"
Shen Lie nodded and said in a heavy tone: "If you had come back with me at that time, you would definitely not have been questioned by the late emperor, because He Jingming's case was not complicated. Although the real culprit could not be caught for the time being, your suspicion would soon be revealed. You can get away with it. In that case, you will either be killed by the traitor Xie Guang's trick, or you will follow General Xu to defend the imperial capital."
"So, I have to thank Shen Changshi." Xu Youchang smiled casually and picked up the tea cup: "I will drink tea instead of wine. The first cup is for your kindness in sending me to Western Xinjiang!"
Shen Lie laughed out loud when he heard what he said was interesting, and drank the hot tea in one gulp: "You said this is the first cup, so what else should I offer you later?"
Xu Youchang picked up the teapot and filled it up for Shen Lie, and said: "This second cup, I wish Brother Shen to be loyal to the king and the country regardless of personal gain or loss!"
Shen Lie smiled casually and responded: "Okay, I think Shen deserves this cup!"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside: "How strange. You didn't go to me first when you got here, but you came to see Xu Youchang?"
