When everyone in the room heard that the young eunuch in the palace said that the "Silver Fish Talisman" was missing, they couldn't help being shocked.
The silver fish talisman, formally known as the silver carp waist badge, is the talisman for entering and exiting the palace.
In the Shengtang Dynasty, the talisman belts used at the gates of the imperial city were divided into four categories: dragon, turtle, unicorn, and carp.
The four types of waist badges are each made of gold or silver, representing different statuses.
The Dragon Waist Card, or Dragon Talisman, is exclusive to the direct royal family and can only be owned and used by princes and princes. Among them, the members of the royal family who have been awarded the title of prince hold the golden dragon waist badge, while the other princes are unified into silver dragons.
The Turtle Talisman is a pass token specially given to important officials in the imperial court. The first-rank officials hold gold tortoises, and the second-rank officials hold silver tortoises. These top figures in the political arena of the Holy Tang Dynasty, with the turtle talisman on their bodies, could directly enter the palace to see the emperor, so as to facilitate military and political affairs at any time.
The Qilin waist card and the carp waist card are for the emperor's personal guards and subordinates, and they are different according to different civil and military affairs.
Qilin favors martial arts, so the mid-level and senior officers of the Forbidden Army all wear Qilin Talisman. Except for the commander of the Forbidden Army, who is made of gold, the rest of the generals, whether they are from the Jinwu Guards or affiliated with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, are all made of silver unicorns.
Correspondingly, the emperor's ministers and eunuchs in the inner court held carp waist badges. Among them, the Chief Chamberlain, the head eunuch who always accompanied the emperor, wore the only goldfish charm, while these officials, including Shi Tianmu, the director of Nilin, and Pei Yinglun, the eunuch of the palace, wore silver fish charms.
Because those who hold various talisman waist medals are more or less, and their status is noble and special. Occasionally, the emperor will grant special orders of talismans to some officials who are not of sufficient rank on a whim. Therefore, various levels in the palace are The guards at the gate usually recognize the talisman but not the person. As long as you hold the talisman belt, you can enter and exit the palace gate freely. They don't want to ask more questions, and they don't dare to ask more questions.
Among them, the silver fish charm is the most likely to cause problems.
This matter is not difficult to understand.
The dragon represents the royal family, and the tortoise represents the important officials. There are not many important figures like this in the entire Shengtang Dynasty. Who is qualified to wear the golden dragon, silver dragon, golden tortoise, and golden tortoise? Su Wei knows very well, and the emperor is also impossible. Distribute randomly according to mood.
In the same way, the Qilin Talisman is the identity certificate of the general of the Forbidden Army. Of course, the soldiers responsible for guarding the palace gates recognize their superiors, and there is basically no chance of fraud.
The silver fish charm is quite different.
As long as you participate in various affairs of the inner court, you will have the opportunity to be given a silver fish talisman. Even some young chamberlains who are ordered to go out to do things in the palace will run around with the silver fish talismans they have obtained temporarily in order to facilitate the passage of the palace gates. , show off one's strength.
Now, Pei Yinglun's silver fish talisman is missing, which means that someone can use his passport to sneak into the palace.
And if that person is Shen Lie, who was arrested by Emperor Li Bing himself and almost died unjustly in Beiya, the consequences will be disastrous!
Tian Mu was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and shouted: "You guys keep looking for me! Zhu Junjie, follow me to the palace quickly!"
After saying that, he turned around and rushed out of the murder scene. He didn't even bother to sit in the sedan chair. He grabbed a military horse and ran towards Tai Chi Palace.
-
Half an hour later, all the doors of the palace received an emergency order from the Imperial Guards: The palace doors were immediately sealed and no one was allowed in or out, including those holding the Dragon Talisman and Turtle Talisman!
As if facing a formidable enemy, the Jinwu Guard quickly set up three lines of defense along the boundaries of the Harem Forbidden Garden. Outside the Imperial Study Room, Yangxin Pavilion, Fengyi Palace, Shangyang Palace, and Yixiang Palace, there were fully armed and menacing guards of the Emperor standing outside.
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry also went out in full force, surrounding the Tai Chi Hall and the Imperial City's official offices. A large number of patrol cavalry followed the outer perimeter of the imperial city palace wall, with one post every three steps and one sentry every five steps, galloping back and forth on guard.
Ouyang Lin, who was guarding Shen Lie in the Wannian County Prison, also received an order from his superiors at this time, asking him to quickly return to the team and return to the palace guard station to assemble. This is the normal rule of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and it is also the necessary reaction of the Imperial Army when dealing with threats.
Ouyang Lin couldn't help but frown. After he asked the ordering soldier the reason, he was even more shocked: This must be Shen Lie's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain!
"Please go back and tell the Captain that I have a mission under the emperor's order and cannot return to the team yet." Ouyang Lin said calmly: "In addition, please send reinforcements to cooperate with me at any time to capture the fugitive Shen Lie."
When the ordering soldiers saw that he had carried out the emperor, and that the person they wanted to arrest was Shen Lie, they did not dare to say anything, so they quickly agreed, turned around and left quickly.
Ouyang Lin looked at the early weather outside and ordered his men: "Go and tie that woman to the pillar in the prison courtyard to provide some convenience for the distinguished guests."
Several tiger and leopard riders obeyed the order, dragged Rui Ji out from the cell, and tied her up with all their hands.
At this time, Rui Ji had been tortured twice by Ouyang Lin. Her hair was disheveled, her dress was torn, and even her obscene clothes were exposed. Her whole body was covered in scars and dripping with blood, and she was in a semi-conscious state.
Being illuminated by the dazzling sunlight outside, Ruiji couldn't help but tremble slightly, but she still lowered her head and remained motionless.
Ouyang Lin sneered: "Mrs. Rui, your old friend Mr. Shen Lieshen will be here soon. However, whether he is here to save you or to kill you, I can't say for sure, so you might as well Guess what."
Rui Ji did not respond to Ouyang Lin's words at first. After waiting for a long time, she suddenly muttered vaguely: "You... are dead..."
"Haha, am I dead? Interesting, interesting." Ouyang Lin clapped his hands and smiled: "You are really tough. Even after being tortured like this, you still refuse to reveal any useful information. I don't care whether I admire you or not. .”
He took a few steps forward and raised his hand to lift Rui Ji's hair: "Tsk, what a pity. Mrs. Rui, who is as beautiful as a flower, has turned into this look. Li Zhang will feel distressed after seeing it, right? Lao Jianhua also Will it feel bad?"
After saying that, Ouyang Lin pinched Rui Ji's chin with his fingers, raised it slightly, and sneered: "Aren't you capable of committing suicide? Let me show you by dying."
Rui Ji stared at him, her eyes full of resentment: "Ouyang Lin, don't be proud, Shen Lie will not let you go!"
Ouyang Lin smiled faintly: "I thought you would say that Li Zhang would not let me go, but I didn't expect that it was Shen Lie who was mentioned. He and you are obviously sworn enemies, but you insist on showing off in front of me. , mislead me into thinking that he is your accomplice, am I a fool to take this as my official?"
A cold smile appeared on Rui Ji's blood-stained face: "So what if I mislead you? Aren't you bent on dealing with Shen Lie?"
Ouyang Lin shook his head: "What I have to deal with is not only Shen Lie, but also you. Ruiji, I give you one last chance. What conspiracy does Lao Jianhua have against the palace? Tell it, so as not to suffer again. The pain of flesh and blood.”
"What should be said, I told you a long time ago," Rui Ji responded: "Assassinated Queen Cheng Wen, framed Concubine Shu and Concubine Hui, and provoked conflicts in the military."
"Besides you, who else is participating? How many people do you have in the capital? What is the specific plan? Recruit them one by one!"
Ruiji closed her eyes gently and said coldly: "Kill me, I won't say anything anymore."
A trace of anger flashed in Ouyang Lin's eyes. He could clearly feel that the woman in front of him had already made up her mind to die and really would not reveal any more of the truth.
However, just at that moment, Ouyang Lin suddenly realized that the unexpected death of the palace supervisor Pei Yinglun might be Shen Lie's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, or it might be part of Lao Jianhua's palace conspiracy. Therefore, he must make an accurate judgment as soon as possible in order to respond in a targeted manner.
-
"Your Majesty, what's going on outside? Why are the Forbidden Army suddenly heavily guarded?" Cheng Wen helped Li Bing get out of his court uniform, pretending not to understand anything, and asked curiously: "Is there an assassin?"
Li Bing nodded thoughtfully, and asked all the maids and chamberlains to retreat first, and then sighed to Cheng Wen: "Oh, I'm afraid it will be more troublesome than the assassin. Come, sit next to me, and I will tell you slowly."
Cheng Wen agreed obediently and sat down next to Li Bing. At the same time, she held Li Bing's arm with her delicate hand: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. With the Forbidden Army here, there is no need to be afraid of any bad guys."
"It's not as simple as good guys and bad guys." Li Bing glanced out the window and said in a serious tone: "Have you ever heard of the name Shen Lie?"
Cheng Wen pretended to be a little stunned, waited for a moment, then nodded and said: "I heard that he was some kind of long history member of Beiya?"
Li Bin nodded slightly: "Yes, Shi, the director of Beiya Nilin. This Shen Lie was once the late emperor's most favored minister, and I also had some merit. Unfortunately, he later... later went astray and completely fell out with the court. And he also hates me."
Cheng Wen asked: "Could it be that he secretly entered the palace to do harm to Your Majesty?"
Li Bing said helplessly: "Maybe, maybe not, we can't make a conclusion yet. However, Tian Mu from Nilin Division was convinced that Shen Lie had evil intentions, so he strengthened the alert of the entire palace just in case. Alas, if If it's really Shen Lie, that would be very troublesome. This person is very scary and always makes his opponents unable to guard against him. I'm worried about being targeted by him, and it's useless to have thousands of forbidden troops."
Cheng Wen had already received a secret report and knew what was happening outside. At this time, she thought that this was Tian Mu deliberately making a big noise according to her order in order to disrupt the rhythm of Ouyang Lin and the Prince Consort's Mansion, so not only was she not worried at all, but she secretly felt funny.
She put her hand on Li Bing's chest, caressed it gently, and said softly: "Your Majesty is a wise king of the Holy Tang Dynasty, and he has the protection of God. No matter how arrogant Shen Lie is, he will never be your opponent."
Li Bing held Cheng Wen's little hand and said in a deep voice: "That's what I said, but Shen Lie is too familiar with the palace, and he is proficient in various espionage methods such as disguise and assassination. If he really sneaks in, I'm afraid... I can’t even sleep well.”
