Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace are both located in the south of the city, and are surrounded by noble families.
In the street next door, Huo Qubing's mansion is also among them.
The people following him looked at the plaque of the mansion in front of him - Ruyin Hou Mansion!
Even in the darkness, there were still more than ten concierges lined up on both sides outside the main entrance of the mansion, looking solemn.
Xiahou Po, Marquis of Ruyin, was the great-grandson of Xia Houying, the founding father of the country.
In addition to inheriting the legacy of his ancestors, he also has the identity of being the brother-in-law of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
At this time, Cao Shou, the Marquis of Pingyang, had died of illness for seven or eight years. Princess Pingyang, the sister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, remarried for the second time, to Ruyin Marquis Xiahou Po.
That Xia Jie hid in the Hou Mansion? !
Yao Zhao, Song Ran, and Xiao Ying all felt nervous.
Princess Pingyang's status was something that few people in the dynasty could match.
Even Huo Qubing's biological mother and aunt Wei Zifu was just a singer in Princess Pingyang's house in her early years.
It was because of Princess Pingyang's arrangement that Liu Che, who was a guest at her house, was allowed to see Wei Zifu, and he became favored and eventually became the queen.
Huo Qubing's uncle Wei Qing was originally just a riding slave in Pingyang Hou Mansion.
...No wonder Xia Jie dared to return to the city and hid in Ruyinhou Mansion. No one could think of it and no one dared to investigate.
"What should we do?" Yao Zhao asked in a low voice.
"What to do, of course we go in and arrest people." Huo Qubing was calm and composed.
He followed Liu Che day and night, knowing many inside stories that ordinary people didn't understand, and he had already made a decision while his thoughts were rising and falling.
Song Ran dissuaded him: "Shizhong Huo has the right to meet with His Majesty at any time..."
What she meant was that since Princess Pingyang and Marquis Ruyin were involved, Huo Qubing might as well inform His Majesty first and wait for the emperor's attitude before making a decision.
"Marquis Ruyin and the eldest princess should not be in the city." Huo Qubing said calmly.
Everyone looked at each other, even if the two of them were not there, it was not a small matter to break into the Hou Mansion.
After Huo Qubing finished speaking, he took the lead and walked up the steps. After Yao Zhaohe entered the city, he jumped on the wall and climbed over the eaves. At this time, Big Mao, who had just come down, followed him.
Song Ran and Xiao Ying glanced at each other and walked towards the gate of the Hou Mansion.
"Who is coming?"
The concierge asked when he saw Huo Qubing and others approaching.
"On the order of the emperor, we are tracking down the murderer of the Northern Army lieutenant. Here is the attendant Huo Qubing. Open the door." Yao Zhao took a step forward and said.
"Servant? Do you know where this is and dare to come and fetch someone?"
Several concierges, headed by a thin middle-aged man, stood in front of everyone.
The seventh-rank official of the prime minister's house, the concierge, welcomed and escorted him. He saw many powerful people, and he was somewhat imposing.
Just used in the wrong place.
Huo Qubing climbed up the steps and walked straight into the door: "Those who stand in the way live together with criminals!"
The concierge was stunned for a moment. He had obviously never seen such a domineering person before, and he felt confident enough to break into the Marquis's mansion.
Behind Huo Qubing were all the elite Chang'an Guardsmen, and their momentum created a terrifying pressure of a battle formation.
The concierge hesitated and stretched out his hand to stop him, but Yao Zhao pushed him away. Then he watched Huo Qubing lead his men and drove straight in.
"Quickly go and inform Mr. Liu."
Chamberlain Liu is a person close to Princess Pingyang. She is a royal chamberlain and is in charge of the internal and external affairs of the Hou Mansion.
In the absence of Marquis Ruyin and Princess Pingyang, the chamberlain Liu was the first in the palace.
Huo Qubing walked into the Hou Mansion and walked straight through the atrium based on his senses.
But before he entered the back house, he was stopped head-on by an old man in his fifties wearing brown dark clothes and many guards in the house.
"I asked who dared to break into the Marquis Mansion. It turned out to be Huo Shizhong."
The old man was Chamberlain Liu, he said with a straight smile.
"Have Shizhong Huo forgotten his background? He thinks that if he is working by His Majesty's side, then he dares to bring people into the eldest princess's mansion?"
"Liu Huaishen is dead. The murderer is here. If you don't let him go, I will take it from you too." Huo Qubing's face was expressionless.
"you dare!"
Chamberlain Liu was shocked and angry: "This is Ruyinhou's mansion, and it is also the eldest princess's mansion. If you dare to break in, the princess will come back and see who can protect you."
"Take it."
Huo Qubing waved his hand, and the Han army behind him suddenly agreed. Under the impact of the powerful momentum, all the guards in the mansion shuddered at the same time.
"You, a little servant, dare to break into the princess's mansion!"
Chamberlain Liu said sternly: "How dare you let him do whatever you want and risk your life?"
At this time, Liu Neishi and others were surrounded by Yao Zhao and his troops. Huo Qubing quickly walked through the courtyard and finally came to a courtyard.
Liu Shi and others were imprisoned and followed behind.
Seeing the courtyard where Huo Qubing was standing in the distance, Chamberlain Liu turned his eyes slightly and raised his voice: "Huo Qubing, you have to trap the murderer in the Hou Mansion, and I can't stop it, but what if you can't get the person?"
"In the courtyard in front of you, a servant girl is seriously ill and lives alone there. She has not been out of the courtyard for half a month.
Could the murderer you are talking about be a sick woman?
You imposed charges and falsely accused me of the Hou Mansion. I will report this matter to Princess Ming, and I won’t let you rest..."
The courtyard in front of Huo Qubing was quiet and motionless.
In the room, a woman with a sallow complexion was lying on the couch. It was Xia Jie in disguise.
She exhausted all means and thought that no one could follow her, so she returned to Ruyinhou Mansion and hid, ensuring her own safety.
But she never expected that as soon as she secretly returned to the Hou Mansion, she heard noises coming from outside the courtyard, and the voice of Chamberlain Liu questioning Huo Qubing suddenly caught her ear.
"They actually chased them here..." Xia Jie was shocked.
She dared to return to Chang'an precisely because her hidden identity in the Hou Mansion was safe enough. Unexpectedly, Huo Qubing chased her before she could stand firm.
Xia Jie got off the couch, leaned over and pulled out a woman lying upright from under the couch.
The woman's face was pale and she was dressed as a servant.
Looking carefully at the shadow under the bed, there was actually a person lying there on his back.
The scene in this room is extremely strange.
Xia Jie's hand was like lightning, she stretched out her index finger, her nails instantly grew wildly and pierced the woman's forehead like a sharp blade.
The woman felt pain and suddenly opened her eyes, staring straight at Xia Jie.
The next moment, the woman's mouth opened wide, as if she was in agony, and she wanted to scream, but her body was trembling but she couldn't make a sound.
Within two or three breaths, the woman's whole body from her forehead down was covered by a faint green aura. The woman's mouth was wide open, her face was ferocious, and she was dead.
Xia Jie sneered: "If you dare to chase me, I will kill you all!"
She lifted her fingers from the woman's body, walked to the wall on one side, and pushed hard. A tall wooden cabinet slid open, revealing a secret passage leading underground.
There is a secret passage in the Hou Mansion, ready for use in case of emergency. This is a standard feature in the homes of high-ranking officials and dignitaries, with direct access to the outside of the house.
Xia Jie immediately wanted to enter the secret passage.
The woman she just killed could help her delay time.
At this time, Huo Qubing outside suddenly said to Xiao Ying beside him through the sense of cheating: "Take a group of people to the east of Hou's Mansion, at the end of the adjacent long street. There is the secret passage exit of Hou's Mansion nearby. You can wait in advance. That."
Xiao Ying agreed, immediately sent out his men, and left quickly.
Not long after everyone left, the military book in Huo Qubing's sea of consciousness unexpectedly changed, and a new piece of information was unfolded, with the words "Closing the door to catch the thief" appearing: The small enemy is trapped. If you peel it off, it will be unfavorable.
It means to try to encircle or annihilate a weak or small enemy.
Closing the door to catch thieves is one of the strategies used by military strategists to deal with the enemy in order to force the weak. It is roughly equivalent to the commonly used encirclement and annihilation warfare, pocket array, etc. During the Warring States Period, Sun Bin and Pang Juan used this strategy in the Battle of Malingdao and the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao.
Sure enough, as long as I make arrangements that meet the conditions for using the strategy, the sea-knowledge strategy may change... Huo Qubing thought to himself.
At this time, Xia Jie in the room opened the secret passage and was about to escape. Huo Qubing immediately launched an offensive.
The Soaring Snake merged with its soul and left the body. The terrifying spiritual power was like a roaring tide, instantly flooding the courtyard in front of it.
