Chongrenfang, Yingxiang Temple.
Yingxiang Temple was originally called Jinglong Temple. In the first month of the 29th year of Kaiyuan, the saint dreamed that Laozi left a message: "I am your distant ancestor, and there is a statue more than a hundred miles southwest of the capital." He ordered people to visit him and found a senior high school building in Wenxianyu. The jade statue of Laozi was more than a foot old, so it was placed in Jinglong Guan and renamed Yingxiang Guan.
"Boom."
At noon, the bell rang in the Taoist temple.
The bell is hung on a three-story building. It was cast in the second year of Emperor Ruizong's reign of Jingyun, hence the name "Jingyun Bell". It has inscriptions engraved on it and its sound is clear and sweet, like the cry of a phoenix.
Accompanied by the sound of the bell, Du Hope walked into the attic of the temple.
"Du Gong."
A young Taoist priest in the attic stood up and called out politely.
This Taoist priest was only in his twenties, tall and tall, and had a gentle temperament. He was obviously extraordinary.
His name is Li Bi, whose courtesy name is Changyuan. He was born in the Liaodongfang of the Li family in Zhao County. He is the sixth grandson of Li Bi, the Taishi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
At the age of seven, Li Mi was known as a child prodigy and was summoned by a saint. At that time, the saint was talking to the Duke of Yan about watching chess and trying it with the words "square and round movement". Li Mi immediately replied, "square is like doing justice, round is like using wisdom, and movement is like galloping." The material is as quiet as a proud one." The sage was overjoyed and asked him to accompany the prince in reading.
"Xue Bai went to Daozhengfang." Du Xiang said straight to the point.
"Please sit down, Mr. Du." Li Mi waved the duster in his hand slightly and said with a calm look: "Most of the people living in Daozhengfang are members of the right prime minister. He used to be normal."
"Aren't you afraid that he will really find something?"
"Let's tell the truth to Duke Du." Li Mi said: "At the beginning of the year, Huangfu Weiming returned to Chang'an and brought a group of Longyou veterans with him. The purpose was to investigate the case of Xuyong. He had nothing to do with the East Palace."
Du Xixi asked back: "Is there no connection at all?"
Li Mi said solemnly: "Chang Yuan can guarantee that even if Li Linfu gets these Longyou veterans, he won't be able to find any clues about the East Palace. It will only cause fire and lead to a major case of treason."
"So Donggong isn't worried? It seems that I was busy in vain."
"It would be best if Xue Bai is willing to give up." Li Mi frowned unconsciously, showing some compassion, and said, "Don't you understand, Duke Du? If the investigation continues, only those soldiers will suffer."
Du Xiang closed his eyes and sighed.
Of course he understood what this meant. The saint had no intention of deposing the prince, but he was willing to see the right prime minister fighting with the East Palace. This is a struggle with extremely difficult results to see.
Li Linfu is a sword that always kills those who place their hopes on the future of the country.
The reason why these people place their hope in the prince may be because they are dissatisfied with the saint and feel that the saint has done something wrong in recent years.
The only ones who will die will always be those who are unable to protect themselves.
"It's time for Xue Bai to give up." Li Mi just said it from the perspective of the East Palace. Now he changed his perspective and said: "At the end of the case, it involved the big case of leasing Yong, and it was found that all the taxes and taxes had gone into the emperor's private treasury. , when the saint is furious, the first one to die will definitely be Xue Bai. Li Linfu is known as the 'fighting cock' and the 'meat-loin knife', how can there be any chance of protecting him?"
Du Xiang said: "It would be nice if I could bring down Wang Fei."
Li Mi shook his head helplessly.
As long as the Sacred Heart does not change, there is nothing they can do.
"Xue Bai is young and smart and should not become a sacrifice in the power struggle. Duke Du should persuade him to recognize his ancestors and return to the clan so that he can settle down and live in peace in the future."
"I heard that Li Jingzhong wanted to bury him alive."
"The prince was furious when he heard about this. He has punished Li Jingzhong severely and promised to apologize to Xue Bai."
Du Xiang nodded, thinking that it was enough for the prince to express his position like this.
But he came today to convey the message to others.
"A broken mirror cannot be put back together. Whether it is the Du family or Xue Bai, what they want now is to survive." Du Xixi said slowly: "Du Youxi suffered an unreasonable disaster and lost his official position. But he has high hopes for the younger generations of his family. I wonder if Xue Bai and Du Qi will be able to pass the tribute examination in autumn next year, and whether they will be able to pass the examination in spring next year?"
Li Mi was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "They are still ten years younger than Chang Yuan, right? Chang Yuan has not yet entered the official ranks, so why be in a hurry?"
Du Xixi tugged at his gray beard and said, "Then I wonder if Du Youneighbor can be reinstated?"
Li Mi smiled bitterly and said: "Du Gong is the minister of Honglu Temple. Changyuan is young, and he is a foreigner. How can he ask Changyuan for an official position?"
Du Xiang smiled and said nothing.
The prince seemed powerless, but after his close friend Huangfu Weiming was demoted, he allowed his sworn brother Wang Zhongsi to take over as the governor of Hexi and Longyou. This shows that he had a lot of help secretly.
Li Mi thought for a long time, sighed in a mature tone, and said: "The seventeen-year-old passed the Ming Jing exam. Young people are too impatient."
He shook his head, but agreed.
"Chang Yuan will find a solution to this matter."
"good."
"Li Linfu would never do this for them." Li Mi laughed at himself and asked, "In this case, can the Jinwu Guards be withdrawn?"
Unexpectedly, Du Hope shook his head again and said: "Xue Bai can stop, but he and the Du family cannot afford to offend Li Linfu."
"What do you mean? Do you want to have both sides?"
"Let me put it this way, the Longyou veteran may not be found out, but in Li Linfu's eyes, this matter must be the negligence of others, and cannot be blamed on Xue Bai and the Du family."
Li Bi said: "It sounds to me like he still wants to get the benefits of both parties."
Du Xiang was already a little tired when he talked about his old age, and sighed: "The disaster can be eliminated, that's all."
"But then whose people are they?"
"Whose people?" Du Hope murmured in a low voice: "The whole world belongs to the saints, who cares who is from the Youxiang Mansion and who is from the East Palace?"
Li Mi was silent for a while and said, "How to do it specifically?"
Du Xiang took out half of the jade pendant.
This jade was originally carved with a pair of fishes, but now it has been broken into two pieces.
"I have handed the other half to Xue Bai and asked the person in charge of Daozhengfang to contact him."
Li Mi didn't take it immediately, a look of suspicion flashed in his eyes, and said, "Could it be that they were trying to lure the snake out of its hole?"
Du Hope smiled slightly and said, "Chang Yuan should also consider Du Youlin's position."
He didn't say all of this.
Xue Bai is young and has no identity. Both the Right Prime Minister's Palace and the East Palace may abandon him at any time. Only Du Youlin's family is a grasshopper on a rope.
In other words, Xue Bai might betray Li Linfu or the prince at any time, but he would not sell the Du family, the only one he could trust.
Li Mi took the jade pendant, went down from the attic, turned to the main hall, and greeted a little Taoist boy.
"Give it to Mr. Pei from Daozhengfang."
~~
Daozhengfang.
Xue Bai had been standing in an alley watching for a long time.
"What are you looking at?" Jiao Nu finally asked.
Xue Bai raised his hand and pointed, saying: "Look, from the attic behind this house, can you see the fire-watching towers in the north and east of the house?"
Jiao Nu nodded and said, "I can see it."
Xue Bai said: "I made an observation today. Among the sixteen houses I marked, nine have attics that can communicate with the Wanghuo Tower."
"You mean, they use the Fire Tower to send messages."
"It's just a guess."
Jiaonu was a little disappointed, but she felt relieved when she thought that if the Prime Minister asked Xue Bai what he was doing today, he had a good answer.
She urged: "We have to make meritorious service before Ji Wen does."
"Let's take care of lunch first." Xue Bai said, "Go and ask that person where he can eat nearby."
Tian Shengong smiled and said: "No need to ask, after leaving Fangmen, it is Qingmen, which has the most wine shops."
"It's okay to ask which one is delicious."
Xue Bai still went to ask Wu Hou for directions, who was chatting at the alley.
Afterwards, a group of them led their horses and left.
Not long after, a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue official robe walked over and asked the Marquis Wu: "Excuse me, may I ask what the young man asked you about just now?"
"I asked him which restaurant in Qingmen is delicious. Ha, I told him about several restaurants. He asked me how the fish dumplings at Wang's Restaurant are like?"
"anything else?"
"He said he would go to Wang's store to eat. You said he had an idea. What should I do?"
After hearing this, the green-robed official became a little confused.
~~
Exiting the north gate of Daozhengfang is Chunlinmen Street, which is also the most prosperous Qingmen of Chang'an Winery.
Xue Bai led his horse through the long street when he suddenly heard a clear shout.
"Chicken Boy! It's Chicken Boy!"
As everyone turned their heads to look, they saw a luxurious car stopping in front of Kang's Restaurant, and a middle-aged man in a gorgeous brocade robe was getting out of the car.
Soon, many children gathered around and sang songs in unison.
"You don't need to be literate to give birth to a child. Fighting cocks and running horses is better than reading."
"The Jia family is thirteen years old, and its wealth and splendor are inferior to those of its generation."
The man in brocade robe laughed loudly and hurriedly asked people to scatter copper coins to the children.
Seeing this situation, Xue Bai thought of Mrs. Guo Guo and asked Jiao Nu, "Who is that?"
"The cockfighting prodigy, Jia Chang." Jiao Nu said: "This man has been poor since he was a child, but he has extraordinary talents and is good at cockfighting. He became famous in Chang'an at the age of thirteen. He performed cockfighting in front of the saints. As soon as he arrived at the chicken farm, the chickens were all over the place. He took the initiative to come to him, and he has been with the saint for twenty years. He has never lost a cockfight. The saint has given numerous rewards and even acted as a matchmaker for him himself."
"Sages like cockfights?"
"Um."
Tian Shengong stared at the horses in front of Jia Chang's car and couldn't move his eyes away.
Tian Shenyu was filled with envy when he heard this, and said: "If I had known this, I would have learned martial arts. If I went to cockfighting, I might have become rich and powerful."
"Go." Tian Shengong kicked his brother, "Don't think cockfighting is easy."
Jiao Nu suddenly focused his eyes, dismounted his horse and performed a blessed walk.
"how?"
"Juro is here too."
Xue Bai turned around and saw a few young men in fine clothes greeting Jia Chang. One of them must be Juro Juro, the Right Prime Minister.
But Li Julang didn't see Jiao Nu and had already entered the restaurant.
"Who are the others?"
"The one patting Jia Chang on the shoulder is Wang Zhun. He is the son of Wang Zhi, a doctor in the household department. He is a well-known bad boy in Chang'an City. Don't offend him easily."
This was the first time that Xue Bai heard Jiao Nu say who was not easy to offend.
He looked again and found that Wang Fei's son had an arrogant expression and seemed to behave more arrogantly than Li Linfu's son.
"Speaking of which, Wang Wen is Wang Zhun's uncle. His villa is not far away?"
Jiao Nu heard the meaning behind Xue Bai's words and said: "You can doubt anyone, but Wang Fei is A Lang's right-hand man. There is no way he can collude with the East Palace."
"What if his family was taken advantage of?"
"Then you'd better have conclusive evidence." Jiao Nu said in a daze: "Otherwise, you will offend Wang Fei, you..."
At this time, they had arrived in front of Wang's store.
When Hu Ji saw Xue Bai with his maids and soldiers to protect him, she thought he was a very important person. She took his arm with a smile and led him inside.
"Mr. Please."
After sitting down, Jiaonu took out a bunch of money and sent her away.
Xue Bai asked: "Go on, what will happen if I testify against Wang Fei's brother?"
"If you make a mistake, it won't be as simple as burying you alive. Every bone in your body will be removed and broken into pieces." Jiaonu whispered: "I'm not threatening you, I'm really going to kill you." I’ll break the bones and show you.”
"What if I'm right?"
Jiao Nu said: "Let's put it this way, the members of the East Palace hate Wang Xi very much. Once the prince gains power, they will definitely plunder the whole family. It is absolutely impossible for him to harbor the dead soldiers of the East Palace."
"As I said just now, what if his family is taken advantage of?"
Jiao Nu used to be quite arrogant, but this time when he thought about it carefully, his face gradually turned pale and he shook his head.
Xue Bai smiled, becoming more and more aware of the situation.
How ruthless would a person be who could extract huge sums of money from the families of border soldiers and offer them to the emperor? What kind of overwhelming power?
Although Wang Fei belongs to Li Linfu, I am afraid that even Li Linfu is afraid of him.
Thinking about it this way, Ji Wen is the real smart person.
