Hello Chang’an

On the other side, the guard commander in charge of the Cui family had just returned to the mansion where the Cui family lived when he heard that Cui Lang had gone to the palace.

He asked as usual: "Why did Cui Liulang go to the palace?"

"It is said that he is going to fight with the prince to fight crickets."

"..." the guard commander asked, "Do you have anyone following you?"

The guard nodded: "Don't worry, Commander."

The guard commander didn't think much, and after a few words of explanation, he walked towards the inner courtyard.

On the way, he met several young members of the Cui family playing Cuju in the garden, and some people were fishing with their eyes closed by the pond. There was also a Cui family who was over thirty years old, holding a fan and chanting poems to the maid, making the maid blush with embarrassment. Dry ears.

The guard commander frowned, didn't bother to pay attention, and walked away quickly.

Everything seemed to be the same as before, absurd but in line with his stereotype of the Cui family.

Until a young Cui family member appeared in front of him and said that he had prepared a generous gift to be sent to the palace to present to the prince, but they could not carry it, so they asked him to help.

The guard commander was confused. Cui Liulang went to the palace, but the Cui family wanted to present a gift to King Fan Yang?

The guard commander remained silent and decided to go see what the so-called generous gift was.

Only when I went there did I realize that it was actually a wooden Buddha statue as tall as a person.

The guard commander had some impression of this. Among the Cui family members, one person was very obsessed with wood carving skills. It was probably because the noble family did not support them in developing such skills and hobbies. This time, this person started carving with a vengeance, often letting people People helped them search for available wood...

This wooden Buddha statue was made by this person.

The guard commander looked at the huge box on the side and said subconsciously: "If we pack the statue into a box and send it to the palace, I'm afraid there will be bumps, so why not-"

However, before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck and head, and a muffled groan of pain escaped from his mouth.

He swayed and turned around with a buzz in his head. He saw the plump young man named Cui Lingjie holding a thick stick in his hand and looking at him in horror. He said at a loss: "How... why didn't you fall?" !”

He clearly ate two extra bowls of rice at noon!

"..." The guard commander was about to curse when someone suddenly threw him to the ground from behind.

Then, a ball of cotton towel involuntarily covered his mouth and nose, causing him to quickly lose consciousness.

"Fortunately, Liulang left the Mongolian sweat medicine as a backup..." The middle-aged tribesman holding the cotton towel breathed a sigh of relief and urged: "Quickly, carry him into the box!"

The box was not originally prepared for the wooden vase.

Soon, the people of Li Yun, the crown prince of Fan Yang, were ordered to pick up the "gift", and the box, together with the wooden bottle, were put on a mule cart and transported to the palace.

At this time, due to the Huainan Road army in the west approaching Luoyang City again, Duan Shiang had led his troops out of the city to inspect.

After the guard commander was awakened by a pot of cold tea, he found that he had been **** and was being escorted to kneel in front of King Fan Yang.

This made him look shocked. When he was attacked from behind by the Cui family, he was still thinking in a daze. Could it be that the Cui family was finally planning to escape? This is really sick. He gave him so many opportunities and decided to knock him out with his own hands even though he didn't take any of them - the food has to be cooked by yourself to make it taste better, right?

However, at this moment, looking at King Fan Yang sitting in front of him, he realized that the matter was far more serious than he had imagined before he fainted...

Sitting there, King Fan Yang looked the same as usual. He was not tall and slightly bloated, and his facial features were not aggressive or majestic. Even when he was not smiling, he often gave people the impression that he was easy to talk to.

But the words spoken by King Fan Yang at this moment made the guard commander's heart tremble.

"I heard that you concealed the truth from me and tried to let the Cui clan go secretly two or three times..." King Fan Yang's tone was not serious, and he sighed and asked: "You are Shi'ang's subordinate, so naturally you work for Shi'ang. , I just don’t know who Shi Ang is working for?”

Upon hearing this, the guard commander suddenly looked at Cui Lang who was standing aside.

Seeing him, Cui Lang smiled politely as usual.

The guard commander secretly gritted his teeth.

So Cui Lang knew for a long time that he intended to let the Cui family leave, but it was fine if the other party refused to leave, and he actually turned around and sued King Fan Yang? What does this mean!

Seeing him staring at him, Cui Lang reminded: "General Yu, wake up, the prince is asking you a question."

"My subordinates have never done anything to deceive the prince!" the guard commander said firmly: "If the prince trusts such smooth-talking people, he will hurt the relationship between him and General Duan!"

Cui Lang looked surprised: "General Yu, at this time, you are using General Duan to suppress the prince. This is your fault..."

The guard commander's face turned green, and when he was about to speak, he heard King Fan Yang sigh: "Whether it hurts the feelings or not, you must first find out whether the feelings are true or false... Otherwise, wouldn't it be like this king shaving his head and picking his own son?"

As soon as King Fan Yang finished speaking, two palace servants came in and saluted.

"These two father-in-laws are responsible for punishment in the palace and garden. Let them ask this question for me."

One of the older chamberlains asked hesitantly: "May I ask, Your Majesty, are you going to be executed here?"

"Just stay here..." King Fan Yang turned his head and looked around, patted the armrest of the chair gently, sighed and muttered: "I won't be able to live here for more than a few days anyway."

The guard commander looked uneasily at the wooden plate held in the hands of the young chamberlain, and saw four or five different kinds of short knives placed on it.

And soon, without saying a word, the two chamberlains reached out to take off his outer robe and trousers!

He tried to struggle, but the effects of the Menghan medicine had not completely worn off, and there were two other guards holding him tightly, so he could only ask in fear: "What are you doing..."

"Your Excellency, you can try the corruption in the palace first." The old chamberlain took a knife and said with a half-smile.

The so-called corruption punishment is to cut off one's potential and purify one's body.

The guard commander looked horrified when he heard this, but was quickly stripped of his clothes and pinned to the ground, and even his mouth was gagged.

The moment his mouth was blocked, it gave the person involved a hint that he had no chance to speak again. On the verge of despair, the tight string in the head of the guard commander broke. He struggled with all his strength, and his posture changed from lying on his back to struggling. He turned to lie down, not caring about his naked lower body, making vague noises from his mouth, and looked at King Fan Yang with eyes begging for mercy.

King Fan Yang raised his hand and motioned to the servant to take out the cotton stuffed in his mouth.

"Subordinate..." The man who was pushed down on the ground was out of breath, but he did not dare to hesitate and said: "This subordinate is working for General Duan, and he also vaguely knows that General Duan has close contacts with others secretly! But! The subordinates don’t know who the other party is!”

He was born in the Fan Yang Army and has been following Duan Shiang. He often does some secret things for Duan Shiang, but he only acts on orders.

In the process of following orders again and again, he inevitably noticed the existence of some things, but he had no chance and did not dare to explore in depth. "Oh, just half a confidant..." King Fan Yang said, raising his hand again: "It's useless to ask more..."

"Wait! Your Majesty!" The guard commander said quickly with a look on his face begging for mercy: "Although my subordinates don't know, there is one person who definitely knows!...Deng Qingzai!"

He said a name.

This person is Duan Shiang's confidant, and all the correspondence between Duan Shiang and the outside world passes through his hands.

Taking advantage of Duan Shiang's absence in the city, King Fan Yang quickly summoned this man in the name of asking about the battle situation.

King Fan Yang felt that as a useless person who was anxious and afraid of death, it was very reasonable for him to frequently ask about the battle situation.

While waiting, King Fan Yang suddenly looked at Cui Lang while he was walking in the palace: "...If you want me to find a way to arrest you, I have to personally interrogate you. Is this the evidence you gave me? What kind of secret is your accusation?" You only have one mouth to speak?"

Cui Lang smiled "hey": "...This is also to allow the prince to personally participate. If I bring the evidence directly to the prince, wouldn't there be trouble if the prince suspects that I am a falsifier?"

King Fan Yang snorted: "I think you are more scheming than anyone else... Now all the trouble falls on me."

Not long after, Duan Shiang's confidant named Deng Qingzai came to the palace and met King Fan Yang.

King Fan Yang asked some questions about the war, talked about Duan Shiang's injury, and gave him a box of tonics.

This person stepped forward to take it, and when he bowed and was about to exit, he found that the door to the study room was suddenly closed from the outside.

When his eyes suddenly changed, four or five guards drew their swords and quickly surrounded him.

Compared with the guard commander, although this person is not a military commander, his mouth is much harder to pry.

The castrating knife that the old chamberlain was eager to use finally came in handy.

Also used on this person were the methods used in the palace to torture and interrogate the servants.

After such cruel interrogation, when the sky was getting dark, the anxious King Fan Yang finally heard the result and received a letter that had just come from the palace of Prince Rong of Yizhou and which Duan Shiang had not yet had time to read.

Duan Shiang was indeed working for King Rong Li Yin.

But the relationship between the two is not just a simple subordinate relationship.

According to Deng Qingzai's confession, Duan Shiang's sister was the "wife" secretly raised by King Rong. She gave birth to a son for King Rong, and the son had grown up and was very popular with King Rong.

Shortly after the uprising, Duan Shiang secretly sent all his family members and children to Yizhou.

"This is troublesome..." King Fan Yang sighed: "I thought I still had a chance to persuade Shi'ang to change his mind, but now it seems I can't."

They are just like a family, so who is he?

With this relationship, it is impossible for Duan Shiang to change his mind.

Today, Li Lu, the eldest son of Prince Rong, is frail and sick. If Prince Rong achieves great things, the child with the Duan family bloodline will most likely become the crown prince. By then, Duan Shiang will be the crown prince's only uncle, and Duan Shiang's descendants will also become the crown prince. With the supreme honor and favor, in this relationship of sharing weal and woe, who would not sacrifice his life in his place?

At this point, King Fan Yang knew very well that Duan Shiang would never retreat, and King Rong would not allow him to retreat.

"It's troublesome..." King Fan Yang stood under the window, looking at the illuminated palace lanterns, his eyes narrowed.

For a moment, he turned his head and asked people to pay attention to whether Duan Shiang was returning to the city.

Seeing this, Cui Lang calmed down a little. At this point, the matter was half done, and his life was saved.

And King Fan Yang personally verified the matter and moved Duan Shiang's people... If King Fan Yang didn't want Duan Shiang to get rid of him after he noticed the change, then the former must take action as soon as possible!

Cui Lang's heart was inexplicably agitated, and he asked tentatively in a low voice: "What does the prince plan to do? Do you need my help to give advice?"

King Fan Yang looked at him and said with a half-smile, "Speaking of which, I am very curious about something."

"Cui Liulang didn't even have any evidence in his hands, but he dared to come to the king and report..." King Fan Yang asked: "Who revealed this to you? Do you trust that person so much?"

"You clearly had the opportunity to escape, but you chose to stay and take the risk to expose the matter... What good will it do to you to let me remove Duan Shi'ang?" King Fan Yang asked this, and then changed his mind: "Perhaps I should ask, remove King Rong What good will it do to your Cui family? The Cui family has probably turned against King Rong at this time. Are you not dragging your family back by doing this?"

"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong." Cui Lang said with a smile: "It is inevitable for Your Majesty to see through Duan Thief's true face and get rid of him - couldn't this be done without me? In the end, I am It’s just a matter of taking credit. The elders have the final say in matters in the family. As a junior, why not take the opportunity to find a way out?”

King Fan Yang raised his eyebrows: "I was too clumsy to realize that Cui Liulang is a rare smart man..."

As he spoke, he nodded in agreement: "Chang Suining's life on Huainan Road is indeed worth the risk Cui Liulang takes."

Cui Lang smiled humbly: "Compared to the prince, how can I dare to claim to be smart?"

"That's right." King Fan Yang smiled, raised his hand and said, "Come here, take down Cui Lang."

The smile on Cui Lang's face dropped and he quickly asked: "What do you mean, Your Majesty!"

"You are brave enough and your brain is quick enough, but you are too young." King Fan Yang rolled his sleeves and said: "You eat what I have, live in what I have, and before you leave, you have to use me to perform meritorious deeds... There is no such thing as wool. How can there be such a good thing in the world?"

Cui Langzhi begged for mercy.

Li Yun also interceded for him: "Father, Cui Liulang's crime will not lead to death!"

Cui Lang's expression was shocked. What does it mean that a crime will not lead to death? He is not guilty at all. This is called a good thing! Will this guy ever plead for mercy? It’s better to fan the flames and rush to cremate him!

King Fan Yang was upset and immediately had Cui Lang dragged off.

That night, King Fan Yang received news that Duan Shiang stayed in the army outside the city to direct the war deployment, and had no plans to return to the city for the time being.

This made King Fan Yang relieved, but he also felt worried. It was a good thing not to return to the city. In this case, Duan Shiang would not notice him for a while...

But if he wanted to be on the safe side, he would have to settle the matter before Duan Shiang returned to the city... But doing it in the army was obviously not an easy task.

King Fan Yang thought about it, and at noon the next day, he still led people out of Luoyang City and went to the army in person.

Although he often gives people a sense of cowardice because of his fear of death, there are some things that he must do personally to avoid mistakes... even if it is a hundred thousand times more risky than Cui Lang running in front of him to report Duan Shiang.

King Fan Yang came to the army and waited restlessly in the tent for more than an hour before finally waiting for Duan Shiang to arrive. (End of chapter)