The pride of heaven

In the middle of the moon, Li Junran slowly opened his eyes, looked at the trembling body curled up in a corner with his fists clenched, his brows tightened, and he felt pity in his heart, how scared he was to be so restless in his sleep .

Although Qi Mingjue lost his mother when he was young, he was cared for by the queen and never suffered. These days Qi Mingjue is not as calm as he appears on the surface. After being married for many days and sleeping on the same bed with Li Junran, his heart is full of uneasiness and anxiety. They didn't dare to sleep until Li Junran was in a deep sleep.

Li Junran always knew that Qi Mingjue would be nervous and stiff at night, and would only fall asleep when he fell asleep, so he began to pretend to be asleep, and when he heard Qi Mingjue's weak breathing, he opened his eyes and looked at the people around him with a sigh .

Li Junran stretched out his hand, quietly hugged Qi Mingjue into his arms, patted Qi Mingjue lightly, gradually Qi Mingjue stopped trembling, and gradually loosened his hands, arching into Li Junran's arms, finding a comfortable place He continued to fall asleep in the position where Li Junran curled up his mouth and fell asleep peacefully.

As soon as a ray of white belly appeared in the sky the next day, Du Zhong reminded him in a low voice outside the door: "Your Highness should get up."

Li Junran opened his sleepy eyes and looked at the person in his arms with joy in his heart. He saw that the person's black hair spread like a cloud on the pillow, his red lips were tightly closed and he was sleeping peacefully. Li Junran was startled when he heard the unconscious hum of the person in his arms, quickly withdrew his hand, and got up and changed his clothes with a guilty conscience.

Qi Mingjue was awakened by the rustling sound, opened his eyes with great effort, rubbed them, felt that he hadn't slept so peacefully for a long time, and felt a little bit reluctant.

Li Junran felt the movement in the tent, rolled up the cloud tent and said with a smile: "Jue'er, get up and change when you wake up, before it's all bright, we won't attract attention when we go out of the city." Li Junran wanted to say that he could avoid it. Those concubines in Xiyuan changed their words as soon as they spoke, and they were amused in their hearts, so it is possible that they are also afraid of guilt...

"En." Qi Mingjue softly responded with hazy eyes.

After breakfast, the two of them took their cronies and left the city in a light car.

"Your Majesty, there is news from Dongyuan that the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess have gone out this morning." Tao Hua leaned over and whispered in Yan's ear.

"Hmph, what a seductive fox, it's only been a few days, and His Highness has been so confused. After a long time, what's the matter?" Yan tightly tore the handkerchief in her hand, gritted her teeth and said: "But Do you know where they went?"

Tao Hong showed a troubled look on her face, she knew Yan's temper well, but not everything goes well, and inquiring about the prince's movements is something that can't go well.

"Your Majesty, you know that the servants of Dongyuan are all selected by Eunuch Du himself, and His Royal Highness's personal attendant is even a close follower of His Highness, we really can't penetrate them," Tao Hong boldly glanced at her. Yan's complexion, seeing her chin slightly, boldly continued, "The year before last, the little eunuch Shunzi who cleaned the garden had a lawsuit against his younger brother, so we found an opportunity to win over and send a message What……"

Yan Shi shook Luo Pa: "Okay, follow me to Dongyuan."

Tao Hong was curious, since the prince and princess are not here, what is her master going to do in Dongyuan.

Without saying a word, Yan Shi took a group of eunuchs Gong'e to Dongyuan in a mighty way.

Qi Mingjue got out of the carriage, looked at the plain and unadorned house inside, secretly curious, turned around and asked, "Where is this?"

"This villa in the southern suburbs is my property." Li Junran dragged Qi Mingjue into the inner house.

The interior of this Zhuangzi imitated the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River. There are row upon row of pavilions and pavilions along the way. It is really five steps and one floor, ten steps and one pavilion.

After passing through the inner house, it becomes the back mountain, and there is a large open space behind the mountain.Qi Mingjue could see clearly that several camps were neatly set up in the open space, and a group of soldiers was practicing.

Qi Mingjue frowned slightly, glanced at Li Junran at the side and asked, "How many people are there?"

"A total of 830 people, 1000 horses, [-] swords, bows and crossbows, [-]." Li Junran looked at Qi Mingjue's pensive expression, and smiled, "You and I have already advanced and retreated together, so I naturally want to have a fight with Jue'er." .”

"His Royal Highness raises a private army in the suburbs of Beijing. It's really risky. If people find out and participate in conspiracy, it's really hard to argue, and..."

"Besides," Li Junran looked at Qi Mingjuan who was full of worry, knowing that Jue'er was worried about him, he felt joy in his heart, and continued, "Jue'er must want to say that raising a private army is not a little bit It can be solved with some gold and silver, this is a bottomless pit, and you have to keep pouring money into it to maintain it, I am the prince, so I can't take this risk, is what I said right?"

"Your Highness, what Li Junran said was indeed what Qi Mingjue thought, "Your Highness is so adventurous, could there be something hidden behind it, could it be related to His Highness's pretending to be sick?"

"Jue'er is really smart." Li Junran nodded and said, "This is a private army, but it's not a private army either."

Qi Mingjue: "Could it be that this was acquiesced by the emperor?"

Li Junran was not in a hurry to answer, but he said at his own pace: "This house was originally owned by my father, and it was a birthday present for my mother. At that time, my father was still a virtuous king, and my mother always liked the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. When my father built this Zhuangzi, he imitated the layout of Jiangnan gardens, I remember that when this Zhuangzi was completed, my mother was very happy, and said that she would definitely come and live in it in the future."

When recalling his mother, Qi Mingjue saw a trace of warmth on Li Junran's face.

"However, the father came to the throne not long after, and the mother suddenly contracted a serious illness. She couldn't afford it and passed away. The father loved the mother deeply. He never believed that the mother died of illness. In fact, the mother has always been in good health. At that time, the emperor secretly sent shadow guards to investigate, but unfortunately all the clues were cut off." Qi Mingjue knew that Li Junran's heart was not as calm as his voice, Qi Mingjue also lost his mother since childhood, and his heart trembled , reaching out to caress Li Junran's back.

Li Junran held Qi Mingjuan's hand instead, and patted the back of his hand, "Jue'er, I'm fine." Li Junran continued with a smile on his lips, "I visited Dayan with my father when I was eight years old," Li Junran paused , glanced at Qi Mingjue's plain face, "On the way back to China, I passed by this village, because I suddenly remembered that a person came to Zhuangzi, was taken by the killer, and was hit by a poisonous arrow. Fortunately, my foster father rescued me. Only then can the danger be turned into safety.”

"Is the person who killed your mother the same person as the person who wanted to kill you?" Listening to Li Junran's story, Qi Mingjue intuitively felt that the two were related.

Li Junran closed his eyes and confirmed Qi Mingjue's guess, "Father immediately sent someone to investigate. The killers are well-trained. Although the weapons left at the scene were deliberately hidden, they were still recognizable. Manufactured by Tiesi. Father knew that someone in the army must be involved in this matter. On the one hand, he asked me to complain to the outside world on the grounds that the remaining poison was not cleared. It is too close and the scale should not be too large, but the people in the battalion are all elites. They can fight individually or in a team. It is no problem to have one enemy with a hundred. When I am crowned, my father will give this house to me It was given to me, and of course it also includes the people in this house."

Poisoning the empress, assassinating the prince, all of these are crimes of speculation, no matter how secretive they are, there will be clues, how can they return without success after so many years of investigation, Emperor Xiaowen must know the person behind this scene, Qi Mingjue It is clear that there is no one who has strength, ambition, motivation, and makes Emperor Xiaowen afraid, except for historians who hold heavy troops in this Great Zhou Dynasty.

"The Shi family holds the military power, and it is not good for the crown prince to ascend the throne in the future. Father, the emperor..." Qi Mingjue asked what was in his heart.