Opposite the entrance hall

At night, the cold wind suddenly picked up, the shadows of the trees whirled, and there was a rustling sound. The candles in the Qin Palace danced, hitting the figures on the wall, and flickered with the dancing of the candles.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the house, and they stopped outside the door, and then there were intermittent knocks on the door, and a voice in a deliberately low voice, "Master, the second master is here."

Alu looked back at Li Hongyu who was sitting at the table. After the latter nodded, he got up and opened the door. Outside the door stood Yan Yi in a black cloak, followed by Qian Duo.

"Second Master." Alu nodded and saluted, and quickly turned sideways to let people in.

Li Hongyu looked up at the person coming, put down the wolf hair in his hand, raised his chin, and asked in a calm tone: "What's the matter?"

Yan Yi was accustomed to this man's temperament, and he was not angry, so he found a chair and sat down, and spoke first, "Listen to Qian Duo, the eunuch is dying soon? Did the interrogation find anything?"

The latter sentence obviously asks about money.

When his name was mentioned, Qian Duo was a little trembling. He carefully looked at Li Hongyu's face, and then replied when he saw that no one made a sound, "Back to the second master, I have used all the hard and soft ones, and the eunuch's stupefaction is a bit useful." The news hasn't been revealed yet, so I'm afraid my subordinates really don't know where that child was back then."

"This child is very important to us. No matter what method we use, we must find him. The eunuch is useless and should be killed. He hurt me a few days ago, and he has not yet settled the score with him," Yan Yi touched Touching the stinging wound on his chin and the corner of his mouth, he looked at Li Hongyang who was drinking tea in silence, "I heard that you went to the yamen of the Ministry of Criminal Justice a few days ago? How is it? Did Cao Weiyuan have any useful information?"

"No," Li Hongyu shook his head, "I met Ji Si."

"Ji Si?" Yan Yi repeated, frowning, "Why did he go to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice?"

"Who knows."

Yan Yi's face was not very good-looking, and he looked sideways at Li Hongyu's expression, seeing that there was nothing unusual about him, and he couldn't see why, he said with some resentment: "If you hadn't been merciful and spared his life, he would have been dead long ago, I don't care about him Whether it's true amnesia or false amnesia, keeping this person will be a disaster sooner or later, you'd better not get too close to him, after this matter, you can't keep him, I will definitely not harm you. "

Li Hongyu raised his eyelids and looked at the person with a half-smile, but he didn't express any objection to these words, but just listened silently.

"You know it yourself, and I don't want to say much, but the one in the palace can't wait so long. If Li Hongyang and Cao Yuhan don't get rid of him, he will be the biggest stumbling block on our road," Yan Yi lowered his voice, revealing A bit vicious, "Since ancient times, kings and bandits have been defeated. If Li Hongyang succeeded, would that poisonous woman Cao Yuhan tolerate your mother and son? You and I know what will happen in the end."

At this point, Li Hongyu's eyes were darkened, and the lowered head covered the emotions in his eyes, so that people could not see what was in his heart.

"Kingming," Yan Yi's voice sounded again, "Don't forget me and you, as well as your mother and concubine, the grievances we have suffered all these years, this world can only belong to us after all!"

The eyes of the two met, and they contained all kinds of thoughts that only the other party could understand. They didn't say a word, but they couldn't understand it.

Yan Yi has a special status, he has to be cautious every time he comes to Prince Qin's mansion, and he will leave in a hurry after he doesn't stay for long.

Waiting for someone to follow Qian Duo out of the house, Alu looked around with his head, and after confirming that there was nothing abnormal, he closed the door tightly, walked back a few steps, saw that the teacup in front of Li Hongyu was empty, and quickly picked up the teapot to pour it for others Tea, even hurriedly said: "Master, the second master also had good intentions, and the subordinates also felt that Ji Sixie was very tight. At that time, I clearly saw him die with my own eyes. I never thought that he would be so blessed and fateful. I was stunned to let him die." Dodged a bullet."

Alu thought about Ji Si, and the more he thought about it, the more weird he felt, "This man used to pester his master, and he cooked some soup every now and then. He really thought that others didn't know his dirty thoughts, but since he woke up, he was a little different. Yes, I heard it fell to the head."

Li Hongyu took the tea and took a sip, then asked, "How do you think his temper is compared to before?"

"I can't tell, it doesn't look different, but it seems to be different, but Ji Si has always been eccentric, rarely interacts with others, and he is unpredictable. It’s not impossible to be different.”

"Who else in this world knows Ji Si better than me." Li Hongyu said this sentence without beginning or end.

Alu was listening but didn't dare to ask more questions.

Fortunately, Li Hongyu seemed to be talking casually, and did not continue this topic. Instead, he talked about other things, "Let you find out about the deployment of the Hanqing Palace on the twelfth lunar month of Chengde's 20th year, and who went to Hanqing Palace in that month. Qing Gong, how did you check everything?"

"I asked Aunt Ningxiang, who is beside my mother, to inquire about this matter. It has been a long time since the incident happened suddenly. The palace lady is one of the palace people who were in Hanqing Palace back then."

"According to what she said, when Concubine Wan stayed in Hanqing Palace, she stayed in the room all day long and rarely went out. After Old Madam Xu left, the Xu family moved away from the capital long ago. In addition, Concubine Wan was indifferent to others, and the palace also No one has ever come to see her, except for the servants who are serving, only the young prince of Yong'an Palace has come to see her once."

"The young prince of Yong'an Palace?" Li Hongyu didn't think of who this person was at first, and only after repeating it did he confirm, "Li Si?"

Some fragments flashed through his mind, as if he had vaguely grasped some details, but they were always covered by thin clouds. He only needed to clear the clouds to see the sun, and the truth could be revealed. Can the maid remember wrongly?"

"No mistake," Alu said: "The maid said that Hanqing Palace is deserted on weekdays, and no one has ever been there, so the person who came here remembers it very clearly, and vaguely remembers that it should be at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month."

"The first month of the twelfth lunar month." Li Hongyu muttered three words in his mouth, his thin lips were tightly pressed, his fingers tapped the table slowly and evenly, and he began to unfold the mystery bit by bit with "Li Si" as the core.

When he was young, he had very little contact with Li Si, to be exact, apart from Li Xi, this little prince from Shuzhou had very little contact with anyone in the palace, but he was closer to Qi Ran and Pei Zhan.

Although he didn't socialize too much, he also knew that Li Si was extremely smart, and perhaps he would be hurt if he was extremely intelligent, but if he was too clever, he would be easily broken. As soon as he couldn't get sick, he left early before he was eighteen.

The time to go here is also very coincidental, and it happens to be very close to Concubine Wan.

If the two really knew each other and had a close personal relationship, Concubine Wan might hand over the child to Li Si, but the palace gate was heavily guarded, and there were many servants in the palace. This child is not a dead thing. How about taking it out of the palace in full view?

Li Hongyu thought hard and couldn't understand the reason, so he reorganized his thoughts and put the starting point of solving the problem on Concubine Wan.

Concubine Wan was kicked into Hanqing Palace because of royal secrets, and there were rumors in the palace. He also knew something. He heard that he had an affair with the guards of Chengwumen, so that the fifth prince died without being posthumous.

The fire in Hanqing Palace started in the early morning of the next day of Zhengdan Festival.

Thinking of this, Li Hongyu suddenly understood that the child was probably taken out of the palace by Li Si, and Li Si was the key to being ignored, after all, who can contact a dead person.

Seeing a smile on his face, Alu asked cautiously, "What did the master think of?"

"If you were Li Si, where would you send this child?" Li Hongyu suddenly asked a question.

Alu frowned, a little confused, "The subordinates don't know."

"Of course he will send the child back to Shuzhou. The farther away he is, the less likely he will be discovered." Thinking of this, Li Hongyu's face became serious again, and he muttered to himself, "But everyone in Yong'an Palace has been killed by Ji. Si was killed, and no one was left alive, did this child also fall off the cliff and die?"

Seeing that the puzzle he had just figured out was at a dead end again, Li Hongyu became visibly irritable, short of breath, his eyes flushed, his teeth creaked, and he looked terrified.

Seeing this, Alu hastily took out the porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured out a medicine bowl and let Li Hongyu take it with tea, stood aside and said in a panic: "Master's illness has become more and more frequent these days, Second Master Having said that, let the master not to fluctuate too much, this medicine cannot be taken away from the body, and you should add more snacks to your own body."

Li Hongyu's disease was brought out from the mother's womb. When Concubine Shu was pregnant with her, she was punished by the queen, and the cold air entered her body, so she suffered from a congenital deficiency of blood and cough. She coughed and became weak from time to time.

He covered his lips and coughed twice, waved his hands, his face was a little pale, "I'm fine, you send some people to look at the place where Yong'an Palace fell off the cliff, check carefully, I really want to see if this child can disappear out of thin air .”

"Yes."

Alu walked out quickly, Li Hongyu was playing with the teacup in his hand, tilting it slightly, the tea flowed from the cup to the ground, splashing everywhere.

The water stains spread little by little, wetting the ground and distinguishing it from the surrounding colors.

The rain came quickly, and the three figures were wearing coir raincoats, all wearing bamboo hats, and rode their horses in the rainy night. The horseshoes stepped on the puddles and splashed a large amount of muddy water, which wet the trousers.

The winter rain was biting, but none of the three of them stopped to rest, and they still galloped fast.

At this moment, one of them made a sound, the rain was rumbling, and he had to roar to keep his voice from being covered by the rain, "Are you there yet?"

"It's coming soon," another person replied, with a muffled voice, "This is what the follower is talking about, maybe it's not clear because of the rain."

The remaining man looked around, tightened the reins, turned the horse's head, and drove to the right path, and the other two hurriedly followed.

After walking for a while, the man with muffled voice stopped suddenly, pointed to a wasteland and said, "It's here, it's there!"

The person walking in the front turned over and dismounted, raised his head slightly to reveal a familiar face under the bamboo hat, it was Qi Ran, Ji Sitong and Yang Qin also dismounted closely behind him, the three of them stood in the middle of the wasteland, the rain was splashing on the ground. His body seemed to be foggy all around, a bit gloomy and weird.

"Did the people you sent see where they buried him?" Ji Si asked.

"I didn't see it clearly," Yang Qin shook his head, "I'm afraid that they will be found far away, so I can only know the general position."

Without making a sound, Qi Ran took two steps forward and leaned over to touch the soil on the ground, then lightly jumped up to the top of the tree with his toes, took a look under the faint light, turned around and jumped down again, "This way. "

The experience of digging up corpses in the rain in the middle of the night was beyond Yang Qin's understanding. If it wasn't for the two people's power, he would never have come to the wilderness with a high bed and soft pillows. He was cold and scared at the moment. , pulled the horse and turned around and backed away, saying: "There's nothing I can use, so I'll go back first."

I never thought that Ji Si grabbed the neck and dragged me back just after walking a few steps, and I saw someone smiling maliciously, "Where are you going, I will have to work hard on digging the grave later."

Yang Qinguang's back shivered when he thought about it, he didn't dare to do it, he was afraid of offending something unclean, so he discussed with others with a droopy face, "It stands to reason that you are with Ah Heng, then I will be your half-brother-in-law , do you know how to respect the old and love the young?"

"Oh," Ji Si said indifferently, and added at the end, "Didn't you forget that I'm still your father?"

"..."

In the end, he had to work hard, muttering words while digging his mouth, squinting his eyes slightly, lest he see something he shouldn't see.

The three of them spent a lot of miles before moving the corpse to a low slope sheltered from the rain.

As soon as he let go of the corpse, Yang Qin fell to the ground and waved his hands weakly, "I shouldn't be here today."

Ji Qi and the two ignored him and squatted down on both sides of the corpse.

It's been cold these few days, and the corpse didn't have any peculiar smell after being buried in the soil, only a little gray and pale, with extremely stiff limbs, wide-eyed eyes and scars all over the body, it's not hard to see what kind of torture it experienced before birth.

Neither of them spoke, they looked very seriously, Yang Qin breathed a sigh of relief and started to move again, lifted his trousers and poked his head over the corpse, covered his mouth and nose and said sullenly: "It really came out of the palace."

Ji Si glanced sideways at the man and deliberately frightened him, "If you are so rude to him, you won't be afraid that he will come to you at night."

Sure enough, Yang Qin let go of his hand quickly, and rubbed his clothes vigorously while keeping a distance away, as if he was afraid that the corpse would suddenly jump up and scare him to death.

Ji Sizhi was amused by this man's fearful and curious appearance. He continued to look through the corpse's clothes, but he didn't find anything useful, so he raised his eyes to look at Qi Ran, "Did you find anything?"

The latter shook his head, "This group of people's methods are clean and neat. I see that the clothes are all changed into new ones, so as not to be seen by others, so there is no clue left."

His face suddenly darkened, and he gritted his teeth in resentment, "Then our efforts today were wasted."

"It doesn't count, at least I can be sure that Yan Yi is looking for..." Qi Ran raised his eyes and glanced at Yang Qin who was not far away, and deliberately lowered his voice, "I was looking for Nian'er, but now it seems that I don't have any thoughts .”

"I thought I could find out something from this eunuch," Ji Si sighed tiredly, "I never thought to waste so much effort, but I found nothing."

"The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. This matter still needs to be discussed in the long term." Qi Ran looked at the increasing rain and fog, and said with frowning, "The rain is getting heavier and heavier. Let's go back first. As for this corpse..."

He pursed his lips and thought for a while, then said: "Let's take them back together, maybe we can see what's wrong on the first day of the junior high school."

"As you say."

As Ji Si spoke, he was about to reach out to lift the corpse up, but when he reached out and touched the stiff and cold fingers of the corpse, he stopped, tilted his head slightly, picked up the somewhat black and withered hand, and stared at it. Look carefully at your fingertips.

"What's wrong?" Qi Ran also found out that something was wrong with Ji Si, walked around the corpse and squatted down next to Ji Si.

"There seems to be something in his nails."

Hearing this, Qi Ran subconsciously picked up the other hand to check, but found that there was nothing but dirt in the crevices of the nails, so he leaned over to check, "What is it?"

Ji Si frowned and looked at it for a long time, saw the hair that was broken between the nails, and said with some uncertainty: "Look, it looks like a hair."

"Hair?" Qi Ran repeated, and took a look at the hand. The black hair was no more than the size of a fingernail, a little curvy, much thicker and darker than ordinary hair, "This should be a beard."

The eunuchs in the palace like to grow long nails, so much so that they still keep this habit even outside the palace, so it is not surprising that they can wear a beard, but it is because he is a eunuch with a beard. Asked, "Where did this beard come from?"

Qi Ran shook his head, thought for a while and said: "If it is not for pulling, the beard of an ordinary man is not easy to fall off, and it is even more impossible for him to move freely under the control of others. This beard may be glued on."

Although he didn't say it clearly, but Ji Si immediately understood the meaning behind Qi Ran's words, and couldn't help but continue, "What kind of person needs to stick a fake beard to cover people's eyes and ears, a woman pretending to be a man? Or... "

He stopped, looked at Qi Ran beside him, the two looked at each other, as if they understood what the other was thinking, they spit out another conjecture in unison, "Eunuch!"

The conversation between the two was a bit noisy, Yang Qin looked at it for a while, frowned, and shouted, "Where are you talking about?"

Ji Si glanced back at Yang Qin, did not answer, but said to Qi Ran: "Guessing is not an option, no matter what, take the corpse back first, as for other things, we can discuss in the long run."

"Alright."

The three of them disguised the corpse and pretended to be a drunk person, so as not to attract people's attention too much. When they were about to leave, they suddenly realized that the residence of the three of them was full of people, and it was not suitable for a corpse of unknown origin.

After thinking about it, Ji Si hooked his lips and smiled, "I know there is one place that is perfect."

So when Du Heng put on a cloak and opened the door, he saw three people standing in front of his house in a panic, and beside him was a "person" who couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead, and the expressions on his faces could be described as wonderful Describing it, I thought to myself: Is there still time to close the door now?

But outside the door, Ji Si couldn't seem to see the man's face as dark as an iron pot, and he grinned cheerfully, "I thought Cun Xiao could not sleep in the cold night, so I came to condolences, how about it? Is it considerate?"

Hearing these words, Du Heng's face turned ugly again, but in the end he let out a long sigh, and pushed the door open, "It's very cold, let's talk in the room first."

Ever since, in the middle of the night, in the dark surroundings, the lit candles of Du Heng's house looked particularly eye-catching.

Busy, he boiled hot water to make tea, and poured cups for the three of them respectively. During this period, he also learned all kinds of things from Yang Qin who couldn't hold back his words, so he took a cup of tea and rushed to the corner. The corpse raised its chin, "Are you really going to put this corpse here with me?"

"Isn't it because your place is quieter?" No matter who lives with the dead, Ji Si also understands Du Heng's embarrassment, so he quickly added, "After tonight, it will be early tomorrow morning." I brought Chu Yi over to check, and let him go to the ground afterwards."

"I'm fine. I don't do bad things during the day, and I don't have to be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. But how do you find this eunuch with a fake beard?" Du Heng asked, taking a sip of tea.

"Why don't you think it's a woman disguised as a man, but a eunuch?" Qi Ran also said.

"This person is locked in Tingfengxuan, where there are many women, even if they walk in it openly, no one will pay attention to it, but if a woman disguises herself as a man, it is too easy to reveal her secrets," Du Heng analyzed little by little, "Yun Chuan It’s impossible for someone to stare at it day and night without seeing it, so I think it’s more likely that it’s a eunuch with a fake beard.”

Yang Qin was listening, and suddenly realized the problem, he suddenly turned his head and asked, "What eunuch?"

Qi Ran nodded, fully agreeing with this statement, "Ji Si and I never thought of this."

"Where did the eunuch with the fake beard come from?" Yang Qin turned to the other side and asked.

But Ji Si put the teacup back on the table, and rubbed the protruding finger bones without covering it up, "I don't know what to do, I can only take one step at a time."

The confused Yang Qin turned around again, "What are you talking about?"

"This matter cannot be resolved by just a few of us. It is a big and complicated matter. It is better to report it to the emperor as soon as possible."

The two looked at each other, it's not that they didn't have this idea, but Master Ji's role in it was not easy, and he didn't dare to tell it lightly if there was no perfect solution, for fear of harming Ji Si, it was only a few days after he came out of the imperial prison If not, do we have to go in again?

But just like what Du Heng said, they are not able to solve it today, the matter is of great importance, and emotions will definitely make mistakes.

Qi Ran was thinking about how to get Ji Si out of it, but on the surface he agreed with Du Heng's proposal, "I will go to the palace to play the Emperor Ming after I have a look at it for the first time tomorrow."

"That's the only way to go," Du Heng nodded and said, "It's getting late, you guys go back first, don't worry about me here."

Ji Si got up and bid farewell to the others, "It's time to thank you for your filial piety. After this matter is over, I will make a deal to treat you to a drink."

Hearing this, Yang Qin finally understood. He slapped the table and raised his voice, "I see, besides this eunuch, there is another eunuch with a fake beard!"

Three people: "..."

This plan couldn't keep up with the changes, Ji Si was called into the palace by an order early the next morning, and he didn't care about other things, so he didn't have time to explain a few words to the first day of the lunar new year, so he hurriedly followed the servant who came to pass the order after cleaning up a little.

When he came to the outside of the palace, the servant asked him to wait for a while, and he went in to pass the message. Ji Si nodded in response and stood on the high steps, squinting his eyes to look at the huge and deserted palace. expression.

There was a "creak", and the sound of the door being pushed open came from behind.

Ji Si looked back and met Yan Yi who came out of the hall. The two nodded to each other, and Yan Yi approached first and said, "Long time no see, how is Ji Shilang?"

"Master Yan is worried about you," Ji Si smiled and exchanged greetings with others, "Master Yan came out of the Kunyuan Palace, but why does the emperor feel unwell?"

"It's nothing serious, Ji Shilang don't worry."

One of the two is false, and the other is false, but they seem to be in harmony.

Because of the distance, Ji Si had to stare at the man's face while speaking. When his eyes fell on Yan Yi's chin and the corner of his mouth, he narrowed his eyes slightly and pretended to ask casually, "Master Yan, why is your jaw hurt?" Is it? Looking at the scar, it looks like someone scratched it."

Yan Yi subconsciously touched the scratched scar, fearing that the person in front of him would see something, licked his back molars with the tip of his tongue, and then showed a somewhat embarrassed and helpless look, "It's a joke to say A few days ago, a stray cat came to my house. I saw how well-behaved it was, so I thought of teasing it. I never thought that the stray cat had a great temper. It scratched me, and the fame of the whole life was lost to a stray cat. Shame."

"This wild cat has a bit of a temper. It's rare that Mr. Yan is kind-hearted, but it doesn't know what to do. You should give it some color." Ji Si said ambiguously.

He had a smile on his face, and there was no problem between the lines. Yan Yi didn't know whether he believed what he said, and secretly spat a few times in his heart, unwilling to deal with others, so he waved his hands and smiled: "Why should a wild cat?" Arguing with him, losing his status, Ji Shilang was summoned by the emperor? Then I won't bother you, leave!"

Before the words were finished, a servant came out from the hall and whispered softly to call Ji Si to enter the hall, Ji Si had no choice but to give up, bowed his head and saluted, "Lord Yan, go slowly."

Then he watched Yan Yi walk past him, stared at the back of this man and fell into deep thought, his slightly squinted eyes didn't know what he was thinking, and he didn't wake up until the servant urged him.

There was a strong smell of medicine in the Kunyuan Hall. Even though the windows were open for ventilation, it still lingered for a long time. Accompanied by coughing sounds from time to time, it made people feel depressing.

Ji Si lowered his head and bowed, "Your Majesty has seen you."

A low, hoarse voice came from above his head, "Forget it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

He stood aside slowly with his head down, not knowing what Emperor Chengde wanted to do, so he couldn't speak rashly, he could only stare at the hem of his official robe in a daze.

"Cough, cough..." The coughing sound came again, so that Emperor Chengde's voice seemed to be full of thick phlegm, "How is your body recovering?"

"Your Majesty is concerned, it's all right." Ji Si hurriedly replied.

After a question and an answer, he became quiet again, and after a while, he heard Emperor Chengde continue, "Ji Si, have you ever complained to me in your heart?"

"I have never thought of this before. This order is for Your Majesty and the Great Jin Dynasty. If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die. What's more, what your Majesty did is justified. This time, no matter whether the minister is alive or dead, As long as you respect and love His Majesty, you have no complaints."

"Heh." A sneer came from above his head.

Ji Si was not sure about Emperor Chengde's attitude, so he dared not speak more.

"What kind of character are you? How can I not know? Not greedy, deep-minded, the account book is naturally true," Emperor Chengde's tone was a little flat, making people unable to hear joy or anger, "Then you know, I know that you are really greedy. There are quite a few, so why can you still allow Yushitai and Dali Temple to clear your name?"

"I'm too stupid, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Emperor Chengde put down the booklet, covered his lips and coughed heart-piercingly. Sun Hai, who was waiting on the side, wanted to help him, but he waved his hand and refused, and he calmed down after a while, "This man, ambitious and lustful Human nature, wealth and power, jewels and beauties, let me ask who in the world does not want them, it is easier to control people with desires, and human nature has weaknesses with desires, Ji Si.”

He called, and Ji Si raised his head slightly, "The minister is here."

"There are many civil and military people in this dynasty who are more honest than you, and there are many people who are more greedy than you. I only look at you differently because you are more transparent than them, knowing what should be done and what should not be done. I was just like you when I was young, no matter how groveling I am on the face, the animal nature in my bones cannot be concealed."

"I don't know how you feel in your heart now, and what identity you are playing. Those things are in the past. What I want you to know is that if I want a person to live, he will definitely not die, but if I want Died alone..." He paused for a moment, let out a cold snort from his nasal cavity, and just finished the next sentence word by word, "Do you think that person can still walk out of the palace gate today?"

Ji Si was flustered, he didn't understand why Emperor Chengde was beating today, he was distracted for a moment, he hurriedly kneeled on the ground and said respectfully: "Your Majesty has learned from you, I have never had a second heart in being loyal to Your Majesty. , in the future, I will dedicate myself to my duties, and live up to my majesty's good intentions for my ministers."

"Why are you so nervous?" Emperor Chengde lowered his tone, "I can trust you, get up."

"Yes."

Sitting and standing between the monarch and his ministers, Emperor Chengde's eyes kept falling on Ji Si, who could only endure it. After a while, he heard a voice from the top, "Okay, I'm a little tired, you can do it yourself." Back off."

"The minister will take his leave first."

Saying that, Ji Si heaved a sigh of relief, turned around and wanted to leave, but just took a step, but the moody monarch asked casually, "Oh, by the way, do you have any personal relationship with Qi Shaoqing from Dali Temple?"

As soon as these words came out, Ji Si's heartbeat that had just stabilized became rapid again.

Why is he asking that?

What is he suspicious of?

Did he know something?

……

Various questions emerged in Ji Si's mind, so he could only choose a safe answer in a compromise, and told the story of saving Qi Nian at Hongfu Temple that day.

Sure enough, Emperor Chengde smiled after hearing this, "No wonder, Qi Ran's temperament of repaying kindness is very similar to his father, that's all right, you step down."

"Yes."

Later, Emperor Chengde didn't ask again suddenly, until Ji Si stepped out of the palace door and was blown by the cold wind, and then his back was sweating all over, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the palace gate, Emperor Chengde's face darkened immediately, and he snorted coldly, "This Ji Si really impressed me!"

Sun Hai bowed and spoke to the side, "Your Majesty is so angry, but Ji Shilang lied?"

"He doesn't have the guts to dare, but it's possible to keep it secret." Emperor Chengde rubbed the jade finger on his fingertips, his shrewd eyes narrowed slightly, "The relationship between these two must be more than that simple."

"The prince and King Rui are constantly making small moves. They are looking forward to the day when I will die. Ji Si is the prince's man. This is a matter of tacit understanding in the whole court. Tell me, what kind of role does the Qi family play in this?" Role?"

Sun Hai couldn't answer this question, so he could only lower his head.

Fortunately, Emperor Chengde didn't really want an answer, he relaxed his body and leaned back in the chair, raised his head and looked at the beam, and said to himself: "It's my negligence, there is more than one Qi Zizhan in the Qi family. "

The voice was very soft, if Sun Hai hadn't been close, he might not have heard it.

The cold wind was blowing outside the hall, so no one knew about this conversation.

Yu is near the twelfth lunar month, the weather is cold, and there is no heavy snow. Most of the time, it is bitingly cold ice scum, and the wind blows with moisture, which penetrates directly into the skirt of the clothes, and people who are cold can't help shivering.

The embezzlement case of Shangshu of the Household Department was sentenced early, and the whole family was exiled, but due to various delays, it was only at the end of winter that he was ready to leave.

Just when Cao Weiyuan was about to leave Lin'an and go into exile, the people Li Hongyu sent to search the place where Yong'an Palace fell off the cliff also brought back news.

Holding a cup of hot tea to warm his hands, he asked unhurriedly, "How's the investigation going?"

"It's been too many years, and I haven't found any clues," the person kneeling below replied, "But my subordinates searched the bottom of the cliff carefully, and found something wrong?"

"Ok?"

"It stands to reason that the old steward's family of the Yong'an Palace fell off the cliff with their carriage, and they should be visible at the bottom of the cliff, but the strange thing is that apart from the wreckage of the carriage, no bones were seen underneath."

Li Hongyu raised his eyes to look at this person, and repeated, "You really didn't see it?"

"No."

Hearing this, Li Hongyu rubbed the edge of the porcelain cup, his fingertips were a little red from the heat, he thought for a while and asked, "Are you finding anything else besides this?"

"The place is extremely remote, and the nearest village is half a day's journey away. A few nights ago, our people caught a hunter. He said that he came once a month. His subordinates thought it was weird and asked him a few words. The hunter said In addition to our people, there is a group of people who have also searched here?"

"who?"

"The hunter didn't know about it. He just happened to see it once during night hunting. He was very good at hiding, and the group of people didn't find it. It took about half a year, and people came every now and then. In the middle of this year After disappearing without a trace, he became more courageous and even came to hunt a few deer during the day, but was run over by our people."

Li Hongyu frowned in thought, and asked after a while, "What are the characteristics of that group of people?"

"No," the person below replied, "but the Orion said that there was a heavy rain one night, and the group of people had no choice but to disperse early. Before leaving, he mentioned a person, Master Qi Er, but because the rain was too loud, he Not sure if it's true."

There are not too many people with the surname Qi in Lin'an, but Qi Ran immediately appeared in Li Hongyu's mind. He squinted his eyes and thought about it in his heart, chanting Qi Ran's name, and described the scattered details one by one. connect them in series.

If Concubine Wan really gave the child to Li Si, then Ji Si and Qi Ran have always had a good relationship, so it is not impossible to know about it, could it be that the bodies of the butler family of Yong'an Palace were buried by Qi Ran?Then does he know the identity of the child?Is the child really dead?If not dead then where?Does Qi Ran know his whereabouts?

A series of questions were unraveled without any thoughts. Li Hongyu tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. The rhythm was neither too fast nor too slow. Suddenly something flashed in the middle of the scene, he stopped his movements, and hurriedly asked A Lu beside him: "Does Qi Ran have a child?"

"But there is one, about six or seven years old, because he was weak and didn't see outsiders much."

"Do you know who his biological mother is?"

"I heard that she is the Tongfang girl of the Qi Mansion. After giving birth to the child, she left without giving any title." Alu also understood why Li Hongyu asked such a question. The child is the one in the palace, but this child was only born in February. Compared with the little prince in the palace, it is a full two months later. Many officials in Lin'an went to Lin'an at the full moon. If there is any difference? As for the fact that no one has seen it, I’m afraid it’s not right after thinking about it.”

Li Hongyu shook his head, "Ordinary children may not match, but Concubine Wan's child looks smaller than other children because of premature birth, and two months can just raise the child to the same age as the child. Almost, even if some entries and exits have not been seen closely on the grounds of being weak, it is not impossible to hide them."

His eyes still fell on the painting, with a smile on his face, "At the beginning, this king was wrong. Sometimes it is not necessary to avoid risks. The most dangerous place is the safest place. Who would have thought This child is right under our noses, and the Fifth Prince of Dajin transformed into the Young Master Sun of the Prime Minister's Mansion, which is interesting."

"If it's true what the master said, what is the master's plan?" Alu asked with a frown.

Li Hongyu didn't answer this question, but rubbed his chin for a while, then asked other questions, "I remember that Cao Weiyuan has an only son?"

"But there are