comeback [rebirth]

Emperor Ning was always used to enjoy the scenery and drink tea on the high platform in front of the entrance of the White Deer Forest, and occasionally looked at the prey dragged out of the forest - even if he couldn't end it himself, he could still taste a little bit of hunting.

However, there was no one on the platform at this time, all the tea and wine tables and chairs were removed, and it was as empty as if no one had ever been there.

In the main hall of the palace not far away, except for the two Zhaoyis who had gone back to their respective dormitories, the recalled princes, the courtiers who participated in the hunting, and all the accompanying officials lived separately on both sides, all of them bowed their heads, not daring to breathe. out.There were more than ten people kneeling in the middle of the hall, with their hands clasped behind their backs. The blood on the shoulders of several people had not yet solidified, dripping onto the green brick floor, making the smell of blood confuse with the solemnity that could not be ignored in the whole hall. lump.

However, they still straightened their bodies and stared at the emperor who was firmly on the high position with wide-eyed anger.

Emperor Ning tapped his fingers on the armrest, and after a while he calmly asked: "What about the second child, why hasn't he come back yet, but is he injured?"

Cen Yi immediately came out and said: "Go back to my father, according to what Erchen saw when he found the second brother, he and Mr. Yan should have no external injuries, please rest assured, my father. Before returning, I heard from them that I will come back later." , it should be coming soon."

Just as the conversation fell, a voice came from outside the hall: "Father!"

Cen Yuan walked into the hall with strides, ignoring the people kneeling on the ground as nothing, and rushed straight to the front of the hall.Behind him, Yan Xuan's steps were steady, but she didn't slow down for a moment.

Emperor Ning changed his sitting position and reprimanded loudly: "Look at you, you are dawdling for a while, and you are frizzy for a while, what do you look like?"

"My son's horse was shot by an arrow during the fight just now, so I had to ride back with Lord Yan on the same horse. It took some time." Cen Yuan suppressed his uneasy breath and smiled at the other party. , "I just rushed in because I was worried about my father."

Hearing this, one of the people kneeling on the ground immediately turned his head and glanced at Cen Yuan, but was immediately scolded by the person holding him down: "Don't move!"

"What can I do?" Emperor Ning was used to Cen Yuan's indifferent appearance, so he didn't respond, and just called for someone to come, "Where's the imperial doctor? Let them see if there is any injury."

The accompanying imperial doctors who had been waiting for a long time immediately stepped forward to examine Cen Yuan and Yan Xuan respectively, and replied after a while: "Return to Your Majesty, Second Highness and Lord Yan are blessed and blessed by the heavens, and they are all fine. "

At this moment, Cen Yuan had already left those inexplicable agitations on the way back. Seeing that Emperor Ning was fine, he was relieved, and even retorted silently in his heart: the blessing of fart, if it wasn't for him and Yan Xuan's martial arts They are still considered superb, they have been poked into holes long ago.

Emperor Ning nodded after hearing this, waved away the imperial doctor, and looked at those villains who had been kneeling for a long time: "Since the two of you are fine, let me hear what's going on. Second child, you speak first."

Judging from this posture, it seemed that he was about to interrogate himself.

"Yes." Cen Yuan replied, quickly put away his thoughts, and recounted everything that happened in the White Deer Forest in detail, including how the young deer suddenly appeared in front of him and Yan Xuan.

During the narration, he inadvertently glanced at the leader at the side - only to see that Prime Minister Duan just straightened his sleeves indifferently, as if he had nothing to do with himself.

"Yan Qing." Emperor Ning shouted, "So you have always been with the second child?"

Yan Xuan nodded and said "yes".

Emperor Ning didn't ask him any more, not about the young deer.He tilted his head and shouted: "Duan Meng."

The latter stepped forward immediately: "The minister is here."

"In recent years, the guards in Bailu Forest have always been strict, and there has never been any incident. How could there be such a mistake today." Ning Emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at the strangely dressed people in the palace.

"Return to Your Majesty." Duan Meng said, "When I inspected this morning, all the fences were still intact and there was no abnormality. Presumably after the hunting started, these gangsters used some means to destroy the fences. and enter."

Emperor Ning asked, "Where are the guards?"

"The White Deer Forest occupies a vast area, and the guards in the forest during hunting have always been shared by the minister and Xu Zhonglei." Duan Meng lowered his head, "The minister is in charge of the east half of the White Deer Forest, while Xu Zhonglei is in charge of the other half. Maybe you have to ask Xu Zhonglei to know."

Emperor Ning listened quietly, without showing any signs of expression: "Where is Xu Peng?"

Xu Peng heard the words and immediately came out.

"Tell me," Emperor Ning said, "what happened at that time."

"Returning to Your Majesty, I have deployed five teams of soldiers from south to north in the west half of the White Deer Forest a few days ago. They are all elites in the army. I have also reported the deployment plan to Lord Duan beforehand. But just now in the White Deer Forest, As soon as I received the report from the soldiers that there were assassins invading, I rushed to the scene of the incident and found that there were no soldiers to handle it." Xu Peng stood tall and straight, and his words were sonorous, "I have questioned the people who should have been guarding the area. The soldiers in the northwest corner, they said that before the hunting officially started, a man wearing the uniform of the Northern Army came to report, saying that it was an order from the minister to temporarily change the guard position."

He paused, then continued: "If there is a real change, I will definitely report to Lord Duan first, and I will never be so rash. And according to the statements and descriptions of those guards, I can be sure that the person who conveyed the order is definitely not one of my subordinates. Pawn."

Xu Peng looked up at Emperor Ning, without retreating or fearing: "I believe that there was a secret operation in the Northern Army to dismiss the guards, and then opened the fence from the inside for these villains, making the appearance of being invaded."

As soon as this remark came out, it was tantamount to a thunderbolt splitting into the hall.

All the ministers lowered their heads one after another, and Emperor Ning looked at Xu Peng and asked, "If that's the case, what about the fine work?"

"I immediately sent someone to search for him in the army, but he was nowhere to be found."

The Northern Army guarding the capital might have allowed a spy to commit crimes, and now they can't even find a single person.What you say is really ridiculous!

For a moment, everything in the hall was completely silent, as if people could hear the sound of breathing.However, in this situation, there are only a handful of people present who can still breathe normally, and the silence seems even more eerie, making it untenable for a moment.

I don't know how long it took before Emperor Ning said leisurely: "Duan Xiang, what do you think?"