The mountains and rivers are quiet and broad

The torrential rain has been falling for two consecutive days, and the sky in the capital has been overcast. Occasionally, a thunderstorm passes by, and everything seems to be black and white.

Everywhere is wet, and muddy water is thrown up wherever you go, and the mud falls on the shoe and splashes on the skirt, which is very annoying.

Eunuch Ren walked through the heavy rain in the courtyard to the front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, took out a handkerchief and wiped off the stains on the shoe, and then straightened up. The closed door happened to open, and Eunuch Kang came out with a rare expression on his face. , carefully closed the door, and then asked Eunuch Ren:

"What's the matter?"

"Master Yan, please see me."

"No." Eunuch Kang waved his hand, "Go and refuse."

"What about lunch?" Eunuch Ren said as he glanced behind Eunuch Kang, as if he could see inside through the closed door.

Eunuch Kang sighed, "Come on first."

"Hey." Eunuch Ren responded, held up his umbrella, and ran through the dense rain to the other side of the courtyard.

Yan Keqing stood there alone watching the rain.The misty rain and mist blurred his figure, like the gentle Lord Yan showing a rare indifference, and his solitary back reveals a murderous air.

"Master Yan, please go back."

"emperor……"

"The emperor doesn't see anyone." Ren Gong said fairly.

After waiting for a while, Yan Keqing still stood there, motionless, and Eunuch Ren raised his head uneasy.Yan Keqing didn't show any expression, just staring at the rain in the courtyard in a daze.

The rain was rushing on the ground, and the dense vertical lines were full of water vapor, and when it fell to the ground, big water splashes opened up, and it sounded a bit noisy.

"There hasn't been such a heavy rain for many years." Yan Keqing said suddenly.

His voice was not loud, and he was almost drowned in the sound of rain, but Eunuch Ren still heard him, and as he spoke Yan Keqing looked at the courtyard, Eunuch Ren recalled in a daze, he had never seen such a heavy rain in the capital for so many years.

"Master Yan, have you been in Beijing for ten years?"

"Yes." Yan Keqing smiled gently, as if recalling something.

Not knowing when the rain would stop, Yan Keqing took up his umbrella and walked into the rain curtain.Eunuch Ren heaved a sigh of relief, trotted across the corridor, greeted lunch, and then returned to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He still carefully wiped off the stains on the shoe surface before knocking on the door and bringing lunch in.

"gone?"

Chen Maoduan sat reviewing the memorial, with no expression of joy or anger, perhaps because of the rain, Eunuch Ren always felt a little cold in the hall.

"Yes." Eunuch Ren said respectfully.

"Hmph." Chen Mao snorted, and suddenly threw the memorial in his hand, and said nothing with a sullen face.

Eunuch Ren hurriedly signaled the maids who were serving meals to go out, stepped forward to pick up the memorial and put it back on the desk, and persuaded in a slow voice: "The emperor calm down."

A secret letter came the night before, and the emperor was furious after reading it.In the early morning of the second day, the entire hall was silent, listening to the emperor's reprimand.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of officials fell from their posts. From the local to the central government, there were not many people, some of whom were unheard of small roles, but everyone understood that the emperor was going to clean the court.

The rain kept falling, and the tense atmosphere spread, and everyone was in danger immediately, and everything was in danger.

Chen Mao glanced at the memorial, closed his eyes and did not speak.The fire in the early morning was very lively. On the one hand, he wanted to establish prestige, and on the other hand, he wanted to beat some people.

The secret letter sent by Guan Hanzhong only circled twelve people with convincing evidence, but Chen Mao took advantage of the topic and arrested a total of sixteen people. Once the arrest order was issued, Dali Temple was as fast and ruthless as a knife. .

Although this trick is easy to use, it must be used with caution the second time.

Chen Mao pondered what to do next.Once a lion in the wild has launched an attack, it has to attack again and again, chasing after it like a torrential rain, making the prey overwhelmed. Once the prey has a chance to breathe, it will slyly run away , and an exhausted lion may lose its prey.

"Your Majesty, let's eat."

"Where is the national teacher?"

"In Tianqi Tower."

As expected.Chen Mao got up and went outside, without waiting for Zhou Zhou, he ate alone.After a while, Zhou Zhou came back.

"Why did you come back so early today?" Chen Mao wondered.

"It's raining too much." Zhou Zhou was a little absent-minded.

Don't answer the question.Chen Mao ignored him and ate quietly.

After the meal, the two of them took a lunch break habitually. Zhou Zhou hugged Chen Mao, not feeling sleepy. Looking at the black and blue eyes of Chen Mao, he felt a little distressed, "Go to sleep, I will call you later."

Chen Mao was nestled in Zhou Zhou's arms, but he didn't feel sleepy, his eyes were open and he was lost in thought.

Zhou Zhou was also stunned for a while, and when he lowered his head and saw Chen Mao staring, he couldn't help rubbing his head: "What are you thinking?"

Chen Mao subconsciously blurted out: "Yan Keqing..."

"Can't you think about me?" Zhou Zhou chuckled.

Chen Mao frowned dissatisfied: Can you be more serious?

Zhou Zhou quickly nodded and surrendered: "Okay, okay, keep thinking."

Chen Mao didn't bother to talk, turned over and turned his back to Zhou Zhou.When investigating King Jin's case for the first time, he felt that what was recorded in the file was not the truth. Chen Mao speculated that the real murderer should have arranged for other people to witness the scene.

But what Chen Ke found denied his speculation, but confirmed most of the files.Even so, Chen Ke, like him, doubted Yan Keqing.

"Do you think it's too inexplicable to doubt Keqing Yan?"

"Huh?" Zhou Zhou didn't follow Chen Mao's train of thought for a while.

"It's just..." Chen Mao suddenly didn't know what to say, saying that both he and Chen Ke instinctively dislike Yan Keqing?

"No. Yan Keqing is not a good person." Zhou Zhou said.

"Why do you say that?" Since meeting Zhou Zhou, Chen Mao rarely saw him comment on anyone, so he couldn't help being curious, and turned to face Zhou Zhou again.

Zhou Zhou pondered for a while, "Look at the face..."

"Face?" Chen Mao suddenly wanted to tease Zhou Zhou, "Yan Keqing is very good-looking."

Sure enough, Zhou Zhou immediately lowered his face: "What?"

Chen Mao laughed, "He is very good-looking."

Zhou Zhou grabbed the back of Chen Mao's head, approached him, and gave him a kiss.

Chen Mao turned his eyes away, and waited for Zhou Zhou's kiss to fall, when Eunuch Ren knocked on the door suddenly: "Report to the Emperor, King Ren begs to see you."

"Uh..." Chen Mao pushed Zhou Zhou away and got out of bed: "Xuan..."

Chen Ke didn't wait long to see Chen Mao. Looking at Chen Mao's obviously rosy lips, he suddenly became upset: "Will the emperor's harem be too empty?"

Chen Mao wiped his mouth, "No..."

"Did Li Kecheng suggest marriage?"

"He's leaving right now." Chen Mao remained expressionless.Although not too many people were purged this time, in the next step, according to the principle of deepening, the next group of people must have Li Kecheng.

"Tsk." Chen Ke turned his eyes away and signaled Eunuch Ren and Eunuch Quan to back down.After there was no one else in the room, Chen Ke told the newly found news about the Demon Cult.

There is no doubt that Yang Ren is involved behind the devil's religion. There is no need to think about the real purpose. It has always been Yang Ren's ambition to rule the Central Plains.

But judging from these few cases, the upcoming turmoil in the rivers and lakes has also involved the turbulent waves in the court. The Demon Cult's search for the Stone of Life and Death may be a cover, just in the name of causing trouble.

"Is this Xu Qingfeng's investigation?" Chen Mao raised his eyebrows and asked, this habit was somewhat similar to Chen Ke's.

"Yeah." Chen Ke nodded. This was written in Xu Qingfeng's letter received this morning. "Most of them are guesses. The whereabouts of the Demon Cult are weird, and we can only infer from the existing cases."

Chen Mao didn't respond immediately, but looked at Chen Ke with great interest, "What does Xu Qingfeng look like?"

Chen Ke didn't answer, still with that expression, showing a gesture of unwillingness to answer.

"Cut." The two brothers' tantrum gestures were very similar, and Chen Mao cut his voice in disdain. He was just curious, and he had sent someone to check Xu Qingfeng earlier. Even though the boy in the portrait was not bad, Chen Mao couldn't figure it out. "Cold Face Yama" will have a lover.

And how inexplicable it is, it suddenly appeared, and suddenly fell in love. Looking at the information in the secret report, Chen Mao even wondered if this was Chen Ke.

"I should go west." Chen Ke said, King Jin's case had held him in the capital for ten days, even if he left for Juyanhe City now, it would be a month before he saw Xu Qingfeng.

The current situation in the court is not stable enough. Chen Mao hopes that Chen Ke can stay and help him, but the poison on Chen Ke is indeed a headache.Chen Mao was silent for a while, but still agreed: "When are you leaving?"

"As soon as tomorrow."

"Okay. Find out who and how the Demon Cult is connected to the court as soon as possible."

"Understood." Chen Ke agreed, got up to leave, thought about it and asked him again, "Don't you doubt it?"

——I wonder if someone can really collude with the Jianghu and the court to weave such a big conspiracy without being noticed?

Chen Mao knew what Chen Ke was talking about.It's a bit unbelievable, but maybe it's the brother's blood that makes the two of them have a perfect understanding.

However, in the past eight years when Chen Ke watched the temple from afar, Chen Mao was really struggling, and Chen Mao's intuition for conspiracy was more acute.

"Suspicious." Chen Mao lowered his voice, "So the other party must have something to tell."

Chen Ke glanced at Chen Mao, turned around and left without saying anything more.

After leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Eunuch Quan asked where he was going, Chen Ke signaled to go back to King Ren's Mansion, and the sedan chair wobbled and left the palace.

There were very few people on the street, and it was not easy to walk in a sedan chair in the rain, so I stopped at a tea shop at random, and the whole father-in-law sent someone to call for a carriage.Looking at the somewhat depressed street scene, Chen Ke silently analyzed every clue in his heart.

"Huh?" Eunuch Quan suddenly pointed to the medicine hall opposite, "Is that the housekeeper of Prime Minister Yan's mansion?"

Chen Ke raised his head and looked in the direction pointed by Eunuch Quan. There was no doubt that it was Steward Yan.

"Go and have a look." Chen Ke ordered.

Those who went came back soon, saying that housekeeper Yan came to get medicine to treat joint pain caused by moisture.

"The medicine is expensive, and the owner of the medicine hall said that all the medicines used are good."

It means that the person who took the medicine was not the housekeeper, and I had never heard of Yan Keqing marrying a wife and having children, so it should be Yan Keqing who took the medicine.

"What is the right symptom of the medicine?" Chen Ke asked, and the guard quickly replied: "Returning to the prince, the doctor said that the medicine is very strong, and the people who take it must have suffered from joint pain for many years, and most of the people who suffer from this disease have been suffering from it for many years." People who live in humid areas will suffer from such diseases."

Yan Keqing lived in the capital for ten years and was a native of Jin before coming to Beijing. Would he have such a serious illness?Chen Ke had a faint guess, and ordered: "Let the people who monitor the Prime Minister's Mansion find out who used the medicine."

"The slave takes orders." Eunuch Quan agreed, and the carriage happened to come, and took Chen Ke back to King Ren's Mansion.

After Chen Ke left, Chen Mao picked up the half-reviewed memorial and continued to review it silently. When the sky got darker, Eunuch Kang came into the house to light the lamp, waking Chen Ke up from the heavy government affairs.

"When is it?"

"Go back to the emperor, it's time to apply."

Chen Mao put down the booklet, turned his head to listen to the sound of rain outside, "How long has it been raining?"

"It stopped for a while in the morning, and then it's down to the present."

Chen Mao was a little worried. If the rain continued, the drainage system in the capital would definitely not be sufficient. It would take two or three days to drain. Afterwards, drainage repairs would be a big project, and the project would cost a lot of money.Thinking of the report from the national treasury and the national conditions in the past two years, Chen Mao had a headache.

"Where is the national teacher?"

"I was called away by Tianqi Tower."

Didn't you just go there in the morning?Chen Mao frowned. In the past, Zhou Zhou didn't go to Tianqi Building for a long time, but recently Tianqi Building frequently asked for orders. If he didn't know Zhou Zhou's personality, Chen Mao almost suspected that Zhou Zhou was hiding in the golden house of Tianqi Building.

"How long have you been gone?"

"You went when you were discussing matters with King Ni."

Chen Mao didn't speak.

That night, Zhou Zhou did not come back.