Emperor Que Shaohua

On the night of August [-]th, Luo Pingyuan still couldn't sleep well. He always thought that there would be news from the emperor's brother or the Jingyu guard, but he lay down with his clothes until dawn, and still no one came to report.He thought that Feng Jingyi in the inn and King Jing in a certain place in Los Angeles should both be sleepless all night, even unable to close their eyes.According to King Jing, he was only responsible for arranging the identification of the prison, but now that he didn't know the progress of the situation, he felt restless. Every hour passed, the anxiety in his heart increased by one point, and at the same time, there was also that sense of hatred. The anger of the prince's party.Is there really nothing else he can do to help?

Luo Pingyuan muttered for a while, feeling calmer.Bai Lu and Shuang Jiang brought breakfast as usual, and he ate a few bites in a hurry before rushing to the Jingyu Guard to wait for news.

Walking out of the mansion, the four personal guards were already waiting outside the gatehouse as usual, and one of the servants brought the dark clouds to step on the snow.Luo Pingyuan was about to get on his horse, but he heard hurried footsteps in the distance, and someone ran towards him quickly.He looked up and saw that it was a sergeant who was in charge of patrolling outside Prince Jing's mansion, and he was transferred after the accident in the mansion last month.

"Your Highness Fifth," the man rushed forward and knelt down on one knee to salute when he saw King Ning, "When I was inspecting just now, I found someone lying nearby with blood on his body, so I went up to ask him, and he said his name was Mangzhong."

Isn't Mangzhong the little attendant who was robbed together with the Huashan disciples?Luo Pingyuan stood still abruptly: "Where is he? How seriously injured?"

"Return to Your Highness, it's half a mile away from Yangshu Lane outside the mansion wall." The sergeant reported, "This subordinate came to report first, and there are two other people who are slowly moving him back. He...he Broke a hand."

At the same time, Du Tangli was woken up by the maid and was dressing and washing.She was invited to live in Chengyihou's residence to accompany the eldest lady Yao Qian'er who made a marriage contract not long ago, and it was already the third day.

Whether it is the relationship between the two families, or the friendship between Du Tangli and Yao Qian'er, it can only be described as mediocre at best. Therefore, when Mrs. Cheng Yihou came to visit with a gift and euphemistically stated Yao Qian'er's wish, Du's house was quite confused. Some are confused.But what Luo said was reasonable and sincere, and Yao Qianer's letter was also written very earnestly, implicitly and implicitly expressing the ups and downs of human relationships and depression from the accident to the engagement, thanking Du Tangli for comforting her at that time, and saying Recently, I often miss my biological mother and feel sorry for Du Tangli, so I want to invite her to stay in the mansion for a few days.

Du Tangli didn't remember that she comforted Yao Qian'er. At that time, several acquaintances gathered together to discuss the incident of falling from a horse. They were full of sympathetic words, but there was gloating and sarcasm in their tone and demeanor.Yao Qian'er was a bit snobbish and arrogant in dealing with others, and her popularity was really not good. Du Tangli was not interested in making fun of other people's troubles behind her back, and walked away without saying a word every time, that's all.But when Yao Qian'er mentioned the pain of losing her mother, she was somewhat moved.

Du Tangli's mother was in poor health and passed away a year ago. Her grief has not dissipated, and she still dreams about it at midnight, and misses her painfully.After the death of his wife, Du Heng, his father, had no intention of remarrying, so he only invited his widowed sister to preside over the gift and take care of a pair of children.After Roche came.Du Heng asked his daughter what she meant, and if she didn't want to, she could refuse.Du Tangli hesitated for a moment but agreed. She didn't want to cause trouble to her father. Maybe after experiencing a series of incidents, Yao Qian'er really no longer trusted her former friends, and she really wanted to talk to someone, so she thought of herself.

After two days in the Hou Mansion, Yao Qian'er was indeed very warm and considerate. The two drank tea and talked together, sketched embroidery patterns together, and talked about ordinary topics such as clothes, hairpins and rings that girls are interested in.Yao Qian'er was preparing for her marriage, and even showed her some jewelry left by her mother, Princess Lianfang, as well as the wedding dress she wore back then.Although they are all objects from many years ago, because they are well preserved, the gem embroidery on them is still brilliant and gorgeous.

Du Tangli admired a few words, but Yao Qian'er sneered and said, "Tangli, you don't know how many pillows my stepmother Luo Shi blew in my father's ear, and wanted to take two from me. The aunts didn't show their faces." , I’m also jealous in my heart. All these thoughts, I just don’t want to give them. If there are worthy friends and sisters, I can give them to whoever I want, and nothing will fall into the hands of those people. Are they worthy?” , I took a pearl hairpin to give to her.

Du Tangli quickly refused to accept it, this is a golden hairpin, the southern bead inlaid on the top is the size of a thumbnail, round and flawless, the base is surrounded by delicate golden rose patterns, with small emeralds embedded in it, it looks gorgeous and beautiful Simple and elegant, it is very in line with her preferences, but this is a relic of someone else's mother, besides, how can I want such a precious thing.

Yao Qian'er was quite resolute, and said with a smile: "Mistress Han in the palace gave me the grace to allow me to go to Huangjue Temple to offer incense to my mother in the past two days. You and I happened to go together and borrowed the auspicious aura of the temple to pray for blessings. It will not be possible then." Taisujing, it would be nice if you just wear this pearl hairpin."

After getting along, Du Tangli felt that Yao Qian'er's emotions were very unstable, sometimes she seemed too enthusiastic, and sometimes she didn't know where her mind was touched, and she became cynical. Indeed received a lot of stimulation.In her heart, she felt some sympathy for this young lady of the Hou Mansion who she didn't like very much in the past. She thought she would go home after staying for four or five days, which was considered to be the courtesy of being with her. Some hesitated: "Since the grace of the imperial concubine is given to you, I'm afraid it won't be good for me to go together."

"What's wrong," Yao Qian'er hurriedly said, "All the maids and women in the mansion have to follow, and it's not just me. With you, I can talk and keep company in the car; when my mother met, she knew that I have sisters and sisters who are friends with each other. If you take care of it, you will be happy." Said with red eyes.

Du Tangli couldn't refuse, but when she looked at the precious golden hairpin in her hand, she always felt that it was inappropriate. She really couldn't think of what Yao Qian'er could do for her. It could only be attributed to the fact that the other party felt that she could understand her feelings So he agreed.She made up her mind to return the gold hairpin to Yao Qian'er when she came back from offering incense.

The palace soon sent someone to hand down the decree, Zhun Chengyi Hou's eldest daughter went to Huangjue Temple to offer incense on the thirteenth day of the eighth month.In order to accompany her on the trip, Du Tangli got up in the twilight of morning light and began to change clothes and make up.At this time, all she wanted was to offer three sticks of incense in front of the Buddha for her deceased mother, and to have a little curiosity and longing for the rebuilt royal temple.

Luo Pingyuan has long been familiar with the little attendants in Prince Jing's Mansion. Mang Zhong is 15 years old and looks very handsome. However, at this time, this young man's body is covered with bruises from beatings, and his face has turned gray due to excessive blood loss. The left hand was gone, only the bloody severed wrist was left, with a strip of cloth randomly tied above it, which had been soaked in blood, and the original color could not be seen at all.

Luo Pingyuan ordered someone to carefully carry him to Hanxiaozhai.Mangzhong was very stubborn. Even though he was seriously injured, he still tried his best not to faint. When he saw King Ning, he struggled to get up: "Your Highness Fifth."

"You don't need to get up," Luo Pingyuan said.Xi Minghua heard the news and came to rescue her.

"Excessive blood loss, excessive hunger, thirst and fatigue," he inspected briefly, and said with a frown. He sealed several acupoints on the shoulder and arm with his fingers, and took out the golden needle, "Fifth Highness, I will help him stay awake for the time being, but try not Ask too much, or he won't be able to hold on."

Luo Pingyuan nodded, and seeing that Mangzhong's face had improved slightly, he asked, "Who cut off your hand? Where are Jiang Han and Wei Qing?"

"Your Highness," Mang Zhong's voice was weak, "I don't know where the two senior brothers are now."

"Don't worry, tell me what happened, what happened to you?" Luo Pingyuan asked calmly.

"The three of my subordinates were suddenly attacked by a group of gangsters the day before yesterday," Mang Zhong said in a low voice. Xi Minghua was giving acupuncture, and he asked Yaotong to fetch ginseng slices and put them in his mouth so as not to pass out.

The temple fair was very lively that day, and the three of them wandered around until late in the evening before getting ready to return home. None of them noticed that there might be someone following behind them, and they didn't notice something was wrong until they took a shortcut in a secluded alley.

Wei Qing was the first to notice the abnormality. He turned around and drew his sword. At that time, Mang Zhong hadn't reacted yet. He only had time to see five or six figures appearing behind him. He quickly outflanked and approached them, followed by a sharp pain in the back of his head. fell to the ground.Before losing consciousness, the last thing Jiang and Wei heard seemed to be fighting with the enemy.

When he woke up, his whole body was packed in a sack, his body was bumping, and he heard the sound of cars, and he was being driven by a carriage.Mangzhong's acupuncture points were tapped all over his body, so he couldn't move or make a sound.

The car walked for a long time, and seemed to be going around all the time, unable to tell the direction, but listening to the hustle and bustle of the street outside, it should have not left the city.

"What happened afterwards, when was it released from the sack?" Luo Pingyuan asked.

"I heard two people talking in the car. They first laughed at how powerful Huashan's swordsmanship is. In fact, it's just mediocre. It's not easy to catch them, but they were all packed in sacks." Mang Zhong said, "The car stopped later, and I was dragged away. It came down. Some people said that these three switches should be placed together to avoid trouble. I was dragged into a room, and the two guarded outside."

"After that, how did you spend the day and night?" Luo Pingyuan asked in a deep voice.

"The subordinates don't know how long I was stuffed in the bag. They didn't give me food and drink, but they released me later and opened the acupoints to relieve my hands. Maybe they were afraid of dirtying the room."

Mangzhong saw two guards in total, sometimes they would chat in a low voice outside the house, and would come in every once in a while to refill the acupoints.He has always wanted to find a way to escape, even if it is to find out the situation and send a signal to the outside.But all the belongings on his body have been searched, and the guards did not speak to him except beating and scolding him.

In the middle of the night last night, he found that his stiff body was gradually able to barely move. The other party must have been careless and missed two points when acupuncture.So he got up and quietly poked a crack in the window paper, trying to find out where he was, but it was so dark outside that he couldn't see anything clearly.

Mangzhong had tried his best not to make any noise, but his whole body was still numb, he couldn't stand upright, and knocked his head on the window sill.Two guards rushed into the room immediately, fisting and kicking him until he fell to the ground, unable to stand up in pain.

Finally someone came in and stopped him: "It's just a follower, you shouldn't get him back, keep him useless, and take care of him too much, just throw him out."

Mang Zhong was lying on the ground dying at that time, he couldn't see the person's description clearly, he could only vaguely think that he was a middle-aged man, his voice was like scraping metal, it was very piercing.

The two guards agreed, and the man followed suit and said, "Guardian Jin broke one hand, you keep his left hand and go back so that his master will know what will happen if he fights against us."

"Later, they cut off my hand, blindfolded and dragged me to a car, walked in circles for a long time, and finally pushed me out of the car. I lay on the ground and couldn't move. When I wanted to call for help, The subordinates of His Highness the Fifth Highness are here." Mang Zhong said, his voice was intermittent until now.

Luo Pingyuan felt angry when he heard that, what Mang Zhong heard and saw was very limited, where exactly was he taken?Wei Qing and Jiang Han should still be locked up there.

"Mangzhong, think about it again, did those two guards reveal any information when they spoke?" He said, almost giving up hope in his heart.

Xi Minghua was cleaning the wound and preparing to apply the medicine. The mango seed was in a cold sweat from the pain, but he regained consciousness and said, "Your Highness, those two were eating outside at noon yesterday. I heard one scold, 'Three meals a day. They are all vegetarians, which makes people fade away like a bird.” Another said, “Do as the Romans do, if you still want to eat meat in the monk’s temple, bear with it for two days.”,

"Did you hear me clearly, they said they were in the temple?" Luo Pingyuan cheered up, but there are so many temples in Luocheng, and I only found out about it now, and I'm afraid it's too late. Did you hear anything?"

"They...their voices are very low, and they only speak louder when they complain, so they can hear clearly." Mang Zhong tried hard to recall, "Your Highness, this subordinate also feels that they are locked in a temple, because yesterday morning and evening they heard the bell First, Huang Zhong, followed by Da Lu, each ringing nine times."

A few of Prince Ning's followers were also in the room, and they couldn't help looking at Mang Zhong. They had been in Prince Jing's Mansion for a while, but they didn't expect that a servant in the mansion also knew the rhythm.Luo Pingyuan is already used to this, before the servants were selected from the south of the Yangtze River, they all received the training of Qibi and Elegy.

He thought about the places of interest in Los Angeles that Lin Chen had mentioned: "Which monastery in this imperial capital would have such a bell ringing in the morning and evening classes?"

There was a moment of silence in the smiling room.

"Your Highness, as far as this subordinate knows, although there are many temples in Luocheng, there is only one place where the bells can be heard in the morning and evening." A relative stepped forward and said, with a hesitant look on his face.

"Tell me." Luo Pingyuan knew that this entourage named Cao Molin was from Luocheng, so he immediately stared at him and asked, "Where is it?"

"Huangjue Temple." Cao Molin hesitated, "I heard from the old man at home that Huangjue Temple has a set of 65 chime bells made in the previous dynasty. The sound of Huang Zhong and Da Lu just mentioned, I think it is only during the Mid-Autumn Festival that Mangzhong will hear it."

"However, Huangjue Temple has been closed recently and is guarded by the imperial guards. How can the Jianghu bandits enter?" Another follower asked.

However, Luo Pingyuan had no doubts in his heart. It was Wang An who was in charge of matters related to Emperor Tianyi's pilgrimage. If he was under the orders of the crown prince's Kunlun Mansion, if he needed to enter Huangjue Temple, it would not be difficult for him to do so, and he would hide the hostages in the temple to avoid people's eyes and ears. , is indeed an unexpected way.

Thinking of this, he stood up: "I'm going to visit Huangjue Temple."

"Wait a minute, guessing based on a few words and a few bells, it would be reckless to go there in person." Xi Guzhu didn't expect that King Ning would leave immediately, so he couldn't help but stop him: "Sect Master Jiang, let Your Highness do whatever you want. News, you must not act impulsively. It is better to report this matter to him first, and then make a decision."

"There is no time." Luo Pingyuan said, it is already the right time, if you send a letter to King Jing, it will take a long time to go back and forth.

He thought about it, Huangjue Temple is currently not allowed to enter, if he trespasses but fails to catch the bandits, it is inevitable that King An or others will read a book in front of the king, even if it is planned by the emperor brother, it will be embarrassing.So he said, "It's the best way for me to go and find out. I can't send Jing Yuwei without evidence, otherwise I will give someone else's testimony; and the gangsters have hostages, so I don't worry about sending others. Now I can only go in by myself." Take into account. In case something happens, it will not be difficult to report to the emperor later."

"The situation in the temple is unpredictable, even if you want to investigate, there must be a response." Xi Minghua saw that he insisted, so he had to retreat and settle for the next best thing.

This statement is indeed reasonable, and even the four personal guards of King Ning showed their approval.If the robbers were really hiding in it, it would be dangerous for King Ning to save people by himself.

"Naturally, I won't just show off the bravery of a man." Luo Pingyuan said, he was really aroused by the actions of the Kunlun Mansion just now, but now he has gradually calmed down.

"Ge Jun and Zheng Xian went to the guard station to report to Deputy Commander Shen, and asked him to mobilize his men to ambush outside the temple and keep silent. I carry a firework signal with me. If there are indeed thieves inside, I will use this as a signal to let them Come to help. Nie Sheng and Merlin are with me."

Several personal guards had followed King Ning for several months, and they were already familiar with his temperament. Once they made a decision and never changed it, the two guards immediately took orders and set off for Jingyu Guard.

"A Yuan, you heard everything, go and report to Brother Huang." Luo Pingyuan said again. He wanted to tell King Jing not to worry, and he would try his best to rescue the Huashan disciples, but when the two guards were present, he took the A few words were swallowed back.

He bowed his hands towards Xi Minghua, walked out of Hanxiaozhai, and found Shuang Jiang and Bai Lu following behind.

"Your Highness, be more careful." Shuang Jiang wiped his eyes and said.

The two little servants had been busy just now, Bai Lu's face was full of grief and anger, Shuangjiang's eyes were filled with tears, the whole group of little servants in the mansion were very good, now that Mangzhong was seriously injured, it must have brought them a great impact.

Luo Pingyuan patted Shuangjiang's head: "Don't worry, this debt will definitely be recovered." Without further words, he hurried out, got on his horse and left.

Huangjue Temple is located near Zhenhai Gate on the north side of Luo City, and there are less than three hours left before Shenshi. Even if Jiang Han and Wei Qing can be found and rescued, Feng Jingyi needs to be notified in time.Concerned in Luo Pingyuan's heart, he urged the dark clouds to step on the snow, and ran northwards all the way through the smoke and dust.

What he didn't know was that on a street in the opposite direction, Ge Jun and Zheng Xianzheng, who were rushing to the Jingyu Guard with the order of King Ning, were stopped by two carriages rushing out of the slant, and they were almost bumped. superior.The two reined in their horses and wanted to ask questions, when seven or eight fierce men got out of the car, without any explanation, they stepped forward and surrounded them, punched and kicked them, and the leader scolded: "Where did the things that don't have long eyes come from, take them back Clean it up and let it out."

The two guards were not weak in skills, but they soon realized that this group of people spoke and dressed like street thugs, but they all had martial arts, and their moves were fierce and sophisticated, which was hard to resist.

When ordinary people saw this kind of battle, they were all scared and ran away.But after a cup of tea, the two guards were restrained and thrown into the carriage. The carriage drove away, leaving the horse without its owner in the street.