Sword·Qinxin

The Imperial City Chapter 6 The Old Lady

Three years ago, Xu Wanyan, Xu Shangshu's daughter, entered the palace and was loved by thousands of people. Soon after, she became pregnant. The Holy Majesty was overjoyed and ordered to build the Yongcheng Palace as a gift to Concubine Xu.It's a pity that the good times didn't last long. Half a year later, Concubine Xu Gui accidentally gave birth, and Ronghua was no longer there.

Concubine Xu Gui was concentrating, and she was sitting in the hall embroidered with a dragon and phoenix showing auspiciousness.

Cuixi, the court lady in charge, led an elder outside the hall, Cuixi bowed to Concubine Xu, and said, "I want to report to your empress, Master Xu, please see me."

Xu Shangshu stepped forward and said: "I see the imperial concubine and empress."

Concubine Xu Gui raised her head to see the person coming, she showed a rare smile, she got up and greeted her, "Father, why don't you be so polite, please sit down quickly. Daddy is coming to visit my daughter for a long time, and my daughter is very happy."

Seeing Xu Shangshu and Concubine Xu sitting down, the maid served tea and left the palace.

Xu Shangshu looked at Concubine Xu Gui, sighed softly: "Long time no see, you are getting haggard again."

Concubine Xu Gui smiled lightly: "Daddy, my daughter is fine, you don't have to worry about it."

Xu Shangshu sighed: "Father knows that you are filial, but you have to take care of yourself. Although you have a pure nature, the harem has always been a place where right and wrong are competing for favor. Since there is no emperor's heir..."

"Father." Concubine Xu Gui interrupted Xu Shangshu's words, her eyes dimmed, "My daughter is guilty of failing to keep the emperor's heir, the Holy Majesty does not want to see my daughter, and my daughter has admitted..."

Xu Shangshu listened and shook his head: "You child...you always take care of everything by yourself...you are still young, why don't you have children, but the Holy Majesty dotes on Concubine Pang all day long, and I will still remember you in my heart... "

"father……"

Concubine Xu Gui's eyes welled up with tears, the Holy Majesty has never set foot in Yongcheng Palace since he lost his heir.The glory and favor of the past are all gone.

"I would like to report to your empress, Qing'er was ordered by Princess Yuyang to come and pick up some embroidery patterns."

Qing'er's arrival relieved the sad atmosphere in the hall in due time, Concubine Xu stood up and said: "Look at my memory, I almost forgot the picture of Princess Yuyang."

Xu Shangshu said with a smile: "My daughter's embroidery skills are amazing, even the Queen Mother likes it very much."

Speaking of Xu Guifei's embroidery skills, Xu Shangshu's face was filled with pride.Back then when Xu Wanyan had not yet entered the palace, she once embroidered a picture of a hundred birds facing the phoenix and presented it to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother liked it very much, so she praised it in front of the Holy Majesty. After receiving the Sacred Heart, Xu Wanyan was summoned into the palace and made a noble concubine.

Concubine Xu Gui smiled shyly: "Daddy, don't make fun of your daughter. Daddy will sit down for a meeting, and my daughter will come back as soon as she goes."

Xu Shangshu got up and said: "No, I have been here for a long time as my father, and it's time to go back. Go and do your work, there is no need to send it off."

Qing'er took the pattern and left Yongcheng Palace. After walking for a long time, he saw Xu Shangshu waiting in front.

Qing'er stepped forward and bowed: "This servant has seen Mr. Xu."

Xu Shangshu smiled and said: "Get up. I have something to ask you."

Qing'er said, "My lord, please tell me."

Xu Shangshu said: "On the Empress Dowager's birthday, Princess Yuyang sang a song, which made her very happy. I heard that the Princess invited a piano master from outside the palace to teach her. Is there such a thing?"

Qing'er said: "Report to my lord, there is indeed such a thing."

Xu Shangshu said: "It seems that this qin master is quite good at playing the piano. I also want to invite this qin master to play music for my mother. Please tell me about the qin master."

Qing'er said: "It's my lord. I heard from the princess that the luthier met outside the palace by chance. The princess called her Miss Yunying. She looks like 21 or [-]. She looks very good-looking. Although Qing'er doesn't know the rhythm, but Listening to her playing the piano is very pleasant."

Xu Shangshu said: "Oh? What's so special about the girl I met outside the palace?"

special?Qing'er shook her head: "I don't think so."

Xu Shangshu said: "If you think about it carefully, you can use whatever you wear."

"You can wear it..." Qing'er followed Xu Shangshu's words and thought for a moment, then said: "Your maidservant has thought of it, Miss Yunying has a very unique bracelet on her wrist."

Xu Shangshu asked: "Bracelet? What's so special?"

Qing'er said: "The bracelet is not made of jade, the color is very strange, Qing'er has never seen it before. Qing'er once asked the girl curiously, but the girl only said that it was her father's relic, and didn't mention it much."

Xu Shangshu frowned, stroked his long beard and remained silent.

Seeing this, Qing'er said, "The princess still needs servants to serve her, and the servants will leave first."

In the southwest corner of the imperial city, at the end of the quiet and long, willow-shaded streets and alleys, a pair of majestic and majestic lions on stone piers, and the back courtyard with flying eaves and brackets, painted pillars and carved beams, are quite spectacular.

Here, King Rong's Mansion.

Xu Shangshu followed a well-dressed man through several pavilions, turned around in corridors and came to Ning Suyuan, a hut deep in the inner courtyard.

The old man in brocade clothes in the house was scribbling pen and ink in front of the red sandalwood table with a concentrated expression.

Xu Shangshu bowed to the old man in brocade clothes and said: "My minister sees the prince."

King Rong stopped his hands, put down his pen, raised his eyes and asked, "Did Master Xu come today to bring news to this king?"

Xu Shangshu nodded in response, and then truthfully reported the news found in the palace.

King Rong stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back. Through the red sandalwood carved window lattice, his thoughts gradually drifted away like white clouds in the distance...

Xidinghou Mansion 16 years ago

The clouds are dark, the thunder explodes, and the thunderbolt from the nine heavens is about to tear apart the bones.

The huge courtyard was littered with corpses. Soldiers with spears were turning over the corpses to see if there were any survivors. If they felt suspicious, they mercilessly stabbed them.

A man in military uniform patrolled the courtyard and said loudly: "Count up the number of people, don't miss any one."

A soldier stepped forward and cupped his fists and said, "General Qi, there are 120 people in total, and they are all dead."

After hearing the report, the man in military uniform turned around and walked into the hall, and said to the man in brocade at the head of the hall, "My lord, all 120 people in the Hou's residence have been executed."

In the hall, a white-robed man was bound and kneeling on the ground. His body was covered with bruises, and his robe was stained red with blood. He stared at the brocade-clothed man sitting above him, and said in a resentful voice, "Why did you do this? What are your intentions?"

The man in brocade clothes said with a nonchalant smile: "This king is only acting according to the order. The Marquis of Xiding colluded with the enemy and conspired against him, and all his families were executed!"

"You are talking nonsense! You framed me!" The white-robed man yelled and struggled to get up. Seeing that he was trying to resist, the two soldiers beside him stretched out their hands and pressed him heavily to the ground.

The man in brocade clothes shook his head and said with a smile: "The secret letter of collaborating with the enemy submitted to the Holy Majesty is written by you yourself and has your seal of the Marquis of Xiding. How can it be said that this king framed you?"

The white-robed man denied it: "Impossible! I've never done it before. Where did the handwritten letter come from? You must have forged evidence to frame me!"

The man in brocade clothes let out a long laugh: "Your words are wrong. Even the Holy Majesty saw the secret letter and believed it was from you. What you said just now is already contemptuous of the Holy Majesty, and the crime is aggravated."

The man in white robe shouted: "I want to see the Holy Majesty! I have never done it! I want to confront him face to face!"

The man in brocade clothes stood up, pointed at the man in white robe and said, "Bold Marquis Xi Ding, the Holy Majesty will not allow you to see him as soon as you say you will! Today, this king has obeyed the Holy Majesty's order and ransacked the whole house of the Marquis, as a warning to others."

There was a sudden commotion outside the hall, and the soldiers rushed towards the backyard one after another: "Who is it? Hurry up!"

A soldier trotted into the hall and came to report: "My lord, a masked man escaped from the mansion with a baby girl. His subordinates are fully pursuing them."

The black clouds turned black, the showers did not stop, and the flowers fell in disorder.

The ink marks on the paper were dry, and King Rong said lightly: "21... If his five-year-old daughter is still alive, she should be at this age."

After a moment of silence, Rong Wanglang laughed: "I didn't expect that girl to become that person's subordinate. God help me."

The well-dressed man asked: "My lord, do you want to take that woman back?"

King Rong said: "No, it is not appropriate for that person to know about this matter."

The well-dressed man asked, "What does the lord mean?"

King Rong said: "Surveillance."

After Xu Shangshu heard other orders and left the mansion, King Rong entered the dark room with a man dressed in a strong outfit. As soon as he entered the dark room, what appeared in front of him was a cold sword, which was quietly placed on the table. Ugin.

King Rong walked to the case, took off the sword, reached out and touched the blade lightly, and a shallow scar was drawn on his index finger.

"Your Majesty..." the man in the costume exclaimed in a low voice.

"For so many years, this king thought that there would be no chance to find it again, but he never expected... Hehe, Ling Yifeng, but are you guiding this king in the dark?..."

Flicking the blade of the sword lightly, the long sword let out a low groan, which resounded throughout the room.

Like weeping, like complaining.

Bao Zheng waited for six days and finally got a reply.

Bao Zheng put the letter on the case, stood up and said, "Half a year ago, when Ding Xiaoyi returned to Beijing to report on his duties, King Rong invited him to a banquet, and singing and dancing were indispensable at the banquet. between."

Gongsun Ce said: "It seems that King Rong has spent a lot of thought."

Zhan Zhao said: "This matter is indeed related to King Rong."

Bao Zheng looked at Zhan Zhao and asked, "What did Zhan Wei discover in the past few days?"

Zhan Zhao said: "My lord, when I visited the palace for the past few days and nights, I found that the dancer had a close relationship with the manager of the palace, and even... even had an unusual relationship."

Bao Zheng pondered for a moment, and said: "I remember that General Xu once said that the writing on the letter paper is in Liao script. According to my inference, the dancer girl is just the eyeliner arranged by King Rong in Hejian. The spies of the Liao Kingdom should have other reasons. people."

Gongsun Ce said: "My lord is referring to... Mr. Ma?"

Bao Zheng shook his head: "This government is not sure yet."

Zhan Zhao said: "My lord, it's better for the subordinates to meet this person, if he is really a spy of the Liao Kingdom, there must be some flaws."

Bao Zheng nodded and said: "It has to be like this, Zhanwei is careful in everything."

Zhan Zhao, dressed in nocturnal attire, jumped over several courtyards to the house of Manager Ma in the backyard.

When he came here just now, he had checked around and saw Manager Ma in the kitchen. At this moment, there was no one in the house, so he sneaked in quietly.The furnishings in the house are extremely simple, Zhan Zhao searched the bed and some desks but found nothing, and instead fumbled in the closet.

The inner layer of the closet was cold to the touch, and when I took it out to have a look, it turned out to be a hooked silver gun with Liao characters engraved on the handle.

It really is him!

Slight footsteps came from far to near, Zhan Zhao felt the movement outside the house, so he put the silver gun in place, turned around and jumped onto the beam, slowed down his breath, and waited for the opportunity to move.

After a while, Ma Teng walked into the house. Without lighting the lamp, he skillfully picked up things around, took out his silver gun and went out through the window.

There are no stars and moons in the night, and everything is silent.

Zhan Zhao followed Ma Teng to an abandoned thatched hut in the outer suburbs. Ma Teng looked around vigilantly before entering.Zhan Zhao approached quietly, watching every move in the house with bated breath.

Ma Teng skillfully lifted the rags from the ground, and a secret door appeared under the rags. He took out a small cloth bag from his arms and put it inside, then closed the secret door, spread the rags, and got up and left as before.

"Hey..." The birds flying by in the distance startled the two people here.

Ma Teng sensed that there were other people here, he raised his left hand and threw out the hidden weapon, he jumped up, and the silver spear directly hit the person outside the house.Zhan Zhao turned sideways and blocked the blow with his scabbard.

When Ma Teng saw the person coming, he was surprised and said, "Zhan Zhao of Kaifeng Mansion?"

Zhan Zhao said: "That's right, Director Ma, you really are a spy of the Liao Kingdom, you just arrested and followed me to see Master Bao."

Ma Teng snorted softly: "Then we have to see if you have the ability!"

The silver gun was shining, and the hidden weapons were flying across the sky. This person shot fiercely, aiming at the vital points.Zhan Zhaoyuan is not a person who does not leave any room for attack, but seeing this person's attack is swift and fierce, he must make a quick decision, he thought about it, the sword light was like lightning, he made several killing moves in succession, the silver spear was invincible, and flew away from his palm.

With the sword point on Ma Teng's neck, Zhan Zhao said in a deep voice, "Follow me to see Mr. Bao."

Ma Teng snorted coldly, "Dream!" In an instant, blood overflowed from his lips.

Zhan Zhao was startled, but before he could react, he saw that his body fell heavily, and he stretched out his hand to check his breath, but there was no breath left.

Ma Teng committed suicide by biting off the poison sac, but Zhan Zhao didn't expect it, and the witness was dead, so he had to take away the silver gun and the small cloth bag as physical evidence.

Seeing Zhan Zhao's return, Bao Zheng had mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. He was happy that the spies had been punished, but he was worried that he didn't know how many such spies were lurking in the Song Dynasty.

Bao Zheng opened the small cloth bag, and inside was a handwritten roster, which Gongsun Ce recognized as Zhou Yiquan's handwriting.

Bao Zheng sighed and said, "It seems that the Holy Majesty's deduction is correct. King Rong really colluded with the Liao people. It's just that such evidence is far from enough..."

Gongsun Ce looked through the register carefully, and seemed to sense something, and smelled it closely, and said, "My lord, there is a faint fragrance on this register."

Bao Zheng took the roster and smelled it, and said: "Boss Ma has a close relationship with the dancer, perhaps because of the scent of the dancer's rouge. Now that the matter in Hejian has come to an end, we will leave for Beijing tomorrow."

That night, Xu Meng died in the army tent, piercing his heart with a sword.

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