The last time the two sides met, they were facing each other, wishing to stab each other to death with one sword, but this time they did not hesitate to say, "We are people on the same boat." The world is so strange and unpredictable. While Wen Heng felt absurd, he was also curious. He wanted to see what was the reason for the nine adults with eyes above the top to turn his face like a book, so he took the initiative to ask him for help.
Perhaps it was because his expression was too poised, the Nine Masters couldn't help but ask, "Looking at your appearance, you don't seem surprised. What do you already know?"
Wen Heng replied unhurriedly: "I don't know, but I can guess a little bit. You can talk about it first. If I guess wrong, I may be even more surprised."
The nine masters had learned his cleverness, and without detouring, he said bluntly: "I told you last time that King Qing died in Yongcuizhai, and it was His Majesty who ordered Feng Baoyi to kill him with his own hands. The so-called 'rebellious and treason' is of course It doesn't exist, but the crime of deceiving the king is a real iron case, and it is precisely because the truth is exposed that it leads to death."
"How to say?"
"Forty years ago, the late emperor was besieged by a group of people with strong martial arts when he was taking a summer vacation in Chiquan Palace. At that time, the situation was very critical. It was Feng Baoyi who was born and rescued the late emperor, and was therefore trusted by the late emperor. Ranked among the top masters in the big inner circle. Although people in the rivers and lakes are mixed and act out of line, this is something that everyone has known for a long time, but because of the assassination in the palace, the first emperor Longyan was furious and realized that these people who knew martial arts were neither obedient nor disobedient. Being taught is really terrifying. If the Jianghu gangs are allowed to take hold, they will inevitably shake the foundation of the court and threaten the Wen family's ten thousand years of history.
"Feng Baoyi was born in the Kunlun Buxu Palace. He noticed the worries of the late emperor, so he spoke to the late emperor in private, saying that Buxu Palace is the sect of martial arts in the world. The secrets of martial arts, if you want to control the martial arts in the Central Plains, you must first master these secrets in the hands of the imperial court."
Wen Heng said, "Has the late emperor believed?"
"Almost," said Jiu Da Ren, "according to the clues provided by Feng Baoyi, the late emperor chose a person who could be trusted and sent him to the hometown of Buxu Palace that Feng Baoyi said to investigate the details. A year later, this person brought him with him. Returning an ancient sword, it proves that what Feng Baoyi said is true, there is indeed an underground palace hidden under the local hill."
"Yueyingshan, Chunjun Sword, the person who steals the sword is named Nie Zhu, the only disciple of Gu Chuifang of the Chunjun faction." Wen Heng said, "The person you are talking about is my father, right?"
Xue Qinglan lost his voice: "What?"
Master Jiu's brows twitched heavily, never expecting the person who should be most shocked to actually give the answer by himself. However, Wen Heng's tone was quite calm, and even had a peculiar meaning of relief: "More than 30 years ago, my father Wang took the pseudonym Nie Zhu and worshipped under the Chunjun Gate, and was highly valued by the elder Gu Chuifang of Linqiufeng. , did not hesitate to reveal the secrets of the underground palace to him; in the mid-autumn year of the following year, while there was no one on the mountain, Nie Zhu sneaked into the underground palace and stole the Chunjun sword. My father never mentioned this to anyone, even if Gu Chuifang betrayed him because of his betrayal. , he has been self-proclaimed in the ground all his life, and he has not leaked a word."
Even Xue Qinglan didn't know that before today, this conclusion had been deduced countless times in Wen Heng's mind. The entanglement of grievances and grievances for the past 30 years, it turned out that the first stroke had been made before he was born, but he had passed away, and he had nowhere to ask for an answer, so he had to peel off his old wounds with his own hands, almost masochistically one by one. inspection, and pieced together this result called his mixed taste.
Then Wen Heng discovered that compared to other people's lives, his pain seemed so insignificant, and even speaking out was a ridiculous blasphemy, so he had nowhere to complain, so he had to silently break away these useless emotions. Crushed, and swallowed bit by bit with the effort.
How can the truth not be moving? It's just that he has no more blood to shed.
The familiar sense of frustration swept through his heart again, and the nine masters looked at his calm eyebrows and laughed a little to himself: "You guessed it right, it seems that I made a mistake today and did not bring any news that would satisfy the prince."
Wen Heng's fingertips on his knee suddenly became hot, and it was Xue Qinglan who took his hand from under the table, as if some kind of silent and firm comfort. Wen Heng's heart softened by his grip, and his overly stern aura silently subsided and softened, like a frozen spring suddenly being swept away by the spring breeze, his attitude towards Master Jiu was actually much better: "It doesn't matter. I guessed only one or two of them, and there must be a lot of inside information among them, adults can tell them slowly."
Nine masters are also delicate and alert people, how can they not see the small movements under their desks? He secretly thought in his heart that the rumors were true, and the two of them had gotten to one place, but his face remained calm, he took a sip of tea and continued: "King Qing was ordered by the late emperor, and after he obtained the Chunjun sword, he continued to go out to the capital to look for it. The remaining two ancient swords. After another year, he handed back the Xuanyuan sword, but it was unpredictable. Not long after the prince returned to Beijing, the late emperor suddenly fell ill, and Long Yubintian. Now His Majesty has hurriedly ascended the throne, and he has a lot to do with the inner guard. He did not rely on trust as much as before, so Feng Bao’s words could not be fulfilled, so the search for the sword was temporarily put on hold, and the prince was able to take a breather, marry the only daughter of Meng Fengcheng’s Wanlaimen Liu, and left the capital smoothly to take up his post at the border of Lianzhou.”
"It wasn't until five years later that His Majesty summoned King Qing back to Beijing. It was during this trip that the prince was born in Baoan Temple on the outskirts of Beijing. During these five years, Feng Baoyi regained His Majesty's trust and was looking for a third one. The heavy responsibility of Gu Jian has fallen back on the shoulders of the prince, but this time it was not as smooth as the previous two times."
He paused for a while, and Xue Qinglan replied, "Twenty-three years ago, there was a civil strife in the Chuixing Sect. The main altar built at the foot of Luwei Mountain was bombed, and the tens of thousands of treasures and secrets in the sect were all destroyed by a landslide."
Wen Heng glanced at him sideways.
The Nine Masters nodded and said, "That's right. The Weeping Star Sect was subverted, and of course the ancient sword no longer exists. Feng Baoyi had no choice but to give up the plan to collect the ancient sword, and instead concentrated on the operation of the court. He helped His Majesty rectify the inner guard. , rearranged the nine masters, and secretly dealt with a group of Jianghu martial arts—the Central Plains martial arts seem to be prosperous in the past ten years, in fact, many small martial arts have disappeared silently, leaving only the few deep-rooted martial arts. It's easy to tidy up, so I don't move it for the time being. However, Junjie, who is also aware of current affairs among these people, realized early that the court intends to eliminate the forces of Jianghu. aside."
"Do you still remember the battle that made you famous in the capital at the banquet of Princess Dongyang?" Jiu Da Ren said, "Since then, the Chu family's sword faction has been trying to contact the imperial court, but it's a pity that you were caught by you as soon as it emerged. Calling one of the guards to fight made him unable to lift his head, and even made His Royal Highness King Qing noticed their small movements, so the Chu Family Sword Sect could only withdraw all their staff in the capital, temporarily put away their plans to enter the capital, and dared not act rashly."
"It doesn't make sense either," Wen Heng said. "The Chu family's sword faction intends to join forces. Why did my father stop them? Isn't he with Feng Baoyi?"
"I'm here today because I want to tell this story to the prince." The nine masters sipped the tea to moisten their throats and said slowly, "The ancient sword of Siyou Mountain Palace is called 'Xuanyuan', and it was taken by the prince himself when the late emperor was on the throne. In the past 20 years, no one has ever doubted its authenticity. Until a certain day seven years ago, Chu Song, the patriarch of the Chu Family Sword Sect, was entering the palace to face the Holy Spirit. In order to show his sincerity, he presented to His Majesty the treasures of the Chu Family for a long time. The Xuanyuan Sword - the real 'Xuanyuan Sword'."
"According to Chu Songzheng, King Qing accidentally missed his hand when he sneaked into Siyou Mountain for the second time to steal the sword, and was smashed by Chu Guangchen, who was the head of the Chu family at the time. Chu Guangchen was the master of Guangfeng Jiyue. I had a long conversation with him in secret, and I don’t know what the two of them said, but in the end, the prince gave up the Xuanyuan sword and only took away the rubbing of the pattern on the sword.”
"The last thing the lord handed over was a fake sword that he had compared to the rubbing and re-cast. Because it was so realistic, even Feng Baoyi didn't find it strange. If the Chu family's sword sect had no other thoughts, this secret could have been kept."
From the standpoint of future generations, King Qing's move actually rescued the Chu family's sword faction. If Feng Baoyi had obtained the three ancient swords early, the purge against the martial arts in the Central Plains should have started twenty years ago. At that time, the Chunjun faction, the Chu family sword faction, and the Chuixing School would have to bear the brunt of it. hurt.
It is a pity that the Chu Family Sword Sect finally lived up to the stolen 20 years. They handed over the Xuanyuan Sword and killed King Qing with their own hands.
The Xuanyuan sword is fake, and the Fengyue sword in the legend "lost its whereabouts" is naturally also fake. This lie even made Feng Bao doubt the authenticity of the pair of Chunjun swords, at the risk of being discovered. The Chu family sword faction stole the Chunjun sword again.
True and false, false and true, among the countless convoluted lies, only King Qing left a bloody stroke. He once lived up to the deep kindness and friendship of others, and finally lost his life due to the betrayal of his allies; he is not a pure Jianghu person, but as a royal nobleman, he has been responsible for a group of irrelevant Jianghu grass for 20 years.
I don't know if he ever regretted the "chivalry" he paid wrong for a moment when he was pierced by Xuan Yuan's sword? When the lie was shattered and the butcher's knife fell, whose shadow flashed in his mind? Is it the behind-the-scenes mastermind who pushed him to where he is today, or a survivor who was sheltered under his wings, or a stepping stone that had no grievances, but was stepped on by him and never got up again in his life
If he has a spirit in the sky and sees his only bone and blood standing at a similar fork in the road again, facing the same choice, how would he feel in his heart
At this point, Wen Heng had nowhere to ask the answer, and he didn't need to ask any more.
Xue Qinglan looked at his excessively quiet expression worriedly, and couldn't help but softly called him, "Brother Heng?"
"It's okay." Wen Heng patted his hand and whispered, "I knew this earlier, I shouldn't have only cut off Chu Songzheng's left hand last time, and it was cheaper for him."
The truth of the blood feud that had been buried for many years was pierced by a knife, and he was still able to maintain his composure. He was not overwhelmed by anger, and he did not lose his temper to make an impulsive decision. The Nine Masters almost admired him. But his goal has not yet been achieved, and he has to add fire to Wen Heng, so the conversation changed, and suddenly he brought up an irrelevant topic: "Sir, I have been in the inner guard for more than ten years and have been ordered to monitor Xun Xun. The noble clan, civil and military officials, but they didn't recognize you twice, do you know why?"
"why?"
"King Qing's martial arts are outstanding, and the concubine is from a famous family. The child born by such a couple should have extraordinary talent and family background, and will definitely become a generation of masters in the future. The emperor relies heavily on internal guards, but Feng Baoyi, after all Whether it is an outsider, or my own family, it is more reassuring to use, Prince Qing should be a perfect candidate." The nine masters smiled and said meaningfully, "But you are a diseased child with a blocked meridian, and you are not worthy of the inner guard's attention... Even if you showed some other talents later on, it was not enough to make the emperor feel more afraid of you. After you escaped, His Majesty only sent Lu Qingzhong and Li Qi to hunt them down. Lu Qingzhong was defeated by the abbot Huitong of Baoan Temple. The seven deaths were under Xue Ci's hand, and they have nothing to do with you. The prince pretended to be too good, so even Feng Baoyi didn't take your life and death to heart."
"If the prince had been safe and healthy from childhood, I'm afraid he would not have survived today. This inability to practice martial arts is precisely the key to saving your life and keeping you away from danger. But seeing the prince today, I suddenly felt that maybe at the beginning Everyone was deceived, even the prince himself was kept in the dark."
Wen Heng clenched Xue Qinglan's hand under the table, frowned, and asked, "What do you want to say?"
The nine masters were not in a hurry, and said leisurely: "I am here today to ask the prince to take action, I don't know what I can use to impress you, fame, fortune and wealth, I am afraid that the prince will not look down on it, and it is useless to talk to you about old friendship and friendship. In this case, I I can only take a gamble, please, for the sake of Wang Ye and Wang Fei’s love and kindness, follow me into Beijing to kill Feng Baoyi, take revenge, and comfort Wang Ye and Wang Fei in the spirit of heaven.”
The hidden meaning behind these words made Wen Heng suddenly fall into silence. He pondered for a long time, until Xue Qinglan even thought he was thinking about how to kill Master Nine, Wen Heng suddenly asked, "What about you?"
"what?"
"What are you willing to take the odd risk to run for the prince?"
The nine adults were stunned.
He met Wen Heng's eyes, and those eyes were as quiet as a pool of cold water. There were so many emotions that he couldn't understand, but he was not curious.
He suddenly realized that he had talked too much, and he had forgotten how sensitive Wen Heng was. When Wen Heng asked this question, it meant that he had already vaguely guessed the answer in his heart, and he just waited for his attitude to prove it, and he was stunned for a moment, almost equivalent to telling Wen Heng the answer directly.
He asked, "What did I say wrong?"
"You ask me, 'Do you still remember your surname?'" Wen Heng said indifferently, "I am a rebellious remnant. Most people don't ask me that. Only you seem to care about this surname. In addition, you said 'Feng Bao' just now. One is an outsider after all, so my family can use it more at ease', so I guess you have some other relationship with the Wen family, right?"
In front of him, the Nine Masters couldn't really laugh, and barely curled the corners of his lips, pretending to answer calmly, "Yes."
"I am the brother of the Crown Prince, the second son of His Majesty, the biological mother is unknown, in terms of seniority, he should be your cousin." He lowered his eyes and said calmly, "After all, this world is the world of the Wen family, although I don't know how. Go grab that position, but you mustn't take the surname Feng for cheap."