Three days later, Xie Mansion.
Shan Chao opened his eyes from meditation and looked at the white cell wall.
Since Xie Yun passed out in a coma at the gate of Ci'en Temple three days ago, he was ordered to touch eight acupuncture points all over his body by the imperial guards, and he was forcibly "invited" to be detained in Xie's mansion. It was the little girl who came to deliver the meal.
Other than that, no one came to visit him, and no one came to interrogate him. It seemed that everyone suddenly forgot about him, and Xie Yun didn't even show his face.
Shan Chao once guessed that Xie Yun's life was in danger after being poisoned, and that's why there was a brief calm before the storm;
The only thing that can be observed is that Xie Mansion is extravagant, which is indeed rare.
Not to mention the hanging flower arches and corridors through the mountains that he saw when he was half-detained and half-"invited" to enter the mansion, but the underground darkroom where he was held was spacious and tidy, with clean bedding, and even thick stone floors. Thick red blanket. Except that the place where the gate was supposed to be was tightly locked by a wooden fence, this cell was even better than the monk's cell he lived in in Ci'en Temple.
As for the food, no one deliberately abused it. Every meal has three dishes and one soup, but there is no taboo about meat and fish. Although Shan Chao is a monk now, his instincts are not against eating meat, and in order to accumulate strength and break free from acupuncture points, he has been silent for the past three days and eats whatever he gives.
When he was locked up on the first day, there were people who came to watch the door from time to time, but Shan Chao seemed to be very calm in any environment. The black-clothed monk meditates every day besides eating, sleeping, and looks like a silent stone statue to outsiders, not even moving for several hours.
The guard also knew that the eight heavy acupuncture points on his body were blocked, and he couldn't use force at all, so he relaxed.
On the second day and the third day, no one patrolled outside the cell, except for the little girl who came to deliver the meals on time, the basement was quiet, not a single sound was heard.
On the evening of the third day, there was the sound of a key opening the iron chain at the door, and Shan Chao opened his eyes.
The little girl came in with a food box and looked at him warily. Seeing this young and capable monk meditating silently as usual, she walked lightly to the table and put down the food box with her back to Shan Chao.
At this moment, Shan Chao got up suddenly - no one thought when he had opened most of the acupoints, and saw him quietly and like lightning, the first step was to stay on the bed, the second step was to step on the ground, and he came like a ghost Behind the little girl, a palm cut to the back of her neck!
The little girl's almond eyes widened, and she fainted on the ground without even making a sound.
Shan Chao checked quickly and made sure that she was just passed out, so he safely carried her to the bed and covered her with a blanket, pretending that he was sleeping.
The iron lock on the wooden fence has been unlocked. Shan Chao walked out of the cell and saw that there was no one in the corridor that was several feet deep outside. of. Shan Chao climbed to the top of the wooden ladder, and there was a trap door above his head. As soon as he opened the gap, a ray of candlelight came in.
escaped
It's that simple
Shan Chao froze on the wooden ladder, almost in a dilemma for a moment, hesitating whether to push the door out, when suddenly he heard a deep and deep male voice from outside: "Commander Xie is worthy of being a slayer from the secret sect. Invasion. The crown prince is dying in the East Palace, but you have almost recovered."
— Yuwen Tiger!
In a short moment, Shan Chao's thoughts turned: Why is it that Xie Yun and Yu Wenhu are meeting outside? Could it be that the basement leads directly to Xie's study
Furthermore, what is a dead man from the secret door? What exactly did Yu Wenhu want to say when he visited Xie's mansion
Shan Chao gently concealed the secret door, so that the gap would not be easily noticed by others, and also ensured that the sound from outside could be transmitted into the tunnel. Sure enough, Xie Yun spoke after a while, and for some reason, his voice was a little hoarse: "Xie is just feeling cold occasionally, General Yuwen has something to say, don't waste time... If you come to visit the sick, your friendship with me is far from that level , you can go now."
— This attitude of refusal can be described as cold.
However, unexpectedly, Yu Wenhu didn't get angry, and didn't even have the slightest sense of resentment: "Commander Xie, don't misunderstand me. If it's just for visiting patients, I will turn around and leave after taking a look. I won't be cheeky. This entangled."
He paused and continued:
"Today's visit is because the empress ordered Commander Xie to poison you in the sour fruit soup of Ci'en Temple, and it was detected."
In the tunnel, Shan Chao's hand holding the secret door tightened, and the back of his hand burst out with veins!
I saw the candlelight flickering outside, and after a moment of silence, Xie Yun lazily said: "I don't understand what you said. The crown prince was poisoned because Liu Xujie fed him a red crest. There are all witnesses and evidences for this. What's the matter with sour fruit soup?"
In the majestic study of the Xie Mansion, Yu Wenhu stood in the middle hall with his hands behind his back, staring at Xie Yun with piercing eyes. The side hangs down to the chest.
From Yu Wenhu's perspective, he could only see his soft chin, which was mostly blocked by his hair.
"The sour fruit soup was originally supposed to be non-toxic. Liu Xujie and other Donggong party members used the characteristics of kiwi fruit to plan the poisoning case. The original goal was to blame Empress Wu; and the original plan to poison the prince should have been diluted with water. The double crane crest red, the prince had already taken it before he came to Ci'en Temple."
Yu Wenhu moved away from staring at Xie Yun, turned to look at the dancing candles on the desk, and said: "If the plan goes well, the prince will be poisoned after drinking the sour fruit soup, and the silver needle will detect that the soup is poisonous. Lianhua rescued the prince, and then found the queen's belongings from the monk's room... The Holy Majesty originally had the intention of abolishing the queen, coupled with this seamless case of framing and poisoning, the queen's party can be completely overthrown, and from then on Do not turn over."
"However, Liu Xujie has calculated thousands of times, but he missed one."
"Whispers of the poisoning case leaked before it was carried out, so the queen and you decided to plan and put the poison in the sour fruit soup, planning to make a fake show and kill the prince."
Xie Yun snorted, and put the teacup back on the table casually: "Nonsense. Where's the evidence?"
Yu Wenhu said: "The evidence is that although you smashed the jade bowl, the traces of dried sour fruit soup on the gold bricks of the Buddhist hall are still there. After you left in a hurry, I asked a dog to lick the traces and debris. Instant death from poison..."
"But the monk is fine, and I'm safe, how can this be explained?"
Yu Wenhu took a step forward and asked back: "I don't know what happened to the monk, are you really safe and sound?"
Xie Yun raised his head in an instant, but it was too late—Yu Wenhu strode forward, approaching like lightning, Xie Yun raised his hand to block, but his movements were delayed for a moment.
The two of them fought against each other for several moves, Xie Yun was exhausted, Yu Wenhu grabbed the skirt of his clothes and lifted him abruptly, and then—
Boom!
The impact was heavy and loud, and Xie Yun was pressed against the wall!
The distance between the two of them was only a few inches, and Yu Wenhu didn't seem to expect it to be so easy. He pressed the front of Xie Yun's robe with one hand, and was stunned for an instant.
Xie Yun's face behind the mask was expressionless, he grabbed a pot of cold tea on the table next to him, and splashed it on Yu Wenhu's face!
The whole movement happened consecutively. Yu Wenhu was caught off guard and was splashed with cold water all over his face. He trembled and let go of his conditioned reflex, and then he was kicked half a foot away by Xie Yun.
Yu Wenhu staggered back and stood still, panting for a few times, then slowly got up and said: "Xie Yun, you..."
Xie Yun straightened his clothes and fastened his belt slowly, his movements and voice were calm: "How?"
"...Your true energy is exhausted, and your internal energy is empty. It has obviously been poisoned into the dantian. Now you—"
"Even if it is." Xie Yun said impatiently, "Even if the sour fruit soup is poisonous, it is also given by the monks of Ci'en Temple. What does it matter to me? If you have the ability, go to the imperial prelude and kill the monks in the entire Ci'en Temple to compensate the prince. Fate, who stopped you!"
He went straight to the desk and swept all the cups, plates, paper and pens to the ground with a flick of his sleeve. There were only a few crackling sounds, and the fragments even splashed half of Yuwenhu's skirt.
This appearance made Yu Wenhu a little helpless, General Xiaoqi gritted his teeth and calmed down after a while: "I have no choice, Commander Xie!"
He took a breath: "Now that the crown prince's life is in danger in the East Palace, and there is a lot of wind and rain inside and outside the court, Empress Wu took the opportunity to propose that after the Mid-Autumn Festival, she would accompany her to Mount Tai to perform the sub-offering as a woman, and to be conferred the title of 'Second Sage' with her Majesty today... The rooster is in the morning, and it smells so bad! If something happens to the crown prince, I can only tell the whole story. At that time, both the queen and the prince will suffer, and even you... "
Xie Yun said coldly: "You go."
In the tunnel, Shan Chao was slightly surprised.
It's not because Xie Yun lost to Yu Wenhu, after all, Xie Yun's lingering poison is not cleared, and his internal strength is also weak, and winning or losing for a while is not considered a victory or defeat—it's because Yu Wenhu's three words "even you" have different tones. It's low and deep, but when you listen carefully, it's especially... affectionate.
That might just be an illusion.
But for some reason, a trace of hostility suddenly rose from the single super instinct.
He didn't have time to distinguish why he had such an instinct, and then he felt that something was wrong with Xie Yun. Although he has only met Xie Yun twice, this person acts with ease and has a strong evil nature. He does not look like a person who tells his opponent "you go" out of anger—it is like falling into a disadvantage. , can only act like a rascal.
"I don't want... I don't want to do this." Yu Wenhu said in the study, his voice seemed a little hoarse: "What I have done for so many years is to try my best to maintain the stability of the dynasty. Only in the balanced wrestling between the Empress Wu and the prince can they find a chance to breathe, rather than to truly overthrow one side and allow the other side to sit back and forth without restriction... "
"Rather than fighting to the end, it is better to stop the boiling water."
"Xie Yun," Yu Wenhu said, "I know that you stole the snow lotus from Liu's mansion. If you hand it over to save the crown prince, I guarantee that this matter will disappear and there will never be a third person in the world." Know everything that happened in Ci'en Temple that day."
There was a long silence in the study.
It took a while to hear Xie Yun's voice, saying: "It's too late, I'm afraid that the sour fruit soup is too poisonous to last, so I took it by myself first..."
Yu Wenhu had a big accident and immediately choked up there.
"There should be more than one snow lotus in the world, right?" Immediately after he realized it, he immediately asked: "I heard rumors in the rivers and lakes that the lotus valley and Jianjian Village were forged with water from Tianshan snow lotus flowers a hundred years ago to forge Longyuan Tai'a Shuang Sword... Since there is such a legend, it is impossible for there to be only one snow lotus!"
— Long Yuan Sword!
Shan Chao's pupils dilated instantly.
The Longyuan and Tai'an swords that appeared in the dream for the past two years are somehow connected with this case of poisoning the prince!
"That's right, there is such a legend." Xie Yun seemed to have thought about it for a long time before slowly opening his mouth and said, "However, the Lotus Valley has disappeared. Forging Sword Village..."
Shan Chao was concentrating and was about to listen carefully when Xie Yun's voice was suddenly interrupted by a violent cough.
The cough came on so violently that he couldn't even speak a word suddenly. Yu Wenhu was startled, and hurried forward to ask, "What's wrong with you? Did you just—" However, Xie Yun waved his hand to signal him to shut up while coughing. , only shouted sharply: "Come on!"
Suddenly footsteps came from outside the study, and the servants were rushing over from outside.
There will be too many people here, and if the secret door is concealed, it will be easy to be discovered. Shan Chao decisively closed the door again. He looked back, the underground corridor was still quiet, and there was no guard there. It seemed that Xie Yun's study room was above, and the guards here were not strict.
That's right, he was sealed with eight heavy acupuncture points, and it is reasonable to say that it is difficult for him to even walk around. Who would bother to take care of a useless person
Shan Chao jumped down from the wooden ladder, his body was as agile as an ape, and he landed as light as a feather, without even splashing a little dust around his feet - it can be seen that the lightness kung fu of inner strength is profound to a considerable extent. Otherwise, if an ordinary man has his physique, he should smash the floor through when he jumps off.
Shan Chao stood where he was, his thick and sharp brows furrowed slightly.
There must be other exits from this underground palace, otherwise the guards and the food delivery girl would all come in and out from Xie Yun's study every day
But the question is, in which direction to search
While he was meditating, suddenly there was an extremely slight movement from the depths of the tunnel.
Shan Chao subconsciously thought that someone was coming, and his first reaction was to avoid it, but the voice sounded again, obviously not footsteps—but a groan.
Intermittent, from time to time, as if enduring groans of great pain.
Shan Chao narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then deliberately stepped lightly, and walked deep into the tunnel following the sound.
Although the groan was erratic and slight, but the super ear was extremely sharp, and after turning a few turns in the tunnel extending in all directions, suddenly the vision suddenly opened up. What appeared in front of him was another prison cell!
What surprised him even more was that the people in the cell this time were a bit beyond his imagination.
— That's a beauty.
After the shock of appearance reaches a certain level, there is only a very simple and direct impression—beauty.
The man was facing the door sideways, curled up cross-legged in a corner of the cell, his long hair soaked in cold sweat was messily tied up with a hair rope, although he looked embarrassed, he was still surprisingly soft and beautiful, even a simple hair rope was tied up. The silk is shining brightly, making people dare not face it easily.
And that person's whole body was only wrapped in a white silk robe, the material was loose and thin, which could barely cover his naked body. From the perspective of a solo superstar, you can still see half of the thin and graceful shoulders, as well as the whitish fingers tightly clutching the clothes.
What surprised Shan Chao the most was not this.
It was the beauty's other hand, which was pierced by a short dagger, and nailed to the ground amidst the dried blood!
"...Girl?" Shan Chao narrowed his eyes and patted the wooden fence tentatively: "You... what's the matter with you?"
The woman didn't respond at first, Shan Chao took a few more careful pats, and then she seemed to be awakened from the pain suddenly, and turned her face slightly to look over.
——It was only half of the side cheek, and most of the expression had been taken away by the severe pain and emaciation, but the deep, beautiful and impeccable eyebrows and eyes still gave people the illusion of being hit in the heart suddenly.
Shan Chao couldn't help slowing down his voice: "This... girl, what's going on with you?"
In fact, in this dark dungeon, the beauty who was imprisoned and obviously abused, even her robes were messy, would only give people a very bad or even vicious association. Therefore, Shan Chao also felt that it was not appropriate after the question, and immediately changed the sentence and asked: "—Are you going to come out?"
The woman stared at him, and for some reason, there seemed to be a strange and unexpected, quite subtle look on her face.
"... why are you here?"
Probably due to dehydration, her voice sounded extremely hoarse, a bit indistinguishable from male and female.
But Shan Chao didn't pay attention to this detail, because the bloody scene in the cell made him feel too bad, and he even had some very uncomfortable guesses, "It's a long story, I was also detained here. girl you-"
"...don't call anyone over."
The beauty interrupted him, turned her head and wrapped her robe tightly, closed her eyes, her slender eyelashes closed to form a sharp arc at the tip of her eyes: "Since you are all out, go quickly...don't stop to worry about me."