After the Guangxin Palace, the plum garden has an incomparably quiet environment. After passing through the Tianxin Terrace, you arrive at the Yinfeng Pavilion, which is the place where Mr. Fan is recuperating. Although His Majesty specially ordered him to stay in the palace to heal his wounds, and everyone in the palace knew how much Mr. Fan had done for the royal family this time, it is always inappropriate for a male official to stay in the palace for a long time a feeling of. Fan Xian also knew this very well, so he just stayed in the plum garden obediently, always evading the visits of visitors from various palaces by saying that he was unwell.
At this time, a cheerful and naive lady walked up to Yinfeng Pavilion familiarly, holding a child in her hand, followed by several court ladies.
Fan Xian was slightly taken aback, and found out that it was Concubine Yigui, so he didn't say much. Ever since she woke up, Concubine Yigui brought the third prince to sit here every day. Firstly, they were all relatives, and secondly, she saved the life of the third son in the Hanging Temple. It's not easy for me to stop me, three times... Fan Xian also knows that this lady's intentions are very real.
"Aunt, didn't you say you don't come? Why did you mention something today?" He said with a smile.
In terms of etiquette, he would always call her a lady, but when she entered the palace for the first time last year, Concubine Yigui liked Fan Xian to call her aunt. She liked this kind of intimate address, so Fan Xian no longer insisted. . Today, the maid behind Concubine Yigui is still carrying a few food boxes, but I don't know what's inside.
"Cordyceps simmered soup." Concubine Yigui greeted the two girls around him, pulled a pier over without notice, sat next to Fan Xian, and said, "It's not from the palace, it's from your family. Alright let me bring it over."
Fan Xian snorted. Looking at the maids who were busy pouring the soup, one of them looked very familiar and said with a smile: "Xing'er is here too."
Xing'er was exactly the little maid who took him to visit various palaces when he entered the palace for the first time. She didn't expect that this little Master Fan still remembered her, and she couldn't help but blushed slightly, and moaned with a voice as small as a mosquito.
It made everyone laugh, Yigui concubine laughed and scolded: "I'm so hurt, I still don't forget..."
Suddenly feeling that he couldn't continue talking, he stopped with a sweet smile. She is not very old, and she has a natural and beautiful attitude in her temperament, so she can get close to people very easily. She turned her head and said a few words with Wan'er, and chatted with Ruoruo about family affairs, so that they could feel at ease. Staying in the palace, there is nothing wrong with Fan's residence.
The third prince who was sitting next to her looked much more honest today than in the past, and he didn't have the tyrannical attitude in the Baoyue Tower. He lowered his head, made a sad face, and said nothing, only occasionally raised his head, He secretly glanced at the patient on the couch.
The matter of the Hanging Temple had already dispelled his anger towards Fan Xian in Baoyue Building. After all, at that time, except for this "big cousin", no one cared about his own life and death, including the two biological brothers, who only knew to save the father... If Fan Xian was not present at that time, only I am afraid that my little life has already been ruined in the hands of that ninth-rank assassin.
No matter how precocious an eight-year-old child is, it is only an age at which to judge closeness based on likes and dislikes. The third prince looked at Fan Xian's pale face at this time, and thought of Fan Xian's incomparably chic and heroic demeanor standing in front of him in the Hanging Temple, and felt an indescribable admiration in his heart.
Wan'er glanced at the third prince, and asked in surprise, "Third son, why are you so quiet today?"
The third prince grinned and said, "Sister Chen, it's nothing."
Wan'er was even more puzzled, and said with a smile, "It seems like a different person."
Concubine Yigui looked at her son distressedly, and said, "If it wasn't for Fan Xian, this kid would have died. After being so frightened, he should be more honest."
Fan Xian was lying on the couch, it was inconvenient to turn his head, he just watched the women and children talking from the corner of his eye, and slowly drank a bowl of soup made with Cordyceps under Xing'er's service. When Xing'er took back the bowl, he pinched his palm very quickly, the fingertips were extremely smooth.
Fan Xian was slightly taken aback, knowing that the little maid would definitely not come to tease him at this time, and understood that Concubine Yigui must have something to say to him in private. He paused, and said, "Wan'er, take the Third Highness to visit this garden... Sister, you can go too."
The two aunts and sisters-in-law looked at each other, knowing that he and Concubine Yigui had something to say, they got up gracefully, dragged the somewhat reluctant third prince to the depths of the garden, and took away the eunuchs and maids who were serving on the way .
In the Yinfeng Pavilion, there were only Fan Xian and Concubine Yigui left at this moment, but it was always inconvenient for young courtiers to get along with a young lady alone, so Xing'er consciously stayed.
Fan Xian turned his head with some difficulty and glanced at Xing'er.
Concubine Yigui understood, smiled and said: "The little girl brought in from home, don't be afraid."
"Aunt." Fan Xian smiled wryly, "What's the matter, you have to be so careful? My nephew was seriously injured and just woke up two days ago."
Concubine Yigui waved her handkerchief and said with a smile: "If I don't come to you, don't you want to look for me?"
There was no ambiguity in these words, but she was sure that Fan Xian also wanted to know the news outside the palace at this time. The assassination of the Hanging Temple is really a bit weird. Not only the masters in the palace are worried in their hearts, but the courtiers outside the palace are very uneasy. Even the people in Beijing feel a little strange when they discuss it. Here, he cursed the assassin loudly, guessed the assassin's true origin in a low voice, and guessed hundreds of answers. Concubine Yigui knew that His Majesty wanted Fan Xian to recover from his injuries, so he cut off all his sources of information, and she could just help him get some.
"Aren't you afraid that Your Majesty will blame Your Majesty?" Fan Xian looked at her with a half-smile.
"It's the season." Concubine Yigui spoke very directly, and said with a smile: "I have no one to count on except you."
Fan Xian understood what she meant. There are four empresses in the palace who have sons. The empress is not in a hurry to say that the princes of Ning Cairen and Concubine Shu have all grown up and have their own power, that is, the concubine Yigui in front of her. There is the Fan Mansion as a force outside the palace, but the third prince is really too young.
After being silent for a while, he told the scene of the Hanging Temple at that time.
Although I have heard it from my son once, Concubine Yigui is still very worried and frightened, holding the handkerchief tightly in both hands, as if worried that the assassin hiding in the guards will kill her son with a single knife up.
After listening, she said bitterly: "How could there be an assassin in ambush among the guards? The three generations of guards in the palace have all checked clearly."
"It shouldn't be aimed at the old..." Fan Xian smiled: "Is it okay to call me the third?"
"You are an older brother, of course you can call me whatever you want."
"It's not aimed at the third child..." Fan Xian explained softly: "Maybe the assassin will kill the third child, but His Majesty is still his real purpose. Auntie, don't worry, although the crown prince is a little nervous about the strength of the family, me and the old man The relationship between the two is not very good, but the third child is still too young, so he should not be ranked as the first target by them."
Said this in the palace, it is indeed a bit courageous, although there were no eavesdroppers around the Yinfeng Pavilion, Concubine Yigui's complexion still changed, and she smiled unnaturally.
What she was most worried about was whether some people in the palace had no good intentions for her son. Hearing Fan Xian's explanation at this time, she was more than half relieved, and then began to whisper to Fan Xian about the situation of the investigation outside the palace. Fan Xian didn't know the progress of the investigation, but because of her natal family, she had a lot of eyeliners outside the palace, and what she touched was basically similar to the real situation.
"Gong Dian has been arrested."
Fan Xian hummed lightly, but did not reveal the shock deep in his heart. Concubine Yigui used the word "catch", which means that the court has already decided on this matter. But it's not surprising, as the commander of the imperial army and the head of the guards, when the Xuankong Temple assassination happened, he was not by His Majesty's side! This reason alone is enough to trample the commander of the palace to the ground, plus countless feet, so that he will never be reborn forever.
What Fan Xian was more interested in was - what was this extremely confused commander doing at that time
…
…
"He's in Luozhou, 40 miles south of Beijing... In his own words, he's there to do something by order." Concubine Yigui showed a puzzled look as she spoke, even if Gong Dian wanted to absolve herself of the crime, she couldn't. It is impossible to say the word "following the order", as soon as this word is poked at His Majesty, it will be exposed immediately.
"But as for what to do, the Overwatch Council tried it for two days, but it was still unclear."
Fan Xian couldn't help but gasped, and sighed, "I always knew that Gong Dian was a straightforward person, but I never expected him to be so stupid."
"Um?"
Fan Xian shook his head and sighed, "Since it wasn't His Majesty's order for him to go to Luozhou to handle errands...then it must be that one, but the problem is that there was an assassination case, how could he move that one out as a rescuer? Even if he moved If you come out, His Majesty will not admit it, I'm afraid it will make him die faster."
Concubine Yigui still couldn't get used to the directness and boldness of Fan Xian's words, so she smiled bitterly: "These things... let's leave it alone."
"Yeah, we're not qualified to take care of it." Fan Xian sighed, "The Ye family is going to be in bad luck. Have you found out the identity of the assassin?"
"The first assassin to attack was the dead nine-rank expert." Concubine Yi Gui's eyes flashed a trace of fear, "I heard that it was the assassin from the Xihu Zuoxian King's residence, and he has been sneaking into the Qing Kingdom for fourteen years."
"Why did you have something to do with Xihu again?" Fan Xianyi said, "How could the Hu man have been working in the palace for so long without being discovered?"
"The origin of this barbarian is a bit powerful." Concubine Yigui thought for a while, organized her words, and explained.
Only then did Fan Xian know that the Hu assassin who died at the hands of Eunuch Hong was a descendant of the "false princess" sent to him when he married Xihu at the founding of the Qing Dynasty. Although many years have passed, But still retains the face of Qing people—in fact, this marriage is very famous, because when Xihu was beaten the worst by Qing Guo, the other party wanted to seek peace and surrender, and sent a team of descendants of the marriage team back to Kyoto. It's just that the Qing people resolutely rejected the opponent's surrender.
That team went back to Xihu tragically, but unexpectedly left a master in Kyoto, and then chose to break out at this time.
"How did the other party sneak into the palace and become a guard? Who handled the formalities?"
"The person responsible has already died." Concubine Yi Gui frowned and said, "So it's an unsolved case."
Fan Xian raised a finger in his heart, he finally touched the three-dimensional aspect of this matter.
"The little eunuch is still alive. With the Overwatch Council's means, he should be able to find out clearly." He asked in a deep voice.
Concubine Yigui nodded: "The investigation is very clear. The little eunuch is the descendant of a prince who died in the turmoil in the capital fifteen years ago. There were too many people who died in the capital, so he was allowed to come to the prince's house." One of his servants carried him and escaped. At that time, he was just born, so he was not included in the roster, and this person was missed... The servant should have committed suicide, and then the baby was adopted by a farmer in the suburbs of Beijing, and later From the palace to the palace."
"How did the dagger get in there?" Fan Xian thought that this was the real problem, and the little eunuch probably couldn't figure out such a pattern.
Concubine Yigui's next words overturned Fan Xian's thinking: "Three years ago, the little eunuch was in charge of cleaning the top floor of the Hanging Temple before the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Party. That's when he hid in. The Overwatch Council has found the dagger maker. Confirmed the time."
Fan Xian frowned. Since the little eunuch is the remnant of the bloody night fifteen years ago... I know that the bloody night was a means used by the emperor, Chen Pingping, and his father to avenge his mother. I don't know how many people died, even the queen's family was cut off, leaving her alone in the palace... Who knows what the meaning behind this little eunuch is
Xihu, the prince...these people do have the motivation and courage to plot to assassinate the emperor, but...how did they get together
"Did the Ye family respond?" Fan Xian asked seriously.
"How can there be any reaction?" Concubine Yigui smiled and shook her head and said, "Ye Zhong wrote eight memorials to plead guilty, and he didn't dare to go back to Cangzhou, and stayed in the mansion honestly. Even the soldiers in the mansion were handed over to the representative of Jingdu Mansion." No matter, be careful and cautious, it depends on how His Majesty handles it."
"Your Majesty?" Fan Xian also laughed, "Let's see if Ye Liuyun returns to the capital."
The two of them were still about to say something, but when they heard a faint voice coming from a corner of the plum garden, they fell silent and began to talk about other things. Fan Xian first expressed his apology for the harm caused by the Duke Yi's mansion regarding the matter of Baoyue Tower, while Concubine Yigui, on behalf of the Duke's mansion, thanked Fan Xian for not avoiding relatives, bravely disciplining the children, and effectively stopping the Duke's The future of the government slipped into an unpredictable abyss.
The guest of honor chatted happily and then said goodbye.
※※※
"What did you say?" Wan'er looked at the figure of Concubine Yigui leading the youngest child out of the garden, and asked curiously: "This empress has always been peaceful in the palace with simplicity, why is she a little nervous when she looks at it today?" ?”
Fan Xian smiled and said, "The child has grown up, how can a mother be like before? When we have children in the future, you will understand."
Lin Wan'er looked embarrassed, and then thought that her stomach didn't seem to move at all. It's just that her husband is injured now, so she couldn't say much, so she forced a smile and changed the subject: "What's going on outside? Is there a world upside down?"
Fan Xian softly recounted the news brought by Concubine Yigui, glanced at the eunuchs and maids not far away, and said, "The wind is getting colder, let's go back to the house."
Knowing that it was inconvenient to say some things in front of the servants in the palace, Wan'er and Ruoruo nodded and ordered the eunuchs to come over and lift the soft couch.
…
…
After returning to the house, lying on the big bed, Fan Xian stared at the top of the bed, wondering what he was thinking about, and finally said after a while, "What do you think will happen to the Ye family this time?"
At this moment, there was no one in the room, so he didn't have to be afraid of anything, and said directly: "Gong Dian must have obtained the order before going to Luozhou... and it must not be His Majesty's order, otherwise, if Gong Dian complained about injustice, even His Majesty would not be able to do so." end."
There was a chill in his eyes: "Although this trick is a bit absurd, it is very effective. The Empress Dowager secretly ordered Gong Dian to go to Luozhou to handle affairs. As the commander of the imperial army, he must go, but an assassin was born on the Hanging Temple! If the trial At that time, Gong Dian insisted that it was the empress dowager's secret decree to let him leave Beijing, which would be tantamount to announcing to the world that it was the empress dowager who wanted to kill the emperor?... If Gong Dian didn't want to be implicated by the nine clans, then he had to bury such words in his stomach and eat them. Such a big loss."
Lin Wan'er and Ruoruo are both smart people, so of course they wouldn't think that the matter of the Hanging Temple was really arranged by the Queen Mother. Wan'er said with a sad face: "You mean, Gong Dian's trip to Luozhou was arranged by my grandmother and His Majesty together?"
Fan Xian hummed.
Ruoruo frowned, "Why did you do this?"
Fan Xian sneered and said, "Gong Dian is the commander of the imperial army and Ye Zhong's younger brother. If he is unlucky this time, the Ye family will naturally follow suit."
Wan'er was worried about her good friend Ye Ling'er, and sighed: "The Ye family has always been loyal, why would Your Majesty..."
Before he finished speaking, everyone understood. Fan Xian sighed and said, "If Your Majesty did not doubt the loyalty of the Ye family, of course he would not choose to do this, but now that he has doubts, he has no choice but to let the Ye family stand aside. The two of them guarded... The most important thing is that the Ye family has the only great grand master in the Qing Kingdom, so as long as Ye Liuyun doesn't die for a day, the Ye family can't be touched by ordinary excuses."
"That's why you used such a shameful move that greatly lost the dignity of the royal family." Fan Xian sighed, "Aren't you afraid of chilling the hearts of the courtiers?"
"Why... Your Majesty is suspicious of the Ye family?"
"It's very simple." Fan Xian explained: "Your Majesty refers to the marriage of the second prince and Ye Ling'er... If Ye Zhong is accurate enough, he should refuse the marriage at that time. Even if he approves of this marriage, he should ask for it immediately." Resigning from the post of guard in the capital, not to mention returning to old age, even if transferred to the frontier defense line, can make His Majesty feel more at ease."
"And he didn't do either, so..."
Lin Wan'er and Ruoruo nodded sadly, and Ruoruo couldn't help but said, "There are so many twists and turns here."
"When I was in the Northern Qi Dynasty, I had already guessed that such a day would come." Fan Xian said, "It's just that I didn't expect that His Majesty would use such petty methods."
Wan'er suddenly said: "It seems that the assassination of the Xuankong Temple that day was originally expected by His Majesty?"
Fan Xian looked at her and nodded, "It's just that I don't know if everything is calculated, or if His Majesty only arranged one of them."
Lin Wan'er looked back into his eyes, and said slowly: "Your Majesty doesn't like to take risks in this life, so...he will at most set a fire."
The husband and wife looked at each other in silence for a long time, both seemed a little scared. If the fire in the Hanging Temple was arranged by His Majesty, then who arranged for the subsequent series of attacks
Fan Xian slowly closed his eyes, and said softly, "The Assassin's plan is so ingeniously arranged, so ingeniously that I simply don't believe that this is a single plan that can be arranged by one organization, or several organizations."
"It's just a coincidence." He continued: "It's just that several assassins who were buried in the palace suddenly discovered that the situation in the Hanging Temple was very suitable for their sudden outbreak, so they carried out successive assassinations without any discussion or premeditation. , just broke out suddenly."
Finally, he said to himself: "Obviously, this is a fairy game, a fairy game that was completely beyond His Majesty's expectations."
※※※
In the gloomy building not far from the imperial palace, Chen Pingping sat in a wheelchair without saying a word, and the seven bosses below were also silent, not knowing what to say. When the emperor was assassinated, in addition to the Forbidden Army having to bear the greatest responsibility, the Overwatch Council also had to bear great consequences.
If it wasn't for Mr. Tisi who was lying in the palace at this time, to save the situation, perhaps the Overwatch Council would have to wait for the palace to squeeze him like the Ye family. Yan Bingyun, who has officially become the leader of the four places, opened his mouth indifferently, breaking the silence in the secret room: "The assassin buried in Xihu's bodyguard, the little eunuch who was the remnant of the bloody night fifteen years ago, the legendary younger brother of Si Gujian, It is impossible for these few people to get together to plan such a situation... And who set the fire has not yet been found out. According to the news from various places, the Jinyiwei of the Northern Qi Dynasty is currently in chaos and has no time to spare Come to plan this matter, and Dongyi City has not shown any signs of planning this matter."
The acting head of the Sixth Office also said coldly: "And Si Gu Jian has a younger brother, it's just a legend... No one knows if this person really exists."
The intelligence of the Second Office of the Overwatch Council was summarized and analyzed, and the leader, with an apology on his face, said shamelessly, "I don't have any intelligence at all. Although it's my subordinate's dereliction of duty, my subordinate thinks that in order to plan such a murderous situation, intelligence exchange is necessary." Inevitably, we will always catch some threads, but there is not a single thread!... I can only think that there has been no real contact between the parties who plotted for the assassination, and even, I want to make a bold judgment, that Among the several assassins, none of them knew each other!"
Sitting in a wheelchair, Chen Pingping slowly opened her eyes and looked at her subordinates with somewhat cloudy eyes. She thought that the one your majesty ordered to be set on fire would certainly not be caught by you. As for the Xihu assassin, the bold My little eunuch, who knows where it came from, your Majesty and this old man are not real gods.
"This is a fairy game." The old man yawned, "It's just a coincidence, there are so many things to think about."