After Liu Xiangshan proudly brought Duke Yu and Earl Ling An back to the capital, Duke Qi was old and was about to retire, and almost everything was under Liu Xiangshan's control.
Pei Yuanjun took control of the military power, and the power he gained was increasing.
The military power in his hands was divided among Prince of Yan and Duke of Xing. Both Prince of Yan and Duke of Xing were Pei Yuanjun's men.
The original great alliance had a major flaw because of Pei Yuanjun's existence. Moreover, Pei Yuanjun was favored by the emperor and grew up in the palace since childhood. Compared with this great general guarding the border, he was far inferior to Pei Yuanjun in terms of imperial favor.
Liu Xiangshan had tried his best, but Pei Yuanjun's favor was beyond his imagination. Later, when he saw that his daughter liked him, he was delighted and supported his daughter to become Pei Yuanjun's princess.
Helplessly, Liu Lanxin failed to become Pei Yuanjun's princess, so she chose Pei Yusheng and supported him wholeheartedly.
"Liu Xiangshan only has one daughter on the surface, but he actually has another wife in secret, with a son and a daughter. He puts Princess Jing on the surface for show."
Pei Yuanjun added one more sentence at the end.
Qu Moying understood what was said immediately.
Just like what Pei Luoan showed after Ji Hanyue's death, he was deeply in love with Ji Hanyue to the point that he fell ill and has been sick ever since. Whenever people see him, they feel that he is deeply in love and loyal.
Liu Xiangshan's first wife died early, and he cared so much about her that he never remarried for all these years. Even though he only had one daughter, he had no intention of remarrying. He took care of his daughter wholeheartedly, fearing that another woman would make his daughter feel wronged. This is also a manifestation of his deep love and loyalty.
A person who is deeply affectionate and loyal makes others believe that he is a loyal person, responsible and loyal, and makes others believe that he is a good person.
But in fact, it is nothing.
From this point of view, Liu Lanxin is also a pitiful person. Everything was hidden from her by her own biological father. She has always been proud to think that Liu Xiangshan can do anything for her and pampers her like a princess, but in fact she is just a tool of Liu Xiangshan.
When the master of Qingyun Temple was arrested, Liu Lanxin escaped and has not been caught yet.
Although the abbot of Qingyun Temple said nothing and committed suicide by taking poison, the other female nuns in Qingyun Temple, whether they knew or not, talked a lot. They were all about some clues that Liu Lanxin had appeared here before. Pei Yuanjun asked Ji Hai to come and tell Mo Ying about these things.
Ji Hanyue and Liu Lanxin actually have some similarities
The fire outside the window has faded, and the sound has become quieter. The fire must have been put out.
When he woke up the next day, it was already bright. After washing up, Mo Ying had a quick breakfast and then summoned Anton to come over to answer the question.
The fire yesterday was so big that it looked unusual.
"Master, the deposed crown prince is dead." Anton came in to report, lowering his voice and saying, "This matter has not been spread yet. I also learned about it from Eunuch Ji Hai."
"What else did you say?" Mo Ying put down the teacup in his hand, and asked after a moment of silence.
"It is said that he died by self-immolation. Ji Youran also died there, but I heard that he died before the fire started. There was a dagger stuck in his chest. It belonged to the deposed prince." Anton's voice became lower and lower. "No one expected that the deposed prince would set fire to that place by himself. The fire started from his house first, and..."
An Dong felt very uneasy and a little flustered when he said this.
"Is there anything else?" Mo Ying asked. She was very calm now after accepting the deaths of Pei Luoan and Ji Youran.
"I heard from Eunuch Ji Hai that this matter is somewhat related to Northern Xinjiang. It seems to be a kind of sacrificial method in Northern Xinjiang. It is said that..." An Dong hesitated here. Eunuch Ji Hai said that there is no need to tell the master in too much detail, for fear that the master will feel uncomfortable. The master should be more careful recently.
"It is said that living people are used for sacrifice in order to seek peace for the sacrificed." An Dong said vaguely.
The monk named Yuanhe was from Northern Frontier, so he used the witchcraft rituals of Northern Frontier. If a great noble of Northern Frontier was killed by someone, the murderer would be tied in front of the spirit, stabbed in the chest with a dagger, and his blood would be used to draw a large formation. It was said that this could explain reincarnation, yin and yang, and also allow the victim to vent his resentment.
It is said that after putting out the fire and entering, what they saw was Ji Youran's corpse, with a sword in the chest and his body twisted into a horrifying angle. A normal person could not bend into this angle, but Ji Youran remained like this until his death. It can be seen that Ji Youran had been twisted into such a state at that time.
He was already dead when the fire started, with his leg and waist bones broken early on. It is said that those in charge of prisons felt a chill in their hearts when they saw this scene.
Mo Ying didn't ask Ji Youran about the specific situation. As soon as he saw An Dong's appearance, he knew that he died tragically.
Her long eyelashes fluttered, her eyes calm: "Are the others okay?"
"The deposed Crown Princess escaped death. It is said that she was still asleep at that time and passed out in a daze. There were not many people in that place. Apart from these few people, there were only a few servants. Apart from the deposed Crown Prince, only the maidservant around her escaped. The rest died." An Dong reported.
Mo Ying let out a long breath, smiled, and stopped asking questions. She had asked everything she could ask, and she didn't want to hear more about what she couldn't ask.
The grudges of the previous life have been resolved, and now she is just Mo Ying
The past and present lives have now come to an end. As for the sacrificial method in the Northern Frontier, it would be a joke if Pei Luoan continued to use it.
"Where's the prince?"
"I just went to the palace. The emperor asked me to handle this matter. Although the deposed prince has been deposed, he is still the emperor's son after all, and has dragon blood." An Dong said.
"Master, you don't have to care about these things. The deposed crown prince murdered Ling Anbo, who was dedicated to the public, and also killed the former crown princess. Everything you do now is in vain. Can she make everything start over again by doing this?" Yu Xiu curled her lips in disapproval.
"Yes, master, you'd better care less about this kind of thing, so that I won't worry about you." An Dong also advised.
"That's right. The witch rituals in Northern Frontier are actually just to comfort the living. It can't be that powerful. Otherwise, how could Northern Frontier be so decadent and only survive in a corner until now." Yu Xiu saw Mo Ying was still hesitating, and was afraid that she would be scared by this kind of thing, so she smiled again.
Nanny Miao is from Northern Xinjiang and knows a lot about Northern Xinjiang. She had told Yuxiu and An Dong about some strange things about witch sacrifices before, in order to let them be careful of such people. However, she also explained that such things are actually very mysterious. Northern Xinjiang has been performing sacrifices for so many years, but there has not been any significant effect. They are all just following the crowd.
That's how it is said.
"That Master Yuanhe used to live in a hot spring villa outside the city?" Mo Ying knew that the two of them were worried that she would be scared, so they tried their best to downplay the matter.
Fortunately, Pei Luoan Kong is not the focus of her life now. After Pei Luoan was defeated and imprisoned in the clan house, she no longer took him to heart.
However, this Master Yuanhe surprised her a bit. At first, she only thought that Ji Youran and Pei Luoan were having a secret meeting there, but she didn't expect that they were not just having a secret meeting, but were also plotting to take over the world. This Master Yuanhe was really patient in Central Plains for so many years.
Even though he had won the favor of the Empress Dowager, he did not stay in the palace. Instead, she gave the opportunity to Master Shangshan. Master Shangshan, who only wanted to live a stable and prosperous life, was even more respectful to him. She felt that he was a true master, and therefore repeatedly spoke well of Master Yuanhe in front of the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager even sent someone to reward him. Eunuch Defu, who was beside the Empress Dowager, was also familiar with Master Yuanhe. This eunuch was a smart man. He knew that the Empress Dowager also admired Master Yuanhe, so he also wanted to make friends with Master Yuanhe. Master Yuanhe got a lot of information from this eunuch Defu.
After the Queen Mother died, Defu went to guard her tomb, and the friendship between the two remained.
"I heard that it was. Sometimes when he was hanging up an order outside and handing out those amulets, Master Shangshan once saw him holding one. He suddenly had an idea and told Master Shangshan that this kind of amulet was bad and was the opposite of what was meant by nature. Master Shangshan was so frightened that she was stunned."
An Dong said sarcastically.
Mo Ying also remembered this incident. Thinking of those old things, a smile appeared on the corners of her lips. At that time, she really thought that this talisman meant the opposite of the mysterious one. She specially inquired about it, but did not find the so-called reverse amulet, at least there was no such thing in Central Plains. However, she did not expect that Master Shangshan was deceived by Master Yuanhe.
"Master, can Princess Qiya still be married off?" Yu Xiu thought of Princess Qiya who was still imprisoned, and asked curiously. The second princess of Northern Frontier, who was supposed to marry King Jing, is still in prison, looking forward to people from Northern Frontier to rescue her day by day, but she doesn't know that the situation in Northern Frontier has changed now.
The Crown Prince of Northern Frontier who had disappeared before has regained his throne with the help of a token left by his ancestors. It is said that almost all the descendants of the eldest princess, the sister of the Emperor of Northern Frontier, have been imprisoned. This matter is now spreading like wildfire, saying that the second prince of Northern Frontier wants to murder the crown prince and then stir up chaos in the Great Zhou.
The result of colluding with King Jing was that King Jing was captured. This man escaped with extremely quick reaction. Because of his quick reaction and escape in time, he actually managed to escape to the border.
The border was in chaos at that time, and Liu Xiangshan was captured by Duke Yu and his men. Although the shock was small, there was still chaos. Coincidentally, the second prince of Northern Frontier escaped at this time, and took advantage of the chaos to jump out of the Great Zhou. In the past, he thought everything would be worry-free when he arrived in Northern Frontier, but he didn't expect that the people waiting for him were the people of the Northern Frontier Crown Prince.
Guarding the border, they caught him directly.
From then on, all the descendants of the King of Qin who fled to the northern border were captured.
"No, the second princess of Northern Xinjiang will be extradited back." Mo Ying shook his head. The situation in Northern Xinjiang has now stabilized. His father wrote to say that he would send envoys again soon. This time it would be a sincere peace talk, and he would also send a princess over to sincerely seek peace.
"Princess, Miss Zhao requests to see you." As they were speaking, Yuchun came in to report.