363: Assassination

Hu Siyi held the handkerchief tightly in his hand calmly. The emperor looked at the prince as if nothing had happened and said, "We must not slack off on the case of the granary theft this time. We must investigate it thoroughly."

Yan Junchu lowered his eyes slightly and nodded in response, "Father, if we investigate it thoroughly, I'm afraid the result will be the same as last time."

Didn't the court send someone to investigate last time?

They did.

But what was the result?

Look at what Su Yi and Chen Boyan brought back, and then compare it with the memorials sent back by the ministers sent by the court. There is a world of difference.

The emperor looked gloomy, "Do you have someone to recommend?"

Yan Junchu said in a deep voice: "I do have someone to recommend, that is Shang Junyan, the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue."

The emperor thought about it carefully, and then he remembered who Shang Junyan was, and said with some surprise: "Why did you recommend him?"

"Father, the last time I led the army to the battle, Lord Shang was in charge of the money and grain of the northwest. There was no mistake in the calculation of the money and grain for the army, and there was no delay in the subsequent grain and grass. This shows that Lord Shang does have some talent. But he is still young and was born in the Prince of Pingjing's mansion, so most people think that he relies on his family to become an official, but this is not the case. This time, I recommend Shang Junyan because he planned the money and grain clearly last time, and this time, investigating the case of the granary theft is just right for his strengths. "

The emperor frowned slightly, thought for a while and said: "I will think about it again. This matter is of great importance. You can go down first."

Shang Junyan bowed and said, "I will take my leave."

Su Yi and Chen Boyan also bowed and took their leave.

The emperor waved his hand, and after everyone left, Hu Siyi came forward with a pale face, suppressed his panic, and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you ask the imperial physician to check your pulse."

The emperor glanced at Hu Siyi, "Don't make a fuss, burn the handkerchief."

Hu Siyi wanted to persuade him again, but when he met the emperor's eyes, he had to swallow his words back, turned around and went to the tea room, sent all the eunuchs out, and this time he took out the handkerchief and threw it into the white clay stove. He watched the handkerchief burn into a ball of ash, and then used tongs to scatter the ash, and pressed a few pieces of carbon stone on it, and then put the copper pot on it.

Hu Siyi was full of melancholy. His Majesty now paid less and less attention to his health. Although he only coughed up a few bloodstains, he was still very worried, but His Majesty didn't care at all.

Hu Siyi went out with a lot of thoughts in his mind, entered the Purple Palace, and saw His Majesty reviewing memorials again. He sighed in his heart that His Majesty was really too diligent in his work.

The Duke of Qi's mansion was bustling at this time. Su Deng and Su Li were very happy to see Su Xinyi. She was darker and thinner, but in good spirits. When Su Xinyi arrived, they were telling the old man about what they had seen along the way.

Su Xinyi brought Prince Rong with her, and the old man stood up to greet her.

Prince Rong stepped forward and said, "Old Duke, I am just here to join in the fun today. You don't need to be polite. Just treat me as a junior."

The old man didn't dare to treat Prince Rong as a junior. He smiled and asked Prince Rong to sit down, but his eyes were on his granddaughter.

Su Xinyi's mouth twitched, and she smiled and said to her grandfather: "I heard that my two cousins ​​were back, so I wanted to come back to see them. I happened to meet the prince, and the prince and my cousins ​​had met a few times. I was curious about what they saw and heard on the road, so I followed them."

The old man didn't believe a word of this, but since his granddaughter said so, he took it as the case, and said: "In this case, let your two cousins ​​invite the prince to sit in the study in front. I'm so old, please don't blame me."

Prince Rong jumped up, "Old Duke, please don't say that. It's me who disturbed your rest. Then you have a good rest. I'll go to the front to talk to them."

Prince Rong didn't dare to be willful on Su Xinyi's territory, and he also respected the old man, so he took the opportunity to take people to the study in front.

Su Xinyi fell behind and waited until Prince Rong and the others left before she said to her grandfather, "Your Highness heard that Mu Xing was injured and was curious about what happened and had to come to see him. Grandfather, don't worry, it's nothing serious."

The old man looked at his granddaughter and said, "Just keep in mind that they were ambushed on the way back this time. Things should not be simple. Don't take it lightly."

"Yes, I will listen to Grandfather. I will listen carefully to what Mu Xing said and find out everything clearly." Su Xinyi said hurriedly.

"Then you should go quickly. It's getting late. We have to rush back to the East Palace. It's not too late."

"Yes." Su Xinyi helped the old man into the inner room, settled the people, and then went to the front.

When she arrived, several elders in the family had come to greet Prince Rong. Prince Rong was much more comfortable with them. He was talking with a smile. Seeing Su Xinyi coming in, he immediately straightened his body and the smile on his face was restrained a little.

Everyone: ...

Su Xinyi pretended not to see it, and greeted the eldest uncle, the second uncle, and the third uncle first. Mu Xing hadn't come yet, so Su Xinyi took the opportunity to meet her grandmother and mother and say hello, and then turned back.

When she came back, several brothers had also arrived. Mu Xing's arm was wrapped in a thick layer of white cloth, and his face was very pale. He didn't look very good.

Everyone greeted each other and sat down separately. For a moment, it was unknown who would speak first.

Su Xinyi glanced at King Rong.

King Rong's skin tightened and he immediately said: "Don't be so nervous, everyone, I just came to ask Mu Xing what happened, why did he get injured?"

When Prince Rong spoke, everyone relaxed a little, and then they heard Prince Rong say: "I said, Mu Xing, you are quite capable. You were able to fight Su Xinyi to a draw. Who could hurt you? Did you get hurt inside the pass?"

Mu Xing first glanced at the Crown Princess, and then said: "Yes, the caravan borrowed the road from Duogan to return to the country. It was very safe along the way. However, after passing Licheng, my subordinates were ambushed while on guard at night. The attackers were very powerful, and there were more than a dozen of them. I was outnumbered and got injured. Fortunately, the two cousins ​​arrived in time, otherwise I am afraid that my subordinates would have died there."

"Licheng?" Su Xinyi felt that this place name was a little familiar.

Prince Rong glanced at Su Xinyi and said with some pride, "You don't know this, right? Licheng is not far from Huaining, and it is Suizhou if you go further."

When he led the caravan to raise grain, he knew the prefectures and counties in that area very well.

Su Xinyi remembered it immediately. She had seen it before when she was looking at the map, so she felt it sounded familiar. She didn't remember it for a while because she was not familiar with Licheng.

Now that Prince Rong said this, it made sense.

Su Xinyi didn't bother to pay attention to the childish Prince Rong, and looked at Su Deng and asked, "Cousin, did you have any grudges with anyone in Licheng?"

Su Deng shook his head, "No, to be honest, this is the first time for Su Li and I to come to Licheng, and we didn't have any grudges with anyone."

The third master Su looked at a few people and asked, "Does Huaining have any grudges with Licheng?"

Su Li shook his head, "As far as I know, no."

"Then it's not because of the Su family, but Mu Xing was injured. If it's not a personal grudge, it's very likely that they went to the caravan." The second master Su frowned and said, "It's just that the news of the caravan, how did it leak out?"

After hearing this, Prince Rong looked around and asked, "Where are Sheng Siming and Pang Lan?"

Su Xinyi heard Prince Rong asking about the two, and then she realized that she didn't see Cao Qing either, so she looked at her two cousins.

Su Deng said, "The caravan brought back some rare treasures this time for your majesty first, and they took people to put things away."

That's what he should do.

Su Xinyi thought that this was probably Pang Lan's idea. With the style of Prince Rong and his men, it was hard for them to think of presenting treasures to His Majesty.

Prince Rong was indeed surprised, "You actually prepared these?"

Su Deng said calmly, "Your Majesty, after all, we are doing business under His Majesty's orders. Since we are back in the capital, the caravan must express its position."

Prince Rong: ...

He can talk about bribing the head of a country so openly. He is worthy of being Su Xinyi's cousin. He is as thick-skinned as ever.

Su Xinyi didn't want Prince Rong to talk endlessly about this matter. He looked at him and said, "Does Your Majesty have any opinions?"

Prince Rong: I dare not!

"Let's talk about business." Prince Rong immediately changed the subject. He couldn't afford to offend Su Xinyi. Now he was in the Su family's lair. Who else could he offend?

No one could be offended.

Everyone pretended not to see Prince Rong's weird look and immediately cooperated with him to change the subject.

Su Li coughed lightly and continued the previous topic: "If they are coming for the caravan, it means there is a spy in the caravan. If there is no spy, then the enemy has been keeping an eye on the caravan's whereabouts, but this point is not convincing. How did they know that we would return to the country from Dogan?"

Su Deng glanced at Mu Xing, "Mu Xing led people to guard the night that night. Those people obviously wanted Mu Xing's life, but Mu Xing told us that he didn't know the person who attacked him."

Master Su San looked at Mu Xing, "Think about it carefully. If it's not a personal grudge, then this matter is very serious."

If the caravan is not except for the spies, then it is even more serious, which means that the people who are watching them are very capable. At the beginning, they were hunted outside the pass and took a detour all the way back to the country. I'm afraid they themselves are not sure about the route ahead, and they may change it at any time. In this case, the enemy can still attack, which is something to think about.

Mu Xing said seriously, "I don't know the attackers, but from the tone of their voices, they don't seem to be from the capital or Licheng, and their moves are very similar. They should have learned from the same master, or learned the same school of martial arts."

Everyone had no idea for a while, so King Rong asked, "Didn't you catch anyone alive?"

Su Deng and others looked at each other with a puzzled look, and Su Li said, "No one was alive. Except for those who escaped, the rest were all dead."

"How did they die?" Su Xinyi immediately asked.

"Either they took the knife and committed suicide while their hands and feet were still able to move, or they bit the poison bag in their mouths and died of poisoning. Obviously, they didn't mean to leave anyone alive." Su Li's expression was not good either. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing since he was a child, and it shocked him a lot. Now he still felt a little abnormal when he mentioned it.

Anyway, who would do such a crazy thing?

"Death warrior?"

Su Xinyi's voice overlapped with King Rong's.

Master Su San obviously thought of this, "Could they be in the same group as the people in the hunting ground?"

"What happened in the hunting ground?" Su Deng asked immediately.

Master Su Er simply told the story of the hunting ground, and Su Deng and the others looked unhappy.

At this time, Mu Xing said, "Crown Princess, have you seen the guard in the hunting ground make a move?"

If they were in the same group, there might be similarities in their moves.

Su Xinyi shook her head, "No, that man was a guard of King Xiang, and was later taken away for interrogation, and then committed suicide."

It's hard to say.

King Rong looked at Su Xinyi, "That's not the case, maybe it's just a coincidence."

Su Xinyi glanced at King Rong and thought that if it was a coincidence, there would inevitably be too many coincidences with Suizhou recently.

"That is to say, no one knows who instigated the person who injured Mu Xing, and they can't be sure whether it has anything to do with the incident at the hunting ground." Uncle Su said solemnly, "The two incidents are nearly a thousand miles apart, so it stands to reason It’s just that there shouldn’t be any intersection.”

"Brother, you are right. Logically, there should not be any intersection, but if something goes wrong, there will be monsters. We still have to be careful." Su Sanye said in a deep voice. He and his two elder brothers have different temperaments. The eldest brother is honest and upright in everything. Peace is the most important thing. The second brother has a gentle nature and rarely gets into trouble with others. Both of them deal with things in a well-natured manner.

But he was different. He keenly sensed that the Crown Princess might suspect something, so he looked at the Crown Princess.

Su Xinyi noticed Third Uncle's gaze, raised her head and looked at him. Sensing Third Uncle's silent inquiry, she remained silent and shook her head slightly.

The third master knew that it was difficult to say at the moment, so he looked away.

Things that were difficult to talk about were either too involved or not well known. He was more inclined to the latter.

If you think about it this way, things will make sense. If the Crown Princess knew the truth, she would not make speculations here.

So, were the dead man at the hunting ground and the people who attacked Mu Xing the same group?

The third master's mind suddenly started to change, what if it is?

So what's the purpose?

The dead body placed next to King Xiang forced King Xiang to have a marriage contract with You Xiangzhe. This matter also involved Xu Yurong, who was expelled from the Anding Marquis Mansion, as well as Princess Runyi and Fu Yun who were interrogated by the Ministry of Punishment... …

Standing behind Princess Runyi is the Empress. The Empress and His Royal Highness Prince Rong now have a close relationship with the East Palace and are very harmonious. It does not look like they are behind the scenes.

Therefore, Yan Qiongsi is much less suspicious.

There was only one Fuyun left, and there was no problem after the Ministry of Justice checked it at first. No wonder Xin Yi asked his family to check it again. Indeed, nothing was found, but just because nothing was found, it made him feel that something was not normal.

When a person grows up, all kinds of things will happen to her. Most of the news from Fuyun is about her being filial to her elders and being kind to her neighbors. Can a person really be this good?

The third master made up his mind to go back and investigate in person. He would always feel uneasy if he didn't do it himself.

After the matter was almost settled, Su Xinyi and King Rong said goodbye. Before leaving, Su Xinyi was invited aside by the third uncle to talk. After hearing what the third uncle said, Su Xinyi was surprised, "Third uncle, do you want to go there in person? "

The Third Master nodded cautiously, "If the sneak attack on Mu Xing is really related to the hunting ground, and Xu Yurong has escaped and disappeared, only Yan Qiongsi and Fu Yun are left as suspects. Now Yan Qiongsi is unlikely. , then only Fuyun is left. The two times Fuyun came back were all praises for her. Now that I think about it, it is very unreasonable. I really don’t feel at ease if I don’t go there in person. "

Su Xinyi herself had a lot of doubts about Fu Yun, but she failed to find out anything after several attempts. Now listening to what San Bo said, she thought for a while and said, "If San Bo wants to go, be careful. Let's check several times." Over there, the news should have been spread back a long time ago. If there is really someone behind Fu Yun, be careful if you go there again. "

"Okay, Third Uncle knows that you should go back early. Being a princess now is not like being an ordinary daughter-in-law of a distinguished family. The Queen has allowed you to come back, so you can't return to the palace too late." Third Master smiled. A few words of advice, "If something happens in the palace, you must tell your family and don't look forward or backward."

Su Xinyi responded with a smile.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Su Xinyi and King Rong left.

Mu Xing watched the carriage go away and said goodbye. He had a place to live in the capital, and he also had a letter that Tian Zao and Bao Datong asked him to give to Zeng Liang, which he had to deliver.

Su Li was not at ease, looked at Mu Xing and said with a smile: "I have heard from the sixth sister that Zeng Liang's name has been mentioned for a long time. I wonder if I can visit him?"

Mu Xing glanced at Su Li and knew what he wanted to do. He originally wanted to refuse, but if Su Xinyi knew about it, he would definitely ridicule him for being pretentious, so he nodded silently.

Su Li naturally followed, waved to everyone, and left with Mu Xing.

Mr. Su looked at Su Bei and the others and said hello, "Follow me."

Su Bei, Su Chu and Su Ju followed. Uncle Su and Second Master Su looked at each other and went back to their respective courtyards. Su Deng was relieved, he was the only one left, and he felt relaxed.

However, he didn't rest. Instead, he went to Su Yi's study to wait for him to come back. He still had some things to deal with Su Yi here.

After Su Xinyi returned, he first went to Yuanhui Palace to report back to the queen, and then returned to the East Palace. When he returned, the prince also arrived.

When the two couples got together, they both had a lot to say. Su Xinyi missed her eldest brother and asked the prince first, "Your Highness, how is my eldest brother?"

Yan Junchu nodded, "Although he is darker and thinner, he has gained a lot from this trip, which will be good for him in the future."

Su Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, as long as everyone is safe."

Yan Junchu asked, "How is Mu Xing?"

"Your Highness also knows?" Su Xinyi asked back.

"I talked to my elder brother in front of the emperor before, and I found out after I came out. It's just that it's not convenient to go to the Duke's Mansion. After all, the target is too big and it's easy to attract attention." Yan Junchu said helplessly, "What happened?"

Su Xinyi told the story in detail, and finally expressed her suspicion, "Third uncle said that he would go to Ding'an Guard in person. I always have a very strange feeling, but I can't tell what's wrong."

Su Xinyi always felt that he had forgotten something, but the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't remember it, and he couldn't help feeling a little irritable.

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－

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