After nearly an hour of driving, the carriage finally arrived at a city area in the southwest corner of the capital. Compared with the prosperity of other areas, it seemed a bit depressed. There were no shops on both sides of the street and the roads were relatively narrow. Other streets in Tokyo had turned into concrete roads, but it was still a dirt road. It had just rained two days ago, which made the roads water and mud, and the houses on both sides of the street were relatively low, which was incomparable to other places.

In fact, this southwest corner of the city was originally a slum in Tokyo. No matter how prosperous the city was in later generations, there were always some corners that could not be shining with sunlight. The same was true for Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Yan brought Zhao Xu to this slum in this area. Zhao Xu was also very curious about it. He often looked out the car window. It was probably the first time he knew that there was such a place in Tokyo.

The carriage slowly advanced on the muddy road, and finally came to the door of a relatively spacious mansion, with the gate of a tall gate building with two guards in front of the door. If placed in another place, such a mansion would not attract much attention. It was because such a mansion suddenly appeared in the slum area in the southwest, but it was awkward no matter how you looked.

Zhao Yan and Zhao Xu got off the carriage, and Wang Chao followed closely. When the three of them stood in front of the mansion, Zhao Xu looked up and saw four big characters written on the plaque on the mansion gate - Xirong Gong Mansion.

"Huh? Duke Xirong? Does the court have this title? Why don't I remember it?" Zhao Xu looked at the plaque above his head and said in a daze. As the emperor, he must remember all titles of Duke and Marquis in the court. This is also a subject, but he never remembered that there was a Xirong Duke in the court. Moreover, the Xirong was the Central Plains dynasty's despicable title for surrounding ethnic minorities. This name is simply a swearing person for titles?

"Hehe, the young master doesn't know anything. Although there are not many people who know about the title of Xirong Duke, he is a famous figure!" At this time, when the Chao heard Zhao Xu's words, he smiled and said with a smile. There are indeed not many people who know about the title of Xirong Duke, but if you mention the title of Xirong Duke, everyone knows it.

"Let's go, you will know who the other party is when we go in." Zhao Yan also turned his head to Zhao Xu at this time. This Xirong Gong is also an old friend, but now he has calculated that it seems that he has not seen him for more than ten years.

Zhao Xu was even more curious at this time. He followed Zhao Yan to the mansion, but the guards in front of the mansion were very responsible. They stepped forward and stopped them. Zhao Yan did not indicate his identity, but the dynasty came forward to negotiate. After he revealed his identity as the chief of the Kaifeng Prefecture, the guards in front of the door were released.

At that moment, Zhao Yan took Zhao Xu into the Xirong Duke Mansion, but as soon as he entered, Zhao Xu couldn't help but chill. Outside, it looked like this mansion was different. Even the paint on the door was freshly painted, but when he entered inside, he found that the entire Xirong Duke Mansion was very dilapidated, with a considerable portion of the houses half-collapsed, and there were also weeds on the ground. The fallen leaves on the road were as thick as palms and no one cleaned them. It looked like a deserted garden.

"Sir... Sir, are you sure there are people living here?" Seeing the mansion in front of you that looked like a ghost domain, Zhao Xu shivered again and said, almost calling out the title of "San Uncle". If Zhao Yan hadn't been followed by more than a dozen guards, he might have escaped from here immediately.

"Hehe. The young master doesn't know that the Xirong Gong here has a special identity. In name, this is his mansion, but in fact he is imprisoned here. The guards outside are imperial guards, and we, the yamen runners in the capital, also have the responsibility of guarding. I, as the chief officer, have a little bit of thin air here, so I can bring people in. Of course, if His Highness King Yue is willing to reveal his identity, it will be even simpler." At this time, the Chao said with a smile again. At the same time, he reached out to take out the sauerkraut buns from the oil-paper bag and started to eat it. The space in the car just now was small, and the sauerkraut buns were very smelly, so he didn't eat it, for fear of being fumigated to Zhao Yan, so he didn't start eating it until then.

"I'm detained here?" Zhao Xu blinked again when he heard this. He was obviously a duke. No matter how he was in trouble, he was at least supported by the court. How could he be imprisoned? Could it be that this Xirong Duke had rebelled, but since his grandfather's generation, he didn't seem to have heard of any prince and noble who dared to rebel?

Seeing Zhao Xu's confused look on his face, Zhao Yan couldn't help but laugh and said, "Xu'er, don't think about it. You were not born yet when this Xirong Duke was imprisoned here, and probably no one mentioned this person in your ears, so you don't know who this Xirong Duke is."

Zhao Yan and Wang Chao still did not reveal the true identity of Xi Rong Gong, which made Zhao Xu even more curious. He followed Zhao Yan tightly into the mansion and walked until the inner house. He finally saw a living person. He saw an old servant slowly cleaning a yard. Compared with the weed life in other places, this yard was relatively cleaner.

"Old man, where is Xirong Duke?" Wang Chao immediately stepped forward and asked. He had been here a few times before and had some impression of this old servant, knowing that he was a servant who took care of Xirong Duke, and that there was only this old servant in the entire mansion.

However, what was beyond the surprise of the Emperor Chao was that the old servant did not seem to hear his words and still swept the ground slowly, which made the Emperor Chao a little angry. He reached out and patted the old servant on the shoulder. The old servant finally reacted. He looked up at the Emperor Chao, and a strange smile appeared on his old face, then lowered his head and continued to sweep the floor.

"Uncle San, this old servant's smile is so strange. This mansion is so desolate. Could it be a haunted?" Zhao Xu couldn't help but approach Zhao Yan's side when he saw the old servant's strange smile, and then whispered, with a little fear in his eyes.

"How can there be such demons and monsters?" Zhao Yan glared at Zhao Xu when he heard this, and then ordered two guards to come forward to support the old servant. He then went forward to help the old man check it out. He found that the old servant was slow to react and confused. Although he could not be completely sure, it was probably Alzheimer's disease. The cause of this disease was not completely understood in later generations. He only knew that it was common for elderly people over 70 years old. A few elderly people had a rapid disease after being affected by disease, fractures or mental stimulation. It is estimated that this old servant had just started to get sick and often swept the floor here, so he kept repeating his previous behavior.

"Are there any other servants here?" Zhao Yan turned around and asked the Chao.

"No more, there is only such an old servant in the entire Xirong Duke Mansion, who is usually responsible for taking care of Xirong Duke's diet and daily life." The Dynasty immediately replied that the guards of Xirong Duke Mansion also had some relationship with their Kaifeng Mansion, so he was so familiar with this place.

"Niu Lie, send someone to find where Xirong Gong is?" Zhao Yan felt a sank when he heard this, and immediately ordered the guard leader beside him.

"Yes!" Niu Lie agreed and immediately sent half of the guards to search everywhere. He and the remaining guards were all alert. After all, the Xirong Duke Mansion was full of strangeness. Not to mention Zhao Xu, the child, even he felt furrowed, so he was afraid that something would happen.

After a while, the guards sent out came back one after another, but they did not see a single person. As for the mysterious Xirong Gong, they disappeared. This made Zhao Yan's face darker, and he immediately said to the dynasty next to him: "Who is the person responsible for the guard here?"

The Dynasty was also a little panicked at this time. When he heard Zhao Yan's words, he immediately replied: "There is no guardian in the Xirong Duke Mansion, but there are a guard stationed around the mansion all year round. In addition, there are people from the Imperial City Department secretly surveillance. Finally, the yamen runners of our Kaifeng Mansion are responsible for cleaning up the most vague people on the periphery. It is said that under such strict surveillance, the people inside will definitely not escape?"

"Dynasty, go and notify the army and the Imperial City Office, and ask them to send people in and search the entire Xirong Duke Mansion carefully!" Zhao Yan immediately ordered that the Xirong Duke had a special identity. He had been fine for so many years, but he never expected that when he came to visit him, he suddenly found that the person was missing.

The Dynasty knew that the matter was of great importance, so he immediately agreed and turned around and ran out of the mansion. At this time, Zhao Xu finally couldn't help it and asked: "Uncle San, who is this Xirong Duke?"

"Who else can you be? Who can be called the Western Rong for our Song Dynasty?" Zhao Yan was in a bad mood at this time and glared at Zhao Xu and said.

"Xi Rong?" Zhao Xu suddenly flashed his mind when he heard this, and he blurted out, "Xi Xia! Xi Rong! I understand, it turns out that this is Li Liangzuo's mansion."

When Xixia was destroyed, Li Liangzuo was escorted to Tokyo by Zhao Yan. However, Zhao Shu, who was still alive at that time, did not execute Li Liangzuo, but gave him a title of Xirong Duke and then placed it under house arrest in Tokyo. This is the mansion where Li Liangzuo was placed under house arrest. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and Xixia has completely become history. Therefore, no one pays attention to Li Liangzuo, the imprisoned Emperor of Xixia, and it is normal for Zhao Xu to remember it for a while.

"Yes, I originally planned to let you see the miserable situation of Li Liangzuo, the king of the devastated country, so that you can learn some lessons, but I didn't expect that I could not find anyone!" At the end, Zhao Yan couldn't help but look anxious. Although Xixia had been destroyed for more than ten years and the remnants of Xixia were almost wiped out, Li Liangzuo's identity was too special. If he really escaped, it might bring more chaos to the already settled Xixia homeland. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!