On the morning of October 16th, Ma Degong, disguised as a commoner, fled back to Jinling City crawling on the ground. Not only did the dozens of royal guards accompanying him go to see the King of Hell, but also the "evidence" of 50,000 copper coins. "He was also kidnapped. Ma Degong was frightened and anxious because he didn't know how to explain it to his superiors.
When he came to the gate of the city, Ma Degong was like a married little woman. He was twisting and turning and refused to enter the city. Xiao Dezi, who was accompanying him, despised him even more and had to urge him to hurry up.
"Xiao Dezi, this time we failed in our mission. The witness Liu Zhen was assassinated, the physical evidence was taken away, and the witness and physical evidence are gone. Let's, let's not go to the city." Ma Degong said in a panic. .
"Mr. Ma, what are you talking about? We Jin Yiwei are the emperor's personal soldiers, how can we be deserters? Besides, we don't have any evidence. Look at what this is." Xiao Dezi scooped it from his arms. A piece of paper was taken out, and it was still stained with blood, but the writing could still be seen clearly, but it looked shocking.
"Ah, Xiao Dezi, where did this come from?" Ma Degong grabbed the piece of paper and saw that it was filled with blue and purple words, and the content was relatively simple, which was to instruct Liu Zhen to use Although the 50,000 yuan was used to bribe the soldiers, although the payment was not written down, this private recruitment of troops was no different from a conspiracy to rebel.
"Master Ma, I found this in Liu Zhen's study. I was about to present it to you at that time, but an assassin suddenly attacked me. I was afraid that the physical evidence would be lost, so I hid it privately."
"Okay, you did a good job." The joy on Ma Degong's face flashed, and then he frowned: "It's just that I still failed in my job. Not only did I lose people and material evidence, but I also implicated many brothers. Even if you make a meritorious service, I'm afraid it won't be enough to redeem yourself."
As the emperor's personal guard, the Jin Yiwei's internal military regulations are also very strict. This time, if they failed in their job, no matter how great their achievements are, they may not be able to offset it.
"Master Ma, this world belongs to the Ming Dynasty, where else can you escape? Now that the situation is urgent, we should report this matter urgently to avoid drastic changes in the court. This is also a great achievement, and there may be a heavy reward." Xiao Dezi advised.
"This..." Ma Degong began to hesitate. He looked at the towering city gate not far away, recalling the leisurely life in Jinling, and then looked at the vast Yangtze River not far away rolling eastward. The last Gritting his teeth, he said: "I will fight for wealth and honor in danger. I will listen to you this time and go to Beijing."
Ma Degong and Xiao Dezi quickly entered the city and went straight to Prince Gu's Mansion. Because at their level, they were not qualified to meet the king directly, so they could only speak to him through Prince Gu. And just when Ma Degong burst into tears When Di was describing his experiences in the past few days to King Gu, a group of men dressed as martial artists escorted a luxuriously decorated carriage out of the north gate of Jinling City and headed towards Qixia Mountain.
About five miles away from Jinling City, in the woods beside the road, two people dressed as peasant women were walking in the woods. On the surface, they were collecting firewood, but in fact they were always observing the pedestrians on the road consciously or unconsciously. They saw this When a horse-drawn carriage team appeared, they stayed away from each other, looking like timid peasant women.
Qixia Mountain is located about 40 miles northeast of Jinling City. The carriage team was not traveling too fast, so it was only around 20 miles before noon. Perhaps because they were tired from walking, the group stopped at a place called Shili. While resting on the slope, women's laughter could still be heard from time to time in the carriage.
"Brother Liu, it's a bit strange." A man pretending to be a man rode up to an older man and whispered.
"You also noticed, it's a bit strange, I didn't meet a single pedestrian on this road." When the mature man said this, he couldn't help but frown. Because he knew that this road is one of the avenues into Beijing, and it stands to reason that it should be There should be a lot of people passing by.
"Brother Liu, just to be on the safe side, wouldn't you..." the man in the strong suit persuaded again.
"It's not like you don't know Miss's temper. She finally came out, but we can't persuade her." The old man looked in the direction of the carriage and lowered his voice as much as possible, "Tell the brothers to cheer up. , be more careful."
At this moment, a burst of loud drum music came. The mature man hurriedly looked at the sound and saw a wedding team wearing red clothes, beating gongs and drums, appearing not far away, and a groom wearing a bright red hydrangea. Riding on horses, walking in front of eight large sedan chairs, there were at least twenty or thirty people, including those carrying the sedan chairs and those who played gongs and drums.
"Go, stop those people and ask them to change their route." The mature man did not dare to take risks. After all, the young ancestor on the carriage was a wealthy man. If anything went wrong, his head would be at risk.
However, before those well-dressed men came forward, they saw the curtain on the carriage was opened, and a woman with an oval face poked her head out and said: "No need, the lady said to let them pass, the lady wants to see the excitement. scene."
"Miss, there are too many people here. Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be careful." The mature man rode to the carriage and whispered through the screen window.
"Don't always be suspicious. We came out incognito. Who knows the identity of the young lady?" The oval-faced woman answered on her behalf.
Seeing that his persuasion was ineffective, the mature man had no choice but to call all his subordinates and told them to be careful and ensure the safety of the carriage. At this time, the wedding team was approaching, beating gongs and drums?p
The sound was louder and more festive. Even the groom riding on the horse saluted to the side of the road with a smile on his face. It didn't look like anything was wrong. p
However, when the wedding team met the carriage team parked on the roadside, the bearers carrying the sedan suddenly put the sedan on the ground, and others suddenly dropped their things and rolled on the ground. They all rolled under the sedan.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, the mature man was about to shout for escort when he heard dozens of "whoosh..." and dozens of densely packed hidden arrows flying directly out of the sedan. The unlucky ones couldn't react in time. He was directly hit by a hidden arrow, his body tilted and he fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and died.
"No, there is an assassin. Protect the young lady quickly." The old man exclaimed, drew out his sword and guarded the carriage. At the same time, those people who had fled under the sedan came out again, but each of them had a hand in his hand. He had a long knife on his head, rolled a few times on the ground, and rushed to the front of the carriage. Wherever he passed, the hoofs of all the horses were cut, the horses stumbled, and the people on the horses were thrown off their horses.
However, these well-dressed men were also smart and capable. Although they lost their mounts, they did not panic. They immediately got up from the ground and surrounded the carriage, confronting the incoming attackers. The mature man also scooped out a firework , ignite it and shoot it into the sky. Needless to say, this is a signal for help.
And just as these men in strong clothes were preparing to wait for help, a scream suddenly came from the carriage. They hurriedly went back to take a look and saw that the oval-faced woman had a bright dagger in her hand, lying across the other side. On the neck of a gorgeously dressed woman.
"Little Carrot, you, what are you doing?" The woman in gorgeous clothes was frightened and frightened, and her voice trembled with fear.
"Quickly, let the lady go, or she will die a good death." The old man was a little dumbfounded, because he knew that the one named Xiaoluobo was one of the maids serving Princess Nanping, and she was also the most personal maid, and this time the princess came out incognito. The travel was largely instigated by her.
"Who is the little carrot?" The oval-faced woman sneered and said to the gorgeously dressed woman: "The little girl entering the palace to serve you is just a secret arranged by Master Xu. The emperor actually listened to the slander and detained my master. The little girl has no choice but to ask you to go back so that the master can be replaced. You who are sensible, please get out of the way quickly, otherwise don’t blame us for the dead end."
"Okay, you, you are actually a spy. I really misjudged you. I treated you as a sister in vain. You, you..." Na Huafu was shocked and angry, but you were speechless for a long time. Come, because she has already felt the cold knife energy coming from her neck.
"Get out of the way! Do you hear me?!" The oval-faced woman tightened the dagger in her hand, and there was a blood mark on the neck of the woman in fine clothes. When the men in fine clothes saw it, they felt a chill in their hearts. You know, the woman in front of you is a ruthless master, who says that killing people will definitely lead to blood.
"Get out of the way!" The mature man waved his hand helplessly, and dozens of his subordinates screeched and immediately moved out of the way. The oval-faced woman struck the woman in the gorgeous dress with a knife on her neck, knocking her unconscious. He pulled the reins of the carriage again and sped out quickly.
Of course, those men in strong clothes would not sit back and watch the robbers leave. Just as they were about to chase them, they saw more than a dozen bottles flying towards them. They hurriedly got out of the way, but the bottles shattered when they hit the ground, and the yellow smelly water splashed everywhere. They also Before they had time to figure out what the smelly water was, they saw another rocket shooting towards them, and with a roar, their feet burst into flames, scaring them so much that they backed away.
And when they retreated, the assassins disguised as a wedding team had already dispersed, leaving only a line of fire, a large sedan and a group of people who were at a loss what to do.
"Liu, Liu Qianhu, we, we lost the princess, this, this is..." The man in Yi Jinyi came back to his senses first, but there was a slight cry in his voice, obviously he was scared, because just by doing it, Losing the princess is enough to make everyone present lose their heads, and maybe the whole family will have to sit down together.
"Why panic, Zhang Jie, you go back to the palace immediately to report the news. Others, follow me!" The old man gritted his teeth, threw his legs and rushed through the line of fire.
However, these men in strong clothes lost their horses and could only rely on two legs to chase. Naturally, they could not catch up. No, after chasing for several miles, they found the carriage parked by a bridge, but the carriage was on The people had disappeared long ago, and there were no traces of their pursuit. However, they were still unwilling to give up, so they had to spread out and search everywhere.
In the emperor's palace in Jinling City, King Gu took Ma Degong and Xiao Dezi into the palace, and was recounting the cases that had occurred in the past few days in front of Emperor Jianwen. All the evidence they gave showed that, Xu Huizu not only secretly colluded with the Peking Army, but also secretly planned to kill soldiers, and his evil intentions were clearly exposed.
After listening to Ma Degong's dictation, Emperor Jianwen looked at some of the evidence that was presented, and frowned. Although the evidence was in front of him, he still couldn't believe that Xu Huizu would betray him. After all, a few days ago, Xu Huizu was detained in the palace on the pretext of entering the palace to discuss matters, and the Xu Mansion was also surrounded by Jinyi guards. Even if he had really had second thoughts, he would not be able to break out at this time.
"Your Majesty, all the personal and material evidence are there. Xu Huizu's rebellion has been revealed. We must not tolerate it. For the sake of the safety of the country and the country, we must eradicate him sooner or later to avoid future troubles." King Gu put on an expression of concern for the country and the people, and kept saying to persuade.
"Fang Aiqing, what do you think?" Emperor Jianwen couldn't make up his mind for a moment, so he looked at Fang Xiaoru again. However, before Fang Xiaoru had time to reply, he saw a little eunuch running up to the palace, shouting as he ran: "It's not good. , something serious has happened, Princess Nanping, Princess Nanping has been kidnapped by thieves."
"What?!" Emperor Jianwen was startled and stood up from the throne, "Speak slowly, what's going on?"
Although everyone within the palace walls was cold-blooded, Emperor Jianwen was still very concerned about his close relatives. His sister had been kidnapped, so how could he not be anxious.
"Princess Nanping was instigated by Little Luobo and left the palace incognito this morning with only a few dozen guards. Unexpectedly, she met a thief on the way, and Little Luobo was actually an accomplice of the thief. They, they kidnapped the princess together, saying , He said he wanted to scoop up the princess in exchange for Mr. Xu." The little eunuch spoke intermittently. He was just a messenger and didn't fully understand what happened.
"What? Little Carrot is a spy?!" Emperor Jianwen was really angry. He often went to see Princess Nanping. Naturally, he knew the clever and cute little Carrot next to Princess Nanping. Moreover, he still remembered that this palace maid was the Duke of Wei's palace. Now Xiaoluobo actually collaborated to kidnap the princess, and Emperor Jianwen's trust in Xu Huizu immediately disappeared.
"This must be Xu Huizu's treacherous plot again. Your Majesty, you must stop it, or you will suffer the consequences!" King Gu advised again. Even Fang Xiaoru, who always believed that you should think twice before acting, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, you are like a big traitor. Loyalty, Xu Huizu’s rebellious behavior has been fully demonstrated and cannot be tolerated!"
"Come here, put Xu Huizu and everyone in the Xu Mansion into the heavenly prison, and interrogate them strictly by guards in brocade robes. All the palace residents who were originally admitted by the Xu Mansion will also be thrown into prison." Emperor Jianwen's eyes flashed with a look of determination. , it looks like he is really going to kill someone.
"Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report." The little eunuch who reported the news whispered.
"explain."
"Those kidnappers have specified that they want to exchange the princess for Xu Huizu, if..." The little eunuch did not dare to say any more, because he had already noticed a murderous aura coming from the dragon chair.
"Sent people to search, even if the entire Yingtian Mansion is turned upside down, we still want to find Princess Nanping." Emperor Jianwen was furious. The rebellion had just been put down, and now something more serious than the rebellion happened in the court. This is Deliberately not making him feel better.
"Yes, I will go immediately to deliver the order."