He had already sent people to search around the city, but did not find the whereabouts of the Shu couple. He suspected that the two people were hiding in Prince Yin's Mansion.
He immediately asked Princess Taiping to visit Prince Yin, and then asked two personal guards to disguise themselves as Princess Taiping's maidservants and sneak into Prince Yin's palace to search secretly.
In the east courtyard, Feng Ying and Guan Xiaozhi were dismantling their recruitment.
There were many personal guards watching, all with the same purpose: they wanted to learn from the two of them.
Long Yang was lying on a tree reading a book. Others liked to read in a quiet place, but he preferred to go to crowded places for fear that others would not see him reading.
When Ping Qi and Guan Xiaoning returned to the yard, Long Yang jumped down from the tree with a roar, stepped forward and asked with concern: "Have you two completed your mission?"
Ping Qi said in frustration: "We followed Her Royal Highness the Princess into Prince Yin's Mansion and searched for a while, but unfortunately we were unable to find the two Shu people."
Guan Xiaoning is Guan Xiaozhi's sister, and they are the only sisters among the bad guys. She whispered: "We plan to request His Highness to search again tomorrow."
Long Yang patted the two of them on the shoulders and said earnestly: "Xiaoping, Xiaoning, this matter is too difficult. You can't handle it. Hurry up and explain to His Highness. Let Brother Yang complete the task for you!"
Before the two of them spoke, Feng Ying from a distance said anxiously: "Don't listen to him, he wants to steal your mission so that he can get rewarded."
Guan Xiaoning immediately looked at Long Yang with suspicion.
"What are you looking at? If you can't complete the task, it's natural for me to take over!" Long Yang said confidently.
Ping Qi said with a bitter face: "Brother Yang, you, Fengying, and Xiaozhi have already completed a mission, why are you still trying to steal from us?"
"Who robbed you? I was worried that you hadn't read the book, completed the task poorly, and affected His Highness's important affairs, so I took the initiative to take the responsibility for you!"
Fengying shouted: "Fart, what does this have to do with studying? I haven't read a book yet, so I still completed the task beautifully!"
Long Yang shook his head and said: "What a woman, you keep talking about 'fart' all day long. This is the result of not having read a book. Alas, I don't know if anyone will want you in the future."
Feng Ying was furious, and a white crane spread its wings and rushed toward Long Yang.
Long Yang held the book in his right hand and only used his left hand to resist. After a while, he became unable to resist and shouted: "Look! Dahuang is back!"
Feng Ying just thought he was cheating and ignored him. Unexpectedly, Ping Qi also followed suit and said: "Dahuang, you are back!"
Turning around, Dahuang actually walked in from outside the courtyard gate, holding a rope in his hand, and the other end of the rope was tied to a man's hand.
The man followed Dahuang like a prisoner being escorted.
Fengying immediately stopped and asked, "Dahuang, isn't this person Li Jingye?"
Dahuang said: "Yes, I caught him back." There was a proud expression on his face.
Long Yang stuffed the book into his chest, quickly stepped forward, pulled the rope with both hands, and broke the rope. He said with a smile: "Master Li, follow me, and I will take you to see Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Dahuang was still in a daze, but Fengying had already shouted: "Hey, Dahuang, he wants to steal your mission and take Li Jingye to the princess to collect the reward, why don't you stop him?"
Dahuang's face changed drastically, his figure swayed, he stood in front of Long Yang, and said angrily: "I captured him!"
Long Yang explained: "Dahuang, Mr. Li did not steal the gold medal, and with my help, His Highness has recovered the gold medal."
After saying that, he pulled Li Jingye and passed Dahuang.
Dahuang was stunned again, his mind was spinning slowly. If he wanted to understand this sentence, he would have to have a cup of tea at least.
Feng Ying was impatient to remind him again, and quickly came to Long Yang's side, humming: "Brother Yang, Dahuang caught this man, can't you take his credit?"
Long Yang said: "Am I that kind of person?"
Feng Ying looked at him sideways, with an expression of 'You are not who you are'.
Long Yang said eloquently: "Master Li is the princess's brother. I want the princess to see him as soon as possible and be happy."
Fengying said: "Yes, when I am happy, I will give you money again, and you can buy a few shabby books again."
At this moment, Dahuang finally understood what he just said and asked: "Didn't he steal the gold medal?"
Long Yang said: "Of course not!"
"Who is that?"
"The man who stole the gold medal is called Li Jingwu. He is the princess's cousin and has been imprisoned in Dali Temple."
After hearing Long Yang's words, Li Jingye's face changed slightly as he kept his head down.
Dahuang nodded in agreement and walked towards the house, seeming to have lost interest in Li Jingye.
Long Yang was secretly happy, and pulled Li Jingye and said: "Master Li, let's go find Her Royal Highness quickly."
Li Jingye didn't say a word and followed Long Yang silently. Feng Ying thought about it and followed.
Long Yang said: "What are you doing here?"
Feng Ying hummed: "I'm afraid that when Her Royal Highness the Princess asks who brought Mr. Li back later, someone will shamelessly say 'it's me'."
Long Yang blushed and became silent.
After a while, the two came to Li Zhiying's main hall.
After the announcement, Li Zhiying personally came out. After seeing Li Jingye, she was happy at first, but then her expression turned cold and said: "Brother, you... you are back."
Li Jingye's face turned pale, and he lowered his head and said, "You, lock me into Dali Temple too!"
Li Zhiying shook her head and pulled his sleeve into the main hall. Long Yang was about to follow when Feng Ying grabbed him and said angrily: "Brother and sister are reunited, what are you going to do with us?"
Long Yang glared at her and said, "Who said I was going to follow you?" He turned around and strode away.
In the dormitory, Li Zhiying was sitting on the couch, while Li Jingye did not sit down and lowered his head in silence.
The two of them remained silent for a long time. After a long time, Li Zhiying said slowly: "My husband said that you didn't want to help King Pei steal the gold medal, so they let Li Jingwu steal it. Is it true?"
Li Jingye sighed: "If you treat me like this, I am not a heartless person."
Li Zhiying was secretly happy, snorted and said: "But you still helped King Pei. Without you, how could Li Jingwu steal the gold medal?"
Li Jingye sighed: "Sister, you are a woman and you don't understand what loyalty is. Although I don't want to help His Highness deal with you, I can't refuse His Highness's other orders."
"Nonsense! You are foolish and loyal!"
Li Jingye said in a deep voice: "I only know the principle of loyal ministers not serving the two masters. Whether it is foolish loyalty or not, I can understand it myself."
Li Zhiying was so angry that she was shaking all over. She gritted her teeth and said, "You are still reasonable. Do you know what King Pei stole the gold medal for?"
Li Jingye remained silent.
Li Zhiying said angrily: "He used the gold medal to summon the confidants of Her Majesty the Queen Mother, and then told them that the Queen Mother wanted to usurp the throne, and let Her Majesty happen to hear it in the next room. Do you know what the consequences of this will be?"
Li Jingye was stunned for a moment, and his lips murmured a few times, but no sound came out.
Li Zhiying bit her lip and said: "Your Majesty and the Queen Mother will definitely become enemies, the court will be divided, the country will be at war, and the two sides will fight to the death!"
"If the Queen Mother loses, the Zhou Palace and the British Duke's Palace will also be destroyed! Do you want to send all your relatives to death with your own hands?"
Li Jingye was stunned and said in a low voice: "No...I never thought it would be like this..."
"Don't you understand what kind of person King Pei is? Is what he is planning to be a trivial matter? Did you really not expect it, or are you deceiving yourself?" Li Zhiying asked one by one.
Li Jingye covered his face with his hands and said, "Little sister, I'm sorry for you, why don't you kill me?"
Li Zhiying gritted her teeth and said, "I'm just asking you, will you still listen to King Pei's orders in the future?"
"me……"
"You are still stubborn!"
Li Jingye saw the girl's face turned red and glanced at her belly again. After a long silence, he sighed: "I won't listen to him anymore."
Li Zhiying suddenly turned from anger to joy. She knew that as long as her brother said something, she would never violate it. She took his hand and said, "Brother, you will live here from now on."
Li Jingye shook his head and said, "No, I'd better go back to the small courtyard to live."
Li Zhiying said: "If you return to your residence and King Pei sends someone to find you, what will you do?"
Li Jingye raised his head and said, "Can't you trust me?"
Li Zhiying said softly: "Of course I know you will not break your promise, but if the people sent by King Pei use words to provoke you and say that you abandoned your old master for glory and wealth, you will definitely die to prove your ambition, right?"
Li Jingye was stunned, and thought to himself: "Yes, if King Pei really uses the oath I made before to force me, I can only give my life back to him."
He sighed and refused again.
Li Zhiying smiled slightly and immediately ordered someone to arrange a place for Li Jingye.
When Wu Chengsi returned to the palace, Li Zhiying immediately explained everything about Li Jingye.
Wu Chengsi didn't have the slightest fondness for Li Jingye, but when he saw his wife's sad look disappear for many days and a smile appeared on her face, he felt at ease.
Li Zhiying suddenly said: "Husband, my brother also said something about Li Jingwu."
"Oh? What's the matter?"
"My brother said that when King Pei asked him about the situation in Li's house, he told King Pei about Li Jingwu. Later, King Pei sent people to find Li Jingwu and found that he was addicted to gambling and was being collected by creditors every day. His life was miserable.
.”
"Later, King Pei came to him personally and helped him pay off his gambling debt. He also warned him not to gamble anymore, to study more and practice martial arts, and to cultivate his character. He would be reused in the future. As expected, Li Jingwu never gambled again."
Wu Chengsi was secretly shocked: "King Pei's plan is so far-reaching, he has obviously wanted to use Li Jingwu to win over Li Ji!" In his heart, his evaluation of King Pei was even higher.
At this time, Ping Qi and Guan Xiaoning came to report that they did not find the Shu couple in Prince Yin's Mansion.
The two volunteered and wanted to continue the search tomorrow. Although Wu Chengsi agreed, he felt that the possibility of the two people being in Prince Yin's Mansion was already very small, so he decided to think of another way.
That afternoon, he ordered people to invite Yang Tai to the study room of the palace and asked him about the situation of the Shu couple.
Yang Tai's words caught Wu Chengsi's attention.
"You said that when Wang Chen's wife was in Shu, she always kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public?" Wu Chengsi pinched his chin and said.
Yang Tai said: "Yes, Mrs. Wang doesn't like to meet people. I went to live with Wang Chen's house for a few months, and I only met her three times and said three words to her."
Wu Chengsi murmured: "That's strange. How could such a woman come to Chang'an and openly challenge all the music masters in Chang'an City?"
Yang Tai thought: "Could this arena be set up deliberately to assassinate you?"
Wu Chengsi shook his head and said: "This person was recommended by you. Even if there is no music competition, I will go to visit him incognito. They can still assassinate him, and maybe the chance of success will be greater!"
Yang Tai nodded, frowning and thinking.
Wu Chengsi suddenly said: "Yang Tai, have you ever recommended Wang Chen to King Pei?"
Yang Tai was stunned for a moment and said: "It's true. King Pei was very polite to Wang Chen, but Wang Chen didn't care about his official career and refused all the gifts from King Pei. For this, he even complained about me, saying that I shouldn't
Recommend him to King Pei."
"Later, didn't King Pei try to win over him again?"
Yang Tai thought for a while and said: "After I left Shu, I only exchanged letters with Wang Chen, and King Pei was never mentioned in the letters he wrote."
Wu Chengsi narrowed his eyes and said, "Really? According to my investigation, the person who assassinated me was King Pei! In other words, Wang Chen was doing things for him!"
Yang Tai was startled and lost his voice: "How could it be?" He was stunned for a while, then his face suddenly turned pale and he said: "Mo, could it be... because of that incident?"
"Which thing?" Wu Chengsi's eyes became sharp.
Yang Tai said: "Wang Chen once wrote to me for help, saying that his wife was attracted by the son of the governor of Qinzhou, and he hoped that I could help him mediate the matter."
"I mentioned this matter to my father at that time, and my father promised to find someone to write a letter to the governor of Qinzhou to mediate the matter."
"More than a month later, Wang Chen wrote to me and told me that the matter was resolved, but he did not thank me, and his attitude was very strange, and he seemed to be very dissatisfied with me."
Wu Chengsi thought for a while and said slowly: "Presumably the person your father is looking for is King Pei."
Yang Tai smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid, as you said, Wang Chen must repay kindness. If someone helps him once, he will definitely try his best to repay."
After a pause, his expression turned dark.
"I finally understand why he hates me so much. King Pei must have used what happened back then to force him to come to Beijing and participate in the plan to assassinate you. Even if Wang Chen doesn't want to, he will still agree."
Wu Chengsi let out a breath and said, "I finally understand that when the couple came to Beijing this time, they must be determined to die. That's why Mrs. Wang wanted to challenge the famous musicians in the capital before she died!"
Yang Tai was stunned for a while, then smiled bitterly: "Yes, yes, I am sorry for the couple."
He raised his head and glanced at Wu Chengsi, then opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't.
"You want to plead for Wang Chen and his wife and let me let them go?"
Yang Tai gritted his teeth, knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I am entirely responsible for this matter. If I had not introduced Wang Chen to King Pei, he would not have been involved in this matter. Please forgive them."
Wu Chengsi helped him up and said with a smile: "I am not an unkind person. Don't worry. Even if I catch them, I will deal with them lightly. But for now, I'd better find a way to find them."
Yang Tai's eyes showed gratitude, he thought for a while and said: "As far as I know, Wang Chen is lonely and has no other friends in Chang'an City."
Wu Chengsi said solemnly: "For more than half a month, I have used Jinwu Guards and Dali Temple to look for him. If he really lives with a friend, I would have found him long ago."
"Is he hiding outside the city?" Wang Chen guessed.
Wu Chengsi frowned and said nothing.
Li Jingwu said that Wang Chen participated in another plan of King Pei. That plan was probably aimed at him or Wu Mei, so he must be in the city!
"Yang Tai, please go back first."
Yang Tai agreed and left the study.
Wu Chengsi sat alone behind the desk, leaning on the chair with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen into a false sleep.
A quarter of an hour later, a melodious piano sound suddenly came. Wu Chengsi's mind flashed, he opened his eyes suddenly, left the study, and strode towards Xinglan Courtyard.
When Hui Bao saw Wu Chengsi coming, he covered his mouth and snickered, thinking: "The prince came as soon as the young lady played the piano. It seems that the prince likes the young lady's piano skills very much."
Wu Chengsi came to the back hall room and saw Liu Lanshuang, wearing a lavender palace dress, kneeling in front of the piano platform and playing the piano.
She raised her head and smiled at Wu Chengsi, then continued to play the piano with her head down.
In the past, Wu Chengsi would have been quietly sitting on his chair, drinking tea and listening to music. He would not speak to Liu Lanshuang until she stopped.
But today, he broke the routine.
"Shuang'er, stop playing now, I have something to tell you."
Liu Lanshuang stopped playing the piano, raised her head, sat upright, and showed a listening expression.
Wu Chengsi said: "I want you to do something for me!"
"you say."
"Do you still remember that Shu girl who was proficient in various musical instruments?"
"Remember."
Wu Chengsi said in a solemn tone: "I want you to help me lure her out!"
Liu Lanshuang was slightly curious: "Bring it out?"
Wu Chengsi said: "Tomorrow I will arrange for a music master from Shu to set up an arena in the West City to challenge the Chang'an music masters. You will go on stage to defeat him then, and then in front of everyone, you will defeat Shu music masters."
It’s worthless to be happy and derogatory!”
Liu Lanshuang hesitated and said, "Will that Shu girl be lured out by doing this?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "This woman came to Chang'an this time with the intention of dying. She wanted to let the world see the musical level of the Shu people before she died. We just reduced it to worthless, and we were not afraid that she would not be able to do it.
Jump!"
Liu Lanshuang nodded and said, "If I lure her out, can you let me compete with her?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Of course there is no problem. But this woman should also know that I am looking for her and dare not show her face publicly. Your identity as Liu Zixian requires you to find a place to live so that she can find you secretly."
Liu Lanshuang immediately said: "I will ask Qin Bao to buy a small courtyard in the west of the city later."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said with a smile: "We will split up. You go buy a yard, and I will go to the Hanlin Academy to find a great Shu musician who will compete with you tomorrow."
From the beginning, the Hanlin Academy was an institution that recruited masters of folk music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
In addition to the Hanlin Academy located in Daming Palace, there is also a Hanlin Villa in Chang'an City.
That Yue Jiaoxi was an official in Hanlin Academy, responsible for music and music affairs.
Naturally, Wu Chengsi did not need to personally come forward to do this. He ordered someone to summon Zhou Xing and then handed him the mission.
In the evening, Liu Lanshuang's small courtyard had not yet been purchased. Zhou Xing had already found a Shu musician and brought him to the palace to resume his life.
In the study, Wu Chengsi treated the man very politely, ordered him and Zhou Xing to sit down and talk, and said with a smile: "I invite Master Meng to come over, I hope that Master Meng can help me."
Standing next to Zhou Xing was a short and thin old man. He smiled and said: "If your Highness has any instructions, just give them. The common people should obey them."
Wu Chengsi immediately talked about setting up a competition, and briefly explained the causes and consequences. He only said that he wanted to lure out the Shu girl who was good at music.
Meng's family was stunned for a moment and said, "I wonder if ordinary people would dare to ask why Your Highness wanted to lure that Shu girl out?"
Zhou Xing raised his eyebrows and said: "Mr. Meng, Your Highness has his own principles for doing things. We just follow them, so why bother asking?"
Everyone in Meng was shocked and hurriedly responded, not daring to ask any more questions, and followed Zhou Xing to say goodbye and leave.