Xia Houyi had a lot of friends, and he usually hung out with friends to eat, drink and have fun, so it was not surprising to meet someone when he went out. But he suddenly emphasized that if he met someone, he must have a special status.
Xia Houyuan raised his eyes and glanced at his son, but saw that his expression was serious, and he immediately understood that this matter was unusual. He dropped his son again, and then asked: "Who did you meet?"
"Your Majesty." Xia Houyi's tone was still calm, but there was a hint of unexplained seriousness and confusion.
"Your Majesty?" Xia Houyuan was a little surprised and looked away from the chessboard, "When did it happen?"
After Xia Houhui's death, people outside assumed that Xiahouyi was the next generation of Duke of Yue. However, Xiahouyuan still had some hopes for his eldest son and had not yet submitted a letter to ask his second son to be crowned heir apparent. Therefore, Xiahouyi was still white and there was no reason why he would receive the title.
The emperor's private summons.
Although he was away from home these days, he never heard that Xia Houyi had ever entered the palace.
Since I didn't meet him in the palace, I met him outside.
Coincidentally, he also heard that the emperor often went out of the palace incognito recently. As for what happened, no one knew.
The emperor's whereabouts were very secretive. Xia Houyuan didn't even know about it, and Xia Houyi was even less clear about it. While he was thinking about how to convey the whole thing to his father, he followed him and intercepted his father.
a way out.
Xia Houyuan glanced at the chessboard, frowned slightly, and secretly cursed his son for being a slippery man.
Xia Houyi said calmly: "I specially made an appointment with Shu'er to go swimming in the lake that day. In fact, I used her as a guise to meet His Majesty."
Xia Houyuan recalled it carefully, and then he remembered that he had left home half an hour later than usual that day. Xia Houyi did come to greet them during that time, saying that he had an appointment with his sister to go out for a lake tour. Later, Xia Houshu also came to greet them, and they
The father and daughter talked for a while.
"Why does Your Majesty want to see you?" Xia Houyuan asked.
"Because of the Changqing Sect incident." Xia Houyi said without hesitation.
He had been holding this matter in his mind for a few days. He had been thinking about what to do. Now that he had mentioned it here, he simply stopped hiding it. He thought for a moment and continued: "There are four departments of Evergreen Sect agents.
, my uncle wanted me to take over two of them first. I originally wanted to accept it, but unexpectedly His Majesty suddenly sent a message asking to see me, so I went without thinking too much. Listening to His Majesty’s intention, it seemed that he didn’t want to
I took over so quickly. Although he gave some reasons at the time, in my opinion, it was just an excuse."
Xia Houyuan was stunned and couldn't even care about the chess game in front of him. After a while, he sighed: "It seems that your Majesty is still suspicious after all."
Xia Houyi also took a white seed and rubbed it gently. He was worried not only about the emperor's suspicion of the Xiahou family, but also about Xiahou Shu. At this time, his uncle gave Xiahou Shu a task that was beyond her scope of authority.
Isn't it just a coincidence?
If Xia Houshu's identity is exposed because of this, there is no guarantee that he will not be taken advantage of.
Seeing that his son had no reaction, Xia Houyuan added: "In your opinion, does your Majesty want to take back my military power, or does he want the Changqing Sect in the hands of Prince Gong's Palace?"
"Your Majesty is very thoughtful, and I can't guess what he really thinks. Maybe he wants them all, or maybe he wants nothing." All the doubts in Xia Houyi's head were displayed on his face, "But that day, His Majesty only said
Please let me not be in a hurry to take over the Evergreen Clan without mentioning my father. I thought that if your Majesty really wanted to take back the military power in my father's hands, he would not just summon me secretly."
Xia Houyuan chuckled lightly, but the smile did not reach his eyes: "Don't say you can't see through him. I've watched him grow from a swaddled baby to this big one, and I haven't seen him through for more than twenty years.
. Over the years, I have become more and more confused about it. If he asked me to hand over my military power, I would not hesitate to give it up with both hands, but he just said nothing."
Xia Houyi was stunned and said hesitantly: "Father's prestige in the army is not due to a military talisman or the military's will. It cannot be replaced by anyone. And the Changqing Sect has been in the hands of the Zhong family for hundreds of years, so
Not whoever wants it can just take it away. Even though I am my uncle's nephew and have his full support, the Evergreen Sect has not completely convinced me after so many years. His Majesty is wise and wise, and he will not look down upon it.
clear."
"Military orders are like mountains. If I have no military power and no prestige, I can't give orders to the Red Feather Army." Xia Houyuan smiled from the bottom of his heart, "Actually, I don't care. Since your eldest brother left, I have finally understood.
All military exploits, glory and power are all fleeting. If these can bring peace to your eldest brother, I would rather be a village man in the mountains and lead you mother and son to live a peaceful life. However, your uncle may be in trouble.
Already."
Xia Houyi nodded in agreement and said, "I haven't told my uncle about this yet. I have been thinking about how to tell him these days, and I just happened to ask my father for an idea."
"Tell it like it is." Xia Houyuan just lost his son, "Your uncle is a smart man, he knows what to do."
"Then I'll go to Prince Gong's Mansion tomorrow." Xia Houyi said and followed suit.
The father and son each had their own little plans and kept silent in agreement.
There is a large pond outside Xia Houyuan's study, which is connected to the Xixing Pond outside. The pond is full of lotus roots. At this time of the year, the lotus flowers have not yet bloomed, but the lotus leaves have already grown lush and green. Many frogs are hiding in it, lying low against the night.
Sing.
The sound of frogs came into the study, and the father and son were still playing chess silently. The sound of the chess pieces falling on the chessboard was clear and crisp.
After a long time, Xia Houyi asked again: "Father, do you think if there was no Changqing Gate, would Prince Gong's Mansion still be Prince Gong's Mansion?"
His tone was a little melancholy and a little confused.
Since the founding of Nanqi, the Zhong family has gone through four generations, and its momentum has been declining. Even in the fifth generation, there were no heirs to succeed. The glory of the military general family comes from the descendants of the past generations fighting with real swords and guns on the battlefield, which can be seen, and
The glory of Prince Gong's Mansion is the work of countless people in secret places. Some people envy the wealth of Prince Gong's Mansion, but no one has thought that behind this wealth are mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. If the Zhong family can get rid of Changqing
The door is not a bad thing. The key is whether uncle Zhong Zan is willing to give up, and how to give up.
Xia Houyuan didn't expect his son to ask this question, so he really thought about it seriously for a while. Fang smiled and said, "This should be something your uncle should consider, so why should I worry about it?"
Xia Houyi didn't answer.
Xia Houyuan changed the topic and said: "The ten kings with different surnames who were conferred by Emperor Taizong back then are now only three. Apart from your uncle, the Zhong family is full of women and children, so there is nothing to be afraid of. Your Majesty is a wise king, so he will not be
Kill them all to confirm their identity. And I heard from your mother that your uncle plans to let Qingkui find a son-in-law. If he can give birth to a son, it will not be difficult to inherit the title."
But Zhong Qingkui is only fourteen years old this year. It will take at least four or five years before she gets married and has a son. If she still doesn't give birth to a boy by then, what will happen to Prince Kung's palace? Can uncle wait until that time?
Xia Houyi was still worried about the affairs of Prince Gong's Mansion, but Xia Houshu had already disguised himself and sneaked into the Prime Minister's Mansion secretly when no one was around.
The Prime Minister's Mansion is located on the bank of the Qishui River in the west of the city. It is large in scale and covers an extremely large area. It is known as the "No. 1 Mansion in the Capital" and has attracted countless talents and heroes to submit.
The exterior of the Prime Minister's Mansion is surrounded by pink walls and surrounded by green willows. A black golden nanmu plaque hangs on the top of the red vermilion-lacquered door, with the three characters "Prime Minister's Mansion" inscribed with dragons and phoenixes flying on it. There are three entrances and three exits to the high-gate courtyard. The front is
The office is followed by the official residence. If you look down from above, the entire Xiangfu Manor is like two words "Hui" nested together. Dozens of courtyards tightly surround the owner in the center of the house, symbolizing the owner's importance.
The core position of the palace. The layout of the scenery in the mansion is also very elegant. There are criss-crossing corridors, winding paths, pavilions and terraces in the garden, connected pavilions, rockeries like screens, ponds and swamps, surrounded by green trees, and the scenery is alternately arranged, just like a magical work.
High-ranking officials in Beijing all support government soldiers, who use them to look after their homes and courtyards in their free time. They can also go into battle to kill enemies when there is a disturbance. The residence of the prime minister of the country is even more heavily guarded.
Xia Houshu found a hiding place and squatted down, then took out a map from his arms, compared the places he had walked with the map, and silently memorized the directions and buildings.
After the lake tour that day, Xia Houshu took advantage of his drunkenness to beg Xia Houyi for a long time before he agreed to help him draw a map of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Following the map that Xia Houyi spent an entire night drawing, Xia Houshu repeatedly avoided the patrolling guards and spent about half an hour finally finding Yi Wu's residence.
Yi Wu's residence is called Cuiyu Pavilion, located on the west side of the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion. There are some exotic flowers and herbs planted in the yard. The rainy season has just passed, and the flowers are blooming. The strong smell blends together to create an indescribable weirdness.
.
Xia Houshu rubbed his nose gently, and then lurked quietly in the flowers nearby. With the candlelight coming from the window, he could clearly make out the dozen or so burly guards guarding the place outside.
The beauty is deceased, but the yard where she lived is still guarded by so many people, which is obviously unusual.
Before coming, Xia Houshu had already found out that Yi Wu, the concubine of Prime Minister Wang, was from Lingdu. She was only twenty years old. As her name suggests, she was good at dancing, and she was beautiful and enchanting. She was quite skillful in pleasing men, so
She won the favor of men. Otherwise, Prime Minister Wang, who was nearly fifty years old, would not be willing to sleep on her bed and protect her in every possible way.
However, a month ago, Yi Wu, who had always been the favorite of the special house, suddenly died suddenly in his residence and was cremated soon after.
When Xia Houshu received this news, a cloud of doubt was secretly planted in his heart.
According to the custom of Nanqi, people are usually buried in the ground after death. Even if some extremely evil people are sentenced to beheading, their family members or relatives will be notified after the execution to collect the head and body for burial together.
Cremations are rare.
Generally speaking, most people who choose cremation have unspeakable secrets, or they have some incurable and contagious disease, and they have no choice but to worry about the spread of the disease; or they have been poisoned and want to destroy the corpse to eliminate traces.
If Yi Wu really contracted a terminal illness, there would be no need for the Changqing Sect to investigate the cause of his death.
Then there is only one possibility left - Yi Wu died at the hands of others.