Chapter 24 Night Visit to the Prime Minister's Mansion
At night, Xia Houshu disguised himself and sneaked into the Prime Minister's Mansion 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 bow down. The exterior of the courtyard is surrounded by pink walls, green willows hang down all around, and the top of the gate is painted in red.
There is a black golden nanmu plaque hanging on it, with the three characters "Prime Minister's Mansion" written in flying colors on it. The high-gate courtyard has three entrances and three exits. The front is the office and the back is the official residence. If you look down from above, the entire palace
The 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 central and important position. The layout of the mansion is also very elegant, with criss-crossing corridors and winding paths.
The garden is secluded, with numerous pavilions and terraces, connected pavilions, rockeries like screens, ponds and swamps, surrounded by green trees, and the scenery is alternately arranged, just like a miraculous workmanship.
High-ranking officials in the capital 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 the enemy when there is a disturbance. The residence of the prime minister is even more heavily guarded. Xia Houshu spent a whole night taking care of Xia Houyi.
The map came out, and after many twists and turns in the Prime Minister's Mansion, many times avoiding patrolling guards, it took about half an hour to finally find Yi Wu's residence.
Yi Wu's residence is called Cuiyuxuan, 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 vying to bloom. The strong smell blends together to create an indescribable weirdness.
Xia Houshu rubbed his nose gently and lurked quietly in the flowers nearby. With the candlelight coming from the window, he could clearly identify the dozen or so fully equipped 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 nineteen years old. As her name suggests, she was good at dancing and had a beautiful and enchanting appearance. She was quite skilled in pleasing men, so she
She won the favor of men, otherwise the nearly fifty-year-old Prime Minister Wang would not be willing to sleep on her bed and protect her at every turn. However, a month ago, Yi Wu, who had always been the favorite of the special house, suddenly died suddenly in his own body.
residence, and was soon cremated.
When he received this news, Xia Houshu secretly planted a cloud of doubt in his heart. According to the custom of Nanqi, people are usually buried after death. Even if a traitor is sentenced to beheading, he will be buried afterwards.
The family members are notified to take the head and body for burial together, but cremation is rare. Generally, those who choose cremation mostly have unspeakable secrets, or they have some contagious and incurable disease, and they have no choice but to fear that the disease will spread; or they have no choice but to do so.
It was someone who murdered him in order to destroy the body and eliminate traces. If Yi Wu really contracted a terminal illness, there is no need for the Changqing Sect to trace the cause of his death. Then there is only one possibility left - Yi Wu died at the hands of others.
In this high-gate compound, the most likely cause of the death of a favored concubine was a fight for favor in the backyard. According to Xia Houshu's understanding, Prime Minister Wang Chonghou was born in the Wang family of Lichuan, which has been a big family for generations.
He was well-dressed and well-fed, and received the best education. Therefore, when he was young, Wang Chonghou relied on his family background and talent to play in the world, leaving behind many romantic affairs. Wang Chonghou's first wife was the daughter of the old Wei King, the Dugu family of Mingjia County.
, a true daughter of the clan, with a son and a daughter. But before marrying Princess Mingjia, Wang Chonghou already had a son and three daughters. The mothers of the children were the oiran he arranged for outside, the oiran who painted the boat, and the oiran in the mansion.
Among the maidservants, one of them was the daughter of Wang Chonghou and his younger brother's concubine.
It stands to reason that a child of a family with a bad record and a very bad reputation like Wang Chonghou had no official title at that time. Even if he wanted to marry a woman of similar status based on his family background, a serious family would not be willing to marry his daughter to him.
However, Wang Chonghou captured the heart of Princess Mingjia with his wealth of knowledge and a sharp tongue, and became the princess of Mingjia, and won the full support of the old Wei King. Then because of his outstanding talent,
He was admired by Emperor Jingtai for his insights on government affairs, which started his political career, and he rose to the top through promotions.
Among the many scandalous rumors about Wang Chonghou, they all highlight Wang Chonghou's legendary life and the tolerance and generosity of Princess Mingjia. However, this is not the case. Xia Houshu's mother is also a princess, although her status is higher than that of Mingjia County, who was born in the clan.
The Lord lowered his head, but he had also met and interacted with the legendary Princess Mingjia at the palace banquet. Xia Houshu once heard his mother mention when chatting with his aunt, Princess Gong, that Princess Mingjia relied on her
She was born into a royal family, and her husband is a prime minister who is beneath one person and above ten thousand people. He has always set his sights on others. Even when he saw a princess of the same generation who was born in the orthodox royal family, he never showed any respect, let alone a junior one.
Or someone with a lower background than her. How could such a person tolerate so many of Wang Chonghou’s new and old loves and concubines and concubines in the mansion where he was the master?
Of the four children Wang Chonghou gave birth to before he officially got married, three of them were accused of being married to the person he wanted to win over before they were even born. The eldest son of a concubine is still running errands for the family and has no serious job.
It was easy to invite Princess Mingjia to arrange a match, but the bride died less than a year after marrying into the palace... Yi Wu was a lowly girl who was born as a maiko. Princess Mingjia must have felt dirty even by looking at her.
He would not tolerate her monopolizing Wang Chonghou's favor.
No matter how many aristocratic families there are in the capital, there are ten times and a hundred times more scandals than this, so Xia Houshu's suspicion is reasonable. In order to find out the truth, she decided to continue to lurk in the grass and wait and see what happens.
There were a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. Even though Xia Houshu was wearing night clothes, his exposed skin was still stung by a few pimples, which made him unbearably itchy. And each of the guards seemed to have taken root in the same place, motionless and did not leave for a long time.
.In desperation, she had to change to a hidden place, and then carefully climbed up to the roof to find out.
Xia Houshu chose a less conspicuous place and gently opened a few tiles. Through the gaps, he could see the flowers in Yi Wu's room. The silver candlelight reflected the carved screen, the fragrance was lingering, and the graceful pink gauze curtain.
Swaying gently in the night wind, it was elegant and ambiguous. Xia Houshu had seen such a scene and such magnificence before when he and his mother went to the palace to meet the concubine, but it was the treatment that only an extremely favored concubine would receive, which shows that
Wang Cheng loved Yi Wu very much during his lifetime.
After a careful scan, I saw a person sitting on the edge of the bed. It was the prime minister Wang Chonghou who was getting stronger and stronger. At this moment, he was looking at a mutton-fat jade plaque with bright eyes, his expression was sad, as if he was remembering an old friend. Look at the quilt again
The jade plaque he held in his hand was as white as amber, in the shape of a very rare peony flower, and was extremely exquisite in workmanship. Xia Houshu sighed, never expecting that Prime Minister Wang, an old man in his late fifties, would treat an unfamiliar person like this.
A woman in her twenties is so affectionate and sad that she can't help herself. As expected, identity is not distance, age is not a problem, and passion goes beyond youth.
Of course, these are not important. What is important is that the style of the jade plaque is not something that men would wear.
Yi Wu was Prime Minister Wang's favorite woman during her lifetime, and she must have many treasures. However, Prime Minister Wang just kept this jade plaque and refused to let go. It must be Yi Wu's personal belongings. Even so, this jade plaque
The jade tablet may be helpful in tracing the cause of Yi Wu's death.
Thinking of this, Xia Houshu squatted on the roof and secretly analyzed the current situation. There were many guards around Prime Minister Wang, and it would definitely not work to rob him head-on. If we talk about outsmarting him, Prime Minister Wang was the leader of the civil servants, and he had countless people and opinions.
Sleek and cunning, how many people in this world can surpass him?
When he was in a dilemma, there was suddenly a burst of very small footsteps behind him, as light as the wind, getting closer and closer, sending chills down the spine. Xia Houshu looked behind him alertly, only to find that there was an unknown person on the roof.
When did another black shadow appear? In the huge silver-white moonlight, the figure of the other party was like a ghost, showing an unruly and cold look, as if it could swallow her alive in the next second.
Xia Houshu half-squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully. He saw that the person who came was tall and tall. He was wearing a black outfit that clung tightly to his strong body, making him look even more heroic. He also wore a very unique silver mask on his face, which looked like
A cunning fox, with a pair of opaque eyes that exudes coldness and light even at night.
Can a thief meet someone of the same kind at night? Or is it that he has not noticed it for a long time and is just a mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole behind him?
Xia Houshu stood up quickly and stared at the man in black with full vigilance. The black figure seemed to be very surprised by Xia Houshu's existence. They faced each other in the moonlight and looked at each other.
Under the cold moonlight, a chilling air gradually rose in the air. Just when Xia Houshu thought that a fight was inevitable, the black shadow suddenly disappeared from sight and disappeared without a trace.
Xia Houshu was stunned, and for a moment he couldn't figure out whether the disappearing shadow was an enemy or a friend. Just looking at the figure of this person, he must be a man. But who is this person? Why does he appear here? Is it possible?
Could it be related to Yi Wu’s case?
With his head full of questions, Xia Houshu chased along the place where the black shadow disappeared.
The Prime Minister's Mansion was densely packed with houses and courtyards connected to each other. Xia Houshu tried his best to avoid the night guards and walked around the Prime Minister's Mansion several times, but the black shadow disappeared without a trace like a ghost. No trace of Xia Hou could be found.
Yu realized that if he continued to search, he would get lost in this deep courtyard, so he stopped in a deserted courtyard, took out a map and looked at it under the moonlight.
According to the scenery here and the instructions on the map drawn by Xia Houyi, this courtyard is already on the outskirts of the Prime Minister's Mansion. The only thing separated from it by a wall is a secluded small alley, leading directly to West Street. Although the curfew has been imposed, there are still many people on West Street.
There are many houses and buildings, which are very suitable for evading pursuit. If she wants to, it will be safe to jump out from here. But when she thinks that she has finally sneaked into the Prime Minister's Mansion and the mission has not made any breakthrough progress, she is afraid that she will go back empty-handed.
Xia Houyi's joke. For the sake of face that was so trivial, Xia Houshu still refused to give up and decided to take another gamble.
Just as Xia Houshu was about to put away the map, his neck suddenly felt cold, and the map in his hand fell to the ground due to his lack of concentration.
"Who are you?"
A cold and unfamiliar voice came from behind, as if a basin of snow water fell from the sky and poured water all over Xia Houshu's body, instantly freezing him from head to toe.
Xia Houshu couldn't see the person behind her, and she didn't dare to make any big moves. After all, the opponent's sword blade was pressed tightly against her neck at this moment. If she resisted at all, she would become the soul under the sword.
In a panic, Xia Houshu suddenly remembered Xia Houyi's previous taunts, and couldn't help but suspect that the person behind her was deliberately sent by Xia Houyi to scare her. Unexpectedly, as soon as she tried to move her neck, the sword blade on her neck came closer.
.Now she was almost certain that the other party was indeed not joking with him, and only then did she finally realize that she had just been tracking the man in black.
The cool night breeze blew on her body, and Xia Houshu's self-confidence was blown away bit by bit. A chill and fear spread from the bottom of her heart, gradually wrapping her up like cold lake water... This chapter has been completed!