Xie Yuan decided to start with the clue of King Pengcheng.
After knowing that King Pengcheng was going to Langya to hunt and have fun with King Langya, Comrade Xiao Xie handed over the academy to Qi Yan and rushed to Langya with Huo Qubing.
"Master, don't you want to get involved in these things? Why do you want to investigate the assassination of Duke Cui?" Huo Qubing asked with a puzzled expression on the way.
"Mr. Cui gave me a collection of thousands of books, and he was willing to borrow Cui Xun's hand and protect me with the Cui family. If I don't check for such kindness to me, I will become a wolf-hearted person." Xie Yuan smiled.
"Then King Pengcheng misunderstood that the young prince was harmed by the lord, and formed a big quarrel with the lord. The lord must act more cautiously." Huo Qubing nodded.
Xie Yuan nodded, turned to look out the window, his eyes slightly deepened.
There was a problem that troubled him for a long time.
He is just a well-known person, so why did Cui Taigong entrust his only daughter to him?
If he remembered correctly, Taigong Cui had some like-minded old friends before his death. Why didn't he find those seniors from famous families and found him alone?
Comrade Xiao Xie was puzzled.
This problem was not solved for Cui Xunzhi until he could speak a few years later.
But this is all a story for later.
…
April 7th.
It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road feel like they are dying.
An ordinary-looking carriage entered Langya and stopped in a teahouse.
On the second floor of the teahouse, a young man with a feather fan and a turban sat by the window.
Seeing the carriage stop and two handsome young men walking out of the teahouse, the young man shook his feather fan slowly.
People are coming.
Not long after, there was a gentle knock on the half-closed door.
"May I ask who is Sanlang Cui in the house?"
"Exactly. I wonder who is outside the house?"
"Excuse me, Xie Yuan."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiaolang, and come in."
Xie Yuan and Huo Qubing pushed open the door and saw the elegant young man at the window.
"My Excellency Cui Heng, I have heard of Xie Xiaolangjun for a long time." Cui Heng, that is, this young man stood up and bowed to Xie Yuan and Huo Qubing.
"It's just a false name." Xie Yuan and the two bowed in return.
In order to avoid suspicion, Huo Qubing put on a bamboo hat and stood at the door, moving a screen between the three of them.
Xie Yuan and the others took their seats, and Cui Heng brought tea.
"Cui Sanlang personally visited Langya this time, but what did he find?" Xie Yuan took a sip and asked straight to the point.
This Cui Heng was originally a descendant of the Cui family's side branch. Because he was deeply trusted by Cui Taigong, before his death, he passed him to the direct branch and took charge of the Cui family on Cui Xunzhi's behalf.
The clues he had found before, including the information about King Langya and King Pengcheng, were all provided by Cui Jiasanlang to Xiu Shu.
"When my uncle was assassinated that day, the servants who risked their lives to rescue him said that the assassins were well-trained and did not look like people from the world. Afterwards, they went back to the scene of the incident and found this on the assassins." Cui Heng took out from his sleeves.
A small wooden box was pushed in front of Xie Yuan.
Xie Yuan took it and opened it, and saw a short knife that was broken into half.
There was a line of small words engraved on the bottom of the handle. Although it was blurry, Xie Yuan could still make it out.
In the tenth year of Tianwu, the Pengcheng County Prince issued a subordinate system.
"This short sword was carried by the assassin. It broke during a desperate struggle with the servant who was guarding my uncle. He held it tightly at the time and it took a lot of effort to take it off."
"This is a weapon made in the name of King Pengcheng." Xie Yuan raised his head and looked steadily at Cui Heng.
Cui Heng nodded.
Xie Yuan narrowed his eyes.
Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Tianwu has strictly prohibited people outside the royal family and aristocratic families from making weapons in order to prevent his subordinates from rebelling.
Every weapon created must be signed and registered.
That's why the dagger has the signature of King Pengcheng.
"What do you think, Mr. Xie Xiaolang?" Cui Heng asked with a smile while shaking his feather fan.
"The real culprit who assassinated Mr. Cui was King Pengcheng. He is probably the same person. But those assassins only had such a knife. If they turn around and ask him to bite back and accuse us of framed him, the gain will outweigh the loss."
Xie Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Langya is coming from both sides. Let me inquire about it and then make countermeasures."
King Pengcheng was very cunning. It was almost impossible to identify him as the murderer of Cui Gong with a short sword and sue Emperor Tianwu.
According to what Cui Heng just said, those assassins were all armed with weapons when they assassinated Taigong Cui.
But when they turned back, they only found such a weapon. This made people think of the trap deliberately set by King Pengcheng.
Secondly, Emperor Tianwu was extremely protective of his shortcomings, especially the children of the Sima clan.
So don't be hasty.
After listening to Xie Yuan's analysis, Cui Heng nodded and suppressed the glint in his eyes.
Before his death, my uncle said that this young man from the Xie family seemed to have no ambitions, but in fact he had a clear mirror in his heart and could see through it better than anyone else.
So he asked himself to observe Xie Xiaolangjun more, saying that if he intends to become an official in the future, has decent conduct, and fulfills his promise to protect Cui Xunzhi, the Cui family can use all the efforts of the family to help him rise to the top.
My uncle said he wanted to make one last bet, a bet related to Cui's future, but only he and Cui Xunzhi could see the outcome of this bet.
But before that, Cui needs to avoid its edge.
Therefore, those of Cui's children who could return home did so in the name of observing filial piety or compiling ancient books.
"Young man from the Xie family, I happen to be meeting a friend in the next two days. If you need anything, you can send someone to deliver a message to this teahouse." Thinking of this, Cui Heng slowly gathered his thoughts and smiled at Xie Yuan.
"good."
Cui Heng thought of something and said: "Speaking of King Pengcheng, I remember that King Pengcheng cultivated thousands of hectares of land in Youzhou. I wonder if he had so many tenants."
Xie Yuan didn't care much, he just thought about how to get close to King Pengcheng and King Langya.
After leaving, he immediately went to inquire about their recent whereabouts.
After confirming that the two of them were going hunting in the suburbs, Xie Yuan prepared to blend in with the accompanying guards to see if he could hear some useful news.
Huo Qubing wanted to follow, but was stopped by Xie Yuan.
"You meet me outside." Xie Yuan patted him on the shoulder.
"But...my lord, can you ride a horse?"
"...Although the horse is tall, it is not as generous as my heart. I can tame it, as long as the injustice is waiting for me outside."
Huo Qubing looked at Xie Yuan suspiciously.
To be honest, apart from that time with Rouran and his party, I have never seen his master riding a horse. He usually travels with a donkey.
Luo Chen was riding with someone else that time.
The accompanying guards are all proficient in riding and shooting, so the lord will not be able to get in trouble if he sneaks in.
Huo Qubing also wanted to remind Xie Yuan that Xie Yuan had knocked out a guard and took off his clothes and put on another one.
"Keep an eye on him until I come back and send him back."
"Master, won't you kill him?"
Xie Yuan was confused: "Why kill him for no reason?"
"To prevent future troubles."
"It doesn't matter, when I come back and give him a dose of medicine, he will forget about it."
After the epidemic ended, he delved deeply into ancient medical classics and discovered many interesting prescriptions.
For example, this can make people forget a memory. This chapter has been completed!