When Zhao Xing heard this sentence, his jaw almost dropped.

The only son of the Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Prince of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, was actually imprisoned in the prisoner-of-war camp of the Dingbei Army? Fan Xiaodao only left for half an hour before he brought back such shocking news.

No wonder, over the years, the Northern Zhou Dynasty has occupied Fenghuangling and refused to give in, and has frequently sent troops to harass the northern Xinjiang area, making the surrounding people miserable. Four months ago, the Dingbei Army captured a Northern Zhou team that had sneaked into the country.

More than a hundred prisoners of war were captured. Soon after, the Northern Zhou Dynasty sent a delegation to discuss the return of Phoenix Ridge. It turned out that among those prisoners of war was the prince of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

This matter was originally highly confidential, and not many people in the mission knew about it. During this period, while bargaining with the Ming court, they maintained close contact with the intelligence network in northern Xinjiang.

Almost every few days, a piece of intelligence about the whereabouts of the prince is sent to the capital. However, this kind of news has no beginning or end. Outsiders have no idea what it is about. Qinghu, who is in charge of the intelligence in the capital, naturally knows this.

secret.

At first, Fan Xiaodao just felt that something was wrong. Compared with the annual tribute, mutual market, and garrison, the fourth condition for releasing prisoners of war seemed incompatible with the previous three, and even a bit abrupt.

When things go wrong, there must be monsters.

Zhao Laoqi was shot dead by an archer. Fan Xiaodao held back an evil fire in his heart. He originally wanted to go to Qinghu to settle the score, but he didn't expect that with a little trick, he got such important information that could change the current situation.

It was precisely because of this that Tuoba Yida was so panicked.

He suppressed the panic in his heart and said in a trembling voice: "I don't understand what Mr. Fan is talking about."

Fan Xiaodao sneered, "Since you don't understand, I'll tell the prince when I get back. There are so many prisoners of war, and they have no names. The environment in the prisoner-of-war camp is terrible. I can't guarantee that some of them will eat unclean things and die suddenly if the treatment fails."

He also said, “Don’t say you didn’t predict what you said.”

threaten.

A naked threat.

Just as Tuoba Yida threatened Fan Xiaodao before, now the situation is reversed.

Tuoba Yidao looked pale, knowing that he had lost the last bargaining chip in the negotiation. The trump card had been revealed, and both sides were in a state of open cards. How else could they fight? He stood up slowly, flicked the dust off his body, and said: "I will go back to discuss it later.

I'll give you a reply tomorrow."

Fan Xiaodao said: "I hope you can sleep well."

Tuoba Yida and everyone returned to the embassy. No one paid attention to Qinghu's head on the ground and the broken door.

Qinghu has a special status and a very high status in the intelligence system, but a dead Qinghu has no value.

A gust of wind blew and heads rolled on the ground.

Several wild dogs smelled the smell of blood and came over, whimpering and looking at Fan Xiaodao and the others, as if to prevent them from snatching their food. Fan Xiaodao sighed, carried Zhao Laoqi's coffin to the car, and left the embassy

.

In any case, Zhao Laoqi died because of them.

Feeling guilty, Fan Xiaodao came to Yizhuang and gave some silver coins to the guard of Yizhuang, asking him to help find a feng shui treasure land to bury Zhao Laoqi properly, and then returned home.

Early the next morning, a big news spread throughout the capital.

The Northern Zhou envoy presented their credentials to the court and returned Phoenix Ridge unconditionally. This news quickly detonated the capital. Of course, the fact that the Northern Zhou prince was a prisoner of war was not mentioned. After all, this is highly confidential, and the fewer people who know about it, the better.

good.

Prince Zhu Yan arrived in the capital for the first time, but within ten days, he solved the unresolved issues of the court for months without using a single soldier. This quickly established his prestige among the government and the public. There were even rumors in the community that such a young man

With such ability, he will definitely be a wise king in the future.

The two came to Zhu Yan's house.

It stands to reason that the prince has a mansion in the palace, but now the emperor does not live in the palace. As the prince, how can he dare to live there? He consciously lives in Prince Jing's Mansion. Firstly, it is not far from the palace, and he can come and go at any time if he has something to do. Secondly,

He also does not have to be subject to various restrictions on entering and exiting the palace.

Two days later, Zhu Yan hosted a banquet for the two of them at his residence.

Zhu Yan said: "Congratulations to both of you."

Fan Xiaodao asked curiously, "Why are you so happy?"

"You two have made great contributions to this matter. I believe it won't be long before the imperial court's commendation document comes out, and you two should be the first to take the lead!"

Fan Xiaodao smiled and said, "This matter is the result of the Crown Prince. We are just helping others run errands, so how can we get any credit?"

Seeing that the two of them were not arrogant, Zhu Yan had a good impression of the two of them, and deliberately roped them in. He smiled and said, "I just got an advantage. If you hadn't tested out the opponent's trump card, maybe we would have been together by now."

Still being led by the other party."

Fan Xiaodao said: "Everyone knows that the imperial court negotiated for three months to no avail. As soon as the prince returned to the capital, he completed the matter, which is indispensable. What's more, the establishment of a real man's career is nothing more than worshiping generals, becoming marquises, and expanding territory.

, His Highness has accomplished extraordinary feats!"

The three of them sat down, no one else around.

Zhu Yan sighed deeply.

Zhao Xing asked: "I should be happy about this. Now that Your Highness has a high reputation among the people, why are you sighing?"

Zhu Yan shook his head and said: "It's a good thing and a bad thing. This happened when I first returned to the capital. Originally, my father was very happy and praised me a lot. However, in the past few days, the public opinion in the capital suddenly changed and I was blown away.

It is so miraculous that it is comparable to the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. If this matter comes to the ears of my father, what will he think?"

I see.

Fan Xiaodao suddenly realized.

I originally thought that among the government and the public, whether in temples or teahouses, the two days were all about Zhu Yan's return to Fenghuangling. I thought it was the will of the people. According to Zhu Yan, someone deliberately

Secretly fanning the flames.

What your Majesty couldn't even accomplish, the Prince accomplished.

In name, it is to build momentum for the prince, but in reality, it is to flatter him!

Zhu Yandao: "Originally, His Majesty wanted me to take over the clan's mansion and the Hanlin Academy, and be in charge of the sacrifices. When this happened, I had no choice but to hide in the mansion and thank guests behind closed doors, for fear that someone would accuse me of forming a clique for personal gain."

"What about us?"

Zhu Yan said, "You two have no official status. As my king's personal friends, it won't be a problem. What's more, His Majesty still appreciates you two. It's just..." Zhu Yan paused briefly and said with concern: "You guys are broken.

Tuoba Yidao is jealous of the good deeds of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Although there is nothing we can do to deal with you, it is not a problem if we deal with you. You two have to be careful in the capital in the past few days. If this is not possible, I will ask Lin Datong to send some troops.

The horse protects you."

Fan Xiaodao waved his hand, "No need. It's easy to hide from open guns, but hard to prevent hidden arrows. If they want to deal with us, it will be useless no matter how many troops they send. By the way, His Highness can send someone to investigate the matter of the archers."

?”

Zhu Yan shook his head and said: "I asked Uncle Xue to help investigate, but there is no news yet."

There is a peerless archer hiding in the embassy of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. His archery skills are extraordinary. If he wants to cause trouble in the capital, it is really difficult to stop him, especially knowing that he has killed Zhu Yan for the first time, and the prince has been closed during this period.

Needless to say, it has something to do with this archer.

"I am protected by experts in the palace, and the prince of the Northern Zhou Dynasty is still in our hands. I am not too worried. I am just afraid that Tuoba Yi Dao will deal with you regardless of breaking his face."

After killing Tuoba Bai of Tiance Pavilion, capturing Li Zhixing, destroying the Northern Zhou spy network, and sabotaging the negotiations of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Fan Xiaodao and Zhao Xing were the two people Tuoba wanted to get rid of most quickly.

, Fan and Zhao also knew it well.

Fan Xiaodao asked again, "In the past few days, I have been thinking about a question. The prince's whereabouts are top secret when he returns to Beijing. Who revealed it to Tuoba Yida?"

Zhu Yan's face became serious, "My true whereabouts will be reported to my father through top-secret channels. Only a handful of people know about it, but the identities of these people are sensitive and it is not easy to trace, so let's leave it like that for now."

Fan Xiaodao heard something in his words.

I also guessed that there must be a problem within the royal family. However, when the prince first came to the capital, he was weak and weak. Before there was no conclusive evidence, if he acted arbitrarily, it would be easy to alert the enemy, which would inevitably arouse the other party's vigilance and backlash.

His words clearly meant that he did not want to pursue the matter.

Before he has enough power, once the matter is exposed, the development of the situation will easily escape their control. It is better to endure it and acquiesce to the matter for the time being. When he becomes more mature, he will have to settle things with those people sooner or later.

The biggest suspect is Princess Taiping.

The emperor's sister and the prince's aunt was not very young, but she was well versed in the art of maneuvering, and she really spared no effort in dealing with her nephew.

Zhu Yan added: "I heard that you have some conflicts with my uncle in the Prince Consort's house?"

"There are some problems."

Fan Xiaodao briefly told the prince Zhu Yan about Sun Mengwu's case, the fight between soldiers and horses, and other things that led to his enmity with Qian's consort. After hearing this, Zhu Yan said in a deep voice, "My aunt treated me like this. After all,

She is my father's biological sister, I can't do anything with her, but if that useless uncle has any clues, feel free to deal with him, I will be behind you."

Princess Taiping wanted to kill Zhu Yan, and Prince Consort Qian wanted to kill Fan Xiaodao and Zhao Xing. Although they both failed, the feud has been forged. At least on this issue, His Royal Highness and the two of them are on the same front.

However, after Xu Yushi committed suicide, Prince Consort Qian seemed to be more honest and did not come to trouble them.

They had been busy with Xiao Yilu's case before, and the two of them had not targeted Qian Shoudao. Now that the prince was backing them, they had no taboos. Zhu Yan invited the two of them to dinner, and originally wanted to accept them to work under his door.

He refused again, saying that he just wanted to work as a detective at Liumen, so Zhu Yan no longer forced himself.

…

Taiping Taoist Temple, other courtyard.

Princess Taiping, who had always lived in seclusion, was wearing Taoist robes and a wooden hairpin on her head. She was sitting on an ebony chair and was copying the "Tai Shang Ying Pian", which was a scripture she must copy every month.

I have persisted for several years, and every time I copy it, I will personally deliver it to the elder brother in Xiyuan, the person at the helm of the Great Tomorrow, and then burn it with him to sacrifice to heaven.
To be continued...