The holy ceremony ended in a fire.

The ministers felt a little uneasy. Although Commander Lin said that His Majesty was fine, since the fire, His Majesty did not show up and went back to the palace directly, making everyone suspicious.

A golden cicada escaped from its shell, lured the snake out of its hole, and directly led out Taiping Taoist priest who had been lurking beside His Majesty for more than 20 years. No wonder Qiu Huairen and Xu Hu led their troops to Beijing. They all knew about it, and Zhuge Xianyu also knew about it, so he just brought most of them out.

Most people are kept in the dark.

After Prince Zhu Yan returned to the palace, he immediately led his army to seal down Taiping Taoist Temple.

Accompanying him were Murong Tiechui and Jin Yiwei.

Now all the defense in the Forbidden City is in the hands of the Jin Yiwei.

Throughout the Holy Code, all the yamen in the capital were out, but the Jin Yiwei was missing. That was because, from beginning to end, the Jin Yiwei people were in the palace, protecting the safety of His Majesty the Emperor. At the critical moment, it was the Jin Yiwei who stepped forward. This also broke the

Rumors about Xue Yingxiong and Jin Yiwei losing power.

Lao Xue has always been the person your Majesty trusts most.

Even Taoist Taiping can betray him, and there are not many people in the capital who can reassure him.

Rumors spread throughout the capital.

The people were also talking about it. Some said that the emperor was burned to death in a fire while offering sacrifices to heaven. Some said that his majesty had obviously ascended to heaven. Some said that it was an assassin archer from the Northern Zhou Dynasty who shot his majesty to death with an iron arrow.

He was quickly refuted again. Your Majesty has the body of a true dragon and is blessed by the gods. How could he die so easily?

After the officials returned, they did not disperse. They all gathered at the entrance of Wuying Hall and Culture Hall, waiting for the latest news.

It was not until the afternoon that the eunuchs in the palace sent an imperial edict that tonight's banquet would be held as scheduled, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Fan Xiaodao and Zhao Xing also received the invitation.

In the afternoon, they went to Xu Wu's home and sent his body back. They watched Lao Xu's mother-in-law and three children burst into tears, and they didn't know how to comfort them.

"When I left a few days ago, I was very nice. Why did I become like this when I came back?"

Fan Xiaodao said: "He died for Your Majesty."

As the emperor's stand-in, Lao Xu's identity is highly confidential, and even his mother-in-law is unaware of it.

Zhao Xingye said: "The imperial court will treat him favorably."

Mrs. Xu said: "What's the use of being kind? Can you bring Old Xu back to life?" Several children also cried heartbrokenly, which made the two of them feel distressed. Zhao Xing comforted him and said, "Sister-in-law, I am

I can’t be resurrected, so please show my condolences and accept the change.”

But Lao Xu, an old woman in her eighties, said something, "My son is dead. Has the murderer been caught?"

Zhao Xingdao: "Now all the officers and soldiers in the city are searching for him. Don't worry, old lady, we will definitely catch the murderer and avenge Brother Xu!"

The old woman said: "What's the use of taking revenge? My son can come back to life? Now that he's gone, leaving orphans and widows behind, how will he live in the future? My son died for your majesty.

I died for my country, died well, and served my country well. I hope these two officials can seek justice for Lao Xu!"

Zhao Xing agreed: "Of course."

Before leaving, the two left behind a thousand taels of silver.

When I returned to Liumenmen, I saw a mess in the courtyard, and everyone was cleaning up the corpses. After asking, I found out that Yi Zhihua had escaped from prison and killed more than a dozen of his colleagues. Now the chief arrester, Mr. Zhuge, has entered the palace and is discussing

The matter of encircling and suppressing a flower.

Fan Xiaodao said: "How come it only took half a day and it turned into a mess!"

At this time, Yang Deshui wandered to the front yard and said to Fan Xiaodao: "Captain Fan, come to my place."

Since Zhuge Xianyu came back, Yang Deshui has become a marginalized person in the Six Sects, with a very low sense of presence. Often no one is seen for several days in a row. Today is the birthday of His Majesty, and the entire Six Sects are full of people, but Yang Deshui didn't show up until noon.

Come, even if such a big thing happened in the prison, he would not care about it. Instead, he came to see Fan Xiaodao now.

Fan Xiaodao ignored it, "Mr. Yang, we still have official duties to attend to."

Yang Deshui said: "Someone left a letter and something for me to pass on to you."

"who?"

Yang Deshui said: "Song Jingang!"

Nanya.

There were only two people in the office, Yang Deshui and Fan Xiaodao.

Yang Deshui made him a pot of tea and looked at him with a smile.

Fan Xiaodao said: "Master Yang, if you have anything to say, speak directly."

Yang Deshui said: "I have known your identity for a long time, Master Zhuge knows it, and many people in the capital know it."

Fan Xiaodao held back his patience and listened to him continue.

"Your foster father Song Jingang was the chief arrester of Liumen. He committed a serious crime twenty years ago and became the court's number one prisoner. Twenty years later, you appeared in the capital again and returned to Liumen. How could this happen?

What a coincidence. You guys were so mischievous in the capital that you even beat up the Prince Consort. Many people in the capital know your identity, but no one dares to touch you. Have you never thought about why?"

Fan Xiaodao shook his head, expressing his ignorance.

Yang Deshui said: "It's because His Majesty is protecting you, and it's because Eunuch Zhao said hello in advance."

Fan Xiaodao had already guessed the reason, but what did Yang Deshui mean by calling him over? He had been in Liumen for twenty years and was not as comfortable as a fish in water. On the contrary, most of the time, he was greedy for money and power. Why did he suddenly tell him this?

After understanding the truth, has it become sober in the world?

Did he suddenly become enlightened, or did he receive guidance from an expert?

"Master Yang came to me and told me this, what's the purpose? Didn't you say you have something for me?"

Yang Deshui said: "I'm telling you this first to help you mentally build up. I'm afraid you won't be able to accept what happens next."

After that, he opened the drawer, took out a letter and a file, and placed them in front of Fan Xiaodao, "I found this in the secret passage of our Six Doors. You came to the Six Doors for this reason.

"

Fan Xiaodao took a look and saw that the words on the letterhead were exactly what Song Jingang had left, and the title on the file shocked him even more. He was a little surprised at the whole story of the Qifeng Pavilion case, "How could you have such a thing?"

"

Yang Deshui smiled, "It's such a coincidence, isn't it?"

Fan Xiaodao opened the letter and saw Song Jinjiang's words coming to his face. Everything seemed so cordial. However, after reading the above content, his whole expression became solemn and everything became shocking. Fan Xiaodao could hardly breathe.

He never thought that he had arranged everything as early as three years ago.

Fan Xiaodao asked, "Why didn't you expose this matter?"

Yang Deshui smiled bitterly, "Twenty-five years ago, I entered the Sixth Gate. In ten years, by relying on the methods of manipulation and bribery, I became a fifth-rank official, no matter how big or small. But in the next fifteen years,

But I always stopped moving forward. Before, I thought it was because I didn't give enough and I wasn't greedy enough. It wasn't until I stepped back to the second line recently and learned from the pain that I figured out a truth. From the fifth level, it is my ability and my upper limit.

And this matter is not something I can control at all, nor should I intervene. I wanted to speculate before, but after thinking about it, I am old and scared to death. Who is Song Jingang, Lord Zhuge?

Whoever he is, he is one of the best among men, the one-in-a-million master, and it’s really ridiculous that I want to replace him. After this incident, I have prepared the official documents and plan to retire and return to my hometown to live out my life."

"Why should you leave it to me?"

Yang Deshui said: "Such a thing will be discovered sooner or later. In the past half month, I have lived in seclusion and done countless deductions. Finally, I feel that returning such a thing to its original owner is the best choice and I stay out of it.

It's human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, isn't it? Leave it to you, I can feel relieved, this matter has nothing to do with me."

He pointed to the nave on the wall, "The secret passage you are looking for is over here."

After Fan Xiaodao arrived at the central hall, he opened it and saw that a hole large enough for one person appeared in front of him.

"This was originally Song Jingang's office. After Song Jingang's accident, this place became idle and became a warehouse. In the fire three years ago, most of the six doors were burned to ashes, but this place was preserved. Not long ago, I

After moving here, I discovered this secret passage. I went in out of curiosity to explore and found these two things. It was this that made me want to quit."

Fan Xiaodao looked at the secret passage and fell into deep thought.

He had passed by Nanya many times before, but it was a somewhat shabby warehouse with some old things piled up, so he didn't think much about it.

If Yang Deshui hadn't changed the office, I'm afraid the secret passage here would still have never been seen.

Who would have thought that the secret path that he had been searching for for two years would be right under his nose.

Yang Deshui told another shocking truth: "This secret passage leads to the palace. The letter and the files of the Qifeng Pavilion case were all found here. I heard a senior say,

After the Qifeng Pavilion case, all the personnel investigating the case disappeared mysteriously, and some files were missing and their whereabouts are still unknown. This matter is also a secret in the royal family and cannot be known to anyone, not even Lord Zhuge."

As Yang Deshui spoke, he took out a box from under the case, which contained some of his personal belongings, as well as several books of Ming Dynasty laws and personal notes. "I have already greeted Mr. Zhuge before, and I have put the resignation letter on his case."

Come on, from now on, we probably won’t see each other again.”

He came to the cabinet again, took out the key, opened the lock, and took out a jar of wine.

"This is really the last one. It's too heavy to take away. I leave it to you and Zhao Xing as a thought."

Fan Xiaodao looked at the wine jar and recognized the wine.

The name of the wine is Danquan.

Yang Deshui is from Nandan County, Guangxi, and this wine is exactly the wine from his hometown.

A year ago, Yang Deshui invited him and Zhao Xing to drink together, and the three of them drank the same wine. It had a strong aroma and excellent taste. At that time, Yang Deshui was still very ambitious and wanted to make some achievements. He had not returned home for thirty years and had no idea.
To be continued...