Soon, the "corpses" of Aunt Sun and Yan Tiao were brought back to the county government office.

The next morning, the county government posted a notice offering a reward for clues leading to the arrest of the murderer, and the news that Aunt Sun's wife had been killed by the thief immediately spread throughout the streets and alleys.

At the same time, a carriage was speeding on the official road in the north of Tongzhou.

In addition to Zhu Lan and Yan Jing, there were also Aunt Sun and the real Yan Tiao in the carriage.

Aunt Sun held Yan Tiao tightly in her arms and looked at Zhu Lan from time to time with a vigilant look.

Zhu Lan didn't care about her staring, he lifted the car curtain and asked:

"Are you sure there's no tail following?"

Shuibi rode forward and said, "Don't worry, young lady. Zhusha and I just took a detour to check and found no one was following us."

Zhu Lan nodded. The capital was south of Tongzhou. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the Li family, he escaped under the cover of the county government and headed north.

Now that we are sure that no one is following us, we can turn back to Beijing.

…

Seven days later, the group finally approached the capital.

However, Zhu Lan did not enter the city directly, but went straight to the Armament Department set up on the outskirts of the city.

The journey was too smooth, and Zhu Lan always felt that something was wrong.

Previously in Tongzhou, no one knew who the mysterious messenger was.

To be on the safe side, she needed to send Yan Tiao to a place that was confidential and safe enough.

Such a place must be the Armament Department under Zhou Da's jurisdiction.

The location of the Armament Department is remote, and outsiders only think that the court used it to hide a large amount of military supplies, but they don’t know that the Armament Department is actually a secret base used by Zhou Da to test artillery.

Zhu Lan brought Aunt Sun and Yan Tiao to see Zhou Da. After telling them the situation, Zhou Da immediately patted his chest and assured that it would be absolutely safe to leave the people with him.

Then we discussed the recent events in Beijing.

Partners in the capital had already exchanged intelligence with each other, and it was only then that Zhu Lan learned that Master Xu had been assassinated and that there was a traitor in Tongyun Bank.

Zhou Da also told Zhu Lan that after the death of Master Xu, the little emperor's temper became more and more strange and unpredictable. Qin Yuwei used some tricks to cause Yan Ning's dissatisfaction with the Li family.

A thousand-foot high dam can be destroyed by a single ant hole.

This little bit of dissatisfaction, if used properly, can turn into a prairie fire.

"A few days ago, someone in the court tried to find out about the situation of the Armament Department. Later, I secretly investigated and found that it was Li Zhengqing who was behind it."

Zhu Lan nodded and said thoughtfully:

"Li Zhengqing wanted to use Yan Tiao as his trump card. If he thought Yan Tiao was dead, the emperor would start to be suspicious of the Li family. He should have felt the crisis.

If I were Li Zhengqing, I would also choose to act as soon as possible and get rid of the Queen Mother before the Emperor completely lost control, so that the Emperor would never have a chance to turn things around again."

Zhou Da said, "According to convention, the Qiushan Tour will be held next month. At that time, all the royal family members will go to Qiushan. Although there are imperial guards there, it is still a wild forest and is not as safe as the imperial palace. If Li Zhengqing wants to take action, he should not miss this opportunity, right?"

"That's right." Zhu Lan said, and then asked Zhou Da: "By the way, you just said that the traitor in Tongyun Bank has been found by Youyou?"

"Yes, it was Aunt Jin who she invited to treat Wenren Yuebai."

"Identity confirmed?"

"It's absolutely safe."

"Yes." Zhu Lan nodded. "Now no one knows that we have returned to the capital, and that Yan Tiao is still alive."

She looked out the window and saw the spire of Jinxiao Pavilion in the capital from afar.

"It's time for the chess piece that the Li family has placed in Tongyun Bank to come in handy."