Chapter 67

Previously, the emperor and Princess Youning had devised a plan to make Su Mufeng reveal his identity in front of Prince Ding Yuwen Ye. As a result, the two of them broke the window paper and expressed their feelings to each other.

Since Yuwen Ye was the reception envoy, in addition to discussing military affairs with Crown Princess Yuelong, he had to fulfill his duties as a host and accompany her to visit the scenic spots in Yongjing.

Yuwen Ye was not at home, and there was no one to play chess, drink tea, or hunt with him. Su Mufeng became bored in the palace. In addition, he was also concerned about the Xiao Luochen case, so he went home more frequently. However, the house was very deserted at the moment.

Since their children grew up, Su Maoyi and his wife rarely lived in Yongjing City and spent most of the year traveling around. Su Mubai was naturally teaching in the palace school, and Su Muliu was not at home at this time.

Su Muliu had previously saved Emperor Yuwen Xuan three times by chance, and the two, unaware of each other's true identities, fell in love with each other. During Prince Ding's Western Expedition, Su Muliu attended the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet as his consort. Upon learning of Su Muliu's identity, Yuwen Xuan's body was poisoned, triggering a sudden onset of illness.

To maintain peace in her family, Su Muliu refused to admit that she was Miss Su, who had a lifelong marriage with Yuwen Xuan. Later, Su Mufeng became the Princess of Ding again, which made Yuwen Xuan guess the secret of the Su family's replacement marriage. So he designed a plan to have Su Mufeng reveal her identity in front of Prince Ding, thus confirming that he and Prince Ding were not in love with the same person.

However, Su Muliu understood that there was no solution between her and Yuwen Xuan. Even if Prince Ding divorced his wife, as the former Princess Ding and the Emperor, nothing would happen to her. If she continued to linger, she feared not only would she suffer a bad fate, but she might also bring disaster to her family. So, she used the excuse of going to Shenghuang to fetch medicinal herbs for her master and stayed away.

Now Su Musong is the only one left at home.

Su Musong could never figure out what the words Xiao Luochen asked Bu Yi to bring to him meant.

Yuheng is one of the Big Dipper, and the Hidden Guards seem to be some kind of organization. What is the relationship between the two?

As soon as Su Mufeng returned home, he went straight to Su Musong's study. He learned a shocking secret. It would have been most appropriate to tell Su Muliu, but Su Muliu was not in Kyoto, so he had to tell his elder brother.

"Brother, after we met the Emperor at the palace that day, the Emperor had a long and secret conversation with Prince Ding."

Su Musong was too lazy to ask why Su Mufeng knew about the secret conversation between the emperor and Prince Ding.

"Oh? What were they talking about?"

"The Emperor asked about someone."

Su Musong looked through the news sent from various places, and only paid half of his attention to dealing with Su Mufeng.

"Who?"

"Princess Yuelong's uncle said he came to Xiangping for marriage 35 years ago because of Yuelong's defeat. The princess wanted to meet him during her diplomatic mission to Xiangping. However, the emperor searched through all the historical records and asked the palace servants, but couldn't find his whereabouts. It was only after I reminded him that he finally found the right place."

"After you reminded me?"

"Well, there was a palace maid who used to follow Emperor Zhao and said she had seen him once at the Emperor Zhao's mausoleum. After hearing that person's description, I thought he was talking about my master. And it turned out to be my master!"

"Your master? Taoist Master Yuhengzi?"

Su Musong suddenly had an idea. Could it be that Luo Chen was referring to Taoist Master Yuhengzi of Biyun Temple?

"Mu Feng, did your master ever mention the hidden guards?"

"Hidden Guard? I've never heard Master mention that."

Su Musong was a little disappointed when he heard this.

"But I've heard from the prince that Emperor Zhao once established the Xuanhui Guard, and relied on this secret guard to ascend the throne and purge the clans with disloyal intentions."

"Xuan Huiwei? Why have I never heard of it?"

"Your Highness is just gossiping. Since it's just a rumor, it can't be true. Otherwise, why don't even the Emperor and Your Highness know whether this force still exists and who controls it?"

What Su Mufeng said was not unreasonable, but Su Musong believed that Xuanhuiwei must exist, and even Xiao Luochen had had an intersection with it at some point, otherwise he would not have said this.

Could it be that the one who controls the Xuanhui Guard is Taoist Master Yuhengzi?

"Mu Feng, you said your master came to Xiangping as a princess for a foreign mission? Which princess did he marry?"

"According to what the palace maid said, my master seemed to have entered Emperor Zhao's harem."

After expressing his feelings to Prince Ding, Su Mufeng had no problem accepting the fact that his master had been a concubine of Emperor Zhao.

He heard from the palace servants that his master entered the palace at the age of eighteen, was demoted two years later, and was imprisoned in a courtyard outside the imperial palace for ten years. He was not released until the death of Emperor Zhao.

When Su Mufeng thought of this, he cursed Emperor Zhao in his heart. His master was a god-like figure, but the first half of his life was ruined by Emperor Zhao.

Su Musong had a different idea. According to his speculation, perhaps Yuhengzi did not hate Emperor Zhao so much, otherwise he would have set him free when Emperor Zhao passed away. Why didn't he go anywhere, but instead built a Taoist temple next to the emperor's tomb to practice?

In this case, it is not impossible for Emperor Zhao to hand over the secret guards to Yuhengzi.

If Yuhengzi controls the Xuanhui Guard, then if we can get his support, it will undoubtedly provide an additional guarantee for the Xiao family's redress. It seems that a visit to Biyun Temple should be put on the agenda.

As expected, on the same day that Su Musong received word that Xun Molin would arrive in Kyoto in three days, the Right Prime Minister submitted a memorial regarding the arrest of Xiao Luochen. As expected, the memorial implicated Mu Yi and the Marquis of Jingxi, and even hinted at involving Prince Ding and the Duke of Anguo.

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Emperor Yuwen Xuan did not reject the request of the Right Prime Minister, but only agreed to hold a trial after Xiao Luochen was escorted to Beijing, but ignored the request to punish Mu Yi and Jingxi Hou together.

To prevent the Wang family from desperately protecting the Right Prime Minister, Yuwen Xuan summoned the Grand Empress Dowager's grandson, Prince Rui, to the palace under the pretext of a family banquet, to accompany him. Now, perhaps the only person the Grand Empress Dowager could be concerned about was her only grandson.

Xun Molin brought the coffin back to Kyoto and set up a mourning hall in the old house. The Duke of Anguo's Mansion was adjacent to the Marquis of Jingxi's Mansion. The Xun family had not lived in Kyoto for many years. Fortunately, Su Musong had instructed the general manager Su to make preparations in advance, so Xun Molin could return to the mansion in an orderly and leisurely manner.

Although the emperor did not punish Xun Molin in the end because of the memorial from the right prime minister, most officials in the court hesitated and waited, fearing that they would have any connection with the treason case that killed so many people ten years ago. Therefore, they did not dare to go to the Jingxi Marquis' Mansion to pay their respects.

The Su brothers naturally didn't care about these things, and almost moved into the Marquis' Mansion to help Xun Molin.

"Mo Lin, the Right Prime Minister has already reported the Luo Chen incident to the court. This time, it has been implicated in the Marquis of Jingxi's residence. You must be careful."

Months of war, an epidemic that spread throughout the city, and the death of his parents. In just six months, Xun Molin witnessed too many deaths and had a completely different attitude towards matters of life and death.

"They just come. If you can handle it, you handle it. If you can't, the worst that can happen is that you'll lose your life. It's destined, and no one can escape it."

Su Musong was speechless. What Xun Molin said was undoubtedly right. In the final analysis, everything in the world was just about doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate. But in the mourning hall of Marquis Jingxi, listening to him speak, one could feel an inexplicable sadness.

On the fourth day after Xun Molin returned to the capital, the prison van carrying Xiao Luochen also arrived in the capital.