Chapter 226 Jin丨Exclusively published by Jiang Wenxue
Xue Chen has been practicing these days. With the understanding of martial arts from other aliases, his body has improved quickly and he can feel the changes in himself every few days.
However, he has been working hard for a short time and is not as hardworking as Ximen Chuxue. He was not sure he could defeat him before, and he is still not sure now.
Fortunately, he met Ximen Chuxue under the identity of Gong Jiu. With his relationship with his younger brother, Gong Jiu would definitely not expose him. He can delay for a while to prevent Lu Xiaofeng from asking him to kill people again. When Gong Jiu or other aliases come back, everything will be fine.
In order to distinguish himself from his brother, Xue Chen deliberately adjusted his demeanor in front of the mirror, retracted his sharpness, and had a pale face, a cool temperament, and a clear and bright face, unlike Gong Jiu who was as cold and stern as him.
At first glance, the two of them were still very similar. As long as one was careful to observe, it was not difficult to distinguish the two of them.
The servant brought Ximen Chuxue into the house.
Xue Chen did not stand up, and said lightly: "Please sit down."
If it was a friend, he would go out to greet him in person when he heard that Ximen Chuxue was coming to visit. Xue Chen had to act as if he was meeting him for the first time. The class status of the two was very different. Even if Ximen Chuxue had a great reputation in the martial arts world, in the Taiping Palace, he was just a gangster. Being too attentive would make people look down on him.
Ximen Chuxue did not sit down immediately, but looked at him, as if he wanted to remember his features firmly in his mind so as to distinguish the two brothers.
Xue Chen was calm: "Serve tea."
Ximen Chuxue retracted his gaze and sat down below him, "The prince is not at home?"
Xue Chen: "He went out first because of something. If you don't mind, you can sit here and wait."
Ximen Chuxue nodded.
He sat there quietly, and it seemed that he just wanted to wait like this, without any intention of greeting.
Xue Chen and Ximen Chuxue had not met many times, and almost all of his understanding of him came from the original work, and a small part came from Gong Jiu.
They were both top white-clothed swordsmen, and even if their growth trajectories were different, they had something in common in reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
Based on Xue Chen's understanding of Gong Jiu, Ximen Chuxue may not have patience for other things, but he must have plenty of patience when it comes to swordsmanship.
Since he came here for a sword fight and agreed to wait here, he would not leave immediately.
There was no need to make small talk now. The best time to talk to him would be when it gets dark and before Ximen Chuxue's patience runs out.
Xue Chen's eyes were empty, and he seemed to be quietly daydreaming, but he was actually very busy.
Qingtan finally entered the city, which was still a mess. Pedestrians on the street were in a hurry to go home, and soldiers from various yamen were also coming and going in a hurry. Even though he had taken off his monk's robes and covered his head with a hat, he was still very conspicuous.
He tried his best to avoid people, came to the vicinity of the imperial city without attracting attention, and found a place to hide.
Yuan Feishuang was still following his character setting, insisting on the principle of not killing people as much as possible, and doing the work of collecting intelligence and delivering messages.
Prince Taiping returned to Chuigong Hall and exchanged a few words with Zhao Ji, concealing part of the truth and explaining the movements outside.
The atmosphere in Chuigong Hall suddenly became much more relaxed. Zhao Ji felt that the truth of this matter would be found out soon and was no longer anxious. Only then did he realize that a long time had passed.
He was hungry, and ordered someone to serve food. He said gently: "It has come to this time without knowing it. The two ministers should stay and have lunch with me before investigating the case. There is no rush for now."
So Zhuge Zhengwo and Prince Taiping followed him to eat.
Neither of them was a favorite minister like Cai Jing. They could often see Zhao Ji due to their official duties, but they usually talked about work. Their personal relationship was not very good. Even when they stayed in the palace for dinner, they were very polite and not happy at all.
Prince Taiping was a little absent-minded because he missed his son, but compared with Zhuge Zhengwo's thoughtful look, there was no sense of incongruity.
Both of them were absent-minded, finished their meal with a tasteless look, and left one after another.
Prince Taiping was worried that if he left now, he would find out something wrong in the palace and affect his son's plan, so he left with Zhuge Zhengwo, intending to subdue Zhuge Zhengwo immediately if he showed any abnormality, and must not let him leak the news.
When they were almost at the Daqing Gate, someone suddenly shouted "Guard the carriage!" in the distance, and then the patrolling imperial guards ran to the north.
Prince Taiping and Zhuge Zhengwo looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
Zhuge Zhengwo called out to someone, "What happened?"
"My Lord, it seems that there is an assassination attempt."
They all shouted "Guard the carriage", so who wouldn't know that there is an assassination attempt?
Zhuge Zhengwo is not only the Grand Tutor in charge of the six ministries, he is also the chief instructor of the Forbidden City's Yulin Army and the first guard of the emperor. Although his scope of work is too large and his office is set up outside the palace, he is not often in front of the emperor, but he is indeed responsible for Zhao Ji's safety.
Zhuge Zhengwo asked, "How is the emperor?"
"I don't know, I just heard someone shouting and was about to go to rescue him."
"Forget it, I'll go and see for myself." Zhuge Zhengwo looked at the King of Taiping, "Your Highness, come with me."
When the previous emperor was in power, Zhuge Zhengwo conspired with Feng Yugang and others to rebel, but the plan was not implemented in time before the previous emperor died. The successor emperor was also keen on reform in the early days, which gave him some illusions, but later proved with actual actions that he was an even worse emperor than the previous emperor.
Unfortunately, Zhuge Zhengwo was busy practicing martial arts, fighting with his fellow disciples, and was also involved in emotional entanglements. By the time he focused on the court, Cai Jing and others had become very powerful.
His original plan was to get rid of the dissidents in the court and then consider the throne. Now Cai Jing is dead...
Zhuge Zhengwu said calmly: "We have been away for a short time, how could the emperor be assassinated suddenly? Is it an internal thief?"
Prince Taiping shook his head and said, "Let's go."
His two sons were not stupid people, and they would not simply and directly assassinate Zhao Ji. When this happened, Prince Taiping immediately guessed that Gong Jiu intended to use this commotion to cover up his true intentions, and he was relieved.
When he returned, Prince Taiping learned that after they left, Zhao Ji immediately went to Yeonbokgung Palace and met the assassin on the way.
Yeonbokgung Palace was a place for the emperor and empress to have fun. It was not very large in the beginning, but after Jo Gil succeeded to the throne, he felt it was too small, so it was expanded over the years until it reached its current size. Yeonbokgung Palace is quiet and comfortable, with many palaces, terraces, pavilions, and chambers. Jo Gil would play there when he was free, so it was not too difficult to find his whereabouts. It is
also very rare that someone tried to assassinate him after so many years.
Prince Taiping and Zhuge Zhengwo appeared anxious, but they actually had different thoughts. They hurried to Yeonbok Palace. Zhuge Zhengwo asked, "Where is the emperor?"
Liang Shicheng said with tears in his eyes, "The emperor has been held captive! The imperial guards have already chased him, but the thief is very skilled in martial arts and very fast, so it's probably hard to catch up with him."
Zhuge Zhengwo asked, "Where did they go?"
Liang Shicheng said, "They went west. I think
they were going to force their way out through the Li Ze Gate." Zhuge Zhengwo headed towards the Li Ze Gate.
Prince Taiping patted Liang Shicheng on the shoulder and comforted him a little, but his words were full of pressure: "Eunuch Liang is a close minister to your majesty. If your majesty encounters an accident, Eunuch Liang will be blamed. Did you see the thief clearly?"
Liang Shicheng's face turned pale.
That man did not hide his appearance when he took the emperor away. He had a grim face, neatly combed hair, fluttering white clothes, and a gray footprint on his buttocks. He was the prince of King Taiping!
Because King Taiping was a well-known loyal minister, his prince had a bright future. Who knew why he was so upset that he suddenly kidnapped the emperor?
Because this matter was too outrageous, and Gong Jiu used to wear clothes that matched his status when entering the palace, and rarely wore white clothes, the palace people saw that it was him, but they dared not recognize him. So when passing the message, Xue Lian's name was not mentioned, but only replaced by words such as assassin and thief.
Liang Shiben thought that King Taiping was not aware of this matter, and wanted to secretly pass on a message to him, remind him, and do him a favor. Who knew that the prince's behavior was instructed by King Taiping!
Liang Shicheng was silent for a moment, "That man's Qinggong is so good that I didn't see his face clearly, but there are so many guards in the palace, someone must have seen it clearly, Your Majesty, you might as well ask others."
Prince Taiping nodded, "Wait for a while."
Gong Jiu knocked the man unconscious, covered his face, and held him all the way out of the palace.
This man was selected by Yuan Feishuang from the eunuchs around Zhao Ji. His figure was similar to Zhao Ji, and after changing clothes, he was almost the same, and he easily deceived the imperial guards.
He was afraid that the pursuers behind him would lose him, so he deliberately slowed down and walked all the way to the city gate to look for the person who came to meet him as Yuan Feishuang said.
"Here." A masked man in black came out from behind the palace wall and took the "Zhao Ji" from his hand. "Didn't you receive the clothes?"
Gong Jiu said gloomily, "Yes."
The man in black: "Why don't you change it?"
Gong Jiu thought he was very inconsiderate. Didn't he want to change? It's because he just didn't find the opportunity. He said unhappily, "The pursuers are coming, why don't you hurry up?"
The man in black chuckled, "I know what's going on. But you can take this opportunity to lead your troops into the palace."
He was the only assassin, and there were only 20 to 30 imperial guards trying to capture him. Now that the palace gates were wide open, it would be easy to break through.
Gong Jiu suddenly realized that the few words of the man in black were most likely not what he wanted to say, but what his brother had told him in advance.
Thinking back to the black-clothed man's rude words, Gong Jiu didn't feel annoyed, but felt warm in his heart. His voice softened a little, "I will find a chance to change my clothes and tell him that everything is fine here and he doesn't need to worry too much."
The black-clothed man glanced at him.
Gong Jiu suddenly felt that the man's eyes looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, "Qingtan?"
The black-clothed man nodded: "Let's go."
The imperial guards had already caught up.
Qingtan effortlessly carried the man wearing Zhao Ji's clothes on his shoulders and fled at a faster speed than Gong Jiu.
Gong Jiu didn't stay here for long, he immediately went to the army.
The leader of the imperial army hesitated for a moment, and sent someone to deliver a message to report Zhao Ji's whereabouts. At the same time, the troops were divided into two groups, one to chase Qingtan, and the other to capture Gong Jiu.
Qingtan and Gong Jiu are both outstanding figures in the martial arts world. Even if Zhuge Zhengwo came in person, he might not be able to catch them, let alone these ordinary soldiers?
The leader of the imperial army himself did not have high expectations for the result, but whether it can be done is one thing, and whether it has been done is another. At least when the crime is judged, it will not be punished too severely.
Qingtan and his men quickly hid in a remote place. He directly broke the opponent's neck and burned the body with fire. After making sure that the clothes were completely burned, he got up and left.