A dead body was dragged out of the prince's residence.

In a short while, the news spread quickly to the ears of some people in the palace, where everyone could hear it.

The incense in the warm attic was burning slowly.

There was a needle stuck on the wooden table not far away. Luan Qingan was no longer here. When the eunuchs dragged him away just now, they opened the door and a little cold air rushed into the warm room.

Tiannan took the needle, glanced at it carefully, put down the teacup and said, "It's stained with blood."

Ying Jingjue: "Maybe I'm not very experienced yet, my hands are shaking a little, I'm sorry to disappoint the teacher."

Lian Shenwei stood up and said with a smile: "Your Highness is fine now. I have something else to do in my residence, so I will leave first."

Ying Jingjue nodded and said with concern: "Teacher, take care. Xiao Zhizi, take out the two hundred-year-old ginseng and frost-fallen flowers in the palace storehouse and give them to the teacher. The teacher has just been released from the imperial prison, so he must take good care of himself."

Xiao Zhizi agreed and went away to be busy.

Lian Shenwei said goodbye with a smile, and left the East Palace with Tiannan.

Lian Shenwei had just left when the eldest prince arrived.

He stared at Ying Jingjue, his eyes clearly showing a sense of schadenfreude, but the words that came out of his mouth were fake.

"The border is stable now. If we calculate the time, the young marquis will soon return to the capital to be conferred a title. My brother is as close to him as a brother, so you must slowly tell him about Lord Luan's affairs."

Ying Jing looked determined, "My brother is well-informed."

"Brother, I just care about you."

The eldest prince suddenly sighed, "Royal brother, you were originally in a weak position in the court. You were better off because the young marquis was in charge of the military and was on good terms with you. But now that you have killed his uncle, will he still treat you the same way when he returns? I'm afraid the third brother will be proud of himself in front of you again."

The current emperor has few children, only the eldest prince, the second princess, the third prince, and the fourth prince, Ying Jingjue.

The three princes have grown up, there are not many concubines in the harem, the current emperor is in poor health, and the fight for the throne is becoming increasingly fierce.

The eldest prince's mother was Consort Shu, and the third prince's mother was Consort Gui. Their maternal families were equally powerful. However, because Consort Gui was more favored by the emperor, the current emperor was more lenient towards the third prince, and many ministers in the court supported the third prince.

Ying Jingjue was only raised by the empress and was not close to her. Apart from his status as the legitimate son, he did not have an advantage in the fight for the throne.

The eldest prince's words were full of provocation, so Ying Jing rejected them without hesitation. The eldest prince felt embarrassed and said a few more words before leaving.

The hall suddenly became quiet.

Ying Jingjue took a deep breath, sat down on the edge of the couch, and covered his face with his hands in a tired manner. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "...Teacher...Lian Shenwei."

"Xiao Zhizi, can power really change a person so drastically in just a few years?"

When he was six years old, he had a serious illness and could not remember anything before that. His father ascended the throne and he was made the crown prince. He was in a state of panic every day due to his father's strict requirements and the calculations of the people around him.

When he was nine years old, he and Li Ningfeng sneaked out to play and watched the new number one scholar riding a horse in the parade on the top of Yongning Tower.

The young man wore a double-winged black gauze hat and a scarlet silk robe, which set off his fair skin. He had a naturally refined and gentle temperament, and I don't know how many rich ladies had noticed him.

It was clearly a festive day, but his expression was dull and he showed no real joy.

It was not until the young man inadvertently looked up and saw him looking at him curiously from upstairs that he was stunned for a moment before he smiled for the first time.

The piled stones are like jade, and the rows of pines are like emerald green.

Amid the reserved and shy cries of girls, Lian Shenwei was hit by countless sachets and was unable to dodge, looking quite helpless.

Ying Jingjue also smiled foolishly, and suddenly an inexplicable sense of closeness arose in his heart.

Not long after the Qionglin Banquet, the newly crowned number one scholar, in addition to serving in the Hanlin Academy, was also appointed by his father as a teacher, but strangely enough, he was not given a proper title.

He not only had Lian Shenwei as his teacher, but also other tutors who taught him history and classics. But of all of them, he wanted to be close to Lian Shenwei the most.

But as he grew up, Lian Shenwei gained more power, and their friendship and relationship became just superficial harmony.

Xiao Zhizi was unable to offer any words of comfort.

He grew up with the Crown Prince, and watched His Highness and the Regent grow to where they are today.

Ying Jingjue shook off the memories and calmed down: "The man who executed the teacher in the imperial prison dealt with it cleanly. Even if the teacher suspected that I was involved, he cannot be allowed to prove it."

"The executioner was sent in by my third brother, so naturally he will bear the consequences."

However, although Lian Shenwei was punished in the imperial prison, he did not show any signs of weakness. Even if there was a smell of blood, it was covered up by the smell of blood on Luan Qingan's body.

If you want to know the extent of Lian Shenwei's injuries, you have to send someone to ask the prison.

"Tell everyone outside the Regent Palace to keep an eye out and see if anyone in the palace has gone out to get medicine recently. Find out what kind of medicine they got."

Xiao Zhizi: "Yes. Then where is the young marquis......?"

The young marquis of the Loyalty Marquis Mansion, Li Ningfeng, has a flamboyant and willful personality. He was Ying Jingjue's childhood playmate and now his only close brother.

Ying Jingjue pursed his lips for a long time, then looked at his hands: "I am sorry for him. When he comes back from the border, I will go and tell Lord Luan in person. I will accept the punishment without hesitation."

After coming out of the cold imperial prison and entering the prince's warm pavilion, the cold wind on the road soon blew again.

Occasionally, a suppressed cough could be heard from the carriage heading to the Regent's Palace. Tiannan sped up and asked through the curtain, "Master, are you okay?"

"It's okay, just go back home and don't let Feng Ke know."

The sound is also a little quieter than normal.

Tiannan was secretly worried, especially when Lian Shenwei got off the carriage and caught a glimpse of his vaguely sick face.

His heart sank, and he turned around and quietly went to the villa in the mansion to invite Mr. Feng who lived there for a long time.

The Regent Prince's Palace covers a large area, with elegant and grand scenery. There are not many servants, and there are people guarding the palace in both open and hidden places. Most of them are carefully selected confidants.

Lian Shenwei returned to the study, sat at the desk, picked up the pile of official documents and started to look through them.

I haven't looked at it for two or three days, and there are already a lot of them.

They were all about cheating in the Nan'an County Examination, involving a wide range of people, including the Governor of Nan'an, the Provincial Inspector, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, the Provincial Education Commissioner and others.

The provincial examination of the Great Sheng Dynasty was held in August, and the cheating was exposed at the end of December. Most of the candidates from Nan'an had already gone to Beijing to prepare for the examination. Whether they cheated or not, they were all detained in the government office, feeling anxious and worried.

Not only the candidates from Nan'an, but also the students from other places who went to Beijing were afraid that they would be implicated and their future would be ruined.

After a moment, he frowned slightly, closed the document, pressed his forehead, and pressed hard.

He was only tortured in the imperial prison for half a day before he was stopped by the prison warden who arrived in a hurry.

The wounds on his body had been treated. The jailer did not dare to neglect them and used the best medicine for wounds. Apart from the dull pain, the bleeding had stopped.

It's just that the coldness, aches and lingering fatigue in my bones, like fine and soft needles, make their presence felt from time to time.

The doorman knocked on the door and said respectfully, "Master, Miss Ye wants to see you."

Lian Shenwei: "Come in."

A girl dressed as a scholar with clear eyes walked in, bowed to Lian Shenwei, and said in a very steady manner, "Brother."

"Did the people in the imperial prison harass my brother?"

During the Dasheng Dynasty, women were not allowed to take the imperial examinations, but there were female officials. However, their positions were generally not high, and they were all officials in charge of the inner court. Women were also allowed to be teachers.

If you want to move up further, you need real achievements.

Lian Shenwei did not answer, but asked: "I remember you told me that you wanted to be an official."

Ye Mingqin said seriously: "Yes, it would be nice to be a lady waiting to get married, but Mingqin is not interested in this. Before my brother adopted me, I was just a beggar. Later, I read books and understood how hard the people were suffering. I wanted to help them."

"I have found a position for you in the Imperial Prison, one of the deputy envoys of the prison. If you can grasp it well, it won't be a problem for you to move up steadily," Lian Shenwei said gently, "but if you go there, you will be using my name, and others will just think you are my man."

And his reputation in the capital is known to everyone.

Ye Mingqin did things under his name, and no matter what he did, if there was anything a little bit out of line, it would be made a big fuss about.

Ye Mingqin: "Brother, it's hard for a woman to be an official. If I can't even handle these things, I'd better give up as soon as possible."

Lian Shenwei: "Have you decided to go?"

Ye Mingqin patted his scholar's hat, feeling a little embarrassed: "Why not change the hat? You can get paid for it."

Lian Shenwei nodded: "I will send someone to watch over you secretly."

There was the sound of a servant knocking on the door, and then the door of the study was forced open, and someone rushed in hurriedly, cursing.

"——Look, look, who are you looking at, Lord Regent? I say, are you mentally ill? Why do you have to suffer in the imperial prison? Can you please not waste my medicinal herbs?"

It was freezing cold, but the fan in the visitor's hand was fanning out flowers. Feng Ke was about to scold again, but he saw Ye Mingqin was also here, and immediately said awkwardly: "Sorry, sorry, Mingqin girl."

"Nothing." Ye Mingqin glanced at his brother's slightly stiff expression and found it quite funny: "Mingqin is going to prepare for the job, so I'll leave first."

There were only two of them left in the study.

Lian Shenwei: "You know everything about Tiannan looking for you?"

"Is the company you're managing closed down? It's been so busy lately, so why haven't you taken any orders?"

Feng Ke was too lazy to pay attention to his behavior of changing the subject. He walked in, closed his fan, and sat down casually, "Stretch out your hand."

As he spoke, he spread out the silver needle tape and picked out the only red one.

Lian Shenwei paused and thought: "I think I'm fine."

Feng Ke narrowed his eyes, and after a moment, he smiled: "Lian Shenwei, don't force me to fight. You are not the same as before. You can't beat me."

How could he not see that this guy was secretly trying to escape? He was obviously not afraid of pain or needles, but he was afraid of the silver needles used in medical treatment.

He had known Lian Shenwei since he was one or two years old. Now, more than 20 years had passed, but his fear of silver needles had not changed at all.

It's shameful for you to be the Regent.

After a moment of stalemate, Lian Shenwei finally stretched out his hand.

Feng Ke has always been an unruly person. It would be really embarrassing if we really waited for him to force us to do something.

The red needle pierced Lian Shenwei's fingertips. Feng Ke twisted it and felt the majestic and deep internal force in Lian Shenwei's body. He was amazed and couldn't help but feel pity.

The red needle was pulled out, and a drop of bright red blood appeared on the fingertip. Feng Ke took out a jade bottle, tilted it slightly, and a transparent insect crawled out of the jade bottle.

The insect sucked the blood from Lian Shenwei's fingertips, and soon its color changed from transparent to a strange purple, and even turned slightly black.

Feng Ke put it away, raised his head, and looked unhappy: "It's serious again. You shouldn't have come to the capital. There are conspiracies and plots every day here, which don't allow you to take good care of your body. With Emperor Jingcheng's current condition, he can't hold on for a few more years. Even if it's because of the little prince, why bother..."

Lian Shen pinched the blood on his fingertips and said, "Not only for him, but also for myself."

"I want to find some relief for myself."

Feng Ke waved his hand: "Forget it, forget it. I'm going to boil the medicine. The herbs outside are not as good as what I have here."

"The Jianghu has its own pleasures, and Kyoto also has its own advantages. At least here, all the calculations require brains, not physical force."

I don't know who was the one who said that the capital city was not good.

Unaware that he had slapped himself in the face, Feng Ke warned him earnestly: "Remember what I said, unless you are in a desperate situation, do not use your internal energy under any circumstances. Once it exceeds three times, even gods cannot save you."

Lian Shenwei lowered his eyes: "I understand."

The author has something to say:

Master Gong: This must be arranged every time.

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The Clivia combat power value setting adopts the level classification of the Chinese Wushu Association. Because there are too many levels, not all of them are adopted, and only a few names are drawn from them.

The numbers in brackets are private settings, from low to high:

Mortal Realm (Pure Warrior with no inner strength)

Hidden Realm (Wall-climbing)

Kaiyang Realm (Minor Accomplishment of Internal Strength)

Tianheng Realm

Tianquanjing

The Pivot

If you can't remember it, it won't affect your reading.

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