Chapter 96 – I don’t mess around.

When Gao Shuo released the pigeon, Chu Yuan was still deliberating on the wording of the secret fold, and the small note was light in weight, which caused the pigeon to arrive at the pigeon loft of the North Township Division a little earlier.

Late at night, Shen Qi was awakened by the brocade guards in charge of the dovecote. When he saw the note, he was almost about to recklessly, lead thousands of brocade guards under his command to drive to Shaanxi, but a moment before he gave the order, his precarious sanity came to his senses.

–As the emperor’s personal army, if you leave the capital without a sacred order, it is no different from plotting against the emperor. He can not save Su Yan, but will also take himself into it, and even halfway will be surrounded by the imperial army, both stupid and meaningless.

The only correct and effective way now is for the Emperor to decree or authorize him to leave the capital to find someone.

But Shen Qi suspected that in matters involving Su Yan, the emperor would not use him if he had anyone else available.

Thousand Household Stone Eaves Frost see Shangguan since receiving the flying pigeon letter, the look is abnormal, deep craggy with annoyance, like a string of shade buried in the ground at any time to explode the thunderbolt fireballs, discovers how to blow the unknown enemy army to the blood and flesh.

He hesitated for a moment and asked, “Lord Tongzhi, is there something on your mind? Your humble servant is willing to share your lordship’s worries.”

Shen Qi pinched the moistened note in his palm, trying his best to be calm, and commanded, “Which class is on duty in the palace in these days, you go to account for a reliable person, keep an eye on the movements on the top, but anything related to the men and horses leaving the capital to send out, all come to report me in time.”

Stone Eaves Frost was alarmed – this was secretly prying into the oracle of the Son of Heaven, and if discovered, the crime could be considered serious.

With his understanding of Shen Qi, to be able to say these words was already a well thought out decision, it was impossible to persuade back, if he still wanted to continue to follow Shen Qi, he had to execute it.

He weighed the situation in his mind for just a few breaths, and finally decided to trust Shen Qi, as well as his own vision of choosing a master, so he cupped his fists and said, “I’ll go and do it now.”

At the morning court on the next day, the scene that made the jaws of all the officials drop, also reached Shen Qi’s ears at the first time.

“…… Xin Zhenhai? The Emperor said he wanted to summon him, did he hear correctly?”

“A thousand times true, the news came from the chamberlain of the Fengtian Palace, this person is trustworthy.”

Shen Qi momentarily mixed all thoughts, can not say whether it is unwillingness, anger, or disappointment and ridicule. In her heart, she said silently: it seems that I can no longer do my job with all my heart, and no matter how much credit I get, I can’t withstand the jealousy and defense in the heart of the Imperial Master. Even if I come up with ironclad evidence to prove that that time and Qinghe did not cross the border because of the medicine, he will not trust me, let alone really crossed the border……. What position does the imperial master actually put Qinghe in? Definitely more than a trusted vassal. And his attitude towards me, looking at some favor successive promotions, in fact, but detached and guarded, is not only out of the emperor’s suspicion and power ……

Thinking of Su Yan’s side from time to time, a group of people with evil intentions – the crown prince, King Yu, Wu Ming, and now the most powerful and supreme person in the world, Shen Qi, while under heavy pressure, also felt an unspeakable excitement, as if a blade that was thirsty for blood and was always looking forward to piercing and tearing through the opponents.

The stronger the opponent, the sharper the blade will be honed and the more venomous the attack will be.

Shen Qi took a deep breath and said to Shi Eaves Frost, “There’s something that you immediately start to do ……”

–

“Fell off a horse and broke a leg?” The hot tea almost spilled over the rim of the cup, Lan Xi was busy putting the cup down on the table, “What happened? You were fine when you left the palace?”

The chamberlain replied, “Yes! After receiving the decree, Lord Xin went back to his home to clean up his attire and then rode a fine steed from his home to the Department of the Commanding General of the Jinyi Parental Army, ready to gather the men and horses to set out. Who would have guessed that shortly after leaving the house, the horse went berserk, charging along the street and finally collapsing in convulsions, and Lord Xin accidentally fell and was injured.”

Lan Xi frowned, smelling an air of treachery that was common in the palace and officialdom, and asked after him, “What happened to that horse, did you get a veterinarian to look at it?”

“Looked at it and said it was accidentally ingested from a redbud. That horse had unchewed leaves in his esophagus when he collapsed.”

“The branches, leaves and bark of the redbud are highly poisonous to horses, and no one who raises horses or sells forage knows that, so how was it accidentally ingested? Was it deliberately mixed into the forage?”

“Not in the hay. The Military Horse Division investigated the stables in the Xin Mansion and found that there were still branches and leaves scattered on the ground, and upon questioning, they learned that it was Lord Xin’s three youngest sons who had been naughty, and when they went out to play, they saw the lovely bunches of red fruits on the reddish sequoia branches in the bushes, so they folded them back as horse whips to beat each other up and as a result, they landed in the stable’s food troughs. The slave girl heard that after the incident, Lord Xin was furious and gave his sons a good beating.”

“In that case, it would seem to be a real accident.” Lan Xi picked up his teacup, took a sip and sighed, “This Xin Zhenhai ah, bad luck. You say that this person, the ability is almost not important, but if the luck is poor, the fat meat in the mouth will also disappear, can only recognize their own bad luck.”

When the case of the king of the letter is also like this, obviously can take down the first evil and get the holy favor, bias to him to see the king of the letter of the insolent scene of the curse of the present, heard some should not listen to things. The emperor can stay his life, but also gave him a seal of the Jin Yiwei commanding officer of the false position, has been considered lenient.

Now in the face of danger and this kind of accident, really is unable to help the a dipper.

Lan Xi put only a mouthful of tea back on the desktop, shook the duster, got up and said, “Let’s go, the imperial service. The emperor will soon choose another candidate, then we have to run errands again.”

North Zhenfu Si, Shen Qi sat on a circle chair in the back hall, while playing backgammon with Shi Yifang Frost – because of Su Yan’s introduction of improvements and the preferences of royalty, this kind of chess is now popular in the capital, while playing with a few red fruits the size of a dragon’s eye in the palm of his hand.

Red fruit skin bright and moist, can not lose the majesty of the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince is also a person! Will also panic, will also be afraid! I can’t do what my father did, the mountain crumbles in front of me without changing color, can’t be like him, no matter how anxious my heart is, I can also maintain the stance of eight winds not moving. All I can think of now is, what should I do if anything happens to Qinghe? Fubao, what do you think I should do? I would really go crazy then!”

Fubao held his fist that slammed the door, also red eyes, bitterly persuaded: “slave girl knows that the crown prince is difficult in the heart, but things have come to this, the more urgent, the more can not mess up the situation. This up and down, how many eyes staring at the East Palace na! Wei’s side, can’t wait to pull out the faults of the East Palace every day, encouraging collusion with a set of magistrates and civil ministers to impeach. Wei Guifei looked convergence of a lot, behind the scenes is still small action, slave girl and Cheng Gonggong Zhenzhi prevented in and out of the Palace, lest there is what is not allowed to see the light of things are stuffed in. Your Highness now this kind of action, is not the handle will be sent to the door to people to pinch it?”

Zhu Hailin calmed down a little, “Don’t worry, Little Master won’t fool around, and he doesn’t intend to mix with the Jinyiwei team to leave the capital.”

Amidst the huge shiver that Fubo sniffed, he continued, “Little master, I just want to explain to the leader and tell him to pass on a handwritten letter and token when he finds Qinghe.”

The door of the Xin Mansion creaked open, a maid surveyed them, nose not nose, eyes not eyes, said: “Don’t smash it! My master fell off his horse and hurt his leg, the young masters were beaten, and now the house is in chaos and crying, no one can care. The master said the door is closed, you go!”

The door slammed shut.

Fubao was surprised, “Commander Xin fell and got hurt? Then who is the …… person who led the brocade guards out of the capital this time?”

Zhu Hailin pondered, “Whoever it is, go to the government office and transfer the men. Go!”

He immediately mounted his horse and turned around towards the official office of the Jinyi Parental Army Commanding General’s Department.

Fu Bao had to hoof it to keep up. But the prince’s horse is one in a hundred good steeds, he rode the horse foot strength is not as good, at first can barely keep up, the back gradually pulled away from the distance, watched Zhu Hailin’s figure disappeared in the corner of the street.

Chu Ho-Lin turned into an alley to take a shortcut.

He often leave the palace in microdress, in the capital to sneak around and play. The emperor knows that he likes to move averse to quiet, is a forbidden city can not shut off the energetic colt, so this reprimand to reprimand, did not strictly prohibit the foot, instructed the jinyiwei to pay more attention to.

Right now there is a mess in the city, the Jinyiwei Commander’s car in the street out of control, hit a lot of pedestrians, he also fell off the horse injured. The five city military division to investigate this matter, the soldiers under the control of the entire street, questioning witnesses, so that the people of the neighborhood a few square people on tenterhooks.

The emperor did not even leave Fengtian Hall for the whole day, just waiting for the results of the investigation in the front palace, while choosing another candidate to lead the team to leave the capital.

The Prince who left the palace was like a fish looking for a gap to slip away, and was not discovered by anyone other than his personal chamberlain for a short period of time.

This alley has few pedestrians, secluded and quiet, but spacious enough for a horse to pass through. After Zhu Helin turned into the alley, he was about to urge the whip again, when out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly swept a black shadow from the right side of the roof and swooped down towards him.

With a shock, he reacted quickly, waving his right hand to meet the horse whip, the tip of the whip shaking out a slight sonic boom in the air, while at the same time leaping forward, his feet stomping on the saddle, and his body leaping forward.

Horse whip hit the black shadow, issued a “snap” a crunch, but the tip of the whip was also captured by the other side, a little cold light along the whip body snake-like swim over.

Zhu Hailin was in mid-air, hooked one hand on the drying pole set up outside the second floor window sill, twisted his body to kick through the window prongs, and crashed in with his entire body mass.

When the tip of the whip was stretched, he knew it was bad and spread his hands in a flash of lightning, yet still, a sharp pain hit his tiger’s mouth as if it had been bitten by something.

He fell heavily on the floor of a second-floor bedroom in some city home, rolled a few times, rose to his feet amidst the screams of the women in his boudoir, and drew a short sword for self-defense.

This sudden shriek broke through the silence, neighbors to the left and right looked around, and someone shouted, “Is it the Xuan family’s little lady? What happened?”

Zhu Hailin had no time to care, only staring out of the window with a big hole in it, the darkness of the night and the faint light of the distant lamps magnified infinitely in his eyes. The night wind blew rustlingly, and the black shadow missed, as if hiding back in the gloom.

All this action before and after only seven or eight seconds, from prediction, counterattack to escape, for Zhu Helin, who had never had any experience in actual combat, relied entirely on his strong physical fitness and instinctive reaction and intuitive response in the face of a surprise attack. The slightest mistake would result in his death on the spot.

Thankfully, his response was spot on.

Zhu Hailin sucked in his breath and looked down at the back of his hand, seeing two small holes at the tiger’s mouth, only a few drops of blood flowed, it didn’t seem to be serious, the surrounding skin was slightly red and swollen, from the numbness there was a slight itching sensation.

…… looked like teeth marks after a snake bite. Zhu Hailin’s heart pounded, and he said sharply to the young girl who had lost her voice in the room, “Bring me a tape, quick!”

The young girl is about twelve or thirteen years old, suddenly met with a shock, after a scream at the beginning, but calmed down a little, close to the bed from the curtain pulled down a decorative drape, trembling to hand him.

Zhu Hailin took the band and quickly tied it tightly around his wrist, then with a clench of his teeth and a heart, he used the blade of his sword to cut two cross wounds in the teeth marks and squeezed hard.

Purple-black poisonous blood dripped and spilled, and Zhu Hailin’s head was covered in cold sweat as he felt dizzy and nauseous, and his eyes began to blur.

He breathed hard and said with his last strength, “I am the prince, the fast reporting official ……” and then he paralyzed on the ground and lost consciousness.