Under the same sky, thirty miles away in the capital, a large carriage slowly stopped outside the gate of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

The innocent girl quickly walked out of the house, almost tripping over the threshold, and called out with an anxious look on her face: "Brother Xiang."

The car curtain opened, and Xiang Yixuan, dressed in a green shirt, jumped out of the car. The girl ran into his arms and said in a panic: "There is something wrong with the eldest brother, but Butler Chang sent someone to watch the backyard. No,

Let me go in and see Brother. I...I'm a little worried and don't know what to do."

"Don't worry, Ah Jin, calm down first." Xiang Yixuan gently stroked the girl's hair hanging on Xiang's back, "You are also the third lady in the house, the brother's sister, how dare a housekeeper like him stop you?

"

"Brother has been feeling bad since he came back yesterday. He stayed alone in the room and refused to see anyone." The girl was Miao Jin, the third lady of Xu Mansion. "Later I heard that someone came in the night, and then Butler Chang ordered the servants to guard him.

No one is allowed in the backyard. When I went there this morning, he told me that my eldest brother was injured during the war, so it was inconvenient to visit him."

Xiang Yixuan asked in a deep voice: "Senior brother is really injured?"

Xu Miaojin shook his head slightly: "I find it very strange, because I asked the servants at home, and when my eldest brother returned home yesterday, except that he looked depressed, there were no signs of injury. He was unlucky in the war and was deprived of his military rights, so he did not want to see him.

My brother and I are normal, but why are servants surrounding the backyard today, and they say they are injured?"

The "third brother" she refers to refers to Xu Da's third son and Xu Huizu's younger brother, Xu Zengshou.

"Could it be some kind of strange internal injury that happened last night?" Xiang Yixuan thought, "But even if that's the case, there's no need to stop people from entering. Is it because they're afraid of leaking the news? What happened last night?

Who has been here?"

The two of them walked into the mansion side by side while talking, and headed towards the backyard where Xu Huizu lived.

On the way, Xu Zengshou happened to come towards him. He saw Xiang Yixuan and Xu Miaojin and said hello: "Si Miao, are you here to see A Jin?"

Xiang Yixuan nodded and raised his hand towards Xu Zengshou: "Third Young Master, are you going out?"

"Well, the emperor summoned me to the palace." Xu Zengshou seemed to not want to waste any more time. He nodded slightly and walked towards the door again, "Maybe it is about changing generals for the Imperial Guard. You guys have fun, I will come again next time

Treat Simiao well."

In his mind, because Xiang Yixuan was Xu Huizu's younger brother, and Xu Miaojin had a deep affection for him, he actually regarded Xiang Yixuan as his sister-in-law, so he spoke very casually.

Xiang Yixuan saw that Xu Zengshou was about to walk away and asked quickly: "Third Young Master, do you know who came to the house to see Senior Brother last night?"

Xu Zengshou paused for a moment and said unhappily: "It seems like that little bitch named Liu, huh, I'm too lazy to take care of her business." Xu Huizu and Liu Yueyao have been dating secretly for many years, and it is no secret in the house, but Xu Zengshou

He always disliked him, so he left in a hurry.

Xiang Yixuan said in astonishment: "Could it be that the senior brother refused to see Third Young Master and A Jin after returning home, but he was willing to spend one night with Liu Yueyao?"

Xu Miaojin was a little upset, shook her head and said: "Don't worry about eldest brother's personal affairs. I have an ominous feeling that something has happened, but housekeeper Chang won't let me go in to visit eldest brother."

As they talked, they walked to the door of the backyard, and sure enough they saw a row of servants standing outside the door, blocking their access.

Chang Hong walked out from the side, bowed deeply to Xiang Yixuan, and told him in a polite but warning manner that Xu Huizu was injured on the battlefield and needed to rest peacefully. If he was disturbed, the injury would worsen. Please wait a few days.

Come visit again tomorrow.

Xiang Yixuan took the opportunity to ask about Liu Yueyao who came last night. Chang Hong explained: "Liu Meiren came here with the medicine from the palace. Thanks to her, the master's injury began to improve."

Xu Miaojin pulled Xiang Yixuan's sleeve, and went back to her boudoir with him first, and then whispered: "I still think there is a problem. Butler Chang's words are flashy, as if he is hiding some big secret."

Xiang Yixuan also noticed something was wrong and sighed: "But the question is, how can we verify it?"

Xu Miaojin rolled her eyes and said, "I have an idea."

At noon, Xu Miaojin appeared at the door of the backyard again with a cup of freshly brewed mung bean soup.

"I knew that my eldest brother was injured, so I specially cooked mung bean soup and wanted to give him some to drink to relieve his heat."

Naturally, the guard guarding the door still refused to let her in, but she lost her temper and saw that Chang Hong was not nearby, so she insisted on barging in with a soup bowl.

A servant stretched out his hand to stop him and grabbed Xu Miaojin's hand. Xu Miaojin pulled hard and finally dropped the entire bowl of mung bean soup.

The soup cup hit the ground with a bang, shattering all over the place, and all the mung bean soup spilled out.

"You are brave!" Xu Miaojin waved her hand and slapped her in the face, then her eyes widened and she stamped her feet and said loudly.

The servant kept shouting, "You know what you're doing wrong," and the sound here finally attracted Chang Hong. The latter, while trying to persuade Xu Miaojin, punched and kicked the servant as punishment.

And just when everyone's attention was focused on the small accident that happened at the courtyard gate, a figure in a green shirt quietly climbed over the back wall and silently entered Xu Huizu's bedroom.

At the same time, in the palace, the twenty-five-year-old emperor Zhu Yunwen looked at Xu Zengshou entering the hall with a frosty look on his face, and slowly bowed to him as a salute, kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times.

Xu Zengshou caught a glimpse of Zhu Yunwen's expression and thought that he was still angry about Xu Huizu's defeat. He pretended to be frightened on the surface, but in his heart he was secretly counting the officials in the capital, wondering whether it would be his turn if Xu Huizu was dismissed.

Take over the military power of the city guard.

He had secretly surrendered to the King of Yan, Zhu Di, a few years ago and became Zhu Di's secret move in the capital. If he could really gain military power, he would then be able to offer the city to Zhu Di and receive a great achievement.

Zhu Yunwen waited patiently for him to finish the ceremony, but did not ask him to stand up. He slapped the dragon table heavily and said solemnly: "Xu Zengshou, I ask myself, I treat you well, but why did you collude with your fourth uncle in an attempt to trap me and

Desperate situation?"

Xu Zengshou was startled and opened his mouth. Just as he didn't know where he had revealed his secret, Zhu Yunwen shook his robe sleeves and several letters were thrown down on his pocket.

Astonishingly, it was Xu Zengshou and Zhu Di who exchanged secret messages!

He kept these secret messages in a secret place at home, and would never be discovered unless someone searched his room thoroughly.

Xu Huizu just returned to the city yesterday and has been staying behind closed doors, so there is only one possibility of providing these secret messages.

"Chang Hong!" Xu Zengshou knew that he had no excuse and it was useless to ask for mercy. He screamed, jumped up, and ran out of the hall.

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand coldly: "Here comes someone!"

More than twenty guards armed with swords poured in from outside the palace and surrounded Xu Zengshou. One of them kicked him to his knees and escorted him back to Zhu Yunwen.

Only then did Xu Zengshou realize that Zhu Yunwen had already prepared and asked him to enter the palace just to get rid of him. He smiled miserably and said: "The matter has come to this, I have nothing more to say. I just want to advise the emperor that King Yan's army has arrived outside the city and is fighting stubbornly."

It’s just self-destruction. It’s better to surrender earlier, maybe there will be a glimmer of hope.”

Although he was desperate, he still had a glimmer of hope when he said this, hoping that Zhu Yunwen would be frightened by him and choose to surrender because he was afraid of death, so that he would be able to survive because he still had "use value".

Zhu Yunwen smiled sternly, and with a "clang" sound, he pulled out a long sword from the sheath of a guard, pointed at Xu Zengshou and said: "When the emperor dies, I will inherit the throne, be supported by all the people, be upright, and not bow to the rebels."

coward!"

"Xu Zengshou, you betrayed the country and betrayed the emperor, and you still continued to confuse my heart even when you were about to die. You are simply unrepentant." Zhu Yunwen shook his head regretfully and paced the walk with his hands behind his hands, "I am very disappointed in you, so disappointed!"

A thought arose in Xu Zengshou's heart. Could it be that Zhu Yunwen's loss of trust in Xu Huizu was related to the exposure of his own affairs? It was because Zhu Yunwen could no longer trust the Xu family, so...

He had no time to think about it anymore, but when he saw Zhu Yunwen raised his eyebrows, the sword had already pierced his heart.
Chapter completed!