After returning to Zhanjing, it was five or six days later. I wanted to go to the palace to persuade the empress, but after the Prime Minister sent someone to ask, he learned that the imperial army had already reached the northeastern territory and was about to enter the territory of Liukang. If they were allowed to turn back,

Not to mention the fatigue of the soldiers and horses, a lot of food and grass were wasted in vain.

Therefore, the Prime Minister was quite helpless and could only give up the idea of ​​dissuading him.

After returning the imperial army, he returned to the mansion.

After sitting in the study for a while and thinking for a moment, Prime Minister Wu stood up and said to the servants outside the door, "Send someone to invite Zhang Baihu, saying that I have something to do and I need to leave the city."

The empress assigned hundreds of imperial spies, led by him, to investigate the theft of military crossbows and blueprints.

Although the conclusion of the military crossbow has been sealed, Prince Jing, together with the doctor of the Ministry of Rites and the director of the equipment warehouse, followed the instructions of the Chixin Sect and secretly sold beef tendon, the raw material needed for the production of the military crossbow.

However, the blueprints were stolen, but no clues were found, so the Prime Minister did not return the jurisdiction of hundreds of imperial spies. These people still assisted him and continued to investigate the reasons for the theft of the blueprints.

Not long after, Zhang Baihu, a powerful spy guard, arrived at the Prime Minister Wu's Mansion and asked respectfully, "I wonder what the Prime Minister Wu's orders are?"

The Prime Minister's eyes became more and more profound, "Go out of the city and investigate Prince Jing's manor."

Hearing this, Zhang Baihu was quite surprised.

Hasn’t Prince Jing already bowed his head?

Why are we still investigating him?

Although he was confused, as a subordinate, Zhang Baihu did not dare to ask more questions and quickly responded, "I will obey your orders!"

So, Prime Minister Wu left the palace, mounted his horse, took Zhang Baihu and a hundred imperial spies and guards, and galloped towards the outside of the city.

When Prince Jing fled out of fear of guilt, Prime Minister Wu sent people to investigate Prince Jing's mansion. Later, when searching for evidence of crimes, Prince Jing's mansion was turned upside down.

Therefore, it is certain that Prince Jing’s Mansion has not missed any clues.

But Prince Jing’s residence is not only Prince Jing’s Mansion, but also a huge manor in the countryside outside the city.

The Prime Minister also ordered the imperial spy guards to investigate this manor.

But afterwards, from Zhang Baihu's mouth, Prime Minister Wu learned that the Imperial Spy Guard had only been there once, and got the news that Prince Jing had been arrested before he could conduct a careful search.

After that, the matter was finalized and handed over to King Mu. The imperial spy guards did not want to exceed their authority and never went to Prince Jing's manor again.

There may be some omissions in this manor.

Therefore, Prime Minister Wu had already had the idea of ​​​​going to investigate, but his mother was seriously ill and he had to take leave to return to the province, so he had to postpone it.

Now that I'm back in Beijing, it's not appropriate to delay this matter any longer, so I sat down for a while and then immediately led the people there.

He always felt that this case was very confusing, and maybe the real murderer... had not been caught!

Riding his horse at a fast pace, when he arrived at the city gate, the Prime Minister suddenly reined in his horse and stopped. Many imperial guards stationed their horses and waited quietly.

After pondering for a moment, the Prime Minister waved, and Zhang Baihu quickly rode forward.

Prime Minister Wu whispered a few words to Zhang Baihu. After Zhang Baihu heard this, he nodded repeatedly and immediately called someone to arrange the matter according to Prime Minister Wu's instructions.

Then, the Prime Minister Wu led his people out of the city and continued to the countryside.

More than an hour later, everyone arrived a mile away from Prince Jing's manor.

Seeing the location of this manor, Prime Minister Wu couldn't help but frown.

It is very common for royal relatives to buy mansions in the countryside for recreation and hunting. For example, Marquis Dingjun, current Duke Ying and others all have manors and mansions in the countryside outside the city.

But their mansions are all built on the edge of Zhanshui. The scenery there is very good, with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Not far away is the royal manor, which has become a place for prominent people to play.

But this King Jing chose to be in a secluded place in the wilderness. He turned around and looked around. There were no people and no houses. There was only a manor here.

It can be seen that Prince Jing chose this place with bad intentions.

What can be used for a secluded mansion?

With this doubt, Prime Minister Wu led the crowd forward and arrived in front of the manor.

Just as he was about to dismount, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a lot of muddy footprints on the stone steps in front of the door.

The Prime Minister's eyes shrank immediately!

"Did it rain last night?" Wu Xiang asked with a frown.

He arrived at Zhanjing in the early morning and was not here last night.

Upon hearing the question, Zhang Baihu was stunned for a moment and quickly replied, "Indeed, it rained heavily last night and stopped early in the morning."

Wu Xiang frowned slightly, glanced around, and found that the mud around him was not muddy.

When the rain stops in the early morning, the morning sun rises, the water vapor evaporates, and the mud has dried. The only way to leave muddy footprints is when it rains.

This means that many people braved the rain to enter the manor late last night, leaving these footprints!

Thinking of this, Prime Minister Wu's heart sank slightly.

Seeing that the Prime Minister of Wu had been staring at the footprints on the stone steps, Zhang Baihu, as the Imperial Spy Guard, was responsible for reviewing matters. Naturally, he was not stupid. He understood immediately and became wary in his heart. He quickly said, "Master Wu Prime Minister,

Please step back!"

The Prime Minister nodded and retreated slowly. Many imperial guards rushed forward and surrounded him.

Then, Zhang Baihu led a dozen imperial spy guards to serve as the front line, and slowly and quickly opened the door.

With a creak, the door opened. The Imperial Spy Guards and others, who had already drawn their crossbows, immediately pointed their crossbows at the back of the door.

But behind the gate and in the front yard, there was no one around.

Zhang Baihu frowned and looked back at Prime Minister Wu, who nodded.

Zhang Baihu then led a dozen imperial spy guards into the front yard and walked towards the main hall. The Prime Minister followed slowly under the protection of everyone.

Not long after, everyone came to the main hall and saw that there was still no one in the hall, but there were some cups on the table.

Prime Minister Wu walked over, picked up the cup and took a look and found that it was filled with tea.

After pouring out the tea, he carefully observed the wall of the cup and saw that there was no tea stain attached to it. Prime Minister Wu understood immediately.

This cup of tea was not left behind by King Jing when he committed a crime.

It has been more than ten days now. If it was left at that time, there must be tea stains.

Maybe, this tea was brewed in the past few days!

Putting down the tea cup, Wu Xiang nodded and motioned for everyone to continue going deeper.

Zhang Baihu took the imperial spy guards around the main hall and walked towards the backyard.

Wu Xiang pondered for a moment and decided to follow.

Although he could wait in the hall, he was worried about missing some important details, so he planned to go inside to take a look together.

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Along the long corridor and past the Moon Cave Gate, Zhang Baihu led dozens of imperial guards and cautiously entered the backyard. When he raised his eyes, he was shocked when he saw the items displayed in the courtyard!

Prime Minister Wu was about to lead the crowd into the hospital when he saw Zhang Baihu and others who were the first to be admitted to the hospital with horrified expressions on their faces. He couldn't help but frown and walked in quickly.

When he saw the things in the courtyard, his eyes suddenly tightened!

The entire backyard is filled with long knives, military crossbows, armored stomachs and other military equipment!

Layers upon layers!

At this moment, messy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hospital, and someone came in a hurry!

Listen to the sound, there are many people!

……

Liukang Dynasty, Kangdu Palace City.

Before dawn, outside Emperor Liukang's bedroom, many eunuchs were gently picking up all the kites with broken strings on the ground.

This was the order of the chief eunuch, and many young eunuchs had no choice but to obey, so they got up early in the morning and came to pick up kites.

There are no little people painted on these kites, but a line of words written on them.

These words are exactly the same as the words shouted by the enemy soldiers outside the city.

It can be seen from this that the enemy soldiers have changed their strategy, and this strategy is very likely to alienate Liukang's monarch and his ministers.

Therefore, after receiving instructions from King Zhang, the chief eunuch arranged for many young eunuchs to remove these kites as soon as possible so that they would not be seen by His Majesty.

In a corner of the palace, a eunuch was picking up a kite alone. He was holding a lantern and looking around. When he saw that there was no one around but him, he quickly picked up a kite and stuffed it into his clothes.

His movements were extremely panicked. After he finished it, he looked around again and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was still no one there.

Then, he continued to pick up, and except for the hidden kite, the rest were handed over to the eunuch in charge, who sent people to burn them.

……

The footsteps were chaotic and noisy, and in an instant, many people rushed into the courtyard holding long knives, staring at Prime Minister Wu and others with murderous intent.

Many imperial guards were shocked and quickly gathered together in a defensive formation, holding crossbows and looking around cautiously.

"King Mu!" he shouted angrily, and Prime Minister Wu suddenly turned around, and he saw a man in brocade clothes standing behind him among the many swordsmen.

It’s King Mu!
To be continued...