In the Xuanzheng Hall of the Daxiling Palace, the civil and military ministers were arranged in two groups, solemn and solemn. Emperor Liu Hongjing was dressed in a dragon-coiled yellow robe and a nine-pointed crown on his head. He was sitting on a dragon chair. His eyes were bright and his hall was bright.
His curly beard extends to behind his ears, and his face is strong and not angry. Although he is nearly fifty years old, he can still vaguely see the beauty he once had.
After the ministers finished their memorial, they stood quietly on both sides, waiting for the emperor to speak.
"Taifu, when can the prince return to the capital?" Liu Hongjing looked at an old minister with a silver beard sitting in front of the palace and said in a low voice.
The silver-bearded veteran was Taifu Sima. He stood up tremblingly and replied: "Your Majesty, if there is no delay on the way, His Highness the Crown Prince can return to the capital before the year."
"Well, did anything happen along the way?" Liu Hongjing nodded.
"When His Highness passed through Xihe, a dysentery epidemic broke out in Xihe, and His Highness successfully controlled the epidemic." Taifu Sima said.
Liu Hongjing smiled happily and said, "Okay, here's my message. It's freezing cold, so I tell the prince to be careful along the way." His concern was beyond words.
Master Sima held the tooth wat in his hand and received the order, returned to the chair and sat down. He was an important minister of the three dynasties and was old, so he had a chair specially gifted by the emperor.
Among the ministers, a fat minister with big ears stood up and held a tooth wat in his hand and said: "His Royal Highness the eldest prince succeeded in pacifying the bandits in the north, and he will return to the capital years ago."
Liu Hongjing replied calmly: "Okay, I will reward you when the prince returns to the capital." His words were far less concerned than the prince.
The fat minister bowed his head and stepped back from his duties, with a bit of resentment on his face.
After leaving the court, the fat minister left the Golden Palace. The silver-haired Sima Taifu was supported by a minister wearing the prime minister's court uniform and walked in front.
"Master Yin, Master Sima." He greeted with clasped fists.
"Uncle." The Taifu and Prime Minister Yin turned around and returned the greeting.
This person was Duanmu Mengzheng, the elder brother of Queen Duanmu Yunji. He looked sarcastic and said to Taifu Sima and Prime Minister Yin: "The prince has accomplished extraordinary feats in Dongling. His years of teaching are not in vain. Congratulations." Liu
Fan always hides his edge in the palace and only behaves in an absurd and incompetent manner. This time Xihe's control of the epidemic is just a trivial matter, but Duanmu Mengzheng said it was a miracle. Compared with the eldest prince Liu Huo's suppression of the rogue bandits in the north, this statement is a great irony.
The Tutor and the Prince.
"Hahaha, I'm very grateful." The Taifu and Prime Minister Yin looked at each other, laughed and replied, then they held hands and continued to move forward, ignoring Duanmu Mengzheng.
"Huh!" Duanmu Mengzheng flicked his sleeves, and after the two of them had gone far, he walked out of the court gate and took a small sedan back to his uncle's house.
There was a white-haired father-in-law sitting in the guest seat in the lobby of the uncle's house, drinking tea and waiting for his return.
"Eunuch Tong!" Duanmu Mengzheng greeted him with clasped fists.
"Uncle Guo." Eunuch Tong slowly put down the tea cup, swept it with a whisk, stood up and returned the greeting.
"Eunuch Tong, I've been waiting for a long time." Duanmumeng was sitting on the main seat, and the girl at home made fragrant tea for a while.
Eunuch Tong looked at the servant girls and servants standing in the lobby. Duan Mumeng was hurriedly waving his hands to order them all to leave, and asked in a low voice: "Is there any news from the Queen's side?"
"My Majesty sent out two groups of internal experts one after another, but they all left without a trace. Even my brothers are missing. No one alive or dead." Eunuch Tong's face was full of gloom.
"Is there such a thing?" Duanmu frowned.
"I have sent several disciples to find out the news, and we are on the way now." Eunuch Tong said.
"Well, then we have to wait for the news." Duanmu Mengzheng nodded.
"His Royal Highness, the eldest prince, will return to Beijing soon. This time, His Highness has made great achievements in defeating the bandits. What will the Emperor say to the court?" Eunuch Tong asked.
"I only said that I would reward you after I return to the capital." Duanmu Mengzheng said truthfully, and he sighed: "The emperor is obviously partial to the prince, and is full of concern for the prince, but his words towards the eldest prince are indifferent, which makes people feel cold."
"This time the queen swore that the prince would die on the way. It happened that the eldest prince returned to the capital after performing meritorious service, and he was officially crowned prince." Eunuch Tong said.
Duanmu Mengzheng nodded: "Well, I will contact the owner of Jifeng Sword Village and ask him to lead his disciples to intercept with the Jiyu Sword Village, Jilei Sword Village, and Jidian Sword Village that my Duanmu family has cultivated for many years.
The prince will definitely be killed on the way!"
"Okay! It's not convenient for me to stay like this for a long time, so I'll take my leave now." Eunuch Tong stood up and said goodbye with his fists clasped.
"Eunuch, go slowly." Duanmu Mengzheng stood up. As usual, he escorted Eunuch Tong out of the backyard. Eunuch Tong only took a few young eunuchs with him and quietly returned to the palace in a small sedan.
Three days later, Queen Duanmu Yunji received a secret report: "The prince and the princess from Dongling have fallen down the cliff and died. More than half of the troops and horses that went to Dongling with the prince were killed and injured and are returning to the capital."
"The prince is dead!" Duanmu Yunji held the secret report with trembling hands. After a while, she came back to her senses and looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahaha, he is finally dead! You have occupied the position of Prince Huo'er for more than ten years.
He should have died a long time ago! Hahaha!”
After she rewarded the eunuch who reported the news, she burned the secret report on a candle and waited peacefully for her son Liu Huo to return to the capital and inherit the throne as crown prince. However, unexpectedly, what the reporter received was a false letter deliberately sent by Liu Fan and Xiao Zhu.
It turned out that under the cliff, after Xiaozhu and Liufan stabilized their injuries through martial arts, everyone sat together to discuss countermeasures. It was too dangerous for the queen to pursue her so aggressively and it was too dangerous to find a way to deal with it. After thinking for a while, Liufan thought
Coming up with a solution, he said to Xiaozhu and the others: "We fell off a cliff, why not fake our own death?"
"Fake death?" Xiaozhu looked at him and nodded slightly, "Well, all the people sent by the queen have been killed by us, and the bodies have also been disposed of without a trace. She will definitely send people again to find out the news.
And to pursue us, we had no choice but to release the news that the prince and the princess had fallen off the cliff and died, and that I had jumped off the cliff and committed suicide in order to escape the blame."
Wuyou continued: "None of our identities were exposed. We immediately climbed up the cliff to deal with these matters. We ordered the prince's army and horses to return to the palace, and spread the news along the way that the prince had fallen off the cliff and died."
Liu Fan nodded and said: "Yes, you continue to dress up as tourists, while the princess, Xiaozhu and I dress up as civilians on the road, and we take the shortcut back to the palace."
Take action when you say action. Wuyou takes Xiao Gudong, Yunshang, Ni'er, and Xiaohui one by one and flies over the hot spring. They climb up the cliff along the rope woven from vines. The people from Xianren Jianzhuang are still waiting on the cliff. Wuyou
He conveyed the wishes of the Crown Prince and Xiaozhu to the Master of Huazhuang. It was inconvenient for the Master of Huazhuang to meet the Prince here, so he had to lead his disciples back to Xianrenjian Manor.
Feng Lin saw someone coming up from the bottom of the cliff. No matter who they were, he hurriedly came over and asked, "Where are His Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess?"
Wuyou didn't want to talk too much to this palace maid, so he frowned and shouted: "Mind your business and follow the team back to the palace immediately. If anyone asks about His Highness the Crown Prince along the way, just say that His Highness unfortunately fell off a cliff and died. If you dare to talk nonsense,
Be careful when you move your head." She stretched out a hand and pinched Feng Lin's neck, and Feng Lin nodded in fear.