The twilight is dawning, and the sun is covered by thick shade.

A group of Jinwu guards wearing armor and phoenix-winged helmets rode their horses along the mountain path. The sound of horse hooves shook the sky, causing the birds on the trees to flap their wings and fly into the sky.

Seeing that they were about to arrive at the wooden house, Xie Hushen gently pulled the reins of his horse and waved back. Hundreds of Jinwu guards stopped in unison, dismounted and waited respectfully on one side.

At this scene, Xie Hushen couldn't help but think of the day when the people petitioned at Dongchang Gate. He came here on horseback in the same way, and majestically asked Gu Changjin, the doctor of the Ministry of Justice at that time, to describe the situation that day to him.

At that time, he also lamented that civil servants were so eloquent that they could travel around the world with a sharp mouth.

Who would have thought that this gentleman would have such a good fortune?

Thinking of the few words that Mr. Wang Dehai had mentioned before leaving for the trip, Xie Hushen's heart froze and he stepped forward to knock on the door with a respectful expression.

In the room, Gu Changjin and Rong Shu looked at each other and said softly: "It takes about four or five days to go to Wanping County from here. When you get there, find a place to stay first and let Chang Ji kidnap the person. Don't take the risk yourself. ."

Rong Shu responded "Okay."

Gu Changjin took a deep look at her and walked out the door.

Just like in the dream, the person who came to pick him up was Xie Hushen, and what was supposed to happen in Jiayou's 23rd year was brought forward to today.

Gu Changjin looked at the bright autumn sun hanging high on the treetops with an unpredictable expression.

Thousands of miles away in Shangjing, Kunning Palace.

Empress Qi was leaning on the imperial concubine's couch, paying her respects and looking at the begonias blooming outside the window in silence.

A palace servant in the corridor hurriedly walked through the palace door and whispered something in Aunt Gui's ear.

Aunt Gui looked happy, opened the curtain and went inside, saying to Queen Qi: "The dead soldiers sent by the Xing family were all killed by Commander Xie. Commander Xie will probably receive them in the next day or two. The Xing family is really serious this time Even if you eat the courage of an ambitious leopard, you won't be afraid of provoking the wrath of the saint."

He spat hard again and gritted his teeth and said: "It's a pity that he didn't survive, but it saved the old thief Xing. The old slave Qi's family. I don’t believe it is the Xing family’s handiwork!”

Aunt Gui is an old member of the Qi family. She accompanied Queen Qi to marry into the Taiyuan Mansion, and then accompanied Queen Qi back to Beijing to take charge of the Kunning Palace.

She watched Empress Qi grow up and had a deep friendship with Empress Qi. But after all, she was from the Qi family. Her son and grandson were all in the Qi family. Now that the Qi family was raided, how could she not hate it?

Qi Zhen looked at the wrinkled and haggard face of Aunt Gui, and said softly: "The Xing family did add fuel to the flames, but flies don't pick up eggs without cracks. If my brother and Yu'er hadn't made mistakes, how could the Xing family have found the opportunity? The emperor sent people to ambush Liu Yuan and the others at the ferry. The emperor has also found out about this matter. This time, even I can't save the Qi family."

Even the thick makeup could not hide the tiredness in Qi Zhen's brows.

In just one month, things have changed in Shangjing.

Half a month ago, on the day Liu Yuan was attacked, she went to Da Ci'en Temple to meet Meng Zong, the censor of Zuodu of the Ducha Yuan.

Qi Zhen, the General Secretary, had heard his brother mention it several times that he was a man with a deep mind. Both Xingshoufu and his brother wanted to win over him, but they all failed.

Meng Zong was not close to anyone, but he could not offend anyone.

A person who is unwilling to take sides will always have a hard time walking in the court, but because of his outstanding ability, he was reused by Emperor Jiande and Emperor Jiayou. Over the years, the entire Metropolitan Procuratorate has been managed like an iron barrel, making it difficult for others to bribe those under him.

Meng Zong never got involved in party disputes, let alone getting involved with concubines in the harem. Qi Zhen didn't know why this person wanted to see her.

However, the first words Meng Zong said in that small Buddhist hall almost shocked Qi Zhen so much that she couldn't even hold the rosary beads in her hand steadily.

"The Queen of the Little Buddha Hall is familiar to you. On the sixth day of April in the second year of Jiayou, the Queen secretly gave birth to the little princess here." Meng Zong said lightly.

One sentence brought Qi Zhen back to that thundery spring night.

On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year of that year, Emperor Jiayou was critically ill. At that time, he only had the eldest son Xiao Yi, who had just turned one year old, under his knees, and the whole court was in a state of confusion.

At that time, Qi Zhen had been diagnosed with Ximai, but she did not dare to announce it.

She knew all too well how many accidents could happen in this harem.

However, despite all the precautions, the people around her could not be protected. As soon as the news of her pregnancy was leaked, the Xing family took action to bury the hidden stake in Kunning Palace. If Aunt Gui had not been cautious, the child in her belly would have been destroyed. There's no way to keep it.

At that time, whether the child in her belly was a prince or a princess determined the future of the Qi family and her.

If she is a prince, the old members of the Qi family and most of the generals in the court will support her. If she is a daughter, the fate of the Qi family, her fate, and the fate of her children can be imagined.

The elder brother had already prepared for this and secretly hid three or four women from the Qi family who were pregnant at about the same time as her in Shangjing, including a concubine of the elder brother.

On April 3rd, the concubine had a fetal movement, which started early and gave birth to a boy.

She had no choice but to leave the palace and went to Da Ci'en Temple to pray for blessings on the pretext of her mother's dream. On April 6, she drank oxytocin, and she would be seven months pregnant at that time.

She was in pain all night in the Buddhist hall of Daci'en Temple. When she was very angry, she looked at the Jade Bodhisattva in the Buddhist hall and thought that this was retribution.

The person the Qi family has always supported is Prince Qiyuan.

Marrying her to Xiao Yan in the first place was just an expedient measure to deceive Emperor Jiande. Emperor Jiande was in coma and in the second year of Prince Qiyuan's supervision of the country, the Qi family was even ready to get rid of Xiao Yan so that she could fake her death and return to the Qi family to marry into the East Palace as a daughter of a branch of the Qi family.

My father had already decided on this plan when he returned the military power to the court. On the one hand, it was to protect the Qi family, and on the other hand, it was to seek a comeback for the Qi family.

Later, Emperor Jiande granted her marriage to the seventh prince, and her father was relieved. He said that the biological mother of the seventh prince was just a palace maid. The seventh prince was not favored by the emperor and was weak and sickly. Even if he were to be eliminated in the future, he would not arouse the anger of others. Suspect.

Qi Zhen knew from the day she got married that sooner or later she would kill Xiao Yan with her own hands.

It's a pity that she got emotional.

She used the medicine her brother sent to poison Xiao Yan on Prince Qiyuan, forcing the Qi family to support Xiao Yan.

The Qi family's many years of planning were abandoned because of her, Xiao Yan survived, and she became the queen. She thought they could finally return to their old life in Taiyuan Mansion.

The pain in her lower abdomen became more and more painful, Qi Zhen's whole body was shaking with pain, and the feeling of fatigue and weakness gradually spread to her limbs.

At that time, Qi Heng had someone bring in a bowl of medicine and told the doctor to protect the patient's health.

The child was already born, and it no longer mattered to the Qi family whether the child would be born in her belly.

Qi Zhen waved away the medicine bowl that the medical woman had fed to the corner of her lips, and stared at the medical woman with a pair of red bloodshot eyes. She had lost one child before and could not lose another.

With Qi Heng's methods, as long as she loses consciousness, the child in her belly will die.

The dissipated strength gradually returned. Qi Zhen stared at the Jade Bodhisattva on the high table, biting the cork and arching her body. After an unknown amount of time, she finally heard a weak and almost inaudible cry.

Heavy rain poured down, thunder roared, and the candles in the Buddhist hall were clearly extinguished.

Qi Zhen looked at the little thing that was only two palms in size and covered in blood, her eyelashes slightly moist.

Her voice was so small, like a newborn kitten, so weak that it was almost inaudible, but she survived after all.

The next day, Qi Zhen returned to Kunning Palace with her premature baby in her arms.

Half a month later, Xiao Yan woke up from the menacing typhoid fever and gave the child the honor of Xiao Yu.

The Buddhist hall where Qi Zhen gave birth in Da Ci'en Temple was a small Buddhist hall dedicated to the ancestors of the Qi family. On that day, all the people in the Buddhist hall were people from Kunning Palace and the Qi family. This secret has been hidden for so many years. It was so secret that she didn't know how Meng Zong knew about it.

As soon as Meng Zong finished speaking, she immediately turned cold and asked, "What did Mr. Meng Xian mean by these words?"

Meng Zong said calmly: "Don't worry, the Queen, I am here today not to make enemies, but to In order to show sincerity, Wei Chen

narrowed his eyes and said, "What?"

"The five girls of the Qi family were not the children born in the Buddhist hall that day." He said calmly: "The child was kidnapped on the way back to the Qi Mansion. Today's Miss Qi Wu is just a girl brought from the side branch of the Qi family by Governor Qi Zuo. The empress must still remember that at that time, the side branch of the Qi family There are three pregnant women hiding in Shangjing.

"Mr. Meng, do you know what you are talking about?" Qi Zhen raised her voice, her face full of anger, and she couldn't help clenching her hands into fists.

"There were two medical women and two wet nurses who accompanied the little princess that day. After the little princess was kidnapped, Governor Qi Zuo sent people to kill them, along with the coachman that day. Only one of them was killed. The famous wet nurse was lucky enough to survive after throwing her body into the wild. She knew that no one would know that she was alive, so she disfigured herself and hid at the border."

Meng Zong raised his eyes and looked at Qi Zhen. Said: "When the empress sees the wet nurse, she will know whether what Weichen just said is true or false."

Meng Zong's words had already stirred up a storm in Qi Zhen's heart. If her child was really taken away, With the brother's methods, it is indeed possible to find another baby, Li Daitao.

But who would kidnap that child? Where is that child now?

Qi Zhen suppressed all the shock and uncertainty in her heart, stabilized her mind, and said slowly: "Mr. Meng just said that he wanted to cooperate with me, what did he mean?"

"Eunuch Liu and his party were in danger at the ferry this morning. I've probably heard about it, and the empress must also know whose handiwork this is." Meng Zong slowly turned the jade ring in his hand and said, "Eunuch Liu had already sent all the evidence to the inner court secretly two days ago. The matter in Yangzhou, three days ago. The Justice Department will definitely get to the bottom of it. Wei Chen dares to say that the Qi family, the second prince, and the empress cannot be saved. "

Qi Zhen is indeed aware of what happened at the ferry this morning, and she also understands that the emperor will not spare the Qi family lightly this time.

She looked at Meng Zong quietly, "How do you want to cooperate, Lord Meng?"

Meng Zong said sternly: "The governor of Qi Zuo was so ambitious that he secretly replaced the real second prince at Da Ci'en Temple nineteen years ago in an attempt to confuse the royal bloodline. Li Daitao was stiff. The empress was also kept in the dark, and the minister will find the real second prince. Then the empress will only have to recognize the child.

"Does Master Meng know that this is a crime of deceiving the emperor? " Why are you confusing the royal bloodline?"

Meng Zong asked, "Do you know why the emperor asked the old minister to be the disciple of Prince Huai'an?"

Qi Zhen was startled, "Huai'an is the posthumous son of Xiao Twelve, the emperor -

Her voice paused suddenly, as if she had understood something. After a long time, she suddenly said: "Your Majesty, he never intended to appoint Xiao Yi or Yu'er as the crown prince." Xiao

Yan is not like the late emperor, nor is he like Prince Qiyuan . , or it should be said that he does not have the slightest bit of stubbornness and arrogance of the Xiao family.

When he chooses the crown prince, he must choose the one who is most suitable to be the emperor.

The reason why Huai'an was handed over to the old minister was to cultivate a suitable prince himself.

"The Queen understands clearly," Meng Zongdao said: "The eldest prince and the second prince have never been qualified candidates for the crown prince in the eyes of the emperor. It is a pity that the prince Huai'an is too young after all, and the old minister's body can no longer wait."

Not only the old minister can't wait. Can't wait, even Emperor Jiayou can't wait.

"The emperor is already suspicious of the identity of the second prince, so he will not hand over the throne to the second prince. If the empress does not find another way, it will be the eldest prince who will be the one to become the great treasure in the future. The minister who is here today is I want to lay a stilt path for the empress herself."

At that time, Qi Zhen never expected that the "stilt path" mentioned by Meng Zong was actually Xiao Yan, and she never expected that the person who rescued Xiao Yan was Xiao Fu, the princess of Yunhua.

Thinking of Xiao Fu, Qi Zhen couldn't help but tighten her hand holding the round fan.

After returning from Da Ci'en Temple, she sent someone to investigate what Meng Zong said.

The doctor who delivered her baby in the small Buddhist hall and the wet nurse chosen by Aunt Gui herself were indeed missing.

Meng Zong not only knew what happened in the small Buddhist hall that day, but also knew where the child was.

"The person who kidnapped the little princess was Princess Yunhua. Madam, don't worry, Wei Chen has sent someone to pick up the little princess and the wet nurse. As for Princess Yunhua," Meng Zong smiled slightly and said, "Wei Chen himself It will be solved. It is enough for Prince Yan’s mother to have a mother."

Although Meng Zong kept saying that he would solve Xiao Fu, Qi Zhen did not want to hand her over to Meng Zong.

Qiu Begonia looked away from the window. She looked at Aunt Gui and said, "Have the people guarding Wutong Lane made any new discoveries?"

Aunt Gui shook her head and said, "There is no news for the time being. Our people guarding there are keeping an eye on it day and night. There is not even a shadow of a cat."

Qi Zhen rubbed her eyebrows and said, "The people around Xiao Fu were all left to her by her mother back then. There are many strange people. Send some people to check if there are any recently. Someone from the Western Region."

Aunt Gui agreed quickly and said hesitantly, "Madam, do you really want to cooperate with Master Meng? The one in Wutong Lane was raised by Princess Yunhua, and the old slave was worried that he would cooperate with him. " Don't give up."

"Mom, do you think I have any other choice?" Qi Zhen said with a bitter smile: "Why are you willing to listen to me and accept his crime of secretly changing the emperor's heir?" After losing, the Xing family and the Qi family have been at odds for many years. Once Xiao Yi comes to the throne, how can the Qi family have a way out? It was only after the elder brother saw this situation that he was willing to admit Xiao Yan. As long as I am here, How can the Qi family keep its incense?"

Aunt Gui said worriedly: "What I'm afraid of is that Princess Yunhua has found out the truth about that year. If Prince Yan knows that it is you..."

Qi Zhen sighed: "I am already here. She owes her life to Prince Qiyuan. If the child wants to avenge his father, I will admit it."

At midnight, Prince Qiyuan came into her dream more than once and asked her why she changed her mind and why she wanted to kill him.

She killed him not only to save Xiao Yan, but also for his crazy alchemy moves. If it had to happen again, she would still choose to kill him.

Aunt Gui did not notice the confusion on Qi Zhen's expression, and continued: "Your Majesty, will you really believe that that person is the real second prince?"

Qi Zhen came back to her senses, smiled after hearing this, and said: "Your Majesty He won't believe it, but as long as the child is the real Xiao Yan, he will acquiesce in the palace's recognition of him. "

Qi Zhen knew very well that Emperor Jiayou liked the child very much.

The imperial power is profound.

Emperor Jiayou has become more and more secretive in these years, but every time he mentions Gu Changjin in front of her, he always has a smile on his face.

Not just Emperor Jiayou?

Meng Zong, Lu Zhuo and the old minister in prison, these powerful people all liked him.

Meng Zong cooperated with her, which can be said to have entrusted his wealth and life to her. In fact, with Meng Zong's ability and scheming, no matter who sits in that position, he will be reused.

He didn't have to take the risk.

In addition to these veterans, there are many ordinary people and scholars behind the child.

What he did in Yangzhou Prefecture this time, who among the people in Beijing now knows?

Even the maids who burned charcoal in the palace knew that the pirates on Sifang Island were recruited by Gu Yushi. The explosives that severely damaged Sifang Island were buried by Gu Yushi. During the fierce battle with the pirates, Gu Yushi was even more affected. He was seriously injured and had to stay in Yangzhou to recuperate.

Qi Zhen put down the fan in her hand and her eyes darkened.

Liu Yuan, Pan Xueliang and their party had just returned less than half a month ago. To be able to publicize Gu Changjin's deeds to everyone in such a short period of time was because someone was building momentum for him.

Among these people, there were people like Pan Xueliang who were impressed by him, and there were also people like Meng Zong and Lao Shangshu who wanted to support him wholeheartedly.

It must be said that Gu Yushi was lucky to have so many people paving the way for him.

Gu Changjin heard about the changes in Beijing from Xie Hushen's mouth, but he had already expected this and knew what was waiting for him when he returned to Beijing.

On October 18th, Gu Changjin and hundreds of Jinwu guards finally arrived in Shangjing.

When I go to Beijing after autumn, the weather is getting colder day by day.

Liu Yuan wore a scarlet cloak and waited at Jinshui Bridge in person.

He was injured, and it looked like it had weakened a lot. His crimson robe was blown by the autumn wind.

He looked at the young censor walking over, the corners of his lips raised unconsciously, and the rouge mole at the end of his eye made him look even more enchanting.

He then bowed his head and said respectfully: "Master Gu, please come with us. The Emperor and the Queen are waiting in Kunning Palace."

Gu Changjin nodded gently and raised his eyes to look at the majestic palace not far away. .

The sun was hanging high in the sky, shining golden light on the palace road, shining this road soaked in countless blood into a golden avenue that countless people yearned for.

The young boy's voice came to Gu Changjin's ears again.

"Actually, my name is not Ni Yan, my surname is Xiao, my name is Xiao Yan. Suiguan'er, I'm going to die, and I don't want to lie to you anymore." Xiao Yan said to him with a smile in the wooden house in Fuyu Mountain.

At that time, his father and Uncle Ni had obviously found medicine to treat the epidemic, but after drinking it, he recovered, but Xiao Yan became weaker and weaker day by day.

"Ni Huwei said that if I don't survive, you will all be killed. He asked me if I would give you my identity."

The young boy pulled out a jade pendant from his neck and said funnyly: "How could I not want to ? If possible, I would rather be Ni Yan, always Ni Yan, growing up with you and my brother and sister in Fuyu Mountain. Last year, my little sister asked me if I would be her groom. Officer. It would be great if I could always be Ni Yan. Being Xiao Yan is too tiring and painful."

After placing the jade pendant in Gu Changjin's hand, Xiao Yan breathed a long sigh of relief. As if a heavy burden had been lifted, a smile of relief appeared on her delicate and childish face.

"Ni Huwei said that I was born in that palace, but I can't remember what that palace looked like. Sui Guan'er, take a look for me. As Xiao Yan, take a look for me. " Okay."

"Gu Yushi?"

Liu Yuan stopped on the Jinshui Bridge and looked back in surprise.

Seeing Gu Changjin standing on the bridge, looking at the palace in front for a moment, but not following, he thought for a moment, flicked the fly whisk, walked back, and said in a low voice next to Gu Changjin: "Don't worry, sir." "Today, the emperor and queen invite you to the palace to see you, not only for Yangzhou matters, but also for other good things. Please come with us to Kunning Palace."

Gu Changjin lowered his eyes and said thanks calmly. Tibu followed Liu Yuan's pace, and the jade pendant hidden in his clothes swayed gently with his steps.

——"Okay, Xiao Yan, I promise you."