After the winter hunting incident, Dongping, which belonged to the fiefdom of King Wu, has been in a strange calm.

Judging from the reply from the Imperial City Secretary, the prince has been staying in the mansion, and only a few staff members have been in and out of the mansion.

After bidding farewell to Yu Qin at the city gate, Yan Yunhe went to the imperial prison. Different from the environment in the heavenly prison, the imperial prison was filled with various torture instruments, stained with blood, and the smell in the air was disgusting.

It was in such an environment that Yan Yunhe met his former teacher Zhou Chonghua.

He stood in front of the fence, looking at Zhou Chonghua huddled in the corner, almost unrecognizable to his former mentor.

Zhou Chonghua moved his body and felt the person's gaze. He slowly raised his head. He seemed to be a little confused and could not recognize the person.

No more confessions could be obtained from Zhou Chonghua. On the first day he was imprisoned, he tried to bite his tongue and commit suicide. Although he failed, he could not say another word.

Zhou Chonghua instigated the King of Wu while abroad, smuggled arms, and amassed wealth to support his troops. In Neili, he won over the civil servants Qingliu and eroded the Jinwu guards.

He has done enough. If Emperor Cheng Jing is really a puppet emperor, maybe he will succeed. After assassinating Emperor Cheng Jing, he will help the crown prince of Wu to ascend the throne.

It's just that since Zhou Chonghua was holding the banner of revenge for the former crown prince Youyi, didn't he think that even if the prince of Wu Wang became the emperor, the Jiang family would still be the same Jiang family, and the Queen Mother Jiang would still be sitting firmly in Cining Palace.

The real culprit who killed the prince still occupies a high position of power.

Yan Yunhe thought that Zhou Chonghua might not have thought about it.

Perhaps the original intention of this person was to avenge the former prince. However, over the years, his initial ambition was repeatedly defeated by reality.

The Jiang family is an unreachable mountain. Only by letting the Crown Prince of Wu become emperor can it be possible to achieve true revenge.

Is Prince Wu the bloodline of the former Crown Prince Youyi?

If it is fake, then this revenge is a joke from beginning to end. It is just Zhou Chonghua who spent many years planning out of his own selfish interests and took huge risks to promote a civet cat to the top.

After coming out of the imperial prison and then to the Qianqing Palace, Yan Yunhe was full of doubts. Maybe he could know the answer from Emperor Cheng Jing.

Emperor Cheng Jing had a rare leisure day today and did not meet with the ministers.

Yan Yunhe just entered the room and bowed, and when he raised his head again, he was startled by the appearance of Emperor Cheng Jing.

I saw that there were blood scabs on the corners of Emperor Cheng Jing's lips, and the wounds were very clear, as if he had broken his lips when he fell down.

Emperor Cheng Jing looked at the memorial expressionlessly, with a serious expression that really made people think of Fengyue.

So Yan Yunhe didn't pay attention to it for too long and looked away.

Emperor Cheng Jing summoned him here for the sake of the Crown Prince of Wu.

To his surprise, Emperor Cheng Jing ordered him to bring Prince Wu back to the capital.

Why not just execute the person on the spot and bring him back to the capital to cause more changes?

But Yan Yunhe could never figure out Emperor Cheng Jing's thoughts.

It was as if he didn't understand why Emperor Cheng Jing would let Yu Qin go, and even promised to clear his grievances.

For Emperor Cheng Jing, this has both disadvantages and no advantages.

But Emperor Cheng Jing should also have his own considerations. His vision is always longer-term than theirs.

When he came out of Qianqing Palace, Eunuch Yan followed him. Yan Yunhe whispered: "Why is your majesty injured?"

Eunuch Yan said without raising his eyes: "It is cold in winter. Your majesty ate too much mutton hot pot and got aphthous sores. "

In the final analysis, this is Emperor Cheng Jing's private matter, so he shouldn't care too much.

Eunuch Yan had something to say: "Master Yan, during this trip to Dongping, did your Majesty have any instructions to bring the Crown Prince of Wu back to the capital?"

Yan Yunhe thought that as a close servant of the emperor, Eunuch Yan should be the first to know about Emperor Cheng Jing. How could anyone ask him for ideas.

However, he still said: "Yes, your Majesty did give that order."

After hearing this, Eunuch Yan didn't show any strangeness on his face, as if he just asked a casual question and Yan Yunhe just answered casually.

"By the way, Eunuch Yan, yesterday you asked me not to speak to Mr. Fang in front of Your Majesty. I still don't know why he annoyed Your Majesty?" Yan Yunhe asked.

Eunuch Yan: "Master Fang wants to resign from the post of Imperial City Secretary."

Yan Yunhe was not surprised at all. After You Liang's death, Fang Zhizhou obviously no longer had the energy to continue to be in charge of this huge intelligence agency.

Eunuch Yan: "Your Majesty rejected Mr. Fang's request and only asked Mr. Fang to plead guilty and meritorious service. Mr. Fang was indeed very up to his word. This morning he provided His Majesty with the secret passages, account books, number of private soldiers, and even information about Zhou Chonghua's smuggled arms. Some personal matters of the young prince."

Yan Yunhe: "Is this related to your majesty changing your mind and requesting to take the prince to the capital?" Eunuch

Yan: "How can we, the slaves, guess your majesty's thoughts easily?"

But he has already revealed enough, why should Yan Yun stop?

Yan Yunhe didn't continue to ask questions. He had something more important to rush to now.

After coming out of the palace, Yan Yunhe rushed to Fang Mansion quickly, but Fang Zhizhou was not there. He diverted to the dim sum shop and found Fang Zhizhou.

This man was methodically handling official matters that had accumulated for many days, and he didn't even have time to pay attention to the banquet.

If it weren't for Fang Zhizhou still wearing white like a widow, Yan Yunhe would have thought that he had walked out.

Yan Yunhe asked directly: "Where did you get so much news?"

Fang Zhizhou said without raising his head: "What news?"

Yan Yunhe said: "The ones you reported to His Majesty this morning."

Fang Zhizhou: "There are also people from the Imperial City Department in Dongping. It's not difficult to find out."

Yan Yunhe said: "Previously, you couldn't even find out that the disfigured aide next to King Wu was Zhou Shanhe. Zhou Chonghua has been in prison for so long. How can you find out the information that has not been disclosed?"

Fang Zhizhou put down his hand and said, "I have my own methods, you don't have to question too much, just like I won't ask you how you won those battles. , you just have to choose to believe me or not."

Yan Yunhe put his hands on the table: "I believe you, but I also want to know where this news of yours came from."

It's a pity where Yan Yun is. On the subject of interrogation, he did not learn well, and he was even less able to perform well in the face of Fang Zhizhou, who knew him well.

In the end, he could only come out of the dim sum shop with nothing, but he returned to Fang Mansion again.

This time he ignored the concierge's obstruction and just entered the Fang Mansion. However, he did not rush around, but looked at the nervous-looking servants of the Fang Mansion, hanging the peace charms they had worn for a long time on the branches in the backyard.

"Next winter, I'll come here to eat hot pot again." Yan Yunhe said with a smile, as if talking to himself or to someone.

In the ninth year of the Jin Dynasty, Yan Yunhe led his troops to set out. After arriving at Dongping City, they encountered fierce resistance from King Wu's private army.

He even threatened the lives of the people in the city and asked Yan Yunhe to retreat and surrender.

Yan Yunhe had no choice but to temporarily retreat dozens of miles and camp outside Dongping City.

Xiaoliu was the lieutenant who followed him this time. Before Zhao Chengan left the capital, he left Xiaoliu with him. He also heard that he was coming to regain Dongping this time.

Yan Yunhe was meditating in the tent, and Xiaoliu opened the tent and said angrily: "This is too irritating. How can they be like this? They are threatening people with their lives. They don't look like soldiers. They are just a bunch of robbers." Bandits!"

Yan Yunhe's eyebrows twitched slightly: "It's not easy to recruit private soldiers. Most of them are desperadoes, and the rules are not as strict as in the military camp. What's more, since ancient times, the two countries have been fighting each other. In the eyes of the people, those who serve as soldiers are no different from bandits."

Xiaoliu's face turned red: "Of course I know this, but these private soldiers usually live in Dongping City, don't they exist among the people. How can a person be so cruel?"

Yan Yunhe said calmly: "I feel something is wrong."

Xiao Liu came to his senses: "What?"

Yan Yunhe: "The prince of Wu has been taught by Zhou Chonghua for many years, and his father is still the same. ...Anyway, this doesn't seem like something he would do. " Xiao Liu: "It doesn't matter whether he did it or not. What matters is what we should do next. Can't we

just keep waiting?"

Keep waiting." Yan Yunhe lowered his eyes and said, "Let's negotiate first. We have to appoint Prince Wu to negotiate with me. Let's see if there is someone behind this."

Although it is not the old practice for the two armies to negotiate. A lot, but not entirely.

It's just that generals usually send their cronies to negotiate, but it's rare that Yan Yunhe goes into battle personally and puts himself in danger.

This request was just a test.

But here in Dongping City, news came that Prince Wu had agreed to meet and negotiate.

This made Yan Yunhe even more convinced that there was definitely something wrong within Prince Wu's palace. The prince, who had left Zhou Chonghua and Zhou Shanhe, could no longer control the people under him.

On the day of the negotiation, Yan Yunhe led a small team to the junction of the two armies and looked at the carriage coming alone and the few soldiers behind it.

Yan Yunhe frowned slightly, his intuition was wrong.

He asked people to come forward and say hello to the prince in the carriage. The car curtain moved slightly, revealing a pale face.

The moment Yan Yunhe saw his face, his heartbeat skipped a few beats, for no other reason.

The prince of Wu looks very similar to the young Yu Qin.

At a glance, it feels like time is flowing backwards.

However, when Yu Qin was young, he was not like Prince Wu, who seemed to have trouble breathing.

Even Yu Qin later looked like that because he was poisoned and injured.

Wait...haven't this Prince Wu ever heard of being weak?

While Yan Yunhe was silently sizing up Prince Wu, the sickly young man was also sizing him up with calm eyes.

At this time, he clearly saw Prince Wu raising his hand and slowly making a gesture.

This is a commonly used codeword in the military, and it is a simple message - there is an ambush.

...

In the Medicine King Valley, Yu Qin experienced an extremely torturous medicinal bath.

Dr. Zhou's colleagues were all very interested in him. One of them even curiously asked him when they met for the first time: "It's so strange that you can still be alive with such a body. You need to study it carefully."

Therefore, Yu Qin He settled down in Yaowang Valley and lived a life of being "researched" every day.

He would write letters every few days and ask Yin Niang to send them to Yan Yunhe.

After sending many letters, I have never received a reply.

It was only when Yinniang told him that Yan Yunhe was going to Dongping and that he was in the military camp that he might not be able to receive these family letters for the time being that Yu Qin gave up.

I haven't stopped writing letters, but after writing every day, I am no longer so anxious to send them out. Instead, I have kept the letters one by one, planning to send them out together when the time comes.

When he was writing a letter that day, he always felt a little uneasy. There were hurried footsteps outside the door. Yinniang pushed the door open in a panic. The moment he saw Yinniang's expression, Yu Qin's heart palpitated for a moment.

Before Yinniang could say anything, the pen in her hand fell down, and ink splashed everywhere, which was shocking.

"But something happened

in Huaiyang." He asked first before Yinniang spoke.

Yinniang pursed her lips and nodded gently towards him.