Chapter 99 Chapter Eleven Zhao Palace on Fire

When everyone was seated, Xiang Shaolong remembered what Ji Yanran said casually just now, the more he thought about it, the more inappropriate he slipped out to look for Wu Guo. At this time, Wu Guo was talking nonsense with all the dignitaries and relatives waiting in the square. When he saw Xiang Shaolong coming, he was startled, and came to him in embarrassment, and said in a low voice: "The third master left so quickly. Yet?" How could Xiang Shaolong argue with him, and said in a deep voice: "Notify Second Master immediately, Lord Xinling has sent a group of masters who do not know the number to Handan, and it is very likely that they will enter the palace tonight to steal the secret records of Duke Lu and teach him Take precautions."

Wu Guo scratched his head and said, "The imperial guards are completely different from our city guards. Unless we are ordered by King Xiaocheng, we will be kicked out even if we step into the palace gate." Xiang Shaolong thought it was a problem, and said: "Then the second master will try to get people to monitor the palace, and if there are any suspects, he will follow them to see where they will settle. Hmm! It would be better if we only use our own people, Pay more attention to exits such as tunnels, maybe Lord Xinling has a way to obtain information on the secret passages of the palace, or it is difficult to say if he has internal evidence."

Wu Guo took the order and went. Xiang Shaolong breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to the banquet hall. When the main mansion was in sight, a sweet female voice suddenly called out from the right: "Mr. Dong! Please wait a moment." Xiang Shaolong heard the voice very familiar and looked over in surprise. Among the eight maidservants, Xiu'er, a lady from the Guo family, dressed in a luxurious red robe, came from the stone road on the right, obviously going to the banquet hall to participate in the engagement feast. Xiang Shaolong stopped and congratulated her somewhat unnaturally.

After Guo Xiu'er returned the gift lightly, she said to the maidservants: "I want to have a word with Mr. Dong, you step aside." The eight servant girls were astonished and retreated into the distance. Guo Xiu'er looked towards Xiang Shaolong, her expression suddenly darkened, and she sighed softly: "Father's order is hard to break, Xiu'er has no choice, sir, do you understand what Xiu'er wants?" Xiang Shaolong didn't expect her to confess so frankly, he was stunned for a while, not knowing how to answer her.Even if there is no obstacle between the two, due to the hatred between the Wu and Guo families, it is impossible for him to combine with Guo Xiu'er.

Guo Xiuer smiled sadly and turned her back. When she turned around, Guo Xiuer had a jade pendant in her hand. She took a step forward and stuffed it into his hand, saying affectionately: "Xiuer can't dedicate her body to Mr. Instead, if the master still has some affection for Xiu'er, please hang it on your body! Xiu'er will die without regret." After saying that, he turned around and left, bowed his head and hurried to the main house, and all the maidservants quickly followed. Xiang Shaolong tightly grasped the jade pendant which was still warm, feeling ecstatic. Raise your hand and spread it out.It turned out to be an ancient phoenix-shaped jade pendant. If you get it from an antique auction house in the 21st century, it is guaranteed that the money you get will make anyone worry-free for a lifetime.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help cursing himself secretly. He has such absurd idea for such a charming girl who has deep affection and righteousness. Shaking his head and smiling bitterly, he hung the jade pendant around his neck before rushing to attend the grand banquet. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ The atmosphere in the lobby was lively, with hundreds of maidservants and male servants shuttling between the banquets, serving food and wine for the guests. There are only four seats at the end of the lobby facing the gate. In one seat were Guo Zong and his wife and Li Yuan Guo Xiuer, and in the other three were honored guests such as Queen Jing, Tian Dan, Lord Longyang, Han Chuang, and Ji Zhong.

The other seats are displayed on both sides, there are three layers, each seat has four people, and there is a large open space in the middle, which is naturally used for singing and dancing performances. A group of musicians are distributed on both sides of the gate, playing vigorously, the drums are loud, the voices are loud, and the atmosphere is lively. Xiang Shaolong took advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was focused on Guo Xiu'er who had just walked in, he slipped to the back of the table, and walked forward, secretly complaining in his heart, which table should he sit at?

This era pays attention to fame and status, and you must not squeeze in when there is an empty seat. Fortunately, Gao Bo, the steward of the Guo Mansion, saw him from afar, and rushed up and said, "Lady Ya told the villain to sit with General Dong, and the general please come with the villain." Xiang Shaolong immediately felt a headache, if he sat with Zhao Mu, Ji Yanran and Zhao Zhi would naturally have nothing to say, but if they sat with Zhao Ya, the two girls would definitely blame him for being partial, and acting coquettishly would be enough for him, so The blessings of Qi people are indeed not easy to enjoy.

Bite the bullet and follow Gao Bo to the seat in front. Among the guests present, many of them were seeing this legendary figure who ascended to the position of city guard for the first time, and they all paid attention to him. Those noble ladies stared at this tough man with a rough and majestic appearance and the pace of dragons and tigers.But Xiang Shaolong felt internally and externally tormented, he didn't know what to look for, he only knew how to follow Gao Bo, walking against the wall in this vast, palace-like space. Gao Bo stopped, bowed and said, "General, please take a seat."

Xiang Shaolong took a look and saw three pairs of beautiful eyes staring at him with different expressions. It turned out that Zhao Ya, Ji Yanran, and Zhao Zhi were sitting in the second seat in the front row, and Zhao Mu, Guo Kai, Cheng Xu and Zou Yan were sitting in the lead. Xiang Shaolong's spirit was lifted, and he secretly praised Zhao Ya for his thoughtfulness, sitting next to Zhao Zhizhi at the end of the banquet, this is also his cleverness, if he sits between any two women, one of them will be left out in the cold, but why not accompany the last banquet?It only showed his respect for the three women.

For a while, the men were envious of him being able to sit at the same table with the three women, but the woman hoped that he could replace the three women to get close to this famous figure. The drum music suddenly stopped, and when it started again, a group of beautiful singing and dancing girls with more than a hundred people came to the center of the hall to sing and dance to entertain the guests. Zhao Zhi came over and said, "Sister Yanran asked me to ask where you slipped off to?" Xiang Shaolong smiled wryly, "Isn't it convenient?" Zhao Zhi leaned over to Ji Yanran again, and leaned over again and said, "How can it take so long?" Xiang Shaolong couldn't help but laugh, almost spit out the delicacies that had just been stuffed into his mouth, he held back his laughter and said, "When did Zhizhi change into a sounding board, tell her that everything is big or small, God doesn't care about it." Zhao Zhi let out a "puchi" laugh, endured the pain and went to spread the message again.Zhao Ya and Ji Yanran immediately burst into laughter after hearing this. After a while, Zhao Zhi turned around happily and said: "This time, Madam asked. She said that Guo Xiu'er came in one after another with you, and she had a different look. Did she just steal jade and incense for you and pull out Li Yuan's hair?" First place." Xiang Shaolong secretly exclaimed, but of course he categorically denied it.Fortunately, brother stopped dancing at this time, and this communicative flirting ended. Guo Zong stood up to speak, announcing that Guo Xiu'er betrothed to Li Yuan as his wife, but the official wedding ceremony will be held in Chujing, and then the guest of honor toasted each other, and the house was full of joy. Xiang Shaolong looked closely at Guo Xiu'er's expression, and saw that her expression was as usual as if she had accepted her fate, and couldn't help being touched. Without her own intervention, Guo Xiu'er would never feel helpless, because Li Yuan is indeed the ideal son-in-law of her daughters' family.However, he has all kinds of tricks and tricks, and it is difficult to solve her difficulties. They are destined to be difficult to get together. For the powerful and powerful in the Warring States Period, marriage was all a political game.The more status of a woman, the more so.On a deeper level, Wu Yingyuan's marriage of his beloved daughter to him was not just a way to win over, it was just a coincidence that Wu Tingfang fell in love with him, otherwise it might be another tragedy.It is really rare for Zhao Qian to get married with his lover. Full of emotion, he couldn't help but drink two more cups. Zhao Zhi whispered, "Zhi Zhi wished he could tear Tian Dan's body into tens of thousands of pieces immediately. But he is not in a hurry, because he knows that Master Dong will definitely make decisions for Zhi Zhi." Xiang Shaolong thought to himself that you really think highly of Xiang, and said softly, "Wouldn't it be better to think more about happy things?" Zhao Zhi didn't know where to go, her pretty face blushed, and she said in a low voice, "Zhi Zhiquan listens to Master Dong's orders!" Xiang Shaolong was taken aback. Zhao Zhi and Guo Xiuer are not different in essence, they both feel that it is only natural for a man to be the master of the house, and even if it goes against their own wishes and ideas, they obediently follow it.It's just that Zhao Zhi is luckier than Guo Xiu'er! From this point of view, both Shan and Ji Yanran are outstanding women against the ethos of the times, just like Mozi who opposes totalitarianism and unnecessary etiquette and luxury. Mozi has always been a man, so his theories have survived for generations. No matter how brilliant Ji Yanran and others are in thinking, what people finally pay attention to them is her beauty. Because Guo Xiu'er was forced to marry Li Yuan, Xiang Shaolong had a series of deep thoughts. In his confusion, a sharp sound of footsteps woke Xiang Shaolong up. The whole hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone watched a Zhao Bing rushing into the hall in a hurry. Tang Xin, after seeing Xiang Shaolong, rushed to Xiang Shaolong's seat angrily, knelt down and said in front of everyone's eyes: "General Dong is not well, the palace is on fire!" The audience was in an uproar. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ The fire in the Zhao Palace was finally extinguished, and Lady Ya's palace was burnt to the top, leaving only 30 charred corpses including Xiao Zhao and others. Among them, more than a dozen people were originally the living guards, but none of them could survive. Those who escaped from the scene of the disaster all had obvious sword wounds or arrow wounds on their bodies. Zhao Ya cried to death, thanks to Gong'e's support. When Xiang Shaolong hurried back, the imperial guards had searched the entire palace, but they could not find any trace of the enemy. They only found signs of someone breaking into one of the tunnels near the palace. The four guards in charge of the place The imperial guards were all strangled to death. Cheng Xu's complexion was even uglier than King Xiaocheng next to him. As the leader of the imperial guards, the responsibility for such a thing happened naturally fell on him. If it is serious, he will be beheaded, and if it is light, he will be dismissed from office. King Xiaocheng was so angry that his hands trembled. Surrounded by a large number of guards, he violently cursed: "They are all idiots. If the target of the thief is not a thing but a widow, wouldn't the widow be...huh!" The guards were so frightened that they knelt all over the place and kept silent like cicadas. When Xiang Shaolong thought of Xiao Zhao, his heart ached so badly that he bled. Guo Kai and other dozens of civil servants and military generals were a little at a loss looking at the terrible disaster scene in front of them. Xiang Shaolong's heart was full of vengeful rage, the other party didn't even let Xiao Zhao and the others go, he had the desire for revenge, otherwise it would be enough to snatch the secret record, why bother to kill and set fire. At this time Teng Yi came behind Xiang Shaolong and gave him a light tug, signaling that he had something to say. When Xiang Shaolong retreated away from the crowd, Teng Yi said in a low voice, "We found those criminals, they are hiding in Han Chuang's residence." Xiang Shaolong was shocked and said, "What?" Teng Yi said affirmatively: "There is absolutely no mistake. Xiao Jun led his people to follow them personally and watched them enter Han Chuang's residence. Now they are closely monitoring there, making sure that even if they know how to fly, they will not be able to leave." Xiang Shaolong's thoughts turned. Suddenly remembered the great plan of the integration of the three Jins, and the three founders of this great idea, Lord Pingyuan of Zhao State is dead, and the rest is Wei Wuji, Lord Xinling of Wei State, and the other person should be the elder of Han Chuang , because Han Chuang is a little younger regardless of his age and prestige. A clear picture immediately formed in my mind. Due to the death of Lord Pingyuan, Zhao Guo no longer has any important ministers to carry out this plan, and only Wei and Han are left to carry out this dream silently. This is also the reason why Han Chuang secretly shielded Lord Xinling's people. If Lord Xinling's people weren't so tricky, maybe Xiang Shaolong would let them go, because he didn't take Lu Gongmilu seriously at all.But when it comes to the blood feud involving Xiao Zhao's maidservants, even the Heavenly King and Lao Tzu have nothing to discuss. Suddenly, King Xiaocheng shouted, "Where is Dong Kuang!" Xiang Shaolong first said to Teng Yi: "Call the people immediately and prepare for action." He strode towards King Xiaocheng. At this time, Zhao Mu, Tian Dan, Lord Longyang, Han Chuang, Ji Zhong, Queen Jing, Li Yuan, etc. all came, and everyone was expressionless, watching how King Xiaocheng would handle this matter. Xiaocheng Wang Tieqing glared at Xiang Shaolong with a straight face, and shouted violently: "How do you become a city guard, you don't even know that thieves have entered the city." Li Yuan, Guo Kai, and Ji Zhong immediately gloated.On the contrary, Han Chuang bowed his head silently, apparently even he didn't know that Lord Xinling's people were so cruel and ruthless, and that they dragged Xiang Shaolong into trouble. Queen Jing's face was pale, she supported King Xiaocheng, bit her lips and remained silent. Xiang Shaolong glanced over and collected everyone's responses without missing a beat. He didn't knelt down on the ground like Cheng Xu and the others, and said proudly: "The murderer has long been lurking in the city, and he just waited until tonight to strike!" Han Chuang was startled, showing panic. Li Yuan and the others sneered disdainfully, mocking him for shirking responsibility.Because if the murderer had come to Handan a long time ago, he hadn't been a city guard at that time, so the responsibility would naturally not be on him. Xiaocheng Wang Xianji lost his mind, pointed his halberd and scolded: "How dare you say so for sure?" Xiang Shaolong became more and more aware of what kind of person King Xiaocheng was, and he said calmly: "If there is no internal response to this matter, it is really hard to believe that no matter the time, information, and the way of coming and going without a trace, it is absolutely seamless. There is no time to rush. Therefore, the final general dares to say that the murderer must have been lurking in Handan for a long time, and he did not wait until tonight for the right time to attack." King Xiaocheng regained consciousness and began to think about Xiang Shaolong's words. Tian Dan interjected, "Why doesn't your lord let General Dong preside over the search for the enemy, so that he can take the blame and perform meritorious service?" Lord Long Yang also echoed his words. Queen Jing whispered a few words in King Xiaocheng's ear. King Xiaocheng raised his blood-red eyes, glared at Xiang Shaolong and said, "I give you three days to find the thief." Then he looked at Cheng Xu who was trembling on the ground and said, "Put this idiot in jail for me. If the thief cannot be found in the house, he will be buried with him." Cheng Xu let out a miserable snort, and was escorted away by several guards. King Xiaocheng looked at Xiang Shaolong again, his tone was milder, and he said softly, "Aren't you going to do things for the widow?" Xiang Shaolong casually looked around at the crowd, and when he saw Zhao Mu who was full of worry, he still smiled calmly, and lightly said such a trivial matter One thing, why would it take three days, before sunrise tomorrow, the things lost in the palace will be placed on the king's case, and the murderer will bring them back to the king, even if he dies, the king will see the corpse.If it can't be done, I, Dong Ma Chi, don't need the king to do it, and I won't have the face to see the sun again tomorrow. " After speaking, everyone in the audience was dumbfounded, and strode towards the palace gate. Han Chuang suddenly turned pale, and when all the attention of the crowd was on Xiang Shaolong's back, he quietly backed out, and then chased after Xiang Shaolong from another exit. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ When they came to the Grand Colonel's yard at the palace gate, Wu Guo and more than a hundred soldiers were waiting with their horses.With a solemn face, Xiang Shaolong flew onto the horse without saying a word. Han Chuang had just caught up at this time and shouted please wait. Xiang Shaolong knew that he would come after him, so he asked someone to give up a horse, and rode out of the palace with Han Chuang. Han Chuang asked in panic, "Where is General Dong going to get someone?" Xiang Shaolong's eyes shone with divine light, he looked at him coldly and said, "Naturally, he went to the residence where Han Hou stayed. Did Han Hou think that the thief would hide somewhere else?" Han Chuang said in shock, "The general is joking!" Xiang Shaolong sighed and said: "There is no room for a real person to tell lies, because of Han Hou's endeavour, and Dong also knows that Han Hou didn't know that the thief would do it to this point. There is still room for redemption, it just depends on whether Han Hou is willing to cooperate, otherwise Marquis Han will never be unaware of the consequences!" With the horse's belly clamped, the horse rushed forward. Wu Guo waited in response, raised his whip, and followed at full speed.Han Chuang, who was lagging behind, gritted his teeth fiercely and chased after him. The sound of hooves shook the sky, shattering the dreams of the residents of Handan City.