Datang: Longevity for Thousands of Years, Exposed by Xiao Sizi

Chapter 93: Hidden secrets! Little Sizi's confession!
the other side.

Lu Qing, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, was leading several Dali Temple runners walking around the streets.

He has started investigating the case.

By retrieving files from the Ministry of Personnel and checking the files of the rebellious guards, it was discovered that they all had one thing in common.

At present, this is the only clue he has got.

That is.

These rebellious guards were all dispatched to Hanyang Gate by Cao Gongyun, the head of the Ministry of Personnel.

So the place he was going to at this time was Cao Gongyun's residence.

Upon arrival.

Found this place a bit messy.

Lu Qing had a bad feeling in his heart. Could something have happened? !
Asking a few yamen runners to stay outside, he walked over quickly and found Cao Gongyun and his family of three huddled together and crying.

somebody is coming!

This thought suddenly popped up in his mind.

"What happened?"

Lu Qing asked in a calm voice.

When Cao Gongyun saw that the visitor was the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, he thought it was a neighbor reporting a crime. His face lit up with joy and he cried, "Shaoqing Lu! You have to take charge of my family!!"

"My family was robbed by a thief just now. My family of three was almost separated from each other. I hope you can catch the real culprit!!"

Lu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.

Why come at this time to grab things...
Isn't this just too much of a coincidence?

"What did they take?"

"You robbed me of a lot of money!"

lie!

Lu Qing came to the conclusion instantly.

When he came in here just now, he found that everything was tidy except for the roast chicken that fell on the ground. Was he stealing?
Ha ha.

If you want to cover up something, it will become more conspicuous. There must be something to hide.

Lu Qing waved his hand casually and said, "I know about this matter. The Dali Temple will help you deal with it later, but now... I have something else to tell you."

"In the Hanyang Gate incident, according to the files, it was you, Cao Sixun, who arranged for those rebel guards to come in on July 18th and August 10th."

"Whose money did you take to arrange those rebel guards to come in?"

boom!
These words were like thunder in his ears, and Cao Gongyun was stunned for a moment.

How come this is the same as the words used by the man in black just now? Has even the imperial court investigated him?

Accepting bribes from others was a serious crime in the Tang Dynasty.

In order to keep his official hat, Cao Gongyun would never admit it even if he was beaten.

But Lu Qing can be said to be an expert at solving cases.

A quarter of an hour later, under his interrogation, he obtained information about Yizhou businessman Liu Xiaoyun without threatening the lives of Cao Gongyun's family.

"Liu Xiaoyun... I understand."

Lu Qing walked out, and seemed to think of something on the way. He turned back and said meaningfully: "Cao Sixun, next time you bribe someone, you need to be careful about their words and expressions. You can't accept gold and silver from everyone."

"Sometimes, if you take money you shouldn't take, you may lose your life."

Upon hearing this, Cao Gongyun's originally deadpan mood after the court learned of his bribery, became brighter.

Lu Qing reminded him like this, didn't he imply that he would not report it to the court? He also told him to be more careful next time.

He was immediately delighted and bowed to Lu Qing humbly, saying, "Yes, Lu Qing is right!"

Lu Qing didn't say much.

Just give a reminder and leave here.

He really did not intend to report Cao Gongyun's affairs to the court.

Lu Qing has his own considerations.

When serving as an official in the court, sometimes it is not enough to be full of justice. Many times, human relations and worldly wisdom are the key.

This is the iron rule he learned after serving as an official for many years and encountering many setbacks.

"Lu Shaoqing, what's going on?"

Seeing Lu Qing walking out at this time, his accompanying subordinate Lu Shi couldn't help but stepped forward and asked.

Hearing this, Lu Qing quickly turned his thoughts back to solving the case and said with a smile, "We have some clues. Let's go to the north of the city and find a Yizhou merchant."

soon.

Lu Qing and his party left here and headed to the north of Chang'an City.

This scene.

All of this was seen clearly by Maotu and others.

"Miss, the Dali Temple Junior Official Lu Qing is heading to the north of the city. Did he also find a clue?"

One of the men asked.

Maotu narrowed his eyes and said, "We have been in Chang'an City for a few days, and we know all the people we should pay attention to in Chang'an City. Lu Qing...he is very good at solving cases, so it is normal for him to know."

One of his subordinates suggested, "It wouldn't be good if he got there first. Should I send someone to confuse him in solving the case?"

Maotu shook his head and said, "No need, Lu Qing is following the orders of His Majesty, and now we have no conflicts of interest with the court."

"And this matter... we should all obey the orders of Taoist Sishe, and the Taoist has given a death order to bring Kaiyang's head to redress the injustice of His Highness Xiao Sizi within seven days. We don't have much time, so it's a good thing to have more people to help us find Kaiyang."

The subordinate thought for a moment, then held the knife and clasped his fists and said, "I didn't think it through."

"Should we leave?"

Maotu didn't even turn his head, his eyes only focused on Cao Gongyun's residence. He smiled inexplicably and continued, "It's not time to leave yet. We should continue to monitor."

Ok?
What else could be going on?

Several of his men were slightly stunned.

They all thought that Lu Qing’s arrival was already very unexpected, but according to the young lady, could there be something else?
doubt.

But I didn't ask any more questions.

This is the rule for being a subordinate of the Rabbit, don’t ask why, just do your job.

Following Maotu's instructions, they continued to lie in wait and monitor Cao Gongyun's residence.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

An hour?
Or a few hours?

It's almost curfew.

In Cao Gongyun's residence, the family of three had been through a lot today and were exhausted. They were eating absent-mindedly at the table.

"Hey, from now on, Lu Shaoqing has the handle, Gongyun, you must remember to be careful."

Madam Cao Gongyun sighed.

Cao Gongyun at this time.

Her face was filled with helplessness, her eyes were red, and her hair was disheveled.

It seemed like I had been anxious for the whole afternoon.

But in the next moment.

His originally lifeless eyes became sharp.

"It's about time. What was supposed to happen has happened. There's no need to pretend anymore."

The voice is deep.

It's not Cao Gongyun's original voice, it feels extremely oppressive.

The words fell.

In an instant.

The woman who was originally Madam Cao Gongyun's eyes became sharp, and she half-knelt down and asked, "Sir, what should we do next?!"

How could the woman at this moment look as haggard and sad as before?
Almost like a killer.

However, "Xiao Yuan", who was still a child, put away his innocent look and half-knelt down in a cold and stern manner.

He didn't speak.

But his various behaviors at this time also proved that he was not an ordinary child.

"What should I do?"

Cao Gongyun sighed, stood up, folded his arms, and looked at the starry sky.

"I, Cao Gongyun, don't know either."

"At present, the three of us are being targeted by Lu Qing and that group of mysterious people. There are two groups of people in total. Lu Qing is lucky because he is in the open and everything he does is in the open. It is easy to know what he is doing."

"But that group of mysterious people are hiding in the dark, and we don't know their true identities. That group of mysterious people... is a source of instability..."

"Recently, I often heard from the master that a figure from ancient times has awakened. We don't know the reason, but what we can be sure of is that it is the enemy that the master believes is extremely powerful and has arrived in Chang'an City."

"That group of mysterious people, I think... are the enemy's men. The master was a little slow in dealing with those abandoned pieces, which resulted in the three of us being exposed."

I heard this.

The woman seemed a little dissatisfied, and narrowed her eyes and said, "Sir, are you questioning the master's decision? You...but you must understand that without the master's help, you would not have been able to sit in the position of the head of the Ministry of Personnel three years ago."

"It was the master who raised you up, and he will easily let you return to the frustrated talent you once were."

The child next to him didn't say anything, but his eyes were also full of hostility.

Neither of them would allow anyone to question Kaiyang!
Cao Gongyun's heart trembled, and he turned around and smiled, "No, no, how dare I question the master? It's just that my mind was a little confused just now."

The woman said coldly, "That's good! Then sir, what should we do next? The master is currently busy dealing with the aftermath of the Hanyang Gate incident last night and may not know about our situation."

Cao Gongyun touched his chin with his right hand and fell into deep thought.

half an hour.

He said, "Let Xiao Yuan go and inform Mr. Jue Yun, one of the three crowns under the master, just like before."

"Tell Mr. Jueyun about our situation and tell the master not to send anyone to contact us again. Now both the black and white worlds, and even those noble families are looking for the master. We can't let them find out the master's whereabouts from the three of us."

The woman thought about it and thought this was a good suggestion. She tilted her head and said, "Xiao Yuan, I leave it to you. Tell Mr. Jueyun within an hour and return here. You cannot stay outside."

Xiao Yuan nodded: "Mother, I understand."

He is a woman's child, but not Cao Gongyun's child.

The mother and son were arranged to stay beside Cao Gongyun, mainly to monitor him and help Kaiyang monitor.

An official with real power in the court, even one as powerful as the Big Dipper, would not easily give up such a chess piece.

soon.

Xiao Yuan left home.

His figure was extremely fast, and he was a martial artist.

This scene was seen by Maotu and others.

Maotu's eyes flickered, and she smiled charmingly, "That's interesting. Ah Hu and I will come, and the others will stay and continue to monitor Cao Gongyun!"

"Yes!!"

Several men nodded one after another.

at this time.

It's late at night.

But the fight in the dark never stopped for a moment.

Even more intense than last night.

As Kaiyang said last night, "The night is long."

The next seven days in Chang'an City.

The night is destined to never be peaceful.

………………

at the same time.

Inside the palace.

Princess Changle was walking forward holding Xiao Sizi's hand.

Because Xiao Sizi was assassinated last night, Empress Changsun asked her to stay with the little guy all the time to avoid other incidents.

Through Princess Changle's observation, she found that her younger sister, Xiao Sizi, was not as calm as she seemed after the assassination last night.

The little Sizi hides deeply.

It took the clever Princess Changle a whole day to realize that the little guy was actually very scared.

So this will.

She planned to use her own way to help the little one relax.

"Sister, Sizi is really fine! Don't worry about him!"

Little Sizi's eyes are sparkling and innocent.

Seeing this, Princess Changle picked up the little girl and said gently, "Why? Little sister, you only show your true feelings in front of Master Qin?"

"Faced with my sister, so there are some things on your mind that you would rather hide than speak of?"

Little Sizi scratched his head and said in a baby voice, "Ah this... But Sizi is really fine."

Princess Changle looked directly at the little fellow and rolled her eyes at him, "Is that true? Little Sizi, have you really let go of the assassination attempt last night?"

“Sizi…Sizi…”

This time, the little guy became hesitant.

next moment.

Suddenly tears rolled down Xiao Sizi's eyes.

"Hey, that's strange, why is Sizi crying?"

Little Sizi tried her best to wipe away her tears with her little hands, but the scene reminded her of the past. She had wiped her tears in the same way last night, but that time her tears were wiped with bloody little hands.

The more I wipe away these tears, the more they come.

"Strange, why can't I stop? Why, why can't I stop?"

Little Sizi was still rubbing her tears desperately, trying to stop the tears with her little hands.

Princess Changle saw it with her own eyes and felt pain in her heart. She hugged the little guy tenderly and said, "It's okay. Only my sister is here. If you want to cry, just cry. There's no one around."

This sentence.

As if his tear glands were ignited, Xiao Sizi could no longer control himself.

burst into tears.

He cried loudly and spoke with sobs.

"Wow, wow, last night...Atai, Ayun, and Xiaoku who were playing with Sizi last night, they, they are all dead."

"Sizi watched them blocking the knife in front of him. Woohoo, one by one, they risked their lives to help Sizi block the knife. Before they could breathe... before they could breathe, they turned around and looked at Sizi with a worried look on their faces, telling him to run quickly..."

"And, guard Ajin, he...he played many games with Sizi. Sometimes he played hide-and-seek with my sister but couldn't find her. It was only with his help that Sizi found my sister. But he turned out to be a traitor! He is a traitor..."

"So many people, so many people died because of Sizi, even Li Junxian, he...he almost died in front of Sizi, wuwuwu, sister, Sizi...Sizi killed so many people."

Little Sizi hugged Princess Changle and cried loudly, his tears flowing like a spring, soaking most of Princess Changle's clothes.

Princess Changle felt extremely sad when she heard this.

She had never experienced an assassination attempt and could not understand her little sister's feelings.

But she knew.

As the elder sister, I should help my younger sister to solve her troubles.

"Cry, cry, little Sizi. Sister is right here and will always be here with you."

Princess Changle held little Sizi in her arms, stroked the little guy's head with her hand, her face full of tenderness.

Cry.

Cry.

Just cry it out.

Cry out all the grievances and fears in your heart.

She didn't say anything else, and if she did, she would just let the little one continue crying.

His hands were constantly moving.

It is to constantly hold the little Sizi, or stroke the little guy's hair and head.

cry.

Little Sizi cried harder and harder, and the things he said became more and more blameful towards himself.

Fortunately, Princess Changle arranged for all the idle people to leave early, so there were only two of her sisters in this entire area.

Finally.

I don’t know how long it has been.

A quarter of an hour?

Two quarters of an hour?
Or a century?
Princess Changle only knew that the little guy had stopped crying. She smiled and said, "How are you, little Sizi? Are you feeling better now?"

Little Sizi nodded dazedly and choked up, "Sister, yes... a little bit."

Princess Changle smiled gently and said, "That's good. This afternoon, I found out that you were feeling aggrieved and scared. I was still thinking about how to help you. Maybe I can only let Master Qin to enlighten you."

"Now that you can have a good cry in front of me, I will feel more relieved."

Little Sizi was sniffling.

The ignorant girl didn't know why crying was okay, but she did feel that after crying, she felt much less aggrieved.

"Sister, thank you. Sizi wants a hug!"

Little Sizi hugged Changle again.

"It's okay, this is what family members do."

Princess Changle stroked the little guy's head again and said gently: "Sister has never experienced an assassination, so I don't quite understand your feelings, but Xiao Sizi, don't blame yourself for your own affairs. The guards and palace servants, the behavior of people before they die, is the most consistent with their inner thoughts."

"Before they died, including Li Junxian, they all wanted to protect you, which shows that our little Sizi holds a very important position in their hearts. So, shouldn't our little Sizi live a better life so that their spirits in heaven can feel more comforted after seeing it?"

"If our little Sizi keeps blaming herself and being unhappy, it will make it seem like their efforts are wrong. After all, who doesn't want the person they want to protect to be a loser who can't even get past themselves? Maybe what my sister said is a bit harsh, but it's true. Don't you agree, little Sizi?"

Little Sizi was a little confused.

She had just been weaned and couldn't quite understand what her elder sister meant.

"Sister, Sizi doesn't quite understand."

"Well... you can understand that your palace servants Ayun and others all want you to live happily, otherwise they will die with regrets."

"Ah, is that true? Sister, please don't lie to me!"

"Sister, have you ever lied to me?"

Xiao Sizi thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case.

"Sister is right! Sizi shouldn't continue like this!"

She sniffed her red nose, looked determined, and clenched her right hand into a small fist.

Princess Changle saw this and was very pleased: "It's good that our little Sizi can understand. Let's go, sister will take you to some other place to relax."

"Ah, where are you going?"

"Hmm... a place related to your second brother."

"Wow! Isn't it Wangyun Inn? Wouldn't it be bad to disturb my second brother and his family so late at night?"

"It's okay, we've already agreed that no one will care. On the contrary, your second brother and the others are waiting for you to come over."

"Eh! Really? Really!!"

Little Sizi held his hands in front of his mouth, his eyes full of stars.

Princess Changle was overwhelmed by her little sister's cuteness. She chuckled and said, "Puchi, of course, when has my sister ever lied to you? Let's go, we should go now, otherwise Master Qin and the other gentlemen will be waiting anxiously."

When he heard that there was someone else, Little Sizi was extremely curious and asked quickly, "There's someone else? Who is that? Does Sizi know him?"

This time, Princess Changle did not answer. Instead, she kept it a secret and said, "It's a secret."

The two sisters of Xiao Sizi,

Just like that, we prepared to leave the imperial city.

And then, they will have smooth sailing all the way out of the imperial city.

These were all instructions from Li Shimin.

In front of Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin and Empress Changsun, this position is just right to see them leave.

"Your Majesty, the assassination just ended. Would it be too dangerous to let Xiao Sizi leave like this?"

Empress Changsun was quite worried.

Li Shimin's eyes flickered, and he sighed, "I am worried too, but... I think it should be okay."

"This afternoon, I specially asked Li Yan [Commander of the Jinwu Guard] to go to Wangyun Inn and beg Qin Wenyuan to ask them to help arrange for someone to protect Xiao Sizi tonight. I don't know about other times, but I think it should be fine tonight."

this.…

beg?!

Empress Changsun thought she had heard it wrong. The great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the unparalleled hero in her mind, actually used the word "ask".

"beg?"

Empress Changsun couldn't help but ask.

"Yes." Li Shimin knew what she meant and explained, "Changle told me this afternoon that Xiao Sizi was suffering from a mental illness, but she had a solution, which was to go outside the palace. I thought about it and agreed to her solution."

"Afterwards, in order to ensure that Changle's plan would be foolproof, I sent someone to Wangyun Inn to ask Qin Wenyuan to help arrange personnel to protect Changle and Xiao Sizi."

"Originally, I wanted to go there myself, but... there were too many things to do, so I had to let Li Yan go."

"Fortunately, Qin Wenyuan gave me face, otherwise I would be so embarrassed."

Upon hearing this, Empress Changsun's eyes softened, she stroked Li Shimin's chest with her hand, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, for Xiao Sizi, it is difficult for you."

Li Shimin held her hand and said seriously, "That's my daughter. There's no need to worry about her. Guanyin doesn't need to worry about me."

The words fell.

Empress Changsun was about to speak when a eunuch behind her said, "Your Majesty, Lu Shaoqing is here."

"Oh?"

Li Shimin's eyes flickered, and he said, "Let Lu Shaoqing come into Taiji Palace."

"Yes!"

The eunuch slowly took his leave.

Upon learning that Li Shimin still had things to do, Empress Changsun knew how to find an excuse to leave and not get involved in their conversation.

She went to see the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple. As to what the matter was, Empress Changsun had her guess. It was probably about her own little Sizi.

She was deeply touched by this.

Your Majesty has really done so much for Xiao Sizi. Even so late at night, you are still worrying about Xiao Sizi's affairs.

Inside Tai Chi Palace.

Li Shimin sat upright.

Lu Qing half-knelt and said, "Your Majesty, today I have found the enemy who tried to assassinate His Highness Xiao Sizi. It is Liu Xiaoyun, a merchant from Yizhou in the north of the city. After investigation, I found that he revealed other information in his words."

"But I can tell that he is lying. I already know who I should pay attention to."

Lu Qing reported today's progress in detail.

This was Li Shimin's requirement. Every page had to report the progress of the case that day, and he had to personally supervise the case of Xiao Sizi.

"Okay, not bad."

"It's good to have a direction, Lu Shaoqing, do everything according to your wishes, I will support you."

Li Shimin gave his affirmation.

Lu Qing said solemnly: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty! I will do my best to solve the case!"

"Ah."

Li Shimin nodded, then looked at Lu Qing seriously and said, "Lu Shaoqing, raise your head."

"Yes."

Lu Qing looked up and met Li Shimin's gaze.

When looking into the eyes of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, most people, even ordinary officials, would become nervous and flustered, but Lu Qing tried his best to remain calm.

soon.

He lowered his head hastily.

Lu Qing said, "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I would like to go down and continue investigating the case."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "No hurry, no rush, you and I can chat casually."

Chat?

This...what is there to talk about?

Could it be that case again?
(End of this chapter)