The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 18 Questioning Sanku
Gao Taotao's expression immediately turned ugly when he heard the three words "Gui Fanlou".

Fanlou is the most famous entertainment place in Tokyo City, and ranks first among the 72 official restaurants. It is a place where people can eat, drink, sing and dance. No matter they are officials or wealthy people, foreign merchants or local people, they all take pride in spending money at Fanlou.

Guifanlou refers to a huge dark force lurking underground in Tokyo, calling itself Wuyou Cave. Guifanlou is a nickname given to it by the people.

Fanlou displays the prosperity and grandeur of Tokyo on the ground.

Guifan Tower hides the filth, ugliness, dirtiness and filthiness of this world underground. The word "ghost" fully describes the filth and dirtiness of the underground world.

Dongjing City was built on top of four cities, with Laoqiu City of the Xia Dynasty, Daliang City of the Warring States Period, Junyi City of the Han Dynasty, and Bianzhou City of the Tang Dynasty stacked below it. There has always been a saying that Dongjing City is a city upon a city, with several cities buried underneath.

The reason is that Kaifeng is located in a strategic location and has experienced many natural and man-made disasters. The Yellow River broke its dike and changed its course, and the river water buried the city with mud and sand. When it was later rebuilt, it was built directly on top of it.

In order to prevent floods caused by heavy rains, the Northern Song Dynasty's Tokyo inherited and repaired the naturally formed lower channels from previous generations to form an underground drainage and sewage system.

This underground waterway is like a small world. Over time, beggars, vagrants, vicious criminals, and all kinds of lawless people have gathered there, forming a huge force that specializes in illegal and criminal activities. They do whatever vicious and cruel things they want, without any humanity at all.

When the Song Dynasty saw signs of trouble, it had actually begun to rectify the situation, but due to geographical reasons, the rectification efforts failed every time. In addition, there were refugees entering the capital every year, and some of those with bad character went underground and joined this ghost building.

This is also part of the reason why the court ordered the recruitment of soldiers from the refugees every year, which could alleviate the refugees' troubles to a certain extent, or they could go underground and do evil.

"Hmph!" Gao Taotao snorted. This matter brought shame to the imperial court and even more shame to the royal family. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the daughter of a prince from the royal family was kidnapped by Gui Fanlou while on a spring outing. The daughter was also given the title of county princess and was later sold to a wealthy family in the suburbs. The wealthy family asked about her origins and was so scared that he hurriedly sent her away. In the end, the daughter ran back home.

The imperial court launched a large-scale war that time and killed many Guifanlou villains, numbering several thousand. Because they were underground, the imperial guards also suffered a lot of casualties. But only one year later, the new recruits from outside made up for all the deaths.

Zhao Ti observed Gao Taotao's expression and saw that he was unhappy, so he said, "So the martial arts that my grandson has learned and the skills of the guards are really not enough. How can my grandson not be scared when he first lives outside?"

Gao Taotao looked at him for a long time before saying, "It is better to be cautious and don't go out alone."

Zhao Ti blinked and suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, Madam, I dreamed of my father the night before last!"

"Oh?" Gao Taotao was stunned: "You, you dreamed of the late emperor, why have I been so busy for so many years..."

She stopped here, thinking of how she had appointed Sima Guang, Lu Gongzhu and others to abolish the new law after she came to power, and she couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

"What did the late emperor say?"

"I didn't say much, I just asked about my grandson's life, and he told me the truth and also told me how worried I was when I was away."

"Well, what did the late emperor say?"

"Dad said that I should practice martial arts when I was young. If I feel that it is not enough, I can go to Li Xian to learn. He said that Li Xian is very skilled in martial arts!"

"Li Xian?" Gao Taotao was startled. He was about to ask if this man was still alive, but then he remembered that the court had not received the notice of his death, so he changed his words and asked, "Where is this man now?"

Zhao Ti said, "I listened to what my father said in my dream, so I went to look for him. It happened that Zheng Fu in the mansion was visiting Li Xian's godson Tong Guan, and I finally found him in the Pixie Lane in the west of the city."

"Oh, how is Li Xian now?"

"Oh no, he's dying." Zhao Ti shook his head: "My grandson didn't learn any martial arts from him. His martial arts can only be practiced by eunuchs. I won't cut myself just to learn martial arts..."

Gao Taotao frowned: "What kind of crooked ways are these Li Xian using!"

"Yes!" The child asked Li Xian at that time: "Is there any other martial arts to learn, Li Xian, Li Xian said..."

"What did he say?" Gao Taotao asked.

"He said that he didn't have any at home, but when Emperor Taizong was in his palace, he was ordered to march south and collected countless martial arts secret books along the way. After he ascended the throne, he built three secret vaults in the palace to store them. During the reign of Emperor Renzong, he ordered them to be destroyed. If there are a few books left in the secret vault, they are all good things and there is no problem in learning them."

"Li Xian is so bold! He even dares to talk about such dusty past. Is he getting senile or is he tired of living?" Gao Taotao was so angry when he heard this that he slammed the table and said.

Zhao Ti shrank his neck, "He wouldn't have lived for a few days anyway..." "Since the late emperor said he was a master of martial arts, how could he not live for a few days? Could it be that this lowly slave was deceiving you?" Gao Taotao looked serious and his voice was cold.

Zhao Ti said hurriedly, "My grandson saw it with his own eyes. He couldn't even get out of bed. He kept vomiting blood, which was phosphorescent. He had been using elixirs to keep him alive for years. Now that he has spent almost all his money, he is exhausted and will die soon. This is not a lie."

"Is he really going to die?"

"Really? It's not like the kid went there alone. All of his men saw it."

Gao Taotao's face was as dark as water, and after a while he said, "This is true. Emperor Renzong was kind and compassionate. Even if he had to bear the name of being unfilial, he would destroy the three storehouses of Emperor Taizong, especially the poison storehouse. How could it be kept in the palace?"

Zhao Ti said: "Of course we can't keep the poisonous things, but the weapons in the armory are all good things, many of which were used by famous generals of the Five Dynasties. Those martial arts secret books are not very harmful..."

Gao Taotao looked at him and suddenly smiled, as if he had seen through his thoughts: "My dear, you're going through so much trouble..."

"Empress!" Zhao Ti hurriedly interrupted. He was afraid that if the three warehouses were not completely destroyed and the other party did not admit it, then even if he gave various reasons, there would be no room for maneuver.

How can the other party, who is ruling the country, just say something and then overturn it? That would be like slapping oneself in the face.

"My dear, my grandson has learned a secret from Li Xian. It is related to military affairs. This is a serious matter and I have to report it."

"Secret? What secret? He has been out of service for so many years, what military secrets does he have?"

"My Lady, it's about the late Emperor's five-pronged attack on Xia!"

"Five-way attack on Xia?"

"It is the Five-Army Invasion of Xia. The failure of the Five-Army Invasion of Xia is not as simple as it seems. There is another secret behind it!"

Without waiting for Gao Taotao to speak, Zhao Ti quickly recounted the assassination of Li Xian in his original words, and then said desperately: "Madam, Li Xian is absolutely loyal to the late emperor. He is dying now, and it has been twelve years since the conquest of Xia. He will never lie to the late emperor. I think what he said about that year must be true, and he must have reported it to the late emperor, but the late emperor did not allow him to come out to explain in order to avoid disputes in the court!"

"This..." Gao Taotao frowned and said nothing. It was obvious that this kind of thing was beyond her expectation.

"And the most important thing is the identity of the female assassin!" Zhao Ti continued.

"What is the identity of the assassin?"

"Li Xian later sent people to investigate secretly and confirmed that it was the Empress Dowager of Xixia who assassinated him at the Lanhui site, not Zang Qiushui!"

"What?" Gao Taotao stood up from his chair and said in a surprised voice, "Mei Zang Qiu Shui? Li Yuanhao's concubine, Li Liangzuo's biological mother?"

"Madam, it is this person. This Mei Cang Qiu Shui, whose Chinese name is Li Qiu Shui, has studied martial arts for many years in a martial arts sect. It is precisely because of her profound martial arts skills and her boldness that she assassinated in the dark of night that the battle situation deteriorated completely and even led to failure."

"This... this cannot completely say that Li Xian is blameless. After all, he is in charge of the five armies. Even if this is true, he cannot escape blame." Gao Taotao was silent for a few breaths.

"That's right. When it was brought up, Li Xian first admitted his fault, and then he talked about this matter without shirking his responsibility."

"He has some self-awareness, but is Mei Zang Qiu Shui's martial arts really that high? She is a member of the royal family..."

"When Emperor Taizu traveled the martial arts world, he was rarely matched with his Panlong Staff. Later, when he joined the army, he captured an enemy general in front of thousands of troops and created the 32-posture Dahong Fist."

"That's true..."

"Not to mention the Shanhaiguan in Nan Tang, even in Dali today there is the Tianlong Temple, which is full of royal martial artists. The Liao Dynasty also has one, as well as the Western Xia..."

"Okay, except for the poison warehouse, the other two warehouses have not been completely destroyed." Gao Taotao interrupted Zhao Ti with hesitation.

"Not all of it is destroyed?" Zhao Ti finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. He felt that the sweat on his back had now soaked through his clothes.

(End of this chapter)