After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Chen Mu...

Two months ago, a fake Chen Mu followed Xiao Chun, producing an official document and a gold tally to prove his identity, pretending to be a member of the Beijing Garrison to escort Miss Zhu to the capital...

At Shili Gorge, Shangguan Xiu used a shield to block a spear thrown by the fake Chen Mu, shattering the shield into four pieces.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ning Nan fired a shot, accurately smashing the opponent's head...

Two months later.

Then, an identical face appeared before them.

Even though they knew early on that it was a fake Chen Mu and this was the real Chen Mu, the two of them couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Is there really such a sophisticated art of disguise in this world?

Moreover, that fake Chen Mu back then... Shangguan Xiu frowned. Sometimes, in the dead of night, he would still feel that the shield had not blocked the long spear. Such strong force could only be thrown by an unknown soldier in disguise.

……

The man before him, Chen Mu, was eight feet tall, with a steady and imposing presence.

Ning Nan glanced up and his pupils contracted slightly. It was so late, yet the other party was coming out of the Qi Prince's mansion. What a coincidence.

Chen Mu made no attempt to hide it. Upon seeing Shangguan Xiu dressed in the red flying fish robe that represented the rank of a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects, his armor clanging loudly.

He produced a transfer order from the Ministry of War, stating that he was the garrison commander of Shence Gate and was ordered to conduct the third search of the princes' residences, having just finished searching the Qi Prince's residence.

Shangguan Xiu smiled and said, "Shangguan just happened to be there."

"Shangguan?" The other party was taken aback.

"Shangguan was given the name Xiu by his parents."

Chen Mu then realized what was happening and said repeatedly, "This humble general greets Young Master Shangguan Qi."

Ning Nan glanced at the general, whose tone was calm and whose manner was extremely respectful, and smiled, saying:

"General Chen, my surname is Ning, and my given name is Nan."

宁。

Ningnan.

Chen Muqian's face stiffened, his whole body seemed to freeze, his neck became extremely stiff, he slowly turned his head, glanced at Ning Nan, his gaze becoming deep, and after a long while, he seemed to come back to his senses, his eyes softening, and he said softly:

"I, Chen, have met Young Master Ning."

That's all.

He excused himself and left, citing important matters.

He led about thirty soldiers behind him into the depths of the night.

Ning Nan narrowed his eyes and noticed that the moment the other person turned around, that powerful left hand almost instinctively pressed down on the hilt of the knife.

More than thirty soldiers marched toward a path with heavy footsteps.

"Where is he searching now?"

Shangguan Xiu glanced at it, thought for a moment, and then said:

"Hmm, it seems to be the Wu King's residence."

……

……

They naturally did not have the authority to search the Prince's mansion, so they only took one look and then stopped.

Ning Nan left Uncle Ping at the foot of the mountain and borrowed a horse from a guard of the Tang Prince's Mansion. He then rode up Zijin Mountain with Shangguan Xiu and the others.

The mountain road was pitch black, so the group lit torches.

It took them more than half an hour to finally reach the outside of Xiaoling Mausoleum.

The soldiers guarding the tomb naturally refused to let them in.

They stopped their horses in the open space outside Xiaoling Mausoleum and dismounted.

There's no need to go inside.

The group of people who were using fake imperial carriages were discovered in this open space.

Liu Zhengyang said that after the procession of more than 300 people arrived outside Xiaoling Mausoleum, the guards of Xiaoling Mausoleum not only had to verify the official documents and gold tallies, but also the people.

A month ago, when His Highness paid homage at Xiaoling Mausoleum to become the Crown Prince, this guard had met Prince Xin and naturally remembered his appearance. When he went to visit him again, he was greatly surprised and immediately exposed their group, ordering everyone to throw away their weapons.

Most people looked at each other, not knowing what was happening, but some guards and maids suddenly sprang into action, taking out a piece of red cloth from their bosoms and wrapping it around their arms while slaughtering those around them.

Even the fake Prince Xin suddenly sprang into action, attempting to assassinate the guard, but was kicked away by the guard. The woman fell to the ground and immediately committed suicide.

In addition, some of the sedan chairs and carriages that should have been occupied by the Crown Prince's officials were empty.

Some of them were actually thieves in disguise. As soon as they heard something was wrong, they immediately wrapped themselves in red cloth and rushed out to slaughter those around them.

The lingering stench of blood still lingers on this flat ground.

Ning Nan narrowed his eyes, his black shoes stomping on the soft soil. "Those guys died here?"

"Not bad." Shangguan Xiu nodded, his eyes becoming complicated, and sighed, "When we were cleaning up the bodies afterwards, we found about thirty thieves with red cloth wrapped around their arms."

Ning Nan frowned: "More than thirty?"

Shangguan Xiu's eyes darkened, and he hummed in agreement, nodding as he said:

"We suspect that Mu Ziying, the official in charge of sacrificial rites who disappeared along with them, is one of the bandit leaders. Only he could have infiltrated the accompanying guards and maids to such an extent... Sigh... Mu Ziying... This time he disappeared along with the officials of the Eastern Palace."

Ning Nan asked directly, "Where are his family members?"

Shangguan Xiu's expression was complicated: "Everyone is here. His wife is here, as are his two sons and daughter. His wife seems completely unaware of the situation. We've been keeping an eye on her."

His family was all alive, including two sons and a daughter. Shangguan Xiu said that this man was a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) who had previously been a ninth-rank official but had recently been promoted to a temporary fifth-rank position. In principle, Prince Xin had shown him great favor.

Ning Nan frowned, not understanding why this person would do such a thing.

He crouched down, grabbed a handful of soft soil, and sniffed it; the earthy and bloody smells hit him.

I didn't sleep all night.

The sky was already faintly turning white.

Ning Nan's eyes were bloodshot, and his mind cleared up a bit after smelling the fishy odor.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Brave Guard Battalion of over ten thousand men were not to be trifled with. They had searched the entire area but found nothing, so naturally, he couldn't find anything in such a short time either.

I just followed the route Prince Xin took to visit the mausoleum that day, paying close attention to every blind spot, but I still couldn't find a clue.

The procession of over three hundred people carrying offerings departed from the Prince's residence, but there was nothing to steal along the way.

Moreover, besides the thirty-odd thieves, there were more than two hundred people in the group, so it was impossible to make a move without the knowledge of these two hundred people.

So... after ruling out the possibility of them taking action on the route to the imperial tomb, the enemy must have started from the source... starting from when they were at the Prince's residence, the thieves had taken Prince Xin, his wife Cui Cui, and the court officials hostage.

Substituting one thing for another, or replacing one thing with another.

However, when I asked Xiuxiu just now, she said that the Imperial Guards had already searched the entire Prince Xin's mansion.

Not only was the entire place searched, but all the stewards, including the chief secretary of the Prince's mansion, have been imprisoned in the imperial prison, and the servants and guards of the Prince's mansion have also been interrogated extensively.

The procession was prepared in the front courtyard that day, while only some completely unrelated maids, old women, guards, and gatekeepers remained in the Prince's mansion in the back courtyard... Ning Nan thought about it... the gatekeeper in the Prince's mansion last night hadn't lied to him.

call.

He squatted on the ground, exhaled a puff of white breath, and his eyes flickered.

If the other party made the move in the Prince's residence, then where exactly did they place Prince Xin and the officials of the Eastern Palace?

Shangguan Xiu also sighed and said, "These scoundrels from the Heavenly Principle Sect are truly incomprehensible. They all act like they don't care about their lives. I don't know what they're thinking... They don't want their mothers, they don't want their fathers, they don't want their children, they don't want anything."

"Um?"

Ning Nan's mind suddenly went blank, and he looked up, exclaiming, "The Heavenly Principle Sect?"

Shangguan Xiu shrugged and said helplessly:

"Yes, it's Xiao Chun's Heavenly Principle Sect... The thirty-odd thieves who died here all came from well-known and respectable families in the capital, otherwise they wouldn't have passed the Jinyiwei's screening and entered the imperial procession... We followed the clues and arrested their families... Some families had images of the Eternal Mother and several sticks of incense found in their homes... Some of the parents were themselves members of the Heavenly Principle Sect, and when they heard that their children had died here, they laughed and shouted..."

Ning Nan abruptly stood up, took a step forward, and asked, "Are you sure it's the Heavenly Principle Sect?"

Shangguan Xiu said helplessly, "It's no use being sure. The one behind the Heavenly Principle Sect is definitely... sigh..." He stopped halfway through his sentence, feeling somewhat saddened. The Heavenly Principle Sect was definitely the one who made the move, but without any evidence, the person behind the Heavenly Principle Sect could never be touched... When the Heavenly Principle Sect made a move, the other party would secretly intervene to cover up the Heavenly Principle Sect's tracks... In this way, many things became extremely difficult to investigate.

Upon hearing this, Ning Nan stopped thinking about it and turned to walk towards the tree where the horses were tied.

"Where are we going?" Shangguan Xiu followed.

"Commander Shangguan, as I said before..." Ning Nan took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with light, "Let's go... I'll take you to achieve great merit..."

Done.

He gripped the saddle and mounted the horse.