Found!
Li Yan was shocked and pressed the handle of the knife.
He has Dragon Snake Plate on his body, and the other party can detect it, so his conduct must be of no small importance.
Just when Li Yan tensed up and was about to take action, a female voice came from inside. "It's so late, husband, please go to bed early. The Chinese New Year will be here soon, can't you rest for a few days?"
The tone was sad and full of complaints.
Then, the man's voice sounded again.
But this time he lost his composure and his tone was full of panic, "Madam, shush, listen, there is a ghost outside!"
"Oh~ go to sleep, husband, don't be afraid."
The candles in the house were extinguished and a rustling sound could be heard.
Turns out to be a fool...
Li Yan was suddenly speechless.
I was almost frightened by a fool, and if I spread the word, I might be laughed to death by others.
He shook his head, moved on, and disappeared into the darkness...
Not long after he left, another sound came from the house.
"Husband, what exactly did you see that day?"
"Tangyuan, hehe, glutinous rice balls..."
Great Xuan Dynasty, the Ministry of Rites, has rules for house construction.
Although wealthy businessmen have built mansions in recent years, extravagance has become prevalent, and the court has become less strict, most officials still dare not exceed the rules.
Fan Royal Palace Secretary is an official of Principal Fifth Rank.
According to the rules, the house is a three-bay quadrangle, with blue bricks and gray tiles, and glazed and vermilion paint are not allowed. The main hall is three bays wide and five bays deep.
"The number of three to five" refers to the golden mean.
Moreover, animal kisses are not allowed on the roof ridges, bamboo knot patterns are painted on the beams and columns to imply integrity, and turtle brocade is often used on the floor tiles to symbolize longevity and keeping secrets.
The same goes for Xu Residence.
Li Yan was afraid of disturbing the stone lions outside the house, so he did not dare to use Divine Ability to explore, but he knew the layout of the house.
He sneaked in secret along the way, sometimes hiding in the shadows, sometimes leaping to avoid the guards' eyes.
I don't know what happened to Xu Residence.
But Master Martial World, who was looking after the house, hired a dozen of them.
There is another person who has even stepped into Hidden Strength.
Don't underestimate this. Although Hidden Strength is nothing to Li Yan and can be crushed to death easily, it is still outside the category of ordinary people.
Hidden Strength explodes with extremely powerful power.
Ordinary people simply can't bear it.
If the technique is clever, one can even injure the internal organs with a single palm, causing him to vomit blood and die after returning home.
After practicing Hidden Strength, you can become a small leader in some local organizations, and you can also be the head escort in an escort agency.
Hiring so many people requires a lot of money.
And this is exactly what is strange about Li Yan.
Chang Shi is the general manager of the palace. Shu King Residence has recruited many talented people over the years. Why do we need to spend extra money to hire them?
Some are willing to flatter.
And there is something wrong with this Xu Residence atmosphere.
Tomorrow is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the day when folk offer stoves. People in Sichuan not only have to offer sacrifices to stoves, but also make glutinous rice balls.
The more Prosperity people are, the more particular they are.
After all, it's all servants who do the work, so you can do whatever you want.
But this Xu Residence has no festive atmosphere at all, and feels depressive from top to bottom...
Li Yan was curious and quickly touched the backyard.
This is where Changshi Xu Yongqing lives.
Generally speaking, Chang Shi lived in the palace most of the time, which was convenient for his work and could always obey orders.
Especially now that King of Shu is seriously ill and the palace is in chaos, it cannot be separated from Chang Shi's control.
Li Yan This time I came here just to try my luck.
But according to the words of the guards, Xu Yongqing is in the house.
In the backyard, there are also five guards.
That Hidden Strength expert even held a sword and sat cross-legged on the steps, closing his eyes and concentrating, looking like he was guarding this place.
It is even more difficult to sneak in silently.
Li Yan was not in a hurry, but observed the surrounding environment.
The backyard is no different from an ordinary bureaucrat's house, except that on the study door, there is a gold-plated plaque that reads "Guanwei Study".
The candles in the study were dim, and a figure was vaguely reflected, sitting in front of the desk, seeming to be reading at night by holding the candle.
Unknowingly, the wind and snow became heavier.
Seeing that the guards had no intention of leaving, Li Yan finally became impatient. He didn't want to wait here all night.
With what he was thinking about, Li Yan did not hesitate anymore, put down the black cloth on the bamboo hat, covered his face, and then suddenly exerted his strength.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow rushed into the courtyard.
Several guards were suddenly frightened.
Some drew their swords, and some were ready to shout.
However, their speed is still too slow.
Wow!
Invisible Soul Hooking Chain is thrown out.
The Hidden Strength expert had no time to react, so he was suppressed Divine Soul, and his body became stiff, making it difficult to move.
Also unable to move, there was another person.
Li Yan also took action at the same time.
He has been practicing Red Fist since he was a child, and his movements are flexible. Later, he learned North Emperor Swift Travel Technique and incorporated the Nine Palaces and Bagua into it, making him look like a ghost.
The remaining two people only felt a dark shadow flash before their eyes, then their necks hurt, their eyes turned black and they fainted.
Bang bang!
Li Yan struck twice again, knocking the two people suppressed by Soul Hooking Lightning Rope unconscious, and then strode towards the study.
Squeak~
Pushing the door open, the scene in the study comes into view.
This study room is not luxurious, but it is very elegantly decorated, especially the two rows of multi-grid bookshelves, which are densely packed with books, classified according to classics and history, and are very particular.
Sitting in front of the desk was a middle-aged man in a blue shirt.
He has thin features, a goatee, a square scarf on his head, a Tsing Yi Cloud Pattern brocade, and a jade pendant hanging around his waist. He is very well dressed.
Hearing the movement of Li Yan, this person did not turn around, but sighed, closed his eyes, and said calmly, "Let's do it."
Li Yan was a little surprised and said in a deep voice, "No wonder you are so neatly dressed. Are you waiting to die?"
The middle-aged man is none other than Chang Shi Xu Yongqing.
Hearing Li Yan's words, Xu Yongqing didn't seem to want to pay attention. He just closed his eyes and stretched his neck.
Interesting...
Li Yan looked around thoughtfully.
Everything in the room was immediately clear.
He sneered, "What's hanging on your wall is <Yue Fei's Order to Return to the Capital>, what's the matter, a dilemma between loyalty and righteousness?"
With that said, I came to the desk and saw eight big characters written on the rice paper: My heart is bright and the moon is bright, my death photo is Dan Chi.
Xu Yongqing seemed to have come to his senses, opened his eyes, turned to look at Li Yan, and said in a deep voice, "You are not here to kill me? Who sent you here?"
Li Yan did not answer, but asked directly, "You have been to the gold and silver shop in the east of the city. Do you know who did it?"
Xu Yongqing suddenly realized, "It turns out he is from the Cheng family."
He sighed, shook his head and said, "This matter is indeed related to me, but I don't know the identity of the person who did it."
Li Yan frowned, "What happened?"
Xu Yongqing was silent for a moment, and then said, "Senior Cheng Yuanhai is an old friend of mine. Someone asked me to buy tea and take a few people to visit."
"I didn't expect that they would suddenly make a move during the banquet..."
"That's weird."
Li Yan sneered, "King of Shu is seriously ill now. There are not many people who can command you. Who is Prince?"
Xu Yongqing gritted his teeth and stopped talking.
Li Yan was unhappy and looked at <Yue Fei's Order to Return to the Capital> on the wall. He suddenly glared and said, "Is it King of Shu? He's pretending to be sick!"
Xu Yongqing trembled and lowered his head.
After Li Yan saw it, he was inexplicably angry and sneered, "How can you be such a nagging person? The one who wants to kill you is also King of Shu. What the hell is he doing?"
Seeing that Xu Yongqing still didn't speak, Li Yan rolled his eyes and said, "You are loyal to others, but they want to kill you. Is it possible that you are ready to die like this?"
Hearing this, Xu Yongqing burst into tears, "Ants are greedy for life, who wants to die?"
"It's just that I can't figure out why Prince has murderous intentions towards me..."
At the same time, noises were heard outside the hospital.
But it was other guards who discovered the people who had been knocked unconscious.
"Sir, are you okay?!"
Those people were startled and wanted to rush in.
Li Yan winked, Xu Yongqing sighed slightly, stood up, opened the door, and said, "It's okay, there are old friends visiting. It's all a misunderstanding. Please disperse."
After that, he closed the door again and came to the desk.
Li Yan picked up a pen and played with it while saying, "You are probably dissatisfied with King of Shu's behavior by posting <Yue Fei's Order to Return to the Capital>, but due to kindness, I can only advise."
"You are obviously waiting to die, but you hired a guard, which means you still don't want to die! You might as well tell me what happened."
Xu Yongqing gritted his teeth and said, "Can you represent the Cheng family?"
Li Yan said calmly, "No matter who I am, are you willing to throw away your life without knowing what I am doing?"
This sentence completely defeated Xu Yongqing's psychological defense.
He pressed his hand on the table, trembling all over, and veins popped out on his forehead, "What on earth is going on? I'm still confused to this day."
"King of Shu's temperament has changed drastically over the years. I used to have a lot of trust in me, but later I was not allowed to interfere in many things."
"Third Prince died a while ago. Prince left the house in a rage and made a big fuss in the Chengdu Prefecture government office. After he came back, he was bedridden."
"But that day, he suddenly woke up again and asked me to take people to visit Cheng Yuanhai. The accompanying guards suddenly took action and told me to go home afterwards."
"On the evening of the next day, something strange happened at home. My third brother got up at night and was frightened by something unknown, and became crazy. It was only the next day that he discovered that a dead cat had been left in front of the door."
"I know that Prince has murderous intentions towards me..."
Li Yan thought thoughtfully, "Because of pretending to be sick?"
"No."
Xu Yongqing swallowed, his voice trembling, his eyes full of fear, "Prince He... when he talked to me, his white hair suddenly turned black and he became younger!"
As he spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, and said in a trembling voice, "Over the years, Prince has gathered many strange people and strangers, looking for Elixir of Immortality everywhere."
"I don't care. After all, who wants to die? Qin Emperor Han Emperor Wu didn't do it in the past. I just feel unwilling to think about Prince."
"I didn't expect that he really succeeded!"
"Shu King Residence has grown in strength over the years and has taken over many gunpowder mines. Each one of them is a serious crime of decapitation."
"I was scared in my heart and felt ashamed to face the imperial court. However, Prince refused to listen to my repeated advice and instead took away my seal..."
The more he spoke, the more frightened he became, and his body was trembling.
Seeing its appearance, Li Yan is not surprising.
Chang Shi seems to be a good man, but in reality he is embarrassed.
He is Principal Fifth Rank, but he is lower than the local magistrate, and his authority is limited when facing the feudal king. Many times, he suffers from the splint mentality.
Those who could hold the position of long history were all Jinshis who came from the imperial examination. However, because of this position, they were regarded as "idle and redundant" by the court officials, and there was basically no hope of promotion.
The most unfortunate thing is their responsibility.
According to the regulations of the Great Xuan Dynasty, the Changshi is responsible for admonishing the vassal king. He is the eyes and ears of the court and must report secretly to the emperor on a regular basis. He is the "chain" for the central government to monitor the vassal king.
But the long history showed no dignity when facing the feudal king.
If the feudal king plots rebellion, the long history may be implicated due to "accidental oversight";
If you report misdeeds to the vassal king, you may be retaliated against.
All in all, life was very frustrating.
Seeing that King of Shu was suspected of rebellion and was inexplicably rejuvenated, the old scholar was already frightened to the point of collapse.
Thinking of this, Li Yan asked in a deep voice, "Why don't you report it?"
"I can't leave!"
Xu Yongqing stood up suddenly, his eyes full of fear, "I sent someone during the day to go to Chengdu Prefecture to see the censor, but as I walked, I would return home for no reason..."
"I left at night, but as soon as I stepped out of the yard, a voice would ring in my ears."
Li Yan frowned, "What is the sound?"
Before he finished speaking, a hoarse voice came from the darkness outside the window.
"Selling glutinous rice balls~ Selling glutinous rice balls~"
"This is it! This is it!"
Xu Yongqing suddenly went crazy and pulled Li Yan's sleeve hard, his eyes were blood red and he said, "Did you hear it? Did you hear it?"
"Hmph!"
Li Yan threw Xu Yongqing away and said coldly to the window, "Who are you pretending to be a ghost in front of me?"
After that, he dragged Xu Yongqing directly out of the study.
As soon as I stepped out, I immediately realized something was wrong.
Everyone in the yard stood motionless, including the guards, with their heads lowered, like puppets.
It was clearly blowing with wind and snow, but everything was silent.
Click!
The sound of rocks breaking came from a distance.
Faintly, there seemed to be a wild beast wailing in the distance.
The stone lion of the town house was destroyed!
Li Yan suddenly understood.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath.
Now that something is going on, there is no need to hide it. You can use Divine Ability with all your strength to detect the surrounding movements.
Immediately, an abnormality was discovered.
A sweet smell filled the yard.
His Smelling Mystical Power can easily distinguish brown sugar, walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, lard...
It's glutinous rice dumpling filling!
When he left, the Prince Mansion was preparing for the festival. Those old women had done a lot, so they remembered it very clearly.
But it also tastes a little weird.
It seemed to be mixed with a faint smell of blood.
Everyone is extremely rich.
Only Xu Yongqing does not.
After he came out, the sound of "selling glutinous rice balls" suddenly stopped. Divine Ability searched but could not find the other party's location.
What kind of magic is this?
Li Yan frowned slightly and asked, "Have you ever eaten glutinous rice balls in the past few days?"
Xu Yongqing looked around in horror, "The old woman in the kitchen made it and they all ate it. I don't like sweets, so I didn't eat it."
"Let's go to the kitchen!"
Li Yan dragged Xu Yongqing away without saying a word.
"Roar!"
The guards suddenly raised their heads, their eyes full of madness, their faces turning livid, their saliva drooling, and they rushed towards them crazily.
Li Yan ignored him and walked forward in stride.
Soul Hooking Lightning Rope shook loudly, and before the guards could get close, they fell to the ground with a plop and became motionless.
These people were all under some kind of poisonous spell, falling into madness and unable to control themselves. Li Yan was too lazy to act rashly and kill.
I pulled Xu Yongqing because I was afraid that he would be silenced.
After all, this person is the key to testifying against King of Shu.
Arriving at the kitchen, it was empty. The door to the servant's room in the distance was wide open. A maid fell to the ground, bleeding from all her orifices, and the Tianling Cap was smashed to pieces.
"Let's go!"
Li Yan didn't talk nonsense and pulled Xu Yongqing away from Xu Residence.
Those who continue to stay in the house and are still alive are in greater danger.
It was already late at night, the wind and snow were howling on the streets, the red lanterns were swaying slightly, and there was silence everywhere.
Xu Yongqing was dragged away by Li Yan. He was extremely embarrassed and said in a trembling voice, "Where are we going?"
Li Yan said thoughtfully, "Go find that censor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an old and hoarse voice came faintly from the street in the distance, "Selling glutinous rice balls~ Selling glutinous rice balls~"