No. 1 Girl in the Imperial City

Shilipo in the northern suburbs outside the city

There is a cold pool under the rugged cliff, and a very old ancient peach tree stretches above the cold pool beside the Tan.

In the late spring of March, the flowers on this peach tree are just beginning to bloom, and the peach blossoms on the branches are beautiful and charming.

As the breeze blows, pieces of petals fall like water, making the pool more and more clear, quiet and elegant.

This was supposed to be a good place for an outing, but today is the palace examination period. Except for some students who have left Beijing sadly, although not everyone who stays in Shangyong needs to participate in the palace examination, no one is interested in today. travel.

Most of the first ranks in the palace examination are hand-picked by the palace. Who doesn't want to know who the new top scorer will be at the first time?
At this time, there were two people standing not far from the pool, and one of them was Cao Mao whom Luo Junyao had just met not long ago.The other person looked in his early thirties, and there was a bit of sternness between his brows, obviously a little impatient.

"Mr. Cao, the person you mentioned will not miss the appointment, right?" the middle-aged man asked.

Cao Mao was a little displeased, and frowned, "It's not time yet, why is Brother Fang so impatient?"

The middle-aged man sighed, and said angrily: "It's not that you don't know, the Patriarch is in a hurry, if there is no result of the eldest son's death, I can only go back to see the Patriarch with my life."

Cao Mao lowered his eyes, hiding the disdain in his eyes.

It's been a few months without even finding any clues, such a waste deserves to die.

"Brother Fang, don't be impatient. Since he made an appointment to meet today, he will definitely not miss the appointment. Even if he wants to miss the appointment, might he be willing to part with the 10 taels of silver?"

Although the kid said that he didn't care about the 10 taels at all, Cao Mao didn't believe it at all. 10 taels of silver is not a small amount no matter where it is.

He never believed that there are people in this world who don't love money.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and said: "I have been in Shangyong for several months, and I have never heard of such an arrogant person in Shangyong! Today I want to see and see!"

Regarding the identity of the young man, Cao Mao also had a headache.

Because the young man's identity could not be found out, the eldest son reprimanded him severely in his reply.

"It stands to reason that the regent cleaned up the inside and outside of the imperial city a few years ago. It is true that there is no news about such a powerful person." Cao Mao looked at the middle-aged man suspiciously and asked, "Brother Fang, Are you sure you checked carefully?"

The middle-aged man snorted and said: "It's because the regent cleaned it up, so it's not easy to investigate. The eldest son died in the west of the city. It was too chaotic that night. No one knew what happened at that time. Followed by the eldest son No one around him survived! We only found out that the eldest son went to Mingyin Pavilion that night, but no one knows what he did there, and now Mingyin Pavilion is gone..."

"Could it... have something to do with the court?"

The expression of the middle-aged man changed slightly when he heard the words, he took a deep look at Cao Mao, and said, "The eldest son has only traveled to Shangyong, and he has not done anything out of the ordinary. Why did the court take action against the eldest son?"

"Is this..." Cao Mao also thought it was the same reason. Fang Shuo was also a member of the Fang family in Yingzhou. Why did the court kill him for no reason?
Furthermore, even if the imperial court really wanted to kill him, it would not be worthwhile to kill him in the imperial city, there were more ways to let him die quietly outside. …

The control of the imperial court in the western part of the city had never been strict before, and it was only after the turmoil of the year ago that the soldiers and horses of the five cities settled in. At present, it seems that the death of the eldest son of the Fang family really can only fall on the mysterious son.

Originally, Cao Mao had another speculation in his mind: Fang Shuo was the most beloved son of the head of the Fang family, but he was not the only son of the Fang family.It's hard to say whether this caused someone to be killed or someone fished in troubled waters.

But now that someone has claimed it themselves, they naturally want to check it out.

The two waited for a long time before they saw three people coming out of the peach grove not far away and walking towards them slowly.

The middle-aged man looked at the three people who were getting closer, his eyes shrank slightly, and the hand holding the handle of the knife tightened.

The leader is a young man dressed in white.

Standing in front of the two tall men, the boy's stature became smaller and slender.

The young man was dressed in plain white, with only a suet jade pendant hanging from his waist, and he was playing with an exquisite ivory-carved folding fan, which made his hands white as jade.

At first glance, he was an arrogant and indulgent young man who hadn't suffered a bit.

But it was the people who followed behind the young man that made the middle-aged man deeply afraid.

A pale young man in his twenties and an ordinary looking man in his forties.In the beginning, his attention was almost all on the boy and the young man, completely ignoring this person.But after reacting, looking at the man again, there was an inexplicable feeling of scalp numbness.

Luo Jun played with the folding fan with a smile, and said to the two people waiting beside Tan with a smile: "The two seem to have come early? Could it be that they set up an ambush around to plot against me?"

The smile on Cao Mao's face that hadn't been raised could not help but froze, and he squeezed out a smile again after a while and said, "Master, you are joking."

Luo Junyao looked around, nodded as if he didn't care, and said, "Okay, let's get down to business. Where's the bank note?"

Cao Mao glanced behind her and said, "This is different from what we agreed on. We have prepared the bank notes, but my lord... Where is Chen Xunren?"

Luo Junyao smiled and said, "I'll kill you for you."

"..." The blue veins on Cao Mao's forehead couldn't help but twitch, and his face became gloomy, "Is the young master playing tricks on me on purpose?"

Luo Junyao didn't care, walked to a nearby rock and sat down before saying: "Believe it or not, it's up to you, you won't let me go for nothing, right?"

Cao Mao looked at his innocent and natural expression, and almost wanted to kick him into the puddle behind him.

He asked himself that he had seen a lot of things in the Cao family, but he had never seen such a person who took unreasonableness as a matter of course.

As if it was his fault not letting him take 10 taels of silver for nothing!
"My lord, you still have to be faithful." Cao Mao said coldly.

Luo Jun said: "But, now I have taken your weaknesses, shouldn't you listen to me? If you take my weaknesses, I can only give you the person you want unconditionally."

"..." I don't even know who you are, so where can I take advantage of you?

Cao Mao said in a deep voice: "It is not an attitude to do business without trustworthiness."...

Luo Jun shook the folding fan in his hand, revealing the intricate and exquisite patterns on the fan.

The fan covered her face, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes, "But...if you all die here, won't anyone know that I've broken my promise?"

Cao Mao and the middle-aged man glanced at each other, and then looked at the three people facing each other warily.

The middle-aged man sneered and said, "Want to do something wrong? I'm afraid it won't be so easy!"

Luo Junyao didn't take it seriously, "It's not too difficult, you are not from the Cao family, but from the Fang family?"

Cao Mao and the two were shocked again. They knew nothing about this young man, but this young man seemed to know everything about them.

Holding the handle of the knife, the middle-aged man said in a deep voice: "That's right, I am from the Fang family in Yingzhou. I don't know why our eldest son offended you, so that you can be cruel to him?"

Luo Jun shook his head and thought for a while, and said: "It seems... because he is richer than me, right? The Patriarch of the Fang family has never taught him, and when he is away from home, isn't his wealth revealed?"

The middle-aged man was obviously very angry, growled, "I want to die!" The long knife in his hand came out of the sheath and swung towards Luo Jun.

Luo Jun shook his head and did not avoid it, and even raised his head leisurely to grab a peach blossom on top of his head.

A figure flashed beside her, and a tall figure stopped in front of her.

The middle-aged man's long knife was blocked by a long sword that hadn't been sheathed yet. The next moment the sword flashed, the middle-aged man only felt a sharp pain in the wrist holding the knife, and then there was the sound of the long sword returning to its sheath.

Cao Mao looked at the middle-aged man clutching his wrist in astonishment, blood kept spilling from between his fingers, it was obvious that the sword had definitely not just scratched a little skin.

He is a pure scholar, although he has seen many scenes of murder and bloodshed, but this...

"Who are you guys?!" Cao Mao said hoarsely.

Luo Junyao was also very curious, this was the first time she saw Ye Feng make a move.

This skill seems to be more agile than Duoying and Xiying.

The middle-aged man clutched his wrist and took a few steps back before standing still. His eyes were full of anger and hatred when he looked at Luo Junyao and the others.

"Come on!"

There was a sound of chaotic and hurried footsteps in the woods, and a dozen figures jumped out of the woods.

These people were all wearing gray cloth clothes and armed with weapons, and they surrounded the few people by the cold pool. It was obvious that the visitors were not kind.

Luo Jun shook the folding fan in his hand, slapped his palms and smiled at Cao Mao: "Look, I said you ambushed people, right? It's because you broke the contract first, so you can't blame me. Hand over the money honestly, I'll let you go. Otherwise..."

Cao Mao's heart sank when he saw that the dozen or so people did not put the other party on guard.

"How about otherwise?"

Luo Jun shook his head and said: "Otherwise, although I really don't want to pollute this pool of water, but... killing people in Shangyong is not good after all, so I can only wrong you."

"..."

Cao Mao gritted his teeth and said, "What exactly do you want, Your Excellency? My Cao family is not a nameless person in Dasheng, and everyone's faces will be ugly when they grow up!"

Luo Jun shook his head: "I've said it all, just give me the money and you can go."

Cao Mao said, "Where is Chen Xun?"

Luo Junyao said casually: "I was in a bad mood yesterday, so I accidentally killed him."…

"..." Do you think I will believe it?

Luo Jun shook his head, "What else can you do besides trusting me?"

Cao Mao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt that he had used 12 points of patience to communicate with the ignorant brat, "If the Cao family has offended the young master and your family in any way, we are willing to sincerely make amends. Please don’t make things difficult, my lord. If you have any conditions, you might as well speak up, so everyone can discuss it.”

Luo Junyao strolled up to Cao Mao, walked around him, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "That's right, I hate others being more arrogant than me. Speaking of which, your Cao family has nothing to offend. Me, I don't want to embarrass you either."

Cao Mao said, "I don't know why, my lord?"

Luo Jun said: "Last year, I had a few ships to pass through Yingzhou, but they were blocked by the Fang family. You said... the Fang family is a bit too domineering?"

Cao Mao looked up at the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man's face was very ugly, and he shook his head to express that he didn't know.

Yingzhou guards the main sea route, and if the passing merchant ships do not want to detour or go to sea from the south or even the port of Zhangzhou, they always have to look at the face of the Fang family to give some benefits.

There are so many things like this, how do they know whose boat they have stopped?
Naturally, it was impossible to know whether what Luo Junyao said was true or not.

Luo Junyao smiled and said: "My family is very angry about this. It just so happened that that big fool Fang Shuo bumped into my hand swaggeringly. It's unreasonable not to kill him, right?"

Cao Mao said with a stiff face: "It's just a small matter. If you are dissatisfied, you can discuss it with the Fang family. My Cao family can also make a referral on your behalf. Isn't it too much for the young master to kill people directly like this?"

Luo Jun shook his head and said: "However, I was thinking that Yingzhou is a treasure land of geomantic omen. The Fang family can occupy it, so can I. Otherwise... I have to continue to look at their faces in the future. I am the last person to suffer. If someone tells me not to Happy, I made his family unhappy."

Cao Mao couldn't help taking a breath, and lowered his head to see his expression clearly.

But he saw that the young man had a serious face, as if he didn't mean to be joking at all.

Regardless of the middle-aged man's expression, Cao Maoqiang said with a smile: "The Fang family lives in Yingzhou, even though the young master is strong, saying this... I'm afraid it's a bit..."

Luo Junyao smiled and said: "I can't do it myself, but with the help of the Cao family, there will be no problem."

Cao Mao didn't dare to turn his head to look at the expressions of the people around him. The reason the middle-aged man was able to hold back was because he was intimidated by the sword just now.

At this time, he couldn't help it anymore, he took seven or eight steps back abruptly to distance himself from the others, and said angrily, "Big words! Do it!"

The men in gray around obeyed their orders, and immediately rushed towards the three of them in unison.

Without saying a word, Ye Feng raised his hand and shook slightly, the scabbard slammed into the man in gray who rushed over, and the long sword was drawn out of the scabbard instantly.

A few people entangled Ye Feng, and the rest rushed towards Luo Jun.

Qu Fang, who had been standing on the side all the time, did it now. He didn't even have a sword in his hand, and he broke off a peach branch from nowhere and waved it around.The pliable peach branch was like a sharp sword in his hands, but in an instant, more than half of the dozen or so people fell down. …

Seeing this, the middle-aged man turned around and ran out of the peach forest.

Luo Jun shook his tongue, kicked up a handful of short soldiers that fell on the ground, and threw them towards the man.

The man ran ten or so steps away, and the short soldier pierced his chest, and a large expanse of blood quickly bloomed.

He stared blankly at the sharp blade piercing from his back to his chest, and fell down slowly.

Cao Mao looked at the young man in white with horror in his eyes: This young man... is also a master? !
To Ye Feng and Qu Fang, a dozen gray-clothed men were like weeds, and when the middle-aged man fell, the last gray-clothed man also fell.

Cao Mao looked palely at the young man who was smiling at him with crooked eyebrows, couldn't help shivering, and cold sweat oozes from his back.

"Grand... son..."

Luo Jun said: "Look, it's more interesting to cooperate with me than with the Fang family? Let your eldest son think about it, otherwise... the Cao family will get in the way, so I can only hand over Chen Xun to the court."

"Yes... yes." Cao Mao swallowed, and asked cautiously: "I don't know, my lord, Gao's name? Who is your lord?"

Luo Jun shook his head and said, "My surname is Dongfang."

"Dongfang?" Cao Mao was at a loss. Is there any wealthy family or power in Dasheng whose surname is Dongfang?
Luo Junyao said in a low voice: "Dongfang is sympathetic to that Dongfang."

East... Kemin?
Cao Mao frowned, and the next moment, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he suddenly raised his head to look at Luo Junyao with astonishment and shock.

Oriental Kemin? !
Isn't that the last emperor of the previous dynasty? !