Chitose words

In the east of Guangling City, two streets away from Princess Jiuwei's Mansion, behind a path piled with groceries.

Han Changsheng grabbed Ling You's arm and asked eagerly:

"How? Did you find it?"

Ling You slowly shook his head in silence.

He said: "Since Yu Wenxin left the outer courtyard and returned to the inner courtyard last night, I have almost touched every house in the outer courtyard from last night to today. Even the woodshed and bathhouse have not been missed. However,"

There was no trace of Xie Zhao.

Han Changsheng suddenly let go, his eyes a little panicked, and he murmured:

"How can this be good? I've been missing Azhao for so long for a day and a night, and I still don't know how much suffering she has suffered at the hands of those Northern Dynasty barbarians. However, yesterday we followed from a distance, and we clearly saw that she was being raped by Yu Wen Take the letter with you!"

With the force he applied, he clenched Ling You's sleeves until they were as wrinkled as a rag.

"——Ling You, have you really checked everything carefully? How about I go in with you tonight? The two of us will search together faster than you alone."

Ling or immediately rejected it.

"No. Please calm down. I won't make any omissions in my investigation of the outer courtyard of the princess's residence. We two can't mess up our position."

Although Ling You's heart is not as calm as his appearance.But he knew that if even the two of them were in trouble, how could he rescue Xie Zhao who was in jail?
In Princess Jiuwei's mansion, there are now not only the original guards of the princess's mansion, but also the people who came to Guangling City from the royal tent of the Yuwen Department yesterday. There are even Yu Wenxin and his close guards who are here in person. They can be said to be masters. Like clouds, it's difficult to move forward.

Because of this, Ling or before did not allow Han Changsheng to go deep into the palace with him at all. He was only allowed to wander outside the princess's palace, making noises in the east and west, and serving as a sentry for him.

Among the three of them, Xie Zhao had been taken away by the Hanyong people of the Northern Dynasty in order to stop the "Lone Wolf Sword Immortal" for them in the restaurant.

If he "lost" Han Changsheng again, how would he explain it when Xie Zhao came back?

Han Changsheng was very anxious.

The three of them have been traveling together for a year and ten months, and this is the first time they have encountered such dangerous situations and powerful enemies.

He trembled and said to himself: "But if Azhao is not in the outer courtyard of the princess's residence, where will he be? It can't be in the inner courtyard, right?"

Ling You frowned slightly.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case.

The inner courtyard is the residence of Yu Wenxin and his first wife, Princess Hanyong. It is the most private place in the entire Princess Jiuwei's mansion and will definitely not be used to house thieves and prisoners.

When Ling You inspected the outer courtyard of the princess's mansion before, he had discovered that not only Yuwenjia and Yuwenyi, the relatives of the Yuwen family, were arranged to stay in the outer courtyard to the east of the princess's mansion, but also Yuwenxin's own concubines and concubine children. They also live in the outer courtyard on the west side and are not allowed to enter the inner courtyard at will.

In this case, Xie Zhao, who was accused of being a "bad guy" with evil intentions and whose identity was doubtful, would definitely not be escorted into the inner courtyard where the princess and the consort lived.

However, after Yu Wenxin and his party captured Xie Zhao yesterday, they indeed took him into Princess Jiuwei's mansion.

And he also stayed outside the house and never left, and did not find any signs of them transferring prisoners.

In this case, if there is no trace of Xie Zhao in the outer courtyard, then after ruling out all possibilities, the only possibility is that she is really being held in the inner courtyard of the Princess Mansion?

Ling You pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: "I'm going to the East Outer Courtyard later. Yu Wenjia is staying there now. Maybe she can help."

After Han Changsheng thought for a moment, he immediately nodded in agreement:

"Yes, the princess is kind and simple. We have not done anything to harm the Yuwen Department. I think the princess will help."

"Ah."

Ling You nodded slightly, turned around and left.

Han Changsheng struggled for a moment, but suddenly called out to him.

"——Ling Or."

Ling You stopped and turned around, looking at Han Changsheng who had a complicated expression and an unreadable expression.

He hesitated again and again, endured and endured, and finally his eyes fell on the "long stick" held by Ling Huo, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Is this sword really the 'Golden Platform', the natal sword of Master Lu Shangquelu, who is in the Half-Step Void Heaven Realm of Nanchao Tianchen?"

Ling Or paused for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Yes."

Since Han Changsheng already had suspicions and knew about it, there was no need to hide it from him anymore.

Han Changsheng was silent for a while this time. After a moment, he suddenly said: "Yesterday when Azhao took out this sword, you didn't look surprised at all. So, you already knew it?"

Ling You was silent again.Then after a brief pause, he chose to answer truthfully.

"Actually, when she rescued Xie Zhao at the bottom of the Immortal Ridge that day, the sword was in her palm. It was originally unsheathed. So I saw the special mark on the blade at that time.

It's just that I wasn't sure that this was the 'Golden Platform' at that time. It wasn't until Xie Zhao woke up later that he deliberately made the scabbard of the sword dirty with mud and made it difficult to distinguish, and wrapped hemp rope around it to hide the lines on the hilt. Only then did he have some vague guesses in his mind.Later, when we went to Zhaoge City, I made a statement about the temptation, but Xie Zhao never denied it. "

In the first month of the third year of Jingan's reign, it was a windy and snowy night when they rescued Xie Zhao. The visibility was not good, and Han Changsheng's footsteps were slower than his.

When he found that the sword seemed a little strange, he subconsciously put the unsheathed sword back into its scabbard.

Therefore, Han Changsheng had not seen the "golden platform" with the sword unsheathed at that time, and naturally he had not seen the nine orange epiphyllum carved seals entwined with silver dragon patterns on the sword blade.

Han Changsheng looked at Ling You blankly. He figured out many previous doubts in a flash, and he suddenly said in a deep voice:

"So when we were in Zhaoge City, Shen Wei shouted outside the Shentai Palace to challenge Yu Lu Shangque, and that's why Azhao said with such certainty that Lu Shangque would never accept the challenge. Because. Because"

Because she had known for a long time that Lu Shangque had even lost his own sword, the "Golden Platform"!
In this case, how could he challenge Shen Wei's serious sword test in which he risked his dignity and life?

But the famous sword "Golden Platform", which is famous in the four realms, is dirty and covered with dust. It is used as a crutch by an ugly-faced girl in the Jinyuanxuan realm, and no one cares about it.

Ling or silent.

He had known for a long time that sooner or later, Han Changsheng would find out one day, but he didn't expect that this day would come so quickly.

"I'm confused."

Han Changsheng shook his head in confusion.

"But Lu Shangque's 'Golden Platform', how could it happen that when we rescued her from Azhao's hands, she was obviously seriously injured? Could it be..."

He was startled and stepped forward to hold Ling You.

"Ling You, since her surname is 'Xie', could it be that she is the sword attendant or sword slave of a descendant of the Xie family in Xunyang, or a friend of Lu Shangque from the 'Golden Terrace'?
Could it be that someone was chasing Master Yu Lu, so she carried Master Lu's natal sword to distract his pursuers?Then.
——Then he was forced into a desperate situation and had no choice but to jump from the Immortal Ridge? "

Ling You stared at him quietly for a moment, as if hesitating whether to tell him the doubts he had discovered.

However, he only pondered for a moment before deciding that he should tell him everything he knew.

At that time, Ling You decided to keep it secret from him along with Xie Zhao, just because he was afraid that the matter would be widely implicated. If he was involved, only one more person would be in danger.

However, now Han Changsheng's half-knowledge is even more troublesome. If something goes wrong in the future, it will harm him.

After thinking about this, Ling You looked into his eyes seriously and said frankly:
"Han Changsheng, Xie Zhao was seriously injured that day and was on the verge of death. She had serious internal injuries and multiple stab wounds and sword sores. In order to save her life, I didn't care about the rudeness, so I had to stop the bleeding and bandage her myself. .”

Han Changsheng was taken aback.

"I, I know."

He knew this. At that time, Xie Zhao's white clothes were almost soaked with blood, and the original color and shading could not be seen at all.

Although they were different between men and women, the situation was critical and life-saving was critical, so Ling He personally dealt with Xie Zhao's injuries.

Although the children of the Jianghu took things in a hurry and did not follow the common etiquette, Ling or Ling had a dull face afterwards, pretending to have no big emotions - but Han Changsheng could see at a glance that this guy realized it later and felt very Embarrassed.

Fortunately, after Xie Zhao woke up, he didn't have to worry about his daughter's family having to live or die if someone saw her skin.She acted casually and naturally as if she didn't notice anything, and nothing happened. This greatly avoided the embarrassment the two brothers had experienced before.

A second ago, Han Changsheng didn't know why Ling Huo suddenly mentioned this.

However, the next second, he heard Ling You whisper:

"Xie Zhao had a fatal penetrating wound three inches behind his back, which was caused by a sharp sword.

The person wielding the sword had a very strong sword energy and drew the sword very quickly. Therefore, although the wound was thin, it also opened several blood vessels around it, causing the bleeding to continue.

And I found out from the sword intention left in the wound that this sword intention came from the "Hetu Swordsmanship". "

Han Changsheng suddenly took a big step back and murmured:

"W-what? Hetu swordsmanship"

Ling You glanced at him and said:
"Yes, if the prediction is correct, the piercing sword wound was caused by Lu Shangque's natal sword, 'Golden Platform'."

"And the position three inches behind her back is exactly the place that you discovered later when you accidentally played with Xie Zhao, making her feel uncomfortable when you touch her. I don't know if it is a sequelae after the sword wound healed. .”

Ling You raised his eyes, stared at Han Changsheng's stunned expression, and then turned away, leaving only a lonely figure behind, and a sentence that made Han Changsheng's hair stand on end when he thought about it:
"So, if I'm not wrong, the reason why she was holding the 'Golden Platform' was just because she had this sword stuck in her body when she fell off the cliff, and later, after she fell to the bottom of the cliff, she was forced out of her body. He pulled it out of his body, so he held it in his hand."

"Han Changsheng, don't be stupid - she and Lu Shangque are enemies, not friends."