Chapter 104：

At noon, on Qiaofang Street, the residence of Lu Ting, the deputy commander in front of the hall.

Zhou Jingwan was standing in front of the desk in the study and writing. She always had to learn five big characters before her lunch break, but today she couldn't calm down, and her writing was absent-minded.

The personal maid rushed in, Zhou Jingwan hurriedly raised her head and asked, "How is it?"

"Miss, my uncle said that there are many ministers in front of the palace, please rest early tonight, he will not be able to return until later."

Hearing this, Zhou Jingwan paused for a moment, then put down her pen heavily, and walked out of the study without saying a word.

"Miss, where are you going?" Seeing Zhou Jingwan going straight out the door, the maid hurriedly followed up and asked.

"He refuses to go back and hides from me, so I'll go look for him in front of the hall." Zhou Jingwan's voice was soft but firm.

"Miss..." The maid couldn't help but pulled her, showing embarrassment, and stammered, "Miss, don't go, aunt, aunt...My aunt wants you to stay at home for the next two days and don't go out."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Jingwan's back stiffened.

The servant girl bit the bullet and replied: "Slave servant girl, this servant girl has just returned from the front of the hall, and my uncle sent some guards to guard the door by the way, and we are not allowed to go out again..."

"He restrained me?" Zhou Jingwan's question was full of disbelief.

The maid didn't know how to answer, she lowered her head nervously, not daring to breathe.

…

In the middle of the night, everything was silent, and Lu stopped to return home.

There was no light in the room, so Lu Ting couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, slowed down, and pushed the door open.

But just as he stepped into the inner room with his left foot, there was a sudden "crack" on the soft couch, and a fire was lit.

Immediately, the lamp was lit.

Zhou Jingwan sat on the soft couch and looked at him quietly.

He paused for a while, then called out unnaturally: "Awan."

Zhou Jingwan responded.

He just stood there, not knowing whether to retreat or advance: "Why haven't you stopped yet?"

Seeing that he didn't intend to take the initiative to confess, Zhou Jingwan didn't go around in circles with him, and asked straight to the point: "You went to arrest Uncle Ming?"

"..."

Sure enough, what should come, can't be avoided no matter what.

Lu Ting was silent for a while, then stepped forward and sat on the other side of the soft couch: "Awan, I am in charge of the front office, and everything is done according to orders."

"Since you are following orders, why do you hide from me? What is going on? Why is it so sudden? Did you know something long ago?"

Lu Ting opened his mouth, but he couldn't answer anything.

Zhou Jingwan's eyes were red, and she stood up suddenly.

Lu Ting also stood up.

"Don't come here, you get out!"

"I'm not here to sleep." Lu Ting felt helpless.

"I don't care where you sleep!"

Lu Ting wanted to explain something, but in the end he didn't say anything, and just left the main room in silence.

The night sky is not very clear tonight, and the moon is also hidden in the clouds. Lu Ting stood in front of the house with his hands behind his back, thinking quietly, Awan is usually delicate and quiet, it seems that since he knew her, she

It was the first time to speak so loudly, and it was also the first time to get so angry at him. It seemed that the princess held more weight in her heart than he had imagined.

On the other side, in the Pingguo Mansion, Bai Minmin kept pestering Zhang Huaiyu to ask what was going on, but Zhang Huaiyu ignored the government, so Bai Minmin didn't know what to ask.

Seeing that Bai Minmin was sullen, he still dared to call Qu: "Although I have a good relationship with Lu Ting, it's not easy to intervene in government affairs, right? The Duke of Pingguo is a foreign relative, and it is inappropriate to intervene in matters of collusion with the enemy and treason, so ah , It doesn’t work if you fight with me, if the Marquis of Jing’an hadn’t done this, Dali Temple would definitely return him to his innocence.”

Clean clean clean clean! How can people be innocent even if all the letters are found! Bai Minmin didn't want to talk to him at all.

She actually went back to the Duke Chang's mansion and asked her father, but her father didn't know anything, he just kept saying that it was far from possible for Ming Ting to do such a thing.

Her father was walking around the room with his hands behind his back, more anxious than she was, and for some reason he slapped his head and thought of entering the palace, Mr. Zhou hurriedly persuaded him to come down.

Collaborating with the enemy and treason is a serious crime. If it is really determined, Chang Guogong's family, as the mother's family of Mrs. Jing'an Hou Xiantou, would think that it would be reasonable for him to be separated from the nine clans.

Besides, it is not enough for him to enter the palace to face the saint. Whether the Marquis of Jing'an is treasonable or not has yet to be verified, and he cannot be convicted and exonerated in a few words, and he has a son-in-law as capable as King Dingbei, and King Dingbei has not yet returned to Beijing. , everything is yet to be determined.

What Mr. Zhou said this time is also very reasonable. After Bai Minmin heard it, he couldn't say anything to refute it.

Dingbei Prince's Mansion is also under strict guard now, people inside can't get out, people outside can't get in, for the current plan, we can only wait for Dingbei King's reaction.

For three days in a row, Jiang Xu didn't send back any news from outside, and there was no progress in Dali Prison. The only gratifying thing is that I heard that Lu Ting greeted Dali Prison and allocated a separate cell for the pregnant wife of Marquis Jing'an, Mrs. Pei.

It's not like Mingtan didn't do anything these three days. Although the palace was surrounded by soldiers and generals, it didn't mean that meals were not allowed. Everyday, as usual, people came to deliver fresh vegetables to the door, and at night, some people also delivered Gong barrels outside the mansion. Ming Tan took advantage of the occasion when he had to go in and out, and communicated with Bai Minmin several times, and also got some outside news.

Of course, this letter is not easy to spread. If it is discovered, it will make the current situation worse. Fortunately, Ming Tansu likes to read miscellaneous books, and he and Bai Minmin once tried the method in ancient books: "Writing with alum water makes it dry, pour it with five seeds decoction, and it will become black characters."

There is nothing on the paper I come and go, and I have to use some special methods to make the writing appear.

However, on the fourth day of the letter, Ming Tan soaked the paper with five son soup, waited patiently for the handwriting to appear, but saw the unfamiliar handwriting, and wrote: "The king of Dingbei has returned to the capital secretly, hiding in Bieyulou, and finally Three days later, we will dispatch troops to march north."

This letter was not written by Bai Minmin.

There was a bang in Ming Tan's mind, and various thoughts flashed across, if it wasn't written by Bai Minmin, who could it be? Is the above book true or false? What is the purpose of the person who wrote the letter? How did this person drop the letter, and how did he discover the method of communication between her and Bai Minmin?

Ming Tan was in doubt, and the next moment she touched the paper, she suddenly realized that it was wrong.

The paper used to write this letter is thin cloud paper, which is medium, more expensive than the misty paper that Bai Minmin usually uses.

But the raw material of this cloud paper is produced in Lingzhou. After the disaster in Lingzhou, the supply of raw materials is difficult. If you want to increase the price because of this, there are more good papers to choose from. , This year, Jingzhong Paper Factory no longer produces this kind of paper.

If I remember correctly, because the Dingbei Prince's Mansion provided the servants with fiber cloud paper all the year round, all the last batch of fiber cloud paper before the suspension of production in Jingzhong went to the Prince's Mansion.

Thinking of this, Ming Tan quietly ordered: "Su Xin, Lu E, go and check quickly, everyone in the mansion may have come into contact with this letter today."

"yes."

After all, Su Xin and Lu E are big girls with many years of experience, so it is easy to investigate a servant in the mansion. After a while, they found out, and Mrs. Wang from the handyman's office was taken to the flower hall of Qi'an Hall.

This Mrs. Wang has gray hair and an honest face. She looks like an ordinary servant who is used to rough work. She has been in the mansion for more than ten years. Like an invisible person, she has been quietly working in the handyman's office, filling in wherever there is a shortage. After all, she has never done any important work, nor Things will come, so I have been in the government for many years and have only been third class.

Today Su Xin Lv E went to check on her, saw that she looked wrong, she evasively evaded her, and she showed her flaws after a few forced questions, and now she slipped in front of Ming Tan, even more so.

It turned out that she was the nail that the Empress Dowager Su had planted in the palace many years ago. She had never been exposed before, because she had never acted before. She was used to living a life of duty, and suddenly she was asked to do things. She was really nervous, so seeing people When I came to check, I panicked. Now that the trick was over, she knelt on the ground, still kowtowing and begging for mercy, with a cowardly look that only wanted to survive.

Ming Tan glanced at her with an unclear expression, and fiddled with the tea cover in a leisurely manner. After a long while, she said very calmly: "You don't intend to live by exposing yourself through such a big detour, do you? Very skillful, forbearing, sacrificing, loyal, you are very good."

As soon as this remark came out, Wang Pozi, who was kneeling on the ground, stopped kowtowing. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised her head to look at Ming Tan, her face was no longer timid as before: "The princess has good eyesight."

Su Xin and Lu E heard the words and hurriedly stood in front of Ming Tan.

Ming Tan waved his hand, motioning for them to back away.

It is not appropriate for Yun Yi to know the question, so she did not let Yun Yi guard in the flower hall. In order to prevent this person from practicing martial arts, when he was brought here, his hands and feet were bound tightly, and he was forced to pour a bowl of Ruanjin powder. It burns with an impotent incense, and both she and Su Xin Lv'e have taken medicine beforehand.

This person came with no kindness, if he hadn't been so well prepared, Ming Tan wouldn't have dared to meet her rashly.

"Enduring dormancy for more than ten years without revealing it, how can you be an ordinary person who betrays his master's life, willing to work as a third-class handyman, and it is nothing more than the fact that the palace has to track down the eighteen generations of ancestors every time he is promoted. You can't tolerate half a mistake. Ming Tan looked at her, "And that handwriting, it's really well written."

She often speaks like a person, and she can tell by looking at the handwriting that she cannot be an ordinary servant who has not done anything for more than ten years and just wants to continue to live a peaceful life.

"Tell me what the Empress Dowager Su wants you to pass on."

"What the old slave wants to pass on, I wrote it all in the letter." Mrs. Wang knelt upright and answered calmly.

"Why do I believe you? Besides, what if the prince returns to the capital? Doesn't the queen mother think that the prince is hiding from me and if I don't save my father, I will blame him."

"Collaborating with the enemy and treason, if you just don't save it, it's nothing, but if you frame it?" Mrs. Wang looked up at her.

Ming Tan paused for a moment, then covered it up again, still as if nothing had happened.

The old woman said again: "Why does the princess think the prince married you? Do you like it? Or is it because the emperor has to obey? Or, is it because the princess thinks it is a repayment?"

Ming Tan raised his eyes suddenly.

Mrs. Wang smiled: "My concubine is so naive. Who is His Royal Highness Dingbei Wang? Your unintentional kindness is at best a coincidence. Is it really worthy of being hired by His Royal Highness Dingbei Wang as a concubine? Isn't it because... You have a father who is highly accomplished and doesn’t know how to surrender military power obediently. But the disaster is not as good as a married woman, thinking about the kindness of the princess, it’s enough to protect the Jinganhou’s mansion from implicating the nine clans.”

"continue."

"The Empress Dowager is not alive for a few days now. It is said that people are about to die, and their words are good. The Empress Dowager just doesn't want the princess to be used by others. She is kept in the dark. When the time comes, she will destroy the family and ransack the house, and she must be considerate of the enemy. "The lady Wang paused, "Of course, if the princess thinks that the queen mother is provoking the relationship between you and your husband, it's all right. After all, the queen mother, the emperor, and His Royal Highness Dingbei are enemies for life, so naturally I can't see them well."

Ming Tan did not respond.

Mrs. Wang said again: "There must be an edict outside the mansion at this moment. Maybe it was issued like this. "After investigation, the Marquis of Jing'an colluded with the enemy Beihe, leaked the military situation, and ransacked his home and asked to be executed. The King of the North is the head of the Beizheng Commander, and three days later, he will lead his troops to conquer Beihe.'”

Ming Tan didn't say a word, after a while, she ordered: "Take him down and keep him under strict guard."

Lue blessed her body, and signaled to the stout servant who was guarding outside to take him down.

Ming Tan sat quietly for a while, and then told Su Xin: "No matter what method is used, I want to know whether there is an edict outside to investigate and deal with Dad."

After all, she has been married to the palace for a long time. Although she has not deliberately managed it, she still wants to find out the news outside the palace, so she is not helpless.

An hour later, Su Xin returned.

Her face was pale, seeing Ming Tan, she didn't say anything, just knelt on the ground with a "plop".