Save the tragic villain in progress!

The prince noticed the black box in Chu Xinian's hand, but he didn't take it too seriously, and asked casually, "What is this?"

Xie Jingyuan guessed that the box was probably stolen by the female thief, and wondered where did Chu Xinian come up with such tricks, so that others could still think of him after being sold by him.

Chu Xinian looked calm, and smiled casually: "Oh, it's nothing, it's just a treasure lost by the Minister of Military Affairs."

As soon as he said this, it was like thunder on the ground, the prince slipped and nearly fell off the chair, and said with a surprised expression: "What do you mean?!"

Xie Jingyuan frowned, and repeated from the side: "Can't you hear clearly, the things thrown in Qin Daoyan's mansion."

Although the incident was very tortuous and bizarre, Chu Xinian roughly told the prince about it, and slightly changed some small details in the middle, saying that the box was discovered by Qianqian himself.Finally, looking at the black box in his hand, he said: "Qin Daoyan's private conversations with others are all hidden in it. There must be a handle. Your Highness only needs to wait for the opportunity and present it in front of the Holy One. Naturally, it will make a great contribution."

He didn't really join the prince's family, and he suddenly gave up the credit, which is unavoidably surprising.As soon as these words came out, the air in the study became inexplicably stagnant.

Xie Jingyuan wanted to say something.But due to the presence of the prince, it was difficult to speak, so he had to swallow it back, and after a long while, he frowned and uttered a few words: "Don't talk nonsense."

The crown prince stared at Chu Xinian with an indistinguishable expression on his face: "You want to give this to Gu?"

He probably couldn't believe it.

Qin Daoyan was the elder of the two dynasties, and his status was very important.If someone handed over the evidence of his liaison with foreign countries, it would be a great achievement.Whether Chu Xinian presented the object himself, or handed it over to the people of King Jin's lineage, he could get infinite benefits from it, but he gave it to the prince.

The silence in the inner room made people uncomfortable.

After a while, the prince finally said a word: "But Gu has nothing to give you."

He was just a down and out prince who lost his mother and couldn't be favored.Except for Xie Jingyuan, no one is willing to help him, and no one believes that he can really become emperor in the end.

But he still had no choice but to fight, heading towards a dead end where he knew the ending.

The crown prince can't look back, and so can Xie Jingyuan.The power struggle is so cruel, like an invisible giant hand, pushing them forward.

The two people in front of Chu Xinian, one is the prince of Yan Dynasty, a nobleman, and the other is a general of soldiers and horses, they are hard to come by opponents.Who can imagine their final ending in the book.

The prince thought that the most painful way to die in the world was to be strangled to death, but the new emperor granted him to hang himself after ascending the throne.

Xie Jingyuan was rebellious and arrogant, but his muscles and veins were exhausted, and he was imprisoned in a dungeon that never saw the light of day until he died.

Chu Xinian suddenly felt that the box in his hand was a little heavy, comparable to the weight of the word "fate".He put the things on the table, and gently pushed in Xie Jingyuan's direction: "This thing is for the general."

As for whether Xie Jingyuan wants to give it to the crown prince or someone else, that is up to the other party to decide.

Xie Jingyuan thought to himself, didn't Chu Xinian hide from him just now, and now he came up to give him something.He put on a smile but imitated what the prince said: "What a coincidence, this general has nothing to give you."

Through the skirt of his clothes, Chu Xinian touched the jade around his neck.Although he didn't speak, the meaning of this action is obvious, Xie Jingyuan gave him something.

It was Chu Xinian who really couldn't give anything.

What did he give Xie Jingyuan?

A life of suffering, not a good end.

Seeing that they were silent, the prince looked at Chu Xinian, then at Xie Jingyuan, his normally closed mind suddenly opened up, and he suddenly realized.These two people... could these two people...? ! !

The prince's Adam's apple rolled, and he suddenly felt as if he knew a terrible secret.He unconsciously clenched his knees tightly, thinking that Xie Jingyuan actually had a habit of cutting off his sleeves, why didn't he notice it before.

I don't know if it was to brighten the atmosphere or to change the subject, the prince asked aloud: "Can I show those secret letters to Gu?"

Naturally, it is possible. In fact, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country is very involved, and the only person who is suitable to reveal it is the crown prince.

Chu Xinian said: "The box has been given to the general, so naturally he is in charge."

Xie Jingyuan picked up the box and tried for a long time, but found that he couldn't open it.But he was unwilling to lose face, and was about to use his internal force to forcefully split the box, but Chu Xinian suddenly took the box out of his hand: "This thing is made of special material, so it can only be opened with a key, and if it is forcibly damaged, I'm afraid it will hurt your hands." .”

Xie Jingyuan narrowed his eyes and said with a sneer, "I just don't believe it."

He was moving energy in his palm, and was about to chop off when he raised his hand, but Chu Xinian suddenly held his hand, and the strength in his fingertips disappeared for an instant.

Xie Jingyuan looked at him: "What are you doing?"

Chu Xinian let him go slowly.I don't know what I did, I groped for a while on the raised carved dark lines on both sides of the box, knocked hard three times, only heard a soft click, and one of the carved peonies actually floated up.

Under Xie Jingyuan's gaze, Chu Xinian pinched the peony petals and pulled them out of the box.I saw that this thing was like a flower hairpin, long and thin, with a pointed and flat end.

Xie Jingyuan seemed to have realized something, and squinted his eyes: "This is the key? Qin Daoyan, an old fox."

Far away in the sky and close in sight, who would have thought that the key was hidden in the box.If it were someone who didn't know, I'm afraid they would still be looking for keys all over the world.

The prince was a little curious about why Chu Xinian knew the key: "How do you know that the key is hidden here?"

Chu Xinian found a small keyhole at the bottom of the box, put the key in and twisted it slowly, while unlocking it, he said: "I read an ancient book before, which recorded this kind of thousand machine box. It is said that it was carved by a skilled craftsman. It was used as a makeup box for royal women, and later this technique was lost, and posterity has no way to find it, I didn't expect Qin Daoyan to have one."

The prince let out a cry, thinking that he had suffered from being uneducated.

Xie Jingyuan was different, he didn't believe Chu Xinian's nonsense at all.There are thousands of volumes in the General's Mansion, and he has read every one of them, but there is no ancient book that records the thousand receptacles.

While talking, the box suddenly popped open with a click, attracting their attention for a moment.Chu Xinian took out the thick stack of letters in the box, and found that there were not only the secret letters between Qin Daoyan and the Qiang people, but also the peace talks between Dayan and the Hu people in the early years, and he also mixed in it.

Xie Jingyuan quickly flipped through these letters, and when he found one of them, he suddenly stopped, and his pupils shrank suddenly.

"what happened?"

Chu Xinian noticed something was wrong, so he pulled the letter over.However, there was not a single word on the paper, but only a map of the deployment of troops in the palace, and one of the routes was traced out with a Chinese ink brush.

The recipient is Qin Daoyan, and the writer is——

Zhou Wenchen!

Chu Xinian said to himself, "The commander of the Imperial Guard Zhou Wenchen?"

This person appeared in the original work of "Qianqiu Fenghou".Zhou Wenchen was in charge of the guards of the capital, and was in charge of one hundred thousand forbidden troops. His martial arts were unpredictable, and he was the first-class dead soldier under Emperor Yan.

There are not many roles, but the status is good.

Such a person who is as unshakable as a rock and cannot be wooed, has a correspondence with Qin Daoyan?

The prince glanced aside and was a little surprised when he saw the road map, subconsciously said: "Isn't this the place where General Xie Bi was captured?"

The route of the imperial palace is intricate, and a route drawn by a Chinese ink pen leads directly to the emperor's bedroom from Tai'an Gate.The crown prince probably knew something about secrets, he couldn't hide his surprise, then he exchanged a glance with Xie Jingyuan, turned his head and remained silent.

Chu Xinian seemed to be aware of it, touched the old corner of the paper, guessed that this letter was quite old, and it was inseparably related to the Xie family's rebellion.Just as he was about to say something, his hand suddenly became empty, and the letter was taken away by Xie Jingyuan.

"Leave this letter, and give the rest to the prince for him to submit to the imperial court."

Except for the momentary change in expression of Xie Jingyuan, everything seemed to be normal.He folded the letter and stuffed it into his sleeve.

Chu Xinian raised his eyebrows faintly, and smiled: "Why?"

The prince waved his hand casually, and sat back to his original position: "It's just an insignificant letter, it doesn't matter if you hand it in or not."

They clearly didn't want to say anything, so Chu Xinian didn't ask any more.Anyway, he never expected that the other party would take the initiative to speak out, and it is better to check some things by himself.

The three of them checked Qin Daoyan's letters one by one in the study, and found that apart from collaborating with the enemy and selling abroad, there were also thirteen crimes of buying and selling officials, taking bribes without permission, etc., which were enough to make Qin Daoyan die ten times. More than enough.

The crown prince said: "Tomorrow, when the palace holds a banquet, Qin Daoyan will definitely persuade everyone to agree to trade with the Qiang people. If he finds an excuse, he will join him."

Chu Xinian picked up the teacup, skimmed off the scum with the lid, and said abruptly, "Your Highness, do you know that it is never a good thing to put yourself in the target of public criticism?"

Xie Jingyuan instantly understood what he meant, and raised his eyes to look at the prince: "Find someone to stand up for you, bear some reputation, and then you present the evidence."

If such a big event is only done by the prince alone, it will not only arouse the suspicion of the emperor, but also the jealousy of the courtiers. It is safe to bring several people together.

It's not that the prince didn't think about it, it's just that he has no one available.The rest are old ministers of the East Palace, stubborn, serious and old-fashioned, teaching and educating people is acceptable, but it is absolutely impossible to challenge the court.

The prince looked at Chu Xinian, and there was a hint of asking for advice in his words: "In your opinion, who should pick the head?"

Chu Xinian smiled slightly, and only said three words: "Gold is like the sea."

If Qin Daoyan wants to open up the trade between the two clans, apart from the emperor's nod of approval, Jin Ruhai, the supervisory history of the Ministry of Gold, must not be avoided in this matter.During this period of time, Qin Daoyan secretly sent a lot of rare treasures to the Jin family, all of which are evidence of bribery.

Jin Ruhai owes Chu Xinian a favor.As long as he is willing to expose Qin Daoyan in front of the palace tomorrow, and the crown prince follows closely behind, everything will be logical.

The prince thought to himself, wouldn't this be another favor he owed to Chu Xinian: "Why do you want to help Gu?"

Chu Xinian was silent.

The prince hesitated again and said: "You... don't you want to join Gu's sect?"

Now without Chu Xinian speaking, Xie Jingyuan knew it was impossible.He got up from his seat, glanced at the sky outside, and threw a thick stack of letters into the prince's arms: "It's not early, you should go back to the mansion as soon as possible, and write the notes for Qin Daoyan's performance in front of the palace tomorrow."

Writing notebooks is actually the same as writing essays in later generations, it takes a lot of brains.Not only must the rhetoric be beautiful, but also the logic is smooth and hit the nail on the head.The only difference is that if there is a loophole, the teacher will only deduct your points, while the emperor will take your head.

The prince obviously knew that this matter was no small matter, so he took his things and left in a hurry.

At night, Chu Xinian was still thinking about the troop deployment plan.There is no doubt that the drawing must have been made by Zhou Wenchen, but why did the other party give the drawing to Qin Daoyan?And why do you have to draw a route with a Chinese ink brush?

Zhou Wenchen is the most loyal servant of the royal family, and his loyalty to Emperor Yan is beyond doubt.If something had not happened, he would never have handed over such an important thing hastily.

Could it be that Zhou Wenchen's character design has also been changed?

Chu Xinian was not sure, and planned to wait for tomorrow's palace banquet to observe carefully before making a decision.He cleared the complicated thoughts in his mind, and was about to go to bed to rest, when he raised his eyes inadvertently, he saw Xie Jingyuan sitting in front of the mirror with his back to him, lost in thought.

Xie Jingyuan doesn't like to look in the mirror, he seldom looks in the mirror, it can even be said that he never looks in the mirror.

There is no reason, probably he himself does not want to see that face.

The silver mask rested quietly on the corner of the table, and the face of the man in the mirror was exposed to the air without any cover.The left face was flawless, but the right face was covered with scars, which looked eerie and ghostly under the flickering candlelight.

Xie Jingyuan stared at the mirror for a long time, then slowly closed his eyes, unconsciously stroking the scar on his right face.At this moment, he seemed to recall something from the past, and maintained that posture, not moving for a long time.

Can't tell if it's hate or resentment.

Looking at his back, Chu Xinian was inexplicably worried, and frowned: "General?"

"..."

Xie Jingyuan didn't look back, he saw Chu Xinian sitting on the couch outside again from the bronze mirror, and asked out of emotion, "Are you sure you want to sleep outside?"

Chu Xinian didn't say a word, Xie Jingyuan regarded it as acquiescing.He slowly picked up the mask, and put it on his face without saying a word, covering half of the criss-crossing scars on his face.

Since Chu Xilai, he hasn't worn a mask at night when he sleeps, but now he wears it again for some reason.

Chu Xinian hadn't figured out how to answer.He originally thought that Xie Jingyuan would squeeze over to sleep with him again, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't say anything, and entered the inner room without saying a word.

Layers of curtains fell down, covering most of the scene inside, and when Xie Jingyuan blew out the lamps and candles, he couldn't see anything clearly.

"..."

Chu Xinian sat by the couch alone, without moving for a long time, and he didn't know what he was waiting for.Seeing that the inner room was plunged into darkness, he slowly lay down on the couch to rest, but for some reason, he was completely sleepless.

He unconsciously noticed the movement in the inner room.

I don't know how long it took, only to hear a sudden slight noise from inside, Chu Xinian subconsciously lifted the quilt and sat up, frowning: "General?"

In fact, Xie Jingyuan just turned over: "..."

Chu Xi couldn't hear his answer for a long time, so he put on his outer robe and walked into the inner room.He walked to the bed in the dark, only to vaguely see a waving figure, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to grope: "General?"

While speaking, his fingertips suddenly touched something cold and hard like a mask, and he couldn't help but pause.

"..."

Chu Xinian didn't know whether to take back his hand or not.He slowly sat down beside the bed, fumbling with his fingertips to the edge of the mask, before he could do anything, Xie Jingyuan suddenly grabbed his wrist: "Don't move—"

His fingertips were bone-chilling, and his voice was hoarse, with a hint of warning.

Chu Xinian paused first, and then smiled indifferently: "...Why is the general wearing a mask today?"

Xie Jingyuan remained silent, closed his eyes and tilted his head to avoid his sight, and said in a cold voice, "Go to sleep."

At this time, Chu Xinian inexplicably thought of the four words that human nature is cheap.He was always worried that Xie Jingyuan would sleep with him, and today he even made up a reason for sleeping on the couch, but the other party didn't bother him anymore.

I can't explain why, but my heart feels a little empty.

Seeing that he was not moving, Xie Jingyuan finally opened his eyes in the darkness, curled his lips into a sneer, and said in a sarcasm, "If you don't leave, I'll think you want to sleep with me."

After he finished speaking, Chu Xinian did not respond.

one second,

two seconds,

three seconds.

Chu Xinian still has no intention of leaving.He stared at Xie Jingyuan's blurred face in the darkness, he didn't know what he was thinking, but he felt that his legs were filled with lead, and he couldn't move.

Seeing this, the curvature of Xie Jingyuan's mouth finally disappeared slowly.He sat up from the bed, and was very close to Chu Xinian, his breathing was full of ambiguity.

Xie Jingyuan stared at Chu Xinian with long and narrow eyes, and the cold mask on his right face almost touched his face, and asked each word in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

afraid?

Chu Xinian finally returned to his senses.He raised his hand, slowly took off the mask on Xie Jingyuan's face, stroked the vertical and horizontal scars with his warm fingertips, and finally landed on the other's chin, and asked aloud: "General, do you mean appearance?"

Half of Xie Jingyuan's face was numb: "So what?"

Chu Xi smiled young: "Of course I'm not afraid."

Xie Jingyuan raised his eyebrows coldly: "I don't believe it."

Chu Xinian didn't fall for his tricks, and smiled lightly: "It's okay, I just believe it myself."

Xie Jingyuan held his hand tightly, pursed his lips and said, "You said you are not afraid, you have to prove it to me."

Chu Xinian: "How does the general want me to prove it?"

"..."

Xie Jingyuan slowly approached Chu Xinian in the dark, with many emotions hidden in his eyes.He pressed against Chu Xinian's ear, his breath was cool, and he whispered word by word: "Chu Xinian, give me a kiss."

He said: "If you kiss me once, I will believe you..."

Chu Xinian was taken aback.