Li Jihe is dead.

This is the news from a small remote county in the northwest when entering the lunar month. It was an inn, and a fire burned Li Jihe and all the tenants who lived in the store. When I heard that the fire was saved, almost all the people in the store turned into black charcoals, unrecognizable and black.

When Liu Ertiao heard the news, Li Jihe's body had already been sent to the house, and the Li family was full of grief.

Li Jihe's body was wrapped in oilcloth and placed in the coffin of the mourning hall, next to the coffin, there was a small golden copper plaque, which was the guard symbol of the East Palace, and there were some traces of melting on the surface, which showed that when it was fired, this bronze medal was worn on Li Jihe's body, which was also a mark to identify Li Jihe's identity.

The mourning hall was set up temporarily, very simple, just simply pulled two pieces of white cloth, set up an incense altar, Li Wang and Li Jihe's two children, kneeling next to the incense case, Li Mi's housekeeper Li Mi was taking care of the relevant matters up and down, because the news had not yet spread, there were not many people who got the letter, and the whole Li Mansion now seemed very deserted.

Liu Nijo was the second guest to come to the Li Mansion to pay his respects.

The first is Li Qing, the chief attendant of the East Palace, at the same time that Li Jihe's body was transported back, he rushed over, on behalf of His Royal Highness the Prince, came to comfort the Li family, brought a lot of money and goods, and is now bending in front of Li Jihe's spiritual seat to worship incense.

Li Qing is about forty years old, slightly fat, pale, beardless, looks very kind, when he pays tribute to Li Jihe, his expression is solemn, his face is miserable, he is very sad, and there are even some tears flowing out, people who don't know will think that he is Li Ji's brother who intersects with life and death when they see this situation.

After the ceremony, Li Qing comforted Li Wang's two words softly, turned around, and saw Liu Ertiao coming in, obviously stunned, and then nodded lightly to Liu Ertiao, which is considered to have been seen.

Liu Ertiao also bent down to return the salute, then staggered away from Li Qing, and slowly stepped forward to bow in front of Li Jihe's coffin, feeling infinite sadness in his heart.

Before Li Jihe left, he had specially visited Liufu, but he didn't think that it had only been less than a month, and he was already separated by heaven and man.

Although I don't want to believe it, although there are still many questions about the cause of Li Jihe's death, no matter what, Li Jihe is indeed dead, whether he was killed or burned, he is dead after all, and the cause of death is likely to be because of his eldest brother Liu Yiyi.

Regarding Li Jihe's purpose of traveling outside the border before, Liu Ertiao was very clear in his heart, and Li Jihe had mentioned it to him before, but Liu Ertiao didn't expect it to be so dangerous.

While feeling sad for Li Jihe, Liu Ertiao couldn't help but feel a little chilled, and couldn't help but start worrying about his eldest brother and parents. He didn't believe that Li Jihe died in the fire, with Li Jihe's martial arts, how could an ordinary fire trap him?

Inserting the incense plant in his hand into the incense burner, Liu Ertiao bent down and saluted Li Wang's family, seeing that Li Wang's face was gloomy and his mind seemed to be a little confused, and two children about seven or eight years old sat next to her with a worry-free face.

With a soft sigh in his heart, Liu Erjo shook his head slightly, and turned around and walked out of the mourning hall.

It's early morning, the sun has just come out, the sky hasn't warmed up yet, the frost in the courtyard of the Li Mansion has not completely thawed, and as soon as I come out of the house, it's very cold.

"Wang Gang!" Liu Ertiao turned his head and instructed the steward of the mansion: "Move all the things you brought into the house, you can stay in the Li Mansion for the next few days, help Li Mi's housekeeper to greet him, and if you encounter any difficulties, come back and tell me." ”

Li Jihe is gone, and it is very likely that he went because of his eldest brother, and Liu Ertiao will not ignore his family.

"Yes, Second Young Master!" Wang Gang bent down in response, and then took a few accompanying subordinates and went straight to the outside of the courtyard.

"Liu Gongzi is really affectionate and righteous, the villain admires!" After Wang Gang left, Li Qing walked from the side with a chuckle, arching his hand and trying to get close to Liu Ertiao's side, but was stopped by Xue Rengui intentionally or unintentionally. Li Qing glanced up at Xue Rengui, smiled lightly, and didn't care, but he didn't move forward anymore, looked at Liu Ertiao and said softly: "The villain has thanked Liu Gongzi here for Ji He." ”

"Oh? What's the matter, is Neishou Li very familiar with Brother Li? Liu Ertiao raised his eyebrows slightly, and glanced at Li Qing, this is the first time he has seen the head of the East Palace, Li Qing's name He also heard Li Mi's housekeeper mention it when he first entered the mourning hall, this person gave Liu Ertiao the feeling that it was very insidious.

"Hehe, working together in the East Palace, there is always some affection. Moreover, Commander Li has never treated us eunuchs as current people, and the villain has always been very grateful to Commander Li. It's just that I didn't expect that good people don't live long, and such a good person as Commander Li suffered such an unwarranted disaster. Li Qing glanced at the mourning hall again, and his mind became very sad.

"What Li Neishou said is true, Brother Li is indeed a good person." Liu Ertiao echoed casually, but for Li Qing's words, he didn't believe it all, the eunuchs were humble, even if Li Jihe didn't look down on these eunuchs, but he would never be friendly with them, after all, although the inner servants were humble, their position was very sensitive, among the people in Shi, no one dared to get too close to them, so it was easy to be suspicious of the royal family, and Li Jihe was not such a careless person.

"Commander Li died in the line of duty this time, although the court has a pension, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not at ease, so let the villain come over to take care of it," Li Qing arched his hand in the direction of the East Palace, and then looked at Liu Ertiao and whispered: "I want to come to Liu Gongzi must also know why Li Gongzi went to the border, His Royal Highness the Prince suspected that Li Gongzi had an accident, and there was another hidden situation, so he sent a small one to worship Li Gongzi at the same time, and greeted Liu Gongzi, His Royal Highness the Prince wanted to invite Liu Gongzi to the East Palace, and the villain went to your mansion to greet him at night, Please also ask Liu Gongzi to prepare one or two in advance, don't let others know. ”

"Oh?" Liu Ertiao's eyes widened suddenly, glanced at Li Qing, and said to him in the same small voice: "Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince invited, the kid will not refuse. ”

"In this way, the villain will take his leave first." Li Qing smiled and arched his hand at Liu Ertiao, raised his foot and led the attendant he brought out.

"Brother Xue, what do you think?" Looking at Li Qing's departing back, Liu Ertiao asked Xue Rengui softly.

Xue Rengui's answer was very simple, but it was also very powerful: "No matter where I go, I will follow the second young master, this is my promise to the eldest young master." ”

"Well, let's go back to the house first." Liu Ertiao nodded lightly, led Xue Rengui together, and also returned to the mansion.

For the invitation of His Royal Highness the Prince, Liu Ertiao was not surprised, Li Jihe was sent out by His Royal Highness the Prince, and he also knew the purpose of Li Jihe's trip, and now Li Jihe was inexplicably burned in an inn, and it would be strange if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had no doubts in his heart.

"How? Have you found out the real cause of Jihe's death? Li Chengqian put down the tea bowl in his hand and asked Fang Zixing, a secret agent of the East Palace who had just returned from outside the palace. As soon as the news of Li Jihe's death came, Li Chengqian went to Fang Zixing to inquire in person, and he knew that Li Jihe's death would never be as simple as a fire.

"Back to His Royal Highness," Fang Zixing bowed down to Li Chengqian, and said respectfully: "According to the villain's careful investigation, it was initially found that Commander Li was first slashed with a knife in the chest and behind a deep wound, which was three inches into the flesh, and one knife penetrated the entire chest, which should have been caused by two people pinching back and forth. Commander Li also died of excessive blood loss and serious injuries, and the fire in the inn after that was just a murderer who wanted to extinguish the traces he left in order to hide people's eyes and ears. ”

"Is that really the case?!" Li Chengqian sat up from the chair suddenly, his two fists clenched together, he looked up at Fang Zixing deeply, and asked in a cold voice, "Then have you ever found out who is the murderer of Ji He?" ”

"The villain is incompetent!" Fang Zixing knelt on the ground and said in a panic: "From the corpse of Commander Li, the villain can only find these, even if the real murderer has left any clues before, he has already been burned clean by the fire, if you want to find the direct murderer, it is almost impossible, the villain is incompetent!" ”

"Rubbish!" Li Chengqian kicked Li Qing to the ground and roared loudly: "You can't do this little thing well, what's the use of raising you alone?!" Rubbish! ”

"Your Highness is angry! Your Highness is angry! Fang Zixing got up from the ground and knelt down in front of Li Chengqian again, honestly frightened, and his forehead hit the ground.

"Get up!" Li Chengqian took two breaths, calmed down his mood, glanced at Fang Zixing coldly, and said, "You will withdraw the investigation of this matter for Gu now, no matter what, no matter what the origin of the murderer is, you must give Gu to investigate!" ”

"Yes, Your Highness! The villain will go, and this will go! After knocking Li Chengqian's head a few times, Fang Zixing lay on the ground like this and crawled out backwards.

...