There is a huge courtyard surrounded by high walls in the northwest corner of the Yujing City Palace.

It is a bit far away from the Imperial Palace, and the architectural styles of the buildings in the courtyard are completely different from those of the Imperial Palace.

The high wall is black.

Dozens of small buildings, large and small, inside the high wall are all black.

Except for the one in the corner, all the small buildings are two stories.

The one at the corner has eight floors.

It is actually a tower, but there is no tower in its name.

It is also completely black, so it is called the Black Tower.

This place is quieter than any other place in the palace. Even the chirping of cicadas is almost unheard here.

This is the headquarters of the Ningguo Imperial City Division.

The Black Building is the heart of this headquarters!

Changsun Jinghong is the master of this place.

He didn't like summer, let alone the chirping of cicadas in summer, so every time summer came, the first thing the officials and spies of the Imperial City Department had to do was to catch all the cicadas in the forest.

Over time, there were no more cicadas here.

Then it became as quiet as it is now.

Prince Ning Zhiyi got off the carriage outside the courtyard. Without a guard, he walked into the courtyard under the leadership of Imperial City Sizhike and walked towards the black building.

It was very hot outside the courtyard, but after entering the courtyard, he felt that it was chilly here.

There are those big-leafed banyan trees that block out the sky and the sun, and there’s also the reason why everything here is gloomy.

The tree trunks are covered with moss, and the walls of the small wooden buildings are also covered with moss.

It is said that during the previous dynasty, this place was actually a place of execution.

After the founding of the Ning Kingdom, in order to suppress the evil spirit here, they built the black tower. However, they did not expect that three hundred years later, this place would become even more sinister and terrifying than the former execution ground.

No official likes it here.

Even the vast majority of officials in the DPRK have never been here, and they never want to come here in their lives.

What the Imperial City Division does is not a good thing for these officials.

If you are targeted by the Imperial City Secretary... you will be walking through the gates of hell.

Therefore, this place was also privately called the Palace of Hell by those officials.

As for that King of Hell, of course he is Sun Jinghong, the eldest son of the Imperial City Si Tiju!

Ning Zhiyi climbed to the eighth floor panting.

However, what he saw was a girl in red sitting in front of the window.

"Hongyi, where is Mr. Changsun?"

She is wearing a red dress, so her name is Hongyi. She is the granddaughter of Changsun Jinghong... Changsun Hongyi!

Changsun Hongyi stood up and bowed her hands, "Your Highness, grandpa is enjoying the cool under the crooked-neck tree downstairs."

"..." Ning Zhiyi's whole body felt bad.

Climbing this floor is really tiring!

But even as a prince, he did not dare to let anyone call Changsun Jinghong up.

So, he swallowed and took two breaths, "I'm going to find him right now."

"In a hurry?"

"...I'm not in a hurry, I just want to hear your opinion on something small."

Changsun Hongyi blinked her beautiful eyes, "Oh, then I'll take you down."

Ning Zhiyi went downstairs with difficulty again, turned around and looked at the eight-story building, wondering why it was built so high?

The two came to the crooked neck tree in the corner.

There is a square table and four stone stools under the tree.

Changsun Jinghong was not sitting on the stone stool, but lying on a rocking chair under the tree.

He was shaking a tattered cattail leaf fan in one hand and holding a cup of tea in the other. The rocking chair was shaking. He squinted his eyes and was humming a song:

Orioles, swallows, spring, flowers and willows are real,

Everything is charming,

Delicate and tender, she can be treated like everyone...

His voice was ugly and even out of tune, but every groove in his old face was filled with the word "enjoyment".

Changsun Hongyi and Prince Ning Zhiyi stood beside him. They waited for him to finish singing the song before he opened his eyes, looked at Ning Zhiyi, and sat up.

"Your Highness, you have gained weight again!"

"..." Ning Zhiyi felt a little pain in his chest.

He bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, you have lost weight again!"

"It's hard to lose weight when you're old. It's better to be thinner. Please sit down! Hongyi, go get the pot of herbal tea from the well."

"Okay, grandpa."

Changsun Hongyi turned around and left. Changsun Jinghong was still sitting in the rocking chair. He looked at Ning Zhiyi again, "Is something wrong?"

"It's not my business."

"...whose business is that?"

"Li Chenan!"

Changsun Jinghong frowned slightly, "Is this the Li Chenan who made the song "Tian Jing Sha"? Your Highness has taken a fancy to this boy?"

Ning Zhiyi nodded and shook his head:

"I really admire what this guy said at the South Gate. But in this situation...if I win over him, I will actually harm him."

"There are two main reasons why I came to look for you sir today."

At this time, Changsun Hongyi came over with a jar of herbal tea. She poured a bowl for Ning Zhiyi, sat aside, and heard Ning Zhiyi say again:

"First, my father has not yet returned to the palace, but he has sent an imperial edict back to Li Chen'an, asking him to participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th... The fourth princess said that this matter may not be that simple, and I am afraid that there is something behind it.

Concubine Ji’s idea.”

"Fourth Emperor Sister seems to be interested in that boy. Besides, I don't want him to die in the hands of Concubine Ji. Therefore, I would like to ask Sir for the sake of your grandfather and you being close friends.

After returning to the palace, help him seek a way out for him in front of his father."

Changsun Jinghong did not answer, but Changsun Hongyi asked curiously: "Are you saying that Concubine Ji wants to kill Li Chenan?"

"He is a small person from Guangling City. Is it worthy for Concubine Ji to take action?"

Ning Zhiyi pondered for a moment: "This is also a guess. To say that he is indeed not worthy of Concubine Ji's action, but... the second emperor's brother is very fond of Zhongli Ruoshui, but Zhongli Ruoshui likes Li Chenan."

"Oh, speaking of which, I'm also very curious, why did Zhongli Ruoshui fall in love with him?"

Ning Zhiyi didn't know either, so he couldn't answer.

Changsun Jinghong took a sip of tea and asked, "What's the second thing?"

"The second thing I want to do is to ask you about that past incident, sir."

"Sir, do you know Wen Boiyu?"

Changsun Jinghong raised his eyes and looked at Ning Zhiyi, pondering for a moment: "I know."

"Then...sir, do you know that I should have had an older brother?"

"died."

Ning Zhiyi was startled, "Really dead?"

"We haven't seen each other for twenty years. The Imperial City Division, the Fish and Dragon Society, and the Lijing Division have all been looking for him for twenty years. It's not an exaggeration to say that they have plowed our Ningguo all over. But there is really no news. Let's just treat him as dead.

Bar."

At this moment, a middle-aged man wearing black clothes hurriedly walked over.

He stood in front of Changsun Jinghong and bowed: "Sir, I just got some news."

"what news?"

"The Mirror Division is searching for medical clinics all over the city!"

Changsun was startled and asked, "Why?"

"Something happened at the Huaxi Villa. Luo Yueban took four killers to the Huaxi Villa to kill Li Chenan... This is the fourth daughter-in-law of Mrs. Fan of the Marquis of Dingguo Mansion, Zhong Li Ruoshui's mother, who invited Eunuch Xiao.

What he did was...the old eunuch in Concubine Ji’s palace."
To be continued...