Jing Wan'er stretched out her hand and touched the basket containing wine, gently lifting the cloth covering it.

  The wine was exposed, but she looked at it for a moment and didn't touch it.

  Instead, she took the cloth and walked back to Pei Tan's side.

  Bai Tan looked at her movements, and she also looked at Bai Tan, slowly unfolding the fabric along its edges.

  Originally this piece of fabric that looks the most ordinary, turned it over and inside are intersecting lines and countless patterns, hiding a profound mystery that leaves people speechless.

  Pei Tan's eyes were deeply condensed and tightly closed: "The Map of the Great Tang Territory..."

  In this square foot of floral cloth, a vast map of the Tang Dynasty's territorial domain was hidden!

  "Jing Wanyu, where did you get the nerve?" Pei Tan's voice was cold, like a dark night.

  Since the founding of the Great Tang, all territories have been forbidden in the military. Someone actually dared to privately store maps of the Great Tang's territory! This doesn't need a trial or verdict, it's directly a capital offense!

  Jing Wan'er's expression was gloomy, but she couldn't see any fear: "Wan'er knows, so Wan'er came alone to see the master. If others saw her, Wan'er knew she would be doomed."

  "By being seen by me, can you escape capital punishment?"

  "The official" was already a sign of his anger, and he didn't expect that Jing Yuanyuan would even get her hands on the map of the Tang Dynasty's territory. This also made Pei Tan doubt for the first time, Jing Yuanyuan's actions seemed to have exceeded the scope of being bold.

  At this time, Jing Wanyu silently knelt in front of Pei Tan: "This map contains the whereabouts of Zong Huo. Master, let Wanyu finish speaking, and Wanyu will listen to your disposal."

  When he heard Zong Huo's whereabouts at that moment, Pei Tan's gaze contracted slightly.

  Even though she has narrowly escaped from the palace with her life, Jing Yuanyuan still hasn't given up on keeping a close eye on the Zong father and son.

  And her tight-lipped method was naturally the eyes and ears that filled Chang'an. To this day, apart from Ziyan, Pei Tan had not heard anything else from Jingyuan's mouth.

  The fate of the palace maidens.

  Pei Tan's gaze swept quickly over the unfolded map of the territory.

  The Pei family was not like ordinary literary families that only produced civil officials, it should be said that the Pei family never lacked military generals. As early as the Taizong era, Pei Xingyan of the Pei family had already made a name for himself in the great Tang Dynasty. Pei Tan had been familiar with the territorial conquests of the Tang Dynasty since he was young.

  But he was Pei Tan, and he was a son of the Pei clan.

  He understands these can't be helped.

  Ke Jing Waner she is...

  "The nearest town to Chang'an has eleven, and the surrounding areas of Chang'an are heavily guarded by soldiers, so Zong Chuke will definitely try to find a way to get around these places with Zong Huo."

  Jing Wan'er's voice echoed inside the private room.

  Pei Tan's eyes were deep and profound as he gazed at her.

  Jing Wan'er lowered her eyelids and continued, "Wan'er has made a mistake in front of you, sir. Apart from these eleven towns, there are only two remote roads that Zong Huo can take. One of them is a mountain road that is steep and dangerous. Since they disguised themselves as Hu merchants carrying many goods, they will certainly give up this route. And these... if you send someone to follow Zong Huo, they must have already obtained this information."

  Pei Tan indeed already knew, but this can't represent anything. Especially since Jing Wanyu didn't leave Chang'an, how could he infer these things?

  Jing Wan'er felt a bit uneasy and pinched her clothes: "Can Wan'er continue speaking?"

  Pei Tan's eyes were deep and profound: "Speak."

  Jing Wan'er glanced at him and directly used her hand to quickly tap out the three heavily circled places on the map.

  Only three places were seen, namely Caozhou, Wuzhou and Wuzhou.

  As soon as Pei's eyes met, his pupils locked tightly.

  "Wan'er knows where Zong Huo's weakness lies and knows where he will ultimately go..."

  He realized that Jing Wanner was not at all pretending, she had an extremely terrifying insight, and this insight even exceeded the categories she accepted herself, and it could be called a... gift.

  Jing Wan'er apparently plucked up the courage to come this time, and her finger finally landed on one of them; "Wan'er knows that adults must have made preparations in secret."

  …

  "But an adult's preparation is only to clearly understand the landing point of Zonghao, in order to achieve a later effect, but it is impossible to get ahead of Zonghao and predict his actions in advance, let alone invite him into the trap."

  It is said that the way to use troops is to seize the initiative. If Pei Tanruo is always passive, then the ability of the Pei family's guards is naturally not in doubt, and they will eventually be able to find out where Zong Huo wants to hide. But what Jing Wanyan said was to get ahead of Zong Huo.

  If everything could be prepared in advance, then many things would be easily solved.

  Jing Wan'er's fingers gradually left a deep scratch mark on the place where she had stayed.

  "If adults believe Wan'er and Zonghe, they must have gone here."

  Pei Tan's eyes gazed at that place, Wuzhou.

  ——

  Zong Chuke this time entered the palace without even bringing any attendants, from morning till sunset he didn't come out until the sun dipped below the western mountains. After coming out, his expression had added a few shades of sinister intent compared to when he entered the palace.

  The horse carriage returned quietly to the Shangshu Mansion. Zong Chuke gritted his teeth and said, "Bring Chen Shun over."

  Before long, a figure emerged from the darkness, raising its head to reveal a sharp face like that of a mouse. It was none other than Shi Ye, the mastermind behind Zong and Huo's escape.

  "Sir, didn't you discover anything when you entered the palace today?" Chen Shun asked with a pair of beady eyes.

  Zong Chuke's face was as cold as the frost on the outside of a window at night: "What Long Le Wang, what must be the palace maid taken away by Long Le Wang, it's really a well-designed scam."

  Chen Shun's eyes moved: "Sir, you say it's a scam?"

  Zong Chuke slammed his palm on the armrest of the chair, revealing his anger.

  Chen Shun's thief eyes rotated rapidly, he also heard about the matter in the palace, but the result of their sending people to investigate was that the palace maid was taken away by Prince Chang Le.

  "Is it true that the adult is entering the palace today to see Her Majesty the Empress... or what?"

  The person who can make Zong Chuke go see him in person is either Wei Hou or Wei Xuanzhen. However, Wei Xuanzhen has already gone to the Drunken Emotions Building to see Pei Tan in person, so he probably doesn't have the patience to see Zong Chuke again.

  "In the Ta Ye Pond's painting boat, after that night had passed, when someone took stock in the side room, they found one less eunuch's attire but an extra set of low-ranking palace maid clothes that seemed to have come from nowhere. Originally, this was a small matter and the palace staff who cleaned the painting boat didn't even report it."

  Today, Wei Hou was in the palace and sent someone to investigate, then slowly told Zong Chuke about this matter.

  It's hard to imagine how deep Zong Chuke's hatred was at that time.

  Pei Tan scolded this guy, daring to play tricks in front of him again and almost deceived him once more.

  The general guarding Danfeng Gate was summoned by Wei Zifu herself and tortured in the palace, finally telling the truth.

  The King of Chang Le walked away with no one in his carriage.

  All of this points to the answer that was deliberately excluded earlier.

  It was not Changle King who took away the palace maid.

  Chen Shun's expression also shrank slightly in the dim light, he had originally thought that his plan was absolutely foolproof, but if it wasn't, then his hope of taking credit in front of the Zong family father and son would be completely ruined.

  "How dare you, a lowly servant like Zaoyi Fang Cui Shanggong, deceive His Excellency?"

  This matter was first promised by Cui Shanggong, which means she had a push. The reason why Cui Shanggong lied can already be foreseen as self-protection.

  Zong Chuke's gaze, filled with deep hatred, gradually squeezed out a hint of a sly smile: "He thinks he can deceive everyone... I'll let this little brat taste the consequences."

  Chen Shun's eyes rolled a few times, and he couldn't believe that Pei Tan had already reached this point. If not for Zong Chuke's naturally suspicious nature, the matter would have almost been let go: "What does your excellency plan to do?"

  If Pei Tan had made such arrangements without a word, it would be enough to show that the escape of Zong Huo from Chang'an was likely already known to Pei Tan. This would have extremely frightening consequences for the entire Shangshu Fu.

  Zong Chu Ke's expression was gloomy and cold at this moment, with a hint of eerie smile.

  In the palace this afternoon, Wei Hou was fanning herself and said to him leisurely: "The palace still has one more thing to tell you. The identity of that palace maid is not an ordinary person. She entered the palace five years ago and was a daughter of General Jing Zhe of the Jing family."

  Still remember the shock of Zong Chuke at that time.

  How could Jing Zhe Ren forget, and also the Jing Manor, wasn't it a family that was used as pawns and killed by him?

  Unexpectedly,... so many coincidences in this world.

  An ordinary palace maid and a daughter of a noble family are already quite different.

  Zong Chuke's eyes revealed a hint of madness and hatred, as well as his emerging plan.

  Heaven is helping him. Give him a chance to cut the grass and eliminate the roots.

  A daughter of a guilty minister, already with a heavy crime on her shoulders, now adding the crime of secretly escaping from the palace, is simply an unforgivable sin that will surely lead to death. And yet, the one who helped this sinful woman escape was none other than the most gentle and noble Lord Pei, the head of the Dali Temple in the Great Tang Dynasty.

  Zong Chuke, who was ready to leave the palace, asked Wei Hou for a portrait of Jing Yuane.

  As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw that lovely girl, and Zong Chuke's fingers were pinched on her face, as if he had foreseen her death.

  "Make a hundred copies of this portrait, distribute them to the secret agents in Chang'an City, and kill the woman as soon as she is seen. The day he finds this woman will be the day of Pei Tan's death."

  Killing is just silencing, only need to bring the corpse of Jing Yuanyu who can't speak, enter the palace and tell Zhongzong about Pei's conspiracy with the traitorous officials, it's enough.

  Chen Shun looked at Zong Chuke's somewhat distorted and abnormal face, and a hint of a smile finally appeared in his sharp eyes: "The inferior one wants to congratulate the superior, your wish is about to come true."

  With Pei Tan gone, this stumbling block, it can be said that the sky of Chang'an will be clear from now on.

  The vendetta of killing his son, Zong Chuke had almost never forgotten.

  "Find this woman, and Pei Tan's crime will be nailed on the board. At that time, even if he discovered the matter of Huo Gongzi, it would have been too late to worry about it. Even if it were Your Majesty, you wouldn't believe him."

  Think about it, the noble and unmatched Grand Justice of Chang'an City has become an accomplice to a lowly palace maid. If this matter is made public, who will still acknowledge that the Grand Justice still holds any prestige?

  His eyes were already shrouded in gloom, he not only wanted Pei Tan to die, but also the Pei family behind him to be implicated. Even if it was impossible to overthrow this hundred-year-old aristocratic family, he had to make this self-proclaimed noble family lose face because of that boy!