After Xi Cha gave up escaping, Jing Wanyi hid Xi Cha in the Wangyuelou of the Zicong couple, where the most dangerous place is not necessarily safe, but there are no other expedient measures at present.

  "Miss, I have no relatives in this world, whether I leave the city or not is no longer important to me. But this pass can help you, and it mustn't be wasted on me."

  Jing Wan'er closed her eyes, and sometimes she would wonder if it was worth it, to be tossing and turning like this until dawn.

  Shen Xingwen woke up from his sleep and yawned. He glanced at Hu Chao in the middle of the big prison.

  One night, Hu Chao was flogged a hundred times. Now his whole body is protruding bones, one by one exposed in front of his chest, white and terrifying.

  Shen Xingwen slowly walked up to the cell and gazed at Hu Chao.

  "You still refuse to confess your crime of harming the crown prince, and also refuse to reveal your accomplices?" "Listen"

  At the sound of his voice, Hu Chao's eyes, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened wide. He had hardly slept all night and in the morning the bailiffs did not whip him again, he could not help but fall into a daze.

  Until this moment, Hu Chao knew that all of this was no joke.

  The vengeful spirit of the former crown prince haunted him, bringing up an old case after more than twenty years.

  "I didn't harm the crown prince," "Hu Chao's teeth were mixed with blood," Does the Grand Justice Temple want to force a confession?

  Shen Xingwen looked at him, unmoved: "I did hit you, but I can guarantee it wasn't a humiliating defeat. The word 'humiliating' is too far-fetched for someone like you."

  Hu Chao looked at Shen Xingwen, is there really a fool in this world who would plead guilty to the crime of harming the crown prince? Harming the crown prince isn't something that can be settled with just a few lashes, I'm afraid even being led out to the Meridian Gate and executed wouldn't be enough.

  Shen Xingwen continued to sit on the chair from yesterday, lifting his eyelids to look at Hu Chao.

  Yesterday mentioned Ming Songyan and Qiu Shenyou, from Hu Chao's reaction, it can be inferred that something is roughly understood.

  "You must have wanted to harm the former crown prince, and perhaps it's also because he had been regent three times and was deeply supported by the court and the people. However, due to Ming Chongyan's words in front of Empress Dowager, the former crown prince and his mother became estranged, leading to his demotion. In your hearts, regardless of whether the former crown prince really killed Ming Chongyan or not, he has already deeply resented you sorcerers. Such a crown prince, once he has the opportunity to return to Chang'an and take control of the court, what awaits you sorcerers is death."

  Shen Xingwen looked at Hu Chao with a gloomy face.

  Hu Chao's face twitched again because of these words.

  Shen Xingwen slowly leaned forward and said, "So in order to protect yourselves, you also had to find ways to drive the former crown prince to death, so that he would never have the chance to rise again. Obviously, you succeeded."

  Hu Chao looked at him: "This is all your conjecture."

  A crime he would never admit to even in death.

  Shen Xingwen furrowed his brow and continued slowly: "That's why I need you."

  The yamen runner handed over the prepared confession to Shen Xingwen, who said:

  "With a signature and a fingerprint on this paper, the motive and evidence are all complete."

  Hu Chao silently stared at Shen Xingwen, from yesterday's "get-together" for a day, this young man was clever and cunning. But what was he saying now? It made Hu Chao look like an idiot.

  "Unwilling? Shen Xingwen seemed to have seen Hu Chao's thoughts, holding the confession in his hand and staring at Hu Chao. 'You Taoist priests should believe in the cycle of cause and effect, right? From the day you decided to frame the Crown Prince, you should have anticipated today's outcome.'"

  Hu Chao looked at Shen Xingwen, and his mouth suddenly twitched uncontrollably. "Is this the Dalit Temple? Do you know what will happen to your Dalit Temple if outsiders find out that I was caught here?" Hu Chao's expression seemed like a smile but not quite.

  "What will happen?" Shen Xingwen looked at him and asked.

  Hu Chao didn't sleep all night, his two eyes were red threads, he stared at Shen Xingwen for a moment, "being razed to the ground, being burned by the big fire, disappearing from the map of Chang'an."

  Shen Xingwen raised an eyebrow and said calmly: "So powerful? Big deal?"

  The temple was established since Northern Qi and has been passed down for hundreds of years without interruption. Just because you were caught, it's going to be razed to the ground?

  This sarcasm was truly expressionless, but Hu Chao didn't change his face, he stared at Shen Xingwen with hatred.

  Shen Xingwen stared at him with equal coldness.

  Although Pei Tan did not interrogate the prisoners in person this time, with him sitting in the Temple of Great Awesomeness, others did not dare to be reckless.

  These two days everyone has worries, originally capturing Hu Chao's matter, Jing Wanyi first thought of telling Pei Tan, but Pei Tan left before she could speak, and Shen Xingwen happened to force his way in...

  "Sir, what did the Duke of Guanglu say to you?" Jing Wanyi asked cautiously, she had long wanted to ask this question, knowing it was overstepping her bounds, but there were too many doubts in her heart.

  The daughter of the Duke of Guanglu Temple, this nominal Princess of the Great Tang Dynasty, was named Li Nunu, and her age...was about the same as that of Jing Wanyan.

  Should I tell Pei Tan that Li Nu found her?

  Jing Wan'er didn't know how to talk to Pei Tan, after all Li Nu had been by her side since childhood.

  Until now, Jing Yuanyuan still doesn't know what her purpose is.

  She vaguely felt that the adult's marriage might be even more complicated.

  "Only talked about some court matters, didn't say much."

  After seeing the return of Guanglu Temple, Pei Tan already knew about Hu Chao's matter, so he didn't talk much about this meeting. Looking at Pei Tan's expression, it didn't seem as simple and easy-going as what he said.

  Jing Wan'er hesitated and lowered her eyelids.

  From the day of Hu Chao's "mysterious disappearance", the scouts from the Shangshu Fu had been searching for him in the city without a moment's rest, but three days passed and there was no news.

  "Previously someone had beaten you to it, now you can't even find anyone?" Zong Chuke expressionlessly looked at the returning scout.

  The scout's face turned pale and he lowered his head: "Report to Your Excellency, the beggars we sent out have infiltrated all the major blind spots and alleys of Chang'an, but they can't find any trace of Hu Chao's hiding. It's impossible by reason, unless..."

  Zong Chuke looked at the scout, his voice a few degrees colder: "Unless what?"

  The scout had no choice but to continue: "Unless he has hidden in the courtyards of various homes, in which case we won't be able to find him."

  There are so many prominent families in Chang'an, how can they be allowed to go door-to-door searching for people, and they don't even have the power to do so.

  Zong Chuke stared at Tanzi: "In Chang'an City, it's impossible for any family to be willing to shelter Hu Chao."

  If Hu Chao really had a powerful backer, he wouldn't have been living like a mouse in Chang'an all these years. Zong Chuke was very clear about this, so he let Hu Chao hide and flee, after all, it was that Sun Wukong who couldn't get out of the Five Elements Mountain.

  But now... has Hu Chao vanished into thin air?

  The scout's face suddenly twitched: "Could it be...that Hu Chao has left the city?"

  This might shock them all, theoretically Hu Chao shouldn't have disappeared, but now it's impossible for things to become true.

  Zong Chuke asked: "What about the city gates of Chang'an? Is there any unusual movement?"

  The current inspection is very strict, and the pass documents of each household cannot be issued at will, unless Hu Chao has someone helping him behind his back.

  Zong Chuke stared at him: "Are you sure Hu Chao is no longer in the city?"

  ？“

  The scout knocked his head hard, they absolutely didn't miss any place, thinking and thinking, could it be that Hu Chao became a ghost and hid in the underworld? His whole body trembled.

  "Your Excellency, what should we do about this?" Letting Hu Chao run wild outside is too dangerous. Previously, I thought that Hu Chao would not be able to escape no matter how hard he tried, but as long as he lives, the threat to the current Shangshu Mansion will only grow bigger.

  Zong Chuke tapped his fingers on the table: "Get a pass from the Ministry of War, take a team out of the city to search."

  The scout nodded immediately: "Yes."

  The leader of the scouts quickly led his men away, and his subordinates quietly asked: "Boss, how are we going to search? If that Hu Chao has escaped to all corners of the earth, how can we find him and bring him back?"

  The scout gazed coldly at the man and said, "In that case, today's meal back at the mansion will be our last."

  His face turned deathly pale.

  "The northern city gate is for official families and aristocrats. Ordinary people can only leave the city through the southern city gate, so we'll search there first."

  A group of people carried documents out of the city with ease, outside the city was a desolate official road, they had to search along it, and on both sides there were many things discarded by others.

  "Older brother! There is, and found again!"

  One of his men rushed forward with a large handful of fragments.

  The scout took a closer look and found it was a torn pass. He immediately focused his eyes, ordinary people would not easily tear up the pass even if they had already left the city, this torn one was so thorough, as if venting anger.

  "Others hesitated and said: 'It's also possible... that it was discarded by some other passerby?'"

  After all, the pass can only be used once, and after leaving the city, it becomes a useless piece of paper.

  The scout stared at this document for a long time, "Find all the torn pieces and put them together."

  All hands acted immediately, fortunately it didn't rain for these two days, no

  It was windy, and soon all the scattered papers were found in the grass.

  When all the pieces were put together, the characters suddenly appeared.

  "Song Beichen..." The scout's face changed color, this was Hu Chao's alias used in Chang'an City.

  The scout immediately tucked the found documents into his chest and said, "Leave two people here to continue searching, I will go ask the city gate guard and report to the Minister!"

  The document had a specific date of departure from the city and the number of people leaving. The document was handed over to the guard at the gate, asking who was on duty that day, and then showing the portrait of Hu Chao, which had been prepared in advance, to the guard on duty, immediately confirming Hu Chao's departure from the city.

  Moreover, it was known that Hu Chao left the city alone, without a horse or carriage. Furthermore, on that day, within an hour before and after Hu Chao's departure from the city, there were no carriages or horses passing by from any wealthy households, which means that Hu Chao could not have hitched a ride with someone else.

  How far can he go by himself?

  The city guards were shocked and their faces trembled as they recalled something: "That day there was a great...

  The people of Li Temple said that a fugitive had escaped and they would definitely go out of the city to catch him...

  The scout's face turned pale, the guard's face turned white. Even the children in Chang'an City knew that the Dalisi Temple and the Shangshu Fu were sworn enemies. Had he inadvertently stirred up some trouble?