In the quiet shop, the faint light and shadow brought Zhou Ling into a memory that had long been dusty.
At that time, he had the idea of committing suicide because of his world-weariness, so he cut his feet with a dagger until they were dripping with blood. When Mr. Zhou found out, he taught him how to carve. He also said that although a person cannot walk, as long as he still has hands and a brain, he can
You can still do many things that ordinary people cannot do.
It was at that time that he began to learn sculpture. Later, Mr. Zhou was afraid that he would be too bored, so he brought a white cat to accompany him.
In this way, they spent three years together with two people and one cat. During this period, he carved a cat paw for the cat out of purple jade and put it on its neck as a pendant. But it didn't take long for the cat to know what was going on.
The cat disappeared completely. Mr. Zhou told him that the cat ran away for fun and did not come back, but it would come back in the future.
Zhou Ling's vision gradually became clearer. Looking at the purple jade cat claw in Wang Xiu's hand, he already understood.
The white cat back then either ran away to play and didn't come back, it was probably dead. Mr. Zhou didn't want him to be too sad, so he told him that the white cat ran away and might come back in the future, leaving him a glimmer of hope.
Just like when he wanted to die countless times, Mr. Zhou would hold him and coax him over and over again, weaving countless hopes for him...
Zhou Ling stepped forward and asked Wang Xiudao: "Mrs. Lu, I really like this purple jade cat claw, can you part with it?"
Wang Xiu took the purple jade cat claw and was reluctant to part with it.
The shopkeeper said: "Isn't it just a little cat's paw?"
Wang Xiudao: "The beauty is second, but the master who carved this kitten's claw must have been very caring back then."
"Maybe it's not necessarily carved for his most beloved pet cat. I really can't bear to part with it."
Zhou Ling's hand tightened and he slowly retracted.
He smiled and said, "Then please ask Mrs. Lu to pick something else for me."
Wang Xiu immediately agreed: "Okay, I'll choose it for you right away."
The shopkeeper was a little uneasy and looked at Zhou Ling from time to time.
But Zhou Ling was as stable as Mount Tai, unmoved at all.
Gradually, the shopkeeper felt relieved and accompanied Wang Xiu to select other carvings.
Wang Xiu had a very unique vision and chose a jasper powder box and a pair of carp jade pendants for Zhou Ling.
They paid the money together, and Wang Xiu left first.
Mingxin thought Zhou Ling would return the jade pendant, but Zhou Ling urged: "We are not going back today?"
Mingxin looked at the jade pendant he was holding, and finally said nothing. The two of them walked around in a circle, and finally returned to Prince An's Mansion through the tunnel of a tea house.
When we were in the dark passage, there was nothing but burning candles.
There was a slight flow of breath in the empty corridor, letting people know that this place was not completely sealed off.
Zhou Ling couldn't help but ask: "You seem to have never mentioned that Wang Xiu and I knew each other in the previous life?"
Mingxin said firmly: "No, you don't know each other."
Zhou Ling seemed a little surprised, but took it for granted. He had never thought about competing for the throne with Zhao Lin, let alone Zhao Jinghuan, so the chance of contacting Wang Xiu was slim.
But he still continued to ask: "In the previous life, when my grandson succeeded to the throne, did I contribute?"
Ming Xin was silent for a while and nodded slowly.
Zhou Ling laughed and said, "Then how could I not know Wang Xiu?"
"At that time, she was working as a spy in Prince An's Mansion, right?"
"Who is the person contacting her?"
"My grandson is so young, who is the person in power next to him?"
"Ming Xin, I have no ill intentions towards Wang Xiu or Lu Yunhong. You should believe me."
Mingxin turned her head, looked at Zhou Ling's calm and calm appearance, and said bluntly: "In your previous life, you did not know her, you just knew her."
"Just like I know you, I just know you and have never been in contact with you."
Zhou Ling's originally pleasant expression gradually turned cold. He wanted to know these things out of pure curiosity.
But the way she was wary of him seemed to be engraved in her bones.
…
Lu Mansion.
When Wang Xiu went home, she would tinker with the small things she bought, knitting threads, or cleaning them.
When Lu Yunhong came in, she handed it to him like a treasure.
However, Lu Yunhong didn't seem to be interested. He only took one look and asked, "Did you go out on the street today?"
Wang Xiu nodded. He originally wanted to say that he saw Liu Qing and Zheng Sihan, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not an important matter, so he didn't say anything.
Lu Yunhong squeezed her shoulders and said, "If you like it, buy more. I'll go to the study and be back in a while."
Wang Xiu looked at his back and thought he was weird. He just went to the study room. Why did he come over to explain it to him?
At the same time, Ji Yunwei and Song Muting had been waiting in the study for a long time.
When they saw Lu Yunhong coming, their expressions were quite solemn.
Especially Song Muting, he hesitated to speak.
Lu Yunhong asked Ji Yunwei, "You have been out for so long, what have you found?"
Ji Yunwei reported back: "Liu Qing said that Zheng Sihan's mother, Mrs. Zhou, was sent to the capital by the Zhou family. The encounter with Zhongyong Bo Zheng Zhiyong was also deliberately created by the Zhou family, with the purpose of borrowing Zheng Sihan's help.
The power of family is conducted openly and honestly.”
"But I checked and found that the Zhou family's business has always been very good. It can be said that there is no need to borrow the power of the Zheng family. On the contrary, the Zheng family has been in decline. If Zheng Sitong had not chosen the crown princess, the Zheng family could be said to be
Totally lost.”
"Moreover, in order for Zheng Sihan to be elected as the Crown Princess, the name on the list reported that year was that of the legitimate daughter of the main wife. Although this status is good, the royal family has strict inspections, and the record officer will only write: the daughter of the stepmother."
"The two are very different. The former may pass all the way smoothly, but the latter will be kicked off in the first round. This means that the Zhou family or the Zheng family have accomplices in the palace."
After hearing this, Lu Yunhong affirmed: "It's the Zhou family."
Song Muting also agreed: "Yes, it can't be the Zheng family. If it were the Zheng family, and Zheng Sitong was deposed last year, they wouldn't be unable to use their strength at all."
Lu Yunhong tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes dimmed suddenly, and he said calmly: "The Zhou family even plotted to get their own daughter in. This game of chess had to be arranged more than twenty years ago, so what we see today is nothing more than
There are just bits and pieces floating on the water, and even the origin of the Zhou family cannot be found out."
Ji Yunwei was silent, this was also his biggest headache right now.
After spending a huge amount of financial and material resources, as well as the contacts accumulated by the Ji family for many years, they could not even open a single gap in the Zhou family.
However, Ji Yunwei still said: "I found out that the head of their family, whose surname is Zhou, is Zhou Ling. He is a young man with a disease in his legs and difficulty walking. He is about twenty-five years old this year."
"But he always wears a mask when traveling. I checked some servants of the Zhou family who were sold, and found that they are either deaf or mute, and they can't even gesture."
However, Lu Yunhong caught what Ji Yunwei said: "I have a disease in my legs and am unable to walk. I was around twenty-five years old..."
Song Muting came over and said: "Have you also thought about the earthquake that happened on our way back to Beijing? There was such a person. The people around him had extraordinary origins and disappeared quietly in the end."
Ji Yunwei said in surprise: "Have you seen it before?"
Song Muting shook his head: "I didn't."
After finishing speaking, he looked at Lu Yunhong. I wonder if Lu Yunhong has seen Zhou Ling's true face?
As a result, Lu Yunhong looked at them and said calmly: "Me neither."
However, just now, Zhou Ling's blurry face suddenly flashed across his eyes, and he seemed to understand something in a daze.
But the tightness only lasted a moment, and he still failed to grasp the key element. His mind suddenly went blank, and for a moment he couldn't calm down.