Due to the surprise and having held his breath for too long in the cold and biting water, he was injured internally. However, there were no doctors with superb medical skills in Liangshan. The prince specially lent his special car to Zuo Qing and asked him to take Su Yan immediately.
He returned to Ruoshui to seek medical treatment from the imperial physician. After traveling day and night, it was already two days since he returned to Ruoshui. Su Yan lay down for two days and fell asleep for two days. Occasionally he woke up. When he woke up, he just stared at Zuo Qing for a long time, and then asked him:
Already in the afterlife?
Zuo Qing was stunned at first, but later he realized that Su Yan thought she was dead, and maybe he thought it was a dream when he saved her that day.
In the past two days, Zuo Qing devoted himself to taking care of Su Yan, leaving all the errands for which he had won credit to Xilou to do. He followed the prince to search the county offices and back mountains, and not only found all the county officials, county captains and other officials.
All kinds of evidence of corruption and perversion of the law were also found, and the evidence of correspondence with Mo Fei was listed in the lawsuit. The two immediately set off and rushed to Ruoshui.
The afterglow of the setting sun shines under the eaves of the Wanchao House of Qishan Academy, wrapping half of Wei Zixu's body in it, making it look gleaming. Xilou stood behind him and looked at him quietly. This third person was many years younger than him.
The second prince.
Maybe I met him a few times when I was young. At that time, Emperor Rong only cared about him as his eldest son. Wei Zixu had a bad background and his mother was incompetent, so he was never favored. At that time, Wei Zixu should have envied himself very much.
He probably wouldn't have thought that Wei Zhen, who was once inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, would end up where he is today.
A surge of sadness welled up from the depths of my heart, impacting my eyes, which suddenly felt sour.
Wei Zixu turned his head slightly, glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and said: "The Liangshan team has gained a lot. I have handed over the evidence of Liangshan and the criminal evidence collected by Zuo Qing over the years to the hands of the emperor. The emperor was furious.
Xuanting was ordered to immediately leave for the Kingdom of Zhao to capture Mo Fei alive, but..." Wei Zixu frowned slightly, revealing his worry, "Mo Fei is far away in the Kingdom of Zhao. I'm afraid he will be on guard if he notices any trouble."
"It's meaningless to kill Mo Fei now. The weapon list is already in his hands. What I'm afraid of is that he wants to rebel!"
"Rebellion?" Wei Zixu looked at him in shock: "No way! What Mo Fei wants is nothing more than power and money. Rebellion is a serious crime!"
"Whether it is in the dark market or privately forging weapons, Mo Fei has always had close ties with Linguo. This is not just corruption! Now he has tried every means to take away the weapons catalog. As we all know, King Zhao has coveted the weapons catalog for a long time.
Mo Fei’s purpose is obvious, he wants to use King Zhao and Linguo to attack Rongguo!"
Wei Zixu thought about it and asked him hurriedly: "Even if your guess is correct, Mo Fei is far away in Zhao State, and he has no one available in Rong State, so how can we cooperate inside and outside?"
The west building watched the setting sun disappear little by little on the eaves, and the colors on the horizon also dimmed. The dark night came in a blink of an eye. The dark night where they couldn't see their fingers was like the net that Mo Fei had carefully woven for them. There was no exit, no way to survive, everything
He had planned everything, but thinking about it, he was sure of victory this time... Xilou looked at the prince in horror as if he had just woken up from a dream, and the prince was a little shocked by his reaction.
"Mo Fei is in Kyoto, and there are still people!"
Wei Zixu was confused: "All three provinces and six ministries have been purged. Is there anything missing?"
Xilou shook his head. He didn't know who else was there, but he always felt that he and Zuo Qing had missed someone.
On the third day, Su Yan finally woke up. Looking at the person guarding the bed, she felt as if she was in another world. She looked at him for a long time before she could adapt to the real world.
"Maybe you should explain all this to me," Su Yan asked after holding back the words for a long time. She looked at him intently and said word by word: "The orphan of the Xuan clan!"
Zuo Qing smiled, but there was no smile at all. It was extremely bitter and sad.
"I thought it would be good to hide some old things in my heart. The fewer people who knew about them, the safer it would be for me. However, it turned out to be the opposite."
"Ten years have passed. I always thought that the incident was far away from me. But when Xilou told me the truth, I discovered that the case ten years ago was still alive and bloody, and there were still people running for it.
, to avenge you. But... I shouldn't be included in your revenge. I believed you so much at first, but you took advantage of my trust and used me as a pawn to deal with Mo Fei!" Su Yan said his own words
No matter what happened, I felt that I was both funny and pathetic, and in the end I could only sigh, "Yes, I have asked to help you many times, but that was based on a friend's trust in you, because I thought you were supporting justice.
It's to save my students! But you, standing on a high place, hiding in the dark, pushed me into the storm, and you held the long pole, I was just bait on the line, at your mercy.
!”
Zuo Qing hurriedly held her fist that was clenched with anger and whispered: "Ayan, I was selfish and shouldn't have deceived you, but I regretted it. I regretted it a long time ago. Now I just want to hurry up."
Let's end all this and take you away from Rongguo. Let's go back to Kuai Feng Town. Just like before, I'll be with you and I'll always be with you!"
"Zuo Qing, haven't you been avoiding me? Didn't you still persuade me that Xilou is the good man? Why have you changed your face now and want to fly away with me?" Su Yan withdrew his hand and stuffed it into the quilt.
Next, "I am a human being with flesh and blood. I am not the kind of fool who comes and goes when you call him. Why should I agree to you if you regret it?"
Tears filled Zuo Qing's eyes. He really regretted it in his heart. He had regretted it from the beginning. However, there is no regret medicine in the world, and no one can do it over again. His slightly drooping eyelashes shone brightly, and it took a long time before it was difficult.
He said, "Yes, why do you have to agree to me? I took advantage of you from the beginning. You are just a pawn in my revenge plan, and you are just a pawn if you give it to Xilou..."
Su Yan looked at him in shock. She really didn't expect that Zuo Qing gave herself to Xilou. What did this mean?
Zuo Qing didn't seem to notice her anger and continued to talk to himself: "Let me tell you a story about Xilou and me. About thirteen years ago, I went to Ruoshui. At that time, my father was still there.
I was only a child of seven or eight years old. My father routinely paid tribute on behalf of the King of Zhao and took the opportunity to visit my aunt who had entered the palace as a concubine. There, I met Xilou. He was one year younger than me and thinner than me, but
He is physically stronger than me. At that time, we were both energetic children. I was the eldest son of the marshal, and he was the crown prince of Rongguo, Wei Zhen!"
Su Yan sat up as if being electrocuted, his eyes widened in horror: "Wei Zhen?! Who is Wei Zhen?"
Zuo Qing raised his eyelashes and did not answer, but continued to talk about him and his story: "Prince Rong Guo, what a noble status he has, but even so, he is still on thin ice. I always ask him, do you
He is a prince, so why are you afraid of this and that? Wei Zhen said, because accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger, and my father is no exception. Later I fully understood what it means to accompany the emperor like a tiger! My aunt gave birth to a son for Emperor Rong,
But she was not welcomed. Just one year later, in the 14th year of Wei Sheng's reign, a plague broke out in the palace. Her aunt, her children, and Wei Zhen were infected at the same time, but Emperor Rong wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of his aunt! I don't know how she escaped in the end.
From the palace, but later Xilou mentioned this matter, saying that Emperor Rong had wanted to kill his aunt for a long time, because the reason why Emperor Rong ascended the throne was caused by his aunt, and she knew all his unscrupulousness and conspiracies! Wei Sheng Fifteen
At the end of the year, Wei Zhen also met his fate. Emperor Rong believed Mo Fei's words and believed that Empress Yu and the Crown Prince were unfaithful to him. He actually prevented the fire from burning Fusang Palace. The fire burned for three days before it was extinguished. Everyone thought that
They died, but it was my aunt who saved him who was dying, and we are where we are today!"
"What about you? How did you survive?"
Zuo Qing's thoughts slowly returned to the killings of that year. The autumn wind was bleak, and fallen leaves were piled up in every corner of the yard. Normally, the servants would have started cleaning up, but that day, everyone, including the servants, had their hands tied behind their backs. Together with the Xuan family
Together, they knelt all over the yard. The young Zuo Qing nestled in his mother's arms and shivered with fear. When the cold wind blew, the fallen leaves hit his little face with dry dust. He was speechless and just kept talking.
Shivering, his mother's chin rubbed his forehead and whispered to him: "Tan'er, remember, our Xuan family has never been traitors, someone framed us, framed your father! You must remember,
Even if I die, I can’t forget it!”
His mother's words pierced his heart like nails, and seemed to carry an inexplicable power that made him forget fear and cold in an instant. He straightened his chest and faced death.
The executioner was none other than Mo Fei. He had full authority to handle the treason case, so he naturally became the executioner. When dozens of executioners raised their butcher knives and aimed them at the necks of their loved ones, the bright knives were
The sun reflected the dazzling light, and Zuo Qing could not open his eyes for a while. There was no scream, the silence was terrifying, and what followed was the sound of the knife cutting through the muscles and breaking the bones, but there was still no cry.
One after another, his close relatives fell down, and the blood flowed into a river, dripping down to his knees. It was wet and sticky. He still remembers the touch to this day!
His mother seemed to be saying something in his ear. He turned around to see, but was pressed heavily in her arms. He wanted to struggle and scream, but suddenly someone stood up and shouted. Then another group stood up.
People, like waves, blocked him layer by layer. They were still cutting people in front, but it was extremely safe here. It seemed that they did it on purpose. Sure enough, his mother kicked him behind him and stretched out a pair of big hands.
, dragging him into the darkness.
The last image in Zuo Qing's eyes was her mother's face. That face was full of hope. The faces of the close relatives behind her mother also had the same hope as hers, and that hope was herself!
Pulling away from the memories, it seemed that he had exhausted half of his strength. Zuo Qing closed his eyes. At this moment, he seemed much older. He stretched out his hands and spread his palms: "It's aunt, she saved me."
, and my closest relatives, they used their blood to open a way for me to live." The palms of my hands suddenly clenched into fists, "So I must live, I will do whatever it takes to live, not for myself, but for each of them.
Man! Ayan, I took advantage of you, but you were not included in our plan at that time. At first, the so-called 'you' existence was just a chess piece. Anyone can be this chess piece. And I must be foolproof, so I know how to use chess pieces.
Make the best use of whatever means necessary! But I didn't expect that I would like you, let alone that you and Wei Zhen were childhood sweethearts, and he was determined to win the throne. In the future, you would be his queen, but I am just a homeless person.
Return, the man covered with blood debt."
"So, it's not just you who takes revenge, but him too?" Su Yan finally understood the cause and effect, understood Zuo Qing's helplessness in pushing her away, and understood the pain behind their unscrupulous means. However, she still couldn't understand why.
Is it him? Is it really a coincidence? Thinking of his identity, Su Yan felt that it was not simple. At this time, he also suddenly thought of a question: What does Wei Zhen rely on to reset?
Su Yan stared at Zuo Qing with sharp eyes and asked him: "Every one of us has a secret. Now, don't you want to fully explain it to me?"
"you……"
Zuo Qing didn't seem to expect that Su Yan had a clear mind and could detect omissions. There was no point in hiding it at this time, so he wanted to tell her everything. Su Yan was the first to say, "The reason why you found me is not a coincidence."
, but come for me, because you need Xilou for revenge, and Xilou’s restoration requires the full help of Prince Zheng. One is his prestige in the court, and the other is his prestige in the army, including the patrol in his hands.
Although the army cannot resist thousands of troops, it can still frighten people's hearts with one against a hundred! If Wei Zhen wants to be restored, he must go through Emperor Rong, but he himself set the fire ten years ago. Emperor Rong
How could it be possible to issue an imperial edict and take the initiative to accept Wei Zhen? The only way is probably to use the power of Prince Zheng to lead all officials to remonstrate with Emperor Rong and force Emperor Rong to submit!"
"And I am the only way to persuade the political prince to come out, because I am his daughter, you have known it for a long time!"
When a secret that has been hidden for a long time is revealed, it must be an uncomfortable feeling. Zuo Qing lowered his head and couldn't see his expression clearly, but it could be seen from the violent rise and fall of his shoulders that he was in pain.
Su Yan explained everything clearly and finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Zuo Qing, I don't hate you. I know the pain of losing a loved one. I know how difficult it is for you to take this road. However, I cannot accept that I am being used. Even if this reason cannot be refused, I cannot accept it."
He nodded feebly, stood up slowly, and left here.
The medicinal soup on the coffee table had long since cooled down. Su Yan glanced at it and finally couldn't hold it back anymore, covering his hands with the quilt and crying bitterly.
The next day, the imperial edict came to the palace, along with Yan Ling and thirty-six people from Xuanting.
All members of Xuanting were mobilized, which was unprecedented in history. The students in the academy had never seen this scene before, and they were all so frightened that they hid, not daring to say a word, for fear of getting into trouble and being doomed.
Zuo Qing unfolded the imperial edict, but there was no change in his expression. He just said lightly: Serving the country and the people, this is what a minister should do. Your Majesty loves me so much.
Yan Ling liked his unfazed attitude very much, and she couldn't help but feel a little respect in her heart.
"I have told your Majesty all your worries. Your Majesty is worried that once Linguo and Zhao join forces, it will be difficult for Rongguo to cope with the current strength of Rongguo. The only way now is to go to Zhaoguo first.
Mo Fei and King Zhao for a while, but I think Mo Fei is not in Zhao Kingdom, what do you think?"
Zuo Qing smiled and said: "Master Yan and I have thought of it together. Since Mo Fei can set a trap here, he naturally has a perfect plan. But I don't know what his plan is yet."
Yan Ling said with worry: "As soon as Mo Fei arrived in the Zhao Kingdom, I sent a letter to inform the cronies who were stationed in the Zhao Kingdom, but there has been no reply so far. Now Mo Fei seems to have disappeared out of thin air. I am afraid that the enemy is secretly there."
, I will be in trouble tomorrow."
"At the end of the road, Mo Fei will naturally seek refuge with his backer, and this backer is naturally Lin Guo."
"Then I should go to Linguo!"
"The theory of rebellion is just my guess. Although I am 70% sure, it is better to be cautious. Master Yan rushes to Linguo to alert the snake. It is better to go to Zhaoguo. Before everything is settled, maybe
There was an unexpected gain.”
Yan Ling suddenly understood. She cupped her hands towards him and turned to leave.
Before leaving, Yan Ling seemed to have thought of something, and turned around and confessed: "Your Majesty has never been nepotistic. In his eyes, anyone can be reused as long as they are useful! But... Your Majesty never seems to trust a person for a long time, including me.
Zuo Qing, you are able to receive a favor, but I don’t know whether you are lucky or unlucky."
Zuo Qing disagreed, as he did not want to gain Emperor Rong's trust.
The third watch has passed, and the moonlight is sparse. The Zen Jingyuan is silent, and the night wind blows through the leaves, leaving only the rustling sound. The room in the northwest corner is still lit, and the candle is dim, making the figure look very lonely.
At the fourth watch, he was still sitting there, picking up and putting down the book in his hand, with no intention of reading it. Yansheng woke up from his drowsiness, saw the adult still sitting, rubbed his groggy eyes, got up and cut out the candle for him.
"Sir, are you worried?" Yansheng asked.
"What's wrong?" Zuo Qing asked doubtfully.
"It's the fourth day of the night and you're still not asleep. It's not because you're worried, what else could it be!"
Zuo Qing realized that he was abnormal, immediately closed the book, got up and went to the courtyard to wake up. Before his feet reached the threshold, he saw the west tower at the courtyard gate. It seemed that he had been waiting for a long time.
"Have you told him everything?" Xilou asked coldly.
"yes."
Xilou obviously did not expect that he would answer truthfully. He was stunned for a moment and then reorganized his words: "Then you also told me all about my identity?"
Turning around and closing the door, she explained to him: "Now that things have happened, what else can be hidden? Ayan is so smart that she already guessed some of it, and you told her some more. The rest is actually no longer a secret.
Well, it’s better to tell her everything so that she won’t be hurt again.”
Xilou looked at him strangely: "You are not Zuo Qing. The Zuo Qing I knew was willing to do anything for revenge, but now you are very strange to me!"
"What you want to say is that I shouldn't be tempted by Su Yan, and even if I am, I shouldn't fight with you, right?" Zuo Qing's suddenly changed color showed a hint of murderous intent, but in the dim environment, Xi
Lou didn't realize it.
The two of them stood not far apart, neither of them took the first step. Xilou turned his anger into a smile, and leaned against the moon door and sighed again: "I know, Ayan doesn't like me, even if he knows about me
It's Wei Zhen, he won't like me anymore. Zuo Qing, you are lucky, at least someone is thinking about you, but I am different, I am destined to sit on that dragon chair, in this case, it doesn't matter if I am alone, this is mine
road!"
Zuo Qing wanted to say something else, but the west building had turned around and disappeared at the Moon Gate, leaving only the swaying bamboo shadows in the yard, and everything returned to silence. Zuo Qing stared blankly at the empty place for a long time, muttering to himself.
: "You think I am lucky, but except for Su Yan, I have nothing."
On the way back, Xilou still couldn't help but turn around and go to Nanhu to see Su Yan. He also had a sleepless night here. But he only dared to hide outside the window, relying on the branches for cover, and was not discovered. He thought several times
He rushed in and recognized her, telling her that he was Wei Zhen, the brother Wei Zhen who played and laughed with her when she was young, but... Su Yan no longer needed it.
Xilou felt depressed and left angrily.
Ruoshui Street is immersed in the brilliant lights of the night, and there are still customers coming in and out of Yunlai Pavilion until midnight. Big red lanterns are hung high, colorful silk ribbons on the railings on the second floor are flying in the blurred night, and girls in fancy clothes are leaning outside the door and showing off their appearance.
.
On the window of Tianzihao's elegant room, a figure raised his head and drank a glass of wine. After drinking, there was a crisp sound on the ground. It had been more than half an hour.
Xu Niang dragged the guard to knock on the door, but the guests inside refused to let them in. They drank bottle after bottle of wine, and there was no bottom. Xu Niang stood outside the door and was so anxious that she let out her anger.
On the guard, "Are you stupid? You just said it's over after the wine is finished? If he drinks like this, my good wine must not be finished! Ouch! My wine bottle, this is all
Baby! He threw him all over? This is all money. What do you think he will do if he drinks to death? Will you pay or should I? I said you are stupid! I really don’t want to scold you! I said you have been scolded by me.
How many times this month? How much did he pay?"
Another old woman beside her quickly opened the account book and replied hastily: "It's just the price of a table of food and drinks."
Madam Xu stomped her feet in annoyance, wishing she could stamp her feet through the floor: "I'll pay you hard, I'll pay you hard! If not, I have to make him pay three times the price!"
The guard lowered his head in grievance and suggested in a low voice: "Ms., don't get excited. This person has a lot of background. Let's make the decision based on the formality."
"What's his background? You don't care what his background is. Why don't you pay for breaking my things? Hurry! Open the door!"
The guard had no choice but to open the door obediently. Just as he was about to put his head in, a wine bottle hit him. He was so frightened that he quickly retracted his head, trembling all over and begging for mercy: "I, I don't dare, why don't you go in, Mrs. Xu?"
"You useless coward, get up!" He rolled up his sleeves and was about to go in. A cold voice came from behind him, and the words finally settled in his ears. The man was already standing in front of the door, "I already have the money for the drink."
Pay in full twice, and as for the broken wine bottle... let's do it this way. I'll send someone to replace it with the mutton-fat jade wine pot sent as tribute from Yan State in the future, what do you think?"
When Xu Niang saw it was a Buddha, she immediately became quiet, nodded with a smile and left.
Fo Zhen closed the door and turned to look at the drunk man. His Xilou never drank, let alone drank for other women. But when she walked into this room, she discovered that it turned out that
Regardless of whether he is Xilou or not, she has fallen deeply into it and cannot extricate herself.
She went over to sit next to him, grabbed the wine glass from his hand, and drank it all.
"Give it back!" Xilou supported himself and yelled at her.
"Have you had enough?"
"You've already thrown yourself into his arms, why do you care what I do?"
Fo Zhen filled up the wine, drank another glass, and said without changing his expression: "Why do you hold on to impossible fantasies? She doesn't love you, and you can't even compare to Su Ming. Su Ming is at least her master."
"Stop talking!" Xilou overturned the food and wine on the table and threw them all to the ground. "Why do you care about our affairs? You and I have nothing to do with each other for a long time. Get out!"
Fo Zhen didn't pay attention to his violent and arrogant appearance, and poured another glass of wine extremely calmly. Looking at the wine in the glass, his heart felt like needles pricking him: "Xi Lou, I don't care if you are him or not, I just ask you, you
Do you regret it?"
Xilou's hand holding the wine bottle stopped mid-air, and he looked at her with squinting hot eyelids, "What did you say?"
"Do you regret falling in love with Su Yan?"
"Ha! What's the use of regretting it? I can never get her again, never again."
"I didn't expect that you would suffer such a heavy blow. When you left Ruoshui, I waited for half a year, but what I waited for was just a heartless letter. There were only a few words, but every word cut my heart like a knife. Until
Now I don’t believe that you would suddenly choose to end your relationship with me.”
Fo Zhen stood up, came to him, and said to him: "Does it hurt? That's right. I used to be as painful as you, but who would pity me? But you are lucky, at least you still have
I'll accompany you."
Xilou lowered his head in pain, "I was the one who was sorry for you in the first place. If you want to see my joke, just watch it." After saying that, he raised his head and poured wine.
Fo Zhen slapped the wine bottle away, his cold face suddenly showing anger, "Don't you understand? To this day, I am the only one standing by your side!"
Xilou glanced at her and smiled: "If you didn't come to see my joke, then why are you here?"
Fo Zhen also found it funny, why should he? They were not friends, and they had already broken up with each other, so under what identity did she come here? They had broken up with each other, and they had asked to forget each other, but now they were entangled, and the only one who suffered was him.
Fo Zhen didn't want to look at him anymore. She stood up slowly with her legs propped up and turned around to leave. Suddenly a hand stretched out from behind and grabbed her. She staggered and fell back, with her sleeves flying and her face turned pale with shock.
The cold lips suddenly came up to kiss her passionately and painfully.
She opened her eyes and stared at him coldly, her tears bursting instantly.
Xilou, your indifference didn't make me cry, but it was your tenderness that completely hurt me.
He may have forgotten what happened that night, but she will always remember it as the best treasure.