It was mid-to-late April, and it was a bit muggy at noon.
Li Xiu was led out of the imperial city by a group of officials. He first ate two bowls of mutton noodle soup and six biscuits at a stall in Xingdaofang. He knew that if he went to Zhenzhou, he would die on the way.
No matter how rare it is to have such a full meal, I won't get up until my stomach can't hold anything more.
In the past, he was not used to eating these street foods. He saw Xue Bai eating them a few times, and even taught Xue Bai that as a courtier, he should eat more delicately, but today he felt that they were extremely delicious.
Chen Xilie and others actually sat patiently and watched him eat slowly, with some sympathy in their eyes.
Li Xiu didn't want to be sympathized with by him, so he wiped his mouth and sneered: "The Prime Minister of the Left has been in a high position for nearly ten years because of my grandfather's recommendation. In the end, he relied on Yang Guozhong and killed the Li family. I feel ashamed."
"I'm so ashamed." Chen Xilie stroked his beard and sighed, "But Li Linfu is treasonous and disobeys the government, and I can't do anything about it."
An official next to him added: "That is to say, Li Linfu died early and the big mistake has not yet been made. Otherwise, it would be more than just exile. Just be content."
Li Xiu frowned when he heard this, and when he was about to retort, a government servant kicked him behind him and said, "Leave when you're full."
"Let's go."
They went all the way south, exited Mingde Gate, and rode for more than ten miles.
Li Xiu was greatly puzzled that Chen Xilie was still seeing him off, so he looked at the plain ahead, feeling uneasy in his heart.
As they moved forward, the uneasy thing in his heart finally happened - they reached the plateau.
Li Xiu paused and was pushed forward. Behind him was an unfinished stone carving. The carving was of a foreign chief, mighty and fierce, guarding the place.
Not far ahead is the tomb of Li Linfu. He brought a large number of Hu people to the border town, so he used the statue of the Fanbang chief as the ceremonial guard of the tomb.
"That's where the Ziwu Road should be!" Li Xiu raised his finger and pointed to the official road to the east, reminding him loudly.
Chen Xilie stopped, turned around, and glanced at him. Countless contents were hidden in these old eyes, telling him in an instant. Li Xiu stiffened, and finally understood the reason for the compassion, and his fingers were numb with fear.
, trembling uncontrollably.
"No." He murmured.
"Let's go see your grandpa." Chen Xilie replied slowly.
After that, the left prime minister stepped forward, facing the wind in the countryside, and walked to the entrance of the underground palace, where he stood between a stone tiger and a stone sheep.
The entire plateau is actually Li Linfu's mausoleum, and the underground palace is inside the plateau.
When Chen Xilie came last time, the three sticks of incense strings that he inserted by himself were still stuck on the ground in front of him. The incense was broken, so it was not burned to the end.
He stood there and watched for a while, then quietly raised his foot, stepped on the end of the incense string, and gave an order.
"Dig it up."
The accompanying government servants and entourage pulled a donkey cart and took out shovels from it.
"don't want!"
Li Xiu yelled and struggled, trying to stop him, but he was held down tightly. He could only stare wide-eyed and keep shouting.
He had seen this scene many times. In the past ten years, the Youxiang Mansion had caused countless major cases, and the families of the officials who had been executed and exiled would also make such angry and powerless shouts every time.
"Stop digging! Please stop digging! The deceased is the greatest, don't do this to him...Really don't do this to him..."
Chen Xilie walked up to Li Xiu, stretched out his hand, held his face, and said: "Shiro, you have thought of this day for a long time, haven't you? One drink and one peck, could it be a predetermined decision? This is what you deserve."
.”
Li Xiu burst into tears and touched Chen Xilie's hands. His lips were trembling, and he was helpless in the face of the powerful fate.
"You are a filial son." Chen Xilie wiped his hands, pointed to the thin coffin they brought, and said, "Today, bury your grandfather properly."
There was a "ding" sound from the shovel hitting the stone in front, and someone shouted: "We dug it!"
Everyone changed their tools, dug up the soil on the stone door, pushed it open, took a breath, and went down the stone steps. They saw extremely bright murals on both sides, depicting Li Linfu's life achievements.
In the painting at the front, an immortal is caressing the head of a young man with knotted hair, trying to lead him to immortality. In the second painting, the young man's eyes are looking towards the imperial city of Chang'an, showing that he cares about the world.
common people.
Go to the end and push open the second erected stone door. In front of you is a huge stone coffin.
To the left and right of the stone coffin are statues of warriors holding swords given by the saints. In front of the stone coffin, a stone turtle carries a Taoist stele.
"Zhongshu ordered the Duke of Jin State of Shangzhu State to present the Taiwei Li Gong, the Grand Governor of Yangzhou, with the Shinto inscription of Linfu."
Only when the light of the torch reached the stone monument, someone shouted: "Smash it!"
"Bang!"
The sledgehammer hit it, smashing the stone tablet into pieces.
The stones fell into pieces in the crypt, knocking down many of the surrounding burial objects. Following the loud noise, Li Xiu's legs softened and he fell to the ground. He watched helplessly as these people finished smashing the stone tablets and walked towards
Stone coffin.
"No, really don't..."
His begging was in vain, and soon there was another loud noise, and the stone slab above the stone coffin was pried open.
"One! Two! Get up!"
Everyone worked together, their spirits were high, and with a push, the stone coffin opened with a bang. There was also a wooden coffin inside, which was the secret weapon of the West Garden given by the saint.
"Demolished."
The two statues of warriors holding swords still stood silently, not guarding the owner of the tomb. They allowed them to open the coffin.
A stench hit their nostrils, and the smell of rotting corpses made them vomit.
Li Linfu's skin was completely rotten, but his flesh and blood were not completely rotten and were still adhering to his bones, which was extremely terrifying.
He held a luminous pearl in his mouth, held an elephant wat in his hand, and his purple and gold court clothes were wrapped in rotten flesh, but they were still bright and shiny.
"vomit!"
Li Xiu just wanted to struggle and get up, but couldn't hold it back and vomited out.
The two bowls of mutton noodle soup and six biscuits that he stuffed into his stomach were all sprinkled in front of his grandfather's body. A sour odor mixed with the body odor made his nose runny and tears flowing.
An old official opened his handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose, stepped forward, leaned over and picked up the luminous pearl.
"Don't touch my grandpa!"
Li Xiu finally burst out with amazing strength, broke away from the person behind him, rushed forward, pushed the old official away, and protected the coffin with his body.
However, when his eyes fell on his grandpa, his stomach immediately felt joyful again. This time, there was nothing to vomit. Only the sour water made his stomach twitch, making him miserable.
"Get away! It's time for you to collect the corpse!"
Someone picked up Li Xiu, slapped him in the face, and pushed him to the ground.
The old official stood up holding the luminous pearl, put the luminous pearl into the box, picked up the elephant wat, and said: "Come two people and peel off the court clothes."
Li Xiu was unable to resist. She lay there foaming at the mouth and murmured: "Don't... don't..."
Suddenly, someone outside the crypt shouted loudly.
"who?!"
Chen Xilie seemed to have a premonition, turned around, and squinted at the brightly lit entrance.
After a while, a figure appeared in the light and walked down.
"Xue Lang? You're still here, but can you still reverse the case?"
Xue Bai shook his head and said: "One drink and one peck. Could it be that I have made a decision beforehand? It is true that the case cannot be overturned."
Chen Xilie smiled slightly and sighed: "Xue Lang and I have the same view. Li Linfu is solely responsible for it. No one can get involved in this case, right?"
Xue Bai took two steps forward, got closer, and said in a low voice: "Just withdraw the posthumous gift, and you won't take off the crown uniform, right? I brought a set, and the left minister can use it to make a report. I guess no one will check it carefully."
"
"Why bother?"
"It is important for a person to die, so leave him some dignity."
Chen Xilie shook his head and said: "I'm asking, why does Xue Lang need to leave him such dignity?"
"A few days ago, I beat Yang Qixuan, but he still dares not come to the office." Xue Bai said, "The reason is that Yang Qixuan dared to compete with me for a woman."
"Have you forgotten how Li Linfu treated you when he was alive?"
"But I also remember how the Seventeenth Mother treated me."
Chen Xilie stroked his beard endlessly, his eyes flickered and hesitated.
Xue Bai added: "When I act, my kindness must be repaid and my debt must be repaid. Li Linfu has grudges with me, but he is also kind to me. Today I just want to save his last dignity, please forgive me. What's more, we have all had conflicts with Li Linfu
As an official in the same dynasty, how do you know that his today is not our tomorrow?"
Chen Xilie is a very cautious person who is often easily worried. Today when I opened the coffin and took off my clothes, I really felt like a rabbit had died and a fox had died.
Who knows that one day in the future Li Linfu's fate will not fall on him?
This is a small thing, but it is the last dignity for the Li family.
But he still didn't speak immediately, so he acted in a difficult way. The longer he hesitated, the more face he lost by betraying Xue Bai.
At this moment, footsteps sounded from behind Xue Bai.
At this moment, the sound of soft footsteps sounded behind Xue Bai. He turned around and saw Li Tengkong walking over, with a blank look in his eyes.
He quickly stopped her and said softly: "You go up there and wait for me."
Li Tengkong has always been a very spiritual woman, but today she seemed a little dull. She did not answer Xue Bai, but stared blankly at the stone coffin in the crypt.
Xue Bai noticed something was wrong with her, took her hand, and wanted to take her out first.
Li Tengkong did not leave, but broke away from Xue Bai and wanted to move forward. Xue Bai blocked her again, hugged her, blocked her sight with his chest, and whispered: "Wait for me outside, I will take care of it...
…”
Chen Xilie turned around and looked up at the firelight on the stone wall, not looking at the little couple hugging each other.
After a while, Xue Bai said: "Prime Minister Zuo?"
Chen Xilie felt that he was a little annoyed. After thinking for a while, he shouted loudly: "It's boring here, everyone, please go out. Xue Sheren, since the saint ordered you to inquire about this case, you will bring out the purple gold court clothes."
"Listen to the left prime minister's arrangements."
Chen Xilie then walked out of the crypt with his hands behind his back. All the officials picked up the burial objects and followed him out, including the old officials holding the Night Pearl and the Elephant Hut.
Among them, many people looked back at Xue Bai and felt that this young man treated others with great care. He was actually the only person in the entire court who was willing to stand up for Li Linfu, not to mention that he was not from Li Linfu's family.
Even those who harbor resentment against Li Linfu have seen the tragic situation after Li Linfu's death today and have no resentment towards Xue Bai for taking action at this time.
Finally, these people moved out all the burial objects, leaving the crypt empty.
Xue Bai always held Li Tengkong in his arms, and his eyes fell on the entrance of the crypt. He saw the Diao brothers walking down, and Diao Geng was still carrying a baggage.
"Mr. Lang," Diao Bing said, "They said they had to strip Li Linfu of his official robe and bury him somewhere else in a small coffin."
"I understand." Xue Bai said, "You guys take the coffin down and leave the baggage."
"Here."
Xue Bai patted Li Tengkong's back gently and said, "Be obedient. You go out and wait for me first. I will take care of it."
Li Tengkong shook his head.
Xue Bai had no choice but to kiss her forehead and said, "You can trust me. Your brother is here and he will watch."
Li Tengkong looked at Li Xiu and saw that this brother was already slumped there like mud.
She still shook her head and whispered: "I can't let you clean up my grandpa's bones. My daughter has to do it."
"I can clean it up for you."
Xue Bai said, fearing that she would ask "Who are you to me again?", so he held her hand and placed it on his heart, letting her feel his heartbeat and his feelings for her.
"Although I failed to become Li Linfu's son-in-law, but..."
Li Tengkong covered Xue Bai's mouth. She looked up into his eyes for a long time and said, "Don't say anything."
Then, he removed his hand, stood up on tiptoes, and kissed Xue Bai on the lips.
Xue Bai was stunned.
Li Tengkong then left his arms and walked towards the coffin.
Xue Bai turned around and looked at her back. He felt distressed but did not step forward to stop her. He watched her walk to the coffin and leaned over to look at Li Linfu's half-rotted body.
In the crypt, there was a putrid stench that was overwhelming and suffocating.
Only a touch of warmth on the lips made people feel that things were not that bad.
Xue Bai reacted, took out two pieces of handkerchief, stepped forward, tied one on Li Tengkong's mouth and nose, and tied it on himself, then picked up the bundle from the ground, opened it, and found a purple gold court dress inside.
He looked around and saw a puddle of vomit in front of Li Xiu, so he went over and put the lining of the court clothes on the vomit to wipe it off.
During the process, Li Xiu always lay there, his eyes blank, as if he was dead.
Xue Bai walked to the coffin, looked at Li Linfu's body, and then looked at the dirty and smelly court clothes in his hands. He spread it on the ground, took out a leather bag from his arms, and carefully poured some black blood on it.
.
This was brought by Du Wulang. It is said that it is sheep blood that has been produced in his kitchen for many days.
After doing this, the Diao brothers had already moved the thin coffin in.
Li Tengkong looked back, tied up his wide sleeves, and prepared to move Li Linfu's body.
But no one knows which parts of the body will flow out when touched.
"Juro?"
Xue Bai turned to Li Xiu and asked.
Li Xiu's soul was lost and he was speechless for a long time.
Under this situation, such a reaction is normal. Although Xue Bai felt that Li Xiu was not strong enough, he could understand it and signaled the Diao brothers to take action.
The Diao brothers tied their handkerchiefs and stepped forward, one raising his head and the other raising his feet, intending to move Li Linfu's body.
As soon as his head was lifted, the neck was almost broken, with only a little adhesion left. Diao Bing did not dare to lift it anymore. Looking at Diao Geng, he saw two boots in his hand, but the two legs on the boots were soft.
It's weak and breaks when you pull it.
Li Tengkong closed his eyes and swayed. She opened her eyes again, stretched out her hand, and tried to lift Li Linfu's shoulders.
This time, Xue Bai did not stop her, and went over to pick up the body's torso with both hands.
He couldn't tell what it felt like on his hands.
It's like holding up a golden treasure that is about to rot.
It's both disgusting and heavy.
It just so happened that he carried his feelings for Li Tengkong.
Out of this feeling, he is willing to support this rotten corpse, this rotten dynasty.
~~
Li Xiu couldn't see anything in front of him.
His mind kept flashing back to everything he had experienced in his life, including being pampered, well-dressed and well-fed, having sex with dogs and horses, singing and dancing, being extravagant and lustful. However, there was nothing that was truly worth remembering before he died, something that could sustain him...
.
A life of accomplishing nothing is just an inconspicuous footnote under my grandfather's extreme power and tragic funeral. It neither stopped him from persecuting Zhongliang, nor stopped him from being persecuted by others. He is nothing more than a waste.
What's more pitiable than a waste is that he is a sober waste. Therefore, he suffers much more than his idiot brothers who are drunk and dreaming.
Li Xiu smiled bitterly to himself, no longer feeling nostalgic for this terrible life.
There is no need to go to Zhenzhou anymore. Let's die here today and be buried with my grandfather. Like the emperor of Shengming who uses people to face the front and does not use people to face the back, he made his only and last protest.
But in fact, no one cared about this protest at all, waste is waste... and the despair deepened.
Suddenly, Li Xiu came back to his senses and saw that those people were already moving his grandfather's body.
The last bit of dignity was stripped off.
However, when he took a closer look, he found that what was being moved was not a piece of flesh and blood. Li Linfu was still wrapped in purple and gold court clothes.
Clothes are important, even more so at this moment.
Li Xiu finally regained consciousness and recognized that the people moving the bodies were actually Xue Bai and Li Tengkong.
He managed to hold on to the ground, stood up with difficulty, and stepped towards them.
He saw something falling from Li Linfu's robe below his waist. He quickly walked over and held it with both hands.
I can't tell you what it feels like when I get it.
Li Xiu wanted to cry, but he finally accomplished something in the most painful moment.
~~
There was a soft sound, and the wooden board covered the thin coffin.
"Give me."
Xue Bai took the hammer from Diao Bing, knocked it hard several times, and nailed Li Linfu's coffin.
After putting down the hammer, he turned around and saw that Li Tengkong's face was pale and his body was swaying, as if he was about to faint. He quickly hugged her again and stretched out his hand to see that her forehead was hot.
"Are you sick?"
Li Tengkong didn't answer, but he buried his head in Xue Bai's arms with nostalgia, and whispered: "You fell into Chen Xilie's hands..."
"It doesn't matter." Xue Bai said, "Let's take care of your grandfather's funeral first."
"Um."
Li Tengkong responded feebly, and wanted to remind Xue Bai a few words, but he felt his throat was so tight that he couldn't breathe, and even the scene in front of him began to blur.
The next moment, her body became light and her whole figure seemed to be floating. However, she was picked up by Xue Bai.
He is very strong, his arms are steady, and his chest is broad. If pain is like a stormy sea, his arms are like a harbor.
Li Tengkong suddenly thought that when her mother-in-law passed away, her grandfather still didn't care. At that time, she would often hide in a tree hole in the backyard alone, and no one could find her there, not even Mian'er.
.
Therefore, she could cry to her heart's content in there and go to sleep after she finished crying, without having to worry about being accused of losing her ladylike appearance.
Suddenly her eyes lit up, and it was Xue Bai who carried her out of the cave. The wind no longer smelled so bad. She sniffed and tears fell unconsciously.
It was only now that she finally cried.
Beside my ears, Xue Bai was talking to someone.
"I have moved Li Linfu to a thin coffin, and then asked Li Xiu to find another place and bury him with the rites of a commoner. With filial piety as the first priority, Li Xiu's exile will not be urgent in a day or two and will be tolerated.
How about he calmly attending to the funeral? The saint is always tolerant and will not pursue such trivial matters."
"If he escapes, will Xue Lang take care of him?"
"I am responsible."
"That's fine. But I would like to remind Xue Lang a few words... Li Linfu was resented by the scholars and is now a criminal. Xue Lang was so unscrupulous that he got so close to the daughter of the Li family and even hugged her in public. What I did today
What he did will inevitably lead to impeachment."
"Thank you, Prime Minister Zuo. I was out of line."
"Then you still haven't restrained yourself."
“I can’t help myself.”
After hearing this, Li Tengkong wanted to open her eyes and take a look, but she was so uncomfortable that her eyelids seemed to be extremely heavy and she couldn't open them no matter how hard she tried.
Gradually, the voices in her ears faded away, and she disappeared into darkness.
…
I don't know how long it took, but there was a faint sound of "gurgling" in the darkness.
Li Tengkong walked towards the source of the sound and saw two little ghosts squatting in an oil nest adding firewood.
They look very ugly, with long tongues that roll up to their bellies, revealing a greedy look.
When she came over, they turned around, smiled and said, "Do you want to eat Monk Tang's meat? If you eat it, you will live forever."
Li Tengkong felt inexplicably frightened, shook his head, and wanted to retreat.
But no matter how she retreated, she was getting closer and closer to the oil pan.
The two little guys laughed and screamed: "Come on, let's eat together."
Li Tengkong shook his head desperately, but a copper basin was still brought to her.
The cloth covering it was lifted open, revealing the bloody flesh inside.
She felt nauseated, turned around and was about to run away, when suddenly, a head appeared behind her with its head hanging in the air. She opened her eyes suddenly, showing an unyielding and angry look. It was Li Linfu.
Li Tengkong broke into a cold sweat and trembled.
The next moment, a voice sounded in my ears.
"Vacation?"
"Xiao Xian? Xiao Xian?"
Li Tengkong opened his eyes.
The candlelight glowed warmly, and Xue Bai was sitting beside her couch, looking at her with concern.
She quickly sat up, couldn't wait to throw herself into his arms, hugged him, greedily feeling the warmth on his body, and then gradually felt at ease.
"Having a nightmare? Don't be afraid."
Xue Bai stroked her back gently, feeling that her cold skin was sweating under her thin spring shirt and she was still trembling slightly.
"I also had nightmares when I was a child. My grandmother had a way to stop me from being afraid. Come on, let me try it for you."
Li Tengkong stubbornly hugged Xue Bai, unwilling to let go, as if he was afraid that if he let go, he would leave, and then went to Nanzhao, where he stayed for a year.
"Don't worry, I won't leave. I will drive away the nightmare for you."
"You really don't want to leave?"
"Well, I will never leave you again."
Li Tengkong hugged him for a while longer, and then he was willing to let go, but still held on to his lapel.
Xue Bai came close to her face, then moved his head away, and pouted outside the curtain. He repeated this several times, and then said: "Okay, let the bad breath go out."
"Silly."
"Let me recite sutras for you." Xue Bai hugged her and lay on the couch together.
When doing this, he had no distracting thoughts. He just thought about it and recited the sutra like his grandmother did when he was a child. But he only knew one sentence, and he kept saying "Namo Amitabha" over and over again.
Li Tengkong let him hold him, and after listening for a while, he muttered in a low voice: "I am a Taoist priest."
"Um?"
Xue Bai was a little uneasy and let go of his hand slightly, thinking that a Taoist priest couldn't hug him?
But in the Tang Dynasty, there was no saying that women could not hold the crown.
Li Tengkong didn't want him to let go, so he pressed his back closer to his arms. Then he felt relieved and whispered: "You read Buddhist scriptures to the Taoist priest."
"Then...then you won't read it anymore?"
"Remember, it's all about cultivation."
"Well, Namo Amitabha, Namo Amitabha."
Li Tengkong gradually felt relieved, and then began to feel that something was wrong with the two of them.
She moved, but was too embarrassed to ask Xue Bai to go away. She couldn't face forward when someone was not using someone, and she had to lie quietly. Then she found that her body was already very clean.
"My clothes?"
"Mien'er and Jiaonu bathed and changed your clothes." Xue Bai said, "Yan Yan, Ji Lanzi have been guarding you for the past two days. They were tired, so they replaced me. Your grandfather's coffin has been reburied.
The funeral has not been completed yet, and your brother is still recuperating. I will find a way to prevent him from being exiled..."
"Thank you."
"Um."
Li Tengkong originally thought that Xue Bai would say that there was no need to thank him for the relationship between them. But he just responded like this, and she couldn't help but worry about gain and loss.
But the hug while sleeping on the same bed gave her great courage, and she said angrily: "Well, what?"
"You don't need to thank me, you should."
Li Tengkong asked: "What you said before... you can't help it, are you sincere?"
As the words continued, the voice gradually became quieter and sounded like a mosquito moaning.
Xue Bai said: "It is true."
"Then why don't you say anything now?"
"I don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of you."
"What's there to take advantage of?"
When Li Tengkong asked, Xue Bai fell silent.
She knew she had made a mistake. This was not what a Taoist priest should say, not to mention that she had just experienced a big change in her family.
But the lonely man and the widowed woman hug each other on the bed, and the secret feelings arise, which always makes people unable to help themselves.
Soon, the atmosphere between the two changed.
Xue Bai also changed.
Li Tengkong didn't know what it was at first, but still pressed it into his arms. Then he thought of the booklet left by Princess Yuzhen, and couldn't help but stiffen.
She hesitated for a while and then said: "I...maybe...can...give you...a concubine?"
Xue Bai didn't hear clearly.
Li Tengkong added: "But, how about taking it a little longer? I haven't... thought about it yet."
Xue Bai quickly stepped back a little and asked, "Will Mian'er and Jiaonu come to accompany you?"
"I mean, just take it easy, you... don't have to leave."
"good."
"Then you still haven't?"
"You can't help it, you don't have to worry about it."
Only then did Li Tengkong relax again and let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad. He just curled up, resting his pillow on Xue Bai's hand, and gradually fell asleep again.
Xue Bai's old-fashioned method seemed to work. This time, she didn't have any more nightmares.