The shackles clanked, and Du Wulang entered the execution room and was pressed down on a stool and sat down.
Prisoner Liu Liu was sitting in the dim candlelight, polishing ink. From the corner of his eye, he could clearly see the prisoner sitting down, but the sound of the shackles continued. He raised his eyes and saw a pair of trembling feet.
"Stop shaking."
The shackles were still making a clanging sound, as if they were threatening their lives.
Liu Liu touched his beard, wiped the remaining ink on his hand, picked up the pen, and said: "The criminal is Du Yu."
No one answered.
Liu Liu scolded: "Ask you! Is the criminal Du Yu?"
"Dududu, Duqi."
"Stomachache? It doesn't matter if you have a stomachache or a headache, just answer the question!"
"I, I, I, the criminal is Du Qi, my surname is Du, my name is Qi, and I am the one who writes Qi."
Liu Liu pushed the document in his hand in front of the candlelight, squinted his old eyes and looked at it carefully for a while, and suddenly became angry.
"Du Qi was imprisoned! The fifth son of Du Youlin, the convict, constructed the East Palace, hired Taoist priest Fang Daxu to secretly hide the prophecies, denounced Cheng Yu, fled after being convicted, and set fire to Liu Jizhai in Dunyifang, Chang'an County..."
After reading the document in hand, he shouted with a cold face: "Can you plead guilty?!"
"I was wronged!" Du Wulang cried.
"If you don't plead guilty, you will be punished." Liu Liu asked, "Should you sign this now or after being punished?"
Du Wulang was so nervous that he didn't know where to look with his little eyes, so he simply closed them tightly, clenched his fists, and just shivered.
He looked like he was being slaughtered.
"Let me ask you, should I use a prison sentence or torture?!"
"Kill me!" Du Wulang yelled in fright: "Just kill me, I won't draw any money!"
"Kill you? It's not that easy." Liu Liu waved his hand impatiently and said, "I'll be punished."
The prison guards were still preparing the torture instruments, but Du Wulang was already screaming.
"Ah! Ah!"
"..."
Xin Twelve was sitting outside the prison cell, drinking from a wine bag, when he heard screams coming from inside, and raised his hand to wave.
The two delinquents who were squatting under the eaves and chatting and laughing immediately got up and strode into the execution room.
"Niushuan and Tian Da are under arrest in Jingzhao Prefecture and are ordered to transfer the criminal to Dali Temple!"
After shouting, he couldn't help but escort Du Wulang away before he had time to be tortured.
Xin Twelve put away the wine bag unhurriedly, stood up, and rushed to You Xiaowei.
~~
"So bright."
Du Wulang was escorted out of Jingzhao Mansion. He squinted his small eyes and looked around, only to realize that it was already afternoon.
He missed his prison meal today, and his stomach growled involuntarily.
Niu Shuan immediately slapped him on the back of the head and cursed: "I'm not even hungry yet, but the dog prisoner is hungry first."
"Young man has no status." Du Wulang saw that this bad guy had a round face and a big belly, and he was very kind-hearted. He couldn't stop laughing, "Young guy has no status."
Niu Shuan stood behind him, kicked his foot and shouted: "Let's go!"
Du Wulang trotted down the steps, looked around stupidly, and asked: "This is my first time in prison. May I ask if you have a car?"
Without waiting for an answer, he quickly added: "No, no, it's not that I'm lazy, I'm just thinking that criminals are often dangerous. When I hand over people, do I..."
"It's dangerous. Why don't you drive the car? You'll be so big that it will crash into Dali Temple."
"Yes Yes."
Du Wulang did not dare to say any more and hurriedly walked towards the imperial city.
"Wait a minute! Ding-dang-dang-dang, it's so noisy." Niu Shuan actually slapped him down, took out the key, unshackled his hands and feet, threw it to Tian Da, and said: "Put it back, Jingzhao Mansion's
Shaozi, don’t take advantage of Dali Temple... let’s go.”
Du Wulang was stunned. He didn't know if this was a process or because he was really not in danger. Anyway, he was walking beside Niu Shuan honestly.
Jingzhao Mansion is in the southeast corner of Guangdefang, and Dali Temple is in the northwest corner of the imperial city. It's not far, but it takes half an hour to walk.
Been walking for a long time.
Seeing a stall selling soup cakes on the street, Niuxuan grabbed Du Wulang, walked forward, sat down and shouted: "Old Hu'er, two soup cakes!"
When Du Wulang heard that it was "two portions", he was stunned and said hurriedly: "It's a waste of money for the chief official. If it happens in the future..."
"Shut up, who said I'd treat you to a meal?!" Niu Shuan slapped him on the head again and said to himself, "Tian Da isn't here yet."
Only then did Du Wulang realize that Tian Da was coming, and he thought that it was enough for him to be escorted by himself alone, so why waste more manpower?
I could only swallow my saliva while looking at the two bowls of soup cakes.
"Ouch." Niu Shuan just took a bite, and suddenly he held his stomach and cried out in pain. He looked around and shouted: "Tian Da, over here! You watch the prisoner, I'll come as soon as I can..."
Du Wulang looked away from the soup cake and watched Niuxuan running into the alley. Then he turned to look at Tian Da walking in the distance. He wanted to run away but didn't dare to run away. He was so hesitant.
The buttocks were raised slightly and he sat down again. He repeated this several times. Seeing that Tian Da hadn't come near yet, he finally became worried, picked up the bowl on the table, took a big gulp, and ran away.
"Why!"
The stall owner Lao Huer was shocked and shouted: "I haven't paid yet!"
Du Wulang was so frightened that he ran faster.
He was wearing Xue Bai's quilted coat, which was the most ordinary clothes. He squeezed into the crowd, like water droplets flowing into a river, and immediately disappeared.
"You bitch, I haven't paid you yet!"
"Snapped."
A bunch of money fell on the soup cake stall.
Niuxuan had come out of the alley, but he actually had a dog in his hand, and he followed Du Wulang calmly.
On the fire-watching tower, Marquis Wu raised a small flag and pointed it at the Ten Princes' House in Yongxingfang.
~~
Yongxingfang, there is a guesthouse along the street.
In the guest room on the second floor, Xue Bai opened the window and looked towards the long street to see the tea shop at the intersection. Several men were sitting there drinking tea, but their eyes were always fixed on the alley leading to the Prince's Courtyard.
A waiter behind him smiled and said: "Every year, more scholars who live in our hotel are successful than those who live in Wubenfang and Chongrenfang Inn, and this is the best wing. Are you satisfied?"
Xue Bai asked: "Can you hire a car here?"
"There is a stable in the backyard, and there is a horse-drawn carriage ready at any time."
"Then let's make a decision. We'll stay for three days first." Xue Bai motioned to Qing Lan to pay.
"Okay!" the waiter said with a smile, "Mr. Sir, please go to the lobby and record the store book. If you have any family history, you can also show it to me. When you go to high school in the future, you can also save some rent for the guests."
Xue Bai put his hand into his arms, touched it twice, and said in surprise: "I'm afraid it's left in Chunmen, I have to look for it..."
"Hang on, Sir, the curfew is about to begin. How about we go tomorrow?"
Xue Bai took the money from Qing Lan and handed it over, saying: "Then we won't record it for now? Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."
"I know," the clerk said with a smile, "I've been doing this for a long time, so I can judge people with certainty. If your husband has official aura, he must be a high-ranking person for generations."
"By the way, I have a friend from the same hometown who arrived in Chang'an a day or two before me. He took a green-covered mule cart and said he was going to stay in Yongxingfang. Did you see it?"
"No." The clerk shook his head and said, "Yesterday, some bad guys impounded a green-covered mule cart. I wonder if they are friends of the husband?"
Xue Bai said in surprise: "My good friend is over forty years old, has a beautiful beard, wears a plain robe, and holds a Buddhist bead, but he was taken away? Why?"
"No, the person who was taken away was a beautiful lady, accompanied by slaves and maidservants. The mule and cart were hired from Chang'an County, and there was no scholar in his forties."
"Beautiful lady? What have you done?"
"I don't know this little guy. In recent years, Jingzhao Mansion has taken many people."
Xue Bai asked again: "When I entered the city today, I heard that the prince reconciled again, but what happened?"
"Look at what Mr. Lang is asking, how can we ordinary people know this?"
"It's funny, I'm new to Chang'an and I can't help but be curious about everything..."
After chatting for a while, the guy left.
Qing Lan bolted the door, stepped forward and whispered anxiously: "Auntie and Wu Lang were taken away? What should we do?"
Xue Bai looked out the window and whispered: "Even though I took them, those people are still staring there."
"Are you looking for us?"
"It's hard to say." Xue Bai kept looking out the window and said, "But this case points directly to the East Palace. Those who can destroy the Du family will come, and those who can save the Du family may also come."
The evening drum sounds again.
Xue Bai turned his head and glanced south, and across the square wall, he saw a familiar figure in the distance.
He was surprised at first, then his eyes flashed with vigilance. After observing for a while, he turned around quickly.
~~
"Boom."
Amidst the sound of evening drums, Du Wulang ran into Yongxingfang.
He ran for a full hour and was so exhausted that he was out of breath, but he was still urged by the drumbeat of the curfew to dare not stop.
There were still tea customers sitting in twos and threes at the tea shop at the intersection in Fangzhong. He didn't dare to look too much, ran into the alley with his head lowered, glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no one was following him, and hurried to the Prince's Courtyard.
Rush in the direction.
"Boom."
"Boom."
He had entered the area around the Ten Kings' Residence, surrounded by high-walled courtyards, and there were no more pedestrians.
Passing by an alley, a figure suddenly emerged from the corner.
Du Wulang was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out of his throat.
"ah!"
He was still exclaiming, but he heard a soft drink in his ears.
"Don't shout."
It was a young man wearing a plain jacket and robe. Taking a closer look, Du Wulang couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.
"Xue Bai?"
Xue Bai pulled him away, walking in a hurry, and asked: "You were caught? How did you escape?"
"Yes, the eldest sister was also captured. I relaxed their vigilance and escaped while they were not paying attention on the way to Dali Temple."
As Xue Bai walked, he looked back and saw no one was following him. There was a look of thought in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Du Wulang said, "I looked carefully and no one was following me."
"They put it far away because there are dogs." Xue Bai smelled Du Wulang and said, "Take off your clothes."
"What?"
"quick!"
After hearing his commanding tone, Du Wulang didn't dare to say any more and honestly took off his coat.
"Take it off again."
"It's such a cold winter."
"quick!"
Du Wulang had no choice but to take off his white sweatshirt and shivered in the snowy alley.
"You run east. Pass through three alleys and then run south until you see a stable. Qinglan will pick you up."
"how about you?"
"Watch the footprints and run along them."
Xue Bai pointed to the snow mark in the alley that was messed up by the wheels and quickly explained.
He picked up the clothes that Du Wulang had taken off and continued running north towards the Prince's Courtyard, tying the clothes in his hands into a ball as he ran.
"Boom."
The evening drums have come to an end.
The winter sky is getting dark quickly.
Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, Xue Bai restrained his nervousness and kept a normal pace. He quickly looked back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a group of dudes rushing home.
He quickened his pace and quickly followed the location of the Prince's Courtyard.
Ahead, two lanterns were hung at the back door of the Prince's Courtyard, and guards could be seen standing by the door holding halberds.
Xue Bai thought that they might recognize him, so he took two deep breaths and tried to be as calm as possible.
Finally, we reached the high wall of the other courtyard.
He turned around, facing the way he came, with the guards on his back, and suddenly threw a ball of clothes in his hand into the high wall.
At this moment, his heart was in his throat, fearing that someone would shout.
Fortunately not.
After doing this, Xue Bai returned the way he had come, walked more than twenty steps, leaned over and held a large ball of snow in his hands, rubbing it to calm down his anxiety and slow down his pace.
"Boom."
The last dusk drum sounded.
Suddenly, dense footsteps came from both the front and the rear.
"you!"
Someone shouted to Xue Bai.
It was a bad guy running over with a dog, raising his hand and pointing at Xue Bai.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The leashed dog kept barking.
Xue Bai crossed his arms perfunctorily and said to the bad guy: "What's the matter?"
This is the residence of the Ten Kings. The other party couldn't figure out who he was. Instead, his aura weakened and he said: "The curfew is coming soon, hurry up."
"Um."
The bad guy strode past him.
The dog barked more and more excitedly, and rushed past Xue Bai.
Then there was the clanging sound of armor, and individual figures passed by.
"You Xiaowei is here to catch the thief. Anyone else who doesn't care should get out of here!"
"Youxiaowei is chasing a dangerous fugitive. The prince's safety is involved, so he won't get out of the way!"
"..."
Shocking shouts echoed throughout the alley.
As for the figure that passed them by, it had disappeared into the night snow of Chang'an.