The capital of Nanqi has a strict curfew system, that is, the evening drum is sounded at three o'clock at the first watch, and travel in the whole city is prohibited. At that time, all twelve city gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest are closed and cannot be opened without the emperor's edict; the evening drum is sounded at three o'clock at the fifth watch.
Traffic is restricted after the morning bell. Anyone walking on the street during the second, third, or fourth watch shall be whipped thirty times; anyone who violates the night ban after the first watch but shortly before the night ban is released at the fifth watch shall be whipped twenty times. For example
In case of special circumstances such as illness, childbirth, death, etc., it is also necessary to report truthfully to the city patrol guards before they can pass through the city. However, no matter how strict the curfew system is, for Xia Houyi, who has already figured out the patrol routes and inspection times of the city guards
It had no effect, so even though they walked all the way from the west to the east of the city, they did not encounter a patrolling guard.
When they arrived at the gate of the Duke of Yue's mansion, the brother and sister made a tacit agreement not to go through the main door, but climbed in from the side corner.
As soon as their feet touched the ground, they met the patrolling guards in the mansion.
When the guards saw a man and a woman sneaking in over the wall, they immediately became alert.
"Who's there!" the deputy guard yelled, looking over with a sharp look.
The guards of the Duke of Yue's Mansion were all experienced in the military camp. They were all tall and tall, extremely alert, and very skilled. According to the usual practice, a deputy guard chief led 60 guards in three groups every night.
Patrolling, ordinary thieves would not dare to approach. Even if a person with a little skill is lucky enough to enter the Yue Kingdom's palace, it will be difficult to escape from their clutches.
After Xia Houyi stood firm, he straightened his clothes a little, coughed slightly, and said shamelessly: "I can't sleep late at night, so I went out for a walk and disturbed you. I'm really sorry."
The deputy guard chief's surname is Chen, with the word "Huan" in his name, and he is the cousin of Xia Houyuan's close guard Chen Jing. Chen Huan naturally knows Xia Houyi's brother and sister, but he is a little confused when he looks at their clothes, but even if he doubts Xia Houyi and
Xia Houshu didn't dare to question him if he had any ulterior secrets when he climbed over the wall from outside late at night. He nodded and took the people to patrol elsewhere. By the way, he also told the people below not to talk too much, and pretended that they had never seen it before.
them.
The other guards didn't dare to say anything, so they had no choice but to agree in unison.
Xia Houshu suppressed a smile and followed his brother around Xixing Pond and through the front garden. However, he saw that Xia Houyi was not in a hurry to return to his residence, but went straight to Muchun Courtyard. She was puzzled for a moment, so she
Follow along to see what happens.
The gate of Muchun Courtyard is locked, and the courtyard is quiet. The diners who had been arguing during the day have already fallen asleep soundly. But in a few hours, the place will return to its original bustle.
Xia Houyi glanced around the wall, looked for a slightly lower corner, jumped up to the top of the wall, and then jumped in with a slight jump.
Xia Houshu didn't know why, so he climbed over the wall and entered Muchunyuan.
They turned a corner and entered a small courtyard. The courtyard smelled of a familiar smell of traditional Chinese medicine. Xia Houshu frowned slightly, and then realized that they had entered the courtyard where Pei Lang lived.
Through the faint moonlight, you can see that Pei Lang has put away the dustpan used to dry medicinal herbs and stacked them neatly on the wooden frame against the wall. A large water tank under the eaves on the right is filled with water.
The moon is taking a bath inside at the moment.
Seeing Xia Houyi's familiarity with the car, Xia Houshu already understood somewhat, so he followed his brother quietly without asking any questions.
Xia Houyi went directly to knock on Pei Lang's door without further explanation to Xia Houshu.
"Who?"
Pei Lang's voice soon came from the room, with a hint of sleepiness.
Xia Houyi did not answer, but continued to knock on the door.
"Boom--boom! Boom!"
No more, no less, exactly three times, one long and two short, like some kind of secret code.
After a while, there was a rustling sound in the room, and candlelight shined through the window paper. Then the door creaked open from the inside. Pei Lang, who was wearing a thin middle coat, held the door with one hand and the candlestick with the other, his eyes sleepy.
He glanced toward the door anxiously. After seeing the person clearly, he said not surprised: "Second Young Master, Third Miss, it's so late. Do you have anything to do with Pei?"
"Let's go in and talk." Xia Houyi said and walked to his room with ease, as if it was as natural as returning to his own room.
Upon seeing this, Pei Lang quickly took a step back to make way for him, and then cast a puzzled look at Xia Houshu.
Xia Houshu spread his hands and said that he did not know the purpose of his brother's coming here. After all, she had not inhaled much Qingsu Dew just now and had taken the antidote. There was no need to trouble Pei Lang at night.
When he didn't get an answer, Pei Lang couldn't help but frown, closed the door behind him, then followed and placed the candlestick on the table, waiting for the next sentence.
Xia Houyi stood in front of the table, pushed a teapot and four teacups away from the table, then took out a large handful of plants from his sleeve and placed them on top.
Xia Houshu was shocked. She followed Xia Houyi and didn't know when he picked so many flowers and hid them in his sleeves. No wonder she always felt that Xia Houyi had a strange fragrance. At first, she thought he was trying to hide his true identity.
I deliberately changed my usual fragrance powder.
"This..." Pei Lang stared blankly at the pile of flowers and plants, his eyes full of shock. He watched Xia Houyi take out things like magic, and it wasn't until Xia Houyi stopped that he asked: "Two
Where did the young master find these flowers and plants?"
Xia Houyi did not answer directly, but pointed to the flowers and plants and asked, "Does Mr. Pei know these flowers and plants?"
After hearing this, Pei Lang came closer, picked up the bouquets one by one, put them under the candlelight to identify them, and then brought them to his nose to smell them.
Xia Houshu was also very curious. He grabbed a long-stemmed red flower from the bouquet that Pei Lang had identified and looked at it. He saw that the flower had four petals in total, nearly round or nearly fan-shaped, with shallow wavy or various edges.
Split, the flowers are large and gorgeous, and the fragrance is rich. She has never seen such gorgeous and gorgeous flowers before, but the fragrance seems familiar, as if she has smelled it somewhere.
After Pei Lang looked at all the flowers and plants, he looked at Xia Houyi again, with a bit of surprise and excitement in his eyes, and solemnly asked: "Where did the second young master find these flowers and plants?"
Xia Houyi did not say it clearly, but said: "I passed by a house in the evening and saw many flowers and plants planted in his yard. The fragrance was unusual. I saw that they looked good and picked some back. If you know him, we will find some to plant later.
It is available for viewing in the garden.”
"Absolutely not!" Pei Lang waved his hand to stop them after hearing this, "Although these flowers and plants are extremely gorgeous, they are not beautiful flowers for garden viewing, but poisonous flowers with different effects."
"Poisonous flowers? Are they all?" Xia Houshu was even more surprised than Xia Houyi, "How can such a beautiful flower be a poisonous flower?"
Before Pei Lang could answer, Xia Houyi glanced at Xia Houshu with disdain and explained seriously: "Poisonous flowers are like poisonous mushrooms. The more beautiful and unusual they are, the more poisonous they are."
Xia Houshu immediately acted like he was open-minded and willing to be taught.
Pei Lang looked at their brother and sister, smiled, and said, "Are you two having conflicts again?"
Otherwise, Xia Houshu would not have bowed his head so easily!
Xia Houyi was noncommittal, waved his hand and said: "Hurry up and tell us the effects of these flowers."
Pei Lang immediately understood the meaning, and then pointed at the flowers and plants and introduced them one by one: "Look, this is oleander. Its branches, leaves, and bark contain toxins. If you eat it by accident, you will be poisoned in mild cases, and in severe cases, it will be fatal. This is Manchuria.
Tuoluo can be used for anesthesia and analgesia, but its seeds, fruits, leaves, and flowers are all toxic; this is Aconitum, the toxins are mainly in the roots, and the mother root is called Aconitum, which is an important medicine for dispersing cold and pain, and can be used to eliminate
The coldness in the meridians can also dispel the coldness in the internal organs. The seed root is called aconite, which has the functions of restoring yang, driving away cold, and dispelling rheumatism. If taken raw, improperly mixed or overdosed, it can cause numbness in the mouth, tongue and body, nausea and vomiting,
Chest tightness and spasm, heart rhythm disorder, confusion, respiratory failure and death; this is Gelsemium elegans, which has the effect of reducing swelling, relieving pain, removing poison and killing insects. The whole plant is poisonous. If swallowed by mistake, it can cause respiratory paralysis. In mild cases, it may be difficult to breathe. In severe cases, it may cause respiratory paralysis.
The patient died of respiratory arrest..."
Xia Houshu listened quietly, and also heard the names and medicinal properties of flowers that she had either seen or never heard of, such as poinsettia, lantana, green jade, poppy poppies, narcissus, etc., and was quite moved in her heart. Unexpectedly, a small flower can still
So capable. Then she handed the gorgeous large flower in her hand to Pei Lang and asked, "Mr. Pei, do you know what kind of flower this is?"
Pei Lang looked up and said calmly: "This is called poppy flower. It has the effects of astringing the lungs, astringing the intestines, relieving coughs, analgesics and hypnosis. However, it also has a hallucinogenic effect and can damage the lungs and meridians of the human body."
Xia Houshu couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, the more beautiful it is, the more poisonous it is!"
Pei Lang nodded slightly and continued: "The growth habits and cultivation methods of these flowers are different, and some of them are not even native to Nanqi. Now they are planted in the same yard. It is very strange to think that this family is here."
Simple." He looked at Xia Houyi and asked, "Second Young Master, can you tell me the exact origin of these flowers?"
When Xia Houshu heard this, he also followed Pei Lang's gaze and looked at Xia Houyi, wondering if he could figure out the right time to save him tonight. He must have followed him all the way. Since he was going to the Prime Minister's Mansion, then...
"I understand." Xia Houshu said suddenly.
The sudden voice attracted the attention of the two people next to her, and she continued: "It's the Prime Minister's Mansion. When I saw these flowers just now, I thought they looked familiar. When I thought about it carefully, I realized that there were flowers in the courtyard where Yi Wu used to live.
Planting flowers and plants like this.”
Xia Houyi stared at his sister without making any reaction.
Pei Lang, who had always been calm, was dumbfounded, as if he had discovered some shocking secret. Then his eyes turned back and forth between Xia Houyi and his sister several times. Thinking of their daily words and deeds, he seemed to feel that it was him.
Too much fuss, so he put away his surprise and said thoughtfully: "Yes, yes, only people like that can obtain such things."
Although Xia Houshu was still confused about her brother's purpose of picking so many flowers for Pei Lang to identify, she really had no intention of caring about these poisonous flowers and weeds at this time. There were too many things that happened this night, and they were too thrilling. If
If Xia Houyi had not followed her and rescued her in time, perhaps Prime Minister Wang would have taken her body to the Yue Duke's Mansion tomorrow to seek justice.
"Mr. Pei." Xia Houyi suddenly said, "Please don't tell anyone about what happened tonight. Especially what Shu'er said just now."
Pei Lang waved his hand and said cheerfully: "Second Young Master, don't worry, we medical practitioners are always only interested in these medicinal materials and difficult and complicated diseases."
After receiving Pei Lang's assurance, Xia Houyi glanced at the poisonous flowers on the table and said, "It's useless for me to hold these flowers and plants. If Mr. Pei is interested, just keep them. They might come in handy."