There is an inn. Of course, the inn cannot really be called an inn. They spent the night casually. When Ning Que and Sang Sang walked out of the inn door the next day, rubbing their eyes and yawning, they had not yet remembered the name of the inn.
.
On the street, I found a kind-hearted old mother who asked me the way. The master and the servant walked towards Nancheng. They walked through alleys and streets and asked for directions again and again. Finally, they saw two large locust trees.
From the moment he saw the locust tree, memories that should have been vague but were actually very clear when he was a child flooded into Ning Que's mind. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then walked over with Sangsang.
There is a quiet street between the two big locust trees. It is wide enough for a carriage to pass, but it does not look very luxurious. I don't know who's house is on both sides of the street. There is not a sound. There are many towering trees from the courtyard wall.
Stretch out and put it on the heads of three or two groups of people, blocking the clear spring light and spreading a piece of coolness.
Walking to the middle of the street, there are two mansions facing each other. The stone lion standing beside the steps of the house on the right is particularly clean, with no conspicuous dust and fallen leaves on it. The red door is tightly closed, and the copper ring is silent.
The house on the left seemed to be much in decline. The paint on the door peeled off, and the remaining fragments of the two seals were fluttering feebly in the wind. Only one stone lion remained, and the other one was moved to an unknown location. Even if it was left,
The lower one is also broken, with ears and claws missing, and there is dark old mud accumulated behind the base, which looks a bit like solidified blood.
Ning Zhiyong looked at the dilapidated stone lion in front of him, remembering the past when he and Xiao Shun played around the lion when he was a child, and then were captured and taken away by the adults in the house to clean up the family. Then he walked through the corner gate alley next to the house.
He seemed to see the scene again when he was four years old, taking the little guy and bravely running away from home to avoid his husband's plank.
Sang Sang's eyes went back and forth between the two doors and Ning Que's face, feeling that his mood at the moment was gloomy, complex and low. She didn't know why, but she also felt depressed and sad. She felt that the wind in the alley was a bit cold.
That dilapidated courtyard was the residence of former General Xuanwei Lin Guangyuan. In the first year of Tianqi, His Majesty the Emperor inspected Nanze, and a major case of collaborating with the enemy and treason broke out in Chang'an City. His Royal Highness personally presided over the trial, while the prime minister and other ministers looked on, and finally determined that Lin Guangyuan was treason.
The crime was found guilty, and everyone in the Lin family was executed.
This case has long been settled, and no one in the government or the public has thought of overturning the case. Even if some people who remember this incident occasionally think of those servants and stewards who should not have died, and they feel sorry for Lin Guangyuan and hate Lin Guangyuan for his heinous crimes.
, not only allowed himself to be ruined and died, but also dragged down so many innocent people.
In the more than ten years after the General's Mansion was taken back by the imperial court, it was given out several times. However, when the officials who received the gift heard that it was such a dangerous place, they all expressed their gratitude. Since there were many spacious houses in the city of Chang'an, they were not afraid that they would not be able to afford it.
A place to live, but as a result, this mansion has long been empty in this street, becoming more and more decayed.
When he walked through the gate of the General's Mansion, Ning Que's eyes flashed with sadness, and there was no longer any strange emotion on his face. He didn't stop, and his steps didn't even slow down. He continued to walk as usual.
So Sangsang, who was carrying a big black umbrella, had no choice but to follow with difficulty as usual, almost trotting. The big black umbrella was bounced off the little girl's back and then fell back, making a snapping sound like a drum that represented the passage of time.
The two of them walked peacefully through the long alley, between the red gate and the broken gate, as normal as two ordinary foreign tourists who accidentally entered a certain street in Chang'an City in spring.
"No one wants that haunted house, but the house across the street is very popular. Why? Back then, General Xuanwei and Dr. Tongyi lived across from each other. General Xuanwei killed everyone in his house, but Dr. Tongyi soared up the ladder. Now it is Wenyuan Pavilion
Bachelor, how many fourth- and fifth-grade officials would like to take advantage of the mansion where the old man lived?"
There is a restaurant at the corner of the street. Ning Que and Sang Sang are sitting at a small table in the corner, quietly eating side dishes and drinking porridge, while listening to the chatter of the old neighbors. For these people in the neighborhood
For the old residents who have lived here for decades or even several lifetimes, the most interesting things for them to talk about are naturally the treason case in the General's Mansion and the Qingyun Avenue of the General Council. It's hard to talk about these every day.
It's disgusting, but it suits the wishes of the master and the servant.
"Speaking of Bachelor Zeng Jing, he was just a general doctor at the time, but then he suddenly rose to greatness. There is a wonderful thing in this. I wonder if you have heard of it?"
"This matter was such a big deal back then that even the palace made a statement. Who among the people living in this city has not heard of it?"
A middle-aged man shook his head and said sarcastically: "A dignified doctor married a fierce wife. Out of jealousy and hatred, the wife of the wife actually attacked the concubine's belly. This is not surprising. As a result, the concubine had a hard time giving birth.
After she came out, she would attack the poor child. If it hadn't been for the palace's final decree, who knows what would have happened in this mansion."
"You only know that the palace has spoken, but do you know who has spoken?" The man who spoke before sneered, and clasped his hands toward the north of Chang'an City, "I want to teach you that it was after the Holy Queen knew about this.
He was so furious that he wrote a letter in his own hand and gave it to Master Zeng Jing, ordering him to discipline his mother-in-law well."
"The Queen..."
The people drinking at the table looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Everyone in the world knew that there was a great empress in the Tang Dynasty. She was favored and trusted by His Majesty. She even held a memorial to approve the official.
Although she had great power, the empress was just an ordinary concubine in the palace. In folk words, she was the concubine of His Majesty the Emperor, and later she became the main wife.
Everyone can think of the reason why a queen with such a background is so concerned about family matters in the palace of a general official, and is so angry because the official wife abused his concubine and murdered her to have a son.
"Master Zeng Jing's wife was born in a famous family in Qinghe County. It is precisely for this reason that she has always been tolerant. But she didn't expect that the cowardly civil servants in the eyes of others can be really cruel! After the Queen's handwritten letter was sent to the palace, Master Zeng Jing
He summoned his family members overnight and publicly killed three stewards who had attempted to murder my concubine and gave birth to a child. Then he slapped his wife twice and carried a small sedan to send his wife back to Qinghe County. He divorced his wife so neatly!"
"Speaking of which, the old man was so decisive back then. It was probably because he had no choice but to protect himself under the power of the Queen. However, he did not expect that he did it cleanly and neatly, which attracted the favor of the Queen. She felt that this person was worthy of use. In addition, what happened next
For some reasons, this old man has prospered in officialdom and now has entered the Wenyuan Pavilion! It is said that good fortune and misfortune depend on each other, but who dares to imagine that a fierce wife who kills concubines and sons can actually become a man in the end?