Ning Gu

The garden is full of scorching heat, but it's frighteningly cold in the cutting sandalwood house.

The little boy from Zhaoxing stood respectfully outside the door, poked his head in, and saw that Mr. Qi Lang, who said he was going back to Yangzhou just a few months ago, was sitting on the bedside, his brows were deeply furrowed, and he raised his hand to thank him. Langjun felt his pulse on his wrist, while Xie Langjun lay quietly on the bed, as if in a deep dream.

If it wasn't for Zhao Zuo eagerly calling "Ping Zhi" in the room, if it wasn't for the blood-stained clothes that Zhao Zuo took off from Xie Ling piled up on the bed, the little boy might have thought that the person on the bed Just fell asleep.

The little boy who had been by Qi Zhisheng's side carried a box of medicinal stones and ran into the house. After Qi Zhisheng cleaned his hands to find the acupoints, he immediately handed over the silver needles, and Qi Zhisheng did something about it.

The Nine-Five Supreme was standing a few steps away from the bed, with gloomy eyes, but locked on the one on the bed.Suddenly, for some unknown reason, Mr. Qi's hand holding the needle paused, and he said urgently, "Steady him!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Zuo strode onto the bed and held Xie Ling in his arms.The last time he did this was when Xie Wuling lifted the shackles.

At that time it was not like it is now, only worried that Xie Wuling would fall to the root of his illness, but now he was afraid of making a serious attack and crushed him in his arms.

"Hold him, Zhao Congshan, are you afraid now?" Qi Zhisheng frowned and said mercilessly.Xie Ling was trembling in Zhao Zuo's arms, even frowning.Zhao Zuo's subordinates tried their best to prevent Xie Ling's unconscious trembling and resistance from affecting Qi Zhisheng's injection.When Xie Ling calmed down in Zhao Zuo's arms, Qi Zhisheng also took a slight breath.

Seeing this, Zhao Zuo relaxed his hanging heart a little, and asked cautiously: "Mr. Qi, how are you?"

Hearing this, Qi Zhisheng took the handkerchief handed over by his apprentice, and smiled, and said in a strange way: "Your Majesty should know that there are more grass people than grass people. There is one thing that grass people are very curious about."

Xie Pingzhi and Qi Zhisheng were close friends.It's not the first time that Qi Zhisheng has complained about Xie Pingzhi, but every time he always curses directly, no matter in front of anyone.Like now, it was Qi Zhisheng's first time to beat around the bush.

Zhao Zuo was always haunted by uneasiness, and he whispered: "I also ask Mr. Qi to enlighten me."

"How long does Your Majesty want Xie Pingzhi to live?"

Zhao Zuo was shocked by Qi Zhisheng's question.Ever since he came to the throne, he has been able to control life and death with one hand, and he has long been unafraid of this sentence.But when these words came from Qi Zhisheng's mouth, he was suddenly afraid, and also afraid.

He was still sitting on the bed, subconsciously folded his arms, and hugged the person in his arms tighter.His eyes lingered on the face of the person in his arms.How long Xie Ling can live is beyond his control.He wanted Xie Ling to live until the time when he would grow old with him, that would be good.

But he knew that this was nothing more than wishful thinking.He could see Xie Ling's pale face, his pale blood-colored lips, he could see Xie Ling's weakness, so weak that he was worried every day, worried that every day was the last day, worried that every eye It was the last look between them.

He tried his best to seize life and death, but he couldn't save this person's life in his palm.Zhao Zuo was silent for a long time.

Qi Zhisheng didn't have the heart to stay in the house with this person, he just told his disciples to remember to take the needle, then stepped out of the house, and told the children outside the house to remember to stain the clothes beside the bed with blood and take them out to the garden. Burned outside, so as not to leave any bad luck, and then disappeared into the garden.

At sunset, the old slave beside Zhao Zuo brought today's booklets into the garden from Chongque, followed Zhao Zuo's old habits, and came to the cutting sandal yard by himself. , disturbed the little boy's dream, stepped forward and leaned over to ask the little boy in a low voice: "Where is the Holy One?"

"Inside. Sir, he..." The little boy pouted, with worry still in his eyes, and said to the old slave, "Today, my condition suddenly relapsed. I..." The little boy said incoherently, "Ah! That, Qi Your Majesty has come to see it."

"Okay, good boy, go and ask the little chef to prepare dinner." The old slave guessed that he must have seen this scene for the first time, thinking that he was just like this when he followed the master, and he was at a loss, so he Didn't say much.

The little boy left the yard in response, and the old servant called Zhao Zuo twice outside the yard, and there was silence inside; he said that Zhezi had arrived today, but there was still no movement inside; he was at a loss, so he raised his volume and called again, only then did he see Zhao Zuoqi Door.

"Keep your voice down, it's disturbing him." Zhao Zuo randomly pulled a shirt over and ordered the old slave.

The old slave hurriedly nodded and bowed, and said: "Thank you, Mr...."

"He's fine. You can move the pocketbook into the yard later. Take dinner to the apricot forest later. If Xianzhi comes back, call someone to come to the ward." Zhao Zuo stepped out of the yard and whispered, "but tonight he will Probably won't come back yet."

Xie Wuling used to love wine, so he stored all the wine behind the Xinglin hut.When the moon was full and free again, he, Zhao Zuo and his son would gather in the apricot grove and invite them to drink to the moon.

Zhao Zuo stopped in front of the dozen or twenty jars of wine piled up in Xinglin, and caught a glimpse of the brocade corner hidden on the bluestone behind the wine jar.He walked around the wine jar, and just saw Qi Zhisheng, his face was flushed, and there were a few empty jars lazily placed beside him.

Zhao Zuo looked at him slightly drunk, and thought it was funny. He took the wine jar, sat on the floor, and laughed out loud. Perhaps the laughter caught Qi Zhisheng's eyes. people?"

"Who has fallen with you? You white-eyed wolf." Qi Zhisheng snorted and babbled, "You still sent someone to follow me and check me? Hey, Xie Pingzhi was really blind and bumped into you."

Hearing the words, Zhao Zuo didn't have the leisure time to drink, he still held the altar, pretending not to care, and said back: "It's not that Mr. Qi is not satisfied with this, otherwise why bother?"

"I'm not satisfied with this?" Qi Zhisheng became angry when he heard this, and knocked the wine jar heavily on the ground, and he didn't know how much old wine was spilled out.Qi Zhisheng raised his hand and pointed at the small east courtyard, and said with righteous indignation: "The Lu family came to Fufeng. Two days ago, I was appointed by the people in that courtyard, and I was appointed here. I was asked to rescue Lu Qi for him. Let his Lu family help to find it. You say I am not satisfied with this? Do you know why his Lu family disappeared from Fufeng, and why he has been staying in a quiet corner in the north?"

Qi Zhisheng sneered, together with the falling night, he wanted to spit out all the filth in his heart that was covered up by the day.

"How do you know? Xie Pingzhi won't tell you at all. Do you know why he was tortured like that by Duke Yong? Just because of the Lu family, he went to wear that opera robe and put on red makeup, what an extra step! Originally Huixuan gave him a safe way to stay, but he wanted to meddle in the affairs of the Lu family... His demeanor, wearing a costume, is so beautiful, others don't know, don't you? You Zhao Congshan dare to say that you saw him wearing a costume Still not tempted? You are still like this, let alone Zhao Xiu's head tied to the waist of his trousers."

When Zhao Zuo asked him, he fell silent and closed his eyes, as if he was recalling the figure and voice in his memory.Don't ask yourself, he knows the answer.I was moved, for Xie Wuling, since then, or earlier.

"After that, he got a promise from the Lu family. As long as he wanted, the entire Lu family could be included behind Zhaoxing, but he," Qi Zhisheng sighed, and took another sip of wine. It slapped the face, scratched the throat, and finally merged into the skirt of the clothes.It seems like this, this wine can wake him up, but he didn't know that he became more drunk, and his words became more unscrupulous: "He is stupid, with that promise, he said he wanted to protect the Lu family, and he also wanted to protect the Lu family." That kid named Lu Qi made the Lu family agree not to join Fufeng unless it was an accident. Then he told me seriously that this is paving the way for you and your Xianzhi. , it doesn’t matter. I only know that no matter what he does, he will end up being scolded by thousands of people. His master, that old man, got the posthumous title of ‘Wenzheng’ after all. How about him? Go ask, the whole Fufeng City, Except for the old woman who sells tea outside, who still thinks of him?"

Zhao Zuo's eyes were a bit cold, but Qi Zhisheng was unmoved and said: "What about you, you white-eyed wolf, and you let that kid from Xuancheng check me? To bully my little apprentice? I can't do it today. Just tell you, Zhao Congshan, that you deserve today." Qi Zhisheng spat out a mouthful of saliva, showing all the country's problems, "You know how much that blind Xie Ling suffered in Binzhou because of you. You are suffering from the cold in Yashan, what about him?"

Zhao Zuo handed the wine jar to Qi Zhisheng, Qi Zhisheng took it and drank it again.

"Mr. Qi knows about Binzhou affairs?" Zhao Zuo whispered, taking advantage of the situation to lie.

"I really don't know. When he went to Binzhou that year, that bad old man from Zhaoxing sent me a letter asking me to go to Binzhou to see his apprentice, saying that his apprentice had a knee injury. I was still wondering." , Xie Wuling has never knelt before anyone in his life, so why would he have an injury on his knee?"

"The injury was caused by Changming, I know it. At that time, he pleaded for me. Before he recovered his body, he went to kneel in the snow. Xianzhi was outside Changming and saw it with his own eyes."

"You also know, of course it's not just that. He told you that your father imprisoned him in the first courtyard? And that small courtyard is the prison of your Ministry of Punishment. He must have never told you. In the prison What good can it do? His knees are soaked in cold, he was fine when he was young, look at him now, it’s winter, he can’t even get up and see people!"

The Prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice... This place is circling in Zhao Zuo's mind.So Xie Wuling said that Yuan Bao and Xianzhi could only visit him from time to time. In fact, Yuan Bao secretly bribed the jailer?

A cloud of suspicion condensed in Zhao Zuo's heart, followed by a thunderclap.

"That room finally became the home of his master, that bad old man Zhaoxing. Emperor Hui really has a good intention." Qi Zhisheng smiled bitterly, and there was a deep meaning in his words that Zhao Zuo couldn't understand, "Xie Wuling I don't know what I said in Changming, and I committed the following offense and was thrown into prison. Later, Emperor Hui deliberately released the news to Zhaoxing, the old man kissed Chongque, your father ordered Xie Wuling to be brought out of the prison, If you want to make a bet with him, you will know the rest."

"Old Prime Minister Xie met with his father and emperor in Lantai, recommended Xie Wuling as an official, and boasted that the people who went to Haikou, Zhaoxing, could rule the chaos in Binzhou. Then Xie Wuling was given the last official of the household department and sent to Binzhou. And Xie Xiang died in Chongque..."

Zhao Zuo recited that paragraph of daily life note word by word, and he did not remember how many times he had read that paragraph of daily life note, but after all these years, he did not read any deep meaning from these few words.

"Bragging to Haikou? When Xie Wuling picked it up from the barren hills, he was destined to guard Fufeng. Since childhood, he also followed the old man and Huixuan to see the sufferings of the world. After being influenced by his ears and eyes, he naturally knew how to act. Speaking of which, I listened to Fufeng Some people said that the old man couldn't bear to send Xie Wuling to Fufeng, but Xie Wuling, who was blind with his eyes open, insisted. Why do you think it is?"

"He gave you half his life and the heart that was supposed to carry the wind and the moon. Where is your Zhao Congshan?" Qi Zhisheng asked again, the clarity in his eyes made Zhao Zuo think that the drunken appearance just now was fake.

Zhao Zuo looked away, but Qi Zhisheng didn't catch up, but there was more helplessness in his eyes.Looking down at the altar of wine, it was unfathomable, just like Zhao Zuo sometimes.

"Aren't you worried about the matter of Huaibin Prefecture? I wonder if the Holy Majesty would like to listen to someone from Qi now?" Qi Zhisheng probably finished scolding, and all the anger from his superiors dissipated for a while, and he spoke with restraint.

Zhao Zuo raised his chin, unsealed another jar of wine, and signaled him to continue.

Qi Zhisheng raised his glass and spoke eloquently.

"To be honest, when I arrived in Binzhou, he was dying."

When Zhao Zuo heard the word "dying", his heart tightened suddenly, and his hands hidden under his sleeves clenched into fists.

"You probably haven't seen it. That's probably the first time I've seen him like that in the five years I've been friends with him. It's like going from the cloud to the mud, but that's it. He closed his eyes, lying quietly on a windshield In the hut, his mouth was closed, and he had to raise his hand to cover his neck in order to feel his faint pulse. His hair was messy, and his blue ribbon was also stained with muddy water, and he could not see his true color clearly. .”

"He is an imperial envoy. They..." Zhao Zuo felt powerless when he said this.

So what about the imperial envoys? How can officials who have been sent down have the right to speak?

People say that the government office is divided into three people, one is the county magistrate, one is the master, and one is the county magistrate.The real power is the county magistrate, the planner is the master, and the guilty person is the county magistrate.The county magistrate is just a person who writes documents and agrees with them, but Xie Wuling's status in Binzhou is probably worse than that of the county magistrate.

"At that time, Binzhou was chaotic, no one would take care of him, if it wasn't for Zhaoxing who was secretly guarding him, you wouldn't need to come back from Yashan, you just need to die there."

Zhao Zuo pursed his lips and remained silent, he knew that he should not even have the right to speak out now, and he owed Xie Wuling not only what Xie Wuling asked for.

Really counting, how can they be clear between the two of them?As for the bet of "exchanging oneself for one's job" back then, the last bet between Xie Wuling and Emperor Hui, he had heard about it when he was in Fufeng. Zhao Zuo can return to Fufeng.Let bygones be bygones.

"Because of your bet, he has been holding his breath in Binzhou. I spent day and night in Binzhou trying to find a cure for the disease he contracted, and he was sitting on that bed, calling your name day and night. , He probably won’t tell you about this.” Qi Zhisheng suddenly joked without too much trouble, but after Zhao Zuo lightly coughed twice, his ears turned red, and Qi Zhisheng just He regained his seriousness and continued, "Later, he recovered from a serious illness, and the fever had not gone away, so he asked the county magistrate to hold a banquet and asked him to hand over the prescription for curing the epidemic. Originally, he and I both I didn't want to hide it, but the county magistrate is not a thing, if there is a Hongmen banquet, then I... even if I burn it, I won't give it to him."

"What happened next?"

"What can I do? I left some unclean things on his bedside and asked him to kneel down and beg for a prescription. Caomin can't bear the reputation of the wonderful hands and rejuvenation. He still thinks he is good. He What are those dirty thoughts in the face of life and death? People will always break their bones and sharpen their edges in the face of life and death."

When Zhao Zuo heard the words, he seemed to be out of breath, and his brows were a little happy, as if he had avenged his great revenge.But this is the real bone breaking in the face of life and death, who is sharpening the edge, the two people who are talking to each other know it well, but they just stop talking.

"Master is used to meeting people who make the wind turn the rudder, but the county magistrate is a stubborn master. But Pingzhi ordered him to ignore it at that time. Later, Xie Wuling and I went to Cilv Zuodi."

Qi Zhisheng still remembers that scene to this day, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as mourning.

On the small Sifang Street, dead bodies were lying all over the place, and beggars lived in a dilapidated alley, cautiously poking their heads into the street.Before the foot stepped in, I heard human voices crying, hoarse crying, more ear-splitting than the biting winter wind.

Before the two of them could stand on their heels, they saw those who could still move kneeling in front of them in twos and threes, asking for only two words - "help".This kneeling team obviously only had two or three people, but Xie Wuling's eyes fell on the end of the street, as if counting the entire Sifang Street, there should be some people.

"Jimu was rescued at that time. At that time, he supported his grandma at the end of the street, and slowly came to us. Grandma's spirit was not very good, and she only said one sentence over and over again, asking them to take her grandson away. Leave that dead man's land, that place where there is no way forward."

"Pingzhi agreed." Zhao Zuo's certainty was not because he died when he saw him in Fufeng later, but because Xie Wuling's heart was very soft in that situation, and he would definitely take him in and die.

There is no need to think about it, Xie Wuling's temper is just like this.What Zhao Zuo was sure of was nothing more than this.

"Later, I heard from Changle that Pingzhi handed over the memorial, and that the method of burying the diseased corpses in the coffin soil was replaced by burning them?" Zhao Zuo heard the footsteps, and turned the conversation. Looking back, he saw that the person who came was an old slave, and brought dinner. , and nodded to signal him to put it in front of him.

"Well, it's a method that that bad old man has used a long time ago, and it is indeed effective. My master also said so, this method will be implemented sooner or later." Seeing the old slave put down a plate of appetizers, Qi Zhisheng also said Quietly, he stretched out his hand to the plate of appetizers.

"And Pingzhi, he promoted it at that time..." Zhao Zuo frowned, it can be said that he was fighting with his back.Either Li Wei, or the rebellion of the people, "Those common people must make it difficult for him."

"How unimportant the people are, his mind is the most difficult thing for him. The county magistrate issued an order in front of him, and everyone came to block him, begging him to open his mouth and save his family. Everyone cried and said , 'Obviously it is curable, but it is terminally ill'."

"However, he locked himself up for three days. I called him every day, but he never opened the door for me. Finally, he went to the fire scene in person, looked at the powerless corpses, and burned them for the fire; he went to the partition Outside the district, I saw the dying man from Yao Shi Wangran from afar. In the night, Zhao Xing’s people were finally summoned to put arsenic in their medicine, and it’s over.” What Qi Zhisheng said, Zhao Zuo kept churning in his heart .

"Short-term pain is worse than long-term pain." Zhao Zuo commented.

But the one who hurts the most is Xie Wuling, who has done all these things.Even when the future really comes out, he will do his best to bear it.How could Zhao Zuo fail to understand what Qi Zhisheng meant, he didn't know what kind of torment Xie Wuling went through during the three days he stayed in the house.But he was sure that Xie Wuling who ordered Zhaoxing's people to execute those people was full of thoughts, which was no different from when he gave Xie Wuling to pour wine back then.He really, empathizes.

"Still listening?" a low voice asked.

"No need. Binzhou, it's really hard." A low voice replied.

"That's right, because of this, when the news of his master's death came later, he wasn't as distraught as he was in those few days."

Hearing the words, Zhao Zuo raised his head in disbelief. To be honest, he didn't believe it no matter what.Abbot Zhaoxing is no different from his biological father to Xie Wuling.After his father passed away, he could remain calm and self-sufficient, which Zhao Zuo could not imagine.

"Night is coming, it's better to drink less of this wine from Shanlang." After saying that, Qi Zhisheng got up, his feet were weak, and he wanted to stagger towards the pavilion where he lived.

Zhao Zuo called him suddenly and said, "Mr. Qi, there is one more thing to ask from Congshan."

Qi Zhisheng looked back at Zhao Zuo, raised his eyebrows, and motioned for Zhao Zuo to ask.

"Zhao Xingyin."

"Someone Qi thinks that what Cong Shanlang wants to ask is not just the seal of Zhao Xing..."

The author has something to say: Why is it late again... because I'm a bit stuck...