across the Quartet

In the twelfth lunar month, the coffin of Han Fei, the son of South Korea, was carried back to his homeland.Because the guest died in a foreign land, all funeral ceremonies were kept simple, and then moved to the Taimiao to be parked and buried soon.

This night was no different from any other.cold.silence.An old spirit guard sat alone in the hall, guarding a pair of pale lamps.

In the temple behind him, there is a dark coffin.There lay the noblest, most learned, and fiercest man of Korean blood.

Where is his soul now?Did he return to the country he loved and hated the most in his life together with his body?

No one could answer.

A gust of cold wind swept across the ancient Berlin in the Taimiao, making a strange roar.The sound of the wind gradually died down, and a vague black figure loomed under the distant tree: like a huge monster, quietly lurking in the grass.

The guardian still sat motionless, with his eyelids drooping, as if he had long since fallen asleep.

The black shadow moved slowly, getting closer; it turned out that it was not a whole "monster", but several people walking in a row.They all wore dark cloaks, and they didn't make any sound of footsteps.It's like a team of ghosts from hell.

Suddenly, the ghost lamp in the mourning hall went out in an instant.The neighborhood suddenly became invisible.Breathing, gradually audible.

When the lights were lit again, all the dark shadows were already standing in the hall.The spirit guard stood at the door with a candle in his hand, his old turbid eyes were full of vibrancy, and he didn't look sleepy at all.

"Lord Wei Zhuang, my subordinates have been waiting here for a long time."

The leading black shadow nodded, and raised his hand to lift his cloak, revealing a head of gorgeous hair without any variegation.His eyes scanned the hall silently, and after a long while, he only uttered two words.

"Open the coffin."

Immediately, four powerful men came out from behind him, holding crowbars, chisels and other tools in their hands; they moved quickly and skillfully, almost without making a sound. They all retreated very tacitly.

Wei Zhuang finally saw the dead man lying inside.Because of the severe cold weather, the body was well preserved, with a thick layer of lead powder covering the bruises on the head and neck.The man seemed to be asleep, with an unusually peaceful expression.

"...Mr. Ji, please." There was a hoarseness in his voice that he didn't even notice.

Out of the cloaked party came the most wimpy-looking one; a grizzled old man with tulle covering the lower half of his face, and buckskin gloves on his hands.He bent down, checked the eyes, mouth, and ears of the deceased one by one, then flicked his sleeves like a magic trick, and unfolded a black silk cloth with strange luster on it.

The old man carefully twisted one of them and inserted it into the dead man's throat.After a while, he raised it and inserted it into his chest and lower abdomen.After he pulled out the needle, he turned it repeatedly under the light to observe it, and then put it under the tip of his nose and sniffed it carefully.Finally, he pressed the abdomen of the deceased and let out a sigh of relief.

"According to the old man, the young master seems to have died from the poison of a blind plant, called hook kiss. Also known as - heartbroken grass."

"How sure are you, sir?"

"Fifty percent."

"...With the vision of the genius doctor Mr. Ji Da, you can only see [-]% of it?"

"I am ashamed of myself. Although judging from the blood clots in the eyes and the results of the golden needle pricking the points, the young master's symptoms are very similar to the poison of the hook kiss, but the poison is very poisonous. The poisoned person will suffer from abdominal pain and broken liver and intestines. Therefore, it is also called "broken intestines." '. But looking at the young master's current appearance, it is unavoidable..."

"—It's too peaceful." Wei Zhuang whispered.

"Exactly. Young master's appearance, there is no pain at all. This does not match the medicinal properties of heartbroken grass, so I dare not make a conclusion lightly."

Wei Zhuang was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "Then can you tell whether he swallowed it by himself, or was it forcefully fed by someone...?"

The old man leaned down again, looked at the muscles of the dead man's head, neck and hands, and said, "I'm afraid it's not easy to judge. But if you are forced, there should be some traces of struggle left on the young master's body, and he won't appear so calm... ...Huh? This is..."

Ji Da raised the left wrist of the deceased, and found that the five fingers were tightly clenched into a fist, so tight that it could not be opened.

"It must be that the young master had tightly clenched this hand before he was alive, which caused such stiffness." The genius doctor lowered his wrist and sighed: "Perhaps... this is just the way he endures pain."

"Wait a minute."

Wei Zhuang suddenly stretched out a hand from the side, supporting the forearm of the deceased.

"……grown ups?"

"Perhaps he was really in great pain at the time. But the son I know, Fei, never does meaningless things." Wei Zhuang said.He suddenly exerted force with his hands, and snapped the clenched fingers outward—a slight cracking sound could almost be heard.

Han Fei's left hand finally spread out: there was indeed a strange thing lying in the pale palm.That thing is neither gold nor wood, its color is pitch-black, and it glows with a warm luster under the candlelight.

"This is... Moyu?"

"——It's not ordinary black jade." Wei Zhuang wrapped his hand with a silk handkerchief handed by his subordinates, picked it up, and looked at it under the candlelight. "To be precise, it should be a chess piece carved from jade; however, there is only half of it."

"My lord, what is the purpose of hiding this half of the black chess piece on purpose before he died?"

Wei Zhuang shook his head and said nothing, wrapped the chess piece with a silk handkerchief, and stuffed it into his bosom.

He stared straight at the dead man's face, as if the man was just closing his eyes and resting his mind, and would open his eyes at any moment, using the sharpest and happiest words as usual, laughing and cursing the whole world.

"Uncle Fei, what do you want to say to your nephew this time?"

Then there was a long silence.It wasn't until there was a soft "beep" sound on the candle that Wei Zhuang seemed to wake up from some kind of meditation.He rearranged Han Fei's left hand and ordered the people behind him to restore the coffin to its original shape.

"That's right." He had already turned to leave, but turned around when he reached the door, and said to the old guard, "Is there a chess set among the funeral objects of the young master?"

"As far as my subordinates know, there is indeed a pair of jade chessboard and chess pieces, which are the son's favorite things in his life."

"I want you to steal this thing, regardless of the cost, and give it to me." Wei Zhuang said, his dangerous eyes flicked over the people behind him one by one. "Except for the seven people who are here today, no eighth person should know about this matter."

"Subordinates take orders."

Three days later.

Xinzheng suburbs.A seemingly ordinary farm.The house is surrounded by green pines and cypresses, and there are black spots under the thick snow.There was a flock of chickens and ducks in the yard, and a woman in red was coaxing her baby in a low voice.There was also a boy in white, jumping up and down, as if he was playing a game of chasing each other with several burly men.

His movements were as deft as a bird's.The few big men chased and blocked him separately, panting like a cow with exhaustion, but they couldn't touch a piece of his clothes.

In the house, two acquaintances sat opposite each other on a low couch: one was wrapped in a thick fur robe and tied with black hair, he was small but had an appearance, it was Shen Tu Zhang Liang; A big cloak with loose white hair and open neckline, as if not afraid of the cold at all, is the owner here, Wei Zhuang.

Between them is a chess board.The two are not playing chess.

"This is... the young master's chess set?"

"good."

"Young master, what clues did he leave behind?"

"There is a hidden space under the chessboard. Inside, one of his plans is hidden."

"What plan?" Zhang Liang raised his eyes, and his breathing became short of breath.

"Dangerous plan." Wei Zhuang rubbed a jade chess piece in his hand, and said slowly: "Before he was taken away by Yao Jia, he hastily wrote down what he planned to do after entering Qin; Everything that happened fully confirmed his assumptions every step of the way."

"...Including, his death?"

"I think so." Wei Zhuang said, "Although I haven't found the exact reason yet, I will not stop investigating."

"What did he do in Qin? All I know is that he wrote a letter advising the king of Qin to save Han and destroy Zhao, but it aroused objections and suspicions from Qin's rulers and officials."

"The book "Cun Han" was just a trigger. Ying Zheng finally realized that he was still unwilling to be used by Qin, so he was sent to prison. But before that, he did one more thing," Wei Zhuang said , "That's what he wrote in his plan. As soon as he arrived in Xianyang, he wrote a letter to report Yao Jia, saying that he used the power of the King of Qin and the treasure of the Qin State to bribe important officials from various countries and hand him over to the princes."

Zhang Liang said in surprise: "Yao Jia did use the envoy's convenience to make friends with the courtiers of the six kingdoms of Shandong with precious treasures. But everyone understands that this is a secret order of the King of Qin to carry out the 'inside' plan."

"Yes, this is the crux of the plan. Yao Jia handed over Qin Wang's wealth to the feudal lords, and everyone in the world knows; but his intentions are public or private?"

"Bribery and countermeasures were originally proposed by Wei Liaozi to the King of Qin a few years ago, and then carried out by the 'Luo Wang'; Yao Jia's actions were naturally sent by the King of Qin. Can you shake the King of Qin by saying so? "

"Uncle Fei himself is very clear that he can't easily shake King Qin's trust in Yao Jia. But since someone has accused him so much, Yao Jia himself has to defend himself in front of King Qin; the king's suspicion, no matter how small, may be possible in the future. turned into a huge threat. So he has to prove that his actions are for the interests of Qin, not selfishness."

"How will he prove it?"

"...He will present an account to the King of Qin, which clearly records the final flow of every gold and treasure spent from the treasury."

"Indeed." Zhang Liang's eyes lit up, "This is the best proof that public property is shared. From the very beginning, the son wrote the letter to lead to this account!"

Wei Zhuang half-closed his eyes, and the chess pieces in his hands were tapping the chessboard lightly. "This account is just a guarantee for the king of Qin to make him feel at ease; but for those ministers from the six countries who accepted bribes to make profits for the Qin people and thought they were ignorant, it was a life-threatening account. Uncle Fei calculated the situation and people's hearts, but he didn't calculate his own safety."

Zhang Liang lowered his head and swallowed a very low choked sob.He took a few deep breaths, and asked again: "Young master saw Yao Jia's accounts, what happened after that?"

"...There is no more." Wei Zhuang shook his head and said, "There are only so many plans hidden in the chessboard. Perhaps, I haven't been able to find all the clues he left."

"That's it..."

The two chatted in low voices for a while, and Zhang Liang got up to leave.Before leaving, Wei Zhuang called to stop him.

"My dear brother, I heard that you performed the crowning ceremony last month? Aren't you only fourteen years old?"

"Master Xiangguo said that now is an extraordinary time, and there is no way to be polite. Since my younger brother is serving in the middle school, it is better to be crowned." Zhang Liang smiled slightly and nodded, "From now on, Brother Wei can Call me my watchword, Ovary."

"So good."

After Zhang Liang left, Wei Zhuang lost consciousness looking at the yard, and suddenly waved: "Hey kid, come here—"

What answered him was a string of sharp feathers.Wei Zhuang didn't even draw his sword, he jumped onto the roof and chased for a long time before finally catching the kid who was still thrashing around.He looked him up and down with a half-smile, and said, "Boy, you've been in the farm for a long time. You eat mine and use mine, but you plan to stay here for a long time?"

"I've done a lot of things for you too—I didn't save the woman last time—" the little ghost said while struggling.

"You're called rescue? - Forget it, no matter what, you listen to me, and I'll give you a reward. Are you willing to be counted as a member of Quicksand from now on?"

"Quicksand? What is quicksand?"

"Everyone here, me, her, them," Wei Zhuang pointed at the woman in red and a group of big men in the yard, "are all quicksand."

"Then if I join you, can I still kill you?"

"If you have the ability, you can keep trying." Wei Zhuang sneered.

"That's good." The little ghost agreed bluntly, "But from now on, you are not allowed to hit birds with golden marbles. You are not allowed to choke my neck. You are not allowed to disturb my practice. You are not allowed to force me to do what I don't want to do." Things. Also, don’t threaten me, I hate being threatened—”

"Liusha speaks on the basis of his ability. As much as you are capable, you are qualified to ask as many conditions." Wei Zhuang raised his eyebrows and said, "The first thing to do now is to give you a name. I can't keep calling you hello or boy. Your surname is Wu." It’s best for the family to stay anonymous in the Central Plains and not attract attention; since you like white so much, let’s take the surname Bai from now on.”

"Ah."

"What about your name... How about just calling you Wuji when you watch your actions?"

"Not good." The child flatly refused. "My name is Baifeng."

Wei Zhuang twitched his cheeks and said, "Feng? I know you can control birds, but this name is a bit feminine..."

"Feng is naturally a male. If I were a female, I should be called Baihuang."

"Only the vulgar countrymen in the Central Plains would choose names like dragon, phoenix, tiger, leopard... think about it again! It's not bad to call it impermanence, what do you think?"

"Why do you like to name people after Wuwuwu so much?" the child casually pointed to a passing maid, "Ah Xiang's real name is fine, but you want to change her name to Wuqing; the uncle who cooks for you Changed the name to Wuming, why didn’t you change the name yourself to be boring—”

Wei Zhuang retracted his upper arm muscles and threw him out.