Ruthless debt

In the past 16 years, he has never been so helpless. There is no mother and concubine who dotes on him, and there is no father who rushes to coax him when he cries. Abandoned in the wilderness no one cares about.He put all these resentments on Mu Xuanqing, and swore in his heart that what Zuo Qi suffered today, he will definitely pay back twice in the future.

Mu Xuanqing led Mu Bizhao away after watching the good show. The people in the courtyard were a little unsteady when they got up after kneeling for a long time, but they all rushed to check on Zuo Qi's injuries.Prince Che didn't have time to wipe away his tears, but hurriedly ran to Zuo Qi, his body was covered with bruised wounds, so they didn't know where to start.

Jin'er untied the rope, and her palms were stained with blood, which was sticky and cold mixed with snow water. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, pretending to be calm and said: "Nan'er, go and prepare the wound medicine, auntie Go get some hot water..."

Prince Che embraced him in his arms, and he could only hug him horizontally to avoid the wound.Although he was so careful, it still hurt him, Zuo Qi groaned in pain, cold sweat kept breaking out from his forehead, and even at this moment he still said: "Don't cry."

Only Nan'er and Prince Che were left in the room to take care of them. The rags and clothes were stubbornly stuck to the wound, and it was time-consuming and torturous to clean up.It was severe cold at this time, Zuo Qi had been frozen outside for a long time, and he had lost too much blood, so he had no strength to toss back and forth.He half-opened his eyes and let Nan'er fiddle with him, every painful moan could make Prince Che's heart throbbing.Liu Pin and Xiao Lie built several braziers, and the room gradually warmed up.

After Nan'er prescribes good medicine for her, she goes down to decoct the medicine. At this time, there are only two of them left in the room.The prince Che looked at him without saying a word. There was not a single piece of skin on his half-naked body. He counted every welt mark carefully, but he couldn't count it for a long time.I don't know if he fell asleep, but his brows were tightly furrowed, he must have been in great pain, Prince Che stretched out his hand to caress the two knit eyebrows, his chest seemed to be wrapped in a tangle of hemp, and he was so strangled that he couldn't breathe angry.

After this incident, the atmosphere of "Lanyang Palace" changed obviously, and they could no longer enjoy themselves in the bitterness. Everyone was like a bereaved dog, cautious in their words and deeds, and no one dared to provoke them easily.

The biggest change was undoubtedly the prince Che, who stayed on the bed for half a month without thinking about eating or drinking, and didn't say a word.When Zuo Qi recovered, he looked much thinner, and his facial features, which were already deep, became more and more mature at this moment. He seemed to have changed overnight, and he was no longer the young boy with a green face.

The two brothers Xie Gui became more and more serious, and the meals they served every day could only barely maintain enough food and clothing.There were a few cats in the dining room, and all the meat must have entered the stomachs of the brothers and these cats.Jin'er argued with them several times, and was humiliated every time. She only said that she received it from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If she wanted to eat a good meal and talk to His Majesty, they had no choice but to do so.

If it weren't for the support of someone behind him, how could a mere cook be so bold and reckless, except for Prince Mu Xuanqing, he couldn't think of anyone else.He still couldn't figure out when he had offended him, so that he, the majestic leader of a country, would not be ashamed to use such despicable means to punish himself.

Zuo Qi was seriously injured, Nan'er went to get the medicine with Xie Gui and the two brothers, those people in the imperial pharmacy thought Nan'er didn't understand anything, they gave all the medicinal materials that couldn't cure the disease, but she didn't have any of them.Nan'er is not blind, even if she is blind, she can still smell the smell of Jiangxiang and Baiji, if it is some precious wound medicine, it is fine, they are all ordinary common medicines that cannot be more ordinary, this is not deliberately making things difficult but also What?

In order to make Zuo Qi get better soon, they have already used up half of the precious medicinal materials brought from the Qu country. Nan'er can't help but feel a little worried. If you are seriously ill, once these medicinal materials are exhausted, can you just sit and wait for death?She died herself, but Prince Che couldn't, and neither could Zuo Qi.

Liu Pin was capable enough to fly over the roof and walls, and he could sneak around in the dark without anyone noticing.He and Xiao Lie took turns guarding the Lanyang Palace, and after a long time, they felt that this was unnecessary. Whenever there was a disturbance in the palace, before they noticed the patrolling guards would already howl.

Although these guards are more sensitive than dogs, they are nothing in front of Liu Pin and Zuo Qi. The two often walk around in the middle of the night, sneaking into the dining rooms of various palaces and courtyards to get some cooked food. The two brothers Xie Gui couldn't starve if they didn't give them food.

Liu Pin once asked Zuo Qi, after all, you are also the son of a senior doctor with a rich body, why are you so proficient in doing these things?Zuo Qi smiled: "I just don't want him to starve."

In this way, another year passed, and the people in the 'Lanyang Palace' were not all starved and emaciated as expected. Naturally, Mu Xuanqing didn't have to inspect it personally. The two brothers Xie Gui were his eyes and ears, and they reported everything in detail. .On the contrary, various palaces and courtyards have punished many slaves with rods in the past year, all because of stealing food.

No matter how well it is hidden, it is impossible to keep the secret for a long time if there are two caring people around.One day, Zuo Qi and Liu Pin were hunting for food in the middle of the night. The two brothers Xie Gui hid beside the rockery, spied on the matter and made it clear, and went to report it to Mu Xuanqing the next day.He got a little impatient waiting, and finally let him seize the opportunity again, but how should he deal with them this time?

Mu Xuanqing ordered more than a hundred guards to search the courtyard to find out the food thief.When searching other places, they just put on a simple show, and the focus was on the Lanyang Palace. Dozens of guards barely dug the ground three feet, demolished the house and exposed the roof tiles.After some searching, nothing suspicious was found. Everyone wanted to return without success, but one of the guards came forward to report that the soil under the trees in the courtyard showed signs of being dug up not long ago.

Jin'er usually buries food residues under the red soil of Zhaodian, one is to hide people's eyes and ears, and the other is to use it as fertilizer, otherwise those few Zhaodianhong plants will not bloom so luxuriantly.She thought she did it flawlessly, but she was caught by others. It was not just these few camellias that were folded today. I am afraid that everyone in Lanyang Palace will not escape this disaster.

The leader called the two brothers Xie Gui to come forward, took a lamb rib and asked if it was among the ingredients they had received recently, the brothers Xie Gui shook their heads, saying that they hadn't received it in the past two months.

Needless to say, this food thief must have come out of Lanyang Palace.

Now that this matter has been found out, it is natural to be the first to report it to the king.It didn't take a moment for Mu Xuanqing to hear the news and rush over. Except for the prince Che, all the people were tied up, and they all knelt in the courtyard, waiting to be punished.

Mu Xuanqing turned Lanyang Palace into a torture room. Everyone insisted that they were the food thief. After careful interrogation, everyone except Zuo Qi and Liu Pin was vague. It is not clear what the dining room looks like, how could it be the food thief, so he released Jin Er Nan Er Ying Niang, only Zuo Qi Liu Pin and Xiao Lie were bound.

Xiao Lie has only been there twice, and he did it only when he was discovered because of his lack of lightness kung fu.He also firmly insisted that it was him, and when he confessed his guilt, his voice was loud, covering the voices of the other two.

Mu Xuanqing said: "I came here this time, of course it was not for some food. I think my dignified Shuo Kingdom will not lack your rations? But you have also seen it. There are no less than ten slaves who have been wronged for this in a year. I can spare you, but what can I use to silence them, not punishing you today is not enough to appease the public anger, come here, and cut off the hands and feet of these three people."

Hearing this, the prince Che immediately knelt down on the ground: "No, I ordered them to do everything they did. Qian Che was used to rich clothes and fine food since he was a child, and couldn't bear the suffering of simple food, so he ordered them to go out to find food for me. Yes, Your Majesty, forgive them, as long as you don't cut off their hands and feet, you can ask me to do anything..."

The corner of Mu Xuanqing's mouth raised, he was waiting for this sentence.

Immediately, everyone was screened back, leaving only five attendants and Prince Che together.Mu Xuanqing knelt down and whispered in Prince Che's ear: "I don't want you to do anything, let me make a bet with me today, if you win I will let them go, what do you want?"

Prince Che slowly raised his face and asked, "What bet?"

Mu Xuanqing showed a playful smile: "Bring your companion reader into the house first, and you will know in a while."

Five guards followed the two into the house. Mu Xuanqing walked to the end, and he said to the rest of the courtyard: "No one is allowed to enter without my order. If you don't obey, what I want today is not just their hands and feet. .”

"Yes." Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to disobey the order.

After the door was closed, Mu Xuanqing pulled the prince Che to the corner, and said to him: "You stand here, for the next half hour, I want you to keep your eyes open, if you can hold back the tears I let them go today, but if you take a step forward, or if you cry..."

He immediately had a bad feeling, "What are you going to do?"

"You don't need to know what I'm going to do, you just need to tell me whether you want to make this bet, you know...you are not qualified to bargain with me yet."

He took a deep look at Zuo Qi, at this moment he was already in trouble, so he couldn't help thinking about it, if he hesitated any longer, maybe Mu Xuanqing would regret it.

"I bet."