Shanglin Night Snow

In summer, the afternoon time becomes extremely long.Mu Yunqi couldn't remember how long he had been looking at the book in his hand, the buzzing of insects outside the window was always distracting.

Supporting his forehead with one hand, he went forward to poke the ball of fluff with the other hand. Seeing the cat's ears move, a long snow-white whisk swept briskly under his eyes. Then he heard a "boom", and the tea cup fell down in response.

"Meow!" The lion cat let out a dissatisfied roar and stood up, stepped back a few steps away from the water, jumped off the desk, climbed up the window sill three times and two times, and followed the sound of birds outside.

After being wiped and tidied up by the palace people, Mu Yun retreated to the window, and the cool breeze from outside gradually blew away the tiredness, which made people feel refreshed and calmed down a bit.

"Officials, King Jia is asking to see you." Huangmen reported.

After a while, someone came in.

It has only been about ten days in the confinement mansion, Mu Yinche's complexion is a little paler than before, and his figure is as thin as a thin bamboo. It seems that he has experienced disasters or diseases, which makes people look quite unbearable.

Mu Yun prayed for a seat, but he didn't dare, because he came here today to plead guilty, and he bowed down in words: "I lied to Your Majesty about something before, I have been thinking about it for the past two days, and General Guo painstakingly advised me, and finally It made me realize that the matter involved two human lives, and I should not cover it up because of my own selfishness, so I came here to plead guilty and make a statement."

"Two lives?" Mu Yunqi frowned, with doubts in his heart, and was about to order him to speak, but heard Zhao Yude begging to see him.The man came here on order, and Mu Yunqi made himself known as Xuanjin.

The visitor had seen the ceremony inside, so Mu Yunqi ordered King Jia to continue the conversation.

"I have previously concealed something from the Secretary of the Imperial City and General Guo, which is the cause of the death of Ziyu, the servant girl in my mansion." Mu Yinche was obviously apprehensive, and paused, "Ziyu died suddenly half a month ago. It was raining and the road was slippery, and the man fell down and touched his head on the edge of the well and died, but this may not be the case.”

Mu Yunqi listened and understood: "You mean, Ziyu was killed or died?"

Seeing it, she nodded: "It's true that Ziyu fell by the well at that time, her head was bleeding, but there was still a blood-stained stone beside her, and there was another woman's footprint by the well." With lowered eyes, The voice became softer: "After the incident, Mingxia, the new maid who entered my residence, disappeared without a trace."

Zhao Yude's eyebrows twitched.

"Mingxia--" Mu Yunqi thought for a moment before remembering: "Is that the woman you asked to stay in the mansion last time and then ran away?"

The person who made the next move moved his Adam's apple a few times: "Yes."

Mu Yun frowned: "What does Yu De think?"

The latter looked at King Jia: "May I ask Your Highness, besides the footprints, is there any other evidence pointing to Mingxia?"

Mu Yinche's eyes lowered, and his voice was as soft as a whisper: "Mingxia and Ziyu have always been at odds..."

Zhao Yude thought for a while: "In this way, if the corpse in the river outside the city is Mingxia, it is very likely that she knew that she had sinned deeply and was desperate, so she had no choice but to kill herself?"

King Jia sighed: "Perhaps! But General Guo has always suspected that Mingxia may be involved in the case he is investigating, so he has doubts about her death. He said that he has already reported to the officials and asked the Imperial City Division to help him thoroughly investigate. , I know that if I continue to hide it, I will cause trouble to everyone, so I hope it is not too late." I pray again: "I conceal the truth because of my own selfishness, and ignore the justice of heaven. It is no different from murder! I am willing to accept the punishment."

Mu Yunqi pondered: "It's about human life, it's really inappropriate for you to conceal the truth, but the current case has not yet been clarified, I don't want to make a premature decision, you just go back to the house and wait for disposal."

King Jia led the decree and bowed, turned around and left the hall, looking at his back, he was also dejected.

"What is Yu De thinking about this?" Mu Yunqi rubbed the center of his brows.

The person who was asked was truthful: "I don't have a clue yet, but if Mingxia really has another purpose in entering the palace, it doesn't seem to make sense to injure people and order her to lose her room in the palace."

Mu Yunqi nodded: "I think so too, and you have to discuss the case with Guo Kai again, and you must solve it as soon as possible." Standing up and taking two steps, he turned the conversation: "Have all the captives in Guiyun Valley been interrogated? ?”

Wen said: "According to the confession of the captured Hu soldiers, he and others came from the Qiang Hu Luoming tribe, and the leader of his tribe, Erzhu Kuan, led them here! As for the newly recruited Han soldiers, they only knew that they were leading their bandits. The first one is a barbarian, and his surname is Zhu, so there is no doubt that this is Er Zhu Kuan. However, this person was not among the bandits who were captured that day, and he may have fled if he wanted to come."

"Qiang Hu people?" Mu Yun wondered: "If there is no help from the inside, how can a mere Hu people recruit these soldiers and horses, and hide them quietly in the suburbs of Beijing? It is really unconvincing!" Turning his head, "I Look, even if there is such a fool, he is definitely not the mastermind!"

Zhao Yude agreed: "This barbarian is probably just a pawn, but if you follow the vine, you must get something. Suichen has ordered people to paint a portrait of Er Zhu Kuan, and the following list will be used to capture him."

Mu Yunqi walked under the window, his originally gloomy face was covered with haze again: "If this person is Er Zhu Kuan, this case involves Qiang Hu, and..." After holding his forehead for a moment, the voice turned solemn: " In case someone wants to silence Erzhu Kuan, you must act quickly!"

After Zhao Yude led the decree to go, Mu Yunqi looked at the letter for a while, and then heard that Shao Jingheng came to see him, thinking that he hadn't met him for many days, and was curious about his intentions.

Walking out of the hall slowly, he saw the visitor standing at the foot of the steps, with a Tibetan snowball in his arms.Mu Yunqi took a closer look and realized that it was a cat. He was surprised for a moment.

The man laughed: "But the official family can't even recognize their own cats?"

Mu Yunqi was stunned and then shook his head: "Do you think this is Patch? But Patch was still in the palace just now, and this cat is obviously smaller than Patch!" Looking back lightly, there was a yellow door saying: "Back to the official house, Patch I caught a grasshopper in the back of the palace, and I'm chasing and biting it right now."

The people on the steps stared blankly, and slowly showed embarrassment: "The cat has been in the courtyard in the afternoon and has not been there. I thought it was Patch who sneaked out..."

Mu Yunqi shook his head and turned to look at the colorful clouds in the western sky: "Jing Heng, it's been a long time since you saw Patch?"

The sun is setting.

After walking around the Yuhu Lake, the round sun that had troubled Mu Yunqi for half a day finally hung on the west palace wall.

Retiring the rest of the crowd, I took the man and the two cats into the lake pavilion for a rest.When leaning on the railing, the water under your feet is light and ripples like silk; when the sunset falls into the lake, it breaks into circles of light and shadow on the water, mottled.

Patch is lying on the railing on the side of the water, the hair on his back is dancing with the wind, or it is cool and comfortable, and the round cat's eyes are gradually straightened into a line.

Seemingly envious, another cat also climbed up the railing, leaned close to its companion and lowered its head, the tip of its nose touched the top of the latter's head, unexpectedly, the prostrate cat immediately jumped up, swung its palm away, and hit the comer's side face!

"Meow!" The two cats screamed at the same time.

Patch arched his back and raised his tail, his eyes showed a fierce look, the outsider stepped back step by step, stepped on the ground, and almost fell into the lake.

"A cat raised by an official family is indeed majestic and must not be violated!" After picking up the cat that fell out of the pen and putting it back on the ground, Shao Jingheng smiled straight up: "I thought that if this cat would get along well with Patch, I would leave Rong Chen alone." It is a pity that I failed in the first test, so all my efforts were in vain."

Mu Yun prayed and sighed: "Patch seems to be only able to compete with Bu, and other cats and dogs will fight when they see it." While speaking, I saw that the lion cat that was originally standing on the railing had continued to climb up the pavilion column and went straight to the roof. .The other cat crouched down for a while, and when the tormentor disappeared, it also became bolder, turned around and ran into the flowers to find butterflies and insects to play with.

The two leaned on the railing side by side, silent for a long time.

The setting sun is like fire, and the past is like a stream.

Mu Yunqi pointed to the shore of the lake not far away: "I fell into the water there back then, and I was lucky to be rescued by you."

The other smiled and sighed: "Your Majesty was really naughty back then, and just that one time made the ministers afraid for a long time."

Mu Yun Qilu was surprised: "But at that time, I didn't see any uneasiness in you. I only thought that you were confident, so I never worried at all. I only thought that with you, I could turn the crisis into safety."

The corner of the man's lips curled up slightly: "I can only appease Your Majesty if I force myself to be calm."

The wind blows, and the water ripples.

"I was afraid of frogs when I was young," Mu Yunqi said with a smile, as if mocking himself, "Jin Fu hated me at first, and always used this thing to scare me. That time, she even chased me and fell into the water. She was often punished for this, She is always taught to confine her feet, but she is never afraid of shutting her down. As soon as she is released, she will return to her old ways. Even the first emperor can't help her... When she first entered the palace, she must call me, Aqi. I was very displeased at that time, and she changed after I'm here." Patting the railing lightly, it seemed melancholy: "But now, no one calls me like that anymore..."

After pondering for a moment, the person beside him slowly said, "The person closest to and trusted by His Majesty back then must have been the princess."

"Indeed it was at the beginning." While speaking, Mu Yunqi looked around, and saw an egret slowly slipping down in the shallow water nearby, with its head bowed, a small silver fish was picked up in its long beak.Or the sunlight is a bit harsh, and when he walks to the north side of the pavilion, he is still staring at the egret in the shallow water, speaking slowly: "If you have gone through this life and death disaster, will you still be suspicious of others?"

The footsteps following behind were not heavy, but steady.The next moment, a hand fell on the shoulder, calm and powerful.

Mu Yunqi didn't move, closed his eyes and didn't know what to think.He opened his mouth for a long time, calmly, as if he was recounting a hearsay: "The case of Gui Yungu seems to be the envoy of a barbarian at first glance, but I don't believe it. Now we only need to capture the head of the thief to reveal the truth. I just hope that the truth of this case will come to light sooner, so I don't have to speculate wildly." Turning around, the brows showed melancholy: "But right now, I really dare not trust anyone, even Yin Che and Jin Fu!"

The person who heard it smiled, and said in a half-joking tone: "I invite you to be the first to confront the thief leader at that time!"

Mu Yunqi's expression was unmoved: "I know you are fearless." But there was sadness in his eyes, "I have been thinking about it for a long time, and there is one thing I should advise you - be careful of the people around you! Your third uncle and the cunning and cunning people in the Shao Party , and even servants with unknown origins in the mansion..." He sighed lightly: "It is worth learning from the mistakes of the past."

Knowing what he was referring to vaguely, Shao Jingheng's leisurely mood just now disappeared suddenly, and he didn't say anything, just nodded.

It was dusk when I returned home.

When I arrived at the atrium, I saw the old family hurriedly greeted me, and said panickedly: "Mr., it's not good, Miss Gu..."

Gu E?The ominous feeling that lingered all the way in my heart suddenly returned, and Shao Jingheng asked anxiously, "What's wrong with her?"

"She..." the old family took a breath with great difficulty: "She taught people—hijacked!"