The worst is the next cousin

It took Mao Xiaofei less than a cup of tea to lie down, when he was awakened by the knock on the door.

The Jielin people want to borrow Xun Chi's mount.

Quickly tied on his robe, Mao Xiaofei had a splitting headache, this night was full of ups and downs, who could stand such a torment? Finally, he drank some wine and fell asleep, but he woke up again when the bed was still hot, Mao Xiaofei stared at the two big Blue eyes, not a good face.

Xun Chi saw that it was Mao Xiaofei who had come, and he had heard him say it once before, so he was in the mood to sleep a little longer.It was already in the middle of the night, and he woke up energetically. He rode on his fat man and jumped directly from the upstairs. The monster shook its head and tail, and the ox tail made a loud noise on the ground. It stretched its neck and let out a beast roar.

The beast's roar was like thunder, and the Jielin soldiers surrounded by Xun Chi were immediately boosted in morale, and they rushed out together with him.

Now Mao Xiaofei didn't want to sleep anymore, he ate something hastily, and sat in the hall in a daze.There was no ghost in the hall, and the Jielin official who told him to get up was there, but he was still not allowed to leave the building.

It means that Mao Xiaofei was called up just to let him call Xun Chi up.

When Mao Xiaofei raised his eyes, the official immediately raised his head nervously.

Mao Xiaofei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he supported his forehead that was so painful that it was about to explode, and kneaded his temples and forehead vigorously, trying to relieve the pain and the dull numbness of the scalp.

"Ask you something."

Hearing this, the official looked at Mao Xiaofei in trepidation, for fear that he would ask some unanswerable or unanswerable questions.

"Actually, we are all businessmen. We came here this time to find Linglong Sparks."

The official was obviously relieved, and said sincerely: "This kind of flower is a specialty of Yeyue City, and it is available in the market."

"Well, we bought some from the market, but they were all dried flowers. Is there any store that sells flowers, because I heard that these flowers seem to be difficult to pick." Mao Xiaofei paused, paying attention to the official's expression.

The official explained: "It's not that it's not easy to pick, it's just that the flower blooms in a special way, and it only blooms within three to five days after the volcanic eruption, and someone has to take care of it all the time. If you can't stay in the same room with people, it will wither soon. .” The official rolled his eyes.

"But this flower is poisonous. If people stay with it for a long time, their body will shrink." Mao Xiaofei calmly stared at the official with bloodshot eyes, not giving him a chance to hide or breathe.

"To tell you the truth, our lord once gave this thing to an official in the court who angered His Majesty." The official raised the corner of his mouth helplessly, "On weekdays, if an adult is short, he will inevitably be treated strangely by others. Eyes or insults. If a middle-aged person suddenly has the figure of a three- or four-year-old child, then life will be even more difficult."

After going on for a long time, is this still a special punishment in Jielin's officialdom?

"However, only the Inner Palace Tian family can afford the fresh plants of Linglong Spark. It is very difficult to transport this product, and at least several people must be picked up along the way."

Mao Xiaofei rubbed his chin and remembered something: "I heard that this kind of toxicity is not permanent, as long as you use the rhizome of Linglong Sparkle and mix it with a prescription, it can be relieved."

"That's true, but ordinary people can't afford it at all. Some of these medicines are not only rare, but even if they can be bought, they are also expensive. If you can afford such precious medicinal materials, you don't have to do such a miserable job. And this The process is very painful. The bones, skin and flesh will be dislocated and reorganized, and new bones and flesh will grow out. It takes at least three months to lie on the bed. How can the labor of ordinary people have time to lie down for three months in vain? Do something that even a short stature can do."

"for example?"

"Some acrobatic troupes only recruit people like this. They are small enough to jump through fire rings, and light in weight, so they can perform high-altitude performances." Jielin officials seemed to remember something, and their faces were not very good-looking.

"What did your lord think?" Mao Xiaofei naturally wouldn't let it go, leaning forward with his whole upper body, getting closer to the official, and staring at him.

Seeing that he couldn't escape, the official smiled wryly and said: "The strong man is really in trouble, but it's really nothing. I just remembered a cousin from afar back then, because his handwriting was very beautiful. His father was a second-rank official. As the son of a high-ranking official, he was born in the first place It was not easy. He was sent to the palace by his father, and was given to the third prince as a servant. After a long time, my cousin grew up from a small servant boy. On the day of the coronation ceremony, His parents were allowed to enter the palace to watch the ceremony, and they were fine at that time. Less than three months after the crowning ceremony, he fled back home and didn't even know his parents."

"He became smaller?" Mao Xiaofei naturally thought of this.

"Being smaller is the next best thing." The official couldn't help but couldn't resist Mao Xiaofei's constant urging, and seeing that there was no one around, he just lowered his voice, touched Mao Xiaofei's head, and whispered: "I'm not an official in Beijing, I'm an official. I heard that I didn't believe it at first. There are noble people in Beijing who buy this kind of flowers. No matter if they are playing with men or women, there are always people who like them and like small ones. Doing things like that to children is a disastrous thing, but if you have this Things, no matter how big they are, they can be made smaller for you." Having said that, he looked at Mao Xiaofei suspiciously.

"What are you looking at? We didn't ask it to do this!" Originally, Mao Xiaofei didn't realize where he was thinking, and it took him a long time to look at that strange look before he suddenly regained his senses.The official probably thought that they bought Linglong Sparks to turn adults into "children" and do that immoral thing.His face flushed immediately, and he didn't want to continue asking.

The officials started chatterboxes and simply said everything.

"Didn't I not believe it at first? Then my cousin, in order to avoid the third prince, naturally couldn't stay at his house, so I had to send him away. The farther the better, he was sent to my second uncle's house. It is more than seven hundred miles away from the capital. and lived in a remote place, poor relatives came in handy. Although this cousin is an unfavorable bastard in the family, his father still loves him, and he does everything possible to find medicinal materials and give him to drink. That winter happened to be New Year's Eve I went to my second uncle’s house, drank a little more wine at night, and spent the night at his house. I heard screams in the middle of the night, and I was so frightened that I woke up from the wine. Roll it out and change it."

"..."

After the official finished speaking, he stared blankly at Mao Xiaofei.

Seeing it, Mao Xiaofei was terrified, and shouted: "Look at what I am doing?"

"No, no." The official laughed twice, turned his eyes away, and sighed, "It's not easy to do anything these days. Being with a king is like being with a tiger. In fact, in this remote place, being a small official can To support a family, being able to be called 'Master' is no worse than a Beijing official. I don't know what happened today, probably the strong man looks very kind, and even my wife has never heard these words."

"..." Mao Xiaofei laughed dryly, "Thank you for your compliment."

"You don't know, that cousin of mine was also the handsome and unrestrained No. [-] person in Yushu Linfeng back then. Just like that, he was tossed into men and women, people and ghosts, and later, he went crazy and was found on the mountain. He hanged himself with a belt. At that time, he was already a person with no idea, and he still had a way to hang himself." The official clicked his tongue twice and shook his head again and again.

Mao Xiaofei's slight drowsiness disappeared immediately, and the cold grains exploded on his back.

"It's a pity." In the end, Mao Xiaofei could only say so. He thought for a while and said, "Those who have been poisoned, why don't they do a special business of transporting this kind of flowers?"

"In one night, I turned into a child, and some people went crazy. This kind of ominous thing, if not because it can be sold at a good price, no one would buy dried flowers. Except for the palace and the homes of dignitaries, I occasionally want one or two plants. , in normal times, there is a price but no market, who wants to do this business?"

Thinking about it, Mao Xiaofei originally wanted to ask him how to go up the mountain, but if he asked a lot more, his intention was too obvious.He yawned, and the official beckoned the maidservant to serve tea.

Mao Xiaofei took a sip of strong tea, smacked his lips and said: "Your Excellency has been sitting here with me for so long, I'll go up and see my friend." Then he walked upstairs.

Standing on the second floor, you can see that the sky has turned pale, and dawn is approaching.

If he hadn't slept for a while last night, he would probably have fainted more than once.Mao Xiaofei bent down and beat his stiff calf twice.

The gap in the tiger's mouth on his right hand opened again, and he looked back at the closed door. This room was originally for him to sleep in, but it was also handed over.Standing here now, Mao Xiaofei felt a little dazed and a little apprehensive, a drop of spicy oil stuck in his heart.

Mao Xiaofei let out a long breath of white air, turned around and went to the doctor, bandaged his hands, and then went upstairs. At this time, he didn't plan to visit Mu Canshang anymore, anyway, Mu Canshang should come to him when he wakes up.

Just as he was walking through the door, the door suddenly opened.

Mao Xiaofei was taken aback.

"Brother Xiao Fei, why don't you come in?"

The feeling of being caught was too embarrassing, Mao Xiaofei scratched his hair, and he didn't know whether it was the blue light at dawn that made Mu Canshang's face extraordinarily haggard, or whether he was really too weak.

"I didn't sleep all night. I was woken up in the middle of the night last night. I'm so sleepy now..." Mao Xiaofei yawned, "I was going to sleep." He squeezed his shoulders pretending to be relaxed, but he was actually forcing himself to relax, " Why did you get up? The doctor told you to lie down..."

Before the words fell, a strong hand dragged Mao Xiaofei into the door with a strength that could not be seen at all. When Mu Canshang pressed him against the door, Mao Xiaofei was still completely dumbfounded.

The room was half-dark, he looked at the face in front of him, and stammered: "You, what are you doing?" He moved his shoulders uncomfortably, Mao Xiaofei wanted to struggle away, but his chin was caught by Mu Xiaofei. The merchant squeezed tightly, and he couldn't help frowning: "Let go, it hurts."

Mu Shen looked at him as agreed, with a hint of hatred in his eyes.

"Where have you been?"

"Ah?" Mao Xiaofei was confused.

"I thought..." Mao Xiaofei might have misheard, he felt that Mu Canshang's tone was aggrieved, "I saw you at the first sight when I woke up, but when I woke up, no one was in the room, only one I was alone in a dark room. I thought it was a dream, but when I woke up, I realized that I hadn't found you yet." Mu Canshang hugged Mao Xiaofei vigorously, rubbing his wet cheek against Mao Xiaofei's neck.

Mao Xiaofei's heart softened all of a sudden, and he put his hand on Mu Canshang's back, and comforted him in a low voice: "Don't you have to sleep after taking the medicine? Why should I watch over you while you sleep? I can't talk to you, and I can't light the lamp. If someone finds me, I will wake you up."

"Who is looking for you? What qualifications do they have to come to you? No one can take you away, and those people don't even think about it." Mu Canshang's body trembled slightly, and his tone was hurried, as if a little scared.

Afraid? Because of this absurd idea, Mao Xiaofei smirked and tried to push the person away. He said hesitantly: "You lie down on the bed, let's talk, it's uncomfortable for you to press me down."

"You were the one who suppressed me." Mu Canshang muttered dissatisfiedly, paused for a moment, but didn't move away.

Mao Xiaofei pushed him, and when he heard Mu Canshang gasp in pain, he quickly let go, trying to be as gentle as possible.His uncle, he is a big man, no matter how gentle he is, he has a rough voice.

"Get up."

"I'm out of strength." Mu Canshang said a little awkwardly, but also a little rascal.

Only then did Mao Xiaofei realize that the weight of Mu Canshang's head on his shoulders was too heavy, and his shoulders almost collapsed.He had no choice but to hold Mu Canshang's arm resignedly, and put him on the bed very carefully. This time Mao Xiaofei was on guard, and managed to avoid Mu Canshang's grabbing his hand, with a sullen expression on his face: "Don't die? I'm Hit you once, you can't stand it!"

Even without lighting the lamp, Mao Xiaofei could still see the smile in Mu Canshang's eyes, like a stream of clear water.

"Wait, I'll light the lamp."

This time, Mu Canshang didn't grab Mao Xiaofei recklessly, and he was exhausted. He just grabbed his wrist and looked at him pitifully: "It's almost dawn, don't order. Brother Xiaofei, lie down with me for a while." meeting."

The blurted refusal was defeated in the eye-to-eye confrontation with Mu Canshang, Mao Xiaofei pouted angrily, "Lie, lie, lie, I'll just lie down for a while, don't move around."

"Yeah!" Mu Canshang nodded quickly, his eyes seemed to be shining, Mao Xiaofei felt guilty when he saw it, he lifted the quilt, took off his boots and lay down next to Mu Canshang. Don't look at Mu Canshang.

But even if he didn't look, he knew that Mu Canshang was looking at him, and his eyes were so hot that the air crackled and crackled.