Placid Chang'an

After autumn came, the nights were as cold as water, Su Cen woke up in the middle of the night, habitually leaned beside her, and felt a sudden thump in her heart - the side was empty, and the bedding had been cold for a long time.

Su Cen sat up in shock, looked around, and felt relieved until he saw the outline in front of the desk outlined by the moonlight outside the window. His heart fell into the warm water, and he used his eyes to trace the figure over and over again in the dark, to As for engraving it on my heart, imprinting it in my mind, it is as clear as ever when I close my eyes.

For a long time, he was like a devout believer, chasing and watching this person, until one day he suddenly realized that the distance between the two was getting closer and closer, and he stopped his steps to realize that it was not because he was walking too fast, Rather, the man had been waiting for him.

Su Cen stayed on the bed with his clothes on, and now he finally didn't have to look and look, he could step forward a few steps, stand side by side with Li Shi, and he could see it with just one tilt of his head.

When he got closer, he found that Li Shi was leaning gently on his red sandalwood chair with one hand on his forehead. He seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, but his brows were actually frowning.

It wasn't until Su Cen put his hand on his that Li Shi came back to his senses slightly, his eyes slowly opened, the stars and the moon were reflected in his eyes, lonely and profound.

Li Shi's voice was three points deep and seven points mellow, and asked: "Why don't you sleep?"

"Am I not working anymore?" Su Cen frowned slightly, staring at those eyes and asked, "Are you still unable to sleep?"

Li Shi took Su Cen's hand in his, and patted the back of his hand lightly, "No."

"Then why do you..." Su Cen suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of his words, and Li Shi's brows that had been stretched just now frowned again, obviously not wanting to say more.Su Cen possessed herself | Going down, resting her chin on the person's shoulder, she asked softly, "Then what can I do for you?"

Li Shi let go of Su Cen's hand, leaned against the back of the chair and gently closed his eyes, "Help me massage my head."

Su Cen put both hands on both sides of the man's temples, pressing the acupuncture points lightly and lightly, and the fingertips were a little cold, as if it really relieved the throbbing pain in his brain.Li Shi's brows were relaxed, his eyes were lightly closed, as if he had really fallen asleep.

Su Cen put his eyes on the face unscrupulously. Prince Ning was not confused, the years accumulated in the bones and bearing of the person, but did not leave traces on the surface.A face with introverted brilliance, sharp outlines, deep eyes, and only a few deep vertical lines between the brows - caused by frequent frowning.

Where did so many troubles come from, and how could they leave such marks carved by axes and knives?

Su Cen moved his hand up in a strange way, and pressed it with his fingertips, trying to smooth the mark.

But those traces have been formed over the years, how can he easily control them.

After pressing it for a while, Su Cen lowered his head and whispered in his ear: "I'll call Qi Lin in."

After all, he is not a medicine, at most it can delay the pain, but it cannot remove the root.

It was rare for Li Shi not to refuse, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Su Cen withdrew his hand, closed the door and walked out gently.

After a while Qi Lin came in, cleared the door and pulled together the window screens and bed curtains everywhere, lit the heaviest soothing incense, and watched the person really fell asleep before closing the door gently and leaving.

When Qi Lin came out of the bedroom, he realized that Su Cen hadn't left yet. He was sitting on the steps wet by the autumn dew in front of the door, staring at the dark night with absent-minded eyes. The brilliance and wisdom of those eyes were gone, like Like a child, full of bewilderment.

and afraid.

Qi Lin stood beside the person for quite a while, but he didn't see Su Cen intending to get up, as if he was going to sit here to death, waiting, watching, until Li Shi came out from inside.

It was cold and foggy, so Qi Lin went back and found a blanket for someone to put on. Seeing that the person was still indifferent, he said: "Don't worry, it's an old problem, and it will be fine after a while."

Su Cen looked up at Qi Lin, nodded, then lowered his head and said, "I'm not sleepy, don't worry about me, let me sit here for a while."

Qi Lin stood for a while, and simply sat down with him. He understood this kind of confused feeling. Back then, he stood guard outside Ling'er's door all night, waiting for someone to escape and wake up. He stood there all night.Knowing that he is powerless, but he is not reconciled, he just wants to stand in the place closest to him, as if he can share his pain in this way, he deceives himself and others but insists on going his own way.

"I've been sleeping very well. He couldn't sleep but I didn't notice anything. He didn't tell me anything. I told him everything but he still kept it from me." Su Cen buried her head and muttered to herself, also I don't know whether to say it to Qi Lin or to myself, the two hands are folded together, the knuckles are showing a kind of cold paleness.

Qi Lin thought for a while, and comforted him: "Maybe I don't want you to worry."

"But the more he doesn't tell me anything, the more worried I am." Su Cen suddenly raised his head and glanced at Qi Lin, his eyes lit up instantly, like a lone star in the dark, hesitant to speak for a moment, In the end, it was taken back and gradually faded away.

He remembered the last time he pressed Qi Lin for the truth, which resulted in a beating.What's more, the last time he threatened Qu Ling'er, he felt extremely guilty. This time, he didn't even have any bargaining chips, and he didn't know how to say it.

But Qi Lin opened his mouth, "Have you heard of the battle of Shoujiang City?"

Su Cen nodded after being stunned.Surrendered City is located on the Mobei Grassland to the north of the Great Wall. It was originally an isolated city. At the beginning, the young general Huo Qubing went deep into the desert many times, which greatly frustrated the Xiongnu.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent people to build the Surrender City on the Mobei Grassland to accept the surrender of the Huns.As time passed, the grassland tribes became more and more prosperous, and the Surrendered City has been used to this day as an outer line of defense against the Turks, used to control the military forces in northern Xinjiang and weaken the Turkic tribes.

The battle of the surrendered city that Qi Lin mentioned was led by Li Shi. The first battle broke the alliance between the Turkic tribes, and the Turkic tribes have never been prosperous since then.

Su Cen wondered, "Didn't you win that battle?"

"We won," Qi Lin laughed self-deprecatingly, "We won, Da Zhou won, but Master lost."

Qi Lindao: "At that time Emperor Taizong was critically ill and urgently summoned his father back to Beijing, but the sixteen Turkic tribes suddenly formed an alliance and aggressively marched into the border of Dazhou. At that time, the new year was just over, and Mobei was still freezing. Besieged for a month, without cotton-padded quilts to keep out the cold, so we warmed ourselves with the strongest wine in Mobei. It was the Lord who stayed up all night and led us to guard against death, so that we could keep that line of defense and save the people of the Great Zhou behind us from being attacked. People are devastated. The reinforcements arrived after one month, and it was already announced to the world at that time that Li Xun had ascended the throne, but the Lord was injured all over."

Su Cen froze in place, and didn't recover for a long time.He has never seen a battlefield, he doesn't know how cold and windy the night in Mobei is, he can't imagine what it would be like to splatter blood that turns into ice in an instant, and he doesn't know what the scene of the so-called horn blowing company in the middle of the night is like, so he murmured for a long time :"how so?"

"It was at that time that the Lord suffered from the problem of having a headache. Whenever it was cold, he would have a headache attack. He had to rely on tranquilizing incense to fall asleep. It's just that kind of thing, which treats the symptoms but not the root cause. The dependence is too strong, and the dosage is gradually increased. It’s been a long time, but I can’t live without it.”

Su Cen nodded, no wonder Li Shi has a sandalwood scent all year round, no wonder Xingqing Palace burns coals early in winter, no wonder Li Shi said that he would not light incense when he was around...

So many details are vivid in his memory, he has solved the most difficult case in the world, but he can't see through the most obvious appearance.

Su Cen raised his head in a daze, "What should I do?"

"Continue to accompany him, just stay by his side." Qi Lin slowly got up, shaking off the dew, and said: "Also, don't let him worry about you."

After Qi Lin left, Su Cen sat for a while before getting up, looked in the direction of the bedroom, and found a place for himself in the dark.

For several days in a row, Su Cen rushed over after leaving the yamen, personally served the soup and medicine, and asked for whatever he wanted at night, but when it was time to go to bed, he withdrew, gave Li Shi some sandalwood, and then found a place to sleep by himself.

Li Shi couldn't help laughing, Mr. Su was so big, he treated Xingqing Palace as the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, and left after whoring, without showing any affection.

Su Cen gave him a cold look, wondering who was being prostituted?Qin Lou and Chu Pavilion didn't have this kind of treatment, they delivered it to their door by themselves, and their legs were still shaking afterwards, so they had to wrap up their clothes and crawl away by themselves.

After a few days, Li Shi's complexion really improved, and Su Cen felt relieved. He first dealt with the headache for a while, and then slowly recuperated, quitting the intensified tranquilizing incense.

This side is relieved, and Su Cen has made new progress in Tian Pingzhi's case.Su Cen calmed down for the past few days and thought about what happened that day. On the surface, all the clues were broken, but the man inevitably left indelible evidence in the process of destroying the evidence.

A few days later, the three of them reunited in the private room of Shunfu Building in Dongshi. Su Cen served as the host and ordered a table full of dishes for the two of them.

Ning Santong gnawed on the signature elbow of Shunfu Building and raised his head and asked, "Didn't you invite us to dinner after the case was solved? Now the case is solved? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"The case hasn't been solved yet," Su Cen said, "but it's coming soon."

Holding a cup of snow clams, Feng Yiming quietly looked at Su Cen, only to smile confidently, and said, "I know where Tian Pingzhi's body is?"

The author says:

Thanks for the friendly sponsorship of Shun Fu Lou Crystal Elbow, who has accompanied us through so many chapters (I am too lazy to think of another one)