Placid Chang'an

Prison

Zheng Yang shivered as soon as he came in from the outside. After winter, the outside is no longer warm, and the inside of the prison is even colder. The cold air seems to emerge from the ground, penetrating into the skin and bones. No matter how thick the clothes are, it will not help.

Lead by the jailer as he walked in, Zheng Yang became more and more chilled. There was a brazier for warmth in the outer cells, not to mention the brazier inside, not even a spark.

Zheng Yang frowned and asked, "Why isn't there burning coals inside?"

"Fotan?" The jailer sneered, thinking of the identity of the other party, he smiled again, and replied: "I don't know, all the prisoners here are prisoners on death row, and sooner or later they are going to die, so why waste that money?"

Zheng Yang's face was obviously cold, "Is the death row prisoner not a human being? Besides, isn't he still dead?"

The jailer paused, with a smile still on his face, but his tone was a little cold, "If Shizi thinks our place is not good, just go back."

Zheng Yang was at a loss for words for a moment, and he hesitated for a while before saying in a bad mood: "Let me lead you the way."

The jailer snorted, turned his head and continued to wander in.

Zheng Yang looked at the haughty look on the back of his head and didn't feel angry at all. He wondered when the young son of the British government had suffered such grievances, and he was reduced to wanting to look at the face of a jailer.He gritted his teeth angrily, but who asked him to ask for others, and he had no choice but to make such a bad plan after hitting a wall everywhere.

The deep and scary place in the prison was just when Zheng Yang felt that he was about to go to the underworld, the jailer suddenly stopped and pointed forward, "My lord, this is the room."

Zheng Yang looked up, but there was a sharp lump in his throat, and he took out a silver ingot to present it after a while, and told him to keep quiet, and sent the jailer to leave first.

The innermost cell is the coldest and dampest. The walls are covered with moss due to not seeing the sun all year round. You can see that it is actually a person only if you look carefully with the light on.Perhaps it was because of the coldness of the slate, the man curled himself up tightly into a ball, wrapped in a pitch-black quilt, and slept in the dark.

Zheng Yang stared at that figure for a long time, not sure if this was the person he was looking for.Nose was sore for no reason, he gritted his teeth and forced it back, forced a smile, knocked on the bar in a low voice, "Don't sleep, let's see who's here."

The figure on the bluestone slab was motionless, as if it had been integrated with the slate, lifeless at all.

Zheng Yang suddenly panicked. Could this person have frozen to death?

For a moment he forgot that he came in secretly through the back door, and no matter how careful he was, Zheng Yang stepped forward and slammed the bar, the iron chains on the prison door rattled, and the soil on the wall fell down. piece.

"Okay, stop shooting." The figure on the slate finally made a sound, and it took a while before it moved a little, and the sound of metal colliding followed, stretched its arms and legs, and stretched the curled body More than half.After a while, he sat up from the stone slab vigorously, his eyes were still so clear even in the dark, when he looked up, Zheng Yang suddenly choked up again, the scene in the court hall that day is still vivid in his memory, He made justice for Tian Pingzhi and Liu Zhen, but there will never be a single person running around and calling for him.

Standing up with a pair of slender and straight legs, the shackles on the legs rattled, and the body wobbled a few times before standing still, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Zheng Yang swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva forcibly before he stabilized his voice, and said with a smile, "Isn't this here to see if you're dead?"

Su Cen's voice was still a little hoarse after waking up, and she tilted her head and smiled, "That didn't disappoint you."

"It's not that I'm disappointed, it's that some people are going to be disappointed. There are people outside who are looking forward to your death." Zheng Yang pulled the corner of his mouth forcefully again, "You have to fight for your breath, and you can't let them do what they want."

"Stop laughing, really," Su Cen walked closer and sighed at Zheng Yang, "It's uglier than crying."

Zheng Yang's face collapsed in an instant, and Su Cen couldn't bear it any longer, and it would be either this moment or the next moment.

"Why did you come to this point? How did you come to this point..." Zheng Yang repeated it several times in a row, "You are usually so smart, why don't you know how to leave yourself a way out?"

"There is no retreat on this road." Su Cen smiled at people, "Sit down and talk, I'm a little tired standing."

The two of them sat on the ground, and Su Cen didn't even have any straw in his cell.Zheng Yang felt a chill running up his tailbone, but saw Su Cen leaning against the moss-covered wall after sitting down indifferently. "

Zheng Yang asked: "What are you doing these days?"

In Zheng Yang's impression, no matter how bad the conditions are and how bleak the future is, this person can always turn danger into good fortune and turn a corner into life.So don't look at him now that he is down and out, as long as his little brain is still working, he can always come up with ideas, maybe now he has already thought of how to defend himself and fight for his own life.

I just didn't expect Su Cen to reply frankly: "Sleep."

Zheng Yang: "..."

I saw the person leaning against the wall stretching his muscles and bones, "I haven't slept so peacefully for a long time. There are no such troubles, no barking of chickens, no bickering between Qu Ling'er and Ah Fu, there is no distinction between day and night here. In the dark night, I can sleep for a long time."

Zheng Yang's face was full of "angry and indisputable". After all, he couldn't bear to criticize him anymore. Looking at the heavy iron chains on his hands and feet, he frowned: "Did the people in this prison embarrass you? What about the food? Why do I think you seem to be thinner after sleeping so much every day?"

"Since I came here, I haven't seen many people. Who would come here to embarrass me?" Su Cen yawned disconsolately, "The food...is not bad, but I just forgot what it was like."

Zheng Yang frowned, "What do you mean by forgetting?"

Su Cen tilted his head, looked at Zheng Yang and said: "It's just that this place is too far away. The grandmother who delivered the food has a bad memory, and forgets that there is someone inside every now and then. It's a coincidence that I can call her when I wake up. It’s just that I’ve been lethargic recently, and I don’t have much time to eat it by chance.”

"Aren't they abusing prisoners?!" Zheng Yang was furious, "When was the last time you ate?"

Su Cen's eyes were somewhat confused, and Zheng Yang knew that this person must have fallen asleep again.Gritting his teeth, "I'll send someone to bring you food. Yes, there's also a quilt, covered with such a rag, thanks to your ability to sleep, what else do you need? I'll send someone to bring it to you. "

Looking at this impoverished cell with four walls, he couldn't help baring his teeth. There is nothing missing in this shabby place.

Zheng Yang finally waved his hand, "Forget it, I'll figure it out."

"Forget it." Su Cen raised his hand, he was really too lazy to stand up again, and leaned his head on the barrier, "It's only a few days anyway, so don't worry about it."

Zheng Yang was furious immediately, "What do you mean it's been a few days?!"

Su Cen looked at him quietly, her eyes were calm and unwavering, obviously already aware of her situation.

"Okay, come here," Su Cen patted the cold ground, "Come talk to me."

Zheng Yang clenched his fists and then loosened them. He repeated several times before sitting back down again, with a dark face, refusing to look directly at Su Cen.

"How are you?" Su Cen looked at Zheng Yang and said, "You stood by my side that day, did they make things difficult for you?"

Zheng Yang snorted coldly, "Whoever dares to embarrass me, the concubine mother said, whoever dares to touch a hair of mine, she will go up and fight with others. No one dares to touch her bad luck."

"That's good." Su Cen smiled lightly, "What about Mr. Zhang? Is he all right?"

"Don't you understand Mr. Zhang's paddling skills? Slippery is like a loach, who will catch him?" Zheng Yang said angrily, "Can you stop worrying about others and worry about yourself!"

"Well," Su Cen nodded, and then asked, "What day is it?"

"..." Zheng Yang became angry for a while, and gritted his teeth fiercely, "That's all you worry about?!"

Su Cen couldn't help but smiled wryly, "You have to let me know the date and make preparations in advance. I'm also afraid. If the time comes, it will be too ugly."

"You still know to be afraid? You still know to be afraid!" Zheng Yang almost gritted his teeth, "I know that you are afraid that you can say that kind of thing in the hall, and you dare to stand up and take all those serious crimes. I see that you are not afraid, but you despise your own longevity, if you don’t do it, it’s not over!"

Zheng Yang let out a long sigh of relief after finishing the number of people in one breath, and realized that Su Cen hadn't moved when he was almost exhausted.Turning his head to look over, he saw that the person was leaning against the wall, his eyes slightly squinted, but he was not completely indifferent.

So he was very hopeless and distressed again.Now when he talks about the situation that day, he feels terrified. How much Su Cen suffered when he made up his mind to make all this public.

"The seventh day of the first winter month," Zheng Yang said in a low voice for a while, before saying again after a long time: "Outside the gate of Dongshi, behead for public display."

Su Cen breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately, it was beheaded."

If it was some kind of capital punishment like Ling Chi, then he might as well be bumped to death in prison like Liu Zhen.

"Don't overdo your preparations," Zheng Yang hurriedly said, "Little uncle is still working hard, maybe things will turn around in the end."

Hearing about Li Shi, Su Cen's heart twitched violently again, and he couldn't breathe for a while.It took a long time for the heart-wrenching energy to pass, and Su Cen asked softly, "My lord...is he alright?"

Zheng Yang pursed his lips: "Little uncle stays in the palace every day, and he hasn't returned to Xingqing Palace for half a month."

Su Cen was worried about Li Shi's old illness, now that the weather is getting colder, just when he is having a headache again, Li Shi still can't sleep well in Xingqing Palace, can he fall asleep in the palace?

"Is the government busy recently?"

"It's not because of that mess," Zheng Yang sighed, "The hustle and bustle on your side has not settled yet, and those ministers are clamoring to welcome Queen Yu back to the court."

Su Cen frowned, "Li Sheng is ambitious and covets the throne. He must not be allowed to come back."

"I know, and my little uncle knows, but anyone with eyes can tell that Li Sheng is Sima Zhao's heart, but I don't know why he has incited such a large group of people to speak for him in a short period of time. There was nothing else to do in court, and they knelt down on the ground first, all clamoring for Li Sheng to be reset. After the fight, another group will appear again the next day. They are soldiers in running water, but there is only one little uncle , two fists are no match for four hands, and I see my little uncle haggard a lot."

Su Cen thought for a moment, and said, "Li Sheng has his own way of controlling people. It is impossible to subdue so many people in such a short period of time. Most of these people are not surrendered, but threatened or coerced. You Tell the lord that it is not an option to quarrel with these ministers, and we still have to target Li Sheng. Li Sheng relied on the secret door, and the secret door was severely damaged in Lujiazhuang. Now it is actually very weak. Only by finding a breakthrough and breaking it with one blow can the real Solve the problem."

Zheng Yang nodded, and sighed after a while, "It would be great if you could help him outside."

Su Cen bowed his head silently, all this happened because of him, how could he stand with Li Shi again.

Knowing that he brought up his sadness again, Zheng Yang changed the subject, "I saw Cui Hao when I came here, he has already resigned from office and left Beijing, and he also took Liu Xiang's tablet, saying that he would take Liu Xiang to his hometown have a look."

Su Cen remembered Cui Hao's mention of the place with three rivers and five lakes, and smiled lightly, thinking that Liu Xiang should like it.

"He also asked me to tell you that you don't owe him any more."

Su Cen breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and smiled lightly, looking at the moss-covered wall seemed to see the blue sky and white sun.

"Actually, I haven't been sleeping all the time these days. When I wake up, I think about the past." Su Cen said softly, "Actually, I am not unfamiliar with this cell. Xiang and Cui Hao have both stayed here, some of them have gone out, and some have stayed here, but I think I have tried my best after all, and I should be able to straighten my back when I see them after I go down."

"When I die, please find my body and burn it on the spot. The ashes are scattered in Chang'an City. After all... this is the place I will never forget the most."