A traitor

They walked for half a day, but still hadn't arrived at the post house. Seeing that it was getting late, they found an inn to live in.

Master Su is a flirtatious person who always loves cleanliness, so as soon as he rested at the inn, he asked someone to prepare hot water to take a bath and change clothes.

Hiding in the room to wash off the dust, he finally tidied up his appearance and walked out the door, only to see his good friend Sun Zizhong waiting outside.

Su Qinglang paused, then walked towards him, yawned and asked: "Zi Zhong is tired from traveling, why don't you go to the room to rest, how can you guard the door at my place?"

Sun Zizhong looked at him and nodded slightly: "I have something to tell you."

Su Qinglang was startled, calmly finished his yawn, and shrugged helplessly: "Okay..."

He stepped aside and invited his grandson to the room. At this time, there was a bathtub in the inner room. The bath water in the bucket had not yet been cleared out, and the dirty clothes were scattered all over the floor.

Mr. Su has always been thick-skinned, and his grandson Zhong is also his close friend, so when he was bumped into this scene, he still had a calm demeanor and called the boy to come and clean up.

Sun Zizhong hesitated to speak, he wanted to say something to Su Qinglang, but when he saw a third person in the room, he swallowed it, sat silently on the stool, waiting for the boy to leave.

Su Qinglang supported his chin with one hand, crossed his legs, and sat beside Sun Zizhong. Since he had just come out of the bath, he felt a little thirsty, so he raised his hand to pick up the teapot and poured himself a cup.

Looking up, he saw that the boy had finished pouring out the dirty water, and stretched out his hand to his clothes. He hurriedly got up to stop him, and said to him: "The clothes are here, you go out first."

The boy stood up straight, and said to him: "The proprietress said, I must be tired after traveling all the way, and she can wash my clothes for you."

Seeing that the other party was so thoughtful, Mr. Su was flattered. After being surprised, he finally replied calmly: "Forget it, thank you lady boss for your kindness. I will wash the clothes myself, so I won't bother you."

Only then did the boy leave, Su Qinglang folded the clothes, put them on the wooden stand, turned around and walked towards Sun Zizhong.

"Zi Zhong, how many days will it take to reach the border town based on our current itinerary?"

Sun Tzuzhong thought for a while and said, "If there are no accidents, it will be about a month."

Su Qinglang groaned, and thought: "If you are carrying a coffin on the return journey, the journey will be slower, I'm afraid it will be midsummer when you return."

Sun Tzuzhong heard the words and asked: "Qinglang, do you really want to come back soon?"

"Of course..." Su Qinglang put on a natural expression, and said again: "The waves behind the Yangtze River will push the waves ahead, maybe one day I will be photographed by others, what can I do if I don't take a good look at it?"

Hearing his answer, Sun Zizhong turned his head and said in a cold tone, "I don't think there is anything good about the imperial city. If possible, I would rather you never come back."

Su Qinglang fell silent, looked at him and said, "I don't quite understand Zizhong's words, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Since the last time he welcomed the envoy of the Xuan Kingdom, Sun Zizhong had a stomach full of things he wanted to tell Su Qinglang, but he never had a chance, and now he should seize the opportunity.

He paused, and then said: "Qinglang, can you please leave with the emperor, even if you are transferred to another place, and never come back to Chang'an again."

Su Qinglang raised his legs and propped his chin: "Tell me, why did I do this?"

Sun Zizhong lowered his head and said softly, "I... Qin Huan has malicious intentions, I don't want you to be with him anymore."

"For this?"

Su Qinglang raised his eyebrows, and replied: "Zizhong, only children can distinguish between good and bad, you and I are no longer the brats we used to be, who we like, who we don't like, who we get close to, who we keep away from, and who we are. You can't decide all by yourself, you have been in the officialdom for many years, and you have learned a lot, so the current situation is still limited to this?"

"But……"

Sun Tzuzhong was in a hurry, and almost slipped his mouth. He paused for a moment, and finally said: "Is it really so important to you to have a high official and a high salary?"

Su Qinglang nodded, beyond his expectation: "It's important, it's very important."

Sun Zizhong was stunned for a moment, and then heard him say: "Zi Zhong, you have never experienced despair, so you don't understand how I feel now. High officials, rich salary, power and status were once worthless in my eyes. ?

Something happened, and both my father and my second mother were imprisoned in the sky prison. As a son of man, I don't even have the ability to see them.

From then on, I vowed that if I survived, if I still had the chance, I would never let myself, or them, fall into that pathetic situation again. "

He looked at Sun Zizhong, with a faint smile on his pale face: "Do you understand? In that sky prison, there was no hope of surviving. I don't know which one will come first, tomorrow or death. I don’t know if my family members are alive or dead. I wake up in pain, and even when I fall asleep, I have such terrible nightmares, being beaten, and being forced to admit those unwarranted crimes... That kind of situation, I I don’t even want to die a second time.”

In his words, Sun Zizhong gradually lowered his head, he closed his eyes and shed tears: "Qinglang, I'm sorry, I..."

The low and jerky words were finally lost in the silent choking. He bit his lips, but he still couldn't say some words.

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

Su Qinglang's voice was very soft, like a light feather, beating on their hearts quietly.

"Under such circumstances, even my husband can't do anything about it. Today, you and I should be glad that you were not implicated, otherwise..."

He said, sighing softly: "How many people want me to die, they all want my life, Zizhong, I have no way to turn back."

Sun Zizhong was silent for a while, looking at Su Qinglang's face.Then, he slowly looked away.

"Are you disappointed?" Su Qinglang asked him like this.

"No..." Sun Zizhong answered decisively, and said very seriously: "I know, you are also very sad."

Su Qinglang snorted and curled his lips slightly: "When a person has experienced the most difficult time, it doesn't matter to him whether he is sad or not."

"Qinglang..." Sun Zizhong couldn't bear to call him when he heard the words.

Su Qinglang looked at him, and said again: "You don't need to comfort me, and I have nothing to be comforted by you, the past has passed, and I am living a good life now.

Even thinking about those painful days will only make me more convinced of my current path. If I want to be safe and not be slaughtered, I can only climb up step by step, that's all. "

Sun Zizhong frowned, knowing that Su Qinglang's determination had been made, and he couldn't shake it anymore, so he could only ask, "What can I do for you?"

Su Qinglang smiled, and said half with emotion: "Forget it, you can still be by my side until now. For me, it is the best help."

Sun Zizhong fell silent for a long time: "Qinglang, there is something I've always wanted to ask you."

Su Qinglang looked at him, and heard him say: "That Mei Liusheng, what do you think of him?"

Su Qinglang was startled, not knowing why he asked such a question, Sun Tzuzhong continued: "Maybe I am supercilious, but he and Xie Yu...Qinglang, Xie Yu is dead, Mei Liusheng is not him, and will not It is impossible for anyone to become him, you... don't hurt yourself. "

It was very difficult for him to speak a few short words, because he knew that he was stabbing a knife in Su Qinglang's heart, and when the knife saw blood, it was like killing him.

Su Qinglang was silent for a moment before asking: "Do you think I use him as Xie Yu's substitute?"

Sun Zizhong looked up at him, and heard him smile bitterly again: "How is it possible..."

He stood up, walked to the window, and seemed to be talking to himself: "Perhaps, when I saw him from the beginning, it was like seeing Xie Yu's shadow. But as long as you get along with him, you will understand , he is different from Xie Yu after all... No one can replace him, become him, not even Mei Liusheng."

The boy in my memory is always close and warm. He regards him as his own life, so when he is threatened, he is willing to sacrifice his life to protect him.

In this world, he could no longer find another person, nor could he find another Xie Yu who could treat him to such an extent.

What is the difference?

Perhaps because of this closeness, he and Xie Yu have long been connected by blood, and they can give their lives to each other, but Mei Liusheng, he doesn't even have the most basic trust.

Finally, Su Qinglang said softly: "Zizhong, you have known me for many years, you should know that I have never been a self-deceiving person."

"Get close to him, help him, maybe, just don't want to see him repeat our mistakes."

Sun Zizhong sighed, and finally left Su Qinglang's room. When Su Qinglang sent him out, he saw Mei Liusheng not far away.

At this time, he was standing under the narrow corridor of the inn, followed by the guard named Cheng Ying, who was walking towards his room.

Su Qinglang stopped and said to him: "Brother Mei..."

Mei Liusheng smiled faintly: "I'm here to find Brother Su to discuss tomorrow's itinerary."

Watching Sun Zizhong go away, Su Qinglang walked up to him, led Mei Liusheng into the courtyard with his side hand, and said: "If you don't come, I'm going to find you. I heard from Zizhong that according to our current itinerary, we need It will take more than a month to reach the border town."

Mei Liusheng silently nodded and followed Su Qinglang down, while Cheng Ying followed behind him without saying a word.

In the inner courtyard of the inn, there is a stone table, four stone benches, and a few pagoda trees are planted at the foot of the wall not far away.

He sat down at the stone table and said slowly: "I am familiar with this place, if I take a shortcut, maybe I can save a few days of time."

Su Qinglang's eyes lit up, and he was about to speak, when he saw the servant from the inn hurrying over.

He walked up to Mei Liusheng and said to Mei Liusheng: "My lord, there is a guest officer at the door, claiming to be your fellow countryman, and wants to meet your lord."