Jiang Qing

The night was deep, and the lights of the houses along the road had already been turned off. The watchman took the light and walked most of the way half asleep and half awake, seeing that even the houses were few and far between.

A gust of night wind blew out the paper lantern in his hand and made him tremble, only then did he realize that he had unknowingly walked in front of a ruined temple.

He rubbed his eyes for a long time before he recognized that it was the whole temple in the suburbs.There were actually two lanterns hanging under the eaves, one red and one white, staring blankly at him like two eyes.

The entire temple has been abandoned for a long time, and the plaque has long since disappeared. In the temple stands a statue of Vajra Bodhisattva with glaring eyes. The incense table is covered with dust, and few people come.The gate of this temple was built wide, and now it is half hung. When the draft passes, the wind whimpers, very much like a ghost crying.

The mottled red-painted temple gate looks like the bloody mouth of an evil spirit. It seems that it can swallow passers-by whole at any time. I don’t know which year a passer-by was walking at night. When he passed by this temple, he was frightened and gave a warning. The nickname is "Whole Temple".

The watchman has been working for some years, and he considers himself a bit courageous, but he dare not walk this sparsely populated path at night. Who knows that he just got sleepy and turned onto this path somehow.

There is no one around here, who would come to light up this dilapidated temple in the middle of the night?

Thinking of this, the watchman's cold sweat covered his entire forehead.

Slightly pricking up the ears, a woman's cry could be faintly heard from the half-closed temple door, and the weak sobs drifted to the watchman's ears along the wind, with a vague smell of blood.

The watchman boldly opened the door and glanced in.

There was a black wooden coffin in the middle of the temple, beside the coffin sat a woman in red, with black hair covering her face, sobbing softly.She held the knife in her hand, and the blood dripped down along the tip of the knife, converging into the pool of blood of more than a dozen corpses on the ground.

There was a man standing in front of her, with his back to the temple gate, he couldn't see clearly, only a dozen red silks were hanging down from the beams, intermingled with criss-crossing cobwebs, falling in front of his eyes.

The black coffin and the red clothes, the colorful brocade and the gray net, such a strange scene caught the watchman's eyes instantly, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly covered his mouth.While his heart was pounding, the man seemed to have noticed it, and cast a deep glance, but his peripheral vision fell on the watchman, and he was so scared that he lost the lamp and ran for his life without looking back.

Hearing the sound of people stumbling away outside, Mei Shao withdrew her gaze, lowered her body, took out a long knife from the panicked woman, stuffed it into the hand of a fainted man in Chinese clothes, and looked at him several times with disgust : "This is your lover?"

"After dawn, you know what to do." Mei Shao's voice was a little impatient, and he wiped off the blood on his hands on the man in Chinese clothes, "Where's the roster?"

Chen Qiyun, who fell into a pool of blood, was stunned for a while before realizing that Mei Shao was talking to herself, and she tried her best to cheer up and replied, "The roster is in the hands of the young master."

"Sir?"

"The owner of the ghost market, that's what the ghost merchants call him. According to the rules of the ghost market, after his father dies, the son will hand over his business to other ghost merchants, and the roster will follow."

"You know a lot." Mei Shao sneered.

There was a trace of resentment in Chen Qiyun's eyes: "Father said that being a ghost businessman is harmful to prey. As a daughter, I am already full of yin, so it doesn't matter if I follow him to do these things. I can help my brother a little after he gets married."

Hearing this, Mei Shao's eyes turned softer. He looked at the Vajra Buddha statue that took up half of the wall. The golden paint on its body had already fallen off a lot, and the demon pestle in his hand rolled down to nowhere. , only a pair of angry eyes still revealing solemnity, overlooking the mess on the ground.

If there are gods and Buddhas in the world, how could they allow blood to splash in the Buddhist halls, leaving empty skins, but not descending on evildoers.

Mei Shao sighed softly, looked at the shivering woman, and couldn't help but reminded: "Go to the city early after dawn tomorrow, don't wait until others find out first."

The night is dark, this is the world where gods and Buddhas cannot shine.

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The lights in the White Mansion stayed on overnight.

He waited in the Baifu with the medicine box open, and when Jiang Yan drove the carriage to pick up the man, Ji Pu stopped walking repeatedly in front of the hall.

Even though the journey was not far, Bai Bingchen still had a low-grade fever when he returned home. He seemed to have exhausted his strength, nestling in Jiang Yan's arms, making him even more fragile.

The blood-stained robe was messily wrapped around his body, his bare feet were stained with blood, the mold on his ankle hadn't been removed, and the scalded skin oozes blood, staining a large hem of his clothes red.

Jiang Yan's complexion was terribly dark, but the movements of his hands were very gentle. He carefully placed Bai Bingchen on the bed, and stood by and watched Ji Pu for treatment.

After cutting the pulse, Ji Pu hurriedly boiled a bowl of strong medicine, but Bai Bingchen couldn't feed it because he was unconscious, so he decided to drink it directly.

Just like this until dawn, watching his fever gradually subside after sweating, Ji Pu was worried all night before letting go.

When dawn broke, Bai Bingchen finally woke up.

"You're awake." Ji Pu's voice was nasal, as if he had secretly shed tears.

Seeing him guarding all night with a haggard face, Bai Bingchen felt ashamed: "It's okay, I feel much better now."

Ji Pu hesitated a few times before saying, "Do you still want to get rid of the poison?"

The person who had bitten him to death and refused to let go, finally softened his heart after seeing Mei Shao's torture to him, and made a concession.

Bai Bingchen's heart felt sour for a moment, he knew that he had taken advantage of Ji Pu's hard-spoken and soft-hearted temper, and indirectly hurt his heart.But if it wasn't for the fact that the path he chose was too difficult, how could he be so determined to do something that hurts his loved ones and makes his enemies happy.

"Can my current body still support the removal of poison?" Feeling ashamed, Bai Bingchen's words also carried the meaning of asking.

Ji Pu looked at his ankle, the mold had already been taken off, the silver ring firmly clasped his ankle, even the best ointment couldn't cover the oozing pus.

If there was any substance in his gaze, Bai Bingchen shrank silently.

"If it wasn't for this silver ring, I really want you to take care of it for a while before we get rid of the poison." Ji Pu stared into his eyes with a serious expression, "The other injuries on your body are easy to take care of, but this foot injury is too serious. , It is difficult to cure. If the poison is pulled out, the stagnant meridians will re-circulate, and I am [-]% sure that the leg injury will return to normal, and I will walk without hindrance. It’s just that the pain of pulling out the poison is unbearable. Your body is already weak. That's [-]% more."

Bai Bingchen smiled gently, and said words of relief: "It is said that a long illness makes a good doctor. I know my body very well, and I can bear it."

With the expected answer, Ji Pu naturally knew that his nephew's perseverance is rare in the world.Back then when he was poisoned in King Jing's tent, he could hold his breath and wait until Zhao Zhen came to help him. Now this pain is naturally tolerable for him.

Seeing that he has made up his mind, Ji Pu didn't want to say anything, got up and prepared medicinal materials for him to remove the poison.

After Ji Pu left, Bai Bingchen called Jiang Yan, asked him to bring a pen and paper, leaned against the head of the bed and wrote about his plan to remove the poison, drew a grasshopper at the end of the letter, and handed it to Jiang Yan: " I'll send it to that person later."

Jiang Yan agreed.

Bai Bingchen was lost in thought, and suddenly asked: "When Mei Shao was in the Xunfang Pavilion, did someone deliberately make things difficult for him?"

The cunning rabbit dies, the running dog cooks.After the Cangshan Incident, the Bai family had no use value, and it also had a notoriety of both ends.The first emperor made Bai Jianye the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and Bai Bingchen the editor of the Imperial Academy, but in his heart he still remembered the old friendship between the Mei and Bai families, and watched with cold eyes whether Bai Bingchen would secretly help Mei Shao who had fallen into the Xunfang Pavilion.

In order to avoid suspicion, Bai Bingchen deliberately avoided any news about Mei Shao in the Xunfang Hall, let alone actively inquired.It wasn't until Zhao Zhen ascended the throne that he dared to ask Jiang Yan to inquire about Mei Shao's past and circumstances, but when Jiang Yan came back with the news, he became timid again.He didn't dare to listen to Mei Shao's recent situation, and he didn't dare to look back at what happened to Mei Shao in the Xunfang Pavilion.

Especially after Mei Shao went to the south.He was afraid that Mei Shao would live well, and the news that he and King Xie En loved each other would come, but he was also afraid that Mei Shao would not live well, that it would be difficult to recuperate from his illness in the smoky Nanling.After several times of deliberation, I couldn't find a perfect solution, so I had no choice but to remain deaf, so as not to disturb my heartstrings.

These years, Jiang Yan watched with cold eyes, Bai Bingchen was young, but he was decisive and ruthless in his actions. He was not a jerk, but he always inquired about Mei Shao's affairs repeatedly, but he didn't want to hear about it.

Looking at the various things between the two of them after Mei Shao entered the capital, despite his elm head, he can see that they have a very close relationship.Seeing his sudden inquiry at this time, I had to reply several times: "Patriarch, you know what kind of place Xunfang Hall is, and life there is naturally difficult. Those who don’t like him take this opportunity to add insult to injury.”

The Xunfang Pavilion is usually where the young ladies and sons of the family are sent in to do some work to make people smile after seeing their crimes.Anyone who goes in will inevitably be humiliated, it is the most excruciating place, many people would rather be exiled in the barren land than stay in the Xunfang Pavilion.They were originally good sons and daughters who were carefully raised by officials and officials. They were pampered and spoiled on weekdays.

It's not that Bai Bingchen has never seen these scenes. At that time, in order to test whether he was still in touch with the Mei family, the people in the court always invited him to drink in the Xunfang Pavilion, and asked Mei Shao to come out to accompany him.He had no choice but to endure as much as he could, as if he hadn't seen anything.

Bai Bingchen couldn't help pursing his lips when he thought of Mei Shao lying on the ground humbly welcoming her and toasting with a smiling face.

"The life of the young masters and young ladies of ordinary families is a bit sad, and some of them have even been tarnished innocence and committed suicide."

Looking at Bai Bingchen's tightly clenched hands, Jiang Yan swallowed nervously, and hurriedly said: "But the eldest princess has been taking care of him in secret. When the first emperor was around, King Jing and the eldest princess were the most favored and had their face. Those in charge didn't dare to do anything to Mei Shao, it's just that it's not convenient for the princess to come forward, and those face-to-face discussions are indispensable, otherwise they wouldn't be able to explain to the late emperor."

Thinking of how Mei Shao couldn't control his emotions when he was interrogating himself, a terrible thought emerged in Bai Bingchen's heart, and he almost trembled and said, "He...was he drugged?"

"It was poured with five stone powder."

Long-term memories come to mind, Bai Bingchen secretly went to Xunfang Pavilion to see Mei Shao once.

At that time, King Jing and Zhao Zhen fought fiercely, and Zhao Jinghe secretly exchanged the birthday gift that Zhao Zhen gave to the late emperor, so as to reprimand him for being unfaithful and unfilial, Zhao Zhen's already difficult situation became even more difficult.Bai Bingchen was disheartened and wanted to see him for some reason.

He changed into ordinary clothes, went in through the corner gate and asked the boy where he lived, but was told that Mei Shao was insane, and when serving the nobleman, he lost his temper and bit someone, so he was immediately taken to the woodshed and locked up.

Bai Bingchen only dared to look at him from a distance through the broken window.

Mei Shao lost a lot of weight, and his complexion was also ugly. Even when he fell asleep leaning against the pile of firewood with his eyes closed, his brows were still frowning. Some of the blood on his head flowed onto his brows, leaving a dark red mark. It was beaten when he was struggling just now.

Bai Bingchen kept convincing himself that with Zhao Jinghe's protection, Mei Shao's life would be easier after all.He knew that when Mei Shao fell down, there were many people rushing to humiliate him, but only by convincing himself in this way could he restrain his urge to visit him.

But now that he has seen this scene with his own eyes, he can no longer tell himself the words of deceit, and there is only one thought in his mind, to let Mei Shao go out.No matter what method, let him leave Ping and live a good life, even if he goes to a place thousands of miles away, even if he never sees him again in this life, it is better than knowing that Mei Shao is suffering right now.

So Bai Bingchen got on with King Xie En, who was deeply feared by the late emperor at that time.

The Li tribe surrendered and rebelled, and even accepted the favor of the Liang Kingdom, and established themselves as the king of the Jiang Kingdom. Li An, a proton, was a thorn in the side of the late emperor. He lingered in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion in Pingdu, presumably to create Showing an idiot character will reduce the fear of the late emperor.

Bai Bingchen approached Li An in private and asked him to force Mei Shao to enter the mansion under the pretext of being drunk in the Xunfang Hall to offend the late emperor. He and Zhao Zhen mediated among them and persuaded the late emperor to exile them to Nanling.

Since then, the sky is high and the road is far away, never entering the capital.

He thought he had already calculated everything for Mei Shao, but he didn't expect to see that his treatment was just the tip of the iceberg, and even this old thing made his heart ache.

The extravagant hope of being silent all the time, only wishing to catch a glimpse from a distance, fell apart after Mei Shao returned to the capital.He didn't show it on the surface, but Bai Bingchen knew that he wanted more in his heart, but he didn't dare to reach out to touch it.

"who is it?"

Seeing him questioning the person who forced Mei Shao to take Wushisan, Jiang Yan murmured instead: "It's the son of the Shangshu family of the Ministry of War."

The Ministry of War is actually the Ministry of War in his own hands that has been controlling and balancing the aristocratic family.Bai Bingchen smiled wryly.

He has been making choices, in the past he chose to give up Mei Shao, and now it is the same.

Bai Bingchen somewhat hated himself now, his rationality always forced him to think about the overall situation, and he desperately squeezed his emotions, but there was nothing he could do.

From the moment he stepped into the Fudi Pavilion, he was destined to become a pawn in the Dazzling Dynasty's game, unable to move forward or backward.

But it's not just about court affairs, just like between him and Mei Shao, it's hard to tell who owes whom.Perhaps it was because they owed each other so much that they condensed into hatred, which grew in their hearts for a long time without solution.