Rong Xuan

Midsummer is hard to bear, and the sun has been hanging high in the sky for several days.

Early this morning, there was still a gloomy atmosphere everywhere in Chang'an City, and everything hadn't completely woke up from the darkness and dullness of last night, and even the first light of the sky hadn't had time to leak through the thick clouds In the world, a series of thunderstorms rising from the east engulfed the thick dark clouds in the sky, rumbling and roaring past in a posture that opened up the world.

Cao Hui, who was sleeping soundly curled up in the corner of the couch, shook violently, and woke up sweating profusely from the double fright of nightmare and thunder.

Liu Sheng's knocking on the door was as dense as the beads of sweat on Cao Hui's forehead: "Master and mistress, it's not good, something happened to Mr. Kun!"

……

Something happened in Prince Qingxu's mansion that caused half the sky to collapse——Secret Prince Qingxu was accused in Chang'an Mansion of seducing, raping, and murdering a young girl. The body of the victim who was raped and killed was found in the room of the police, and the drunken son of Qing Xu, Sima Yuanzhi, who had not yet passed his 17th birthday, was taken away.

In the life lawsuit, the evidence is solid, even Sima Yuanzhi denied it from beginning to end.

Sima Xuan didn't immediately rush to Prince Qingxu's mansion. Although she also cared about Sima Kun, her fourth younger brother who was always pure and kind, she was still somewhat organized in what to do.

Three days later, although Sima Xuan, who had recovered for more than a month, still looked weak, Jingling Hou, who was able to walk on the ground anyway, and his wife Xun Shi drove to Qingxu Palace by car.

Jinglinghou's Mansion is not too far from Qingxu Palace, but when Sima Xuan took the carriage from Jinglinghou's Mansion to Qingxu Palace, when she got off the carriage, she was still so weak that she almost couldn't stand still.

Fortunately, Cao Hui was beside her and helped her up.

Qingxu Palace, Front Hall:

"At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, why did you come here in person!" Sima Ying came out of the hall quickly, and together with Cao Hui, who covered his face with a plain veil, helped Sima Xuan into the hall.

Sima Ying felt that his younger brother's body was not recovering very well, and he was still struggling to walk up the steps in front of the hall.

"Uncle He, where's your father?" Sima Xuan took a breath, and asked He Tongdao, the deputy general of the palace, "What happened to him, my son?"

As the deputy general of King Qingxu who has experienced countless storms, He Tong calmly gave a small gift to Sima Xuan and Cao Hui: "The second son and the second wife, please forgive me, the master is now in the sky prison, the son..."

"It's my son who was imprisoned in heaven, why do you pretend to be a good person!" A voice that was almost crazy suddenly came from behind the screen in the front hall, cutting off He Tong's mouth without warning. if.

However, before Sima Xuan could react, a dark green figure ran towards her and Cao Hui madly.

Unsurprisingly, the woman not only knocked Sima Xuan down, but also scratched Sima Xuan's arm with a sharp hairpin—if Cao Hui hadn't subconsciously blocked that blow, the hairpin might have penetrated into it Sima Xuan's heart.

"princess!"

"Second son!"

"At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty!"

There was chaos in the front hall of the palace.

"Crazy, this woman is crazy!" Sima Ying waved his bloody hand when he helped Sima Xuan up, and called all the women who were guarding outside the door in: "Tie her up, tie her up!" !"

A group of mothers-in-law and children who came to attack the general's mansion made orders to swarm up. In the palace, people around Princess Zhao naturally tried their best to stop the resistance-the scene was so chaotic.

"Wait a minute," the hoarse voice sounded weakly, not rushing, but easily suppressing all the chaos and noise.

Sima Xuan sat in the chair, asked Cao Hui to bandage the wound on his arm urgently, gave Yuyan a look, and said to everyone: "The princess is the wife that my father is marrying. My sister's stepmother, and even the son's biological mother, even if she killed me in public today, you can't be so rude to her..."

Sima Xuan, who deliberately added words such as "stepmother", "birth mother" and "killed", took a long breath, and after successfully and thoroughly angering Mrs. Zhao, she raised her hand to signal He Tong, saying: " Please trouble Uncle He to send Princess Wang back to the inner courtyard, please take good care of her, everything will be discussed when father comes back."

"Yes, Second Young Master, this old slave takes orders." He Tong twisted the old woman who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to hide the hairpin that stabbed Sima Xuan in his hand, and nodded respectfully to Sima Xuan, with a smile on his face. The people went towards the inner courtyard together.

Soon, Sima Xiu came back.

Sima Xuan leaned weakly in the chair, watching his father walking from far to near weakly.

——Sima Kun, the fourth brother, was arrested and sent to the Dali Temple, and now he was taken to the sky prison. In just three days, his father's straight and straight figure has become a little rickety , Father's sideburns, I don't know when there are so many white hairs.

"I already know about your mother stabbing you." Sima Xiu raised his hand to stop the salute of the people in the next room, and sat down in the main hall with heavy steps. Doctor Bai from the Imperial Medical Office came to treat her. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, things were prioritized. Since your fourth brother was sent to prison, he has said nothing but the word "wronged" once."

Sima Xuan's already bloodless face gradually turned serious.

Suddenly, everyone heard Sima Xiu say in a vicissitudes of life: "The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Yushitai are going to hold three joint trials today at the end of the hour and the beginning of the hour. I want to see his second brother alone."

"See me?" Sima Xuan and Cao Hui looked at each other, and they both looked at Sima Xiu suspiciously.

"That's right, see you," Sima Xiu nodded slowly, "The child who died was the fifth daughter of the Earl of Wenchang's mansion. She was 14 years old. This case is not easy to handle, but what did your fourth brother do from the beginning to the end?" He also refused to say, now that he suddenly said that he wanted to see you, maybe he remembered some evidence or something and wanted to tell you, at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty..."

Sima Xiu dismissed everyone in the front hall, including Cao Hui and Sima Ying.

After everyone went out, Sima Xiu paused, and said: "At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, when your fourth brother was rescued, it was you who wanted me to sleep like you did when you were a child. After Yuan Zhi's mother was divorced, the god who welcomed your mother back I also agree to the tablet, even if you want to return to the title of viscount, you can give it to you as a father, as long as... as long as you can save your brother's life!"

"Father is serious." Sima Xuan leaned weakly in the chair, gently drew a semicircle in the air with his fingers resting on the armrest, and said in a low voice, "I know, Yuan Zhi is your only son. Everything you are doing now is nothing more than wanting to leave him a bright future,"

As he said that, Sima Xuan smiled softly: "Parents' beloved sons have far-reaching plans for them. My father has planned for the eldest sister, the third younger sister, and even me. Now it's just If I want to make another plan for my youngest son, I have no reason not to obey."

Sima Xiu opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

About half an hour later, it was raining heavily in the sky, and Sima Xuan, the eldest son of Prince Qingxu's Mansion, drove all the way to Dali Temple alone in the four-horse carriage of Prince Qingxu's Mansion.

Another Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Shen Shaoqing, personally led people to greet Sima Xuan outside the prison, "After the son called, he never opened the door except for the word 'injustice' and the sentence 'I want to see my second brother'." mouth, and even cut himself off from all food that entered his mouth.”

Shen Shaoqing led Sima Xuan to go inside, and said in a low voice: "The Tian family intends to protect the son, and specially sent Xun Shoufu to come to the jury, just because they are afraid that the cruel officials of the third department will make the son be beaten into a trick, but I never thought that the son would be beaten. You don't even want to say anything, Junhou advises the son, as long as the third division finds out any inappropriateness from the evidence, the son will be spared the death penalty!"

"Really?" The person in the black robe who had already stepped onto the dark road of the prison suddenly stopped, and she turned to look at Shen Shaoqing with a half-smile, her hoarse voice had a feeling that coincided with the depths of the prison It's so dark and bloody that it makes people shudder: "Since the Dali Temple has firmly insisted that Prince Qingxu killed the daughter of the Wenchang Earl's Mansion, then there is nothing to be tried, and the murderer pays for his life. Just pull Sima Yuanzhi and behead him at the Meridian Gate." .”

"Junhou's words are serious, it's the lower officials who said the wrong things, the lower officials said the wrong things!" Shen Shaoqing, who was over fifty years old, was frightened and slapped himself on the mouth: "There are a lot of lords and lords, and the lowly position is also for the son of the prince. Thinking about it, please calm your anger, please calm your anger..."

"Forget it," Sima Xuan had already smelled the filth and blood from all over the dungeon, and frowned, "Lead the way ahead."

Shen Shaoqing, who was ordered to inquire, was given a big hangup when he opened his mouth. The old man was not stupid, so he quickly shut up and led the way obediently, not daring to say another word.

Nobunaga Nobunaga in the cramped Nether Road, walking on it, you can vaguely hear everything that happened here.

Listen, there are heart-piercing scenes of burning things with a soldering iron, scratching and scratching of human flesh with thousands of nails and claws, there are sobbing and struggling with more and more official stickers, and there are deranged prisoners in the middle of the night. The lowly sung songs of my hometown...

A thin stream of coldness crept up Sima Xuan's back silently, and a fine amount of cold sweat had already oozed from her forehead.

Fortunately, when Sima Xuan was about to be unable to walk due to lack of physical strength, Shen Shaoqing, who was leading the way, stopped in his tracks and said, "I will report to you, this is it."

Saying that, Shen Shaoqing signaled the cell leader who was at the side to unlock the lock, and at the same time arched his hands to Sima Xuan: "The humble officer will wait outside."

There was a sound of heavy chains, and the iron door of the fully enclosed cell was pushed open with a creak. Shen Shaoqing led everyone to leave, leaving only two guards guarding the cell door.

The iron door was pushed open, and a long-lasting mildew mixed with an indescribable stench rushed towards his face. Sima Xuan walked slowly with a food box in his hand that had been checked and inspected by the prison chief several times. go in.

The jailer guarding the door immediately put chains on the iron gate from the outside.

There is no sky in the sky prison, and the cells of the sky prison are not like the fences surrounded by individual logs in ordinary prisons. Its four walls are all made of stone and lime mud, which can be described as iron walls.

Prisoner Sima Kun's cell faced south and north, except for the sun-facing ventilation window, which was only big enough for a seven or eight-year-old child to get out, and was sealed with iron rods, the rest of the room was illuminated purely by torches and oil lamps.

It was pouring rain outside now, the weather was gloomy and dark, and there was no light from the sky, but the house was illuminated by good oil lamps, and it was actually quite bright.

Hearing someone coming in, Sima Kun, who was curled up on the wooden bed in the corner with his knees in his arms, raised his eyelids in a slow reaction, and cast his gaze over with a distracted gaze.

"Second brother..." Sima Kun opened his thin lips that were dry and chapped due to lack of water, but couldn't make a sound, so he had to lightly mouth to Sima Xuan.

"I brought you some food and drink." Sima Xuan walked over slowly, and placed the contents of the food box on the small table not far from the wooden bed. "Come and eat."

Sima Kun froze for a moment, as if reflecting what Sima Xuan meant. After a while, Sima Kun stood up with his handcuffs and anklets weighing tens of catties, his expression wobbly, leaning against the wall.

Sima Xuan sat on a low stool that was not as high as her knees, quietly watching Sima Kun walking over with chains all over his body.

"Your second sister-in-law cooked the water herself. It's still warm. Come and have a drink." Sima Xuan unscrewed the spout of the small kettle, poured a cup into Sima Kun's hand, and waited quietly for Sima Kun to drink. Sip the whole glass of water in small sips.

"Drink some more." Sima Xuan raised his hand and filled the water glass halfway, speaking in a more nasal voice: "Don't worry, there is still time."

"... Second sister-in-law is okay?" Sima Kun spoke hoarsely after moistening his throat with warm water.

"Well, it's okay." After a while, Sima Xuan picked up the small empty bowl next to him, filled half a bowl of porridge from the cup and handed it to Sima Kun, then took the chopsticks and started serving dishes to his young brother, "This porridge is Big sister boiled it, you can eat as much as you want."

Sima Kun lowered his head and put the porridge into his mouth in a bit of embarrassment. The iron cuffs that had slipped below his slender wrists rattled with his master's movements: "...delicious, delicious..."

After eating half a bowl of hot porridge, Sima Kun, who was so frightened and numb from hunger, finally felt a little bit of warmth in his stomach. Slowly, he put down the bowl, raised his hand to cover his thin face, and his voice finally carried I was at a loss and choked up: "Second brother, I was wronged..."

"On the day when the incident happened, you were invited by Xiao Qunce, the third son of the concubine of Dr. Xiao Kangyan's family, to go to the Pianyun Pavilion for a banquet," Sima Xuan slowly straightened the red tassels of the jade pendant around his waist, with a hoarse voice. The low sound was in this small metal barrel cell.

She said weakly: "You arrived at Pianyun Pavilion in a carriage at about seven quarters you time. On the first floor, you met Shangguan Youjian, the seventh son of Shangguan Jinhong, Minister of the Household Department. Because it was still early, you and Shangguan Youjian by the way Jian ate two glasses of wine and chatted a little bit, but because Hong Ying, who was traveling with Shangguan Youjian and a member of the Ministry of Industry, said something not very nice, you had a little quarrel with Hong Ying..."

"That's because of Hong Ying, Hong Ying said you..." Sima Kun suddenly raised his head to look at Sima Xuan, his eyes were dark, no longer as dim as when Sima Xuanfang came in, probably because what Hong Ying said was really not very good It sounds good, but Sima Kun couldn't get the words out after opening his mouth several times.

"Well, I also know what he said." Sima Xuan took another steamed bun and handed it over, pouring himself a glass of warm water to drink, "After hearing the news, Xiao Qunce came down from the second floor and invited you to the place where he had a banquet. Room, at about three o'clock in the morning when you were drunk, Xiao Qunce called Ke Xingshou to Pianyun Pavilion to take you to rest, and Ke Xingshou sent you to the room to rest—and then what?"

"No, no after." Sima Kun took the white steamed buns handed over by Sima Xuan, with a helpless wry smile on his skinny almost sunken face: "Although I drank too much wine, I didn't really get drunk. Ke Xingshou called two tortoise slaves to send me to sleep in that room, which is my usual room, second brother, I went to sleep after returning to the room, and later, "

Sima Kun wiped the tears streaming down his face with the back of his hand, and sniffed: "Afterwards, Zhang Bojian, the governor of Chang'an Prefecture, led people to rush in, and poured cold water on me to wake me up, and it was certain that I had raped and killed him." So-and-so, and then threw me into the prison, "

Sima Kun leaned towards Sima Xuan, his excitement was almost unstoppable: "Second elder brother, that old man Zhang Bojian is just a mere fourth-rank official, if no one is behind him to support him, how dare he do this?" Offend our family so blatantly?!"

"But there is really no one behind Zhang Bojian," Sima Xuan took off his cloak, and put it on Sima Kun, who was almost out of shape.

Sima Kun frowned and thought for a while, and his face turned even paler: "Then, what about Xiao Qunce and the others? What about Ke Xingshou? What about the two tortoise slaves who helped me to the room? My father said that they all insisted that they didn't know. , they, how could they..."

Sima Xuan half-lowered his head in silence, his detached and indifferent face cast a large shadow from the eyelashes and the bridge of the nose under the light of the oil lamp on the table.

After a long while, she said, "People's hearts are cold, it would be better if you knew about it earlier."

After the cloak with body temperature was draped over him, the cold that had surrounded him since he entered gradually faded away, and Sima Kun's tears flowed out violently.

"Second brother, me, my mother, how is my mother?" Sima Kun carelessly wiped his tears on his dirty sleeves, and asked sobbing.

"It's only been three days since the incident happened, but the evidence is undeniable. Dali Temple, the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and Yushitai have already settled the case. They want to sentence you to beheading. Now they only need a copy of your signature," Sima Xuan said incredulously. He said calmly, "Father and the others begged to come to Tian's family, but Tian's family avoided suspicion and refused to see them. Your mother also begged your grandparents and uncles not to, and was hit by the collapse of the sky and the earth."

Sima Xuan cried and laughed, and turned up the wide sleeve of his left hand, revealing a little bit of fine cloth that was used to bandage the wound: "Father has already consulted Doctor Bai from the Imperial Medical Office... Deranged."

Lost, lost insanity.

Sima Kun's scalp was numb, and his whole body fell into a kind of blankness. For a moment, Sima Kun felt that he was actually dead.

With tears in his eyes, he looked at his second elder brother who he had worshiped like a god since he was a child, soaking Sima Kun's heart like a burst of sorrow——Second elder brother, the second elder brother's shoulders were not broad, but he was carrying his shoulders stiffly. It is a heavy burden for the Sima family.

As for myself, I have been struggling for many years, all I want is to save my mother's life and to live in harmony with my family, but unfortunately, what I want is so difficult to get.

"Second brother, I'm sorry," Sima Kun said softly, trembling all over, "I lied to you for 17 years."

The author has something to say:

That's right, that kid Kunkun is exactly what you think, poor Simaxiu