To The Land of Nevernight

Tang Shen came to the Ministry of Punishment and directly approached the official of the Ministry of Punishment who was on duty tonight.

The official of the Ministry of Punishment is a Zhan Shilangzhong, a sixth-rank official.Seeing Tang Shen, he immediately saluted and found officials for Tang Shen, looking for Cui Xiao, the Flying Cavalry Captain of Jinling Mansion who was imprisoned a few days ago.The officer took the order and quickly went to the prison to pick him up. After a while, he rushed back and said, "Returning to your lord, then Cui Xiao committed suicide in the prison a few days ago, and died by hitting the wall."

Zhan Shi Lang was stunned for a moment, and said: "I remembered, it turned out that the prisoner who died a few days ago was this Cui Xiao." He said guiltily to Tang Shen: "My lord's arrival is too unlucky, this Cui Xiao has already died here In the prison. Your Excellency does not know, although there are not many prisoners who commit suicide in the large prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, it is not very rare. Most of these prisoners are outside the prison. Take your life and go to self-determination."

Tang Shen was shocked in his heart, but on the surface he was very calm.He said indifferently: "So that's how it is. Since Cui Xiao is dead, I don't need to pay attention to him any more. Mr. Zhao don't send him away, let's leave first."

"Yes."

Zhan Shi Langzhong personally sent Tang Shen out of the gate of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. Tang Shen sat in the sedan chair, and when the curtain of the sedan chair was lowered, his lips pursed and his fingers trembled slightly.

Cui Xiao died.

Cui Xiao is dead!

Ten days ago, Tang Shen personally sent him to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, but now he died in the prison in less than half a month.

Perhaps some officials committed suicide because they couldn't stand the prison, but how could such a coincidence happen?

Tang Shen has always known that only the mouth of the dead is the most reliable.There are so many people who know that Tang Shen has been apprenticed to Liang Song, even Zhao Fu may know.But Tang Shen couldn't control how much inside information Cui Xiao knew.He didn't trust Cui Xiao, so he sent him to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to erase this person.Tang Shen didn't think about killing Cui Xiao secretly, but firstly, he didn't have much power in the Ministry of Punishment, so it was difficult to do it; secondly, he couldn't do it.

The case of Cui Xiao's corruption of ink has been tried by Dali Temple and sent to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for closure.

He is not guilty of death.

But now he is really dead.

In the night, a dark sedan chair slowly passed through Zhengmen Street, heading towards the east of the city.When the bearer carried the sedan chair to Sufang Bridge, a low voice came from the sedan chair: "Go to Hubu Shangshufu."

The bearer was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Yes."

Fortunately, Tanhua's Mansion and Shangshu's Mansion were close, and they were also on the way, so the bearers diverted to Shangshu's Mansion carrying their sedan chairs.But after walking less than half a mile, Tang Shen lifted the curtain of the sedan chair again, and said, "Go to Qianmen Street and watch Zhizhai."

The bearers had to change their way to watch Zhizhai.

Only after Tang Shen came out of Guanzhizhai did he go to Shangshufu.

The housekeeper of the Shangshu Mansion did not expect Tang Shen to come tonight, but Tang Shen often came to see Wang Qin, so the housekeeper was not too surprised.He personally led Tang Shen into the mansion, and said: "Mr. Tang came by coincidence. You are at the mansion and having dinner." The housekeeper's eyes stopped for a moment on the wooden box Tang Shen was carrying.

Wang Qin had heard from his servant that Tang Shen was coming, so he put down his chopsticks, sat at the dining table and waited for him with a smile.

Seeing that Tang Shen had brought something, Wang Qin raised his eyebrows lightly and asked, "What's in the little junior brother's box?"

Tang Shen handed the wooden box to the steward: "Brother, why don't you guess it." He turned his head and told the steward, "Please trouble the steward, keep it for me first."

Wang Qin ordered someone to give Tang Shen an extra pair of chopsticks, and then ordered the kitchen: "Add one more West Lake vinegar fish, and one vegetarian meatball." Then he turned his head and said to Tang Shen: "Since I don't take it out at this time, it seems that the What’s in the box is definitely not edible. As far back as I can remember, I’ve never guessed or done useless work. Junior brother, if I guess right, I’ll be rewarded.”

Tang Shen: "..."

Do you want to win the lottery?

As if hearing Tang Shen's slander, Wang Qin smiled softly and said, "Could it be that I gave my junior brother the impression that I can be manipulated by others, promise to guess at will?"

Tang Shen said helplessly, "What do you want, brother?"

Now it was Wang Qin's turn to be in trouble, he said: "Let's deposit this lottery with my junior brother first." Wang Qin pondered for a moment, then guessed: "My junior took this thing all the way, and didn't hand it over to the housekeeper until I was seated for dinner." , presumably it must be a precious thing that needs to be handled with care.”

Hearing this, the housekeeper treated the box more carefully.

Wang Qin said with a smile: "When I came to Shangshu Mansion yesterday, my junior brother hadn't mentioned this thing yet. Did you just get it today?"

Tang Shen originally just said it casually, but now he wants to see if Wang Zifeng can guess correctly.So he became interested, put down his chopsticks, and played riddles with Wang Qin: "Yes, I just got it today."

Suddenly, Wang Qin asked, "You owe me the things here?"

Tang Shen was stunned, he thought for a long time: "Maybe we can say that, but we can't say that."

Wang Qin breathed a sigh of relief: "Little brother once drew a picture for me, but at that time you said that the painting was not good enough. If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely add another one."

Tang Shen was shocked.

Wang Qin raised his chopsticks and pointed to the wooden box beside him.Ordinary people may seem casual and frivolous when doing this action, but he did it naturally and with a long meaning. He smiled slightly: "In this wooden box, are there utensils for painting?"

Tang Shen was dumbfounded, and blurted out: "Could it be that senior brother is a god!"

Wang Qin made a fool of himself: "The gods may not be counted, but I often go to Guanzhizhai. The so-called 'pen, ink, paper and inkstone, amazing', the pen, ink, paper and inkstone of Guanzhizhai is a must in Shengjing. The younger brother specially went to Guanzhizhai Zhai bought something to paint for me, and I was so moved that I couldn’t express it.” Wang Zifeng said with sincere emotion: “Little brother treats me so well!”

Tang Shen: "..."

Tang Shen was speechless. He stood up and went to the side to check the wooden box. After checking, he found that the words "Guan Zhi Zhai" were engraved on the corner of the box, and he couldn't see it unless he looked carefully.Well, Wang Zifeng, you already knew that this was about Guanzhizhai, and you still want to bet with me?

Wang Zifeng really can't believe even a single punctuation mark!

After eating, the two brothers came to Wang Qin's study with the wooden box.Wang Qin felt a little regretful: "If my junior brother wants to paint for me, I should choose daytime. This night is so confusing, with candle shadows everywhere, how can I see clearly."

Tang Shen said deliberately: "Don't worry, brother, I have already engraved your beautiful appearance in my heart."

Wang Qin's brows twitched when he heard the words "beautiful appearance and moon appearance".He laughed wordlessly, then closed his folding fan and pressed his lips to hide his smile.

So soon, Wang Qin was leaning against the window in white clothes, and Tang Shen raised and lowered his head from time to time, painting for him.

It was already the end of August, and the evening breeze was cool, blowing Wang Qin's long hair.The moonlight was shining lightly, and the flowers in the courtyard were full of fragrance. Tang Shen raised his head and saw Wang Qin smiling slightly at himself with lowered eyes.He was stunned suddenly, and a thought flashed in his mind, "Maybe this is really a beautiful face", but at this moment, Tang Shen came to the Shangshu Mansion with selfish intentions, to paint for Wang Qin, and he didn't really come to do this kind of work at all. There is no time to think about these romantic affairs.

Halfway through the painting, Tang Shenzhuang said casually: "I have known senior brother for five years. When I first met senior brother, senior brother was already the Secretary of the Household Department. Senior brother was only 24 years old at the time, and he was in the second rank of the official residence. I want to come to senior brother's place." All the way, when I didn't know you, it must have been very difficult."

Wang Qin thought to himself: It's quite easy for me.

But since Tang Shen said so, he took advantage of the situation: "It's not easy, do you understand, junior brother?"

"Brother was 17-year-old high school champion, and became a fifth-rank living man at the age of 17. Two years later, he went to Jinling Mansion and served as the defense envoy of Jinling Mansion. When he returned to Shengjing, he was already 21 years old. After that, he entered the Palace of Qinzheng and served as an envoy for the Jinling Mansion. The doctor of Tongyi also served as the left servant of the Ministry of punishment, and he was worshiped as a third-rank official. When he was 23 years old, he was promoted again and became the minister of the household department." Tang Shen sighed while drawing: "I am not as good as my senior brothers. I think, what kind of demeanor the senior brother will be when he is the left servant of the criminal department. The criminal department is the same as Dali Temple, where criminal cases are tried and criminals are arrested. Is the senior brother at that time the same as the senior brother today?"

Listening to Tang Shen's words, Wang Qin's eyes narrowed slowly.

It seemed that Tang Shen was really just talking about Wang Qin's official career, and had no other meaning. Wang Qin lightly shook the paper fan in his hand, didn't speak, just looked at Tang Shen quietly.After waiting for a long time without waiting for Wang Zifeng's answer, Tang Shen was calm on the surface, but his heart was already turbulent.He raised his head, wanting to see what Wang Qin was doing, he raised his eyes, and his eyes fell into Wang Qin's deep eyes, Tang Shen's throat froze.

"...Brother?"

Tang Shen stopped writing and looked at Wang Qin.

Standing by the window, Wang Qin smiled at him: "I never thought that my junior brother didn't really paint for me today." He was obviously smiling, but his tone was full of disappointment and self-mockery.

Tang Shen suddenly became flustered in his heart, and he immediately said: "Senior brother, don't misunderstand me, I sincerely paint for senior brother. You see, I deliberately went to study for a long time, and it was only today that I dared to fulfill my promise and truly paint for senior brother." With that said, Tang Shen picked up his painting and wanted to show it to Wang Qin.

However, at the next moment, Tang Shen didn't pick up the words, only to hear Wang Qin let out a long sigh, his voice was gentle and elegant: "You sent people to Jinling Mansion, why?"

Tang Shen paused, he raised his head and looked at Wang Qin.

After a long time, he put down the painting and said, "Then I'll ask bluntly, brother... do you know Cui Xiao?"

Wang Qin: "I don't know him."

Tang Shen breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately afterwards, Wang Qin smiled briskly, "Why do I need to know him?"

Tang Shen opened his eyes wide in shock.

Seeing his panicked and worried expression, Wang Qin wanted to tease him a few more words, but his heart ached after all.The pain in my heart was tight, and I was in a panic.He clearly knew that the person in front of him was still hiding from him, still not confiding in him, lying to him, hiding from him, and dared not fully trust him.If you want to ask something, you need to cover it up like this, and use countless tricks.

But he still couldn't bear it.

It hurts because I can't bear it, and I can only let the sharp blade face me because I can't bear it.

Wang Zifeng sighed softly, he closed the window, and walked to Tang Shen's side.Tang Shen stood there dumbfounded, not knowing how to react or what to say.With a click, Wang Qin closed the paper fan. With a movement of his wrist, he held the fan with one hand and put the tip of the fan against the wall. With the other hand, he took Tang Shen's hand holding the brush and held it gently.His body leaned down slowly and oppressively, blocking Tang Shen in the corner.

The voice was still gentle and moving, like the breeze and bright moon: "So, tell me, the younger brother sent people to Jinling...why?"