The Lord who use immortals as food

"Mr. Zhu, I will take a day off tomorrow and come back to make up classes in the evening." Pei Ye said as he stood under the eaves and watched Zhu Wen come back.

Zhu Wen nodded: "Yes, you must come before Xu time."

"yes."

The philosopher's expression did not change. He washed the teapot meticulously. Pei Ye moved his throat and left without saying another word.

The two-day theory is still pending, but a criminal case that has a great impact on Shihlin's morale is about to be settled.

Wen Zai Zi was the loudest voice in Shilin, the capital of China, in August and September.

Long before the scholars from other places came to Beijing, long before the shadow of the aristocratic family was still overwhelming, and long before the ban on recommendation documents was handed over, this Confucian scholar was already brazenly attacking those inviolable people of the five surnames. The ground sneered angrily.

His voice resounded in Wuyun Tower, Green Tower, Imperial College, and even under the Imperial City; every poem he circulated was solemnly signed with his name, as if those who made Shilin silent The shadow was not in his eyes at all.

Two months later, he was finally found guilty of speaking out and was thrown into prison.

In fact, many people have seen that a month before his arrest, the Ministry of Punishment had already targeted him. They were just waiting for him to make more gaffes and leave more serious evidence, so that he could be punished in one fell swoop. .

However, even though he was imprisoned, this name together with those circulated articles was still a drum-like sound in the Shilin struggle in the next two months. He denounced the family to their faces as pigs, dogs, rats, and worms. The essays and poems were extremely sarcastic and almost debauched, trampling on all the authority in front of them and scolding them. The tremor caused by this complete offense in people's hearts is indescribable.

Many people were really startled to remember in front of these poems... The five surnames are actually the same as them, they are just the same people.

Many people who came later have never seen Wen Zaizi, but this name has indeed become a symbol that binds scholars from different regions and inspires everyone's courage.

As for Pei Ye, he had already met him on the first day he entered Beijing, but it was only now that he realized the meaning he carried.

The winter morning was as cold and silent as ever, and the white breath of the woman's breath spread out the window. She held the teacup with her hands clasped together.

It was rare for Xu Chuo to get up early. Pei Ye and her went to the Baozi Restaurant on the street next to her for breakfast. Xu Chuo had always come to this restaurant in the morning since he took him there once. By now, they were already familiar with each other. He is busy.

The woman was wearing a warm cloak, her face was not combed, and her hair was only rolled up loosely.

"Because I kept him safe for two months." Xu Chuo stopped talking after eating three buns and pushed the remaining drawer to the boy, "So he scolded him non-stop for two months, and then the impact started It’s revealed that the family thinks we can’t let him speak anymore, so I can’t keep it.”

Pei Ye picked up the bun into his mouth: "Why don't we rescue him?"

Xu Chuo lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea: "Now is the next stage. Jingzhao and the Ministry of Punishment have unified the criminal handling of the Shilin case in recent months. Those who violate the law will be dealt with according to the law. This is the case for Wang Jiazi, and it is naturally the same for Wen Zaizi. "

"We don't have much power in the Punishment Department anymore, right?" Pei Ye chewed the buns. Now he can probably understand some things. The woman had two operations in the Punishment Department within a month, one to rescue him and one to rescue Xie Chuantang. Anzi may have already Depleted.

"Not entirely."

"Um?"

"The sharpest knife tip will inevitably break. You can't hand the knife handle to others in order not to hurt the knife tip, or even give your body to others for stabbing." Xu Chuo looked at the young man with indifferent eyes, "Wage a war to win, not to win. Everyone is alive."

"Oh...that's right."

"Besides, I don't want to lie to you, Pei Ye - to me, Wen Zaizi's death means more than his life."

"Well." Pei Ye nodded. He didn't know much about these things, and he didn't give any advice. He just remembered that the scholar who was sitting against the wall in the dark prison could not help but feel nostalgic. He swallowed the last bun, "But I and him We had a few words of friendship in prison, can I go see him before execution? "

"It's nothing, I'll arrange it."

…

This was the first time Pei Ye saw what it looked like when he entered the heavy prison of the Ministry of Punishment. He went deep into the prison without knowing how many loops there were. The walls were damp, the steps were cramped, and the corridors were a bit cramped.

It felt strange to return to this heavy prison. Two months ago, he lay here in ignorance. When he opened his eyes, he could only see the darkness and the smell of moisture. Now that he was walking down again, several cells seemed to have been replaced or vacant, and few were vacant. Familiar voices and faces.

Pei Ye stood still and found that the scholar was still in the cell, but the clothes on his body no longer looked like military uniforms. The space between sitting and lying down was dirty and messy. Pei Ye stood in front of the door for a few seconds before the scholar noticed him. He raised his head somewhat dully and blankly.

"Two quarters of an hour, leave after chatting, don't stay." The jailer lowered his head and opened the cell door.

Pei Ye walked in with wine and food, and smiled. The scholar looked at him for a long time, then raised his finger and said, "You, you...ah! Are you Meng Li?"

Pei Ye smiled even more: "I told you my name is Pei Ye."

"Oh, it's true or false. Who knows whether you lied to the jailer or to us." Wen Zaizi looked at him in surprise and grinned for a long time, "That's all, you're out anyway. It looks like you're still alive. Good."

He stood up and bowed to him earnestly - such a dignified salute was exactly the same as that of Zhu Wen and Fang Jidao.

But as soon as he slumped down and sat down, Wen Zaizi leaned on the hay and gasped with a smile: "Brother Pei is still willing to come and see me after a few words of friendship. The ancients said, 'The head is as white as new, and the head is as white as new. It's the same as before, I won't deceive you if you are honest."

Pei Ye gave him a few zhenqi with a flick of his finger, placed the buns, wine and food in front of him, and sat down cross-legged: "We were chatting about eating that night. I tasted the buns you mentioned a few days ago. They were really good. What's left? I also bought some that I didn’t eat.”

Wen Zaizi was stunned: "...it was only a few words at that time, but you remember it so clearly."

Obviously a little moved.

"No, I have a better mind, and I have the ability to remember what I hear." Of course, Pei Ye didn't keep the inmates' food preferences in mind - he only knew that Miss Ming ate pears, but Qing Qing didn't know what he liked to eat. , it was just when I was about to come that I rummaged through my head and looked for it.

"...Oh, that's quite magical." Wen Zaizi's words were all gone, and his exposed wrist was more than a little thin. However, facing a table full of food, he first poured himself a full glass of wine and raised his head. Drink it in one gulp.

Only then did Pei Ye take a serious look. The man had a very upright appearance, with a high and straight nose, neither thick nor thin lips, and neither plump nor thin cheeks. The people who went to Tianli Academy to pray for him at that time said that he was an upright and courageous person. It's the temperament of this face.

Only at the corners of his eyebrows and eyes was there suddenly a very sharp upward point, which was indeed like the tip of a knife.

The wine glass taught him to make two dirty marks. Wen Zaizi put down the wine glass and exhaled happily and deeply.

"I wanted to ask around to see if there was any way to save you, but it didn't seem possible." Pei Ye looked at him, "Did you say anything outrageous?"

"Brother Pei has such a heart, he is already a first-class chivalrous person." Wen Zaizi smiled and said with a smile on his sleeve, his eyes weak, "My life cannot be saved, and there is no need to save it."

"I heard that the Ministry of Justice had been targeting you for a long time. It would have been better if I had been more cautious." Pei Ye poured wine for him.

"I know." Wen Zaizi said unexpectedly while eating.

"Um?"

"If I didn't want to die, I wouldn't have come in at that time; and now that I'm in this prison, I'll just put my head on my neck for the time being." Wen Zaizi smiled lightly at the corner of his blood-stained mouth, "I scolded them in the article They are rats and maggots. If the Ministry of Punishment sees me, I will stop and hide, then who is the rat?"

He lowered his head and ate the food: "If you want to beat the drum, you must work hard for it; if you cherish this body, you will not do it."

"……I see."

"I said a lot of truly treacherous things, and I cannot overdo it because of my efforts to correct it." Wen Zaizi said vaguely, "I deserve to be executed. Brother Pei does not have to regret it."

Pei Ye didn't say anything anymore. She looked at him quietly for a while with her legs crossed, and then suddenly said, "I'm studying with Zhu Wenzhezi these days."

Wen Zaizi suddenly stopped eating.

He raised his head and stared blankly at the young man with his dirty-haired eyes.

"I just thought that if you have anything you want to bring to Zhu Zhezi, I can hand it over on your behalf," Pei Ye said.

"..."

Wen Zaizi quietly put down the bowl and chopsticks slowly and looked at the ground motionless.

After a long while, he whispered: "...I have nothing to bring, I am an unworthy disciple."

He lowered his head, raised his sleeves and rubbed his eyes: "Teacher, is he accepting students again?"

"I accepted a man a few days ago. His name is Fang Jidao. He is a fellow countryman and friend of mine."

"'Fang Jidao' is a good name. It sounds like his character and nature are very good." Wen Zaizi sighed, lowered his eyes and smiled, "...I just can't follow in your footsteps."

"What's the meaning?"

Wen Zaizi fell silent, looking into space, as if he had returned to a time and space that had long gone.

"Before I became a disciple of my teacher, I had heard about Zhu Zhezi's deeds. His character was like a pine tree, and his ambition was like the sea... What I was most proud of at that time was my tenacity. I believed that even if axes and swords were thrown at me, my ambition would not change. , I will be able to continue on the path of being a teacher." Wen Zaizi said softly, "Later I realized what a naive idea that was... and what a lonely and cruel path the teacher is on."

He lowered his head: "I'm scared."

"I'm not afraid of death. I'm willing to devote my life, talent and courage to things that will leave a name in history... But I'm afraid of throwing myself into nothingness and dissipating silently like dust." Wen Zaizi sighed silently and took a drink. liquor.

But after a moment, he raised his head again and smiled at Pei Ye: "But the teacher understands me."

Pei Ye poured him wine.

"There must be some friends going to the teacher these days to ask him to save me." Wen Zaizi leaned back on the ground and looked at the dark ceiling of the cell, "...Death is a sad thing, but everyone will die, and I have It’s time to die.”

"You're barely thirty."

"Brother Pei, do you read the storybook?"

Pei Ye raised his eyebrows: "I love reading the most."

"I'm a fellow-minded person, so let me ask you, is a 200-page book definitely better than a 100-page book?" Wen Zaizi said in a manly voice after he was full of wine and food, "A word book is to tell a story well. , It’s not to write a long story. When the story is finished, it can end - the same is true for a person’s life.”

"When I left Tianliyuan, I asked the teacher, "God's will is so vast that I am humbled and afraid of it. I don't want to be like dust filling the sea. If I seek someone below it, can there be a path?" The teacher said, "Choose a career in the world and die without it." It's okay to regret." Wen Zaizi's eyes were bright, "Now that I have dedicated my life to being a pioneer of scholarship - Brother Pei, aren't my twenty-eight years more exciting and complete than the mediocre one hundred years?"

"Yes, that's right." Pei Ye couldn't refute and nodded.

After a moment, he whispered, "Anyway, if I refute you and you suddenly don't want to die, I won't be able to save you then, it's too much of a joke."

Wen Zaizi laughed.

Only the leftovers were left on the table, Pei Ye packed up and left. Before he walked out of the cell, he heard a trembling voice behind him calling, "Brother Pei."

Pei Ye turned his head.

Wen Zaizi trembled and took out a dirty and wrinkled note from his arms, and said in a hoarse voice, "If the teacher asks for the last words, just give him this sentence and say it is the student's lifelong ambition... Please take care of yourself, old man."

Pei Ye reached out to take it, looked down, and could vaguely see the handwriting. It was a sentence he had seen before: "The will of heaven has always been difficult to ask, and life and death are trivial matters."

...

Deep winter, afternoon.

Outside the execution ground, countless gray-white soldiers gathered, looking up with pale, sad, or angry faces, and there was only silence except for the hoarse sobs.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, the staggering figure with loose hair was finally pushed out.

He lowered his head. Some people had seen this swaying figure before, and some dared not recognize his weakness and thinness at this time, but more people saw it for the first time. From then on, their impression of the three words "Wen Zai Zi" was a dry pine tree in winter.

Then the dry pine tree was pushed in front of the executioner. The executioner wiped the knife and raised it high.

The face with loose hair was raised with the knife. For the first time, he smiled at the thousands of faces that gathered around and chanted loudly: "Carrying a long sword and holding a Qin bow, the head and body are separated, but the heart is not punished."

The gray sky, the cold clouds, and the dark red ground surrounded countless angry faces. Wen Zai Zi's death must have hurt them and made them even more angry.

Pei Ye turned his head before the knife fell and saw the solemn and simple figure at the edge of the crowd, the same color as the dry weeds on the roadside.