[Three Kingdoms] Burning incense and sacrificial wine

The disgusting smell lingered in the air and lingered for a long time.

Cui Song's stomach was churning, and he barely recalled his stagnant thinking.

Even though he had done mental preparation in advance, the scene in front of him still had a great impact on him.

It was disgusting and frightening, which was more uncomfortable than the miserable state of the assassin's death and the desolation of starvation everywhere. It was like a devil's hook pulling his attention, making him unable to look away.

It wasn't until a Confucian shirt covered all the images in front of him that he suddenly came back to his senses, gasped for a few seconds, and barely suppressed the nausea rushing up his throat.

It turned out that Zhong Yao, who was one step behind, saw that the situation was not right, so he hurried forward a few steps and stood in front of him.

"This is..." Cui Song moved his lips with difficulty, and found that his mouth was dry.

And the scene just now was still replaying in his mind.

The big cauldron, the oil pan, the strange iron implements, the person who was hung on the shelf covered in blood, and a few parts were visible to the naked eye... and this strange smell mixed with blood and scorched smell, as if he was moaning when he was dying — This is torture!In the eyes of modern people, it is a cruel act that violates human relations and is absolutely unacceptable!

Cui Song took half a step back, restraining his chaotic emotions, and suddenly looked at Xun You.

The cell where Xun You was in happened to face the torture, and it was inevitable.

Seeing this, Zhong Yao sighed, and explained in a low voice: "Gongda (Xun You) and Boqiu (He Yong) and others conspired to kill Dong Zhuo, but the news leaked out halfway, and they were taken into prison by Dong Zhuo's generals... The evidence was insufficient, and there were other scholars circling outside. Although Dong Zhuo convicted Gongda and Boqiu, he did not dare to deal with it. He only ordered other "conspirators" to be brought here, and tortured in front of them, in an attempt to use this Let them plead guilty...Boqiu (He Yong) couldn't bear it, and committed suicide in prison...Only Gongda (Xun You) sat here alone for more than a month." Zhong Yao's sigh sounded even stronger at this time. Like admiration for Xun You.

Cui Song finally captured some traces of history from the already blurred memory.

The history books seem to have indeed compared Xun You with another person. The other person was worried about suicide, but Xun You had a calm demeanor... If this is what is recorded in the history books, how could Xun You not be "comfortable"?

Dong Zhuo took great pains to perform the torture in prison, in order to let him show his flaws.Once Xun You shows the slightest abnormality, what awaits him is a cup of poisoned wine and a green grave.

Cui Song couldn't imagine what it would be like to live "comfortably" in such a dark prison like hell for a month.Not to mention that his only companion committed suicide in fear in front of him, how did Xun You maintain that calmness at that time?

Cui Song's eyes met Xun You's, those eyes were as calm and peaceful as before, but Cui Song could clearly feel that there was something important in them, and a qualitative change had taken place.

It was as if... Xun You was no longer the Xun You he knew.

"You are a prisoner, and Brother Cui doesn't care about his own safety, so he came to visit you. It's a great honor for you." Xun You said warmly, but with a sense of alienation in his tone, "However, this place is filthy, Brother Cui should not stay for long. It's better to leave."

He looked at Zhong Yao again, "Brother Yuan Chang's kindness, I am very grateful. You have become accustomed to this immoral torture for the past month, so there is no need for Brother Yuan Chang to worry..."

Cui Song understands that Xun You doesn't want him and Zhong Yao to be involved, and the phrase "I'm used to it" is just to comfort them—spiritual lingering is more difficult than physical torture.The pain in the body is always numb, and the wound in the soul will only get deeper and deeper, until one day it completely collapses and can no longer recover.

At the very least, comparing his heart with his heart, he didn't want to endure this kind of mental torture for a moment, let alone treat it with a normal heart.

At this moment, Cui Song's hatred for Dong Zhuo reached its peak.

When reading history books in the past, although he felt that some of Dong Zhuo's deeds were too cruel, he could still evaluate Dong Zhuo's merits and demerits objectively; The so-called "dialectical evaluation" is all bullshit.

He is no longer an outsider outside the long river of history, he really lives in this era—everyone here is not a historical figure that can be simply represented by a biography, but a living individual influenced by human nature.

He used to want to be alone... Living in this war-torn troubled world, who can really be alone?

"If Dong Zhuo dies suddenly..." Cui Song heard the curse-like words from his mouth, and Zhong Yao was so startled that he immediately turned to look at him. Xun You's expression changed slightly, with surprise in his eyes.

Only Cui Song was the calmest, as if he hadn't said those words just now, he shook off his sleeves and said goodbye to Xun You.

"Gongda, take a good rest and come back to visit me in a few days."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked out. Xun You came from behind to stop him eagerly: "Cui Brother, don't act impulsively..."

The sound gradually disappeared in the rear, and the sound of chaotic footsteps was getting closer and closer.

"Mr. Cui Family, wait a minute..." When he reached the gate of Chang'an Prison, Zhong Yao caught up with him and said in a low voice, "Mr. Cui Family, you..."

"Zhong Shulang is at ease, and Song knows it well." Cui Song was eager to leave, but suddenly remembered the bamboo slips given by Guo Jia, so he took out the wooden box containing the bamboo slips from his sleeve and handed them to Zhong Yao, "This is my friend Guo Fengxiao. The book is now entrusted to you."

Hearing Guo Jia's name, Zhong Yao was startled, and hastily took the wooden trunk and took out the bamboo slips.

After reading Guo Jia's letter, Zhong Yao looked at Cui Song with more surprise. He gathered a bunch of beards, pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "Since Mr. Cui's family has a gully in his chest, you won't ask more questions. I don't know if there is anything Yao can do to help?"

Cui Song made some modest remarks, and asked Zhong Yao for a map of Chang'an City, and asked about Wang Yun's residence.

Yes, it is the legendary Wang Yun who used Diao Chan's beauty trick and Lv Bu to kill Dong Zhuo.

Of course, he wasn't really impulsive, wanting to rush over to overthrow Dong Zhuo immediately, or rush to Wang Yun's house to recommend himself, knowing how much he has.After getting the information he wanted, he came to the vicinity of Wang Yun's mansion, and instead of going in to visit, he pretended to be a passer-by unintentionally and wandered around the area.

This seemingly meaningless behavior really made him discover a strange thing.

The knight-errant who broke into the inn in the heavy rain yesterday, and another scholar named Jiang Zun, who was a peacemaker at the Luoyang Cultural Conference, also appeared near Wang Yun's mansion.

Naturally it can't be such a coincidence, everyone just happened to pass by Wang Yun's house... Cui Song relied on his agile skills to stay behind the two of them, until they entered Wang Yun's mansion one after the other.

Cui Song thought for a while, no longer approached Wang Yun's mansion, and walked back instead.

When Cui Song returned to the post house, as soon as he entered the gate, he saw Gan Ji holding hands, standing in front of the steps as if anxious.

Seeing him coming back, Gan Ji's expression softened slightly, her brows were still full of worry.

Without waiting for Cui Song to ask, Gan Ji took the initiative to bow her head forward: "My lord..."

Cui Song waved his hand to show off, "What happened?"

Gan Ji glanced at the back to make sure there was no one around, covered her sleeves and whispered to Cui Song: "Just now, Mr. Xi asked my concubine a few questions... I feel uneasy, thinking about it, and feel that this matter must be reported. Know it with the young master, and then the young master will decide..."

As soon as Cui Song heard that it was related to Xi Zhicai, Cui Song had a bad intuition, he tried his best to concentrate, and tried to calmly ask: "What did Zhicai tell you?"

"Mr. Xi asked..." Gan Ji lowered her eyelids, "Did you hurt your head a few months ago..."

...Ask him if he hurt his head?Sure enough, Xi Zhicai's suspicion of him has risen to the point that he has broken his mind?

Cui Song teased himself, and wanted to wave Gan Ji back to step up the steps, but suddenly, something flashed through his mind, causing him to stop the half-raised hand.

"You just said that Zhicai asked... a few months ago?"

If Xi Zhicai felt that he had changed his mind simply because he was different from the original owner, why did he ask the exact time "a few months ago"?

You must know that Xi Zhicai has not seen "Cui Song" for two years, and he switched bodies with the original owner a year ago, and it was also the letter that Xi Zhicai sent to Xi Zhicai at that time, even if Xi Zhicai had discovered his identity long ago Abnormally, it should be asked from a year ago... Why was it just a few months ago?

...Wait, a few months ago, he really "broke his head".

Cui Song suddenly remembered - he left Luoyang a few months ago, and not long after he separated from Xun Yu's convoy, he met an assassin.Then he fell off his horse, hitting his forehead just right.

At that time, he had a flash of inspiration and wanted to pretend to have amnesia in front of Gan Ji, but finally gave up.

Cui Song looked at Gan Ji carefully, and seeing that she hesitated to speak, he comforted her, "But it's okay to say."

"I don't know why Mr. Xi asked such a question. I didn't dare to say more, but I didn't dare to lie, so I had to briefly describe the situation that day..." Gan Ji hesitated again and again, as if she had made a very difficult decision, "Later, I remembered ...When Qiao Ji came back with herbs in the morning, I saw a person hiding behind the curtain, maybe that person was Mr. Xi..."

On the bright side, Gan Ji was reminding him: Maybe it was Xi Zhi who bumped into Qiao Ji who brought back the herbal medicine, and then discovered the clue.

However, Cui Song read more content from this passage.

If that person was really Xi Zhicai, when he became suspicious, he would first ask Qiao Ji who brought back the herbs.Whether it was Cui Song's injury or the precise time of injury, it was impossible for Xi Zhicai to guess it himself.If what Gan Ji said is correct, then there is only one possibility: the one who told Xi Zhicai was Qiao Ji.

Thinking of this, Cui Song, who was already suspicious of Qiao Ji, became wary of her to the peak.

The behavior of risking the curfew to collect medicine is more and more like a hidden conspiracy.

However, this matter is not completely bad for Cui Song.

Since Xi Zhicai knew that he had hurt his head a few months ago, he just had to push the boat forward and "injure his head" for the jerky that was different from the original owner.

After all, it was a serious head injury, and any sequelae are possible.

Thinking of this, Cui Song felt relieved, thinking that it would be a big deal to use the reason of bumping his head to be foolish to the end, and went back to the room without hesitation.

Pushing open the door, I saw a person sitting on the couch.

"Brother Zhicai..." Before Cui Song could find a topic, he saw Xi Zhicai staring at him with deep eyes, as if very sad.

"Brother Cui...will you trust me?"

Cui Song: ...?