A cool summer song of neon clothes and feather clothes

The northern shore of the Milky Way is a mess.

The night stalls have all been washed away, and the supports have fallen to the ground in a mess.

The dazzling array of small commodities that were originally placed on the storefront were scattered all over the floor. Several pairs of masks were either trampled flat or split into two pieces, and the liquid exuded a strong and irritating smell.

However, no one cares about this mess.

The common people had all been evacuated home, and the puppet show at the finale was naturally over, so the lantern festival broke up unhappy.

There was a sound of footsteps approaching, and then twenty or thirty guards stepped across the mess, scattered in all directions, and searched everywhere.

One of the figures walked like flying, and shouted while running: "Xiao Liu!"

He pushed aside the dense grass and carefully checked every corner. After he didn't find it, he quickly looked for the next one.

Liu Zhen found it from the north bank to the south bank.To the west of the south bank is a large forest, silent and eerie at night, and it is true that the group of people fled here the last time they saw it.

He slowed down his pace, listening to the sounds around him as he walked, like a beast looking for prey, cautious, vigilant, but full of offensive.

Suddenly heard a sound obliquely ahead.Liu Zhen put his whole body on guard, raised his waist, and approached in that direction cautiously.

The noise lasted for a while, then stopped, and the surroundings returned to dead silence.

Vaguely, Liu Zhen seemed to see a light shining in front of him, and it went out instantly.

He settled down and moved forward step by step.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew past his ears, and then his eyes opened up.

In front of him is a cemetery.

It turns out that this is a cemetery in the south of Qu County.

Liu Zhen is a person who lives and dies on the battlefield, he behaves frankly, and the cemetery at night is naturally not afraid of him.He was just curious, the sound just now was indeed coming from here, so who would come here so late?Could it be Xiao Liu?

He didn't carry a lamp, so he could only use the moonlight to distinguish the things in front of him, and saw a piece of ground glowing with light, if it wasn't too dark around him, it would not be easy to detect.

Liu Zhen squatted down and touched the ground with his fingers. It was loose. This piece of soil should be freshly turned.

He murmured softly: "Xiao Liu?"

Naturally no one will respond.

At this time, the sound of the wind began to be a monster, and there was a loud roar, the whole forest was swaying in the wind, and a sense of uneasiness hit the face.

Liu Zhen stood up abruptly, and saw a black figure rushing towards the grass in the front right.

He was alert and immediately chased after him.

The black shadow flitted here and there, Liu Zhen couldn't see its appearance clearly, and felt that the black shadow was more like a stream of black smoke.

The black shadow led Liu Zhen through the row of cemeteries in front of him, turned right again and went deeper, and disappeared after several bends.

Liu Zhen had no choice but to stop. He chased the black shadow, and for some reason, his heart trembled a bit when he took a step forward, as if the place where the black shadow took him hid something he had dreamed of for many years.

At this moment, he could clearly hear his own heartbeat amplified in the air.

As the wind subsided, Liu Zhen looked around and found that he was brought to a corner of the cemetery by a dark shadow. A row of earthen walls could already be seen on his left, and a tall tombstone was in front of him.

He took two more steps forward, and there seemed to be movement behind the tombstone.

Going around behind the tombstone, he was surprised to find a figure curled up in a ball, trembling.

"Xiao Liu?" Liu Zhen opened his mouth, his hoarse voice startled him too.

The figure trembled when he heard the sound, and slowly raised his head, meeting Liu Zhen's eyes, it was those clear eyes.The black pupils are like a pool of sea water at night.

The boy blinked, his slender eyelashes were still stained with water, glinting in the moonlight.

Liu Zhen's heart softened, and he hugged the boy involuntarily.

Only then did the boy let go of all his defenses in his arms, and burst into tears.

"Sorry, I'm late." Liu Zhen gently stroked the boy's back and whispered in his ear.

The young man put his arms around Liu Zhen's waist, rubbed against his chest, and murmured, "I'm hungry."

Liu Zhen let out a "puchi" laugh, let go of his embrace, and took the boy's hand: "Go, I'll take you to eat delicious food!"

On the other side, Shen Yi had already brought Xu Mo the news that Liu Zhen had found Xiao Liu.

When Liu Zhen led the boy out of the forest, Xu Mo and his four guards were already waiting there.Although Mu Jing insisted on waiting with everyone, considering that King Liang would be worried, she was asked to go back with the guards first.

Xiao Liu hid behind Liu Zhen, held his hand tightly, and timidly looked at the row of strangers in front of him.

Liu Zhen patted his hand and brought him to Xu Mo.

The young man suddenly said "ah", lowered his head, avoiding Xu Mo's sight.

Xu Mo sized up this down-and-out young man, Liu Zhen said from the sidelines: "That's the boy, I don't know why those people wanted to kill him."

"Did Brother Liu see those killers?" Xu Mo looked away from the young man, and the young man let out a sigh of relief, and continued to hide behind Liu Zhen, as if only there was the safest place.

Liu Zhen smiled helplessly, and replied: "I didn't see him. When I found him, he was the only one."

Xu Mo turned to the boy again and said, "Do you know those people?"

The boy lowered his head and shook his head twice, still unwilling to look at Xu Mo.

Xu Mo sighed, it would not be too late to discuss this matter later.He glanced at the young man for the last time, and said to Liu Zhen: "Brother Liu, I will take Xiao Liu back to the house and make arrangements. Thank you so much for today."

Liu Zhen grinned and said, "What are you being polite about, it's just a little effort."

"Zhao Qian and Wang said, take Xiao Liu back." Xu Mo ordered.

But just when the two of them wanted to go forward to lead someone, Xiao Liu held Liu Zhen tightly and said in a low voice, "Eat..."

Liu Zhen was stunned for a moment, and immediately said: "Master Xu, I accept this child and take him to eat delicious food. If you don't worry, hand him over to me first. I will take him to the Yamen later."

"Don't..." The young man seemed particularly disgusted with the word "Yamen", and reluctantly replied.

Liu Zhen only thought of the boy as being awkward and almost broke his promise, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

"That's fine, there are still some follow-ups to be dealt with tonight, so please forgive me for not accompanying me." Xu Mo said.

Liu Zhen took Xiao Liu and left first.

After the four major guards were sent away to handle errands, Xu Mo said to the air behind him, "Thank you for your hard work."

Shen Yi put his arm around the man's waist, gently buried his head in the hollow of his shoulder, licked his lips all the way to the base of his ear, and said softly: "I'm afraid it's not enough to say hard work."

Xu Mo knew that he was ill again, but if it wasn't for him, Mr. Song wouldn't have given in so smoothly this time, and if it wasn't for him, Xiao Liu wouldn't have been found so quickly. Thinking of this, his heart softened and he let the man Covering their lips, they sank into the tumultuous rain together.

After the lingering, Shen Yi realized that his adult had bloodshot eyes, and he was tired after a whole night's tossing.

"Go back to sleep early."

Xu Mo responded, and was about to take a step, but felt that his feet were empty, and the sky was spinning.He panicked, thinking that he was fainted from lack of energy, but later found out that he was just hugged horizontally by Shen Yi.

"Close your eyes for a while, I'll take you back." Shen Yi softly whispered in his ear, the magnetic voice penetrated directly into Xu Mo's heart, and as soon as his body softened, he fell into the man's arms and closed his eyes .

The next day, Liu Zhen brought the washed Xiao Liu to Xu Mo.

The boy had a particularly handsome face, and there was a sense of arrogance between his brows.

The sour smell on his body was gone, replaced by a faint scent of body.

Xu Mo felt strange, this didn't look like a beggar on the street, he was clearly the son of your family.

"What's your last name?" Xu Mo asked.

Xiao Liu glanced at Liu Zhen, and replied, "No name, no surname, everyone calls me Xiao Liu."

Xu Mo frowned: "Where is home?"

"Without father and mother, with the sky as the cover and the earth as the mat."

The young man's voice was as clear as glass, and Xu Mo couldn't help but admire his upright tone.

At the same time, he was even more strange.

"Ever studied?"

"When I was young, I studied with a teacher for a while, and then the teacher disappeared, so I stopped learning." Xiao Liu replied.

Xu Mo: "What do you do for a living?"

The question silenced the boy.

Liu Zhen patted the young man on the shoulder, signaling him not to be afraid, and to tell him frankly.

Only then did Xiao Liu say in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Begging... Stealing..." He lowered his head as if struggling for a long time, then raised his head as if he was going all out, and said loudly and confidently: "No work, only oppression." , let me wait for the people at the bottom, what should I do?"

Xu Mo glanced at him meaningfully, and brought the topic back to this case: "Why did those people kill you?"

"I do not know."

"You don't know them?"

Xiao Liu: "I've never seen it before. I was wondering if I could make a fortune at the Lantern Festival yesterday, and I heard that the King of Liang was here too! I was looking for ducks everywhere, and those people suddenly rushed in front of me, raising their knives and wanting to chop it down." .I panicked and yelled, and you all saw it."

"Do you know a puppeteer named Song?"

"Who?"

Just as he was talking, he came outside to report Mr. Song to bring him.

Just right, Xu Mo said to the puppeteer who was brought in from the door: "This is it."

Xiao Liu looked back: "I don't know."

"Mr. Song, do you know this boy?" Xu Mo asked the puppeteer again.

Mr. Song stared at Xiao Liu for a while, and replied, "I've never seen it before."

Then, Xu Mo asked Xiao Liu to leave first.

The interview with Mr. Song went much smoother.

From Mr. Song, I learned the whole story of "Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes".

Since he was a child, he has determined that one day he can reproduce this magnificent puppet show of his grandfather.Therefore, when I was with Ms. Zhong, I often mentioned this song, and the two of them changed it into a Guqin song together.

However, the two lovers of childhood sweethearts were separated inside and outside the wall because of the difference in family status.

In order to be able to meet Miss Shang Zhong, Mr. Song worked very hard and entrusted several relationships, and finally managed to go to Xue's mansion to perform a puppet show every three months.At first, he just wanted to be able to meet his sweetheart.But day by day, month by month, he found that Ms. Zhong was getting more and more haggard, and even when she was watching his play, she didn't have a smile on her face.

One day, he finally couldn't hold back, and after the performance, he secretly found Miss Zhong.The flame hidden in her heart spread uncontrollably into a raging fire as soon as she touched it. From then on, the two often met secretly in that alleyway. Mr. Song would bring a doll to make her laugh and relieve her boredom.At the same time, he also knew about young master Xue's romantic deeds outside.He had proposed several times to let Miss Zhong simply leave with him, but Miss Zhong refused.

During a certain tryst, Miss Zhong suddenly asked not to see each other again.Mr. Song asked the reason again and again, but she just wiped her tears and didn't speak.

The young man at that time was still young, and when he got angry for a moment, he left Miss Zhong behind. Unexpectedly, this farewell became a forever farewell.

Less than a year later, the sad news of Miss Zhong's death came, and that day was the full moon festival.

Since then, Mr. Song has kept himself in the room.

That was ten years ago.

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the second year, the song "Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes" began to sound in the night of Quxian County, like weeping and complaining.

As soon as Mr. Song heard it, he knew it must be played by Miss Zhong.Although he is dubious about ghosts and gods, he firmly believes in the joint works of the two.

The sound of the piano was extremely sad at first, as if it was telling all the grievances she had suffered during her lifetime.At that time, Mr. Song decided to thoroughly investigate the cause of Miss Zhong's death, and if there was any hidden truth, he would definitely take revenge on her.

After that, there was this nine-year revenge plan.

"Then you found out that Young Master Xue and Ms. Zhong were both infected with a disease, which was transmitted through intercourse between men and women. You concluded that Young Master Xue brought it back from outside and passed it on to Miss Zhong, killing her ?” Xu Mo asked.

Mr. Song snorted coldly: "What's more? He is a beast. Zhixi treats him wholeheartedly. I let her go with me, but she tells me every time that I can't betray my husband. But she still comes to see her every time. Me, I thought she still had me in her heart, but she never knew that beast abused her thousands of times, but she always treated him the same. In the end, she would rather die than leave him. And what about the beast? But one day she treated him tenderly She? After Zhixi fell ill, that beast became even worse, wandering around Huajie Goulan every day, leaving Zhixi alone in her empty boudoir, washing her face with tears, and finally..."

"..."

Xu Mo didn't understand the matter of love. Although Shen Yi whispered sweet words in his ears, his feelings for Shen Yi were extremely pure.Because he treats me well, I treat him well.Xu Mo didn't understand why someone would be willing to swallow for someone who didn't love him.In his opinion, the only explanation is the three cardinal principles and five constant principles.

Speaking of this, he thought of another woman.

"So, what about Ruyue? You should know how Ruyue treats you." Xu Mo recalled the woman's gentle expression when she brought up the purse, her subconscious action of protecting the medicine bottle when she heard "Mr. Before the puppeteer's hut.At that time, she probably thought that the "official servants" wanted to take Mr. Song away after the Dongchuang incident happened, so she tried her best to obstruct it.And the "official messenger" probably thought that she was determined to protect their target—Xiao Liu, and that's why she killed her.

Mr. Song closed his eyes heavily, and heaved a sigh of relief: "Ruyue... I owe her."

He said slowly: "At that time, I was thinking about how to take revenge. Since that beast likes women so much, let him die in Wenrou Township, as he wishes. So I got into the business of Cuiyi Building, and knew She was like a moon. At that time, she was just a little girl who had just entered Cuiyi Building. She was often scolded and her health was not good. I gave her the sachet handed down from my family as a gift, and taught her some ways to take care of her body in her spare time. Over time, She fell in love with me. When I asked her to approach Young Master Xue, she agreed without saying a word."

"What's your plan?"

Mr. Song: "I have developed that bottle of medicine for five years, and finally succeeded. I asked Ruyue to call out Young Master Xue during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and then let him take this bottle of medicine secretly. That beast will never notice it." , when he becomes unbearable, it will be his death. Who would have thought..."

The puppeteer's eyes darkened for a moment, and he twitched the corners of his mouth, smiling helplessly.

The plan was thwarted by several killers, and Xu Mo and the others stepped in, so it failed.

"However..." Mr. Song pondered for a moment, and then said, "If Zhixi is relieved, I will have no regrets."

Shen Yi walked up to Mr. Song, and put a piece of paper flower into his palm.

Mr. Song suddenly felt a chill in his palm, he spread his hand, dumbfounded.

The piece of paper flower in the palm of the hand is bright red, like a girl's puffy cheeks, delicate and lovely.

"Zhixi..." he murmured softly.It was the little gift given to the girl by the young puppeteer. He still clearly remembered that the girl blushed when she received it, but she couldn't wait to put it on her head. The eyes looking at the boy shone with joy and shyness. Those were the most aura eyes he had ever seen in his life.

After sending Mr. Song away, Xu Mo leaned back on the chair tiredly, and pinched his brows.

The killer has nothing to do with Mr. Song.

So what are they doing?

Why did killers come to this small Qu County twice in just over a month?

Shen Yi stood behind Xu Mo, kneading his shoulders, which also had a cooling effect.

The cool touch made Xu Mo feel very comfortable. With one hand propped on the handle of the chair, his thoughts drifted away.

"The imperial envoy is here!"

Suddenly hearing a voice outside the door, Xu Mo stood up in shock.

Shen Yi's expression darkened behind him.

Outside the door, an imperial envoy wearing a five-rank official uniform walked into the hall, took out a yellow brocade scroll from his sleeve, unfolded the scroll, and read aloud: "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor said, I think Qu County Magistrate Xu Mozhi County has Fang, meritorious and virtuous, is highly praised by the people, and I appreciate it very much. Today, I am specially appointed as the procurator of the punishment, and I hereby inform you of this."

Improving punishment by procurator?Why did the high-ranking official of the third rank fall to Xu Mo, a small local official of the seventh rank?

The imperial envoy put down the imperial edict, supported Xu Mo with a friendly face, and said, "Master Xu, this is the fastest promotion I have ever seen. It is extraordinary to have noble people to help you."

Your Excellency?Xu Mo was puzzled.He has no acquaintances in Beijing.

The imperial envoy on the side continued to flatter: "The war in the Northeast and the famine in the Southwest, only this side is free from the outside world and is at ease, thanks to Mr. Xu's good governance. This capable person must be used wisely, right?" She winked at Xu Mo.

There have been wars in the north for many years. Although there are no major battles, small fights have never stopped.

Coupled with the severe drought that has not been seen for many years this year, the land in the southwest is barren, and the people in the worst places have to change their children to eat.

But all the officials have nothing to do with it. The upper officials only care about their own food and drink, and the local officials are also timid.

There have been several small-scale uprisings in the southwest region, and the emperor is playing with fire this time.

"Master Xu, do you still not receive the order?" The imperial envoy urged.

To receive this imperial edict is tantamount to intervening in the chaos in the Southwest.

Xu Mo felt that the blood in his body was slowly boiling. He had been poor for many years to gain fame, and hired himself a small local official, in order to do some practical things for the people.Now that the people in the Southwest are in dire straits, he thought he was beyond his reach, but he didn't want an opportunity in front of him. Although this opportunity came so suddenly and so incredible, the thing that he has missed for many years is right in front of him. In the fire or in the bushes, how can there be no reason not to take it?

He stretched out his hand and was about to take the imperial edict.A cold hand grabbed his wrist directly.

He turned his head, saw Shen Yi was looking at him seriously, and shook his head.

The conversation a few days ago flashed into Xu Mo's mind.

-

"Promise me, don't go to Kyoto."

"I answer you."

-

Xu Mo opened his mouth: "Sorry." He just made a gesture of his mouth, he knew that Shen Yi could understand.

Then he shook off Shen Yi's hand and accepted the edict.

Set off for the post five days later.

That day, the sky was covered with clouds, and lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by "rumbling" thunder.

The distance between heaven and earth shrinks infinitely, and the solemnity and oppression before the storm seems to overwhelm this small town.

Xu Mo faced the southwest and looked into the distance, where layers of dark clouds gathered.Under the darkness, what kind of dire straits and bloody storms will be?

He stared at the darkness and said softly, "I'm sorry."

A voice sounded beside him, with indescribable bitterness: "I know I can't stop you."

The torrential rain poured down like a waterfall. In the wind and rain, a carriage ran towards the southwest.

The author has something to say:

Summer is over, and the title [Summer A Cool] is over here.

The next story... let's talk about it later~

Say thank you to those who saw the last one~~ Meme~