Record of ups and downs in troubled times

The night was getting darker, and the cold wind was getting biter.

A black shadow flashed down from the camphor tree, leaning against the trunk of the camphor tree, making a noiseless move towards the northwest corner with a lot of effort under its feet.This is the Court Prison, the northwest corner...it should be where the relatives of the emperor and senior officials of the court are imprisoned.

Fu Qichen has visited here many times, and he is very clear about its layout.He seems to be walking in his own courtyard, avoiding countless guards and dodging dozens of jailers with ease along the way, with a very comfortable gait.

When the moon is dark and the wind is high, it is the best time to kill.

The corridor is near the top, and there is a small window on one side.It is said to be a window, but there is no lattice or fan. It is more appropriate to call it a "hole".Putting his hands together, Fu Qichen looked out through the hole, only seeing half a ray of dim moonlight hidden under the dark clouds.

it is good.

He took another look at the cell in front of him, and tapped the big lock with his fingertips.

Of course he didn't open it. He is a swordsman who kills and sees blood, not a fairy who "opens the lock at the touch of a button".Fu Qichen looked left and right, and picked up a dry straw from the mud. He didn't know how he did it, but the fragile straw became very tough in his hands.

He pounded the lock cylinder a few times with the straw, and the big lock swung open.

"Who?"

The inside of the cell was pitch black, and only near the fence was a very narrow halo of light that penetrated through the hole.Fu Qichen avoided the halo, took two steps, and sat on the grass slum without politeness.He felt something sharp against his waist, but there was no fear in his expression. Instead, he stretched out his arms and put them on his shoulders like an old friend.

"Who am I?" Fu Qichen deliberately suppressed his voice hoarse and deep, "Three days ago, I was the one who brought you the prison meal in the middle of the night, forgot? Because you are old and weak, I even added an extra serving for you." Sauce meat, you are so heartless. Also, I secretly hid the knife in your hand under your broken straw mat."

"I know." The people leaning on the straw mat spoke a little weakly, probably because they had been tortured too much in the past few days, lost too much blood, and consumed too much energy. "Xi Yuan asked you to come, right?"

"Tsk, that's so affectionate." Fu Qichen spoke, and brushed aside the blade that was touching his waist. "You are in such a miserable state, you have forgotten who it is thanks to?"

"He is not such a bad person." Luo Ke's tone was extremely firm. Even the whole court, including himself, knew that it was all thanks to Fu Zongzheng that he unfortunately fell into prison.Not only that, the reputation of the Luo family was also ruined by Fu Zongzheng, and even the position of Yushi was stripped away. "Although he is very proud and bragging, sometimes he talks glibly, sometimes he seeks fame and fortune, but he is not bad in nature. I know him, he is not the kind of person who goes with the Cheng family."

"Good."

"What?" Rocco didn't quite understand what was so good about it.

"I said, it's pretty good." Fu Qichen smiled with the corners of his lips curled up, "You two, it's pretty good. You come from the same school, it's probably like this."

"Are you here to kill me? What does he mean?"

"It's useless to live, but it's better to die. But you don't want to die, so you're blind to the knife I gave you." It was said to be a knife, but it was actually just a dagger blade without a handle.You can't kill others, but it's not difficult to give yourself a good time.

"Let Fu Xiyuan come here. Before I die, I have to listen to his explanation." Luo Ke also met Fu Qichen, the young son of the Fu family, but he didn't recognize the person who sneaked into his cell late at night. "Since you belong to him, then you should also know why your master killed me. Give me an explanation, and I will decide on my own. If a gentleman says a word, a horse is hard to chase, and this old man will never bully you."

"Heh." Fu Qichen smiled again, with a look of Xiao Suo who didn't match his age. "Luo Yushi has been upright all his life. You don't deserve to die, but the situation is so compelling that your fate is beyond your control. I'm really sorry."

Before the words "I'm sorry" fell to the ground, the blade in Fu Qichen's hand turned around deftly and pierced Luo Ke's neck.The place where the blade landed happened to be the place where the blood flowed through. Luo Ke stared at his eyes, trying to speak again, but couldn't speak.His hands and feet twitched slightly, and in a while, he should be dead.

I don't know if he hates Fu Xiyuan or not.

Fu Qichen was too lazy to think too much, and stretched out his hand to pull Luo Ke's clothes off his chest.His clothes were already rotten into a few rags, which were easily torn apart.Fu Qichen didn't stop moving, skillfully, carefully inspecting the wounds all over his body.

Stick wounds, bruises, punches, needles... what are the uses, but they will not kill people.The people in Ting Wei's prison are really vicious.

Fu Qichen thought for a moment, and came up with an idea: Judging from the bruises on Luo Ke's neck and wrists, he should have used wooden shackles or something like that.The knife edge he stabbed just now may be disguised as a wound made by a wooden shackle.The heavy wooden shackles made the skin and flesh rotten, coupled with the battering with sticks and these messy punishments, although death was rare, it was reasonable.

He took the blade of the murderer in his hand again, gritted his teeth, rolled up his sleeve, and sliced ​​off a piece of flesh on his arm.Whitewashing the appearance of the wound requires a lot of skin and flesh to cover it up, but there are no swords in prison, since you can't leave a knife on Luo Ke, you can only use your own.

I blame that old clerk who doesn't eat oil and salt, and has a quick eye and quick hands. In order to deal with you, I really spilled a lot of blood.

He muttered in his mouth, but the knife was very fast.But after half a stick of incense, the knife cut mark on Luo Ke's neck has changed. Even if Black and White Wuchang came to collect the body, he still had to ponder why he died for a while.Fu Qichen clapped his hands, straightened up in satisfaction, stretched out one leg, and lifted the dead body to the ground.

The wounds all over his body were already unbearable, and with many grass leaves and dust on it, I am afraid that even the god Da Luo would not be able to see what he did.

Fu Qichen walked out of the cell with Shi Shiran, and knocked the lock back on.He pricked up his ears and listened again. It was very peaceful outside and there was no disturbance.He stretched out his right hand, wiped his chin lightly, smacked his lips, suddenly jumped more than two feet high, kicked his feet on the hole and slid out.

The hole is so small that only a child can crawl through it. I don't know how he did it.

The experience tonight, to young master Fu, can only be regarded as a "moon night outing", but the moonlight is not very clear, and the place where the outing is a bit sweet.In addition, there is also a rumor that "Luo Yushi is full of resentment and haunted by ghosts".

Cut, but the straw got entangled in the lock cylinder, and the jailer couldn't open the lock the next day.

His father Fu Xiyuan listened to "Luo Yushi must have been wronged, that's why he sealed the lock cylinder to prevent thieves from moving his body." I don't know how aggrieved!" I just felt a mess in my heart.

He is going to visit the prime minister's mansion this way.Luo Ke died as scheduled, just as Fu Xiyuan expected.It stands to reason that he has made all kinds of preparations before, so he shouldn't feel sad about it long ago, but after all, he is the one who has failed Luo Ke, so how can he feel at ease?

"Luo Yushi passed away, Fu Zongzheng, you look and feel very unhappy."

Cheng Nan is used to reading people's thoughts, and he narrowed his cat eyes, as if the whole world was under his control.

"After all, the teacher came from the same family, brotherly friendship, and connected blood. The ancients never deceived me." Fu Xiyuan has Fu Xiyuan's way of dealing with it. Since he can't escape, he can just tell nonsense openly.

When it comes to messing around and talking nonsense in broad daylight, Fu Xiyuan has never met an opponent.

Cheng Nan nodded and stopped talking.

"Can you find out why Luo Yushi died? Although the torture is too harsh, it is inevitable... Someone secretly tampered with it?"

Fu Xiyuan asked this question to test Cheng Nan.After all, Young Master Fu was a young man, he was a little worried that Fu Qichen's subordinates had made mistakes and left people with nothing to catch.

"What does Fu Zongzheng think?" Cheng Nan joined him instead.

First, the judge in the prison made a conclusion that Luo Ke died of excessive punishment; then the emperor lost his temper with him, swearing at him in the court, scolding someone who had a different heart and put to death those who had different political views.Cheng Nan thought that Luo Ke would not be able to bear the punishment, and within a few days he was charged with all the crimes, and he was killed on a proper charge; he didn't expect that he died so hastily, and even Zuo Zuo could only be said to have died of punishment.

He knew that he should be tortured in the name of Fu's family, but Fu Shu ran fast and took himself off early.Now the whole court is scolding the Cheng family for ordering the jailer to torture and kill the upright official Luo Ke.

What a mess.

"I'm a little Zongzheng... To tell you the truth, I don't dare to say it." Fu Xiyuan looked around skeptically, "Luo Ke is my senior brother, if I kill him, I have a guilty conscience; you No matter how much enmity you have with Luo Ke, it's impossible to kill him so thoughtlessly, wouldn't it be a mess?"

Cheng Nan frowned, feeling a little impatient with Fu Xiyuan's detours.

Fu Xiyuan looked around furtively again, and whispered in his ear, "I think... maybe it's King Xiaoxiang?"

Cheng Nan felt that he was willing to listen to the old man Fu Xiyuan's nonsense. He must have been obsessed with ghosts, rushed to the doctor in a hurry, and treated a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

The reason why King Xiaoxiang is said to be stupid is not only because of his fat head and big ears, but also because his brain is no different from that of a pig.On weekdays, I see him bossing around, but in fact it is only because he is stupid that he feels that he is the only one who is not afraid of anyone; if he is really capable, he can fatten up pigs and eat meat, but King Xiaoxiang is useless and even worse than pigs.

Such a tough guy, dare to kill Luo Ke, the censor?

"I didn't believe it before, but when I thought about it later, I felt a little strange." Fu Xiyuan looked very sincere, "Wait for me to tell you, it's not too late to make up your mind."

"First of all, the ancestral problem of King Xiaoxiang is tenaciousness. Prime Minister, others don't know, but you don't know? He lost 17 gold in the racecourse betting the year before last, but can he repay you according to the contract? He doesn't care much about government affairs, and is not familiar with Luo Yushi. When Luo Ke said to donate money, he willingly took out [-] yuan and became the number one in the imperial capital? Do you think it is credible? "

"Yes, King Xiaoxiang offended His Majesty before, and deliberately spent a lot of money to make amends. But do you also know that King Xiaoxiang once regarded the emperor in his eyes? If he was really afraid of the emperor, he would bring people to fight against the imperial guards many times What? It's obvious that you look down on it!"

"So, I dare to guess, the number of 17 is just the number of words, who knows how much water is in it? King Xiaoxiang will definitely be afraid of being found out if this is found out. If it is found out, It's not against the emperor, it's against the people in Nanhai County! How dare he?!"

"I think this is also the reason why he followed to Nanhai County. He was afraid that things would be exposed! When he arrived in Nanhai County, who would get the money and food he sent into the big water? Do you know how much water is in it? It's a pity that the capital water burst the embankment, and it was him, not his money and food, which made us seize the handle."

Hearing what he said, Cheng Nan was thoughtful.

There are two or three doubtful points in Fu Xiyuan's remarks, but most of them are reasonable.Could it be that King Xiaoxiang is really so bold that he dared to sneak into Ting Wei's prison and kill the people he captured by Cheng Nan?

"In Tingwei Prison, the jailers and guards are not bad at work, right? The people the prime minister teaches are probably as good as the imperial guards?"

Cheng Nan nodded. They were indeed carefully selected, and their martial arts were considered good.

"That's right," Fu Xiyuan said with a stern expression, "In the capital, who has someone who is more powerful than Ting Wei?"