Relief

In the dead of night, in a dark imperial street, the Prime Minister's Mansion is always the brightest light.

From the two bright red lanterns sprinkled with gold on the stone pier of the mansion gate, to the rows of candlelights lit under the eaves of the entrance porch, and several huge tribute night pearls in the garden, shining brightly all night, according to the rough estimation of the buyer of the mansion, One night can burn the amount of lamp oil used by ordinary people in January.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion was so poor and extravagant that there was such a doggerel circulated in Yushitai——Wang Sheng had a little more daytime, and the whole city of Kaifeng fell asleep early.One more candlestick was ordered in Wang Xiang's mansion. The lamp oil consumed was beyond the affordability of the whole city of Kaifeng, so they had to turn off the lights and go to bed early.

This is of course an exaggerated description, but there was a time when the night market closed early in the city, and there were rumors in the neighborhood that it was because of the expansion of the prime minister's mansion, the lamp oil consumed at night doubled, and even the night market could not afford it.Kaifeng oil is expensive, all thanks to the efforts of the prime minister alone.

However, the emperor didn't express any opinion on this, and he didn't care about the gossip and gossip between Yushitai and the people, and he still lit the lamp at night. There is even a plaque hanging high in the hall, and on it is a handwritten book - "Lighting the lamp to brighten the hall", which is really shameless.

People are shameless and ghosts are afraid.Wang Xiangfeng's commentary has flown thousands of miles, and he has never run into a ghost once. He has a good official career and power, and the city of Kaifeng is very hot, and no one dares to speak out against him.

What is burning a lamp? Does Wang Xiang want anything?The scissors in his house are all made of gold and silver, and the handles are inlaid with warm jade, which smells like bribery to the touch.Wang Xiang holds the wealth and honor scissors in his hand, and is trimming a pot of silver-haired rhododendrons under the bright daylight.

The antique flower pot worth a hundred taels was turned and bumped in his hands at will, like a dog food bowl.

"Going to Jizhou?" Wang Xiang's scissors slammed on the stems of the flowers and leaves.

The middle-aged man with a tattoo on his face replied respectfully behind him: "Yesterday, I was stationed outside Jizhou, and this morning I went to Qingyuan Town. Do you want to stop them in Qingyuan Town?"

Wang Xiang took it easy, and smiled sarcastically: "If you go to Huangrenling, you are throwing yourself into a trap, and you have to do something unnecessary."

The middle-aged man listened silently.

"You go and tell Feng Jing, kill as many as you come, let one go, and Ben will rule his whole family."

The middle-aged man asked: "Master Feng, don't you need to be on standby?"

Wang Xiang used scissors to poke the soil in the flower pot and dug out a root. Immediately, a servant next to him held a lampstand to illuminate him.Wang Xiang squinted his eyes for a moment.

"The roots are rotten, what are the flowers for?" Fugui cut off the buds mercilessly.

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, and then said: "Sir, why do you speak more and more like His Majesty? Sorry, I don't understand."

Wang Xiang was not angry either, and his servants spread out the brocade handkerchief and took away the gold scissors that were stained with dirt, and two maids helped Wang Xiang put on the gowns on the left and the right.Wang Xiang stretched his arms, raised his head and asked the maid to tie a hat under his chin, and said to the middle-aged man: "In the past, flowers were kept for the sake of looking good, but now the entire martial arts forest has been eaten to death by Hou Daizhao, and the Huangren Ridge is still kept." Whatever you do, cut it when you need it, and take up space to get in the way."

"Yes." The middle-aged man understood, but he didn't back down. Instead, he strode forward, shot like lightning, and pointed at Wang Xiang's throat with a knife.

Wang Lian didn't even blink his eyes.

The middle-aged man's hand knife cut into the hand of the maid wearing the hat, and he slashed her painfully. The blade that cut the king's throat in the palm of his hand never left his hand. He was about to fight to the death, but was caught by the middle-aged man. A wrong wrist joint.

"Ahhh!!!" The maid was limp on the ground in pain, holding her wrist.

The middle-aged man didn't let up, and stomped on the toe of the maid's shoe that flew out of the hidden weapon, and crushed it hard.

The maid opened her mouth and yelled in pain, a dark light shot out from the bottom of her tongue, and before she could fly out of her teeth, the middle-aged man punched her jaw, and the sound of teeth and bones shattered from her forced closed mouth.

The hidden weapon seemed to hide some kind of toxin, it left in the maid's mouth, causing her eyeballs to bulge, and dirty blood flowed out from her seven orifices, and she died instantly in silent pain.

"Dead." The middle-aged man stepped forward to check and report.

The house was full of servants as if nothing had happened, and soon a new maid filled the vacancy, and meekly tied the hat and robe for the prime minister.

When Wang Xiang heard the middle-aged man's reply, his expression did not change: "Assassination of an important official of the court is a capital crime, so ask Dali Temple to arrest him, and interrogate to see who is black-hearted and not good-looking."

The total number of people in the city who want to have an opinion on the prime minister is estimated to be more than the number of imperial guards.Follow the clues, maybe there is something about the Qing family in the court.To overthrow any one at will is a happy event for Wang Xiang to add lights at night.

The middle-aged man didn't know what it meant, and still said: "But I'm out of breath."

Wang Xiang glanced at him.

The middle-aged man stopped talking.

The servant of the steward next to him immediately knelt down and sniffed the assassin with great eyes: "Master Hui, the assassin is still alive, I will take him down and imprison him until he is interrogated in Dali Temple." He beckoned to the servants to carry the body away .

Wang Xiang put on his robe, patted the middle-aged man's shoulder with one hand, and said earnestly: "You have been with me for so long, don't you know that life is always more useful than death? Or is it too murderous, this kind of thinking is not good. "

The middle-aged man smiled, and the sinister cheekbones were instantly affected, making him appear ferocious in disguise.

From the corner of Wang Xiang's eyes, there seemed to be no tattoos on his cheeks, and he said paradoxically, "Forget it, what I want is the murderous aura on your body, it is suitable to be my murderous sword - take my saber."

The emperor specially bestowed the sword on the palace, which is the only honor of Prime Minister Wang.The servant knelt on his knees and offered a three-foot green sword with both hands, and put it in the sheath. The sheath made of white jade was transparent and bright, and the light of the sword edge came out faintly.

This is the Mingxin sword, which the emperor bestowed on Bu Erchen to show his loyalty.

It is said that in the hands of courtiers and thieves, it will become a red sword, but it has been worn on the king's body for so many years, but it has always been as clear as a mirror.Therefore, both the court and the central government used this sword as a joke.The middle-aged man was once curious and asked Wang Xiang, if this Mingxin sword can really enlighten the heart?Without further ado, Wang Xiang handed the hilt of the sword into his hand, it was cold and smooth, and the silver and white of the sword remained unchanged.

The middle-aged man understood and laughed loudly.Wang Xiang also laughed.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

The middle-aged man was brought up by Wang Xiang from the death row. He had committed a crime of disrespect, and he couldn't even understand his heart. How could he understand Wang Xiang's ambition, which was deeper than the sea and heavier than the mountain?

Sister-in-law Zheng was carrying the laundry tub to the river. Along the way, she met many women who were traveling with them, wearing aprons with their sleeves rolled up, chattering nonsense.

"You're going to die, why don't you go to the river to wash your clothes? My family said that many people died on the mountain, and the Qingshui River was dyed red. I'm afraid they will be washed into blood!"

"Just talk nonsense, I pass by the Qingshui River every day, and I haven't seen anything red."

"It's true, Mrs. Zheng, don't believe it, the water from the well in my house has a fishy smell, and the rice cooked with that water is bloodshot!"

"Oh, I'm scared to death, don't tell ghost stories in broad daylight!"

"There is something even more frightening. My yard is next to the wooden ridge of the tomb. I can hear screams above my head when I sleep at night! My youngest son, as you know, is doing shopping for the masters. I heard that it is closed now. If you can't send it in, you can only hand it over in front of the mountain gate, if you dare to take a look inside, you will goug your eyes out!"

"real or fake?!"

The more the sister-in-laws talked, the more horrified they became, and the more horrified they became, the more excited they became. They even gestured and danced as they spoke.Sister-in-law Zheng shook her head helplessly, these girls love to spread gossips all day long, maybe even the masters on the mountain released a few red carps, and they would spread rumors about the massacre.

We are approaching the Qingshui River, the sound of water is close to our ears, and the wet soil emits a slight fishy smell. It is watery, very refreshing and refreshing, reminiscent of the cool and clear river water, and I feel happy... Today's river water seems to be mixed What strange smell?

Sister-in-law Zheng noticed something, and wanted to ask the people around her, but found that everyone was very involved in discussing the strange story of the blood river, and no one paid attention.

strangeness.

There are two figures by the river.One is wearing fur and jacket, and the other is wearing plain white brocade clothes. There has never been such a noble young man in the town.

The one in black fur was squatting by the river, and the one in white tugged at his collar. They stood up together and looked towards the upper reaches of Qingshui River.

Sister-in-law Zheng also looked over—"Ah!" She was caught off guard and exclaimed.

The upper reaches of the Qingshui River unknowingly bloomed a large area of ​​dark brown-red color, which was clearly separated from the crystal-clear water downstream. The brown-red liquid invaded the downstream quickly like a bamboo, and soon the entire river channel changed color strangely.The smell of blood made the stomachs of several people on the bank overwhelmed.

"Murder!!!"

Some of the female companions who were traveling with her screamed desperately, like throwing a stone into a storm, and all the women screamed immediately, and ran towards the town with the washtub in their arms.

Sister-in-law Zheng was frightened, her whole body was stiff and unable to move for a while, she watched helplessly as the two people standing by the blood river turned around and saw her, walking over step by step.

"You, you, you, you, what do you want to do!" Mrs. Zheng couldn't help trembling, "How dare you commit murder in broad daylight!!"

Bai Yi and Hei Qiu looked at each other inexplicably.

Heiqiu said, "Why do we commit murder?"

The man in white said, "Scared you silly, it wasn't us who killed people, and no one killed people."

Sister-in-law Zheng was full of doubts, and saw the white robe reaching out to lead her to see—the blood river turned back to Qingshui River at some point, and the brown-red fishy water had drifted downstream and was washed away by the current.

"What's red isn't blood," said the one in white.

"Then, what is that?" Mrs. Zheng asked stammeringly, but Bai Yi and Hei Qiu didn't answer her, they both rubbed their chins and fell into deep thought.

On the other side, another group of people came from outside the town, those who led the horses led the horses, and those who pulled the carts pulled the carts.

Seeing the group of people, the man in white turned around and turned his back to them.

The one in Heiqiu raised his hand and shouted: "I have figured out the town, there is no ambush!"

Sister-in-law Zheng has lived in Qingyuan all her life. The town is the only way to Huangren Ridge on the ridge of the tomb. From time to time, there will be many merchant convoys selling weapons to borrow the way. This kind of battle has long been used to up.

The group of people walked in, and the leader came down immediately. He was tall and thin, with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and he spoke in a ruffian way: "Thank you for your hard work." When he saw Mrs. Zheng standing beside her, she narrowed her eyes, Sister-in-law Zheng's heart trembled when she saw it.

"Ouch! It's you!" the leader said suddenly.

ah?Mrs. Zheng was dumbfounded.

"You are Mrs. Zheng!" The leader said happily, "It's me, I'm Xiao Lu, Lu Hui! I came down from the mountain a few years ago, and I stayed at your house for two days. I was the one who hit the hatchet with the handle!"

Sister-in-law Zheng suddenly remembered: "Oh, that's right...it's you, Xiao Lu."

"It's me, what a coincidence," Lu Hui said, "It's just in time for our brothers and sisters to go back to the mountain and plan to stay in the town for a while to rest. There is no inn in the town, so I want to use your yard to rest, will it work? ? The price is negotiable."

Without an inn, weapon merchants and Jianghu sects could only use their excuses not to stay for a long time. This is the rule that Qingyuan Town relies on for its safe and long-lasting existence at the foot of Huangren Ridge.

What's more, there are many people in this group, those with swords and knives, and there are a few people in the team with raised eyebrows and raised eyebrows, with unkind faces... Mrs. Zheng refused without thinking: "It's not peaceful recently, Xiao Lu, the town is not peaceful." Foreign guests are received. Besides, my yard can’t accommodate so many of you.”

"It's not peaceful? Where is it not peaceful?" Xiao Lu's eyes were sharp for a moment, which shocked Mrs. Zheng's sister.

"Just, didn't you just see it yourself, even the Qingshui River has turned into a river of blood! I heard that something happened on your mountain?"

Wu Li shook his fan and said in a deep tone: "That's not a river of blood. It's not the smell of fresh blood."

Several people looked at him.

"Have you heard it?" Lu Hui raised his eyebrows.

"Have you never heard of it?" Wu Li asked back.