Mikago

On the third day after the unexpected guest left, Lu You, who recovered from his "injury", finally returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Before that, Qi Yunchu had covered for him, so occasionally someone cared about his whereabouts in the past few days, and Lu You only said that he sent a secret letter out of the city.

Back to the days when the jackdaws fell, it seemed more ordinary than before.

After the turmoil in the animal garden, Zhao Yang obviously restrained himself a lot.He no longer kept running outside the palace, but he still asked Lu You to do the hard work of going to Hongwen Hall to study.

In Hongwen Hall, Lu You could see Tang Ruilang almost every day.

Reading, explaining scriptures, and writing essays are all the same, but there is no more words between the two, and they really feel like strangers.

Before he knew it, Lu You also remained silent day by day.

He didn't like to talk very much in the first place, and now he can't speak a few complete words all day - half because there is nothing worth talking to, and the other half is because... there are too many things to say.

Whether he was pretending to be King Xuan or staying in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he always quietly fulfilled his duty, and then hid in a corner to look at the blue sky above the dense tree canopy.

It was also from these few days of silence that an unprecedented nightmare began to haunt Lu You's heart.

He always dreamed that he was very old, with gray hair all over his head, and he couldn't even walk, so he could only sit in the purple orchid pavilion in the garden of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, listening to the faint sound of young people coming from outside the Tongming gate. laughter.

Time passed slowly in this repeated nightmare.

Spring flowers withered, Xia Shi swelled, and when the Huiqing Palace began to make arrangements to organize a birthday banquet for Zhao Yang, a big incident suddenly occurred in the palace.

Last month, the weather was sweltering, so Emperor Huiming moved to live in the Hanliang Hall by the pool of the West Sea.This palace is not only close to the waterfront, but also spacious and dark. There is a cool breeze passing through the palace day and night. Even in the hottest dog days, the palace is cool and pleasant.

Emperor Huiming lived in Hanliang Hall for more than ten days.One night, the autumn rain came suddenly, and the heat dissipated without a trace.The Hanliang Hall suddenly became cold and damp, and Emperor Huiming, who woke up, had a cold.

Logically speaking, typhoid fever was originally a minor illness.Dozens of medical officers surrounded an emperor, so why not look down on him?

But there was something strange, Emperor Huiming's minor illness was getting bigger and bigger, no matter how expensive and expensive the prescription of medicinal materials was, he couldn't suppress it.

As the saying goes, "going to the doctor in a hurry", when things get weird, some people will always think of ghosts and gods.So the Forbidden Curse Master of the Imperial Medical Office began to act, while trying to exorcise the evil with spells, and on the other hand, they also began to search for traces of witchcraft and curses in Zichen Palace.

Unexpectedly, they actually found the sacrificial vessel and altar for the curse - it was actually in the East Palace.

When the matter reached Lu You's ears, many details had been lost.All in all, those curse masters searched and investigated, and determined that the person who cast the curse was the only woman favored by Prince Zhao Yun, that Hu Ji.

Without further interrogation or investigation, Hu Ji was immediately taken to the Imperial Prison of Yeting Palace.Five or six days later, the emperor's condition finally improved.

These things had nothing to do with Lu You originally.It's just that the Yueying Terrace where he practices martial arts at night is close to Ye Ting Chao Prison, and the guards patrolled back and forth these few days, so he has to be more cautious than usual.

"Have you ever seen that orchid?"

That night, after finishing the daily practice, Li Hongqu, who rarely chatted with Lu You, suddenly asked a question.

"I haven't seen it before." Lu You shook his head truthfully, "I just think she must be a beauty."

"It is indeed very beautiful. It is your master, the second most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life."

After saying that, Li Honghe also sat down beside Lu You and threw an orange over her.

"Have you heard of the Roulan Country? It's a small country in the Western Regions. The people in it have blond curly hair, green eyes, and skin as white as ice and snow. That orchid is Roulan."

"But the Roulan Kingdom was annexed by the Daning Dynasty 25 years ago." Lu You remembered this history, "Could it be that Hu Ji is older than the Crown Prince?"

"No, Hu Ji was born in Yeting Palace. Her mother was already pregnant with Liujia when she was a prisoner and presented to the palace by Jiedu Envoy. Taught a Ph.D. to practice arts. Although she is a foreigner, she is proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but unfortunately she was still excluded by the court ladies... Especially Luo Zhaoyi, who used her as a slave for several years. Fortunately, the Eastern Palace selected the maids and sent her I chose it, and it happened to be favored by the crown prince..."

Speaking of this, Li Honghe sighed again: "However, it seems that it is not a good thing now."

Lu You peeled off the green orange peel, and the refreshing aroma rushed into his nostrils, but the pulp was sour.

He thought for a while, then suddenly asked: "She is the second most beautiful woman, so who is the most beautiful? Her mother?"

"No, of course it's the old woman who guards the Moon Shadow Stage." Li Hongqu replied without thinking, and even smiled.

Of course, Lu You had seen the old Shang Gong, with silver hair all over his head, and the wrinkles on his face almost covered his facial features.You can't even see the shadow of your youth, and it has nothing to do with the word "beautiful".

He only thought that Li Hongzhi was joking, so he also laughed lightly, and then asked: "This orchid grew up in Yeting, where did she learn witchcraft and curses?"

"What do you say?"

Li Hongqu tore off the orange peel bit by bit and threw it on the ground.

"In this palace, there must be more dangerous and effective means of harming people than witchcraft."

"...Then, what will happen after Hu Ji enters the Ye Ting Prison?"

"It's not like you haven't seen the women locked in."

Li Hongzhi was right.During the period when he first entered the palace, Lu You was also ordered to work in Ye Ting Prison, so he roughly knew the access control and layout there.Heard the sighs and sobs of those dimly lit cells, too.

The laws outside the palace still show some kindness to female prisoners.However, once she entered the court and became a woman beside the emperor, she was deprived of even the last trace of kindness.

Li Honghe finished eating the remaining few petals of the orange, wiped the dust off the sword with the orange peel, and fell silent.

After wiping the sword, she took off the wine jug at her waist, unscrewed the stopper, took a big mouthful, and handed the wine jug to Lu You for the first time ever.

Lu You was afraid that the alcohol might cause trouble, so he took the jug and tasted it carefully.Unexpectedly, it contained sweet rice wine, mixed with an indescribable floral fragrance.

Just like his master, under the fiery red and colorful appearance, there seems to be something soft and simple hidden.

The chat between master and apprentice that night did not stay in Lu You's heart for too long.

He originally thought that this turmoil would fade into one of the many stories in the eternal alleys of the deep palace like many other royal family secrets.

But this time, there was an invisible storm blowing towards him.

At noon the next day, classes in the Hongwen Hall were over, and no one was sent to call from the Huiqing Hall, so Lu You stayed in the Minister of Internal Affairs Qiujian to work.

There are a batch of files in Lizao Hall that need to be sorted, and Qi Yunchu handed it over to Lu You. By the way, he also asked him to read the contents of the files to understand the various processes and rules in the palace.

Around the time of Shen Shichu, suddenly there was a loud noise from outside.

Qi Yunchu likes to be quiet, and usually does not allow idlers to approach Lizao Hall.Although he has gone to the imperial study now, Bao Buqi will come back sometime, and he must be unhappy at both ends.

Lu You frowned and was about to go out to chase away people, but just as he stepped over the threshold, he saw that the courtyard door had been pushed open.Seven or eight people came in crowded together, and surrounded by Qi Yunchu himself.

What's going on here?

Lu You took a closer look, only to find that Qi Yunchu's forehead had been cut. At this moment, he was pressing the wound with a handkerchief, and the dark red blood had already stained the handkerchief a lot.

what happened? !

In this Zichen Palace, not to mention others, but to say that it is Emperor Huiming, I am afraid that they would not dare to treat the dignified Duke Qiu like this.

Lu You suddenly became nervous, and ran up to greet him in two or three steps.

But Qi Yunchu, after all, is a real person who has seen the battlefield.Although he was injured and bleeding at this moment, he still looked calm.

When a group of people came to Lizao Hall, he ordered the accompanying eunuchs to stop, and motioned for Lu You to take the medicine box from the medical officer's hand, and followed him into the hall alone.

"Help me with the medicine."

Qi Yunchu took off his blood-stained robe and threw it on the ground, wearing only a plain white singlet, lying on his back on the arhat couch.

Lu You opened the medicine box to examine it carefully, and then took out medicine wine, tweezers and medicine cloth.He first gently washed Qi Yunchu's wound with medicinal wine to remove the blood stains, then wiped the wound with medicinal cloth, put medicinal cotton on it, and tied the outer medicinal band on his head for fixation.After fixing it properly, pack the utensils and put them aside.

Qi Yunchu didn't open his eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Guess who hurt me."

Lu You calculated quickly in his mind.

"According to the time in the past, at this time, you should follow the emperor to review the memorial in the imperial study. But if it was the emperor's hand, those eunuchs just now might not follow you so loyally. Besides, you look angry Being calm and not disturbed at all shows that this person is definitely not the emperor himself, and the emperor does not approve of his behavior."

At this point he paused.

"Furthermore, the imperial study room is definitely not a place where idlers can come and go. What's more, with your skill, Qiugong, if you want to hurt you, it is really difficult unless you are voluntary... So I guess the hurt A person who loves you must have a noble status."

Qi Yunchu still kept his eyes closed, but a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"It's the prince."

He finally revealed the mystery: "That Zhao Yun, actually grabbed the seal of the official history and threw it at him. The emperor's illness just happened, and he was going to pass out in a blink of an eye. It's really a crime."

Although he sighed, he seemed to be relaying a joke that had nothing to do with him, and was even absurd.

The prince originally came here to plead with Emperor Huiming.

After Hu Ji was thrown into Ye Ting Prison, although the prince was not implicated, he still missed her and worried about her.

After several days of such obstinate patience, he finally came to the door today and asked his father to let Hu Ji see that they are deeply in love.

Of course, Emperor Huiming did not agree. Leaving aside his early recovery from typhoid fever, just saying that he has always been displeased with the crown prince favoring only Hu Ji, the result of this matter can be imagined.

He didn't get the favor from his father, but he was urged to marry another concubine—this double blow of disappointment completely aroused the unruly temper in the prince's heart.

Seeing that his begging was fruitless, he actually made a request that was so bold that it was almost crazy.

"He said that he doesn't want to be the prince anymore, and is willing to use the future throne in exchange for the safety of the one he loves at this moment."

Having said this, Qi Yunchu smiled softly, as if he had reached the climax of the story.

"It's really stupid, crazy and crazy, it's worthy of being passed down in one continuous line."

The prince's frustrating words were like adding fuel to the fire, which had the opposite effect.Emperor Huiming was furious, but before he vented his anger, his lips slapped and turned white first.

As the only valet present at this time, Qi Yunchu naturally couldn't watch the emperor get angry.But he just said a word of persuasion, and the prince suddenly turned dark, and picked up the seal on hand.

"That unlucky woman will never see the light of day again."

Qi Yunchu lowered his head, as if muttering to himself: "How can a prince who only lives for himself all his life be able to protect others."

But Lu You remembered those orange peels that fell on the ground last night.Scattered, like falling flowers.Although the breath is fragrant, it is slowly sour.

If Li Honghe knew about these things, she would definitely feel sad for Hu Ji.

As soon as Lu You thought of this, she heard Qi Yunchu whisper again: "... Hu Ji's biological mother is kind to your master, she may say some nonsense to you. As for what to do, you can decide for yourself... Also, In a few days, Ye Ting Prison will have to change its defenses, and you should sort out some files as soon as possible, and I will order Yang Ren to arrange them."

After finishing speaking, he closed his eyes and rested his mind, and stopped talking to Lu You.

That night, Lu You talked to Li Hong about the important things in the royal study.

Li Honghe, who was always cheerful and straightforward, was silent for an unprecedented long time, and then asked Lu You a question.

"If Master asks you to do a favor, will you do it?"

"What are you busy with?"

Although he had already guessed the clue, Lu You still asked back.

Li Honghe really said: "I want you to save Hu Ji, together we will rescue her from Ye Ting Prison."

Lu You was silent for a while, then nodded calmly.

"Master has the kindness to his disciples, so the disciples should go through fire and water for the master. It's just that the imperial court and the prison are guarded by the Imperial Army. Even if we, the master and the disciple, join hands, it is still not easy to come and go freely; what's more, we need Bring a weak woman who has no power to restrain a chicken? To be honest, people think about themselves first. That woman is really worthy of you, Master, to break into this dragon and tiger's lair?"

Li Honghe frowned with willow eyebrows, but there was no entanglement in her bright eyes.

"There are some things you don't know. I wanted to save her to repay her mother's kindness... Back then, when I was wounded and sneaked into the court, it was her mother who risked beheading and secretly left me to recuperate. Ten Years ago, when her mother passed away, she also asked me to protect her safety. I am a selfish person, and I have allowed her to suffer a lot in the palace. This time, how can I break my promise again..."

Having said that, she looked at Lu You again.

"This matter has nothing to do with you. You don't have to take risks with me. Master, I don't need you to bear my debt. You still have things to do."

Unexpectedly, Lu You shook his head on his own initiative.

"I have been practicing martial arts with you, master, for so many years, and you have never mentioned anything about the past. Only this time is an exception, which is enough to show the status of Hu Ji and her daughter in your heart. Now that you know that Ye Ting Prison is heavily guarded, it is only an exception. How can I feel at ease to let you take risks alone? In my opinion, you really can't do without me this time."

"Oh?" Li Honghe finally heard some clues, "You boy, have you thought of something long ago?"

"I don't dare to say that there is an idea, but in this garden, there are many things that are inconvenient for you to get, but it is easy for me. Don't worry, such an important thing, or don't do it, if you want to do it, you have to do it carefully ... What do you think?"

The dim moonlight shone obliquely on Lu You's side face, casting a layer of mysterious blue.Only his pair of beautiful and slender eyes were shining so brightly that they seemed to be shining.

"..."

Li Honghe took a deep breath, and finally came to her senses: "You have really grown up."

"Who said it wasn't."

Lu You smiled silently: "Not everyone can be like you, Master, forever youthful."

In this way, the matter of "robbing the prison" was officially remembered by Lu You.

To be honest - in the past, he wouldn't even dare to think about beheading.

But it is not what it used to be.At this moment, he will no longer be shaken by fear because of matters of life and death.

As for the tension, there will definitely be, but deep down in my heart, it is more calm after retreating.

Lu You's mind is very clear - although he didn't make it clear, he clearly knew that both Li Hongzhi and Qi Yunchu wanted him to make such a choice.

This may be a test arranged by Qi Yunchu to test the skills and courage he has learned over the years.Or maybe it was because he really needed a No. [-] person like him, and took a huge risk to extract an important clue from the messy clan love and resentment.

No matter what the answer is, Lu You knew that he had to succeed.

Everything is forewarned.

With the convenience of sorting out the files in Lizao Hall, he found out step by step the French base map left when the prison was built in the past, as well as the location of patrols and defenses in the prison, the tokens of the jailers, and even the handover order.

According to these files, and the little information that Qi Yunchu revealed intentionally or unintentionally that day, Lu You quickly saw the best time to rescue Hu Ji—it was the days when Ye Ting's prison was changed.

As for the reason, it is very simple.

Although the eunuch of Ye Ting Imperial Prison was an eunuch, the guards were all ordinary men drawn from various guards of the Imperial Army.These people are in the imperial confinement of Ye Ting, even if they are surrounded by high walls, it is difficult for them to bloom outside the walls and have an affair with the resentful daughter in the palace.The change of defense every other year is also to avoid the growth of corruption, leading to the private release or killing of prisoners in the prison.

No matter how good the reasons for switching defenses are, there is one loophole that cannot be ignored—in the first few days of the defense change, the jailers were not familiar with each other, and could only identify each other by the tokens on their waists and the defense switch password.

That is to say, as long as you get the token, the uniform of the jailer, and the password to change defenses, you can sneak into the imperial prison without anyone noticing.

That night, he told Li Hongqu about this idea, and immediately got a positive response.Li Hongzhi also decided to prepare two more human skin masks, so that even if his actions were exposed, the pursuers would be nowhere to be found.

Lu You secretly took out the map of the Imperial Prison from Lizao Hall, the master and the apprentice found a hidden place to examine and analyze carefully, and used stones to simulate the checkpoints and points of the fortification.The breakthrough and infiltration routes were quickly simulated.

The Forbidden Chinese Academy of Astronomy explained that there was rain at night, so the real time to break through and save people was set at that time.