Act like a spoiled child

The spring rain is continuous, and after nightfall, it falls with a patter, bringing a burst of cool air.

It was not the time for the cold spring, but Wang Ba felt cold, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He should have been at home early, but because he was already tired of the wife at home and the son who made a fool of him during the spring hunt, he first went to the Huajie Restaurant to have a good time. Yes, even with him, I spent a long time in Gentle Township, only remembering the gentle persuasion of the flower girl named Yinger: "Have another drink, my lord, have another drink..."

Beijing officials forbid entering Fengyuechang, so he didn't prepare a sedan chair.When it was raining outside, he didn't remember to bring an umbrella, and when he was about to turn back to ask Hua Niang to borrow one, he found that the gate of Hua Lou had been closed, and even the whole street was silent, and there was no light to be found.It seemed that the moment he stepped out of the restaurant, the place fell into a dark dream, as if a switch was suddenly turned off, and he was the only one who was still awake.

He had no choice but to step into the rain, and within a few steps, he stepped on something cold and stiff under his feet. He looked down, his scalp exploded, and he couldn't help cursing bad luck—it turned out to be a dead cat whose eyes had been gouged out. Lying in ashes and rotting on the corner of the street, I don't know how many days it has been.

The rain keeps falling and tends to get bigger and bigger.Wang Ba quickened his pace, wanting to cross the dark and deserted street so that he could return home as soon as possible.Maybe it was because of his strong drink, he felt that his whole body was cooling down slowly, his hands and feet began to lose control, and he felt a little numb.

Suddenly, there was a light in front of him, fluttering and swaying like a lantern—Wang Ba was overjoyed, he thought it must be a watchman who came out to watch the watch, and if he had someone, he could order this person to take him home, but his footsteps stopped Living.

That's not a watchman, that's a—no, a group of people, neatly waiting in the rain with lamps in their hands. These people are uniformed in dark red straight bullfight uniforms and embroidered spring knives. At first glance, they look like a row The expressionless paper figurine has a vague and serious face, full of murderous intent.

Wang Ba had never seen such a standard official uniform, and his heart tightened at this moment—he had an intuition that these people were coming for him!

He doesn't know who the other person is and what their identity is, but he knows that there is a kind of people from ancient times to the present. Even if their clothes change, their names change, even if their existence is repeatedly erased and reappeared in front of people, he still knows them. to kill him.

In the earliest days, these people were raised by the people with the highest status, and they were only loyal to their recognized masters, including life and everything else. Their names were dead soldiers.

He wanted to run, but he had already fallen to the ground uncontrollably. In his blurry vision, the last shadow he caught a glimpse was a bright yellow sedan at the end of the alley that had never been put down. It was as secretive and arrogant as its owner.

"Punishment is the first. Clean up, scald the meat with boiling water, and brush it with an iron dipped in salt. The skin and flesh will be peeled off, and the bones will be exposed. You can also rub it with a bamboo stick, and the flesh will peel off like beans."

"Secondly, the intestines are sucked. The iron hook enters the intestines from the anus, and hooks out a hundred feet. The intestines drag people to death, and the stench is unpleasant."

"Third, cut the skin and irrigate it with bamboo tubes. The sharp pain is unbearable, but the external appearance is normal, only swelling and discoloration. The larynx can be removed to allow it to listen to the sound."

……

In the dark and cold basement, there were continuous screams at first, but finally there was no sound, only the sound of the prey's puffing and puffing before dying, which was vaguely discernible, and they were still trying to spit out complete words.

Mingshen sat at a place separated by a wall, holding a Tang Pozi with both hands, and put it on his knees. He lowered his eyelashes, and looked at the curvy lines on Tang Po's face seriously.He is so good-looking and quiet, people who see him for the first time will inevitably look at him more, thinking that this young man should appear in the emperor's hall, not the emperor's lynching place.

Yumin lowered his head and asked him, "Are you uncomfortable? Go back if you don't feel well."

Ming Shen shook his head, stretched out his hand to hold his hand, didn't say anything, but looked quite calm.Yumin was relieved a little, and after asking, he waved to let the people around him in.

The door curtain shook, bringing the smell of blood into the room.

The person who came was the face-faced general that Mingshen saw during the spring hunt. He had a scar on his face, and he seemed to be someone who often walked on the borderline of life and death. His voice was hoarse and rough, as if he had been rolled by sand and stones: "He's ready to recruit, does His Majesty want to go in and listen?"

Yu Min lowered her head and said to Ming Shen: "I will be back soon." Then she stood up.

But Mingshen also stood up along with him, grabbed his sleeve, and whispered: "I want to go too, Brother Min."

Yumin looked at him, didn't say anything, and took his hand and went in.The curtain to the basement was low, the general stretched out his hand to hold the curtain for them, when Ming Shen passed by, he saw a cold and mocking smile on the man's lips.

The smell of blood became even more intense, the torches and wall lamps were burning brightly, but it was also difficult to see things clearly at once.Just as Mingshen came down, before he saw something clearly, he followed a sudden scream and looked over. At the same time, Yumin stretched out his hand and covered his eyes.

"I didn't want you to know this." Yumin whispered, standing behind Mingshen, holding his shoulder with the other hand, leading him to walk slowly and sit down.Mingshen felt that he was getting closer and closer to the place where the sound came from, his heartbeat also became faster and faster, and his palms were sweating a little.

He used to be a person who didn't even dare to kill fish. In the palace, they caught small fish and loaches in the pond, and Cheng Yiduo always took care of them.Later, he went to the south of the Yangtze River alone, and suffered a serious illness. Huo Bingyi took care of him in a puzzled manner, and also suffered a serious illness. The two brothers took turns to get sick. Ming Shen's health improved, and he dared to go out to meet people, and came back to buy vegetables. , or slaughter a fish for Huo Bing, and make soup for his brother.

Dead people, he had seen.On the night of raiding the house, he saw his mother, dressed in a splendid attire and the beaded flowers made by his father, limply leaning against the wall and falling down, without blood or scars, she seemed to be asleep.It was later that Mingshen heard from others that "the daughter of the Huo family committed suicide by taking poison." As for his father, Mingshen didn't see him that night, and the historian didn't bother to record anything about the Ming family where the actor was born.

All he knew was that they were all gone, his own brother had also gone, and he was the only one left in the world.

Wang Ba's throat was taken out, and a little eunuch was reading his words word by word.

Mingshen listened for a while, and knew that Wang Ba had confessed most of Zhang Nianjing's crimes and details, and he was still pleading guilty. Mingshen was about to suffocate from that miserable voice, but he was soon surrounded by other emotions—— Angry, disbelieving, chilling.

Killed countless people, bullied Hanlin colleagues who were in their prime, drove people crazy, and robbed civilian girls, ruined people's innocence, the girl hanged herself to death, and her fiancé followed. The two families wanted to seek justice, but in exchange for a A devastating fire.When impeached, the person who accused him of accusing him beat his elderly mother to death in front of his own son...

That's not all, they assassinated Yumin and poisoned the little princess's diet, but they never succeeded because of accidents and Yumin's suspicion. No one dares to control or speak out about the construction of their wolf-running era.

Mingshen trembled slightly, Yumin still covered his eyes, but moved a little closer to him silently, letting him lean against his chest.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Ba said intermittently, "No...it is."

"Also, keep talking."

"Really...no..."

"Additional punishment, mercury. Master Wang, have you heard of 'heavy silver'? Cut a cross on top of your head, pour mercury into it, and the mercury will sink into your body, separating the blood from the flesh, and you will be in pain You have to jump out... yes, jump out of your own skin, a blood-red person, have you seen it? We have seen it, and there are more than one."

"I said! I said... Back then! The Huo family, Huo——and Ming—"

Mingshen's heart was suddenly empty.

"Don't be afraid." Yumin said.

"The Huo family and the Ming family! I said, I said everything. I was the one who ransacked the house. In fact, the Ming family was not guilty of death. The Huo family didn't pay attention to the Ming family at all! The marriage between Ming Yi and Huo Ruzhuo was not recognized by the Huo family at all, and Huo Ruzhuo was kicked out of the Huo family. That matter has nothing to do with the Ming family..."

Mingshen felt as if struck by lightning, his whole body was cold, and the ruler gate rattled in the cold.

"What did you say?" Ming Shen asked in a low voice, looking straight ahead, even though his sight was blocked by Yu Min's hand, leaving only darkness.His voice was so hoarse that it sounded so different from his original voice.

"It's Mr. Zhang... Mr. Zhang, he said that the Ming family is outstanding, and he can't move the little boy who was sent to the Huo family for the time being, but I heard that there is another little boy who was raised by the Ming family like a baby... But It was too messy when the house was raided, I didn’t know where I went, but I couldn’t find it, that’s it... Later I heard that I stumbled into the palace by mistake, and the adults searched for it once, but failed.”

"Why didn't you find it?"

This time it was Yumin who spoke out, and he asked, "When you ransacked the house, why did you just tell the person you were looking for to run out?"

"I... don't know, I really didn't find it. The youngest son of the Ming family... looks really good-looking, but it's a pity that when he grew up, Mr. Zhang said he didn't want to play with the big ones, only the small ones, so let me..."

The breath of the tortured person gradually weakened.As if knowing that his time was approaching, the bloody and squirming figure on the ground let out a laughing voice: "Yes, we were wrong. It has been abolished for so many years. Embroidery Spring Knife, Flying Fish Clothes, Darkness, Darkness Wei, Jin, Yiwei, the royal...scholar, Zhang...thought that showing you kindness would make you numb, Your Majesty is really amazing, that person...underestimated you."

Mingshen heard the sound of slowly drawing out the weapon——

It wasn't Yumin drawing the sword, Yumin didn't move, but he was very familiar with that voice. It was a long sword of special texture that Yumin had used since childhood. The name was Xinchen, and Yumin regarded it as a treasure.Now this sword is given to someone else as a token of respect, and it is the newly appointed general.

Until the last moment, Yumin shouldn't clean it up by himself.

Royal slayers have been abolished for hundreds of years, and this is the cause of party struggles, and people dare not speak out loudly. The emergence of this thing is often accompanied by tyranny and uncontrollable evil deeds under the royal brand. Yumin came to This step was also unexpected by Ming Shen.

He has been in the capital for almost a year, but he is not familiar with many things around Yumin. He doesn't know that his elder brother Min has been assassinated several times, and that the Zhang party is so domineering.He once thought that what the little princess told him was childish words, but he didn't know that it was the darkness that the brother and sister had seen with their own eyes.

Yumin sensed that Mingshen was crying, so he coaxed in a warm voice: "Go back, Shen. I will surely destroy the remnants of the crimes that harmed your relatives."

He squeezed Mingshen's shoulder: "I promise, I will return the Ming family to a clear truth."

Mingshen reached out to touch his eyes, and took Yumin's hand away.He didn't answer Yu Min's words, but wiped his eyes, and asked the general beside him, "Can I come?"

The general stopped when he heard this, and looked at him in surprise, but still handed him the sword in his hand.

Yumin frowned and looked at him: "Ah Shen?"

Mingshen took a deep breath, reached out and squeezed Yumin's hand, and whispered, "Brother Min, I'm fine."

He looked down at his toes: "I think he deserves to die, can I kill him with my own hands to avenge my parents?"

This reason is reasonable, he was waiting for Yumin's reply, but Yumin suddenly let go of him, took two steps back, and watched him quietly, his eyes became dark and deep.

That look was exactly the same as when Cheng Yiduo told him "You won't eat when you're not in Ah Shen", he had also carefully sized up and observed Ming Shen's every move.

He just looked into Mingshen's eyes like that, as if he wanted to find something inside, but there was nothing in those eyes, as clear as before, with slight tension and a kind of determination after careful consideration.Different from back then, when Ming Shen was fanatical and reckless, now Ming Shen is very calm.

He said softly: "Okay."

Then Mingshen raised his sword, walked in front of the dying man, tried his best to endure his nausea and looked at the past—the long sword in his hand fell with his gaze, and with a puff, it softly passed through the man's body .

Only he himself knows that he is not doing it for anything, but for those souls who are weeping, for a bright future of a young man, for his parents whom he loves deeply, for... a stronger and calmer self, enough to be with Yu Yu. Min side by side.

He froze there, the fear of killing made him tremble all over, he didn't know what to do, he stood there like a bewildered child.Ke Yumin came over and held his hand, led him to draw out the sword, and threw it aside.

Yumin hugged him in his arms, then turned around, hugged him horizontally, and walked out without saying a word.He went straight out of the gloomy basement, walked out of the dungeon filled with disgusting atmosphere, walked to the ground, faced the breeze and drizzle, put Mingshen in the carriage, and wrapped him in a cloak.

He said: "You don't need to do this step, Shen. I'm going to be angry."

Ming Shen whispered: "Don't be angry, okay?"

He began to rub his eyes again: "I don't want you to be so tired all the time, I don't want you to be considered ridiculous because of me, I want to help you, Brother Min."

"I know." Yu Min said in a low voice, "Our Ah Shen is already very good, isn't he? But occasionally Brother Min would hope that Ah Shen would be a little less obedient, he could play around like Wen Min and give me a headache... I hope you will always be innocent and happy."

Mingshen smiled through tears: "Wenwen is playing around and acting like a baby, but she understands everything."

"Yes, so you have to learn more from her." Yumin kissed his forehead, "Go back and help me to approve papers, Queen. Thank you for helping me beat a bad guy today."

The next day, the news of Wang Ba's death shocked the government and the public, causing an uproar.

Dali Temple's report was interrupted several times, and it took a long time to finish the results discovered this morning: Wang Ba strayed into the farm's pigsty because of drunkenness, and was crushed to death by a boar in heat, so that his body fell to the ground. The clothes were lost, and the dead body was in a strange shape, with no obvious injuries.

Among the courtiers present, only Ming Shen knew well that the reason there were no scars was because the peeled off flesh and scraped bones were all covered under the clothes, which looked intact on the surface, but the inside had been hollowed out by torture.

Zhang Nianjing lost his composure in court, and shouted loudly: "Under the emperor's rule, at the foot of the imperial city, the dignified second-rank official died so unexplainably? Someone must be responsible for this matter!"

Bu Yu stood up, tilted his head and asked, "Master Zhang, you mean that the imperial guards are incompetent, that's why... um, Mr. Wang appeared in the pigsty with disheveled clothes?"

Another person jumped out and said with a smile: "I think he has ulterior motives and insists on blaming the imperial army!"

The commander of the forbidden army also came out to clarify, pointing out that they had indeed discovered that Wang Ba had lost his temper after drinking, and when they were going to help him go home, they were "rebuked by Mr. Wang", so they had to give up.

After careful consideration, Mingshen stood up behind this person, and said solemnly: "The general is right, what does this matter have to do with the Imperial Army? As we all know, His Majesty has always been strict with the Imperial Army. Could it be that Mr. Wang is suffering from hysteria? , crashed headlong into the pigsty, is there no cure?"

As soon as this remark came out, the entire Yushitai was erupting - although Wang Ba was dead, Mingshen returned the original words at this moment, throwing back all the words Wang Ba said in Yushitai.

The priest on the side wanted to jump up and wave the flag and shout.

Yumin said: "What grade of official are you? It's none of your business here. The Wanling Ming family will pay you a three-year salary and let me go out."

Ming Shen: "..."

Bu Yu: "...This scene seems familiar."

The priest excitedly said: "Look, everyone! The Wanling Ming's flattery has hit the horse's leg again!"

Mingshen went out obediently, but took a detour, went straight to Changning Hall, nestled in the place where Yumin usually corrected memorials, and started eating snacks.

After an incense stick of time, Yumin came back and looked at him calmly.

Mingshen pretended to be calm: "I have no money again. I have to ask for leave for three months... No, for four months, I have to go to the flower house to make up pearls."

Without saying a word, Yumin picked him up and walked inside, when he threw Mingshen onto the bed, both of them laughed.

"How can you be so good, huh?" Yumin leaned over and asked him, pinching his face, "Young lady?"

Ming Shen tried hard to clarify: "I'm not a jerk, I want to be your most capable courtier."

He looked at Yumin, finally realized his conscience, and added: "...and the most capable queen, I will not give up on either side."