Si Tian Guan

The night is getting dark, and the noise of people has already ebbed away, leaving the silence to the darkness far and near. There are night owls or some crows hoarsely chirping, which makes people feel uneasy.

The bird chirped not loudly, but the person lying on the ground with his hands and feet bound convulsed. This tiny sound woke him up from his coma.

Ye Xiao yelled again, half crying and half laughing. The man struggled unconsciously, raised his neck and opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound. Where there were no eyeballs, only two bloody holes could be seen under the candlelight.

The horror on that face can still be clearly seen, as if it is not a bird singing outside, but an evil spirit that is about to come to seize the soul.

Sure enough, the owl's voice was gradually approaching, hovering around him as if piercing through a wall.

You can only hear it when you get close. The sound is not the cry of the night owl, but the cry of a baby. At first it was just a child, and then there were cries one after another, sometimes with the vague scream of a woman.

The man crawling on the ground shook like a sieve, as if hearing some terrifying sound, he struggled with all his strength, wriggling and rolling on the ground.

The cell was narrow, and he quickly bumped into the wooden railing, but he still kicked hard on the ground, as if something was really killing him around.

Just when he was close to the verge of collapse, those ghostly crying, laughing and screaming stopped abruptly.

But just as he collapsed to the ground and twitched, the extremely shrill cry of a baby suddenly sounded in his ears, which seemed to be only half a palm away from him.

The man froze all over, suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood, rolled on the ground and did not move.

After a cup of tea, it was confirmed that he was really unconscious. The few people standing outside the cell made eye contact with each other, and retreated from the stone steps to the ground one after another.

Perhaps the voice was too weird, even though they hadn't done anything wrong, they still didn't calm down for a while while standing in the yard blowing the night wind.

The only one who was not affected was Fang Wuyang, whose throat was so dry.

"Drink some water," someone handed over a teacup from the side: "Brother."

Fang Wuyang almost spit out the tea he had already drank in his mouth: "What are you doing here!"

Liu Chongming scolded in displeasure: "It's the middle of the night, what's the name of the ghost!"

"You..." Fang Wuyang's lungs almost exploded: "Liu Chongming, you are killing a donkey! In the middle of the night, you think I want to come to you to learn how to scream—and you! What are you doing here! Could it be that Liu Chongming is plotting against you again!"

Liu Chongming glanced at the person who was whispering to Ling He: "Be careful when you speak."

Fang Wuyang lowered his voice, still unable to swallow his breath, he dragged Jing Chen a few steps to the side.

"Jingchen, tell me, why...why don't you even be tempted by that position, and why do you want to help Liu Chongming?"

Mu Jingchen twitched the corners of his mouth and forced a smile.Everyone has their own experiences, and he doesn't want to say too much to make people worry about him.

"My concubine has been in poor health for so many years. I have been guarding her for a long time, and thinking that she can live well is more important than anything else."

"It shouldn't be mine, and I don't want to fight. I just want to one day stay away from disputes and get together as a family."

"Brother, by that time, will you be with us?"

Fang Wuyang was speechless. After thinking for a long time, he didn't answer this question. He only asked, "Liu Chongming really didn't do anything bad, did he? Why are you here?"

Someone on the side leaned against the pillar with arms folded, and said coldly: "Your Highness is not afraid that you and Liu Chongming will not see each other and can't do things, so you want to come here to stabilize you."

Seeing that person, Fang Wuyang was not angry: "What are you doing here?"

"The secret work from King Qi will be delivered to your door, do you want it?"

"No, get out! I think you are trying to do something bad again."

Jiang Xingzhi didn't even look at him: "Even if it's a bad thing, you did it with me."

"Okay, let's do it, don't argue," Mu Jingchen stopped between the two of them, and motioned to the side: "Chongming, they still have important matters, let's go over there first."

There are many trivial matters, and people and things are also rushed together. Fortunately, they are all trustworthy and grasping people.

Liu Chongming caught up a few steps, and cupped his hands to Mu Jingchen: "Please trouble Your Highness."

Mu Jingchen stopped him from saluting.

"Chongming, I should be the one to thank you. Recently, I found a prescription for the mother and concubine, and her complexion has improved a lot."

Liu Chongming felt uncomfortable.

Naturally, he would not tell outsiders about his mother's affairs, and he only asked the newly trusted imperial physician who was appointed by his sister's side to take a look at Concubine Xian, and privately told Mu Jingchen that it was Xueshanghao and Tianxianzi.

"What did the doctor say?"

"The imperial doctor said that the mother and concubine's body has been ill for too long, and she can only take care of it slowly. It will always be better than before." Mu Jingchen forced a smile: "After all these years, I don't expect too much, and I can enjoy the comfort of ordinary people. Shou, enough is enough."

Are you content?

Liu Chongming smiled wryly in his heart, if he was really content with that, how could Jing Chen, who never cared about court affairs, stand by his side so naturally and calmly.

Is it just because of the unspeakable blood relationship?After suffering for so many years, even if he has no intention of fighting for that position, how can he not feel resentful?

All are smart people.

Although he knew in his heart that with this "kindness", Jing Chen, who already had friendship with the Liu family, would not only lend a helping hand, but also stabilize Fang Wuyang and Jiang Xingzhi at the same time.

But Liu Chongming felt ashamed and didn't dare to accept this gift, so he could only forcefully smile and comfort him, and asked Mu Jingchen to go and rest for a while.

Pan He's business is the current priority.

Seeing him coming, Ling He and Qu Shenzhou stopped to discuss.

"Sir."

Liu Chongming nodded to the two of them. He is not a person with an empty mind like King Qi. Just looking at Pan He's reaction just now, he knew that they were going the right way.

Before Qu Shenzhou went to Jinping Village, he only left the word "baby" for Ling He.

Ling He and Rong Jiu'an deliberated several times at home, and finally decided to take a risk. Pan He is now a frightened bird. If they fail to try, they may never be able to leverage Pan He.

Even luckier, they have Qu Shenzhou.

After listening to their plans, Qu Chenzhou went underground and affirmed their attempt.

From that day on, the crying of the baby became Pan He's inescapable nightmare. The eight consecutive days of hysteria had reached the limit, and there was only one final sound of the bow to shoot the frightened bird down.

The three sat down at the stone table, Ling He spread out a few sheets of paper, and wrote a few words on each sheet—this was Qu Shenzhou's favorite method before, Ling He watched it a few times, and learned it .

"Bing Dilian, twins," Ling He tapped the six words on the first sheet of paper, and then read them one by one: "Sin has a son, baby. Let me talk about the result of my discussion with Shen Zhou first."

Liu Chongming looked sideways slightly, and smiled—Shen Zhou, these two words came out of Linghe mouth so naturally.

The little fox is really good at wooing people.

For an arrogant person like Ling He, what he despises the most is the embroidered pillow, and what he can't stand the most is the person who does things neatly and surpasses him in real ability.

It just so happens that the little fox has both, beautifully restrained first and then raised. Ling He's scrutinizing gaze climbed all the way from the ravine to the clouds. Now it is not only praise, but also awe.

"Pan He reacted violently to the baby's cries. I have tried many cases like this before. He has a ghost in his heart. There is a murder case in his hands, and the victims in this murder case are babies and women."

"Next is the twins."

"According to the thought just now, the babies that Pan He killed were twins, and maybe even the pregnant women were killed together."

Liu Chongming put the two pieces of paper side by side in front of him, calm as usual.

In fact, even without Ling He's explanation, he gradually had a rough outline in his mind.

All painted with blood.

If he had heard this suddenly in the past, even if he boasted that he was a young and steady boy, he might not have been shocked.

But since getting acquainted with Qu Shenzhou, who came back from the dead, one by one the falsehoods have been revealed. Those who look down on their sanctimonious appearances are all barbarians who drink blood.

When his father talked to him about what his mother had done these years and where she was going now, he was already calm enough to remain calm.

My sister is right, he is the backbone that everyone relies on, and he should support everyone's efforts.

"Then it's sin to give birth to a child," Liu Chongming gestured to the opposite side: "Shen Zhou knows more details, let him tell."

"You all know that Lord Hou and the emperor met a fortune teller on the street back then, so I won't repeat it."

Qu Chenzhou picked up the charcoal pen, circled the three characters on the paper, and wrote the other three characters beside it.

35.

"Fang Wuyang and I went to Jinping Village and observed secretly for several days. There were about 35 people living in the village, and [-] of them were children born to sin."

Ling He was horrified when he heard it, and couldn't help but lose his voice: "How could it be such a coincidence."

It is rare to be pregnant with twins, and it is even rarer to have only one dystocia, but there are 35 people who have the same experience, all gathered in Jinpingzhuang.

Unless...someone does it on purpose.

And they all guessed the man's name.

"More than that," Qu Shenzhou added: "Among the 35 people, there are men and women, ranging from infants to [-] years old."

It was the first time Ling He heard him talk about it, he frowned and asked, "Are there any other characteristics?"

"No."

"So..." I don't know if it was because of the cold night, but Ling He felt a shudder in his body: "If they live there just because they are children of sin, could they be... grass substitutes?"

There is a saying in the market that if a rich family gives birth to a precious child who is difficult to support and is prone to illness, there is a saying that the heavens will not see the child's rich life and will take him back.

In order to keep this child, the most common method is to make a straw substitute.

Most of the earliest grass substitutes were tied with straw, and precious utensils and the child's birthday were stuffed inside.

Afterwards, it became a matter of finding a poor child to eat and drink together, and to serve as a substitute for Takako, so the origin of the name was also used, and these substitute children were called grass substitutes.

Qu Chenzhou had also carefully discussed with Liu Chongming the possibility of using his body as a scapegoat, but neither of them knew that there was such an allusion in it. Hearing Ling He's explanation made his previous guess more certain.

The idea that the fortune-teller gave the emperor must be to use the "grass substitute" to replace the emperor to bear the sickness and congenital sins.

"There is another thing." Ling He's face was a little pale: "Do you two still remember the Thousand Sons Pagoda?"

Of course they all knew that shortly after he ascended the throne, the emperor ordered the four counties in the southeast, northwest, and four counties to build the Qianzi Pagoda, saying that it was to pray for the descendants of Dayu.

At that time, many people in the court objected, saying that the large-scale construction was a waste of money, but in the end the result of the game was that the emperor ordered to reduce the size of the Thousand Sons Pagoda.

The four Thousand Son Pagodas still stand today in the four counties.

Hearing Ling He's reminder, Liu Chongming immediately realized: "You mean, the Thousand Sons Pagoda was not built by the emperor for blessing..."

"Do you want to suppress the innocent souls of those babies and women who were innocently sacrificed by him?" Qu Chenzhou sneered: "It turns out that the emperor also knows to be afraid, and I think that only Pan He is afraid of the innocent souls taking his life."

If Ling He's guess about the Thousand Sons Pagoda is correct, then all the clues will start to string together perfectly, except for one thing.

"Why five people?"

"The number 35 is neither the number of years since the emperor ascended the throne, nor does it match the number of years since the emperor met the fortune-teller. I thought maybe I was wrong, and I thought I would go and see it another day."

"Then let's put it here for now." Liu Chongming interrupted the deep thinking of the two people in front of him: "Since it involves Jinpingzhuang, let me tell you the results of the recent investigation, maybe I can get some clues."

"Jin Pingzhuang is not far or close to the paddock, about half a day's distance away from a horse race. The distance is ingenious. Ordinary people live there, except that it is remote, and there is really no problem."

"Except for the people from Zhuangzi who opened a vegetable field half a mile away, someone will send things there every month."

"I sent people to follow me twice. The people who delivered the things came from the village further west of Jinpingzhuang. There were not many outsiders in the village. It was not easy for my people to go in and chat, but when people were out working, They went into the house and searched around."

"There are signs of renovation in many houses, and it has probably been renovated for less than a year."

"One year..." Ling He murmured and repeated, the eyes of the three met, and they all knew what this time meant.

Pan He had an accident about a year ago, and the people in this village were entrusted to deliver food to Jinping Village after that.

"When was Jinpingzhuang built?" He asked Liu Chongming.

"The old Zhuangzi a long time ago was also renovated and expanded a year ago."

"Very likely," Ling He thought, and said slowly, "About a year ago, these people were transferred from Pan He to Jinping Village."

Liu Chongming agreed with this statement. When he realized the truth behind this assumption, he suffered from insomnia again. When he was about to put on his clothes and go out for a walk, he saw Qu Chenzhou sitting up from the sarong and following behind him.

"Shen Zhou, I may become like Liao Guangming and Pan He in the future." He was not timid, but filled with coldness and sadness: "Will you think I'm disgusting in the future?"

Qu Shenzhou put his hand in his palm, and their fingers intertwined, intimate.

"will not."

With the warmth of his palm, he can hold his head high and move forward bravely.

What Pan Hyuk had done, why he was terrified by the cries of babies and women, the answer was ready to be revealed.

But just telling the truth to the emperor, is that what the emperor wants?

Liu Chongming was in deep thought when he saw Qu Shenzhou raised his finger.

"My lord, there is someone with a bright mind, maybe he can help you think about it."