Li Zhang

Zhao Qinan took Li Zhang to Hongtaixuan where he lived, and had someone bathe and change his clothes for him, and healed his wounds with medicine.Then he looked at Li Zhang, who was in better spirits, nodded and smiled and said, "Mr. Li is indeed graceful, like a banished fairy. I just don't know why Mr. Li didn't follow the prince, but came to my house to be a training companion who was beaten?"

Li Zhang was silent.He neither wanted to admit that identity, nor could he involve Zhiqing in it.Rescuing Zhiqing and leaving is now the hope he wants to protect the most.

Zhao Qinan had already guessed countless possible outcomes, all of which made him fearful.He knew that the court had already been turned upside down and the dust had settled, and he had completely fallen to the Second Prince when the Cheng family controlled most of the power in the court.Now that Sima Yi has lost power and been demoted, the Eighth Prince has been stripped of his wings, and only the Second Prince, who is the only leader, is firmly seated as the crown prince.He should have completely let go of his heart, but he always felt that Sima Yi, who would become King Ning in Ningzhou in the future, would be the last oriole, which made him even more suspicious of Li Zhang's sudden appearance.

The year Sima Yi celebrated the birthday of Concubine Mi, Zhao Qinan was still the captain of Yizhou. He was supposed to be transferred when the due date was due, but he was stranded in the capital because of the mixed reputation of quelling the Miao people's rebellion. It was a time of hesitation.That day, he was brought into the Three Princes' Mansion by his fellow countrymen, and he met all the influential figures in the capital, but the most unforgettable thing for him was the young man in white who stood behind Sima Yi with a pretty face, shy and seductive.He listened to Yan Xian's introduction from fellow countryman, and learned that Mr. Li was the son of Mr. Li of the Ministry of Households. He was forcibly included in the palace because he was favored by Sima Yi, and when Emperor Jing ignored him, he already ignored the flirtatiousness. The three princes in the court battle looked at each other with admiration.He watched coldly for several years, not only paying attention to the Second Prince, but also always paying attention to Sima Yi.It's just that after weighing the pros and cons, he was more inclined to the down-to-earth second prince, so when the married couple approached him, he readily agreed.But he still observed Sima Yi carefully, unlike others who completely believed in Cheng Jia and the Second Prince.

Sima Yi's relegation was so abrupt that no one could tell what happened, and Zhao Qinan's heart troubles came to Ningzhou to become King Ning.He has been paying attention to their movements since Sima Yi left Beijing, but Sima Yi's trip this time is quite different from the last trip to the three counties. After losing his whereabouts, he went low-key and hidden again. After entering the boundary of Ningzhou, he suddenly disappeared.He sent out several waves of people to inquire, but no one has reported back so far, and the servants around Sima Yi appeared in his own house, which made him feel like a stick in his throat.

Zhao Qinan treated Li Zhang cautiously, clothed him well, arranged for servants, tried every means to find out his purpose of entering the Zhao residence, but Li Zhang always responded with that set of excuses.Just when Zhao Qinan was exhausted patiently, he received a secret letter from his family, telling him that Sima Yi was seriously ill and stranded on the way, and asked him to try to kill Sima Yi, creating the illusion of illness and death, so as to avoid future troubles.

Zhao Qinan immediately felt relieved.Now that the second prince has made up his mind, Sima Yi will only be a dead oriole, no longer a threat to him, no matter how powerful he is.

So he asked Li Zhang kindly for the last time, but he simply asked Sima Yi's whereabouts.Li Zhang shook his head and said that he didn't know, so he took Li Zhang into the execution hall, pointed to the torture tools all over the room, and asked Li Zhang if he was afraid.

Li Zhang was silent for a long time, nodded and admitted: "I'm afraid."

Zhao Qinan said with a satisfied smile: "Young Master Li is the prince's treasure, so naturally he has never experienced such hardships. I am also a person who cherishes the fragrance and cherishes jade. As long as I know the whereabouts of the prince, I can guarantee that Mr. Li and the prince will be together in the end."

Li Zhang hated such a statement deeply, and he didn't think about why Zhao Qinan suddenly wanted to know Sima Yi's whereabouts. He only thought about Jin Yi and Sima Yi being together, and that was something that Zhao Qinan absolutely couldn't know.

Zhao Qinan, who had exhausted his patience, finally put Li Zhang on a torture device, and Li Zhang's performance was indeed as he expected.

Just received half of the leather rope of Weizi, Li Zhang was already screaming in pain.The torturer looked at him innocently, and Zhao Qinan also squatted down dumbfounded: "It hurts, right? Ten fingers connected to your heart! I said earlier that your delicate body can't bear such hardships, but you You have to ask for trouble! Look at your hand... I really see You Lian, the prince will feel so bad after seeing it! Come on, just say it obediently, it will be good for everyone!"

Li Zhang's eyes blurred from the pain, but he shook his head and said, "I... we... met an assassin in Linjiang, and I... ran away. I came here alone, and... exhausted all my troubles, and... ...didn't wait until they..."

Zhao Qinan interrupted him sharply: "You are the prince's favorite male servant, how could you just run away?! Don't think that you can hide it from me with clever words and tricks! This officer has tried countless cases, and no one can escape. This officer's method!"

"It's true... I don't know the whereabouts of the prince!" Li Zhang bowed helplessly, with blood dripping from his fingers.

Zhao Qinan got up in shock, and said coldly: "I don't know what is good or bad! I want to see how long you can last!"

The leather rope was slowly tightened again, and bones appeared between the fingers.Li Zhang was in pain like a fish out of water, he opened his mouth wide in vain, but could no longer make a sound.His whole body was restrained and he could only shake his head in vain. His bun had long been undone, and his messy black hair was drenched with sweat, sticking to his face in strands, making his pale face even less human.

The torturer knew that he couldn't stand it, so he didn't use as much force as in the past, but rubbed it slowly, sometimes loosening and sometimes tightening, holding Li Zhang on the verge of coma, but he never gave him the relief he hoped for. .The delicate skin and flesh could not withstand such repeated rubbing, and it rotted into blood plasma and meat paste. The torture tools scraped and rubbed the finger bones, and the sound was so horrifying that one's scalp went numb.Li Zhang trembled like chaff, if he hadn't been held down tightly, he would have broken his finger bones.He didn't know when tears were streaming down his face, but he still refused to tell Sima Yi's whereabouts.

The shadow of the sun gradually turned to the west from the top of his head. Li Zhang had already exhausted his physical strength and struggled as if he was dying, but he was still cruelly not allowed to lose consciousness.The tortured phalanx finally cracked unbearably, Li Zhang tilted his head and passed out completely.

Zhao Qinan sat coldly in the chair, watching the man unload the bloody instrument of torture from Li Zhang's hands, his eyes became more and more horribly cold.He actually believed in the love between Li Zhang and Sima Yi even more, he was amused by Li Zhang's innocence, and gradually became contemptuous of Sima Yi.I heard people say it was just a joke, but now that I see it, I believe that Sima Yi really put his heart into the word "love", no wonder he was made big by the second prince!

Li Zhang was lying on the ground lifelessly, and the setting sun slanted on half of his face, depicting deep and heavy traces of pain, like the cornerstone of a river bank that has been weathered by wind and waves.

Zhao Qinan looked at the sky, then at the unconscious Li Zhang, after some thought, decided to let Li Zhang rest for a night.Look at his weak and delicate appearance, the pain for one night may make him more fearful and frightened than continuing to torture him, and tomorrow will be twice the result with half the effort.The more he thought about it, the more satisfied he became, and he simply ordered someone to feed Li Zhang some medicine, and then left the torture hall in a happy mood.

Since Zhiqing knew Li Zhang's identity, she had changed from initial suspicion and anger to bewilderment and worry.She didn't understand why Li Zhang came to rescue her, and she didn't understand why he could ask Zhao Qinan directly for someone based on his status, but he wanted to sneak in and make some plans.She didn't really believe in the hope her mother instilled in her since she was a child, and she never felt that being favored by the old lady would really have a good future.She just obediently made her mother happy, and she simply kept herself from thinking about it.

The appearance of Li Zhang made that vain hope suddenly real, and it also made her really think about the future for the first time.She couldn't forget the family-like warmth that Li Zhang brought her in just a few days. Even though she was mostly cold when she heard his identity, now she has been warmed by the memories, and even gradually became hot.

She carefully asked the old lady about the third prince, and the old lady was still afraid, and she was even more disgusted and contemptuous of Li Zhang.She babbled only calling Li Zhang a goblin, hated herself for comparing him with her own children, and worried that Li Zhang would bring trouble to the Zhao family. She was chanting Buddha, but in her heart she vaguely hoped that Li Zhang would disappear completely.

Zhiqing could only talk about the influence of the third prince from the power of the third prince to Li Zhang's influence. At least she persuaded the old lady not to let Li Zhang have trouble, so she went to visit Li Zhang in the name of the old lady.

After only two days of delay, Zhiqing heard that Li Zhang was taken to the execution hall again, and the shock was no small matter.

She is a smart person, and she immediately understood that Zhao Qinan was ready to kill, and if the third prince was not protected, Li Zhang would surely die as well, so she couldn't help but feel anxious.

Zhiqing wandered anxiously outside the punishment hall for a long time, only to see someone bringing the doctor from the family over, she hurriedly came out to laugh with her, took the medicine box from the medicine boy, and begged Doctor Zhang charmingly: "The old lady is afraid of Li The young master has something to do, let Zhiqing come over and take a look. Zhiqing was afraid that the master would be unhappy, so she dared not go in. Why don't Zhiqing go in with Mr. Zhang, and take a look at it so that you can do business with the old lady."

Dr. Zhang has been in the Zhao Mansion for many years. Zhiqing is a good doctor, and he would go to his small courtyard to help pack the medicinal materials from time to time. He is also smart and studious, so he loves this little girl very much, and has a bit of the friendship of a half-teacher.Therefore, seeing what Zhiqing said, he nodded and said: "The master has already gone back. It's just that there is a strong smell of blood, aren't you afraid?"

Zhiqing took a deep breath, glanced at the dark gate in awe, and asked with a trembling voice, "Master Li, has Mr. Li been sentenced?"

"if not?"

"...Then I'll have to take a look..."

Dr. Zhang looked at Zhiqing's instantly pale face, shook his head, and walked into the execution hall.

It was dark, and the execution hall was dark.Zhiqing could not stop the churning in her stomach when she smelled the stench coming from her nostrils, but because she couldn't see, she was less frightened and afraid.

The accompanying boy lit a torch and stuck it into a pedestal on the wall.The flames reflected a circle of light, shining on Li Zhang who was lying lifelessly on the ground.Dr. Zhang felt for the pulse carefully, and was quite satisfied with the pulse that was not broken. Then he took Li Zhang's hand to examine the injury carefully.

Li Zhang, who was in a coma, twitched with pain from this simple touch, and Zhiqing even dropped the medicine box in shock after seeing it clearly.

Dr. Zhang looked up at Zhiqing, and sighed slightly: "Go out. He's fine, just a few fractured bones."

Zhiqing burst into tears instantly, and tightly covered her mouth to prevent herself from crying out loud.She didn't dare to look, but she couldn't look away. Every unconscious twitch of Li Zhang made her heart ache.She spent the days like years watching Dr. Zhang give medicine to Li Zhang, then give Li Zhang an injection to wake him up, and ask the servant to feed him water.

Seeing the boy's deliberate clumsiness, Zhiqing couldn't help but handed a piece of jewelry to the boy, begging in a low voice: "Let Zhiqing do this kind of thing, brother, let's go outside to rest. Zhiqing is grateful Let Zhiqing repay the kindness of Mr. Li for saving him!"

The little servant was so happy that he didn't have to serve Li Zhang, so he handed over the things to Zhiqing, and then went outside to chat with Dr. Zhang.

With tears in her eyes, Zhiqing lifted Li Zhang up and slowly fed him water.Li Zhang was so soft that he didn't have any strength at all, he just looked at Zhiqing fixedly, and Zhiqing couldn't help crying: "Why are you bothering? Zhiqing has always been very good here, there is no need... "

Li Zhang closed his eyes, tried to gather some strength, looked at Zhiqing persistently, and said in a low voice: "...go,...leave..."

His voice was so low that it was almost inaudible, and it was so hoarse that there was only breath, but it contained incomparable persistence and determination.Zhiqing cried so much that she bent down, leaned against Li Zhang's ear and asked, sobbing, "What about you? What should you do??"

Li Zhang shook his head slightly, still with a low hoarse voice that was hard to hear, comforting Zhiqing: "I...don't speak,...he...wouldn't...kill me."

"But..." Zhiqing couldn't continue, crying more and more sadly.

Li Zhang really wanted to pat her, but his hand didn't look like his own: "It hurts for a while...it's...passed,...it's not...it didn't hurt..."

Zhiqing shook her head desperately, but there was nothing she could do to help Li Zhang, so she could only agree in a very low voice: "Zhiqing go out and beg him, beg him to save you!"

Li Zhang smiled wryly when he heard this, but told Zhiqing again: "I... am not... Young Master."

Zhiqing was puzzled, but nodded obediently: "No one has ever done this for Zhiqing, you are Zhiqing's elder brother."

Li Zhang nodded with a smile, light jumped out of his gloomy eyes, and his lifeless face suddenly came alive.