without me

The rotten smell filled my nostrils, and I struggled to open my eyes, feeling the gradual return of consciousness.

Looking at the dim ceiling, I touched the surrounding ground and walls to confirm the degree of dilapidation here.

What a downfall...

The only eye-catching thing is that there is a Nuo face hanging directly in front of it. The bright colors seem out of place in this dilapidated house.

The people in the corner seemed to have noticed my sobriety, stepped on the shadows to the place, took off the mask, and put it on their own face.

The other party just walked to the part where the light penetrated in, and I could see clearly that he was indeed dressed like a beggar.

He interrupted immediately before I could speak, "Get out of here."

I was surprised for a moment and didn't ask why. I just fumbled for the long stick that was used as a crutch.

"There were rebels hiding in this area before, and it is estimated that they will be searched door to door."

Fortunately, he took the initiative to tell the current situation, but he didn't seem to like being asked questions, so he unexpectedly answered another question in my mind.

"Looking at the speed of the people and horses, most of them are at stake," he said, "Maybe He Huang, it's too late."

Too late?Why?

I was startled to realize that I was still too young and ignorant of the world, and I couldn't understand why I was caught off guard by the court and couldn't resist.

It can't be calculated at all.

I obeyed the beggar and went out from the broken house. I couldn't adapt to the glare of the light for a while, and I stood for a while before taking a step.

But a new confusion appeared again, should I go to Huguo Temple to find Lao Liu?Meet Jiang An directly.

According to the beggar, I was unconscious for half a day, and it was already morning.

Pressing the sides of his forehead, he reluctantly walked to his expected temporary destination.

On the way, there were a lot fewer people watching than yesterday, and I don't know where they went. Anyway, it's wrong no matter how you look at it.

Deliberately walking down the path, I was careful not to let anyone notice me, but there was a scene of lights and festoons in front of me.

Where did this go?

I silently saw not far away, the gleaming word "Shen Mansion", and stopped in my tracks.

The congratulations got into my ears vaguely, and I don't know if it's what I thought.Until Shen Shijie couldn't bear the loneliness and walked out of the door, looking proudly at his father and the slightly relieved old Mrs. Shen who lowered his demands for compromise.

People on the side of the road talked about it, saying that the young master married the only daughter of the deceased housekeeper, and they laughed at the inappropriate family.

And Shen Junshe welcomed the guests with a smile on his face, thinking that as long as he didn't bring Zhangtai people home, he could say anything, anything...

Just as it was bustling, suddenly a group of soldiers on horseback stopped in front of Shen's residence.

Oops!

I quickly hid in a corner and walked around the back of Shen's residence.

The bewildered and frightened yelling and chasing wave after wave, what was supposed to be a happy scene suddenly turned into hell on earth.

After a long time, many people in Shen's residence were bound with hemp rope or chains, among them was Shen Shijie.When he stepped out of the threshold, his face was extremely pale, and the piece of red cloth tightly held in his hand was thrown on the ground.

Maybe someone died in front of him. I sighed that I was able to distinguish a large red blood trace from the wedding dress.

……

Sudden thoughts of intolerance and fear arose, and when all the people and horses had evacuated to the next target, I sneaked into Shen's mansion in a strange way.

There was already a large banquet inside, some servants or maidservants who were obviously struggling, and some family members were stabbed with deep wounds, lying motionless on the ground with their eyes wide open.

At the end of my sight, I fixed my eyes on a bright red.

The stick made an aggressive and rapid sound, and the leg that was dead like them couldn't exert any strength.

I intended to squat down but couldn't do it, so I had to sit on the blood-stained ground.

I couldn't calm down even after taking deep breaths several times. With dim eyesight, I carefully stretched out three fingers and lifted the red hijab.

Familiar faces become strange and startled, eyes are wide open and the rest of the tears are still flowing down the clean face, the mouth tightly sewn by the thread is also struggling to open slightly to expose the teeth, as if it was used before death. Use all your will to shout something.

what is it……

Covering the other's tear-soaked eyes with his hands, he closed them quietly.

The inner struggle was no less than being punished by Jiang Youwei for the first time as a child. I also closed my eyes and obeyed my last wish.

I held it up behind the red clothes, I didn't want to see the hideous scars, but I numbly compromised in the end.

Looking straight is nothing but facing the truth.

I feel the same bump when I hold my arms, whether I press it or play with it, it only explains one thing——

From Wen Liu's hands to his shoulders, everything was broken.

Comparable to my limp, to the point of being completely immobile... totally hopeless.

I struggled to turn her over, and a large piece of Xifu was torn off the back of her neck.Thinking of it this way, it is exactly the same as the fragment that fell from Shen Shijie's hand, even the height of the blood stain is the same.

……

Wen Liu's sword was wounded in front of him, no doubt he was dragged in front of him forcefully to block the sword.

...Maybe, maybe so, maybe not.

If not, the perfectly matching part is too coincidental, and Shen Shijie is that kind of person.

It's useless to think about it now.

I carried Wen Liu's body on my back with difficulty, and left under everyone's astonished eyes.

In the palace, the guards surrounded Shen Shiyun, who was forced to kneel on the ground with his hands behind his back.

The person in front of him didn't panic at all, but said calmly: "I know what King Guangxian has done behind his back, I know very well."

Shen Shiyun struggled to get up, raised his knife again and swung at the immoral and incompetent emperor.

"I gave you a chance." The other party looked at the former courtier at his feet, "Well, it seems that your Shen family... has been arrested."

As soon as he finished speaking, he leaned over, his expression was still flat but his eyes were like a wild wolf glowing with brilliance.

"General Shen, Shen Shiyun, you can bear the charge of regicide."

Shen Shiyun snorted with disdain, "I can afford it, even sitting down."

That's right, it doesn't hurt to implicate the Nine Clans.

He gritted his teeth and clench his words, as if he wanted to tear off the opponent's flesh out of thin air, "...as long as we can tear you off the dragon chair, we will go to hell together."

The other party asked indifferently: "Where do you start?"

"where?"

"Well, as long as you send the idle team nearby, we can regain the northern border... It's only a small gap, a small gap."

"And you chose to sacrifice us?"

"You know that so many people don't need to die. You know that even if they have an advantage, we also have it!"

"Do you still dare to say a necessary sacrifice? What face do you have to say that it is a necessary sacrifice."

"You have repeatedly disobeyed the generals of the military camp... you have ignored the suggestions of the generals! The land in your hands is lost inch by inch!"

He said without any waves: "My country, I have my own means."

Shen Shiyun spit out a mouthful of saliva, and spat fiercely at the other party, but because of the position, it only landed on the bottom of that person's feet.

"Your country?"

"One keeps shrinking, and as far as the eye can see, everyone lives like a grandson!"

"do you know?"

"...You know what it means to be devastated."

Immediately afterwards, there were continuous, thin and loud laughter.Shen Shiyun raised the corner of his mouth and stared at the other party with wide eyes.

"When the king loses his ministers, the dragon becomes a fish, and when the power returns to his ministers, the mouse becomes a tiger... It's a pity."

"Jiangshan is in my sleep in the military tent...in my dream after closing my eyes, not in your hands"

"Give it to me...remember it."

The eyebrows of the person in front of him twitched subconsciously, and his originally plain expression suddenly became stern and cruel.

He stood up and turned his back, ordering in a low voice with difficulty in distinguishing emotions.

"Take Shen Shiyun down and hang his head at the gate of the city, as a warning to others."

Then, the man pointed to a few soldiers, "Go, ask the dignitaries of Huguo Temple."

"Keep an eye on the rest, so that no one with wolfish ambitions will refuse to give up."

The recent business of Hongxinglou can be said to be bleak, and no one will come to the place where the madam died for the time being, except for some who have friendship with the girl.

Shuitao is worried about how to maintain her livelihood when she is free. Maybe after this chaotic time passes, she will probably lead everyone to find another way out.

She temporarily provoked the leader of the Red Apricot House, and occasionally fried melon seeds for everyone. Many guest officials also liked it, and even offered to pay for it.

It's just that I don't know where this little boy has gone... There have been a lot of bad things recently, maybe he committed a Mercury retrograde?Let's save money and hire some thugs.

While thinking wildly, footsteps came from the door, Shuitao sharply stood up from the chair to greet her, and subconsciously blurted out.

"Guest officer, you..."

Seeing a gorgeous wedding dress, it seemed to be soaked in hawthorn, and my doll-like body would fall down on my back at any time.

This is indeed the case, even I couldn't move forward due to stumbling along the way, although Wen Liu's body was carefully supported, I wanted to do my best to protect the last bit of her existence.

The only guests who hesitated and wanted to patronize Hongxinglou were too scared to show up.In the upstairs room, with the exclamation of the stairs and the underground, people poked their heads out to look.

Shuitao opened her mouth hoarsely and couldn't speak, but she almost fell to the ground after seeing Wen Liu's face, and the image of the bustard lying in a pool of blood involuntarily appeared in her mind.

I quietly said: "...the Shen family is involved in regicide, and is an important figure in the rebel party, so they should be punished for the crime of exterminating the whole family."

At this time, I had no strength left, so I gritted my painful teeth and headed for the back door.Outside the curtain is the scenery Wen Liu is most familiar with now. The willow tree has lost its splendor, and there are a few dead leaves that have not been picked clean on the eaves.

Every step is like traveling thousands of miles, and every step seems to be non-existent. Stepping on the land of consciousness, the courtyard surrounded by a grain of dust is the sense of belonging that Wen Liu once told me.

After fleeing continuously for a year, I found that the wall gradually compromised after seeing my appearance clearly, and stayed in place quietly until night fell and the people who had gone away returned.

I staggered into the threshold, and unwillingly placed Wen Liu's body on the bed, took her hands and placed them on both sides steadily, and it was true that I was fast asleep.

The red hijab and the wedding gown were replaced by clothes with simple patterns. I stared at her closed eyes, as if waiting to open them tomorrow. I climbed to the top of the wall and looked out, shouting happily that the wind is blowing, and I can go It's time to fly a kite.

Well, I promised her.

Entering the door was a fact seen by almost everyone in the vicinity, and the hunt would soon be upon me, not for long.

Shuitao couldn't control her hands and feet, and anxiously wanted to go to the backyard to find out the situation, but she just stayed to appease the girls who were hit again.They talked about how they couldn't believe it, and after the first cry came out, they all fell silent.

After waiting for a while, I only heard a large number of moving footsteps in the distance, and paused for a while as if asking for something.

The two curtains of the back door were carefully opened, and Shuitao saw that I was wearing the clothes that Wen Liu made big years ago, with only a simple wooden hairpin on my head, and the bottom of the long stick used as a walking stick was covered with dirt.

The other party didn't say anything more about it, so I asked in advance: "... If possible, would you bury her?"

The group of people around here all had mixed expressions, and their attitudes were exactly the same on the outside and inside, unwilling to endure such things, Shuitao opened her mouth full of grease and breathed first, "..."

"Of course."

She paused, pretending to be calm and said: "The officers and soldiers will arrive soon, what are you going to do?"

"I?"

Before waiting for an answer, the two women hurriedly fell into the Hongxing Building from outside the door, "Shuitao!"

Among them, the one with the purple sachet on her back was nervously supporting the girl with the blue sachet on her waist, looking very painful.

"ginger--"

They noticed my existence before the words were finished. After breaking away from the dazed state, they immediately stopped talking and just covered their faces and looked up at the roof.

There was a time gap between the front and rear feet, and a group of officers and soldiers holding weapons held a portrait and shook it in front of everyone, glanced around indifferently, and frowned when they saw my face.

The leader wanted to ask everyone first, but now he pointed at me and asked loudly, "You! Where did you come from? What's your name?"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, as a cripple, I stumbled and walked in front of the opponent with very awkward steps, and the wooden stick fell to the ground as soon as I let go.

I stretched out my two arms and handed them to the other person's face, unconsciously showing a relaxed smile.

In any case, there is no escape.

"My name is Jiang Xue, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family."

"Take me away."

The other party looked at each other with the officers and soldiers behind him, and then a man was holding a hemp rope, tied my two wrists tightly together, then grabbed the other end of the rope, and pulled me out of the door of Hongxinglou.

After disappearing, the leader looked around and asked: "This person also brought a corpse, and he is also a person who should be punished. After death, we should deal with it."

Shuitao's face froze, probably because of the shock, she finally lost her mind, and sarcastically said.

"I never imagined that the son of the county grandpa's family would be so diligent when he got an errand...it's really interesting."

"The pursuit of rebels is such a dangerous matter, but Madam Ling doesn't care about it."

In the process of speaking, the other party gradually lowered his face and ordered.

"Search for me!"

"How dare you? I won't let you!"

She pulled the table next to her to block between the two of them, making a loud "boom".Those officers and soldiers had already started to run to the next room or the attic, and there was a lot of movement.

"...You smashed my Hongxing Building, and you still want to come and take my Hongxing Building."

As soon as the words were finished, Shuitao spat hard on the other party.

"I bother!"

"If you don't take the deed of sale in this business, who will recognize it? Let me tell you, no one will recognize it."

Before the other party's fingertips moved slightly, as if trying to refute her, Shui Tao refused to let go of her aggressiveness.

"Okay, okay, we are colorful flags, shameless things."

"Try it, kill me too, and take my people away."

He subconsciously wanted to say something, but in the end he remained silent, his frowning brows showed no signs of relaxing.

"..." He waved his hand and shouted to the upstairs in a low voice, "Let's go, go to Ye's house."

Those officers and soldiers who were so busy that they wished to tear down the entire Hongxing Building stopped immediately and came back behind him one after another.

He took a deep look at each other with his dry and dull eyes, and said, "It's not that there is no precedent for buying the corpse back for burial, we owe nothing to each other."

Shuitao was stunned when he heard this, and quickly took out the money bag from his arms before he turned to leave, and slammed it heavily on the opponent's back, making a dull sound, as if it was going to crush the floor when it fell.

Turning his head, he saw Shuitao smiling exaggeratedly and ferociously, with his eyes wide open and his hands propping up on the separate table.He hesitantly picked up the purse and counted it, it was almost the price that could buy the corpse.

Shui Tao gritted her teeth and raised the corner of her bright red mouth, staring at the other party and said: "...do you owe each other?"

"My old lady will tell you today that you were doomed when you came here with that tigress on your back, and you were doomed when she led people to smash our Hongxing Building, and since you didn't take dissuasion to heart, It is doomed when you still come to Zhangtai to enjoy yourself!"

"I don't want to clear the reputation, I deserve it, I will take it on my own. Let us go to the old man's house to pay off your debt!"

"Before that, I was your creditor for the rest of my life! You don't even want to live your life in peace!"

Amidst the absurd scolding, the other party resisted the thought of shaking his head and talking, and took everyone away from the red apricot building, which was full of nonsense, and disappeared far away at the corner of the street.Only Shuitao's voice gradually weakened, and finally she just opened her mouth and breathed silently, and bit her lower lip tightly, unable to distinguish the fat and blood in her mouth.

Behind them, the two girls with sachets were hugging each other and weeping, taking deep breaths and screaming silently.

No one knows anymore.

In the Huguo Temple, a novice cautiously walked towards the door and knocked hurriedly. He thought it would be the group of people who "visited" last time, but when he opened the door, he saw two people in coarse clothes.

"Let's find Jiang Zhuiyan!"

Yingxiu patted the panting Jiang An on the back, finally recovering.

After the two of them decided to follow Jiang Xu's choice, they took the money and first looked for a safe job.It happened that I was very lucky to meet an elderly couple who had a field and a simple house under their hands, and they kindly took them in.Knowing that they wanted to make a living, he introduced them to the restaurant opened by his son, and the business was booming.

Jiang An cleared his throat, and tried to take a step forward to approach the Huguo Temple, suppressing his panic but still telling the other party that he couldn't hide it.

"Ms. Jiang's relatives are being escorted to the execution ground for execution...!"

Shamini stretched out her slender and white hands, constantly reassuring the other party not to panic, and turned around to call Jiang Zhuiyan, who was holding her knees outside the door, sitting on the floor listening to the chanting, but looked very haggard and out of her mind.

At this time, she was still obsessed with being arrested and shaved, and she was deeply afraid of the panicked look when she was with Jiang An and Yingxiu.

Jiang Zhuiyan knew that something was wrong, so she pulled the two of them over and asked loudly.

"How is it? How is my brother? Has he escaped!"

The two were dumbfounded, as if neither of them had the heart to tell her the progress of the situation.

In the end, Yingxiu couldn't bear the pain of struggling in her heart, and instead gently held the opponent's tightly clenched hands.

"Fifth Young Master... Fifth Young Master was shot dead in the mansion on the spot because of his resistance."

"The rest were escorted to the execution ground, including Mrs. Dong and the young master who were found outside."

Varied……

Jiang Zhuiyan tried to find the flaws in the discourse in order to deny its authenticity.

However, she did not find it.

"I……"

The sudden movement frightened everyone, Jiang Zhuiyan squeezed the opponent's shoulders regardless of the image and pressed it hard, the broken eyes lost the charm of the past, leaving only grief, still deceiving himself and others in disbelief.

"Take me!" Yingxiu didn't expect the strength of the other party to be so strong. Jiang Zhuiyan shook her shoulders, staggered and couldn't stand still. "Brother is still alive, brother is still alive, let me see him!"

"...I, let me go to the execution ground!"

The shamani quickly supported Jiang Zhuiyan who was about to fall, "Don't panic, benefactor, if you go like this, someone will definitely catch you and lose your life."

"What can I do!" She shook off the hand on her arm that controlled her, and her voice pierced through the surroundings, "I can't just stay like this until the news of my brother's death comes one after another!"

At this time, there was the sound of unhurried footsteps behind him, and Gu Deng stepped on the fallen leaves that hadn't been cleaned and walked in front of everyone.

Jiang Zhuiyan suddenly "blessed his soul", and fell in front of the other party with a blank mind.

"Master Gudeng, I, I am ordained!"

"Please help me, I am a monk, I will become a monk now!"

As soon as the words fell, Gu Deng's downcast eyes suddenly dimmed, and he shook his head helplessly.She was about to refuse and tell the other party that this kind of mentality was wrong, but Wen Ren's voice sounded in her ear.

"Shave it off."

Wen Ren shook off the sleeves covering his hands, clasped his hands together silently and said to Gu Deng: "Let her shave."

Jiang Zhuiyan, who heard the agreed answer, seemed to have seen hope, and the smile that had just burst out was suddenly replaced by choked sobs and tears, and she lay down on the ground heavily and licked her head in a daze.

Seeing this, Gu Deng said nothing, squatted down and helped Jiang Zhuiyan up.

"……it is good."

She led the other party to the front of the Buddha, looked back and saw the head of Wen Ren nodding, suddenly raised the corner of her mouth helplessly.

"I am the barber, leading you from now on... to stop evil and do good."

When the officers and soldiers came outside the Huguo Temple, they looked up and saw a girl in the same dress but without hair, rushing out of the temple, hurriedly rushing to nowhere, followed by a man in coarse cloth one girl.

One of them narrowed his eyes, unfolded the folded portrait, and said, "That person, could it be the one we are looking for?"

"It seems to be, the face is quite similar."

"Then what should I do?" He adjusted the accessories that were about to slip off, "I remember saying that if you become a monk, you don't have to worry about it."

The other party couldn't help but hissed and said, "Is she a monk?"

"It seems that the hair is gone."

"...No matter what, go up and confirm first."

No matter how long the distance was, Jiang Zhuiyan couldn't feel the soles of her feet. She only knew to run to the place Jiang An said, for fear of missing the chance to see him for the last time.

Surprised eyes and discussions from passers-by came from around. Everyone felt that they had seen something weird and ridiculous, and even more clearly scolded him for being neither fish nor fowl.

And I can't take care of so much anymore.

At the end of the line of sight, there are many officers and soldiers pressing down on the death row prisoners, step by step towards the punishment of life.