The first work of the imperial prison

Ye Baiting was holding the little rabbit lamp, and when he didn't know what to do, Qiu Xunqing had already turned and walked forward, talking about the case in a decent manner while walking.

"Guan Xiuzhu died on the seventh day of July last year, and the streets of the capital city were so lively that day, with fireworks blooming, bright lights, and crowds of people on the street..." Qiu Yiqing looked up at the sky, "It's about this time .”

Ye Baiting didn't check the time when he went out. Before talking about this matter with Qiu Xingqing, it was still dark outside, but they chatted for a long time, and this time is at least the end of You Hour, around seven o'clock in the evening.

Going out at this time, and it's Qixi Festival, could it be possible that this beautiful woman in charge of repairing bamboo has an appointment?

But Qiu Yiqing said: "At this time, Guan Xiuzhu left the official office."

Ye Baiting: ...

Oh, he was wrong, this is probably not a pink story about a beautiful woman having a date, but a tragic life of a [-] social animal, working overtime to this kind of time.

"So you're going home?"

"At the beginning of the journey, it was indeed the direction to go home," Qiu Yiqing said, "There is very little information written on the paper, we can try to find it."

"Is the official office near here?"

"Not far, this is the only way to go."

"Was it a long way home for him?"

"Not short."

Ye Baiting looked around: "I come home from work so late, there is a high probability that I will miss my meal. If I were him, I would probably be very hungry. The first thing I notice may be food..."

It’s a holiday again, and the family is very busy. If you don’t cause trouble, don’t cause trouble. It’s good to find something to eat outside. Even if you miss your family and know that there will be food at home, you will probably buy some snacks to fill your stomach .

"I guess he's going to find something to eat?"

"Hungry?" Qiu Yiqing looked at Xiao Wuzuo's stomach, "Please eat some wontons."

Ye Baiting: "I didn't..."

He was just talking about the case seriously, but his stomach didn't cooperate with him, and he actually growled twice at this time, really hungry.

Well, he hasn't had dinner yet.

Ye Baiting followed Qiu Yiqing with a little rabbit lamp, and soon came to a wonton stall on the side of the road. The owner was a father and son. Or to collect money, the son just smiles and gestures when he sees people, probably has some obstacles in speaking, and is responsible for making wontons and noodles.

Although the stall is small, the soup has a strong fragrance. Ye Baiting couldn't wait to taste the small wontons as soon as they were served, the taste was very good!

Qiu Xunqing looked into the bright eyes of the young man: "How?"

Ye Baiting nodded vigorously: "It's delicious!"

"As long as you like it."

Just at this time, the old man in a white apron came over to serve side dishes. When he left, he didn't step on the soles of his feet and swayed.

The old man stood firm, turned around and thanked: "Thank you, the young man is nice. He looks stern, but he has a good heart. My old bone is only safe until now because of everyone's care. I will add a side dish to you later. , just be careful, don't refuse."

Ye Baiting smiled: "Old man, please stop praising him, he, it's better to fight the injustice."

"Holding the injustice..."

Ye Baiting saw that the old man looked a little unusual, so he asked, "Have you seen many people who fight against injustice?"

"At my age, with legs and feet, I usually receive a lot of care from others, and I have seen many warm-hearted people. I asked the old lady at home to talk about it when they burned incense during the New Year. Good people have good rewards, but some people are really unlucky. Let's say last year's Qixi Festival ..." Seemingly aware that this topic was unlucky, the old man immediately stopped talking, "Hey, it's all in the past, let's not mention it."

When Ye Baiting saw the old god Qiu Suiqing, he didn't seem to notice anything unusual, and immediately understood that this man didn't come here to take him to eat, he just came to inquire about news, before Guan Xiuzhu died, he should have come here to eat wontons!

He asked again: "Last year's Qixi Festival? I also heard something, old man, you are talking about a young man named Guan Xiuzhu?"

"Guan Xiuzhu? Who?" The old man looked bewildered.

Ye Baiting was startled, could it be wrong?

Chou Yiqing was still very calm: "A very handsome young man, he always passed by here last summer, with a wide forehead and high nose, the corners of his mouth are slightly raised, he seems to be smiling even if he is not smiling, he has a good heart, a very fair life, and thick eyebrows .”

"Oh..." The old man remembered, "So his name is Guan Xiuzhu."

Qiu Xunqing: "Do you know each other?"

The old man: "I don't know your name. Speaking of this appearance, it is quite handsome. Last year it was summer. During those days, I always came to my stall to eat wontons. Many times, I didn't even have time to change into my official uniform. I don't know." Which yamen is so busy, they don't let people rest... Qixi Festival is also here, other young people are in pairs, but he is alone, and he is still frowning. I ate in silence and didn't speak, but when I was picked on by a customer, I pushed me, and stood up to help..."

Ye Baiting: "He is frowning, does he have something on his mind?"

The old man nodded: "That's right, I've been keeping a straight face, but this kid has always been here, and he doesn't look like a person with a bad temper. What happened to him?"

"Something happened..."

"It should be. After talking for a few words, he laughed more, which is no different from his usual appearance."

"What did we talk about?"

"It's nothing special, just ask us how we are doing, how is our business, the rain in the south of the Yangtze River is a problem, and if we have been affected, have you heard any messy things... No matter how many things there are. gone."

The old man briefly talked about the situation that day, and there were guests coming, he quickly expressed his annoyance, and turned to entertain the guests.

After Ye Baiting finished eating a bowl of small wontons, warmth radiated from his heart, and his expression became a little lazy: "I have something on my mind... Could it be the corruption case?"

On the day of Guan Xiuzhu's death, the case had not only been released, but all the evidence was listed pointing to him. Although he was not finally convicted, the situation was very unfavorable. He should understand in his heart, and he was under a lot of pressure.

"Maybe." Qiu Yiqing stood up, "Let's go?"

"Yeah." Ye Baiting also stood up and stood by his side, "But he should be in a good mood? It's so difficult, so sad, and he can still remember to help others and not bring negative emotions to others."

"Then look down and you will know."

"Where to go next?"

"Here." Qiu Yiqing brought Ye Baiting to a lantern stall.

Ye Baiting looked up and felt that he was surrounded by lanterns, big and small, round and flat, and there were lanterns carved out of small animals. The texture was not all paper, and the four corners or the top were decorated with fine bamboo and wood carvings. , each one is very beautiful, the middle one is especially eye-catching, it is a moving lantern with eight faces, and it is very big!

There are many people around the stall, and everyone is guessing riddles. The stall owner said that there are fifty-eight out of fifty riddles that have been put out today. The revolving lantern was given away for nothing!

"This...is He? No, no, it's Xiang. How could He match up? No, Xiang is not right either..."

"It's Ting." Qiu Yiqing spoke.

The stall owner looked surprised, and pointed at Qiu Yiqing: "This young master got the answer right! That's right, it's Ting! This question is very difficult. In the past, so many people failed to answer it correctly. How can the young master guess it at a glance?"

Qiu Yiqing's gaze stayed on his little butler for a moment, and when he reached his mouth, he changed his direction: "I'm lucky."

The stall owner is also very face-saving: "Luck is part of strength! You are lucky, you should show it off!"

Ye Baiting: ...

Showing off...?As for Qiu Yiqing's stern face that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, where can he see it?

Qiu Yiqing seemed to be interested in guessing riddles, and slid his fingertips over a row of riddles hanging on the lantern: "Zhuo, vinegar, plum, kite, crabapple flower, leaf... Bai."

He answered the questions very quickly. He had read the riddles in his mouth, and he gave the answer almost without thinking. Dozens of questions.

Only one or two guesses were correct, and no one else was bothered to pay attention. Gu Zi quarreled, guessed more than five, everyone looked at him, stared intently, guessed more than a dozen, the surrounding applause was loud, and a group of people's eyes sparkled , with adoration on his face, [-] correct guesses... The surroundings were completely silent, and no one dared to speak.

Who is this? It's amazing!

"……White."

Qiu Xunqing has already guessed all the visible things in front of him. The last word '白' is clearly next to the crossword puzzle, but he has not guessed it. Ye Baiting thought it was too difficult, so let it go first. The reason for leaving it was not because it was too difficult, but because he had already guessed the word, implying his name.

The first 'Ting', the middle 'Ye', the last 'White'...

Ye Baiting didn't know if it was a coincidence or on purpose, the owner of the stall put up the riddle, and Qiu Xingqing didn't find it, but he still felt that his name was here...a little bit reddened at the base of his ears.

There are a total of 58 puzzles, and Qiu Xunqing has already answered [-] of them correctly, and more than half of them have to be saved for others to play, so he accepts them as soon as they are good, and does not look for riddles anymore.

Although the stall owner felt a little distressed, he happily pushed the biggest and most beautiful revolving lantern in the middle over: "Today's grand prize belongs to this young man!"

But Qiu Yiqing shook his head: "I don't need a beauty."

The stall owner paused for a moment: "...Young Master, is there anything else you're interested in?"

Qiu Yiqing pointed at one place, "Well, I just want a little rabbit."

The little rabbit is very small, not as big as his little finger. It is not a lantern. It seems to be folded out of hard cloth or thin bamboo. What kind of powder, it glows with a little bit of fluorescence at night, it is not considered a lantern, but it has a bright and dazzling color.

It seems to be a fashionable little thing this year. Many girls and children on the long street will wear one in their hair.

The stall owner's eyes fell on Ye Baiting.

The young man is not tall enough, with red lips and white teeth, picturesque eyebrows, and a pair of eyes that are particularly agile, as if he has walked through the spring, embraced all the peach blossoms, and slightly wet the apricot rain, making people unable to help but want to get closer and dress up.

His eyes lit up, and he instantly understood: "Okay, I'll get it for you right now!"

The little rabbit brought it over, and Qiu Yiqing walked towards Ye Baiting...

How could Ye Baiting not understand, she immediately took a step back, waved her hands and said, "I don't want..."

But Qiu Yiqing was very forceful, directly pressed his shoulders, and lightly brushed his hair with his hand: "I told you, it's not shameful to like small things."

Ye Baiting still had a hard time accepting it, first the little skirt, then the little rabbit, isn't this man's preferences a little different?

Pian Qiu Xun Qing was still attached to his ear, and whispered: "...I like it too."

It's real!His hobbies are very different!

Ye Baiting felt that his ears were going to go blind, so he rubbed subconsciously: "You have such...so...do you really like little rabbits?"

He doesn't mean to discriminate, everyone has the right to choose their own preferences, and others have no right to comment, he just thinks, it doesn't look like it at all!Having been together for such a long time, he is neither blind nor short-sighted. He always has basic observation experience. Qiu Yiqing's usual action habits are completely different from that of the little rabbit, and he has never shown it at all!

But Qiu Yiqing nodded, with a serious expression and seemed very determined.

My little assistant is wearing a silver-white cloak, wearing a furry collar, holding a bunny lamp in his hand, with a fluorescent bunny pinned in his hair, looking at him with bright eyes...

Yes, he just loves bunnies.

"Little rabbit, very good." Very cute.

"That's right, the young master looks good in it!" The stall owner could see it, and his eyes slid over Qiu Yiqing, "I really like him!"

Ye Baiting: ...

"Did you see it too?" It's the first time we meet, so you can see Qiu Xinqing's likes?

The stall owner handwritten it in his sleeve, which has a deep meaning: "This life is a taste, sometimes you can't look at the thing itself, you have to look at where the thing is, who it falls on, and what it is placed on..."

Ye Baiting lowered his eyes, he didn't know what he was thinking, the voices of the surrounding people seemed to be far away all of a sudden, and they couldn't disturb him.

Only then did Qiu Yiqing ask: "Last year's Chinese Valentine's Day, there was also someone who guessed [-] questions in a row and won the grand prize from you... Do you remember?"

"Remember, remember!" Because others guessed the question correctly, but did not take away his treasure, the stall owner chatted very much, "It's hard for me to forget, I set up a stall here every big day to sell Deng, you won dozens of questions here, just the two of you, no one else! It seems that the surname is in charge, what kind of bamboo is it called?"

Qiu Yiqing asked, "Is there anything special about him?"

"Special..." The stall owner thought for a while, "Extremely talented? Full of poetry and books? The young man is really good, and he looks good. Many girls are secretly watching him."

Qiu Yiqing: "What about the others?"

Stall owner: "Other...he seems to be left-handed?"

Qiu Xunqing: "How was he feeling that day? Did you see a smile?"

"Oh, it must have happened to me. I'm not in a good mood, but after guessing a few rounds of riddles, I gradually let go, and I laughed a lot. He looks very cheerful. When others talk about current affairs, he also follows Chatted."

"What have you been talking about?"

"Isn't there a flood in the south of the Yangtze River at that time? That's what most people talked about. The people who came to my booth to guess the riddles were young scholars who were quite ambitious. They said that if they had the opportunity to pass the exam in the future and become officials abroad, they must do more practical things. To avoid such tragedies from happening, Mr. Guan seems to think the same way, the few of them chat very speculatively, and their eyes are bright..."

Qiu Yiqing said again: "At that time, there was a flood, and all kinds of news from the court came out one after another. There should be many people who paid attention to and discussed this matter?"

Stall owner: "It's really quite a lot. I don't know how much I listened to just that night, and I can't even remember."

"Is there no objection? For example, scolding an official for corruption——"

"When you said that, I remembered it. It really happened! Someone scolded that officials are protecting each other and not doing human affairs. This young man in charge got agitated and criticized them all, saying that there is good in the world." Officials, there are lotus flowers that come out of the mud and are not stained, and there are officials who are always pure and kind. If people outside don't believe it, the lotus is still working hard against the dirty mud, trying to make the world clean with its own power. Isn't it too pitiful?"

As the stall owner said, he remembered another thing: "That's right! He is good-looking, he is too talented in answering puzzles in the past, and he smiles warmly and brightly. Whenever he talks about this matter, or when he is depressed, a little girl feels sorry for him." and threw a fruit at him."

"Fruit?" Ye Baiting was curious, "The kind you like?"

The stall owner nodded and gestured in his hands: "Yes, it's not big, just like this, it's too dark and I didn't see what it was, but what does it mean when the little girl throws these at the boy? She's shy, He ran away after throwing it away, maybe he didn't think about what to do, it was just a wish, but Mr. Guan looked down at the fruit, and was stunned for a long time."

Ye Baiting: "Been in a daze for a long time?"

"Yeah, I was stunned for a long time, and then I turned around and asked me if someone gave me the fruit. Is that the meaning?" The stall owner laughed, "I knew there was something wrong when I heard this, so I asked him Do you have a sweetheart? He said no, I thought it was wrong, so I asked again, was it given to you by someone else? This time he nodded, and said that there were not many fruits, only occasionally, other times, this person would help him soak Tea, sorting out paperwork, wiping the public case..."

"It's not obvious? Mr. Guan is a good-looking man, but he really doesn't understand. He doesn't have a sweetheart, but he has become someone else's sweetheart..."

"Who is this person?"

"Then I don't know. If it's not relative, how dare we ask too much about other people's affairs?"

……

Leaving the stall, I didn't speak for a long time during the day.

Qiu Xunqing: "Do you have any ideas?"

Ye Baiting nodded: "I am a little concerned about my sweetheart."

Chou Yiqing is not like Shen Jiang, who has to turn his head several times, maybe he needs someone else to click to understand. After a short pause, he and Ye Baiting have a tacit understanding: "The location."

Ye Baiting nodded: "Not bad."

The content of the chat between Guan Xiuzhu and the lantern stall owner mentioned paper pages, documents, and official cases. If it is just ordinary greetings, delivering tea and snacks, cleaning the table, the female family members in the back house can also do it. Only then.

He looked at Qiu Yiqing: "The officials of the household department...should all be men?"

Qiu Yiqing: "Yes."

There will only be colleagues in the government office, and there will be no women. Who is the person who likes to manage Xiuzhu?In the incomplete case files they had in their hands, there was no relevant record, and if it had nothing to do with the case at the time, it would not have been brought up on purpose.

After all, even the person involved hadn't reacted yet, Xu didn't know until this night.

"Would you like to pay attention to Guan Xiuzhu's working circle at that time? Where are those colleagues now? It would be more convenient if they are still in the household department..."

"I'll check it out."

Ye Baiting was thinking about something, his steps were a little slow, and when he raised his head again, he saw Qiu Yiqing's tall figure walking through the bright lights, he was not walking fast, but very steady, there was a faint white light falling on his shoulders, I don't know what it was The shadow of the lamp or the moonlight added a hazy feeling to him, as if walking from the depths of time, with indescribable thoughts.

Ye Baiting lowered his eyes, and his eyes fell on the rabbit lamp in his hand.

He looked at the round and fat rabbit lamp, stroked the little sunny rabbit in his hair, and then his eyes fell on the small bracelet on his wrist.

The small bracelet is finely twisted with gold wire, the pattern is not rich, it is a bit plain, it is very suitable for me, the small bell on it is exquisite and delicate, and it is quite cute, when it moves, it rings, when it takes a step, it shakes, as long as it stops, the enemy If you are suspicious, you will definitely know.

Sure enough, the next moment, Qiu Xunqing turned his head, took two steps back, and walked to his side: "Tired?"

Ye Baiting tightened his hand holding the rabbit lamp: "No."

But Qiu Yiqing had already carried the rabbit lamp over: "I'll get it for you." It seemed that he didn't understand that holding a rabbit lamp would tire him out, but he didn't say anything, just said, "This way you can see it anytime."

Ye Baiting: ...

It seems that only...

He tilted his head slightly, with a smile on his lips: "Thank you."

The young man's face reflected in the bright moon fireworks was really moving, he paused for a moment of hatred, and then walked forward as if nothing had happened: "If you are tired, tell me, I don't want your things, I just help you."

Ye Baiting looked at Qiu Yiqing, couldn't hold back, and smiled.

This picture is a little strange. Qiu Suanqing is too tall and mighty, and there is always a lingering murderous aura around him. Now he is carrying a round, fat, cute little rabbit lamp, which is a little bit out of place, but this one is not It's... quite cute.

Like it……

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing."

"Still not following?"

"……it is good."

The two then went to several places, all of which Guan Xiuzhu passed by on the night of the Qixi Festival. Some stalls were very familiar, having met or entertained him, but some did not remember very clearly, and almost forgot.

From this little bit of information, they tried their best to explore this person, what kind of personality he is, what hobbies he has, what kind of mental journey he walked through a long street that night, what he is firm about, and why he is troubled ...

Finally, I arrived at the gate of a slightly remote house.

Ye Baiting asked: "Who is in charge of Xiuzhu?"

Qiu Yiqing's head: "The house is not wide, but the depth is very special. The winding paths inside are secluded and the scenery is good. The officials of the household department once chose to have a drink here, not long before the crime. Go in and have a look?"

"it is good."

But before Ye Baiting got close to the door, the sole of his foot slipped, and he subconsciously fell forward. He didn't react in a hurry, and only had time to call the name of the man in front of him: "Hou Yiqing!"

Chou Yiqing's reaction was also very quick, she put her right hand on his hand, left her around his waist, and made a beautiful sliding step, turning in a circle.

Stop, it must have stopped steadily, and the way the corners of the clothes slid open is also very beautiful, but...it doesn't have to be.

Ye Baiting felt her heart beating a little faster.

Qiu Yiqing frowned: "Did you step on the ice?"

The sky is clear tonight, there is a bright moon like a disk, there has been no snow in the past few days, the temperature is still low, the snow has not disappeared before, the road will indeed be slippery, but what Ye Baiting picked is not ice, but a... small stone ?

The small stone was stepped on by him, rubbing off the blackness on the surface, and glowing faintly white under the moonlight.

No, this is not a pebble.

Ye Baiting picked it up and saw that it was very small and a bit dirty, but he was very familiar with this shape and size.

"It's the hookbone."

Human metacarpal bones.