worthless [rebirth]

"It's me." It was Cao Xun's voice, "I saw that the lights in your room are still on, so I guess you are still awake."

"..." Why did Cao Xun not knock on the door when he came at night, but stood outside the door?Frowning slightly, Jiang Chi turned his head to look at Chen Ling. The other party was also full of vigilance, and gave a faint "um", but Jiang Chi didn't open the door, and asked, "Brother Cao, what's the matter?"

"Is it convenient for me to come in?" Cao Xundao, he seemed to be smiling, his tone was very frank, and he didn't panic at all when he was discovered by eavesdropping.

Jiang Chi opened the door and saw that Cao Xun was dressed in a commoner dress with blue silk half-up, with a faint smile on his face and a polite look, he smiled politely, made way for Cao Xun to let him in, and said: "Brother Cao hasn't slept yet?"

"I used to read books at this time, but now that the Suiyu Pavilion has been re-inhabited after more than a month, I can't sleep." Cao Xun explained as he entered the room, and when he walked to Chen Ling's side, he said friendly He smiled and said: "Master Xiao set up a reception banquet for the two of you tonight, you should still get used to the taste of the food."

"Not bad." Chen Ling nodded.

Jiang Chi closed the door and walked back into the house, looked at Cao Xun, and said, "Brother Cao came here late at night, probably not just to ask if the food is delicious."

"Brother Mo said so." Cao Xundao raised his hand and shook the small wine jug in front of Jiang Chi, and said with a smile, "I know you two must have eaten a lot of good things for dinner. The head of the family will definitely not neglect the two of you. I still have a pot of century-old daughter red here, I wonder if the two of you can give me the next face and have a few drinks with me?"

"This..." Chen Ling looked up at Jiang Chi.

"Brother Cao, please sit down." Jiang Chi smiled and invited Cao Xun to take a seat, nodded to Chen Ling, and said, "I want to have a few drinks with Brother Cao. If you are tired, you can go to the inner hall to rest first." Sitting opposite Cao Xun, he reached out and lifted two teacups to make wine glasses and placed them in front of himself and Cao Xun.

"..." Chen Ling's drinking capacity was very small, and he was almost drunk after just one drink, so he didn't dare to drink much at the reception banquet just now, and only touched his lips when he had to drink.Seeing that Jiang Chi really wanted to drink with Cao Xun, he felt that it would be useless for him to stay, and it seemed awkward to watch the two of them drink, so he thought about it, and said, "In that case, I'll go to bed first. "Took two steps towards the inner hall, then turned back worryingly, and said: "Eldest, elder brother... You should also drink less, it's getting late, if you drink too much wine, you will have a headache when you wake up tomorrow morning."

"I know." He smiled and glanced at Chen Ling. Only he could understand the friendship in it.

"Brother Zi Ling seems to care about you very much." Cao Xun said casually as if joking, picked up the jug and poured half a glass into the glasses in front of the two of them.

Cao Xun's words seemed to be very useful to Jiang Chi. I saw Jiang Chi took a sip from his cup and said with a smile: "Among the many brothers in the family, he has the best and closest relationship with me. He is the closest to me. Of course I care."

Cao Xun spun the wine glass, lowered his head and smiled without saying a word.

"Don't talk about that." Holding back his smile, Jiang Chi said, "I just heard you say that we two brothers lived in this attic and you couldn't sleep. Could it be... the owner of this attic used to be on good terms with you?"

"Heh—Brother Mo's ability to read people's hearts is really admirable." Cao Xun admired, raised his head and drank the wine, his smile became bitter: "I didn't intend to say it at first, but since Brother Mo wanted to ask, I will Let's be blunt. This matter has been held back in my heart for a long time, and I believe in Brother Mo's character."

"What is it that can make Brother Cao so distressed?" Jiang Chi asked, picking up the jug and filling it up for himself, quietly observing Cao Xun's expression while drinking.

"Brother Cao, do you think Cao is just an aide of the Xiao family?" Cao Xun asked.

Jiang Chi said "Oh?", raised his eyebrows and said, "Isn't it?"

"I think of Cao Xun. I was literate at the age of three, familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of five, recited poems at the age of seven, passed the examination as a scholar at the age of 12, and at the age of 15..." Cao Xun's expression darkened. moving, caught in memory.

Jiang Chi didn't mean to disturb him, but just looked at him quietly.

Cao Xun seemed a little drunk. Although he had only had two glasses of wine, his cheeks had turned red and his eyes were a little blurred.Chen Nian's Daughter Hong tastes fragrant and slightly sweet, and I don't think there is anything special about it. In fact, the wine is very strong. For a scholar like Cao Xun, drinking two glasses is already very good.

After a while, Cao Xun came back to his senses. Seeing Jiang Chi looking at him, he approached Jiang Chi mysteriously, lowered his voice and said, "Do you know the young master of the Xiao family...Xiao Tong...?"

"..." Jiang Chi froze for a moment, although Jiang Chi had already guessed in his mind that this room might be Xiao Tong's residence when Cao Xun brought them to the Broken Jade Pavilion during the day, but now he heard Cao Xun ask with his own ears. , he was still a little surprised.Pretending to be ignorant, Jiang Chi poked his neck forward gossipingly, and said in a low voice, "I've heard of this name before, what's the matter?"

"He was imprisoned in the magistrate prison in Chaozhou..." Cao Xun said, his eyes reddened with the smell of alcohol.Sitting back on his stool, he poured his wine and said, "The day before I went to Beijing, I went to see him in the prison, and that prison...is not a place where a living person should stay at all."

"?" The hand holding the cup tightened. Before he came to Chaozhou, the news he got was that Xiao Tong was imprisoned by Wang Anzhi for leading the peasants to quarrel and refuse to pay extra taxes, and finally died in prison inexplicably.Lu He got the news from Cao Xun. Not only that, wasn't Cao Xun also hired by the Xiao family because of Xiao Tong's death, and went to Beijing to sue for impeachment?Why does Cao Xun now say that he met Xiao Tong before entering Beijing?Looking up and seeing Cao Xun's blushing, drunken eyes, Jiang Chi knew that the other party had started talking nonsense, so he didn't pay much attention.

However, what Cao Xun said, "Prison is not a place for living people" managed to attract Jiang Chi's attention, and he said, "Our Jiang country has strict laws, why is the prison not a place for living people?"

"Law? Hehe..." Cao Xun smiled disdainfully, and said: "What is the use of the law? The sky in Chaozhou is high and the emperor is far away. The Jiang family can fight the world, but they may not be able to defend the world. Not to mention foreign enemies, The emperor is sitting in the current position, how many "insiders" are watching? The emperor is still too young, haha, he is too young."

Jiang Chi frowned again. Cao Xun tonight made him feel a little different from the Cao Xun he knew before. The original Cao Xun was a gentle scholar, but now Cao Xun...Jiang Chi always feels that the other party seems to know something important , and he did not appear outside the door tonight purely for drinking.

"Indeed, the emperor has only been on the throne for only one year, and he is still young in terms of skill and strategy." Jiang Chi followed Cao Xun's words. He wanted to see how drunk the other party was and what he would say to him.

Hearing Jiang Chi's words, Cao Xun half-closed his eyes and said drunkenly, "I'll tell you... I'll tell you a secret. I'm actually not an aide of the Xiao family, but... but..." Standing up with his hands on the table, Cao Xun staggered Shaking to go out, said: "Actually, I belong to Xiao Tong...￥%@&..."

What Cao Xun said, Jiang Chi didn't hear clearly, but he heard the other party's last sentence clearly.

Cao Xun said, "You have been deceived, and so have I...he is not dead."

***

"Hmm..." Not long after Chen Ling fell asleep, he vaguely felt that someone was lying next to him, and made a soft nasal sound. Chen Ling moved a little to the inside of the bed to make room for Jiang Chi.Just turned over, but was hugged from behind and pulled into his arms.

"Cao Xun is gone...?" Half asleep and half awake, Chen Ling said softly, with a bit of sleepiness in his voice.

"Let's go." Jiang Chi pulled Chen Ling into his arms, pressing his cheek against the back of his neck, breathing hot.Although Jiang Chi's drinking capacity was not bad, and he didn't drink much just now, Nurhong had a lot of stamina, and now being around Chen Ling made Jiang Chi feel hot all over.

"Now that you're gone, go to sleep..." Chen Ling said softly. The weather has been getting hotter and hotter recently, and he was prone to sweating. He didn't notice anything unusual about Jiang Chi.

But Jiang Chi really didn't have those unscrupulous thoughts tonight, he just put his hands on Chen Ling's waist, calmly said, "Guess what Cao Xun said to me when he was drunk?"

"...um..." After running around for a day during the day, and having to deal with the shopkeeper of Linglong Pavilion and Xiao Yu, now Chen Ling was tired and sleepy, and couldn't open his eyes anymore.Hearing the man behind him trying to keep him from sleeping, Chen Ling was a little impatient, moved his body uneasily, and said, "What did you say? Don't hang on, I want to sleep..."

"Tsk, the little lazy cat knows how to sleep." Jiang Chi sighed, and said, "Did you know that Cao Xun told me...Xiao Tong is not dead, he went to the prison the day before he entered Beijing and saw that he was still alive?"

"Oh." Chen Ling replied, thinking that Jiang Chi had finally finished speaking, and just about to go back to sleep, he suddenly realized how important Jiang Chi had just said to him, and immediately lost his sleepiness.He turned over to face Jiang Chi, opened his eyes wide and said, "Xiao Tong is not dead? Is this news reliable?"

"Are you not sleepy anymore?" Jiang Chi smiled and pinched the tip of his nose.

Pushing away Jiang Chi's hand, Chen Ling glared at him, and said, "When is this still a joke? Let me ask you, do you think what Cao Xun said is credible? And if Xiao Tong is really not dead, why is Cao Xun still alive?" Why did he lie to Mr. Lu Helu when he went to sue the court?"

Jiang Chi said seriously: "At the beginning, the news that Xiao Tong was dead was said by him himself, and now the news that Xiao Tong is not dead also came from him. No matter what, one of the two must be true, it's just a question of which is true. False, it’s hard to make a conclusion now. As for why Cao Xun lied, it depends on which sentence he lied about.”

"If you said that, you didn't say it." Chen Ling rolled his eyes silently in his heart, and said, "If Xiao Tong is not dead, he is alive. Cao Xun's two words must be true and false. But if you don't know which is true Yes, it is of no use to us."

"Heh, what's the rush?" Seeing that Chen Ling was in a hurry, Jiang Chi said meaningfully, "You just need to check to find out which one is real."

"..." Seeing that the other party seemed to have a plan in mind, Chen Ling raised his face and said, "What do you want to do?"