Beauty is sick

败玉

Text/Mountain and River Tireless

The lamps and candles are shining, and the stream is luxuriant.

The moon and stars are scarce, and today is the Shangyuan Festival.

The long street leads directly to the Huai River. Although the Shangyuan night in Huaizhou is not as good as that in the capital, it has a special flavor.The crowd is bustling, the sound of silk and bamboo is endless, and there are lights and shadows everywhere you look.Years ago, there were heavy rains and frosts, and epidemic diseases were rampant. Now it is a lively scene that has not been seen for a long time.

Zhong Li didn't raise his eyes, just nodded slightly, and left in a hurry before the girl who rubbed shoulders with him could speak. After walking a few steps, he absently brushed the folds of his sleeves and straightened the crooked white jade belt.

The cool night breeze lifted the fragrance of powder on his sleeves, lingering on the tip of his nose for a long time, the cold fragrance with a faint scent of winter plum, elegant and elegant, relaxed his tense nerves.

Zhong Limei was working in the Yamen of Huaizhou, and he listened to the magistrate's instructions on what to do. It sounded like a guest, but it was a dog under the magistrate's hands, and he had to be there whenever he was called.

He is suave and suave, good at poetry, silk and bamboo, and beautiful. Because of his upright birth, he has countless close friends and beauties on one hand. He usually looks like the sky is falling down and is being covered by a quilt, but now he is abnormally serious. .

Not long ago, he was still in the gentle hometown of beauties. Today, during the Lantern Festival, he made an appointment with his confidante to share the love of Wushan.

During the Shangyuan night banquet, the city of Huaizhou was decorated with lanterns and festoons, and the lanterns along the street were in different shapes and there were many fresh patterns. Zhongli Mo's face was bitter, and he couldn't care less about admiring it, his mind was full of what the rumored servant said.

The magistrate invited him to the mansion, saying that he had something important to discuss, and he could not delay for a moment.

A few years ago, there was news that natural visions and frequent disasters occurred. The prince asked to go south to relieve the sage's worries and problems. He was accompanied by a young teacher and offered the gift of enlightenment.

After calculating the schedule, it's time to go to Huaizhou.

Zhong Limo knew in his heart that this important matter tonight might have something to do with the crown prince.

It was supposed to be a reunion day, the royal family was not particular about it, the crown prince was ignorant and wanted to leave Beijing, the Holy Majesty actually agreed, Zhong Limo was stunned, and swallowed back the rebellious words of "one sickness, one nest".

The magistrate's mansion is in the east of the city. Turn around from the long street and walk for a quarter of an hour.

The mansion occupies an entire half of the street. The magistrate is not a good bird, lacks governance ability, only good at flattery, corruption and bribery, all kinds of bribes, flattery and bullying, earning a lot of money, the mansion is magnificent, It's not worse than the mansions of princes and ministers in the capital.

Take people's money to eliminate disasters with others, no matter how you go in this world, in the end there is only one destination in the soil, and the things that happened before you can't be brought into the soil.Zhong Limei has always been open-minded, and they are all destined to die. He has never disliked the magistrate, but only treats him as a cash cow with a crooked neck, whether he is the people's fat or the people's ointment, as long as he can shake a little.

After all, the world has changed. Apart from power, money is the best thing to use. It is better to live than to die. No one will make life difficult for themselves.

Money can make ghosts turn the mill, and he likes to stay away from ordinary people, and he doesn't mind being the ghost of the mill.

The door of the mansion was closed tightly, and there were red lanterns hanging on both sides, swaying in the darkness with the wind, like two blood-oozing animal pupils, shining dimly.When I got closer, I realized that there was a dark handprint under the door knocker. Under the red light, it showed a little sticky blood.

A chill spread from behind for no reason, Zhong Limo was shocked suddenly, and when he came back to his senses, his forehead was already sweating, and it was chilled by the wind.

Thinking of the anxious expression of the messenger boy, he let out a long breath, knocked on the door knocker on the side without fingerprints twice, frowned unconsciously, and twirled his fingertips.

There was something sticky on the door knocker, sticky.

The door opened in response to the sound, but no one was seen. Looking from the outside to the inside, the lights were brightly lit.

Zhong Limo is heavily relied on by the magistrate, he often comes to the mansion to discuss matters with the magistrate, he is very familiar with this place, although he has doubts, but he doesn't take it seriously, throwing his sleeves and went to the mansion.

The road was smooth, and no sound was heard. The lobby door was closed, and a very high shadow appeared on the window. When they reached the steps in front of the door, the shadow became clearer, like the outline of a person.

The cold fragrance faded, and some other smell penetrated into the nostrils, Zhong Limei sniffed, something was wrong.

The fishy and heavy smell evoked some bad memories in him, nausea surged up his throat, and a white light flashed in front of his eyes, like a worm crawling on carrion, it was so disgusting that one almost wanted to vomit.

At this moment, the accident happened suddenly.

The door of the lobby was opened from the inside, and the flames of the candle lamps were blown left and right, and the dim yellow halo surrounded the scene in the room, enveloping it with a gentle golden edge.

"Tick-tick-tick-"

The viscous voice was mixed with the sound of the wind, making it seem a bit overwhelming.

A pair of lifeless eyes were facing the door.

It was a corpse hanging from the beam, with a blue complexion and protruding eyes, wearing a fourth-rank official uniform, with a black gauze cap tied on the chest. The "tick" sound came from his feet. It was the blood seeping from the gap in the boots, dripping down continuously. A large pool of dark marks had gathered on the ground, winding towards the threshold.

Judging from the pool of blood, this person should have been hanging for a while.

Zhong Limei's pupils narrowed slightly, and he was terrified, subconsciously took a few steps back, almost tripping himself.

It was a face he was very familiar with. Although it was slightly different from usual, it could still be easily recognized.

It's his crooked neck cash cow, Mr. Prefect.

The wooden door creaked, Zhong Limo shuddered, and looked down at his hand.

The candlelight from the house illuminated his fingertips, and his fingertips were crimson, like the cinnabar mole between the eyebrows of a beauty rubbed with water, showing an almost decadent color.

Like sticky, blood.

The sound of the watch came from outside the mansion, calling back Zhong Limo's thoughts. The snow fell at some point in the sky, and he staggered a few steps backwards, almost falling to the ground.

The magistrate is not destined to die, but how could he die at this time?

Zhongli Mo's mind was full of all kinds of messy voices, his body was numb from the cold, his only thought was to turn around and run out of the house, he had a bad premonition.

You have to get out of here quickly!

The sound of hooves and footsteps are intertwined, from far to near.

"Call-"

When Zhong Limo stepped out of the gate with one foot, the sound of horseshoes just stopped, and the two teams of light cavalry blocked the gate of the mansion completely, barely blocking his way, and met him head-on, with no way to hide.

The leader is a man, with an aura of superiority.

The two teams of Qingqi were standing behind him on the left and right, each with a leader, the one on the left was dressed in Huaizhou official uniform, and the one on the right was dressed in plain clothes, both of them stepped back half a step from the leader, showing their respect for him .

The leading man wore an elegant green cloak, tied his hair with a very plain white jade hairpin, stretched out his hand holding the rein from the cloak, lifted a bit of fabric, and just exposed the jade pendant hanging around his waist.

The delicate round white jade, the size of half a palm, is engraved with a circle of winding cloud patterns, hollowed out in the middle, and a golden bell is pierced with a red string.

The man tugged at the reins loosely and glanced over from his horse.

Because of his unremarkable temperament, it is easy to be surprised by his face, but that face is not exquisite and can be remembered at a glance, it is really handsome, showing an overly sparse elegance under the cold white moonlight meaning.

But he has a pair of excellent eyebrows, with a small arc at the end of the eye. His long eyelashes cover the flowing moonlight, and a gap of shadow is swept away in that arc. When he lowers his eyes, they are clear and elegant. Thin and colorful.

At one moment, it was a distant star that was too cold on a high place, and the next moment it became a rich flower that can only be raised by a wealthy family, an unexpected harmony.

The moment the four eyes met, Zhong Limo suddenly had a feeling of being seen through, his heart was beating like a drum, and cold sweat flowed out.

It's like being strangled by someone's throat, unable to breathe.

The snowflakes are getting bigger and bigger, like petals scattered from the sky to the world, and after a while, a layer is laid on the ground to cover everything.

The vast expanse of white land is so clean.

The leader on the left got off his horse and bowed to the man: "My lord, this is the residence of the prefect of Huaizhou."

The man let out a casual "um", got off his horse, walked into the mansion, and raised his hand to greet back: "Yun Wuyang."

Yun Wuyang got off his horse in response, and before he could follow, he was blocked by the leader on the left, who bowed to the man again: "My lord, you don't need to go in yourself, I just go and call the magistrate out."

This person is Lin Jingkong, the commander of Huaizhou City. Although his position is under the jurisdiction of the prefect, he is one of the few people in Huaizhou who can sit on an equal footing with the prefect.

He was born in a family, a side branch of the current queen's mother's family, and a position that was not looked down upon in the capital. When he arrived in Huaizhou City, the sky was high and the emperor was far away. Local snake.

"Oh? Is the thing under Commander Lin's eyes a decoration?" The man turned his head, with a half-smile, "It smells so strong, and there's a dumbfounded person at the door. Our prefect, I'm afraid he would have sent lanterns to Lord Yan a long time ago. went."

The man took out a folding fan from nowhere, and he was not afraid of the cold in the winter, he knocked on his palm one after another, with a leisurely tone, as if saying that the moon is really round today.

Zhongli Wu heard the words and suddenly raised his head, staring at the man firmly, the hands hidden in the sleeves were clenched more and more tightly, and he could feel the pain from the nails in his palms.

How does he know?

"My lord, what you are saying is—"

Lin Jingkong's expression changed, and before he could finish speaking, someone bumped his shoulder and pushed him away.

Yun Wuyang turned a blind eye to his angry stare, rubbed his hands and ran to the side of the man, pretending to exaggerate: "Here we come, sir, slow down, I will find the way for you first."

The two teams of Qingqi didn't move, the man didn't care at all, he held a folding fan and nodded the clock: "You also follow."

"Me?" Zhongli Mo was surprised.

"Whatever you want." The man didn't care, and said, "If you don't follow me, you will go to prison with Commander Lin. You and the magistrate have nothing to do with it. You can choose for yourself."

"..."

Zhong Limo often follows the magistrate, so he naturally knows Lin Jingkong. This person in front of him can actually make the arrogant and domineering Commander Lin deflate. He should be a big man who should not be underestimated.

Knowing that he couldn't get it today, he followed the man resignedly, while thinking in his heart, what exactly was this man coming from.

Walking to the entrance of the lobby, there is still no sound of people along the way, like a dilapidated ghost house that is dead and dilapidated, only the faint sound of the wind blowing the broken snow into the eyes.

The magistrate swayed slightly with the hemp rope hanging around his neck, and his shadow was spread on the thin snow in front of the hall, forming a dark blurred patch, which was trampled by unhurried footsteps.

"Tsk, what a coincidence, what a good death."

There was no surprise on the man's face, he stood at the door and quietly looked at the corpse for a while, his eyes focused as if he was looking at something interesting.

The footsteps behind him were getting closer and closer, and a figure rushed straight into the lobby. He closed his eyes, took two steps back, leaned against the door frame and ordered slowly: "Get down."

"Wait!"

No matter how fast Lin Jingkong's voice was, it couldn't compare to Yun Wuyang's flash of silver light when he waved his hand.

The corpse hanging from the beam fell to the ground, and the hemp rope that hung the person fell with the corpse, soaked in the blood on the ground, and neat cuts could still be seen.

"Master Pei!"

Lin Jingkong's scalp was numb, and he was on the verge of collapsing. If he hadn't dodged quickly, he would have had intimate physical contact with the pale magistrate.

Master Pei?Zhongli suffocated for breath.

There is only one Mr. Pei in the court.