Human dimension reduction

Qiao Zhou held back his overly wide sleeves calmly, and freed his hands to put together the pile of scattered bamboo pieces, most of which only recorded a few words.

"...In the autumn of 26, there was a severe drought, and the fifteen prefectures in Weinan had no crops. There was no food and grass on the border of Mobei.

"There is a great hunger in Mobei, people eat each other, no rooster crows for thousands of miles, and bones are exposed in the wild..."

"The northern barbarians went southward, connecting Dan, Ping, and Yu prefectures. Every time they went to a prefecture, they would slaughter the city and cook the people for food..."

"This battle stretched for thousands of miles, and gradually turned into a confrontation. The northern barbarians ruled half of the country, and the Great Xia was in decline. It turned out to be a sign of subjugation and extinction..."

Qiao Zhou flipped through it again, and the remaining pieces of bamboo were all similar in content, but they all recorded fragmentary incidents, ranging from a debate about whether to re-conscription in the court, to a benevolent deed in a certain place on the front line. Almost all-encompassing.

So comprehensive.

Qiao Zhou thought to himself.

Although Xie Zhuo was born in a family, he stayed in Xie's house in the capital during the six-year war. It is normal to know the affairs in the court, but why can he know such trivial things as the front line?

Obviously, Mr. Xie Sanlang is not as innocent and harmless as he appears on the surface.

Qiao Zhou piled up the bamboo pieces one by one, and sat there contemplating for a long time, like a motionless sculpture, until the oil lamps on the table were extinguished, and a blue-white gleam gradually appeared outside the door.

A figure walked to the door silently with sleeves covered, knocked lightly on the door panel, as if knowing that the people inside had not rested, and said softly: "Mr. Sanlang, Your Majesty sent the Fourth Prince as an envoy, and he is now waiting for you in the Xiuya Hall." .”

Qiao Zhou moved his legs and feet that had lost consciousness due to the long-term immobility, feeling the bone marrow pain and numbness climbing up little by little, couldn't help but gasped, and replied in a low voice: "Got it."

The people outside stopped there and waited for a while, without hearing any more orders, they left as silently as before.

Qiao Zhou was left thinking, while flexing his ankles, where is that Xiuyatang...?

This Mr. Sanlang who insists on compiling history is obviously not treated better than before in Xie's house. There are not a few people left to serve, most of them are handymen, and they don't even have the qualifications to step on the eaves or corridors, so wait for Qiao Zhou to find one. The person who can lead him the way is half an hour away.

But even so, the sky is still early at the moment, and the orange red of the morning sun can be vaguely seen on the dark eaves.

It would be too strange to go to the courtier's house at such a time, even if he obeyed the emperor's order, even if he didn't consider whether the courtier should sleep, he must not sleep, right?

The servant who led him the way was still young. In this kind of family, the treatment of children born in the family is much higher than that of ordinary servants. Most of them are the confidantes of the master's family, and they can even grow up with the young masters from generation to generation. Therefore, the servant said: He is also very lively and bold when speaking.

"My mother said that Mr. Sanlang is going to do a very dangerous thing. Can you not do it? A Bei likes Mr. Sanlang." The little servant boy said innocently with his face up.

"Your name is A Bei? Why is it called that name?" The handsome Xie Sanlang asked with a soft voice, lowering his head.

The little servant boy was easily distracted by this topic: "Because I liked to cry when I was a child, my elder brother always carried me behind my back. Later, I was called Ah Bei."

Mr. Sanlang then looked at him and laughed, his handsome eyebrows were raised, and a little freshness appeared on his cold and indifferent face: "How do you know that I am going to do a very dangerous thing?"

A Bei looked mature and mature: "I heard what my mother said, and my father also said the same. They said that Mr. Sanlang did this, but the Xie family didn't agree, so now no one from Mr. Sanlang has gone there."

Ah Bei still remembered that not long ago, Mr. Sanlang was still the most outstanding son of the Xie family. The courtyard where he lived was full of people every day. They all hoped to get an invitation card from Mr. Xie Sanlang, and on the day Mr. Sanlang entered the Danqing Terrace, all the young masters and young ladies from half the capital city came here.

They came to offer their blessings to the well-known Lord San Lang in the capital, wishing him a smooth career and a bright future. Everyone was very proud to be a witness of Lord San Lang becoming an official.

The lords danced with swords and danced majesticly, with drums and zithers and flutes, and those without qin simply pulled out their swords and played long songs. The little ladies sat on the waterside pavilion, danced and danced with arm in arm, and threw the flowers in their hands into the water to flow to the lord. Under your seat, the garden is full of fragrance and splendor, and the clothes are beautiful.

What a time it was.

But it soon changed, the canal that was always full of fragrant flowers was thin and dried up, the horses and horses no longer stopped at the gate of Xie's house, and the people who came to hand out the greeting cards were no longer elegant young gentlemen in elegant clothes, those high-spirited young gentlemen. The young masters seemed to have found other friends overnight, and they forgot about the Lord Saburo who was once known as Zhigui in the capital.

The young masters were still drunk in the wine, dreaming and playing long songs, but the people they surrounded were no longer Xie Zhuo.

A Bei pretended to be old-fashioned, repeating a few words he heard from his parents—or some masters: "If Mr. Sanlang insists on going his own way, he will die."

It's a little funny for such a little boy with clear eyes to say the word "death", and I don't know if he can understand the meaning of what he said.

Qiao Zhou followed him around the corridor. The long corridor paved with wooden boards exudes a smooth and simple beauty. A fine bamboo curtain hangs from the eaves to block the too biting cold wind in the morning. There is a long and quiet echo.

"Thank you, Ah Bei, for your concern." He replied with a smile, and Xiu Yatang's clumsy inscription could already be seen in front of his eyes.

As the name suggests, Xiuya Hall is an elegantly decorated place. There are jade-carved plum blossoms leaning on vases on the tables. The decorations are quiet and elegant, and unique details can be seen in the details. It doesn't seem appropriate to use it for entertaining guests.

It's not bad if the guest is a close friend, but the fourth prince who came as the emperor's envoy...?

Hearing the movement, the man drinking tea at the top put down the teacup, and the young man who was sitting at the bottom as an accompanying guest stood up, looked at Qiao Zhou who came in expressionlessly, and bowed slightly to the fourth prince, "Your Highness, this is My third brother thanked Yinyu."

Xie Zhuo, whose name is Yinyu.

Qiao Zhou saw a bit of disgust and confusion in the eyes of this unknown cheap brother. This was obviously another relative who had alienated him because of his attempt to compile history.

"Xie Sanlang, it's really not easy to see you."

Unexpectedly, before Qiao Zhou saluted the fourth prince like his cheap brother, the fourth prince had already stood up, strode down, and affectionately lifted Qiao Zhou's arm to stop him from saluting. Behavior and words are too kind.

It doesn't look like he came to Xingshi to inquire on behalf of the emperor.

"I went to the palace to ask my father's letter, and I asked the supervisor of the Ministry of Punishment to issue a receipt, so that I could come to see you when no one was there, and please forgive me for coming here without warning."

On the Danqing stage, the Danqing order is written like a knife inscribed in the Spring and Autumn Period.

All the historians on the Danqing stage could be called Danqingling, and the title of the fourth prince was a flattering compliment to Xie Zhuo.

But is it necessary?

It can be seen from his words that Xie Sanlang is completely insecure now. Although he lives in Xie's house, he has been imprisoned here by the order of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. Even the prince has to go to the emperor to see him. Hand letter and receipt, if he wasn't a son of the century-old Xie family, he might have died in prison by now without anyone noticing.

Being in such a situation, why did the Fourth Prince come to condescend to please him?

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

The lord came, and the cheap younger brother who was an accompanying guest retreated silently, leaving only the fourth prince, Qiao Zhou, and a few servants who had almost zero sense of existence left in the room.

"Dan Qingling has a heart for the world, is kind and compassionate, and my father can't bear to treat loyal people like this. However, the court discussion is boiling. There are too many and complicated things that happened in the six-year war. Most of the court officials, civil servants and generals are involved. The forces are intertwined and complicated. Yinyu wants to uncover the truth of the six-year war with his own power, which is equivalent to putting himself on the opposite side of the entire Great Xia. Putting Yinyu under house arrest is also the only way that the father came up with in desperation. , as long as Yinyu gives up studying history, with your reputation and the help of the Xie family, you can still live a happy and prosperous life."

Ah, so it is.

Qiao Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly.

What Xie Zhuo wants to do is bigger and more remarkable than what he originally thought.

He is going to mercilessly uncover the filthy skins of the entire Daxia officialdom, dig out all the filth underneath and expose it to the world.

This kind of behavior is absolutely impossible to be tolerated. He can live well now only because the reputation of the Xie family Saburo is too prosperous, and the giant Xie family has not made a clear statement yet. They dare not murder the Xie family's children without authorization. That's all.

This fourth prince is a lobbyist sent by the palace, as long as Xie Zhuo can change his mind and give up the matter of compiling history, his life safety and future life can still be guaranteed, but obviously, it is impossible to pursue an official career.

Xie Zhuo has become a thorn in the side of most of the officialdom in Daxia, and since he revealed the idea of ​​writing history, he will never be accepted again.

The fourth prince thinks that the hint is obvious enough and sincere enough. Xie Yinyu was once famous in Jinghua, and has few talents. He is definitely not a fool who can't understand people's words. , the other party already understood his purpose.

But in fact, the Fourth Prince was also very uncertain about whether this trip would be a complete success.

It is easy to talk to smart people, but once a smart person has decided on something, it is difficult to persuade him to change his mind.

Xie Zhuo...is he really smart, or fake smart?

Xie Yinyu has been standing not far from him since he entered the door, and has no intention of sitting down. Only after the fourth prince finished speaking, did he pick up the teacup, and carefully looked at the Jingcheng Zhi Gui.

In the past, he didn't have this chance to enter Mr. Xie Sanlang's banquet.

The aristocratic family is noble and arrogant, and the royal family was just a low-end family before they made their fortunes. They were not even qualified to hand over invitations to the Xie family's children. Even if they became the royal family, they could not do without these The support of the big family, so to say how hard the bones of the royal family are in front of the family, it really doesn't matter.

So this has created an extremely strange phenomenon, the children of the royal family are both inferior and arrogant, wishing to show off their noble identities all the time, flaunting their supremacy, and involuntarily want to blend into the circle of the aristocratic family to play with them, This kind of distorted and divided situation seems ridiculous in the eyes of smart people.

It's not that the fourth prince never thought of befriending the children of these aristocratic families. Unfortunately, his aptitude was not very outstanding. In Xie Yinyu's most prosperous years, his uncle was still sitting on the throne, and he was just a prince. Son, with such an identity, it is naturally impossible to attend Xie Sanlang's banquet. It was the prince at that time—that is, his cousin who heard about it by accident and gave him a chance to go with him.

Although the prince is also a child of the royal family, he is still different. No matter how majestic the family is, he will give the future lord of the world enough face.

So he followed the prince like this, and saw Xie Yinyu who was surrounded by a group of young handsome men surrounded by angry horses in fresh clothes.

The world's jewels, Jingcheng Zhigui, Xie Yinyu can't be said to be so outstanding, but everyone will only see him at the first sight when they enter this place.

Perhaps it was the seat where the people around him vaguely took him as the head?Or maybe it's because the gentlemen beside him all have extraordinary elegance?It may also be that he is in it, but it is like living in a world of ice and snow. No matter how hard the people around him try to get him to devote themselves wholeheartedly, they can only get a faint smile that seems to be lost in thought.

When they came in, the gentlemen sitting next to Xie Yinyu were playing games, and the one who lost laughed and stood up, took off his hair crown, untied his cumbersome dark clothes, and revealed Snow-white loose jacket, this behavior is very indecent, because he did it calmly and elegantly, and the current fashion is wanton and open, the people around are just smiling and cheering, while calling for children to bring the qinpa, tuning and preparing to play music.

It was late autumn, and the weather had turned cold. The gentleman in the field was tall and tall, his long hair, which had lost his hair crown, was as tired as a waterfall of ink, and his white clothes were better than snow. , high-spirited, although the demeanor is not very elegant, it reveals a supernatural and unrestrained demeanor.

Xie Yinyu, who was surrounded by people, laughed helplessly, and waved to the losers in the field: "Fengzi, the weather is suddenly cold, don't act recklessly like this."

The person who was greeted walked over obediently, Xie Yinyu took off the cloak on his shoulders and put it on him, and said something in a low voice, the people around suddenly laughed, and some people responded loudly: "Feng Zifeng Son, don't call me Fengzi anymore, change your name to Hezi!"

Those who have been ridiculed for a while are not angry, they pull their cloaks and dance with their swords, just like a white crane flying down the nine heavens, with a high-spirited posture, elegant and noble dancing posture, bending their waists like a pine meets snow, whirling like a wind and hunting, and waving their sleeves like a crane Gao Fei, the sword in his hand flew out of thin light, and everyone was stunned for a moment.

The fourth prince recalled who this person Xie Yinyu affectionately called "Fengzi" was. In other words, my immature Prince Feng is also."

The phoenix of the Wang family is the dream son-in-law of many young girls in the capital, but this person is ignorant of love, no matter how the little ladies show affection, he will not be moved. The fourth prince remembers that he helped his sister pass a poem and book once. Ever heard back.

But is this Wang Fengzi who doesn't lie to others, is he like this in front of Xie Yinyu?

Just now Xie Yinyu's cuteness is just like a puppy who has been raised by his relatives in his family!

Probably the shock that Wang Fengzi brought to him was so intense that he actually forgot what happened after this small banquet, or maybe it was because the Mobei battle had just erupted and the prince was busy with everything, so he only had a few drinks for a short time. After drinking a glass of water and chatting for a while, he left. The fourth prince, who was the prince's pendant, didn't stay for too long, so he took his leave soon.

And whether it was the arrival or departure of the prince, they did not attract the excessive attention of this group of proud children of the family. It seemed that the person who came was just an ordinary person, and the fourth prince who was brought here only had a brief glimpse of the world that belonged to them. a corner of the

More ephemeral than fleeting glimpses.

Thinking of this, the fourth prince carefully looked at Xie Zhuo in front of him again.

He found that he couldn't combine the Xie Zhuo in front of him with the Xie Yinyu from a few years ago.

Was Xie Yinyu at that time so cold and silent?

In such faint doubts, he heard Xie Zhuo speak.

"Thank you Your Highness for running for Xie Zhuo," Xie Zhuo thanked him gently and politely, "However, Zhuo has always acted recklessly. He has a stinking temper, and what he dislikes the most is to live by winking."

"His Highness said that if Zhuo wants to do this, he will stand on the opposite side of the entire Great Xia, so Zhuo dare to ask, can His Highness represent the entire Great Xia?"

The fourth prince was taken aback.

"Civil and military in the Man Dynasty, Zhu Zilin Lang, is it the whole Great Xia?" Xie Zhuo asked unhurriedly without stopping his voice.

Following his questioning, the fourth prince was stunned, and goose bumps unconsciously appeared on his back.

Seeing the change in his expression, Xie Zhuo smiled slightly, with his hands clasped in his sleeves, like a high-spirited white crane with restrained wings and drooping eyes, speaking outrageous words.

"Xie Zhuo was rebellious all his life, but he also wanted to ask, how high is the sky and how thick is the earth, can His Highness solve my doubts?"

The fourth prince stood up, his face turned pale and blue for a while, he suddenly gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "There are rumors in the palace, if you persist in your obsession, even the emperor will not be able to protect you, although it will not be sentenced to death, but It is very likely that you will be exiled to Mobei for life, and when you leave the capital, your life will be hard to keep!"

A bit of genuine surprise appeared on Xie Zhuo's face, which immediately turned into a smile: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your care."

After he said this, he didn't say any more, and the fourth prince stared at him for a while, feeling that this man's heart was as firm as a rock, fearing that even ten cows would not be able to pull him back, he snorted angrily, and walked away.

Although he was kindly treated as a donkey's liver and lungs, he was strangely not very angry, probably because he seemed to see Xie Yinyu surrounded by him at that moment, or some incomprehensible emotion hit him.

No matter how despicable a person is, he will be in awe of a good person.

Qiao Zhou, who was left alone in Xiuya Hall, stood for a while, and a servant came up quietly and reminded, "Mr. Sanlang."

This is to remind him to go back to his yard, he is still a "prisoner" imprisoned.

The waiter looked ordinary, with a dull and simple feeling, he led Qiao Zhou around the corridor seven times and eight times, and quickly turned to a place where no one was there.

Qiao Zhou followed behind him, raising his eyebrows slightly. The route was different from when he came. Seeing the desolation of people around him, who sent this man as a killer? He couldn't help but act first?

Before he could continue to ponder, the servant leading the way stopped suddenly, and after a long pause, he knelt down with a plop.

The knees touch the ground, the hands lie down, and the forehead is deeply kneaded, which is a standard five-body kneeling posture.

Qiao Zhou, who was a little startled by his sudden movement, leaned back calmly, but also let go of the sharp bamboo knife in his sleeve.

"What are you doing?"

The waiter prostrated himself on the ground and did not speak for a long time. Qiao Zhou lowered his eyes and thought for a while. Given his current situation, the only thing that could help others seemed to be——

"Related to the Six Years' War?"

Hearing this word, the waiter's back suddenly shook, and he began to kowtow frantically and vigorously, his head hitting the wooden floor with a dull thump.

"I beg Sanlang to revise history! I beg Sanlang to revise history! I beg Sanlang to revise history!"

While kowtowing, he murmured and repeated this sentence, Qiao Zhou suddenly found it very interesting.

"You were also in Xiuya Hall just now, you heard what the fourth prince said, if I continue to study history, I will probably die because of it."

The waiter stopped kowtowing, raised his dull face, his bluish forehead was covered with scars, and his dry eyes sparkled a little: "I...I heard it."

His voice is thinner than a mosquito's.

Hearing what the fourth prince said, he began to fear that Mr. Sanlang would really shrink back because of this, so he made a bad plan and came to plead with Mr. Sanlang.

"My younger brother... died in Dingzhou. I don't know how he died. They said that the Dingzhou army surrendered, and Dingzhou was slaughtered. The Dingzhou army are all heinous sinners, but, but I I don't believe it... my brother can't surrender..."

He spoke incoherently, with trembling lips and dull eyes: "No one told me what happened, and the history books refused to write, but my younger brother should be a great hero who defends the country. How did he become a traitor?"

He stayed in his thoughts for a while, bent down suddenly, and began to kowtow at a faster speed: "I beg Sanlang to revise the history! I beg Sanlang to revise the history! I beg Sanlang to revise the history!"

Dark tears fell on the floor, and he was begging an innocent man to pay for his life, which was an unreasonable request, but there was really nothing else he could do.

After knocking for countless times, he saw Mr. Sanlang's clothes passing over him, and at the same time, there was a word beside his ear: "Okay."

A word alone weighs more than a thousand catties.

The waiter was exhausted, but he still knelt there. After a long time, he kowtowed three more times in the direction that the man was leaving.