Jiang Qing

The moonlight was half hidden, and a shadow was vaguely outlined, jumping and sneaking on the eaves of the Baifu, and slipped into the study with ease.

It was nearly four o'clock, and there was silence everywhere. Even the night watchmen were leaning against the door and dozing off. No one noticed the shadow's movements.

The study room was pitch black, and with a little moonlight, Mei Shao groped for the woodcarving picture of "Eighteen Scholars Making Plum Blossoms" on the wall. He had noticed that it occupied most of the wall when Yi Rong came to the White Mansion last time. wood carving.

Tapping the wall lightly, the sound was muffled, and he was even more convinced that there was a secret room behind the wooden sculpture.

The window of the study is very small, and the poor moonlight that penetrates in can only allow Mei Shao to touch the wall, but can't see the patterns on the wall clearly.He was afraid of attracting people, so he didn't even dare to hit the fire, so he gritted his teeth and cursed secretly, and groped the wall inch by inch.

The silence of the night made the trespassers terrified. Fortunately, I was lucky. Not long after, there was a dull sound of the lock cylinder turning, and the door of the secret room finally opened.

It was only then that Mei Shao took out the torch from his bosom, lit it, and walked in.

The secret room was bigger than he imagined, Mei Shao didn't rush to step in, and threw a stone picked up by the side of the road.

No sound.

It seems that it is just an ordinary secret room, not even a trap.This was beyond Mei Shao's expectation.

On the East Sea of ​​Li State, there is the Jiang family, a contemporary master of mechanical arts. When Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, Sun Zhe, the Marquis of Pingdong, sent a pair of mechanical peacocks, which could fly and dance. What's more, they invited skilled craftsmen from Jiang's family to build secret rooms for themselves. The popularity of mechanism techniques was second to none in Li country, and the Jiang family also made a lot of money.

Not only is there no mechanism, but the further you go in, the more Mei Shao finds that the secret room is more like a temporary warehouse, with some gifts piled up in a mess, and some are even attached with gift slips. Mei Shao took a rough look and found that they were all gift slips from the government. , Most of them are wood carvings.

Mei Shao didn't know the quality of woodcarvings, but he guessed that the gift givers didn't either. He only saw that the gift boxes were getting bigger and bigger, and there were several people's tall ones in the corner, all covered with red silk. The specifications even surpassed that of Gongzhong.

Three years in Qingzhi County, one hundred thousand snowflake silver.Bai Bingchen has been in the high position of the right chancellor for three years. On the surface, he looks beautiful and beautiful. Just looking at the ceremony in this secret room, one can guess how many people he sent to the court of Li Kingdom.

The Chaotang is a bottomless pool of stagnant water, and the turbulence in the dark will never turn to the bright side. No matter how well-informed the news about the Burial Sword Villa is, most of what is known is only the secrets of the rivers and lakes.

Now Li Guo's civil servants in the imperial court obviously overwhelmed the military generals, the left minister Zhang Jiudai and the right minister Bai Bingchen were both civil servants who didn't touch martial arts at all.

The distribution of power between the two in the six ministries of the DPRK is also considered balanced. Zhang Jiudai is in charge of the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Industry, and Bai Bingchen is in charge of the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Punishment.Yushi Zhongcheng Wencheng was Bai Bingchen's second place in the scientific examination in the same year, so he was naturally closer to Bai Bingchen. Dali Temple Minister Guo Huan was the son of Guo Zhengyang, Minister of the Household Department, so he was naturally more inclined to Zhang Jiudai.

This is all that the Burial Sword Villa can see. As for whether the servants among the six ministries are standing in line, the Northwest Protectorate, the officials of the Fufu State Capital, and under whose account they work, they don't know at all.

The Anxiang Pavilion in charge of intelligence in the Fudi Pavilion is like an exquisite big net, firmly covering Li Guo's officialdom, cutting off the thoughts of all those who want to touch the secrets inside.

It has been a hundred years since the Burial Sword Villa controlled the news of the rivers and lakes, and the Anxiang Pavilion controlled the temple in secret.

Looking at these gift lists, Mei Shao suddenly thought that each gift list would have the name and surname of the gift-giving official attached. Although there are a lot of gift-givers who follow suit, depending on the severity and time of the gift-giving, some Bai Bingchen might be able to dig out from it. The distribution of subordinate officials.

Silently writing down the names and positions of several suspicious officials, Mei Shao carefully put her hands back to their original positions, and inadvertently caught a glimpse of a small wooden box beside her.

That wooden box is very exquisite, and the patterns and strokes engraved on it seem familiar.

Mei Shao picked it up and looked at it carefully, the lotus woodcut on it was lifelike, the layout of the depiction was very familiar, and the movement of the blade seemed to be seen with his own eyes.

Touching the two words at the bottom, Mei Shao's thoughts moved slightly.

He was a little eager to turn it over, the box that wasn't locked firmly turned upside down, and the things inside also fell to the ground.

The thin word "inkstone" on the bottom of the box was exposed in front of him together with a pair of silver rings.

Mei Shao's heart also paused heavily.

Of the pair of silver rings, one he gave to Bai Bingchen as a gift back then, and the other one he remembered that he still had in his hand when he entered Xunfang Pavilion, but he disappeared afterwards.

It never occurred to him that these two were in Bai Bingchen's hands.

Mei Shao picked up the pair of silver rings, the one given to Bai Bingchen was obviously cared for for a long time, the fine patterns on it were still clearly visible, but the other one was severely worn, and the silver light on the surface was much dimmed .This pair of silver rings is very similar to the two of them, one sits high above the bright hall, not stained with dust, while the other is deep in the mud, bumping and tormenting.

Now that he has decided that he is a criminal, what is he still doing with this thing?When counting your achievements, you can take them out to reflect on them, chat and laugh with your colleagues, and talk about the proud deeds you did when you brought down the number one general of the Li Kingdom, or how hypocritically shed a few words when you were trying to win over your subordinates? Tears, talk a few words about the friendship of classmates back then, as an example of your love and righteousness?

This pair of silver rings accompanied Mei Shao in all the happy and high-spirited years, and finally brought endless pain and sadness after they separated.

Mei Shao thought back to the days when he became the owner of Burial Sword Villa. Even though his hands were stained with blood and he was accused of murdering his master, he obtained a relief that he had never experienced since he was imprisoned.

Facing those heroes who came all the way to abandon their wealth and dignity, and seeing them kneeling and begging for her, Mei Shao really felt that she had really escaped from that tortured prison. She escaped from the Xunfang Pavilion where she begged for mercy.

He is still a proud and aloof Mei Jia Erlang, he will return to the capital with such a posture, to take revenge in a grand manner, and to suppress those who humiliated him in the palm of his hand.

He tried his best to avoid the title of his criminal minister and the humiliation of his male favorite. Once he returned to the capital, he tried every means to get Zhao Zhen to pardon his status as a criminal minister. He wanted to stand upright in the court hall, for himself and Mei Home, to wash away the stigma of everyone involved in the Cangshan Incident.

Until the pair of silver rings appeared in front of him, reminding him that his humiliation, shame and resentment were easily held in the hands of others.

Taking a long breath, Mei Shao stabilized his mind, put the jade token in his bosom for a long time into the small box, and put it back where it was.Then he left the place as if fleeing.

Tonight's moonlight is not clear, and the road ahead is a bit dazzled by the light. Mei Shao lost her balance and kicked a piece of gray tile flying away, which barely brushed past the ears of the people in the courtyard.

"You came to steal Lihuabai again in the middle of the night, and you're not afraid of being discovered by my father, who will call the boy to break your thief's legs."

A laughing ridicule sounded, and the brisk and familiar tone fell on Mei Shao's ears. She was stunned and stopped, only to realize that she had walked to the roof of the main house by a strange coincidence.

Kazuki's pear blossoms were in full bloom, as white as snow, much brighter than the dim moonlight.

Or it wasn't the flourishing flowers that lit up, but the person sitting under the flowers, dressed in white and spotless, even the tone of voice was the same as at that time.

"What are you still doing on it, really want to wait for someone to find out?"

The person under the tree raised his eyes to look at him, and the smile in his eyes was something he hadn't seen for a long time.

When Mei Shao came to his senses, he had already sat opposite to Bai Bingchen and looked at him a few times.

Bai Bingchen's eyes were clear, and his behavior was traceable. Except for what he said, which showed that he thought he was still in the time when the two of them were classmates, everything else was not at all like the reaction of "Lonely Pillow".

"Lonely Pillow" disturbs people's mind, if inhaled too much, they will go crazy, sometimes sad and sometimes happy, falling into the vortex of memory and unable to extricate themselves.

Judging by his appearance, Ji Pu should have given him the antidote, but the toxin has not been completely digested.

The evening wind blows gently, blowing his thin and loose underwear, revealing his clear collarbone, and his long hair pouring down, which is a little softer than his usual corset.

He was barefoot like this, with a thin body and light brows, like a ghost in the mountains that never sees the sun all day long, revealing a sense of pale beauty.

"Does your leg still hurt?" Mei Shao asked tentatively. He has never been clear about the extent of Bai Bingchen's leg disease. Tonight, it seems that he is not unable to walk.

Bai Bingchen's gaze became blurred, as if he couldn't understand his question.

Seeing that he didn't have a very clear consciousness, Mei Shao simply got up and squatted down, grabbed his cold ankle, and pressed the meridian of his ankle with two fingers.

Just exerting some force, a muffled groan came from above his head. Bai Bingchen seemed to be enduring much pain, his brows were slightly frowned, but he bit his lip, trying his best not to make a sound.

The doubts in Mei Shao's heart increased again, there was no sign of injury to the ankle muscles and bones, but the pain from touching it was so unbearable, so he couldn't bear to walk at all.This is the first time he has seen such a way that is not conducive to walking. It is not because of the incomplete legs, but the pain of walking hinders his movement.

Could it be poison?

Mei Shao's eyes deepened, she stood up and cut his pulse, the pulse was vain and disordered, but it was definitely not caused by "Lonely Pillow".

"Is it the glass of poisoned wine in King Jing's tent?" Mei Shao questioned while holding his thin wrist.

"Ji Pu didn't detoxify you at all, the poison is still in your body, isn't it?"

Compared with the last time we met, he was thinner again, his not-so-strong body was wrapped under Mei Shao's figure, and he couldn't show a bit.

Bai Bingchen just tilted his head, he didn't know what kind of memory he was trapped in, and his eyes became blurred.

Huge contradictions roiled in Mei Shao's heart. For so many years, he always believed that Bai Bingchen betrayed the Mei family for the sake of power and the glory of the Bai family, as a stone to advance his career.But now, according to his physical condition, it is a problem that he can live for a few years, and he is the only seedling of the Bai family. If he dies, the power of the Bai family in the court will also be overthrown.

So what is the purpose of his planning for so many years?Is it just to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, after death?Or, there is something hidden behind all this. When the Cangshan incident happened, he was not in Pingdu, but Bai Bingchen was there. Did he know something inside?

Over the years, Mei Shao believed in the innocence of the Mei family, and believed in the innocence of those families who were beheaded. He just clung to a life-saving straw to survive. He had no evidence in his hands, no evidence at all. With the Mei family and their understanding, I firmly believe that they will not rebel. Now, everything finally has a breakthrough.

Mei Shao's heart was full of emotions, he bit his finger, and put a little blood red on Bai Bingchen's lips.

"Look into my eyes." Mei Shao's gaze was firm, "Tell me, who are you?"

As if Mei Shao's eyes had a huge attraction, Bai Bingchen followed his words and stared into his eyes without moving, and murmured: "Bai Bingchen."

"Is the poison on your body the cup of poisoned wine from King Jing?"

"Yes."

"You sent Zhou Yue to kill Mei Shao?"

"No."

"Where are the Zhouyue people?"

"Dead." Bai Bingchen added, "I killed it."

The heart that was originally raised suddenly fell heavily, Zhou Yue died?Doesn't he like Zhou Yue?Is it because his liking has always been fake, or is he really a cruel person, after things are revealed, even the one he loves is willing to kill him.

Mei Shao heard her own voice trembling slightly: "Why did you kill him?"

"He betrayed me."

"Then you also betrayed the Mei family?"

He finally asked the question, the question that couldn't be avoided when countless tossing and turning in the middle of the night deduced the cause and effect of the original incident.Was it the Bai family who informed?Will there be another secret?Is the young man hidden in my heart the one who caused the destruction of my family?If I was in Pingdu back then, would I have been able to stop all of this, would I have been able to stay inside the matter, to see clearly the role of each person in this matter, and to see Bai Bingchen's heart.

Spiritualism never lies, it will ask every question equally, and the answer must be true.

It is always high above, overlooking these duplicitous human beings, fragile but determined to seek an answer to a question.

The pear blossoms were puzzled, and they still danced and spun, landing on their eyebrows and fingertips.

"Did the Bai family inform you about the Cangshan incident?"

"Yes."

The person who asked the question had red eyes long ago, but he didn't realize it.