Chapter 223 Killing someone on a rainy night
When more than a hundred Jinyiwei appeared outside the imperial city, the scholars who had gathered after hearing the news fell silent.
The crying Tan Xiao family felt something was wrong, and someone said, "Sister-in-law, it looks like they are going to arrest someone!"
Tan Xiao's wife's eyes were red. "Take it if you want. Kill me if you can!"
Two Jinyiwei came over.
"If you don't leave within a quarter of an hour, then you don't have to leave."
Tan Xiao's wife was startled, "Do you dare to arrest me and put me in prison?"
A Jinyiwei pressed the hilt of the knife and smiled, "Don't worry, you are not qualified for the imperial prison. However, exile a thousand miles away is not bad either."
Whoosh!
In a flash, there was no one in sight, only a few incense sticks and a pile of ashes from burning paper money.
Lu Bing walked out of the imperial city.
With murderous intent in his eyes, he said, "After a quarter of an hour, all those who remain here will be exiled..."
"I am not afraid of death, so why should I be afraid of exile?"
"joke!"
Lu Bing said coldly: "Remove your honor!"
Jiang Qingzhi came out and mounted his horse.
The guards followed closely behind.
"Jiang Qingzhi is there!"
someone shouted.
But at the end of the team, someone slipped away quietly.
“Brother Ma, Brother Ma!”
Someone noticed it and started shouting.
The man turned around and forced a smile, "Your sister-in-law asked me to buy some vegetables on the way home. I'll go to the market first and come back later. I'll come back later."
"If you are exiled a thousand miles away, there are still scholars to take care of you in the local area, but if you lose your fame and honor..."
"I have something else to do."
"Brother Wang, I will go first!"
Jiang Qingzhi rode his horse slowly past from the side, and the two sides seemed to be strangers to each other.
"Coward!" Sun Chonglou spat on the ground.
Dou Jialan said: "Once you are stripped of your official title, you will have to pay taxes and serve in the army. And if you want to rely on the government for help, it will be difficult."
"Uncle!"
Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian rushed over after hearing the news.
The two men were holding sticks. Hu Zongxian was fine, but the fat and white Xu Wei was panting and sweating profusely.
Fucheng also came and kept watching those scholars.
He was hunched over, his eyes grim.
Sun Chonglou caught a glimpse of his master's half-exposed claws in his sleeves and muttered, "Didn't the master say that this eagle claw hand is too vicious and detrimental to one's virtue, and that it will no longer be used?"
"My Lord!" Fu Cheng bowed, "I am late."
"It's not too late!" Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile, "It's good that you're here."
He turned around and was about to ask the old playboy to go home for a drink, but he saw Zhu Xizhong arguing with a man who looked like a scholar.
"Okay, okay!" The man took a step back. "Since the Duke insists on having his own way, then just pretend that I didn't say anything."
Zhu Xizhong watched the other person walk away in silence.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
Zhu Xizhong turned around and said, "This person taught the boss before. He just asked about the boss's homework."
The man suddenly turned around and said, "Duke, if you take one wrong step in many things, you will make mistakes at every step."
He seemed to be talking to Zhu Xizhong, but he was actually looking at Jiang Qingzhi.
Jiang Qingzhi said nothing.
Zhu Xizhong laughed dryly and said, "Why, you and I brothers want to go somewhere to have a drink?"
"Go to my house!"
"The best wine!" Xiao Zhuo came over at some point, holding a brick in his hand.
"The best dish!" Wang Yiqi came over with an official's step, "If it's not good, I'll smash the pot and stove!"
Jiang Qingzhi looked at these people and turned around, "Let's go home!"
Fu Cheng said, "Master, I will go to the store first to take a look."
Jiang Qingzhi nodded.
The group of people came in a mighty procession. When they arrived at the entrance of Jiang's alley, they saw a few children peeking out. After seeing Jiang Qing, some of the children turned around and ran away.
Is this to prevent thieves?
Sun Chonglou recognized a few of the children and was about to ask them questions when he heard a commotion in the alley.
"Uncle, be careful!" Sun Bu Tong stood in front of Jiang Qingzhi, but Sun Chonglou was already in position.
An old man came out and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jiang Qing. He turned around and shouted, "Uncle, are you okay?"
Immediately, a group of neighbors came out.
Everyone was talking non-stop.
"Shut up, shut up!" The old man stopped them, then bowed, "We heard that someone was going to beat up Master Bo, so the neighbors wanted to help."
Jiang Qingzhi saw some of the neighbors holding shovels, some holding kitchen knives, and some holding rolling pins...
He felt inexplicably sad, "Those are scholars..."
"So what if they are scholars? We all heard before that the Lord proposed to clean up the Beijing Guards, but those scholars said he was a traitor. Although we are not educated, we know that the better the Beijing Guards are, the safer we will be, right?"
"Who doesn't know what the Beijing guards were like before? To say they were watchdogs was an insult to dogs. Now they are very different."
"Last time, the soldiers from the military came to drive out the vendors at the entrance of the alley. My boy was inside. It was Master Bo who stepped in. I still remember Master Bo said at that time..."
A woman pretended to be Jiang Qingzhi's expression at that time, "If the people can find a way to survive, why would they suffer and set up stalls in such a cold weather? What is more important, the lives of the people or your face?"
The woman squatted down and said, "Master, I don't understand any great principles, but I know one thing, whoever is good to us, we will remember it!"
Hu Zongxian and Xu Wei seemed to be thinking about something.
Jiang Qingzhi cooked personally today.
Braised pork, fermented bean curd spareribs, stir-fried pork intestines, stir-fried kidneys...
"The food is ready."
Jiang Qingzhi finished making the last dish of soup and took off his apron, "Let's eat!"
"It's time for dinner!" Sun Chonglou shouted.
The wine was brought from the Taoist priest. After opening the seal, Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian sniffed and almost drooled.
Jiang Qingzhi raised his glass and looked at everyone with mixed emotions.
Once upon a time, he and Sun Chonglou were on the road to exile, racking their brains for a way to escape.
Now, we have these like-minded people.
"Cousin!"
Two princes and the eldest princess also came.
"Aren't you supposed to stay in the palace until the end of the year?" Jiang Qingzhi asked.
The little girl said, "We heard that my cousin had a fight with those scholars, so we went to see our father." She looked at her two brothers and said, "It was I who went to beg our father to leave the palace."
"Why didn't you say that our father told us to get out of the palace before you even opened your mouth?" King Jing sat down and picked up the wine jug to pour the wine himself.
"I want to drink too!" Zhu Shou'an shouted. "Pour her some." Jiang Qingzhi smiled and raised his glass again.
"This cup is for... friendship!"
"cheers!"
……
Emperor Jiajing is at Concubine Lu's place at this moment.
The food is very light and the drinks are also light.
But this is the first time that Daoye has dined at Concubine Lu's place in recent years.
"Today, when I heard about what happened outside the imperial city, I thought of Zuo Shunmen. Fortunately, Your Majesty is so powerful and has intimidated those scholars." Concubine Lu Jing held down her sleeve with one hand and served food to the Taoist priest with the other.
Emperor Jiajing took a bite of the food and asked, "Are you scared?"
"Yes." Concubine Lu Jing gave him a piece of tofu, "I am afraid that those people will force Your Majesty again."
"They dare not." Emperor Jiajing looked at the woman with a touch of gentleness in his eyes, pointing at the dishes, "Eat while it's hot."
"Okay, Your Majesty, eat too!"
"Ok!"
"Your Majesty, they said...Your Majesty was cowardly, so he let those scholars escape unscathed."
Concubine Lu Jing couldn't bear to hide it, "The man was captured by my concubine and is being tortured to see who spread the rumor in the harem."
"Ok!"
Emperor Jiajing ate calmly and even drank another glass of wine.
"Your Majesty is in a good mood today." Concubine Lu Jing poured wine for him with a smile.
"Who said they can get away with it?"
Emperor Jiajing raised his eyes.
"No thief has ever escaped unscathed from my hands!"
……
Shang Lin was one of the scholars leading the group today. After returning home, he hurriedly packed his things, took his toiletries and dry food, and told his family that he was going out to study.
"Where's the pass?" asked the wife.
"It has been done long ago." Shang Lin said.
There were two silver ingots in the bag, which were very heavy.
"When will you be back?"
"About summer!"
Shang Lin put on his hat and rushed out of the house against the cold wind.
He walked along the alleys and soon arrived at the back door of a house. Just as he was about to knock on the door, someone behind him whispered, "Shang Lin?"
Shang Lin stiffened and slowly raised his hands, "It's me."
"Who ordered it?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. No, it's Wei Huang, it's him!"
"Where are you going?" The voice behind me was a little feminine.
"Go...go to avoid disaster." Shang Lin said in a trembling voice: "I swear that I will never return to the capital. I swear by my parents that if I return to the capital, my parents will die..."
"Oh! Do you regret it?"
"Yes."
"But we never believe in any oaths."
"Palace people, no!"
Shang Lin fell down slowly, and through the freezing rain, he saw a thin man standing not far behind him, but this man turned his eyes and looked at the entrance of the alley.
At the entrance of the alley, there was also a man in a bamboo hat, but his back looked a little hunched.
"What's the matter?" asked the thin man.
The man in the bamboo hat glanced at the fallen Shang Lin and said, "It's okay."
"You saw someone being killed and you still want to leave?" the thin man laughed sharply.
"Oh! You want to keep me?" asked the man in the bamboo hat.
"you……"
"When I was in the palace, you, Wang Ze, had just graduated!"
"You are..." The thin man looked at the man in the bamboo hat and suddenly exclaimed, "You are Guo Xiao!"
"Fortunately, some old friends still remember us."
"Back then, I wanted to test the abilities of Yang Baitou's disciples and make him change his vow of not accepting disciples. Who would have thought that you would take advantage of the chaos in the palace after the coup and follow him out of the palace."
"Guo Xiao is no longer in the world, we are called Fucheng."
The sound was still echoing, but the person was gone.
Wang Ze clapped his hands, and several men came out from the other side.
"Take this man away." Wang Ze pointed at Shang Lin, "Find a place to bury him."
"Then you..."
"There is still a thief to deal with. Tonight is a good night for bloodshed." Wang Ze laughed sharply, "Yanqi hasn't seen blood in these years. Boys, don't embarrass us."
Fu Cheng appeared outside a house with his hands behind his back.
Not long after, the door opened and a man in his thirties came out carrying a bag.
He closed the door quietly and turned to go down the stairs.
A bony hand clamped around his throat.
"Ugh!" The man grabbed the skinny arm with both hands and struggled hard.
"Do you know what that boy called me? Lao Fu!"
The hand lifted up, and the man was slowly lifted into the air.
"When we serve nobles in the palace, we always stand. But in the Bo's Mansion, we can't stand. Do you know why? The young man said, Lao Fu, I feel dizzy if you stand, sit down and eat together."
The man's legs were shaking.
"I have seen many evil people in the palace, but I saw sincerity in that young man's eyes. He really treats us as family."
The man's face turned blue and his tongue slowly stuck out.
"Before leaving the palace, I swore to my master that I would no longer use the martial arts he taught me to kill people after leaving the palace."
There was a look of ecstasy in the man's eyes.
"But I have figured out some ways to kill people on my own, and it just so happens that I can start today."
The skinny hand exerted force and there was a cracking sound.
The man collapsed to the ground, his hands covering his crushed Adam's apple, his body bouncing...
Fucheng put his hands behind his back, hunched over, and walked out slowly.
After an unknown amount of time, Wang Ze appeared in front of the man's corpse.
"There are footprints here!" said a man who was accompanying them.
Two lines of footprints slowly extended into the distance in the muddy alley...
"It's Guo Xiao!"
(End of this chapter)
