Ablation

cemetery

The rain fell in a fine and dense manner.

The oil-paper umbrella, gradually fading from white to green, dripped with a ceaseless sound. Water trickled down the umbrella's surface, gradually condensing into droplets at the edge, reflecting a vibrant green hue that reflected in Xiao Yingzhu's dark pupils the moment he opened his eyes.

Falling.

The tombstones belonging to his parents stood side by side on a high place, surrounded by lush trees. The ground was paved with stone bricks, and some small potholes formed a mirror reflecting the mountain scenery.

Every year during the tomb-sweeping season, it rains in the capital.

Occasionally on the way before and after departure and return, but mostly when he was standing in front of the tomb or bending over to clean the tomb, the raindrops fell continuously, interlaced with each other.

As the rain falls heavier, the woods behind the tombstone will begin to emit the natural scent of green grass and moist soil, which diffuses in the nostrils but settles into the heart and cannot be shaken off.

Xiao Yingzhu stayed in front of the tomb for a moment, then raised her hand to lift the hem of her clothes, bent down slightly, and wiped away the mud spots on the tombstone that were splashed by the previous rainstorm.

…

These two tombstones are still standing. Perhaps someone has been assigned to take care of them all year round. They don't look old and there are no weeds. It seems as if they were just moved to the cemetery yesterday to enjoy the cool air.

How many years?

He couldn't remember clearly either.

The mother was the first to leave. She was worried that her father was away fighting in a distant place and would have difficulty returning home, and she became seriously ill.

A doctor does not treat himself.

During that time, he was worried about the servants surrounding his mother.

There were many people watching the Duke's Mansion. He was worried that someone would frame his mother in the medicine while his father was away, and the invited Chinese medicine doctors were not trustworthy either.

What's more, there is a "traitor" in the family.

Therefore, all he could do was to go to the doctor in person to weigh the medicine, pack it, and bring it back to his mansion.

He was well taken care of by his parents when he was young and usually never went out. During that period, when he frequently went in and out of the pharmacy, there was only a rumor that "the young man respected his parents and went out to get medicine himself."

Ten people tell ten, a hundred people tell a hundred.

In the end, the rumors turned into "an unknown handsome nobleman is filial to his parents, and goes out to buy medicine in person every afternoon on time...", etc. He had to cover his face whenever he went out to prevent others from discovering that he was the handsome nobleman who was rumored in the capital.

During the days when he was waiting for his father to return triumphantly from the battlefield, even though it was not visible on his face, he still had some anticipation in his heart.

...and later.

Because of his outstanding military strategy and tactics, his father brought him before the emperor, who granted him permission to fight alongside his father.

The wind brought raindrops, which hung on the flat green hem of the clothes. The cool rain seeped through the umbrella and scattered on the hands and skin.

Xiao Yingzhu stood in front of the tombstone, looked down at her parents who were sleeping there for a while, then turned and walked towards the stairs.

That battle was his first and last time.

From then on... he was like a weak deserter and never went to the battlefield again.

Just by closing your eyes, you can be transported back to the crimson battlefield.

He never likes to show his vulnerable state in front of others. Once it is discovered, it will be regarded as a weakness and may be picked up at any time in the future.

Therefore, he chose to return to the place where he felt most comfortable.

With her slender fingertips clasping the umbrella handle, Xiao Yingzhu slowly walked down the stairs.

Hiding behind the scenes, he persists in playing chess, just like under his father's solemn instruction, he surrounds the enemy step by step and devours the pieces without mercy.

You won’t see those bloody images, nor will you hear those sounds lingering in your ears.

Make a steady plan and then predict the enemy's movements.

Just like when he played chess by the window, in the dark blue summer, with the tireless chirping of cicadas, and under his mother's expectant gaze, the young boy held on to the black piece and stretched out his hand on the chessboard.

There was a crisp sound.

Another game of chess came to a satisfactory end.

—

At the foot of the mountain, a carriage representing the Duke's Mansion's logo had been waiting for a long time.

The attendant guarding the carriage saw Xiao Yingzhu coming down the mountain from afar. He walked hurriedly over, whispered something respectfully to Xiao Yingzhu, and after a quick salute, he reached out and handed the umbrella in his hand to himself. With the other hand, he handed over a towel to wipe away the rain. Then he slowed down his pace and followed Xiao Yingzhu diagonally behind him.

The rain is getting heavier.

The corners of clothes that had not yet been wetted in the cemetery were now soaked with water.

Xiao Yingzhu took the towel, but didn't care about the corners of her clothes being wet by the rain. With an indifferent look, she stepped out through the curtain of the carriage that was lifted by the servants.

The attendant was very sensitive about the day of worship at the Duke's Mansion and dared not speak a word. After sending Xiao Yingzhu into the carriage, he immediately lowered the curtain.

The carriage moved forward, and the damp air from outside swept through the entire carriage.

Xiao Yingzhu lowered her eyes for a while and looked at the jade pendant that she never took off, then quietly raised her eyes to look at the green scenery receding outside the window.

Emperor Tongchangde was told to take a short rest in two days before going to worship.

But because he was worried about the affairs of Cang County... or maybe someone, he ended up advancing his originally planned itinerary.

Even if he was busy over the years, he never missed the tomb-sweeping day.

Now due to some special circumstances, the original plan has been changed.

Xiao Yingzhu raised her hand and rubbed her eyebrows, and Jiang Nian's smile flashed through her mind.

If something goes beyond his plan, he would usually cut it short without hesitation to avoid complications.

But now he hesitated.

When he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, or whether it was beneficial to him, he should have followed the previous method and cut off the unnecessary feelings that suddenly developed between him and Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian is a sensible woman and will not pester him relentlessly like other clingy women.

Then everything can be back on track.

But now he seems to be doing it knowingly.

Even if you know clearly what to do, the resistance in your heart cannot be ignored.

Xiao Yingzhu stood in darkness, and the roads in front, behind, left and right all looked the same.

A beam of white light shone down from above his head.

He was in trouble for the first time.

—

Time passed quickly. After drawing the position of the talisman array and obtaining the antidote for Princess Qingping, the only issues left to be resolved were the mine and the plague.

Jiang Nian stayed in Zuihualou for more than a week.

Judging from the time on the letter Xiao Yingzhu sent her, it won’t be long before he returns to Cang County.

Even though it was the day when the epidemic was about to break out, the number of guests in Zuihualou increased instead of decreased.

Perhaps it is because they are kept in the dark, entrusting their lives to other people's hands, and obediently having their eyes blindfolded with black cloth, so they will not feel afraid.

These days, Jiang Nian used the perfume brought back by the secret guard and sprayed some on them when he went out. Then, he used the formula prepared by Xi Zhen to suppress the lingering perfume smell on the maids' clothes and walked around the first to fifth floors of Zuihua Tower.

In addition to the top pavilion where the goddess was, she also walked around the dizzying maze of curtains on the fourth floor.

After confirming that everything was normal according to You's instructions, Jiang Nian rolled up the blueprint and stuffed it into the wooden box. She didn't plan to open it again until chaos came.

After returning to the house, Jiang Nian fell exhaustedly on the bed, her messy black hair still draped over the bed, covering the edge of the bed, with the ends of her hair hanging down to the ground.

Mo Qing has been acting mysterious lately, and no one knows what he is busy with. I often call out to him, but he doesn't show up.

It was like he was doing something behind her back.

But she is not Mo Qing's master, so it is useless to be so lenient.

Jiang Nian tilted her head, resting it on the hard pillow, raised her hand, and read the envelope that Xiao Yingzhu had written to her earlier again.

Her eyes briefly glanced at the time promise Xiao Yingzhu had given her, and she pointed her fingertips below the time.

The envelope says that it will be released today and tomorrow. Will the goddess' plague be released at this time?

After a few days at Zuihualou, there was nothing to investigate except the plague.

Mines are also associated with plague.

Will the goddess choose to trigger the plague first, causing the people around her to panic and then escape, or will she escape the moment the plague is released?

Feeling a sharp pain in his head, Jiang Nian stood up from the bed and looked out the window.

The sky is getting darker. After today, a new epidemic may occur tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

But she had no sense of reality at all.

How will the goddess deliver it?

——She never figured this out.

The previous epidemic was caused by climate. There is a river in Cang County, but the temperature difference between day and night is greater than the regulating capacity of the river, which is already a case of abnormal climate change.

But now the temperature difference in Cang County is no longer as great as when I first arrived, and the reasons for epidemics caused by climate change have become less.

Apart from climate anomalies, the most likely tool the goddess would choose to trigger the epidemic is animals.

Jiang Nian thought about the possibility of releasing animals carrying the plague into Cang County.

To be honest, she had never understood these things in modern times, and she really didn't know how to trigger an epidemic using animals.

Is it enough to just throw the animals into the fields or into the chicken, duck and goose cages?

...Wouldn't it be too difficult to control the timing of the epidemic outbreak?

Jiang Nian unconsciously stroked the paper and thought for a long time about how to prevent the outbreak of the epidemic, and then he remembered another thing.

They had previously put the mine investigation behind their intelligence gathering at Zuihualou.

But if the plague really breaks out, even if the herbs are collected and used to make the medicine, it will take time. Will the plague still break out in such a short time?

The goddess didn't care about these things and had decided not to live anymore.

But she had to stop him. After all, Xiao Yingzhu's main purpose in coming here was to investigate epidemics and minerals.

While she herself couldn't possibly prevent something from happening before her eyes, she had to at least try.

Originally, she planned to wait for Mo Qing to come back and ask him to follow Lu to check out the situation in the mine, because before that, she felt that there was still enough time.

But Mo Qing has not been seen these past few days...

Jiang Nian looked up at the things outside the window paper. It was getting darker there, and he could only occasionally hear the whistling sound of the wind blowing through the window paper.

The night that slowly filled the room with light began to swallow up the edges of the corners bit by bit. Amidst doubts, a strange feeling passed through my mind.

Jiang Nian frowned and thought about it.

Is Xiao Yingzhu back? Is that why Mo Qing went looking for him recently?

She was a little hard to tell.

But if she continued to wait passively according to the plan she had made when she first came to Zuihualou, no other solution would appear out of nowhere to allow her to reach the finish line smoothly.

Jiang Nian lowered his eyes and glanced at the piece of paper placed in front of the dressing table.

Ling had previously taught her some of the things she would need to do as a personal maid.

A row of lines had been crossed out at the top of the page, and now only the last line remained uncrossed, with a line of words written on it.

The time is the afternoon after tomorrow.

The goddess needs to change her clothes that night according to the rules of the Wumi people and go outside to pray for others.

“…”

Jiang Nian picked up the loose leaf and looked at it again.

Would the goddess intend to release the plague at this time?

So what was the problem with the underground passage? Why did he keep delaying telling her?

After collecting the loose leaves on the dressing table, Jiang Nian tidied up her clothes, lifted up her hair that was gathered inside her clothes, and let it hang outside her hem.

I don’t know whether the goddess has used that bottle of perfume. These days, the personal maids seem to have gradually improved their feelings towards her and are not as repulsive as before.

Perhaps they thought that her lack of ambition for the position of maid would not have any impact on them.

Now, she needs to go out and ask where You is currently.

There are some things that need to be discussed now that the time has come.