Female General (Twenty-two)
The dawn light spread, and the sky turned pale from the blue-gray. The red color of the palace wall slowly faded in the darkness. A dewdrop that had stayed on the eaves tiles overnight suddenly fell down and shattered on the stone steps.
In the empty Tianling City, the hot air began to rise from the stone roads.
The next morning, Xiao Lin and Mu You were ready to go, fearing that if they were a step late, the imperial edict would arrive before the "prison break".
"Will we not be discovered if we dress like this?" Mu You was wearing eunuch's clothes for the first time. He looked around curiously. "Speaking of which, where do we go in?"
Xiao Lin finally tied her hair into a bun, brushed off the dust on her dress, and looked out at the imperial city in the distance. "Boss Chu said the general is being held in a side hall. We should enter through the west gate. When they change shifts, we'll immediately use the paintbrush we used last time to make a hole to get into the palace."
Today's action seems to be appropriate, but Xiao Lin and Mu You remember Chu Mo's advice and cannot make any mistakes at all.
At the hour of Yin, the sky above Tianling City was emitting a faint crab-shell blue light. The palace walls were as high as cliffs, with dark shadows pressing down. The moss at the base of the wall was wet and dark green.
At the same time, two figures clinging to the wall almost merged into the thick shadows.
In the distance, the clanging sound of the palace gate guards' armor could be heard faintly, as crisp as copper coins falling to the ground, and then gradually faded away.
I heard that it was during the interval between defense changes.
"Hurry!" A suppressed urge squeezed out from between his teeth. Mu You quickly swung his arm and skillfully raised the paintbrush, spinning it in a perfect circle on the palace wall. "Hurry in! Hurry!"
Under her feet were broken bricks and dust that had accumulated over the years. They were soft and slippery to step on. Xiao Lin was extremely anxious, but at the same time she was subconsciously careful about her steps. The two emotions were pulling at each other, making her even more flustered.
They hurried along the cold and rough palace wall. The night dew condensed on the blue bricks had already soaked through their thin coarse cloth clothes, and the chill was biting.
The moss on the wall was extremely slippery, and when you ran your fingers across it, it left wet and cold marks.
There were still a few feet to the corner gate, but the halo of lanterns in the corridor inside the gate was already visible. The dim light was cast on the damp ground deep in the doorway, prompting Xiao Lin to walk even faster.
"Hurry up, hurry up, be careful." Xiao Lin himself did not realize how unnecessary the urging he blurted out was. He just kept muttering while trying to take off into the air.
Inside the corner gate, the scene suddenly darkened. Only a narrow palace road extended to the unfathomable heart of the Forbidden Palace. The high walls on both sides were like sharp cliffs. There was only a ray of faint blue skylight above the head, as if hanging above the abyss.
The two men leaned against the icy palace wall, their chests heaving violently as they greedily swallowed the cold, stale, dusty air in the corridor.
After hiding for a while, when the sound of armor rubbing against each other was no longer in his ears and he could no longer see the spear out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Lin took a deep breath, grabbed Mu You's hand and moved out of the shadows together.
"We need to hurry up and go to the side hall to find the general. If we wait until the morning when they start court, it will be too late."
Mu You listened to it in his heart, and his gaze immediately moved from the back of Xiao Lin's head to the distance.
The alleys within the palace walls are long and winding.
The morning breeze was weak, but it brought the faint sound of clappers in the distance, and each sound struck heavily on the heart.
They cautiously avoided the dim lights of several night watch lanterns. Fortunately, the midsummer weather made people tired and the guards seemed slack.
After searching the palace for a long time, they finally stopped in front of a remote side hall deep in the palace. The door of the hall was ajar, and a faint and unsettling smell seeped out from the gap.
The gate to the side hall was guarded by guards, so the two could not go in directly. If they wanted to rescue Gou Su, they had to find another way.
"If the main door is blocked, then go in from the back." Xiao Lin crouched down and whispered to Mu You behind him, "Be careful, don't get discovered."
At this moment, Mu You had no time to care about his feet. The warmth from his palm alone occupied every inch of his heart.
This was not the first time the two held hands, but it was still enough to make Mu You's heart beat.
But his rationality returned, and in his joy he reminded himself from time to time that the most important thing now was to go home.
Standing and squatting with their waists bent, it took a lot of effort for the two of them to successfully avoid the guards' sight and go around the back wall of the side hall.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Mu You quickly took out his paintbrush and neatly drew an oval on the wall, and the two of them stepped in.
I thought Gou Su was still asleep at this moment, but who would have thought that she was dancing with sword in the small side hall.
Perhaps it was a skill acquired over many years of training on the battlefield. Just as Xiao Lin's toes were about to touch the ground, the cold light of the sword in Gou Su's hand pierced straight towards him.
"Who!" she shouted loudly and forcefully.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Lin immediately raised his hands above his head and stammered, "General... General... it's us..."
Squinting his eyes to see the person in front of him clearly, Gou Su lowered his wrist, and the tip of the sword drew a cold arc of light on the ground. Then he pressed it hard, and it sank into the ebony scabbard with a clang.
Gou Su took three steps forward and asked, "How did you get in?"
"We'll talk about the details later..." Xiao Lin immediately grabbed Gou Su's wrist, intending to lead him out of the side hall. "General, you must leave here now. If you don't leave now, it will be too late!"
"What does this mean?"
Mu You interrupted, "They found Wang Pu's body yesterday. They'll probably discuss how to convict you in court today. If you don't flee now, it will be difficult to rebel!"
Gou Su was shocked when he heard this: "Wang Pu is dead? Did he really kill Master Huang?"
"Of course not!" Xiao Lin licked his lips anxiously, peeking out of the cave from time to time. "General, please come with us. Only if you are still alive can we redress the injustice!"
Now that things have come to this, Gou Su can't be distracted for a moment longer.
Although escaping from the side hall like Xiao Lin and Mu You was a serious crime, considering the unjust deaths of her subordinates, even if she accepted her fate and became a dead soul, she would not be able to face her friends on the Yellow Springs Avenue.
If all else fails, once the truth is revealed, she will be the one to lead the army in punishment.
"Let's go!" She spoke in a low voice, but it invisibly strengthened Xiao Lin's heart.
When the two found Gou Su, it was already dawn and the sky was bright enough to see every corner of the palace clearly.
In order to cover up Gou Su's whereabouts, Mu You specially took out a cloak from the Nachuan box. Although the cloak was heavy, it could make people blend into the surroundings. If you didn't look carefully, it would be extremely difficult to detect the figure in it.
Therefore, the three of them curled up like this and took one long detour after another to avoid being watched, and finally they were able to escape from the palace wall.
But the cloak was really heavy. When Gou Su took it off, beads of sweat appeared on his hairline, temples and chin, and they fell down in an instant, soaking the blue bricks.
At this point, Gou Su placed his hands on his hips, panting heavily, and asked again what the two had not said before: "Wang Pu...you said you found his body? How...how was he killed?"
Even though Gou Su was struggling to breathe at this moment, with beads of sweat hanging on her eyelashes, her clear eyes were still full of justice.
Xiao Lin didn't know how to start. After all, Wang Pu's death was so tragic. In addition, Gou Su was in a state of anxiety at the moment. He was afraid that she would become furious and lose her mind after hearing this.
"This...I...he..."
Xiao Lin hesitated for a long time, trying to get away with it.
But Gou Su was more persistent than imagined. Whenever Xiao Lin didn't talk for a moment, she would always wait by her side.
She insisted on hearing an answer.
Mu You knew that he was not good at talking, and since Xiao Lin didn't say anything, he decided not to make trouble.
The air stagnated as Gou Su gasped, and the only buzzing sound left in his ears was even quieter than the palace.
"Tell me." Gou Su's tone was not too intense, but it also carried a hint of annoyance. "How did he die?"
Seeing that he could no longer conceal the truth, Xiao Lin could not stop the flames of the truth no matter how he considered the overall situation.
She hesitated for a long time before she uttered, "He... he was found on the barren mountain... at that time... at that time, he had already been eaten by wild wolves..."
Sure enough, as soon as Xiao Lin finished speaking, Gou Su's shock and confusion penetrated her eardrums, which was more gripping than the sudden chirping of cicadas falling from the trees.
But Gou Su was not a person who acted on emotion. Even though her heart was full of confusion and even though regret welled up in her eyes, she had to swallow the pain for the time being and let the stinging pain in her palms awaken her reason.
She was speechless for less than half a moment before she said in a deep voice, "Let's go and seek justice."
However, justice is hard to find in this world.
At present, the course of events has not been clarified, and there is no solid evidence to make Huang Heng confess his guilt. Coupled with the inaccessible study and the mysterious cause of death, the outcome of the story is no more illusory than a waning moon in the water.
Wait! I couldn't enter the crime scene before, but that doesn't mean I can't now!
Isn't this the Nachuan Box? There must be a treasure to help them!
Xiao Lin, having a flash of inspiration, stopped immediately, a look of joy on his face.
Mu You didn't understand what was going on, so he couldn't help but urge, "Why are you stopping? Why don't you go back quickly?"
"No, we're not going back." Xiao Lin's voice grew louder and louder, full of confidence. "Let's go directly to the Huang Mansion."
"Go straight to the study I couldn't get into last night."
Mu Yougou Su were both startled and looked at Xiao Lin's clear eyes.
Perhaps because Huang Zhi's death was exonerated, the study room, which was previously heavily guarded, was now much less guarded. This not only brought a lot of convenience to the three people's sneak operation, but also secretly urged them to speed up their pace and not wait until all the evidence was destroyed by those with ulterior motives.
"Right here." Xiao Lin led the two to the window where she had found the hidden arrow last night, pointing directly to the scratches on the wooden edge. "I saw these marks first, then felt down and found the hidden arrow in the grass."
Gou Su's brows tightened, and he lightly brushed the window frame with his fingertips, saying, "The marks are very recent. To have such scratches, something must have been tied here."
"Hmm." Xiao Lin pursed his lips and blinked, then waved his paintbrush and broke the tiles in the study. "Let's go in and take a look. There should be more things inside."
After sneaking into the study through the hole, it was still a mess.
But it is a blessing for a few people.
Gou Su was alert. He glanced around and pointed to the scattered objects on the table. He said, "If it really was Wang Pu who had the evil intention of murdering a high-ranking official, he would have killed him with a single blow and would never have engaged in a fight with an unarmed person. This mess on the table is the remnant of a fight."
Xiao Lin looked in the direction of Gou Su's fingertips, and felt more and more that something was wrong, so he slowly bent his knees and squatted, shaking his head and looking around.
Mu You also followed suit and moved to another place to have a look.
What Gou Su said was true, but it was not enough to convince a few people to overturn the verdict on Wang Pu's behalf.
Suddenly, Xiao Lin had an idea: "Look! The table is tilting to one side, and the objects on it have been swept down by this calligraphy. Doesn't it look like I was about to fall and subconsciously grabbed something, but accidentally lost my grip?"
After her reminder, Mu Yougou Su took a deep breath.
Following what Xiao Lin said, Mu You even turned around in small circles on his own, trying to recreate the situation that day.
"It's true!" he exclaimed, and after clearing his mind, he took the initiative to replicate it for the two of them. "For example, I was originally sitting on a chair, then I stood up, and then I tripped over something. I tried to grab the corner of the table, but I lost my grip..."
"No, according to you, Lord Huang just fell to the ground. How could he have died from a sword in the throat?" Gou Su asked back.
Mu You, who had been so confident at first, suddenly showed his fear. After hesitating for a while, he suddenly had a new idea: "Could it be that, after Master Huang fell, he changed direction? Like this?"
As he was talking, Mu You twisted his ankle and turned in another direction. As luck would have it, he really noticed the clue.
"What is this?" Mu You's shout once again drew the two people's attention, staring straight at a wooden ornament not more than half a foot away from them. "If I fall in this direction, it seems like my chin will hit this thing..."
Xiao Lin was puzzled and couldn't recognize what it was even when he got closer.
Gou Su was not smart enough and could see through the conspiracy at a glance.
She clenched her teeth, her eyes flashing with coldness, each word was cold yet sonorous: "It's a knife rack..."
Xiao Lin felt that the accumulated snow on New Year's Day, the severe winter in Fujue, and the heavy rain in Wuxian were not as severe as the chill brought to her by these three or two words at this moment.
What kind of deep hatred would force him to go to so much trouble to set up a trap just for him to die in pain?
She was completely puzzled, but she could only swallow her saliva and staggered back to Liu Xiangju, unable to recover for a long time.
But misfortunes never come singly. They thought they could take a rest by hiding in the backyard of Liu Xiangju, but they didn't expect that God was urging them to move forward.
The bamboo curtains in the courtyard hung heavily, blocking out the morning sunlight.
On the tea table, several teacups lay untied, the remnants of tea long since dried up and covered in a thin layer of dust. A newly formed spider web hung quietly under the eaves in the dead air, a single broken thread still swaying.
"Things are becoming increasingly difficult..." Qian Liyu said, breaking the silence after the other two sat down.
Mu You was quicker than Xiao Lin and asked, "What's wrong?"
Suddenly, a bird's cry came from somewhere, piercing the ear like a needle piercing the ear canal, disturbing the mind and making it feel like it was broken.
Qian Li was silent for a moment, then explained the reason: "At the court this morning, the emperor commended Huang Heng for his contribution in solving the case and issued an imperial decree to promote him to succeed his father as Minister of War."
What? In just a few days, Huang Heng had calculated this situation?
What came faster than the shock was the resentment in my heart.
Xiao Lin avoided Qian Li's words and looked at Chu Mo with a frown: "Boss Chu, how is your investigation into the cause of Mr. Huang's death?"
"Your Excellency did die from a blocked throat."
"How is this possible? This..."
"It is true that the lord died by the sword, but my journey was not in vain." After saying this, Chu Mo took out a piece of rice paper from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Xiao Lin. "The lord's body still has some poison in it, but it didn't take effect before he died from heavy blood loss."
Xiao Lin quickly reached out to take the paper, glanced at it, and asked in confusion: "What is this?"
"This is the receipt left by Huang Heng's trusted confidant who purchased poison from the pharmacy."
The yellowed and crumbly paper lay flat in Xiao Lin's palm. The surge of emotion in his chest swept away the previous disappointment, and his gray pupils suddenly flashed with spots of light.
Chu Mo swung his sleeves, folded his hands behind his back, and started the final battle with one word: "The imperial decree has been issued. The people you are fighting against are not the unknown three sons of the Huang family, but officials appointed by the imperial court. There is only one way to defeat them..."
Everyone was silent, their lips and teeth tightly clenched.
"Dengwengu."
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