Chapter 1 What? Are you afraid of me?
In early spring in February, the snow in the mountains had not yet melted, and a sudden downpour brought up heavy fog, snow and mud.
The linden trees in the forest were covered in white, and the wind and rain were rustling violently. A mad horse carrying people rushed in, shattering the tranquility in the snow.
Song Tangning was still immersed in the suffocation caused by someone strangling his throat and trying desperately to break free, but the next moment he was blown away.
The bridle cut his fingers and his body fell heavily into the snow pile. Before he could react, he rolled all the way down.
"call!--"
My calves hit the rocks hard and the wind scraped my ears and face.
Song Tangning almost fainted from the pain.
She waved her hands to grab the nearest rocks, and her arms were scraped by the stone wall, leaving long traces of blood. After her body hit the weeds on the slope and banged hard several times, she finally managed to climb up the crevice and stabilize herself.
Tang Ning gasped for breath, the suffocation from his neck being strangled before he died mixed with the piercing pain all over his body. He stared blankly at the broken branches high up.
Below me was a vast snow forest, and in the distance I could faintly hear the wailing of horses.
here it is……
Mountain?
She actually came back.
Back to when I was fifteen years old and accidentally disfigured under Lingyun Temple.
This year, my concubine's sister Song Shulan had just entered the mansion, and because of her miserable life experience, she won the favor and pity of my brother.
Whenever Song Shulan shed tears, her cousin who had loved her since childhood and her childhood sweetheart, would hold her in his hands.
Just because she had an argument with Song Shulan, three of her closest relatives abandoned her in an uninhabited forest, causing her to fall off a cliff, breaking her legs and becoming disfigured.
The cold raindrops hit my face, and the blood rolled into my eyes, stinging my pupils and causing pain.
Song Tangning gritted his teeth and tried to climb up, but he slid down as soon as he moved.
She was filled with despair.
I just came back, am I going to die again...
"The sound just now seemed to be from this side. Hey, there's a horse here... Master, do you want to go take a look?"
"Seeing a dead person?"
"...Yes, if someone fell from such a high place, they would have died a long time ago..."
Song Tangning listened to the vague sound on the slope that seemed to be fading away. He ignored the surprise and trance of rebirth and grabbed the rocks under his hands and screamed: "Is there anyone up there? Help! Help me!!"
There was a sudden silence above, and soon a head popped out.
"Oh, this guy is really lucky, he's still alive?"
Song Tangning couldn't see clearly who the person above was through the rain, he could only see the straw raincoat on him.
She pleaded hurriedly, "Sir, I am the second daughter of the Duke of Song's mansion. Princess Cheng is my aunt, and my uncle is the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Song Hong. Please save me, and I will reward you handsomely."
As soon as she opened her mouth, rainwater mixed with blood flowed into her mouth, choking her and making her body shake.
The person above was surprised: "Master, it's the young lady from the Duke of Song's mansion."
"Someone from the Song family?"
The man's voice was like the sound of jade, "Bring it up."
"yes."
The man on the slope took the order and jumped down, and the already loose gravel fell down with a thud.
Song Tangning was so frightened that she closed her eyes in a hurry. When she was about to fall with a scream, her hands were shaking, and someone grabbed her tightly, lifted her up, and jumped up.
The man had excellent lightness skills and reached the real place in a flash. When he stood on the solid ground in the snow forest and was sure that he was saved, Song Tangning's knees went weak and he knelt on the ground.
Her eyelids were covered in blood, and everything before her eyes was stained bright red. She raised her head and said to the carriage in front of her, "Thank you for saving me, brave man..."
"Strong man?"
Carved copper walls and red wood, a hand poking out of the window.
When Song Tangning saw the curtain being lifted to reveal the handsome face with sharp eyebrows and elegant features, his pupils shrank and his expression became dull.
The sky is blood-red, the earth is blood-red, and the carriage is blood-red.
besides.
Xiao Yan...
Song Tangning's face turned pale instantly. She never expected that the person who saved her would be Xiao Yan's people.
Xiao Yan was originally a eunuch supervisor and was the chief eunuch in the palace. Because he was favored by Emperor An, he was in charge of the military power in the capital. He held the feared Black Armored Guards in his hands and was specifically responsible for eliminating those who had dissident intentions in the court for Emperor An.
Anyone he targeted never had a good ending, and countless people died at his hands.
Everyone in the court regarded him as a treacherous eunuch, but he was so powerful that even the royal family and dignitaries had to bow their heads and call him "Governor Xiao" when they saw him.
Xiao Yan is a cold and cruel person with ruthless means. He has no relatives or friends and no ties to anyone, but in his previous life, he became the greatest support for his sister Song Shulan, who was born a concubine.
Song Tangning hung her head with a pale face, thinking back to the years when she was locked up by the Song family and the things she occasionally heard the people who guarded her talk about.
They said that Governor Xiao recognized Song Shulan as his sister.
They said that Governor Xiao took good care of his sister.
With Xiao Yan's intimidation, no one dared to look down on Song Shulan.
Everyone in the capital praised Song Shulan because of her identity. Even though this concubine's daughter was only a concubine's daughter on the surface, she lived a life more noble than that of a princess.
Song Tangning will always remember that after she fell off a cliff and disfigured her face, she was trapped in the Song family's mansion for many years because of her "jealousy" towards Song Shulan. However, Song Shulan married Lu Zhinian, her childhood sweetheart who had been engaged to her for many years.
On the day of their wedding, she managed to escape in the chaos, but ran into Xiao Yan, who was standing in front of her brother Song Jinxiu, in a crane cloak.
"Who is she?" Xiao Yan looked indifferent.
Her eldest brother, Song Jinxiu, was filled with disgust: "The madman in the mansion has disturbed the governor."
"Since he's a lunatic, keep him under control."
With just one sentence, she was forcibly taken back.
That night she was strangled to death in the house. Before she died, she only heard the man behind her say grimly,
"Who told you to disturb someone you shouldn't disturb?"
…
The suffocation caused by the white silk strangling her neck made her breathing rapid. She seemed to see herself with her head tilted and eyes wide open, dying with her eyes open.
Song Tangning tried to retreat in panic, but unexpectedly bumped into Canglang's leg.
Seeing the little girl pale from the cold, Canglang picked up his umbrella and tilted it towards her: "Miss Song, are you okay? It's raining so hard, and this place is so remote and difficult to travel. Why did Miss Song come here alone?"
Song Tangning lowered his eyes to hide his panic: "I didn't come here alone, I went to Lingyun Temple with my brother to burn incense."
"Burning incense?" Canglang was surprised. "This place is quite far from Lingyun Temple."
Song Tangning was afraid of Xiao Yan, and she didn't know whether he and Song Shulan were already involved at this time.
She didn't dare mention Song Shulan's faults, and only chose her words carefully: "My brothers had an emergency and returned to Beijing first. They asked me to stay in the temple and came to pick me up later. It was because I followed them out willfully that I got lost..."
"lie."
The person in the carriage said coldly, "There are official roads for offering incense, and there are also official roads for going down the mountain. A girl from the Duke's Mansion is accompanied by a group of servants. Even if she left the temple on her own, she would never ride a horse here alone."
"I..." Tang Ning shrank back.
"Who sent you?"
Everyone in the capital knew that he would go up the mountain to worship on this day every year. The woman said she was going to Lingyun Temple, but she was taking the small path he took to go up and down the mountain.
He has been investigating some past events recently, which concern the interests of several major families in Beijing and have touched the sore spots of many people.
He had been fighting with those people in the court for many years, and there were even some desperate people who wanted to kill him.
Who had discovered his whereabouts and came here under the guise of a girl from the Song family, trying to take a risky approach and get close to him?
Xiao Yan's eyes were cold and fierce: "Confess honestly and I will keep your body intact."
Song Tangning panicked: "I am really a daughter of the Song family. I didn't lie to you, sir. I just got lost and ended up here..."
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes and looked at the little girl who was trembling with fear on the ground.
The face, as tender as a flower bud, was covered in scratches. The almond-shaped eyes were red and bloodshot when she cried. She curled up like a wounded little animal, but he showed no mercy. "Kill her."
"Little white-eyed wolf, do you want to harm my master?"
Cang Lang, who had been full of concern just now, grabbed her neck.
The fear of being strangled to death struck Song Tangning's heart. He reached out and grabbed the shaft of the carriage and fell to the ground: "Master, spare my life!"
"oh?"
Xiao Yan, looking down from the carriage, seemed to be sneering, "Stop pretending you don't know me, Governor?"
It was just a casual remark, but Tang Ning felt like he was going to be skinned alive the next moment: "I didn't mean to deceive you, Lord Governor. I just didn't recognize you at first..."
"I recognize it now."
"I…"
Song Tangning's scalp tingled.
Xiao Yan chuckled softly: "Why, are you afraid of me?"
He lost his temper and seemed like a very good-tempered person, but Tang Ning's throat was tense: "No, I just heard that the governor likes quietness."
"Where does this nonsense come from?"
Xiao Yan seemed to have heard something interesting, leaning against the window with his lips slightly raised.
"This Governor loves the hustle and bustle, especially when someone is skinning someone alive. The churning of blood and flesh mixed with the screams for mercy is extremely melodious. The skin peeled off in one piece, from the top of the head downwards, is truly beautiful."
“…”
Seeing that she was completely bloodless, Xiao Yan sneered, his brows and eyes suddenly turned cold.
"Throw her down."
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