Cage (20)
When they arrived at the Gold Storage Pavilion, it was sunset. The elegant red sunset in their memory was high above the distant sky. Feng Siji was leading his horse in the blood-red sun, and the figures of the man and the horse were infinitely lengthened by the sunset.
He led the horse back to the stable and carried Jueyin to the eleventh floor.
Qinglan and Yelan were guarding outside the door. When they saw him, they both bowed and said, "The county lady has fallen asleep."
Feng Siji frowned: "Are you still sleeping? Have you eaten yet?"
Qinglan nodded: "Ye Lan came back at noon. She woke up once, had dinner with Ye Lan, and then went back to sleep."
Feng Siji nodded lightly, pushed open the door, and walked in with light steps.
Qinglan carefully closed the door behind her, making only a slight click.
Li Qi was not woken up from her sleep.
Feng Siji stood in the middle of the room and glanced sideways at the person on the bed. The aqua-red bed curtains were as thin as a cicada's wing, like gauze, reflecting her slender figure inside.
She slept on her side on the bed, her back arched and half of her shoulders exposed.
It was not cold in spring and she was dressed enough. A ray of setting sun shone in from the window and fell right on her shoulders, making her feel warm.
Feng Siji gently put down the Jue Yin, and when he untied the coarse cloth, he accidentally plucked the strings, and a sound of music rang out without any reason.
He paused and looked at Li Qi nervously, only to see the person on the bed turned over, facing outside, and opened his eyes to look.
Li Qi thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes and saw clearly that the person standing in the room was Feng Siji. She quickly stood up and pulled aside the bed curtains: "You're back so early?"
She thought Feng Siji was very busy this time and would not be back before midnight.
Feng Siji put Jue Yin away, sat down next to her, and said apologetically, "Did I wake you up?"
Li Qi shook her head, "It's almost time to sleep." Then, with a hint of urgency, she pulled up Feng Siji's sleeve and asked, "When are we leaving? I'm worried that the longer we wait, the more danger Mingrong will face."
Feng Siji lowered his eyes to look at her.
She had just woken up, with a mess of long hair on her head. A few strands of hair on her temples had been lifted up by her sleep, hanging down beside her ears or over her eyebrows, making her as cute as a little squirrel with its fur standing on end.
As early as when he was in Qianzhou, Feng Siji knew that Li Qi never paid attention to her sleeping posture and often woke up in the morning with a messy head of hair.
Feng Siji stretched out his fingertips, smoothed the hair that was sticking up at her temples, and gently tucked it behind her ear: "Don't worry, Concubine Li is now Zhang Zhouzhu's only bargaining chip to contact and control us. He will definitely not let Concubine Li get into trouble so early."
Li Qi thought about it and felt that it made sense, but she still didn't dare to wait.
Feng Siji saw what she was thinking, took her hand and said soothingly: "After tomorrow, we can set off. Wait for the last day."
Li Qi asked, "Why wait until tomorrow? Do you have unfinished business?"
Feng Si nodded quickly and said, "I will arrest He Zhangjing tomorrow."
Li Qi paused. She had been too busy and eventful recently and had briefly forgotten the name. Now that it was suddenly mentioned, her heart beat uncontrollably.
Li Qi's fingertips slowly tightened, and the familiar hatred surged through her limbs again, making her feel cold all over.
Feng Siji held her in his arms, stroking her back soothingly: "This time I will hand him over to you and let you deal with him as you wish."
Li Qi looked up at him and said, "I heard from Qinglan that once He Zhangjing is released, he will team up with Chen Hu to arrest you for your poor handling of the case. Why are you so fine?"
"Are you happy for me or unhappy for me?" Feng Siji asked Li Qi with a chuckle.
Li Qi didn't want to bother with Feng Siji. If they weren't under his roof, she would have to go to Dong Mingrong and would not give him a good face.
Seeing that she ignored him, Feng Siji simply stopped teasing her: "The position of Privy Councilor is vacant. Li Ke recommended me before he left, so they dared not act rashly."
Li Qi said "oh", but felt a little strange.
It was because Li Ke always followed his own orders, but this time he left without making any sound, which was a bit abnormal.
Without waiting for Li Qi to think deeply, Feng Siji stood up and walked to the table. He stretched out his hand to pluck the strings of the guzheng, and looked at Li Qi with a sidelong smile: "This Jueyin is for you. I haven't heard you play it yet."
When he said that, Li Qi of course understood what he meant. She walked over in slippers, sat down at the table, and tentatively plucked a string.
The sound was not as crisp as before, and traces of repairs could be seen on the guzheng. Li Qi knew what was going on without asking.
Li Qi casually played a tune of Yunzhou. Although the sound was not crisp enough, it was more lively than most guzhengs. The melodious sound floated in the Cangjin Pavilion.
Li Qi didn't pay much attention to playing the piano. She was thinking more about what Zhang Zhouzhu had said to her before.
As Li Qi played, she couldn't help but ask Feng Siji, "Did you really buy this konghou from Zhang Zhouzhu?"
Feng Si nodded quickly.
She then recalled what Zhang Zhouzhu had done to Feng Yijun, and for a moment she felt a mixture of emotions: "How did you feel at that time?"
"My only feeling is that I can't wait to give it to you."
Feng Siji did not lie. He was still in Qianzhou at that time. He heard that Zhang Zhouzhu would travel with Concubine Li and others. He also happened to see that Li Qi did not have her own guzheng, so he went to find Zhang Zhouzhu.
When Feng Siji was in Kyoto, he knew that the famous Jueyin was in the hands of Zhang Zhouzhu, but at that time he was not interested in stringed instruments and never thought about obtaining Jueyin.
In Qianzhou, in order to buy the Jueyin from Zhang Zhouzhu, Feng Siji spent ten times the amount of gold and silver, and stood in front of his door every day to ask for a meeting.
Logically speaking, Zhang Zhouzhu would not sell out given their relationship, but he was not interested in stringed instruments and just liked nice things.
Since the person he hates is willing to bow down and there is gold and silver to be taken, people in high positions like Zhang Zhouzhu don't care about any past unpleasantness with Feng Siji.
Only consider interests.
Li Qi also knew that buying this guzheng was definitely not as simple as Feng Siji said, but Feng Siji didn't seem to want to talk in depth, so there was no point in asking further.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Li Qi paused in her piano playing and looked up. Qinglan's voice came from outside the closed door: "Sir, Yeshu sent a message saying that everything is ready. You can go back now."
Li Qi looked up at Feng Siji in confusion, thinking that he would go out tomorrow morning, but she didn't expect it to be now.
It’s not that she can’t bear to leave, but Feng Siji is not here, and she is still locked up here without freedom, and she is always anxious.
Feng Siji stood up from the table, walked around to Li Qi, bent down and wanted to kiss the corner of her mouth.
Li Qi subconsciously stepped back, but he grabbed the back of her head and pressed her hard in front of him. The distance between them was very close, the light in front of her eyes dimmed, and then she was kissed hard by him.
The friction between their lips was a little painful, and Li Qi frowned tightly. After a long while, he gradually backed away from her lips.
But he still pressed against the corner of her mouth and said vaguely: "Wait for me to come back obediently."
Li Qi didn't say anything, her heart was beating a little faster. She subconsciously stuck out her tongue and licked her lips which were a little painful.
Feng Siji's cold big hand was still pressing on the back of her neck, stroking it from time to time. Li Qi felt the rubbing on her skin and stared at him nervously.
Seeing that Feng Siji had no intention of letting go, and there seemed to be a warning and expectation in his eyes, Li Qi said reluctantly: "I understand."
"It's best not to run."
Feng Siji let go of her after he finished speaking and slowly left.
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The next day, the sky, which had been bright since the beginning of spring, dimmed. A thick layer of dark clouds hung heavy over the distant sky. The nearby trees rustled in the strong wind, their trunks bent, and leaves fell one after another.
Feng Siji was wearing a scarlet official robe, a fu hat, and his hair was neatly combed. He stepped on a leaf, and the strong wind made his official robe rustle. He looked full of vigor and cruelty.
He was standing outside the palace gate, looking back at Wang Mo, who was being controlled by Ye Shu, and said in a deep voice, "Did you remember everything I told you? If you want to survive, it depends on how you behave today."
Wang Mo nodded repeatedly: "I know, I understand!"
After cleaning up the page book yesterday, Wang Mo finally looked like a human being again.
He was wearing neat and clean Hu clothing, and his messy hair was trimmed neatly. Apart from looking a little thin and listless, there was nothing wrong with him.
In short, it is hard to tell that he has lived in Feng Siji's prison for so long.
However, the cut on his leg had not healed completely yet, and he walked a little unsteadily. But he had already thought of an excuse. If anyone doubted him and asked him about it, he would say that he had suffered the injury when he escaped from the Jiedu Mansion where his house was ransacked.
Because he was busy escaping at the time, he didn't take care of the wound, so he developed a chronic illness.
Wang Mo was afraid of making a mistake and losing his life at the hands of the red-robed man in front of him, so he kept repeating the words they had given him in his mind.
Finally, he followed Feng Siji to the inner court, but like Ye Shu, he was left outside the high wall.
There are not only them here, but also countless servants, book boys, counselors and the like, all of whom were left here to accompany their masters to court.
Perhaps because they had never seen Wang Mo before, everyone looked at him with doubt.
After waiting here for a while, the dark clouds in the sky became thicker and thicker, and the wind became stronger and stronger. When it blew over, I could even feel the moisture mixed in the wind, and it seemed that some raindrops had begun to roll in.
Wang Mo felt a little cold from the wind, so he pulled his clothes together to wrap himself tightly. Suddenly, he heard a sharp voice from the front shouting, "Wang Mo!"
Wang Mo shuddered, leaned over to look, and raised his hand high: "Sir, I'm here!"
"You, come in with us!"
The eunuch turned around and walked inside.
Wang Mo was about to follow when Ye Shu called him back. He turned around and Ye Shu looked at him warningly: "If you dare to play tricks..."
Wang Mo waved his hands, a little impatient: "You've said this several times. Don't worry, for the sake of my reputation, I will definitely not dare to do anything reckless."
He said that he was too lazy to waste time and quickly caught up with the eunuch.
When he arrived at the palace where courts were held, he saw several gilded stone lions standing around solemnly. The ceiling of the hall was very high, with several large, lustrous beads hanging on it. There were also many poems and paintings on the walls that he didn't recognize but were obviously the works of masters.
At the very top sat the dispirited Emperor Liang.
As soon as Wang Mo came in, he felt the atmosphere in the hall was frozen, very stiff and subtle. A man in a wheelchair was coming towards him with a murderous look in his eyes.
He was suddenly startled. If his guess was correct, this was the He Zhangjing that Feng Siji mentioned.
That is the person he is going to deal with today.
Emperor Liang, standing high above, spoke up at this moment: "Wang Mo, how much do you know about the conspiracy between Wei Ming, the governor of Qianzhou, and He Zhangjing to cause the fall of Yunzhou?"
Wang Mo hurriedly knelt down, and his originally determined heart suddenly hesitated.
If I tell the truth, will Feng Siji really let me live?
Even if he lets me live, I am also an accomplice in the case that year. Will His Majesty let me live?
Wang Mo suddenly had new considerations.
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