Hanging Knife (7)
Li Qi noticed the burning heat in Feng Siji's eyes, which was as innocent as when he was in the Treasury, and it kept falling on her lips.
The two people had already become one and close to each other. Li Qi understood what he was thinking with just one look from him.
The shameful memories of being too tired to even lift a finger came flooding back. Li Qi turned her head away in embarrassment and fear, avoiding his fingers pressing on her lips.
"No, I had no choice before. Now both military and political power are in my hands. There's nothing I need to fight for anymore." Li Qi tilted his head, looking at the oil lamp flickering on the dusty wall. "So this time, I have no reason to rebel against you."
Feng Siji stared at his fingers that were frozen in mid-air after she dodged him for a while, then he retracted his hand and asked, "Then why don't you dare look at me and say it?"
Li Qi paused slightly, because she was afraid that he might have some unclear thoughts in his mind.
But after hearing what he said, Li Qi slowly turned around. As soon as she turned around, she saw his hands stretched out towards her. Before she could react, he held her cheeks and then a wet and soft touch brushed across her lips.
It was Feng Siji's tongue.
Li Qi's limbs stiffened, and he had already pried open her teeth and kissed her forcefully.
It was wet, soft, slippery, and flexible. It sucked Li Qi madly and forcefully. She felt the root of her tongue was numb and painful, and she could not bear it any longer and pushed him away against his chest.
As soon as he withdrew from her mouth, Feng Siji chased after her with dissatisfaction, reached out and hugged Li Qi, holding her in his arms, and with his other hand, he stroked the back of her head and pushed her over.
This posture did not give Li Qi any chance to dodge or escape. Feng Si quickly bent his head, and when he kissed her, Li Qi was anxious and quickly covered her lips with her hands.
Feng Siji kissed the back of her hand with perfect accuracy.
Li Qi covered her mouth and uttered a muffled voice: "I said I wouldn't betray you, but you didn't believe me and are going crazy here. What can I do?"
Li Qi was very clear about how scumbag her statement was, and she carefully looked at Feng Siji's expression.
Feng Siji stared at her for a moment, then withdrew his hands and loosened the shackles on her. He walked back to the small table and sat down. "If you really do that, don't blame me for being cruel and merciless."
He casually flipped through a few pages of the book on the table. "Because I really hate the feeling of being out of control. If you really are uncontrollable, I will do everything in my power to keep you firmly under my control."
As Feng Siji finished speaking, Li Qi seemed to see again the silver chain hidden under the footsteps of the Treasure Pavilion, which was shining coldly as it bound her hands and feet.
The cold light was so dazzling that it made her mind shudder. She quickly walked to Feng Siji, sat down, and took his arm, looking well-behaved and docile. "Don't worry, I won't do that this time."
Feng Siji seemed to enjoy it. He reached out his hand and gently stroked her head as if caressing a thing, smiling slightly: "That's good. I will believe you no matter what."
He talked about trust, but his eyes didn't show much trust in her.
Li Qi knew that he either only believed half of it or didn't believe it at all, but he still pretended to believe it to deceive people. It was obvious that he was testing how loyal she was.
She could feel Feng Siji's warm palm stroking her hair again and again, and looking at his half-smile, she felt that his hand was like the Five Finger Mountain, trapping her tightly.
But no matter what, it was true that Feng Siji wanted to take the blame for her. After all these years of struggling, Li Qi had come to understand the most profound truth: you can't have your cake and eat it too.
If Feng Siji's feelings for her were as normal as they could be, like a trickle of water flowing over a long period of time, then he would never give up everything, even his life.
Li Qi wants the ultimate, and is willing to go against the world and devote all his emotions to her. So Feng Siji, who can give her these, is destined not to be a normal person.
She herself is not a good person. She can accept all the differences between Feng Siji and ordinary people, but the only thing she will not accept is imprisonment.
So Li Qi deliberately tried to please and coax him, to keep him calm first and then go to jail for herself.
Li Qi leaned on Feng Siji's arm and tried to soften her voice. "I'll go out and find Mingrong. I'll get the news about Yunzhou from her. I'll wait for you after I send troops to recapture Yunzhou. This time I'll definitely keep my promise and wait for you to marry me."
Feng Siji looked at the black hair that was resting on her arm, and his mind moved slightly. In prison, in her desperate situation, what she said should not be false. She must be sincere, right?
Perhaps this time, Li Qi's words were sincere in this prisoner situation.
Feng Siji felt relieved and put his arm around her shoulders. He lowered his head to sniff her hair and smelled its fragrance. His posture was affectionate and his attitude was intimate. He didn't say anything else.
-
The sun rose and the moon set, and in the blink of an eye, the day of Li Qi's execution arrived.
The spring sun rose early, just piercing through the clouds and shining on the jailers in front of the prison, illuminating their scale armor with a dazzling cold white reflection.
The beam of light moved, illuminating the prison gate and falling on Li Qi who was being escorted out of the gate by the jailer.
The shackles under her feet dragged across the ground, making a creaking sound. The shackles on her wrists were covered with thick rust, leaving a bloody red mark on her slender white wrists.
Countless soldiers stood in rows outside the prison, with a large prison cart in the middle of them.
Feng Siji stood with his hands behind his back beside the prison van. He was not wearing an official robe today. His snow-blue clothes were bathed in sunlight, but they did not bring any warmth. Instead, they made him feel even colder.
His indifferent gaze fell on Li Qi as soon as she came out.
The prison uniform was too big and loose, and it felt like she was wearing a big sack. But in spring, the looseness made it feel cooler.
"Go ahead." Chen Hu, who was following behind Li Qi, stared at her as she walked to the prison van, reached out to open the door, and motioned her to go in.
Li Qi glanced at Feng Siji, and the moment their eyes met seemed to be frozen, even the willow catkins floating in the air stopped.
Feng Siji secretly clenched his fists and watched Li Qi enter the prison van. She leaned against the wooden railing of the prison van, lowered her eyes and didn't look at anyone.
The wooden bars of the prison van cut the light into strips, which fell on Li Qi's face, making half of her face hidden in the darkness and the other half exposed in the light. The flickering appearance made the truth unclear.
Chen Hu picked up the key and locked the door of the prison van with a click. He then jumped onto the horse led by a soldier, raised his sword high in the air, and shouted, "Let's go!"
Two rows of soldiers walked in front, steadily and orderly, their scales jingling.
Feng Siji rode his horse to catch up. He deliberately slowed down his horse and kept pace with Li Qi's prison cart.
From his perspective, he could see two long rows of soldiers moving forward. Chen Hu, riding on horseback, consciously did not look back at Feng Siji.
Feng Siji lowered his head and saw that Li Qi had been looking down. Thinking that she was worried, he lowered his voice to comfort her: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Hearing this, Li Qi slowly raised her head to look at him. At this moment, she had just walked to the prison dam without any shelter. The sunlight was fully poured on her face, making her eyebrows, nose and lips very soft. Especially her peach blossom eyes were extremely bright, full of affection and charm, which could capture people's hearts at a glance.
Feng Siji's heart skipped a beat.
"Why didn't He Mu come?" Li Qi asked softly. The person who should be most happy to see her like this should be He Mu, but she hasn't seen He Mu today or in the past few days.
Feng Siji's eyes turned cold, and his voice became much deeper: "She can't come."
After a pause, he added: "I won't come from now on."
Li Qi frowned, not understanding what he meant, but vaguely guessed something, so she didn't ask any more questions.
A team of prison vans passed through the East and West Markets. Many angry people gathered on both sides of the street, but this time there were disguised soldiers who stopped them and the situation was not as out of control as last time.
The prison car creaked and arrived at Qingqi Temple.
This place was just as Li Qi remembered, with countless plants planted here. The spacious dam housed the statues of the Twelve Yama Kings of Hell. In the middle was a huge incense basin filled with joss sticks. It was so crowded that some of the joss sticks were extinguished.
It is not difficult to see that these are all new arrivals today, at least no more than an hour ago.
In order to execute Li Qi, a temporary execution platform was built under the statue of Yama, with more than ten jailers stationed in front, behind, left and right. In the center of the platform, an executioner was sharpening his knife.
Seeing the prison cart coming, the executioner stopped, put the sharp sword on his shoulder, and looked down at Li Qi in the prison cart with a ferocious look.
Li Qi was also looking at him, her eyes as calm as water.
There was an uproar in my ears, and countless common people rushed into Qingqi Temple and gathered around the prison car.
Ye Shu and his men tried their best to stop them from approaching the prison van, but the civilians were so numerous that some would slip through. A middle-aged man rushed to the van and reached in through the gap in the guardrails, attempting to grab and hit Li Qi.
Li Qi raised her eyes and saw the man's angry and ferocious face, and the claws reaching out to her.
She subconsciously reached for the dagger hidden on her body, but saw that the devil's claw suddenly froze in mid-air, followed by the man letting out a loud howl.
This cry was like a switch, clicking the button and stopping the chaotic scene. The surroundings became completely silent, and everyone stared at Feng Siji with wide eyes.
Feng Siji grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it hard. There was a loud sound of the bone snapping and dislocation. Feng Siji's face was gloomy and his eyes were filled with murderous intent. He raised his foot and kicked the man hard in the chest.
The man fell to the ground suddenly, his broken hand hanging down, and the other hand covered his chest, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
A mouthful of blood shocked everyone around.
What did they see?
The Lord Feng, the Honest Official Feng, whom they had always believed in, and even Feng Siji, whom they privately called Feng Qingtian, actually fought with a commoner for a witch.
"Master Feng, how could you do this!"
"Why are you defending the witch? You defended her last time, last time too!"
"Sir, please tell me, it was just a slip of the tongue, it was not intentional!"
“…”
Amidst everyone's anxious gazes, Feng Siji was calmer than ever before, pursing his lips tightly and saying nothing.
He swept his heavy gaze over the crowd, and the noisy people instantly quieted down. They looked at Feng Siji anxiously, as if they had offended the gods.
The sun above their heads was growing brighter and brighter, making them dizzy, but no one was willing to leave. They stood there wiping their sweat while waiting patiently and expectantly for Feng Siji's answer, otherwise no one could feel at ease.
Who wouldn't be terrified when the person they always believed was good to them suddenly protects the evil woman who everyone wants to kill?
But Feng Siji remained silent.
The sun was getting stronger and stronger, and Li Qi felt a little dry in the mouth. She raised her hand to touch her chapped lips and swallowed uncomfortably.
At this moment, Feng Siji winked at Chen Hu, and Chen Hu walked to the prison van with the key and opened the door of the prison van with a click of the key.
Two jailers dragged Li Qi out. Li Qi stood outside the prison van. The sun was scorching above her head, causing her to squint slightly, her eyes feeling a little sore from the sun.
With his squinted eyes, everything seemed smaller, including Feng Siji's figure.
Feng Siji, who looked visually compressed and small, reached out his hand to her. Li Qi was slightly stunned and didn't understand what he was going to do. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it hard. She suddenly fell forward and fell into Feng Siji's arms.
Li Qi heard the people around her gasp, followed by shocked sighs.
Feng Siji put his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry, I still don't trust you not to betray me. So today, I want everyone to know our relationship so that I won't give you the chance to defect..."
After he finished speaking for a long time, before Li Qi could react to what he meant, he held her face and kissed her lips in front of everyone.
Li Qi opened her eyes wide in shock. The sunlight above her head mercilessly pierced into her eyes, causing a sharp pain. The pain made her eye circles red, but she did not squint again.
She was afraid of exposing their relationship in front of others, but fortunately Feng Siji had no habit of exposing himself, and the kiss ended immediately.
He let go of her and took a few steps back, tilting his head slightly and glancing coldly at the angry people.
"Master Feng, you! You colluded with this witch and... "
"No wonder you defended her last time. We thought you were a saint, compassionate to everyone, yet you even attacked us, the powerless common people, for her. Look, he couldn't even get up after being kicked by you!" Someone pointed at the man sprawled on the ground, spitting blood, and angrily accused him:
"How could you do this? You are our Lord Feng!"
"You can't blame Master Feng. It was the witch who bewitched him! Witch, return our Master to us!"
The sound was like a small stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up thousands of waves.
The situation was even more out of control than last time. Those people were howling like crazy, accusing Li Qi and cursing Feng Siji. It was as terrifying as a zombie siege. If Ye Shu hadn't led people to stop them desperately, Li Qi thought that she and Feng Siji would have been torn to pieces by them.
Feng Siji held Li Qi's hand tightly and glanced at these ignorant people with contempt.
He rarely showed such contempt for others, and even less often acted so high and mighty, as if he regarded everyone as dirt. Feng Siji said nonchalantly, "Don't you all know that I got married in Qianzhou? County Lady Li Qi is my wife."
With a click, the noisy sounds stopped abruptly. In the strange stillness, Feng Siji continued calmly: "Also, I am the real murderer of the queen. Release Li Qi!"
After Feng Siji finished speaking, he raised a bloody dagger and a piece of blood written on it, "Here is the evidence! Here is the witness, too!"
As he finished speaking, two soldiers escorted a woman out of the temple behind the statue of Yama. The three followed Dong Linche and slowly stood in front of the crowd.
Li Qi looked over and saw that the person being brought in was He Mu.
Dong Linche was the first to stop. He didn't even glance at Li Qi. The imposing young general seemed capable of handling matters on his own. He glanced at the crowd with an arrogant look, then turned back, grabbed He Mu's face, and said coldly, "It's this woman who slandered my sister as a murderer. This woman and her brother have teamed up to kill countless elderly, weak, and disabled people, and turn countless Yunzhou soldiers into dead bones. They're worried that their deeds will be exposed, so they're doing their utmost to destroy my sister!"
He Mu's face was pale, and her chin looked sharper because of her thinness. Her bright eyes were burning with rage, and she was madly looking towards Dong Linche.
Her whole body was shaking. She wanted to speak, to struggle, but her tongue had been cut off long ago, so she couldn't speak. Her body was also pinned down by Dong Linche's soldiers, so she couldn't move at all.
All the hatred in her heart was vented through her eyes that were so angry that they were about to bleed.
When Dong Linche saw her red and bloodshot eyes, he felt no pity but hatred and disgust. If there weren't so many people watching, he would not have resorted to lynching, otherwise it would have ruined Feng Siji's plan. He would have killed the woman with a knife long ago.
Dong Linche took a few steps back in disgust and extended his hand to the deputy general beside him.
The deputy general handed over a dagger and placed it in his palm.
Dong Linche pulled out the dagger, bent down, picked up the dagger and slowly approached He Mu, "Why do you look at me like that? Do you know now that you hate me and are unwilling to give up? Yunzhou was lost because of your He family. How many people, like this general, have lost their parents and become homeless.
"The people of Yunzhou are still living under the humiliation of the Southern Yan army. Men are forced to do hard labor and women are used as playthings. Do you know how many people of Yunzhou have been tortured to death by the Southern Yan army? It's been eight years. What right do you have to be unwilling to accept this?"
As Dong Linche spoke, he stabbed the dagger deeply into He Mu's pale cheek. The tip of the knife moved towards her chin. In the blink of an eye, a long, hideous blood mark appeared on her fair face.
Dong Linche had been fighting in the battlefield for many years, and his eyes had long been trained to be cold and ruthless. When he got ruthless, his whole face was filled with terrifying murderous intent. He Mu trembled when she saw it, and waves of dull pain came from her cheeks, making her tears roll out of the corners of her eyes continuously.
The salty tears flowed into the cut wound, causing even more burning pain. He Mu couldn't make a sound. He was sweating all over from the pain, his hands and feet were shaking, and a roar came from his throat that became louder and louder.
With a clang, Dong Linche threw away the dagger that had touched He Mu in disgust. He lowered his eyes and looked down at He Mu, "Don't look so pitiful. When my mother was captured by the Southern Yan army, her fate was much worse than yours now.
"You should be thankful that I was raised by my elder sister. I've been able to understand the many hardships women face since I was a child. That's why I was able to be soft-hearted and forgive you. Otherwise, I would have made you suffer the same pain my mother endured."
He Mu bent her head and just cried. The blood on her face flowed down and hit her white dress, staining it with red spots.
The former daughter of a wealthy family met with such a fate, which frightened the crowded common people for a while.
If a rich girl can become like this, what about ordinary people like them who have no power or influence?
But there were always a few fearless ones who, relying on their numbers, shouted, "Why are you doing this? No matter what, you just rely on your mouths. Master Feng...you must have slandered Master Feng!"
Feng Siji paused, unable to suppress a laugh. He unfolded the blood letter and handed it to Chen Hu: "Read it to them."
Chen Hu had no choice but to obey. He tried his best to ignore He Mu's hateful look and calmly read out the contents of the blood letter.
The blood letter had already been altered by Feng Siji, and the content read out now roughly said that Wang Xiu originally worked under Dong Yan, the governor of Yunzhou.
However, he colluded with the He family and sold out military intelligence, giving He Zhangjing the opportunity to recruit old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers as mediocre troops, which resulted in Wei Ming's failure to send reinforcements in time. Yunzhou was defeated in the Battle of Qian Gu Bay, and the Southern Yan army broke through Yunzhou like a fish in water.
Wang Xiu was the one who knew the inside story. He Rucheng arrested him and forced him to death after the death of the empress. He had anticipated this and left a letter in blood accusing He of the crime.
The more Chen Hu read, the more frightened he became, because except for the part about He Rucheng forcing Wang Xiu to death, the rest of the blood letter was true.
His later wife was changed to Wang, who was also implicated in this matter. He had no choice but to marry Wang to appease the situation and got on the pirate ship of He.
If Feng Siji had not asked him to change sides, he would probably still be helping He Mu to be an accomplice to the evil.
Chen Hu was extremely nervous. It seemed that Feng Siji had already found out everything. Then he, he...
"As for the Empress, she once went to Qianzhou with Your Majesty. At that time, I was exiled to Qianzhou and was humiliated by her. I was so angry that I sneaked into the capital and killed her." Feng Siji suddenly confessed the case, interrupting Chen Hu's thoughts.
Chen Hu looked up in panic, only to see Feng Siji flashing the beautiful red dagger. "This is the evidence. I teamed up with He Mu, the daughter of the He family, but now she's betraying me to save her father and brother. I have no choice but to fight to the death. No one will be in trouble."
Everyone looked at the red dagger in his hand.
The blood had dried, forming dark patches that obscured the sharpness of the dagger itself. But even so, one could still see the undiminished murderous aura within it.
There was a great deal of sighing and uproar, and everyone watched it in disbelief.
The lanterns, flower pots, and firecrackers they arranged to execute Li Qi all became a joke.
Someone collapsed to the ground in frustration: "How could this happen? How could this happen? Lord He Zhangjing clearly, clearly..."
"And Miss He. The county lady shot her in Qingqi Temple earlier, and we even smashed the county lady's mansion for her... So, it turns out that the county lady was avenging herself..."
“No wonder someone smashed up the He Mansion a few days ago!”
"No, that's impossible. There must be some misunderstanding!"
“…”
Some believed it, some didn't. The scene was in chaos, but no one came forward to beat or accuse Li Qi.
Li Qi herself was also stunned. No wonder Feng Siji insisted on taking the blame today instead of releasing herself from prison early. It turned out that he was waiting here.
He dragged He Mu, who was originally a witness, into being an accomplice, and exposed the crimes of He Zhangjing and his son in front of everyone. He wanted to take this opportunity to drag the entire He family into the water!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com