Cold Year (11)
Chapter 26 Cold Years (11)
Feng Siji looked at her quietly without answering and slowly approached her.
The tall figure approached with a sense of oppression. Li Qi instinctively stepped back, but her knee was tripped by the chaise longue, and she lost her balance and fell in the middle of the soft chaise longue.
Feng Siji took the opportunity to lean over and press down, supporting her body with his hands on both sides, holding her in his arms. His arched back was like a mountain, majestic and upright, trapping the petite girl completely in his encirclement, leaving her nowhere to escape.
Admiring her somewhat panicked look, Feng Siji lifted her chin, lowered his head and gently pecked her lips.
The touch on his lips was cool and soft, and gradually turned from a gentle crush to a rough and deep kiss.
Li Qi gritted her teeth and refused to give up her territory.
Suddenly, a cold hand grabbed the back of her neck and squeezed it hard. Li Qi was caught off guard and let out a low moan. This gave him an opening and he forcefully broke in.
The hand that was pinching the back of her neck slowly moved away, coming to cover her eyes. The darkness before her eyes instantly magnified her other senses.
His rapid breathing was hot and burning in her ears. The scent of soap on his body mixed with the warm air, invading every inch of her, as if he wanted her to be covered in his scent.
His scent is all over my body.
With violent and destructive ferocity, he kissed every inch of her wetly and hotly. She was forced to raise her head to endure and welcome it, without even a chance to breathe.
She almost suffocated and turned her head to the side to avoid him, but he kept chasing her and crushing her hard.
Warm saliva flowed from the corners of his lips, and he licked it clean one by one.
As if finally satisfied, he withdrew from her territory, but still pressed his lips against hers, mumbling, "Forbidden, what I want you to do is forbidden."
"What?"
Her brain, deprived of oxygen from the kiss, couldn't react to the meaning of his words. Li Qi opened her mouth and gasped for breath, looking at the man on her with drunken eyes.
The distance was too close, and I could only see his blurred facial features under the light and shadow. His lips were covered with a thin layer of shiny liquid. He looked so gentle, but now he had a bit of a ridiculous obsession.
He pressed on her, stretched out his fingers and gently pinched her earlobe. She shuddered suddenly. The earlobe was her most sensitive part, and he had always known it since they were in Qianzhou.
"I know you heard me," he whispered.
He stood up, moving a little further away from her. She could finally see him clearly. Looking at his clean face and remembering his polite and courteous ways, Li Qi said firmly, "I know you're not that kind of person."
"What kind of people?"
"The kind of lunatic who needs to be restrained."
He let out a low, hoarse laugh, supported himself on the chaise longue, and stood up, standing in front of her and looking down at her: "Maybe."
Li Qi didn't know what to say, so she just lay motionless on the chaise longue. He walked to the wooden cabinet in the corner, took out a thick white velvet blanket and covered her with it.
"You should have a good rest."
Feng Siji picked up the fire tongs and added some new charcoal to the stove. He made sure it could burn until tomorrow morning before he walked away.
-
The night outside was as dark as ink, without a single ray of light. Feng Siji followed the night candles on the path in the courtyard and came to the ancestral hall in the mansion.
His house was new, and so was the ancestral hall. Rows of candles lit the hall, and the black mist from the burning candles drifted in the sky, hazily shrouding the spirit tablets on the altar.
Feng Siji brought a cushion and placed it on the ground, then knelt down.
He knelt with his back straight, like a pine tree on the mountain top, his eyes fixed on the spirit tablet of Feng Yijun in front of him. He wanted to say something to his father, but felt ashamed to face him.
He believed that he had not broken his oath. After all, he did not make a false case. He just delayed the time of solving the case and wanted to find a way to break the deadlock for Li Qi, which was considered to be giving her a chance.
But only he knew that this opportunity was actually given to him.
Qianzhou was abandoned, living from beginning to end in the beautiful world carefully constructed by Li Qi. He thought she was dead, and the cenotaph he built for her seemed like a joke. Now that he was in a position of power, it was his turn to carefully build a golden cage for her.
A sound of footsteps was heard outside the courtyard, coming closer and closer, and then stopping outside the ancestral hall.
Feng Siji knew who it was without turning around, and asked in a deep voice, "How is it?"
"It's all done."
Feng Siji nodded lightly and said, "Qingxi Village, build a golden house for her."
-
The new house Ye Lan bought was in Qingxi Village. According to Ye Lan's explanation, Qingxi Village used to be a very prosperous village in Kyoto. It was a place with excellent scenery and outstanding people, and it had produced two top scorers in the imperial examinations.
However, due to its remote location, the population decreased after the war, and people in this place kept moving away, and gradually the area became deserted.
No one has been here for many years, and not many people know about Qingxi Village now, so it is the perfect place to be used as the newest shelter.
Even if others wanted to attack Li Qi, they probably wouldn't be able to find the way because the mountain road here is winding and rugged. However, there is a hidden flat road that can be used by carriages, and only people who are familiar with it can find it.
After hearing Ye Lan describe how wonderful that place was, Li Qi decided to go with her to take a look.
They met at the county lady's residence and took a carriage to Qingxi Village.
Although the mountain road was bumpy, it was quiet all the way. Occasionally, you could hear birds singing. It was not as noisy as the hustle and bustle of Kyoto City, and I felt relaxed both physically and mentally.
Li Qi couldn't help but lift the curtain of the car to look outside, and found that they had arrived at the destination. From afar, she could see a red roof emerging from the top of a forest covered with snow, like a red hat on the forest.
The red roof eaves actually protrude above the treetops, which shows how high the attic is.
After getting off the carriage and standing outside the house, I could clearly see that the house was extremely large. In an open space among the towering trees, a tall building that could be called a golden house rose from the ground.
Magnificent and solemn.
There were small houses on all sides, front and back, but there was an attic in the middle that was extremely tall, almost reaching the sky. Li Qi counted them silently and found that there were eleven floors in total.
On the eaves of the top floor of the attic, there is a gold-plated plaque hanging with three big words inscribed on it: Gold Storage Pavilion.
Li Qi frowned slightly, feeling that the name was a bit strange for some reason.
"Mr. Du!" Ye Lan shouted from the side, and then ran towards an old man in a blue robe outside the house. The old man looked haggard, his eyes were red, and he looked listless, as if he had just encountered a major change.
Ye Lan turned around and waved to Li Qi, "County Lady, this is the original owner of the house. His surname is Du, and he's a teacher. Now he's planning to return to his hometown in Qianzhou, so he's selling the house to us."
Mr. Du bowed to Li Qi and said, "Greetings, County Lady."
Li Qi nodded to him without any special expression and walked slowly into the courtyard.
The interior is like most people's mansions, spacious and quiet. The yard is filled with many plum trees, which are in full bloom at this season. The vast expanse of bright red flowers looks like an endless and beautiful sunset from a distance.
Compared to the other courtyards, the Treasure House was incredibly exquisite. The materials used for its renovation seemed simple, but it gave her the feeling of a glazed palace and white jade and gold bricks.
"County Princess, what do you think?" Ye Lan asked happily.
Li Qi pondered for a while and said nothing.
She thought everything about the house was good, but she had a very strange feeling.
The house is surrounded by tall mountains and trees on three sides, leaving no space at all. The front is open, but there is a river running through it. On the other side of the river is a dense forest. I wonder what is in there.
It's like... a cage.
As long as the carriage path she came from was blocked or the ladder to the treasury was cut, the people living inside would never be able to get out.
Even if she knew some martial arts, she couldn't fly down the eleventh floor out of thin air. This was not the world in the novels where Mingrong could climb walls and fly over rooftops.
She stared at the inscription on the Treasury Pavilion, and the more she looked at it, the stranger it seemed to her.
She looked at Mr. Du, who was chatting happily with Ye Lan, and asked in confusion, "May I ask why you chose this name? And why did you sell this house? Since you are a teacher, how can you teach living in such a remote place?"
Mr. Du replied, "My wife came up with this name, and I don't know the specific intention. Actually, I haven't taught for a long time. My wife was seriously ill, and I stayed by her side to take care of her. She said she wanted to find a secluded place to recuperate, so I renovated this house, thinking of bringing her here to live in seclusion and recuperate."
"Unexpectedly, things went against my wishes. Last month, my wife passed away. Before she died, she said she wanted to return to Qianzhou. I wanted to take her back for burial and also hold a vigil for her here. My wife's treatment has cost me all my money, so I have no choice but to sell this house to get some gold and silver to tide me over this difficult time."
As he spoke, he took out a stack of papers and handed them to Li Qi: "Every word I said is true. These are the prescriptions for my wife's treatment."
Li Qi looked through it carefully. It contained the land deeds, house deeds, and records of the money spent by Mr. Du on building the house. Everything was complete and perfect, and there seemed to be nothing wrong.
Ye Lan leaned over to look and asked, "Does the county lady have any concerns?"
Li Qi shook her head, returned the prescription deed to Mr. Du, and said, "No, maybe I'm worrying too much."
After getting Li Qi's nod, Ye Lan happily made a deal with Mr. Du, paid the silver, and then went to the government to re-register the title deed. The house then belonged to Li Qi.
-
After parting with Ye Lan, Li Qi rode alone to find Feng Siji.
The Feng residence, which was neither big nor small, was deserted, with only two servants busy sweeping the snow.
Li Qi searched all over the house, big and small, but couldn't find any trace of Feng Siji until he discovered a ancestral hall behind the study.
When Li Qi arrived, Ye Shu was guarding outside with a sword in his arms. Seeing her coming, he glared at her resentfully: "Why are you here again? If I mess with you, nothing good will happen to the master!"
Ignoring his angry tone, Li Qi calmly asked, "Where's he?"
Ye Shu reluctantly pointed his mouth backwards.
The door of the ancestral hall behind him was half open, and under the incense stand with burning candles, a straight figure was kneeling.
Li Qi thanked him and walked in lightly.
In the ancestral hall, the gray smoke from the burning candles gathered in the air, which was a bit choking. She coughed twice and walked towards Feng Si who was kneeling in the middle.
As she got closer, she saw the spirit tablet in the middle of the incense table, the name was Feng Yijun.
I heard Feng Siji mention that this was his deceased father, who died in the year Yunzhou City was broken.
Feng Yijun was a good official who served his country and the people. He took the imperial examinations throughout his life and won the top spot at the age of 30. He taught Feng Siji to read and write since he was a child, and told him that if he had the opportunity to become an official in the future, he must be honest and upright, not bow to power, and not be partial to money.
He taught by example, and if it weren't for meeting her, Feng Siji would have done very well over the years.
Feng Siji suddenly said, "I should have told you that I swore an oath before my father's spirit tablet that I would never show partiality in my official duties."
Li Qi lowered her eyes and asked, "Is that why you've been kneeling here? Does helping me make you feel betrayed?"
Without waiting for his answer, Li Qi pulled over the cushion beside her and knelt down beside Feng Siji.
Feng Siji couldn't help but glance sideways. Her fair face, illuminated by the candlelight, revealed a long-lost softness and beauty.
She lit three incense sticks, placed them in the incense basin, and bowed to Feng Yijun's spirit tablet. "I promise you, as long as Yunzhou is recovered, I will confess everything to the court and accept the punishment I deserve. I will also keep my promise. Even if Concubine Li's case is solved, I will let you stay in Kyoto and do what you want.
"I remember you said you wanted to overturn all the wrongful convictions."
Feng Siji looked at her quietly: "Li Qi, I don't trust you."
"So what do you want?"
"Give me your biggest advantage."
There was a crackling sound outside the window; a branch was broken by the weight of the snow, scaring away a few resting crows. Amidst the crows' fluttering, Li Qi pondered for a moment and said, "Eunuch, Li Ke is mine."
She stood up from the futon and held out her hand to him: "So, there's no need to kneel. It's only a matter of time before you catch me, the real culprit."
Her slender hand was right in front of him, but not just her hand, her father's spirit tablet was also in front of him.
He could cover up for her and buy time for her, but he couldn't put his hand on her.
He turned his head, looked at his father's spirit tablet, and said in a distant voice, "I can't wait for you to recapture Yunzhou. I will only give you three months. Once the three months are up, I will bring you to justice."
Li Qi was stunned for a moment. The sunlight from outside the window shone in obliquely. Such a warm light could not show any tenderness in his heart. He was like a Buddha standing in the golden light, restraining justice. He was also a green pine growing on the top of the snow, upright and untainted by dust.
She stared at him for a long moment, then slowly withdrew her hand and said, "Okay. Just three months. I will fulfill my promise and hand over the man behind the Yunzhou case. I will use it as your merit, and His Majesty will keep you in Kyoto forever to do whatever you want."
On the surface, this matter was done for him, but in fact it was also for herself.
Five years ago, he was exiled to Qianzhou for solving a case in Yunzhou, and that's when he met her. He wanted to find out the real reason, and so did she, because she would never forget how many soldiers' bones were buried under the soil of Yunzhou.
This incident is not only a knot in Feng Siji's heart, but also a hatred for Li Qi.
She was just using this incident to make Feng Siji meritorious service so that he could stay in Kyoto.
Feng Siji kowtowed three times before his father's spirit tablet. When he stood up again, his eyes were as cold as a knife. "In three months, I hope you can keep your promise and solve the case of Yunzhou City perfectly."
He approached her, whispered in her ear, and spoke word by word, "If you betray me again, I'll have plenty of ways to torture you. This time, I won't let you scheme against me like you did in Qianzhou."
She didn't insist any further, nodded and smiled, "I promised you, I will definitely do it to your satisfaction."
She pulled his sleeve and said with a smile, "But before that, can you do something with me?"
Feng Siji glanced at her fingers grabbing his sleeve, frowned, but didn't shake them off: "What's the matter?"
"The New Year is coming soon. If you agree, you can spend the New Year with me this year. This will be our third year together."
Feng Siji was stunned. They had known each other for a long time, but this was only the third year.
What about the past two years?
"Do you agree?" Li Qi asked, pulling him.
Feng Siji looked at her silently, thinking of their first year together.
-
In Qianzhou, it snowed in the twelfth month of the year. The weather was freezing cold and a thin layer of snow accumulated on the vegetable shed in the courtyard.
The quilt was warm. Li Qi had woken up a long time ago, but she didn't want to leave the warm quilt at all. She stayed on the couch and turned over to look at Feng Siji who was sleeping on the edge of her bed.
His appearance is truly one in a million, and she is completely fascinated by his appearance. Especially since he has a well-behaved temper and a simple mind, he gets extremely nervous if you tease him.
She flicked her index finger and tapped the tip of his upturned nose, thinking that a man like him who had never had a girl before would be the easiest to give his true heart to.
He didn't wake up. Seeing that his eyelashes seemed longer than hers, she gently pulled them out of jealousy.
He woke up, grabbed her hand, raised his head and looked at her sleepily: "What's the matter?"
Li Qi smiled and crawled over, wrapping her arms around his neck, practically hanging her upper body on him. "Master Feng, you're really good-looking. Are there many people in Kyoto as good-looking as you? And what about His Majesty? How is His Majesty?"
Feng Siji gradually got used to her straightforwardness. This time, he calmed down and put his arm around her slender waist, saying calmly, "Your Majesty is not as good-looking as me."
"boast."
He patted her buttocks lightly with his big palm and said with a smile: "When we return to Kyoto together, I will take you to see it to prove that I didn't lie to you."
Li Qi covered her buttocks with her hands, "What are you doing!"
"You're the only one allowed to set the fire, but I'm not allowed to light the lamp? Get up," he pulled her out of the quilt and let her sit on the edge of the bed. He got up and took the clothes on the pole and put them on her. "I'll take you to Wei Ming's gold mountain."
Li Qi was stunned: "How do you know where his gold mountain is?"
Feng Siji squatted down to put her shoes on, comparing them to her. Her round little feet were only slightly larger than his palm. He said, "Wang Mo came to see you yesterday, and I went to see him on your behalf. I went to Jinshan with him, but found it empty."
He stood up and looked at her. "I don't know Wei Ming very well, so I don't know if it was an oversight. You have to go and see for yourself. Last time, I suspected the gold mountain was fake. If it's empty, then all your plans are in vain. You have to think of a replacement as soon as possible."
Li Qi no longer had the heart to play around. If the Jinshan Mountain was really empty, then all her years of lurking would become a joke.
She washed and dressed as quickly as possible, and she and Feng Siji each led a horse out of the city.
-
The mountains in Qianzhou are steep, and Wei Ming's gold mountain is hidden in the highest and steepest mountain. During times of war and famine, many people went to that mountain to hunt, but never returned.
Over time, it became known as the Ghost Mountain. No one dared to approach it anymore, and Li Qi naturally thought it made sense that no one had discovered Wei Ming's gold mountain. But now Feng Siji's suspicions made her uneasy.
Two horses galloped through the snowy woods, the tall silver trees rapidly receding before their eyes. Li Qi reined in his horse and glanced sideways, "Master Feng, shall we have a horse race?"
Her red dress was particularly eye-catching in the endless white. He frowned: "The snowy mountain road is slippery, it's not suitable..."
Before he could finish his words, the red color suddenly took off into the air and leaped towards him. She jumped down from a high altitude, opened her arms and hugged him tightly.
"My Lord, be careful!"
He hadn't reacted yet and just hugged her instinctively. Just as he hugged her waist, he heard a sound of an arrow piercing flesh. An arrow flew through the wind and pierced deeply into her back.
She groaned and fell exhausted into his arms. Countless arrows flew one after another, killing the horse he was riding. The horse fell to the ground in shock and pain, throwing both of them out.
There was a high slope next to them. Feng Siji hugged Li Qi with all his strength, and the two of them rolled down the slope together. The hard and big stones hurt their backs, and the cold snow powder choked their nostrils, making them feel cold and itchy.
A fishy and sweet taste rose up in Li Qi's throat, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood, staining Feng Siji's blue clothes red.
He was frightened by her injuries, hugged her tightly and called out anxiously: "Li Qi!"
In the chaos, she whispered, "I'm fine..."
The last words I heard before rolling down the hill were from an unfamiliar male voice: "Go down and find the person. I want to see him alive or dead!"
With a thud, the two men tumbled into the lake at the bottom of the slope. The frozen lake surface was shattered by them. The moment they sank to the bottom of the ice lake, the coldness swept over them from head to toe, making them tremble all over and feel their skin tightening due to the stimulation.
The blood on Li Qi's back spread out like circles of red mist in the water. She sank to the bottom of the lake weakly, and Feng Siji was dragged down with her.
The wound on her back seeped into the cold water, making her feel numb and stiff. She could hardly feel the pain, but she also felt like she couldn't breathe. There was only one thought left in her chaotic and icy consciousness: he was a good man and a good official, and he couldn't die with her in the water.
With this thought, she was surprised to find that she still had strength, and pushed him out hard, hoping that he would let her go and float up.
Suddenly, someone hugged her waist tightly. He held her close to him and pressed her tightly against him. Her lips were blocked and he kissed her. A trace of oxygen came from his side, making her brain clear for a moment.
She opened her eyes wide and looked at him through the water.
His fierce and resolute eyes vibrated and spoke in her heart like a pendulum - even if she wanted to sink, he would sink with her.
Li Qi couldn't help but hug him tightly, trying to draw warmth from him, but the lake water was too cold and it could easily wash away her hard-earned warmth. She didn't want to lose that luxurious temperature, so she hugged him tighter and tighter.
He also responded with great effort. Every time he used more strength, she was reminded that he was still by her side, and her originally anxious heart slowly settled down.
She looked up hazily and saw a dozen or so people who looked like bandits vaguely reflected on the lake surface. They were holding machetes and staring fiercely at the bottom of the lake.
One of them said, "That woman knows martial arts, but she's definitely not going to survive her injuries. As for Feng Siji, he's a civil servant, he doesn't even know anything. If they both fell into this icy lake, they'd definitely die. The forest here is too deep, and I'm afraid big beasts will come out to feed. We should leave first and find more people to retrieve the bodies tomorrow."
The leader thought for a moment, nodded after a moment, and disappeared with a group of people in the blink of an eye.
After the people left, Feng Siji held Li Qi and tried his best to float up. She felt that he had her own desire to survive, and thinking of Yunzhou which had not been recovered yet, she also tried her best to float with him.
With a splash, Feng Siji emerged from the water first. He turned around, lifted Li Qi up with both hands, and sent her to the shore first.
As soon as she climbed out, she choked on several mouthfuls of lake water mixed with blood and fell to the ground unconscious.
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