Cold Years (3)
Chapter 18 Cold Years (3)
Fireworks leaped high into the sky, blazing with dazzling colors in the pitch-black night. Under the fleeting glow, the lights in Qianzhou City began to light up, and shadows flowed.
As the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month approaches, Qianzhou is already very lively, with lights and shadows flickering in the night and the ground covered with white snow.
The crowds on the street were stunned by the grand fireworks display. A little girl with pigtails grabbed her parents' sleeves, pointed at the dazzling fireworks, and excitedly shouted, "Daddy, look! It's fireworks!"
“…”
A luxurious carriage creaked by, and the crowded crowd automatically parted to both sides of the road, leaving a path in the middle.
Someone recognized the carriage and shouted, "Is this the Jiedushi's carriage?"
"It seems so. Are they sending Li Leren from Qunfang Tower back again?"
"What's there to question? Today's fireworks show was specially organized for her by the Jiedushi!"
“…”
The red carriage curtain was lifted by a pair of white jade hands, revealing a beautiful face as delicate as a lotus behind the curtain.
Li Qi looked at the bustling long street. Some children were holding candy figures, some were holding rattles, chasing each other, kicking their feet and laughing. The adults kept saying, "Baby, be careful." The sounds of playful laughter filled the streets and alleys.
"Back when Yunzhou was still around, Laba Festival was even more lively every year. Back then, we'd even go out and snatch other people's Laba porridge. Whoever grabbed the most would be our boss for a month." Ye Lan, who was standing beside him, suddenly sighed, "What a shame, it's all gone now."
Li Qi slowly lowered the curtain, lowered her eyes and said nothing.
Today, Yunzhou is reduced to ruins. Even the remaining intact land has been occupied by Southern Yan. The people there suffer daily, wondering if they will ever see this magnificent scene again.
The carriage suddenly jolted violently. Li Qi steadied Ye Lan. Outside, a long neighing of horses was heard, followed by the driver's apology: "Sorry, Li Leren, someone's coming up ahead."
The driver raised his voice and cursed angrily, "What kind of bastard are you? How dare you ram the Jiedushi's carriage?"
Li Qi lifted the curtain and looked out in confusion, only to see a ragged young man lying in the middle of the snow-covered street.
His hair was matted in strands, his face covered in what was either blood or sweat. His tattered clothes revealed two arms and two legs, which were visibly blue and red from the cold.
He lay there, unable to get up for some reason, and kept shaking.
His face was unclear; he was filthy and all that was visible was a pair of dark eyes. Li Qi swore they were the darkest, deepest eyes she had ever seen, so black they glistened, so deep they sent a chill down her spine.
An intuition told her that he must be looking at her too.
"Little bastard, keep running!" A slightly plump young man from the other end of the street chased after him, holding a long whip. He walked up to the young man and lashed him hard several times before stopping. He said with a puff, "Why don't you run away? Do you think you can run back to Kyoto? I'm telling you, you are Kyoto's trash. You've offended Lord Zhang, and you'll never return to Kyoto in your lifetime!"
After saying that, he kicked him hard in the chest. He couldn't bear it anymore and a large pool of blood spurted out of his throat. Some of it splashed onto the fat man's clothes. The fat man whipped him a few more times in disgust: "You dare to spit blood, let me go! Are you tired of living? Get up here, kneel down and call me daddy three times, and I will spare your life!"
He didn't say anything, or perhaps he couldn't speak anymore. He just lay on the ground, staring coldly at the fat man who beat him.
The fat man is Wang Mo, who is beside the Jiedushi. He is just a running dog of the Jiedushi. He is so cautious in front of Li Qi that he doesn't even raise his head, but he would never have thought that he would be so cruel and bully others in private.
But Li Qi looked at the beaten man for a long time but couldn't recognize him. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he hadn't heard of any major prisoners in Qianzhou recently.
Ye Lan leaned over to look and hissed, "Do you remember? The governor said a few days ago that an adult was coming to Kyoto."
Li Qi's memory came back to her because of her words. She remembered that she had indeed told the Jiedushi last time that she didn't need to play the guzheng for him in the next few days because an adult was coming to the capital. Although this adult had a high status, his background was complicated and it was a bit difficult to deal with.
This gentleman's name was Feng Siji. She only felt that his name was similar to Xin Qiji's, so she remembered it very clearly.
"You won't kneel, right? Fine, I'll kill you today. If you die, countless worries will be solved. I'll write a letter to Kyoto and probably get a big reward!" Wang Mo said, commanding the servants following him, "Go, beat him to death for me, and there will be a big reward!"
The servants rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward aggressively.
None of the onlookers stood up. Seeing this, Li Qi ignored Ye Lan's obstruction, jumped off the carriage, and opened his arms to block Feng Siji.
Wang Mo was stunned for a moment. After confirming that it was Li Qi who stopped the man, he frowned in dissatisfaction: "Li Leren is also involved in this?"
Li Qi smiled. "The Jiedushi mentioned this man to me. Is he Feng Siji, the Minister of Justice in Kyoto?"
Wang Mo said nothing.
Li Qi said, "No matter what his reason was for coming to Qianzhou, he died in your hands right after arriving. A lean camel is bigger than a horse. If the higher-ups really ask about it later, you won't be able to bear the consequences. Aren't you afraid of the Jiedushi's blame?"
Wang Mo thought for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Qi said, "Let him go. If you don't want me to do that, I'll have to find the governor."
Wang Mo gritted his teeth and looked at Li Qi with wide eyes.
Li Qi was just a musician in Qunfang Tower, but he was quite liked by the Jiedushi and now he had become a musician in the Jiedushi's private residence.
To provoke her would be to provoke the governor, and she believed that Wang Mo would not anger the governor for the sake of a demoted Feng Siji.
Wang Mo put away the whip, pointed at Li Qi and said, "Li Leren, we have a long way to go. Let's go!" He left with the group of servants.
Li Qi quickly squatted down and helped Feng Siji up. The moment she approached him, the smell of blood mixed with the stench of not having showered for too long hit her face. Li Qi frowned, but did not dislike it. When she fled here from Yunzhou, she was even more miserable than him.
"Lord Feng?" Seeing him close his eyes, Li Qi thought he was dead and shook him.
He slowly opened his eyes, his dark pupils unfocused, and he neither spoke nor moved. It didn't matter, Li Qi breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he wasn't dead, that was enough.
-
Listen to the bamboo garden.
After Li Qi brought Feng Siji back, she boiled some hot water and wiped his face clean.
When that clean face appeared, Li Qi was stunned for a moment.
Even at their first meeting, Feng Siji had already made Li Qi's life experience the phrase "absolutely" twice. She swore she had never seen anyone with such a perfect face, with a high nose bridge, eyebrows reaching deep into the temples, and every inch of his features perfectly shaped, as if meticulously crafted by Nuwa. Especially those auspicious phoenix eyes; even the arc of their closed eyes held a breathtaking charm.
"What are you looking at?" The pair of auspicious phoenix eyes suddenly opened and looked straight at Li Qi.
Li Qi's handkerchief fell back into the basin with a plop, splashing countless small droplets of water onto her sleeves.
She exclaimed, "When did you wake up?"
Feng Siji moved, as if he wanted to get up, but the pain from the wound made his face wrinkle. Li Qi quickly pushed him back down: "I've found a doctor for you, you better wait a moment."
Feng Siji lay back down obediently, pursed his lips and said, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I heard that you were a well-loved official in Kyoto. A good person like you shouldn't be treated like this." Li Qi handed the freshly kneaded handkerchief to Feng Siji: "Your wounds can't get wet, and you can't bathe. I can't wipe them for you, so you can wipe them yourself."
She turned her head away and whispered, "Otherwise it's actually quite smelly..."
"..." Feng Siji took the handkerchief and said, "Miss, I'm only going to have a meal and then leave. The situation is so tense right now. If I stay here, I'm afraid it will bring disaster to you."
Li Qi sighed and patted his chest, "Don't worry, I have the Jiedushi protecting me. No one dares to do anything to me. Otherwise, how could I have saved you from those people?"
"Miss, someone from the Jiedu Mansion is here to take you over." Ye Lan came in with a steaming meal. "It's so late now. When will he let you come back this time?"
Li Qi was silent for a while, clenched her pinky finger, and said with a smile: "It's nothing, it won't be later than last time anyway."
The worst has already happened, so there is nothing to be afraid of.
She picked up the konghou from the corner of the room and walked out: "Tell Lin Che to wipe Master Feng's body later. I think Master Feng seems to be having trouble moving."
"Sister!"
Before he could even leave the room, Dong Linche came trotting over, blocking the door frame with his arms outstretched: "Are you going to look for that old bastard Wei Ming again?"
Li Qi frowned and looked unhappy.
"Sister, do you know what people outside are saying about you? Old Dog Wei already has a wife, so there's no place for you by his side. Or do you really want to be his mistress as others say?!"
Dong Linche's still childish face was filled with pleading: "Can you please not go! The New Year is almost here, can you just stay and be a normal person and spend the New Year with us? I beg you!"
Ye Lan put down the food, stepped forward quickly and pulled him away: "Little ancestor, stop talking nonsense, that's Master Wei, I have taught you many times."
The fourteen-year-old Dong Linche was no match for the eighteen-year-old Ye Lan, and was forcibly pulled into the house by her, clearing the door frame.
Li Qi ignored him, put the guzheng on her back and continued walking out.
"Sister, if you leave today, I will never recognize you again! I'm going to find Sister Mingrong!" Dong Linche yelled at her back.
Ye Lan quickly covered his mouth and looked carefully at Lord Feng on the bed, hoping that he would not spread Dong Linche's words, otherwise it would be dangerous.
Li Qi did not stop and resolutely left with the guzheng.
Ye Lan let go of Dong Linche, a little angry: "I've told you several times, don't say those words in front of her. Do you know how hard it has been for her to get to where she is today?"
Dong Linche turned his head away stubbornly and didn't look at Ye Lan. He was angry and didn't say anything.
Ye Lan didn't bother to pay attention to his temper as a young master. He brought the food to Feng Siji and cautiously tested him: "Master Feng, our brother is young and ignorant. What he said today..."
Feng Siji picked up the bowl and chopsticks and ate slowly. He thought she must be the Ye Lan that the red-dressed girl had mentioned, so he said, "Don't worry, Miss Ye Lan. I didn't hear anything today."
"Ha, thank you, Master Feng."
"Don't call me that. I'm just a commoner now." Feng Siji paused with his chopsticks and asked casually, "What's going on between your daughter... and Jiedushi Wei Ming?"
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