Hanging Knife (2)
The sharp blade reflected Li Qi's frightened face. She looked in the direction of the hand holding the handle and saw that it was Ye Shu pointing the knife at her.
Ye Shu's eyes were filled with hidden sarcasm, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You don't really think that our adults will go with you, do you? This is just a trap we set up."
After he finished speaking, he turned to Feng Siji and said anxiously, "Li Qi is alone now and has fallen into our hands. What are you waiting for, sir?"
Feng Siji clenched his cheeks and said nothing, his eyes fixed on Li Qi's face.
She looked at herself with some disappointment, panic and confusion, but more of it was uneasiness.
Anxiety about where she herself would go next.
She asked after a long while, "Really?"
Feng Siji took a deep breath. Before he could say anything, He Mu, who was riding on a tall horse, spoke first: "At this point, what else is there for you to disbelieve? How could Lord Feng possibly be in cahoots with someone like you?"
Li Qi ignored her words and looked at Feng Siji anxiously: "Is that so?"
Feng Siji tilted his head slightly, frowned in dissatisfaction, and looked at Ye Shu without saying a word. His eyes were cold, like a knife cutting through blood vessels.
The truth was already obvious. Li Qi had not expected it to be like this, but she was not very sad. Her only emotions were hatred and anxiety.
She hated Feng Siji for using Ye Lan to force her into the trap, and was anxious that if she was caught, no one would save Dong Mingrong.
Li Qi clenched the reins in his hands, his mind racing as he thought of the quickest and most effective way to retreat.
At this time, Feng Siji, who had been silent all this time, spoke up, looked at He Mu sideways and asked, "You said she was the murderer, where is the evidence?"
He Mu snorted: "Do you think I don't have it?"
She rode on the horse, looking down at them from a high position. For many years, she had been raised by He Zhangjing as a daughter of a noble family. Her air of superiority naturally emanated from her, and she was quite intimidating.
She just gestured to the man riding beside her. The man bent down slightly, put his hand into the horse bag, and soon took out a bloody piece of cloth.
He shook out the ball of cloth and spread it out before everyone.
Everyone saw clearly that it was a letter written in blood.
"This is the blood letter Wang Xiu wrote on the way when my father took Wang Xiu away after the death of the Empress, accusing the County Master of being the real murderer."
He Mu looked at Feng Siji with amusement: "Is this enough to give up? If not, I still have another one. It's the murder weapon that the county lady left behind when she killed the queen."
But she is not that stupid. She can't carry all the important evidence with her.
After she finished speaking, she observed Feng Siji closely. There was no change in his expression, and he made no move to catch Li Qi. He was like a sculpture, frozen on the horse's back.
He Mu said without hesitation, "Why haven't you arrested Li Qi yet? Lord Feng, have you forgotten what you came to Kyoto for? Have you forgotten how much the people expect of you? Are you still trying to protect him?"
Feng Si said quickly: "I was just wondering, since you have the evidence, you had many opportunities to arrest him before, why did you wait until now?"
He Mu sneered when he heard that, and looked at Li Qi with eyes full of resentment.
If possible, she would certainly provide evidence to catch Li Qi as soon as possible.
But in the past, Zhang Zhouzhu protected Li Qi. As long as he protected her, no one in Kyoto dared to capture Li Qi.
It was Feng Siji's arrival that gave her a glimmer of hope, but she had also gone to look for Feng Siji.
But the result was that she and Feng Siji were both assassinated by Li Qi in Qingqi Temple. Although she survived, Feng Siji rejected her.
If Li Qi had been caught back then, perhaps there wouldn't be so many things happening today. My father and brother were both in jail. Although the He Mansion is still there, things have changed a lot inside.
As a woman, she cannot handle the affairs of the mansion. In the past, her brother managed everything. Now she is facing difficulties everywhere, and everyone in the mansion wants to take this opportunity to take advantage of her and the entire He family.
She had no choice but to take up the responsibility and bring Chen Hu and some loyal old family members to capture Li Qi, hoping that by performing a meritorious service she could at least rescue Chen Hu.
Now that Zhang Zhouzhu is gone, there will be no one to protect Li Qi anymore.
Your Majesty dotes on Concubine Li so much, he will definitely not protect Li Qi.
Even if there were some unknown people protecting Li Qi, He Mu would fight to the death. Because her brother was in trouble in prison, she would definitely not let Li Qi have an easy time either.
Even if she needs to use the remaining power in her family to fight Li Ke, she will fight with her life.
After all, He Zhangjing had protected him since he was a child. Even though he had taken on the responsibility now, he still had no mature defense against outsiders. He Mu told Feng Siji all his thoughts without reservation.
Then he said:
"I know you have a close relationship with Li Qi, but I'm not interested in what's going on between you two. I'm just reminding you that the person next to you is a murderer who is hated by everyone in Kyoto. With so many people visiting the Qingqi Temple, you should know how many people are hoping for her death.
"If you give up on her now, come to my side, and cooperate with me in catching the murderer, you can still turn back."
After saying that, everyone looked at Feng Siji, waiting for his choice.
The air froze for a moment, and not even the flowing wind could dispel the dead silence.
Feng Siji felt that he could no longer see Li Qi clearly, who was right in front of him. She blurred into a small, red ball in his sight.
In those blurry dots of light, the people on Kyoto's busy streets appeared, their indulgence in him as he rode, even stepping aside to make way for him, their support and enthusiasm when they saw him, and their help in trapping Ye Lan when he was trying to capture him...
He could hear the words "Official Feng Qing" being called by others. The wonton stall owner had the same expression and tone as everyone else, asking him whether he had caught the murderer and whether he would execute Li Qi.
But scenes of Li Qi kept appearing before his eyes, blushing, laughing, sad, eager, and even with kiss marks all over her body.
What on earth was he going to live for?
Feng Siji's head was buzzing, but amidst the chaotic noise, he found a ray of clarity and saw himself kneeling in the ancestral hall and saying that he would live only for Li Qi from now on.
Feng Siji gripped the reins tightly and ordered with a choked voice: "Capture Li Qi!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Li Qi's deafening sneer. In his sight, she flew into the air on horseback and fought with her own people.
There were flashes of swords and the red shadow was agile and fast as lightning. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Ye Shu was hit on the back of the head by her palm and fell to the ground.
Li Qi successfully cleared a path for herself and was about to escape when He Mu, who had been watching from the sidelines on horseback, dodged the bows of the people around him, quickly nocked the arrow, and pulled it hard, aiming at Li Qi's back.
"It's time to return the arrow I shot at Qingqi Temple to you."
With a whoosh, the arrow flew out from He Mu's fingertips. She was not sure how accurate she was, but it was as if the King of Hell in the Qingqi Temple had heard the wishes of all of them, and the arrow was imbued with some kind of magic, making it surprisingly accurate.
He shot straight at Li Qi's back.
Li Qi was so focused on running forward that she didn't notice anything.
The arrow just passed by Feng Siji's eyes, and the sharp wind made his eyelashes tremble. Without thinking, he jumped off the horse and galloped towards Li Qi.
He hugged Li Qi and threw himself to the ground, raising a lot of dust that blinded his eyes. The arrow pierced Feng Siji's shoulder with a "whoosh".
Feng Siji was completely unaware of the pain. He just hugged Li Qi tightly, trapped her in his arms, and pressed her to the ground.
Li Qi couldn't move. She saw He Mu walking towards her in shackles. If she didn't leave, it would be too late!
Li Qihong narrowed her eyes and looked at Feng Siji pleadingly: "Let me go, I want to go find Mingrong..."
"Listen to my instructions." The arrow took away all the color of Feng Siji's face. His face turned pale and his dry lips moved as he spoke with difficulty:
"If both of us fall here, there will be no one to save the Queen. I will not let you or those you care about fall into danger..."
As soon as he finished saying this, a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth. The blood dripped from the corner of his lips onto Li Qi's neck and then flowed down along the crook of his neck.
He Mu put on shackles and walked over, ordered someone to pull Feng Siji away, and then personally put the shackles on Li Qi's hands and feet.
He Mu squatted beside Li Qi, reached out and grabbed her shackles and pulled them towards him.
Li Qi was pulled forward and rushed in front of He Mu, looking up at He Mu's face which was twisted with hatred.
He Mu said in a sinister voice, "Li Qi, when you crippled my elder brother, did you ever think you would end up like this?"
"Pooh!"
Li Qi spat in her face with a cold look and sneered, "You and your father and brother are all defeated by me."
He Mu was so angry that he raised his hand and wanted to slap her in the face, but his wrist was grabbed hard by someone.
He Mu's hands were unable to move. She turned around and saw Feng Siji, who looked pale.
He grabbed He Mu's wrist and said with hatred: "It's time to stop the farce and take the person back."
He Mu snorted, shook off his hand, turned back and glared at Li Qi fiercely, walked away, got on his horse, and ordered his men to take Li Qi with them.
Feng Siji helped Ye Shu up from the ground and asked him to accompany Li Qi to mount the horse. The group slowly returned to the city.
-
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Li Qi finally appeared in front of everyone in the way everyone hoped.
When a group of people walked through the busy street, the joy and jubilation on both sides of the street almost shook away the white clouds in the sky.
"The witch has been caught!"
"That's great! The King of Hell heard our wishes. It's all worth it for me to offer so much incense to the Qingqi Temple every month!"
"What Yama God? It's clearly Feng Qingguan! He is our god. Look, the moment he arrived, the witch was subdued!"
“…”
"Oh, the master has been injured while trying to capture the witch. Hurry up and tell the doctor to be more efficient and send medicine over!"
“…”
Li Qi, who was trapped on horseback, had already calmed down after listening to these discussions.
I had anticipated this day a long time ago, but I didn't expect it to come in this way.
Li Qi sniffed and looked up at He Mu and Feng Siji who were riding horses in front of her.
Ye Shu had pulled out the arrow in Feng Siji's back and casually wrapped it with some cloth torn from his clothes. However, it could not cover the blood that was spreading, and the blood dyed the blue shirt he was wearing outside a darker color.
He accompanied Li Qi all the way to prison and did not go in when passing by Feng's house.
Even in spring, the prison was unbearably cold and damp.
Although He Mu followed, it was only to ensure that he saw Li Qi being imprisoned with his own eyes, and he could not decide which cell Li Qi was imprisoned in.
Feng Siji advocated and ordered her to be imprisoned in a deep place where serious criminals were held.
The cell in the prison for serious criminals was empty, with only her as the prisoner. Initially, there was not even a jailer. After Li Qi came in, Feng Siji called six jailers to guard her.
There was thick dust in the cell. As soon as Li Qi entered, he smelled a strong smell of dust.
She sat down at the foot of the wall and looked up to see Feng Siji standing outside the prison, with wooden pillars blocking half of his face.
The other half that is exposed has deep eyes.
"You wait here." Feng Siji said. After waiting for a while and not hearing her response, he turned and left.
He Mu did not follow her, as she had already gone to find her father and brother.
Li Qi watched Feng Siji's back as he walked away. His footsteps gradually disappeared from her ears. Only then did she look away and lean back against the cold wall in a daze.
I have tried my best, but I still cannot avoid these bad things.
She was exhausted both physically and mentally, and fell asleep leaning against the wall without realizing it.
-
-
In the middle of the night, heavy rain began to fall.
A deafening thunder roared in the sky, and Li Qi suddenly woke up from his sleep.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw an oil lamp above my head, emitting a faint glow in the rainy night.
There was no one in the nearby cell, and this oil lamp was the only light. Apart from here, everything around was pitch black and so quiet that there was no sound except the sound of rain.
A small window on the wall was facing the oil lamp. The rain kept hitting the window frame and flying in. After a while, it extinguished the only oil lamp.
Li Qi's vision fell into darkness. With the help of the night light, she could only vaguely see the outlines of some tables and chairs in the cell.
Such heavy rainstorms are rare in spring. There is a crackling sound, and from time to time a blue-purple lightning flashes across the sky, illuminating the dim cell for a moment, and then dimming again.
The rain from the window frame splashed onto her face, and the chill brought her back to her senses. She rubbed her eyes, staring at the small window where the cold rain was constantly splashing, and only then did she vaguely remember where she was.
The damp grass pile beneath him rustled. Li Qi turned over and faced outside the cell, only to suddenly discover Feng Siji standing outside.
He was wearing the clothes that Li Qi had made for him when he entered Kyoto at the beginning of the year.
The snow-blue color made his already cold eyes even colder. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and his gaze was fixed on her without blinking.
"You're awake." Feng Siji spoke first.
He stood with his hands behind his back, the faint night light spreading around him, illuminating his face clearly. His tall nose cast a small silhouette on one side, blocking the other half of his face, making him look secretive.
It was raining heavily outside, but there was no trace of dampness on him.
Li Qi didn't know when the rain started, nor when Feng Siji arrived. But he felt dry and refreshed, so he must have been here for a long time.
How long did he stand there looking at himself?
Li Qi didn't say anything. She turned over and sat on the haystack, leaning against the cold wall. She lowered her head and looked at the shackles on her ankles, which made clinking sounds as she moved.
Along with this sound, there was the click of the cell lock being unlocked.
Li Qi raised her eyes and saw Feng Siji had opened the cell door and was walking towards her step by step.
The clean snow-blue hem of his clothes brushed against the dirty and wet ground. He walked silently. She thought he would stand in front of her and talk to her condescendingly.
But she didn't expect Feng Siji to sit directly on the haystack beside her, reach out and hold her in his arms.
Before this, Li Qi didn't realize that it was cold tonight because of the rain. It was not until she leaned in Feng Siji's arms, smelled the soap on his body mixed with a faint medicinal scent and the smell of blood, felt the warmth of his chest and the heat of his palms, that she realized that she was cold.
Li Qi unconsciously shrank closer to Feng Siji, resting her head on his chest. Hearing his steady and powerful heartbeat, she asked, "Did you never intend to protect me from the beginning? Everything you did to me was just revenge for what I did to you in Qianzhou."
"no."
Feng Siji denied it without hesitation: "I just didn't expect He Mu to be so radical. If I don't obey her, I will also be regarded as one of your factions. If we meet the same fate, who will go to the Empress? General Dong? He is young and reckless, and he holds military power. If he shows up, he will be more dangerous than us."
Li Qi closed her eyes tiredly and blamed him: "If you hadn't captured Ye Lan, we would have left the city to look for Mingrong long ago." How could this day have happened?
"I'm sorry for you," Feng Siji hugged her tighter, holding her tightly in his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her forehead: "But if I had to do it again, I would still do it."
Li Qi was almost suffocated by him, but strangely, this feeling of almost suffocation gave her a morbid sense of belonging, as if she finally felt that she existed here, right next to him.
She didn't resist or struggle, but obediently let Feng Siji hold her, and asked puzzledly: "Why?"
Feng Si said quickly: "I can handle anything, but I can't handle the problem of you not being around. This way, I won't let it happen."
Li Qi stopped talking.
"I won't let you go on like this. I will find Mingrong and overturn your case." Feng Siji hugged her and promised solemnly.
Li Qi still didn't say anything. She never listened to what others said and just looked at what was happening in front of her.
Sometimes she would have evil thoughts. If Zhang Zhouzhu had not plotted against Feng Siji at the mass grave, if Yeshu had not brought bad news about herself and made Feng Siji panic, Feng Siji would not have given up his original plan and fought to the death for her life and the lives of He Zhangjing and others.
Then the current situation would not be like this, but Feng Siji brought down He Zhangjing and others for her, and after his death, he also buried Wei Ming's case.
She and Ye Lan left the city safely to find Dong Mingrong.
But she didn't expect this to happen. There were always unexpected things that disrupted her plans and made all her calculations go to waste.
Li Qi felt that her idea was too evil and couldn't help asking, "I've never asked you before, how could someone like me be remembered by you all this time?"
Feng Siji didn't answer.
Li Qi listened to the sound of rain outside the window and had no intention of asking him. In fact, she seldom asked others anything. If he didn't say anything, she would pretend that she had never asked.
The rain gradually subsided. Li Qi listened to the sound of the rain and fell asleep again in Feng Siji's arms.
-
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When Li Qi woke up again, the rain had stopped and the sky was bright. The originally simple and dirty cell had been cleaned up. There was a small bed and a small table placed against the wall.
On the table lay a few Kyoto's fashionable storybooks and a plate of dried fruits, both good things to relieve boredom.
Needless to say, it was clear who had prepared it. The ground was covered with a thick layer of hay and was no longer damp.
The cell would be cold at night, and a thick winter quilt was folded on the small bed.
Li Qi was a little dazed. She didn't even feel anything when these things were being prepared. She slept very soundly. It turned out that she could sleep so peacefully when she was next to Feng Siji?
She stood up and sat at the table, picked up a storybook at random, but before she opened it, she heard footsteps outside.
"Li Qi, someone is here." The jailer shouted. Li Qi looked up and saw He Mu following behind the jailer.
He Mu was dressed as simply as ever, in a white shirt and skirt, with a plain hairpin, and she moved as lightly as a piece of white paper.
She came to the cell door and gave the jailer a bag of silver. After the jailer opened the lock, she walked in and stood in front of Li Qi.
Li Qi retracted her gaze, flipped through the book in her hand, and said casually, "You and I are probably not close enough to have you come to see me."
He Mu glanced at the layout of her cell, sneered, and said sarcastically, "You and Feng Siji are indeed closely related. People like you, are you selling yourself out to get these benefits?
"Feng Siji pretends to be a gentleman on the outside, but it turns out he's just a carnivorous hypocrite. He must have taken a lot of advantage from you to take the blame for you and arrange all this for you."
When Li Qi heard this, she slammed the notebook on the table. The sudden loud noise scared He Mu.
When He Mu saw her stand up, he couldn't help but take a small step back.
"Even here, I can still kill you." Li Qi grabbed He Mu's neck and pressed her against the prison pillar, staring at her with murderous intent in his eyes: "According to what you said, you risked your life to save your brother. Could it be that you and your brother have some secret?"
He Mu tightly grasped her wrist, and her face flushed red as her breath was choked. Hearing her words, he coughed and said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about... He is my brother, isn't it normal for me to help him?"
"Feng Siji is naturally upright, kind-hearted, and good-natured. Isn't it normal for him to help me? You look down on others, but you don't allow others to look down on you?"
Li Qi laughed and said, "Your brother is protecting a half-sister for no reason. Could it be that you are the one who sold yourself out to your biological brother? If you really think about it, you are much more disgusting than me."
“Li Qi…!”
Li Qi pushed her away and threw her to the ground. She wiped her hands in disgust and said, "Get lost."
He Mu covered his neck, which was pinched red, and sat on the ground. He stared at Li Qi angrily and said, "I came to you to give you a chance to leave this place. Don't regret what you did to me!"
Li Qi rolled her eyes at her. "You don't think I'd team up with a filthy person like you, do you? Just get out of here if I tell you to. Why all this nonsense?"
He Mu got up from the ground in a panic, picked up the hay that was stuck on his body, glared at Li Qi angrily, and ran out of the cell.
Since she is so ungrateful and useless, there is no need to keep Li Qi!
There are countless people in Kyoto who want Li Qi dead. In terms of status, the queen is the highest among these people.
He Mu didn't believe that Feng Siji could protect her for the rest of her life.
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