The Long Night (14)
Chapter 14 The Long Night (14)
"Why is your daughter seriously injured?" A cold and low voice was heard.
He Rucheng explained the whole story and accused Li Qi in detail.
After a while, Youyou asked from the carriage, "According to what you said, the Yun'an County Lady assassinated your daughter and Feng Anshi in public? This is a serious crime. Lord He, you must not speak carelessly."
"Every word I say is true!"
"In that case..." He paused for a moment, "Master He, do you need me to issue a wanted notice for the Yun'an County Lady?"
He Rucheng had no time to think about why Zhang Zhouzhu, who had always been in cahoots with Li Qi, would issue a wanted order for him. His mind was full of the scene where snow was coming out of his daughter's chest. If he delayed any longer, his daughter might not survive.
Then someone in the carriage said, "Do you want to see the imperial physician? Unfortunately, I'm not feeling well today, and all the imperial physicians have gone to my house. No one can spare the time to see your daughter."
He Rucheng was stunned, tears flickering in his old eyes.
Staring at the broken silver inlaid on the wheels of Zhang Zhou's bamboo horse carriage, the Shu brocade curtains that took a hundred people three months to weave, and then at the night pearl lantern that was worth as much as platinum, he clenched his teeth tightly and even his breathing became several degrees heavier.
Having been an official for many years, how could he not know what Zhang Zhouzhu meant?
He Rucheng clenched his fists and sat on his horse without moving, stiff and stubborn.
Until someone reminded him: "Master He, I think you should go back early to guard your daughter. This might be the last time we see each other."
His son's crippled legs and his daughter's unstoppable blood in her chest came to his mind, and He Rucheng's fist suddenly loosened.
He was afraid of being seen by others, so he lowered his head deeply, dismounted, brushed off the non-existent dust on his knees, and slowly knelt down facing Zhang Zhouzhu's gleaming and precious carriage.
His knees pressed the snow into depressions, making a rustling sound. He held back the tears of humiliation and cried out in a mournful voice:
"Prime Minister Zhang, I beg you to assign me a royal physician. My son is already in such a state, and I cannot afford to lose another daughter."
After saying this, he bowed his waist and kowtowed to the carriage that was high above him.
The cold wind messed up his hair, his eyebrows drooped, the wrinkles on his face loosened weakly, his back was deeply hunched, his forehead was pressed against the snow, and he looked several years older.
But the man didn't say anything for a long time.
He knelt and kowtowed in humiliation, waiting anxiously for a long while. Finally, Zhang Zhouzhu's "pardon" came from above his head: "Send Doctor Li to He's house."
He Rucheng kowtowed heavily and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Zhang." He couldn't hold back his tears, and a tear of humiliation rolled out of the corner of his eye, making a small hole in the snow.
-
Zhang Zhouzhu's carriage slowly moved away until it reached the gate of the County Lord's Mansion. Li Qi, who had been inside the entire time, asked, "What did you mean by that just now? Are you issuing a wanted order for He Rucheng? For me?"
Zhang Zhouzhu smiled and looked at Li Qi who was sitting opposite her. She was still wearing her nightgown, her hair was tied up on top of her head with a wooden hairpin, and she had simple makeup on, but she looked as pure and clear as a dewdrop in the morning.
He laughed and said, "You killed an important official's daughter, and you even dared to assassinate His Majesty's special case envoy. As a high-ranking official, isn't it my duty to issue a wanted order for you?"
"What's the meaning?"
"Even if I don't put you on the wanted list, you can't go back." Zhang Zhouzhu gently lifted the car curtain and motioned Li Qi to look outside.
The plaque of her once-luxurious County Lady's Mansion had fallen, leaving no one inside. The gate had been half-torn down, and the words "Murderer" and "Vicious Banshee" were scrawled in large letters on the white walls. The steps were littered with gravel, eggs, and rotten vegetable leaves. Upon closer inspection, there was even manure. A strong stench filled the air.
Those people were more furious than ever before, squatting and lying at her door. One of them, who was clearly the leader, said, "If the government doesn't care, we will! I heard that Miss He is dying. This witch is so rampant, we can't let her go!"
"Yes, Miss He and Little Master He have been so kind to us, so let's just wait here. I don't believe she won't come! As long as she comes, we can attack her together and kill her!"
"Why did Miss He seek revenge on Lord Xiao He? No, there's also Lord Feng. He's our great judge!"
“…”
Each of them had a hidden blade on his waist. Li Qi could see that they were all strong men. Even if they didn't have any skills, they had brute force and were not easy to provoke.
Her appearance was exposed at Qingqi Temple, and the news of her assassination of He Mu quickly spread throughout Kyoto. She, who was already unpopular with the people, completely aroused their anger this time.
The government doesn't care, but they do, and their ultimate goal is to kill her.
Li Qi frowned and suddenly found that not far outside her county lady's mansion, Feng Siji had changed his clothes and was standing there, looking at the group of restless people with a look of neither sadness nor joy.
As if sensing something, he suddenly looked over here.
Li Qi didn't know how to face him, so she subconsciously opened her eyes, fearing that he would see her.
Zhang Zhouzhu glanced at her inquiringly, lowered the car curtain, and said, "I issued the wanted order to help you."
"I don't need your help." Li Qi retorted, "The County Lord's Mansion isn't my home anyway. It doesn't matter to me whether I go back or not."
"What if I'm about to issue a warrant?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Let's talk about it when we get home."
The driver turned his horse around and headed for the Prime Minister's residence.
-
This is not Li Qi's first time to come to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
She still remembers the carved beams and painted buildings inside.
Twelve winding corridors, ninety buildings, pavilions and towers connecting the deep courtyards, and exotic flowers and plants blooming in the courtyards.
Even in the cold winter, there is not a speck of snow on the ground in the courtyard, and the pillars of the pavilions are not stained with dust, which is enough to prove how particular the owner of the mansion, Zhang Zhouzhu, is.
Every three steps she took, there was a sheep-horn palace lantern; every two courtyards she passed, there was a large lake with a pavilion built in the lake. The eaves and tiles of the pavilion were inlaid with gold and silver. When the sunlight shone on it, it emitted a dazzling golden light, the flowing colors were captivating, and it was extremely luxurious.
After walking for a long time, Li Qi was finally brought to a courtyard by Zhang Zhouzhu.
She looked inside and saw that the yard was planted with evergreen shrubs. At that time, the shrubs had grown to half a person's height. They were lushly clustered around another towering tree. The tree was so lush and leafy that it almost blocked out the sun. She could vaguely see a bit of the red-tiled eaves behind the snow-covered branches.
There is an attic hidden behind the big tree.
After Li Qi entered the yard, Zhang Zhouzhu asked her to wait and then went out.
She drank some hot tea to moisten her throat and waited for a while before Zhang Zhouzhu came back.
He was wearing a moon-white loose robe and walked over in a casual manner, leaning on the warm kang. His long black hair was untied and scattered on his chest, fluttering gently in the breeze.
Li Qi laughed in his heart. It turned out that he went to change his clothes. His heart was as black as dog shit, but he liked to wear elegant colors.
Her tone was not good: "What exactly are you going to do?"
The light and shadow were mottled by the branches outside the window, scattered on his cheeks, making Zhang Zhouzhu's facial features look gloomy.
He was gloomy from head to toe. Growing up in that environment, he had a musty smell.
Li Qi was not surprised and said calmly: "When I left Qingqi Temple, I saw He Rucheng's men, so I had no choice but to get on your carriage. I don't want to stay here."
"Why are you in such a hurry? You can't go back to the County Lord's Mansion, so why don't you just stay here first?"
Of course Li Qi didn't want to do that. If she stayed here, Shengxiang would definitely come looking for her if she couldn't find her. Then Shengxiang would be like a lamb walking into a tiger's mouth. How could she not know what Zhang Zhouzhu was planning?
Just as he was thinking about it, Zhang Zhouzhu suddenly spoke up: "There's something fishy about the file Feng Siji submitted to His Majesty. What's your relationship?"
Li Qi paused.
What does this mean?
Zhang Zhouzhu dropped the bamboo slips onto the table with a clanging sound. He rubbed his thumb ring and smiled slightly. "I remember the county lady was in Qianzhou before coming to Kyoto, right? Are you from Qianzhou?"
"Yes. But what does this have to do with the dossier that Vons sent?"
Zhang Zhouzhu was puzzled. "You didn't know? Zhang Zhouzhu's statement to His Majesty last night seemed to cover up for you."
Li Qi was stunned, as if struck by lightning.
Did he shield her?
But today at Qingqi Temple... Li Qi rubbed her fingers together, feeling uneasy. So last night he asked her to wait for him, saying he had something to say to her. Was it because of this?
"Feng Siji was also originally exiled to Qianzhou. Did you know each other there? Otherwise, I can't imagine why a man like him would protect you."
Zhang Zhouzhu smiled. "You know so much about me, yet you have such a close relationship with him. How can I trust you not to denounce me in front of him?"
He stood up, walked to the window, reached out to pick a snow-covered branch, and tied it up his loose hair.
He hid everything in time and kept it a secret.
"I will definitely issue a warrant for your arrest, but whether or not this warrant will lead to your death depends on your performance.
"Either surrender to me or die under the wanted order. Choose one."
He licked his lips and smiled: "It's my turn for you. If you had met someone like He Zhangjing, a beast in human form, he would have killed you without giving you a chance to choose."
Li Qi's clenched fingers suddenly relaxed and she calmed down.
"How do you want me to surrender?"
"Either marry Shengxiang to me, or kill Feng Siji."
Zhang Zhouzhu smiled again and said, "Look, am I being kind enough to give you a choice?"
It's so shameless!
Li Qi's eyelashes fluttered and trembled.
Under her resentful gaze, Zhang Zhouzhu walked out of the shadows, revealing his facial features. Li Qi saw his sinister and weird smile, which made her teeth shiver.
Marry Shengxiang, or kill Feng Siji.
She would only choose to kill Feng Siji.
Zhang Zhouzhu knew this clearly, so he deliberately gave a multiple-choice question that was impossible to choose.
She couldn't possibly marry Shengxiang. No one knew better than her how much Shengxiang hated Zhang Zhouzhu.
Shengxiang was originally the daughter of Xianglai Inn on the official road outside Beijing. Eight years ago, Yunzhou City was broken, and Feng Yijun went south to investigate. When he returned to Beijing with the truth, he stayed at Xianglai Inn.
Zhang Zhouzhu was wrongfully imprisoned many years ago and bore a grudge against Feng Yijun, who was in charge of his case, believing that Feng Yijun was incompetent and that this was why his legitimate brother went unpunished.
He led his men into the inn and killed Feng Yijun with a single blow to avenge his past hatred.
At that time, Feng Yijun was holding the secret of the fall of Yunzhou City. His sudden death was bound to cause a bloody storm.
Zhang Zhouzhu was afraid of getting caught in trouble, so he simply killed everyone in Xianglai Inn.
The hills behind the inn were filled with graves of Shengxiang's relatives, all of whom had died at his hands.
He spared Shengxiang's life, but said it was a kind of love.
Whenever Li Qi thought of this, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat. She still had Dong Linche and Dong Mingrong, but Shengxiang had nothing.
How could she possibly marry Shengxiang to the culprit Zhang Zhouzhu?
Li Qi will never forget the time when she came to the Prime Minister's residence to find Zhang Zhouzhu before she knew Shengxiang, but accidentally ran into him threatening Shengxiang.
That was the first time she saw Zhang Zhouzhu so furious.
He pinched Shengxiang's face and pressed her against the lakeside of the mansion, forcing her to look directly at the huge fish with bloody mouth and fangs, and said grimly: "He Zhangjing's legs are broken here, do you want to feel it too?"
Shengxiang was afraid that he would really throw her down to feed the fish, so she grabbed his arm tightly, her nails swollen, as if she had peeled off a layer of his skin. She was terrified and said incoherently: "I don't want to, I don't want to, please, please forgive me... I won't dare to do it again..."
"If you really hurt me, there will be no one to protect you, and the Queen will kill you immediately. You have to understand me. I just love you too much and am too afraid to protect you."
Shengxiang couldn't hear anything. She only saw the big fish floating out of the water and swimming towards her on its belly.
There was still a small piece of minced meat hanging in its fangs. It was the leg that He Zhangjing had left there half an hour ago. When it opened its mouth, a strong fishy smell hit its face.
"Ah... let me go, I really don't dare anymore..."
Zhang Zhouzhu, the devil.
"What are you thinking about?" Zhang Zhouzhu suddenly asked.
Li Qi suddenly came back to her senses, her eyes still filled with the panic of memories.
Zhang Zhouzhu, who had been keeping an eye on her, smiled meaningfully. "I know what you'll choose. So, let's do it at the Xianglai Inn."
"His father, Feng Yijun, died in Xianglai Inn. I am being merciful by letting him die there as well."
Li Qi was silent for a long moment before she said, "I don't trust you either. I need a middleman to witness everything. That's my last resort."
“Who do you want to do it?”
"You want someone you can't tolerate each other with, someone who will torture each other to death whenever the opportunity arises—Empress Zhang."
"Crack"
Zhang Zhouzhu accidentally broke a snow branch.
He tilted his head, his sinister eyes dark and boundless: "Li Qi, sometimes you are so smart that I don't want to keep you."
Empress Zhang and Zhang Zhouzhu were originally siblings.
She was the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family, but Zhang Zhouzhu was born to an unknown concubine and was ten years younger than her.
When Zhang Zhouzhu returned to Kyoto and won the favor of the late emperor, Empress Zhang was already married and had a son and a daughter.
He still cruelly separated Empress Zhang and her husband, poisoned her husband and two children, and forcibly sent her to the Eastern Palace.
At first, Empress Zhang was not even considered a Consort in the Eastern Palace. She was bullied and beaten by other Consorts and the Crown Princess every day. She almost suffered all the hardships that Zhang Zhouzhu had endured when he was a concubine in the Marquis's mansion.
Later, Zhang Zhouzhu supported Emperor Liang to ascend the throne and sent Empress Zhang to the position of Empress. Worried that Empress Zhang would be out of control if she had children in the future, he forced her to drink several bowls of sterilization soup.
Because of Zhang Zhouzhu, Empress Zhang lost her parents and siblings, her father and son, and also lost the qualification to be a mother. During that period, her world was only gray. Whenever she opened her eyes, she would see endless despair and an inescapable cage.
She was terrified of her half-brother, so terrified that she would break down and cry just by hearing his voice. She had nightmares every night and could not find peace.
Zhang Zhouzhu originally thought that now that things had come to this point, Empress Zhang would be unable to escape control.
However, after he undermined Emperor Liang's imperial power, Emperor Liang had nothing to do. Of course, he didn't want to do anything, so he spent all day seeking pleasure.
It just so happened that Empress Zhang had been married before, and her romantic skills in bed were even more intense than those of the other concubines, which always made Emperor Liang unable to control himself.
After a few interactions, this couple who met later in life actually developed some feelings for each other because of their compatibility in bed.
With the favor of Emperor Liang, Empress Zhang was no longer so timid and was showing signs of getting out of control.
How could Zhang Zhouzhu not be angry?
So he took the opportunity to support Dong Mingrong as Concubine Li, and she was favored by him. He also favored Li Qi, and used the two of them to restrain Empress Zhang, otherwise he, the eldest sister, would be able to fly alone.
However, he had already reached this position and no longer needed Empress Zhang, who had once been the harem's spy. So he wanted to eliminate Empress Zhang, but with Emperor Liang standing in the way, it was not as simple as before.
This brother and sister, on one side, have a childhood hatred, on the other side, a revenge for the murder of their son, and each of them wants to kill the other.
Li Qi looked at him fearlessly: "But you can't kill me either."
"Yeah?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
