Chapter 24 Dream Body He saw it all.
Du Ming was leading Xie Xuanlan's horse back to the mansion. Just as he was about to return the horse to the stable, Xie Xuanlan suddenly said, "The pattern on the whip in your hand is quite unique."
Du Ming paused, turned around and replied humbly, "Third Young Master, these are Commander Zhang's belongings."
"Zhang Yuanhong has a bad temper and likes to use brute force to tame horses, so his whip has tiny barbs on it."
Xie Xuanlan reached out and took the horsewhip and examined it carefully. Sure enough, he found tiny traces of blood at the base of those needle-like barbs.
When he helped Jiang Congying hang the body, he also found blood clots on the neck of the body, which looked like those left by a needle prick.
"And your palm," Xie Xuanlan turned the whip upside down, slapping Du Ming's face with the wooden tip. "You're incredibly tough. You used the whip to strangle Lu Mu, and the barbs pierced your hand, yet you didn't even feel the pain."
Du Ming was stunned and subconsciously spread his hands to look, but there was no puncture mark left.
Xie Xuanlan chuckled: "I tricked you."
Du Ming's expression suddenly changed, but he still hesitated, "Third Young Master, you are joking. I don't understand what you mean—"
“Bang!”
The snake whip lashed his face, and Du Ming felt a searing pain from his forehead to his jaw. Blood dripped onto his eyelashes, and he slumped to his knees before Xie Xuanlan. Through the bloody mist, he saw his expression, cold as ice. His lips trembled, and he was speechless for a moment.
Xie Xuanlan looked down at him and said, "Since when have the Imperial Guard become a weapon that can control everyone? How dare you do this sinister act of murder and framing without telling me? If someone instigates you to rebel one day, will you go too?"
"I dare not...I dare not..."
Xie Xuanlan showed no mercy when he whipped Du Ming. If Du Ming had not been strong and muscular, he might have been beaten to death by him. He was shocked and frightened, his face covered in blood, and he felt that his lips were out of control.
Xie Xuanlan asked him, "Who planned this? Zhang Yuanhong? Di Feishuang? Prime Minister Xie?"
Every time he said a name, Du Ming's face became more frightened. When he was about to faint, he saw a graceful and elegant figure walking towards the corridor leading to the main courtyard.
"Ziguan, put down the whip!"
Prime Minister Xie's usually amiable face took on a solemn expression. He glanced down at Du Ming and ordered him to be taken to the pharmacy for treatment. He then turned and scolded Xie Xuanlan, "Why don't we just sit down and discuss this? Why do you have to make it public?"
"Father is here."
Xie Xuanlan threw away the whip, and his violent temper seemed to have subsided. He saluted politely, showing the gentle, courteous and modest manners of a young master from a noble family.
But his words were harsh, each one tinged with ice. "Everything we need to discuss has been made clear before. I won't ask about your schemes and intrigues, and you shouldn't try to manipulate my officials. Now, Jiang Congjing is cheating at the Imperial Examination Hall, and Lu Mu was strangled to death. And it's actually connected to the Imperial Guard. What's going on?"
Xie Xiang frowned as he looked at his third son, who was so sharp that he was a little difficult to deal with.
Most of the time, he was satisfied with Xie Xuanlan. He was a model of a noble family that he had personally cultivated. He was a man of both literary and military skills, and was knowledgeable and well-informed. He was able to share the fortune of the Xie family with him.
But he was too young and impetuous, like a sword sharpened by fire but not yet tempered by water. He did not know that an overly hard blade would break easily, and an overly clean one would be disliked by the world.
Xie Xiang sighed and patiently said to him, "There are many hidden secrets in this matter. I was forced to resort to this desperate measure to protect myself. I used your people, but I haven't had time to tell you yet."
"There's no need for all this official talk," Xie Xuanlan asked, "Could it be that the Jiang family was also forced into this by my father?"
Xie Xiang was quite speechless: "You have already called off the engagement, why do you care about them?"
Xie Xuanlan: "What do you mean by breaking off the engagement? That was just me and Madam Jiang Si having a tantrum."
Xie Xiang: “…”
Xie Xuanlan smiled and said, "I have caused Father to misunderstand me. This is my fault. I need Father to reconsider the situation and help the Jiang family get out of this situation with a clean conscience, just as they were innocently implicated."
Xie Xiang felt his forehead throbbing, and the blood rushed to his head. If he could beat Xie Xuanlan, he would have picked up the whip and lashed him until he knew what filial piety was.
Xie Xiang said, "Impossible, Jiang Congjing must die. I took the trouble to transfer old Censor Jiang from Xuzhou back to the capital. I have repaid the favor the Jiang family owes me. The Jiang family's status is indeed unworthy of you. Yesterday, General Wang came to test my opinion, saying that his legitimate granddaughter should be arranged to marry -"
"Father." Xie Xuanlan interrupted him: "If you don't want to pick it, I can pick it, but I'm rough in my work, so it's inevitable that I'll bring dirt with me. Father, do you not want to protect your cousin's wife anymore?"
"You bastard, how dare you!"
Xie Xiang had never been provoked like this before, and he was so angry that he lost his temper. He shouted, "Where are the palace guards? Tie up this rebellious son and throw him into the ancestral hall. Don't let him go out and cause trouble!"
The guards of the prime minister's residence surrounded him with guns and sticks. Facing Xie Xuanlan, they hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether they could not bear to do it or they did not dare to do it.
Xie Xuanlan smiled, discarded his knife, picked up a handy mallet, flexed his wrists, and said with the heroic spirit of a devil: "Come on, come together, it's a good opportunity for me to test whether you have been lazy recently."
The head guard said with a mournful look, "Third Young Master, will you surrender?"
Xie Xuanlan sneered: "If a thief broke into the Xie Mansion, would you also beg him for help?"
The captain of the guards was helpless. He rushed towards Xie Xuanlan with his stick raised high, but was kicked and fell to the ground. "Ouch! That hurts!"
Xie Xuanlan snorted, "Haven't you eaten yet? What are you afraid of? When the Prime Minister's strategy succeeds, you will definitely be rewarded."
Xie Xiang was so angry that his face turned green.
The situation in the court was tense. Xie Xuanlan and Prime Minister Xie refused to give in. Finally, Xie Xuanlan lost his patience first and turned to leave. "Well, I will go to the palace in person to plead for Jiang Congjing."
"Saburo!"
A woman's anxious voice sounded behind him. Xie Xuanlan paused, turned slowly after a while, and looked at Madam Xie who was standing under the screen wall.
Mrs. Xie's eyes were filled with deep sorrow, and her voice was desolate: "I have already lost your second brother, am I going to lose you again?"
*
"Two qian of Polygala tenuifolia, two qian of Polygonum multiflorum vine, one qian of mother-of-pearl... Your Highness, please move your body and make room."
"Will the acupuncture wake him up this time?"
"My humble medical skills are limited, so I dare not guarantee it."
"Wouldn't that be a waste of the needle?"
"Your Highness can ask Chen Jianzheng from the Imperial Observatory to perform a shamanic ritual, which would be painless."
"you!"
…
It was as if a ray of light from the sky pierced into his mind, and King Jin's consciousness was awakened from the chaos.
He opened his eyelids, but his pupils were like lifeless stone beads, staring blankly at the ceiling of the tent.
The sound in his ears came near and then far away, like the tide repeatedly hitting the shore, always separated from his consciousness by a thin layer of mist.
The eldest princess's worry and Doctor Zhang's inquiries all seemed like a dream.
He wanted to wake up and escape, but his consciousness became clearer and clearer. Finally, he became so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"My son!" Princess Xuande hurriedly supported him.
"It's alright." Doctor Zhang was taking the Prince of Jin's pulse. "Your Highness was in a deep nightmare, so he slept for a long time. Spitting out this blood will actually help clear your mind."
The eldest princess was puzzled: "My son has tuberculosis. He used to just cough up blood and be weak. Why has he been having nightmares so frequently recently?"
Doctor Zhang looked at Prince Jin with a sharp gaze. "Then I would like to ask, Your Highness, what exactly did you dream about?"
Prince Jin leaned on the edge of the couch with pursed lips and lowered eyes, like a pale and gorgeous doll. He was silent for a long time, and even his breathing was shallow, like a thread that could be broken by the wind at any time.
Actually it wasn’t a dream.
During the time he was asleep, all he saw were things happening around Xie Xuanlan... To be precise, he became Xie Xuanlan again.
After seeing him being ambushed in a dark alley, he felt ashamed of himself and changed his morning routine from waking up at 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. every day. Not satisfied with swinging all kinds of weapons to make sparks on the training ground, he also ordered the captain to practice new moves with him. Behind his back, he earned the notoriety of "the King of Hell who orders the generals."
We also saw him sneak into Xie Xiang's library while he was out, and pick and choose in Xie Xiang's rare and priceless books, which were coveted by scholars all over the world, like buying meat in a vegetable market, and finally took away a copy of "Huainanzi Old Notes and Collation" annotated by Xie Xiang himself.
He knew who Xie Xuanlan was going to give the book to.
But I couldn't think of a reason at the moment. I couldn't just say to Aying: I have been sending people to keep an eye on you. I know you are looking for a copy of it. You accepted my book, but you can't accept Du Rupan's book.
I'm afraid I'll be slapped and kicked out.
In those dreamlike days, he became Xie Xuanlan, experiencing the entanglement that was increasingly haunting him. The initial heartbeat was like a stone falling into the center of a lake. Only when the spring breeze melted the ice did the ripples belatedly begin to spread.
At first, I thought about it occasionally.
Gradually, as if poisoned, whenever I saw a figure that looked like her on the street, I would stop and stare at it for a while.
He dressed up beautifully every day and patrolled back and forth on Buchunqu, the street she walked most often and also the one with the best security in Yunjing. As a result, more and more girls came to him to visit, and the crowds of well-dressed girls made it difficult for carriages and horses to pass - later, Aying simply changed her route.
His nosy subordinates asked him if he had taken a fancy to a certain girl and was so anxious to meet her that he had almost plucked out all the plum branches on both sides of the Chunqu Road.
Xie Xuanlan sneered.
He even remembered clearly what he was thinking at the time: How could I possibly have any thoughts about someone who had already broken off the engagement, no matter how likable she was.
However, when Jiang Congjing's cheating in the imperial examination was discovered, the emperor ordered him to personally arrest him. The first thought in his mind was what to do with Jiang Congying.
So he went to Wenqu Hall to stop her and took her to Gongyuan to look for clues. He found that the matter was related to Prime Minister Xie, and tried every means to take her away.
Each and every one of these things was clearly done by Xie Xuanlan in this life, but he felt as if he had seen it with his own eyes and experienced it personally.
Until a silver needle pierced into the sandalwood, and the sound was like the sound of a bell ringing in his ear. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the tent of Prince Jin's Mansion.
It turned out that he was not Xie Xuanlan, he was just a lonely ghost... Everything he had seen and experienced during this period was just a crazy joke.
During the long silence, Doctor Zhang waited patiently for Prince Jin's answer. The eldest princess brought food and water and personally took care of Prince Jin.
Finally, King Jin heaved a long sigh and accepted the fact that his dream was all in vain.
He spoke, his voice a little hoarse after not speaking for a long time: "What day is it now?"
"You've been asleep for nearly three months, and it's already the twelfth of February."
The imperial examination cheating incident broke out and the Jiang family was surrounded and arrested. It happened this morning.
Prince Jin nodded and pulled out the silver needles on the back of his hand one by one in front of Doctor Zhang, as if that was not his body, and he was as unconscious as a ghost.
Then he lifted the brocade quilt and got on the bed, and told the servant, "Go and prepare hot water and clothes. I want to take a bath and go out for a walk."
＊
At dusk.
Some people are busy running around, while others are going out to relax, but they are all heading in the same direction.
When Cong Ying was wandering around the teahouse opposite the Imperial Examination Hall, he saw an old man about fifty years old who wanted to go into the Imperial Examination Hall to look for someone, but was stopped and scolded by the palace guards at the gate.
The old man came into the teahouse dejectedly, and Cong Ying made room for half of the bench for him.
"Thank you, young sir." The old man was well-mannered, wearing a long blue cloth gown that was old and neat. Although he was thirsty, he drank tea in a proper posture, like a well-educated man.
Cong Ying casually asked him, "Your accent sounds unfamiliar to me. Are you here at the Imperial Examination Hall looking for someone?"
The old man said, "I've come to look for my son. He's working as a scribe in the Imperial Examination Hall now, and I don't know when he'll be released."
Cong Ying looked him over and asked, "What's your last name, father-in-law?"
"My last name is Lu."
"Who is Lu Mu to you?"
The old man's eyes lit up: "It's my son. You actually know him?"
Cong Ying was silent for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
The old man opened up and said, "My family is poor. It wasn't easy for Ah Mu to pass the imperial examination. He always wanted to become an official in Yunjing and he brought me and his mother to Beijing to take care of him. His mother and I wanted to come and see him, not to mention the distance. We just arrived yesterday and Ah Mu doesn't know about it yet. His mother prepared a table of delicious food and urged me to come and pick him up. Since the young master and my son know each other, please come to my humble home for dinner later."
Cong Ying lowered her eyes, not daring to look at his smile. She only sighed and echoed, "Yes, it's not easy for a humble family to make a name for themselves."
After ten years of hard study, he was selected from among thousands of people, but was held at the fingertips of the powerful and placed on the chessboard, becoming a discarded pawn.
When she saw Lu Mu's body with her own eyes during the day, Cong Ying was still calm. But now, after just a few words with Mr. Lu, she felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart.
She felt very uncomfortable in this mixture of pity and indignation, like hot tea that tasted cold when poured into her mouth.
Finally, she put down the tea bowl, as if she had made some kind of decision.
She asked Mr. Lu, "Has Mr. Lu written any letters home recently?"
Mr. Lu was slightly stunned: "I have written it, what's the matter?"
"Can you show it to me?"
"this……"
Cong Ying explained, "I'm going to the Imperial Court later. I can help my father-in-law pass on a message to Brother Lu. However, although I've heard of Brother Lu's reputation, I'm not familiar with him. Only with a letter from home can I make him believe me."
This barely made sense, and Mr. Lu took out a letter that he had carefully preserved from his long gown.
He took out the letter from Ying and glanced at it quickly. His eyes paused on a few words. He felt a mixture of cold and hot in his heart, but he put the letter away without making a sound.
This is...very important physical evidence.
Mr. Lu looked at her expectantly: "If you see Ah Mu, tell him that his mother and I are waiting for him at the sixth inn east of the Outer Seventh Ward."
Cong Ying nodded a little flusteredly, then stood up and said goodbye to him.
She walked a few steps out of the teahouse and turned back. She saw Mr. Lu looking at her eagerly, as if he really wanted to go to the Imperial Examination Hall with her.
Cong Ying finally couldn't bear it: "Mr. Lu, it's getting dark, and the wind in Yunjing is cold, you should go back... I will tell Brother Lu when I see him."
Mr. Lu bowed deeply to her, and Cong Ying couldn't bear to watch any longer.
She took a deep breath, shook off the robe of a clerk from the Ministry of Justice, and walked calmly towards the Imperial Examination Hall.
The palace guards at the gate were from Xie Xuanlan's army and recognized her. They had no intention of stopping her. Unfortunately, Cong Ying hadn't learned Xie San's self-righteous arrogance well enough, so she gave an unnecessary explanation.
"The seal has fallen, come back and look for it."
Everyone in the palace army is a smart guy, so this explanation makes them look cowardly.
After watching her walk into the Imperial Examination Hall, one of the palace guards called someone to take over the duty and immediately rushed to the Xie Mansion to report the news to the third son of the Xie family.
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