Death of an old friend
Chapter 28: Death of an Old Friend
During the two months at the village, Yi Huan habitually went out for a walk in the evening every day, and he became more and more quiet.
The Ministry of Justice has closed the case of Nalan Han, and Peng Zuoyuan personally drove a horse to take her back home.
When I saw her in the countryside, she was sitting on the ground playing with a bunch of wild grass, staring blankly at the red sun setting in the sky, the afterglow making her face rosy and gentle.
Peng Zuoyan stared at her for a long time, and only came over when she noticed him. He touched her ear and said, "You look thinner again. I'll take you to eat something good when I get home."
"What are you doing here?"
Sitting down beside her casually, Peng Zuoyan approached and asked, "You haven't seen me for two months. Do you miss me?"
"I missed you not coming."
Peng Zuoyan smiled nonchalantly, "Are you jealous that I didn't come to see you? I'm here to pick you up this time, and we'll go back home."
Yi Huan turned around in surprise, "Your father asked me to be here, and you want to refute what he said?"
"Tsk, without my tacit consent, how can this old man be the master of my people?"
It turned out that he agreed. Yi Huan was silent for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the distance, squinting her eyes and looking into the distance. Loneliness returned to her again.
"Like this place? There's a breeze in the evening, and taking a walk after dinner is quite enjoyable. You can come here for a while when you have some free time. It'll be nice to change your mood."
"Perhaps."
Days of continuous contemplation made her feel even more desolate. She just muddled through without any plans for the future. At the same time, Yi Huan was afraid that she would get used to this and lose the courage to say no.
"Don't ask about Nalan Han again when you go back this time. That's all you need to know about Cui Luan. Ah Huan, the past is the past. You can remember it, but don't dwell on it."
Yi Huan was a little confused by his plausible words, "So I just need to obey you and rely on you, and be a mindless puppet?"
"Ah Huan, are you willing?"
"But I'm not a dodder."
Hearing her answer as expected, Peng Zuoyan smiled and continued, "That's why I'm in such a difficult situation."
What interested him was her character, which disdained to be rebellious but remained tenacious after rebelling, and it always piqued his interest.
"Ah Huan, this world is unreasonable. Your strength is limited. Even if you overturn the sky and replace it with your own reason, it will take time. Since we have come this far, why don't you try to get out of it? After Chang'an, did I force you or oppress you? The higher I go, the higher you enjoy. Let the past go. Can't you feel my care now?"
Yi Huan thought for two seconds and gently denied it: "That's your opinion. I'm not you, and I can't live according to your established rules."
It is both a stance and a firm determination.
Peng Zuoyan sighed, "Ah Huan, you're making things too hard on yourself. Sometimes it's better to be confused than to see things clearly."
“Those who are lost are no better off than those who are sober, and I don’t give it a hard time.”
The memories of her youth had only been cherished when they abruptly ended. Why should she forget? The vagueness in her heart had long since become a part of her body. To forget was to give up on herself.
Yi Huan has to remember these things. The more realistic it is, the more painful it is. But the pain must be unforgettable to remind her to remember.
Remember him, the young man's heartbeat and the peace after communicating with each other, remember the suffering, don't lose your guard, don't let your edges be smoothed out, don't let your energy be consumed, only by remembering can you expect possible miracles.
There was no change in the Siyuan Courtyard. At night, a stealthy figure quietly appeared at the window. There were two knocks. Yi Huan pushed the window open and looked in. There was only an unsigned letter.
After reading the last punctuation mark, Yi Huan murmured, "Impossible, no way..."
But this was indeed the whole incident that Cui Luan had investigated. Before she had the nightmare, Nalan Han died in the wilderness, still in shackles, and breathed his last in a prison van.
"Ahan!"
In the study of the Peng Mansion, Chang Er stretched out his hand to stop Yi Huan, but she insisted on rushing in without even giving him time to report.
Seeing her hurried steps, Peng Zuoyan put down his brush and said, "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry? Go down."
"She's dead?"
"who?"
"You know, Nalan Han."
Peng Zuoyan remained calm, pretending not to reveal any flaws. "Where did you hear that? She was just doing her job as a county magistrate, but you, for no reason, cursed someone to death."
"If nothing had happened to her, why were you covering it up before? You didn't even dare admit it. Now she's lying in the Ministry of Justice, her body unclaimed. If I didn't know now, would I have to go to the mass grave to look for her later?"
Seeing that he could no longer hide the truth, Peng Zuoyan asked frankly, "You know everything?"
"Peng Zuoyuan, you dare to say that you didn't do anything to cause Nalan Han's death? She saved me and hid me, and you were determined to kill her. When you were in Changzhou, you pretended to let her go. Do you need to beat around the bush when you want someone dead?"
Angry words were not enough, Yi Huan angrily questioned: "Do you have to kill someone? I can never see her again, but you just won't let her go. You are really a murderous monster."
"I didn't order her death. Her death was an accident. I've been a coroner in the Ministry of Justice my whole life and have never made a mistake in recent years. What does her death have to do with me?"
“Why isn’t there anything by you?”
"Why is she so depressed? If it weren't for your hint, why was she dismissed from office? What kind of person is the Yu family? Everyone in Yongchuan knows about Yu Wu's dissolute nature. How could Nalan Han agree to such a marriage?"
Yi Huan was so excited that he choked for a long time before continuing, "Speaking of murder, Yu Wu died without being brought to justice. While the Yu family was holding her, she was tortured physically and mentally every day. Later, on the way to the capital."
"Did you intend to let her reach the capital alive with the treatment she received on the road? The guards included members of the Yu family. Nalan Han must have died of anger! She must have felt so helpless and sad for two years that she died of anger on the road. How long do you have to stretch your hands to make someone die of anger without leaving a trace?"
The more Yi Huan thought about Nalan Han's experience along the way, the more he couldn't help choking up.
A living person who has infinite disappointment about her future, forced to stay away from the struggling officialdom, forced to discuss marriage, Nalan Han persisted for two years with no clear path ahead, dragging a dry body. Before her death, did she blame herself for saving Yi Huan?
"All you said is just fantasy..."
"This is evidence of your murder."
Yi Huan was extremely emotional, tears welling up in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. She took a step forward and slapped him, her fingers sliding across his rolling Adam's apple. She cursed, "You murderer! Why don't you just die!"
Peng Zuoyan grabbed her wrist with one hand, his face flaring with anger. He pulled her closer and lowered his voice, "Ah Huan, be careful with what you say. I admit that Nalan Han is dead and I was the one who kept it from you, but you must remember not to say anything."
"I just know that if I don't speak up, there won't be any justice. You also admit what I said, so shouldn't you pay the corresponding price?"
Yi Huan tried to struggle, but the force on his wrist was like a rock, leaving circles of red marks on his wrist.
"What do you want?"
"Restore her position as county magistrate and bury her peacefully and honorably."
Peng Zuoyan laughed out loud, released her, and said without hesitation, "Ah Huan, it's a fact that Nalan Han committed suicide. The case is closed. All you can get is the body. Nothing else is possible."
"She did nothing wrong. Shouldn't her reputation be restored? She shouldn't have died quietly on the side road. Nalan Han shouldn't..."
"Chang Er! Take Aunt Huan away."
Yi Huan didn't care about his interruption and roared angrily: "Don't you owe her this? It's you who killed her!"
"I never owe anyone anything. Chang Er, take him away!"
In the quiet study after Yi Huan was "asked" to leave, Peng Zuoyan suddenly smashed the cups and bowls, her deep eyes showing some anger, and her unyielding and disappointed eyes during the confrontation appeared in his mind.
Even though it has come to this point just for Nalan Han, it's still too late to get rid of him.
The next day, Peng Zuoyuan stopped Yi Huan as he was about to leave the house and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Minister of Justice, I want to bring her back."
Glancing at the servants following behind her, Peng Zuoyao deliberately said, "They are from the Peng Mansion. Why should they follow you?"
"Are you not ashamed? Have you forgotten what you have done?"
"So just stay put and don't provoke any more innocent people."
Yi Huan laughed coldly, "You want to kill everyone, and even the innocent become guilty. It doesn't make sense for your arrogance to make others cower forever."
Peng Zuoyan took a deep breath and asked in a guiding manner, "What can you do if you go?"
"She died in a foreign land under unclear circumstances. Can't I bury her remains?"
"And then? Take the body to the county office and sue me?"
Yi Huan said dejectedly, "Even if I die on my knees, I will never become Gao Cheng. In your rules, justice can never prevail over power."
"Go back, and I'll get the body back for you. Even if you go now, without an identity card, you won't get it back even if you cry your heart out."
Peng Zuoyan lowered his eyes to look at her, dispelling her doubts and saying, "Ah Huan, if your family has power, you don't have to be a fool."
Looking over his shoulder at the open gate of the mansion, Yi Huan had to admit that she could not walk out of this door without his permission.
Yi Huan's eyes were tinged with sarcasm, but the corners of his lips were smiling: "Power is directed externally and internally."
In the corner of the yard, paper money shaped like copper coins was burning in the brazier. Sparks raged in the dark night, casting a dim and blurry shadow on people's faces.
Yi Huan shook out the paper money and muttered to himself, "Ah Yu, Ah Han, am I your calamity?"
"One is twenty, the other is twenty-four. Why is it so easy to lose your life? You met the wrong person. There are so many people in Dayu, why did you meet me? Why did I meet him?"
Peng Zuoyang's intentions were ill-intentioned, especially after hearing that name. "If you dare burn another piece of paper, I'll level his grave immediately."
"Even if you skip A Yu's grave, my paper money and my words will reach his ears."
Peng Zuoyan quickly walked over and pulled her up, calling her by her full name and scolding her, "Yi Huan, you always treat my words as a joke."
"I don't just treat your words as a joke." Yi Huan looked at him angrily and deliberately said to provoke him: "I also treat you as a piece of shit. You have always been a toy to me."
"Okay, Ah Huan, you have a good mouth. I will remember what you said."
Holding her neck with one hand, Yi Huan walked forward. He leaned against the tree trunk to bear the weight of his forward leaning. The blue veins on the girl's slender white neck echoed with the bulge on the back of the man's hand.
Her fearless expression stimulated Peng Zuoyan, and he loosened his grip a little. Peng Zuoyan said playfully, "Can't you pass on the message? Then let your happy voice be transmitted to him, so that he can hear how happy you are screaming under me."
"What are you doing! Get out of here..."
The end of Yi Huan's struggle was that she was placed under house arrest in a side courtyard. Peng Zuoyan came to see her twice, but she never opened her mouth from beginning to end.
The friction that night injured his right hand. Yi Huan covered it with his clothes and did not make a sound. At first, it was just sore in his forearm, but now it has spread to his shoulder, which is red, swollen and unbearable.
Yi Huan was lying on the couch, facing the window, staring blankly at the lush green branches outside.
"Ah Han, this summer has lasted so long. It wasn't as happy as when you took me to the river to catch fish and shrimp."
Yunhu came to take a look every day, but because of Peng Zuoyang's order, he could only talk through the window and could not take care of him closely.
"Auntie, the double-petaled yellow lotus in the yard has bloomed. I brought you a few. If you are happy, take a look. Don't be unhappy."
After a long silence, Yi Huan moved his fingers and asked haphazardly, "Are there any fish or shrimp in the lake by the rockery?"
"Yes, Auntie, do you want to see it?"
"Bring me two next time."
Yun Hu agreed quickly and counted them carefully: "Okay, we have goldfish and gold and silver dragon fish in our yard. If you want to see them, I will bring them to you."
"Forget it, don't take it."
She is no longer free, so why bother making things difficult for one or two small fish?
"Auntie, I want to advise you." Yun Hu observed her expression and said carefully, "Auntie, you can't change your mind. Some things can be resolved by just taking a step back. Dalangjun is a man after all. If you are stubborn, won't you be the one who suffers in the end?"
"You should go."
When Yunhu looked again, Yi Huan had already turned his head to the side, showing impatience.
When they came back the next day, Yun Hu was the first to notice that something was wrong with Yi Huan. "Auntie, what's wrong with you? Please speak."
As Yun Hu ran out to call for help, he first saw Cui Luan approaching and shouted, "Madam, please come and see my aunt..."
"What's wrong?"
Peng Zuoyuan kept walking, and Yunhu followed behind him and was soon left behind by a long distance: "Master, my aunt seems to have fainted. No matter how much I called her, she wouldn't wake up..."
"Xishan, is Aunt Huan okay? Otherwise..."
Before Cui Luan could finish her words of concern, Peng Zuoyuan came out carrying Yi Huan horizontally, brushed past her shoulder and left, never glancing at them.
"Go call the doctor!"
A group of people were walking around that place. Chang Er noticed that no one was paying attention to the master and servant, so he said in a fake tone, "Madam, don't think too much. The master is also worried about what happened to Concubine Huan."
"It's okay. Saving lives is more important." Cui Luan forced a smile and said, "You should get busy too. Take good care of Aunt Huan."
"yes."
After everything was settled, the Second Chief reported the incident: "Master, when you were leaving with Concubine Huan, your wife saw you. I noticed that she was not in a good mood."
"knew."
Peng Zuoyuan looked at the prescription on the table and pondered, "Is the doctor here today reliable? Go to Chang'an County and ask Doctor Su to come over. Forget it, go right away. Saving a life is a matter of utmost importance."
But, hasn’t Aunt Huan woken up?
Peng Zuoyan deliberately ignored the details, but Chang Er was very tactful and didn't ask any more questions. A thought flashed through his mind, and he nodded in agreement.
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