A snowflake on the east fence

Li Qingyun's Personal Extra

“Dang—”

The blood-stained dagger fell to the ground, and the chill brought by the rapid blood loss exceeded the pain in the chest.

“Ahem…”

Blood flowed out from his fingers, and when the horrifying darkness before his eyes was about to completely engulf him, all the past memories came to him along with the gradually hazy calls.

He saw the spring day when the winter snow was gradually melting, and he walked through the dense forests and mist of the distant mountains, with heavy smoke and water.

After many dreams, where will it end?

*

In the spring of the fourth year of Dingyuan, there was a bamboo forest, clear stream, and wine flowing by the winding stream, which was truly an extremely elegant event.

At the Qushui Banquet for the successful scholars, the most eye-catching one was Su Yuanbai, the top scholar in black robes, who was at the front of the list.

I heard that he grew up in a temple and didn't drink Du Kang's food, so Your Majesty specially replaced the Jiujingtai, a must-have for the Qushui Banquet in previous years, with Jingting Green Snow. The Qushui Banquet turned into a tea-tasting banquet, which really shows how much pampering he received.

The stars are so bright, but they cannot compete with the bright moon. With Su Yuanbai's bright moonlight, the runner-up Li Qingyun beside him seems particularly silent.

What's more...he is of that status.

Those who knew something about the situation were whispering to each other, and their indescribable gazes were like thorny vines as they looked at the excessively thin back.

Li Qingyun's father was also a Beijing official in Tiandu, a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, a position that was neither high nor low, but a position that was particularly prone to getting involved in trouble. As expected, because he was involved in the power vortex of the two ministers Liu and Li, Li Qingyun's father was thrown into the Tianlao, where he committed suicide to apologize for his crime. All the dozens of people in the Li family were exiled to Longxi.

Li Qingyun was the eldest son in the family. Apart from him, the rest of the Li family consisted of the elderly, the weak, women and children. They traveled through mountains and rivers along the way and were caught in a snowstorm that occurred once every thirty years in Longxi. His mother, several aunts, and his younger brothers and sisters all closed their eyes in the snowstorm and never woke up again.

It was fate that really played tricks on us. The young man who was discussing this shook his head slightly, with a look of regret on his face.

God's grace is unpredictable and the world is ever-changing. Li Qingyun had just left Tiandu for less than a year and had barely had time to get comfortable in Linxi when Minister Li was imprisoned for treason and his entire clan was exterminated. The case was completely overturned and his father was cleared of all charges.

But the person is gone, so what’s the point of redressing the injustice?

The only use was probably that the man glanced at Li Qingyun, who was sitting at the table without saying a word, with a look of contempt.

...I hope I can get him a government position.

The first place winner Su Yuanbai's "Gong Geng Fu" was famous in Daxuan, and it caused a great rush of paper in Tiandu for a while. But who knows if the second place winner was able to get the second place because of the emperor's compassion?

The Qushui Liushang Banquet is not only a celebration of success in the imperial examination, but also a celebration of one's ambition to be crowned as a Phoenix.

Although Su Yuanbai only wrote one poem, the rhythm, rhetoric, and ideas in it were all top-notch, and all the students present were convinced of their defeat.

But this kid didn't even dare to accept half a cup of tea even though the banquet was half over!

The sympathetic, curious or contemptuous glances on him were like thorns in his back. Li Qingyun did not turn back, but lowered his eyes to the gurgling water in the stream, as if he knew nothing about it.

Layer after layer, endless layers.

Until the jade cup filled with tea stopped right in front of him. Time seemed to stop along with several gazes, stagnating on the small cup.

It was as suffocating as water, and the suppressed light made his clenched knuckles tremble slightly.

There was a short yet long silence, and he recited two lines of poetry as if relieved of a heavy burden.

The rhythm and parallelism of the poem were neat, not bad, but unoriginal, and everyone looked away with some sighs of disdain.

Deep in the shadowy bamboo forest, on another banquet table hidden in the dark, Ji Ning half-leaned on the armchair in a wanton manner, shaking the wine glass in his hand, his eyes fell on Li Qingyun with a bit of sigh.

The calmness of youth and the concealment of one's talent brought back many memories of his past.

He knew very well the reason why the young man was tolerant, but whether he could get what he wanted in his official career depended on himself.

Ji Ning glanced indifferently at Minister Liu who was calm and composed at the table, raised his hand and threw the wine glass in his hand away, and couldn't help laughing when he saw Minister Liu who was so frightened by the spilled wine that he became fidgety.

All the ministers could only keep silent and lower their heads as they looked at the emperor who was unable to tell whether he was happy or angry.

He stood up unsteadily, smiled and waved his hand as if he was just drunk, and left.

He just disliked this old Shangshu Liu. A few days ago, he dared to speak ill of Xieying in front of him and advised him to take in more concubines. This could be regarded as a small lesson for him first.

The gazes behind him finally faded away, and Li Qingyun let out a sigh of relief. He then belatedly felt a slight numbness in his stiff knuckles.

As if turning back inadvertently, he slightly side-glanced, and a person's face was reflected in his deep eyes.

Surrounded by his ministers, amidst the flattery and praise, the man waited arrogantly for the long line of people behind him to wipe off the wine on his clothes.

That person could not see the hatred in his eyes which was more fierce than the wind and snow in Longxi.

*

In the gloomy corridor, the biting cold air came from all directions.

"Master Fu is really stubborn."

Li Qingyun played with the dagger in his hand, staring at the middle-aged man tied up with chains with a distracted and cruel look. The cold rain hit the ground with a crackling sound, matching the sound of his footsteps.

This group of censors is just like this. They self-righteously criticize and denounce anyone they dislike. They bark and make nonsense in the court all day long without knowing the real situation, and they think they are upholding justice.

"I just wonder if Master Fu would still be able to write such critical articles if his skillful hands were gone?"

Fu Sheng, who had not a single piece of good flesh on his body, heard his threatening words. The long and intense pain left by the torture instruments on his penis made him shudder subconsciously, but he soon gritted his teeth, raised his head and looked at the Rakshasa in front of him, cursing angrily.

"Li Qingyun! You are just a dog of Liu Yanhuan...ah!"

The sharp dagger flashed by like a ghost and cut off a little finger.

The faint light of fire in the sky prison danced on his face, as if he was walking in Yanluo hell.

"Master Fu still has the energy to speak. It seems that I haven't done my duty well enough."

The dagger slashed across the cross-section of the severed finger, and as his indifferent and cold voice rang out, it moved towards another finger.

"Do you know why Lord Liu sent me here? To examine Lord Fu's memorial and find out how much evidence he has used to plunder the people's wealth?"

"Oh!"

Li Qingyun raised his eyebrows, and in the instant a bone-chilling sneer fell into Fu Sheng's ears, the dagger in his hand cut off another finger.

"ah!"

The sharp wails echoed throughout the prison. The blood, sweat and uncontrollable saliva of the man in front of him made him frown, but the impatience quickly disappeared from his eyes, as if it had never appeared.

The monotonous and slow footsteps resounded in the prison, and each step seemed like a death knell.

"Master Liu has only given me one mission, which is to take good care of you."

"Don't let you reach paradise too early."

"Pooh!"

Listening to Li Qingyun calling "Lord Liu" left and right, Fu Sheng, who had originally lowered his head and trembled due to the severe pain, suddenly began to laugh uncontrollably.

"You son of a bitch, have you forgotten how your father died? Now you admit that a thief is your father and kneel down to be a dog for Liu Yanhuan! Li Yi is considered a strong man, how could he give birth to a bastard like you! How come a beast like you didn't die in Longxi... Ugh!"

The man in front of him suddenly widened his eyes, and he tilted his neck back and froze for a second. At the moment when the empty death intent spread in his pupils, the blood spurted out from the dagger stuck across his neck and splashed onto Li Qingyun's face.

"Boom——"

The rain suddenly got heavier, like lightning in the daytime shining on his pale face, and bright red blood dripped from his eyebrows to the corners of his slightly raised lips.

Like a demon or a ghost.

On what basis!

How dare such a person use his father's name to accuse me!

Li Qingyun's hand holding the dagger trembled constantly with anger, but his eyes flashed with a sick and crazy light.

Fu Sheng was right, he really knelt down and served Liu Yanhuan as a dog.

Just outside the Meridian Gate, on Suzaku Street, everyone was watching.

Amidst all the suspicious, contemptuous and disdainful looks, he bent down deeply and smiled in an extremely flattering manner.

He bent down and knelt in humiliation in front of the enemy who killed his father, hearing the words "Yun Ben is a lowly son. I rely on you for everything."

He is the eldest son and currently the only child in the family.

Qingyun was the name given to him by his father, in the hope that he would carry on his ambition and become a gentleman of integrity and integrity who would bring honor to the family.

But the moment Liu Yanhuan's foot stepped on his thin back, he heard the sound of something breaking inside his body.

That was the proud character he had developed after fourteen years of hard study.

At this moment, it was completely shattered.

And what are those people doing? People like Fu Sheng are just using their mocking eyes like knives to tear off pieces of his flesh piece by piece for their own laughter at the table!

But it doesn't matter, he'll make them stop laughing.

Everyone knew the relationship between the Li family and Liu Yanhuan, but Liu Yanhuan still kept him by his side. Even he himself did not expect that it would be so smooth.

Perhaps those who stand higher can only see their own glory, and cannot see the ambition, lust for power and deep hatred in the eyes of those who are lower than them.

And those things were enough to become the yellow earth to bury him.

call--

He took a deep breath and suppressed all the emotions in his heart, which eventually turned into the flames of hatred.

Even though she knew that he was deliberately provoking her, she still did not stop her murderous intent.

He took out the hidden Yuan handkerchief from his arms, slowly wiped the blood from between his fingers bit by bit, and then threw it into the fire without mercy. The flames swallowed the blood-stained handkerchief with a "hiss".

This Yuanpa comes from the little prince in the palace.

On that day he knelt like a dog on Suzaku Street. The bright sunlight left him nowhere to escape. He didn't know that Liu Yanhuan's carriage had already driven out of the palace. He was still kneeling there in a trance, with a stiff and flattering smile on his face.

Until someone came over, wiped his dusty forehead, pressed his lips with his hand, and said with disgust.

"Stop laughing, it's ugly."

The sun was so bright that day that he couldn't see the boy's face clearly. He could only hold the handkerchief helplessly, as if he was holding his only lifeline.

And now, the only straw was thrown into the flames of hatred by his own hands.

Although he had never seen the boy before, he was able to guess his identity based on the word "Your Highness" that he vaguely heard later - the pampered little prince of Chen, Ji Mingxiu.

There are only two princes in Tiandu, and the other one is the Crown Prince who is already assisting in the government.

That was not the future he could imagine. He raised his head and saw a faint flash of lightning coming from the high iron window of the sky prison and falling on his face, which was filled with a desperate determination.

He has no future.

*

In the Qianqing Palace, the red candles and warm tents, the warm fragrance and soft jade are like a spring water flowing quietly.

Li Qingyun woke up from a nightmare again. He dreamed of the heavy snow in Longxi again. He was walking alone in the snow with his thin body hunched over, staggering.

He recalled the tenth day when the heavy snow fell. He shivered and said he was very cold. His mother touched his face and whispered in his ear that it would be fine when the weather cleared up.

But the snow was so heavy that no matter how hard we waited, the sky never cleared up. The road was so long that no matter how hard we walked, we never reached the end.

But now, he hugged the sleeping little Majesty tightly in his arms, and buried his trembling heart deep into the dreamlike reality.

"Hmm...what's wrong..."

Ji Mingxiu vaguely sensed the movement, stretched out his hand and consciously patted the person on the back, then moved closer to his arms and leaned on his shoulders.

"Go to sleep, everything will be fine once you fall asleep..."

His Majesty's voice gradually became lower, and their gentle breathing merged into a soft vapor, lingering between his eyebrows and eyes that were covered by wind and snow, steaming up a blush.

Even though he knew that His Majesty couldn't see him at the moment, he subconsciously closed his red eyes and hid them.

"good."

He responded hoarsely, lowered his head and quietly kissed the black hair scattered on His Majesty's shoulders.

Revenge is a never-ending fight. From the moment he embarked on this path, he had given up everything and climbed up at all costs. But even when he became the prime minister, second only to the emperor, and moved into the prime minister's mansion, which was many times larger than his father's, he still couldn't reach the end.

The huge Prime Minister's Mansion was nothing more than another dead tomb, burying his long-dead bones.

Those actions that may seem stupid, decisive, or even crazy to others are nothing more than a desperate struggle on the edge of a cliff.

Perhaps they saw through his calculations, the calculations of human greed and the calculations of Your Majesty's sincerity.

But only he himself knows that for him, every night... every night is short tonight and uncertain tomorrow.

It doesn't matter. The mottled light and shadows of the red candles obscured his dark and deep eyes. His fingertips gently stroked His Majesty's red lips, and repeatedly engraved one kiss after another like a brand.

He never expected anything for the future, he only fought for tonight.