Xu Mansion.
Lord Xu, who had just returned from Kaishan Temple, had lunch and was then served fruits by a maid.
"Master." The maid signaled with her eyes.
Lord Xu lowered his eyes and drank his tea. He took out a piece of paper from under the fruit plate with his fingers, put it in his sleeve and read it.
This glance was not a big deal, but it caused his expression to change drastically.
The news that came from Concubine Hui in the harem said that the emperor trusted Marquis Dingbei and began to suspect that he was the culprit behind the poison!
Xu Ge Lao's face changed constantly, and he burned the note directly: "When you left the palace to deliver the message, no one saw it, right?"
The maid shook her head and said, "No one, sir. I saw the maid sent out of the palace by the imperial concubine in the cloth shop. We were very cautious when exchanging notes, and no one saw us."
Lord Xu nodded, quickly called a servant over, and whispered something in his ear.
"Xiao Fu has no masters around him, so get rid of that Third Brother Xie first. Xiao Fu is very skilled in martial arts. Tell Young Prince Zhao to send more masters and find a chance to kill him."
The Jinyiwei were standing far away and could only see some clues but couldn't hear clearly.
In the palace, Emperor Wentai was lying on the couch, wearing a golden five-clawed dragon robe, with a relaxed look on his face.
"Mr. Xie, whom Xiao Fu found for me, is truly a miracle doctor. I want to keep him in the palace and make him the director of the Imperial Hospital! This Imperial Hospital is really full of useless people who can't even cure a poison."
The young eunuch said yes, yes: "Dr. Xie is indeed a great doctor, but the emperor is still blessed with great fortune, you are the true dragon emperor!"
"My kingdom is to last for thousands of years. A small poison is just a trivial stumbling block." Emperor Wentai said this, his expression darkened. "Imperial Concubine Hui was so closely monitoring the news of the court and sent a message to her father, Lord Xu. I should have thought that she was the most likely to have cast a poison on me without anyone noticing. Civil and military officials often came to the court to ask me to make her the queen and the crown prince... It seems that she cast a poison on me in order to make me enthrone her as soon as possible. It's really a huge conspiracy!"
Ever since the eunuch said the three words "Kaishan Temple", the seeds of doubt in his heart began to grow wildly.
"My mother said that Xiao Fu was assassinated by hundreds of assassins before he entered the capital. He was seriously injured. As soon as he recovered from his injury, he immediately went to find Dr. Xie for me. So, although my uncle is very unbridled, he does have respect for me, the king... If he wants to rebel, he must lead troops. He didn't even bring troops back to the capital, which is evident. The culprit who arranged so many assassins to assassinate him is the real culprit."
"Of course, we can't completely rule out Xiao Fu's suspicion."
Emperor Wen Tai thought silently for a long time. At three quarters after 3 p.m., the Embroidered Uniform Guards arrested the man and brought him back to the palace to report.
He knelt down and reported: "Your Majesty, I saw Lord Xu receive a letter from Concubine Hui, so I sent a servant to a restaurant in the capital to deliver the message. I thought the two were suspicious, but... the man Lord Xu's men met was very vigilant and discovered us, so I had to capture both criminals!"
Emperor Wentai opened his eyes and asked, "Where are you going to commit the crime?"
"In the prison, two prisoners refused to speak. One of them could not bear the torture and bit his tongue to commit suicide!"
"Bite your tongue to commit suicide?!" Emperor Wen Tai sat up straight. "If you were not afraid, why did you bite your tongue to commit suicide? There must be some unspeakable secret. Lord Xu, I should never have trusted you!"
The reason why Emperor Wen Tai trusted and promoted Lord Xu was because Prime Minister Xue was the Grand Tutor of his "brother" the Crown Prince, and he himself was the youngest son of the retired Emperor. In terms of talent and seniority, it was not his turn to sit on the throne.
At that time, Prime Minister Xue was loyal to the crown prince. After Emperor Wentai ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to reduce Prime Minister Xue's power and re-establish the cabinet to check and balance the prime minister's power which was above everyone else!
During these seven years, Xue Xiang was only a figurehead. The news brought back by the Embroidered Uniform Guards stated that Xue Xiang even had the idea of retiring and returning home.
At this moment, the residence of Luo, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, was in chaos.
Lord Luo returned home from court to have dinner, and saw seven bloody human heads on the table. I wonder which expert with great martial arts skills had thrown them in there casually! After rolling around on the dining table, he rolled right into Lord Luo's arms!
Mrs. Luo fainted on the spot, and the servants screamed and dodged. Lord Luo looked at the face of the head and was more frightened than horrified. He was an official of the Ministry of Justice, so he often saw such bloodshed. He shouted angrily: "Who is doing evil? Pretending to be a ghost! I am an official appointed by the court!"
The housekeeper of the Luo Mansion rushed in and knelt down and said, "Master, Master! This head was taken by someone from Chunshu Hutong who I found to tie up Lin Zikui! Just now, someone was standing at the door with this head in his hand, and I told him to get out... I didn't expect it."
They flew in and threw the head directly onto the dining table.
Lord Luo: “…”
Lord Luo: "What does it look like? Did you see it?"
The housekeeper said with a sad face: "He sent a letter saying that he was from Dingbei Marquis Mansion."
Lord Luo was terrified: "Who is playing this trick? Isn't Marquis Dingbei leading the troops inside the pass?"
"Also! Who would send a letter to send a head? What a madman, what a madman!"
He didn't even have time to put on his hat, and hurriedly called for a carriage in his official uniform: "Quick! Take me to Lord Xu's house!"
Lord Luo is the adopted son of Lord Xu, and was promoted by Lord Xu to be the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Yesterday, Xu Zhuojun, the son of Lord Xu, casually asked him to arrest a few people and lock them up in the Ministry of Justice's jail, and also asked him to send someone to castrate Lord Tang, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. It was really ridiculous!
In addition to this, he casually mentioned a tiny matter that couldn't be any smaller.
"Lin Zikui is against me. He wants to file a complaint with the emperor. I have no choice but to silence him."
Lord Luo returned home and did not take the matter to heart. He was just a scholar who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He had no power or influence, so he casually asked the housekeeper to do it: "The higher-ups have instructed that he must be tortured to death. We cannot let Lin Zikui die too easily!"
Now I realize...
It seems like I have offended someone I shouldn’t have offended.
The Mansion of Duke Changguo.
After Lin Zikui fell asleep, the spy sent by Xiao Fu came back to report the news, saying: "The young lady of the Xiao family and the Minister of the Imperial College Wen have had an affair. Lord Xiao sent someone to ask Master Lin to return to the capital to discuss the cancellation of the engagement with him. Master Lin arrived in Jinling a little late last night, so he stayed at the residence of Master Tang, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace."
Xiao Fu's woad fur coat was messed up by the night wind, and his face looked cold.
He said nothing, with his eyes slightly closed, as if he was thinking about how to kill Tang Mengyang.
"My Lord, there is one more thing. After leaving the court today, Grand Secretary Tang was put in a sack and dragged to a corner to be castrated... He is still lying on the sickbed. This was also done by Lord Luo."
The spy continued, "And after throwing the head on Lord Luo's dinner table today, he ran to Lord Xu's house without saying a word."
Xiao Fu said calmly, "Then dig out Tang Xueshi's eyeballs tonight and let him eat them. Tomorrow morning, send someone to take him to court."
The next morning.
Lin Zikui was brought back to the newly-managed Dingbei Marquis Mansion by Xiao Fu. He issued a strict order that no servants in the Dingbei Marquis Mansion were allowed to call him Marquis, but only "Master".
"Don't mention my identity in front of Master Lin."
During the day, as long as Lin Zikui was awake, Xiao Fu would stay by his side, often reading the Four Books and Five Classics to him. Seeing that he was depressed, he would comfort him and say, "There is a god above you, Lin Lang, the people who hurt you will definitely be punished!"
"Retribution..." Lin Zikui shook his head, his thin face facing the light from the window. A ray of sunlight passed through his silent profile. "But where are the gods? Those who talk about cause and effect say there is a King of Hell, who is underground. Those who talk about philosophy say there are saints, who are in heaven. But there is nothing on earth. Where is justice and law in heaven and on earth?"
"The laws of nature are in the hearts of people." Xiao Fu said, "Evil people fear others but not God, good people bully others but not God. I know you are afraid, but you are not alone. Am I not by your side?"
Lin Zikui obviously didn't want to talk about this. Holding a bowl of almost finished medicine in his hand, he asked him, "Miss Zhao Ling, can I trouble you for something?"
"Lin Lang, you say."
"My servant is still waiting for me at Xingzhi Temple. I have to go back to prevent him from worrying. Can you help me this last time?" Lin Zikui thought for a long time but couldn't think of anyone he knew in Jinling and who he could trust.
The Censor, with whom Lin Zikui had a good relationship and whom Lin Zikui once respectfully called his teacher, also angered the emperor because of his death-defying remonstrance. He was beaten with forty military sticks outside the Golden Palace and died that night when he returned home.
Xiao Fu couldn't find a reason to stop him from leaving, and he was unhappy because of the alienation in his words.
He blamed himself for not sending anyone to look after him when he left Xingzhi Temple. This was because Xingzhi Temple was a special place and the emperor was surrounded by expert guards. As long as Lin Zikui did not leave Xingzhi Temple, nothing would happen to him there.
Who would have thought that Lin Zikui would suddenly come to Jinling on his own.
But if he said he regretted impersonating Miss Xiao Er, he didn't.
Xiao Fu never regretted anything. He was a person who would never repent since he was a child. He would never turn back even if he hit his head against the wall and got a bloody head.
Two days later, Xiao Fu arranged all affairs in the capital and found a spacious and comfortable carriage. Yuan Qing, Yuan Wu and Jin Zun were not in the capital, so Xiao Fu placed people from the Yunnan Palace along the way.
The carriage back to Xingzhi Temple was a bit bumpy. Lin Zikui sat in a corner, and Xiao Fu sat next to him, peeling an orange for him, carefully tearing off the white orange peel from the orange segments, and then handed it to his mouth: "Here, eat an orange."
Lin Zikui raised his hand to take it and didn't let him feed him.
"Come on, eat it. I've been tearing the white silk for a long time. Then tell me if it's sweet or not."
Lin Zikui put the orange slice into his mouth, and the orange juice burst into his mouth.
Xiao Fu asked: "Is it sweet?"
"...Mm, sweet." Lin Zikui is a tough weed by nature. After this blow, he pulled himself together again. Today, his willpower, which had been gradually disappearing, has returned a little.
Although his eyes were damaged, he still had a mouth and could still hear. He had the title of Juren, so he could go back to Fengtai County and become a teacher in a school, and spend the rest of his life like this.
He seemed to have come to terms with it, and even his tense expression relaxed a lot.
There are a lot of gossips in Jinling, so just stay away from it.
Lin Zikui suppressed the heavy feeling of unwillingness deep in his heart.
Xiao Fu was pleased to see this and deliberately stuffed the orange into his palm: "Oranges are so sweet, then feed me."
Lin Zikui held the orange and put his hands on his legs: "Miss Zhao Ling, you know that I am now..."
"You can't find my mouth, right?" Xiao Fu leaned forward, rested his chin on his knees, looked up at Lin Zikui's face, gently held his wrist, and said, "Can you find it now?"
The carriage bumped, and Xiao Fu's face slammed forward, his hair crown hitting his stomach. He said in annoyance, "Are you going to feed me or not? If you don't, I won't get up and will sleep on your lap."
Lin Zikui couldn't see, but he could feel Xiao Fu's breath buried in his knees. His mind suddenly recalled that day when he reached out his hand and held hers.
Xiao Fu's hands are very big, probably because he has practiced martial arts, as there are many calluses of different sizes on them.
He told himself to pretend nothing happened and forget about it all.
But how could Lin Zikui forget that he had deceived her, but she was a girl, and he had done such a thing for herself! How could I pretend that nothing happened...
Thinking of this, he became a little restless and had to peel an orange slice in silence. Xiao Fu came over and held the orange slice in his mouth, then kissed his fingertips with his lips. Lin Zikui pulled his hand away instantly as if he had been electrocuted, and the tremor transmitted from his fingertips spread throughout his body in an instant.
Xiao Fu laughed in a low voice. Lin Zikui was at a loss: "Miss Zhao Ling, please stop laughing."
"I know I don't speak like a woman, but you don't like it, do you?"
"No, no! That's not happening." Lin Zikui denied it immediately. Actually, he was used to hearing it and didn't think it was a big deal. That's not what he cares about.
Xiao Fu took his hand and looked at him with burning eyes: "Mrs. Xiao has broken off the engagement with you, but I still want to marry you, Lin Lang. I miss you so much. We have already left the capital, so why not just elope!"
Lin Zikui was speechless for a moment.
"Miss Zhao Ling, you are clearly not..." He hesitated and said, "You are clearly..."
The sound is getting smaller and smaller.
In the end, it disappeared into the air.
Xiao Fu sighed: "How am I?"
This Lin Zikui actually knew that she was not the daughter of the Xiao family, but she didn't have the heart to expose herself.
Lin Zikui couldn't say it, for fear that if he did, it would hurt him. After a long while, he said, "Do you have any difficulties?"
"What's the reason?" Xiao Fu said honestly, "Yes, I did. That day I was taking a bath in the back hills of Xingzhi Temple, and suddenly a scholar came and took off all his clothes in front of me. How unreasonable!"
Lin Zikui: “…………”
Xiao Fu: "I saw everything, but I was scared. I didn't dare to speak. I could only hide in the water, looking at the scholar's body, his face, his conversation. The more I looked, the more I liked him. This was my first time bathing with someone. I fell in love with Lin Lang at first sight, but I found out that you were already married. Tell me, what can I do? If you don't want to be with me, won't I have to become a monk?"
Lin Zikui recalled what happened that day when he first arrived at Xingzhi Temple. He did suspect that there was someone in the water at that time, but he never expected that it was Miss Zhao Ling!
He opened his mouth slightly: "Are you serious? Your name is Xiao Zhaoling..."
"My real name is Xiao Zhaoling." Xiao Fu took his palm and wrote carefully, stroke by stroke, "It's this Xiao."
His palms itched, and the handwriting appeared clearly in his mind. Lin Zikui read: "Xiao Zhaoling..."
Xiao Fu nodded: "Yes, I have an older sister and an older brother at home, so I am the second oldest."
Lin Zikui lowered his head and murmured, "Your last name is indeed Xiao, and you are indeed the second young lady."
Miss Xiao's innocence has been ruined by himself, how can he get married in the future!
Lin Zikui would never do anything heartless and unfeeling.
The wheels rumbled and bumped, just like Lin Zikui's fluctuating mood. He couldn't utter a word of promise or denial.
But he could never have imagined that this kid Xiao Zhaoling was not only not a young lady from the Xiao family, he was not even a woman!
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