Chapter 62
Chapter Sixty-Two
Shouquanli sat down at the dining table and said, "These are all home-style dishes, please make do with them, fellow Daoists."
Zhou Xiuqi said, "Thank you for your trouble." He couldn't think of anything else to say and kept repeating this sentence. Kong Fusheng leaned on Zhou Xiuqi's shoulder, his eyes half-closed in a daze, feeling weak all over. He hadn't figured out what was going on yet and said, "You...you..." He pointed tremblingly at Shang Mang.
Meng Yingying grabbed his finger and asked, "Are you thirsty?" She pressed his finger down to prevent him from revealing Shang Mang's identity, which would be disastrous. Who knew what kind of plot might be triggered?
Meng Yingying poured a glass of water, glanced at it, and noticed a layer of dust floating in it. Without thinking much, she poured it directly into Kong Fusheng's mouth. Kong Fusheng, who was still dazed, saw the glass of water and his eyes widened: "Water...water!" Meng Yingying thought he was really thirsty, so she turned around and poured another glass.
Zhou Xiuqi pressed her hand down, frowning, and said, "Don't pour it for him." Meng Yingying didn't really want to pour it either, so she nodded and put her hand down. She looked at Kong Fusheng and found his face ashen.
It's just a glass of water, why is he reacting like this? Has his dislike for Shang Mang reached this point?
Shouquan raised his cup: "Gentlemen, my son is going to Lin'an today, and I hope you will accompany him. Xinghua Village is far from Lin'an, and I fear my son may encounter evil spirits on the road, and then..."
It seems that the dinner was just an excuse, and the real reason was to find a temporary bodyguard. Meng Yingying thought to herself, and suddenly felt that her eyes were a little itchy, so she raised her hand to rub them.
"Thank you very much," Shou Changyue said to them from the carriage.
Meng Yingying was startled. She looked left and right. Zhou Xiuqi, Shang Mang, Xiao Zheyu, Kong Fusheng, and Cong Rong all had empty eyes, like puppets, shaking their heads blankly. Only she remained conscious. Meng Yingying found this strange.
She blinked rapidly, and the scene before her eyes suddenly changed.
Zhou Xiuqi grabbed Xiao Zheyu's hand, his face grave: "What are you going to do?"
Xiao Zheyu looked at him: "You're allowed to be a good person, but I'm not allowed to do good deeds?"
Kong Fusheng grabbed them: "Senior Meng, come and stop the Princess! She's about to reveal her identity!" He shouted in Meng Yingying's direction. Meng Yingying stood there, not understanding the situation. Was it their scheme, or was the world exerting its influence?
Meng Yingying did not move.
At this moment, Zhou Xiuqi spoke up: "Your Highness, your identity will be exposed."
Xiao Zheyu sneered, "Isn't this what you wanted? If I'm taken back, you won't have to protect me anymore."
Zhou Xiuqi: "Your Highness, please reconsider."
Xiao Zheyu replied without hesitation, "No need."
Xiao Zheyu left without looking back. Zhou Xiuqi stood there clenching his fists, but did not chase after him.
As Meng Yingying watched Xiao Zheyu's figure recede into the distance, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her breath, and a different scene appeared before her eyes.
She hid in the corner, the midnight moonlight illuminating the face of the person who came in. Meng Yingying saw him clearly; it was Shou Changyue. Shou Changyue stumbled to a door and pounded on it desperately, leaving bloody marks on the door with his palms.
His voice was hoarse: "Help...help...I need to report to the authorities...my academic achievements, my academic achievements." He opened his mouth wide and shouted, but the sounds coming out of his mouth were incoherent, sounding more like a madman shouting incoherently.
Meng Yingying recalled what Shen Qingshan had said: Shou Changyue came to take the imperial examination, but was thrown back to the village like a dog by an unknown person, without any clothes on or any respect for him.
Countless people emerged from the shadows, holding torches that illuminated Shou Changyue's face, which had lost an arm.
The group of people escorted a richly dressed official out. The official stepped on the man's only remaining hand, and Shou Changyue cried out. The official frowned, and a soldier rushed forward, lifted his chin, and pulled out his tongue.
Meng Yingying's heart tightened.
The dagger landed on his tongue, and the soldiers strained to cut it off. Meng Yingying lost control and ran away, sending the calamity flying and piercing the man's palm.
The person didn't bleed; instead, they turned into a wisp of black mist and drifted into her nose.
When Shou Changyue saw her, his eyes lit up. His mouth was full of blood, and he crawled towards her, gripping the ground. In front of her, the official grabbed Shou Changyue's hair and forced him to lift his head.
"I can spare his life out of respect for your affiliation with Qingyou Temple, but I cannot allow him to live a life of pleasure." The white-haired immortal's smile grew increasingly distorted.
This was said to her.
Meng Yingying felt a chill run down her spine, her palms were sweating, and her legs felt like lead, making it impossible for her to move; she was frozen in place. She watched Shou Changyue's hoarse roar, his voice growing fainter and fainter. She closed her eyes again, and everything went white before her eyes as countless apricot blossoms fell.
She looked down at the ground, where Shou Changyue lay naked, her eyes wide open, like a corpse.
Meng Yingying felt the stickiness on her hands, looked down, and found herself covered in blood. Had she carried him back?
She heard hurried footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw villagers all around her, spitting and cursing. Their voices filled her ears.
A man with a grim face rushed out from behind and bumped into Meng Yingying, who winced in pain. The man fell to the ground, covered Shou Changyue's body with apricot blossoms, and struggled to pull them away. He turned around and shouted angrily at the group, "Get out of here!" The group dispersed, and the man knelt on the ground, scooping up Shou Changyue's body, but Meng Yingying felt that his soul was already dead.
In the blink of an eye, Shou Changyue's hoarse voice came from in front of him. He smashed the bowl, which shattered on the ground, splashing hot medicine everywhere and spreading the smell of medicine.
Shou Quan stood still, stubbornly asking, "Did you cheat?"
Shou Changyue screamed at him in despair, "Get out! Get out! Get out!" He was contorted in pain and could only pound the bed with one hand, his body trembling violently.
Shou Quanli asked again, "Did you cheat?"
Shou Changyue began to cry in despair, screaming, "Why are you asking me? Why are you asking me!"
Shou Quanli finally shut his mouth. He walked out and went into a room. Meng Yingying followed him. After Shou Quanli went in, he closed the wooden door, leaving a crack, like a bottomless whirlpool, drawing her to look inside. She leaned against the wall and peered through the crack into the room.
Guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard.
On the walls of Shouquan's room, the character "Shou" was densely carved. He touched the characters, and in his clear black and white eyes, hatred overflowed: "Why did you leave?"
Were all of these things that happened more than a decade ago? Were they being replayed before her eyes, intermittently, to teach her something, or was it a trap they had set? Meng Yingying pondered silently.
She felt a pang of heart palpitation and gripped the wall tightly.
Li Zhaodi, Teng Yu'e, Shou Changyue... She repeated all their names in her heart over and over again, and the panic in her heart became more and more obvious.
Sometimes the truth isn't necessarily pleasant, but being kept in the dark is like drowning. Even the smallest act of concealment, even well-intentioned concealment, can escalate into deception.
No one is happy to be deceived.
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