Chapter 120 Chen Xiang'er
"Go!" The man tore off the black cloth on his face. His face turned frighteningly pale due to excessive blood loss.
"How did you get so badly injured?"
The man growled angrily, "You didn't tell me that Black Blade Bai Xiu was in the palace!"
The people in the car were shocked and asked, "Who is Black Blade Bai Xiu?"
The man said as he stopped the bleeding: "Hiss... a pair of male and female demons, their kung fu is amazing, I am no match for them."
"No wonder he didn't send more people to the palace. If we miss this opportunity, we may have no chance."
"I can't help it. I lost an arm for this!"
"Okay, okay, don't get excited and go heal your wounds first."
The carriage drove to the west of the city and entered an alley. The two men got off the carriage and looked back vigilantly. Seeing that no one was following them, they entered the yard.
*
When the guards chased out along the wall, there was no trace of the killer outside. Outside the palace wall was a wasteland with traces of wheel tracks on the ground, which seemed to indicate that someone had picked up the injured person and taken him away.
Song Yuzhu ordered the military department to search the entire city, and anyone with an injured right arm would be taken to the Dali Temple to await trial!
Bai Xiu rushed over from the harem upon hearing the news, patting his chest and saying, "I was scared to death, Your Majesty, are you not hurt?"
"It's okay." Song Yuzhu supported her chin with one hand and tapped the table lightly, with no expression on her face.
Song Yuzhu was not afraid of the assassination this time. Instead, she became more curious about who wanted to attack her.
Bai Xiu said: "Strange, why did this man choose to assassinate you during the day instead of at night?"
Song Yuzhu said, "Last time someone broke into my bedroom without permission, I ordered that no outsiders were allowed to enter or leave the area around my bedroom. I guess it was difficult to do it at night, so I chose to do it during the day."
"No wonder...then why didn't they choose to assassinate outside the palace?"
"I made the last-minute decision to leave the palace. They probably didn't have time to spread the news."
Heidao said: "It seems that they have spies in the palace."
Bai Xiu walked up to Hei Dao and bumped into him: "Idiot, was the assassin just now a man or a woman? How old is he? How good is his kung fu?"
"It should be a man, not very old, and his kung fu is not very good. If your majesty hadn't spared him, I would have chopped him to pieces with one blow. But his Qinggong is pretty good, comparable to Liu Yanzi's."
Bai Xiu held the handkerchief in her hand as she thought. She knew many people in the martial arts world who were good at Qing Kung Fu, but only a few could be compared with Liu Yanzi.
"Wang Yu from Pingyang, Cai Rusi from Huizhou, and Qiu Xianren from Zhongzhou are all good at Qinggong, but one of them has been missing for many years, and the other two are one woman and the other is almost sixty years old. They don't fit the characteristics you mentioned."
Song Yuzhu said, "Let's wait until Liu Yanzi comes."
*
Not long after, Liu Yanzi entered the palace. These days, he had been investigating the young eunuch who committed suicide, and finally found some clues.
Xiao Qiuzi's original name was Zhang Qiu, and his hometown was Wuping County, Zhongzhou. During the Zhongzhou Uprising a few years ago, his parents and uncles were all killed by Shen Congwu, leaving only a younger sister to depend on.
Later, he brought his sister to Shangjing to seek refuge with distant relatives, but was turned away. He had no choice but to enter the palace after being castrated.
When he first entered the palace, he was just a small eunuch in the miscellaneous affairs room. Because he was diligent and sweet-spoken, he was soon transferred to the inner palace to serve. Later, he won the favor of Li Dehai and was adopted as his godson.
"I have found out that his sister's name is Zhang Xiang, and now she has changed her name to Chen Xiang'er. She works as an actress in Tianxiang Tower."
"In order not to alert the enemy, I sent a few people to sneak into Tianxiang Tower to keep an eye on her. If Xiao Qiuzi was instructed by someone, that person would definitely contact her again."
Song Yuzhu nodded: "You did a good job."
After the two finished talking about business, Bai Xiu couldn't help but say, "Liu Yanzi, His Majesty was assassinated today."
Liu Yanzi was startled: "Are you injured?"
Song Yuzhu said: "He was not injured. The assassin's martial arts skills were average, and his arm was injured by the black knife."
Bai Xiu said: "But his Qinggong is extraordinary, and even the palace walls can't stop him. You are well-informed, I wonder if you know such a person."
Liu Yanzi thought for a moment and said, "Hearing you say that, I remember someone. He and I are from the same school, nicknamed White Eagle. He is very good at Qinggong, but his physical skills are not so good. He worked for the government during the previous dynasty, but after the fall of the prosperous dynasty, there was no news of him."
It seems that I can only start with Chen Xiang'er in Tianxiang Tower. I wonder if I can catch a big fish here.
Song Yuzhu plans to meet this girl named Chen Xianger.
In order to avoid the news leaking out, he asked Liu Yanzi to change into his own clothes and pretend to go back to the palace to rest. He himself changed into a eunuch's clothes and left the palace with Heidao Baixiu, who was also disguised.
*
As the lights come on at night, Zhengyang Street is bustling with activity.
Since the year before last, there has been no curfew in Beijing, and there are small vendors selling food on the streets in the early morning.
There are more people at this hour. Men, women, old and young come out for a walk after dinner. Strings of lanterns light up the streets as brightly as if it were daytime.
The three of them arrived at the entrance of Tianxiang Tower and could hear the sounds of stringed instruments and laughter coming from a distance.
It was Song Yuzhu's first time to come to such a place. She was in a hurry to change clothes when leaving the palace. What did she mean by not bringing money? "Do you have any silver in your pockets?"
"I have it here." Bai Xiu took out ten taels of silver and handed it to him.
As soon as the three entered the door, a female prostitute in thin clothes came up to greet them.
Song Yuzhu was sneezed by the fragrance from their bodies and kept backing away with a red face.
A plump prostitute in green clothes covered her mouth and teased, "Is this your first time, young master? How cute."
"Well, I guess so."
The woman in green came up to him, clung to his shoulders and said, "Our Tianxiang Tower is a place for fun. Do you want to drink, listen to music, or do something else?"
"Listen...listen to the music." Song Yuzhu pinched her sleeve awkwardly and moved her hand away from her shoulder.
"Let me sing a song for you~" The woman took his hand and was about to walk inside.
"Have you two seen enough?"
"Hey, let our young master go!" Heidao stopped the woman in green while holding back his smile.
The woman in green was frightened by his ferocious appearance and quickly let go of Song Yuzhu.
Bai Xiu said: "Do you have an actress named Chen Xiang'er here? We want to find her."
"What a coincidence! Xiang'er is not feeling well today and is not seeing guests."
Song Yuzhu stuffed a piece of silver into her hand and said, "I'm just going to ask her a few questions. I won't disturb her rest."
The ten taels of silver felt heavy in her hand. The woman in green hesitated for a moment and said, "Then follow me." Then she led the three of them to the backyard.
Tianxiang Tower is divided into two courtyards, the front building is a place for drinking and having fun, and is decorated very exquisitely. The back yard is where the girls rest, with only a row of inconspicuous small houses. I guess they don't have a good life here.
Normally, this place doesn't receive guests. The woman in blue only brought people here after they received money.
"The room in front is Xiang'er's room. There's a light on in the room, so someone should be inside."
"Thank you." Song Yuzhu walked to the door with light footsteps. Just as she was about to raise her hand to knock on the door, she suddenly heard a voice talking from inside.
"When can I leave here?"
"It's almost there... wait a little longer."
"I don't want to stay in this damn place for even another day. Look at my arms and thighs. When I was playing the pipa for someone yesterday, a drunk customer pinched me. He even touched my breast..." The girl sobbed and cried.
"I know you've been wronged. Wait a little longer, and I will redeem you."
"I have already done what you asked me to do last time. I wonder how my brother is doing. He used to come to see me on the third day of every month, but he didn't come this month. I am worried that something may have happened to him in the palace..."
Before the woman could finish her words, there was a sound of a struggle in the room.
Song Yuzhu's eyelids jumped and she shouted, "Oh no! He wants to kill people to silence them!"
Heidao Baixiu kicked the door open and rushed in, where he saw a man strangling Chen Xianger's neck with a rope, intending to strangle her to death.
He didn't expect there was someone outside the door. He was startled and immediately let go of his hand and ran out.
However, he had no way to escape. Before he could use three moves, Bai Xiu had torn off both his arms and broke both his legs, leaving him lying on the ground unable to move.
In order to prevent him from committing suicide, Heidao knocked out his teeth and stuffed a ball of cloth in his mouth.
Song Yuzhu checked Chen Xiang'er's body and found that she was fine. She might have fainted from being too frightened. Song Yuzhu asked Bai Xiu for a hairpin and pierced her philtrum with it. After a while, she woke up.
"Ah!! Ahhhh!!" She screamed in fear and waved her hands.
Bai Xiu was afraid that her screaming would attract too many people, so he slapped her in the face.
Chen Xianger covered her face and finally calmed down. She looked at the people in the room in horror and asked in a hoarse voice: "You... who are you? What are you doing here?"
When she saw the man lying on the ground, she immediately stood up and rushed over: "Pinglang, what's wrong with you, Pinglang!"
The man on the ground whimpered, but unfortunately his mouth was blocked and he couldn't speak.
Bai Xiu stretched out her hand and pulled her up and said, "This man just wanted to kill you, why did you care whether he lived or died?"
Chen Xiang'er bit her lip and shook her head, "Ping Lang must have his reasons."
As soon as these words came out, Song Yuzhu was so angry that she laughed. She simply stopped beating around the bush and said, "Chen Xiang'er, do you have a brother named Zhang Qiu?"
Chen Xianger raised her head alertly, "What happened to my brother?"
"He is dead."
"Ah!" The girl was stunned, her eyes turned red instantly, and tears fell down in big drops.
"I knew my brother wouldn't leave me alone for no reason. I must have harmed him..."
"If you don't want your brother to die in obscurity, tell me everything you know."
Chen Xiang'er looked at the man on the ground and cried.
Bai Xiu rolled her eyes. She was still thinking about her lover at this time. She didn't know whether she was not in a clear mind or was too deeply in love.
"Give me the knife." Bai Xiu took the knife from Hei Dao and put it on the man's head on the ground.
"Our young master asks a question, and you answer it, or I will cut off his nose, gouge out his eyes, and chop off his tongue!"
The people on the ground trembled with fear and whimpered in terror.
Chen Xiang'er wiped away her tears and nodded repeatedly: "Ask whatever you want, just don't hurt Pinglang."
Song Yuzhu asked: "Who asked you to contact your brother and help pass on the message?"
Chen Xiang'er hesitated for a moment, and Bai Xiu immediately took the knife and cut it.
"Ouch!! Ouch!" the man rolled over in pain.
"That's the message Pinglang asked me to deliver!"
"What news has been spread?"
The brother and sister were illiterate, so they always communicated the news orally. Chen Xiang'er still remembered the general idea, so she recited the most recent news.
"The Emperor gets up at 11:00 every day, eats a bowl of porridge, goes to court at 12:00, goes to the Shangshufang to review memorials at 12:00, eats in the study at 15:00, returns to the bedroom to wash at 12:00, and goes to sleep at 12:00."
"Just these daily routines?"
Chen Xianger said, "Brother also said that when General Zhao stayed in the palace before, he would ask for hot water once at midnight."
Song Yuzhu blushed and coughed softly, "No other news?"
"there is none left."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, Song Yuzhu asked, "Did you only tell this person the news?"
Chen Xianger nodded.
"Take him back for interrogation." He said as he prepared to leave.
Chen Xianger quickly grabbed his sleeve and knelt down and said, "Excuse me, sir, how did my brother... die?"
"In order not to implicate you, I hit myself against the pillar and died."
Chen Xiang'er fell to the ground and burst into tears uncontrollably. She never expected that her brother would lose his life because of her words.
After everyone left, Chen Xiang'er wiped away her tears, quietly glanced outside the door, then hurriedly changed her clothes, blew out the candle in the room, and walked outside.
He dodged several patrons on the way and stopped only in a remote alley on West Street.
She pulled a hairpin from her hair and knocked gently on the copper lock of a door. She waited for a long time but no one came out.
Just as she was getting anxious, she suddenly felt a pain in her neck, her eyes went dark and she passed out.
(End of this chapter)
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