Chapter 292 Dog
Hao Ren had an expression of disbelief on his face:
"Your Majesty, do you think it was He Zhongshu who did it? But He Zhongshu was also injured last night."
He Tingfang suffered some minor skin injuries in the chaos last night. The injuries were not serious, but he was bleeding.
Murong Yu: "He just wants to use his injury to clear himself of suspicion."
"But Zhongshu He is the highest-ranking official in the country, so why would he..." Hao Ren paused, "Could it be related to Prince Gong?"
He seemed to suddenly understand: "So that's how it is. No wonder I discovered three years ago that the treasury was related to He Zhongshu and Prince Gong."
Murong Yu sneered: "Not that stupid."
After saying this, he coughed out a breath of foul air and continued:
"Back then, He Tingfang was jealous of Pei Dingli and deliberately framed him, giving false testimony. I was not aware of this and was kept in the dark. I only learned the truth later, and now I am filled with even more resentment."
Murong Yu spoke indignantly, with a look of regret on his face, as if he knew nothing about the injustice of the Pei family back then, and only exiled the entire Pei family because he was deceived by the villain's scheme.
Hao Ren cooperated by widening his eyes, a wave of horror welling up in his eyes:
"Is this really the case?! Your Majesty should blame himself first. He should blame only the treacherous villain He Tingfang for his audacity in deceiving the emperor and framing loyal ministers."
Murong Yu nodded. "He Tingfang's ambitions are growing. Now he has his sights set on the Murong family's kingdom. I will never let him succeed."
"Your Majesty, there is no evidence to prove the assassination last night, and the Pei family case has been going on for many years. Even if there was evidence, it has long been destroyed."
Hao Ren was extremely worried:
"Although I am not involved in court affairs, I am aware that He Tingfang has many followers within the court. Without solid evidence, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public, and it may even make the situation more chaotic."
Murong Yu glared at Hao Ren, his voice hoarse:
"That's why I summoned you here. He Tingfang has been in the court for many years, and there are some people I'm not confident in using. I know you're not his man, so I asked you to find evidence."
"Hao Ren, I will send you to search the He Mansion with the people from the Dali Temple. You will find evidence in the He Mansion in public. Do you understand?"
Hao Ren's hands trembled as he knelt down and said:
"Your Majesty, I understand."
Murong Yu seemed to be exhausted, closed his eyes and waved his hands:
"If you understand, do it quickly. If you succeed, I'll grant you a bright future. If you fail, your head will fall."
Summer is hot and rainy.
It has been very hot for several days recently. The whole city of Chang'an feels like it is trapped in a steamer full of hot air, so hot that people can hardly breathe.
This afternoon, the sky suddenly became overcast, followed by a heavy rain that drove away the summer heat.
The raindrops hit the pond in the He Mansion with a crackling sound, scaring away the fish swimming at the bottom of the pond.
He Tingfang sat in the house listening to the sound of rain.
Because he was injured last night, he did not go to work today and took leave to rest at home.
He wasn't injured by an assassin, but was trampled in the chaos. The hall was pitch black, and he was sitting there peacefully when someone bumped into him and stepped on his leg.
He Tingfang fell to the ground in pain. He tried to stand up with his hands, but he happened to press on the broken porcelain pieces on the ground and scratched his skin.
He returned home from the palace last night and was almost carried back.
The local doctor has already checked and said that there are no injuries to the bones and muscles, and that some medicine will be enough.
The physical injuries were nothing, but He Tingfang had been feeling uneasy since last night, with an inexplicable sense of crisis.
He is always decisive in doing things, either do it or let it go.
He uses his intellect to deal with the expected, and his intuition to deal with the unexpected.
Right now, his intuition was strong and not good. It felt like countless sharp knives were moving beneath his skin, ready to pierce this aging body at any moment.
The last time he had such a strong intuition was when he was seven years old and walking with his mother in the snow.
He remembered that during the twelfth lunar month, he was wearing torn old shoes, his red toes were covered with frostbite, and he was numb from the cold as he stepped deep into the snow.
The mother was holding her feverish little sister in her arms, and he was holding a basket filled with a few eggs and half a piece of bacon.
My younger sister had a high fever, and the barefoot doctor would not come to the village at this time, so they could only hurried to the county town to find a doctor.
The eggs and bacon were originally saved for the New Year, but now they have to be used to pay for medical treatment.
My father worked as a long-term farmhand in a wealthy family in the county town and didn't come back until the end of the year.
"Gou'er, when we get to the county, I'll take your sister to the clinic, and you can go to Mr. Zhou's house and tell your father."
He Tingfang wasn't called He Tingfang at the time; everyone in the village called him Gou'er. It's better to give him a casual name so that he's easier to raise.
The dog wiped his nose, which was almost numb from the cold, with his sleeve and replied, "Okay."
It was not his first time to go to the county town, and it was not the first time that his younger sister was sick.
But this time he was extremely nervous and anxious, with an inexplicable sense of foreboding running through his body.
He asked his mother if he could not go to the county town.
His mother, her eyes red, scolded him: "You are just thinking about eating eggs, your sister is almost burnt to death."
The dog said, "I don't want to eat the eggs. I'm just a little scared."
The mother asked, "What are you afraid of?"
The dog was speechless now, and just kept walking with his head down.
His nose was red, his hair was a little messy, and his clothes were patched, but he had a handsome face and his facial features were like his mother's.
My mother is not a beauty, but she is quite pretty.
They went to Taiping County, but Taiping County was not a peaceful place.
As soon as the mother and her two sons entered the city, they ran into the lustful and unscrupulous Mr. Zhuang, who forcibly abducted Gouzi's mother.
During the scuffle, the basket in Gou'er's hand was kicked over, and the eggs were broken all over the ground. He was kicked into the snow, his forehead was broken, and blood flowed into his eyes.
Gou'er didn't bother to wipe the blood, and ran to Zhou's house to find his father with his sister in his arms.
When my father heard about it, he hurried to the village to look for him.
Gou'er was also anxious, but he first sent his sister to the clinic and gave away the only small piece of bacon he had.
It was snowing heavily and he could not feel the pain from the wound on his forehead. He asked and searched along the way and finally arrived at the door of the farmer's house. He saw his father curled up on the ground with a pool of blood on the ground.
Several strong thugs from the dealer's house surrounded my father with sticks and hit him with them one by one.
The dog saw that his father's back was swollen and his coarse winter clothes were torn to shreds, revealing the wounds inside, which were bloody and unbearable to look at.
There were many people watching on the street, but no one spoke up to stop it. They watched helplessly as Gou'er's father was dragged into the dealership.
The dog ran over like crazy and knocked on the door, begging them to let his parents out.
One of the thugs smiled crookedly and said, "Little brat, go kneel down at the back door. If our master takes pity on you and shows mercy, he'll release your parents tomorrow morning."
After hearing this, Gou'er stopped struggling with the thugs. His thin body couldn't even withstand a punch.
He did not go to the back door of the village house, but went to the gate of the county government office. He stepped on a stone he had brought and struck the big drum at the gate of the government office.
As dusk fell, the thumping sounds of the cowhide drum startled the crows on the eaves.
The yamen runner came out angrily, and laughed when he heard that he was going to sue the banker:
"Why don't you ask what the relationship is between Mr. Zhuang and our county magistrate? Our county magistrate and Mr. Zhuang stayed at Zhuang's house last night. Are you planning to sue our county magistrate as well?"
"I see you're young, so I won't teach you anything. Get out of here!"
The dog was pushed and lost its balance, rolling down the steps in front of the yamen.
He fell in the snow and looked up to see the bronze beast on the door knocker of the yamen with its sinister mouth open, grinning at him.
The uneasiness hidden in his body finally turned into a blade, piercing straight out of his skin.
He didn't know what else he could do to rescue his parents.
The dog got up and went to the back door of the village to wait.
The snow stopped and it was dark.
The dog huddled on the ground, feeling that it was even colder when the snow stopped than when it began to snow.
The cold wind rushed in through his collar and cuffs, and every part of his hunched spine felt as if it was being gouged by an ice pick.
The pain gradually spread from the surface of his skin to deep in his bone marrow, causing his whole body to spasm uncontrollably and his skin to turn purple from the cold.
A porter passing by said to him, "Xue Yehan, if you curl up here and fall asleep, the ghost will take your soul away and you will never wake up again."
The dog was not asleep. He rubbed his hands and kept blowing warm air on himself.
In the second half of the night, he had to move from time to time to prevent his pants from freezing to the snow on the doorstep.
If you move a little, you can hear the sound of ice chips breaking.
Many, many years later, He Tingfang slept on a high bed with soft pillows, with the most precious charcoal burning in the house, but he often felt the chill between his bones, as if he had never walked out of that winter night.
The dog leaned against the door frame with his eyes narrowed.
He rubbed his swollen face and shook his dizzy head.
It’s almost dawn.
The dog stared at the closed door without blinking.
Just wait a little longer.
When it gets light, maybe Dad and Mom will come out and go with him to the clinic to pick up his little sister.
After picking up their younger sister, they returned to the village and never came to the county town again.
He has a home in the village, and at home he has piled up dry firewood, which he can burn to warm himself...
The dog heard footsteps behind the door and stood up with trembling legs, holding onto the door frame.
The snow was emitting a faint blue light, and the sky was frozen into a cold blue.
There was a faint white line in the east, as thin as a crack, letting in a little light.
The day finally dawned.
The door opened.
My parents' bodies were dragged out.
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