Denghuaxiao

Chapter 96 Autumn Moon

Autumn is getting colder, and the small courtyard is full of fallen leaves.

 In the room of the Princess of Wenjun Prince's Mansion, there was some halo of yellow coming out of the window.

Fangzi used silver scissors to cut the wick shorter on the table, then closed the door again and went out. Only the dim shadows under the candlelight remained in the room.

Pei Yunshu sat by the couch and gently rocked the cradle at hand. The baby girl was sleeping soundly in the cradle. She was only half a month old, wrinkled and white and plump. Apart from being extra thin, there was no sign that she had given birth before full term.

Pei Yunshu smiled and said: "Look at her, she looks like a kitten when she sleeps. Does her nose and mouth look like mine?"

The young man who was filling the soup pot with water in front of the bed sneered when he heard this: "Isn't that good?" Then he turned sideways and lowered his chin to take a closer look at the baby in the cradle, and commented: "It really doesn't look like her father at all. .”

Pei Yunshu glared at him and turned to look at the sleeping baby. The more she looked at it, the happier she became, "When I was inducing labor that day, I was still thinking about what to do if the baby was born weak before the time came. Now I feel a little more relieved."

In the past few days, several medical officers from the medical hospital came. After seeing the child, they all said that the child was very healthy, and that the child could eat and sleep. As for the toxicity of "child worry", although it has not been completely eliminated, according to Lu Zhun, now There is no fear of life.

Thinking of Lu Zhu, Pei Yunshu suddenly said: "Ah Ying, thanks to Doctor Lu this time, Doctor Lu is the savior of Baozhu. I thought about the day when Baozhu was full moon, and invited Doctor Lu to come to the house. She left in a hurry last time. , I haven’t had time to thank her yet.”

Pei Yunying smiled and said, "Okay." He handed the filled soup to Pei Yunshu.

Pei Yunshu took it and held it in her hands. The weather was getting colder and she felt chilly at night. Lu Yun refused to allow the mother to be covered with quilts by the three layers inside and outside, but the nanny in the house insisted that the woman should not catch the cold after giving birth. After a long stalemate, we finally compromised. Even if there is no heater in the house, there is no need to cover it with three layers of quilts.

"elder sister."

Pei Yunying suddenly spoke.

"how?"

He didn't speak immediately, he just sat at the table, wondering what he was thinking. After a moment of silence, he said, "Do you want to leave the county prince's mansion?"

Pei Yunshu was stunned.

 As if some unspoken taboo was mentioned, the room fell into silence.

 These days, King Wenjun Mu Sheng has not appeared.

At first, Pei Yunying's guards blocked the entrance to Pei Yunshu's courtyard. Mu Sheng was furious at the door for several days, threatening to go to the palace to face the emperor and ask the emperor to punish Pei Yunying for such arrogant and rude behavior. However, I don't know what Pei Yunying said to the emperor, but Mu Sheng did not wait for the Holy Emperor to punish Pei Yunying.

 After returning home, Mu Sheng simply stopped coming to Pei Yunshu's courtyard.

 First of all, Pei Yunshu gave birth to a daughter, which was not that important in Mu Sheng's eyes. Secondly, he also wanted to use this opportunity to vent his anger on Pei Yunshu.

He couldn't do anything to Pei Yunying, but he could ignore Pei Yunshu. He treated Pei Yunshu so coldly, and the entire prince's palace knew that after the princess gave birth to a daughter, the prince never stepped into the princess's yard. Pei Yunshu was used to being patient, so he would only swallow this bitterness in his stomach.

Mu Sheng wanted to get back the anger he suffered from Pei Yunying by humiliating Pei Yunshu twice as much. He's always been like this.

The wind sounded cold outside the window, the lights in the room flickered, Pei Yunshu's smile faded, and her eyes became a little dull.

Pei Yunying sat in front of the small table and carelessly fiddled with the wick in front of her eyes.

He said, "Even if it's not for yourself, aren't you going to think about the treasure?" His eyes fell on the cradle, and he stared at the little cat-like dumpling for a moment, "You want her to live in the shadow of hidden arrows from now on. ?”

Pei Yunshu was shocked all over.

 Ever since she married into Prince Wenjun’s palace, she didn’t care at all about Mu Sheng’s neglect and humiliation towards her. After all, Mu Sheng did not dare to break up with the Pei family, and Duke Zhaoning would not care about her happiness, anger, or happiness, as long as she was still in the position of Princess Wenjun. Pei Yunshu thought the same way, living several years as the same day.

 But it will be different after having the orb.

The jewel was exposed to the malice of the world when it was still in the womb before it was born. And in the long years to come, should the jewel be allowed to be watched by malice like this?

　　How cruel.

Pei Yunshu lowered her head and looked at the baby in the cradle, her eyes gradually rippling, and she said softly: "He won't give me a divorce letter."

Mu Sheng has always been concerned about face. Now that Pei Yunying has kidnapped his concubine and lost his face in front of the palace's servants, he must be holding a fire in his heart and will never let her go easily. Mu Sheng would not beat or scold her, but would only treat her coldly, letting her waste her life aimlessly in the prince's palace, gradually becoming a pool of stagnant water.

 “Letter of divorce?”

 He smiled, his eyes as cold as snow, "He has a beautiful idea."

Pei Yunshu was startled.

"I want him to send you out respectfully, and I don't dare to say anything bad about you."

Pei Yunshu frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy for no reason, "Whatever you want to do, don't do it randomly." She hesitated, "Besides, my father..."

 For the in-laws of the Gaomen family, sometimes the marriage itself is the least important. Once she leaves the county palace, the relationship between the Pei and Mu families will have to be re-examined in the future.

"You don't care what he does, leave it to me." He stood up and walked to the cradle. He reached out and touched the baby girl's cheek. The baby girl seemed to be aware of it and made a soft babble. He then took back his hand and looked at the cradle. The kitten in the cat laughs.

“Just prepare the post about the Full Moon Wine. Just a reminder, Doctor Lu is very busy and dislikes luxury, so he may not come to the banquet.”

His eyelashes were slightly lowered, covering the turbulent waves in his eyes, and he just smiled and said: "I have to post the post earlier."

 …

 In the Prison Department's prison, it was extremely quiet at night.

The torches on the wall burned quietly, and their shadows fell on the ground in a weird line. The deeper you went, the darker and darker it became. Only the dim moonlight leaked through the small window grilles on the wall, spreading a layer of cold frost on the ground.

Huddled in the haystack was a man, ragged and disheveled, with his hands buried in the haystack, trying to use damp hay to resist the cold night in the dungeon.

Da da da.

The sound of someone’s footsteps sounded, which was particularly clear in the silent night.

 Fan Zhenglian turned over without opening his eyes. At this hour, it was the jailer who came to inspect.

The footsteps stopped in front of the prison door. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the door lock was heard, and someone opened the iron door of the prison.

Fan Zhenglian sat up in confusion and looked forward in the dim light of the fire. He saw a jailer standing in front of him, turning around to close the door.

He saw that the jailer had a strange face and was not the usual **** with eyes in the sky. He was a little confused for a moment. Then he saw the man looking at him and called out in a low voice: "Master Fan?"

Fan Zhenglian was so shocked that he couldn't care about anything else. He stood up and replied tentatively: "But the Qi family's house?"

The jailer nodded.

 Fan Zhenglian was immediately overjoyed.

Ever since he saw Qi Chuan that day, he has been waiting in this prison. Although the Lu family is as small as ants in terms of the Grand Master's Palace, Grand Master Qi loves his children and will never allow anything that damages Young Master Qi's reputation to happen. As long as he brings out the Lu family's introduction, it doesn't matter whether the Grand Master's Palace will take action or not. Rescue, at least not indifferent.

That's what he thought. Unexpectedly, Qi Chuan disappeared after several days. Fan Zhenglian wondered whether Qi Chuan had not found the Imperial Master's Mansion as he said. At the same time, he was worried that the Imperial Master's Mansion would not care about it after learning about it. In the end, He will still look at him coldly.

 After waiting for a few days, his heart gradually became cold. Even Fan Zhenglian himself felt a little desperate. He did not expect that someone would fall from the sky tonight.

He won the bet, and God was still on his side, Fan Zhenglian.

"Thank you for your help, sir." He hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude, but at the same time he had some doubts in his heart.

He asked Qi Chuan to send a message to the Grand Master's Mansion, which was just an introduction. He thought about people from the Grand Master's Mansion taking action, but not now, and he didn't expect that the other party would send people there in person.

He suppressed his doubts and asked the person in front of him: "Do you have a message for me?"

 The jailer shook his head.

　　“Then this is…”

 “Hush—” The other party gestured to be silent, and Fan Zhenglian immediately did not dare to speak.

Because of the complexity of the case, he was placed in the backmost room of the Prison Department's prison, and there were no prisoners anywhere. The jailer winked at him, signaling him to move forward.

This is...a prison robbery?

Fan Zhenglian was stunned for a moment.

He wanted the Grand Master's Mansion to help. With Grand Master Qi's current status in the court, he only had to use his words in front of His Majesty to turn the case around. However, the other party directly took him away from the Prison Department. Although he could save his life this way, he would not be able to appear openly in front of others in the future, let alone make a comeback. Fan Zhenglian was unwilling to give in, but now he was outnumbered and could only bow his head.

He had no choice but to hold back what he wanted to say and walked towards the cell door. The moonlight followed him, casting a shadow of claws on the ground. He took two steps and finally felt a little strange.

 Wrong.

If the Taishi Mansion really wanted to save him, why would they send someone in person? This case is so important. How many pairs of eyes are staring at it now. If he leaves the prison today, there will be a massive search in the city. Is the Taishi Mansion not afraid of getting into trouble?

His heart tightened, and before he could turn around, the next moment, there was a sharp pain in his neck, and a hemp rope as thick as his thumb was tightly strangling his throat!

"No-"

His voice disappeared into the dim prison. His hands desperately reached for the noose around his neck, and he kicked his legs wildly, trying to break free from the opponent's imprisonment. However, this power was pitifully weak in the opponent's hands.

He couldn't even see the other party's expression, tears and fear welled up from his eyes. He didn't understand what went wrong. He took the letter from the Lu family. Even though the Taishi Mansion refused to help, the letter had not yet appeared. , how could they shut up so rashly, not afraid that the message would spread everywhere?

The force on his neck became stronger and stronger, and he gradually felt suffocated. With tears streaming down his face, he wanted to beg for mercy. He wanted to scream and shout to wake up the rest of the people in the prison, even just one person, but he couldn't. At the slightest sound, I could only desperately feel that my life was slipping away little by little.

He regretted it. He shouldn't have provoked the Grand Master's Mansion, he shouldn't have gone to get the letter, and more importantly, he shouldn't have been greedy as soon as the boy named Lu found him. Tell the news. When he received the complaint, he put the other party in jail and imposed the death penalty.

 That boy, that boy named Lu, what is his name?

Perhaps the vitality was slowly passing away, and his vision began to become blurry, and in the chaotic darkness, he saw that person.

The young man was dressed in an old shirt, but he could not hide his rich qualifications. His eyes were so bright that they seemed to be filled with anger. He stopped his sedan and pointed out the evidences to him one by one. He came across the river from a small county thousands of miles away, knelt in front of him, and begged him: "Please, sir, give my sister justice! "

He was busy rushing to the drinking party at that time, and he was impatient to deal with it, but he stopped abruptly when he heard the words "Tai Shifu".

 Taishi Mansion...

That's a network of connections you can't even ask for.

With such a favor, there will be no need to worry about having a smooth official career in the future. He was thinking about how much benefit he could get from this, but he couldn't see the young man's tears and anger.

Either his innocence has been stained, or a woman has died, or he belongs to a teacher...

 Why is this so?

 When ordinary people fight against officials, in the end the only ones who suffer are themselves. He looked at the young man's straight back and thought to himself, he really was a dull scholar who was obsessed with reading and didn't know the sufferings of the world. So he kindly helped the person on the ground up and said angrily: "Such an arrogant and evil act, don't worry, I will definitely restore your sister's innocence."

 He turned around and informed the Taishi Mansion of the matter.

However, the young man was somewhat clever. He knew his plan from nowhere and escaped right under his nose. He had already boasted to Mr. Qi, and he had to give an explanation. He had no choice but to put up a notice offering a reward. God had eyes, and he was actually waiting for him.

 The boy’s uncle sent him back again.

 Just for a reward of one hundred taels of silver.

He looked at the sleeping people as if he were seeing a lost treasure, and he felt proud in his heart. Look, ordinary people are like this. If you give them a little sweetness, brothers will fight against each other, and relatives will turn against each other, they can do anything.

 He brought the man named Lu back to the prison. He could not remember his appearance at first. To him, that young man was a stepping stone on his road to officialdom, a certificate of submission to the Grand Master's Mansion, a piece of grass, an ant, and everything insignificant. He had never looked down upon such a lowly person. Even if all of their Lu family were together, they would only have a few humble lives.

 Can't make any waves.

As long as he wants, he can easily make the other party suffer.

However, for some reason, when he was dying, he saw the shadow of the other party clearly.

The young man stood in front of him in a dark prison, his shabby clothes could not hide his pure and noble character.

Fan Zhenglian has always disliked scholars. He hated the nobleness of scholars, hated their pretentiousness, and hated his own muddled appearance in the presence of these people.

The young man was about to be **** with a rope and faced death, but he still showed no fear on his face. He only said calmly: "The heaven and the earth are selfless, and the consequences will not be satisfactory. The long-term prison will eventually be resolved."

He looked at Fan Zhenglian with contempt in his eyes: "Fan Zhenglian, you will have your retribution."

 There will be retribution for you.

 He opened his mouth wide and grasped the air several times in vain with his hands.

 There is a slight cracking sound.

There was a muffled sound and something was thrown to the ground, stirring up a handful of dust.

Someone stepped on hay and the dungeon returned to silence.

Only the people on the ground were lying on the ground like dead dogs, shackled in prison uniforms, their heads tilted facing the small window on the high wall of the dungeon, their pupils wide open, reflecting the gray shadow of the moon.

The moon flows out of the withered eyes, and as it flows through the restaurants in Shengjing, it loses a little bit of its lifeless energy.

Renhe’s shop was very lively at night.

The restaurant was full of seats and the crowd was buzzing. Du Changqing invited everyone to sit down at the table and sighed while looking at the table of food and wine.

 The banquet held on August 15th will not be eaten until September. Fortunately, although there is no moon to enjoy, the dishes are still there, so it is not a waste.

The diners next door were talking about the recent tribute fraud case, the legendary Confucian scholar who had come back from the dead, the recent inexplicable rumors about the Taishi Mansion in Beijing, and finally, the man who once had a great reputation and was now in prison. The detailed judge.

“Fan Zhenglian was very proud of himself in Shengjing. In just a few years, he became an official of the Judicial Court. I thought his career would have to be further promoted. Who knows—”

"The so-called prosperity and decline are like a sudden change, but the changes in the situation are real!"

“No, you think officialdom is just about climbing up on a ladder. If you’re not careful, you don’t climb properly and you fall to your death without knowing it!”

Those heated discussions crossed the table and got into Lu Zhu's ears. She listened calmly, her expression slightly restrained.

 She had people spread rumors around Qichuan's home that the DPRK was planning to investigate the case of tribute fraud, and Qichuan would have to fend for himself due to his guilty conscience. The best way to survive, the safest way, is to make Fan Zhenglian unable to speak again.

She wanted to use Qi Chuan's hand to kill someone, but she never thought that Qi Chuan thought the same way, and she never thought that Qi Chuan would spread the rumors about the Taishi Mansion.

This is really wonderful.

No matter how the Taishi Mansion feels about this matter, the Qi family, whose reputation has been "damaged", will definitely not let Fan Zhenglian go. Fan Zhenglian's fate can be imagined.

 Fan Zhenglian tempted Liu Kun with a reward of silver, causing Lu Qian to be betrayed by his relatives. Now she tempted Qi Chuan with benefits, causing Fan Zhenglian to be betrayed by his subordinates.

Fan Zhenglian used the lives of the Lu family to surrender to the Taishi Mansion, so she tempted Qi Chuan and asked Qi Chuan to use Fan Zhenglian's life as a surrender to another family.

Fan Zhenglian made Lu Qian suffer the pain of prison, so she made Fan Zhenglian a prisoner as well.

Before the Gong Ju case, Lu Yun met Liu Kun and knew about Fan Zhenglian's crimes against the Lu family. Yin Zheng asked her, "What are you going to do, girl? Are you planning to poison him and kill him?"

At that time Lu Huo replied: "He is an official. It would be too troublesome to kill him. I have other arrangements."

 She doesn't plan to take action directly. Even if Fan Zhenglian is killed, he will still be the innocent Master Qingtian. Maybe there will be people sighing and mourning his death.

Fan Zhenglian wanted to have a high official career, so she wanted him to be famous. If he wanted to have a good reputation, she wanted him to be infamous and lose his popularity.

In the eyes of Fan Zhenglian, the Lu family is just like a piece of grass, so she wants him to realize that in the eyes of people in a higher position, he is nothing more than a piece of grass.

Du Changqing shouted: "It's a wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, but now the moon is not even full, and it's tasteless and tasteless. It's really a loss."

 Lu Zhen turned to look out the window: "Is there any?"

Du Changqing: "No!"

It has passed the fifteenth day, and the moon is not as bright as before. It is like a thin and sharp guillotine, shining with silver light, hanging in the sky, trying to chop up the injustices in the world.

In the surrounding lively halls, diners mingled and drank with each other at the banquet, enjoying themselves and congratulating each other on something good that happened.

Lu Zong lowered his head, and the moon setting in the distance fell into the wine cup, causing a little ripple.

 “I think the moon is more beautiful today.”

 She raised her glass and drank it all with a smile.

 (End of this chapter)