Strange Tale of Qingluan

The woman snorted coldly when she heard the words, "We are a small gang in your eyes, but in the eyes of the prince, we are very useful. Yi, please! Don't make the prince wait another three to five years." Yi Yeqing stared at her and her subordinates who were ready to attack, and for Su Zhongming's safety, he had no choice but to fulfill them, and replied: "I'll go with you, but..." He took the opportunity to make another request, "Also ask your prince to entertain my lord and colleagues well."

The woman was also very quick, and immediately responded, "Okay! Please go on the road!" Turning the horse's head, she immediately led them to Liguo in the south.On the way, Yi Yeqing told Su Zhongming about the incident that he didn't know, to solve his doubts.It turned out that several years ago, because of his youthful inaction, he had to make a very secret deal with Zi Qixiang from Liguo.

To make a long story short, just as Yi Yeqing was about to tell the story of his encounter with Prince Zi in detail, he had already arrived in Wudu.The master of Feifengzhai hurriedly led them to the mansion of Zi Qixiang located on the East Street. When they entered the mansion, what everyone saw was such a beautiful scene: the village was full of houses, and the small buildings were as picturesque as brocades. There are phoenix and jade carvings everywhere on the flower railings, carp piercing through the lotus under the arch bridge, and the girls who come to meet each other are all charming and refined, with small faces as white as snow, just like maids in the palace.

The butler invited everyone to sit in the flower hall, and then led the owner of Feifeng to the small flower garden in the deep courtyard, where the owner of the mansion was leisurely teasing the thrush in the cage with a small bamboo stick.The butler stood on his back and said respectfully: "Master, Miss Lin is here. She wants to see you, and she has brought guests."

Zi Qixiang waved at him, motioning him to step back, and said to the master of Feifeng Village, "Who did you bring?" The master of Feifeng Village took a step forward and replied respectfully, "It's the one whose surname is Yi. "Zi Qixiang turned her head immediately, "Oh? After traveling all over the world, you finally found him?"

"Yes! It's just that the one surnamed Yi is not what it used to be. Now there is a lord. I think it's a young boy, so I don't know who it is, but the one surnamed Yi brought him here." The master of Feifeng Village reported the matter truthfully.Zi Qixiang was immediately interested, put down the small bamboo stick, and went to the flower hall with her.

In the flower hall, those four people had just finished drinking the tea, and as soon as the cups were put down, Zi Qixiang stepped into the flower hall. The four people stood up together, and none of them saluted Zi Qixiang respectfully.Zi Qixiang sat down, and when she saw her, she was dissatisfied: "It seems that they are all foreign distinguished guests? They didn't even salute me when they met my prince."

Yitian couldn't bear it, and opened his mouth first, "Of course! You are just a mere prince, and my teacher is from Wenguo..." Before he could finish speaking, Su Zhongmingwu immediately stopped him.When Zi Qixiang heard this, she said to Yi Yeqing: "It's no wonder that the people under my prince couldn't find you when they searched everywhere. It turns out that you hid in the country of Wen. Seeing that you are not afraid of seeing this prince, could it be that you are not afraid now? Is your backer an amazing person?" During the conversation, the sarcasm appeared.

Yi Yeqing snorted lightly, and replied: "This is not something that Prince Zi should be concerned about. Tell me, what is the business of asking your subordinates to find me?" Zi Qixiang laughed a few times, and said: " Good question, good question!" He clapped his hand on the table, "Yi Yeqing, don't forget the exchange with the prince, when the prince gave you 20 taels of silver, but you didn't take the things with you afterwards. Brought it back, but ran away instead, how should this account be settled!"

Yi Yeqing looked calm, and answered fluently, "Prince Zi, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to run away, but I found something strange about this deal." Zi Qixiang narrowed his eyes, with hatred in his eyes, and replied calmly, "What's wrong? Hmph! I'm afraid it's your one-sided words! Since you can retrieve the things smoothly, why did you run away secretly?"

"Prince Zi! When you asked me to go to Jinliu Valley to fetch the black pomegranates that grow in the wetland, I took a few people with me to risk the danger, but you concealed the truth from me! It's so easy to do. "Yi Yeqing suddenly became serious.

That Zi Qixiang stared at him coldly, making the atmosphere rigid, and was about to use force. Suddenly, there were coughs and coughs from outside, and a young gentleman walked into the flower hall slowly, and opened his lips, " Cough cough cough... Uncle, did you invite some inexplicable guests to your house again?"

When Su Zhongming saw his face, he involuntarily took a step back and stared at him in horror, while Ding Xuehou Li Xuan also subconsciously tightened his sword at this time.The man noticed their eyes and movements, and chuckled weakly, "Why do these two guests look at me like that?" Then I coughed fiercely, "Do we know each other..."

Su Zhongming saw that he was extremely weak, and he was about to cough for a while before he could say a few words, which was not like the situation of the Mufeng Society's children, so he let go of his guard, "Uh... Maybe I admitted it wrong." Zi Qixiang was also there At this moment, he opened his mouth, slightly indifferent, "Tianli, you just came back not long ago, and your illness has not recovered yet, go back to your room to rest."

"I heard that...cough cough cough...the house came to see guests, so don't disturb uncle's entertainment." After the man finished speaking, he turned around slowly, and walked out of the flower hall while coughing.Everyone watched the sick young master leave, only Su Zhongming felt sad in his heart: It is so pitiful to be ill at such a young age, alas...

"It turns out that Prince Zi still has a nephew, but it's just a pity, it's a medicine jar." Yi Yeqing said, and the words caught Zi Qixiang's domineering momentum.Zi Qixiang was not angry, but sighed three times.When Su Zhongming saw it, he was puzzled and asked, "Why is Prince Zi sighing?"

Zi Qixiang said sadly: "This prince originally had a son and three daughters, but...the son was executed because he offended the former king, the whereabouts of the eldest daughter is unknown, the second daughter is a noble concubine but contracted a serious disease, and the third daughter died of illness at the age of seven."

Su Zhongming was speechless when he heard the words, only Yi Yeqing snorted coldly, "Prince Zi, I don't care about your family background, if you came to me just to investigate the past, I can give you back just 20 taels of silver! "Zi Qixiang sneered, and asked: "My prince listens to your tone, but now I don't want to pursue the 20 taels of silver, but your current identity! My prince wants to hear about it. At that time, 20 taels of silver were so important. What on earth have you done that you don't care so much now?"

"It doesn't matter to you what I do? As long as you give me a few days, I will definitely ask someone to return the money to you." Yi Yeqing replied firmly, not wanting to talk too much with him.Zi Qixiang was just about to open his mouth to speak, when someone hurried into the flower hall, whispered in his ear for a while, and then backed away.

Since that person came and went, Zi Qixiang suddenly seemed to be a different person, smiled, stood up, walked to Su Zhongming, and became very enthusiastic, "It turns out that it is King Wen. Zhou, I have offended you so much, I hope you don't mind."

Yi Yeqing was shocked, and blurted out, "You, how did you know?!" Zi Qixiang held her right hand and said calmly, "My prince not only knows the identity of this young master, but also...you are now the prime minister of Wen Kingdom! Just now The servant received an unnamed letter, which stated your identities in full, and the servant just told this prince about it."

"Since this is the case, I believe that Prince Zi will not make things difficult for me because of that mere 20 taels of silver." Yi Yeqing said.Zi Qixiang immediately opened her mind, and replied with a smile, "Of course, of course." Yi Yeqing also immediately bowed to him, and said calmly: "Then, we will leave, please."

Zi Qixiang hurriedly stopped her, "Wait a minute. I heard that King Wen proposed to build a canal for Huang Yuanguo to connect the Amo River and the Wuhuang River, and to marry the princess who will inherit the throne that day. It is really enviable. My prince It is an honor to meet King Wen, why not stay here for a few days and let this prince treat me well."

"I heard? What are you doing about this matter..." Su Zhongming was stunned, and was interrupted by Zi Qixiang just halfway through his words.Zi Qixiang took a step forward and replied: "I'm afraid this matter has been scattered like maple leaves, and everyone in the world knows about it!" Su Zhongming lowered his eyes and had nothing to say.Zi Qixiang asked again with a smile, "How about King Wen staying in my residence for a few days?"

Su Zhongming secretly felt that this was a good opportunity to play in Liguo, but he was worried that staying outside for too long would make the queen mother dissatisfied. After hesitating for a moment, he was finally defeated by Yuwang and agreed: "This... since it is Prince Zi's kind intention, Alright then." Zi Qixiang chuckled, turned around, noticed Ding Xuehou, stared at his face for a long time, and then said: "The appearance of this hero... this prince seems to have known him before."

Su Zhongming was taken aback, very surprised, looked at Ding Xuehou, and said, "Prince Zi has seen Li Xuan?" Take a stroll in the gardens of the Prince's Mansion.

After dusk fell, Su Zhongming knocked on Yi Yeqing's door alone.Yi Yeqing opened the door, and when he saw Su Zhongming, he asked him, "My lord, it's so late, what's your order?" Su Zhongming stood outside the door, and simply answered, "Go inside and explain in detail."

After entering the room and sitting down, Su Zhongming was willing to get straight to the point, "What is the truth? The exchange between you and Zi Qixiang in the past..." Yi Yeqing knew the purpose of his coming tonight, and did not shy away from it, and confessed: "My lord Are you asking about the black pomegranate? It’s a long story. The wetland is a dangerous place. Many of the brothers I brought fell into the swamp when they crossed the wetland. When they reached the black pomegranate tree, the remaining brothers Because of unbearable thirst, I casually picked a black pomegranate and ate it, and only then did I discover the truth—these black pomegranates are poisonous. After eating them, they will immediately die of intestinal perforation.”

Su Zhongming widened his eyes slightly, and asked again, "Since it is poisonous, why did you ask you to pick the purple seven incense?" Yi Yeqing said calmly, "That's not the point, my lord, do you know that this black pomegranate is used to make pomegranates?" What?" Su Zhongming could only guess wildly, "If it is poisonous, could it be used to harm people?"

Yi Yeqing was still very calm, and answered: "It's for his second daughter, Concubine Ningsun, who is favored today. This woman is not suffering from a serious disease, but must have been poisoned. After being instructed by a quack doctor, he used black pomegranate to eat it. As a primer for medicine, use poison to force poison." Su Zhongming suddenly realized, and murmured, "No wonder..."

"There are some things that I should tell the lord: the disappearance of Zi Qixiang's eldest daughter was all caused by himself. Back then, he dedicated his daughter to Shao in the Cangtian Peninsula for his own selfishness. Kou Xin, the leader of the Lechang tribe in Le country, used it to astringe, and this is how he was able to use Kou Xin's troops to bloody Shaole country."

"What?! There is... a father who is not as good as a beast." Su Zhongming was shocked, lowered his eyes, and clenched his fists.Yi Yeqing said calmly again, "I just listen to what people say about the peninsula."

"Anyway, it's true that the wicked will be rewarded with evil." Su Zhongming sighed.Yi Yeqing asked concerned: "When will we leave here and go back to Wenguo?" Su Zhongming replied directly, "With you and Li Xuan, two kung fu masters, I'm not afraid of him, so I just stay in Wudu for a couple of days. Come back later."

After chatting for a while, Su Zhongming got up and was about to go back to his room. Yi Yeqing opened the door for him. In an instant, the two saw the little ghost Yitian standing outside the door and hesitating.Su Zhongming was curious, so he asked, "Why are you wandering around here? Why don't you go to bed?" The kid raised his head, and replied cautiously, "That...Your Majesty is weird..."

"What's wrong?" Su Zhongming was very curious.The little ghost said, "Just now, when I wanted to go to the bathroom, he pointed it out to me as if at home. I felt strange and asked him how he knew, but he..." Su Zhongming didn't wait for him to finish his sentence So he made a guess on his own, "Have you fainted?"

"That's not true! It's like being possessed by an evil spirit, always saying 'how did I know' repeatedly, and then turning like a log, talking to him, but he doesn't seem to hear." Yitian complained for a while.

Su Zhongming's curiosity deepened by three points, grabbed Yitian by the back collar, and dragged him back, saying as he walked, "Go back and see the situation." Yitian felt very uncomfortable being dragged away, and yelled all the way , "Let go of me, let me go by myself!"

In the wing room, Su Zhongming opened the door, walked into the room, closed the door, and walked in. Sure enough, he saw Ding Xuehou sitting in front of the couch, bent over the demon, covering his face with his hands.He picked up the teapot, poured a glass of water, took the glass of water to Ding Xuehou, and when he handed it to the man, he jokingly said: "I'm bewitched, take a sip of tea and get rid of it."