[Liao Zhai] White Tiger

The Empress Dowager's bedroom was dark and gloomy, and only a weak candle was lit in the inner room. The dim light was not as warm as an orange-yellow candle like an ordinary candle, but a little green and faint, which gave people goosebumps for no reason.

The person who sneaked into the palace from the back of the General's Mansion was brought into the seat where Luo Yuan sat last time, and this person was Bai Zhende who broke his leg and was supposed to rest in bed, but now his legs and feet are smooth and he walks normally , which was obviously faked before.

It seemed that the Queen Mother hadn't come yet. He stared at the candlelight in the inner room through the curtain, feeling flustered for no reason, his body trembled unconsciously, and immediately lowered his head, not daring to look again.

But even if he didn't look at the candles in the inner room, Bai Zhende could still smell a faint smell of blood and corpses lingering in the room, and even the heavy palace incense couldn't cover up this smell.

Bai Zhende didn't dare to think about how this smell came from, the more secrets in the deep palace know, the shorter his life will be.

In his heart, the queen mother is a terrible woman who knows the art of Miaojiang witchcraft.

At the beginning, after Emperor Wuxuan used him to demote Bai Zhenshan's family to the northwest, he stopped talking to him, and let those sour old officials criticize him, mocking him openly and secretly for being ungrateful and doves occupying the magpie's nest. Seeing that the emperor didn't speak for him, he consciously kept a distance from him, and those who had made good friends with him were all out of self-interest, and no one had a heart-to-heart relationship. All fast.

As a result, Bai Zhende soon fell into a situation of isolation and helplessness in the court.

As a third-rank Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, all his peers excluded him, even stepped on him, and regarded the Bai family as the god of war. The military officers were hostile to him, and the subordinates, especially the adjutants, also began to grow ambitions, as if they wanted to wait for him Being deposed, he took over the position of the superior.

Bai Zhende knew that in their eyes, if it wasn't for Grandpa Bai, he would have been a filthy and humble beggar on the street. It's hard to say whether he would live to be an adult. How could he be as well-dressed and a noble official as he is now?Now that he persecutes grandfather Bai's own son and grandson, that is ungrateful, he should be scolded until he can't straighten his back, and be cast aside by the people of the world.

But he is not reconciled, not reconciled to the fame and fame he has earned through hard work. The high-ranking officials who have climbed up step by step are just like this. They are obviously kind to him. The person who gave him a new life is Grandfather Bai. Why should he repay this kindness to others What about this annoying guy, Bai Zhenshan?

He hated Bai Zhenshan, even more since he first appeared in front of him and took away Grandfather Bai's sight and love, sometimes he even wished that this person had never been born in this world.

At that time, the queen mother suddenly appeared in front of him, first she said some incomprehensible and incomprehensible words, praised him for his extreme blackness, the taste of jealousy is very delicious, etc., then said that she would help him, and gave it to him He has a thin booklet, which records the secrets of some ministers' families in the current dynasty.

Some ministers, even if they are upright themselves, it is inevitable that there will be a few scum children in their families who will commit unforgivable crimes under his cover.

When Bai Zhende got this booklet, it was equivalent to grasping the lifeblood and handle of these people.

So, he began to use the people in this booklet to blackmail them, established a more solid and reliable network of relationships than before, once again gained a firm foothold in the court, straightened his back, and took the lead in taking the lead in those restless people under his hands. He found an excuse and drove them out, and the others were also warned and rectified.

Seeing this, Emperor Wuxuan felt that although he was not of good conduct and could not be reused, he still had some abilities, so he continued to adopt a strategy of ignoring him, not reusing him, and not deliberately punishing him, thus maintaining a delicate balance. It lasted until the eve of Bai Zhenshan's transfer back to the imperial city.

In fact, after tasting the sweetness, Bai Zhende was very ambitious. He originally wanted to take advantage of the Queen Mother's secret help to climb up a few more positions. When he reached the height of the prime minister, even Emperor Wu Xuan would have to worry about him and watch him. Got some winks?

However, after the Empress Dowager recruited him to enter the palace secretly again, she planted Gu worms on him. This sudden change made Bai Zhende wake up in an instant. He realized that he was actually just a small worm in the hands of the superior. , but was lifted into the air, thinking that he could get the whole sky, but after being dizzy, what he got was likely to be thrown to the ground by flipping his hands and smashed to pieces.

Not long after, Bai Zhende also saw the fate of a person who was tortured to death by Gu insects against the Queen Mother's wishes. The bloody and cruel scene made him have nightmares for several nights, and he still has lingering fears when he thinks about it.

There are only two types of Gu worms that Bai Zhende knows, one is the lowest level, which can be casually sprinkled in the food of the person who has cast the voodoo, or can be inhaled if one is accidentally caught in the wind, and after being hit, the Gu worm will crawl to the person immediately gnawing at his brain bit by bit, and feeding on it, causing irreversible damage to the human brain.

The victim will gradually become demented and numb until one or two years later, when his brain is completely eaten up to death. During this period, the queen mother can order the worms to do some simple tasks, and the worms use control The way their brains and nerves manipulate them to walk, talk, work, etc., can be said to be completely humanoid puppets who have lost their minds.

The second type, implanted in the body of the victim, can still retain independent thoughts and consciousness, so it will feel more painful, and can experience this kind of involuntary pain of being manipulated by others.

Bai Zhende's is the second type.

Apart from him, many ministers in the court were also infected by the Gu, and Bai Zhende found out with a chill down his spine that these selected people were basically listed in the booklet given to him by the Queen Mother!

And he connected these people together to secretly form a bond of power groups.

Thinking of this, Bai Zhende fell into the ice cave, feeling cold all over his body, he didn't know what the Empress Dowager wanted to do, if it was treason, wouldn't he be a sinner through the ages?

Under the Nine Springs, what face would he have to face his adoptive father who brought down this great thunder country and made illustrious military exploits?

But after he boarded the black ship of the Queen Mother, even if he regretted it, how could he escape unscathed?

Once the puppet has a different heart and wants to resist and disobey the master's instructions, the cruel master will destroy him mercilessly, manipulate the Gu worms in his body, and eat up his body in a few hours except the heart. All the internal organs, and the whole process, you can't faint even if you want to, and you can't die even if you want to die. This kind of pain is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Bai Zhende didn't want to die, and couldn't think of a way to get rid of it for the time being, so he could only choose to continue to endure it.

Just when he lowered his head and thought about it, suddenly there was a figure in the inner room separated by the curtain.

"Bai Zhende, it seems that the Ai family has kept you waiting for a long time, and you have been waiting until you fell asleep."

The Empress Dowager's voice sounded like a thunderbolt in front of Bai Zhende.

He was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground, kowtowed in fear and trepidation: "Zhen De dare not! Zhen De just lowered his head just now, for fear of disturbing the Empress Dowager's holy face, and did not fall asleep!"

The queen mother let out a coquettish smile: "You can talk, no wonder a mere adoptive son has the ability to become a third-rank minister."

Bai Zhende was mercilessly poked in the heart, but he couldn't and didn't dare to attack, so he could only clench his hands into fists under the cover of the wide robe sleeves, and buried his head even lower without saying a word, almost into the dust .

"Okay, don't put quail on Ai's family, raise your head."

"Yes, the Empress Dowager."

Bai Zhende quickly adjusted his mood, raised his head submissively, looked like an obedient dog, and looked at the figure of the queen mother behind the curtain.

The Empress Dowager was reclining on the beauty couch covered with thick blankets, her face was numb, and a doll-like court lady mechanically brought a tray containing a glass of blood wine and a plate of sliced ​​hearts.

The Queen Mother stretched out her hand to pick up the wine glass, smelled the sweet girl's blood wine, and immediately showed an expression of enjoying the intoxication. While drinking the blood wine, she slowly tasted slices of heart.

When she wears this human skin, eating people's hearts will have a certain freshness effect. Even though she mainly relies on the small red bottle of potion to prevent decay, eating some every day will still have a radiant effect.

"The Ai family called you here today to know something, you should know it in your heart."

"Yes, Zhende will report to you now." Bai Zhende kowtowed tremblingly, but thinking about what he was going to report next, he couldn't help showing a strange expression.

"After Bai Zhenshan's family returned to the imperial city, they slept in the morning every morning, and none of them got up until the sun was up. They had a big meal at noon and liked to eat all kinds of meat. In the afternoon, they should spend their afternoons in the courtyard, basking in the sun with their tiger. , not only the servants in the mansion heard the sound of tigers roaring there every day, but Zhende also broke in to test it a few times, and almost broke his leg the last time, and found that they were really just basking in the sun... However, Sometimes I would go out to buy meat, snacks, and herbs..."

The more Bai Zhende talked, the lower his voice became. Even he himself thought it was unbelievable that such a life would appear in the family of a great general.

Queen Mother: "..."

She was silent for a long time before she asked again: "So, what they usually do every day is eat, sleep, bask in the sun and wander around occasionally?!"

Bai Zhende wiped his sweat: "...Yes, yes."

The Empress Dowager put the wine glass in her hand back on the maid's tray, stood up, and said with a gloomy tone, "Bai Zhende, do you think that Aijia is a girl, and looks easy to deceive?"

Bai Zhende kowtowed several times: "I don't dare, I don't dare!!"

"Yes, yes! They will go fishing at the ferry every tenth of the month and come back to buy fish! There are many people at the ferry, maybe they are there to receive some information and exchange news with the Northwest Army!"

Bai Zhende suddenly remembered a clue that might be important news.

The queen mother behind the curtain took a few steps back and forth, then sat back on the beauty couch.

The tone softened a bit: "Forget it, you should tell the Ai family about the Daoist Xuanqing who has been in a hot relationship with Bai Jingyang, the third son of the Bai family recently."