Hypocrites

In Xishi Bookstore, the clerk was busy sealing the unsold volumes and preparing to transport them back to the owner's house. When he saw customers coming in from the corner of the corner of his eye, he said without looking up: "The stall is closed, please go to another place to buy books."

The man said, "Look for Boss Jiang."

The waiter saw the man, tall and thin, dressed in brocade, with a jade pendant tucked around his waist, looking calm and handsome, so he yelled for him into the warehouse.

Jiang Zhi got out of the curtain in disgrace.

"Nephew Shen Xian, why are you free today?"

"The younger generation came to visit the house, and heard that Mr. Jiang came to the book shop."

"Please sit down," Jiang Zhi wiped the dust off the bookcases with a cloth towel, "Our store has already been rented out by someone else, and the warehouse will be cleaned out during the New Year's Eve, and it will be remodeled next year. My nephew will come to visit at this time, won't Do you want to lend a hand?"

Shen Yudao: "I have a doubt to ask Mr. Jiang. You told me privately before that the fourth person who disappeared in the murder of Han was the uncle of the country, the prime minister Duan Boyu?"

Jiang Zhi looked back, and saw that the clerk carried the bucket into the storeroom to clean it, and then said to Shen Yu in a different tone, "What? Mr. Shen, why is it so obvious that you just want to understand it now?"

Shen Yu lowered his eyes, and shook his head with a wry smile after a while: "Sir, you are right, there is no need to ask more about such an obvious matter. This junior is here for another matter. Please hold your eyes, can you recognize this thing?" He took out a piece of bamboo strip from his sleeve, exuding a desolate scent of incense ash, as if being enshrined in a temple or ancestral hall, after being exposed to the wind and sun, there were colorful tear stains, and a string was tied at the end, like red dyed by madder .

Under the various scars of the bamboo strips, lines were engraved to form a word. Jiang Zhi's eyes fell on the word, and fell into memories.

The sound of the phoenix flute is moving, the light of the jade pot is turning, and the Xie Ling Pavilion at night is a place where wealth and honor gather in Wangdu City.Compared with Zhangyi Palace, which is dark at night, it can be described as magnificent.Deng Yang followed Liang Heng to repair his genealogy and suffered a lot, relying on betraying his brother in exchange for a day off, and went home to catch up on sleep, while Liang Heng came to Xie Ling Hall, ready to raise his master to question his sins - this is what he thought before leaving the palace Yes, the smell of clothes and wine has aroused the gluttons right now, maybe he will have a drink soon.

Liang Heng was an honored guest among the honored guests, he came here often when he was young, the maids had a tacit understanding when they saw him, and took him straight upstairs.

Passing through a screen door, I suddenly heard a familiar voice: "...I'll ask."

Liang Heng stopped in his tracks, and the man turned around, looking at each other in surprise.

"Oh..." Liang Heng stepped forward, "Don't disturb me."

"Wait!" Duan Yanling was about to grab his hand, but hesitated halfway, and instead grabbed Liang Heng's sleeve with two fingers.

Liang Heng didn't want to give him face at first, but he endured it anyway, Duan Yanling is different from others after all.

"Why did you come alone?" Duan Yanling said, "What about Xinzhou? Didn't bring any guards? It's different now, it's better to come to this kind of place less often."

Liang Heng said strangely: "Oh? You have thought carefully and called all the guards to watch the gate."

Duan Yanling immediately showed forbearance, as if he had such a great difficulty.It really puzzled Liang Heng, whether he should be on duty or not, whether he should be escorted or not, even this crime should be written off, not to mention demoted officials and fined salary, he has never even thought about his mistakes behind closed doors, what grievances does Duan Yanling have?

"Did you forget the assassin of Qifeng Mountain?" Duan Yanling's voice was very soft.A sleeve seems to connect the pulse of both ends, clearly conveying the trembling of Duan Yanling's hand.

Liang Heng's tone became cold: "Don't bother me, someone will welcome me."

Shen Yu came from the end of the corridor, followed by a musician, who was supposed to be returning home after a feast, and was not surprised to see Liang Heng and Duan Yanling.The atmosphere between the two was at a stalemate. Shen Yu had a wink, so he said to Liang Heng, "I've been waiting for a long time. Master Duan, let's take our leave now."

The two went downstairs side by side.

Duan Yanling remained motionless like a wood carving.Then the two appeared from behind the screen door, and a woman said: "Is that the new Si Zhi, Master Shen Yushen? He comes here to show his face."

Another man said: "Young and promising, and handsome, I think the women in your restaurant like this."

It was Duan Boyu, the owner's wife who left Duan Yanling to recuperate with the superior.

Madam asked the musician with a smile, "Master Shen keeps asking you to serve, what do you say to you?"

The strange thing is that Yue Ji is no longer flattered like the previous few times, but rather apprehensive, she can't help but glance at Duan Boyu.The madam said angrily: "What are you looking at, have you eaten up the manners that I usually teach you? Say what you want, and if you dare to hide it, get out of the Xie Ling Pavilion."

The musician faltered and said: "He... he suddenly asked about Mei Niang... and said... he had been to the upstairs compartment. In that room, he could hear the conversations going up and down in the hall. Anyone go in..."

Both Madam and Duan Yanling's faces turned pale.

Duan Boyu asked: "Who took him there?"

Madam tremblingly said: "I don't know..."

Duan Yanling said in a low voice, "It's me."

His face was immediately distorted by Duan Boyu's palm.The madam suppressed the exclamation with both hands.

"Who was talking about Mei in the library, and he overheard him?" Duan Boyu asked again.

Now no one spoke, everyone was trembling under Duan Boyu's silent anger.

The night market is brightly lit, with lanterns adorning passers-by, or writing lantern riddles on lantern gauze or hanging bamboo sticks.Tourists stopped one after another, with high spirits and a strong festive atmosphere.

Liang Heng said: "I know that we want to be reunited during the holidays, but you are the only one who runs to Hualou. Where are you going and what are you doing?"

Shen Yu handed him a bamboo raft tied with a colorful string, which was recognized by the halo of the lantern lights, and there was an indistinct "plum" character on it.

"I found this lottery at a cemetery outside the city."

Liang Heng was going to take it for a closer look, but when he heard the reason, he suddenly felt bad luck, and took his hand back. Shen Yu didn't mind, and continued: "No matter how glamorous the prostitutes in Xie Ling Pavilion were, they would collect their corpses in the wilderness after death. This lottery belongs to a woman named 'Mei', people who still remember her in Xie Ling Pavilion sometimes go to worship, and hang colorful ropes on the tree at the head of the grave."

Liang Heng resentfully said, "You're quite sentimental."

"This woman has been dead for many years, and those who have seen her once are all in middle age. I asked Jiang Zuojian with this lottery, and he couldn't remember Mei's appearance clearly, but who is the beautiful woman in the crown of Wangdu?" I can't forget that Mei's reputation in Huajie is comparable to Han Ying's reputation in the imperial court. Mei is the prostitute that Han Ying favors in Xie Ling Pavilion."

The shadow cast by the revolving lantern turned around their feet like a wheel.

"Women in Huajie can't have children. When they are born, their fathers don't recognize them, and they can't afford to raise them. Not to mention being pregnant in October, how much energy is wasted. But Mei has a child, and no one knows how that child came about. He is like a transparent child. He grew up in the Xie Ling Pavilion, but because he was an escapee, he couldn't be naturalized. He couldn't study, work, farm, or do business. He worked as a tortoise in the pavilion until he was fifteen or sixteen. The guests of Aya Pavilion also forgot the existence of this person after just looking at it.

Until one day, Mei found her benefactor, Han Ying, and begged Han Ying to give her son a civilian household registration.At that time, Han Ying was the captain of Sili, and had a father who was Guangluqing, and a sister who was the queen mother. His power can be said to have overshadowed the sun and the moon in Wangdu.The escaped son left Huajie and Liuxiang in this way, and became the son of a family of farmers in Wangcheng for generations.

Mei's face also allowed him to enter Han Ying's mansion and become a small official.Han Ying took good care of him, sent him to study, and gave him a chance to make his mark. Gradually, he grew up and became one of Han Ying's confidantes.Attaching to the big tree of the Korean clan, one can live a prosperous life, and ordinary people may be satisfied at this point.But he is unusual and very forward-looking. Even if he leans against a big tree to enjoy the shade, he still needs a giant tree that can block out the sun. There is only one place in the world that has such strength, and that is the Jinluan Palace of Zhangyi Palace.He followed Han Ying in and out of the Forbidden Palace, and the ability to observe words and expressions cultivated in Huajie made him see the emperor's dislike for Han clan.

So he took advantage of the situation, looking for opportunities to contact the servants around the emperor, and conspired in a tragedy.On the day of the incident, the emperor called Han's father and son into the palace. The man led Han Ying's horse and led him into the palace alley.He was raised by Han Ying himself as an aide. Han Ying trusted him, so he didn't wear a knife or bring guards. As a result, ten eunuchs with knives were waiting for Han Ying in the palace alley.

As a result, this person was appreciated by the emperor.His adoptive parents had a daughter who was raised by Xiaojia Biyu who was gentle and amiable, and was dedicated to the emperor by him, and the two families became related by marriage.And he himself, from the official to the prime minister, was at the top of the list of ministers, relying on the wholehearted trust of the emperor and the younger sister of the queen, he finally reached the mountain where Zeng Jin Hanying was.Standing at such a height, everything that troubled him in the past is easily resolved, and with just a swipe of a pen, his past is reshaped cleanly, and everything is severed. "

Accompanied by the long narration, the two of them unknowingly came to a bright yellow curtain, on which a group of wriggling shadows were waving something in their hands, all of a sudden, bright red sprayed everywhere.

Liang Heng took several steps back, his heart beating like a drum.

The audience laughed. It turned out that it was a shadow puppet show, and the bright red color was not blood, but firecrackers for the Spring Festival.

"You... who are you talking about?"

Shen Yu didn't answer. The stories he knew were half told by Jiang Zhi and Ding Kou, but they were made up of various parties.Whether it is true or false, it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong.

Those narratives gradually formed in Liang Heng's mind. He closed his eyes and saw nothing, but there was a very gentle and elegant voice in his ears——

"Reading is very good. Everything in the world can be lost, only the books you read can't be taken away by others."

……

The sound of shouting and killing came as promised at night, and Liang Heng was surrounded on all sides like a flood.Countless arrows glowing with cold light protruded from the darkness, and he lost himself in his hands and feet, unable to move until he was shot into a sieve.Someone read out his criminal evidence—the Emperor Zhi said: You have committed an unforgivable crime, and you will die with ten thousand arrows piercing your heart!

I am the emperor!Liang Heng shouted.

The real emperor is here!A golden mask floats in the air: You and Naifu are both hypocrites!

you are my son!The old woman rushed forward, and accommodated him in her dirty arms: Mother protects you!Don't be afraid!There is a mother!

The arrows shot out, and the hot liquid drenched his body, like a fire burning inside his body, his internal organs turned into scorched black immediately, his face was ferocious, and he let out a terrible scream: It's so hot!So hot!Burn me!

The blazing karma kept burning, and he was firmly imprisoned on the ziluowen mattress where the emperor sat.He was about to jump up, stretched out a hand from the fire to hold him down, and said in a gentle voice: "The truth is false and the false is true, my good nephew, you can rest assured and sit on your throne, uncle will help you."

I'm dying!I'm going to be burned!please!uncle!Get me out!

The voice became stern: how can it be done, you are no longer the emperor, what is my sister?What is my son?What am I?

I can't control it anymore!I am so miserable!Who can help me!

The sound was getting closer and closer, a chest emerged from the fire, Liang Heng took a closer look, but there was a lifelike, running horse stabbed on the flesh!

He couldn't take it anymore and woke up screaming from his dream.