At the beginning of the night, the singing and dancing are waning, the glazed lights are half hidden in the surrounding buildings, and the curtains are fluttering in the autumn wind, occasionally bringing out the ring pendant sound, like a romantic lingering sound.
Qing Chen kicked off the horse in front of the door, and the look on her face stunned the man who came forward to serve her. She threw the rein of the horse without saying a word, raised her hand to brush the silk gauze over her face, and walked in quickly.
In the shadow of the curtain, Lan Qi and other girls were still in front of the hall, Su Niang came back from Tianwu Zuifang for some reason, and was talking to them softly. As soon as everyone saw Qing Chen, everyone got up and came over. Lan Lu thanked her deeply and said to her, "Thank you tonight, my lord!"
Qing Chen fell silent, looked at Su Niang coldly, Fang stretched out his hand to support Lan Lu, and said softly, "Thank you, how can the people around me allow others to bully me?"
At this time, Lan Lu and the others noticed that her complexion was a little strange, there seemed to be anger hidden between her brows, and although her voice was gentle, it was not as soft as clear water and ice silk in the past, and it was faint, but it made people sound afraid to answer.
Qing Chen always chatted and laughed freely with them, and had never had such an attitude, even anyone in the surrounding buildings had seen her like this before, and they kept silent for a while. Seeing this, Qing Chen frowned slightly, and said with a smile: "What's the matter, could it be that I've never seen a drunk person and got scared?"
Lan Lu hesitated for a moment, then asked timidly: "Is it tonight... that you have caused trouble to the young master, so will Master Wei refuse to give up?"
Qing Chen smiled at her, and said, "It's okay, he won't dare to do anything to you in the future, I'll be there for everything, and I won't let you be wronged."
Su Niang patted Lan Lu's hand and said: "It's our good fortune to have the young master take care of it. The young master must be tired. Let's go back to our rooms."
Qing Chen's phoenix eyes were raised quietly, seeming to fall into Su Niang's eyes at random, and they swept across her body silently, making her heart tremble for no reason. But Qing Chen still had a faint smile on his lips, and said: "It's getting late, let's all go to rest first, if there is something else, we can talk about it tomorrow." After saying that, he turned around with a flick of his sleeves, and went upstairs.
Su Niang sent the girls away, looking at the suspicions in the upstairs, the uneasiness in her heart gradually expanded.
Qing Chen walked through the Fei Pavilion along the long corridor to the back building, and pushed open the door of Xie Jing's room. The room was silent, and no one came back. She turned around and sat down in front of the desk. The cold air made people gradually calm down, but there was still a bit of anger in her heart.
Mingyan who is accustomed to using thin knives, Xie Jing who assassinated Ye Tianling, and shrewd Su Niang, from the moment she walked into the four-sided building, she seemed to have stepped into an exquisite and perfect layout, whether it was a deliberate arrangement or an opportunity to act , the organization that Nightmare had mentioned was trapping her in it intentionally or unintentionally.
She sat in the dark and thought about it carefully. That day, a basin of water was poured inexplicably on the street, and she was only wet through now. Xie Jing and Su Niang are all insiders, what is their purpose? It seems far-fetched to say that their goal was Ye Tianling from the beginning.
While concentrating on thinking, there was a sudden noise outside the door, and then someone staggered and pushed the door open to enter. She stood up from the front of the case, and heard Mingyan's voice anxiously saying: "Su Niang, hurry up! Brother is injured!"
The room suddenly lit up, Ming Yan looked up under the twilight of the fire, and suddenly saw Qing Chen standing in the depth of light and shadow, his phoenix eyes were slightly shivering, his jade face was cold, and he looked at them coldly.
Later, Su Niang just arrived, and when she saw Xie Jing in the half-light, she exclaimed in a low voice, Qing Chen was also slightly taken aback when she saw Xie Jing, Xie Jing was able to support her body almost entirely with the support of Ming Yan, and she had fallen into a semi-consciousness State, a pool of profuse blood beside him is slowly flowing and expanding. Through the moonlight, it can be seen that there are bloodstains scattered all over the door, which must have been left by him along the way.
Su Niang hurried forward to help, seeing Qing Chen standing in front of the couch, she called out, "Master!"
Qing Chen's eyes lit up when he heard the words: "Why do you have to pretend, do you still think I'm some kind of son?"
Su Niang and Xie Jing have been together for a long time, and they have a deep affection for each other. She said anxiously: "... Miss Feng, it is important to save people!"
Although Qing Chen's face remained unchanged, his eyes softened slightly, and he turned sideways to get out of the way.
Su Niang and Ming Yan helped Xie Jing to the couch to check his injuries. Qing Chen watched coldly. Except for the right shoulder injured by Ye Tianling, there were many deep and shallow wounds on Xie Jing's body. It was a sword in the leg, which had obviously injured an artery. Bright red blood gushed out from the wound continuously, staining the black clothes with a thick dark color, and soon stained the quilt. His complexion was as pale as paper, and he had lost too much blood and was close to shock.
The blood seemed to be unstoppable, and Mingyan's expressionless face had lost his composure at this moment, leaning over to press the wound for him with a cloth towel, and couldn't help but whisper: "Big brother, big brother!" Su Niang hurriedly fetched the wound. As soon as the medicine was applied to the wound, it was scattered by the gushing blood. She was in a state of anxiety when she heard Qing Chen's cold voice: "Get out of the way!"
Su Niang knew that Qing Chen's medical skills were superb, and she turned her head to vacate the space in surprise. Qing Chen swept his clothes and knelt in front of the couch. come."
Mingyan tore the silk on the bed and handed it over. She watched her skillfully wrap the silk around the heart side of the wound for two or three weeks, tied it half-knotted, looked up and swept the room, pointing to the unused ivory on the desk. Bone Fan said: "Give that to me."
Su Niang reached out to take it, Qing Chen put the bone fan on the half knot and tied it with a full knot, then twisted it gently, the blood flow from the Xie Jing wound slowed down and gradually stopped. She applied the wound medicine here before starting to treat other wounds. Compared with the wounds on her legs, they were minor injuries, but Ye Tianling's sword on her shoulder was also quite serious. She quickly bandaged him, frowning faintly, she didn't know why Xie Jing was so seriously injured, the person who started it clearly wanted to put him to death.
The wound was almost treated, she looked back, Mingyan was also looking at her, she looked at Mingyan with several minor injuries, threw the medicine to her, got up and asked: "Ye Tianling said let go If you leave, it will be impossible to chase and kill, what's going on?"
Su Niang stepped forward to apply medicine to Mingyan to stop the bleeding, and Mingyan leaned on the couch and said, "We met someone from Jade Blood Pavilion."
Su Niang's expression changed, and Qing Chen asked, "What does the Jade Blood Pavilion do, why do you want to be so cruel?"
Nightmare said: "Jianghu organization, its suzerain Kuangzi was insidious and good at using poison since the beginning, and the thirteen blood fiends under him are all murderous people. They have always worked hand in hand with the Nagato Gang, last time we almost wiped out the Nagato Gang, They completely tore their faces, and tonight they took advantage of others, hmph! If it wasn't for the fact that the eldest brother was injured earlier, how could they have succeeded so easily."
Speaking of what happened tonight, Qing Chenfeng's eyes were slightly cold, and he turned around and said, "Then what kind of organization are you?"
Mingyan and Su Niang looked at each other, hesitated, but heard Xie Jing's hoarse voice reply: "Mingyilou."
The three of them looked on the couch and saw that Xie Jing had woken up. Although his body was still very weak, his life was safe. Qing Chen stared at him for a moment, then said lightly: "Brother Xie, you have been hiding it from me so hard. When we met that day, you deliberately took me into the four-sided building and tried to keep me here. I don’t know, there was such a good show tonight, should you give me an explanation?”
With the support of Su Niang, Xie Jing leaned against the couch and said to her: "Wen Qing..."
"Qing Chen." She interrupted Xie Jing's address: "No matter what you think, I always regard you as a friend. I concealed my identity as a woman to avoid people I don't want to meet, and I have never deliberately concealed it. you."
Xie Jing's expression moved slightly, and he said: "Okay, Qing Chen. It is a great blessing in my Xie Jing's life to be your friend. I know you must be a little angry now. Why don't you accompany me." While talking, he struggled to get up from the couch, and wanted to apologize to her.
Qing Chen stepped forward and raised her hand to stop him: "What are you doing?" She seemed to exhale lightly, and asked, "I'm angry, but I believe that I can't misjudge my friend, so you must have a reason. Then Who are you ordering, what are you doing, and why did you come to me? And most importantly, why did you assassinate Ye Tianling!" She quietly glanced from Xie Jing to the faces of Su Niang and Ming Yan, For some reason, the three of them seemed to be in awe of her, but they all averted their eyes.
After a while, Xie Jing said: "I can't answer your questions, some of them can't be said, and some of them I don't know very well."
Qing Chen's eyes were deep and slightly bright, and he still looked at the three people in front of him: "Then find someone who can make the decision, I must have an answer today."
Xie Jing pondered for a while, and said to Su Niang: "Go ask the Ming Xuan Sword Guardian."
Su Niang looked at Qing Chen, and walked out quickly, Xie Jing and Ming Yan were silent, and the room was a little dull for a while.
Standing in front of the couch, Qing Chen suddenly frowned and said to Xie Jing: "What is the sword guardian of Mingxuan, can I eat it?" She raised her eyebrows when she spoke, with a hint of playfulness in her expression.
Xie Jing and Ming Yan were stunned at the same time, Xie Jing smiled wryly and said: "Eat his flesh, eat his bones, you won't have such a big resentment?"
But Qing Chen said again: "If you can eat it, I really want to stew him later to make up for Brother Xie. He sent you to assassinate Ye Tianling. Didn't you think that this is sending you to death?"
The atmosphere relaxed slightly, Xie Jing knew that she was actually defending herself in her words, smiled and said: "Our brothers and sisters were brought up by Mingyilou since childhood, and we are all members of Mingyilou in this life. If necessary, we will die , this kind of assassination task is nothing, but thank you very much."
Qing Chen said: "Where will the assassination of the prince of the Celestial Dynasty be placed in the four-sided building? You, Ming Yan, Su Niang, the women in the building, and even the Tianwu Zuifang will all be buried with them? "
Xie Jing thought for a while, and said: "I still have to ask the Mingxuan Swordsman about the matter, but if I understand it, I might not be able to drink the tonic soup."
At this moment, even Ming Yan smiled, and Qing Chen couldn't help pursing his lips into a smile. Xie Jing looked at her and said, "It's better to smile, I didn't expect your sober face to be really scary."
Qing Chen frowned slightly: "I'm not in the mood to laugh until I find out the reason for what happened tonight."
Xie Jing said: "I can only tell you that for an organization like Mingyilou, the assassination is just entrusted by others, what else could be the reason?"
Qing Chen said, "Who entrusted you?"
Xie Jing shook his head and said: "The identity of the client cannot be disclosed, this is the rule."
Qing Chen also knew this kind of rule, the corners of his lips tightened in dissatisfaction, but someone said: "Miss Feng might as well guess about this matter, it's actually not difficult."
Su Niang and an old man came into the room. The man covered his face with a black scarf, and could not see his face. His demeanor was as deep as a mountain abyss and empty valley. Qing Chen stood quietly under the lamp, his eyebrows were meaningful, light and clear, the two of them looked at each other without giving in for a moment, the man's eyes showed a smile, and he cupped his hands and said, "Mingxuan, the sword guard of Mingyilou Tianshu Palace, see Miss Guofeng."
Qing Chen said: "Jiu Yang." In his heart, he only felt that the person's eyes and tone were very familiar, but he didn't have any clue when he thought about it, so he asked: "From what you just said, it seems that Mingyilou doesn't intend to keep the victim a secret."
Mingxuan said: "The rules cannot be broken, but if Miss Feng herself guesses who bought King Ling's life at the price of 50,000 taels of gold, there is nothing she can do about it."
Fifty thousand taels of gold, what a great price! Qing Chen shuddered secretly, and blurted out: "A member of the imperial family of the Celestial Dynasty?"
Mingxuan smiled and said: "Although there are battles among the royal families in the Central Plains, they have not yet reached this level. I am afraid that no one wants King Ling's life so much."
Qing Chen lowered his eyes, remained silent for a while, and then said a few simple words: "Turkic royal family."
Ming Xuan only flashed a smile of approval in his eyes, Qing Chen raised his eyebrows knowingly. Those who can afford such a price are either rich or expensive, and for the Turks, not to mention fifty thousand taels, even one hundred thousand taels of gold can buy Ye Tianling's life or they are willing. Since Ye Tianling led the army at the age of fifteen, he has repeatedly defeated the eastern and western Turkic tribes, causing him to lose nearly ten thousand miles of territory in the south and north of the Mos. Prince Li, the Turkic clan fears him like a ghost and hates him to the bone. No one wants to see Ye Tianling die more than them.
She said disdainfully: "It's not a weapon, no wonder it loses to Ye Tianling again and again."
From the words, Mingxuan could tell that she had a close relationship with Ye Tianling, and asked, "Miss Feng seems to be very familiar with King Ling?"
Qing Chen said indifferently: "He saved me, and I saved him. Based on these two points, I can't sit idly by. Mingyi Building has accepted this commission, can it be cancelled?"
"No." Mingxuan said.
"Why?" Qing Chen asked.
"Mingyi Building only obeys the orders of the landlord." Mingxuan said again.
Qing Chen looked at Mingxuan's unfathomable eyes exposed outside the black scarf, and said, "Would you be lucky enough to meet the landlord?"
Mingxuan smiled again: "Mingyi Building has been the landlord for more than 30 years and has disappeared, and the current landlord has not yet taken office."
Qing Chen glanced at the smile in his eyes with clear eyes, and said slowly: "Are you entertaining people?"
Mingxuan straightened his expression unhurriedly, and said: "I don't mean that, Miss Feng, I wonder if you are interested in going outside together to watch the sky?"
Hearing such an inconsistent proposal, Qing Chen was a little surprised, but he didn't show his face. The soldiers came to cover the water and soil, and stepped out of the door first.
Mingxuan came after him, and walked slowly with her to a Feige compound road in the atrium of the four-story building and stood still, raised her head and said, "Does Miss Feng know about astrology?"
Qing Chen raised his eyes and looked quietly. Under the autumn night, there was a thin moon and eyebrows, and the clouds and stars were sparse beside it, not as gorgeous and bright as in summer. The night sky looked clear and transparent, wide and deep. She said, "Know a thing or two."
Mingxuan said: "Can Miss Feng see that star?" Qing Chen followed what he expected, and in the quiet night, there was a bright star hanging in the sky, its light was clear, cold and deep, shining brightly on that bend. The side of the golden crescent moon is not inferior at all, and even through the wisps of misty wind, it overwhelms the moonlight and cloud shadows, just like a cold and dazzling light diamond in the dark blue sky, making all the star stones dim light.
"What kind of star is that?" Qing Chen asked puzzledly, in his memory, he had never seen such a star before or now.
Mingxuan said meaningfully: "This is an alien star that is rare to see in a hundred years. It is clear and clear, and the purple micro sky is in harmony. And this celestial star is gradually entering the position of the Big Dipper Heavenly Palace corresponding to my Mingyi master. It is the ruler of the seven stars. trend."
"Oh?" Qing Chen said: "Isn't it true that Mingyi Lord can only see you every day, and what we just said can also be discussed?"
Mingxuan looked at her and said, "The person who is on Yingtianxing is currently in Yige City."
"Who is it?" Qing Chen asked.
"It's far away in the sky, but it's close in front of us." Mingxuan smiled.
Qing Chen was very surprised, frowned and said: "Your Excellency is joking, is it because of this that you have been staring at me?"
Mingxuan said seriously: "The old man is not joking, but Miss Feng stayed in Mobei for a while, and came to Yige City in the middle of summer, which coincides with the change of stars. Besides, Miss Feng has a string of tourmalines Beads?"
Qing Chen pondered for a moment, then shook his sleeves lightly and showed him. Mingxuan looked at the faint and clear tourmaline beads under the night, and said with emotion: "This is the token of the owner of Mingyilou who has been missing for many years."
Qing Chen was extremely surprised, but when he thought of the strangeness of the Nine Turns Linglong Formation, he was not only skeptical. But I heard Mingxuan said: "Miss Feng, you might as well think about it. If you enter the Mingyi Building, not only will we obey your order for King Ling's affairs, but you can also learn about the situation of the witch clan. This tourmaline bead has been used since ancient times. The township treasure of the Wu clan, I think Miss Feng will be interested in its origin."
Qing Chen's phoenix eyes flicked, and Mingxuan in front of him seemed to know her quite well: "With such an attractive condition, it seems that I can't do without this deal, but could it be that just based on what you and I said, such a big Mingyi building has a master?" ?”
Mingxuan smiled and said: "Naturally, there is still a process. The master of Mingyilou needs to be approved by the spirit beast Xuezhan, otherwise the Sword Guardian of the Seven Palaces will not accept it."
Qing Chen asked: "Then how do you know that some spirit beast Xue Zhan would recognize me?"
Mingxuan's eyes seemed to be about to laugh out loud, and several wrinkles were engraved on the corners of the eyes, as if hiding endless secrets. He took out a package and handed it to Qing Chen: "Miss Feng brings this package of spices, and the snow fights against nature." Obediently bow your head and obey orders."
Qing Chen raised his brows and raised his eyebrows, feeling like he had fallen into some kind of trap again. He weighed the spice in his fingers and said, "It seems that the Mingxuan sword guard is still choosing the host, and the so-called spirit beast is just a cover. .”
Mingxuan said: "The old man is just obeying the will of God, not to mention that there is a destiny, but it is man-made. If Miss Feng does not have the ability and courage to be the master of Mingyi, everything is just empty talk."
The corners of Qing Chen's lips were pursed into an elegant light arc, and he said to Mingxuan with a half-smile, "The way of heaven and the world are so beautiful, it's a pity that you don't enter the court and become an official."
Mingxuan continued to laugh and said: "The principle is the same in the government and in the opposition, as long as there are people, there will always be the same way after thousands of years, and if you stick to the same way, you can cope with ever-changing things. "
Qing Chen's eyes were full of meaning: "That's good, but people are different. You were so skillful in Mingyilou and you didn't hide it from me. You half-pleased and half-forced me to be the landlord. Aren't you afraid that I will look for opportunities in the future?" revenge?"
Mingxuan coughed dryly, and said: "With Miss Feng's intelligence, if I become an enemy, the old man is really worried, but Miss Feng must not be that kind of person."
Qing Chen said: "It's hard to say, I'm just a woman."
Mingxuan was speechless, suddenly his old eyes lit up, and asked: "Madam Feng is not worried about this old man because of King Ling's affairs, is it?"
If there was something in his words, Qing Chen was stunned for a moment, feeling vaguely that he had been hit by something, but he raised his phoenix eyes in a leisurely manner, and said, "King Ling fought to protect the north and south to protect the country, and for 50,000 taels of gold and He is an enemy, and the Mingyi Tower seems to be suspected of helping the evildoers."
Mingxuan said: "Because King Ling makes the Turkic clan very jealous, the Turkic people will definitely do everything possible to get rid of him. We will not do this for others, so why don't we go on and at least take it easy? Miss Feng can't see it?" Come out, it is impossible to succeed in assassinating King Ling like tonight."
The deep light in Qing Chen's eyes narrowed, and he said in a low voice: "Then you will send the Xie Jing to the blade, if I don't meet Ye Tianling tonight, if I have no friendship with Ye Tianling, how can he Isn't it dead?"
Mingxuan raised his eyes: "Miss Feng is protective of everyone, but only the old man is inconsiderate. Xie Jing, as the sword guard of Tianxuan Palace in Mingyilou, how could he die so easily, not to mention that Miss Feng is obviously here tonight, so it is impossible not to be there , unless Miss Feng will see death instead of saving her?"
Qing Chen quietly looked at the slippery old fox in front of him, and said softly through his teeth: "I really want to let Xie Jing drink soup tonight." Under Mingxuan's puzzled eyes, she turned to She smiled lightly and said: "Then you must have made arrangements for the next one. You might as well gather all the sword guards from the Seven Palaces to get acquainted. Also," she narrowed her smile, "I am a very protective person. The Jade Blood Pavilion was injured, thank you. Jing and Nightmare, then we will settle this account with them.”
In her calm tone, there was a kind of subdued demeanor, light and seemingly indifferent, but it made Mingxuan suddenly feel silently awe-inspiring. He took a step back and said respectfully: "This subordinate respectfully obeys Lord Feng. life."
Qing Chen looked up at the sky, the night was twilight and the stars were bright.