The food on the second day turned out to be bad. Liu proudly hurt his face and refused to see anyone. When the little eunuch handed the food box to Shen Jue, Shen Jue quietly stuffed a handful of broken silver for him, and the little eunuch weighed it. Yin Zi, smiled and said, "Eunuch Shen has always been a smart person." After speaking, he took out a small food box from under the table and handed it to Shen Jue, and then allocated half of the silver to go back and said, "Come tomorrow, I'll keep it for you, so I don't need your money, but I'll only give you one's portion."
Shen Jue returned with the food box, Concubine Gao was squatting on the embroidered pier with a colorful chicken feather, like a big rooster. Shen Jue didn't think it was strange, so she set the food up, Concubine Gao happily took a bite of chopsticks, just put it in her mouth and vomited on the ground, scolding and grinning: "Okay, you little bastard, you want to be poisoned. Die this palace!?"
"That's all, just make do with it." Shen Jue said, picked up the snack box, turned around and left.
Concubine Gao fluttered up and down beside him, shouting: "You have no conscience, you want to eat alone! I don't depend on me, I don't depend on me!"
Shen Jue glanced at her coldly and said, "If you dare to talk nonsense in front of Xia Houlin, I will tear your mouth."
Concubine Gao shrank her neck, her head full of chicken feathers that had been arrogant immediately died down and drooped on her head. Although Concubine Gao didn't dare to provoke him, she was still unconvinced and tried her best to make faces behind Shen Jue's back.
Shen Jue ignored her and walked through the flower corridor. The wound on Xia Houlin's shoulder was ruptured by beating someone yesterday. When Shen Jue saw blood oozing from his wound, his face turned black, and he was ordered not to go out, and to stay in the house to recover from his injuries.
Turning around the Moon Cave Gate, from a distance, I saw Xia Houlin leaning on the porch, tilting his head and smiling at him, with a shredded glow in his eyes.
Xia Houlin's smile has always been ruffian, looking at the ruffian, but there is an indescribable charm. He was wearing the ugly mask of Sixi, but he still couldn't hide the hooligan flavor that he brought out from his bones. The born bad embryo has a sweet mouth smeared with honey, and when he stops on the street, there are countless big girls rushing to get close to him.
Shen Jue had seen his skills in hooking up with girls, and the appearance of Lanxiang girl from Xie's house softly calling him brother Lin was still vivid in his mind. Thinking of this, Shen Jue suddenly became unhappy, shoved the food box into Xia Houlin's arms, and said angrily: "Yimen sells a smile, you put a few pieces of Gao Niang's chicken feathers on your body, and the girls from Jiaofang Division are better than others. on you."
Xia Houlin said with a smile: "I don't dare to be so, I don't dare to be so, when it comes to beauty, I can't compare to you when I'm young."
As he spoke, he opened the food box and glanced inside. There was only a bowl of white rice and a bowl of braised pork in it. These specifications were more than a little bit worse than before, and he immediately understood that it was Liu Deyi who made things difficult for Shen Jue, but it was just that. He didn't expect that such a little thing that was not enough to stick between his teeth was still exchanged by Shen Jue with real gold and silver.
Xia Houlin asked, "Have you eaten?"
"I've eaten it, you are delicious, I'll come and get the food box later."
Xiahou Lin responded and turned back to the house. Concubine Gao looked at Shen Jue pitifully, holding the lotus fish basin and the halazi flowing, Shen Jue said helplessly, "Don't look, I'll follow you to eat sour rice too."
Concubine Gao frowned and said, "The little slut who ruined the portal, just wait for the little white face, and use the scum to prevaricate the old lady, you are so bold!"
Concubine Gao angrily plucked off the chicken feathers on her head, threw it all over Shen Jue, and ran out of the yard.
Shen Jue: "..."
The amount of rain in the capital is comparable to that in the south of the Yangtze River. The continuous drizzle fell day and night, hitting the blue eaves and tiles, cracking like someone's dish was smashed to the ground. Since the assassination of the palace, the number of Yulin guards who patrolled at night has doubled, walking back and forth on the patrolling route every quarter of an hour, rain or shine. The lamp pavilion on the palace road was faintly dazzling, the guards patrolling were like phantoms floating in the wind and rain, and the copper plates on the armor made a crisp sound, which came from the misty rain curtain.
Liu Deyi bowed his waist and touched the back garden from the east gate of Qiongyuan. There are shadows of the trees, the twisted trunk of the old locust tree is like the dead corpse of an old man, the color of the flowers and leaves seems to be washed by the rain, showing a dead gray. Liu Deyi murmured inwardly, the palace garden is not so gloomy during the day, but it looks like a haunted man at night.
Walking to the bottom of a lamp pavilion, the half-person-high lamp holder, covered with a tung oil-brushed spun yarn, was covered with a green bean lamp, which shone brightly. Liu Deyi looked around for a while, then walked towards the north, just a few steps, when a red shadow passed by behind a few trees not far away, and he almost fell to the ground in fright. He calmed down, and when he looked more closely, there was nothing left. He took a few steps forward, supported the tree and meowed a few times, and then lowered his voice and called out, "Shen Jue?"
No answer. Liu Deyi despised himself for a while, he must have misunderstood and scared himself.
After walking for a while, several connected pavilions came into view, with blue tiles and eaves, and painted bridges like flying clouds traversing the water waves. Liu Deyi couldn't hold back the joy and excitement in his heart, and anxiously walked two steps faster to the bridge, looking around through the rain curtain with his cat around his waist, just hoping that the person in his heart would appear soon.
After waiting for a long time without waiting for someone to come, Liu Deyi's heart slowly became empty, and the evil fire rushed up. He must have been tricked, such a good Shen Jue, he even dared to play tricks without saying anything after beating himself up!
Although the rain was not big, standing for a long time was enough to turn him into a jerk. The coolness penetrated into the skin through the wet clothes, Liu Deyi clasped his arms and shook into scum, just about to go home, glanced, and suddenly saw something placed on the railing at the other end of the bridge, Huang Buliu Autumn, like a cloth bag.
Shouldn't Shen Jue put it there and play guessing games with him
Liu Deyi was excited again, and hurried over, seeing that he was about to reach the cloth bag, he suddenly stepped on something, and it was slippery, and his body suddenly lost his balance and hit the marble railing. Who would have thought that the railings here were already full of cracks. When Liu Deyi hit it, the marble was torn apart, and the stones and people fell into the lotus pond.
Under the old locust tree at the other end of the pond, Shen Jue looked at the scene on the bridge indifferently, and turned around to cross the path.
As the night got darker, Yulinwei became more numerous. Shen Jue stood in the shadow of the flowers and leaves, silently counting the time. A group of Yulin guards had just passed through the chasing veranda, when Shen Jue walked out of the flowers, climbed the veranda, and hurriedly took small steps. The map of the back garden appeared in his mind, and he knew that as long as he passed another flower-viewing pavilion, he could return to the Fourth Ganxi Institute.
The lanterns in the corridor were swayed by the wind, the lights were on and off, the iron horses were jingling, and the sound was a long string of shreds. Just as Shen Jue was about to turn a corner, a hand stretched out from behind to cover his mouth and dragged him into a nearby room.
Shen Jue's heart sank to the bottom, and he subconsciously wanted to fight back. The person behind him gave a low voice, "Little bastard, you came out in the middle of the night and fooled around, did you steal the girl!"
It's Concubine Gao!
Shen Jue was about to say something when Concubine Gao suddenly covered his mouth again and pointed out. The two moved to the door very slowly and very lightly, and heard two Yulin guards passing by outside.
"Will we be found out if we relieve ourselves here?"
"I found a fart, the rain is rushing, and the smell is gone, what are you afraid of?"
The sound of the footsteps gradually faded away, and Shen Jue was secretly startled. It turned out that the two of them were just walking out of the corner. If Shen Jue turned a corner, they would collide head-on.
Shen Jue turned her head, and Concubine Gao also listened to the sounds outside with great vigilance. The light was very dim, and Shen Jue could only faintly see Concubine Gao's red-bottomed robe embroidered with plucked branches and flowers. Her chest was bulging and seemed to be twice as big as usual. Concubine Gao raised her eyes, just as she saw him staring at her chest without blinking, she raised her hand and slapped her, scolding, "Stinky rascal!"
Shen Jue was slapped inexplicably, and said with a frown, "What are you doing!"
"Look at my boobs!"
"… "
Shen Jue was speechless. That's all, she just saved him anyway, so she doesn't care about her. Shen Jue took a deep breath and asked calmly, "What are you carrying in your arms?"
Concubine Gao dodged her eyes and stammered: "It's nothing, I'm not pretending, I just gained weight recently!"
"Tomorrow, you will be able to eat good food and dishes." Shen Jue said patiently, "If you don't show me, you will never eat good food tomorrow."
"Hmph, I don't believe it! A man's mouth, a liar! You coaxed that stupid little white face in your house, and you still want to coax me?"
Shen Jue's calm mood was spoken by Concubine Gao in a few words, and then collapsed again. She gritted her teeth and said, "What did I coax him into?"
Concubine Gao went to the ground with a "bah" and said, "Don't look at me stupid, I have a clear mind! You coax him to play with you, treat you as a cow and a horse, and sleep with you!"
Shen Jue was stabbed at the center of the matter, her throat choked, and she didn't say anything. He didn't tell Xiahou Rong that Jialou Luo came to the palace to look for him, and he even used the fact that he was bullied by Liu Kerry to make Xiahou Rong agree to stay. I don't know since when, he was used to playing tricks and tricks. As long as Xia Houlin can stay, what is there to deceive him or lie to him? Will Xia Houlin know this? Do you hate him if you know
It didn't matter, he told himself, as long as he didn't say it, who knew he had met Garuda
It's just that I didn't expect him to do it without leaking, so that this lunatic could see clearly what he was hiding, Shen Jue sneered: "I think your mind is getting more and more confused, you should go to the Imperial Physician's Office tomorrow to ask for a doctor. Right, I'll show you a good look."
Before the words were finished, Concubine Gao didn't take care of herself, and several shiny meat buns rolled out of her clothes and rolled on the ground several times before stopping.
Shen Jue: "..."
Concubine Gao picked up the steamed bun with tears in her eyes, as if a child had died, and cried with a sullen mouth: "My steamed bun! It's all your fault! You are a big badass!"
I don’t know when the rain stopped. The dark clouds of the past few days dissipated, revealing the moon with the size of a disk. There was water on the ground, and the moonlight was sparkling like a layer of broken silver. The two entered the threshold of Shunzhen Gate, quietly closed the palace gate, and walked in under the frosty moonlight. Concubine Gao was still holding the dirty bun, tears in her eyes.
Shen Jue let out a long sigh, walked to the small kitchen, took out a small box of cakes and handed it to Concubine Gao, saying, "This is my own body, that's all, save yourself some food."
Concubine Gao was flattered, she hurriedly put the cake in her arms, and said tearfully, "I was wrong, you are a good person!"
Shen Jue was speechless, ignored her, and walked back to the house. He was a little wet, so he stood outside the door and wrung the rain off his body before pushing the door into the house. It was too late, he was worried about waking Xia Houlin, and he didn't take a shower, so he took off his clothes and lay down on the couch. In the darkness, Xiahou Lin on the kang turned over and asked inarticulately, "Master, where have you been so late?"
With icy hands, Shen Jue sighed and said, "Release."
"Wow, it's been so long, young master, don't you have a yang knot? Maybe you'll get hemorrhoids. Get some medicine to open the intestines tomorrow?"
Shen Jue lifted his eyelids and glanced at Xia Houlin, ignoring him.
"Why did you sleep on the couch?" Xia Houlin asked.
Shen Jue remembered the phrase "I still want to sleep with you" that Concubine Gao said in the back garden, and her heart jumped fiercely. That lunatic, Concubine Gao, is talking nonsense. Closing her eyes, Shen Jue said, "It's inconvenient for the two of you to sleep together, so I'll sleep here."
Xia Houlin was a little puzzled, Shen Jue's mind had always been confused, the two of them slept well, and they didn't know what they had offended him, so they were going to sleep in separate beds? Because he slept with Shen Jue, Xia Houlin obediently took a bath every day and kept himself clean. Does Shen Jue think that he is dirty, that he is smelly, or that he looks ugly with a face of four joys
Forget it, he admits defeat, let's do what love does. Xia Houlin sat up from the bed, stepped on the ground with bare feet, walked to Shen Jue's couch, didn't say hello, and directly hugged Shen Jue, Shen Jue was so startled that he grabbed at Xia Houlin's arms and shouted: " what are you doing!"
Shen Jue lived a very hard life in the palace, so thin that only a handful of bones were left, and he didn't have any weight in his arms. Xia Houtong easily carried the person onto the kang, and said, "How can there be a reason for the young master to sleep on the couch and the book boy sleeping on the kang?" After saying that, he returned to the couch without turning his head and got into the quilt.
Shen Jue was silent for a moment, covered the quilt, and fell asleep.
The next morning, it was dawn, the masters were still sleeping under the covers, and the slaves were already busy. Light up the lights, light up the lights, clean up, and make breakfast. Ganxi Sisuo was a place outside the palace, and the slaves generally had to sleep until the sun was up. Since Shen Jue came, although they were not required to get up early like other palaces, they at least had to catch up with the breakfast leader. time.
Because they were able to eat breakfast, everyone didn't have any complaints, plus Shen Jue had always been clear about rewards and punishments, and treated people with kindness, everyone knew that Shen Jue was good, so it was inconvenient to talk too much. When Xia Houlin was injured, he didn't care about it, he was locked in the room and slept in the dark. Now that the injury is healed, I wake up and do things consciously. The young man is full of strength, and he can take care of all the chores in the courtroom.
The eunuchs who swept the floor with him were not very young, and at the age of twelve or thirteen, it was the time to be active. As soon as a few people met, they started mumbling again.
"Hey, Brother Sixi, I just went to the pantry to get breakfast. Guess what I met?"
Before Xia Houlin could answer, the others scrambled to ask, "What did you see? Could it be the beautiful girls who have just entered the palace. I heard that all the goddesses came down to earth, which made our emperor dazzled!"
"Bah, you are missing a piece in your crotch, how can you still miss a woman?" The little eunuch squinted at the man and continued, "Someone fell into the water in Yuqingchi last night, and he died so miserably, and he was sent all over his body. It's like dough, and when you poke it, it's a nest."
Some people didn't care and said: "Isn't it just drowning? How many people have been drowned in Yuqingchi since the founding of Daqi? Palace concubines, eunuchs, palace daughters, cats and dogs, how many are there? What's so strange about this? ."
The little eunuch said: "It's unlucky to say that he is also unlucky. Yu Linwei's elder brother said that this man stole the gold cup and silver cup from the dining room in the middle of the night, and presumably planned to send it to Liulichang to sell. Who ever wanted to walk carelessly, When I slipped, a piece of the bridge railing cracked, and the person fell over."
"The emperor built a new leopard room in Xiyuan, and he hasn't come to the backyard for a long time. These eunuchs and maids don't take cleaning and repairing seriously, and no one finds the broken railings. Fortunately, the one who died was a little eunuch who stole things. If Which noble person bumped into this bad luck, but a bunch of people have to be unlucky!"
Xia Houlin interjected, "You've been talking for a long time, but who hasn't died yet."
The little eunuch touched his head and said, "Hey, I forgot to mention it. It's Eunuch Liu from the pantry."
Xiahou Lin was suddenly startled, and stopped talking, feeling up and down in his heart. Shen Jue went out the door last night, shouldn't it have something to do with this
Xia Houlin thought about it and felt that Shen Jue couldn't get rid of it. Wasn't Si Xi killed by him for molesting Shen Jue? Shen Jue has a small mind and comes from an aristocratic family. He has read the Four Books, Five Classics, Three Principles and Five Principles since he was a child. Even though he became a slave, his arrogant and arrogant temperament could not be changed. How could he tolerate such humiliation? If you don't peel the dead eunuch a layer of skin, it will be light.
How can this man be so bold? Even Xiahou Rin himself would have to weigh himself if he wanted to move a knife under the emperor's eyes.
Xia Houlin put down his work and looked around for Shen Jue. Shen Jue is not an idler, and there are so many things going on and on, and I don't know where they are going.
After turning around for a long time, I finally met in the corridor. Shen Jue had just returned from the needlework bureau, holding the girls' summer clothes in his hand. The people in the palace have always come to see people eating dishes. In places like Zhongcui Palace and Yonghe Palace, the eunuchs sent Xiayi over early, but only places like Ganxisi and others thought they were being ignored. Shen Jue wanted to. You can only get it after urging it for three or four times.
He ran into Xia Houlin head-on, and he didn't have time to pay attention to him, but Xia Houlin himself followed and asked in a low voice, "Liu Deyi is dead, do you know about this?"
Shen Jue glanced at him and said, "I know, what's wrong?"
Xia Houlin looked at his indifferent expression, not sure if this had anything to do with him, he hesitated: "Did he really fall into the water himself?"
"Of course not," Shen Jue replied cheerfully, "I did it, what's the matter? I can't see that you still have such kindness, so you came to ask me for a sin?"
"It's really you!" Xia Houluo grabbed his wrist and said, "Are you going to kill you! It's so risky, why don't you discuss it with me?"
"I can do it myself, you can take care of your injury at ease, don't worry about me!" Shen Jue shook off Xia Houlin, turned his head and left.
Xia Houlin followed him step by step, gritted his teeth and said: "What are you talking about! You don't treat me as a brother and don't want me to help, then why do you let me stay, as a vase, as a decoration, does it look good? "
Shen Jue listened and was stunned for a while. Whether they were brothers or masters and servants, Shen Jue himself couldn't tell. It seemed that he never regarded Xia Houlin as a brother, but he never regarded him as a servant. What exactly is Xia Houlin to him
Shen Jue couldn't figure it out, and was upset, afraid that he would continue to ask questions, and quickly said, "Who gave you the face? Are we the same father or the same mother, are you my brother?"
Xia Houlin was stunned for a while, then stopped and stayed there for a while, that's right, Shen Jue never said that he treated him as a brother, it was all because of his self-love. After thinking about it for a long time, he also felt amused. He looked up and saw that Shen Jue had already walked away, so he hurriedly ran over and said, "It doesn't matter if you're not a brother, then you can't kill people!"
"Why? You can and I can't?"
Shen Jue was thinking wildly when he heard Xia Houlin say: "You are different!" His voice was astringent, "How can you get blood on your hand holding the pen?"
In a word, it was unremarkable, but like a sharp blade, it cut open the scarred wound on Shen Jue's heart dripping with blood.
The hand holding the pen holder? These words swirled in Shen Jue's ears, and the hands holding Xia Yi suddenly tightened, creating deep folds on the clothes. How long has it been since he touched a pen? He was a eunuch, and he didn't even have a pen and ink. Since he entered the palace, he has touched the broom, poured the night pot, washed the clothes, but never took the pen.
It's ridiculous, Shen Jue thought, Xia Houlin is really an idiot, does he think he can go back to the past
"Xiahoulin, Xie Jinglan is dead, and now standing in front of you is Shen Jue," Shen Jue said slowly, her pale face as indifferent as Qiu Shuang, "Shen Jue is a eunuch, a slave, and a dog raised by the master. What kind of pen should I take?"
"You!" Xia Houlin felt sad for a while, he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. After choking for a long time, he said with difficulty, "Young master, you are different from me, I am an assassin, and now I have a lot of life debts on my shoulders. There are already two or three, and it’s okay to have a few more. In the future, whoever you want to kill, just leave it to me, and I will help you. Those who bully you, I will kill you, and those who insult you, I will kill you!”
"What's the difference?" Shen Jue laughed mockingly, "Isn't holding a pen the same as holding a knife? You are too naive, Xia Houlin. With a knife in hand, you can take one's life; with power, you can destroy it. The door of a family; not to mention the wrath of the emperor, millions of corpses, bloodshed for thousands of miles! The ink seal is the dirtiest thing in the world! Do you think your assassins have the most debts of life? No, the ones who deserve to go to hell the most The person is the one who sits on the throne of the Fengxian Temple and enjoys the worship of the people!"
"I-I know, but..." Xiahou was stupid, his mind was a mess, scratching his ears and cheeks for a long time, not knowing what to say.
"You just don't want me to go down this road, right?" Shen Jue asked lightly.
"Yes, that's right!" Xia Houlin didn't want to care about the emperor, he only knew that Xie Jinglan had said that when the eunuchs were there, he retired to the prefecture and county, the eunuchs were pacified, he helped the society, how could Shen Jue become The eunuch party in Xie Jinglan's mouth!
Xia Houlin took a deep breath and said, "Young master, you don't understand, you can't look back when your hands are stained with blood. Killing people is addictive. If you kill once, there will be a second time, and a second time. The first time, there will be a third time. You will become less and less concerned about human life, and you will feel that there is no difference between people and grass. If you die, you will die. If you don’t have it, you will be gone. Is that so?"
He waited for Shen Jue's answer, Shen Jue's expression was still indifferent, like a layer of ice, he turned his head, stared at Xia Houlin, and asked slowly, "Oh? Why not?"
Xia Houlin widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Xiahou Lin, let me ask you," Shen Jue's eyes were calm, "Why did you kill?"
Xia Houlin was stunned and said, "To live."
"Then, so do I." A very light smile appeared on Shen Jue's mouth, and he whispered, "I have already embarked on this road, and even if it is irretrievable and my body is shattered, I will not hesitate. I will avenge Aunt Lan's revenge. , I want to kill Weide, I want to take charge of the East Factory, and I want to be the director of the Si Lijian. If you don't want to see me like this, just go."
After Shen Jue finished speaking, he smoothed the folds on his summer clothes, and stepped out of the corridor without turning his head.
Xia Houlin looked at his back and said nothing for a long time.
After that, Shen Jue and Xia Houlin didn't speak for several days. Shen Jue kept her head down and didn't care what Xia Houlin thought or looked at. Xia Houlin was not idle, and he had not seen anyone for the past few days, so he didn't know what he was busy with. The two met at night, turned off the lights and slept as usual, and said nothing.
This day, Shen Jue served Gao Concubine vegetables, and the dining room was replaced by a steward. Their food returned to normal again, and Gao Concubine rolled on the ground happily. She has become obsessed with rouge gouache again in the past few days, and she painted her face like a monkey's butt. Now, the level of her madness can be described as admirable, she is simply disgusted with dogs, and even the other two mad ladies are disdainful of being in the company of them, deeply afraid of falling to her own level of madness, and only Shen Jue can talk to her calmly.
After setting the dishes, he turned around and saw Xia Houlin standing outside the threshold looking at him.
"What?" Shen Jue's voice was cold.
Xia Houlin took out a three-foot-long wooden knife from behind and held it flat in his hand.
Shen Jue looked at the wooden knife doubtfully and thought indiscriminately, could it be that Xiahou Rin felt that he would be a scourge in the future and would have to be strangled in the cradle, so he wanted to stab him to death with this wooden knife
"I'm afraid you'll kill yourself. I'll teach you a few tricks that will work. If the horse stumbles and is caught in a prison, maybe he can escape with his peerless swordsmanship." Xiahou Lian pretended to sigh, " Then, if you come to join me, if you have the time, I can arrange errands for you."
After speaking, Xia Houlin held the knife in both hands, drew a neat arc, and pointed the tip of the knife to Shen Jue.
Shen Jue sneered twice.
"What's the matter, I don't like Xiao Ye's kung fu?" Xia Houlin raised his eyebrows.
Shen Jue stepped over the threshold, passed by Xia Houlin's side, took the wooden knife from his hand, and said, "See you at the palace wall tonight at Hai Shi."