In the evening, the carriage stopped at the entrance of a remote woods.
The towering trees were like sharp swords, piercing straight into the sky. The setting sun cast shadows on the ground, dividing the earth and the carriage into two parts, one in the shade and the other in the sun.
Shen Buci walked to the carriage where the gifts were being delivered and knocked on the window three times, waking up Li Er who was still taking a nap.
Li Er yawned and asked, "Is dinner ready again?"
Shen Buci said, "Young Master, please come over."
Li Erqi said, "It's rare that you are willing to condescend to talk to me."
Shen Buci did not comment, and brought Li Er in front of His Highness. Then he stepped aside and stood not far away waiting with Zhou Huairang.
Shen Buci was on guard at all times, listening carefully and looking in all directions, while Zhou Huairang, who was powerless, looked at the prince standing in the sun with peace of mind.
Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wore a red persimmon-colored brocade robe, as if dyed with ink and mist, paired with a light gauze veil hat, the same color as the sunset, brilliant and eye-catching.
Few people can handle such a rich and noble color, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is one of them. Even though Zhou Huairang sees His Royal Highness almost every day, he couldn't help but sigh at this moment: "Your Royal Highness is so handsome, and all the advantages of His Majesty and the Prime Minister have been inherited by His Royal Highness."
Shen Buci glanced at Zhou Huairang and said, "After saying this, do you want to die?"
Zhou Huairang covered his mouth and said, "Wrong, wrong." Fortunately, the prince's life experience has long been a well-known secret in the palace, and it won't kill anyone if you talk about it in private. Zhou Huairang looked at it for a while, his expression gradually complicated: "Old Shen, look at me, am I blind? If you only look at the back, the fish killer seems to be okay?"
Li Er and His Highness, one wearing coarse linen and the other wearing Shu brocade and Wu silk, should have been worlds apart. But if you were a little further away, you couldn't see Li Er's face and clothes clearly, you could only see a tall black figure with broad shoulders and long legs, standing opposite His Highness the Crown Prince.
The two of them, one bright and one dark, are like the setting sun and the shadows of the trees, forming a picture that complements each other.
Shen Buci: "Yes."
Zhou Huairang: "You think so too?!"
Shen Buci: "Yes, you are blind."
At this moment, the two people who were a picture in the eyes of others did not look at each other in a friendly way.
Zhao Mian was more certain of his suspicion of Li Er. It was normal for him to think that Li Er was unfriendly, but it was a big problem if Li Er thought that he was unfriendly.
It is not difficult to see that Li Er approached them just to borrow their power to go to Kyoto to deal with Wan Hua Meng. At first, in order to achieve his goal, Li Er's attitude towards him was respectful, but since he made Li Er kneel down, when Li Er looked at him again, although on the surface there was no difference from the past, he could feel some subtle dissatisfaction in Li Er.
In this world, most people live in mediocrity and do nothing in their lives, so anyone with a little talent has more or less some arrogance in their bones, and what is in their bones cannot be concealed even if they want to.
Although Li Er felt very happy when he knelt, only he himself knew how reluctant he was in his heart.
Li Er asked him, "What can I do for you, sir?"
Zhao Mian said: "One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
"Bad news."
"The bad news is that you are going to die." Zhao Mian said lightly, "I said it."
Li Er's eyes twitched. "Why is that? Didn't we discuss this yesterday? If I die, you will also die if you can't find the antidote."
Zhao Mian lied calmly: "The problem is, my people have found a way to remove the poison."
Li Er was stunned for a moment: "Is this your good news?"
"Yeah." Zhao Mian looked at Li Er with eyes like cold arrows, "It's useless for me to keep you. You must die."
Li Er lowered his head in thought, then shook his head with a bewildered look, "I don't quite understand. You found a way to cure the poison, which is a good thing for everyone. It's true that keeping me here is useless, but I... 'must die'?"
Zhao Mian nodded: "That's right."
Li Er's facial features gradually wrinkled up. "Sir, we have no grudges against each other, why do you always shout at me to kill me? The culprit is Wan Hua Meng, who is keen on teasing the world and treating other people's struggles as a show. What does it have to do with me? I don't want to be poisoned either. I am innocent, okay? You won't be so cruel as to attack the innocent fishmonger, right?"
Zhao Mian said, "Wanhua Meng's male and female Gu are born as a pair, and will die if separated. The so-called intercourse between two poisoned people is just to make the two Gu merge into one. So, if I can open your body and take out the Gu, I can use the living Gu taken out from your body as medicine, and then use it to feed the poison in my body, which can achieve the same effect."
Li Er crossed his arms, was silent for a moment, then sighed, like a teenager who was forced to play with a child: "Great, great! Who is the genius doctor with superb medical skills who told you this? You are so smart and intelligent, you are comparable to Crouching Dragon and Phoenix."
Of course Zhao Mian would not tell Li Er that the divine doctor was himself. In fact, he also felt that this statement was too outrageous and unconvincing, but it didn't matter, he just wanted an excuse to kill someone.
He asked, "Anyway, do you understand?"
Li Er said quietly, "I don't know how to comment on your method of removing the poison."
Zhao Mian said stubbornly, "If a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. I am not a good person. You also said that a real man would rather die than surrender, and you, Li Er, would rather die than marry. In this case, I will kill you to protect myself, which can be regarded as fulfilling your wish."
Li Er looked at Zhao Mian for a long time, then suddenly his brows relaxed, as if he had given up resistance: "Okay, go ahead."
Li Er said it so calmly, as if he was sure that he would not take action and was just talking.
Zhao Mian said coldly: "You seem to think I'm joking with you?"
Li Er raised his eyebrows: "Otherwise? You are not that capable of finding a solution to the male and female Gu in just a few days. If Wan Huameng's Gu was really that easy to solve, those Dongling dignitaries who were forced to marry by Wan Huameng wouldn't have to worry about their lives."
Li Er also laughed: "First, Wan Huameng has done many evil things. Even though he is extremely powerful, not every Dongling person will respect him. There are many people who want to kill him. Second, I don't pay enough attention to details. Is it useful? You should still doubt me. I am tired of pretending."
Zhao Mian didn't expect Li Er to admit it so readily. He had indeed never given up on Li Er from the beginning, but he could never find definite evidence. Especially after Li Er showed off his skill of killing fish with his eyes closed, he dared not make any rash judgments. It was not until Shen Buci discovered that someone was following them that he had a rough idea.
Zhao Mian said coldly: "Finally you are willing to admit that you are pretending."
Li Er said: "Admit it. But I'm a little curious, when did you start to doubt me?"
Zhao Mian generously told the truth: "A long time ago, before I met you."
Zhao Mian thought Li Er would ask questions like "You haven't seen me, so why do you doubt me?" Unexpectedly, Li Er didn't even think about it and said, "Because I didn't show up in Qinghui Building in time?"
Zhao Mian gave Li Er a look with a hint of surprise.
He has a problem that is not really a problem, which is that he only likes to talk to people with good looks. This is not a natural problem, but because he grew up in an environment full of beautiful women. His father, the prime minister, his younger brother, and his many teachers were all handsome men with different styles. After spending more than ten years with these people, he has a very low tolerance for ugly men. He will feel stuffy in his heart and chest if he looks at them for more than one second, and it will also affect his appetite.
It was the first time in a few days that he looked at Li Er so seriously and inquiringly, and the conclusion he came to was almost the same as the first time he met him.
Dark skin, extremely ugly.
However, this dark-skinned man’s eyes… are quite nicely shaped, with a breeze-like feel in his pupils, giving him a rather cool and uninhibited feeling.
A fishmonger who has been killing fish for twenty years should have a cold heart and cold eyes. How could he have such a look in his eyes
Li Er raised his hand and touched his chin, saying, "Ah, is it really so unbelievable that I didn't notice the red line on my wrist because it was too dark
Although Zhao Mian knew that he would not get an answer, he still couldn't help but ask, "Li Er, who are you?"
Li Er sneered: "I was just about to praise you for being smart, why are you being stupid again? Is your question meaningful? Can I answer it?"
Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment, then quickly returned to normal: "It really is meaningless."
Questions without answers are meaningless. If Li Er asked him who he was now, he would laugh even louder than Li Er.
Li Er never asked about his identity, not even his last name. Even though he covered his face with a veil all day, Li Er did not show much interest in his appearance.
Because he and Li Er both knew that the answers were always found by oneself, not asked.
"I'm curious, where did Wan Hua Meng plant the male and female Gu in your body?" Zhao Mian's eyes fell on Li Er's chest, "Left or right, top or bottom, heart or dantian?"
At this point, Li Er was still in the mood to answer his question: "I don't know, you should ask Wan Huameng."
"How about this, we start from the top and go down. First your eyes, then your chest and heart..." Zhao Mian took a step forward, approached Li Er, and whispered, "Tell me, at which number of cuts will those people hiding in the dark show up?"
It was the first time that the two of them were so close. The elegant scent of tea mixed with the smell of books came over, and Li Er's nose was lightly brushed by the light gauze of the veil, which made him feel itchy. He raised his hand and scratched his nose, saying, "Hmm? I don't understand."
Zhao Mian sneered, turned around and said decisively: "Someone come."
Shen Buci, who was waiting on the side, immediately rushed over: "Sir."
"Do it."
Shen Buci said "yes", and the sword at his waist came out.
The sword is like its master, majestic and upright. Li Er lowered his eyes and looked at the tip of the sword that was almost against his throat. He finally frowned, and the sword blade, like autumn frost, reflected his gradually cold eyebrows.
Zhao Mian admired the serious expression on the fish killer's face and said happily, "Are you scared now?"
"I'm not that scared, but..." Li Er narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance behind Shen Buci, "It's not very pleasant."
As soon as he finished speaking, the quiet forest suddenly "moved" and the wind became fierce. With the whistling sound of a sharp weapon, a dart with a cold glow broke through the air, and the sword light thundered, and with a "clang" sound, it deflected Shen Buci's sword.
At the same time, two figures, one red and one blue, leaped into the air from the darkness and landed lightly on the ground, their sleeves fluttering, as light as an arrow.
Just as Shen Buci expected, they were two slim women, about seventeen or eighteen years old, one pretty and the other charming, both of them were of decent looks.
The two women looked straight at Li Er and shouted nervously, "Master!"
"Master, we are here to save you!"
The corners of Zhao Mian's mouth rose slightly.
Even if these people knew that this was a trick to lure the snake out of its hole, what could they do? Their master was being held at sword point in front of them, and if they were not careful, they would lose their life. Who dared not to save him? They did not dare to take the risk.
Rather than calling it a conspiracy, it is better to call it an open conspiracy. Sometimes, an open conspiracy can make the victim more angry than a conspiracy, because they know it is a trap but have to jump into it.
Li Er made a "tsk" sound, and his tone revealed an unhappiness that made Zhao Mian happy: "So, I hate it most when others play tricks on me."
(End of this chapter)