Yonoel was silent for a while before replying, "Sorry, I can't answer your question."
"why?"
"Young man, although I am no longer a minister in attendance, I am just an old man buried in old papers. But please forgive me for not commenting on anything related to the king." The old man tapped the wooden handrail with his finger, "My loyalty is not Allow me to answer your question."
"Loyalty? Loyalty to a tyrant who belittled you, deprived you of your annuity and fiefdom, and made you only rely on meager pen and ink income in Chenming Palace to maintain the last decent title?" Fang Tinglan sighed, "It seems that we are It’s the exact opposite of that.”
"No." The old man's voice was calm, "I am loyal to my country."
Fang Tinglan pursed his lips.
A few gray pigeons flew to the window, and they tilted their heads to look at the two people in the dark room. The old man sat upright under the setting sun, while the young man was hidden in the shadows. straight.
"You have misunderstood me. I am not a spy sent by Dongzhou. I want to find Fei Yi, but it is out of some personal matters." Fang Tinglan sighed, "Before he betrayed the country and fled to the southern border, he used to find Fei Yi." My father had a secret conversation once, and it was this secret conversation that ruined my entire family."
Jonor was unmoved.
"At that time, I was still studying in Wulong Palace, and I was the best student. Not surprisingly, I will become a general who is as loyal to the king as my father in the future, guarding this dynasty with will and flesh and blood." Fang Tinglan's voice was very soft, more than Dove whispered even softer, "... if nothing else."
Fang Tinglan will always remember the fierce sun that day. He spent a lot of money to get a new horse, and he won the horse battle on the school grounds without losing a single match. His classmates booed him and asked him to treat him to dinner. The sixteen-year-old Fang Tinglan clapped the dust on his hands and put the whip on his back. Putting it back in his waist, he raised his head and smiled brightly in the sun: "Okay, you can choose any restaurant you want! I am happy today, young master, and you can eat a plate or a plate without any problem."
However, his classmates didn't eat one plate after another, and they didn't even have time to walk to the door of Chi Jincheng's most expensive and famous Jiazhenlou.
Under the scorching heat, Fang Tinglan looked dizzily at the man in black in front of him, as if the man in black was just a black phantom that would evaporate in the sunlight at any moment. However, the man's voice was sharper than the cicadas singing on the tree not far away, and every word pierced his ears like needles: "Young Master Fang, your father is suspected of helping the traitor Fei Yi escape, and has been handed over to the Chief Sikou, now, you also have to go with us."
"This time, I walked directly into the sky prison." Fang Tinglan's smile was not bitter, more like telling an absurd joke, "I wanted to go to the Zhenlou to hold a 'full house' and order a pot' "Yang Chun Zui', I asked an orchid to sing a few more songs, but in the end it became a prison meal with a rotten fish, a glass of muddy water, and the screams of a hundred prisoners."
Sir Yonore listened quietly.
The big and small bandits have been here, and so have the jailers. Everyone asked him over and over again if he knew about Fang Que's assistance in Fei Yi's treason, and he also answered over and over that he knew nothing about living in Wulong Palace. He was searched from top to bottom, all the letters, notes, and even the miscellaneous books that had been thrown in the corner without a glance were put in front of him one by one, asking him why he wrote the letter, who he wrote it to, what he read, Who have you contacted and what are your intentions.
No, no, no. I don't know anything, will I be able to meet my father. My father is the humerus of the country and the most staunch royalist. How could he help a traitor? Did you make a mistake somewhere
When he couldn't bear it anymore, he even roared angrily: "It was my father who personally escorted His Majesty out of Taiyan City. The new capital, Chijin City, is my father's fief. Your Qin family's new palace was even built in our Fang family's house. On the ancestral house! How can you doubt the loyalty of such a person who gave everything for the Hong Dynasty and the Qin family—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was whipped with salt water. This whip told the young man that there is no king in the world, and also told him that the emperor does not need this kind of loyalty.
When Xiao Sikou was about to leave, he looked at the dying young man on the rack, and shook his head and added, "Fortunately, you are living in this era, Mr. Fang, if you were born hundreds of years earlier, what you said just now... no, Even if you didn't say those words, your father should have been punished by the Nine Clans because of his suspicion of treason."
"Ha, look, I'm still alive, and I can drink a cup of tea and tell you the story of the past. I should really be thankful that I was born in a good age." Fang Tinglan rolled up his sleeves, and he could still vaguely see a road Staggered old wounds. The evening sun was sinking more and more, the shadow area in the room moved silently, and the dividing line had slowly come to the lord's feet, "They really didn't know anything when they saw me, after that whip, they Put me in the innermost room of the sky prison, the death row. There is no trial, no verdict."
No one ever visited this dank little cage except the jailers and rats who brought food. With no one to rescue and no one to visit, the Fang family, who was once almost king shoulder to shoulder, has become an existence that everyone can't avoid. Fang Tinglan was confused, cried, scolded, hated, cursed, and even died in the dark corner, but the moment he broke free from the suffocation and fell, all these thoughts disappeared.
In other words, these confusions, crying, cursing, hating, curses and death were all mixed together in an instant, and fused into a brand new idea.
"Revenge." The old man who had been quietly listening to Fang Tinglan finally spoke.
Fang Tinglan smiled noncommittally.
"Are you going to take revenge on your country, young man?" Jonor's voice was low and almost severe.
"No," Fang Tinglan shook his head, "You think too badly of me."
"If it's not revenge, it's something worse than revenge."
This time Fang Tinglan did not deny it.
The Viscount looked directly at the other party for a long time, as if he wanted to read the most greedy desires of Dongzhou people from those dark and calm pupils.
In this silent and long confrontation, Viscount Jonoel's straight back finally relaxed first, and the old man sighed and leaned back, rubbing the bridge of his nose heavily with one hand: "You are not from my clan, I have no position To judge your behavior, but I hope you still have something that can restrain yourself, morality, family affection, love... even if it is just one, it will not let yourself fall into the abyss completely."
"I have." Fang Tinglan replied seriously.
"That's good."
It was completely dark, the pigeons returned to their cages to rest, and Mrs. Jonoel downstairs was calling her husband to come downstairs for dinner. Fang Tinglan also planned to leave. He didn't ask about Fei Yi during this trip, but for some reason, he narrated his experience that he had never told anyone to this foreigner whom he met for the first time today. When he was in love with the Sir, not only did he not have a trace of resistance in his heart, he even felt extremely happy - just like the gods understand the congregation, the teacher understands the students, and the father understands his son.
Even if the other party did not approve of his actions, Fang Tinglan knew that the old man understood him.
Fang Tinglan bid farewell to the other party. He just opened the door of the study when Yonoel looked at his back and said abruptly: "It is said that there is a pirate on the sixteenth island of Yunhai."
Dongzhou people turned around.
"It's called Fecona, because he has a lot of ships and people, so he is the pirate with the largest sphere of influence. It's a pity that this pirate lord always operates within the scope of the high seas and never comes to the Tisu sea area. Otherwise, how could our navy Why is he so rampant," Lord Yonoel said casually, "He commanded the raiders to attack Fanshui, Wanli, Okawa... he was as majestic as a general."
Fang Tinglan became short of breath when the old man said the first word: "What if he is really a general?"
The other party's wrinkles stretched out, and he smiled in front of Fang Tinglan for the first time: "I never said that."
"...Thank you," Fang Tinglan closed his eyes forcefully, and repeated again, "Thank you."
"Thank you, I'm just telling you a legend." Yonoel picked up the candlestick, "Come on, young man, come and try my cook's skills."