Yenching finally arrived in the middle of winter.
Snow flies in the sky, from salt grains to goose feathers. The streets and alleys were covered with thick snow overnight. Thousands of miles are frozen, thousands of miles are snow drifting, and the world has turned silvery white. Occasionally, a yellow dog is not fastened and ran across the snow, leaving a deep plum-shaped footprint.
Jiang Li stood in the courtyard, with crystal-clear ice hanging upside down on the eaves, like a bead curtain in the beauties’ bedroom in a deep palace. Early in the morning, the snow hadn’t stopped. Jiang Li wore a white cloak, almost blending with the snow. .
"It's too cold in the sky." Tong'er got up early in the morning to sweep the snow in the yard. The iron bucket placed in the yard became an ice lump overnight and stood in the middle of the yard.
Jiang Li looked at the horizon, worries arose in her heart. In winter, there are no more flowers in the Jiang family's flower garden, not even the gardener. Jiang Li knew that Zhao Ke had done something with Ji Heng. Jiang Li didn’t know what this happened. Ji Heng didn’t tell Jiang Li when he left Yanjing City. Instead, Zhao Ke reminded Jiang Li when he left Jiang Mansion, indicating that Jiang Li was not in Jiang Mansion these days. be careful.
Ji Heng didn't tell Jiang Li, either it was really not worth mentioning, or the matter was of great importance and he didn't want Jiang Li to worry too much. Although it may be that for Ji Heng, most things in the world are not worth mentioning to him, but this time, Jiang Li was sensitive to the look of Zhao Ke that was different from the past.
This matter may be more important than she thought, and more than ten days passed, Zhao Ke did not show up in Jiang's Mansion, and there was no news about Ji Heng.
Jiang Li always felt a little uneasy in her heart. She thought about it, and decided to take the initiative to go to the Guogong Mansion once. At least Old General Ji is still there. You can ask Old General Ji, no matter how bad, maybe Situ Jiuyue or Wen Renyao, Lu Ji can know a little bit.
"Let's go to the National Palace." Jiang Li said.
Tong'er and Bai Xue didn't understand, they thought Jiang Li had something to go to Ji Heng. Now that Jiang Li and Ji Heng are married by his majesty, there is nothing wrong with doing so. Unlike the former dynasty, the city of Yanjing is not like the previous dynasty. The girl before marrying can't see her husband, so Jiang Li's doing this is understandable. Mrs. Jiang learned about it, but didn't say anything, but asked Jiang Li to go and return early.
Jiang Li rode a carriage and went to the Guogong Mansion with Tonger Baixue.
The streets are full of playful urchins. In winter, the happiest child is probably the child, who can roll in the snow. The red candied haws are in the white snow, and the lining is extraordinarily bright.
The lantern in front of the Guogong's Mansion was as gorgeous and bright as ever, and the young servant at the mansion's gate suddenly raised a big smile when he saw Jiang Li coming over. This was the first time Jiang Li visited the Guogong Mansion after he was given the marriage. Everyone in the Guogong Mansion knew that Jiang Li would be his wife in the future. There have been no female masters in this mansion for many years. If there is one more, it is rare to see more.
Jiang Li walked in, she didn't need anyone to lead the way, and walked outside of Ji Heng's yard. Sure enough, there was no figure of Ji Heng in or out of the yard, and there was no figure of Wen Ji and Zhao Ke-he really hadn't returned to Beijing.
Thinking of this, Jiang Li found a young man at the entrance of the study and asked, "Is General Ji in the house at this moment?"
The young man shook his head and was about to answer when Jiang Li heard a familiar voice behind him, "He is missing."
Jiang Li turned his head, and Situ Jiuyue walked out from behind. She also held a bamboo basket in her hand, as if she was going to pick flowers in the flower garden. In the winter, she also wore a wolfskin jacket skirt, still dark brown, moccasin boots, and plum thorns tied around her waist. She was clearly beautiful and smart, but she should not get close to anyone who was dressed up.
"Girl in September." Jiang Lidao, Situ Jiuyue lived in the Guogong's mansion all year round, because the flowerbed of the Guogong's mansion contained materials for her refining medicine, she asked: "You just said that General Ji is missing?"
"Yes." Situ Jiuyue said: "The day after Ji Heng left Yanjing, General Ji was gone. Kong Liu and Lu Ji sent people to find them, but they haven't been there yet."
Jiang Li's heart was tight: "It's because of someone..."
"No." Situ Jiuyue said: "He took the sword from the study."
Jiang Li's heart did not relax because of this. Since General Ji took the sword, it can be seen that he left by himself. Why take a sword? The first thought of ordinary people is about revenge. But the old general Ji is already old, why is this so? Jiang Li said: "Miss September, do you know what Ji Heng did after leaving Yanjing City this time? Are Master Lu and Master Kong away? Maybe Young Master Wenren can know some too."
"I don't know what he is going to do, he didn't tell me. Maybe he told Lu Ji and Kong Liu, but they won't tell you either, because they are not in the government office now, I don't know where they went. I only know that Ji Heng is doing a very important thing, which is very dangerous. The fewer people who know, the better."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li did not feel dissatisfied because of Situ Jiuyue's answer. She knew that Ji Heng didn't tell her because he didn't trust her. It was because Ji Heng valued her too much, that she hoped that she would not be involved.
This person... is always used to doing everything by himself, even if he is misunderstood.
Jiang Li sighed in her heart, it seemed that she was helpless. There is no one who knows Ji Heng's situation.
Situ Jiuyue did not continue talking to Jiang Li, but walked into the flower garden and began to pick flowers. The flowers in Guogong’s mansion are still very fresh in winter, but they are different from ordinary flowers. tremble. Jiang Li couldn't help. She didn't know which flowers Situ Jiuyue had to pick, so she had to look at it. Looking at it, I thought of the rumors about the Guogong Mansion.
She said: "I originally thought that Ji Heng collected strange flowers in the mansion because of Aihua. Now it seems that the reason why Ji Heng spends a lot of money to collect so many strange flowers in the flower garden is because the girl in September is easy to concoct poison. Or these flowers were actually collected by the girl in September, but they borrowed the name of Ji Heng."
Ji Heng's two hobbies, one loves flowers and the other is watching theater. But if he is a person who really loves flowers, where is he so harsh, and he finds a rare poisonous flower in the world, it would be better to say that what he collected is the raw material for poisoning in the world. The raw materials were obviously useless for Ji Heng, and he didn't know how to make drugs, so it can be seen that they were prepared for Situ Jiuyue.
"No, these are indeed collected by Ji Heng, but the purpose is indeed to make me concoct medicine, because he hopes that I can concoct a strange poison to wake his father."
Jiang Li's eyes widened. It was the first time she heard about this. According to the rumors, Ji Minghan returned to the mansion that year and left Beijing after learning the news of Yu Hongye's death, and never appeared again. The world has rumored that he was dead a long time ago, but what does Situ Jiuyue's words mean, Ji Donghan is still alive
How is this going
"He... General Jin Wu is still alive?" Jiang Li asked.
"No, he is dead." Situ Jiuyue was pulling out a blue flower. She moved very carefully, digging the soil next to the flower with a small shovel, and did not hurt the rhizome when she picked the flower.
"But... Didn't you just say..." Jiang Li couldn't understand.
"Because I didn't cultivate that kind of poison, but failed, so Ji Heng's father didn't wake up, but also died because of the poison." Situ Jiuyue's hand seemed to trembled, although she tried to maintain her expression. Calm, but it still leaked a little strange after all.
"Girl September," Jiang Li asked as carefully as possible, "Can you tell me what's going on?"
Situ Jiuyue turned his head and looked at her calmly. After a while, Situ Jiuyue lowered his head and continued to move his hands, while saying: "Everyone in the world says that Ji Heng collects the wonderful flowers in the world, but it is only because of the poison in the world. Lie’s flowers are mostly bright and dazzling, with strange shapes. What Ji Heng is looking for is not a strange flower, but a strange poison. He is looking for poison only to cure his father's disease."
"His father's...Illness?" Jiang Li whispered: "Rumors say that General Jin Wu had lost track many years ago."
"Not so. General Ji has always been alive and has not disappeared. I don't know what happened. When I first came to the Guogong Mansion, General Ji was already in the Guogong Mansion. For so many years, Ji Heng Keeping me by my side, even helping me avoid Molan's chase, because in the world, maybe only I can wake General Ji."
"What happened to General Ji?"
"He was seriously injured and poisoned. There is no cure. I have tried my best to maintain the spread of poison. I have been using poison to fight poison for his life. After so many years, he has not awakened. There is no antidote to poison. Three years ago, the poison has spread to the throat and I can’t help it. If this continues, he will live for at most a year. At this time, Ji Heng’s men found a poisonous weed in the desert, and I used the poisonous weed to refine the medicine. But I don’t know what the outcome will be. General Ji might wake up and detoxify completely after taking this medicine, maybe... it will speed up the spread of the poison and kill him immediately."
"On the one hand, I will continue to live for another year, on the other hand, I may wake up or die. I cannot make this decision for General Ji. The old general gave Ji Heng the power of choice, and Ji Heng decided to let his father take the medicine."
When Jiang Li heard this, her heart couldn't help but clenched tightly. She already knew what the ending was, and Situ Jiuyue had just said it, but at this moment she still couldn't help feeling hurt for Ji Heng.
"Every one of us hopes that a miracle will happen. Ji Heng never believed his fate. Before giving General Ji the medicine, he also went to worship his mother. But unfortunately, as Ji Heng himself said, even if it was a show on stage. The team, the comedy singing is too fake, no miracle happened, I failed, General Ji died."
The snow fell one by one in a whirl, and fell on Situ Jiuyue. She seemed to be unaware of it, neither flicking off the snowflakes nor opening the umbrella. Let the cold fall on him, Jiang Li even felt that Situ Jiuyue might be shivering.
"It's not your fault," Jiang Li said softly: "It's not Ji Heng's fault either."
"Of course I know." After a while, Situ Jiueyue said, "But after General Ji died, I still left Yanjing and didn't come back until last year."
Last year, when Ji Heng asked Situ to treat Xue Huaiyuan in September.
"I don't like to owe anyone, but after that incident, I still feel that I owe Ji Heng. If Ji Heng hadn't asked me to treat Xue Huaiyuan, I would never be able to return to Yanjing again in my life. So once I can make up for it. I will try my best to make up for opportunities. So you ask me why I treated Xue Huaiyuan and Xue Zhao. I easily agreed, but it was because my poison killed his father three years ago."
Jiang Li couldn't help but said again: "It's not your fault, Miss September, you have tried your best."
"But the ending is the same. If I am so, Ji Heng's mood can be imagined." Situ Jiuyue said, "I have never seen a person doing one thing so focused in my life. From my knowledge of Ji Heng From the beginning, he built such a flower garden in order to detoxify General Ji. Unfortunately, for so many years, he could only watch the poison spread a little bit every year and was helpless. In the end, he watched General Ji die. Because he made the wrong decision."
Jiang Li was silent. Even if she imagined, she could guess how desperate Ji Heng was at that moment.
Situ Jiuyue finished picking the last flower, stood up, and said, "This is the answer. In fact, I thought that after his father died, he would tear down the flower garden, but I didn't expect the flower garden to remain. Maybe it's to cover people's eyes, maybe it's to be prepared."
Jiang Li said, "So, where is General Ji buried?"
"You can't go to war. For fear of people discovering the clues, it is also his father's wish before his death to burn his body to ashes and place it in his mother's tomb."
Jiang Li heard the key points in Situ Jiuyue's words, and said: "For fear of people discovering clues? Is General Ji's poisoning intentional? Is this person hiding in the dark, still in Beijing?"
Situ Jiuyue looked at Jiang Li: "Yes. Since you guessed it, I don’t need to say it, but I don’t know more about it. Ji Heng doesn’t fully trust someone, but maybe You are an exception, but in order to protect you, he will not tell him a lot, so maybe only he knows the most terrifying and ugly truth."
Jiang Li arrived now, and suddenly understood why Ji Heng had such a character. It is probably true to say that he is moody and murderous, but after experiencing such things, there may be more terrible facts. When he was a boy, Ji Heng learned to face the darkness alone and walk out of the darkness. If you want to protect what you want to protect, the first thing you have to learn is to survive in the dark, to make him like A Zhao, an upright and upright person like Xue Huaiyuan, it’s impossible. In Ji Heng’s eyes Here, even naive and ridiculous.
Jiang Li couldn't tell how she felt, she just felt like a stone was pressed in her heart, and she could not breathe heavily. Each of these brightly colored flowers filled with layers of flowerbeds is what Ji Heng has expected since he was young. Unfortunately, the flowers are still prosperous, but the expectations have been lost.
She thought of coming to Guogong's mansion late at night that day. Ji Heng was planting trees in the yard. He planted trees very slowly. He looked at the flowers in the flowerbed, but his eyes were very lonely.
She suddenly couldn't bear to think about it anymore.
Situ Jiuyue walked into the refining pharmacy with a bamboo basket full of flowers. But she didn't reconcile the medicine right away. Instead, after putting the bamboo basket in place, she walked to the edge of the yard again, looking at the snowy ground in a daze. I thought about General Ji again, and let her tone be so cold and calm, but her heart was not without ups and downs.
The two girls are standing in the yard, the world is white and vast, each has its own thoughts, but they feel that the world is impermanent and the world changes, and they are helpless and bitter.
After a long time, the snow stopped until Xiao Hong in the cage woke up, opened black bean-like eyes, flew to the eaves, tilted his head and looked at the two Jiang Li.
Jiang Li said, "September girl, I want to go to Ye Mansion to see my uncle. Would you like to show A Zhao the injury? Last time he promised A Zhao to poison the whip. Go to A Zhao to send it off."
Her heart was strangely depressed, and she was eager to use other things to ease the suffocation in her heart, otherwise she would be overwhelmed by this sad mood, and there would be no other things in her mind for a while. She wanted to see Ah Zhao, her father, Ye Mingyu and Ye Shijie, and let her heart rest for a while.
She thinks Situ Jiuyue is the same, if Jiang Li is no longer, Situ Jiuyue alone, decided that he would not go to Yefu.
Situ Jiuyue was startled and looked at Jiang Li suspiciously. When she saw Xue Zhao last time, she did say that she could concoct poison for Xue Zhao's whip, but Jiang Li still remembered it.
"September girl, let's go together." Jiang Li said.
Situ Jiuyue did not refuse, she said: "Okay."
The two of them left the Guogong Mansion, got into the carriage, and walked very quickly, as if to escape a certain emotion. Tong'er and Bai Xue looked at each other. No one knew what was going on. They only felt that the atmosphere between Situ Jiuyue and Jiang Li was a bit strange and surprisingly quiet.
The carriage was far away and stopped at the gate of Ye Mansion. Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue jumped out of the carriage together, probably because it was too cold and the little servant at the gate of Ye Mansion was not there. Tong'er stepped forward and knocked the door with the door handle of the bronze lion of Ye Mansion.
No one answered for a while.
Jiang Li felt a little strange, could it be that Ye Mingyu was not there? But even if Ye Mingyu wasn't there, the young man in Ye Mansion should always stay in the mansion. Jiang Li wondered if Ye Mingyu was practicing swordsmanship in the mansion. He didn't hear it. She took a few steps forward and just wanted to knock on the door again. Suddenly, her eyes stopped.
From the gate of Ye Mansion and between the cracks of the door, a hint of red escaped. This red is really very thin and thin. In addition, the weather is too cold, and the blood is frozen in front of the door. If you don’t look at it carefully, you will almost think It is a human illusion.
Jiang Li's eyes were frozen, and Situ Jiuyue also noticed that something was wrong. When he stepped forward to look, his brow frowned, and he opened the door without saying a word.
"Kang Dang" sounded.
As soon as he pushed it away, a wind mingled with blood rushed toward his face. Not far from the door, the little servant who saw Jiang Li always greeted him with a smile fell in a pool of blood, stretched one hand toward the door, as if he wanted to open the door, and then his life was fixed here forever Up.
Tonger screamed, Jiang Li was flustered, and ran inside when he lifted the skirt. Along the way, the Ye family's servants and guards were everywhere. These people were all killed with a single knife, and the wounds pierced from the front of the chest to the back, which was extremely miserable. Jiang Li couldn't help saying: "Uncle! Mr. Xue! A Zhao! Cousin Ye! Haitang!"
Situ Jiuyue followed closely, but did not hear anyone's answer, Jiang Li was so startled that tears were falling, almost fainting. Ye Mingyu and Ye Shijie treated her as their relatives. Needless to say, Xue Zhao and Xue Huaiyuan, their family just reunited, are they suffering this bad luck again, is God playing with them
Jiang Li was going crazy. She looked around, but did not find the corpses of her relatives. She didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing. Then, she heard Situ Jiuyue yelling: "Xue Zhao!"
Jiang Li's heart jumped, and he ran over without thinking, and saw Situ Jiuyue standing in the yard blankly. The yard was in a mess. The bodies of several guards fell to the ground, and Xue Zhao's wheelchair rolled over. , A whip was broken in half and buried in the snow.
Situ Jiuyue picked up the whip, his hands trembling.
The whole Ye Mansion was searched inside and outside, and there was no one of them. The rest of the people never survived, like a piece of hell.
"Girl, what should we do? Let's report to the officer first. It's not safe here. What if the bad guys haven't left yet, what should I do to hurt the girl?" Bai Xue was a little frightened.
Jiang Li took the whip from Situ Jiuyue, but she didn't see Xue Zhao and their corpses, her heart gradually calmed down, and she was able to think clearly about something. She shook her head, "Those gangsters are not here."
Situ Jiuyue and the two maids looked at him.
"All the servants of the Ye family are dead, and my uncle and cousin are missing. If the enemy did it, why bother to bring Mr. Xue and Xue Zhao, and Haitang is also a servant. These people are obviously closely related to me. The people behind are afraid that they are not directed at them, but at me."
Situ Jiuyue asked: "What does this mean?"
"They didn't kill Mr. Xue's uncle and the others, because there are no their bodies here. If they are dead, they can be placed here. It can be seen that the purpose is not to kill people, but to take them away and hide them and threaten me."
"Threatening the girl?" Tonger asked: "What are you threatening the girl? Do you want the girl to do something for them?"
Jiang Li said, "Miss September, come here first."
Situ Jiuyue and Jiang Li stepped aside, frowned and looked at Jiang Li: "What did you think of?"
"If someone wants to deal with the Jiang family, you don’t have to start with me. I don’t have much effect on the Jiang family. If you want to use me to threaten my father what to do, my father will never compromise. So I think it may not belong to the Jiang family. The question, but..."
"You mean Ji Heng?" Situ Jiuyue said immediately.
Jiang Li nodded, "Since you said that Ji Heng is doing a very important thing, it may be the same for the other party. I think their purpose is to threaten me with the lives of Ye Mansion people, and then I will do it. Threatening Ji Heng."
"What...what do you want to do?" Situ Jiuyue asked hesitantly.
Jiang Li said: "I think they will send me a letter soon and tell me how to do it. Let's act by chance."