When Xie Yilu returned to Nanjing, it was already very cold. The cold in Nanjing was different from that in Beijing. It was damp and cold to the bone.
He entered through the Fire Gate and walked straight to the Xi'an Gate. As soon as he reached the screen wall of Dongda University, someone grabbed him from behind. Well!"
Xie Yilu hurriedly evaded, but more and more people passing by gathered together, and they all booed: "Yes, yes, it's that dog!"
They gathered around, Xie Yilu was very frightened, and suddenly became the kind of fear that everyone criticized: "What are you going to do!"
"Oh, you still dare to yell," the leading rascal slapped him hard, "Teach him a lesson!"
Before Xie Yilu could explain, jagged fists greeted him. Many of them didn't recognize him, they just came to join in the fun, and even regarded it as a game.
"Let you be a dog for the eunuch!" They yelled frantically, "Let you harm the common people, you bastard who has no butthole for giving birth!"
Xie Yilu hugged his head to avoid kicking and beating, he had nothing to do with this kind of atrocity like venting his personal anger, calling for injustice, he was not wronged, he was protecting Liao Jixiang, after all he was a eunuch.
The group of ordinary people gradually dispersed when they got angry. Xie Yilu lay on the ground for a while, wiped the blood and slowly got up, the corners of his mouth and eyes were broken, it’s nothing, he thought, staggering Go to "home".
Passing Xuanjin Bridge, people coming and going avoid him, hide and stare back, he is a little dizzy, his feet are weak, and he fell down at the bridge head, when he looked up, there was a beggar woman in front of him, wrapped in tatters Holding a big string, he sang in melodious and ups and downs: "The cloud cages the moon, the wind makes iron, both help others and are miserable. If you want to write your thoughts on the silver lamp, blow it out with a long breath!"
Xie Yilu stared at her, wiped away the blood from his eyes and watched seriously: "Wang Liuer?" He called tentatively, and suddenly, the woman turned her face towards him, it was really her! Xie Yilu moved closer excitedly, "I... I am Xie Yilu!"
Instead, Wang Liu'er hid back. Obviously, she didn't know the name.
Xie Yilu didn't notice it for a while, and moved towards her. She was still blind, her face was covered with dust, and there was not much money in the wooden bowl on the ground. He asked puzzledly, "Why are you like this?"
She had no expression on her face, she packed up her things and wanted to leave, only then did Xie Yilu realize that under her dirty rags, she had a big, round belly, five or six months old.
"Wait!" Xie Yilu stretched out his hand to pull her, and at the same time took out his few remaining coils in his bosom, but Wang Liu'er threw him away abruptly, slipped a small knife out of his sleeve, and pressed towards him nervously .
Xie Yilu quickly explained: "I... I know you..."
"There are more prostitutes named Wang Liu'er in Nanjing!" she said fiercely.
Xie Yilu was speechless, as if she had been deceived into fear: "Is... Ruan Tian's child?"
Hearing that name, she put down the hand holding the knife suddenly, but she was still on guard, tilting her head slightly, Xie Yilu didn't dare to move rashly: "Did he leave you something to wear?"
Wang Liu'er was silent at first, and then said lightly: "Keep it." As if remembering something sad, she frowned, "I'm a blind man, what can I keep?"
Probably someone stole all the money and kicked her out of the house. Xie Yilu sympathized with her, so he didn't think much about it: "You follow me."
She immediately refused: "I used to be a prostitute, but I am not anymore." She gathered up her tattered clothes and said seriously, "I have a man, but the man is dead."
Xie Yilu was ashamed for a moment, stunned, took out all the scattered silver on her body, and stuffed it into her hand.
"No," she refused to pick it up, leaving only a few big money, "give me a little at a time."
That's right, she is blind and can't keep money, Xie Yilu felt like a knife was cutting her heart: "Where do you live?"
"The head of the bridge." She pointed indifferently at a small piece of mud under the bridge. The soil there was warm without frost, and Xie Yilu was miserable, "The child in my stomach... has it suffered?"
"I can't bear it," she said, "God will." Holding the few big coins, she held the string and wooden bowl, and passed Xie Yilu.
"Thank you." She said goodbye softly.
Xie Yilu watched her get off the bridge with the railing. As for how she committed herself under the bridge, how she nestled on the muddy ground, he couldn't bear to see, dragging his steps, he walked forward and got off the Xuanjin Bridge, which was Xi'an. Outer Street, just at the intersection of Santiao Lane, a group of masons are pulling a rope to erect a monument. The boss is a big gray stone, which stands as tall as a person. , what credit does he have?"
"The arrest of Liao Jixiang... can be regarded as a way for the common people."
"For the common people? Eunuchs don't have a good thing..."
It turned out to be Zheng Xian's stele, Xie Yilu turned his head and glanced at it. If a person is alive, he will erect a stele. He didn't bother to look at it, and staggered away with his back bent. First I went to my own small courtyard, the same fence and the door, only the newcomers lived there, through the door, I could hear the children laughing, thinking of the sky, I don’t know if the leek field is still there, I planted it by myself at that time Did the Panlan, Dianthus, and Xifu Begonias all wither
From here, he went to the yard that Liao Jixiang built for him, which was very close. Not long ago, he walked this road every night, but now the road is still the same road, and the scenery is also the same, but his mood is different.
Knocked on the door, and there was a real answer. The old concierge opened the door. Seeing that it was him, he looked at the blood on his face and asked, "Why aren't you old anymore?"
Xie Yilu hesitated for a long time before crossing the threshold. As soon as he stepped into the yard, his brows were filled with soreness. He choked up and said, "From now on... I won't go!"
After washing up and having a simple meal, it was getting dark. He turned on the lamp and went to bed. He had just put on the quilt when someone knocked on the door outside.
Xie Yilu was stunned for a moment, got up and put on his clothes, waited for the old concierge to invite people in, he took a light to shine it, it was really Qu Feng.
"Don't come here safe." These were Qu Fengtou's words, he had changed, Xie Yilu was a little surprised, he had a beard on his lips, carefully sculpted, he had a steady and steady demeanor, he looked like a leader.
Xie Yilu put down the lamp and sat casually on the edge of the bed: "How do you know I'm back?"
"I have a lot of people," Qu Feng sat down at the table opposite him, "What's going on in Nanjing, I don't even know."
Xie Yilu nodded, he should be referring to the incident where he was beaten at the screen wall of Dongda University: "How do you know this place?"
Qu Feng smiled, with a calm smile. During the time Xie Yilu left Nanjing, he had grown old, like a young tree with a layer of old skin: "I searched for this alley from house to house."
Xie Yilu nodded again, and Qu Feng said, "Will you pour me a glass of water?"
Only then did Xie Yilu remember, got up and poured tea for him, and when he passed the tea to him, he found that his right thumb couldn't move much: "What's wrong with your hand?"
"I was stabbed," Qu Feng said flatly, sipping tea, "Zheng Mi asked someone to do it."
Assassination? Xie Yilu glared at him, Qu Feng waved his hands indifferently: "It's nothing, it happens once or twice a month."
Xie Yilu sat down beside him, with a lamp in between: "Is he still going to pass?"
"Not all," Qu Feng looked over from the light, the warm yellow light was like a knife, cutting his face half-dark, "without Liao Jixiang, now Nanjing is either me or him."
"You are his opponent..."
"My father is dating Qi Wan," Qu Feng interrupted him, "Jiang is still hot," he smiled, and patted his thigh, "When Qi Wan came to pay tribute, he went to pay a visit secretly. Five grades."
Then Zheng Xian didn't dare to act rashly, Xie Yilu was silent, Qu Feng borrowed Qi Wan's light, Qi Wan didn't use him.
"Liao Jixiang..." Qu Feng asked suddenly, didn't look at Xie Yilu, I don't know if he didn't bother to look at it, or he didn't dare to look at it.
"He's in the Supervisor of Rituals." Xie Yilu felt a little thirsty, and poured himself a cup of tea, "...accompany you."
Qu Feng blew out the lamp with a "poof". In the sudden darkness, he asked softly, "You and him..."
Xie Yilu didn't hide it: "We are good friends."
Qu Feng was silent for a while, before he said cautiously: "A close friend, chatting, inscribing, and reciting poems?"
"It's like a husband and wife," Xie Yilu denied his decent guess, "kneeling, kissing, and loving each other."
Qu Feng was speechless again. In the darkness, Xie Yilu felt that the person opposite seemed to be trembling: "Scared?" He asked, "Or disgusted?"
The other person seemed at a loss and seemed confused: "I just..." Qu Feng paused, and said another way, "I don't know."
With that said, he stood up and said goodbye, until he went out, he kept asking repeatedly: "If you have something to come to me, you must come to me..."
Xie Yilu sent him away, went back to his room and fell asleep, he suddenly realized that he is very simple now, fame and fortune, party struggle, assassination have nothing to do with him, he can have no distracting thoughts.
Qu Feng got into the sedan chair, and as soon as the curtain of the sedan chair fell, he closed his eyes in pain, and the leader outside asked, "My lord, shall we go back?"
"Return." He ordered feebly, leaning back on the sedan chair with his brows frowned, the sedan chair trembling, and Xie Yilu's words came back and forth in his mind: We are good friends... kissing, kissing each other...
He was holding on to the armrest of the sedan chair tightly, with sweat oozing from his forehead, and after an unknown amount of time, the chief outside called out, "... my lord... my lord!"
He woke up in a panic: "Ah?" He shivered, his face was covered with white moonlight, he stretched out his hand to cover it, and it was the long attendant who lifted the car curtain outside: "Master, we are home."
Qu Feng then got out of the sedan chair. It was just midnight, and the sedan chair stopped at the door of the room. There were two little maids on the left and one on the right, waiting to lift the curtain to take off his clothes. "
"Let her sleep." Qu Feng didn't even let them finish talking, turned around as soon as he entered the room, instead of going to the main room, he turned to the east side room, where there was a small meditation room, which he opened separately.
When he entered the Zen room, he closed the door. The room was not big, with a maximum of five steps from front to back, left, right, and left.
Like what he does every morning and night, he lit the incense sticks on the candle, three sticks, blew on them, and inserted them into the altar, unlike God or Buddha, he seemed calm and peaceful, like a friend or a family member , there was a big chair opposite the small niche, he went to sit on it, did not speak, just leaned on it blankly.
His woman outside was complaining: "What crime did he do... stay in that room every day, put me in..." mixed with crying, "Tell him... I'm dead!"
Qu Feng stared at the void, as if he didn't hear anything, suddenly, there was a knock on the door, it was his long follower: "My lord, there is a message from the agency that the things have been delivered."
Qu Feng was still like that, lost in thought, blinked lazily, and said: "Got it."
"Duke, just sent it!" The little eunuch pouted his buttocks and fanned the brazier for Zheng Xian. A pot full of new charcoal was burning vigorously. The core of the charcoal was red and the skin of the charcoal was whitish. "It's good charcoal, Grandpa." , you smell the smoke, it doesn't choke you at all!"
Zheng Mian hugged his precious son, lying on the couch, he did not have much smoke: "What's his name?"
"Red bamboo charcoal," the little eunuch fanned enthusiastically, "It is said that it is from the south as a tribute, so let's use it and give it away later."
In the middle of the night, the child was already asleep, and Zheng Mi pinched his cheeks to tease him: "Come on, my eldest baby, let's see if this charcoal is good. You like it. Daddy will burn it for you every day!"
The child pursed his mouth, kicked his calves and feet, and looked like he was about to cry. When Zheng Mi saw him like that, he laughed loudly, and kissed his little face "bobo". At this time, someone came to Tongbing , Said that Tu Key had arrived, Zheng Mi reluctantly put down his son, put on his clothes and went out.
Tu Yao was waiting at the bottom of the steps, and when he saw him, he called out respectfully, "Duke Gong."
Ever since he let Xie Yilu go, Zheng Mi was not very proud of him, with a straight face: "Say."
"The news came back from Beijing." Tu Yao also knew that he didn't trust him anymore, so he spoke tepidly, "Liao Jixiang was transferred to the Supervisor of Rituals, and he is still the fourth rank, serving as the eunuch in the hall."
"Sure enough..." Zheng Mi swept the tip of his tongue over his teeth, his expression was indescribable, as if he was relieved, but at the same time he seemed very jealous, "I'm even limping, and I can't forget..."
There was a "bang" sound from behind, the door was pushed open from the inside, and the little eunuch fell out and lay on the threshold, coughing desperately, coughing, and vomited a mouthful of filth.