MTL - Denghuaxiao

 Chapter 79 The Free Oriole

 When I went back, the raindrops were much lighter.

Yin Zheng was waiting for her at Linzikou from a distance. Every time like this, Lu Yan always asked Yin Zheng to avoid it. He always felt that some things could be done alone, and there was no need to involve irrelevant people.

 Although Yin Zheng has been inevitably involved in this whirlpool.

When I returned to West Street, it was already past midnight. There was no one in the street shops, only the rainwater dripping from the roof tiles along the eaves, and the remaining color on the ground.

Lu Zong and Yin Zheng crossed the outside of the courtyard and hurried into the inner room. Yin Zheng helped Lu Zhuo take off his cloak.

The ony-colored cloak was mostly soaked by the rain. The rain mixed with blood and dripped on the ground. A large cloud of blood flowers spread on the white snow into mottled red flowers. At a glance, there was a shocking beauty under the lamp.

Yin Zheng was a little frightened when he saw it, and asked Lu Zhen after a while: "He has..."

 Lu Zhen said "Hmm", his eyes passed over the blood-colored cloak in Yin Zheng's hand, and he lowered his eyelashes: "It's a pity that I lost a piece of clothing."

 There was silence in the room for a while.

 After a while, Yin Zheng whispered: "Girl, please change into clean clothes first."

"good."

It was a frosty night and the rain was cold, and the cold sound outside was bitter. Yin Zheng was busy helping Lu Zhu clean the blood on his body, and he did not notice the horrified look in the yard outside the window, which was obscured by the night.

　　After everything was cleaned up and the cloak was put away, Yin Zheng held up the lantern and went to the next room to rest. Lu Zhuo blew out a few small candles and got on the bed himself.

The rain outside the house was dripping, and it was very sad.

There were no lights in the room, and it was dark. A ray of wind blew in through the crack of the window, making people feel chilled all over. It sounded vaguely like the hoarse gasps of a person before death.

Like Liu Kun’s scream when he died under the oriole.

Lu Zong lay on his back, staring at the tent above his head.

 Liu Kun was poisoned by the warbler. People who have been poisoned by the warbler will feel the poison in their throats after a few hours. They will feel an unbearable pain and itching in the throat, just like thousands of ants squirming and gnawing in the throat.

This poison is not indestructible, and the poison will disappear naturally after one night. However, most people who can be infected by this poison have a hard time surviving. Just because the pain is so deep, the poisoned person becomes crazy and has thoughts of death.

 So most people who are poisoned by the poison of the warbler die not from the poison, but from suicide.

She wrote "Zizai Ying" on the letter to Liu Kun, and in the letter she agreed to meet Liu Kun according to the time when the poison was released. In the end, Liu Kun was so poisonous that he pierced his throat and died in front of her.

 Everything is seamless.

Thinking of Liu Kun's scratching before his death, Lu Zhu couldn't help but put his hand on his neck, as if he felt an itch in his throat.

 She has also experienced the power of the warbler.

At that time, it was early spring and March in Luomeifeng, the sun was shining brightly, and the mountains were filled with the chirping of orioles. Yun Niang's hibiscus-colored double-breasted gauze dress was dyed bright red by the sunset, her black hair was combed into a bun, and she was sitting in front of the hut making medicine.

She was in a good mood that day. While making medicine, she explained the ingredients to Lu Zhen one by one. Lu Tong sat on a stool, picking herbs and memorizing the ingredients secretly in his mind.

 Finally, Yun Niang poured the prepared medicine into a white porcelain bowl and handed it to Lu Zhen.

 Once a new drug is first prepared, people always need to test it. Lu Chen drank the new medicine, washed the porcelain bowl, and waited for the effects of the medicine to take effect.

 At this time on weekdays, Yun Niang has already left. She is usually impatient and will only wait for the medicine to take effect before walking to her side to observe and record. Today, for the first time, I stayed longer.

"I went down the mountain a few days ago and heard an interesting thing." She suddenly said.

Lu Zhen didn't say anything, just stared at the ant colony on the ground quietly.

Yun Niang glanced at Lu Huan with a smile and continued: "It is said that there is a flower house at the foot of the mountain. There is a singing girl with a very good voice, which is better than the lark oriole. The madam named her 'Zi Zai Ying'."

“When Sister Ying became famous, the princes and grandsons rushed to claim her fame, which finally aroused the jealousy of her peers, so someone poisoned her tea and poisoned her throat.”

"Sister Ying could no longer make a sound. The drunken guests who used to hold her in their hands stopped counting cards. The madam treated her harshly and the maids looked down upon her. Sister Ying was so disheartened that she simply hung herself with a rope in the room."

 After she finished speaking, she sighed deeply: "It's really pitiful."

However, even though he sighed, his expression was completely different from his tone of joy, and his beautiful eyes were shining with strange brilliance.

Lu Zhen remained silent.

Yun Niang said: "When I first heard the story, it was very touching, and the name was also very beautiful, so I made a new medicine based on this. After taking this new medicine, there was no abnormality at first, but later on, I felt itchy and painful in the throat. "

She took one look at Lu Zong's stiff expression and smiled.

“Don’t be nervous, Xiao Qi, this medicine will only make your throat uncomfortable, it won’t kill you. Even if you take it, your life will not be in danger. I just want to know..."

Yun Niang's slender fingertips brushed the top of Lu Zhuo's hair, and her tone was innocent curiosity: "Can you survive it?"

 She smiled, hugged the silver pot and left the thatched hut. After she left, Lu Zhuo crawled into the house, rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, and finally found two fist-thick hemp ropes.

She knows that Yun Niang never lies, and every time she "understates", it will be "unbearable" in the end. Since she used the word "endurance", it means that the itching pain of "Zi Zaiying" cannot be just a little bit.

The sunset sunk down inch by inch, and the silvery white moon gradually rose from the top of the mountain. Yun Niang didn't come back, and Lu Zhuo huddled alone in the dark thatched house, tying his arms with hemp rope to the head of the pillar in front of the couch.

The method of tying a dead knot with one hand was taught to her by Lu Qian when she was a child. At that time, the two brothers and sisters were playing around, competing to see who could untie the knot in the other's hand.

No matter how tight she tied it, Lu Qian could always break free easily. Lu Yan lost so much that he simply changed the rules of the game and let everyone tie themselves up.

Lu Qian said she was domineering while accompanying her in mischief. At the end, the young man put his hands on his hips and laughed and cursed: "You are the only one in the world who can play this game. Who can tie yourself up with a rope? You can't save your life."

I never thought that a single word would come true.

 When the moon rises to the highest point on the mountain, the medicinal effect of the warbler takes effect.

 The itching pain in her throat could not be described in any language. Her hands were tied tightly by herself and she could not break free from the shackles of the rope. On the one hand, he felt happy and on the other hand, he hated it. His bent fingertips dug into his palms, trying to use pain to resist the torture in his throat.

She was so uncomfortable that she curled up in a ball on the ground, her tied wrists were turned purple by the hemp rope, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. When she was in the most pain, she thought that someone could give her a knife. She was so uncomfortable, It would be better to die happily.

However, her reason told her not to think like this. Only by surviving would she have a chance to go down the mountain. Her parents and siblings were still waiting for her at home. She couldn't... couldn't die here in vain.

So she gritted her teeth and thought about what she had written in the book during the day, memorizing it intermittently.

“Don’t be frightened by favor or disgrace, the liver and wood will be at peace…movement and stillness will be respected, the heart fire will be calm…eat in moderation, the spleen and earth will not leak out…regulate the breath and be taciturn, the lungs and metals will be intact…the mind will be calm and the desires will be calm, and the kidney water will be self-sufficient…”

 The sound of a girl reading on a spring night is always accompanied by the wind, flowers, snow and moon.

Only the burned out candle could hear the whimpering and crying.

 Until the second day, there was a faint barking of a forest dog outside. Lying on the ground, she saw the door being pushed open a crack, and the golden morning sun poured in overwhelmingly from the gap, causing her to squint her eyes for a moment. Yun Niang walked up to her carefully and was surprised to see that she was still responding. She squatted down next to her and praised: "Well done, you survived."

Lu Zhuo had no strength left in his body. He could only see a strange shadow in Yun Niang's pupils, a madman with blood-red eyes, pale face and a ferocious expression.

That doesn’t look like a living person at all.

Yun Niang looked thoughtfully at her hands tied to the bedside, as if she understood what was going on. After a moment, she took out a silk handkerchief, gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, and gave her a soft smile.

 “Xiao Qi, congratulations, you have passed another level.”

 The itching feeling from before seemed to still remain in my throat, and the autumn rain was falling outside.

Lu Zong turned over, closed his eyes in the darkness, and thought calmly, how good it is.

 She passed another level.

 …

 The rain stopped on the second day.

As soon as Du Changqing and Acheng arrived at the entrance of the medical center, they bumped into Hu Yuanwai who came to the medical center to get medicine.

 The old scholar's old face was bruised and swollen, the black circles under his eyes were particularly eye-catching, and there was even a green patch at the corner of his mouth.

Du Changqing let out an "ouch" and hurriedly pulled him into the shop, chanting Buddha's name: "Which man who killed a thousand swords beat my uncle like this? Is there any other method in the world for treating an old man like this? Really? That’s unreasonable!”

　　Hu Yuanwai had an argument and a fight with the officials who went to search Wu's house, and was finally taken away. Everyone in West Street heard about it. Although Lu Chen knew the situation, he did not expect that Hu Yuan was so seriously injured.

When the old scholar mentioned this matter, he was not depressed, but rather proud and proud. While waiting for Lu Zhuo to prescribe medicine for her, he hummed: "Don't just watch me get beaten, they didn't get any benefits either. It's a pity that Chang Qing was not there that day. , I didn’t see my heroic appearance at that time.”

Du Changqing twitched the corner of his mouth and said casually: "Yes, yes, yes, but I heard Sister Song say, uncle, weren't you taken away by officials? When were you released?"

　　A group of scholars and common people who participated in the fight that day were taken away by officials. It was because of this incident that people were outraged. Later, Wu Xiucai's article "Mountain Seedlings and Stream Pines" spread throughout the capital.

Hu Yuanwai shook his head and said: "The master who arrested the person in the trial court was not upright and had too much time to take care of himself. He guessed that he would be in trouble this time, so how could he care about us? He let us go together yesterday afternoon."

Lu Zong was lowering his head to write the prescription. When he heard this, his eyes moved slightly: "Really?"

 “Absolutely true!”

It turns out that after the Gongyuan case came out, a group of people from the Ministry of Rites were investigated, and the Judicial Court was also implicated. Fan Zhenglian, the detailed judge, was taken away. At first, the Fan family tried to hide it, hoping to suppress the matter, but unexpectedly the matter became more and more serious. This case is related to the imperial court. Under the thunderous wrath of the emperor, no one dares to cause trouble. If the person involved in the case speaks, Fan Zhenglian’s head may not be saved.

The Court of Justice was already covered in sewage, so it had no intention of imprisoning the scholars. They were afraid that the scholars would get angry and block the censor's carriage, so they naturally let them go early.

　　Lu Zhen asked: “Where is Wu Youcai’s body?”

Du Changqing glanced at Lu Chen, who lowered his head to write the prescription and didn't pay attention to his expression.

Hu Yuanwai said: "I've asked, and it's still being held by the Criminal Court. It will be taken away tomorrow. I have discussed it with a group of friends. If you have no other relatives in the capital, our poetry club will take the lead. Funeral for him. Buried with his mother."

 After saying that, he sighed with some melancholy, "If you are still alive...ah!"

But the people who died are gone. Now that these officials who colluded to disrupt the examination room have been arrested, Wu Youcai can only learn about it.

After chatting for most of the day, Hu Yuanwai left with Du Changqing's full care and a basket of plasters satisfied. After he left, Du Changqing took advantage of Acheng not paying attention, walked up to Lu Zhu, and asked in a low voice: "Is the matter about Wu Xiucai settled?"

Wu Youcai's poisoning case in Gongyuan. Now, the officials involved in the case have been imprisoned, which has established the truth that Wu Youcai committed suicide by poisoning when he had no choice but to commit suicide.

It doesn’t matter where the poison comes from or who sells it.

 Lu Zhuo nodded.

Du Changqing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good." He turned around and told her, "Forget it this time. Next time, don't be too kind and help with anything. The water in Shengjing is very deep. If you are not careful, you may get into trouble." Big mess!"

Just as he was talking, Xia Rongrong and Xiang Xiang came in from the door. Du Changqing was stunned, "I thought you were in the courtyard. Where were you so early in the morning?"

Vanilla smiled and said: "Miss wanted to go for a walk, so she walked around nearby."

Du Changqing wanted to say something else, but Xia Rongrong turned sideways and raised her hand to hold her forehead: "Cousin, I'm a little tired and want to go inside and rest first."

Du Changqing was stunned and said: "Oh... okay."

The two of them opened the felt curtain and entered the inner room. Du Changqing frowned and looked at Lu Zhu, and said suspiciously: "Hey, she doesn't even bother to look at you when she talks now. You two have been arguing for so long and haven't reconciled? What's the reason? ?”

Xia Rongrong these days, it is really weird to see Lu Ruru avoiding snakes and scorpions and not even saying hello today.

Lu Yan lowered his eyes and remembered the mutton-fat jade bracelet that flashed past Xia Rongrong's sleeve just now. The bracelet was shiny, delicate and attractive, and it was worth a lot at first glance.

She pursed her lips and said, "I don't know."

At the same time, Xia Rongrong entered the back room and closed the door. She walked to the couch in two or three steps, her face suddenly pale.

“Miss, you were too nervous just now, be careful of being noticed by Doctor Lu.”

Xia Rongrong couldn't help but tremble all over: "No, I'm scared when I see her face now. Don't you know what happened last night?" She grabbed the maid's arm, "She...she killed someone!"

It rained heavily last night. Xia Rongrong woke up from her dream in the middle of the night and heard something moving in the yard. She was afraid that thieves would steal. After all, although there were official patrols, the hospital had no guards and it was full of young women. It was dangerous after all.

Vanilla was woken up by her, and she was still dazed. Xia Rongrong got up and tiptoed out of the house, but unexpectedly found that the lights were on in Lu Zhuo's house.

It was already late at night, but there were still slight voices in their room, and they didn't know what they were discussing.

By some strange coincidence, Xia Rongrong did not make a sound, but held her breath, quietly walked to the window, and secretly peeked in through the crack in the window.

 The lights were flickering, and the woman stood in front of the small table, her long hair slightly wet from the rain. She was taking off her clothes, and on the white cloak she was wearing, there were big flowers mottled with blood like mist.

Xia Rongrong's breathing was stagnant.

 For some reason, at that moment she intuitively told herself that Lu Zhen must have killed someone.

 Perhaps, it’s not the first time either.

Thinking of last night's scene, Xia Rongrong felt her hair stand on end, and said with a trembling voice: "Herb, I, I'm afraid."

"Don't be afraid, miss." The maid was much calmer than her. He held her hand and said, "Don't forget what Shopkeeper Bai told you when we met today."

Xia Rongrong paused and looked at Vanilla, who nodded to her.

 She swallowed her saliva and whispered: "….Keep an eye on Lu Chen, waiting for news from him."

 (End of this chapter)