Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

In the darkness, Long Baiyue's eyes were tightly closed. She knew that if she opened her eyes, what she would see would not be the warm Zi Mian and Ming Chuangchen, nor would it be the yelling Bao'er. That's exactly what's happening now—her dreams are shattered, and her old days can't go back.Her greed finally turned into a bitter fruit, which was being stuffed into her mouth fiercely at this moment, and it was stuck on her neck so that she could not swallow it or spit it out, and could only suffocate to death. Just let her die like this, she no longer has the courage to open her eyes and face everything in reality.

The air that entered her nostrils was moist and stinky with the smell of blood, and the sticky and rustling straw under her body made her skin itchy, and the squeaking rats in her ears made her frown, and her body curled up tighter and tighter.Until a cockroach climbed all the way up her right foot, Long Baiyue finally lost her composure, and screamed like a mouse, jumped up and jumped wildly. The frenzied scream attracted a jailer. The jailer glanced up and down at Long Baiyue with his cloudy and yellow eyes, and said to her in a low voice: "Are you awake? My lord wants to see you, come out."

He took out the key to open the lock, and the clanging sound attracted Long Baiyue.She calmed down and looked at him—the five seniors had a rough beard, and the greasy and dirty clothes were not what the government officials wore. "Isn't this a prison?" She stammered and looked around.All kinds of torture instruments were still stained with blood, and the shackles and chains were scattered all over the place. Of course it was a prison. Wait, what did she do to end up in jail?She didn't do anything did she?Even if she broke the contract with the prime minister without authorization, the prime minister is not guilty of calling the Ministry of punishment to send her to prison, right?

"Come out." The jailer glanced at her impatiently, muttered, and stretched out his big hand to grab her. "Don't touch me!" Long Baiyue avoided him, walked out of the prison door tremblingly, turned around and looked suspiciously at the prison, and followed him out. It was the first time for Long Baiyue to go to prison, so she couldn't figure out the shape of the cell. Anyway, after walking dozens of steps, she saw a stone step, climbed up to open the iron gate, and outside the gate was a fully enclosed winding corridor. At the end, it was an ordinary wooden door.

Going out of the wooden door, it turned out to be a path built with rocks, and a hole at the end of the path was brightly lit, leading to the outside world. The jailer brought Long Baiyue to the entrance of the rocky cave and handed it over to a servant.The servant led her outside, and the sunlight made her unable to open her eyes for a long time.The servant didn't rush her, but quietly waited for her to get used to it. Long Baiyue slowed down, blinked to see the surroundings clearly, and was stunned - isn't this the back garden of the Prime Minister's Mansion? The prime minister actually set up a prison in private, blatantly violating the king's law?After reacting, Long Baiyue hurriedly turned her head back, only to see the slim stone is elegant, the forest leaves are green, and the light purple vine flowers cover the entrance of the cave. Who would have thought that there is something hidden inside such a unique place?

From this point of view, the former prime minister thought that Cao was really his son, and it was fine to imprison him in the firewood room and eat away his will.That prison instrument of torture is his real means of confronting the enemy.Why did she mess with such a terrible character?Long Baiyue got nervous and accidentally bit her lip. The servant led the restless Long Baiyue to a side hall.She tried not to make a sound when she pulled the beaded curtain, but the muffled sound of a body falling down scared her. Long Baiyue took a closer look, the bruised man was wearing the clothes of a soldier, lying on the ground, his face turned to Long Baiyue's side when he was struggling, at this moment his face was covered with blood, but Long Baiyue recognized it at a glance. It was the man who knocked her unconscious with his palm at the edge of the swamp.

At this time, Long Baiyue couldn't care less about gloating, when she met the prime minister's dark eyes, she immediately seemed to be cramped, her feet went limp, and she knelt on the ground: "My lord, forgive me..." Her forehead was pressed against the cold marble floor, and cold sweat trickled down her cheeks. "The bitch is ruthless, it's not surprising that you disobey the old man," the prime minister on the seat glanced at her, and after a cold snort, he ignored her, turned his face to look at the subordinate who was punished by him, "tell me."

"My lord, the young master was forced into the swamp by us, and my subordinates ordered people to search three times, and then they stayed on guard for ten days without seeing any movement." report..." "If you don't withdraw people for ten days, you know that he is in the dark, and you drove him to death..." In order to hide his trembling hands, the prime minister firmly grasped the handle of the grand teacher's chair, and his blue lips twitched slightly after a long time, "That evil barrier ..." "My lord, this subordinate deserves to die..." The man lying on the ground suffered serious internal injuries, and couldn't help spitting blood, and even pulled his sleeve to wipe it off.

"You don't know how to do things. Go down and hand over the power to the deputy envoy. The nine lives in Li's drug store were caused by your excessive work. You must deal with it this time." "Yes." The man struggled to get up, staggered and fell out of the side hall. "My lord, if the Qi is not smooth, it hurts the liver and spleen." The master's staff who were waiting on the side hurriedly served tea. "That monster dared to be so presumptuous with this old man this time, he must die..." The prime minister took the tea and took a sip, "... Long Huakui."

At this moment, Long Baiyue was lying on the ground and her body had already froze, and she couldn't respond to the prime minister's order.She had just heard the news of Cao Zhen's death, and her tears kept flowing. The prime minister pouted, and a servant immediately stepped forward, grabbed Long Baiyue's hair, and lifted her up. Long Baiyue's scalp hurt, and she straightened up involuntarily. She instinctively protected her hair roots, and she faced the prime minister with teary eyes. Facing the prime minister's calm expression, she forgot how to beg for mercy, and only knew how to shed tears foolishly.

"It's not that I don't know how to pity the fragrance and cherish the jade, Long Huakui. Both of us don't want to see this matter, right?" Oh, Long Huakui, you didn't do a good job after collecting money." "My lord," Long Baiyue finally cried out at this moment, her voice fragmentedly reverberating in the side hall, "I don't want any more money, I'm stupid, I can't do what my lord ordered..." "What did that demon Dao use to bribe you?" The prime minister looked at her coldly, "Oiran Long, you have been to the prison in my mansion. Nine people from the Li family medicine shop died in my mansion. I didn't hide this matter. You, do you know what this is called? You are well-behaved, I regard you as a confidant. " Not hiding secrets from her, not treating her as one of her own, but reminding her that if she wants to get off the ship now, there is only one dead end.It's not that Long Baiyue doesn't understand, it's just that she once made up her mind to Zi Mian, looking into his warm eyes, she decided on her future direction.She doesn't regret it, even if she is stepping on a cliff, she still wants to fight this time. She had regrets, and she was also cowardly, but these days with Zi Mian, she has seen so many people who are determined, and she has been taught time and time again that in order to persevere, death is not a terrible thing. However, why was she still so frightened that her mind went blank when she was facing the cliff? She seemed to see Cao Zhen and Fang Nu hugging each other in the swamp, and she smiled contentedly at the last moment, even the fragrance of reeds lingered in her nose. She gritted her teeth, put all her courage to her chest at this moment, looked at the prime minister who wanted her answer, and said dumbly: "I can't do it, I don't want the money..." Before she finished speaking, a gust of wind passed by her ear, and a slap hit her face.The servant who was pulling her hair let go, and Long Baiyue collapsed on the ground, a salty smell slipped from the corner of her mouth, and she silently swallowed it into her stomach. "Raise your head up." The prime minister on the seat remained motionless. "I can't do it... Master Zi Mian is a disciple of the Shangqing School, and he is not close to women at all; when he meditates at night, his apprentices are all around when he takes a bath, and he doesn't know how to eat or drink. I can't find a chance at all." Long Bai Yue covered her face and did not raise her head, defending herself as if possessed by a demon.She followed Zi Mian for half a year and lived with him. The prime minister's conspiracy made her uneasy all the time. She might have thought of these reasons for herself in her subconscious, and now she can say it out of her mind like a bamboo tube pouring beans. Her words made the prime minister ponder for a while, and then he asked her: "What do you mean when you say you don't know the taste of food?" Long Baiyue came back to her senses, screaming in her heart that it was terrible, but she couldn't make up her mind for a while, so she could only stammer: "He, he doesn't have a good tongue..." On one side, a master whispered to the prime minister.The prime minister's expression softened as he listened. Long Baiyue became more and more uneasy.She accidentally revealed Zi Mian's weakness, what should I do?The Prime Minister wouldn't want to poison Zi Mian, would he?No, there are many colorless and odorless poisons in the world, and it has nothing to do with whether Zimian has a sense of taste or not.She tried her best to excuse herself, seeking comfort in self-deception. After listening to the master's words, the prime minister said to Long Baiyue in a pleasant manner: "Very good, Long Huakui, you can go down." The prime minister's attitude changed sharply, and Long Baiyue couldn't let go of his hanging heart.She stood up in a daze and let the servants push her out.She floated out of the prime minister's mansion like a walking dead, her heart clenched tightly, the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. What did she just do?Has Zi Mian been harmed by her? She wanted to redeem something, but she turned around hastily, and the back door of the Prime Minister's Mansion was closed in front of her. Long Baiyue stood at the street corner blankly, not knowing where to go for a long time. She was walking towards Baiyuefang, but stopped when she was about to arrive. She hid at the corner of the street and looked at the signboard of Baiyuefang from a distance, feeling that the big gilded characters were very strange.It was her home, but she no longer wanted to go back. When she saw Bao'er in human form, walking into Baiyuefang carelessly with a string of candied haws in her mouth, her heart tightened suddenly, and tears fell again.Those are her relatives, but the person she wants to face at this moment is not her. Long Baiyue clenched her fists, bit her lips, turned around and walked in another direction. Zimian's mansion is empty, and they haven't come back yet.The boat stopped on the shore, but Long Baiyue couldn't get on.She simply sat on the ground, hugging her knees and waiting for Zi Mian to come back. On the shore of Zhitinglan, the big ebony boat is moored on the shore, the breeze blows, and the lake surface is sparkling.Zimian's mansion is actually very beautiful, without carved beams and painted buildings, but it is unique.Long Baiyue smiled foolishly, thinking of the embarrassment she had when she saw him for the first time, and all the troubles she had encountered with him, if she hadn't met him, what kind of life would she be living now? Maybe he will still be romantic and happy as usual, holding a pot and making jokes all day long, drunk and rich, but there is no heartbeat. "Miss Long!" A voice came from behind, it was Ming Chuangchen's voice. She turned her head and saw Ming Chuangchen stretching her arms towards her.Zi Mian silently watched her from behind Chuang Chen, which made Long Baiyue feel lost. Then he walked towards her, his steps, actions, eyes, breath, filled her empty heart again. Long Baiyue laughed, the corners of her mouth raised, and her slender eyelashes cast shadows on her mouth, so that her pupils could no longer be seen clearly - Mi Yangcheng, bewitching Xia Cai.However, this smile disappeared when Zi Mian was five steps away from her, because she did not forget that she was with him because of a conspiracy.So far away, but that's all. "Why didn't the person who brought you back let you board the boat?" Seeing Long Baiyue waiting by the boat alone, Zi Mian's expression showed displeasure.He looked at his boat. It shouldn't be difficult for a person from the army to climb onto the boat and release the plank, but he was so negligent to her. "It's okay, I can wait alone, it's quite quiet." Long Baiyue smiled. Zi Mian noticed that Long Baiyue's cheeks were red and her mouth was bruised, and she was surprised: "What's wrong with your face?" "It's nothing." She almost forgot that she had been beaten, she stretched out her hand to cover her face, and put it down in embarrassment. Looking at Long Baiyue's timidly dodging eyes, Zi Mian had an idea in her heart.He offended the prime minister, no matter what relationship Long Baiyue had with the prime minister, she was dragged down by him anyway. He looked at her silently, feeling guilty in his heart. "Get on the boat." Zi Mian saw that the planks of the boat had been placed, and turned around to get on the boat sullenly, Long Baiyue obediently followed behind him. The changes in the world will not be affected by Long Baiyue's mood.Now the whole capital is full of joy.The plague was brought under control, the victims recovered quickly, and Zimian was enshrined as a god.People keep bringing melons and fruit gifts, Zimian orders Ming Chuangchen to close the door to thank the guests, but every morning when the door is opened, the door is always full of offerings, and there are still traces of people burning incense, making them dumbfounded. The truth of the plague was explained as corpse poison polluted the water source. The corpses of Cao Zhen and Li Fangnu were not claimed and were buried together as unknown corpses.The lives of the Li family drugstore were included in the list of the people who died of the plague. The prime minister knew how to use people well when he was treating the plague, and was rewarded by the holy majesty who had returned from summer vacation. From the beginning to the end, Zimian was busy treating the plague, and Li Fangnu's wraith never caused trouble in the prime minister's mansion. I don't know if it was because of Cao Zhen's relationship.After the plague, their resentful souls were scattered, and the truth was buried. Under the light of the glory and joy on the surface, the grief became small and slight, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Tomorrow is the day when Zi Mian goes to the Prime Minister's Mansion to set up an altar for a big sacrifice.According to Long Baiyue's thoughts, Zi Mian might as well stand by and let the Prime Minister die.Naihe Zimian said: "I don't care about the prime minister, I just feel sorry for the nine innocent souls." Long Baiyue hesitated at the dinner table for a long while, and then said: "Tomorrow, when you go to the Prime Minister's Mansion, you should pay attention to your diet. I'm not saying that there is something wrong with the taste of the dishes in the Prime Minister's Mansion, I mean that the Prime Minister..." She couldn't continue, her hand holding the chopsticks was shaking, and she couldn't hold the food. Zi Mian didn't seem to notice her strangeness, she looked at her with a smile, and her voice was as warm and gentle as before: "I know." Long Baiyue was silent for a while, nodded, and continued to eat. Zi Mian looked at Long Baiyue, and didn't look away for a long time. Finally, he broke the silence: "Miss Long, you've been on my boat for a while, and your memory can't be recovered, and it's not a way to stay for a long time." Long Baiyue was stunned, and looked up at Zi Mian in surprise. "Besides, even if your memory recovers, you will still need to make a living in the days to come. You have helped me a lot during this plague, and I think you are wise and talented. The Imperial Medical Office has been recruiting female doctors. The condition is that you are an unmarried official maid between the ages of 20 and 30, I think your condition is suitable, and I happen to know all the doctors in the Imperial Medical Office, so I have already reported your name." Long Baiyue dropped a chopstick in a daze, she managed to regain her senses, and hurriedly picked up the chopstick: "I'm sorry, I...I..." Ming Chuangchen was beside him with a bitter face: "Master, why did you suddenly send Miss Long to study medicine? Wouldn't it be nice to live on the boat?" "Chuang Chen, Miss Long is a woman after all, it's inconvenient to live with us, and it will also delay her life." Kicking her off the ship, or sending her to study medicine and enter the palace, won't her life be delayed?Long Baiyue smiled wryly. Seeing Long Baiyue's lonely look, Zi Mian couldn't bear it, he squeezed his chopsticks tightly to endure the uneasiness in his heart.He told himself that it was right to do so, it was good for him and Long Baiyue. He did not devote himself to cultivating Taoism in the Shangqing Palace on Longhu Mountain in Xinzhou, but insisted on accepting the recruitment of Xinzhou Daolu to take up the post of Sitianjian in the capital. He had his own purpose.For this purpose, he is bound to continue to deal with the prime minister.If the prime minister is unfavorable to him, he can tolerate it; if it harms him, he is confident that he has the ability to resolve it.Therefore, when he knew that Long Baiyue was probably a pawn of the prime minister, he stood still and was able to handle it with ease.But this woman is a good person. Even though she has ulterior motives, she is still optimistic and kind. As time went by, he could no longer treat her as a pawn.She has flesh and blood, can be hurt, and has no ability to defend herself, but she is caught between him and the prime minister.What happened to her during the plague, she won't say, but it must be the tip of the iceberg, there will be bigger storms coming, if he can't take care of himself, what will she do? If she was cold-blooded and cold-hearted towards him, he wouldn't have to be so indecisive at the moment, but her hesitant concern let him know that she had already favored him, and betraying the prime minister might be a life-threatening risk.Now that this is the case, what reason does he have to keep her? Besides, why did he find a reason to keep her? Even if she is used to every frown and smile, she is like every plant and tree in the world, no matter how beautiful it is, it will come and go, how can it last forever?Therefore, her kindness made him reluctant to let go, but made him even more unable to stay. "Since Miss Long doesn't object, then the matter is settled." Seeing that Long Bai Yueshuang was wilting like a beating, Zi Mian also became uncomfortable, and hurriedly put down her chopsticks and got up to leave the table. Who said she didn't object! When Long Baiyue jumped up suddenly, she had already been lying on the mat and insomnia until midnight.She grinned at the moon and cursed silently for a long time.Afterwards, she sat down on the mat again to worry. Zi Mian pushed her away, and she couldn't lift her frustrated head.What should she do?She didn't want to leave Zi Mian's side. "The problem is, he reported my name to the Imperial Medical Office, it's a sure thing." Long Baiyue slumped back on the mat and pretended to be dead, but sat up again in the blink of an eye. She can ask the prime minister!The idea popped into her head. Now only the prime minister has the power to save the situation, whether it is fighting poison with poison or drinking poison to quench thirst, whichever is the lesser of two evils, she can try it, can't she? However, there was also a voice in her heart telling her in a low voice that it was right to withdraw now.It was not a good thing for her to be arranged by the prime minister by his side. If one day the two of them confront each other again and her identity is exposed, then what should she do? Zi Mian still hates her to the bone? "What would it feel like to be hated by him?" Long Baiyue said to herself, "Will Wen Shui also hate people? He treats the prime minister with the utmost benevolence, ah bah bah bah, why would I want him to hate me, Long Bai Moon, are you cheap?" But, leave him, will there be a day together again?It's already far enough away now, we're separated, I'm afraid we will really be strangers on this trip in the future.She is determined to follow his direction, but this time he pointed her to a long way to go, should she be obedient? Long Baiyue was stunned for a long time, then suddenly pressed the corners of her eyes in embarrassment and annoyance: "Also, who is between 20 and 30 years old, I am obviously only 18 years old, do I look that old?"