Chapter 13 Thirteen, red lip pearl sleeve
When I came back, I saw that the atmosphere was still so lively, the flatterers were loyal, and everyone was very devoted.Seeing that his father was one of them, Zhou Ziqin covered his face in pain and turned to the side, muttering to himself: "So I would rather stay at home and be with the corpse!"
Huang Zixia looked at him approvingly very understandingly.
Among the noise in the hall, only Yu Xuan sat there quietly, with an indifferent expression, as if he didn't belong to this place.
Huang Zixia and Zhang Xingying changed positions, approached Yu Xuan, and asked him in a low voice: "Why are you free today?"
Could it be that he was stimulated by Qi Teng and really wanted to enter the Jiedu Mansion?
Yu Xuan nodded, and lowered his voice so low that he could hardly hear him amidst the din of the hall: "Mr. Zhou sent someone to invite me. I didn't want to come, but I thought... maybe I could see you. "
She was startled for a moment, her eyes turned to Li Shubai involuntarily, seeing that he was talking to Fan Yingxi, she slowly asked: "Really?"
"Hmm..." He also seemed a little embarrassed, hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "I want to ask you, how is the case of the adoptive parents going?"
Huang Zixia lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then said, "It just so happens that I want to ask you about Wen Yang."
"Wen Yang...is he related to this case?"
Huang Zixia looked at him calmly, and her voice was also very quiet, slowly, as if uttering the words from the bottom of her heart: "I suspect that the person who killed my parents is the same person who killed Wen Yang. .”
Yu Xuan's voice trembled slightly: "Ke Wenyang, he has nothing to do with your family."
"So what do you think?" She looked at him.
Yu Xuan turned his face away in a daze, stared at the cup in front of him, for a long time, finally lowered his eyelashes silently, and said softly: "The two unrelated cases finally converged in one place. I still can't figure out the reason behind it." come out."
Huang Zixia nodded silently, and asked again: "Then, what do you think of Wen Yang's death?"
Yu Xuan's slightly confused eyes raised slightly from under the eyelashes, looking at her: "Perhaps, you can ask Qi Teng."
Huang Zixia's gaze swept across Qi Teng, and asked in a low voice, "What's his relationship with Wen Yang?"
"I occasionally ran into them arguing. Qi Teng seemed to be very contemptuous of Wen Yang, saying that he... was shameless."
Huang Zixia thought about it, and then asked: "What about the others?"
Yu Xuan said silently, "I just passed by occasionally, why bother to listen to other people's corners? So I walked away immediately, only knowing that they had argued."
This kind of headless and brainless words, listening to it means not listening, made Huang Zixia a little helpless.She gave up asking questions, and turned her head to look at Qi Teng who was sitting on the left, only to see that he was holding a wine glass with a smile on his face, but his eyes fell on her, quite thoughtful.
Huang Zixia knew that, as a person close to King Kui, changing his position to be so close and whispering to Yu Xuan would definitely make him feel uncomfortable—because, this morning, he had just mocked Yu Xuan.
Huang Zixia smiled at him, returned to her original seat, sat next to Qi Teng, and toasted him: "Judge Qi, I respect you."
"Don't dare dare... I should be the one who respects my father-in-law," he quickly drank the wine in his glass, and then asked with a smile, "Your father-in-law and Yuxuan know each other?"
"I met Yu Xuezheng a few times in Chang'an before." She said casually.
A strange smile appeared on Qi Teng's face: "Yes, I heard that he is favored by Princess Tongchang."
Huang Zixia only lowered her head and pulled the corner of her lips, and said, "Really? I don't know about it."
He hurriedly pretended that he had made a slip of the tongue: "I just heard it... I don't know your father-in-law's name?" Although he met Huang Zixia last time, Huang Zixia had changed her appearance at that time, so he didn't recognize her.
Huang Zixia said, "My surname is Yang."
Qi Teng was stunned and said, "Could it be that you are... that Eunuch Yang who has repeatedly solved strange cases by King Kui's side and has a great reputation?"
"Don't dare." Huang Zixia hated him, but in order to inquire about Wen Yang's news, he had no choice but to laugh: "Speaking of which, Judge Qi was also involved in a recent case."
Qi Teng was stunned and asked, "What case? How could... me be involved?"
Huang Zixia looked at his expression, but just smiled.Qi Teng's heart suddenly trembled, and he couldn't bear it any longer, and asked: "Is it... recently? Wen Yang...that matter?"
Huang Zixia nodded and said, "Exactly, I heard that you are in the same poetry club, and you had a dispute with him."
"We had disputes, but we've come to an understanding later! What's more... What's more, why did I kill him? I have no grievances with him in the past, and we have no hatred in the present, and it has nothing to do with him!"
Huang Zixia nodded and asked, "So, in your opinion, is there a reason why Wen Yang and Fu Xinruan died in love?"
"Well..." He looked around, put his mouth close to her quietly, and said in a low voice, "Eunuch Yang, to tell you the truth, if you ask me about this, you are right."
Huang Zixia pretended to be surprised: "Really? Judge Qi knows the inside story?"
He sighed, and said in a low voice, "That Fu Xinruan is really beautiful."
Huang Zixia asked in surprise, "Judge Qi has seen it?"
"In the spring of this year, I occasionally saw it in Mingyue Mountain. At that time, when the spring was warm and the flowers were blooming, Wen Yang came back from an outing with her. She dropped one of the red tassels on her horse. I happened to be under the horse, so I picked it up and gave it to her. Through the gap, I saw an unusually beautiful face..."
Qi Teng said, sighed again, shook his head and said, "It's a pity, it's a pity that her face is full of tears. In the beautiful spring, she cried very sadly. I was stunned at that time, thinking, such a beautiful face Why did the woman cry so much when she and her lover went out for a green trip? I never expected...they had already been blocked in love, and in the end...it ended up in such a bleak situation."
Huang Zixia frowned slightly and remained silent.
"Oh, the road to love has been bumpy. It's a pity that the beauty has passed away!" He said, and raised his glass to her again.
Huang Zixia snorted and stopped talking to him.
Seeing that it was getting late, everyone toasted together and congratulated King Kui, and then went to the small pavilion to watch singing and dancing together.
A line of singing and dancing artists had already been lined up by the water, and when they saw them coming, the flute, lute and pipa were all released, breaking the silence of the night for a while, and it was very lively.After they were seated, there was another lotus flower dance. Twenty-four young and charming officials held lotus flowers in their hands, twirled and danced together, and it was very lively for a while.
Li Shubai, Fan Yingxi and Zhou Xiang sat down at the front, Huang Zixia and Zhang Xingying waited behind Li Shubai, Zhou Ziqin and Fan Yuanlong sat behind Zhou Xiang and Fan Yingxi, Wang Yun, Yuxuan, Qi Teng, several deputy generals of the Xichuan Army, and the envoy's house Several counselors sat in the back.
The sheng and flute played together, and the lotus dance was continuing, but Wang Yun stood up and walked towards the steps by the water behind.
Huang Zixia was pouring tea for Li Shubai, when he felt his figure move slightly, he glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
But Yu Xuan followed him to the water's edge.In the harmonious and happy atmosphere, the two of them walked to the edge of the pool and stood there, standing side by side by the water.
Some doubts arose in her heart, and her hands eased.
Li Shubai also glanced sideways at the water, and said in a low voice, "Go."
Huang Zixia looked at him in surprise.
"I'm also curious. I want to know what the two of them will say together." He whispered into her ear.
One is her fiancé, and the other is her lover who made a lot of noise before. Why do they get together to talk?
Huang Zixia silently put down the cup in her hand, walked lightly, and walked towards the steps.
It is said to be a wharf, but in fact it is just a Tangmu boat tied for chatting.The platform in front of the water pavilion is large, but the pond is small. Several vats of water lilies are planted in the large flower jars at the bottom.
The light clearly reflected the lines of the water waves on the bodies of Wang Yun and Yu Xuan beside the water. Their bodies were shimmering, with a sense of transparency in the dark night.
There were only shrubs by the pier, and Huang Zixia hunched over, just enough to hide.She didn't want to make it too obvious that she went to the water's edge to eavesdrop, so she stopped behind the bushes.Fortunately, the evening wind was blowing, and they were upwind. Although they couldn't hear all the words, most of them fell in her ears.
Wang Yun's voice came slowly in the wind, still the soft voice: "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Captain Wang, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yu Xuan's voice was clear and cold in the wind.
Wang Yun just smiled casually, leaning on the railing and said, "Yu Xue has been living here for more than three years, right? He must be very familiar with everything here?"
Yuxuan was silent for a long time before saying, "Yes."
"Although I am Zixia's fiancé, I have never been to Chengdu, and I have never set foot in the envoy's mansion where she lived. I have always regretted it before." He said, turned his head to look at him, and asked, "I heard that when the accident happened, she lived in the garden, which should be the small building over there?"
He raised his finger and pointed to the small pavilion not far away, and seeing Yu Xuan nodding silently, he smiled and said: "I am in the capital, but I still hear about her a lot, after all—she is the fiancee I have been looking forward to for many years." Son, I will naturally pay attention from time to time."
Therefore, both Yuxuan and Huang Zixia knew that he must be clear about the rumors between them, detailing everything.
Yu Xuan saluted him, turned around and was about to leave.
"In the past few days in the Jiedu Mansion, I have heard Judge Qi mention you. The Jiedu Envoy, General Fan, seems to appreciate you very much, and he even asked me if I knew you." Wang Yun's voice was slow and calm. Came slowly from behind.
"Don't dare." Yu Xuan only said these two words in a low voice, without making any other answers.
"I can only say that I am not familiar with you. I just heard your name in Beijing, and I have a little impression—after all, I really don't know Yu Xuezheng, so I can't introduce you," Wang Yun smiled slightly and said, "General Fan seems to intend to invite you to serve in the government. I wonder if you are interested?"
Yu Xuan said: "Thank you, Captain Wang, for your kindness. I met Judge Qi this morning, and he also mentioned this matter to me, but I have already declined."
"Oh? Yu Xuezheng has no intention of official career?"
"Wealth and honor are not what I want, and the imperial homeland is beyond expectation." Yu Xuan's voice was very low, but these two simple sentences carried unshakable determination.
Wang Yun smiled lowly and said: "However, you have already been involved in this huge vortex, do you still want to get out?"
Yu Xuan didn't seem to understand what he meant, so he didn't answer.
"Have you ever thought about why Qi Teng wants to help you? Why does General Fan look at you differently? Sometimes, it's not whether you are willing or not, but whether they need you, whether you can be used by them." Wang Yun's originally soft voice suddenly became icy cold at this moment, just like the fluctuating light on their bodies at this time, although it looks like warm light, it is actually cold water ripples, which can only make the skin feel the chill.
"Yuxuan, no matter who you are or what your background is, I don't know and don't care. All I know is that you are the chosen one. Whether in the past or now, someone appreciates you very much. As long as you nod, Prosperity and wealth are at your fingertips, in Chengdu in the future, people will forget the current Qi Teng who is envied by everyone, and you will become the enviable object instead, isn't that good?"
"I will never get what I want, so even if I get something else—even if it is everything in the world, what's the point?" Feng Lu was cold, and Yu Xuan's voice seemed to be tainted with this Cold, stiff and indifferent.
But Wang Yun laughed and said: "What's the point of you doing this, do you want me to think your hands are clean? Sometimes killing people and seeing blood is just a very simple thing, just one more hole in the chest, isn't it ?"
Huang Zixia wondered what their endless conversation meant, but she still didn't quite understand it.But when she listened to what they said, she felt a chill rising slowly from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. The terrible cold feeling made her body stiff, and she could only bend down and stay behind the bushes, unable to move.
She heard Yu Xuan's voice, as if it came from the sky, and she felt a sense of trance: "You don't have to say it, I thought you would say something more suitable for us, but I don't know why you came Be a lobbyist and say things that don't make sense."
Wang Yun smiled lightly, and asked mercilessly: "I don't know what to say? Could it be that...you don't even know what happened when you were in Qi Teng's house, you even Master Mu Shan, and even that little red fish Agashne?" Have you forgotten?"
Yu Xuan stood there silently, Huang Zixia saw his profile through the bushes, under the flickering lights and waves, his flawless face showed a vague and dim expression.He looked at Wang Yun in front of him, and said again slowly: "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't have a deep relationship with Qi Teng, and I don't have any interest in his fish."
The sound of silk and bamboo gradually rose in front of it. It turned out that it was Gongsun Da Niang's sword dance, which was about to start.
Huang Zixia took a few steps back slowly, sneaking back from the bushes.
Seeing Wang Yun walking towards Yuxuan, she motioned for him and herself to return to the water pavilion, her voice was soft and unremarkable: "Sometimes it's a good thing not to know. Let's go."
Everyone in the arena had sat down again, Gongsun Yuan walked up to the crowd, gave a deep salute to everyone, and said: "Today is a beautiful day, Gongsun Bucai, I would like to perform a dance for you, called 'Sword Artifacts '. You may have seen this dance before, but Gongsun's dance is definitely different from what you have seen before. Today's dance has flowers and butterflies. , those who are interested, can share the reward with the person you love, so as to live up to the deep meaning in it." The people on the field couldn't help but smile when they heard this. Li Shubai turned her head and glanced at Huang Zixia. Huang Zixia smiled at him, but then seemed to feel something different. She hesitated for a while, and finally looked at Yuxuan, and found that he had just sat down and his face was a little stiff.Seeing her looking at him, he turned his gaze away. In her heart, a touch of sadness suddenly surged.This made them laugh so much in the palace, among the gardens and pavilions, and she spent her entire girlhood here with Yuxuan. But now, the scenery remains the same, but the two of them have completely changed. In silence, she found that Qi Teng had stood up without a trace and retreated to the back of the seat.There, a green gauze cabinet was set up, and a young girl was sitting in it. Qi Teng lightly knocked on the door of the Bisha cabinet, she turned her head and smiled at him. Huang Zixia knew that this must be Zhou Ziqin's younger sister. Although she couldn't see her face clearly in the dark night, the way she looked up, her snow-white skin that seemed to shine in the dark, also showed that she should be a beautiful girl. A young girl—in fact, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, which girl would be unattractive? She was still thinking, when the beating sound sounded beside her, and Gongsun Yuan had already entered the water pavilion.Her figure was behind the veil, and she made a gesture of raising her hands. One long sword and one short sword were in her hands. The cold light shone through the gauze, like water waves separating the curtain. Before everyone came back to their senses, they saw the two water waves turning, and the slender figure had already turned out from behind the curtain. The cowhide lantern in front covered the side facing the viewer, and all the light was gathered. on her. She danced with her sword in the bright light.Between the turnings of the sword light, the bright light drew circles and arcs one by one, as if the Son of God carried the sun and the moon down, breaking countless new moon traces in the darkness.Those traces of the new moon are still active, like water waves and flowing clouds, reflecting the lights, making her whole body surrounded by incomparably gorgeous light. The light of the new moon suddenly spread out, and it was she who moved and danced in the water pavilion, the tip of the sword trembled, and the light of the sword scattered into dots of light, and the gorgeous and bright light of the sword was the stars circulating around her. The rays of light are flickering and bright, making it impossible for everyone to look away. There was such a passionate and dazzling sword dance at the beginning, and everyone present was stunned by her art.Zhou Ziqin's jaw dropped from shock, and the handful of melon seeds he was holding fell off, but everyone's attention was on Gongsun Yuan, and no one cared about him. At this moment when the sky and the earth were so low, Gongsun Yuan suddenly stopped her body, and the two swords, one long and one short, suddenly closed, and the bright lights became dim. It turned out that it was Yin Luyi who was standing in the audience Beside the lantern, he raised his hand and turned the kraft paper on the lantern, and the light suddenly dimmed. Only the lantern behind the gauze curtain remained, and the light shone from behind the gauze curtain. In the backlight, only the figure of Gongsun Yuan could be seen, her movements seemed to be frozen, and the silhouette of her dancing posture was set off by the splendid gauze curtain behind her like a colorful peacock, dressed in the sun's rays. multicolored colors.The sword in her hand was gone, only she was whirling like the wind, her clothes and skirts were covered with silk hair, all whirling around her body like clouds agitating and circling like a halo.Even the veil was driven by the wind around her and fluttered like a colorful mist surrounding her. After she spun into the veil, she stopped suddenly. Yin Luyi gestured to the musical team next to her, and the music that had been ringing suddenly stopped.In the silence, only the sound of a flute came thinly, like weeping and complaining.Gongsun Yuan stood with her hands down, her figure seemed to be frozen, but at this time the fragrance was permeating, and the petals above the water pavilion were all over the sky. The full petals all fell down, and slowly fell over the courtyard with the night wind. Everyone looked up at the fluttering petals and praised them one after another. Fan Yuanlong was the most exaggerated. He jumped up and said, "I want to go and see if those petals are real or not!" Seeing him standing up and rushing forward, Huang Zixia almost knocked down the lantern beside Yin Luyi, and deliberately grabbed Yin Luyi's sleeve, yelling, "Oh, this sister, help me..." Yin Luyi was concentrating on helping Gongsun Yuan, when he grabbed her sleeve, she was so frightened that her hands trembled suddenly, and the cowhide lights flickered. She turned her head to look at Fan Yuanlong, and saw that he was taking advantage of the drink, grinning and clutching her hand tightly. She couldn't help but struggled a bit, and said in a low voice, "Please... please invite the guests to watch the dance carefully, so as not to disturb others." Not to mention everyone present, even Fan Yingxi, seeing his son's ugly appearance, stamped his feet and cursed secretly, and was about to ask Qi Teng to pull him back, but when he turned around, he saw no one, so he remembered that he went to the back to accompany the girl from the Zhou family up. Zhou Ziqin was about to squeeze out, but he was behind his father and couldn't move his chair for a while.But Yu Xuan, who was sitting on the right hand side in the third row, stood up, stepped forward and put his arms around Fan Yuanlong's back, who was drunk, and said, "Master Fan, are you drunk? There is wind here, you need to breathe." Yu Xuan was half a head taller than Fan Yuanlong, and Fan Yuanlong was drunk again, so although he struggled, he was forcibly carried away. Yin Luyi nodded gratefully to Yuxuan, and then hurriedly looked at the last basket of petals. Fan Yingxi apologized to everyone in embarrassment, and everyone could only say: "It's just drunk, it's harmless." At this time, the petals had finished floating, and Gongsun Yuan's figure was reflected on the veil embroidered with patterns.The light came on, and one or two butterflies were slowly flying out of her body.One, two, three, one after another, appeared on the veil. Flowers fell to the ground, butterflies filled the sky, everyone's attention was drawn away, and everyone looked up to the sky in admiration.Huang Zixia looked up at the butterfly, and followed the trajectory of the butterfly to look down at Li Shubai who was sitting there. His hair was stained with a red petal. She hesitated for a while, but finally raised her hand and gently picked off the petal.He felt movement in his hair and turned to look at her, and she smiled at him, holding up a petal in her hand as a gesture. She saw Li Shubai's bright eyes, like stars in the southern sky in such a dark night. Gongsun Yuan's figure didn't move, her sleeves fluttered until all ten pairs of butterflies flew out of her sleeves, and she waved her sleeves, and the red embroidered brocade dress outside suddenly fell to the ground. She was wearing a thin gauze, Dancing beside the fluttering butterflies. This time, her movements were gentle and slow, as if she was flying with butterflies, her toes lightly stepped on, and her clothes fluttered. Behind the gauze curtain, her sleeves, which were illuminated translucently by the light, were like the wings of a dragonfly. , holding up his fingers like an orchid gesture. Looking at Gongsun Yuan dancing with the butterflies, Zhou Ziqin couldn't help but proudly said to Huang Zixia, "Chonggu, do you know how difficult it is for me to catch these ten pairs of butterflies? It's afternoon!" Huang Zixia hurriedly said perfunctorily: "It's been hard work." His eyes couldn't bear to leave the water pavilion for a moment.But at this time, the sheng and flute are playing together, the beats are urgent, Gongsun Yuan dances more and more anxiously, Yin Luyi turns the lantern, the light suddenly brightens, Gongsun Yuan is as bright as the sun in the light, light clothes, hurried dance steps, changing dance moves The figures are like turbulent currents, like ice and snow pouring down, like purple lightning passing through the sky. With a clear chime, all the dazzling dance steps were broken, Gongsun Yuan suddenly stopped the dance, and the fish lay on the ground. Everyone was still immersed in her amazing dance, unable to recover.It was not until there was a long silence that everyone burst into applause, so excited that they couldn't control themselves. Gongsun Yuan curled up like a cloud, bowed to everyone, and with a faint smile on her face, she took Yin Luyi's hand and greeted the people outside the venue. Li Shubai clapped his palms and said with a smile: "It's been so many years since Mrs. Gongsun's skills have improved again. This dance reminds me of the first time I watched your "Sword Weapon" in the Daming Palace. When I was young, I knew what sharpness is for the first time. Bi Lu, the sword energy is surging. But the present song combines hardness and softness, not emphasizing majesty but emphasizing beauty, which is also rare." "In the Daming Palace, I was only in my twenties. It was the time when I had the most physical strength and the most flexible body. That was my peak period," Gongsun Yuan breathed unsteadily, wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, and smiled Said, "But now that I'm getting older, my body can't take it anymore, so I can only change the middle part to a slower dance. After all, Ah Ruan personally adapted this for me." Huang Zixia heard the infinite regret and sentimentality in her voice, and Yin Luyi also gently stroked her hand, as if to comfort her. Fan Yingxi didn't know anything about her, her eyes just slid back and forth on them, and said with a smile: "Ms. Gongsun has been famous all over the world for more than 20 years, and her dancing skills are astonishing. I wonder if you are interested in going to Jiedu Mansion ..." Before the words were finished, a shrill scream suddenly came from behind, it was the heart-piercing scream of a young woman. When Zhou Ziqin heard it, he suddenly cried out: "Ziyan!" Zhou Xiang also changed color on his face, turned around quickly, and followed Zhou Ziqin to the green yarn cabinet at the back. The servants who were closer had already surrounded the chairs next to the Bisha closet, and Zhou Ziyan inside the Bisha closet had already run out, standing shivering with several of her maidservants. Zhou Ziqin rushed over and asked, "What's the matter?" Then he looked up at the side of the green yarn cabinet, and his expression changed immediately. The lights next to the waterside pavilion are brightly lit, shining on the cruise ship dock on the shore.On the chair next to the green gauze cabinet, Qi Teng sat there motionless with his head bowed, his whole body limp and powerless.On his heart, a blood hole was still bleeding. Zhou Ziqin immediately walked up to him, sniffed his breath first, then felt the pulse on his neck, then stood up, and said in a low voice, "I've... died." People around couldn't help screaming. The judge of the Jiedu Mansion died suddenly in the envoy's mansion, Fan Yingxi and Zhou Xiang's faces changed color.Zhou Xiang knew that the matter was of great importance, but he was a civil servant after all, so he didn't know how to react for a while, so he could only stand there dumbfounded. Anger and fear quickly flashed across Fan Yingxi's face. The deputy in his house died suddenly. How could anyone know that someone was targeting him?And, what is the reason for dying here? When he was about to have a seizure, he realized that King Kui was by his side, so he had to suppress all his emotions, and asked Li Shubai for instructions: "My lord, the judge in the lower government's mansion died here. I don't know how I and Mr. Zhou should deal with it?" Li Shubai looked at Huang Zixia, comforted him and said, "Yang Chonggu by my side has solved a few cases in Beijing, and he is quite handy in using it. If General Fan needs it, he can drive him away." Fan Yingxi hurriedly said: "Don't dare! I also ask the prince to show me that if you can get help from Eunuch Yang, this case will naturally be solved!" Huang Zixia also ignored the politeness of these people beside the corpse. After bowing his hand to Fan Yingxi, he immediately walked to the corpse to check the traces on the corpse. Qi Teng's face could be regarded as calm. It was obvious that the incident happened suddenly, and he was killed before he could react, so his expression was not particularly frightened and distorted.His body was still soft, he was slumped on the chair, his hands were drooping, his back was against the back of the chair, and his head was drooping.If it weren't for the blood hole in his chest, others would have thought he was just slacking off and sleeping. Zhou Ziqin said softly beside her, "Look at the back of his left hand." Huang Zixia raised his two hands and looked at it carefully. The back of his right hand was normal, but on the back of his left hand, there were a few uneven spots scattered there.Only after careful observation did he discover that the small wounds, like the marks of being bitten by a kitten or the blisters broken after being splashed with boiling oil, were irregularly scattered on the back of his hand where the wrist was connected. The place. "It's the scars left a few days ago, and the scabs have fallen off. After a few days, the color will fade, and it will recover. There will only be a few small scars that are hard to notice on the back of his hand." Huang Zixia said . Zhou Ziqin nodded: "Yes, I just don't know where these small wounds came from, and whether it has anything to do with this murder case." "The small wound a few days ago has nothing to do with today's death... No matter how you look at it, it seems that it has nothing to do with it." Zhou Ziqin wrote it down in the autopsy file while talking. Seeing that there was no other abnormality on Qi Teng's body, Huang Zixia stood up and observed the surrounding situation. All the people watching the dance were in the open space of the pier in front of the water pavilion, which was surrounded by water on three sides. If you want to enter this place, the only way other than passing through the water pavilion is to come from the water. But she walked around the pier, and on the steps by the water there was no sign of anyone coming in from the water.Not to mention the pier, there are no traces of water under the trees by the waterside pavilion, by the bushes, or on the lake rocks on the shore. Refreshments have been set up in the water pavilion, and Zhou Xiang and Fan Yingxi are drinking tea with Li Shubai.It's just that Fan Yingxi was facing the corpse of his subordinate, and Zhou Xiang was not in the mood to drink tea as he watched his son-in-law-to-be die. Only Li Shubai was still sipping tea as usual, seeing her turn back silently, he put down the teacup and asked, "Is there any sign of outsiders entering?" "It's... the perpetrators can only be the few of us present. The servants serving here in the mansion, I, Zhou Ziqin, Zhang Xingying, Yuxuan, Wang Yun, Zhou's girl, Zhou Shijun, Fan The general, and even...your lord, are all suspected of committing the crime." Li Shubai frowned slightly, stood up and walked out of the water pavilion with her, his eyes fell on Zhou Ziyan who was shivering beside the maids. Huang Zixia saw what he meant, and lowered her voice and whispered in his ear: "Yes, the time of the incident should have been during the time when Mrs. Gongsun was dancing this dance, but it was only half a stick of incense. Watching the dance before the crowd If a person wants to find time to sneak behind to kill someone, even if the lights are dim, his figure will be seen by others. Only the bisha cabinet, because it was a girl from the Zhou family, was displayed at the end of the crowd. And because Qi Teng came Zhou's girl, so the four maids who were by her side at that time had already avoided under the nearby tree. Therefore, the most likely person who could kill someone without attracting others' attention should be the person who was by his side at that time, Zhou Ziyan .” Li Shubai withdrew his gaze from Zhou Ziyan, and said flatly: "It's shocking for a girl who is about to get married to kill her fiancé-to-be in public." "In addition to interrogating the Zhou family girl, there is another one, which is to search the body quickly to see if the murder weapon can be seized. If not, it is estimated that we will go into the water to salvage the murder weapon."
Everyone in the arena had sat down again, Gongsun Yuan walked up to the crowd, gave a deep salute to everyone, and said: "Today is a beautiful day, Gongsun Bucai, I would like to perform a dance for you, called 'Sword Artifacts '. You may have seen this dance before, but Gongsun's dance is definitely different from what you have seen before. Today's dance has flowers and butterflies. , those who are interested, can share the reward with the person you love, so as to live up to the deep meaning in it." The people on the field couldn't help but smile when they heard this. Li Shubai turned her head and glanced at Huang Zixia. Huang Zixia smiled at him, but then seemed to feel something different. She hesitated for a while, and finally looked at Yuxuan, and found that he had just sat down and his face was a little stiff.Seeing her looking at him, he turned his gaze away. In her heart, a touch of sadness suddenly surged.This made them laugh so much in the palace, among the gardens and pavilions, and she spent her entire girlhood here with Yuxuan. But now, the scenery remains the same, but the two of them have completely changed. In silence, she found that Qi Teng had stood up without a trace and retreated to the back of the seat.There, a green gauze cabinet was set up, and a young girl was sitting in it. Qi Teng lightly knocked on the door of the Bisha cabinet, she turned her head and smiled at him. Huang Zixia knew that this must be Zhou Ziqin's younger sister. Although she couldn't see her face clearly in the dark night, the way she looked up, her snow-white skin that seemed to shine in the dark, also showed that she should be a beautiful girl. A young girl—in fact, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, which girl would be unattractive? She was still thinking, when the beating sound sounded beside her, and Gongsun Yuan had already entered the water pavilion.Her figure was behind the veil, and she made a gesture of raising her hands. One long sword and one short sword were in her hands. The cold light shone through the gauze, like water waves separating the curtain. Before everyone came back to their senses, they saw the two water waves turning, and the slender figure had already turned out from behind the curtain. The cowhide lantern in front covered the side facing the viewer, and all the light was gathered. on her. She danced with her sword in the bright light.Between the turnings of the sword light, the bright light drew circles and arcs one by one, as if the Son of God carried the sun and the moon down, breaking countless new moon traces in the darkness.Those traces of the new moon are still active, like water waves and flowing clouds, reflecting the lights, making her whole body surrounded by incomparably gorgeous light. The light of the new moon suddenly spread out, and it was she who moved and danced in the water pavilion, the tip of the sword trembled, and the light of the sword scattered into dots of light, and the gorgeous and bright light of the sword was the stars circulating around her. The rays of light are flickering and bright, making it impossible for everyone to look away. There was such a passionate and dazzling sword dance at the beginning, and everyone present was stunned by her art.Zhou Ziqin's jaw dropped from shock, and the handful of melon seeds he was holding fell off, but everyone's attention was on Gongsun Yuan, and no one cared about him. At this moment when the sky and the earth were so low, Gongsun Yuan suddenly stopped her body, and the two swords, one long and one short, suddenly closed, and the bright lights became dim. It turned out that it was Yin Luyi who was standing in the audience Beside the lantern, he raised his hand and turned the kraft paper on the lantern, and the light suddenly dimmed. Only the lantern behind the gauze curtain remained, and the light shone from behind the gauze curtain. In the backlight, only the figure of Gongsun Yuan could be seen, her movements seemed to be frozen, and the silhouette of her dancing posture was set off by the splendid gauze curtain behind her like a colorful peacock, dressed in the sun's rays. multicolored colors.The sword in her hand was gone, only she was whirling like the wind, her clothes and skirts were covered with silk hair, all whirling around her body like clouds agitating and circling like a halo.Even the veil was driven by the wind around her and fluttered like a colorful mist surrounding her. After she spun into the veil, she stopped suddenly. Yin Luyi gestured to the musical team next to her, and the music that had been ringing suddenly stopped.In the silence, only the sound of a flute came thinly, like weeping and complaining.Gongsun Yuan stood with her hands down, her figure seemed to be frozen, but at this time the fragrance was permeating, and the petals above the water pavilion were all over the sky. The full petals all fell down, and slowly fell over the courtyard with the night wind. Everyone looked up at the fluttering petals and praised them one after another. Fan Yuanlong was the most exaggerated. He jumped up and said, "I want to go and see if those petals are real or not!" Seeing him standing up and rushing forward, Huang Zixia almost knocked down the lantern beside Yin Luyi, and deliberately grabbed Yin Luyi's sleeve, yelling, "Oh, this sister, help me..." Yin Luyi was concentrating on helping Gongsun Yuan, when he grabbed her sleeve, she was so frightened that her hands trembled suddenly, and the cowhide lights flickered. She turned her head to look at Fan Yuanlong, and saw that he was taking advantage of the drink, grinning and clutching her hand tightly. She couldn't help but struggled a bit, and said in a low voice, "Please... please invite the guests to watch the dance carefully, so as not to disturb others." Not to mention everyone present, even Fan Yingxi, seeing his son's ugly appearance, stamped his feet and cursed secretly, and was about to ask Qi Teng to pull him back, but when he turned around, he saw no one, so he remembered that he went to the back to accompany the girl from the Zhou family up. Zhou Ziqin was about to squeeze out, but he was behind his father and couldn't move his chair for a while.But Yu Xuan, who was sitting on the right hand side in the third row, stood up, stepped forward and put his arms around Fan Yuanlong's back, who was drunk, and said, "Master Fan, are you drunk? There is wind here, you need to breathe." Yu Xuan was half a head taller than Fan Yuanlong, and Fan Yuanlong was drunk again, so although he struggled, he was forcibly carried away. Yin Luyi nodded gratefully to Yuxuan, and then hurriedly looked at the last basket of petals. Fan Yingxi apologized to everyone in embarrassment, and everyone could only say: "It's just drunk, it's harmless." At this time, the petals had finished floating, and Gongsun Yuan's figure was reflected on the veil embroidered with patterns.The light came on, and one or two butterflies were slowly flying out of her body.One, two, three, one after another, appeared on the veil. Flowers fell to the ground, butterflies filled the sky, everyone's attention was drawn away, and everyone looked up to the sky in admiration.Huang Zixia looked up at the butterfly, and followed the trajectory of the butterfly to look down at Li Shubai who was sitting there. His hair was stained with a red petal. She hesitated for a while, but finally raised her hand and gently picked off the petal.He felt movement in his hair and turned to look at her, and she smiled at him, holding up a petal in her hand as a gesture. She saw Li Shubai's bright eyes, like stars in the southern sky in such a dark night. Gongsun Yuan's figure didn't move, her sleeves fluttered until all ten pairs of butterflies flew out of her sleeves, and she waved her sleeves, and the red embroidered brocade dress outside suddenly fell to the ground. She was wearing a thin gauze, Dancing beside the fluttering butterflies. This time, her movements were gentle and slow, as if she was flying with butterflies, her toes lightly stepped on, and her clothes fluttered. Behind the gauze curtain, her sleeves, which were illuminated translucently by the light, were like the wings of a dragonfly. , holding up his fingers like an orchid gesture. Looking at Gongsun Yuan dancing with the butterflies, Zhou Ziqin couldn't help but proudly said to Huang Zixia, "Chonggu, do you know how difficult it is for me to catch these ten pairs of butterflies? It's afternoon!" Huang Zixia hurriedly said perfunctorily: "It's been hard work." His eyes couldn't bear to leave the water pavilion for a moment.But at this time, the sheng and flute are playing together, the beats are urgent, Gongsun Yuan dances more and more anxiously, Yin Luyi turns the lantern, the light suddenly brightens, Gongsun Yuan is as bright as the sun in the light, light clothes, hurried dance steps, changing dance moves The figures are like turbulent currents, like ice and snow pouring down, like purple lightning passing through the sky. With a clear chime, all the dazzling dance steps were broken, Gongsun Yuan suddenly stopped the dance, and the fish lay on the ground. Everyone was still immersed in her amazing dance, unable to recover.It was not until there was a long silence that everyone burst into applause, so excited that they couldn't control themselves. Gongsun Yuan curled up like a cloud, bowed to everyone, and with a faint smile on her face, she took Yin Luyi's hand and greeted the people outside the venue. Li Shubai clapped his palms and said with a smile: "It's been so many years since Mrs. Gongsun's skills have improved again. This dance reminds me of the first time I watched your "Sword Weapon" in the Daming Palace. When I was young, I knew what sharpness is for the first time. Bi Lu, the sword energy is surging. But the present song combines hardness and softness, not emphasizing majesty but emphasizing beauty, which is also rare." "In the Daming Palace, I was only in my twenties. It was the time when I had the most physical strength and the most flexible body. That was my peak period," Gongsun Yuan breathed unsteadily, wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, and smiled Said, "But now that I'm getting older, my body can't take it anymore, so I can only change the middle part to a slower dance. After all, Ah Ruan personally adapted this for me." Huang Zixia heard the infinite regret and sentimentality in her voice, and Yin Luyi also gently stroked her hand, as if to comfort her. Fan Yingxi didn't know anything about her, her eyes just slid back and forth on them, and said with a smile: "Ms. Gongsun has been famous all over the world for more than 20 years, and her dancing skills are astonishing. I wonder if you are interested in going to Jiedu Mansion ..." Before the words were finished, a shrill scream suddenly came from behind, it was the heart-piercing scream of a young woman. When Zhou Ziqin heard it, he suddenly cried out: "Ziyan!" Zhou Xiang also changed color on his face, turned around quickly, and followed Zhou Ziqin to the green yarn cabinet at the back. The servants who were closer had already surrounded the chairs next to the Bisha closet, and Zhou Ziyan inside the Bisha closet had already run out, standing shivering with several of her maidservants. Zhou Ziqin rushed over and asked, "What's the matter?" Then he looked up at the side of the green yarn cabinet, and his expression changed immediately. The lights next to the waterside pavilion are brightly lit, shining on the cruise ship dock on the shore.On the chair next to the green gauze cabinet, Qi Teng sat there motionless with his head bowed, his whole body limp and powerless.On his heart, a blood hole was still bleeding. Zhou Ziqin immediately walked up to him, sniffed his breath first, then felt the pulse on his neck, then stood up, and said in a low voice, "I've... died." People around couldn't help screaming. The judge of the Jiedu Mansion died suddenly in the envoy's mansion, Fan Yingxi and Zhou Xiang's faces changed color.Zhou Xiang knew that the matter was of great importance, but he was a civil servant after all, so he didn't know how to react for a while, so he could only stand there dumbfounded. Anger and fear quickly flashed across Fan Yingxi's face. The deputy in his house died suddenly. How could anyone know that someone was targeting him?And, what is the reason for dying here? When he was about to have a seizure, he realized that King Kui was by his side, so he had to suppress all his emotions, and asked Li Shubai for instructions: "My lord, the judge in the lower government's mansion died here. I don't know how I and Mr. Zhou should deal with it?" Li Shubai looked at Huang Zixia, comforted him and said, "Yang Chonggu by my side has solved a few cases in Beijing, and he is quite handy in using it. If General Fan needs it, he can drive him away." Fan Yingxi hurriedly said: "Don't dare! I also ask the prince to show me that if you can get help from Eunuch Yang, this case will naturally be solved!" Huang Zixia also ignored the politeness of these people beside the corpse. After bowing his hand to Fan Yingxi, he immediately walked to the corpse to check the traces on the corpse. Qi Teng's face could be regarded as calm. It was obvious that the incident happened suddenly, and he was killed before he could react, so his expression was not particularly frightened and distorted.His body was still soft, he was slumped on the chair, his hands were drooping, his back was against the back of the chair, and his head was drooping.If it weren't for the blood hole in his chest, others would have thought he was just slacking off and sleeping. Zhou Ziqin said softly beside her, "Look at the back of his left hand." Huang Zixia raised his two hands and looked at it carefully. The back of his right hand was normal, but on the back of his left hand, there were a few uneven spots scattered there.Only after careful observation did he discover that the small wounds, like the marks of being bitten by a kitten or the blisters broken after being splashed with boiling oil, were irregularly scattered on the back of his hand where the wrist was connected. The place. "It's the scars left a few days ago, and the scabs have fallen off. After a few days, the color will fade, and it will recover. There will only be a few small scars that are hard to notice on the back of his hand." Huang Zixia said . Zhou Ziqin nodded: "Yes, I just don't know where these small wounds came from, and whether it has anything to do with this murder case." "The small wound a few days ago has nothing to do with today's death... No matter how you look at it, it seems that it has nothing to do with it." Zhou Ziqin wrote it down in the autopsy file while talking. Seeing that there was no other abnormality on Qi Teng's body, Huang Zixia stood up and observed the surrounding situation. All the people watching the dance were in the open space of the pier in front of the water pavilion, which was surrounded by water on three sides. If you want to enter this place, the only way other than passing through the water pavilion is to come from the water. But she walked around the pier, and on the steps by the water there was no sign of anyone coming in from the water.Not to mention the pier, there are no traces of water under the trees by the waterside pavilion, by the bushes, or on the lake rocks on the shore. Refreshments have been set up in the water pavilion, and Zhou Xiang and Fan Yingxi are drinking tea with Li Shubai.It's just that Fan Yingxi was facing the corpse of his subordinate, and Zhou Xiang was not in the mood to drink tea as he watched his son-in-law-to-be die. Only Li Shubai was still sipping tea as usual, seeing her turn back silently, he put down the teacup and asked, "Is there any sign of outsiders entering?" "It's... the perpetrators can only be the few of us present. The servants serving here in the mansion, I, Zhou Ziqin, Zhang Xingying, Yuxuan, Wang Yun, Zhou's girl, Zhou Shijun, Fan The general, and even...your lord, are all suspected of committing the crime." Li Shubai frowned slightly, stood up and walked out of the water pavilion with her, his eyes fell on Zhou Ziyan who was shivering beside the maids. Huang Zixia saw what he meant, and lowered her voice and whispered in his ear: "Yes, the time of the incident should have been during the time when Mrs. Gongsun was dancing this dance, but it was only half a stick of incense. Watching the dance before the crowd If a person wants to find time to sneak behind to kill someone, even if the lights are dim, his figure will be seen by others. Only the bisha cabinet, because it was a girl from the Zhou family, was displayed at the end of the crowd. And because Qi Teng came Zhou's girl, so the four maids who were by her side at that time had already avoided under the nearby tree. Therefore, the most likely person who could kill someone without attracting others' attention should be the person who was by his side at that time, Zhou Ziyan .” Li Shubai withdrew his gaze from Zhou Ziyan, and said flatly: "It's shocking for a girl who is about to get married to kill her fiancé-to-be in public." "In addition to interrogating the Zhou family girl, there is another one, which is to search the body quickly to see if the murder weapon can be seized. If not, it is estimated that we will go into the water to salvage the murder weapon."