Chapter 2 2. Thunder from Heaven
Datang, Chang'an.
The most prosperous city in the world today.The rigor of Zhenguan and the prosperity of Kaiyuan have developed to be charming and extravagant during the Xiantong period.
Outside of Daming Palace and Taiji Palace, the Seventy-two Squares of Chang'an are neatly arranged, squarely located between the streets and alleys.
In the middle of Chang'an City is Kaihuafang, where Jianfu Temple is located.
Jianfu Temple used to be the former Qianlong residence of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Dynasty. Emperor Zetian dedicated it as a Buddhist temple to pray for the late Emperor Gaozong.The famous flowers, ancient trees, pavilions and opera gardens in the temple are still preserved as before.
It coincides with June 19th, the day when Avalokitesvara attains enlightenment.Jianfu Temple was crowded with people, rubbing shoulders and heels.In the monastery, which is famous for its water scenery, although there are 200 steps around the release pond, it is hard to prevent the faithful men and women from buying all kinds of small fish and releasing them, which makes the release pond extremely crowded.
It has not rained for a long time, and the weather is sultry, and the whole Chang'an is scorching hot.The sweaty people couldn't bear the pain, but they kept pushing forward and put the fish in their hands into the pond.
Amid the turbulent crowd, there is only a vacant place at the corner outside the corridor, where a tree of pomegranates is burning brightly and brightly.Under the tree, a young man wearing a blue robe of heaven and water was tall and tall. He looked at the crowd in front of him with his hands behind his back, and he had a kind of elegant and noble temperament without saying a word, which made the weather seem a little colder.
He looked over the noisy people in front of him, and looked at the crowd who were trying to squeeze towards the release pool.Among the dense crowd, there was one person who was particularly conspicuous.It's not that he looks good and handsome, but because he is wearing an incomparably bright apricot-yellow gown, that bright yellow is almost as dazzling as shining in the crowd.
The man squeezed forward vigorously, while turning his head to say hello: "Chong Gu, follow up quickly, don't get separated!"
Following him was a little eunuch in crimson gauze singlet, with a face with a pointed chin like a lotus calyx, extremely delicate facial features, and a slender figure.He didn't wear a crown, his hair was tied into a bun, and a silver hairpin was inserted on it. The head of the hairpin was a jade stone carved into a curly grass pattern.
These two, of course, are Zhou Ziqin and Huang Zixia.
At this moment, the hands of these two people are the same as others, holding a big lotus leaf with live fish in it, ready to release them.But such a crowded crowd made it difficult for Huang Zixia to even hold her body steady. She could only try her best to protect the lotus leaf in her hand to prevent all the water from running off.
Li Shubai under the pomegranate tree looked at their embarrassment, and turned his eyes to the sky above his head in a speechless manner.
The gloomy sky, the faintly fluctuating thunder and lightning, and the extremely depressing atmosphere.The rain, which seemed to be falling but could not, shrouded the capital in a dull atmosphere.
Here Zhou Ziqin and Huang Zixia finally gave up and came back disheveledly holding the fish in the lotus leaves.
"It's terrible! The water surface is crowded with fish, and it's so red that it's hard to even insert a needle, let alone release it!"
Hearing Zhou Ziqin's exclamation, Li Shubai gave Huang Zixia a cold look: "I just said don't join in the fun."
Huang Zixia looked at Zhou Ziqin depressedly: "Isn't someone forcing me to buy fish?"
"Also... isn't it because this is a rare Dafa meeting in ten years? Everyone says it accumulates merit." Zhou Ziqin looked down at the fish that was about to be released in the lotus leaf, and sighed helplessly: "It's better to take it home and steam it. eat it."
"Well, luckily I bought a big one." Huang Zixia agreed, pouring the fish from her lotus leaf into Zhou Ziqin's lotus leaf, and said, "I'll give it all to you."
In the crowded lotus leaves, two fishes bumped into each other, jumping around alive and well, splashing water all over Zhou Ziqin's face.
Zhou Ziqin asked with a bitter face, "Why?"
"You are good at eating fish." She said, then turned and followed Li Shubai to the Buddhist hall in front.
"Chonggu, you can't do this..." Zhou Ziqin burst into tears, but he couldn't bear to let go of the two fat fish, so he trotted after them holding the lotus leaves.
In front is the main hall for worshiping Buddha, and the pilgrims and tourists are crowded in front of the hall.In the huge incense burner, the incense cakes and incense sticks thrown by the pilgrims were burning, and the green smoke curled up and gathered into illusory clouds in the air, making the whole hall look distorted.On the left and right sides of the censer, there are two incense candles with a height of one foot, which are as high as the hall, which is staggering. Various colors were mixed into the giant candle. Originally, only yellow and white wax became colorful, and this color was made to match the flying dragons and phoenixes painted outside.I saw the golden dragon and the red phoenix walking through the purple clouds, red flowers and green leaves, and they were carved by skillful hands into embossed three-dimensional, lifelike.Above the candles are scattered ceilings of auspicious celestial maidens, and below the candles are succulents and baoxiang lotus. The colorful flowers are surrounded by colorful dragons, phoenixes and auspicious clouds. The auspicious splendor attracts the admiration of all the viewers. "The pair of candles were made by Lu Zhiyuan of the Lu Family Incense Candle Shop. It is said that in order to show his sincerity, he took a bath and burned incense and locked himself in the workshop for seven days and nights to make them. It really is extraordinary!" "I also heard that after he personally delivered the pair of candles this morning, he fainted from being too exhausted and was carried home. Before his daughter wanted to touch the pair of candles, he scolded her. He thinks women are filthy——you know this Old Man Lu, who is famous in the capital for ruining his daughter, only says that his daughter is a loser every day, so why did that happen...hehe." "Don't tell me, that little lady is quite pretty, hahaha..." For fear of damaging the giant candle, a red string was tied around the candle, and no one was allowed to touch it.So everyone just gathered around the candles, pulling about the origin of the pair of candles. "Jianfu Temple is so rich, it can actually use such a big joss stick," Zhou Ziqin sighed, looking at the painting on the outside of the joss stick, "My family uses oil lamps a lot every day, and so much wax is just lit in broad daylight for nothing. ?” Huang Zixia said: "Buddhism is of course rich. I heard that on the day of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's enlightenment, there will be tens of thousands of money in charity in the Palace of Light. How much wax do you think this pair of large candles need? I have been collecting them all over the country since last year. The beeswax is used to make candles, just to be enshrined in front of the Buddha today." There were more and more people, and the abbot of Jianfu Temple, Master Zhen, boarded the newly built altar and was about to start giving lectures on the "Miaofa Zhenying Sutra". In midsummer, the weather is sultry.Dark clouds over Jianfu Temple, faint lightning and thunder erupted overhead.Seeing that the rainstorm was coming, but the people in the temple refused to retreat, they just stood and listened to the lecture of the real master. The lectern stands at the entrance of the main hall, and five steps away from the stage are incense burners and giant candles.Huang Zixia, Li Shubai, and Zhou Ziqin stood behind the incense burner, looking at the real master through the curling smoke.He is about fifty years old, energetic, with a lotus tongue, just like a generation of eminent monks. His voice was loud, and the sound of the Fa was widely spread inside and outside Jianfu Temple, and it was clearly transmitted to every corner in Jianfu Temple where thousands of people listened quietly—— "It is because the evil spirits are rampant, and the Tathagata suppresses them with supreme magic power, causing the body to be decapitated. This is the retribution; it is the beginning of all evils, and the Bodhisattva kills them with nine-day thunder and lightning, causing the body to burn and smell. There are all kinds of things in the world, retribution is not good, the world has spirits..." Before he finished his words, the sky, which was originally faintly filled with thunder, suddenly exploded in an instant. Amidst the thunder and lightning, a huge light suddenly exploded. It turned out that the huge candle on the left was struck by lightning, and the whole thing exploded and burned. The people around were hit by the burning wax block, and the scene was in chaos, and they all fell down with their heads and faces covered. The closer the candle was, the worse it was. Many people were burned and had to slap their bodies desperately to extinguish the flames. Among the group of victims, one screamed in pain, jumped up and screamed, scratching his hair.Everyone around saw that his hair was instantly set on fire, and then all his clothes were set ablaze. Seeing the raging flames ignited all over this man, the people nearby were all terrified and scrambled, trying to squeeze out to prevent the flames from rushing to themselves. The Jianfu Temple was already crowded, but now there was only howling ghosts and howling wolves, and there were panic-scrambling people everywhere.The crowd trampled on each other, crowded and shoved, and an empty circle with a radius of Zhang Xu appeared, and inside the circle was the Burning Man who was wailing and rolling on the ground. Beside him, there are countless pieces of wax that are burning after bursting, so that it looks like he is in a hell that is burning with flames. No matter how much he struggles and rolls, he cannot escape the scorching fire that will swallow him up. The people on the periphery squeezed out like a frying pan, Huang Zixia was pushed and staggered out by the boiling crowd, unable to stop no matter what.During the escape and retreat, the crowd began to trample on each other, and the scene was seriously out of control. Even the yamen servants who came to maintain order in the yamen were pushed to the ground and trampled on. Zhou Ziqin was overwhelmed by the crowd, and in a hurry, the lotus leaf in his hand fell over, and the two fish that were already dying inside fell to the ground, and were immediately trampled into a pulp by the frenzied crowd.The golden purse, purple flint bag, blue counting bag, silver sheath saber and other colorful pendants hanging from his waist belt all disappeared in the crowd. "No... no way! We are here to release life! Now it has become murder, sin, sin!" Zhou Ziqin jumped anxiously, and wanted to squat down to rescue him, but he was squeezed by the crowd and couldn't help it. The more you squeeze, the further you get. He could only reach out and wave in the crowd: "Chonggu, Chonggu..." Huang Zixia is also unable to protect herself now, she retreats step by step in the chaotic crowd, unable to stabilize her body at all.Seeing that her feet slipped and she was about to lose her balance and was tripped and trampled, a hand quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her over. She looked up and saw Li Shubai's face, he was calm and calm, wrapped her shoulders with one hand, and held her in his arms. In such a noisy and chaotic crowd, Huang Zixia stayed in his arms, as if leaning on a small boat in a calm harbor.The surrounding crowd slowly receded, fading into an illusory and flowing background, which could no longer disturb her. Huang Zixia felt something warm slowly spread out from her heart, making all the muscles in her body stiff and her breathing quickened. This feeling is really annoying, it seems that people will no longer be able to see the world clearly and calmly—— Just like back then, being held in that person's arms. She raised her hand involuntarily, and pushed Li Shubai away to protect her arms. Li Shubai pursed his thin lips slightly, looked at her with a pair of deep and dark eyes, and slowly lowered his arm that was pushed away. She herself was also stunned for a moment, but before she could recover, the distorted wailing sound came again.It was the person who was burned alive, his voice was shrill and desperate, and it was heart-wrenching. She tugged at Li Shubai's sleeve and asked hastily, "Can I live to save people?" Li Shubai looked at the turbulent crowd in front of him, frowned and said, "How is that possible." The Jianfu Temple was full of uproar, Master Liaozhen had already stopped lecturing, the disciples in the temple tried their best to maintain order, and the yamen guards were also shouting desperately, but with little effect. Surrounded by ghosts and howling chaos, Jianfu Temple has almost become a Shura field, and countless people have broken their limbs and injured their joints in this crowding. Even if someone brought water to try to extinguish the fire on that person, they couldn't squeeze to his side amidst such a crowd of people fleeing in all directions.Everyone could only squeeze and step, watching helplessly as the man's twitching and rolling on the ground became smaller and smaller, and his wailing became softer and softer, and finally he let out a shrill sound that was distorted so that it was not like a living person. There was no sound. The frenzied crowd in Jianfu Temple finally gradually dispersed. People who fled to the main hall, the corridors, and the fish pond, some groaned while caressing their injured legs, some hugged their dislocated arms and cursed, and some even suffered head and face injuries. Clutching his cheeks and hiding from the side, pointing at the burning corpse, he said in a trembling voice, "This, is this the punishment of God?" A man next to him whose teeth had been knocked out was full of blood, spit out a mouthful of blood angrily, and said, "In my opinion, it was the retribution that the real master said, and he was struck by lightning!" "I don't know who this person is, and what evil things he usually does, but we are affected for no reason. It's really unlucky!" The people around mourned and talked about this sudden disaster. "I'll go and see that person." Huang Zixia saw that the chaos and crowd around him had passed, and there was a space there, so she turned around and ran towards the burned person. After falling to the ground, the body was still burning, and a large open space had been vacated beside it.After the explosion, the wax blocks scattered on the ground were almost completely burned, only some embers of debris, most of which were bright red, quietly scattered on the ground, as if dripping blood. The monks in the temple were rushing over with buckets of water, and poured buckets of water on the flames, but the man had already been burnt beyond recognition, and he was nowhere to be seen. Under the dark and gray sky, there is only a giant wax with gold appliqués standing quietly, and beside it is a charred black corpse, which is left in a mess, looking extremely desolate. Zhou Ziqin, who had been squeezed to nowhere, finally came back in embarrassment. Without a word, he and Huang Zixia squatted next to the water-drenched corpse and studied it: "The preliminary judgment is that it is a man. He was burned to such a height... ...can't be seen; age...can't be seen; skin color...can't be seen; features...can't be seen..." Huang Zixia interrupted him: "The deceased man was short and thin, and his complexion was fairer than ordinary people. He was not very old, probably under thirty. He was wearing a scarlet eunuch robe with crimson gauze and a black silk sash around his waist. His identity was preliminarily deduced to be eunuch." Zhou Ziqin looked at the scorched corpse in front of him, and looked at her in disbelief: "Chonggu, you are really amazing! How can you see so much about such a half-burned corpse? Don't say anything else. , all the clothes have already been burned!" Huang Zixia glanced at him speechlessly: "Didn't we all see it with our own eyes when it started to burn? Didn't you see his height, size, age and clothes?" Zhou Ziqin shook his head silently: "I went to take care of my fish." "Then, although his voice is shrill and hoarse, it's definitely not like the voice of an ordinary man, can you hear it?" Zhou Ziqin continued to shake his head: "It's so noisy around, I'm overwhelmed." Li Shubai had walked behind them at some point, frowned slightly, and said, "Well, I saw it when he was on fire. His body, appearance and clothes are exactly as Chong Gu said, there is no mistake." Zhou Ziqin said to himself in frustration: "Only I didn't see it..." As if to comfort him, Li Shubai said again: "However, I didn't see him before he burned up, and I didn't notice that he was standing there." "There are tens of thousands of people. He is standing alone in the crowd. He is small and thin, so of course he can't see him." Zhou Ziqin said. Huang Zixia frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then raised her hand to pick up a token beside the deceased. This token is made of copper, and the ashes of his body are still left in the holes drilled in it.The token was blackened by the fire, but when Huang Zixia held it in his hand, he could see the five characters engraved on it at a glance - "Princess Tongchang Mansion". "Princess Tongchang Mansion?" Li Shubai looked at the letter in Huang Zixia's hand, and frowned slightly: "Could it be the eunuch in her house?" Huang Zixia turned the wet token in his hands, looked at the fine patterns on it, and said, "This token looks real." "Well, the craftsmanship of the inner palace is wrong with the handwriting of gold and silver, and people outside can't imitate it." Li Shubai said. Zhou Ziqin was still squatting next to the corpse, looking at the crotch of the corpse expectantly, and said to himself: "What should I do..." Huang Zixia asked: "What should I do?" "It's the first time in my life to study the corpse of a eunuch, what should I do if I'm a little nervous?" Huang Zixia turned her head aside speechlessly.
The rain finally started to fall, at one o'clock and two o'clock, sparsely.But the bean-sized raindrops hit the skin quickly, making people feel a little pain. The three of them hid under the eaves of the main hall of Jianfu Temple.The lectern in front was still being built, but the incense tables and futons on it had been overturned, making them a mess.Not far in front of the stage was an incense burner that had been extinguished by the rain. One of the huge candles next to the incense burner had been extinguished, and the other was standing there with only a half-foot-long reed wick in the middle, scattered around it. ground wax. The grand ceremony of Jianfu Temple, like the lifelike dragon and phoenix patterns on the candles and the flowers falling from the ceiling, was all shattered in the dust. Someone walked quickly outside the temple, it was Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple.There was someone holding a big umbrella for him behind him, but Cui Chunzhan ignored it at all, and hurried up to Li Shubai with a sullen expression on his face, bowed his hands and saluted him, with a forced smile on his face: "Lord Kui." "Cui Shaoqing came very quickly." Li Shubai said. "Isn't that right, I just finished my official business, and I was going to come here to listen to the real master's speech. Unexpectedly, before I got halfway, I heard that something happened here at Jianfu Temple—I heard that it was thunder from the sky, and I was killed. A man?" Cui Chunzhan said while motioning for Wu Zuo to follow Zhou Ziqin to examine the corpse. Huang Zixia replied: "Yes. At about the end of the hour, when Master Liaozhen talked about retribution, a thunderbolt fell from the sky and shattered the giant candle on the left. At that time, many people nearby were knocked down by the wax block. The wax block was dyed. It is over-colored, and the pigments inside are mostly cinnabar realgar black oil, etc. It is very flammable when used on candles. Unfortunately, it is this flammable material that makes the whole candle explode into countless fire balls, and the man fell on it. Candlelight, the whole body burns to death." "Really? It sounds like retribution is imminent. He did something evil and was struck to death by lightning." Cui Chunzhan said with great interest. Huang Zixia was a little helpless for Cui Shaoqing, who was the young minister of Dali Temple but never cared about the case and had countless whimsical ideas in his mind, so he just looked up speechlessly and looked at the light rain dripping outside the eaves. Zhou Ziqin dragged Cui Chunzhan outside, gesticulating and recounting what happened at that time.The person behind held up a big umbrella for Cui Chunzhan, but Zhou Ziqin didn't care at all. He walked over against the rain while talking, and at the same time pulled a few people to discuss how to examine a charred corpse—especially The body of the eunuch. Li Shubai and Huang Zixia stood side by side under the eaves, and when they turned their heads, they saw fine droplets splashed by the rain and wind, which wet one or two strands of hair falling on her forehead, like one or two crystal clear rice beads adorning her hair In the middle, it flickered on her jade-like smooth forehead, giving her a slight sense of dazzlement. He raised his hand inadvertently, brushed his sleeve over her hair, and said, "Don't stand too outside, it's going to rain heavily." Only then did Huang Zixia realize in a daze that she was actually standing side by side with him, which was not in harmony with etiquette. She quickly took a step back, but her eyes were still fixed on Zhou Ziqin outside. And Cui Chunzhan has already come back, raised the quota with his hands, a little frustrated: "It's really horrible, horrible... How could it be burned like this?" Li Shubai said: "Today's Dafa event, the imperial court helped Jianfu Temple to prepare for it from last year until now, I never thought that something like this would happen, and it would end in such a disastrous way." "That's right, I don't know who this unlucky guy who was struck by lightning is." Li Shubai said lightly: "It seems to be an eunuch from the Tongchang Mansion." "Ah?" Cui Chunzhan couldn't help showing a shocked expression, "Your Highness means...Princess Tongchang?" Li Shubai nodded slightly. The unlucky and depressed expression on Cui Chunzhan's face deepened. Li Shubai turned her head to signal Huang Zixia, and she quickly presented the token in her hand to Cui Chunzhan. As soon as Cui Chunzhan saw the burnt black letter, he immediately said with a sad face, "It really is the eunuch of the princess's mansion. What if it is the servant of the princess?" "You can handle it impartially, and Princess Tongchang can't make things difficult for you." Li Shubai said. "Yes..." Cui Chunzhan nodded reluctantly, but still couldn't help but look unlucky.
The rain gradually became heavier.People in Dali Temple set up an oilcloth canopy to cover the dead body, but the water on the ground had overflowed the dead body, so they had to temporarily borrow a bamboo bed from the monks, carried the dead body on the bamboo bed and put it away, and then ran back one by one. Under the eaves of the hall to shelter from the rain. Zhou Ziqin was covered in water, and his bright apricot yellow clothes were beaten by the rain like a withered pumpkin flower, sticking to his body in embarrassment. But he didn't care, he approached Huang Zixia excitedly, and said, "Hey, Chonggu, that's really an eunuch! I studied it with Wu Zuo!" Huang Zixia's face was dark: "This still needs to be studied? You can see... you know it?" "That's not necessarily true. Without that, maybe it's not an eunuch, but a woman?" Li Shubai coughed lightly beside him when he heard that his words became more and more outrageous. Zhou Ziqin shrank his neck and stuck out his tongue, still smiling. Huang Zixia turned her head to the side, not wanting to discuss such a topic with Zhou Ziqin again: "Is there anything suspicious about the body of the deceased?" "No, the deceased had no beard or hair, his skin was scorched black and bruised, and his face was distorted. There is no doubt that he was burned alive. As for whether he was struck by lightning because of bad things or because of a coincidence, I don't know. However, if It's from the Tongchang Mansion, maybe this matter will become a big problem. After all, the emperor really loves this princess, and everyone in the world knows it." Huang Zixia said: "Even if Princess Tongchang is going to cause a big disturbance, it should have nothing to do with you and me." "That's right, it's going to rain, the thunderbolt is going to hit people, what can we do," Zhou Ziqin said, spreading his hands, "and my father's burning tail banquet will be next month, and I will have to go to Shu with my father soon Zhong. Hey, Shuzhong is very good, Huang Zixia, who I admire the most, left a lot of deeds to solve strange cases there, if you have time, come and find me, I will take you to have a good time!" Li Shubai glanced at Huang Zixia who had already ignored Zhou Ziqin's words, and said, "You don't need to worry about this, I'm going to Shuzhong, maybe I'll start before you." "Huh, really? Then we can travel together!" Zhou Ziqin said excitedly. Huang Zixia calmly said: "No need, the prince and you are on official business, it's best not to go together, so as not to delay each other." "Ah...Although it makes sense, but Chonggu, you look so cold! You can obviously decline me..." Huang Zixia didn't want to pay attention to him anymore.
People from Dali Temple came to ask them about the situation at that time, and after recording it, they asked the monks who put out the fire and the guards in the nearby yamen to help maintain order, and it seemed busy again. Li Shubai bid farewell to Cui Chunzhan and walked out of the temple with Huang Zixia.After passing through the chaos, the carriage of King Kui's Mansion still parked respectfully at the gate of the temple.The coachman A Yuanbo has already covered the roof of the carriage with tarpaulin to prevent the heavy rain from seeping into the carriage. It was raining heavily, and on the streets of Chang'an, some people ran away with their heads in their arms, some people walked around with umbrellas, and some stood under trees by wells anxiously looking at the sky. The carriage moved forward smoothly.When they reached Pingkangfang, they should have turned to North Street, but Uncle A Yuan suddenly strangled his horse and stopped abruptly. The car stopped suddenly, and Huang Zixia, who was sitting on the small bench inside, was caught off guard, and his body swooped down, hitting the wall of the car.Fortunately, Li Shubai reacted very quickly, he raised his hand to hold her shoulder, and stopped her when her forehead was about to hit the car wall. Huang Zixia stroked his forehead with lingering fear, thanked Li Shubai, and asked the driver in the rain, "Uncle Ayuan, why did you stop suddenly?" A Yuanbo hurriedly said: "There are people on the road ahead, blocking it." Huang Zixia also heard the faint commotion, so she took the umbrella from the car, said to Li Shubai, "I'll go down and have a look", and got out of the car with the umbrella. In front is the intersection of Dongshi and Pingkangfang.A few people stood scattered on the side of the road to watch the excitement. In the middle of the road was a child lying on the ground. He looked about four or five years old. He fell unconscious in the rain and didn't know whether he was dead or alive. There were quite a few onlookers, but they saw that the child's clothes were disheveled and his body was filthy. He looked like a little beggar, so they all just pointed and pointed, but no one helped him up to have a look. Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, and was about to step forward to look at the child, but saw that the crowd around the audience reacted and looked forward one after another. It turned out to be a young man who came out of the Shengye Temple. He saw the little beggar on the ground at a glance, and walked forward quickly, put the umbrella in his hand on his shoulder, and freed his hands to lift the little beggar who fell to the ground. The beggar picked it up. The man was wearing a white plain gauze dress embroidered with faintly recognizable silver macaroni patterns. The cyan oiled paper umbrella set off his slender white figure, as bright and clear as the rising moon.And the little beggar fell in the rain, covered in dirty mud, but he didn't care about it at all, and only gently placed the unconscious little beggar in his arms. When the people around saw such a noble man treating such a lowly and filthy little beggar with such gentleness, they all looked at each other in blank dismay. And when he raised his head, the people around him couldn't help but take a deep breath when they saw his face clearly. The heavy rain fell on the whole of Chang'an.The man's face was clear and clear in the rain, as if the rain falling on him only added to his clarity.The extremely handsome facial features, flawless eyebrows and eyes, and the ingenuity between a teenager and a young man make people happy like a clear cloud at the beginning. There are millions of people in Chang'an, but among the millions of people, there is only one body with such an overwhelming sense of sentient beings; in the three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, only one soul with such a clean spirit has been precipitated in the past three hundred years. Everyone around was overwhelmed by his appearance and temperament for a moment, and forgot to step forward to help him. The rain washed the surrounding scenery into a blur, leaving only the faint outlines of the houses, submerged behind the pagoda trees all over the street, deep and shallow.This troubled world was blurred into a cloud, and the whole world seemed to exist only to set off him. Holding an umbrella, Huang Zixia looked at that person through the torrential rain, and stood there blankly, motionless, as if she had forgotten the world. I really didn't expect that when I reunited with him again, it would be in such a scene, in such a heavy rain. Her hand holding the umbrella trembled violently, and the cold raindrops eroded her whole body.But her body was colder than the rain outside. The man holding the little beggar was walking towards her.He tried his best to use the umbrella on his shoulder to cover the child in his arms from the raindrops, while the drops of water dripped down from his hair and slid down his fair and slender neck into the collar, but he didn't look embarrassed at all. He walked up to her with the little beggar in his arms, and asked, "Which medical clinic is nearby..." The heavy rain poured down, and the sound made the whole world noisy.His gaze paused on her face, and the back half stopped abruptly. He stared blankly in front of her. The rain was so heavy that the roar of voices almost drowned her.But she heard the silent mourning in her chest amidst the sound of the rain, overwhelming the rainstorm. It's like a lost world. And he never looked at her again.He lowered his head, the raindrops hit his face, but he completely ignored it, only protecting the child in his arms, and walked past her step by step. The moment they passed by, Huang Zixia heard him say in a voice as cold as a blade: "You'd better disappear before I come back from the medical hall." Huang Zixia's throat tightened, her whole body froze.She tried desperately to regain consciousness, but it was useless - because she was facing him, a man who had snatched her soul many years ago. And his eyes turned sideways coldly, and fell on her face: "Otherwise, I will definitely take your ashes to comfort your parents' spirits in heaven." Huang Zixia bit her lower lip hard, her heart was beating fast, she opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't say it after trying several times.Because she knew deeply that as soon as she opened her mouth, she would completely collapse. The umbrella in her hand couldn't cover the pouring rain at all, Huang Zixia's clothes were already wet, she couldn't help shaking, her whole body was on the verge of falling, the pain spreading from her heart was almost tearing, tearing her whole body in two. At this moment, a hand slowly rested on her shoulder to protect her. This hand was so powerful that she immediately had the strength to stand firm.The power spread along her shoulders and spread throughout her body, as if she was being rescued, she was finally able to break free from the invisible hands that were strangling her throat and holding her heart, and exhaled her first breath in a long while. The owner of this hand, Li Shubai, stood behind her, staring calmly at the young man on the opposite side, and said calmly: "You don't need to come back, you can go to the government now and let them ask for someone from King Kui's mansion." .” The man's gaze slowly shifted to him, as if linking him with the rumors in the capital, a trace of paleness appeared on that unusually handsome face. Li Shubai's figure moved slightly calmly, blocking Huang Zixia's body. And Huang Zixia finally came to her senses, she clenched her teeth and forced out a few words to him: "Yang Chonggu, the eunuch of King Kui's residence, I don't know if your brother is..." He didn't speak, just stared at her through the drizzle in Chang'an. In those clear eyes back then, there was tenderness and pampering towards her, there was light as bright as stars when she was happy, and darkness as clear as autumn water when she was down.But now, there is only the ice-cold abyss inside, making her whole heart seem to be in that dark place, falling, falling, falling... Fortunately, Li Shubai's calm and gentle voice sounded in her ears: "Chonggu, let's go." When the clear and clear man saw Li Shubai's calm and protective attitude, and Huang Zixia accepted Li Shubai's protection with a logical expression, his eyes finally dimmed. But it was only for a moment, he hugged the little beggar and bowed to salute, with a calm voice: "Sorry, I mistook the eunuch next to the prince as a heinous enemy. Now that the prince has spoken, it must be my mistake." .” After all, he didn't look at Huang Zixia again, turned around and turned into the alley with the little beggar in his arms, without looking back. Huang Zixia stood in the rain, holding the handle of the umbrella, feeling chills all over her body. Li Shubai said coldly beside her: "Everyone is gone, how long do you have to stand?" His voice changed from the calm and calm just now, and became cold and harsh.And she realized in a trance that his upper body had been wet in several places by the rain. Why did he get out of the car and come to find him in the rain, and why did he protect her and support her without hesitation? She gritted her teeth, raised her hand to prop up the umbrella in her hand, and covered his body. They are under the same umbrella, breathe and hear each other.Li Shubai looked down at her quietly, his eyes peeped out from under his thick eyelashes, cold and clear. Thousands of raindrops fell from the sky, rustling the umbrella surface.The rain fell heavily, and the surrounding streets and alleys were blurred in the rain scene, leaving only faint bluish-gray shadows, and the whole world was in a trance. And in such a trance, Huang Zixia heard Li Shubai's voice, which seemed far but still near: "Yuxuan?" Huang Zixia remained silent, mechanically standing beside him with the umbrella in his hand, without saying a word.Although the umbrella was not small, she kept holding it for him, and the back half of her body was drenched by the rain. It's just that her body trembled slightly, and the hand holding the umbrella was so tightly that her joints were turning white, but she still stubbornly refused to let go. Li Shubai raised his hand to hold the umbrella in her hand.She looked up at him blankly, and he took the umbrella from her hand, held her hand, and whispered, "Let's go." Huang Zixia didn't seem to understand what happened, she couldn't help being pulled forward by him, she just looked blankly at Li Shubai sideways. He helped her hold the umbrella, walked slowly through the rainy street, and led her to the carriage parked at the intersection. Chang'an Seventy-two Square stands quietly in the heavy rain. The whole world is noisy and far away. Only under the protection of Li Shubai's umbrella can the heavy rain be isolated and unable to invade. Her hand was cold and soft, and she lay quietly in his palm, motionless. And his voice sounded softly in the rain.He said: "Three days later, we set off for Shuzhong." She is silent.The rain suddenly became more urgent, and the raindrops hitting the umbrella were short and heavy, as if they were waking her up. After some time, he heard her difficult and deep voice, and said slowly: "Actually, when my parents died and I was identified as the murderer, I also suspected Yuxuan." Li Shubai looked down at her. In the torrential rain, they were under an umbrella, as if they were trapped in a world completely different from the world.She is close at hand, but the distance he can touch when he lowers his head is far away in the world, as if the rain in this day and the ground, what falls on her side, and what rains on his side, each has its own warmth and coldness. But he only nodded slightly and said, "Even from the perspective of an outsider like me, he is suspicious—especially when he misleads you to buy arsenic." She said with difficulty: "But in fact... we have done this countless times in the past three years, and this is not the first time. If he really wants to do it, he doesn't have to wait for that time... to do it during the holidays. My relatives will get together more together." "Also, are you sure he has no chance of poisoning?" "I'm sure," Huang Zixia's voice was low, but the words he uttered were extremely clear, "his alibi is undeniable. After he arrived at my house, he only went to the back garden with me to pick plum blossoms. It was impossible for him to get close to the kitchen. Not even close to that yokotsu soup—the sheep might even have been alive, locked up near the kitchen, when he left." Li Shubai pondered for a moment, then asked, "What happened after he left your house?" "Brew tea and discussed with friends, the place is very far away from my home, and he never left during the journey." "So it is absolutely impossible for him to poison him?" “是。没有时间，没有机会，没有……动机。”她用力地控制自己的呼吸，许久，才颤声说，“王爷刚刚也看到了，他是个连路边小乞丐也要怜惜的心地纯善的人。” 李舒白一手撑着伞，两个人在雨中沉默地站着。夏日急雨，倾泻而下，雨风斜侵他们的衣服下摆，湿了一片。 李舒白看着她低垂的面容，忽然又低声问：“如果，去了蜀中之后，所有的蛛丝马迹都已消亡，你找不到真相，又准备怎么办？” 黄梓瑕默然咬住自己的下唇，许久才说：“这个世上，只要有人做坏事，就肯定会留下痕迹。我不信会有什么罪恶，能被时间磨洗湮灭。” “好，”李舒白也毫无犹疑，说道，“我会始终站在你身后，你无须担忧疑虑，只要放手去做即可。” “嗯……”她低头，睫毛覆盖住她那双明净又倔强的眼睛，那下面，有几乎看不出来的水光，一闪即逝。 “多谢……王爷。”
In front is the main hall for worshiping Buddha, and the pilgrims and tourists are crowded in front of the hall.In the huge incense burner, the incense cakes and incense sticks thrown by the pilgrims were burning, and the green smoke curled up and gathered into illusory clouds in the air, making the whole hall look distorted.On the left and right sides of the censer, there are two incense candles with a height of one foot, which are as high as the hall, which is staggering. Various colors were mixed into the giant candle. Originally, only yellow and white wax became colorful, and this color was made to match the flying dragons and phoenixes painted outside.I saw the golden dragon and the red phoenix walking through the purple clouds, red flowers and green leaves, and they were carved by skillful hands into embossed three-dimensional, lifelike.Above the candles are scattered ceilings of auspicious celestial maidens, and below the candles are succulents and baoxiang lotus. The colorful flowers are surrounded by colorful dragons, phoenixes and auspicious clouds. The auspicious splendor attracts the admiration of all the viewers. "The pair of candles were made by Lu Zhiyuan of the Lu Family Incense Candle Shop. It is said that in order to show his sincerity, he took a bath and burned incense and locked himself in the workshop for seven days and nights to make them. It really is extraordinary!" "I also heard that after he personally delivered the pair of candles this morning, he fainted from being too exhausted and was carried home. Before his daughter wanted to touch the pair of candles, he scolded her. He thinks women are filthy——you know this Old Man Lu, who is famous in the capital for ruining his daughter, only says that his daughter is a loser every day, so why did that happen...hehe." "Don't tell me, that little lady is quite pretty, hahaha..." For fear of damaging the giant candle, a red string was tied around the candle, and no one was allowed to touch it.So everyone just gathered around the candles, pulling about the origin of the pair of candles. "Jianfu Temple is so rich, it can actually use such a big joss stick," Zhou Ziqin sighed, looking at the painting on the outside of the joss stick, "My family uses oil lamps a lot every day, and so much wax is just lit in broad daylight for nothing. ?” Huang Zixia said: "Buddhism is of course rich. I heard that on the day of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's enlightenment, there will be tens of thousands of money in charity in the Palace of Light. How much wax do you think this pair of large candles need? I have been collecting them all over the country since last year. The beeswax is used to make candles, just to be enshrined in front of the Buddha today." There were more and more people, and the abbot of Jianfu Temple, Master Zhen, boarded the newly built altar and was about to start giving lectures on the "Miaofa Zhenying Sutra". In midsummer, the weather is sultry.Dark clouds over Jianfu Temple, faint lightning and thunder erupted overhead.Seeing that the rainstorm was coming, but the people in the temple refused to retreat, they just stood and listened to the lecture of the real master. The lectern stands at the entrance of the main hall, and five steps away from the stage are incense burners and giant candles.Huang Zixia, Li Shubai, and Zhou Ziqin stood behind the incense burner, looking at the real master through the curling smoke.He is about fifty years old, energetic, with a lotus tongue, just like a generation of eminent monks. His voice was loud, and the sound of the Fa was widely spread inside and outside Jianfu Temple, and it was clearly transmitted to every corner in Jianfu Temple where thousands of people listened quietly—— "It is because the evil spirits are rampant, and the Tathagata suppresses them with supreme magic power, causing the body to be decapitated. This is the retribution; it is the beginning of all evils, and the Bodhisattva kills them with nine-day thunder and lightning, causing the body to burn and smell. There are all kinds of things in the world, retribution is not good, the world has spirits..." Before he finished his words, the sky, which was originally faintly filled with thunder, suddenly exploded in an instant. Amidst the thunder and lightning, a huge light suddenly exploded. It turned out that the huge candle on the left was struck by lightning, and the whole thing exploded and burned. The people around were hit by the burning wax block, and the scene was in chaos, and they all fell down with their heads and faces covered. The closer the candle was, the worse it was. Many people were burned and had to slap their bodies desperately to extinguish the flames. Among the group of victims, one screamed in pain, jumped up and screamed, scratching his hair.Everyone around saw that his hair was instantly set on fire, and then all his clothes were set ablaze. Seeing the raging flames ignited all over this man, the people nearby were all terrified and scrambled, trying to squeeze out to prevent the flames from rushing to themselves. The Jianfu Temple was already crowded, but now there was only howling ghosts and howling wolves, and there were panic-scrambling people everywhere.The crowd trampled on each other, crowded and shoved, and an empty circle with a radius of Zhang Xu appeared, and inside the circle was the Burning Man who was wailing and rolling on the ground. Beside him, there are countless pieces of wax that are burning after bursting, so that it looks like he is in a hell that is burning with flames. No matter how much he struggles and rolls, he cannot escape the scorching fire that will swallow him up. The people on the periphery squeezed out like a frying pan, Huang Zixia was pushed and staggered out by the boiling crowd, unable to stop no matter what.During the escape and retreat, the crowd began to trample on each other, and the scene was seriously out of control. Even the yamen servants who came to maintain order in the yamen were pushed to the ground and trampled on. Zhou Ziqin was overwhelmed by the crowd, and in a hurry, the lotus leaf in his hand fell over, and the two fish that were already dying inside fell to the ground, and were immediately trampled into a pulp by the frenzied crowd.The golden purse, purple flint bag, blue counting bag, silver sheath saber and other colorful pendants hanging from his waist belt all disappeared in the crowd. "No... no way! We are here to release life! Now it has become murder, sin, sin!" Zhou Ziqin jumped anxiously, and wanted to squat down to rescue him, but he was squeezed by the crowd and couldn't help it. The more you squeeze, the further you get. He could only reach out and wave in the crowd: "Chonggu, Chonggu..." Huang Zixia is also unable to protect herself now, she retreats step by step in the chaotic crowd, unable to stabilize her body at all.Seeing that her feet slipped and she was about to lose her balance and was tripped and trampled, a hand quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her over. She looked up and saw Li Shubai's face, he was calm and calm, wrapped her shoulders with one hand, and held her in his arms. In such a noisy and chaotic crowd, Huang Zixia stayed in his arms, as if leaning on a small boat in a calm harbor.The surrounding crowd slowly receded, fading into an illusory and flowing background, which could no longer disturb her. Huang Zixia felt something warm slowly spread out from her heart, making all the muscles in her body stiff and her breathing quickened. This feeling is really annoying, it seems that people will no longer be able to see the world clearly and calmly—— Just like back then, being held in that person's arms. She raised her hand involuntarily, and pushed Li Shubai away to protect her arms. Li Shubai pursed his thin lips slightly, looked at her with a pair of deep and dark eyes, and slowly lowered his arm that was pushed away. She herself was also stunned for a moment, but before she could recover, the distorted wailing sound came again.It was the person who was burned alive, his voice was shrill and desperate, and it was heart-wrenching. She tugged at Li Shubai's sleeve and asked hastily, "Can I live to save people?" Li Shubai looked at the turbulent crowd in front of him, frowned and said, "How is that possible." The Jianfu Temple was full of uproar, Master Liaozhen had already stopped lecturing, the disciples in the temple tried their best to maintain order, and the yamen guards were also shouting desperately, but with little effect. Surrounded by ghosts and howling chaos, Jianfu Temple has almost become a Shura field, and countless people have broken their limbs and injured their joints in this crowding. Even if someone brought water to try to extinguish the fire on that person, they couldn't squeeze to his side amidst such a crowd of people fleeing in all directions.Everyone could only squeeze and step, watching helplessly as the man's twitching and rolling on the ground became smaller and smaller, and his wailing became softer and softer, and finally he let out a shrill sound that was distorted so that it was not like a living person. There was no sound. The frenzied crowd in Jianfu Temple finally gradually dispersed. People who fled to the main hall, the corridors, and the fish pond, some groaned while caressing their injured legs, some hugged their dislocated arms and cursed, and some even suffered head and face injuries. Clutching his cheeks and hiding from the side, pointing at the burning corpse, he said in a trembling voice, "This, is this the punishment of God?" A man next to him whose teeth had been knocked out was full of blood, spit out a mouthful of blood angrily, and said, "In my opinion, it was the retribution that the real master said, and he was struck by lightning!" "I don't know who this person is, and what evil things he usually does, but we are affected for no reason. It's really unlucky!" The people around mourned and talked about this sudden disaster. "I'll go and see that person." Huang Zixia saw that the chaos and crowd around him had passed, and there was a space there, so she turned around and ran towards the burned person. After falling to the ground, the body was still burning, and a large open space had been vacated beside it.After the explosion, the wax blocks scattered on the ground were almost completely burned, only some embers of debris, most of which were bright red, quietly scattered on the ground, as if dripping blood. The monks in the temple were rushing over with buckets of water, and poured buckets of water on the flames, but the man had already been burnt beyond recognition, and he was nowhere to be seen. Under the dark and gray sky, there is only a giant wax with gold appliqués standing quietly, and beside it is a charred black corpse, which is left in a mess, looking extremely desolate. Zhou Ziqin, who had been squeezed to nowhere, finally came back in embarrassment. Without a word, he and Huang Zixia squatted next to the water-drenched corpse and studied it: "The preliminary judgment is that it is a man. He was burned to such a height... ...can't be seen; age...can't be seen; skin color...can't be seen; features...can't be seen..." Huang Zixia interrupted him: "The deceased man was short and thin, and his complexion was fairer than ordinary people. He was not very old, probably under thirty. He was wearing a scarlet eunuch robe with crimson gauze and a black silk sash around his waist. His identity was preliminarily deduced to be eunuch." Zhou Ziqin looked at the scorched corpse in front of him, and looked at her in disbelief: "Chonggu, you are really amazing! How can you see so much about such a half-burned corpse? Don't say anything else. , all the clothes have already been burned!" Huang Zixia glanced at him speechlessly: "Didn't we all see it with our own eyes when it started to burn? Didn't you see his height, size, age and clothes?" Zhou Ziqin shook his head silently: "I went to take care of my fish." "Then, although his voice is shrill and hoarse, it's definitely not like the voice of an ordinary man, can you hear it?" Zhou Ziqin continued to shake his head: "It's so noisy around, I'm overwhelmed." Li Shubai had walked behind them at some point, frowned slightly, and said, "Well, I saw it when he was on fire. His body, appearance and clothes are exactly as Chong Gu said, there is no mistake." Zhou Ziqin said to himself in frustration: "Only I didn't see it..." As if to comfort him, Li Shubai said again: "However, I didn't see him before he burned up, and I didn't notice that he was standing there." "There are tens of thousands of people. He is standing alone in the crowd. He is small and thin, so of course he can't see him." Zhou Ziqin said. Huang Zixia frowned slightly, thought for a moment, then raised her hand to pick up a token beside the deceased. This token is made of copper, and the ashes of his body are still left in the holes drilled in it.The token was blackened by the fire, but when Huang Zixia held it in his hand, he could see the five characters engraved on it at a glance - "Princess Tongchang Mansion". "Princess Tongchang Mansion?" Li Shubai looked at the letter in Huang Zixia's hand, and frowned slightly: "Could it be the eunuch in her house?" Huang Zixia turned the wet token in his hands, looked at the fine patterns on it, and said, "This token looks real." "Well, the craftsmanship of the inner palace is wrong with the handwriting of gold and silver, and people outside can't imitate it." Li Shubai said. Zhou Ziqin was still squatting next to the corpse, looking at the crotch of the corpse expectantly, and said to himself: "What should I do..." Huang Zixia asked: "What should I do?" "It's the first time in my life to study the corpse of a eunuch, what should I do if I'm a little nervous?" Huang Zixia turned her head aside speechlessly.
The rain finally started to fall, at one o'clock and two o'clock, sparsely.But the bean-sized raindrops hit the skin quickly, making people feel a little pain. The three of them hid under the eaves of the main hall of Jianfu Temple.The lectern in front was still being built, but the incense tables and futons on it had been overturned, making them a mess.Not far in front of the stage was an incense burner that had been extinguished by the rain. One of the huge candles next to the incense burner had been extinguished, and the other was standing there with only a half-foot-long reed wick in the middle, scattered around it. ground wax. The grand ceremony of Jianfu Temple, like the lifelike dragon and phoenix patterns on the candles and the flowers falling from the ceiling, was all shattered in the dust. Someone walked quickly outside the temple, it was Cui Chunzhan, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple.There was someone holding a big umbrella for him behind him, but Cui Chunzhan ignored it at all, and hurried up to Li Shubai with a sullen expression on his face, bowed his hands and saluted him, with a forced smile on his face: "Lord Kui." "Cui Shaoqing came very quickly." Li Shubai said. "Isn't that right, I just finished my official business, and I was going to come here to listen to the real master's speech. Unexpectedly, before I got halfway, I heard that something happened here at Jianfu Temple—I heard that it was thunder from the sky, and I was killed. A man?" Cui Chunzhan said while motioning for Wu Zuo to follow Zhou Ziqin to examine the corpse. Huang Zixia replied: "Yes. At about the end of the hour, when Master Liaozhen talked about retribution, a thunderbolt fell from the sky and shattered the giant candle on the left. At that time, many people nearby were knocked down by the wax block. The wax block was dyed. It is over-colored, and the pigments inside are mostly cinnabar realgar black oil, etc. It is very flammable when used on candles. Unfortunately, it is this flammable material that makes the whole candle explode into countless fire balls, and the man fell on it. Candlelight, the whole body burns to death." "Really? It sounds like retribution is imminent. He did something evil and was struck to death by lightning." Cui Chunzhan said with great interest. Huang Zixia was a little helpless for Cui Shaoqing, who was the young minister of Dali Temple but never cared about the case and had countless whimsical ideas in his mind, so he just looked up speechlessly and looked at the light rain dripping outside the eaves. Zhou Ziqin dragged Cui Chunzhan outside, gesticulating and recounting what happened at that time.The person behind held up a big umbrella for Cui Chunzhan, but Zhou Ziqin didn't care at all. He walked over against the rain while talking, and at the same time pulled a few people to discuss how to examine a charred corpse—especially The body of the eunuch. Li Shubai and Huang Zixia stood side by side under the eaves, and when they turned their heads, they saw fine droplets splashed by the rain and wind, which wet one or two strands of hair falling on her forehead, like one or two crystal clear rice beads adorning her hair In the middle, it flickered on her jade-like smooth forehead, giving her a slight sense of dazzlement. He raised his hand inadvertently, brushed his sleeve over her hair, and said, "Don't stand too outside, it's going to rain heavily." Only then did Huang Zixia realize in a daze that she was actually standing side by side with him, which was not in harmony with etiquette. She quickly took a step back, but her eyes were still fixed on Zhou Ziqin outside. And Cui Chunzhan has already come back, raised the quota with his hands, a little frustrated: "It's really horrible, horrible... How could it be burned like this?" Li Shubai said: "Today's Dafa event, the imperial court helped Jianfu Temple to prepare for it from last year until now, I never thought that something like this would happen, and it would end in such a disastrous way." "That's right, I don't know who this unlucky guy who was struck by lightning is." Li Shubai said lightly: "It seems to be an eunuch from the Tongchang Mansion." "Ah?" Cui Chunzhan couldn't help showing a shocked expression, "Your Highness means...Princess Tongchang?" Li Shubai nodded slightly. The unlucky and depressed expression on Cui Chunzhan's face deepened. Li Shubai turned her head to signal Huang Zixia, and she quickly presented the token in her hand to Cui Chunzhan. As soon as Cui Chunzhan saw the burnt black letter, he immediately said with a sad face, "It really is the eunuch of the princess's mansion. What if it is the servant of the princess?" "You can handle it impartially, and Princess Tongchang can't make things difficult for you." Li Shubai said. "Yes..." Cui Chunzhan nodded reluctantly, but still couldn't help but look unlucky.
The rain gradually became heavier.People in Dali Temple set up an oilcloth canopy to cover the dead body, but the water on the ground had overflowed the dead body, so they had to temporarily borrow a bamboo bed from the monks, carried the dead body on the bamboo bed and put it away, and then ran back one by one. Under the eaves of the hall to shelter from the rain. Zhou Ziqin was covered in water, and his bright apricot yellow clothes were beaten by the rain like a withered pumpkin flower, sticking to his body in embarrassment. But he didn't care, he approached Huang Zixia excitedly, and said, "Hey, Chonggu, that's really an eunuch! I studied it with Wu Zuo!" Huang Zixia's face was dark: "This still needs to be studied? You can see... you know it?" "That's not necessarily true. Without that, maybe it's not an eunuch, but a woman?" Li Shubai coughed lightly beside him when he heard that his words became more and more outrageous. Zhou Ziqin shrank his neck and stuck out his tongue, still smiling. Huang Zixia turned her head to the side, not wanting to discuss such a topic with Zhou Ziqin again: "Is there anything suspicious about the body of the deceased?" "No, the deceased had no beard or hair, his skin was scorched black and bruised, and his face was distorted. There is no doubt that he was burned alive. As for whether he was struck by lightning because of bad things or because of a coincidence, I don't know. However, if It's from the Tongchang Mansion, maybe this matter will become a big problem. After all, the emperor really loves this princess, and everyone in the world knows it." Huang Zixia said: "Even if Princess Tongchang is going to cause a big disturbance, it should have nothing to do with you and me." "That's right, it's going to rain, the thunderbolt is going to hit people, what can we do," Zhou Ziqin said, spreading his hands, "and my father's burning tail banquet will be next month, and I will have to go to Shu with my father soon Zhong. Hey, Shuzhong is very good, Huang Zixia, who I admire the most, left a lot of deeds to solve strange cases there, if you have time, come and find me, I will take you to have a good time!" Li Shubai glanced at Huang Zixia who had already ignored Zhou Ziqin's words, and said, "You don't need to worry about this, I'm going to Shuzhong, maybe I'll start before you." "Huh, really? Then we can travel together!" Zhou Ziqin said excitedly. Huang Zixia calmly said: "No need, the prince and you are on official business, it's best not to go together, so as not to delay each other." "Ah...Although it makes sense, but Chonggu, you look so cold! You can obviously decline me..." Huang Zixia didn't want to pay attention to him anymore.
People from Dali Temple came to ask them about the situation at that time, and after recording it, they asked the monks who put out the fire and the guards in the nearby yamen to help maintain order, and it seemed busy again. Li Shubai bid farewell to Cui Chunzhan and walked out of the temple with Huang Zixia.After passing through the chaos, the carriage of King Kui's Mansion still parked respectfully at the gate of the temple.The coachman A Yuanbo has already covered the roof of the carriage with tarpaulin to prevent the heavy rain from seeping into the carriage. It was raining heavily, and on the streets of Chang'an, some people ran away with their heads in their arms, some people walked around with umbrellas, and some stood under trees by wells anxiously looking at the sky. The carriage moved forward smoothly.When they reached Pingkangfang, they should have turned to North Street, but Uncle A Yuan suddenly strangled his horse and stopped abruptly. The car stopped suddenly, and Huang Zixia, who was sitting on the small bench inside, was caught off guard, and his body swooped down, hitting the wall of the car.Fortunately, Li Shubai reacted very quickly, he raised his hand to hold her shoulder, and stopped her when her forehead was about to hit the car wall. Huang Zixia stroked his forehead with lingering fear, thanked Li Shubai, and asked the driver in the rain, "Uncle Ayuan, why did you stop suddenly?" A Yuanbo hurriedly said: "There are people on the road ahead, blocking it." Huang Zixia also heard the faint commotion, so she took the umbrella from the car, said to Li Shubai, "I'll go down and have a look", and got out of the car with the umbrella. In front is the intersection of Dongshi and Pingkangfang.A few people stood scattered on the side of the road to watch the excitement. In the middle of the road was a child lying on the ground. He looked about four or five years old. He fell unconscious in the rain and didn't know whether he was dead or alive. There were quite a few onlookers, but they saw that the child's clothes were disheveled and his body was filthy. He looked like a little beggar, so they all just pointed and pointed, but no one helped him up to have a look. Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, and was about to step forward to look at the child, but saw that the crowd around the audience reacted and looked forward one after another. It turned out to be a young man who came out of the Shengye Temple. He saw the little beggar on the ground at a glance, and walked forward quickly, put the umbrella in his hand on his shoulder, and freed his hands to lift the little beggar who fell to the ground. The beggar picked it up. The man was wearing a white plain gauze dress embroidered with faintly recognizable silver macaroni patterns. The cyan oiled paper umbrella set off his slender white figure, as bright and clear as the rising moon.And the little beggar fell in the rain, covered in dirty mud, but he didn't care about it at all, and only gently placed the unconscious little beggar in his arms. When the people around saw such a noble man treating such a lowly and filthy little beggar with such gentleness, they all looked at each other in blank dismay. And when he raised his head, the people around him couldn't help but take a deep breath when they saw his face clearly. The heavy rain fell on the whole of Chang'an.The man's face was clear and clear in the rain, as if the rain falling on him only added to his clarity.The extremely handsome facial features, flawless eyebrows and eyes, and the ingenuity between a teenager and a young man make people happy like a clear cloud at the beginning. There are millions of people in Chang'an, but among the millions of people, there is only one body with such an overwhelming sense of sentient beings; in the three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, only one soul with such a clean spirit has been precipitated in the past three hundred years. Everyone around was overwhelmed by his appearance and temperament for a moment, and forgot to step forward to help him. The rain washed the surrounding scenery into a blur, leaving only the faint outlines of the houses, submerged behind the pagoda trees all over the street, deep and shallow.This troubled world was blurred into a cloud, and the whole world seemed to exist only to set off him. Holding an umbrella, Huang Zixia looked at that person through the torrential rain, and stood there blankly, motionless, as if she had forgotten the world. I really didn't expect that when I reunited with him again, it would be in such a scene, in such a heavy rain. Her hand holding the umbrella trembled violently, and the cold raindrops eroded her whole body.But her body was colder than the rain outside. The man holding the little beggar was walking towards her.He tried his best to use the umbrella on his shoulder to cover the child in his arms from the raindrops, while the drops of water dripped down from his hair and slid down his fair and slender neck into the collar, but he didn't look embarrassed at all. He walked up to her with the little beggar in his arms, and asked, "Which medical clinic is nearby..." The heavy rain poured down, and the sound made the whole world noisy.His gaze paused on her face, and the back half stopped abruptly. He stared blankly in front of her. The rain was so heavy that the roar of voices almost drowned her.But she heard the silent mourning in her chest amidst the sound of the rain, overwhelming the rainstorm. It's like a lost world. And he never looked at her again.He lowered his head, the raindrops hit his face, but he completely ignored it, only protecting the child in his arms, and walked past her step by step. The moment they passed by, Huang Zixia heard him say in a voice as cold as a blade: "You'd better disappear before I come back from the medical hall." Huang Zixia's throat tightened, her whole body froze.She tried desperately to regain consciousness, but it was useless - because she was facing him, a man who had snatched her soul many years ago. And his eyes turned sideways coldly, and fell on her face: "Otherwise, I will definitely take your ashes to comfort your parents' spirits in heaven." Huang Zixia bit her lower lip hard, her heart was beating fast, she opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't say it after trying several times.Because she knew deeply that as soon as she opened her mouth, she would completely collapse. The umbrella in her hand couldn't cover the pouring rain at all, Huang Zixia's clothes were already wet, she couldn't help shaking, her whole body was on the verge of falling, the pain spreading from her heart was almost tearing, tearing her whole body in two. At this moment, a hand slowly rested on her shoulder to protect her. This hand was so powerful that she immediately had the strength to stand firm.The power spread along her shoulders and spread throughout her body, as if she was being rescued, she was finally able to break free from the invisible hands that were strangling her throat and holding her heart, and exhaled her first breath in a long while. The owner of this hand, Li Shubai, stood behind her, staring calmly at the young man on the opposite side, and said calmly: "You don't need to come back, you can go to the government now and let them ask for someone from King Kui's mansion." .” The man's gaze slowly shifted to him, as if linking him with the rumors in the capital, a trace of paleness appeared on that unusually handsome face. Li Shubai's figure moved slightly calmly, blocking Huang Zixia's body. And Huang Zixia finally came to her senses, she clenched her teeth and forced out a few words to him: "Yang Chonggu, the eunuch of King Kui's residence, I don't know if your brother is..." He didn't speak, just stared at her through the drizzle in Chang'an. In those clear eyes back then, there was tenderness and pampering towards her, there was light as bright as stars when she was happy, and darkness as clear as autumn water when she was down.But now, there is only the ice-cold abyss inside, making her whole heart seem to be in that dark place, falling, falling, falling... Fortunately, Li Shubai's calm and gentle voice sounded in her ears: "Chonggu, let's go." When the clear and clear man saw Li Shubai's calm and protective attitude, and Huang Zixia accepted Li Shubai's protection with a logical expression, his eyes finally dimmed. But it was only for a moment, he hugged the little beggar and bowed to salute, with a calm voice: "Sorry, I mistook the eunuch next to the prince as a heinous enemy. Now that the prince has spoken, it must be my mistake." .” After all, he didn't look at Huang Zixia again, turned around and turned into the alley with the little beggar in his arms, without looking back. Huang Zixia stood in the rain, holding the handle of the umbrella, feeling chills all over her body. Li Shubai said coldly beside her: "Everyone is gone, how long do you have to stand?" His voice changed from the calm and calm just now, and became cold and harsh.And she realized in a trance that his upper body had been wet in several places by the rain. Why did he get out of the car and come to find him in the rain, and why did he protect her and support her without hesitation? She gritted her teeth, raised her hand to prop up the umbrella in her hand, and covered his body. They are under the same umbrella, breathe and hear each other.Li Shubai looked down at her quietly, his eyes peeped out from under his thick eyelashes, cold and clear. Thousands of raindrops fell from the sky, rustling the umbrella surface.The rain fell heavily, and the surrounding streets and alleys were blurred in the rain scene, leaving only faint bluish-gray shadows, and the whole world was in a trance. And in such a trance, Huang Zixia heard Li Shubai's voice, which seemed far but still near: "Yuxuan?" Huang Zixia remained silent, mechanically standing beside him with the umbrella in his hand, without saying a word.Although the umbrella was not small, she kept holding it for him, and the back half of her body was drenched by the rain. It's just that her body trembled slightly, and the hand holding the umbrella was so tightly that her joints were turning white, but she still stubbornly refused to let go. Li Shubai raised his hand to hold the umbrella in her hand.She looked up at him blankly, and he took the umbrella from her hand, held her hand, and whispered, "Let's go." Huang Zixia didn't seem to understand what happened, she couldn't help being pulled forward by him, she just looked blankly at Li Shubai sideways. He helped her hold the umbrella, walked slowly through the rainy street, and led her to the carriage parked at the intersection. Chang'an Seventy-two Square stands quietly in the heavy rain. The whole world is noisy and far away. Only under the protection of Li Shubai's umbrella can the heavy rain be isolated and unable to invade. Her hand was cold and soft, and she lay quietly in his palm, motionless. And his voice sounded softly in the rain.He said: "Three days later, we set off for Shuzhong." She is silent.The rain suddenly became more urgent, and the raindrops hitting the umbrella were short and heavy, as if they were waking her up. After some time, he heard her difficult and deep voice, and said slowly: "Actually, when my parents died and I was identified as the murderer, I also suspected Yuxuan." Li Shubai looked down at her. In the torrential rain, they were under an umbrella, as if they were trapped in a world completely different from the world.She is close at hand, but the distance he can touch when he lowers his head is far away in the world, as if the rain in this day and the ground, what falls on her side, and what rains on his side, each has its own warmth and coldness. But he only nodded slightly and said, "Even from the perspective of an outsider like me, he is suspicious—especially when he misleads you to buy arsenic." She said with difficulty: "But in fact... we have done this countless times in the past three years, and this is not the first time. If he really wants to do it, he doesn't have to wait for that time... to do it during the holidays. My relatives will get together more together." "Also, are you sure he has no chance of poisoning?" "I'm sure," Huang Zixia's voice was low, but the words he uttered were extremely clear, "his alibi is undeniable. After he arrived at my house, he only went to the back garden with me to pick plum blossoms. It was impossible for him to get close to the kitchen. Not even close to that yokotsu soup—the sheep might even have been alive, locked up near the kitchen, when he left." Li Shubai pondered for a moment, then asked, "What happened after he left your house?" "Brew tea and discussed with friends, the place is very far away from my home, and he never left during the journey." "So it is absolutely impossible for him to poison him?" “是。没有时间，没有机会，没有……动机。”她用力地控制自己的呼吸，许久，才颤声说，“王爷刚刚也看到了，他是个连路边小乞丐也要怜惜的心地纯善的人。” 李舒白一手撑着伞，两个人在雨中沉默地站着。夏日急雨，倾泻而下，雨风斜侵他们的衣服下摆，湿了一片。 李舒白看着她低垂的面容，忽然又低声问：“如果，去了蜀中之后，所有的蛛丝马迹都已消亡，你找不到真相，又准备怎么办？” 黄梓瑕默然咬住自己的下唇，许久才说：“这个世上，只要有人做坏事，就肯定会留下痕迹。我不信会有什么罪恶，能被时间磨洗湮灭。” “好，”李舒白也毫无犹疑，说道，“我会始终站在你身后，你无须担忧疑虑，只要放手去做即可。” “嗯……”她低头，睫毛覆盖住她那双明净又倔强的眼睛，那下面，有几乎看不出来的水光，一闪即逝。 “多谢……王爷。”