Chapter 35 second quarter

The rainy season seems to be over. Until a few days ago, it was drizzling every day, making people feel that their clothes were often damp.Since last night, the dark clouds that have been pushed aside have only drifted away. Tonight, there is an amazingly clear night sky exposed through the gaps in the dark clouds.Open the upper lattice window and look up, and you can faintly see the bright moon and summer stars in the gaps in the clouds. Qingliang Hall. The watchmen gathered in the verandah—that is, the large wing near the narrow corridor—to chat. On-duty staff originally refers to those who are on duty at night. However, the people on duty in Qingliangdian in the palace are all high-ranking officials, so they don't have much to do.

So they can only light the lamps, gather together, and chat about gossip or palace gossip that cannot be spoken publicly during the day. So-and-so went to a certain woman’s house to intercede on a regular basis and gave birth to a child; recently, so-and-so was too arrogant, and a certain thing happened in front of the emperor a few days ago; oh, yes, yes, that’s exactly what happened; Please be sure to keep it a secret. Speaking of which, it is actually like this... In short, it was all nonsense gossip.It's just that the topics of the watchmen these days have almost all focused on the incident at the Sanjo Higashiborikawa Bridge.

"What happened in the end? Did it appear again tonight..." Someone asked. "Not necessarily, it only appears when someone passes by; if no one passes by, I'm afraid it won't appear?" "But, as long as someone passes by, it will definitely appear. Doesn't this mean that it is always there?" "It's not necessarily true, it will only appear if someone goes; it won't appear if no one goes. Think about it, if no one goes, the monster stands alone on the bridge, isn't it scary..." "Well……" "Well……" Many dignitaries of the third and fourth ranks were chatting like this.

"Do you want to ask someone to take a look again?" "Oh, that's a good idea." "Who are you calling?" "Don't look for me." "You came up with this idea, how about you go?" "I just suggested asking someone to take a look. Since you said so, let those who agree with it forget it." "You want to push it to someone else?" "You're the one who wants to push it to someone else." "I didn't, it was you." Just when everyone was saying nothing, a firefly flew in the courtyard at night.

Yuan Boya was a little far away from everyone, listening casually to the watchmen on duty chatting, and watching the fireflies fluttering lightly in the dark courtyard with his eyes. Boya didn't dislike such gossip that came from his ears. In fact, he can also join in, but according to what he heard so far, some people will probably be forced to go to Sanjo Horikawa Bridge in the end.If you join in the small talk at such a moment, the result must be... ... The one who went was probably me.Boya thought so inwardly. This kind of disadvantaged job would naturally fall on him a long time ago.

Speaking of which, everyone's discussion at the moment originated from a topic that was brought up by chance seven days ago at night. The location is this Qingliang Hall. Rumors spread among the watchmen. "Hey, I heard it will appear." I don't know who mentioned it first. "What happened?" I don't know who responded, but it doesn't matter anymore. "It's the Sanjo Horikawa Bridge incident." The man who spoke first replied. Hearing this sentence, Fujiwara Jingzhi immediately said: "Oh, if it's the rumor of the monster at Sanjo Horikawa Bridge, I've heard it too."

"What rumor?" Yuan Zhongzheng asked. "Is that the woman that Ono Kiyomaro-sama met?" As soon as Qiao Yousuke mentioned women, the courtiers present almost immediately became the parties involved in this topic. "What the hell is going on?" "I have no idea." "I've heard that too." "That was a very strange thing." In this way, the guards on duty started talking one after another. The drizzling rain fell silently, and the lattice windows were lowered to avoid the humid night air. Tachibana Yusuke's black eyes flashed with flickering lights, and he said:

"Listen to me..." began to talk about the following things. That was about three days ago... It was also a night of drizzling rain, Ono Kiyomaro took two entourages to the woman's residence in an ox cart. Leaving aside where the women live, in short, to get to the women's residence, you must cross the three Higashihorikawa bridges from west to east. The bridge itself is so decayed that it is said that if there is a heavy rain, it is likely to be washed away by the rapids. Therefore, it is planned to send carpenters to build a new bridge immediately after the plum blossoms come out.

Master Ono's ox cart came to Horikawa Bridge. The river is about twelve meters wide. The bridge over the river is about eighteen meters long. Due to decay, many planks of the bridge have fallen off, and the river can be seen from the bridge. When the ox cart crosses the bridge, the bridge deck will always make a heavy rumbling sound. When the bullock cart was approaching the middle of the bridge deck, it stopped suddenly. "What's up?" Qing Ma Lu asked the attendants outside the ox cart. "There is a woman on the bridge." The entourage replied. "woman?"

Kiyomaro opened the curtain of the ox cart dedicated to Gongqing and looked forward, and found a hazy whitish mass standing on the East Bridge. With the help of the light of the torch held high in the hands of the entourage in front of the bullock cart, Master Qingmaro took a closer look, and it turned out to be a woman. The woman was wearing an aristocratic dress jacket and hakama, and her whole body was completely white.The red flames reflected on the white clothes, making the woman seem to be shaking too. Why is that woman standing alone in such a place... Upon careful observation, the woman was about thirty years old, with black hair and fair skin.

Could it be a monster or something... The woman stared at Kiyomaro, slightly parted her thin lips: "Because the bridge has decayed, whenever the wheels roll over the place where the planks fall off, there will always be harsh noises. Please abandon the ox cart and pass by on foot." "Want me to walk?" "yes." The woman in white attire nodded and replied in the misty drizzle. Looking left and right, the woman looked like an ordinary woman, except for standing alone in this kind of place in the middle of the night, no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't see anything suspicious. Kiyomaro, who had been shrinking from timidity, calmed down a bit, and said forcefully: "How can that be?" The beauty is waiting for Kiyomaro. For Kiyomaro, if he promised to go but did not go, the beauty's reaction afterwards would be more terrifying than the woman in front of him. "If you insist on passing, I have a request..." "What request?" "I heard that Horikawa Bridge will be demolished immediately after the plum blossom, and a new bridge will be rebuilt..." "Oh, that's true..." "My request is related to this matter..." "Huh? What's the matter?" "Even after the plum blossoms, please don't demolish the bridge immediately. Can you please ask your lord to report to the emperor, and ask the emperor to delay the demolition of the bridge for about seven days..." "why?" "Because there are unspeakable secrets, please don't ask the reason." "what?" The woman asked to play to the emperor, delaying the date of erecting the new bridge, and there is no reason to explain. Forgive me for taking the liberty, this is entrusted to a certain woman - I can't explain it to the emperor like this, and then ask the emperor to postpone the start of the bridge construction. "No, no..." Kiyomaro refused immediately, and then winked at the entourage. "Ignore her, let's go." Gudong! Before the wheel had finished turning a full circle, the woman stretched out her right hand, touched it into her bosom, and said: "In that case, don't blame me..." When the woman took out her right hand, countless red things danced on her palm. Is it a snake? Those jumping things are little red snakes. sand! The woman throws out the little snake on her right palm. As soon as the little snake landed on the bridge, the bridge was immediately covered with little red snakes, and they immediately raised their heads...it seemed so at first. However, this is not the case. What looked like a little red snake wriggled and climbed upwards. It turned out to be a flame. The flames engulfed the bridge deck and gradually burned toward Kiyomaro's bullock cart. "Oh!" Qing Malu yelled, and ordered his followers: "Turn back quickly! Turn back quickly!" The entourage hurriedly turned the bullock cart around in the middle of the bridge, and managed to escape back to the west bank of the original road. Looking back from the west bank, unexpectedly—— The flames that were supposed to be burning were gone, the bridge remained the same, and the woman was gone.Under the light of the torches in the hands of the entourage, only a dilapidated bridge can be vaguely seen in the drizzle. "I heard that Lord Kiyomaro was trembling in the bullock cart." Hashi Yusuke said. "I heard that Master Kiyomaro gave up the idea of ​​going to the woman's place that night, fled back to his mansion, and chanted scriptures all night until early morning..." It was Keinao Fujiwara who answered the question. "It's really useless." "Probably daydreaming." "Maybe it's not a dream, but something like encountering a monster. But it's too..." "Perhaps it was captured by the old fox fairy." "Too unpromising." Everyone exchanged opinions. "I have never believed in ghosts and monsters. It is the confusion, anxiety, fear, etc. in the hearts of those involved that make them see that kind of thing. In fact, the bridge did not burn..." Yuan Zhongzheng said with emphasis. "That's good, how about asking someone to go to Horikawa Bridge to have a look?" Someone suggested. "Oh, that's a good idea." It is said that they are on duty at night, but in fact there is nothing to do.Anyway, everyone was too busy at night.This conclusion follows naturally. But who are you going to call? It was indeed an interesting idea to ask someone to go to Horikawa Bridge to find out what happened, but no one volunteered. Then, someone suggested: "How about Mr. Yuan Zhongzheng?" "Well, good idea. Since Mr. Zhongzheng has never believed in fox fairies and monsters, let's go and see how..." "That's a great idea!" Everyone agrees unanimously. In addition to routinely making the daily or monthly routine run smoothly, these people are constantly thinking about games to pass the time. In this kind of salon-like gathering, of course, those who are named cannot escape the battle, let alone such a heated topic. If he fled before the battle, it would not only be said to be incomprehensible, but he would also be ignored by others in the salon of the palace. There is nothing sadder for a courtier than being ignored by the court. If you want to escape, you have to come up with a reason to surprise everyone, and then chant one or two well-timed waka songs without thinking. You can't avoid it skillfully. Yuan Zhongzheng is not such a capable person. He originally wanted to avoid the spearheads of the crowd, but he couldn't dodge, so he could only respond: "Just go." And so it was decided. Yuan Zhong was setting off from the palace in an ox cart. In addition to the ox cart dedicated to Gongqing, there are three other attendants. The entourage carried a long knife on his waist, and Zhongzheng himself carried a long knife. Tonight, it was still drizzling. Every time the bullock cart moved forward, the axle creaked. crunch. crunch. Go through the Zhuque Gate and exit the Imperial Palace, then follow the Zhuque Road to Santiao Road in a straight line and turn left.Go east along Sanjo Road, and soon you will come to Horikawa Koji in the same direction as Horikawa Bridge.The width of the road is about thirty-six meters, one-third of which is the river. After advancing for a while, Zhongzheng asked his followers from inside the ox cart: "Hey, are you all right?" "Yes." The follower replied. After a while, Zhongzheng spoke again: "Hey, are there any obstacles?" "No." "It's fine if you don't have it, it's troublesome if you have it..." Zhongzheng's voice trembled, it seemed that he wanted to be brave but had no ability. Soon, the bullock cart came to Sansiao Road and turned left.The bullock cart creaked forward and finally came to the Horikawa alley. The entourage temporarily stopped the bullock cart, and asked Zhongzheng, "Sir, do you want to move on?" Zhongzheng raised the upper curtain and looked forward. In the misty rain, a shadow similar to the bridgehead could be seen faintly. "Come on, let's move on." "Do you really want to move on?" The follower felt Zhongzheng's fear. "Go, go." Zhongzheng ordered. crunch. The axle of the bullock cart made a noise again and began to turn. "We're about to reach Horikawa Bridge..." Hearing the follower's report, Zhongzheng just gritted his teeth: "Well, well." Just nodded like a groan. The sound of the wheels rolling on the dirt gradually changed to the sound of rolling on the wooden boards. Zhongzheng was so frightened that he was out of his wits. He closed his eyes tightly in the bullock cart, and muttered sutras in his mouth. Teeth are clenched tightly. If you don't bite tightly, the sound of teeth colliding with teeth may be heard outside the bullock cart. Zhongzheng's ears suddenly heard the cry of his followers. "Out, appeared!" "What, what!" The bullock cart stopped moving. Zhongzheng's face suddenly lost its color. "Yes, it's a woman." "Yah!" Zhongzheng twitched and shouted, "Turn back! Quickly turn around! Turn the ox cart around!" Zhongzheng didn't even glance at it, the bullock cart turned around on the bridge and returned to the original road. Zhong returned to the palace without a trace.Since he didn't see anything, when someone asked him: "What's the result?" "There is a woman standing on the bridge." Zhongzheng could only answer like this. "What happened?" "It's just a woman standing on a bridge." "you saw it?" "No, no." "What happened?" Zhongzheng was speechless. Later, someone asked the attendants who were traveling with him, and everyone learned from the attendants that it was the attendant who really saw the shadowy figure of a woman standing on the other side of the bridge. , The bullock cart turned back again. "My lord Zhongzheng is strong on the outside and capable on the inside." So there was such a rumor in the palace. The second person who came to Sanjo Higashiborikawa Bridge was a samurai named Umezu Harunobu. It was also on a certain night when everyone was on duty at night, Fujiwara Keunobu brought this Umezu Harunobu. Many people in the palace have heard the name of this warrior. A few days ago, he single-handedly repelled the three thieves who alarmed the capital. A few days ago, the palace received a report that the three thieves were going to break into an oil merchant and steal.Chun Xin pretended to be an oil dealer's buddy beforehand, sneaked into the oil dealer and waited for the rabbit.When the thieves broke in, they not only beheaded two thieves, but also captured a thief. Every time the three thieves commit a crime, they must rape the woman of the family.Anyone who sees their appearance will kill them. The three thieves and two of their subordinates fell out because of the distribution of spoils, and killed one of them.Another subordinate managed to escape, and fled to the Yamen to inform the thief's plan. When the thieves sneaked into the oil dealer, Chun Xin stood in the dark and shouted: "Hey, are you thieves?" One of the thieves silently pulled out the long knife on his waist. With a loud shout, the thief raised his long knife and slashed at Chun Xin. Chun Xin avoided the long knife, took a step forward, and stabbed the thief's neck deeply with the long knife in his hand. When another man cut over, Chun Xin pulled out the long knife around the man's neck, bounced the thief's knife back, then swung the long knife down, and chopped off the man's left shoulder in one go. When the last thief saw this and was about to flee the scene, Chun Xin shouted behind the man: "Don't run away! If you run away, you will die." After hearing this, the man put aside the long knife in his hand and knelt down on the spot to beg Chun Xin for mercy. When the Yamen officials who were guarding outside came in, two of the three thieves were dead, and the other thieves had their hands cut behind their backs and tied with a rope. This event happened in the spring. Harunobu is a samurai with peerless strength. It is said that he could grasp a horse's hoof with his fingers and peel it off with his bare hands.One day, in order to test his strength, the emperor deliberately folded three sets of hunting clothes soaked in water, and then ordered Chun Xin to wring them dry. Unexpectedly, Chun Xin easily tore off the three sets of hunting clothes. "What do you think? I want Chunxin to go to that bridge and have a look..." Fujiwara Jingzhi, who brought Harunobu to the palace, suggested. "Oh, that's interesting." "Let Chun Xin go and confront the woman on the bridge." In the end, it was Chun Xin who went to find out. Jing Zhi asked Chun Xin if he wanted to bring an entourage. "No, one person is enough..." Chun Xin replied and stepped out of the palace. Harunobu walked to the destination alone. "As expected of Master Harunobu!" "That's what you call a warrior." Although the guards on duty praised Chun Xin in unison, Chun Xin did not return for a long time. An hour has passed... Two hours have passed... Time gradually passed, and finally waited until morning. At dawn when the sky began to turn white, three or four attendants came to Horikawa Bridge to have a look, only to find Haru Shinobu lying near the East Bridge, unconscious. The entourage carried Chun Xin back to the palace, and Chun Xin regained consciousness.According to his description... When I stepped out of the palace, it was drizzling.When we came to the bridge, the rain stopped and turned into fog. Chunxin held a flaming torch in one hand, and on his waist was the long knife that captured the two thieves. Chun Xin walked to the middle of the bridge step by step stepping on the plank. After crossing the bridge, Chun Xin found a woman wearing a dress jacket standing at the head of the Eastern Bridge. Chunxin moved on. "Master Chunxin." The woman called Chunxin with a low voice. Haruno stopped walking. It was a woman I had never met. She has an oval face, and her complexion is so pale that she is not a person in this world. The skin is so transparent that you can almost see the other side. The woman seemed to be condensed from the mist that filled the surroundings. Why does that woman know her name? It seems that it must be a monster. "Why do you know my name?" "Lord Chunxin's bravery is known to everyone in the capital..." "Even if you know my name, how do you know my appearance..." hehe.The woman pursed her thin lips and said with a smile: "Master Chunxin, you have crossed this bridge several times, so of course I have seen you several times." The woman was right. So far, Chun Xin has indeed passed this bridge countless times. Having said that, Harunobu should not be the only one passing the bridge.Most people living in the capital pass this bridge. Just when Chunxin was about to speak, the woman responded first: "There is something I want to ask Lord Chunxin to draw his sword for help, I wonder if he can accept it?" "Tell me." "yes." The woman saluted, and took out something from her arms with her right hand. Looking carefully, there is a small white stone in the woman's right palm. "What the hell is going on?" "My lord, please help me hold this stone..." "Hold this stone for you?" "yes." "Is it enough to just hold it?" "yes." Chun Xin involuntarily stretched out his left hand, and took the round white thing that looked like a pebble from the woman. It looks like a small stone, but its weight is the same as a large stone that is larger than the palm of your hand. Although Chun Xin held the torch in his right hand, after receiving the stone, he couldn't help but want to add his right hand to support the weight of the stone. "Well!" Holding it in the palm, the stone seems to gradually increase in weight in the palm.Not only that, as the weight increased, the small white stone also gradually increased in the palm, and the bigger the shape, the heavier the stone. "What?" Chun Xin called out. It turned out that the small stone had heat, and it was like a pulse beating, expanding and shrinking repeatedly.It swells a lot when it expands, but when it shrinks it's only a little smaller than it swells...it doesn't shrink back to its original size. Repeating the action of expanding and shrinking in this way, the stone gradually grew into a large stone. When the shape increases, the weight increases; when the weight increases, the shape increases. It's just... Chun Xin thought to himself: It seems to be a living stone. In the end, the stone grew so big and heavy that it could no longer be held with one hand. "Hold it with both hands, please." After the woman finished speaking, she took the torch from Chun Xin's right hand. "Well!" Chunxin held the stone in both hands. The size of the pebble was about the same as an adult's head, and its weight was like a big rock. If ordinary people were to hug it, maybe five people would not be able to hug it. "What's wrong with you? Can't hold it anymore?" "No, it's okay..." Chunxin's forehead had already spurted large beads of sweat, and the sweat flowed down his cheeks into his thick neck, and then into his chest from his collar. "Hey, you sweat so much..." "No problem." "This stone will continue to get heavier, can you really hold it?" "This weight is nothing." Chun Xin's face was flushed. At this time, the small white stone has become a big rock that must be embraced with both hands. If Chunxin had been standing on muddy ground, the weight of the stones would have caused his feet to sink into the mud, down to his ankles. creak! creak! The bridge under Chun Xin's feet began to make a sound of unbearable weight. Chun Xin gritted his teeth hard. Thick blood vessels protruded from the neck, and the roots of the teeth were clenched so tightly that they were almost broken. "Please be patient, Harunobu-sama..." "Hmm!" Chun Xin closed his eyes and moaned. At this time... The thing that Harunobu embraced with both hands suddenly turned into something soft. Something soft and warm. Shocked, Chunxin opened his eyes and found that the white stone he thought he was hugging turned into a snow-white naked baby. The baby opened its eyes, opened its mouth again, and stuck out its long, blood-red tongue. "Wow!" With a loud cry, Chun Xin threw out the baby in his hand, and drew out the long knife on his waist. "Ah!" Chun Xin raised his long knife and slashed at the woman. The palm does not have the tactile feeling of chopping something. Bang! The point of the knife chipped off the railing on the bridge. The figures of the woman and the baby disappeared like smoke. The torch in the woman's hand just now danced in circles in the dark midair, and finally fell into the dark flowing water of Horikawa under the bridge, and the flame was extinguished. The surroundings suddenly became dark, and Chun Xin fell to the ground in a faint, lying on his back on the bridge... This seems to be the ins and outs of things. Happened three days ago.