Chapter 11 Chapter 10: Spring is still early in Luoyang in February

【one】 February 22nd. Luoyang. morning. A fast horse rushed into Luoyang through the wind and snow. The man on horseback wore a navy blue cloak and a Luoyang felt hat, and pressed the hat low on his eyebrows, covering half of his face. This man's riding skills are superb, but he got off his horse as soon as he entered Luoyang territory, as if he didn't want people to see his true face, nor did he want others to see his vigorous skills. But this was his first time in Luoyang, and no one in Luoyang had seen him. Same day, same month, same year. Chang'an. In February, Chang'an's morning is as cold as Luoyang's.When most people were still lingering in bed, Zhuo Donglai had already woken up.

Although he was in good spirits, his face was heavy. Sima Chaoqun has been ill for several days, and his condition has not improved. Naturally, he will not be in a good mood. He hadn't seen Sima in the past few days, and every time he went to visit a doctor, he was stopped by Wu Wan.The inside and outside of the ward were filled with the smell of medicine, and Wu Wan looked very haggard, but her attitude was very firm. Except for herself and the doctor who saw the doctor, no one could enter, even Zhuo Donglai was no exception. This was the first time in her life that she was so rude to Zhuo Donglai.

Zhuo Donglai didn't care at all, and instead told others: "No matter what a woman does for her husband's safety, she deserves to be forgiven." Although it was early in the morning, there were already two guests waiting for Mr. Zhuo in the garden. The two people, one surnamed Jian and the other surnamed Shi, are both famous doctors in Chang'an for generations, and they are usually pampered.In such cold weather, I almost never leave the bed and brazier. But today they were invited by Zhuo Donglai early in the morning, and instead of welcoming them into the warming room, they were asked to wait in a small pavilion with ventilation on all sides.

If it is June now, the lotus is red outside the pavilion, the willows are green, and the breeze is blowing from all sides, that situation will be very pleasant. But now the cold wind is blowing on the body like a knife. Although the two gentlemen are wearing heavy furs and holding the stove in their hands, their faces are still blue from the cold, and they can't wait to prescribe two laxatives for Zhuo Donglai to eat immediately. Of course, this kind of thinking can't even be revealed. Everyone in Chang'an city knows very well what will happen to those who offend Mr. Zhuo. So when Zhuo Donglai was wearing sable fur and Shi Shiran walked over the stone path with his entourage, both of them looked very happy, bowed to the ground and greeted with a smile.

Zhuo Donglai was also very polite to them. "It's so cold, I didn't invite the two of you to sit in the warm pavilion, but I greeted you here, don't you think it's strange?" Of course it was strange in my heart, but the words in my mouth were different. "It's snowing and it's clearing up, and the plum blossoms are in full bloom," the more talkative Doctor Shi rushed to say, "Dong Weng has always been an elegant person, do you want us to come here to see the flowers and enjoy the snow?" "I did invite you two to come here to see something, but it's not flowers or snow."

What are you looking at but not flowers? "The skin of Mrs. Xue in Doctor Shi's other building outside the city is like snow, and the flower pistil girl that Mr. Jian offered last night is much prettier than the plum blossoms here." Zhuo Donglai smiled, "Why invite the two of you here if you want to see the flowers and enjoy the snow .” The palms of the two famous doctors seemed to be sweating, even their wives didn't know about these things!Zhuo Donglai said it lightly. How dare they say anything in front of someone who can casually reveal your secrets? "You two please follow me."

Zhuo Donglai smiled maliciously, but Dr. Shi and Dr. Jian could only obediently follow him. Walking to a ditch made of white stones beside the flower path, Zhuo Donglai first asked someone to lift up the stone slab covering it, then turned around and asked them, "Take a look, both of you, what is this?" This is a ditch, anyone can see that it is a ditch, Zhuo Donglai brought them here early in the morning, is it just to ask them to look at the ditch? What's so nice about a ditch? Both Dr. Shi and Dr. Jian were stunned. Zhuo Donglai stood there all the time, looking at the ditch with fascination.It was as if there was nothing in the world more worthy of their attention than this ditch.

Doctor Jian's temper was rather short-tempered, so he couldn't help asking: "It looks like this is just a ditch." "It's not bad at all, it looks like it's just a ditch." Zhuo Donglai said lightly, "Because it's just a ditch in the first place, how could it look like something else?" Dr. Shi and Dr. Jian closed their mouths again. Zhuo Donglai said leisurely: "This is a very well-built ditch, smooth and flat, never silted up, and it runs from the Sima couple's residence to the outside of the garden without hindrance." Although the two doctors are familiar with medical books, this time they don't know what kind of medicine he sells in the gourd.

At this time, there seemed to be a burst of medicinal fragrance in the wind. The stone path was cleaned early in the morning, and even the snow in the ditch had been removed. Just when they smelled the fragrance of the medicine, there was already a stream of dark brown sewage flowing down from above in the ditch. Zhuo Donglai waved his hand, and someone in his entourage took half a bowl of the sewage and held it in front of the two doctors. "Take a look, both of you, what is this?" The two doctors knew what it was without even looking at it.Of course, this is not sewage, and there will never be medicine in sewage.

Zhuo Donglai stared at them coldly. "I think the two of you probably don't know what this is?" Doctor Jian wanted to speak, but after moving his lips twice, he didn't even utter a word. Doctor Shi's mouth seemed to be sewn shut with a needle and thread. "This is the medicine that the two of you prescribed for our boss yesterday. Since midnight last night, you have been frying it with a slow fire for more than two hours, and it has not been cooked until now," Zhuo Dong said. "As far as I know, this medicine is at least It's worth fifty taels."

The faces of the two doctors changed. Zhuo Donglai said: "This bowl of medicine should have flowed into Sima's stomach by now, but how it flowed into the ditch, I really don't understand." His eyes suddenly shone brightly: "Fortunately, I know that someone must understand." "Who?" Dr. Shi asked mutteringly, "Who understands?" "you." Doctor Shi seemed to have been whipped so hard that he couldn't even stand still. "If you still don't understand, it must be because it's too hot here." Zhuo Donglai's tone became very gentle again, "When a person is too hot, there will always be many things that he can't remember." So he immediately ordered his followers: "Aren't you going to undress Doctor Shi quickly?" Doctor Shi tightened the fur on his body, and stammered: "You are welcome, you must be polite, this dress is absolutely unacceptable." Wearing a fur fur is already about to freeze to death, if you want to take it off, you have to freeze to death. Among the entourage, there were two big men standing around Dr. Shi, Zhuo Donglai asked him again in a very gentle tone: "Are you really not hot?" Doctor Shi shook his head desperately. "Then you must have remembered, how could the medicine that should have been drunk be poured into the ditch?" Zhuo Donglai asked, "Is it because the patient is not sick at all?" "I have no idea." Zhuo Donglai sneered, two giant palms of a big man had already rested on Dr. Shi's shoulders, and finally Dr. Shi couldn't help crying. "I really don't know, I haven't seen him at all." Zhuo Donglai's pupils suddenly shrank. "You haven't seen him? You haven't seen Sima Chaoqun"? "I haven't, really not." "His wife invited you to see him, but you haven't seen him?" "I haven't even seen his shadow." Doctor Shi was already anxious, "There was no shadow of him in that room at all." Zhuo Donglai stood there quietly, facing the gray and indifferent sky, stood quietly for a long time, then slowly turned his head, stared at Doctor Jian, and asked each word. "What about you? You didn't see him either?" "Neither have I." Dr. Jian became calmer, "Hero Sima is not in that room at all. Mrs. Sima invited us here, but she just wanted us to see a doctor in an empty room." Then they heard Wu Wan's voice. "If someone is willing to pay five hundred taels of gold, there are many doctors who are willing to treat the empty house," she said flatly, "If I want to look for it next time, I will definitely look for someone who is less afraid of the cold." If someone in this place is really sick, then this person must be Wu Wan. Her face was yellow and haggard, and her bright eyes were now bloodshot. She stared at the two doctors who were afraid of the cold. "I'm just a woman, of course I'm not as capable as Mr. Zhuo, and I won't ask you two to take off your clothes." Her voice was as cold as ice, "But I advise you two to be more careful before going to bed. You have to wait until you wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly find yourself sleeping on the snow.” The faces of the two doctors turned green. If a person's vision could kill, they would probably be dead in the snow by now. "Can the two of you please leave now?" Wu Wan said, "Please, please leave." She has always been a very gentle woman, gentle and elegant, and she usually says "please" first when she speaks. "Mr. Zhuo," she said after the two doctors left, "I really want to ask you to do something." "What's up?" "Please go with them too." Zhuo Donglai didn't respond, not even the slightest reaction, not even the slightest expression on his face. "Unfortunately, I also know that you will definitely not get lost." Wu Wan sighed, "You are Sima Chaoqun's good friend, good brother, and I can't find such a good brother or friend like you anywhere in the world." Her voice was also full of sarcasm, just like when Die Wu was talking to Zhuo Donglai. "Besides, Sima Chaoqun all started with you. He is just a puppet with strong limbs and a simple mind. Without you, how could he be where he is today." Wu Wan sneered, "At least you think so in your heart, don't you?" Zhuo Donglai still didn't respond at all, just like listening to an actor singing on stage. "Of course you are a great person, a great friend, because you sacrificed everything for him, and you have lived all your life for him, to make him famous, to be the head of the bodyguard bureau, to be the leader of the world A great hero in people's hearts." Wu Wan's sneer suddenly became crazy. "But do you know how he lives as a great hero?" Her laughter was full of resentment, "He has a wife and children, and a family of his own, but he doesn't seem to belong to this family at all. He never lived a day he wanted to live, because you arranged everything for him, he had to do whatever you asked him to do, and he even had to drink some wine secretly." Zhuo Donglai suddenly interrupted her. "Enough," he told Wu Wan, "You have said enough." "Yes, I've said enough," Wu Wan lowered her head, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Do you have anything to say?" "I just have a few words for you." "I will tell," Wu Wan said, "I will never let you have the opportunity to treat me like you treat others." Although her accent is still very hard, it has actually softened! "Who in the rivers and lakes doesn't know that 'Zi Qi Dong Lai' Zhuo Dong Lai has at least a hundred methods to force people to tell the truth?" "It would be great if you understand this point," Zhuo Donglai said coldly, "Did Sima leave Chang'an?" "yes." "Why are you hiding it from me for him?" "Because I want him to do what he wants to do." Wu Wan said, "I am his wife, and I believe that every wife wants his husband to be an independent man." "When did he leave?" "On the night of the seventeenth," Wu Wan said, "he should have arrived in Luoyang by now." "Luoyang?" Zhuo Donglai's wolf-like gray eyes suddenly burst into blood: "You let him go to Luoyang alone? Do you want him to die?" "We are husband and wife, why should I let him die?" Zhuo Donglai stared at her, and after a long time, he said word by word in his unique tone that was sharper than a blade and more vicious than a snake, "Because of Guo Zhuang." Whenever Zhuo Donglai speaks in this tone, at least one person in this world will be fatally hurt and hit by him. "Because of Guo Zhuang." This sentence sounds meaningless to others, but when Wu Wan heard it, it seemed that she was suddenly injured by the sharp blade of the poisonous scorpion, as if she suddenly fell from a tall building and couldn't even stand up.There was also an indescribable and terrible change on the withered and haggard face. Of course Zhuo Donglai would not miss her changes. "Sima has been sleeping with you all these years, and has never even touched you." Zhuo Donglai's voice was indifferent and cruel, "You are in the age of a wolf and a tiger, and you happen to have a young and strong man like Guo Zhuang by your side." A handsome young man, and he knows how to be courteous to women. It's a pity that he has died in Honghuaji, by Zhu Meng's knife, even his head..." Wu Wan suddenly hissed and shouted: "Enough, you have said enough." "I didn't want to say these things at first, because I didn't want to make Sima sad," Zhuo Dong said, "Now I say it, just to let you know that nothing you have done can be hidden from me, so you don't care about it in the future." Whatever you do, you have to be very careful.” Wu Wan's body was already shaking. "Now I understand," her eyes were full of hatred and resentment, "You sent Guo Zhuang to Honghuaji just to send him to his death, because you already knew the secret between me and him." She rushed over suddenly, grabbed Zhuo Donglai's lapel, and asked in a hissed voice, "Do you think so? Is it like this?" Zhuo Donglai looked at her coldly, and gently stroked the pulse gates of her hands with two fingers. Wu Wan let go of her hand, and she fell down, but she was still asking: "Is it? Is it? Is it like this?" She will never know the truth of this matter, because Zhuo Donglai has already left, and he never looked back, nor did he look at her, as if he treated her like an ant that he just shook off the skirt of his clothes, and treated her No more dismissive. a long rope. The long rope is in Wu Wan's hand, and Wu Wan is under the beam in the room.There is wind blowing in from the window, it is very cold and cold. "What day is today? I think it must be a good day," she murmured to herself, slowly knotting the long rope. A knot. 【two】 On the same day, Luoyang. This street was originally a very lively street, with a vegetable market, a tea house, a morning market, and a flower market. But now suddenly there is nothing. Just like a person who had always been very healthy and strong suddenly died suddenly, this street also died and became a dead street. The door panel of the teahouse has not been removed for several days, and there are only some mottled traces of knives left on the butcher's meat table in the vegetable market, and there is almost no one on the street. No one wants to come to this street again. There are too many tragedies on this street. Only a wild dog with its tail between its legs stretched out its tongue and licked the unwashed blood in the crevices of the stone slabs. The wild dogs will never know whose blood is here. Wild dogs don't know, cowhide knows. 【three】 On another small street, in a small restaurant called "Lao Zhang Mantou Shop", the cowhide is bragging. "Cowhide" is a nickname for a person, because this young man who is fond of drinking and drinking can not only brag, but also has a thick skin, thicker than cowhide. He was bragging to a stranger from far away, because the stranger had bought him a lot of wine. He was bragging about the tragic story that happened that day on the street outside Copper Camel Lane. "That kid is really a fucking good boy, and Niu Pi really admires him from the bottom of his heart," Niu Pi said, "That kid is really fucking good, and he's not afraid of death." The stranger listened in silence and poured out his drink in silence. "Later I heard that the boy's surname is Gao, and he is a friend of the old lion." Niu Pi said, "Dragon makes dragons, phoenixes make phoenixes, and mice make friends who can make holes. Only a man as good as Old Lion can have a friend like him." There seemed to be a flash of light in the stranger's eyes, but he quickly lowered his head. "You were also on that street that day?" "How could I not be here? How could I miss this kind of thing?" Niu Pi was elated, "That day I was thinking of going to Lao Hu's teahouse to have a cup of morning wine, when I saw that kid swaggering away alone. He was actually only wearing a green short jacket, but he was wearing a big jacket in his hand. Later I found out that there was a treasure hidden under that jacket." Niu Pi suddenly stood up and gestured with his chopsticks: "In just that moment, the sword pierced into Boss Cai's heart, so fast that people couldn't even see clearly." Thinking that the kid is really so kind, even my cowhide was scared stupid." "and after?" "Everyone thought that kid was going to be cut into pieces. Unexpectedly, at that juncture, a man suddenly fell from mid-air, as if... as if a parachutist descended from the sky." Niu Pi was very proud that such a good "word" came from his own mouth, so he quickly drank a large bowl of wine and asked the stranger deliberately. "Guess who is that person who fell from the sky?" "Is it the old lion?" Niu Pi slapped his thigh hard: "It's not bad at all, it's him." The more Niu Pi talked, the more energetic he became. "An old lion is an old lion. Although his luck has not been very good recently and he has lost a lot of weight, he still looks like a lion when he stands up." Niu Pi puffed up his chest, patted his chest, imitated Zhu Meng's tone and said: "He is my friend, whoever dares to touch him, you have to kill me first." "And then," the stranger asked coldly, "wouldn't any of Boss Cai's brothers dare to touch him?" "Who dares to move, once the old lion's majesty shows off, who else dares to move?" Niu Pi suddenly sighed: "At first, no one dared to move, but unexpectedly, there are a group of bastards from other places who don't know how to live or die, and insist on breaking ground on the lion's head." "People from other places?" Niu Pi nodded: "It was only later that I found out that Boss Cai paid for those bastards." "But Boss Cai is dead. Even if they slaughtered the old lion, no one will pay for them." The stranger asked, "Why do they work hard for the dead?" "Of course they have other plans," Niu Pi said triumphantly, "Although your brother can't figure it out, I know it." "Oh?" "Although your brother doesn't know what kind of person the old lion is, I know, and those bastards must know too." "what do you know?" "Know that the old lion will never let them go." "why?" "Those bastards kill people when they see money, their hands are bloody, and they are not the brothers of the Lion Hall. If the old lion regains the throne of the hall master, can their heads grow on their necks?" "That's right." The stranger admitted, "You're right." "But if they really killed the old lion, they would be able to extract some oil and water from Boss Cai's men." Niu Pi said, "So they did it." For such a complicated matter, he can analyze it so clearly. Niu Pi couldn't help but admire himself, so he immediately drank another big bowl: "This is called the first to strike first, and the last to suffer." "Who is suffering?" "At first I couldn't see it either." Niu Pi said, "That battle was so earth-shattering, ghost crying, at least eight out of ten people on the street were so frightened that they even urinated." Niu Pi's own eyes also showed fear, as if he saw a large piece of flesh and blood flying up, and heard the sound of the blade chopping on the bone. "My cowhide is not a pustule, but since I watched that battle, I can't eat or sleep for at least two or three days." His voice was already hoarse, as if he didn't want to talk anymore, but the stranger refilled a large bowl of wine for him in time. This bowl of wine immediately lifted his interest. "In the beginning, it was the old lion and the kid surnamed Gao who had the upper hand, but things went wrong later on." "why?" "As the saying goes, two fists can't hold up to four hands, and a good man can't hold up to many people. Although the old lion's majesty remains strong, there are only two people. Even if others stick out their necks and let them chop, their hands will be sore sooner or later. .” Niu Pi said again: "Seeing this situation, those brothers in the Lion Hall who were already overwhelmed by the old lion's prestige seem to want to move, and want to take the opportunity to beat the drowning lion." The stranger is nodding. The same is true of his thoughts, and the situation at that time must have evolved into this. "As long as those people move, the old lion and the man surnamed Gao will probably be chopped into meat paste." Niu Pi sighed again: "At that time, I already hoped that they could run away quickly. It's not like they didn't have a chance to run away. If it was my Niu Pi, they would have gone to nowhere." "Did the old lion run away?" "Of course I didn't run away." Niu Pi puffed up his chest again, "What kind of person is the old lion? He is not a nobody like me Niu Pi. With his identity and temper, even if he is killed, he will not run away." "So he didn't run?" "No." "But I know he's not dead either." "Of course he didn't die, how could the old lion die," Niu Pi sighed, "but the spikes are dead." "The spikes?" asked the stranger. "Who are the spikes?" "He's a good man, a great man." Niu Pi's face flushed with excitement, "I, Niu Pi, have never seen such a good man in my life. If he doesn't die, I, Niu Pi, would like to wash his feet every day." "Not only do I admire him, as long as you are a person, you have to admire him." Niu Pi said. "Why?" asked the stranger again. "He was just a follower of the old lion. He usually looks like a grandson and is always bullied." Niu Pi blushed, "But I didn't know until now that he usually acts as a hero in front of him." Those individuals are the grandsons of turtles, and he is the real hero." Speaking of this man, the blood in Niu Pi's whole body seemed to be hot, and he tore off the skirt of the ragged cotton jacket on his body, and said loudly: "I saw clearly that day, he was chopped off nineteen times all over his body. Even the nose was chopped off in half with a knife, leaving only a layer of skin hanging on his face, as long as he moved, the half of the nose hanging on the face would follow him." "how is he?" "He simply tore off the nose and the skin, and swallowed it in one gulp. With a backhand knife, he smashed another one." Hearing this, the stranger, who had been acting indifferent all this time, couldn't help but drank a bowl of wine and praised loudly: "A good man, he really is a good man." Niu Pi slapped the table hard: "It's a pity that such a good man died of exhaustion in the end, and he didn't fall until his arms and legs were cut off. A piece of meat bitten off." "What happened next?" "Seeing him fight so bravely and fiercely to the death, we couldn't help but cry. Even those lion cousins ​​who wanted to make trouble were moved to tears by him." Niu Pi said again: "The old lion didn't shed tears, what the old lion shed was blood, and the corners of his eyes were cracked. The blood kept falling like tears. Although he was about to be unable to hold on anymore, he mustered his last strength, Killed a bloody road and rushed to Spike, and picked up his friend who had been following him like a dog." He blew his nose vigorously, wiped away the tears on his face, and continued tearfully: "At that time, the spikes were not dead, and they had their last breath left." Bloodbath washed the long street, Xiao Gao is still fighting hard. Zhu Meng picked up Ding Xie and wanted to speak, but he couldn't even say a word. The blood gushing from the corner of his eyes fell on Ding Xie's face drop by drop. Ding Xie suddenly opened his eyes blurred by blood, and said the last words before he died. "Report to the hall master, the villain can no longer serve the hall master." Ding Xie said, "The villain is going to die." The cold wind kept blowing, blowing off the snow on the eaves outside the steamed bun shop in large swaths, and the tears on Cowhide's face kept falling down one by one. The stranger didn't cry or speak, but his fists were already clenched, as if he was trying his best to control himself, for fear that he might cry. After a long time, the cowhide could speak. "The spiked shoe died after saying this sentence, but suddenly there was a roar like thunder in that street. Not only the brothers of the lion can't hold it anymore, even I can't hold it anymore." Cowhide said loudly, "Suddenly everyone rushed up and slaughtered those bastards with bloody hands, even my cowhide killed them a few times." At this time, the stranger suddenly slapped the table vigorously: "Okay, well done." He poured a big bowl of wine, "I, Sima Chaoqun, toast you." With a sound of "dang", the bowl of wine in Niu Pi's hand fell to the ground and smashed to pieces. "What?" He looked at the stranger in surprise, "You...what did you say?" "I said I would like to toast you." "Who are you, who did you say was going to toast me?" "It's a kid named Sima Chaoqun." "You are Sima Chaoqun?" "I am." Niu Pi's whole body suddenly softened, as if he was about to collapse on the ground, he stammered, "I don't know that my uncle is the number one hero in the world, Uncle Sima, I dare not ask my uncle to toast." "I want to respect you, I must respect you, because you are also a bloody hero." Sima said, "Actually, my respect to you is not enough, I want to respect you." He really held up an altar with both hands, put the mouth of the altar to his mouth, raised his neck and drank it, and sighed: "My friends all over the world say that I am a unparalleled hero in this world. In fact, how can I compare to spiked shoes? Comparable to Zhu Meng?" The wind outside was blowing faster and colder. Although it is already February, spring seems to be still far away from Luoyang.