Chapter 38 third quarter

Dong Cheng yelled, and many servants came, and sent Qin Qingtong and his concubine Yuanying to two adjacent cold rooms.Dong Cheng angrily ordered: "Prison the bitch first, and I will torture myself later. Beat this slave who betrayed the master to death right now." Everyone responded in unison: "Accept the order of your lord." Yuan Ying locked herself in the cold room, picked up a stick, and prepared to beat Qin Qingtong.Mrs. Cui rushed over upon hearing the sound, and persuaded in a low voice: "My lord, Qin Qingtong is guilty, but he deserves to die. He was an orphan since he was a child, and he was brought up in the mansion. He has been hardworking for many years. Please spare his life." Dong Cheng said angrily: "It is because of such indulgence that today's offender is here. You wait, I will fight myself." As he said, he grabbed the sticks from everyone's hands.Seeing Dong Cheng's order, everyone withdrew one after another.

Dong Cheng picked up a stick and beat Qin Qingtong violently. Qin Qingtong tied his arms behind his back, avoided the stick with his head, and shouted loudly: "Your Excellency, beat yourself up!" On the ground, shouting: "Okay! Okay!" Dong Chengfa said ruthlessly: "Okay, I will beat you hard!" While beating, he began to shout hard: "One, two, three, four, five..." Counting, counting, is like ramming and shouting, to give yourself strength.This went on for fifty, Qin Qingtong was beaten to pieces, and shouted: "These fifty sticks, I stole the adult's favor, and I am guilty." Dong Cheng broke a wooden stick, and changed another one. Said: "How dare you steal from the master." Then beat again, "Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four..." Qin Qingtong had been beaten all over his body and was unable to struggle.Dong Cheng exerted all his strength, counting one stick after another, hitting a hundred, ready to pant and stop.Qin Qingtong moaned and said: "Fifty times more, Mrs. Cui's care for me since I was a child is repaid. My lord, please let me go. From now on, my lord and I are at peace." Dong Cheng rested his hands, The anger came up again: "You are a reckless house slave, you actually stole from my head." As he said, he started to fight again while counting with his stick.Qin Qingtong was lying on the ground with his hands tied, struggled to raise his head and shouted: "Master Dong, I don't owe you any more. I have served you for so many years, and you are so cruel today. If you fight again, I will have revenge on you." Already!"

When Dong Cheng heard this, he became even more angry: "How dare you take revenge!" He beat harder while counting.Qin Qingtong was beaten to the point of unconsciousness. He struggled and said, "My lord, you've already owed me something. As long as I have a breath, I will take revenge." Dong Cheng raised his hand and beat him violently, "I'll beat you to death!" , let you take revenge!" Counting like this, he hit a full hundred and fifty clubs.Qin Qingtong was already lying there motionless.Dong Cheng kicked Qin Qingtong, seeing no response, he snorted bitterly, put down the stick, turned around and went out, and said to a servant guarding the door: "Lock the door."

Dong Cheng left angrily.The servant locked the door, looked around, felt safe, and left. The snow in the winter night was falling more tightly than before.There are many houses in Dong's mansion.Occasionally, night watchmen walked by with knives, guns and sticks.After a long time, Qin Qingtong woke up.He gritted his teeth and rubbed against the corner of the wall, broke the ropes that bound his hands behind his back, and then slowly woke up from his numb arms, struggled to stand up, opened the two doors, and saw the outer door lock through the crack in the middle .He picked up an iron bar on the ground and carefully listened to the movement outside. After a few attempts, he pried open the door lock, and then slowly opened the iron chain.The voice was a little harsh in the silence of the night.Finally, he opened the door carefully, and the person came out, looking around, and then locked the door again, as before.He came to the door of the adjacent cold room and called softly, "Yuanying." Yuanying stood in the door and said, "You want to run?" Qin Qingtong said, "Yes." Yuanying said, "You were injured Is it not light? I heard the sound of beating you." Qin Qingtong said: "No matter how serious the injury is, I don't care about it. It is important to escape." Yuanying said: "Take me and escape together. We will be husband and wife in the deep mountains and old forests. It's better than living in this compound without people or ghosts." Qin Qingtong said: "I can't take you this time, you can't climb over the wall. If I escape, I will take revenge and rescue you." Yuanying was inside the door Weeping a few times: "I don't know if you're leaving, if I'm still alive...you go quickly."

Qin Qingtong said: "I want to go back to my house and bring one or two things for revenge. You can wait for me at ease." The clothes soaked in blood, changed into clean clothes, took a few things, including a painting scroll, and then hid like a wild cat and came to the backyard wall, climbed up the tree, and climbed over the wall over the overgrown branches .After landing, he identified the direction, and ran quickly on the snowy street. At this time, the guard who watched the night came to the front of the cold room where Qin Qingtong was held.He looked at the messy footprints on the snow in front of the door, and was a little puzzled.I went to the door of the cold room and listened carefully, but there was no movement inside.He called a few times: "Where is the person?" There was no response from inside.He thought for a while, then hurriedly turned to report.After a while, a servant in charge came and opened the lock with a key.Open the door and see that there is no one there, only the frayed ropes are left on the ground.The two said: "It's broken, go and report to your lord." They rushed to the study, Dong Chengzheng was leaning on the desk for a few hours, and when he heard that Qin Qingtong had escaped, he became agitated and shouted: "Immediately divide into several roads to chase after him. Be sure to catch it!"

On the same night, Cao Cao stood in front of the lobby with his hands behind his back. He became interested in watching the fluttering snowflakes, and said to Bai Shao, who was standing beside him, "Such a snowy night is rare. In a few days, it will be the Lantern Festival, and the street scene must be It's very special. I would like to invite the master to go out together and watch the night market, how about it?" Bai Shao said happily: "That's naturally good." Cao Cao laughed and called: "Come here." The housekeeper Zhu Si came over in response.Cao Cao said: "My master and I want to go out in modest clothes, you go and arrange the outfit." Before Zhu Si opened his mouth in doubt, Li Dian hurried in: "I want to report to the Prime Minister, Ji Ping's imperial physician went to Dong Cheng's mansion again tonight, and just left. In addition, Wang Zifu’s house and Wu Shuo’s house he went to a few days ago are all suspicious households.” Cao Cao waved his hand: “Just continue to monitor. Li Dian, you came at a good time, and you need to go out in micro-clothes, so you should change your clothes quickly and accompany you as an escort.” Li Dian said: "Military advisor Guo Jia just sent an urgent military report from Guandu yesterday, and Yuan Shao's army has been mobilized again." Cao Cao smiled: "Yuan Shao said to attack Xudu, but Liyang has not started fighting for several months. Don't worry, he Even if troops are really sent there, I will have time to mobilize the troops in three to five days. Yuan Shao is just a big and worthless guy." He looked at the housekeeper Zhu Si again: "Why don't you prepare?" Zhu Si said: "It has been rumored for a few days that Yuan Shao sent When the assassins arrive in Xudu, the prime minister should be careful not to go out." Cao Cao said, "Why are you so frightened? There must be rumors from Yuan Shao that he will send more assassins, so don't scare yourself."

Zhu Si asked: "What identity do you pretend to be when you travel with the master in a micro-clothes?" Cao Cao pointed at Bai Shao: "Master, it's better to be a woman disguised as a man, and pretend to be a rich man, and the clothes can be more tightly covered." Zhu Sidao: "Where is the prime minister?" Cao Cao laughed amusedly: "I will pretend to be a housekeeper. Waiting for the young master." Bai Shao chuckled.Li Dian said: "It's not right. The prime minister has to ask questions wherever he goes. No matter how big the housekeeper is, it's an old slave. It's inappropriate to speak casually. It's fake at first glance." Zhu Si then said: "The prime minister should pretend to be a master, master, Young master, father and son." Cao Cao laughed: "Okay, I will play the role of father, and I will definitely not lose my appearance. If you should be kind, you should be kind, and if you should be majestic, you don't need to pretend." Li Dian said, "I even take care of the housekeeper and the assistant. It's gone." Zhu Si said again: "It's better to bring more people and follow them from a distance." Cao Cao pointed at Li Dian and said, "Isn't it enough to have such unworthy courage?"

Cao Cao, Bai Shao, and Li Dian disguised themselves out of the Cao Mansion.The snowflakes are fluttering, and the streets of Xudu in the first month are still quiet.Cao Cao walked away with great interest, and said: "Cao Pi's appointment as the prefect of Xudu, the one-year deadline is coming soon, so it means a year of great governance. Gu tonight can be counted as another field trip." Bai Shao browsed things, face to face Bring joy. Not far away, a string of lanterns was lit in front of a shop, and the shop door was still open. Cao Cao went up and asked, "What business does the shopkeeper do? Why is the store still open at night?" The shopkeeper, a little old man wearing a melon skin hat, came up and said, "My shop sells New Year's goods. Before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people still have to buy some New Year's goods. , so it is still open at night." Cao Cao asked: "How is the business this year?" The shopkeeper said: "It is much better than last year." Cao Cao asked: "Where is the strength?" The shopkeeper said: "There is much less extortion." Cao Cao said "It's much less, but there are more?" The shopkeeper said, "It's always inevitable." Cao Cao asked, "What else?" Already?" Then asked, "Why is there such a change?" The shopkeeper said with a smile: "The guest officer seems to be from another place, and he also wants to open a shop in Xudu?" Li Dian said from behind: "My master is doing big business. "The owner said: "It looks like a rich man." He pointed to a restaurant next to him and said: "Please sit in the restaurant, it is also opened by villains." The owner took Cao Cao, Bai Shao, Li Dian and the others sat down in the restaurant and asked, "Master, this young master, what would you like? Mutton soup and biscuits are special snacks here, and this is the only one." Cao Cao said, "I'll make biscuits with mutton soup. Give this to me." The young master has a bowl of vegetarian dishes." The owner said: "Gluten tofu soup, ready-made." Li Diantian said: "I can also use mutton soup and pancakes." The owner ordered the staff to go to Zhang Luo, and then continued talking with Cao Cao: "Master just now Ask, why did Xudu have such a change? Prime Minister Cao asked his son Cao Pi to be the prefect of Xudu. That kid Cao Pi, you can control them very ruthlessly." Cao Cao asked: "Who are they?" The shopkeeper said: " There are all kinds of people in charge in the yamen. If Cao Pi didn’t care about them, wouldn’t they all be fooling around? But that boy Cao Pi can only manage them like this.” Cao Cao asked, “Why?” Even more ruthless, I heard that one day Cao Pi does not do well, Prime Minister Cao will whip him himself." Cao Cao said, "Ah, isn't it too much for a father?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "It's not too much, you can't do without smoking." Seeing that the soup and cakes were served steaming hot, the three of Cao Cao ate and drank, and the shopkeeper went on to say: "Everything in this world must be controlled. Mice are not under the control of cats, so it is not a disaster. But cats are still afraid of dogs. Dogs and cats are kings. Dogs are still afraid of people, and people control them. People are afraid of officials, and officials are afraid of bigger officials. There is always someone to be afraid of, and there is always someone to control. No matter, is there any law? The big officials are still afraid of the emperor." Cao Cao asked: "Is there anything afraid of the emperor?" The shopkeeper said: "Why not? Since ancient times, the emperor has been afraid of the people's rebellion." Cao Cao said: "This is reasonable." The shopkeeper said: "I heard that the current emperor is a little special. He is a little afraid of Prime Minister Cao. Prime Minister Cao has real power, but I heard that he is also afraid now." Cao Cao became interested: "Oh? What is he afraid of?"

While drinking the soup, Bai Shao listened to the conversation with great interest. The shopkeeper lowered his voice mysteriously and said: "I heard that Prime Minister Cao is not afraid of anything, but he is afraid of a talented woman from Xuzhou." Cao Cao's eyes widened and he glanced at Bai Shao.Bai Shao also took a look at Cao Cao when he heard this.The shop owner went on to say: "I heard that this talented woman is the chief bookkeeper in the prime minister's mansion, but she can control the prime minister. I heard that the prime minister used to be free and liked to look for flowers and willows at night. I haven't heard of it this year. Isn't it under control?"

Hearing this, Bai Shao glanced at Cao Cao again. Cao Cao smiled helplessly: "It seems that everyone owes it to me." The shopkeeper greeted the business over there, before Cao Cao and Bai Shao had time to say anything, they suddenly saw a person rushing in the wind on the street outside.That person is Qin Qingtong.Cao Cao frowned: "Why is this person so flustered?" Li Dian said, "I'll ask." Cao Cao said, "No, this kind of thing should not be handled by the prime minister." Not long after, I saw him again. Three or five people galloped by on horseback, Cao Cao frowned again, and said, "It seems that they are chasing that man." Bai Shao suddenly became alert for some reason, and said, "Prime Minister, why don't you go home." Cao Cao said, "Why? Let's finish eating and drinking, and then take a good look around." Bai Shao thought for a while, and said, "I always feel like there is What's the matter, I feel uneasy." Cao Cao smiled: "Why do you have to go to the uncle Dong's mansion for the imperial doctor Jiping? There is no need for it." Bai Shao thought for a while and said, "I'm a little tired." Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, and said, "If that's the case, then go home." Qin Qingtong staggered and ran in the snowstorm at night with a small burden on his back and a painting scroll in his hand.Because of the injuries all over his body, he fell to the ground more than once, struggled to get up again, and looked back from time to time while running.Hearing the sound of horseshoes behind him, he hurriedly hid in a hidden place on the side of the street. Sure enough, it was the servants of the Dong Mansion, chasing him on horseback in groups of three or five.Qin Qingtong waited for the pursuers to pass, then ran forward again. Finally came to the gate of Xiangfu.There are many soldiers and guards here.As soon as he approached, he was stopped: "What are you doing?" He said loudly: "I have something important to report to Prime Minister Cao." The gatekeeper asked: "What is your name, where are you from, and what do you want to report?" Qin Qingtong He staggered and stood still: "I can't say this to you. You can only say it when you meet the Prime Minister." The gatekeeper said: "Prime Minister Cao, did you meet casually?" Qin Qingtong said anxiously: "Let me in quickly. It is about the life and death of Prime Minister Cao." Some of the soldiers said: "This man is crazy." Qin Qingtong looked nervously at the way he came, and then shouted loudly: "Let me see Prime Minister Cao himself, or I will regret it." Among the soldiers Someone laughed: "It seems that this person is really crazy." Qin Qingtong became even more anxious: "I'm not crazy at all, let me see Prime Minister Cao quickly, I have something important to report." Hearing the commotion outside the gate, the butler Zhu Si came out and asked, "What's the noise?" The soldiers reported: "Housekeeper Zhu is a lunatic. He insisted on seeing Prime Minister Cao. He asked him where he came from and what he did, but he didn't say anything." Zhu Si waved his hand and said, "Just send him away." Qin Qingtong looked around again Looking around, he said loudly, "I do have something important to report to Prime Minister Cao." Zhu Si said, "Just report it to me. If it's really important, I'll tell you." Qin Qingtong shouted, "Who knows if you can be trusted?" , You must see the Prime Minister himself before you can report this matter. If you don’t let me see you again, you will regret it.” At this time, three or five people on horseback chased here, and they were the servants of Dong’s family. They pointed and said: "The house thief is here, catch it." He jumped off the horse and grabbed Qin Qingtong.Qin Qingtong struggled and shouted: "Let me go, this is Cao's Mansion, not Dong's Mansion. I want to see Prime Minister Cao." While pushing and shouting, Cao Cao, Bai Shao and Li Dian in disguise came to the front. When Cao Cao heard Qin Qingtong's yelling, he stretched out his hand and said to the members of the Dong family, "wait a minute." The members of the Dong family asked, "who are you?" All the servants were stunned.Seeing that it was Cao Cao, Zhu Si and the gate guards of Cao's mansion rushed forward to salute.Qin Qingtong broke free and knelt down for Cao Cao.Cao Cao asked, "What's the matter with you?" Qin Qingtong said, "I am Qin Qingtong, a slave of my uncle's mansion. I have escaped and reported something important to the prime minister. This matter involves the safety of the prime minister." The members of Dong's family said in unison: "He is The family thief, uncle Guo ordered us to catch him and go back. I hope the Prime Minister will forgive me and wait for his death." Cao Cao said: "After allowing me to interrogate, I will reply to my uncle." As he said, he told Li Dian and the gatekeepers: "Take him with you. He's coming in." Seeing this, the members of Dong's family looked at each other in blank dismay, and had no choice but to get on their horses.They hesitated for a while at the gate of the Cao Mansion, and then galloped back.When driving through the snowy streets, passing the grocery store and small restaurant where Cao Cao and Bai Shao stopped just now, the owner of the shop looked around. Dong Cheng paced up and down in the hall somewhat uneasy.The servants who hunted Qin Qingtong have come back two ways to report: "I haven't chased him." The third way came back, and Dong Cheng asked: "How?" The prime minister’s mansion was only after him at the gate.” Dong Cheng said, “Why didn’t you catch him?” The servant said, “They won’t let him be caught.” Dong Cheng said, “Dong’s mansion caught the thief of Dong’s mansion, and the guard of his prime minister’s mansion What's the matter?" The servants knelt there and said, "It happened that Prime Minister Cao came back from a trip in disguise, and he brought him into the prime minister's mansion. He said that the trial is over, and he will reply to my uncle." Dong Chengyi was stunned. .After a while, he waved his hand and shouted: "Get out, you are all trash!" Madam Cui heard the sound.Dong Cheng said anxiously: "Look at you, stop me from killing him, and now he has gone to Prime Minister Cao Cao's residence, what a bad thing for a woman." Madam Cui stayed there.Dong Cheng hurried back and forth in the room again: "Qin Qingtong is definitely going to inform me this time. He knows exactly who I come and go here." Mrs. Cui said: "As a servant, he also knows who is coming and going. As for what the adults are talking about, even I don’t know, so what can he know?” Dong Cheng took a lucky look at Cui Shi, and sighed: "Let's go and see." Dong Cheng thought for two steps, stopped, and said to Mrs. Cui: "You and I are husband and wife, and there is one thing that has been kept secret until now. Last spring, the emperor gave me a brocade robe and jade belt, which actually contained His Majesty's secret edict, ordering me to gather loyalty. A man of both integrity will get rid of the Cao thief and secure the country. I have been planning this matter for the past year, and now the success or failure of the matter is a matter of time, so I would like to tell you this. If the matter fails, you and I will have no reason to live, and you will die Also be a sensible ghost." Mrs. Cui sighed, and said: "I guess your lordship is planning this matter every day, and it's hard for me to ask if you don't tell me. As the saying goes, marry a chicken with a chicken, marry a dog with a dog, I will live with my lord for the rest of my life, even if we die, we will have no regrets." Dong Cheng took another two steps, stopped and said, "Cao Cao listens to this matter again, and no matter how aware he is, he will never know where I will end up. Today I can tell Madam, Within a couple of days, loyal and brave men will be ordered to kill Cao. No matter how the Cao bandits take precautions, it will be too late." Cao Cao has changed back to his official uniform and is seated in the hall.Li Dian led several soldiers and stood majestically on both sides.Bai Shao sat beside the secretary.Cao Cao ordered: "Take someone." Qin Qingtong was brought up and knelt down and said: "The villain Qin Qingtong really has something important to report to the prime minister." Cao Cao asked: "Why did you flee, why did you flee to the prime minister's mansion? Tell the truth one by one." Qin Qingtong said: "The villain's parents died when he was young, and Yuanying, the concubine of the country's uncle and concubine, is also an orphan. After being discovered by the uncle of the country, we were locked up separately, saying that we were going to be beaten to death. After being persuaded by Mrs. Cui, the uncle of the country broke up the crowd and beat me alone. The first fifty sticks, the villain thought Yes. Another fifty sticks. The villain was grateful for Mrs. Cui’s kindness for many years. I begged Mr. Dong to let me live, because the debts had been settled with one hundred sticks. Mr. Dong didn’t stop, he was cruel and continued to beat. The villain said, Hit me again and I will take revenge. He said, 'I'll kill you!' The villain was knocked unconscious, woke up and picked the lock and fled. Now go to the prime minister's mansion to find Prime Minister Cao, and talk about survival first, and then revenge." Cao Cao heard this Nodded: "What you said seems to be the truth, what's the important thing to report?" Qin Qingtong said: "The villain has been serving Uncle Dong, and found that the people who have been visiting Uncle Dong's mansion for a year seem to be plotting some kind of conspiracy, and they seem to be specifically against Prime Minister Cao." Close?" Qin Qingtong said: "There are ministers from the Ministry of Industry Wang Zifu, Yilang Wu Shuo, Changshui Xiaowei Zhongji, Zhaoxin General Wu Zilan, and Xiliang Prefect Ma Teng; I also know that Uncle Dong Guo visited Uncle Liu Huang in person. The details of their discussions Naturally, the villain can’t hear it, but he knows that they have made a blood alliance.” Cao Cao listened attentively, nodding his head slightly from time to time: “How do you know that they came here alone?” Qin Qingtong said, “Occasionally I heard them scolding you loudly. "Cao Cao said: "What are you scolding me for? It's okay to be straightforward." Qin Qingtong knelt there and kowtowed twice and said: "Call you Cao thief." Cao Cao nodded with a sneer and asked: "What else proves that they are conspiring? "Qin Qingtong said: "Since last spring, when the uncle of the country entered the palace and received the brocade robe and jade belt from the emperor, I felt that they had a conspiracy." Cao Cao nodded slightly when he heard this. Qin Qingtong said again: "In case the adults don't believe it, the villain brought something special when he fled." He took out the scroll in his hand, "Please hang up this painting and you will know." Cao Cao raised his chin to signal, and Li Dian and the others unfolded the scroll, and held it up with a sheathed sword for Cao Cao to see.It is a full body portrait of Cao Cao, but there are holes everywhere.Qin Qingtong got up and pointed to one side and explained: "This painting was drawn by General Zhaoxin Wu Zilan on the spot in Mr. Dong's study. Look, there is a picture of galloping horses on the back. He painted the prime minister, and these holes were stabbed by each of them with a sword. Yes. The villain was standing outside at that time, and heard shouting and cursing from inside. Uncle Guo stabbed you on the head. One person cut your throat, another stabbed your heart, and another cut your abdomen. In the end, it seemed that Wu Zilan broke your feet. Later, Ma Teng He came and wanted to cut the prime minister in half. So he cut the portrait in half with a sword on the spot." Qin Qingtong pointed to the seam in the middle of the painting and said: "Master Dong later ordered me to burn this scroll painting. Keep it, and purposely paste the two pieces of the painting together. I ask the Prime Minister to learn from the truth of every sentence that the villain said." After hearing this, Cao Cao's face turned ashen.Li Dian and the others glared angrily. Cao Cao sneered: "I have been stabbed to death by them so many times, I am really a jackal." Qin Qingtong said: "Also, Imperial Physician Ji came to Dong's Mansion today not only to see a doctor, but also seems to have a conspiracy. I heard that Uncle Guo and the Imperial Physician I have cried bitterly." Cao Cao sneered even more: "It is really full of grief and indignation, is it an elegy, 'The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man will never return when he is gone'?" Cao Cao ordered here: " Take him down so that you can settle down." Then he said to Qin Qingtong, "When the matter is resolved, I will reward you a lot." Qin Qingtong said, "The villain doesn't want any rewards. As long as Yuanying and I can live, we will be rewarded when we arrive." Just live in the barren hills and remote places." Cao Cao waved his hand and asked Qin Qingtong to be taken down.Then he said to Bai Shao: "I just remembered, just now I saw a person rushing past in a small restaurant in a panic, this person is Qin Qingtong. If you didn't feel uneasy suddenly, Gu would still hang around on the street, Qin Qingtong might be killed Dong Mansion took it back." Bai Shao said: "At that time, I just felt a twitch in my heart, feeling uneasy." Cao Cao said: "It is true that the gods have blessed me with the help of you." Cao Cao paced around the lobby with his hands behind his back, stopped and said to the left and right: "Gu originally made an appointment with Imperial Physician Ji to recuperate my body tomorrow, in case Dong Cheng and Imperial Physician Ji are in contact again, I will invite Imperial Physician Ji at five o'clock in the morning, and say Orphanism has happened again. Let’s check what this doctor Ji is like, and if he also conspires, then this whole series of conspiracies will be confirmed.”