Chapter 31 first quarter

In order to hide his travels, Han Xiang took Li Mi to choose a remote path, and it took twice as long as usual to arrive in Taiyuan, the northern capital.Taiyuan, also known as Bingzhou, is the birthplace of the great ancestor Li Yuan, and it is also the barrier fortress of the Tang Dynasty facing the vast north. Its strategic significance is self-evident.At present, it is Pei Du, the emperor's most trusted prime minister, who is staying behind in the northern capital. Since it is the northern capital, its geographical location is much further north than Chang'an.The season in the north always seems to be half a step faster than that in the south.When Han Xiang came near Taiyuan City, he could already see the new shoots sprouting from the dead branches, and the breath of early spring invaded his lungs, making him feel as if he had passed away.

The city of Taiyuan is orderly, although it is not as grand and magnificent as Chang'an, nor as beautiful and prosperous as Luoyang, but the expressions of the passers-by on the street seem calmer and more comfortable. The people and things in Chang'an seem to be very far away. Han Xiang came to Beidu Liushou Mansion to ask Mr. Pei Du, and was led into the second hall not long after.For Han Xiang, Pei Du was a familiar elder, and seeing him today was filled with mixed feelings. He took a few steps forward to bow down and salute, and his eyes turned red all of a sudden. He didn't hide anything, so he told Pei Du about all kinds of troubles he encountered after returning to Chang'an under the orders of his uncle Han Yu from the Languan Mountain Road.

Pei Du listened very attentively, and only interrupted Han Xiang for the first time when talking about Li Liang. "Li Liang, repeat the words?" He pondered, "I remember this man. Back then he was implicated in Luo Lingze's treason case and was executed with a cane. It just so happened that his wife was pregnant and died of dystocia after being stimulated. It can be said that the family has been destroyed.” "It turned out to be like this..." Pei Du sighed: "What is even more distressing is that soon after, there was evidence that Li Liang's charges were completely fabricated, that is to say, he died unjustly."

Han Xiang murmured to himself, "Did I really kill a wronged soul?" "How is it possible? One cannot die a second time." Pei Du looked at Han Xiang lovingly, "I just remembered, Li Liang seems to have another brother." "brother?" "Yes, he was also arrested together with Li Liang, and was tortured to extract a confession from him to accuse his brother of treason. He would rather die than obey, and died under torture." Han Xiang was furious, and punched the case: "What is the law of heaven? What is the law of the king?" Pei Du said calmly: "As far as I know, the laws of heaven and the laws of the king are not always there, but they will be there eventually."

Han Xiang was stunned. After a while, Pei Du said again: "I heard from your description that this person who claims to be Li Fuyan has a chronic illness, but refuses to seek medical treatment, and claims to have been wronged. So I wonder if this person is Li Liang's. That brother?" "But isn't he already dead?" "Li Liang was punished by the Ming Dynasty. His brother was just a witness. He was tortured and died. I guess the body was thrown in the wild without careful inspection. Maybe he was lucky enough to come back to life. " "It seems..." Han Xiang made more sense as he thought about it, "It's very possible! He escaped from the dead and came to Chang'an after many years of hibernation, just to avenge his past!" Then he thought again, "But he wants revenge, why? Have you reported to Duan Chengshi and me?"

"Because the censor Zhongcheng at the time of Li Liang's case, that is, the presiding officer of the case was Wu Xianggong." "What!" Han Xiang exclaimed in surprise, "I don't believe that Mr. Wu would do such an outrageous thing!" "He didn't do it." Pei Du's tone was a bit strange, "The person who actually handled the case was Tutu Chengcui." Han Xiang was dumbfounded. "Actually, Mr. Wu was the one who vindicated Li Liang afterwards." Han Xiang understood.Wu Yuanheng, the censor Zhongcheng who was supposed to be in charge of the case, stood aside, but Tutu Chengcui stepped in and took care of human life, and Wu Yuanheng could only make up for it afterwards.The identity of the manipulator behind the case is self-evident. "Li Fuyan" only knew how to take revenge on the presiding officer back then, presumably because of his close relationship with Wu Yuanheng, his uncle was also regarded as the target of revenge.

Is "Li Fuyan" wrong?Han Xiang thought sadly, no, he was not wrong.Even though Wu Yuanheng and Han Yu didn't actually intervene in this case, didn't they just stand by and watch indifferently as a good official and his family were forced to death?However, "Li Fuyan" obviously put himself in the trap, but at the last moment he forced him to die, hoping to save himself from Tu Tu Cheng Cui's murderous hands.His behavior was much nobler and more magnanimous by comparison. Han Xiang's heart ached unbearably.Just because of the kindness he unintentionally gave, "Li Fuyan" gave up revenge, but he killed him with his own hands.

Han Xiang managed to control himself, and did not shed tears in front of Pei Du. It took a while before Han Xiang could continue talking.Pei Du never interrupted him again.When the government office clock struck noon, Han Xiang just finished his last sentence.Pei Du immediately asked: "Where is Li Mi?" The servant brought Li Mi up to the hall.Now his appearance is very tidy, only his eyes are still frighteningly dull, and he doesn't respond to Pei Du's loving question at all. Han Xiang said: "He doesn't recognize anyone, and he can't speak at all." Pei Du sighed, and his gaze fell on Li Mi's hand.The long-deformed golden hairpin protruded from the clenched fist, and a few strands of silk slipped between the fingers, making it difficult to distinguish the original color.

Pei Du once heard Pei Xuanjing tell the story behind this golden hairpin.He knew that this was a father's guilt-ridden love for his daughter.He knew even more that the father shed the last drop of blood just to save himself, and lost the chance to reunite with his daughter forever.As for himself, he never did anything for that poor girl, allowing her to be devoured by cruel fate.The ending of the girl is condensed in this golden hairpin, which will never be known.It is very possible that the demented boy in front of him knew about it, but the boy refused to tell all that. In order to preserve the last dignity of the girl, he decided not to say a word to this world again.

Pei Du couldn't help closing his eyes.As the prime minister of an empire, he knew very well that the words "family, country, and world" meant sacrifice, and no amount of blood would shake his faith in the slightest.But today, he still felt a severe heartache—— Is this really right? Perhaps, Pei Xuanjing's words made sense.The truth is the truth and should not be changed by any idea.Without truth, there is no justice, much less redemption. Pei Du ordered his servants to prepare a residence for Li Mi so that he could take care of him, and said to Han Xiang, "You are tired too, so stay in the residence and rest well."

"Yes." Han Xiang agreed, and then asked, "What about the affairs in the capital?" "What's going on in the capital?" Han Xiang confuses Pei Du: "There are so many things! How does Duan Chengshi get rid of his grievances? What are the planners behind "Xin Ping Shangxian" doing? Will their conspiracy endanger the Holy One? All these things are of great importance , action must be taken immediately!" "Take action?" Pei Du sighed, "I'm afraid it's too late." "what?!" Pei Du patted Han Xiang's shoulder lightly: "Listen to the old man, don't be impatient. I think there will be news from Chang'an soon." Han Xiang survived like a year for three days.In the evening of the fourth day, I finally received Pei Du's call. As soon as he stepped into Pei Du's study, Han Xiang was frightened by Pei Du's expression. He couldn't help asking sharply: "Pei Xianggong, what happened?" Pei Du pointed to the case: "Chang'an's letter, please read it." Scanning the letter hastily, Han Xiang could hardly believe his eyes: "Cut, cut off the tongue!" "It's my fault, it's all my fault!" Pei Du said hoarsely, "I shouldn't have allowed Xuan Jing to fall into the palace and ignore it, but just blindly held fantasies, hoping that she would sharpen her temperament in the palace and finally change her mind. Alas, these are all just my wishful thinking!" He shook his head sadly, "I should have expected this day!" Han Xiang hurriedly asked: "Why? Why did the Holy Majesty do such a cruel thing to Jing Niang? What did she do wrong!" "Didn't you see what was written in the letter? Xuan Jing was sentenced to have her tongue amputated because of her rebellious words..." After a pause, Pei Du smiled sadly, "The only good news is that the "Xin Fairy" The "Xian" case was solved, and Duan Chengshi was cleared of his charges, which is a blessing among misfortunes." "What outrageous words? What outrageous words?" Han Xiang was still flipping through the letter, "It's not written here! I don't understand, what did Jing Niang say!" "I think... I know what she said. I also know why she said that." Pei Du said sadly, "Xuan Jing hates me, and she hates the Holy Majesty even more!" "Hate you? Hate Your Majesty?" "Because she witnessed me shooting Cui Miao with her own eyes, and she believed that it was the Holy Majesty who ordered me to do so. The reason why she endured in the palace for two years was to find out the cause of Cui Miao's death. She wanted to find out, What capital crime did Cui Miao, a charlatan, commit so that he had to die? This time, she must have thought she had found the answer, so she recklessly disobeyed the Holy Majesty, because she wanted to complain for the one she loved! Alas! It's like... Li Liang's brother wants to complain for his brother and sister-in-law." At this point, Pei Du looked at the stunned Han Xiang, and sighed, "I only know that Xuanjing is a persistent child and is willing to find out the truth. But I don’t want her to be so staunch. I really regret that I didn’t tell her earlier—Cui Miao is not dead, he is still alive.” "... Cui Miao is still alive?" Han Xiang's mind was in a mess. "My arrow shot from the top of the wall, but was blocked by the fake jade dragon seed on Cui Miao's chest. The fake jade dragon seed split from it, and the arrow pierced his chest. Cui Miao was seriously injured, but he was not killed on the spot. According to the Holy Majesty's will, I should have made another cut and cut off his head. But at that moment, I changed my mind." Pei Du did not explain what caused him to take Cui Miao's life.He only told Han Xiang that after finding out that Cui Miao was still alive, he ordered someone to hide Cui Miao. He also found the body of a soldier of similar age and appearance from the Huaixi battlefield, chopped off his head and brought him back to Chang'an.At that time, Pei Xuanjing's malaria relapsed, and seeing Cui Miao's stimulation from being hit by an arrow made him so sick that he didn't know anything about it, so he was lucky enough to hide it from her.After returning to Chang'an, the emperor had no interest in checking Cui Miao's head at all, so he ordered Pei Du to dispose of it. "In this way, it is conclusive that Cui Miao is dead. But in fact, I transferred him to Luoyang and quietly found someone to treat him." Pei Du explained, "Cui Miao's injuries are very serious, so we don't take him into the hospital. In Chang’an, on the one hand, he was afraid that the news would leak out, and on the other hand, his body could not bear the long-distance travel. After arriving in Luoyang, Cui Miao’s situation was still repeated several times, and he was on the verge of life and death for a long time. Xuan Jing mentioned it. At that time, the emperor moved me to stay in Beidu. I thought it was a good opportunity to stay away from Chang'an, a place of right and wrong. I originally planned to bring Xuan Jing to Taiyuan together, and then arrange Cui Miao here He came here for treatment. But he never expected that Xuan Jing would mess up the Uighur marriage with her own initiative, and was imprisoned into the palace by the Holy Majesty..." After calming down, Pei Du continued: "I am very reluctant to let Xuan Jing enter the palace under the order, but I also feel that her behavior is too inappropriate to take sides. Xuan Jing entered the palace in the name of accompanying Princess Yong'an to practice Taoism." Yes, there is still a chance to leave in the future. So I thought about it again and again, and agreed with the decision of the Holy Majesty. Sometimes Xuan Jing's character is indeed too stubborn. I thought that she should live a life isolated from the outside world in the palace, meditate on Taoism, and restrain her temperament. , and gradually forgetting the past, it was a good thing for her after all—but alas!" It's sad that things backfired, but what happened to Pei Xuanjing today was indeed beyond everyone's expectations, and it even shattered Pei Du's good wishes. Pei Du told Han Xiang that shortly after he arrived in Taiyuan, he ordered Cui Miao to be picked up, invited famous doctors for him, and finally saved his life.When Cui Miao truly recovered, more than half a year had passed since the battle of Caizhou.During Cui Miao's illness, Pei Du never saw him face to face.Regarding Cui Miao's various problems, the servants followed Pei Du's instructions and ignored them all, while keeping a close watch on him. It wasn't until Cui Miao basically recovered and could no longer bear this prisoner-like life that Pei Du had a serious long talk with him.It was this conversation that shocked Pei Du to discover that Cui Miao's life experience was very mysterious.