Rui Hegui

Chapter 48

Among the green mountains and forests, the clear springs are lingering, the birds are singing melodiously, and the melody of the piano is lingering, which really makes people feel refreshed, comfortable and peaceful.

Just when Zhao Liangyue woke up, he first heard the sound of the zither, and then when he went out of the room, he saw a monk playing the zither with his back to him, sitting with one leg crossed and the other propped up freely, the sitting and lying posture was really not very beautiful , but the sound of the fingertip piano is unique, with the indifferent and free and easy far away from the bustling place of Kyoto.

It shouldn't have interrupted the sound of nature, but the current situation really does not allow hesitation.

Zhao Liangyue cupped his hands towards the monk, and asked: "This master, dare I ask if you saved me, and where is this place?"

The monk didn't answer him, and continued to play the piano by himself, but a boy entered the small courtyard, saw that he was awake, hurried over to help him sit down in front of the porch under the eaves, and brought him soup and medicine.

So Zhao Liangyue had no choice but to drink the medicine and wait for the song to end.

After a while, the monk himself stopped halfway, turned to look at Zhao Liangyue, and said with a smile: "I didn't save Mr. Zhao, you mistaken person."

Zhao Liangyue saw that the monk in front of him was about 40 years old, but he had a hippie smile on his face, with a bit of indecency, and the monk's robe seemed to have been altered, nondescript.But between his brows, there is an extraordinary demeanor that makes others not dare to underestimate him - this person knows his identity, and bringing him here must definitely be someone who is not just for nothing.

Zhao Liangyue paid homage to the monk, and said, "No matter what, it must be thanks to Master that Zhao can stand here safe and sound."

"Oh, the poor monk has not finished talking, poor monk, not only is he not the one who rescued you, but also the one who drugged you and then took you away." The monk smiled wryly and said, "There is more, Don't call me Master Master, the poor monk has half a foot in the Buddhist gate, so you should call me Mr. Pingpeng."

Zhao Liangyue: "..." That's true, and he admitted it straightforwardly.

Zhao Liangyue raised his head and eyes, looked around the surrounding mountains and the village outside the small courtyard, and then asked, "Is this Cangqing Mountain?"

"Yeah, bandit den, we are the ones who suffer from headaches in Ningzhou every year, aren't you afraid?" Ping Peng got up, patted his robes, and walked towards Zhao Liangyue with his hands behind his back, "But you don't have to be afraid, I guess that Bandit Chu Shang Shu will come and rescue you soon."

Zhao Liangyue looked at Ping Peng, and said with certainty: "Miss Zhuo Chunzhuo should be here too."

Ping Peng nodded and said: "You mean Yinque? Yes, she is five days earlier than you. But, although she is a girl, her bones are very hard, so she can only be locked in a dungeon."

Zhao Liangyue saw that he spoke casually and relaxedly, as if they were just chatting, but the faint melancholy in the corner of his eyes still betrayed him.Zhao Liangyue said bluntly: "The officials of Tang County borrowed documents to convey the message before, and now they take me up the mountain by themselves. What is your intention, sir?"

Ping Peng asked with a smile: "Then Master Zhao, what does the poor monk want to do?"

"Naturally, it is for the sake of the people of Ningzhou, to save them from deep water and fire." Zhao Liangyue's tone was firm, "The officials of Ningzhou colluded with the family of the king and Han, and deceived the upper and lower, causing Ningzhou's people to suffer, especially Tang County, which is already a hell on earth. If we can soon Bring their crimes back to the capital, make their crimes known to the world, and bring them to justice, and the people will be able to get rid of the sea of ​​suffering and live a stable life again."

Ping Peng clapped his palms when he heard the words, and said: "You deserve to be the No. [-] in the list of new subjects. You are really full of tongues, and every word is so clear that the poor monk will be moved."

Facing Ping Peng's intentional or unintentional ridicule, Zhao Liangyue was not angry, but just smiled lightly, and asked: "Don't you want Mr. Zhao to bring the real grievances of Ningzhou to Changtai Hall?"

"The imperial court? That puppet who is so sick that he can't even walk, he can't even make decisions for himself, and you still expect him to make decisions for others?" Ping Peng approached Zhao Liangyue, looked at him, and said, "You should have seen it before. Xue Ran, right? Do you know what Chu Shangshu, who was with you, did back then?"

Zhao Liangyue said: "Under the circumstances, it is inevitable that I will go against my will."

"But he could have chosen, didn't he?" Ping Peng snorted coldly, and said, "I remember Wang Yu's youngest son, but he was buried in the sea of ​​fire for the name preservation festival, and even his bones were not left behind."

"Some things, you have to survive to have a chance to do it."

"Really? Then you have to ask Xue Ran, who was on the execution ground back then, for the sake of his high-ranking official and rich salary, who personally imprisoned him to show his loyalty, and personally lifted the knife and beheaded the heads of the five sons of the Xue family." Ping Peng Seeing Zhao Liangyue's expression move slightly, he patted him on the shoulder, and continued, "So Bandit Chu survived to do these things? That's the friendship we grew up with when we were young. When we were children, we fought for the same cricket. When we were young, we drank the same cricket. The same altar of spirits, rode through every long street in Kyoto, but in the end it was no match for the word rich and powerful, rich and honorable."

"That's not the truth."

"Why not? Xue Ran saw his son turned into a wild ghost with his own eyes, and he was applauded by the civil and military courts."

Zhao Liangyue wanted to refute, but for some reason, he found it difficult to speak when the words came to his lips.

A sword is a weapon of murder, and once held in the hand, it can only bring about murder and crime.

The tragic extent of the big treason case back then cannot be described by the few lines in the file. Who picked up the sword during the period, and for what reason, or voluntarily or against the group of loyal ministers and good generals, have all been wiped out. Not verifiable.

Therefore, the past cannot be traced back, only the pain burned in the heart festers to this day, feeding hatred and paranoia into a behemoth, torturing people until death.

As a result, all words appear pale, false and sophistry.

Zhao Liangyue couldn't help thinking that he had asked Chu Bandit about the past, but he didn't open his mouth, probably because of his current state of mind.

"But Mr. Zhao, you are different." Ping Peng looked at the red clouds in the sky, and said, "You have the true biography of the king's taboo, and you are doing the right way to save the common people, so we will trust you without reservation. We will help you in Ningzhou."

Zhao Liangyue didn't ask how the other party knew about his teacher-student relationship with Wang Yu, but smiled and said: "A gentleman survives after being thrown into death, and lives after being trapped in death. I'm just luckier than senior brother. Although I was poor in my previous life, With the kindness of parents for nurturing, the kindness of teachers for teaching, and now the kindness of senior brothers for protecting each other, I have never been personally guilty of sin."

It's full of blood and dirty.

This was what Chu Bandit said to himself after repelling the killer when he was close to Ningzhou, and he himself was covered in blood, and he had already stepped into the abyss, beyond redemption.

Ping Peng was about to say something more, Lei Xi rushed back from the outside in a hurry, looked up and saw Zhao Liangyue woke up, grinned, and rushed over to salute with fists clasped.

"Master Zhao, I am Lei Xi, the head of the house here, I..." Lei Xi looked up and found that both Ping Peng and Zhao Liangyue looked unhappy, as if they had just quarreled, but after the quarrel, they were Extremely angry, obviously the expressions on the faces of the two cannot be called anger.

Lei Xi had seen such an expression before—Xue Ran fled to this place with half his life back then, looked at the north from a distance and knelt down, his eyes were cracked, and the expression on his face was also indescribable. But the people around can empathize with the despair that is choked in the throat when it is about to come out.

Lei Xi lowered his head for a moment, at a loss what to do, and finally Ping Peng asked first: "What happened?"

Lei Xi hurriedly said: "It's bandit Chu who has arrived at the foot of the mountain and is walking towards the pass. Master Xue asked me to tell Mr. that I have just picked up my knife."

Zhao Liangyue frowned when he heard this, and looked at Ping Peng.

Pingpeng smiled lightly: "Why, Master Zhao is going to rescue Bandit Chu?"

"No." Zhao Liangyue clenched his hands into fists, and said calmly, "He once made a bet with me, and I really want to know the result."

Pingpeng said calmly, "What bet? It sounds very interesting."

"From now on, it seems that he is just betting on whether Senior Xue will kill him."

"Then what are you betting on?"

"I bet he lives, what about you?"

"I bet..." Ping Peng turned to look at Lei Xi, and said, "Go and pull out my carriage, I will accompany Mr. Zhao to see a good show."

"Ah, what show are you watching?" Lei Xi didn't understand what he heard, but he still went out to set up a carriage for the little ones.

After a while, Ping Peng led Zhao Liangyue into the carriage.

Ping Peng glanced at Zhao Liangyue who was pretending to be calm, and said: "Master Zhao just woke up, he is still delicate and weak, so he insisted on running around to find him, this friendship is really touching."

Zhao Liangyue only said: "The trip to Ningzhou is impossible without him."

Pingpeng didn't say anything, just smiled slightly.

The carriage quickly approached the pass, and the sound of swords and soldiers clashing could be heard, Zhao Liangyue raised the curtain of the carriage, and saw two people fighting in the flying sand in the distance.

Bandit Chu was forced to retreat steadily, but he was still resisting. His entire right arm was soaked in blood, and his hair crown had long since disappeared. His black hair was scattered on his shoulders, fluttering in the wind, like A beast still struggling in a cage.

But when the carriage approached, Zhao Liangyue saw Chu Gui's peach blossom eyes clearly, there was no expected pain and sorrow in the eyes, some of them were as calm as still water, as if acquiescing to his fate of dying at the hands of Xue Ran.

Then, Chu Bandit raised his eyes to meet Zhao Liangyue's, and he smiled at himself.

The carriage stopped not far from where the two were fighting, and did not go any further. Zhao Liangyue wanted to go down, but was stopped by Ping Peng.

"I brought Mr. Zhao here because I was curious about the outcome of the bet. I didn't agree to intervene in other matters."

The southwest is humid, and it rains continuously, but the sandy land at the pass is very dry. When the wind blows, the sand is flying all over the sky, and for a while, it feels a bit chilly in the north.

The old grievances of the past resurfaced again, quenching the heart poison after 13 years of spring and autumn.

Bandit Chu and Xue Ran didn't speak to each other, they only replaced the scales in their hearts with the blades in their hands.

One person has gone through half his life, all relatives and friends are dead, wandering alone, full of hatred and revenge; the other ascends to a high position, stained with sins, everyone scolds, but seems to be satisfied with his heart and smiles.

Finally, Bandit Chu couldn't hold it any longer, and the blade in his hand fell from the gap between the wrapping belt and his wrist, and fell to the ground with a bang, splashing yellow sand everywhere.

Bandit Chu grinned suddenly, and knelt down towards Xue Ran.

Xue Ran raised his knife.

"You have five sons in total, and this junior can only take one life back today." Chu Bandit said calmly, "I wanted to wait for everything to end, but death at this time is not a relief. After my death, the evidence of Ningzhou crime and Mr. Zhao can be sent out safely."

"Why do you say such high-sounding words again!"

Xue Ran became even more angry, and swung his long knife at Chu Bandit vigorously. Chu Bandit took a look at Zhao Liangyue from the corner of his eyes, and then closed his eyes.

All the surrounding voices, whether it was the roaring and questioning from the prison of the Ministry of Justice in the old dream, or the cursing and spitting that everyone feared him but gnashed their teeth behind their backs, seemed to recede like a tide at this moment, becoming Very quiet.

It was like in February 14 years ago, when it was raining heavily in Kyoto, it was quiet and comfortable. He flipped through the books handed to him by his teacher, pondered silently, but still couldn’t figure it out. His mother sat aside and sewed for him. The robes to be worn by the crown, every stitch and thread, are extremely serious and careful.