MTL - Little Cardamom-Chapter 5
In fact, when they first fell into the water, Ming Tan and Liang Zixuan felt the same, only that the river water was icy cold and unbearable. She choked twice and struggled to cough for a while before realizing what happened.
—She was knocked overboard!
In the compound of the deep house, there are countless "accidents" that happened because of the late marriage. Being in the same room when changing clothes after soiling them, and being rescued from falling into the water with skin-to-skin relatives, these two things are the most common.
Mrs. Pei taught her how to guard against these secrets when she was outside, and even invited a female teacher to teach her how to drink water when she went to another village to escape the summer heat.
Because she is not used at all on weekdays, and she has always been so delicate that she can sit in a soft sedan chair and never touch the ground. No one on the shore knows that she can swim.
It's a pity that the timing was wrong, Liang Zixuan took off his coat and jumped down before Ming Tan had time to tell them.
In desperation, she had no choice but to sink into the river, thinking of bypassing Liang Zixuan and going ashore from the other side of the pier.
Such a hasty response was considered astute, but the river was too cold, and she was usually not a very active person. After swimming in the water for a while, she felt a sudden soreness in her lower body.
The throbbing soreness, combined with the biting coldness of the river, was like a needle prick, leaving only a white light in front of her eyes, making it impossible for her to swim any further.
At that moment, many thoughts flashed through Ming Tan's mind.
For a while, I thought, "Let Liang Zixuan save it, it's better to die here to preserve the reputation", and then thought, "Forget it, let's ask for help, die here. The body is foaming and swollen. Move the beauty of Beijing."
Just when she finished hesitating and decided to surface for help, a black belt suddenly pierced into the water without warning, quickly wrapped around her waist, and then tightened, pulling her to the shore and throwing her in the water. On the secluded reeds some distance from the pier.
The force at the end of the belt was quick and sharp, without any sympathy. Ming Tan was thrown dizzily, and only vaguely glimpsed the half of the end of the black belt pulled from her waist.
Judging by her experience of being pampered and pampered for more than ten years, the material of the belt must be extraordinary, with delicate and complicated dark patterns on it, it seems to be made of black gold thread, the thread is extremely fine, and it still has a faint luster under the heavy night light .
Before she followed the belt to see the person standing there, the robe fell down, covering her body and blocking her sight.
…
"And then?" Bai Minmin hurriedly asked.
"Then, someone carried me back." Ming Tan leaned against the bed, pushed away the spicy cold **** soup, took the hand warmer handed by the maid, and recalled, "I asked several times on the way, asked Who are they, and where are they going to take me, but that person didn't make a sound, put me at the back door of the Hou Mansion, and disappeared together with his robe."
"They? More than one?"
"The person who rescued me and the one who sent me back are definitely not the same person. The clothes are very different, and the person who sent me back seems to be doing what he was ordered, like... following the guards."
Bai Minmin digested it for a while, but still had a lot of questions: "Wait, so you didn't say that you are from the Jing'an Hou Mansion from the beginning to the end, but they sent you back to the Hou Mansion accurately?"
"Well, this is exactly what I find strange." Ming Tan sat up leaning on the pillow, "If the purpose is impure, I checked it carefully after returning home, and I didn't lose any personal items."
Those who have a plan must rely on faith. He didn't take it, "That's really strange." Bai Minmin frowned and murmured.
"Okay, let's not mention this for now." Ming Tan thought of the more important things at the moment, "How is Liang Zixuan now?"
"What can he do? You sent Su Xin over there, am I still so stupid that I can't catch up? Of course, he fell into the water, and I passed by and asked my followers to save him. Don't worry, I have already been sent away. He has returned to the Lingguo Mansion."
Hearing what Bai Minmin said, Ming Tan's hanging heart finally settled down. The public said that Liang Zixuan fell into the water, so no matter what happens afterwards, it can only be that Liang Zixuan fell into the water.
After all, on the bright side, the in-law relationship between the two mansions is still very strong, and the accident of her unmarried eldest son's wife is not a credit to the Duke Ling's mansion. It's not going well, they can only acquiesce in this statement.
Speaking of which, she always felt something strange about this matter today. At that time, someone rushed over to catch the thief, but compared to being bumped, she felt more like being pushed and suffered this crime.
Thinking of this, she said: "Minmin, go back and find someone to help me find out about the two people who bumped into me today."
"You suspect that falling into the water was not an accident?"
"I just don't know, so I want to check it out."
Bai Minmin nodded and responded readily. Seeing that Ming Tan's face was still pale, she tucked up the quilt for Ming Tan again, and took the dispelling cold soup from the handmaid's hand: "Don't worry about this, come, drink the **** soup."
The taste is too strong, Ming Tan doesn't want to drink it.
Bai Minmin was also stubborn, she stuffed it into her mouth reluctantly, and muttered: "Drink it, drink it, don't think for yourself, do you have to think for me? If you don't drink this **** soup, you will get a cold later." It's all my fault that I can't afford to sleep on the couch. You don't know my dad's bad temper, but you just have the heart to watch me being punished and kneel down in the ancestral hall? I'm afraid I can only..."
Ming Tan's brain ached from the chanting, he simply took the porcelain bowl, closed his eyes and swallowed it in one breath.
Bai Minmin looked satisfied. Seeing that most of the timekeeping incense seals had been burned, she stood up and clapped her hands: "In that case, you should rest well. It's getting late, so I'll go back home first. Su Xin, Lu E, take good care of your young lady."
Su Xin and Green Calyx all agreed, and respectfully sent Bai Minmin out of Zhaoshuiyuan.
After all this tossing, Ming Tan's body was a bit unbearable, and he really needed a good rest. She didn't pay attention to the tedious maintenance before going to bed, she just applied some honeydew on her face, and soaked her hands in fresh goat's milk for a while.
It rained lightly in the middle of the night, and the full moon was covered by thick clouds. Ming Tan was already asleep under the brocade quilt, and the entire Jing'an Hou Mansion was also immersed in the dim light of the dense rain.
Dali Temple Prison, the dungeon down the stairs is spacious and dark, and the oil lamps are lighted every ten steps, which still can't hide the gloomy and lonely.
Si Cheng walked in front and bowed to lead: "My lord, Second Young Master Shu, this way please."
Shu Jingran has always been noble and elegant. This is the first time he came to this prison, and the depressive and corrupt atmosphere around him made him extremely uncomfortable. He glanced at Jiang Xu, thinking that the days of licking blood from the edge of a knife on the battlefield were a hundred times worse, so he was able to move forward indifferently with his hands behind his back. He sighed, and hurriedly covered his nose to follow.
In the interrogation office, the instruments of torture hanging on the wall glowed with a faint cold light, and the person awaiting trial had already been tied to the rack by the jailer. Probably before he was executed, this person described himself as a mess, but upon closer inspection he was unharmed.
Si Cheng opened the armchair for Jiang Xu and respectfully invited him to take a seat.
Jiang Xu didn't give way, and sat down straight with his hem lifted, and tapped the armrest with his fingertips, expressionless, looking at the execution rack in the dark.
"My lord... my lord." The people on the rack saw the person coming, and fear welled up in their hearts, "Why, lord, why did you arrest this little minister here? The little minister was wronged!"
"Wronged." Jiang Xu turned his head and looked directly at him, "You can wait a little longer, and when Marquis Cheng En is also in prison, you can also call him wronged."
Cheng Enhou!
The blood of the person on the rack froze instantly.
In fact, as early as when he was arrested for no reason on his way back home, and no one explained to him why the arrest started, he had a vague premonition. But he has been unwilling and afraid to think about that. After all, if it is really related to Cheng Enhou, it will be a disaster for him.
"Although Xiaochen has contacts with Lord Hou, but..."
"Zhang Ji, I think you are a smart person, so I can guarantee that you are still full of beards and tails. Are you sure you want to go around in circles with me?"
Jiang Xu got up, walked towards him slowly, and turned his head to look at him.
Probably because of being in the dungeon, the faint hostility of conquest and killing spread from him, carrying a very heavy pressure. The voice is not high, but it makes people feel cold for no reason.
Zhang Ji opened his mouth and was suppressed for a moment.
He knew that this was the beginning of the liquidation, and he also knew that Jiang Xu had come here for this purpose, and the deadly silence spread with the rotten atmosphere of the dungeon.
For a long while, he hesitated and wriggled his lips, still unwilling to give up trying to win something for himself: "I do have some things that the prince can use in my hands. If the prince agrees to one condition, I will... ah!" He didn't say anything. After that, he let out a sudden pain.
Shu Jingran was taken aback, only to realize that the torture blade with the barb on the wall had somehow avoided the vitals and pierced Zhang Ji's waist and abdomen. Tick-tock on the dirty dark floor.
"What qualifications do you have to negotiate terms with this king?" Jiang Xu leaned forward, whispered into Zhang Ji's ear, and asked casually.
He didn't let go of the handle, the barb was sticking to the flesh and blood, and he was still pushing it in inch by inch, repeatedly twisting and turning.
Zhang Ji's face was pale with pain, and beads of sweat stood on his forehead. After all, he was a person who hadn't suffered much, rolled his eyes and passed out in less than half a moment.
Jiang Xu stood up straight and let the jailer pour cold water on Zhang Ji to wake him up.
The stove beside the punishment wall was also lit, and the iron was burning red. Zhang Ji had just recovered his sanity when he saw the jailer approaching him with the iron, not allowing him to stop, and the iron went straight to the wound just now.
There was another heart-piercing scream.
There are various instruments of torture in the prison, Zhang Jicai peed in his pants after two tortures, and he was full of shame. He regretted that he didn't drink the toast first, and shouted hoarsely: "My lord! My lord, I say! Marquis Cheng En seized the farm and opened a salt mine privately! The evidence is on the outskirts of the city, my private house in Jiulipo! It's buried under the apricot tree in the backyard!"
At midnight, the dungeon door opened.
After leaving Dali Prison, Shu Jingran finally exhaled foul air. Xu Shi had a light rain, and he felt that the atmosphere in Beijing tonight was exceptionally clean.
Just thinking back to the scene in the dungeon just now, when Jiang Xu stabbed the barbed torture blade into Zhang Ji's waist without blinking, and then spun it inch by inch, he always felt that he would have nightmares tonight.
But having said that, His Royal Highness King Dingbei is notoriously cruel and ruthless. Thinking back to when the Minister of the Household Department corrupted the army's salary and delayed the military plane, he returned **** from the Shura field. He should not be ordered not to enter the palace. The first thing he did was to take the head of the corrupt official.
His wife knew that she had no life to live, so in order to protect the beautiful twins in the family, she asked the twin daughters to serve as slaves by her side.
With such an alluring look, it is reasonable to say that a man would be tempted, and to keep two women, for him, he can make sure with just a few fingers. But he was unmoved, ransacked the house according to the law, destroyed the family and beheaded, leaving no one behind.
So, "Back to the river, why did you save Miss Ming's family, and let the hidden guards send her back to the Hou's Mansion, pity the fragrance and cherish the jade... It's not like what you would do, Qizhi."
He thought that Jiang Xu's return to Beijing changed his mind and developed a heart of compassion. After walking around in the dungeon, he realized that he was thinking too much.
Recalling the corner he accidentally heard in Ting Yu Building, he smiled again: "Could it be that you fell in love with that Miss Ming family at first sight?"
Jiang Xu lowered his eyes, pulled his lips, wiped the blood on his hands slowly, and said unhurriedly: "As expected of Mr. Shu Er, who is famous in Beijing, he is really gentle and affectionate."
