Chapter 032: Crow Night Cry (I)
In the battle of Mushen Mountain fifteen years ago, Du Sancai was the military officer in charge of transporting food and fodder.
However, Xu Hexue and his Jing'an Army fought bloody battles for three days in the heartland of the Hu people, but not only did they fail to wait for the other three reinforcements, they also failed to wait for Du Sancai.
In fifteen years, the blood of the thirty thousand dead souls of the Jing'an Army had long been shed, but Du Sancai rose rapidly to the highest position, reaching the fifth rank.
Most of the lights in the room were out, and Xu Hexue sat alone in the dark shadow. His vision was blurry, and the veins on his hand that was holding the bedpost were exposed.
"Xu Ziling."
Ni Su stood outside the door holding a basin of willow leaf water.
Xu Hexue instinctively looked up in the direction where her voice came from, but he could not see anything clearly. His eyes had been cut by the golden knife of the Hu people when he was alive, and now they seemed to be soaked in blood. He was not sure what he looked like at the moment, but it must be not very decent.
"Will you feel better if I don't come in?"
Ni Su put down the basin, turned around and sat down against the door frame. Outside the corridor, the mist and rain were thick. She looked up and said, "Do you know that I really want to ask you something, but I always feel that if I ask you, I will hurt you."
In the dim room, Xu Hexue's eyelids were soaked with blood. When his eyelashes moved, blood beads fell. He was silent for a long time, and said in a hoarse voice: "I'm sorry, Ni Su."
She was the one who called him back to this world.
He should have been honest with her.
But how should he tell her? That his real name was Xu Hexue, and that he was a traitorous general who had pleaded guilty and died in the border town of Yongzhou fifteen years ago?
At least at this moment, he didn't know how to start.
"What's there to be sorry about?"
Ni Su hugged her knees and looked back at the door. "I understand that you have something to hide, but I still want to ask you a question. If you don't think it's easy to answer, then don't answer."
Through a door, Xu Hexue looked up following the dim light.
"You know Du Sancai and have a grudge against him, right?"
The girl's voice came from outside the door.
Xu Hexue lowered her eyes and said after a while, "Yes."
"Then he is really a nuisance."
Ni Su turned her head and looked at the hot mist rising from the basin, "If that's the case, then the two of us will take revenge."
Xu Hexue stayed in the room without saying a word.
The revenge he wants to take is not just against Du Sancai.
He returned to the world of the living not to look for old friends, but to find the culprit who caused his 30,000 Jing'an Army soldiers to bear the crime of treason.
The autumn rain is pouring down outside the eaves.
Xu Hexue was listening in the room while Ni Su was watching outside the door.
"Ni Su, I want to visit Du Sancai's home."
He said suddenly.
Now there are only his godfather and his wife in Du Sancai's house. The Du Mansion must be surrounded tightly. It is impossible for Ni Su to get in.
But she nodded, "Okay."
"Are you willing to let me in, then?"
In fact, everything here is hers. This clean room is hers, the furnishings in the room are hers, the stacked books, the spread out paper and ink, each one is carefully selected by her.
But she had no sense of being the owner at all. She stood outside the door and would not push it open until she heard him say "OK".
The willow leaf water was still warm, just right for washing his face.
The rain and dewdrops rustled as Xu Hexue sat on the edge of the bed, holding the bedpost with one hand. His bloodstained eyelashes trembled nervously until she gently covered his eyes with a warm handkerchief.
"This is your own business. I think I can't stop you, but I can't go in with you this time. I can only wait for you outside. I will try to be closer to you and buy more incense and candles to wait for you." Ni Su wiped his thin eyelids and saw water droplets dripping from his wet eyelashes to his cheeks. His softness was accompanied by a stiffness that was hard to ignore. "But Xu Ziling, if it doesn't hurt so much, you should be nicer to yourself."
Xu Hexue opened his eyes after hearing this.
He didn't know she was so close to him, with her black hair, fair cheeks, and a pair of eyes reflecting the heavy candlelight, which looked like stars.
"Did you hear me?" Ni Su asked him while helping him wipe his face without waiting for his response.
“Yes.”
"Why do your eyelashes keep moving?"
Ni Su couldn't help but fiddle with his thick and long eyelashes.
Xu Hexue's knuckles gripping the bedpost suddenly exerted force. He looked away, but he was not prepared for her fingers to touch his eyelids and tease him.
"Are you ticklish?"
Ni Su narrowed her eyes.
Xu Hexue had forgotten whether he was ticklish when he was alive, but facing her deliberate teasing, he seemed very helpless. He tried to hide by turning his face away but couldn't. The skylight and candlelight from outside the door intertwined, and her smiling face was hard for him to ignore.
He pulled the corners of his lips unconsciously, it was involuntary, imitating the arc of her smile. He held her hand, but was careful not to touch her. Through her sleeve, he said, "I'm afraid."
"Then you better be careful next time," Ni Su pretended to play with his eyelashes again. Seeing him back away, she laughed, "If you make me angry, I will do this to you."
She said later.
Xu Hexue didn't know how much future he had left. He found it hard to ignore the longing in his heart, but the more he longed for it, the more embarrassed he felt.
The sky gradually darkened.
The Du residence was filled with gloom and sorrow. Mr. Qin was tired of his daughter-in-law's crying and paced back and forth in the room: "Cry, cry, cry! My own son is dead and you only know how to cry. That useless adopted son is missing, not dead. It's too early for you to cry!"
"He must have run away and left you and me here. Damn it, I treated him so well in vain..." Du Cong's wife, He, almost soaked the handkerchief in her hand with tears.
"He was the one who did it. The emperor is kind and will not implicate you and me."
"Why are you so sure?" He cried, "Could it be that he really won't come back?"
"If he comes back, he will die. Only a fool would come back!"
Mr. Qin snorted coldly, "I don't know how he socializes with people outside. He gives away so much money on a daily basis. The money his subordinates give him as gifts and the money he embezzles. I'm afraid he can't even count how much money he has given away over the years. But how long has he kept the money? Didn't he give it away anyway? But look, now that he's in trouble, is there anyone to help him?"
After saying that, Mr. Qin looked at Mrs. He and said, "Did he really not tell you anything about that night? Did he not return to his room all night?"
"No, he has been resting in the study for many days," He said while sobbing, "I thought he had someone else outside..."
As they were talking, a sharp night wind blew in through the window, causing a chill to run down their spines for no apparent reason.
Qin looked out the window. He felt a little strange for some reason. After a moment's hesitation, he said to He: "No, I have to look in the study."
"What are you looking for? If he really left any words, wouldn't they have been searched away by those people from the Night Police?" He said while choking.
"What does it matter if he leaves any words?"
Mr. Qin frowned, "The important thing is that at this critical moment, other than the winter exam case, he has to hide the money he gave to others. If there are some big shots involved, they will stamp their feet and we will have to be buried with him, Du Cong!"
The night rain was drizzling, and the light of the lanterns was furry.
Ni Su sat in the oilcloth tent of the tea stall, listening to the crackling sound of rain, and wrapped the incense and candles in the basket with oil paper. She raised her head and suddenly met the eyes of the young man in black robes in the rain.
The young man did not hold an umbrella, and his handsome features were washed clean by the rain. He took off the knife from his waist, walked into the oilcloth tent, lifted his clothes and sat down opposite Ni Su.
"Master Xiao Zhou."
Ni Su poured him a bowl of hot tea.
"what are you doing here?"
Zhou Ting glanced at the steaming tea bowl on the table.
"Come and see."
"Just looking?"
Ni Su held the tea bowl and met his gaze, "What else can I do? Master Xiao Zhou, do you think I have the ability to enter the Du Mansion?"
This tea stall is very close to the Du Mansion and far away from Nanhuai Street. It is impossible that she appeared here just to drink tea.
But as she said, there are now many people guarding outside the Du Mansion. She can't get in, so what else can she risk doing?
Zhou Ting didn't think there was anything wrong with her answer, but he still had some hesitation in his heart. He moved his eyes to the basket next to her.
"Did Lord Xiao Zhou come here specifically to find me?" Ni Su asked.
"no."
Zhou Ting came back to his senses and said, "We just closed down a wine shop nearby. I will take people back to the night watchman's office for a thorough interrogation."
He took a sip of tea and stood up. "Miss Ni, even if Du Cong is missing, there are still other clues to track down the murderer who killed your brother. Please remember my advice, drink this cup of tea, and go back early."
"Thank you, Master Xiao Zhou."
Ni Su stood up and bowed.
"It's my duty. Miss Ni, there's no need to do this." Zhou Ting tied the knife again, nodded at her, and then walked into the rain.
Ni Su saw Chao Yisong not far away through the rain. They were leading several other people towards the east. She couldn't help but take a few steps forward and take a few more glances.
When she returned to the table, she drank her tea very slowly. The stall owner reminded her a little embarrassedly: "Girl, I have to clean up here."
Ni Su had no choice but to hold up her umbrella and carry her basket out of the tea stall.
The night was foggy and damp. She stood under the low eaves, leaning against the wall and waiting quietly. She stared at the lantern under the eaves for a long time, but the fire was extinguished by the rain.
She squatted down, afraid that the rain would wet the incense and candles, so she held the basket in her arms and counted the raindrops falling from the eaves.
I don't know how long it took,
As she lowered her sight, a warm yellow light approached.
Ni Su looked up suddenly.
The young man's snow-white clothes were soaked by rain and blood, and the diluted blood beads fell along his wrist bones. He had a pair of clear eyes, reflecting the light of the lantern.
The lamp in his hand was lit by her herself.
Zhou Ting left, but the officials from the Night Watch who followed Ni Su were still there. Ni Su couldn't talk to him, but when she looked up at his face, she felt a little sad in her nose for some reason.
She stood up, walked forward silently, but moved away from the umbrella brim and secretly took him under it.
The sound of rain is crisp.
Ni Su looked ahead, not at him. Her voice was soft enough to be drowned out by the rain: "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt."
Xu Hexue stood side by side with her. At this moment when she couldn't look at him, he seemed a little presumptuous and looked at her profile.
Ni Su lowered her eyes and looked at the water droplets accumulated on the oil paper in the basket:
“It’s a lie.”
