Chapter 14 Lend Me Seven Years 1
On this day, Zheng Xiangrui, the daughter of Prince Zheng'an and the head of the Ministry of Justice, arrived in the interrogation room of the Dali Temple.
Because Zheng Xiangrui could not help but shrink and get nervous when facing Cheng Jue, in order not to affect the interrogation, Cheng Jue did not show up during Zhou Zhenzhen's interrogation today. Zheng Xiangrui was originally nervous, but after sitting for a while and drinking a cup of hot tea, he gradually relaxed.
"Currently, Zheng Yan's case is in the closing stage, so we are asking you about Zheng Yan and will write it into the file for your majesty to review. Lord Zheng also knows this process, so please forgive me."
Zheng Xiangrui nodded, beads of sweat oozing out of the tip of his porcelain-white nose: "I understand."
Zhou Zhenzhen took out the silver chain from her neck. Zheng Xiangru had two weaknesses: Zheng Yan and Cheng Jue. She was unsure which one would be more effective in hypnotizing Zheng Xiangru, so she just tried them one by one.
Anyway, there would be nothing that Zheng Xiangrui didn't want her to know.
The pendants under the silver chain were square and round, interlaced, and the halo seemed to jump into Zheng Xiangrui's eyes. She had a pair of very beautiful eyes, and if you looked closely, the pupils were light amber, overflowing with starlight.
"Your brother left you."
"He's never coming back."
…
Zheng Xiangrui's eyes were unfocused, and gradually, they turned blood red. He was clearly unconscious, but he looked fierce and ghostly. Zhou Zhenzhen had hypnotized so many people, but she had never encountered such a situation.
The hypnotist will take on the emotions of the hypnotized person, but Zhou Zhenzhen could not feel sadness or anger at this moment, as if the person in front of her had no souls or emotions.
"The mountains were full of wolves. They had oily green eyes and their shouts were scary, like they were sharpening knives. I was very scared and I ran and ran, but after running for a long time I didn't get very far."
"There was an evil ghost running in front of me. It was running very fast, faster than the wolves."
"The wolf caught up with me, but I couldn't catch up with the evil spirit."
“It hurts so much.”
...Half an hour later, Zhou Zhenzhen walked out of the interrogation room.
Zheng Xiangrui had already fallen asleep. She fell asleep after talking for a quarter of an hour, and it was very sweet and fragrant. Zhou Zhenzhen watched for a long time, but seeing that she showed no signs of waking up, she gave up asking any more questions.
No matter how you ask her, she will fall asleep anyway.
Zhou Zhenzhen knocked on the door of Cheng Jue's office and told him the truth about what happened. Cheng Jue thought for a moment and asked, "What could have caused Zheng Xiangrui's condition?"
"I have only learned the basics of hypnosis. I have never met anyone who told random stories to children after hypnosis, but I have met someone who fell asleep directly. That person was a woman who was seven months pregnant. Her husband died on the battlefield. She was so sad that she miscarried the baby and then became mentally ill. At that time, I had just learned hypnosis and tried to hypnotize her. As soon as I hypnotized her, she fell asleep immediately."
"You mean, if one is mentally ill, this will happen?"
Zhou Zhenzhen nodded, then shook her head again: "Because this is just an isolated case, I am not sure. Besides, Zheng Xiangrui doesn't look like a mentally ill person. Also, her symptoms are different from those of a woman. It may be that Zheng Yan's death was too much of a blow to her, so she is in a trance."
"That makes sense." Cheng Jue thought of something and smiled mysteriously, "Now that I've found out, are you relieved?"
Zhou Zhenzhen didn't understand: "Aren't you the one who's worried, Master Cheng?"
Cheng Jue stretched his body and leaned back, tapping the table with his slender fingers, as if gently tapping her heart.
"Zheng Xiangrui didn't mention me, doesn't that mean she's not in love with me? You should forget about those nonsense that others said and that you took to heart!"
Zhou Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat, her face flushed, and she retorted, "I didn't ask her those questions, Master Cheng, please don't wrongly accuse me."
"Well, I didn't ask. I confessed it myself." Cheng Jue said calmly, locking his eyes with her. "It's my fault that you heard those rumors. Since I was so honest, Lord Zhou will forgive me this time? Hmm?"
His humble attitude made Zhou Zhenzhen's heart surge with waves. She didn't know what to do and finally she ran away cowardly.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about... I'm going to sort out the files."
She said it so fast that she almost bit her tongue. When she left the house, she could still hear Cheng Jue laughing softly. She ran a long way before she stopped, panting and wondering, how did Cheng Jue know that she cared about the rumors about him and Zheng Xiangrui?
Obviously...she thought she had hidden it very well!
"Oh, is Zhenzhen sitting here as a wife-waiting rock?" Meng Fan passed by with a few files in his hands and clicked his tongue.
Zhou Zhenzhen glared at him, her eyes flicked to his right hand, with his pinky finger curled up seductively: "It's only been two hours since we last met, how come Lord Meng has become a eunuch!"
Meng Fan snorted, "It's because of you that Master Cheng wanted the files so urgently. I didn't pay attention and my hand hit the inkstone, and the ink spilled all over the floor. After I wiped it, there are still marks on my hands! I can't get on the files, otherwise if Master Cheng sees it, I'll be dead."
Zhou Zhenzhen twitched her lips and turned around to go back to the Detective Department.
Suddenly, a white light flashed in her mind, like a flash of lightning in the dark night. Her steps suddenly stopped, and the scattered fragments from before pieced together into a whole, not necessarily complete, but very familiar.
It was so familiar that it made her feel terrified. She didn't know whether to believe in herself or doubt the world.
After a while, she came back to her senses and looked in the direction of Cheng Jue, her eyes becoming firm.
He taught her to unravel a case clearly and reveal the truth to the world. She could not let herself down, nor could she let her master down.
Finally, she glanced at Cheng Jue, turned around, and walked out with heavy steps. When she reached the door, she said to the guard, "If Master Cheng asks, just say that the proprietress of Manyue Teahouse is not feeling well and the shopkeeper is not convenient to take care of her, so I will go back first."
The guard nodded awkwardly, wondering why Lord Zhou didn't talk to Lord Cheng in person.
Not long after, Cheng Jue came over in person to ask. The guard repeated Zhou Zhenzhen's words to Cheng Jue. Cheng Jue was silent and did not ask any more questions.
Cheng Jue had no intention of staying in the Dali Temple any longer, and the rest of the people also left the temple early.
Huo Chi planned to go to Liuyeju for a drink. Meng Fan had gone back to accompany Qinqin these days, so he was destined not to be able to go with him.
As soon as he turned the corner, he realized something was wrong. After his steps slowed down, he continued walking as if nothing had happened. After turning seven or eight times, he stepped on the wall and did a somersault, landing steadily behind the man.
He wanted to see who was so blind as to follow him!
Huo Chi turned around and met a pair of smiling eyes. The words he was about to curse were stuck in his throat. He mumbled and said in frustration: "You have eyes."
"Puchi!" Zhou Zhenzhen laughed out loud, and felt that this scene was extremely familiar, just like when she and Huo Chi first met. But now they are in different places.
"Brother Huo, I need your help with something."
"Are you asking me for help again?" Huo Chi remembered the last time she asked him for help, and his scalp suddenly tightened, but he still sighed and said, "What can I help you with? Just tell me!"
Because of what Zheng Yan had done, the Zheng'an Palace could not give him a generous burial. In addition, Zheng Yan was buried in the sea of fire, and the gunpowder was so strong that his body was blown to pieces, and turned into black ash along with the things in the warehouse.
King Zheng'an could only take a jar of black ash from the warehouse and have it sent to the Zheng family's cemetery for burial.
It was the end of August, summer was completely gone, and the last ray of warmth was gone.
Zheng Xiangrui, dressed in white, stood quietly in front of the cemetery. Prince Zheng'an could no longer get out of bed, so she was the only one who could see her brother off for the last time today.
Others only saw that this usually very fragile young lady had her back straight today, with an invisible chill emanating from her, which was completely different from her usual self.
"Miss, Miss, something bad has happened..." The servants of the palace shouted repeatedly, and they ran over in panic. "When we were delivering the prince's ashes just now, the horse suddenly rushed forward like crazy halfway through the journey, and Chen Yan, who was holding the ashes, was thrown out of the carriage, and then... then the jar broke, and the prince's ashes were scattered all over the ground..."
Zheng Xiangrui's lips were shaking, his eyes were trembling, and he couldn't speak for a long time.
"Chen Yan is working hard to collect the prince's ashes...Miss, are you okay?" The servant said as he stepped forward to help Zheng Xiangrui. With the support, Zheng Xiangrui did not fall to the ground. She leaned against him softly and said weakly, "Nothing, send me back first...You should go back too. My brother's ashes are not here, and we can't bury him anymore."
All the strength in her body seemed to be drained away, and she fell asleep with her head tilted.
The people of Zheng'an Palace hurriedly and carefully sent Zheng Xiangrui back to the palace in a sedan chair. When Zheng Xiangrui arrived at the couch in her boudoir, she was still sleeping soundly. She had that dream again, the dream she had dreamed countless times, a dream with no beginning and no end.
In her dream, there was a forest, fireflies were trembling and flying away with green light. In the distance, there were wolves howling. She ran desperately, but the wolves' footsteps were getting closer and closer. There was a black shadow in front of her, also running, leaving her far behind.
"Wait for me, save me..."
"Wait for me, save me..."
She kept repeating these six words until her voice became hoarse and her mouth became dry.
Zheng Xiangrui opened her eyes suddenly and stared at the copper incense burner with flower patterns hanging from the ceiling. Her eyes gradually became clear. It was getting dark outside. She had slept for five or six hours without realizing it.
The sleep time was longer than before.
She turned over and got out of bed. The maid Xiao Que, who had been serving her closely, hurriedly brought her porridge and some exquisite side dishes: "Miss, you have slept for so long, you must be hungry."
"Where's the father?"
"The prince has been in the study. I will send someone to inform the prince. He will be happy to know that the young lady has woken up."
Zheng Xiangrui shook his head: "No need, I'll go see my father!"
Xiao Que showed surprise, then joy, and said: "If the young lady goes, the prince will be very happy." After all, over the years, her young lady rarely took the initiative to visit anyone.
In the study room of the palace, Prince Zheng'an was drawing on the rice paper with a brush. He was so focused that he didn't even notice when the door opened.
Prince Zheng'an's painting skills were not perfect, but people could still clearly recognize who he was painting.
The plum blossoms in the palace's plum garden were in full bloom. Under the tree, Zheng Yan, still a young and handsome man, smiled and stroked Zheng Xiangru's hair, which only reached his chest. A plum blossom hairpin was inserted diagonally into the girl's bun. Standing next to them, Prince Zheng'an looked at them with a smile, full of tenderness.
This is the scene when Zheng Xiangrui first arrived at the Prince Zheng'an's Mansion and met Zheng Yan.
As soon as the last stroke was made, there was a "click" sound, and tears began to fall, blurring the plum branch.
Prince Zhengan looked up and saw Zheng Xiangru standing beside him. He was a little flustered and wanted to put the painting away, but was held down by Zheng Xiangru. In fact, her strength was very small, but she still easily stopped Prince Zhengan.
"Father, are you very sad?"
"Although Yan'er did something wrong, he is my son after all. I was so busy killing enemies on the battlefield before that I didn't pay much attention to Yan'er. Now I can't even leave a bit of his ashes. When I go to the underworld in the future, I will be too ashamed to see Yan'er again." Prince Zheng'an sighed and tentatively covered Zheng Xiangrui's hand. Seeing that she was not stiff or uncomfortable, he felt better and said softly, "The ashes in the horse farm warehouse have been taken back to the Dali Temple by Chengjue for detailed investigation. After the case is closed, I will ask for another urn and bury Yan'er properly then."
"But that's after the seventh day." Zheng Xiangrui said softly, "Father, can you give me this painting?"
"certainly."
Zheng Xiangrui waited for the painting to dry a little, then carefully rolled it up, held it in his hand, and bowed to Prince Zheng'an: "Father, I am leaving now."
Prince Zheng'an didn't understand the meaning of her words, but felt that something was wrong with her today, but he couldn't tell why. When he wanted to say something, she had already closed the door and left .
The night was as cold as water, the moonlight was thin, and even the stars were dim.
After the case was solved, the Dali Temple was completely silent. Only the lights in the duty room were on. The adult in charge of guarding the night was already asleep. In the courtyard behind the flower hall, the main house was used to temporarily store the body, and the east wing was filled with various evidences collected from the crime scene.
A figure flashed by the moon gate, and the person's footsteps were silent, as if floating, and a moment later he was outside the wing room. The person moved his hand deftly, and the lock of the east wing room opened with a "click" and fell gently into his palm.
The next moment the door was pushed open, and the man shone the tinder in his hand around casually, illuminating a basket of black soil.
