Chapter 5: The Two Scholars in Chang'an 3
Zhou Zhenzhen pursed her lips and followed him. No matter what, she was going to be shameless this time.
Xiaoxiang Office was crowded with people, twice as many as usual. Three large nanmu tables were placed horizontally by the window, and three people each occupied one side, painting with ink.
Liuyeju has such a rule that if someone pays a certain amount of money, they can propose a topic. The person who answers the topic signs on a flower name paper and chooses a day to compete. The winner can get a prize. This time, the topic of the three people's painting is "Moon in a Cage". The person who proposed the topic is sitting on the side. His clothes are not high-profile, but there are gold lines hidden between the dark patterns. The nobleness of his body cannot be concealed no matter how hard he tries.
Then he looked at the person standing beside him. He had a smile on his face and was bending down and kneeling to whisper with the nobleman.
Zhou Zhenzhen felt that his eyebrows and eyes were familiar, so she pulled Cheng Jue and asked, "Is that Prince Min?"
Cheng Jue glanced sideways and nodded: "How did you guess that?"
"I saw that the man standing next to him looked a bit like Wei Wuji, so I thought that man should be Wei Wuji's elder brother, Princess Changping's consort Wei Youya. In addition, I recently heard that Prince Min returned to Chang'an, and Wei Youya was the number one lackey around Prince Min, so I guessed that man was him."
"Lackneck, this description is quite apt." Cheng Jue suddenly raised his hand and slapped her mouth. She shrank back in pain.
"You dare to say anything!"
"It's in front of you anyway, so what's the harm in saying it?" Zhou Zhenzhen retorted in a low voice. Cheng Jue smiled lightly and nodded seriously: "That makes sense."
The scholar on the far right put away his brush and threw it aside. Everyone made way. Prince Min Song Huaishi stood up and walked over. He carefully examined his painting. After a while, he asked, "The title is 'Moon in a Cage'. What is the meaning of your painting?"
The scholar's brushstrokes are delicate. In the painting, there is a snow-white long-tailed parrot in a cage surrounded by branches and flowers. Next to it are small boxes of bird food and water. It has nothing to do with the "moon".
The scholar smiled frivolously: "The moon is in the sky, how could it be in the cage?"
Wei Youya snorted coldly: "How dare you, a scholar, be so arrogant?"
"Youya, let him continue."
The scholar pursed his lips and pointed at the small box of water: "Sir, please take a closer look."
Song Huaishi moved closer and stared at it carefully. There was a thin half moon in the water, which was the reflection of the moon in the sky.
In this way, the moon exists, the cage exists, and it is logical.
Song Huaishi clapped his hands and praised: "It is indeed a clever idea."
Wei Youya also smiled and said, "Sir, what you said is very true. This is the first time I have seen someone's mind turn so quickly. It is really great."
Zhou Zhenzhen curled her lips, stood on tiptoe, and got closer to Cheng Jue's ear, whispering, "This man has really made Princess Changping lose face. I think his reckless second brother is better than him."
Her breath was as sweet as orchid, and Cheng Jue felt a little hot in his heart, and he said "hmm" absent-mindedly.
Song Huaishi said so, and the other two people who painted the deep artistic conception of the moon in the cage naturally had no chance. The scholar put the banknote in his arms, clasped his hands, and said without any modesty: "Thank you for the good contrast."
Amid the laughter in the room, the other two were embarrassed. They were all talented men with a certain reputation in Chang'an. How many of them could withstand such provocation? The blue-clothed scholar rushed forward and grabbed his collar: "Brother Ruan and I are both painters who have won dozens of games in Xiaoxiang. You just won this one game with unorthodox methods. How can you be qualified to show off! Sarcasm is not what a gentleman does!"
The scholar turned his head, and Zhou Zhenzhen finally saw his appearance clearly. His white clothes could not match his snowy skin, and his red lips were slightly upturned, which made him look like an immortal. However, his eyes and eyebrows were lazy, and he even pushed away the hand that was clenched in front of his chest with impatience: "I am not a gentleman, I am just a mean man who loves money. Mr. Zhao, you really don't have to worry about me. Just do what you need to do. I'm leaving now."
The scholar bowed, pushed Zhao Ji away and left. Just as he passed by Ruan Wenqing, Ruan Wenqing suddenly fell straight to the ground.
Cheng Jue frowned, pushed away the people in front of him and walked over a few steps. His fingertips put under Ruan Wenqing's nose, but he was already dead.
"he died."
"What? Dead?"
This unexpected incident made the people in Xiaoxiang Prison restless. Some people wanted to open the door to leave, but Cheng Jue immediately shouted coldly: "No one is allowed to leave! Zhou Zhenzhen, go back to the Dali Temple and call someone!"
His voice was like a violent storm, inexplicably overwhelming and making people dare not refute him. Zhou Zhenzhen responded loudly, turned around and walked out, but was blocked by someone in front of the door.
"You said you were leaving, so you left. Could it be that you killed this Ruan, so you are in such a hurry to run?" Wei Youya said sarcastically, scanning the area with his eyes, "Prince Min is here, who dares to be presumptuous!"
Zhou Zhenzhen didn't like this man at all. She took a step back in disgust and said in a somewhat aggressive tone, "Even if the emperor is here, my master can investigate the case however he wants. It's none of your business!"
"You are such a sharp-tongued girl. I want to teach you a lesson."
Wei Youya raised his hand, but was grabbed by someone halfway. Cheng Jue dragged Zhou Zhenzhen behind him and blocked her way. He laughed in anger and said, "How can you touch my people?"
Cheng Jue's grip tightened, and the force seemed to be able to crush Wei Youya's wrist bones. Wei Youya had a ferocious face and squeezed out a sentence: "My lord, quickly teach this daring man a lesson!"
Song Huaishi frowned and walked slowly sideways. When he saw Cheng Jue, he looked a little dazed. After looking at him for a few times, he spoke with a little surprise: "You are... Weiqing?"
Prince Min Song Huaishi was not in Chang'an for many years, and Cheng Jue had only been an official in the court for a few years. The last time they met was when Princess Fengjue brought young Cheng Jue back to Chang'an. Song Huaishi had heard that Cheng Jue had been an official in the Dali Temple, but he did not expect that the two would meet again under such circumstances.
"How is your highness?" Cheng Jue let go of his hand. Song Huaishi was a little excited, but this was not the time to reminisce. He looked at Wei Youya and said, "Send someone to the Dali Temple."
Wei Youya's expression changed very quickly, without any trace of the ferocious look he had just shown. He agreed with a smile and went out.
"Mr. Ruan's mouth corners are purple, which is a sign of poisoning, but the specific poison needs to be examined by the coroner." Zhou Zhenzhen was small, and few people noticed her when she walked around the corpse. After she finished speaking, Cheng Jue saw her and pulled her aside by her collar.
Zhou Zhenzhen pouted and stood aside obediently. Song Huaishi looked at her a few more times, shook his head helplessly and said, "Weiqing still doesn't know how to be gentle with women."
Zhao Ji excitedly grabbed the scholar as if he had realized something and said, "It must be you. You poisoned Brother Ruan just to win the prize money!"
During the scuffle, a bag of something fell from the scholar. Zhao Ji put one hand on his chest and picked up the bag with the other hand to unfold it. Inside was a dark purple powder: "Look! This is poison! He is the murderer! Your Majesty, please arrest him quickly, otherwise Brother Ruan will die with regret!"
"Yes! Your Majesty, arrest him!"
As everyone agreed, the scholar yawned in annoyance as if it had nothing to do with him. Cheng Jue shook his head at Song Huaishi. He felt that this person would give him a surprise.
Sure enough, after a while, the scholar said, "Before today, if we talk about making up lies, I believe that there are few people in the world who can make up more lies than me. But after meeting Mr. Zhao today, I know that there are always people better than you. You said this thing is poisonous, so I will taste it and show you."
The scholar snatched the packet of powder and poured it into his mouth amid the exclamations of the crowd. He choked and coughed: "Water, get a glass of water."
Zhou Zhenzhen handed over the teacup on the table beside him, and the scholar drank it all in one gulp, without any abnormality. Zhao Ji was dumbfounded: "You...what are you..."
"This stuff is extracted from a grass called purple orchid. After eating it, your facial features will turn purple, but it won't kill you. However, if it comes into contact with sandalwood powder, it will be highly poisonous. Anyone who touches it will die." The scholar smiled lazily, stretched out his hand and pulled off the purse on Mr. Zhao's waist, sniffed it twice, and then said, "It's unusual for Mr. Zhao to put sandalwood in his purse. Are you going to become a monk?"
"You're talking nonsense! If what you said is true, then how come you're still alive after taking the powder and sniffing the sandalwood?"
"I am a villain, I will cause harm for thousands of years, but I have a long life!" The scholar bowed to Song Huaishi and Cheng Jue, "Brother Ruan's inkstone must have been put in purple orchid powder by someone, and Brother Zhao was standing close to him, so the mixture of sandalwood and purple orchid caused his death by poisoning. This packet of purple orchid powder must have been hidden on me by Brother Zhao early in the morning, but this flower attracts fireflies, and it will glow with fluorescence at night. Your Majesty, you only need to take off Mr. Zhao's clothes and wait until dark to see if they glow, and everything will be clear."
"Someone, take off his clothes!"
"No...no, I'll tell you, I'll tell you..." Zhao Ji knelt on the ground with weak legs and finally admitted his guilt. "My family is poor and I failed the imperial examination. I had no choice but to make a living by painting and calligraphy. After coming to Liuyeju, I became rich because of my consecutive victories in painting competitions. Last year, I started to love gambling and owed a lot of money. Ruan Wenqing came out of Liuyeju to compete with me. My painting skills are not as good as his. If I don't get the reward money, I will be beaten to death by the gambling house. I...I can only resort to this last resort, but I didn't expect that there would be a newcomer this time, so I wanted to frame them and get rid of these two people together. I...I was also forced and confused for a moment. I beg the prince to have mercy, and I beg Lord Cheng to have mercy..."
Prime Minister Bo rushed over with the guards from the Dali Temple. Cheng Jue raised his hand and they quickly arrested Zhao Ji and carried away Ruan Wenqing's body.
The onlookers were dispersed, and Meng Fan led a few people to clean up the crime scene and register the clues in preparation for closing the case. Seeing that Cheng Jue was busy, Song Huaishi left and returned to the palace.
The scholar also wanted to leave, but Zhou Zhenzhen couldn't suppress her curiosity and stopped him.
"What advice does this girl have?"
"You..." Zhou Zhenzhen had just spoken when she felt a familiar feeling. Her collar was lifted up again. She took a few steps away from the scholar. Cheng Jue let go of her hand when he saw that the distance was right. He then continued her conversation and asked, "How much of what you just said is true and how much is false?"
"I have heard that adults are very thoughtful and have a good understanding of the world. So, please guess how much of what I said is true and how much is false?"
Cheng Jue narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice: "What you said about purple orchid and sandalwood counteracting each other is true, but what you ate is purple orchid powder, which is false. What you said about the inkstone having purple orchid is true, but the purple orchid having fluorescence is false."
The man's contemptuous attitude finally subsided, and he said unwillingly: "Master Cheng is really worthy of his reputation, then you can definitely guess who I am."
"The Imperial Academy Scholar, Lin Yuxiao."
Lin Yuxiao's smile completely disappeared. Zhou Zhenzhen couldn't help but praise him, "'When the top scholar smiles, all the flowers wither'! The rumors in Chang'an City are indeed true. Even if Lord Lin stops smiling, he can still make all the flowers wither."
"snort!"
"snort!"
Cheng Jue and Meng Fan, who was recording, snorted at the same time.
Late at night, in a courtyard in the east of the city, the window of the Nantong room was blown open by a gust of wind, and Ruixue woke up from the cold. She drank an extra bowl of water before the night, and now she felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach. She put on her clothes, closed the window, and walked out quietly, without disturbing the maid who was sleeping in the same room.
This night was more bleak than usual. The wind blowing in her face was even more biting as she went in and out. Ruixue shivered and turned around in the corridor. She saw someone walking out of her room. The sharp blade in the other person's hand glowed with a bloodthirsty light in the moonlight.
She was horrified and covered her mouth tightly with her hands. She saw the man walk out of the yard before she hurried back to the house. The bed was covered in blood. All the sisters who had lived with her day and night had lost their lives in their sleep.
Who could have expected this unexpected disaster?
She was trembling all over and crawled towards the back door . There was a small corner door there and she could survive as long as she crawled out.
She fell three times along the way, not caring about the branches scratching her face, and finally reached the corner gate in the dark. The wind blew, making the snow-white lantern hanging on the corner gate sway from side to side. The light was the hope of life, but the white was the precursor of death.
The cold blade silently crossed her neck. She was so scared that tears rolled down her face. She begged in a sad voice: "Please let me go. I am just a maid. Please let me go. I am willing to work like a cow or a horse to repay you. Please..."
With a "puff" sound, the blood vessels on her neck were cut open, and Ruixue fell to the ground, dead instantly, with only a little blood splattering.
The man put away his sword, his eyes like eagles, and said coldly: "You are his maid, so you are destined to be buried with his family. Only in this way can it be complete."
“Boom… Boom! Boom!”
The sound of the clappers outside the wall started slow and then fast, and it was already three o'clock in the night.
Some people have just fallen asleep, while others have already reached paradise and will never wake up from their dreams again.
