Chapter 221 Human pillars and sacrifices (5300 words long chapter)

Author: Bachelor in White

Chapter 221 Human pillars and sacrifices (5300 words long chapter)

April days are always accompanied by continuous drizzle.

On the street, pedestrians holding various paper umbrellas were bustling.

Zheng's taxi drivers are diligent and diligent, running around the streets and alleys, soliciting customers for their livelihood.

As they ran, hearty laughter and melodious whistles echoed throughout the imperial city, making people stop and smile when they heard it - Zheng's coachman has long become one of the two unique scenery in the imperial city.

And another unique scenery disappeared not long ago: the sky was full of ravens, falling at the same time.

The sight of thousands of ravens falling and dying at the same time made the people panic, thinking it was a sign of disaster from heaven; but soon some officials issued a document to refute the rumors, saying that there was no such thing. But why, the officials

I can't even come up with a reasonable explanation.

Of course, food, clothing, housing and transportation are the foundation of people's livelihood. Now that they live and work in peace and contentment, people have quickly forgotten this.

Qing Shisan and Zheng Xiu were still chatting under the eaves.

Arrange things without leaving home.

Zheng Xiu had nothing to do and thought about it, and ordered a batch of limited edition paper umbrellas.

The ribs of the umbrella are inlaid with gold and jade, with the words "attracting wealth and treasures" printed on them. The number is limited to eighty-eight, with a unique number. The cost is thirty taels, and it sells for six hundred and sixty-six taels of silver. It is designed to trick the rich in the city.

The selling point of the promotion is that the Qiankun is hidden in the ribs of the umbrella and can shoot out steel needles. It is a must-have product for traveling at home and traveling around the world to kill people and steal goods.

If everything goes well, you can earn more than 50,000 taels of silver once it is resold.

The happiness of the rich is so simple and unpretentious, purely about making money.

When Qing Shisan heard this, he said with a smile that he was smart and continued the arrangement.

There are countless talented people in the Zheng family, and the craftsmen are all top-notch. Wouldn't it be easy to make a treasure umbrella that contains the universe?

When Qing Shisan asked why the master suddenly thought of tinkering with such a "retro" thing, Zheng Xiu smiled and said nothing.

"Meow!"

Xiao Fengmiao jumped down from the side in a frizzy manner, jumped straight into Zheng Xiu's arms, found a comfortable position and curled up, squinting his eyes and motionless.

Zheng Xiu habitually stroked Xiao Feng Miao's hair, which was soft and smooth, and seemed to have gained weight again.

Touching it, Zheng Xiu burst into laughter. Only then did he remember that this cat was not the one he and Feng Bei raised in the world in the painting.

"When did you become so close to me?"

Zheng Xiu smiled at the kitten in his arms.

He vaguely remembered that when he wanted to tease the cat in the past, he could scare the orange cat into a shocked face.

"Meow meow..."

The orange cat rolled her eyes with her belly facing up, as if gesturing to Zheng Xiu to scratch her belly.

【Idiot meow.】

Zheng Xiu's movement of stroking the cat's crotch suddenly froze, and he covered his ears in surprise.

Auditory hallucinations?

[Foreign language] What are you flipping around like this?

"Meow meow meow!"

The orange cat rolled happily in Zheng Xiu's arms.

He looked very close to Zheng Xiu, and he didn't look like a cat that could curse.

At this moment Qing Shisan spoke, attracting Zheng Xiu's attention.

"Master, there is something that you will definitely be interested in."

Zheng Xiu continued to tease the cat and replied to Qing Shisan: "You said it."

"Do you still remember that not long ago, before you fell ill, the Wei royal family held a ceremony to worship their ancestors on March 3rd and establish a heir apparent?"

Zheng Xiu was stunned. After a hundred years, if Qing Shisan hadn't mentioned it, he would have forgotten about it.

In fact, this matter had nothing to do with him. Whoever he appointed had nothing to do with him. He had no intention of getting involved. So when the two princes offered their olive branches to each other, Zheng Xiu used various methods at that time.

The way declined.

Now that Qing Shisan mentioned it, Zheng Xiu became interested again. Logically speaking, although the issue of establishing a prince would not lead to bloodshed on the surface, overt and covert fighting was necessary. Zheng Xiu looked calm and asked about the follow-up.

"Haha," Qing Shisan smoked a dry cigarette and laughed a few times: "At that time, the master suffered a serious illness, and our Zheng family had no backbone. We were all like frightened birds, fearing that the fire would burn our heads."

"It is said that the second prince almost wanted to go south and find another way."

Zheng Xiu tried hard to turn over the memories in his mind.

It has been a hundred years, and it is not easy to bring the characters of the past back into line.

Qing Shisan saw Zheng Xiu frowning in deep thought and kindly reminded him, "The most arrogant and domineering one."

Oh, I remembered it.

The kid who asked me if I knew how to write the word "death".

Zheng Xiu nodded: "I remembered it, what happened later."

"I secretly inquired a lot of information from Mr. Jiang. He is Jiang Gaoyi, the one who is very close to the master, and is now Mr. Jiang, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice." Qing Shisan noticed that after the master recovered from his illness, he seemed to have "forgot" a lot of things.

, he would remind her thoughtfully when speaking. Zheng Xiu was very satisfied with Qing Shisan’s sensibleness, with an encouraging smile on his face. Qing Shisan continued:

"First, the eldest prince paid a lot of money to hire the great writer Ximen Bei to go to his house. Under pressure, Ximen Bei wrote two autobiographies for the eldest prince and spread them widely. He spent a lot of pen and ink in the book and advocated many things of the eldest prince.

He is well versed in poems and books, went to the countryside to provide disaster relief, and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting."

"Although the common people don't understand, after reading the book, people talk about the eldest prince a lot more."

Zheng Xiu listened quietly, and the orange cat turned over again.

"Ugh... meow!"

【Shabimiao.】

Zheng Xiu seemed to understand again this time.

The orange cat was scolding the eldest prince.

"It's easy to scold."

Zheng Xiu smiled and patted the cat's butt.

The orange cat rolled his eyes, his expression was quite humane.

Qing Shisan glanced at Zheng Xiu strangely.

"It's okay, just keep talking and I'll listen."

"By the way, there is one more thing about the eldest prince. It is said that one night in the palace, the eldest prince was assassinated in his bedroom. In the end, the eldest prince was safe and sound. According to various clues, it is inferred that the eldest prince... is very likely to have a profound conspiracy.

The art of doorway thaumaturgy.”

"Oh? What method did he use?" Mr. Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up.

If the undercurrent of internal strife in the royal family only makes Zheng Xiu "interested", then talking about "door path magic" can make Zheng Xiu "excited".

"The chess player. His chess skills are superb."

"Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"It's a guess. But I'm 70% sure."

Zheng Xiu closed his eyes, holding the orange cat in his arms, and said calmly and quietly: "Continue talking."

Qing Shisan secretly praised the master for his magnanimity at this moment.

For some reason, after the master became seriously ill this time, he changed into a different person. Qing Shisan felt that the master seemed to have matured a lot, and he exuded the majesty of a superior old man. It was not at all what he could show at his age.

The way it looks.

"The eldest prince was assassinated that time. Although there is no certainty, his subordinates believed that it was probably the second prince who carried out the assassination. In short, it was left to nothing. Therefore, the second prince impatiently wanted to escape from the imperial city and go south to survive.

But for some reason I didn’t leave in the end.”

"Later, something happened that perhaps I didn't expect. As March 3 approached, many ministers openly praised the third prince in the morning."

Zheng Xiu's eyes were half-opened, a little more surprised: "The third prince with a cowardly personality?"

"Yes, the third prince has a 'cowardly' temperament." Qing Shisan grinned, emphasizing the word "cowardly".

Zheng Xiu suddenly said: "The third prince won?"

Qing Shisan squinted his eyes and showed a mysterious smile.

He laughed for a while and slowly shook his head: "This time, the master guessed wrong. Or, everyone in the world who dared to guess guessed wrong. No one can guess the emperor's mind."

Zheng Xiu thought for a while, then showed a surprised expression: "They all lost? No wonder... As expected of Old Wei."
To be continued...