Chapter 2 Substituting one thing for another The official returns to the city 2
The whole house is warm and moist, warm but not dry.
The copper stove was incense, and wisps of white smoke were slowly lingering. The bed was not placed in the upright position, but under the small window on the left. The window panes were exquisitely carved, but they were locked tightly, shutting out the beautiful scenery outside the window.
Outside.
Kneeling next to the bed is a woman with black hair like a waterfall hanging down her sides. Her neck is fair and her waist is pink and the pink is not deep and even. If you look closely, everything looks good.
"Put your sleeves aside and you'll see your bare hands, and your bright wrists will be surrounded by gold rings."
Chu Shou folded his arms in front of his chest, leaned against the door with his back, raised his eyes and looked at it from a distance, and couldn't help but sigh. This woman's graceful figure was not inferior to the most beautiful woman in Kyoto she had seen in Ganlinzhou, Kyoto five years ago.
Son, even compared to her charm, the person in front of her is a bit colder.
"Princess Princess."
Qingfeng walked over quickly and called out in a low voice.
Chu Shou didn't look at him or even raise his eyelids, but just stared at the man unable to pull it out. He raised his hand to block it and said: "Stand there, don't let the air conditioning come in."
"My little daughter, Zhao Qinghuai, has met Princess Ruchuan."
The beauty looked back, but her charming eyes were as silky as silk. Chu Shou was surprised. The beauty was originally charming, but today she was wearing plain clothes and pure ornaments...
Without waiting to think about it, Qing Huai rushed over quickly, holding an iron fork holding charcoal fire and pointed it directly at the center of Chu Shou's eyebrows. Between the lightning and flint, the beauty was furious and her face was ferocious. Well, she was neither pure nor charming. It turned out to be
A strong-willed femme fatale.
Chu Shou turned to the side of the house, and the iron rod rushed towards the door frame, making a sound, sending out a few wisps of white smoke, and leaving black marks.
Without making much reaction, Qing Huai gritted his teeth and struck at Chu Shou again. He had nowhere to hide, so he rolled up his right arm and stretched out the tiger skin on his back. The shiny fur immediately burned and stuck to form a long streak.
The black spots forced her to take a few steps back, and the bell on her waist rang again and again like a warning.
Only then did Qingfeng in black take action to stop him. He picked up the reddish-hot iron rod with his knife and said sternly: "Miss Zhao! Please respect yourself."
After Chu Shou steadied his body, he put down his right arm, frowned, and rubbed the tiger skin distressedly. There was still a trace of warmth in the blackened area, and he sighed: "It's a pity, it's a family heirloom."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Qinghuai still didn't give up, his eyes were like the burning charcoal in the charcoal basin, staring at Chu Shou and making a crackling sound.
"Lord Qingfeng! Get out of the way! You and Lord Shen are afraid of power. I am just a humble life. If I can protect Young Master Song, I will die without mercy!"
As he said that, he pulled out a silver-white water snake-like soft sword from his waist, curved around Qingfeng, and approached Chu Shou.
Qingfeng didn't draw his sword, but pushed and slashed Zhao Qinghuai's right arm with his side hand. She flew out and hit the edge of the table and chair nearby. She let out a muffled groan in pain and swept her sleeves and robes away.
The teacup was shattered on the floor.
Qing Feng calmed down and turned towards Chu Shou respectfully, "The princess is frightened. Please take a seat. Lord Shen will be here soon."
His voice was as cold and distant as ever, and he lowered his head slightly, as if the black mask was isolating the whole person from the world. After saying that, he stepped aside and ignored Zhao Qinghuai who was in pain and found it difficult to get up.
Chu Shou put away the hand holding the table, took off the tiger skin on his back, sat down on the huanghuali wood armchair behind him, picked up a cup of warm tea on the table, and began to sip it slowly.
Looking around, the red-hot charcoal fire is a little out of place with the still-heated summer season. Even the most delicate lady in Kyoto has no need to use it. Through the snow-gauze-like screen, the candlelight and the dim moonlight can be seen.
Dimly, I saw a person lying calmly on the bed, his chest rising and falling steadily, and he was fine even after a lot of tossing, as if he had fallen asleep.
The heavenly official she traveled through mountains and rivers to find was this man.
He is also the Young Master of the Song Dynasty in Zhao Qinghuai's mouth, the person she will protect even to the death - the legendary Heavenly Official who is rare to meet in a thousand years.
Being able to be responsible for welcoming the heavenly officials and being the envoys of the Wu Clan is not only the meaning of their Wu Clan’s existence, but also the lifelong honor of every Wu Clan envoy.
Thinking of this, Chu Shou couldn't help but chuckle: "It's really an honor to personally send Tianguan on his way."
"Ahem, cough, cough, where is Shen Yi Yan? Where did he drag my backpack with him?"
He regained his composure and began to pretend to be expressionless again, looking completely majestic.
Zhao Qinghuai groaned lowly on the side, his whole body buried on the carpet, and the broken pieces of the tea cup showed traces of blood, just like the patterns embellished on plain clothes. Under the candlelight, there was a different kind of beauty.
Just as Qing Feng was about to speak, Shen Yi Yan stepped through the door, holding a square towel in his hand, wiping his hands and saying: "My lord, please forgive me. Without this man, there will be more brats. I will go and deal with some trouble." "
"I have long heard that everyone in the Metropolitan Procuratorate is brave, but now it seems that they are really extraordinary."
Chu Shou raised his lips to his chin and touched the tiger skin distressedly.
"Hey - Princess, where are you from? This Qingfeng and this girl are from Young Master Song."
Shen Yi glanced at the two of them harshly, sat down to the right, put down the thick-colored bloody square scarf, picked up the teacup, took a sip, and continued in a low voice: "He is from Tianguan."
Chu Shou smiled and shook his head, then said with a look of embarrassment: "There is news from the palace that His Majesty suddenly fell off his horse a few days ago and is still unconscious. Rumors have spread throughout the capital and people are panicking. What can I say... The Crown Prince is still young? Unable to bear the heavy responsibility of acting as an agent of the government, some people want to ask the Queen Mother to step in to stabilize the government, and some people say that they can ask Xiao Zhongshan King to come forward and take the prince to act as an agent of the government..."
"Tsk, what do you think, Master Shen?"
"I have been ordered to supervise the envoys to greet and send off the heavenly officials. The matter has not yet been completed. How can I dare to discuss such...important matters?"
Chu Shou shook his head again and continued: "Now the Metropolitan Procuratorate is on par with the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. I heard that even the selfless and selfless Xu Chun will be very afraid of you. I will return to Beijing after tomorrow's work. According to this situation, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will I'm afraid that the threshold will be broken through by..."
Chu Shou put his left hand on the armrest and rubbed it with a smile on his face. He still leaned on the back of the chair, raised his chin and raised his eyes, looking at the person in front of him indifferently.
Shen Yi lowered his eyes harshly, stood up, and cupped his hands and said: "The Metropolitan Procuratorate is directly under my Ming Qi monarch, and supervises all officials. Your Majesty is still in a coma, but there are such rumors in the capital. This is the Metropolitan Procuratorate's dereliction of duty. I will return to Beijing tomorrow. , I will definitely ask for punishment."
Chu Shou smiled and tilted his head to look at Shen Yi Ke. He had a tall and lean figure, resembling the soldier Luzi stationed in the north, but he spoke like Wen Zou Zou and was very thoughtful.
She did not live up to His Majesty's personal cultivation. She knew very well how loyal the Metropolitan Procuratorate was to His Majesty. However, if His Majesty did not wake up, the situation of the court would be uncertain day by day. She had to act step by step, otherwise how could she live up to His Majesty's trust.
The two of them had the same tacit understanding and tested each other without leakage.
Chu Shou stood up, walked to Shen Yi Yan and stood with his hands folded. She was not that short among women, and was even one, two, three, taller than ordinary women. She reached Shen Yi Yan's shoulders and said calmly: "In that case, please Master Shen, please accept the order."
Shen Yi lowered his head and cupped his hands, looking sideways at Chu Shou as if unexpectedly. She smiled calmly and calmly, with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
Shen Yi paused for a moment, then immediately raised his robe and knelt down. Seeing this, Qing Feng consciously walked behind him and pulled up Zhao Qinghuai who was lying on the ground. She held on to the wooden chair beside her and was able to kneel down.
Chu Shou took a few steps back, took out a jade scroll imperial edict from the bamboo kettle hanging on his waist, opened it carefully, and read it in a decent manner, imitating the old internal official who had appointed her Princess Liuchuan many years ago. , "The edict..."
The more he read, the softer his voice became. He looked at the content of the imperial edict to himself. He breathed a long sigh of relief, rolled it up randomly, frowned and threw it into Shen Yi's arms. He cursed lowly and carried it with his hands on his hips.
Shen Yi Yan took the imperial edict, scanned it, and understood it clearly.
"Anyway, I'm asking you to take the Imperial Censor back to the capital. If I guess correctly... it's him."
Chu Shou pointed to the screen beside him. On the screen were paintings of stars and mountains and rivers. The black lines of snow were as freehand as an ink painting. He could vaguely see a person on the bed. The light and shadow outlined his profile, like the winding mountain peaks in the far distance. Hidden in the mist and warm air, it is still calm.
"Then please, Princess, please accompany us to perform this scene." Shen Yi said harshly and respectfully, but there was a bit of pride in his eyes.
To welcome and send off the Heavenly Official, to put it simply, means to take the Heavenly Official’s life, send the Heavenly Official to the divine realm, and return the soul to its rightful place.
Before arriving at Cangjia City from the south of the Yangtze River, Chu Shou struggled for a day or two. In the end, she chose a bottle of poison that could seal the throat after seeing blood. pain.
Shen Yi was very proud, proud that he had finally snatched away Song Yanqing, the Young Master of the Imperial Censor, from her hands, and there were no casualties, and no one was hurt.
"Trouble?" Chu Shou asked back, then smiled happily, shook his head and said, "No trouble."
"His life was earned by himself." After saying that, he finally looked away from Song Yanqing. Just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly remembered something and frowned at Zhao Qinghuai.
He said in a cold voice: "It's easy for ghosts to disturb you at night. Since the girl is so loyal to protect the Lord, let's kneel down and watch the night."
Zhao Qinghuai's figure trembled a bit, and she managed to straighten her body with her hands on her knees. Because her elbows were weak, her knees often slipped down. But even so, she still gritted her teeth and persisted, with cold sweat breaking out on her forehead from the pain.
Chu Shou looked at the beauty's broken back, sighed and tsked twice, and walked out of the room without looking back.
On the treetops in the moonlight, the brilliance of frost-like flowers filled the entire small courtyard. Chu Shou felt a little at ease, but he was strange and a little flustered, as if the silver gauze-like moonlight had poured into his heart and stolen something away.
She took off the bells from her waist one by one and placed them in the palm of her hand. When the ceremony is completed tomorrow, the matter of welcoming and sending off the Heavenly Official will be completely over. The last messenger of the Wu Clan will disappear into the world with the Heavenly Official. .
Is this choice good or bad for the Wu clan?
After thinking about this, Chu Shou couldn't help but shake her head and told herself not to think too much. She should be extremely confident in herself. At least in this short life, she was still sure.
"Living is better than anything else, right?"
Chu Shou's sudden murmur shocked Qingfeng, who raised his head in confusion.
Chu Shou stopped, turned around and walked to the side. It was a small pond with clear waves. Occasionally, the remaining lotus flowers were still lying quietly on the water. It was always a bunch of dead lotuses and dead willows.
"Do you know me?" Chu Shou turned around, leaned his back on the sill, rested on his elbows, and began to look at the man in front of him, his eyes a little suspicious, but his face was full of sincerity.
"There are many ambushes in this courtyard. If I hadn't reached an agreement with you Master Shen today and insisted on poisoning the Heavenly Official, I would have died in a foreign land by now. Fortunately, I have the imperial edict to protect me..."
Chu Shou said with a smile, with a bit of joy in his tone, but when Qing Feng didn't say anything, the atmosphere gradually became weird. She stood up straight, swallowed, rubbed her hands and said, "I mean...just... Well, logically speaking, you should be like Miss Zhao, you want to get rid of me and then hurry up."
"I am not Lord Shen's person." Qing Feng only left a few words and said: "Princess, please rest early."
"If you put it this way, then he is not living a good life. Is it possible that His Majesty has misjudged the person? I think Shen Yi Ku can shoulder the burden of the Metropolitan Procuratorate alone, so why bother to expend so much trouble to get rid of our Wu Clan?" Let him go out alone?"
Chu Shou looked at his back, crossed his arms across his chest, raised his chin, his words were thorny, and his face was full of arrogance.
Qingfeng stood still and turned around, ignoring him: "Princess, please invite me."
Chu Shou took a look and snorted coldly: "It's boring."
Then they were taken to a small courtyard in Dongyuan. There was a golden lock. After opening it, what came into view was that the small courtyard was brightly lit. There was a pear tree planted in the middle of the courtyard, which was strangely open. The flowers, when you look closer, are indeed white with cyan in them, which is particularly unique.
"He has arranged everything."
Chu Shou stepped forward and stroked the pear tree, its branches, new leaves, and pitiful petals. The fragrance was fragrant. She liked pear flowers, especially. She just had a quirk. If she smelled it too much, her face would turn red, which would be harmful to her body. It had no impact, so apart from being teased about having a tryst with the Pear Blossom Fairy, it didn't cause any harm.
"Princess, please rest, all the facilities in the house are ready..."
"Okay." Chu Shou had just thought that he could get a word or two out of this wooden mouth, but now he didn't want to hear another word, so he interrupted him in a hurry, "Okay, go ahead and tell me Mr. Shen, I will conduct a ceremony to welcome the Heavenly Official at Yin time tomorrow, and after that, we will immediately set off back to Beijing."