As soon as Liu Quan entered the door, he knelt down to Zhou Hong.
His head hung down like a plagued chicken.
"Keep your head up! I don't blame you." Zhou Hong's tone was as usual.
It seems that Liu Quan just made a trivial mistake.
Liu Quan raised his head in a daze, and when he saw Zhou Hong looking at him lovingly, he felt more guilt in his heart, and slowly lowered his head again.
"Master, I'm sorry, apprentice, please scold me!" Liu Quan cried, but did not dare to raise his voice.
Zhou Hong raised his head, looked at a broken spider web hanging in the corner of the cell, and lamented: "I have been operating carefully all my life, but in the end it all came to nothing!
Don't cry anymore, I don't have much time left. Talk to me! Don't feel any guilt in your heart. It's because I'm not as good as others that I ended up like this."
Liu Quan raised his head with tears streaming down his face and said with a choked voice: "Master, I told Xue Hengzhao to take control. If I don't listen to her, I will die.
Besides, Lu Shuangxi had already taken refuge with her at that time, so even if I refused, it would not help."
"This Xue Hengzhao!" Zhou Hong shook his head mockingly, "I originally thought she was a little fox. Although she is cunning, she is more tender after all.
Now it seems that she is clearly a thousand-year-old spider spirit.
Silently weaving silk and weaving a web, densely layer upon layer, finally catching everyone in it."
"Master, do you really not blame me for lying to you?" Liu Quan felt really guilty.
Although he finally chose to protect himself, he could not turn a blind eye to Zhou Hong's kindness to him over the years.
"You can deceive me, that's your ability. Just like Xue Hengzhao, she can trick me because of her ability.
In this palace, what kind of kindness? What kind of affection? They are all fake. Everyone just lives by his own ability!
You and I are both defeated by her. I will die and you will be kicked out of the palace. There is nothing to say.
But my family has been ruined since I was eight years old, and I have no relatives left.
After entering the palace, I lived in intrigues for decades. It was not until I accepted you as my apprentice that I finally had someone reliable around me.
They say that when a person is about to die, his words are also kind. I just want you to accompany me on the last journey."
"Master, my apprentice has brought you your favorite food." Of course Liu Quan also knew that Zhou Hong was about to die soon, so being able to do his best before his death could also alleviate his own guilt. "The smell in this cell is sour."
"Hey, I brought an incense burner to burn it for you."
"Sure enough, only you know my preferences best." Zhou Hong showed a comfortable smile. He likes to be clean and tidy, even to the point of being paranoid.
This cell was dirty, dark, and smelly, and every moment he spent there was endless torture.
So he readily confessed that he did not want to spend time here, being tortured and interrogated, with feces, urine and blood all over his body, and his face covered with snot and tears.
How disgusting!
He wants to come cleanly and leave cleanly.
Try to walk as gracefully and calmly as possible.
Liu Quan lit the incense burner with trembling hands and handed the food he brought in one by one.
Even before he came in, a glass of wine was already placed in front of Zhou Quan.
The pure gold wine glass is small and exquisite, with amber wine inside.
Liu Quan could probably guess what kind of wine it was, and he also knew that for his master, such a way to die was more honorable.
"Master, I see that your clothes are a little dirty, so I brought you something clean." Liu Quan took out a set of squarely folded clothes from his arms.
The clothes are between gray and cyan, and have a nice name, called "Amidst the Misty Rain and Clouds".
Zhou Hong took the clothes in his hand and stroked them carefully.
He asked the palace maid with the best craftsmanship to sew this for him.
He put these clothes at the bottom of the box and wore them when preparing to leave the palace.
This color always reminds him of his childhood hometown.
On a not-so-sunny day, the raindrops were falling thinly, and everything was moist, like a mother’s beautiful and gentle face.
"You are thoughtful! Good boy." Zhou Hong stood up slowly and put on these clothes.
The words "good boy" just now made Liu Quan's heart feel like a tear.
Master has called him that countless times, and every time it makes him happy and happy.
But this time, he felt so guilty that he felt ashamed.
"You'll be leaving the palace in a few days, right?" Zhou Hong asked after changing his clothes and sitting down.
Liu Quan nodded. It is a taboo for a disciple to betray his master.
But because his first complaint was meritorious, his merits and demerits were balanced, and Yu Guming, Zhang Ze and others interceded on his behalf, he was still able to leave the palace alive.
"We are two masters and disciples. Even if you go to the queen and accuse me, I still feel that you and I are the closest in this world. There is only one person I can entrust to you.
You know that I have purchased a lot of properties in Jiangnan, and I have also confessed what I was supposed to explain just now.
But there’s one thing I didn’t say, and you don’t know either.
It was a villa owned by our family outside Suzhou. My mother would take me there every summer to escape the heat. It is said that I was also born there.
The land deed and key there are kept at the Suzhou Tongbao Bank. When you go there, just tell the shopkeeper the words "shooting star, horse, sky, and elephant", and he will take it out and give it to you.
There are all kinds of houses and fields there, and you can definitely take care of yourself when you go there.
All you need to do is pay homage to me and my parents every year during the Qingming Festival and the death anniversary, that’s all.”
"Master, don't worry, I will just do it." Liu Quan was lying on the ground, tears pouring down his face.
"I originally thought I would die among the lakes and mountains of Suzhou, and in the house where I was born." Zhou Hong blinked his eyes and swallowed back the tears that welled up, "That's my favorite place,
There is no regret in dying.
But who would have thought that God is not as good as man, and I will eventually die in the cell I hate most.
That’s it! It’s getting late, it’s time for me to hit the road!”
Zhou Hong slowly ate the food brought by Liu Quan, then raised the glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp.
"Apprentice...congratulations to Master!" Liu Quan knocked his forehead to the ground and closed his eyes tightly.
He heard Zhou Hong trying his best to suppress the painful moans, heard the bones in his hands creaking, and heard his last long sigh.
Then everything calmed down...
At that moment, he felt that his soul had left his body.
It turns out that death is an easy thing for this class.
However, Liu Quan did not die after all. He and Lu Shuangxi were expelled from the palace after being warned.
Each of them only carried a small baggage, which contained only a few changes of clothing.
They stood at a loss outside the palace gate, looking at the bustling crowds of people and horses on the street, and for a moment they didn't know where to go.
There was a clang, and behind them, the palace door was closed tightly.
They almost turned around at the same time and looked at the red-walled and blue-tiled palace. The place they were most familiar with had become so unfamiliar in the blink of an eye.
Even though they are separated by a wall, they will never be able to get in again.
