Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 370 Moving the Coffin

It was mid-to-late April, and it was a bit sultry at noon.

Li Xiu was led out of the imperial city by a group of officials and first ate two bowls of mutton noodle soup and six Hu pancakes at a stall in Xingdaofang. He knew that he would die on the way to Zhenzhou. He would never have the opportunity to eat so well before that, and he would not get up until his stomach could no longer hold anything.

In the past, he was not used to eating these street foods. He saw Xue Bai eating them a few times and taught Xue Bai that as a courtier, he should eat more delicately, but today he felt that they tasted extremely delicious.

Chen Xilie and others actually sat patiently and watched him eat slowly, with some sympathy in their eyes.

Li Xiu didn't want to be sympathized by him, so he wiped his mouth and said sarcastically: "The Prime Minister Zuo has been in a high position for nearly ten years because of my grandfather's recommendation. In the end, he relied on Yang Guozhong and killed the Li family. I feel ashamed."

"I'm so ashamed." Chen Xilie sighed while stroking his beard, "But Li Linfu is treasonous and disobeys the government, and I can't do anything about it."

An official next to him added: "That is to say, Li Linfu died early and the big mistake has not yet been made. Otherwise, it would be more than just exile. Just be content."

Li Xiu frowned when he heard this, and when he was about to retort, a government servant kicked him behind him and said, "Leave when you're full."

"Let's go."

They went all the way south, out of Mingde Gate, and galloped for more than ten miles.

Li Xiu was greatly puzzled that Chen Xilie was still seeing him off, so he looked at the plain ahead, feeling uneasy in his heart.

As they moved forward, the uneasy thing in his heart finally happened - they reached the plateau.

Li Xiu paused and was pushed forward. Behind him was an unfinished stone carving. The carving was of a foreign chief, mighty and fierce, guarding the place.

Not far ahead is Li Linfu's tomb. He supported a large number of Hu people in the border towns, so he used the statues of Fan chiefs as ceremonial guards of the tombs.

"That's where Ziwu Road should be!" Li Xiu raised his finger and pointed to the official road to the east, reminding him loudly.

Chen Xilie stopped, turned around, and glanced at him. Countless contents were hidden in these old eyes, telling him in an instant. Li Xiu stiffened and finally understood the reason for that compassion. His fingers were numb with fear and he could not help but tremble.

"No," he murmured.

"Let's go see your grandpa." Chen Xilie replied slowly.

After that, the left prime minister stepped forward, facing the wind in the countryside, to the entrance of the underground palace, and stood between a stone tiger and a stone sheep.

The entire plateau is actually Li Linfu's mausoleum, and the underground palace is inside the plateau.

The last time Chen Xilie came here, the three sticks of incense that he had inserted by himself were still stuck on the ground in front of him. The incense was broken, so it was not burned to the end.

He stood there and watched for a while, then calmly raised his foot, stepped on the end of the incense string, and gave an order.

"Dig it up."

The accompanying government servants and attendants pulled a donkey cart and took out shovels from it.

"do not want!"

Li Xiu yelled and struggled, trying to stop him, but he was held down tightly. He could only stare wide-eyed and keep shouting.

He has seen this scene many times. In the past ten years, the Prime Minister's Office has caused countless major cases, and the families of the officials who were executed and exiled would make such angry and powerless shouts every time.

"Stop digging! Please stop digging! The deceased is the most important, don't do this to him...Really don't do this to him..."

Chen Xilie walked up to Li Xiu, stretched out his hand, held his face, and said: "Shilang, you have thought that this day would come, haven't you? One drink and one peck, could it be that it was predetermined? This is what you deserve." .”

Li Xiu burst into tears and touched Chen Xilie's hand. His lips were trembling, helpless in the face of the powerful fate.

"You are a filial son." Chen Xilie wiped his hands, pointed to the thin coffin they brought, and said, "Today, bury your grandfather properly."

There was a "ding" sound from the shovel hitting the stone ahead, and someone shouted: "We dug it!"

Everyone changed their tools, dug up the soil on the stone door, pushed it open, took a breath, and went down the stone steps. They saw extremely bright murals on both sides, depicting Li Linfu's life achievements.

In the painting at the front, an immortal is caressing the head of a young man with knotted hair, trying to lead him to achieve immortality. In the second painting, the young man looks towards the imperial city of Chang'an, showing that he cares about the people of the world.

Go to the end and push open the second erected stone door. In front of you is a huge stone coffin.

To the left and right of the stone coffin are statues of warriors holding swords given by the saints. In front of the stone coffin, a stone turtle carries a Taoist stele.

"Zhongshu ordered the Duke of Jin State of Shangzhu State to present the Taiwei Li Gong, the Grand Governor of Yangzhou, with a Shinto inscription from Linfu."

Only when the light of the torch reached the stone monument, someone shouted: "Smash it!"

"Oh!"

The sledgehammer hit, smashing the stone tablet into pieces.

The stones fell into pieces in the crypt, knocking down many of the surrounding burial objects. Following the loud noise, Li Xiu's legs softened and he fell to the ground. He watched helplessly as these people finished smashing the stone tablets and walked towards Stone coffin.

"No, really don't..."

His begging was in vain, and soon there was another loud noise, and the stone slab above the stone coffin was pried open.

"One! Two! Get up!"

Everyone worked together, with high spirits. With a push, the stone coffin opened with a bang. There was also a wooden coffin inside, which was the secret weapon of the West Garden given by the saint.

"Demolished."

The two statues of warriors holding swords still stood silently, not guarding the owner of the tomb. Let them take apart the coffin.

A stench hit their nostrils, and the smell of rotting corpses made them vomit.

Li Linfu's skin was completely rotten, but his flesh and blood were not rotten yet. They were still adhering to the bones, which was extremely terrifying.

He holds a luminous pearl in his mouth, holds an elephant wat in his hand, and his purple and gold court clothes are wrapped in carrion, but they are still bright.

"vomit!"

Li Xiu just wanted to struggle and get up, but couldn't hold it back and vomited out.

The two bowls of mutton noodle soup and six biscuits that he had stuffed into his stomach were all sprinkled in front of his grandfather's body. A sour stench arose, mixed with the corpse odor, and made his nose run and tears flow.

An old official opened his handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose, stepped forward, leaned over and picked up the luminous pearl.

"Don't touch my grandpa!"

Li Xiu finally burst out with amazing strength, broke away from the person behind him, rushed forward, pushed the old official away, and protected the coffin with his body.

However, when his eyes fell on his grandpa, his stomach immediately felt joyful again. This time, there was nothing to vomit. Only the sour water made his stomach twitch, making him miserable.

"Go away! It's time for you to collect the corpse!"

Someone picked up Li Xiu, slapped him in the face, and pushed him to the ground.

The old official stood up holding the luminous pearl, put it into the box, picked up the elephant wat, and said: "Come two people and peel off the court clothes."

Li Xiu was unable to resist, and lay there foaming at the mouth, muttering: "No... no..."

Suddenly, someone outside the crypt shouted.

"Who?!"

Chen Xilie seemed to have a premonition, turned around, and squinted at the bright entrance.

After a while, a figure appeared in the light and walked down.

"Xue Lang? You're still here, but can you still reverse the case?"

Xue Bai shook his head and said: "One drink and one peck. Could it be that it is a predetermined decision? It is true that the case cannot be overturned."

Chen Xilie smiled slightly and sighed: "Xue Lang and I have the same view. Li Linfu is solely responsible for it. No one can get involved in this case, right?"

Xue Bai took two steps forward, came closer, and said in a low voice: "Just withdraw the posthumous gift, and you won't take off the crown uniform, right? I brought a set, and the left minister can use it to hand over, and no one will check it carefully." "

"Why bother?"

"It is important for a person to die, so leave him some dignity."

Chen Xilie shook his head and said, "I'm asking, why does Xue Lang need to leave him such dignity?"

"A few days ago, I beat Yang Qixuan, and he still dares not come to the office." Xue Bai said, "The reason is that Yang Qixuan dared to compete with me for women."

"Have you forgotten how Li Linfu treated you when he was alive?"

"But I also remember how the Seventeenth Mother treated me."

Chen Xilie stroked his beard endlessly, his eyes flickering and hesitating.

Xue Bai added: "When I act, my kindness must be repaid and my debt must be repaid. Li Linfu has grudges with me, but he is also kind. Today I just want to save his last dignity, please forgive me. What's more, we have all had conflicts with Li Linfu As an official in the same dynasty, how do you know that his today is not our tomorrow?"

Chen Xilie is a very cautious person who is often prone to worry. Today when he opened the coffin and stripped off his clothes, he really felt as if the rabbit had died and the fox had died.

Who knows that one day in the future Li Linfu's fate will not fall on him?

This is a small thing, but it is the last dignity for the Li family.

But he still didn't speak immediately, so it was difficult for him to do so. The longer he hesitates, the more face he will lose by betraying Xue Bai.

At this moment, footsteps sounded from behind Xue Bai.

At this moment, there were soft footsteps behind Xue Bai. He turned around and saw Li Tengkong walking over, with a blank look in his eyes.

He quickly stopped her and said softly: "Wait for me above."

Li Tengkong has always been a very spiritual woman, but today she seemed a little dull. She did not answer Xue Bai, but stared blankly at the stone coffin in the crypt.

Xue Bai noticed something was wrong with her, took her hand, and wanted to take her out first.

Li Tengkong didn't leave, he broke away from Xue Bai and wanted to move forward. Xue Bai blocked her again, hugged her, blocked her sight with his chest, and whispered: "Wait for me outside, I will take care of it..."

Chen Xilie turned around and looked up at the firelight on the stone wall, not looking at the little couple hugging each other.

After a while, Xue Bai said: "Left Prime Minister?"

Chen Xilie felt that he was a little annoyed. After thinking for a while, he shouted loudly: "It's boring here, everyone, please get out. Xue Sheren, since the saint ordered you to inquire about this case, you will bring out the purple gold court clothes."

"Listen to the leftist prime minister's arrangements."

Chen Xilie then walked out of the crypt with his hands behind his hands. All the officials picked up the burial objects and followed him out, including the old officials holding the Night Pearl and the Elephant Hut.

Among them, many people looked back at Xue Bai and felt that this young man was very considerate towards others. He was actually the only one in the whole court who was willing to stand up for Li Linfu, not to mention that he was not from Li Linfu's family.

Even those who harbor resentment against Li Linfu have seen the tragic situation after Li Linfu's death today and have no resentment towards Xue Bai for taking action at this time.

Finally, these people moved out all the burial objects, leaving the crypt empty.

Xue Bai always held Li Tengkong in his arms, and his eyes fell on the entrance of the crypt. He saw the Diao brothers walking down, and Diao Geng was still carrying a baggage.

"Mr. Lang," Diao Bing said, "They said they had to strip Li Linfu of his official robe and bury him somewhere else in a small coffin."

"I understand." Xue Bai said, "You guys take the coffin down. Leave the baggage behind."

"Here."

Xue Bai patted Li Tengkong's back gently and said, "Be obedient. You go out and wait for me first. I will take care of it."

Li Tengkong shook his head.

Xue Bai had no choice but to kiss her forehead and said, "You can trust me. Your brother is here and he will watch."

Li Tengkong looked at Li Xiu and saw that this brother was already slumped there like mud.

She still shook her head and whispered: "I can't let you clean up my grandpa's bones. My daughter has to do it."

"I can clean it up for you."

Xue Bai said, fearing that she would ask "Who are you to me again?", so he held her hand and placed it on his heart, letting her feel his heartbeat and his feelings for her.

"Although I failed to become Li Linfu's son-in-law, but..."

Li Tengkong covered Xue Bai's mouth. She looked up into his eyes for a long time and said, "Don't say anything."

Then, he removed his hand, stood up on tiptoes, and kissed Xue Bai on the lips.

Xue Bai was stunned.

Li Tengkong then left his arms and walked towards the coffin.

Xue Bai turned around and looked at her back. He felt distressed but did not step forward to stop her. He watched her walk to the coffin and leaned over to look at Li Linfu's half-decomposed body.

In the crypt, there was a putrid stench that was overwhelming and suffocating.

Only the touch of warmth on the lips made people feel that things were not that bad.

Xue Bai reacted, took out two pieces of handkerchief, stepped forward, tied one on Li Tengkong's mouth and nose, and tied it on himself, then picked up the bundle from the ground, opened it, and found a purple and gold court dress inside.

He looked around and saw a puddle of vomit in front of Li Xiu, so he went over and put the lining of the court clothes on the vomit to wipe it off.

During the process, Li Xiu lay there all the time, his eyes dull, as if he was dead.

Xue Bai walked to the coffin, looked at Li Linfu's body, and then looked at the dirty and smelly court clothes in his hands. He spread it on the ground, took out a leather bag from his arms, and carefully poured some black blood on it. .

This was brought by Du Wulang. It is said that it was sheep blood that had been produced in his kitchen for many days.

After doing this, the Diao brothers had already moved the thin coffin in.

Li Tengkong looked back, tied up his wide sleeves, and prepared to move Li Linfu's body.

But no one knows which part of the body will flow down when touched.

"Juro?"

Xue Bai turned to Li Xiu and asked. Li Xiu's soul was lost and he was speechless for a long time.

Under this situation, such a reaction is normal. Although Xue Bai felt that Li Xiu was not strong enough, he could understand it and signaled the Diao brothers to take action.

The Diao brothers tied their handkerchiefs and stepped forward, one raising his head and the other raising his feet, intending to move Li Linfu's body.

As soon as his head was lifted, the neck was almost broken, with only a little adhesion left. Diao Bing did not dare to lift it anymore. Looking at Diao Geng, he saw two boots in his hands, but the two legs on the boots were soft. It is weak and breaks when pulled.

Li Tengkong closed his eyes and swayed. She opened her eyes again, stretched out her hand, and tried to lift Li Linfu's shoulders.

This time, Xue Bai did not stop her, and went over to hold the body's torso with both hands.

He couldn't tell what it felt like on his hands.

It's like holding up a golden treasure that is about to rot.

It's disgusting and heavy.

It just so happened that he carried his feelings for Li Tengkong.

Out of this feeling, he is willing to support this rotten corpse and rotten dynasty.

~~

Li Xiu couldn't see anything in front of him.

His mind kept flashing back to everything he had experienced in his life, including being pampered, well-dressed, sensual, singing and dancing, and extravagant. However, there was nothing that was truly worth remembering before he died and could sustain him... .

A life of accomplishing nothing is just an inconspicuous footnote under my grandfather's extreme power and tragic funeral. It didn't stop Grandpa from persecuting Zhongliang, nor did it stop Grandpa from being persecuted by others. He was nothing more than a waste.

What's more pitiable than trash is that he is a sober trash. Therefore, it is much more painful than those idiot brothers who are drunk and dreaming.

Li Xiu smiled bitterly to himself, no longer attached to this terrible life.

There is no need to go to Zhenzhou anymore. Let's die here today and be buried with my grandfather. Like the emperor of the Holy Tomorrow who uses people to move forward and does not use people to move behind, he made his only and last protest.

But in fact, no one cared about this protest at all, waste is waste... and the despair deepened.

Suddenly, Li Xiu came back to his senses and saw that those people were already moving his grandfather's body.

The last bit of dignity was stripped away.

However, when he took a closer look, he found that what was being moved was not a piece of flesh and blood. Li Linfu was still wrapped in purple gold court clothes.

Clothes are important, even more so at this moment.

Li Xiu finally regained consciousness and recognized that the people moving the bodies were actually Xue Bai and Li Tengkong.

He managed to hold on to the ground, stood up with difficulty, and stepped towards them.

He saw something falling from Li Linfu's robe below his waist. He quickly walked over and held it with both hands.

I can't tell you what it feels like when I get it.

Li Xiu wanted to cry, but he finally accomplished something in the most painful moment.

~~

There was a soft sound, and the wooden board covered the thin coffin.

"Give me."

Xue Bai took the hammer from Diao Bing, knocked it hard a few times, and nailed Li Linfu's coffin.

After putting down the hammer, he turned around and saw that Li Tengkong's face was pale and his body was swaying, as if he was about to faint. He quickly hugged her again and stretched out his hand, only to see that her forehead was hot.

"you are sick?"

Li Tengkong didn't answer, but he buried his head in Xue Bai's arms with nostalgia, and whispered: "You fell into Chen Xilie's hands..."

"It doesn't matter." Xue Bai said, "Let's take care of your grandfather's funeral first."

"Ah."

Li Tengkong responded feebly, and wanted to remind Xue Bai a few words, but he felt his throat was so tight that he couldn't breathe, and even the scene in front of him began to blur.

The next moment, her body became light and her whole figure seemed to float. But he was picked up by Xue Bai.

He was very strong, his arms were steady, and his chest was broad. If pain is like a stormy sea, his embrace is like a harbor.

Li Tengkong suddenly thought that when her mother-in-law passed away, her father-in-law still didn't care at all. At that time, she would often hide alone in a tree hole in the backyard, where no one could find her, not even sleep.

Therefore, she could cry to her heart's content in there and go to sleep after she finished crying, without having to worry about being accused of losing her ladylike appearance.

Suddenly her eyes lit up. It was Xue Bai who carried her out of the crypt. The wind no longer smelled so bad. She sniffed and tears fell unconsciously.

It was only now that she finally cried.

In my ears, Xue Bai was talking to someone.

"I have moved Li Linfu to a thin coffin, and then asked Li Xiu to find another place and bury him with the courtesy of a commoner. Filial piety comes first, and Li Xiu's exile will not be urgent in a day or two, and will be tolerated. How about he calmly attending to the funeral? The saint is always tolerant and will not pursue such trivial matters."

"If he escapes, will Xue Lang take care of him?"

"I'm responsible."

"That's fine. However, I would like to remind Xue Lang a few words... Li Linfu was resented by the scholars and is now a criminal. Xue Lang was so unscrupulous that he got so close to the daughter of the Li family and even hugged her in public. What I did today What he did will inevitably lead to impeachment.”

"Thank you, Prime Minister Zuo. I was out of line."

"Then you still haven't restrained yourself."

"I can't help myself."

After hearing this, Li Tengkong wanted to open her eyes and take a look, but she was so uncomfortable that her eyelids seemed to be extremely heavy and she couldn't open them no matter how hard she tried.

Gradually, the voices in her ears faded away, and she disappeared into darkness.

……

I don't know how long it took, but there was a faint sound of "gurgling" in the darkness.

Li Tengkong walked towards the source of the sound and saw two little ghosts squatting in an oil nest adding firewood.

They look very ugly, with long tongues that roll up to their bellies, revealing a greedy look.

When she came over, they turned back, smiled and said, "Do you want to eat Monk Tang's meat? If you eat it, you will live forever."

Li Tengkong was inexplicably frightened, shook his head, and wanted to retreat.

But no matter how she retreated, she was getting closer and closer to the oil pan.

The two little devils laughed and screamed: "Come on, let's eat together."

Li Tengkong shook his head desperately, but a copper basin was still brought to her.

The cloth covering it was lifted open, revealing the bloody flesh inside.

She felt nauseated, turned around and was about to run away, when suddenly, a head appeared behind her with its head hanging in the air. She opened her eyes suddenly, showing an unyielding and angry look. It was Li Linfu.

Li Tengkong broke into a cold sweat and trembled.

The next moment, a voice sounded in my ears.

"Vacation?"

"Xiaoxian? Xiaoxian?"

Li Tengkong opened his eyes.

The candlelight glowed warmly, and Xue Bai was sitting beside her couch, looking at her with concern.

She sat up quickly, couldn't wait to throw herself into his arms, hugged him, greedily feeling the warmth of his body, and then gradually felt at ease.

"Having a nightmare? You're not afraid."

Xue Bai stroked her back gently, feeling that her cold skin was sweating under her thin spring shirt and she was still trembling slightly.

"I also had nightmares when I was a child. My grandmother had a way to stop me from being afraid. Come on, let me try it for you."

Li Tengkong stubbornly hugged Xue Bai, unwilling to let go, as if he was afraid that if he let go, he would leave, and then went to Nanzhao, where he stayed for a year.

"Don't worry, I won't leave. I will drive away the nightmare for you."

"You really don't want to leave?"

"Well, I'll never leave you again."

Li Tengkong hugged him for a while longer, and then he was willing to let go, but still held on to his lapel.

Xue Bai came close to her face, then moved his head away, and pouted outside the curtain. He repeated this several times, and then said: "Okay, let the bad breath go out."

"Silly."

"Let me recite sutras for you." Xue Bai hugged her and lay on the couch together.

When doing this, he had no distracting thoughts. He just thought about it and chanted the sutra just like his grandmother did when he was a child. But he only knew one sentence, and it was "Namo Amitabha" over and over again.

Li Tengkong let him hold him, and after listening for a while, he muttered in a low voice: "I am a Taoist priest."

"Ok?"

Xue Bai was a little uneasy and let go of his hand slightly, thinking that a Taoist priest couldn't hold him?

But in the Tang Dynasty, there was no saying that a female crown could not be held.

Li Tengkong didn't want him to let go, so he pressed his back closer to his arms. Then he felt relieved and whispered: "You read Buddhist scriptures to the Taoist priest."

"Then...then you won't read it anymore?"

"Just read it, it's all practice."

"Well, Namo Amitabha, Namo Amitabha."

Li Tengkong gradually felt relieved, and then he began to feel that something was wrong with the two of them.

She moved, but was too embarrassed to ask Xue Bai to go away. She couldn't face forward with someone else or face behind without someone, so she had to lie quietly. Then I found that I was already very clean.

"my clothes?"

"Mien'er and Jiaonu bathed and changed your clothes." Xue Bai said, "Yan Yan and Ji Lanzi have been guarding you for the past two days. They were tired, so they replaced me. Your grandfather's coffin has been reburied. The funeral has not been completed yet, and your brother is still recuperating. I will find a way to prevent him from being exiled..."

"Thank you."

"Ah."

Li Tengkong originally thought that Xue Bai would talk about the relationship between them and there was no need to thank him. In the end, he just responded like this, and she couldn't help but worry about gain and loss.

But the hug while sleeping on the same bed gave her great courage, and she said angrily: "Well, what?"

"You don't have to thank me, you should."

Li Tengkong asked: "What you said before... you can't help it, are you sincere?"

After speaking, the voice gradually became quieter, sounding like the moan of a mosquito.

Xue Bai said: "It is true."

"Then why don't you say anything now?"

"I don't want to seem like I'm taking advantage of you."

"What's there to take advantage of?"

When Li Tengkong asked, Xue Bai fell silent.

She knew she had made a mistake. This was not what a Taoist priest should say, not to mention that she had just experienced a big change in her family.

But the lonely man and the widowed woman are hugging each other on the bed, and the secret love arises, which always makes people unable to help themselves.

Soon, the atmosphere between the two changed.

Xue Bai also changed.

Li Tengkong didn't know what it was at first, but still pressed it into his arms. Then he thought of the booklet left by Princess Yuzhen, and couldn't help but stiffen.

She hesitated for a while and then said: "I...maybe...can...give you...a concubine?"

Xue Bai didn't hear clearly.

Li Tengkong added: "But, how about taking it a little longer? I haven't... thought about it yet."

Xue Bai quickly stepped back a little and asked, "Would you like Mian'er and Jiaonu to accompany you?"

"I mean, take it easy, you... don't have to leave."

"it is good."

"Then you still haven't?"

"You can't help it, you don't have to worry about it."

Only then did Li Tengkong relax again and let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad. He just curled up, leaning on Xue Bai's hand, and gradually fell asleep again.

Xue Bai's old-fashioned method seemed to work. This time, she didn't have any more nightmares.

(End of this chapter)