Lady Zhao

Chapter 68

The cell was dark, and a cold and damp smell hit the face.Prisoners have been trapped in the big prison all year round without seeing the light of day. Since the first female prisoner was sent in yesterday, they seemed to be a little ready to move. When they got close, a pair of cloudy or confused eyes stared at them, and the one opposite Tiemen narrowed his eyes and looked up and down deliberately, the malicious intentions in his eyes were very obvious.

Ming Lan who was locked inside was terrified, she shrank in a corner, wishing she could bury herself completely.There was a dilapidated old straw mat on the desolate stone bed, and the rest didn't even have a broken bowl for drinking. It was cold and shabby. When did Minglan suffer this kind of crime, she curled up with her knees and burst into tears.

After being locked up for a day and a night, Ming Lan didn't drink a drop of water because she disliked the food that was like dog food in the cell, and because the prisoner next to her was staring at her like a tiger, she also made teasing words, which were unpleasant to hear.Ming Lan was almost terrified all night, physically and mentally exhausted, with tears still hanging from the corners of her eyes, she just silently caressed her lower abdomen, but she didn't have the slightest intention to let go of her confession.

"This little lady has a tough mouth. After three rounds of interrogation, she didn't say a word. Look at her delicate skin and tender flesh. She still plans to survive in prison?" The jailer sat at the small square table and glanced at Ming. In the direction of Lan, he said with a tusk.

"Yo Sange Huang, take pity on the fragrance and cherish the jade. It's a pity. This woman offends not ordinary people. When the patience of the superior is exhausted, she will suffer a lot." The jailer next to him is very experienced, "Poor that belly The child, I don't know if I can keep it, the older one is the one who committed the crime, and the boss only said to save her life... If you want me to say that it is really that child, according to the family background, the younger one should be kept anyway It is."

The voices of the two jailers were not low, and Minglan could hear clearly, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, thinking of the father of the child in her womb...

The mottled old iron door was opened with a creak, and a hunched old woman walked in with a food box in her hand.

"Ms. Zhang, what good dishes do you have today?"

"It's what the two masters like to eat, and I brought the wine you like to drink." The old woman's voice was slightly hoarse, and she took out the things in the food box and put them on the small square table one by one.The candle flames flickered on and off, making the woman's aged face look uneven.

"Ma'am, what's wrong with your throat?" Huang San asked casually while wiping his body with a pair of chopsticks.

"Hmm, cough, it's cold, I got a little cold, it's okay." The old woman covered her mouth and turned her head to the other side to cough twice. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the two people filling their glasses with wine. , the weird smile on the corner of his mouth quickly disappeared.

Before the old lady went out, the two guards who were drinking happily at the square table fell down on the table and passed out.Seeing this scene, the woman who stepped up the steps gradually straightened her body. When she stretched out, she looked like a middle-aged person. She was not burly, but she was very flexible. Before the prisoner made any noise, he took the chopstick holder on the table and raised his hand. The dozen or so prisoners next to Minglan's cell all fell to the ground without a sound.

Minglan, who was huddled in the corner, was stunned by this change, and when she reacted and wanted to shout, the man had already unlocked the door of her cell, stood in front of her, and blocked her mouth with a black handkerchief.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." Ming Lan struggled desperately, but she was no match for that man's strength, but struggled in vain, with a terrified face, sobbing as she approached the abyss of death.

"If you want to blame it, blame yourself for being stupid. Dead people keep secrets. Girl, you can go on the road with peace of mind."

Ming Lan was strangled by the neck, becoming more and more out of breath, many images flashed in her mind, most of them were when she was in love with that person... She is a child of the family, and she followed Wang Bowen since she was a child. After the water came, she followed Wang Bowen, and because of her status as a master and servant, the queen mother drove her out of the palace on the grounds of delaying Wang Bowen. After living for a few years, no matter how strong the relationship is, there will be times when it fades, not to mention Wang Bowen's status.

She thought it would be different if she had a child, and indeed, Wang Bowen treated her a while ago as if she had returned to the beginning, and promised that as long as he helped him complete this matter, he would take her back home with him, and then he would give birth to a child Well, the mother is more expensive than the child, and they can be together justifiably.

The feeling of being about to suffocate evokes another result that she is unwilling to admit after being locked up. Wang Bowen is going to leave her, kill her, and even refuse to let go of his own child. That is the child they had expected together. ...how could you be so cruel!

No, she doesn't want to die, her child will become a descendant of the royal family, rich and prosperous, how can she die in such a dark and humid place!

Suddenly, a flash of life flashed through the gray pupils. Minglan didn't know where the strength came from, and her long nails moved towards the person who was pinching her. With a glimmer of life, she took a deep breath and hurriedly ran towards the open door. Someone was chasing after her. Minglan knew she couldn't escape, so she slammed her body into the mottled iron door hard, making a loud clang.

The guards broke in immediately, saw the situation inside clearly at a glance, and fought with the middle-aged man pretending to be an old woman. Minglan escaped with this, and after a while, she hid in a corner weakly, and tears flowed down unconsciously.

The person who came to assassinate couldn't deal with so many jailers by himself. He was quickly caught, and then he bit the poison hidden between his teeth and bled to death. Before he died, he was looking straight at where Minglan was It seemed that he was unwilling to complete the task, and when he fell to the ground, he revealed the small black gold medal that Wang Bowen wore all the year round.

At this point, Minglan's last sliver of luck and fantasy collapsed. The man actually sent a dead soldier to take her own life. Didn't he care about the past at all, and besides, she still had his child in her belly... Thinking about Minglan's body A chill, more unbearable shivering.

Two guards dragged the corpse out, then pushed the pale-faced Ming Lan back to her cell, and closed the door indifferently.Ming Lan who was suddenly awakened by the sound of re-locking chains suddenly grabbed the iron gate railing, stared at a pair of bloodshot eyes, and said in her mouth, "I want to see the master, I say, I can say anything, As long as you can save the lives of our mother and child."

The jailer exchanged glances with the others, said that he would not have to suffer so much if he had figured it out earlier, and then turned to ask for instructions. Not long after, officials rushed in with their black gauze caps on their hands, and even increased the guards of the cell.

Outside the prison cell, the lights were bright, and there were more than a dozen officers and soldiers in red vests and blue clothes. Zhao Yuanli was wearing a black cloak inlaid with fox fur, and his body was tall and tall. The falling snow seeped through the pines and landed on his elegant face, slightly staining his phoenix eyes. There was a little coldness between the eyebrows.

The corpse that was dragged out suddenly cheated when it passed by, and wiped the red blood on the corner of its mouth, "Young Master Zhao, the matter has been settled."

Zhao Yuanli nodded, and accepted the kindness that the Sixth Prince sent to his door with peace of mind, as a gift in return for the purse.Not long after, the officials who went in before carefully presented several sheets of rice paper to Zhao Yuanli. There were three full sheets, and they explained everything clearly.

"Thank you, Master Min."

"Master Zhao, please don't be polite to the lower officials. It's a small honor to share your worries. This young lady is very interesting..." Master Min has a flattering face, not to mention the name of Duke Ding's mansion. The order of the Sixth Prince forced him to treat each other respectfully, looking at the deep cold and dewy, he said, "Shall I send someone to send Mr. Zhao back to the mansion?"

Zhao Yuanli declined Mr. Min's kindness politely, saying that there is still one thing to wait, Mr. Min was puzzled, but seeing that he had no intention of explaining, he had to think about it in his heart, and he did not forget to ask someone to move two chairs, and then I took the hand warmer to that guy.

As soon as the Xushi clapper was knocked, someone brought up a bowl of steamed stuffed buns. Judging by the fineness, it looked like it was from the government office's kitchen. Master Min recognized that it was the morning meal for the prisoners the next morning. The cold is not easy to spoil, the kitchen is lazy, and it is usually prepared after the meal at night. The bowls for the prisoners to eat have buns, and there are two buns in each bowl, and they can be thrown directly into it the next day.

"Master Zhao is this?"

The person who served it had a serious face, "As you expected, a mouse entered the kitchen and moved this bowl."

Zhao Yuanli picked the bun with only a slit at the bottom, broke it in half, and a small roll of paper fell out. Zhao Zhong picked it up, blew the dust, and passed a handkerchief to his master.The latter is not so particular, just open it and read it.

——Pretend to be dumb and keep you safe.

Zhao Yuanli hooked the corners of his mouth, and flashed a slick of light.Wang Bowen, how do you plan to protect?
In a chic elegant room in the Yanji Building, separated by smoked gauze and hanging beads, a woman's mournful voice faintly came from inside, singing a newly compiled little song, singing about the poor scholar who had suffered all kinds of humiliation before, but never After obliterating the lofty ambitions, after the gold list, she married the princess and became a concubine's consummate life. Accompanied by the unique tone of the pipa, the woman narrates it in the form of a small song. At that time, I only said that Mr. Lang looked down on the frustrated people in the world.

"Kangdang" A cup rolled down from the table to the carpeted wooden board, making a muffled sound, Wang Bowen's face was sullen and gloomy like a cloud of low pressure, the wind and rain were about to come, and the thin boy sitting next to him The girl holding the jade pot froze in mid-air, then quickly said softly with an apologetic smile, "Young Master, what's the matter with you?" mouth, "My lord, drink..."

"Stop singing." He interrupted the song.

Wang Bowen was a little upset, and with a bit of anger, he grabbed the wine cup roughly, raised his head and drank it down.

The woman in tulle took a handkerchief and gently wiped the wine from the corners of his mouth. Her jade fingers brushed her lips intentionally or unintentionally, and she leaned forward, with a clear view of the gully on her chest. He was upset at the time, and he was out of the mood, drinking and listening to music was just killing time waiting for Zhao Yuanjin's news, and when he calmed down, he felt very boring and flustered.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, Wang Bowen got up excitedly, and pushed the thin-clothed woman who was slowly entangled aside, the woman lay half on the ground and cursed inwardly for an incompetent slut, and had to follow the instructions and leave with the pipa girl I got a private room.

Zhao Yuanjin looked happy, rubbed his hands that were red with cold, sat aside and drank a few sips of wine to warm himself up, and then smiled slowly and said: "I have already done everything, the yamen servant I heard said She was very quiet inside today, and Fu Yin interrogated her twice again, but they were all fruitless, so I think she saw the note."

Wang Bowen finally heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that, and a smile gradually formed on the corner of his mouth. He patted Zhao Yuanjin on the shoulder and said politely: "This is really troublesome brother Zhao, and Bowen will definitely repay you in the future."

Zhao Yuanjin waved his hand, "What are you going to do?"

"The emperor's birthday is approaching, and the world will be pardoned at that time. She should be able to come out, so don't worry about it. If I use the power of the Wang family to rescue her now, I will definitely let your elder brother catch her. It will be really hard at that time If you're calling yourself, you can only wrong her temporarily." He spoke very lightly, as if the woman in the prison was just an insignificant person.

Zhao Yuanjin didn't ask about the matter at all, and he was not interested in what happened to the women in the prison. He felt extremely unwilling. This time, Zhao Yuanli's reputation was not ruined. It would be even more difficult if he stunned the snake, "I'm asking Zhao Yuanli Well, what shall we do next?"

Wang Bowen didn't feel the same way, but now he can only bite the bullet and say: "It won't work this time, and there will be a next time. I don't believe that Zhao Yuanli has no weakness at all."

"My eldest brother's weakness is Zhao Wenwan, but you also know that my eldest sister is not a good stubble, she is not a good person, she is not to be messed with." Zhao Yuanjin was actually quite afraid of Zhao Wenwan in his heart. How much did his mother Ye suffer because of Zhao Wenwan? Somehow, Zhao Yuanli, who was already a waste, came out again with the help of Zhao Wenwan, and became his biggest threat in the Duke's mansion.

The person opposite narrowed his eyes, thinking of his poor sister Xueyuan, Wang Bowen couldn't help but clenched his wine glass and was angry, "Zhao Yuanli and Zhao Wenwan are really against us, I will think about it when I go back, and I will call them Brother and sister have no good fruit to eat."

Paused for a moment, then suddenly said: "Please trouble Brother Zhao to watch your elder brother carefully, and let me know if there is any movement."

Zhao Yuanjin had no choice but to nod in response, and then the two left the private room quietly, Zhao Yuanjin sneaked into Ruyan's room again, and had a good time with him, when he returned home, his eyes were blue and gray, and the personal servant who came with him Looking at it, he thought in his heart, if the second young master continues to indulge in sex like this, he will never recover from his illness.

This side, Wang Bowen came out of the building, got into the carriage and quickly returned to the mansion. As soon as he entered the Hou's mansion, he heard from the steward that Wang Xueyuan had sent a letter to his family, and it had already been sent to Mrs. Hou Ye. Wang Bowen strode like a star without stopping. went to his mother.

The two carved doors in front of the house were tightly closed, and two maids guarded the outside tremblingly. Wang Bowen frowned.The maids saw that the visitor did not stop him, so he walked into the room with a headache, and sure enough, the smell of smoke hit his face, he coughed twice, and finally saw his mother in the mist, Lying on the imperial concubine's soft couch, holding a long golden pole in her mouth, puffing out smoke, looking sluggish and drunk, the maid who was beating her leg next to her saw the situation and left in a proper manner.

"Who is it?" The Queen Mother raised her eyes slightly, and saw that Wang Bowen had no intention of getting up, and breathed out a puff of smoke, making the whole room even more smoky.

"Mother, if I let my father see you like this, I should say it again." Wang Bowen frowned dissatisfied.

The Queen Mother heard it as if she heard a joke, she smiled coldly, and a bleak look crossed the corner of her mouth, "Your father dotes on the aunts, how could he think of you and my mother and son, Xueyuan married into such a family again, there is nothing to look forward to, you The daughter-in-law is pretty good. She took over the job of the housekeeper and thought I was bored. She couldn’t do without those things, so she often prepared them for me. I also know that the hookah is expensive, and the monthly money in the garden alone is not enough to pay for it. You posted a lot of her personal money, you and your daughter-in-law have a heart."

Wang Bowen looked at the mourning in her eyes, he couldn't say any words of blame, and the hookah was the last resort, so he let it go. "Smoking less, too much of this thing is not good for your body after all."

"By the way, what did my sister say in her letter?" Wang Bowen asked aloud, thinking of the purpose of coming here.

The Queen Mother sighed, "She was pregnant and just lost her child."

Wang Bowen was taken aback, but there was nothing he could do.

In the early morning of winter, the thin sunlight shines on the crystal clear snow, refracting a little bit of halo.

Zhao Hongsheng is the minister of the main hall. He had already put on his official uniform and entered the palace in a carriage to attend the early court when it was still dark. While reading by candle, Zhao Yuanli's health was getting better day by day, but under Zhao Wenwan's strict monitoring, he still lived and rested according to his normal routine. He never learned how those crazy students read desperately. When it was time to rest, he would rest at home, quite free.

On the sandalwood table in the study, Minglan's personal confession was spread out, all pointing to Wang Bowen. Zhao Yuanli thought of the friendship between the two when they were young classmates, and now it seems to be full of ridicule.As he was walking, he listened to the boy's report and let the spies outside enter the house.

The visitor stood in front of Zhao Yuanli covered in chills, and reported in a nonchalant tone, "I followed that person for a few days, only to find that although he is a domestic servant, he is generous in his actions. He is a bullying and bullying person. Master, I went to the gambling house with him until yesterday, and instead of gambling, I went to the second floor of the gambling house to have a secret talk with Zhou Long, the second in command of the gambling house. The money is in an account named Wang Jin."

"Wang Jin?" Zhao Yuanli raised his eyebrows, it was an unfamiliar name. "Go and find out who Wang Jin is and what relationship he has with the Wang family."

"Yes."

The man left in the same hurry as when he came, and almost collided with Zhao Zhong, who was rushing in at the door, and the latter avoided flexibly, but Zhao Zhong took a second look, and secretly slammed his mouth, his master raised his mouth. There are more and more capable people, and it feels like their status is in jeopardy?
"What are you doing, what happened?" Zhao Yuanli raised his head and saw Zhao Zhong's pitiful expression of being about to be abandoned, and asked with a smile.

Zhao Zhong hurriedly regained his composure, and realized what he was doing in a hurry, "Master, there is a little girl who passed out at the gate of our house. I looked like the little granddaughter of the old sweet potato seller at the Winter Solstice Temple Fair. Hurry up and let your son know."

"Where's the person?" Zhao Yuanli's eyes sank, thinking of the vicious attitude of the debt collector that day, "Have someone carry it in and ask Doctor Yuan to have a look."

"Hey!" After Zhao Zhong responded, he moved very quickly.

At the entrance of the Duke's Mansion, which was noisy at first, Zhao Zhong sent someone away, and took the little girl directly to Doctor Yuan. On the way, he met Bao Chan, who recognized the child at a glance, and was astonished for a moment before being clever. I went to Xiangzhuyuan.

In the small courtyard where Dr. Yuan lived, Zhao Yuanli was already waiting there. He saw the little girl in Zhao Zhong's arms with a wound on her face, her slender wrists showing traces of being tied up with ropes, bloodshot, and her intermittent babbling was inaudible. Clearly, but the expression of panic was fully revealed.

Obviously suffered a great sin.

On the other side, Zhao Wenwan, who had heard Baochan finished speaking, had an unusual sharpness in his eyes, put on his robe, and rushed to Doctor Yuan's place.

When I opened the door and walked in, I saw my elder brother wiping the face of the little man on the bed with a hot towel. The tears kept falling, which was quite pitiful.

The doctor said that the little girl was overly frightened and had marks of being beaten on her body. It would be difficult to wake up for a while, and it would be even more troublesome if she had a fever. A guard wakes up.Unexpectedly, the little girl woke up first, her eyes filled with tears after opening her eyes, sobbing, she plunged into the arms of the nearest Zhao Wenwan, her thin body trembling uncontrollably.

"Grandfather, save my mother, my mother was captured by bad guys, woo woo woo..."

(End of this chapter)