At three o'clock, there was a faint light of fire in the kitchen, and a black shadow was projected on the wall, which looked unusually tall.

Zhao Hanzhuo got up early according to his usual routine, put on another set of court clothes and prepared to go out, seeing that there was light in the kitchen, he subconsciously glanced at the guest room, the door of the guest room was lightly closed and not locked, which showed that the people inside did not stay in the house and sleep.

Retracting his gaze, Zhao Hanzhuo walked lightly to the kitchen, and saw Zhang Zhizhi squatting in front of the stove through the crack in the door, as if he was holding something in his hand.

Could it be that she didn't have enough for dinner, and she was so hungry that she couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and secretly got up to roast sweet potatoes?

Zhao Hanzhuo guessed, pushed open the door and walked in.

The wooden door was old and creaked, and Zhang Zhizhi was frightened by the sudden sound and exclaimed: "My mother! ”

When the words fell, the thing in her hand was smashed by her towards Zhao Hanzhuo, and Zhao Hanzhuo instinctively raised his hand to catch it.

The tentacles are silky, with the residual warmth after baking, and a little moist, crimson, embroidered with two pink flowers.

It's a belly pocket.

The atmosphere was dead and silent for a while, Zhang Zhizhi squatted in front of the stove and looked at the belly pocket that fell into Zhao Hanzhuo's hand dumbfounded, and wanted to hit the wall and die.

The fire burned small, it didn't burn for a while and then went out, the room fell into darkness, Zhao Hanzhuo came back to his senses, put his belly pocket in his arms, and walked out of the kitchen: "I'm going to Dali Temple to work, since you wake up, come with me." ”

His voice was calm and unwavering, as if nothing had just happened.

The darkness covered Zhang Zhizhi's face that was so hot that it could drip blood, and it took her a long time before she spoke: "Are you going so early?" ”

"Hmm."

“……”

Zhao Hanzhuo exited the kitchen and waited, Zhang Zhizhi waited for a long time before coming out, and his head was almost buried in his chest.

"Let's go."

Zhao Hanzhuo said, without mentioning anything else, Zhang Zhizhi quickly swept around the ground, and didn't find where his belly pocket was thrown, so he had to follow up.

Zhao Shi had been waiting outside for a long time in the carriage, and when he saw Zhao Hanzhuo leading Zhang Zhizhi out together, surprise flashed in his eyes, but he followed Zhao Hanzhuo's temperament and didn't ask anything.

As soon as the morning breeze that was wrapped in night dew blew when he went out, the heat on Zhang Zhizhi's face subsided a little, and he bent down flatteringly to help Zhao Hanzhuo: "My lord, please." ”

The ancestors of the Zhang family can't owe favors.

She wanted to repay the favor, and she also wanted to leave a good impression on Zhao Hanzhuo, hoping that he could help her say a word or two in the future.

Although Zhao Hanzhuo is a civil official, he is a seven-foot man, and it is still okay to get on and off the carriage, but when Zhang Zhizhi's pair of courteous hands were sent up, she didn't even think about it.

He has seen countless dead bodies, and knows that the girl's hands should be soft and slender, and now this girl's skeleton is larger than the average person, because she has been practicing martial arts all year round, and her hands are calloused, and she is quite powerful when she helps him, but her skin is still soft and smooth that a woman should have.

With his strength, Zhao Hanzhuo boarded the carriage one step at a time, but he was not in a hurry to let go, turned around and said to Zhang Zhizhi in this posture: "Come up!" ”

"My lord, I can ......"

Before he finished speaking, he used force in his hand, and Zhang Zhizhi reacted very quickly and kicked the wheel up, and because of inertia, he crashed into his arms.

The others didn't move, the horse was so startled that he took two steps, and Zhang Zhizhi instinctively hugged his waist.

It was already summer, the two of them were not dressed thickly, and they hugged each other face to face, and the bulge on Zhang Zhizhi's chest that was different from ordinary people pressed Zhao Hanzhuo's arms.

It's so soft!

This thought instantly popped up in Zhao Hanzhuo's mind, and then he was scolded by himself.

What the disciples did!

"I'm sorry!"

Zhao Hanzhuo immediately apologized and let go of Zhang Zhizhi's hand, Zhang Zhizhi also quickly let go, and his face, which had just retreated a little, burned again.

But seeing Zhao Hanzhuo's serious appearance, Zhang Zhizhi hesitated for a moment and gritted his teeth and replied: "It's okay, it's just an accident, adults don't have to take it to heart, my senior brothers will inevitably have physical contact with me on weekdays." ”

"How many times has this happened?"

Zhao Hanzhuo frowned, Zhang Zhizhi originally didn't want Zhao Hanzhuo to have any ideological burden, although he felt that Zhao Hanzhuo's question was a little strange, he still nodded: "Well, so adults don't have to be nervous." ”

“……”

Zhao Hanzhuo turned his head and got into the car, Zhang Zhizhi wanted to follow in, but as soon as he poked into his head, he heard Zhao Hanzhuo say indifferently: "You just sit outside!" ”

“…… Oh! ”

Zhang Zhizhi withdrew and sat side by side with Zhao Shi on the wheel.

It was still early in the morning, and it was still dark everywhere, except for the faint light of the two lanterns on the carriage.

The sound of clattering horses' hooves made Zhang Zhizhi think of a sentence: they are people who walk in the dark, just to bring light.

"Do you have to go so early every day?"

Zhang Zhizhi was curious, Yuan Zhao's normal early dynasty time was a quarter of the hour, and Zhao Hanzhuo and they were nearly an hour in advance.

"Hmm."

Zhao Shi responded, only focusing on driving, and at first glance he was not a good chat partner.

Zhang Zhizhi remembered that Zhao Hanzhuo thought he was noisy before, and he didn't ask much, he leaned on the carriage door to recuperate, and felt a little annoyed, if she had known that Zhao Hanzhuo would get up so early, she should have gotten up to wash his belly pocket when he slept last night, so she wouldn't have been as embarrassed as now.

All the way to Dali Temple in silence, Zhang Zhizhi and Zhao Shi jumped out of the carriage first, she turned her head and wanted to help Zhao Hanzhuo, but the person jumped directly from the other side.

Zhang Zhizhi touched the tip of his nose to resolve the embarrassment, Zhao Hanzhuo turned his head and looked at her with a cold face: "The defense of men and women is a taboo, even if there is a friendship between the same family, you should also pay attention to proportion!" ”

“……”

His tone was serious, faintly blaming, and he was suddenly reprimanded like this, Zhang Zhizhi's little paws couldn't be hidden, and he pressed and pressed, and finally retorted angrily: "Why don't I pay attention to proportion?" Just now, I didn't take the initiative to give me a hug, it was you who suddenly pulled me, and it startled the horse, you put it in our dart game like this, it will be abolished by my father! ”

She was kind enough to alleviate the embarrassment, and he even said that she didn't care about the defense of men and women! What a wolf's heart!

Zhang Zhizhi added a sentence in his heart, his cheeks were swollen with anger, and Zhao Hanzhuo looked at her across the carriage: "Then how many people has your father abolished?" ”

"Not a single one! If anyone dares to take advantage of me, I will blow someone's head! ”

Zhang Zhizhi was angry, and his gratitude to Zhao Hanzhuo was gone, and he only felt that he was no different from Mrs. Nahe, and he didn't know anything, so he felt that there was something wrong with her style.

Like a cat with its tail stepped on, she showed her little claws and fangs, allowing no one to question her innocence.

The coldness on Zhao Hanzhuo's face dissipated, his eyebrows and eyes relaxed, and he walked around the carriage and inside, as if the unpleasant conversation just now had not happened.

Zhang Zhizhi punched and kicked his back, and after kicking, he found that Zhao Shi was still looking at her beside him, panting and arguing: "I like to practice in the morning, what do you watch?" After saying that, he walked in.

Because of the unpleasantness of the morning, Zhang Zhizhi never gave Zhao Hanzhuo a good look, and Zhao Hanzhuo didn't call her, so she sulked beside her.

After dawn, someone came to the palace, and Zhao Hanzhuo asked Zhao Shi to take Zhang Zhizhi aside.

The palace people quickly came in and handed Zhao Hanzhuo a secret message.

"Lord Zhao, what Your Majesty means is that this time is different from the past, and when it is time to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, you have to cut the grass and eradicate the roots."

There are dense names of people on the secret decree, there are twelve of them, all of whom have had private dealings with Su Liang and Su Jue before.

When the name appears on it, it means that one foot has stepped into the Yama Temple.

He had to deliver the rest of the way himself.

"The minister knows what His Majesty means."

Zhao Hanzhuo said warmly, the people involved in the case this time are mostly the same as most of the people who rebelled in the An family before, there are a large number of people, and because of the war of the undead, Chu Lingzhao did not investigate it in depth, but this time it is different from that year.

Zhao Hanzhuo had already guessed the ending, but he still asked Chu Lingzhao to surrender to Guishun.

He has a weak personality, but unlike Gu Jiong, he is really cold-hearted and ruthless.

The palace people did not leave in a hurry, and said softly with relief: "Your Majesty knows that Lord Zhao has a benevolent heart, but if these people stay, it will be a trouble, and the rebellion of the An family must not come again!" Those children, please ask Lord Zhao to personally execute the sentence! ”

Chu Lingzhao wants to never suffer in the future, and the palace people convey this sentence, which is both an exhortation and a warning.

He sat in this position, and since he was in the service of the king, this kindness could only be given to the king, not to others.

Zhao Hanzhuo pursed his lips and didn't respond, and the palace people left quickly.

Zhao Hanzhuo sat in the room for a long time before putting away the secret decree, and when he put it in his arms, he touched a piece of silk, he remembered what it was, the corners of his lips hooked slightly, and silently scolded himself in his heart: Deng's disciple!

Coming out of the house, Zhang Zhizhi was not in the yard, Zhao Hanzhuo looked around and found that she had climbed up the tree, dangling on her two legs, and she didn't look like a girl at all.

Seeing him come out, Zhang Zhizhi snorted, don't look over, it's clear that he is still angry with him.

He looked at her angry appearance, the sadness in his heart dissipated a little, turned around and walked out of the courtyard, asked Zhao Shi to take care of her, and then led people to the prison.

The prison is dark and damp, the smell is not good, and after walking in, it is like walking into a purgatory on earth.

When they saw him, the people in the cells on either side would curse and cry, and they would stretch out their hands to touch him.

He ignored it and went straight to the deepest part of the cell.

If you want to rebel, you should be late on the street, and the Dali Temple will carry out the execution, use secret methods to keep the criminals awake, and then cut off the criminal's flesh piece by piece.

It was a cruel punishment to deter the people from committing such a crime again.

Gu Jiong had inflicted such a punishment before, and at that time, many civil officials participated in Gu Jiong, saying that he was too bloody and cruel, but these folds were suppressed by Chu Lingzhao.

Gu Jiong still doesn't wholeheartedly submit to the imperial court, but Chu Lingzhao likes Gu Jiong's brutal ruthlessness very much.

That is the courage that a king should have, which makes people afraid and makes people submit.

Of the twelve, two were married and young, and none of them escaped.

Five children were kept in a cell, the eldest twelve or thirteen, and the youngest still in swaddling clothes, all with eyes as clear as water, and still unaware of the dangers of the world.

Chu Lingzhao asked the palace people to say that he wanted him to personally execute the sentence.

Zhao Hanzhuo asked the adults to be escorted out first, and Zhao Xi was tortured, and then he led someone to escort a few children to walk behind.

The back door of Dali Temple they walked led to the entrance of the vegetable market.

As the sun rose, there were many onlookers along the way, and he sat on his horse and watched by the crowd.

When they arrived at the execution ground, the criminals were escorted from the prison car to the execution platform, and some of them were scolding angrily, saying that the Son of Heaven was mediocre and Yuan Zhao was about to die, and some people were crying and begging, begging not to hurt the children, and they were willing to bear all the blame.

The scolding and cries were intertwined, and the scalp tingled to hear it.

Zhao Xi also did this kind of thing for the first time, and he got goosebumps all over his body when he heard it: "With so many people, when are you going to chop it?" After today, I'm afraid I'm going to have a nightmare for months in a row! ”

"Until it's done!"

Zhao Hanzhuo only said these four words, left Zhao Xi and walked to the center of the torture platform, loudly announcing the crimes committed by these people.

Everyone sighed, and some people who knew these criminals muttered quietly, saying that they couldn't see that such an honest person would be a thief.

These evidences were all collected by Zhao Hanzhuo and others, and there is no doubt that Zhao Hanzhuo lost Ling Yu and let Zhao Xi be executed.

The official sent the first criminal to a wooden frame, Zhao Xi fed him medicine, took a blade and began to knife.

Zhao Hanzhuo rolled up his sleeves on the side, and someone brought him hot water to clean his hands, and presented him with a sharp blade.

He held it in his hand, and he was a little uncomfortable with his role of changing from administering justice for others to being a cold-blooded executioner.

The official took the baby over first.

The child's mother cried loudly, first begging for mercy, then insulting, scolding her dead ghost husband for rebelling, scolding Zhao Hanzhuo for being a great traitor, and finally scolding her for how she could be blind and marry such a wicked person and harm the lives of the whole family.

The sound was loud at first, but then it became distant, and only the gentle breeze and the baby's soft, sleeping face remained.

When the first knife went down, the child began to cry sharply.

Zhao Hanzhuo didn't stay, his senses gradually closed, he couldn't hear, see, smell, and only Bai Sensen's skeleton was left in his eyes.

The execution took a long time, and Zhao Hanzhuo was not as skilled as Zhao Xi, and in the end it ended in about time with Zhao Xi.

It took the two men thirteen hours to complete their execution.

As soon as he finished doing it, Zhao Xi fell to the ground due to exhaustion, Zhao Hanzhuo didn't, he stood firmly, the mountain was stained with blood, and the hand holding the knife was already stiff and unable to move.

The voice of the bystander came from a very distant place: "My lord, it's over!" ”

Is it over?

He looked down and saw a blur of flesh and blood, and countless piercing cries suddenly penetrated his eardrums, and he took a step forward, and suddenly fell to his knees.

"Your Excellency!"

"I'm fine!"

He raised his hand to stop others from approaching, slowly stood up, walked to the prison beheading platform step by step, and declared in a deep voice: "According to the laws of Yuanzhao, those who commit treason and betray the monarch are unforgivable, and they should be executed by Ling Chi of the nine clans!" I hope that all the people can learn from this punishment! Never again!! ”

These four words Zhao Hanzhuo said extremely seriously, and his calm voice kept echoing around the torture platform.

Then Zhao Hanzhuo rode home by himself, and after stepping into the house, he couldn't wait to take off his clothes, and kept rinsing his body with cold water.

His hands began to tremble, his body was as cold as if he had just been dragged out of an ice cellar, his ears were filled with buzzing cries, and his head hurt as if it was about to burst.

After taking a shower, he changed into clean clothes and walked into the study, took a brand-new bamboo slip, and wrote the torture process on it.

After writing the first word, he stopped, and his consciousness fell into a state of confusion, which felt very similar to the first murder he solved many years ago, when a simple and upright farmer brutally murdered his own family.

He saw corpses and blood all over the ground, and the scene lingered in his mind for a long time, making him feel sick and sick, as if he was in an endless abyss, and his soul was torn apart by an invisible palm as if it were about to be shattered.

I don't know how long it took, but he felt a shaking, and someone kept calling in his ear.

"Lord Zhao, Lord Zhao!"

It was a woman's voice, smooth and loud, revealing the frankness and smoothness of the stocks, which was not quite the same as those shy and gentle women.

The voice overpowered the other voices in his head, pulling his mind back from the mire little by little, and he struggled to open his eyes to see Zhang Zhizhi's anxious face.

"Lord Zhao, can you hear me?"

She kept patting his face, her hand was very strong, and her face hurt a little, he turned his head, and found himself on the ground, and the door of the study hung crookedly there, which should have been kicked by her breaking in, because she was in too much of a hurry, and most of her body was lying on top of him.

Not a spark of decency!

He thought in his heart, but he didn't remind her to hurry up, and said a word with difficulty: "Thirsty." ”

"You have a fever, Zhao Shi went to ask for a doctor, I'll help you back to your room to rest first!"

said that it was helping, and the next moment she directly picked him up and rushed to the master bedroom.

Putting him on the bed, she immediately poured him a glass of water and fed it to him.

She looked babbling, but she was very careful when feeding the water, she didn't choke him all at once, and wiped the water stains on his lips with her sleeve after feeding.

When she finished wiping, she wrung a wet handkerchief and put it on the door of his head, and covered him with a thick quilt.

"You lie down for a while, I'll go make some porridge."

Zhang Zhizhi turned around and went out, and a moment later he heard the crackling fire in the kitchen.

He is used to being alone, this house was allocated to him by the Ministry of Internal Affairs when he first entered Beijing, there are only four entrances, he only lives alone on weekdays, and it is always deserted, and now listening to this sound, he suddenly feels popular.

In the end, Zhao Hanzhuo's consciousness was still not very clear, and he didn't remember that he was covered in blood, leaving bloody footprints all the way from the door to the house, nor did he remember the bloody clothes he took off in the house.

While boiling porridge, Zhang Zhizhi saw something strange in the house.

Zhao Hanzhuo is a civil official, she hasn't seen him for more than a day, and now he comes back covered in blood, and no one reports to the official, indicating that no one attacked him, it should be that he did something himself.

Although Lord Zhao has a bad temper, he will not do anything bad no matter how he thinks about it.

Zhang Zhizhi put away his clothes and washed them, and covered the bloody footprints in the yard.

Zhao Shi went directly to the imperial doctor of the Tai Hospital, so he was delayed for a little time.

When the imperial doctor came, Zhang Zhizhi had just finished feeding Zhao Hanzhuo a bowl of porridge, he was sweating, his body was a little warmer, but his face was still very pale.

The imperial doctor sat on the side of the bed to check the pulse, his expression was a little solemn, saying that he was in a state of shock, and he would have a fever when he was stimulated, and the fever would easily go down, but I was afraid that this matter would leave a knot in his heart, and over time, I was afraid that it would accumulate into a heart disease.

Zhao Shi's face was extremely ugly, he had followed Zhao Hanzhuo for the longest time, and he couldn't see what injuries Zhao Hanzhuo was suffering from.

Zhang Zhizhi asked the imperial doctor to prescribe a prescription to pick it up and boil it himself, and when he came back, Zhao Shi had already sent the imperial doctor back, he asked Zhang Zhizhi to boil medicine to take care of Zhao Hanzhuo, and he returned to Dali Temple with a vigorous attitude.

Zhang Zhizhi didn't know what he was going to do, but he couldn't stop him, so he could only hurry up and boil medicine.

Boiling medicine is a meticulous job, Zhang Zhizhi according to the imperial doctor's instructions to boil the medicine is almost time, Zhao Hanzhuo fell asleep, his body was covered with a lot of sweat, Zhang Zhizhi put the medicine on the table to cool, and brought a basin of water to prepare to help Zhao Hanzhuo wipe his body first.

As soon as he unbuttoned the two buttons, Zhao Hanzhuo suddenly opened his eyes.

"Lord Zhao, are you awake? Don't sleep yet, the medicine is boiled, let it go to bed after a while, and then go to sleep. ”

Zhang Zhizhi said excitedly, his hands kept moving, and he directly untied Zhao Hanzhuo's clothes, seeing that Zhao Hanzhuo had been looking at him in a daze, Zhang Zhizhi inexplicably remembered that he quarreled with him yesterday.

"You sweated a lot, I helped you wipe your body, it is considered to repay your kindness, this is the first time I have done this kind of thing, don't speculate!"

"You look at my body."

Zhao Hanzhuo said, his voice hoarse and a little weak.

Zhang Zhizhi's hand holding the handkerchief tightened, if it weren't for the fact that this person was sick, he would have pointed at the tip of his nose and scolded: Just look at what's wrong with your body? Are you a gentleman, do you want me to be responsible for you?

"I have good intentions, I'm afraid that you will get cold and your condition will worsen."

Zhang Zhizhi smirked, twisted the handkerchief and pressed it on Zhao Hanzhuo's chest and rubbed it hard.

Zhao Hanzhuo's skin was white, he was rubbed by a handkerchief, and a red mark was left on his chest, like someone else had beaten him.

"I hugged you yesterday."

“……”

Lord Zhao, do you talk a little too much after you get sick?

Zhang Zhizhi pursed his lips and was silent, twisted the handkerchief and continued to rub his head to help him wipe his body, but Zhao Hanzhuo was still restless, and said faintly: "I haven't married a wife yet." ”

“……”

Zhang Zhizhi's hand shook, and the handkerchief fell to the ground.

"I ......" Zhao Hanzhuo wanted to say something more, Zhang Zhizhi leaned over and covered his mouth: "Lord Zhao, I suddenly remembered that there was something I forgot to tell you, the coachman named Zhao Shi just went to Dali Temple, you drink medicine for a while and hurry up to find him!" ”

Zhang Zhizhi finished speaking in one breath, let go of Zhao Hanzhuo, picked up the bowl of medicine and poured it directly into him, and ran away after filling the basin.

Zhao Hanzhuo coughed, and it took a while to react to what Zhang Zhizhi had just said.

Zhao Shi should have gone to Dali Temple to ask others what he did yesterday.

Zhao Shi has been with him for many years, Zhao Hanzhuo understands his temperament, but he is not worried that he will cause any trouble on the spur of the moment, but the person who rushed out of the room like a rabbit just now made him more concerned.

Zhao Hanzhuo stopped coughing, got dressed and walked out gently, and finally found Zhang Zhizhi by the well in the backyard, she changed a basin of water, and was stuffing her head in the basin to hold her breath.

Zhao Hanzhuo stood beside her and looked at her, waiting for her to raise her head uncontrollably, and unhurriedly completed the words that she couldn't finish just now: "I also asked for your belly pocket." ”

“……”

Lord Zhao, do you know that there is a saying called the night when the moon is dark and the wind is high?