Hongrui ushered Xu Jingyuan into the private room, and the waiting guests in the room had already stood up.

Xu Jingyuan glanced at the businessman surnamed Zhou: "You want to see me?" ”

"Exactly." Shangjia surnamed Zhou smiled amiably and looked at Hongrui on the side, "Miss Lao Hongrui has prepared a good banquet on the table." ”

This is the meaning of retreating left and right and talking alone, Hongrui understood in her heart, saw Xu Jingyuan nodded, turned around and exited the private room.

"If I'm not mistaken, I've never seen you, I don't know what you're looking for me?"

"Master Xu, please." The merchant surnamed Zhou smiled and bowed down to give up his seat, and when he caught a glimpse of the door being closed by Hongrui, he instantly stood up straight, the respect on his face suddenly disappeared, and he smiled like a fox, "In the next week, he is the housekeeper of the Xiao family's lineage, and the young master of my family wants to invite Xu Dagongzi to be a guest." ”

The world is big, and there are so many people with the surname Xiao, but Xu Jingyuan has a ghost in his heart, and he immediately thought of Xiao Qingyan, who came to the door tonight.

His expression changed immediately, realizing that he had fallen into someone else's trap, and he stood up suddenly before he could sit still, wanting to leave here, but before he could take a step, Xu Jingyuan suddenly felt a cool breeze hit behind his ears.

A blue figure swept in from the window, and before Xu Jingyuan turned around, the palm knife had fallen heavily on the back of his neck.

Zhou Shu saw with his own eyes that the cold blue-clothed young man staggered his body, Xu Jingyuan couldn't fall into the young man's arms, and the back of his head hit the ground heavily.

It really deserves to be the secret guard by the young master's side.

The loud voice made Zhou Shu feel as if there was a dull pain in the back of his head.

After about a cup of tea, Hongrui pondered that the time was almost up, and returned to the private room with the maidservant who was serving the food, but when the door opened, the private room was empty.

"What about people?"

……

In the dark room of the north courtyard of the Xiao family, a bucket of cold ice water was poured from the top of Xu Jingyuan's head.

Xu Jingyuan shivered, gradually woke up from the coma, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar face, with steep eyebrows, indifferent and cold phoenix eyes, a face like jade, cold and lonely.

But such a god-like face made him shudder again.

"It's you?!" Xu Jingyuan trembled his lips and spoke, but soon he realized that he was tied to the cross, and he struggled hard, "Xiao Qingyan, what are you going to do?" ”

It was late at night, and the torches illuminated the dark room.

Xiao Qingyan looked at him coldly: "What about my mother?" ”

"How do I know? Didn't I already tell you that your mother was gone during the day! Your Xiao family kidnaps people privately, aren't you afraid that I will report to the official? Let me go! ”

Xiao Qingyan's eyes moved slightly, two dark shadows fell from his thick eyelashes, and his slender phoenix eyes were bottomless under the shadows.

She raised her hand and moved her fingers, and a short, thin and rickety man walked out of the shadows, staring straight at Xu Jingyuan with a sinister smile on his face with prominent cheekbones.

"His name is Lai Xing, you should have heard of it."

"Lai Xing?" Xu Jingyuan read this name, and at the gauntlet man's vicious twinkle eyes, he suddenly remembered where he had heard this name.

Lai Xing smiled and said: "The villain is not talented, and he once worked as a small jailer in the edict prison. ”

Xu Jingyuan's face turned pale, this Lai Xing did work as a jailer in the edict prison, but this little jailer created dozens of cruel punishment methods, I don't know how many princes and nobles died tragically under his torture, and later even alarmed the court, and the ministers of the court were afraid that one day they would fall into the hands of this person, so they collectively wrote to Emperor Xiaocheng and advised Lai Xing to be executed.

"Aren't you dead?" Xu Jingyuan screamed, and his legs began to tremble.

Lai Xing leaned forward, and his cold and treacherous smile made Xu Jingyuan shudder.

"Your Majesty did order someone to hang the villain, but the villain's life is big, and he was lucky enough to leave a breath, and now he has the honor to serve you."

Xiao Qingyan hooked the corners of his mouth indifferently, it was not Lai Xing's fate, it was that he had realized a set of breath-holding methods when he had studied various tortures, and he used this method to deceive the executioner when he was hanging.

"Lai Xing, serve Master Xu well, maybe he will be served comfortably, and he will speak."

"Yes, villain obeys."

Lai Xing turned around and brought a wooden box, and when the wooden box was opened, there were all kinds of bright torture instruments and medicine bottles inside, all kinds of strange and strange, and Xu Jing had never seen it in his foresight.

Lai Xing took out a three-inch-long iron nail from it, and the tip of the nail shimmered with blue-purple light.

Xiao Qingyan sat in the corner with his clothes brushed, picked up the teacup, lowered his head and skimmed the foam, the sound of hitting iron nails sounded in the dark room, and Xu Jingyuan's terrible screams penetrated the wall and spread to the next door.

A few days ago, the Empress Dowager Yang sent to kill Xiao Qingxu was still closed, there were no windows in the dark room, and he couldn't see the sunrise and sunset, he didn't know how long he had been locked up, he hadn't eaten for a long time, but the person in charge of the guards would regularly send in a little water.

Xiao Qingxu, who was locked up next door, was even worse than him, he still had a sip of water to drink, but Xiao Qingxu ......

At the beginning, Xiao Qingxu kept scolding, and then the scolding became weaker and weaker, he heard Xiao Qingxu start to beg for food, and then he could only hear a whimper.

But now, it seemed that he hadn't heard Xiao Qingxu's voice for a long, long time.

This feeling of not being able to see but hearing the life of a big living person disappear little by little is more terrifying than seeing a person die in front of oneself.

The man was hungry and groggy against the cold wall, when suddenly a terrible scream reached his ears.

He opened his eyes slowly, a little hope burning in them.

Could it be that Xiao Qingxu is not dead yet? He's alive?

But he soon found out that the screams were not coming from the side where Xiao Qingxu was being held, but from the other side.

If it had been a few days ago, he thought he would have leaned over and listened to what was happening on the other side of the wall, but now, he buried his face between his knees, covering his ears in pain, fear, despair, like an invisible net, entangled him tighter and tighter.

He felt like he couldn't breathe, his stomach was empty, and it burned so much that he wanted to vomit.

"Ahh

The man finally couldn't take it anymore, he lay on the ground and retched violently, he couldn't vomit anything, only vomited a little yellow water, his throat was sore and bitter, and tears welled up in his eyes.

He endured the bitter water and crawled to the door, slapping the heavy iron door with all his strength.

"I said ......"

After a while, the door of the dark room next door was pushed open by Nie Yao.

Nie Yao came to Xiao Qingyan's side and whispered, "Young master, the person on the other end is relieved." ”

As soon as Nie Yao finished speaking, Xu Jingyuan, who was tied to the wooden frame, wept bitterly and said, "I said, I said!" ”