In the past few days when Lingyun followed Master Lu Weifu's private interview, it was the triennial imperial examination. In the cold window of ten years, the sons who only seek fame and fortune gathered in the capital and enthusiastically signed up.

Among the children who rushed to take the exam, in addition to the poor scholars who were not short of ambition, there were also many children of high-ranking officials and nobles: such as Ding Jinzhi's second son Ding Jiying, He Yuting's two sons He Chenglin and He Chengqi, etc.

On the day of the announcement of the exam, He Chenglin topped the list and won the first place in the examination room; He Chengqi and Ding Jiying are famous in Sun Shan.

Ding Jiying didn't care if he had nothing to do; Anyway, his father Ding Jinzhi's glory is prominent, he eats and drinks all day long, unrestrained, such a free and easy life is hard to find, why bother to pursue what fame and fortune?

Like his eldest brother Ding Jiwu, what is the point of being burdened by an official, working for countless cases, and busy with official business all day long?

He Chengqi is completely different. It is said that men and concubines are not valued as much, but for He Chengqi, this is not the case.

Before He Chenglin recognized his ancestors and returned to his ancestors, Princess Evergreen was depressed and sad all day long; For many years, he has been thinking about his separated son.

Especially every time I see He Chengqi, I will touch the scene and arouse the wordless pain in the depths of my heart.

If it was a festive day, Princess Evergreen would have been in a slightly better mood and temporarily forgot the sorrows in her heart; But as soon as you see He Chengqi, you will immediately touch the pain in your heart, and the originally happy mood will be like a scoop of cold water poured into a boiling soup wok, and it will cool down immediately.

He Yuting saw the clue, and in order to please the evergreen princess, he instructed him not to come to greet him every morning and evening; And as long as Princess Evergreen is present during the New Year's holidays, he will be asked to avoid it.

Let him always avoid the evergreen princess, let him always hide in a remote corner, let him live without a sense of existence.

He Chengqi felt redundant and humble, he felt that he didn't feel like the second son of the Hou Yefu at all.

After He Chenglin recognized his ancestors and returned to his ancestors, he originally thought that he could live a better life, but unexpectedly he fell into another predicament and embarrassment.

Princess Evergreen, He Yuting...... Everyone in the Hou Ye's Mansion held He Chenglin in the palm of their hands, and He Chengqi was left out in the cold in that remote corner.

"Why is there never a day for me to emerge?" He asked his biological mother, Yu, indignantly.

Yu burst into tears. She and her son originally pinned all their hopes on this imperial examination - if He Chengqi could be named on the gold list, overpower He Chenglin in the ranking, and get an official and a half-position in the court, maybe there will be a bright future.

Unexpectedly, he fell off the list again! However, He Chenglin was named on the gold list, and was appointed by the emperor as the champion; He felt like a complete failure.

He was depressed and depressed, and borrowed wine to buy drunkenness. When He Chenglin was the champion and the first, the mansion was celebrating, and the feast was held, he hid in his room and refused to come out.

He was afraid of being stimulated again. But why did his father not understand him at all, and sent someone to ask him to go to the living room to toast?

Although he was reluctant in his heart, in the end he was helpless and had to bite the bullet. Because the father's order cannot be disobeyed.

As soon as he entered the living room, he felt that everyone's eyes were focused on him, and those eyes were full of mockery and contempt.

He only felt that he was ashamed of himself. He reluctantly walked to the front of the hall and saluted He Yuting and Princess Changqing.

As soon as He Yuting saw He Chengqi, he was a little angry; I also felt that on the big day, it was not good to lose my temper in public and blame him for being late, so as not to sweep everyone's interest, so I just snorted softly.

Ding Jinzhi on the side was the most observant, and when he saw this, he hurriedly said: "Cheng Qi, don't you want to toast to your parents?" ”

This can be regarded as giving He Chengqi a step down.

At this time, the two maids of Princess Chang Qing passed over the tray and poured wine full.

He Chengqi respectfully toasted He Yuting and Princess Evergreen with a glass of wine.

He Yuting said again: "Go and toast your brother again!" ”

He Chengqi's heart trembled. Is this really going to force him to be embarrassed in public?

But the situation did not allow him to hesitate at all; At this time, He Yuting urged him again, looking very impatient.

The tray of smoke had been lifted in front of him. He had no choice but to give in.

He picked up the wine glass with trembling hands and slowly raised it in front of He Chenglin.

He Chenglin half-jokingly said: "Why, second brother, don't you say a word of congratulations to me?" ”

He Chengqi gritted his teeth and said word by word: "Big brother, little brother wishes you prosperous official luck and prosperity!" ”

He Chenglin smiled: "Thank you, big brother borrowed your auspicious words!" ”

At this time, He Chengqi suddenly felt a small wind coming, and the wrist holding the wine glass tingled, and his hand shook involuntarily, and the wine glass fell to the ground and shattered.

There was an uproar in the hall. When everyone saw this, they all exchanged heads and talked about it; It's really a big deal to see the excitement.

He Chengqi was also at a loss.

Princess Evergreen's face changed instantly. On such a festive day, it is unlucky to break a wine glass.

He Yuting was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while.

He Chenglin was very generous, and said with a smile: "Second brother, what's wrong with you today, your face is so ugly, isn't it uncomfortable?" Why don't you go back and get some rest? ”

He Chengqi returned to his room in despair, he felt that today's events were really bad.

Yu Shi originally wanted to comfort him, but when he saw her, he felt even more resentful, and yelled at her: "I blame you!" Why did you give birth to me? You go out, I don't want to see you again! ……”

Yu was stunned. She didn't expect her son to say such a thing to her. She couldn't help but be heartbroken and sad, and burst into tears.

In the evening, the feast was dispersed. He Yuting called He Chengqi to his study and asked him why he lost his temper at the banquet.

He Chengqi pouted and said depressedly: "Dad, I don't know why this is happening!" I was just careless! ”

He Yuting glanced at him and said, "Is it really careless, or is it for something else?" ”

He Chengqi was stunned: "Dad, what did you say?" ”

He Yuting said coldly: "Don't you understand what I said?" Your brother won the first place, but you didn't even get the last place on the list, don't you feel uncomfortable?

"That's why you have to show everybody! First of all, you didn't go to the banquet slowly, but you reluctantly came, but you smashed the glass and spilled the wine, are you sincere and can't get along with your father? How could I have such a useless son as you! ”

He Chengqi was furious, countless resentment and venting words filled his chest, but he didn't know where to start. Because the authority of the father is here after all.

He turned around and rushed out without looking back—as a sign of his greatest protest.

He Yuting was so angry that he trembled all over, and shouted: "Get out, you will never come back if you have a seed!" ”

He Chengqi went out in despair, ignorant and dazed.

The moon slouched into the clouds, and the stars blinked with sneering eyes.

He Chengqi walked shallow and shallow with one foot deep, and there was a dark and quiet pool of autumn water in front of him, and he had arrived at the Jinming River.

The wind whimpered, and there was a faint sound of whimpering and crying.

He wondered if he had misheard. Searching for the cry, he saw what seemed to be a small silhouette by the river, sitting facing the back of the river.

He felt a little strange, so he stepped forward to see what was going on.

Looking at the little beggar who was choking and sobbing, He Chengqi couldn't help but think of his situation at this time. He felt that he was not a second son at all in the Hou Ye's mansion, just like a beggar.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness in his heart, "Alas! It's the same end of the world! ”

With a sense of sympathy, he slowly stepped forward, wanting to ask the poor little beggar what had happened to him, and whether he needed his help.

At this moment, the little beggar suddenly turned around, and his movements were so fast that he was a little caught off guard.

He held a golden dart in his hand, aimed at He Chengqi's chest, and stabbed straight through the sun with a white rainbow!

He Chengqi suddenly saw a cold light rushing towards him, screamed in fright, jumped to the side, and hurried.

The golden dart slanted a little and stabbed him in the right shoulder socket, causing him to bleed instantly.

He Chengqi screamed in pain, he staggered back a few steps, looked at the little beggar in a daze, and stammered, "You...... What are you doing? ……”

The little beggar had a hideous face, and said with murderous eyes: "I want your life!" ”

He Chengqi trembled and said, "I have no grievances with you...... Why do you ......?"

The little beggar said viciously: "Because you deserve to die!" ”

He Chengqi was so frightened that he retreated again and again. He now had no time to think about why the other party wanted to kill him, and he only had one thought now, that is, how to avoid the catastrophe in front of him?

At this time, he suddenly felt something strange behind him; Hurriedly turned around, only to see that four or five steps away from him, a burly man was dressed in gray, holding a sword in his hand, his expression was cold, and his eyes were gloomy.

He Chengqi was so frightened that he ran away. As he ran, he yelled desperately: "Help! Help me! ……”

The gray-clothed man roared in a bloodthirsty tone: "The more you scream, the faster you die!" ”

His deep eyes were as terrifying as the fire of the night; Suddenly raised his hand and drew his sword, and a thunderbolt pierced him in the back of the heart.

He Chengqi was so shocked that his face was as white as earth. He knew that he couldn't dodge, so he could only close his eyes and wait for death.

At this critical moment, a white figure flew tremblingly in the air, a chic flower and willow, and raised the hilt of the sword to swing the long sword in the hand of the gray-clothed man.

The gray-clothed man was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously took a few steps back.

He fixed his mind and looked up and down at the man who stood in front of him and killed him halfway.

I saw that the person who came was in his twenties, dressed in white, with a vigorous posture, his face was like a crown of jade, his sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and he stroked the sword in his hand, like a jade tree in the wind, with a chic posture; I couldn't help but be shocked and angry: "Who are you?" ”

The young man in white asked, "Who are you?" ”

He Chengqi ran forward panting for a while, and suddenly saw someone helping, so he stopped, looked back, and immediately rushed back in ecstasy, hiding behind the comer, and shouted: "Commander Ling save me!" ……”

The gray-clothed man was taken aback and said, "You...... Are you Lingyun? ”

The person who came was Ling Yun. Hearing this, he didn't say anything, but just snorted coldly.

The gray-clothed man and the little beggar looked at each other for a moment, and both had a look of awe on their faces.

The gray-clothed man arched his hand at Ling Yun and said: "Ling Commander is famous all over the world, and his martial arts are world-famous. ”

With that, he gave the little beggar a look; The two turned away in frustration.

Seeing the two of them go away, He Chengqi said, "Commander Ling, why don't you chase them?" ”

Ling Yun glanced at him and said, "I'm going to chase the assassin, so what should you do?" ……”

"I-" He Chengqi choked for a moment.

Ling Yun asked: "Gongzi He, what are you doing here alone in the middle of the night?" ”

He Chengqi couldn't help but be sad, he sighed lightly and lowered his head gloomily.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Ling Yun didn't ask anymore, but said, "I'll send you back to the house first." ”

He Chengqi said repeatedly: "No, I won't go back!" I'm not going back! ……”

Ling Yun was puzzled: "Why? ”

"I ......" He Chengqi didn't know how he should explain his hardships to Ling Yun, but he had to answer Ling Yun's questions; He hesitated, suddenly covered his shoulder socket and said, "Oops! Oops! …… It hurts me! ”

Only then did Ling Yun notice that the placket of He Chengqi's right shoulder had been dyed red, and the shirt and the coagulated blood were all sticking together. And the golden dart was still deeply embedded in the flesh.

He Chengqi only cared about running for his life and forgot about the pain; At this point, he was relieved, his teeth chattered in pain, and his face turned white.

Because he was in a hurry for a while, Ling Yun didn't have any healing things like hemostatic ointment or golden medicine; And the second son of He Fu in front of him was so squeamish, he didn't dare to recklessly pull out a dart for him to heal his injuries.

After thinking about it, he suddenly remembered that there was a medical hall on Yonghe Street not far from the Jinming River, and the owner's surname was Liu, Xingliu, known as Mr. Liu Liu, who was a famous doctor in the capital, with excellent medical skills, especially good at the treatment of various internal and external injuries, so why not take him there to bandage it first.

So Ling Yun helped He Chengqi to walk towards the medical hall.

He Chengqi touched the other hand covering the wound with his right hand, only to see that it was covered with blood, and he couldn't help but look like dirt in horror, and said continuously: "Blood, blood!" ...... "I felt that my heart was panting, my hands and feet were weak, and I couldn't move anymore."

Seeing his squeamish state, Ling Yun said a little impatiently: "Don't scream, I'll carry you!" ”

After all, He Chengqi was not very familiar with Ling Yun, so he was a little embarrassed and said: "No, don't use it, you are covered in blood......"

Ling Yun said angrily: "Look, it's already been infected!" ……”