Alley entrance.

A plainly dressed young man set up a small stool and sat peacefully on it.

A rudimentary wooden cane leaned in the corner of the wall, and on the cane hung a birdcage in which a sickly crow lay down. The crow's feathers were dark red, as if they had been soaked in blood and then dried again.

From time to time, the sick crow opened its eyes and looked at the onlookers without saying a word.

The young man's face was covered with ugly, burnt scars, like flattened sarcomas. His eyes were white and he seemed to be blind.

Most of the people around the youth are young and middle-aged.

Young people ask about the future, and middle-aged people ask about wealth.

Occasionally, a young and beautiful girl is bold, not afraid of the difference between men and women, and shyly sits on the stall and asks about marriage. The blind young man smiled and took out a clean gauze scarf, wrapped the girl's soft thorns, and touched the bones through the scarf.

A penny is really too cheap, whether the people believe it or not, it is not a bad thing to have fun, or to spend money to listen to a few good words.

Zheng Xiu and Feng Bei looked side by side for a while, and after eye exchange, they left quietly.

Feng Bei looked puzzled: "Wei Chen? ”

Apparently she wasn't entirely sure either.

The only intersection between Fengbei and Wei Chen was that they were in Baili Village twenty years ago, fell into a ghost, and were finally rescued by Zheng Shan at the same time.

And Wei Chen should have been taken away by Chang Yan, but in the end, it was Wang Cangyun who was desperate and sacrificed himself to rescue him.

Thinking of Wang Cangyun, Zheng Xiu couldn't help but sigh a little.

"That blood raven, it should be him. Unexpectedly, he has always been under the nose of the Son of Heaven. ”

"Then you ...... say"

Feng Bei glanced at Zheng Xiu.

"There's a good chance Candle knows about it. And Lao Wei may not know. In Lao Wei's opinion, Wei Chen had died twenty years ago, and no one would have guessed that a 'dead person' would appear here. ”

"You... Will you tell the Emperor about this? ”

Fengbei asked.

Zheng Xiu smiled dumbly: "Tell the Emperor what to do?" ”

Feng Bei's head tilted, then he understood, smiled slightly, and understood his thoughts.

Zheng Xiu explained leisurely: "There was a grudge with the broken building at the beginning, but the broken building is obviously not dealing with Ye Weiyang, Ye Weiyang has now become a plate of loose sand, and the whereabouts of the candle are unknown, as the so-called enemy of the enemy is a friend, the reason why Wei Chen honestly set up a stall here may be related to the disappearance of the candle." ”

"Before Wei Chen reveals his true purpose for coming here, keep an eye on it, don't worry."

The Imperial City can be said to be the base camp of the Zheng family. In the imperial city, the Zheng family can be said to be a behemoth that can be compared to Ye Weiyang. Whether it is financial resources or the number of thaumaturgists, they all give Zheng Xiu full confidence.

If it was in other places, it would be forgotten, in the imperial city, if Wei Chen really had bad intentions, could he still let him jump?

"It's because of Wang Cangyun's predecessors."

Feng Bei smiled and broke Zheng Xiu's true thoughts: "There are many reasons to move a person. But there is only one reason why you don't want to move him, and that's because Wang Cangyun's predecessors want him to survive? ”

It's you.

Affection and righteousness.

In the past, Fengbei looked at Zheng Xiu unpleasantly. After getting out of the cannibal painting, everything he saw was his good.

The more Fengbei understands Zheng Xiu, the more he can understand why so many masters of the Zheng family like to gather around Zheng Xiu, and like to shout "Master Zheng" affectionately.

The reason why the Zheng family has become the Zheng family today is not because of the bloodline of this loyal martyr, nor because of Zheng Xiu's empty title and no real power, but because of Zheng Xiu himself.

It was he who made the Zheng family what it is today.

"I want you to talk more."

Zheng Xiu pretended to be evil, licked his tongue, picked up Fengbei's little hand and pinched it without saying martial virtues.

In broad daylight, Fengbei was not used to being intimate with Zheng Xiu in such an environment, but the struggle at this moment was undoubtedly more noticeable, she could only get closer and hide the hands held by the two in her long sleeves.

Fengbei has always dressed low-key, not like the daughter of a rich family, and can't wait to write the words "delicate" on his clothes. For a while, not too many people noticed the small movements of Zheng Xiu and Feng Bei under their sleeves.

Walking and walking, suddenly, the cranky Fengbei Tan mouth opened slightly, she turned her head to look at Zheng Xiu, she didn't care about the thin little hands, and her eyes were surprised: "I understand!" ”

"What do you understand?" Zheng Xiu was stunned for a moment, holding hands can also have an epiphany on the spot?

Feng Bei pursed his lips, and there was a little more coldness in his voice: "No wonder the Great Emperor has allowed you to make a fortune all these years, and even acquiesced in your gathering of a group of thaumaturgists." He already had the intention of letting you Zheng replace Ye Weiyang. ”

Zheng Xiu was silent for a while.

After a while, he sighed lightly: "He is worthy of being the emperor." ”

Back at Zheng Zhai, after Zheng Xiu informed Qing 13 about Wei Chen, Qing 13 patted his head: "Broken Building!" No wonder before March 3, there were so many lame, blind and deaf people in the city! ”

Zheng Xiu was stunned when he heard this: "Before March 3? ”

Qing 13: "Back to the master, just before the ancestor worship ceremony of the third royal family in March, Fengbei and ...... Ahem, Zheng Shan ......" Qing Shisan winked at Zheng Xiu vigorously, as if hinting at something, but Zheng Xiu didn't see it and pretended not to know. Qing 13 coughed for a while, and seeing that the old man did not say anything, he continued: "Soon after they went south. ”

Qing Mou sensed that the situation was wrong at that time, so he asked people to secretly stare at the group of remnants, and wanted to wait for the old man to wake up in prison and then report it carefully. As everyone knows, sir, you later became seriously ill and couldn't wake up, so this matter was put aside. ”

It's a celebration of the fraternity.

Unavoidably.

Zheng Xiu sighed with emotion and really handed over the matter to Qing to handle it is reassuring, Chaoqing Thirteen gave a thumbs up and praised it: "Well done!" Double your monthly money next month! I'll let Erniang write it down for you later. ”

"Okay! The lord is magnanimous! Qing 13 heard the money, and immediately smiled, and his eyes narrowed.

Zheng Xiu asked, "What happened later?" ”

Qing 13 fingers and a pinch of his fingers, the dry tobacco pocket lit by itself, and a surging smoke came out. He took a hard breath and said with a smile: "After the ancestor worship ceremony, it was all gone inexplicably, and nothing happened." As quietly as it came. ”

When Zheng Xiu heard this, he was stunned for a moment, thinking that the prince that Lao Wei finally set up at the ancestor worship ceremony was the newborn fourth prince, and two drops of cold sweat inexplicably squeezed out of his forehead: "Damn, should it be ...... In fact, there is collusion between the crippled building and one of the princes? ”

Kyeisan choked on the smoke and coughed violently, revealing an incredulous expression.

He didn't expect that.

But when Zheng Xiu mentioned this, Qing Shisan also figured it out, looked at Zheng Xiu in shock, his mouth moved, and he didn't dare to say more.

Before March 3, the three princes who had the opportunity to compete for the crown prince showed their own means. The second prince assassinated the eldest prince, and the eldest prince made other arrangements, but in the end he lost to the third prince.

"The matter of cannibalism painting has transferred all the masters such as the upper string Sanfeng Bei, the upper string Wu Jun Bu Laugh, and the lower string Gu Qiutang."

Zheng Xiu's mind was racing.

Suddenly, he connected everything he had experienced not long ago.

"The cannibal painting was originally in the hands of a monk."

"Chu Susu, one of the top ten, is looking for the monk and the painting in his hand."

"In other words, this painting was originally in the hands of the mutilated building."

"But in the end, by mistake, the monk lost his memory and lived in Shuzhou."

"Wait, the master gave the cannibal painting to the candle."

"Candle took the opportunity to continue his century-old layout and set his sights on Fengbei."

"Wei Chen knew about this? Did he do it on purpose? ”

"They're taking advantage of each other!"

"Taking advantage of this incident, the Imperial City is empty at night, and the candles are laid out, and the forces of the Broken Building have secretly entered the Imperial City."

"No matter at the ancestor worship ceremony, any of the three princes who becomes the crown prince may stage a vigorous drama of seizing the heir! There will be rivers of blood! ”

"However, in the end, Lao Wei's fluttering hand made the secret fight of the three princes become a child's playhouse, and he punched the cotton!"

Zheng Xiu thought about it carefully, and quickly figured out all the causes and consequences, and he broke out in a cold sweat. All this seems to have nothing to do with Zheng Xiu, but the development of the Zheng family is backed by the Taiping era and the protection of the royal family.

He felt like he was in the middle of the storm that had brewed in the Imperial City not long ago, and the Zheng clan was in the middle of the storm, almost facing an impact. In the end, when the storm dissipated invisibly, Zheng Xiufang realized it later, which made him feel afraid.

In this storm that almost caused catastrophe, everyone has a plan.

The candlestick chart is Fengbei.

Zheng Xiutu is a "painter".

The three princes are plotting the throne.

I don't know what the picture is for the broken building.

This messy drama finally disappeared due to a decision by Lao Wei.

And Zheng Xiu's side happened to kill the crow keeper and extinguished the eyes of the candle, so that the candle had to retire, and the night was not in name only.

Peel back the cocoon and correlate layer by layer. This made Zheng Xiu wonder if the ending caused by all this was in the arrangement of the candles?

"When did I become so suspicious?"

I don't know how long, Zheng Xiu laughed at himself.

It seems that the candle that has lived for thousands of years, as well as the secrets that Zheng Xiu learned in Gongsun Mo's memory, have brought him too much pressure.

At the end, Zheng Xiu solemnly said to Qing Criticism: "Keep an eye on Wei Chen." ”

Qing 13 took the order and left.

And so it went on for a few more days.

The monk's departure made Zheng Xiu a little unaccustomed.

It seems that all these years have been with the monks.

From time to time, he entered the heart prison and checked the route of the "bald head station" on the heart prison.

Zheng Xiu will always enter the heart prison when he is bored, study the [Painter] tricks from time to time, poke the face of the "Fengbei Station" from time to time, study her scale, and poke the bald head of the bald post station from time to time, so as to pass the time.

After escaping from the cannibal painting, Fengbei was alone and homeless - in her words, her home was destroyed by someone, and she could only temporarily live in Zheng's house, hoping that Zheng Xiu would take her in. Whenever he saw Feng Bei talking angrily and saying that he didn't know who was the black hand against her family, Zheng Xiu tried his best to strain his face, for fear that he wouldn't be able to hold back his laughter all of a sudden.

Fengbei vaguely noticed that this incident seemed to be related to her sweetheart, and even suspected that Zheng Xiu was deliberately careless, but she couldn't find a reason for Zheng Xiu to smash her family for no reason, so she could only give up.

Yin Qingqing, that is, the woman sent by the emperor. Since arriving at Zheng's house, she was arranged by Zheng Xiu to be a personal maid by Fengbei's side. This is a matter of killing two birds with one stone, but Fengbei is not used to getting along with other people, and he has no communication with Yin Qingqing. In addition, Yin Qingqing seemed to know how terrible Fengbei was, and his words and deeds in front of Fengbei were cautious, and it was difficult to hide the horror in his heart, this kind of body language that regarded Fengbei as a "monster" obviously poked Fengbei's sore spot inadvertently, so most of the time, Fengbei would not take Yin Qingqing with him.

Yin Qingqing is equivalent to being placed under house arrest in Fengbei's room, and she is not allowed to go out all day long.

After a few days of idleness, Zheng Xiu knew that he was under a lot of pressure, so he decided to listen to a little song to relieve his pressure.

Lying in the hall, Zheng Xiu clapped his hands and ordered to go down, and it didn't take long for Squeak, Pingping, Lily, and Bobo to come to Zheng Xiu in luxurious robes with calm faces.

A simple maid brought hot tea.

Yin Qingqing came here after a while, with a calm face, wearing a thin shirt and a big red belly pocket.

Zheng Xiu looked at Squeak, he knew that this girl had the worst temperament, and he didn't let Yin Qingqing dress like this. Sure enough, he squeaked and laughed wickedly, and then asked in a crispy and soft tone: "Master, what kind of music do you want to hear!" ”

"It's okay, you can sing whatever you want. Qingqing dances. ”

"Okay!"

Squeak in succession, ten fingers glow white, lightning plucked a few crisp notes on the strings, tinkling Dongdong.

In an instant, except for Yin Qingqing, the other three girls turned red, and Pingping, who just wanted to play along, fell on Ji Qin and did not move.

Zheng Xiu, who was drinking tea, squirted out and almost sprayed Yin Qingqing.

This is the tone of "Eighteen Touches".

"Let's just the reunion feast."

Zheng Xiu knew that he would not order any more songs, and squeaked that they might really dare to sing a song "Eighteen Touches" in broad daylight to cheer up, so he hurriedly ordered.

"There are always one or two winds ...... the world"

Zheng, piano, flute, song, walking [orchid], the four girls each show their talents, and the melodious music floats out of the hall and echoes in the entire Zheng house.

In the sound of the song, Yin Qingqing, who was supposed to be in charge of the dance, remained motionless, lowered his head and was silent.

Zheng Xiu frowned.

Yin Qingqing bit her lower lip: "The slave won't." ”

"Come here."

Zheng Xiu squinted his eyes and hooked his finger at Yin Qingqing.

Yin Qingqing obediently came to Zheng Xiu.

This was the first time in so many days that Zheng Xiu had taken a serious look at Yin Qingqing's appearance. Since Lao Wei forced Yin Qingqing to Zheng Xiu, Zheng Xiu almost forgot about this woman in the corner. After looking carefully, Zheng Xiu couldn't help but marvel, he didn't look carefully at the clothes in the heavy rain that night, in fact, Yin Qingqing's appearance was even better than the four maids who played and sang.

The fat and thin figure has a mature charm against the background of tulle and belly pockets, the delicate collarbone is bent just right, and a string of small bone chains hangs from the white neck. What Zheng Xiu cares about the most is her eyes, her eyes are not at all green at her age, but there is a kind of calm and indifference as if she has seen through the world.

"Pinch the legs."

Yin Qingqing squatted down and kneaded Zheng Xiu's thighs tightly and loosely.

"Tell the Emperor, I promised."

Yin Qingqing trembled slightly, kneading her hands, but still nodded and agreed: "I know, master." ”

"If you want to leave, I can't keep you here."

"Qingqing can't go back."

Zheng Xiu closed his eyes, listened to the song, and enjoyed Yin Qingqing's service. Hearing the reply, Zheng Xiu was not surprised.

"You were originally from the Secret Ministry?"

Yin Qingqing replied calmly: "Master Zheng is wise, before the slave maid came to the Zheng family, she was indeed a person from the secret department. ”

"The Emperor is really willing."

"The Holy Lord has always admired Master Hou."

She secretly changed the title of "master" to "Hou Ye", and tasted it carefully, with a different artistic conception.

"Since you are here at the Zheng family, you will stay in peace."

"Yes, sir."

Zheng Xiu asked without a match.

The four women were playing and singing outside.

"How old are you?"

Yin Qingqing was silent and sighed lightly: "Master, do you really want to know?" ”

"Say."

Zheng Xiu's tone froze.

"The slave is fifty in Chinese New Year's Eve."

The song came to an abrupt end.

"What?" Pingping was stunned: "Impossible." ”

Zheng Xiu opened his eyes and looked at Yin Qingqing carefully, she looked like she was in her early twenties.

Yin Qingqing stood up in front of Zheng Xiu and turned her back, as if the tulle on her slippery shoulders had slipped off.

In front of Zheng Xiu, her belly pocket was half-dissolved, she covered her front calmly, and the curve behind her was completely exposed in front of Zheng Xiu. In the belly pocket, two distorted words stand out - "Ji You".

"The slave is the 'demon of the time'." Yin Qingqing said his identity in a calm tone: "In the past, I made a living from abduction. ”