Yongxue Pass is gone, Zhenbei Wangfu is gone, and the Chu family ancestral hall is gone.

Shen Zhou buried the string of Buddhist beads in the Chu family's cemetery and dismissed all the subordinates and servants of the Chu family. Yuzhu stubbornly refused to leave, joking that she had to guard this cemetery, and slowly changed from a yellow flower girl to an old woman.

"You're going to live, Young Master Shen Zhou." Yuzhu was wearing white clothes and black yarn, which was the outfit of Shouxiao, she picked up a strand of broken hair that fell down, and smiled bitterly, "If I die too, only you will remember the eldest lady in this world." ”

Shen Zhou didn't know what to say, after so many years, he still hadn't learned how to comfort people.

"You are the surviving person of the eldest lady, so when she leaves...... Are you crying for her? Yuzhu's eyes faltered, as if she would be crushed by some word of denial.

Are you crying for her? Have you learned to grieve in her, have you learned human emotions, do you understand what you are...... Love doesn't love her anymore?

They all knew that there was no marriage contract between Chu Shixia and Shen Zhou. The so-called "surviving person" and the so-called "unmarried husband" are just the wording of Chu Shixia to ask the Chu family to preserve the old acquaintance of the Chu family.

But Yuzhu knew that this contained Chu Zhixia's small, secret selfishness.

Or silence.

"I don't know." Shen Zhou's voice was hoarse, "I think I should cry for her, shouldn't I?" ”

Yuzhu cried, she covered her face, as if she wanted to shed a lifetime of tears for these two people separated by yin and yang, "Live, Young Master Shen Zhou." If there's anything else you can do for the eldest lady, it's to live well. ”

Even if you don't love her, even if you can't understand her feelings, even if you don't understand the reason why you tyrannically killed King Rui - that's okay, as long as you're alive, she's worthy of herself.

Shen Zhou sat silently in front of Chu Zhixia's tomb, raising his hand to brush away the frost flowers on the stone tablet.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to live very, very much." Shen Zhou lowered his eyelashes and smiled easily, as if he was talking about a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning.

This sentence has no beginning or end, and Yuzhu didn't understand what he meant.

Shen Zhou lowered his eyes at an angle, as if he was looking at a person who was a head shorter than him. The tails of his snow-colored eyes were tied into a line, submerged into the crow-blue eyelashes, gentle and fluent, like a trace of ink on the paper.

He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against the cold tombstone, as if against the forehead of another person.

The tombstone is engraved with "The tomb of the Chu clan in the clouds, the surviving people sink the boat".

"When I die, can you bury me next to her?" Shen Zhou asked softly, and without waiting for Yuzhu to answer, he said to himself, "Forget it, assassins are dead and have no place to be buried." ”

That was the last time Yuzhu saw him in this life.

——

The emperor couldn't afford to fall ill because of the bad news that his biological brother had died without a body, so he gave instructions in his lingering sickbed to escort the murderer to Beijing and sentenced him to death.

This decree is not only to seek justice for his good brother, but also to secretly knock on the officials of the north - the clouds are in the clouds of the imperial dynasty, not the clouds of the Chu family. However, Shen Zhou did not leave, just quietly waiting for the officers and soldiers who came to arrest him.

The person responsible for escorting the sinking boat was the Lin Thorn History of Qingzhou.

Before arriving at the imperial capital, Lin Tingshi saw that Shen Zhou had no intention of breaking free and escaping, and finally opened the shackles in the middle of the night.

Since the sinking boat fell into the hands of the officers and soldiers, under the pressure of the Qin mission, Lin Shushi had to use this cruel torture instrument on the sinking boat. The iron chain pierced through his lute bone, and the other end was cast on the iron bar, his hands and feet locked in heavy shackles, and the flesh was worn to reveal the white bones.

"Lin Shushi, what are you doing here?" Shen Zhou lifted his blood-soaked eyelashes and asked without any ups and downs.

"Master Shen Zhou, let's go." Lin Shushi said bitterly, "I promised the eldest lady that if I want to protect you, I can't watch you die." Your Majesty loves King Rui very much, and there is no way for you to go here. ”

Shen Zhou looked at him for a while before holding his hand and withholding the torture instrument back.

"She also told you to guard Qingzhou and Yanbei." Shen Zhou said lightly, "I'll leave now, and the one who died is you." If you are questioned, you will definitely give people the opportunity to attack the old department of the north, and when the north Dima sets foot in the Central Plains, who else can hope? ”

Lin Shushi looked at him blankly, speechless.

Shen Zhou sat down against the iron cage, closed his eyes and recuperated, "Go back." ”

"But there is no one in the Chu family anymore." Lin Shushi said with difficulty, "Master Shen Zhou, if you also die, in the coming year, who will sweep the tomb for the Chu family and the eldest lady?" ”

Shen Zhou just closed his eyes and said, "Go back." ”

He coldly rejected Lin Tingshi's offer of life.

13th year of auspicious symbols, November 15.

Heavy snow in the imperial capital.

The black prisoner car was escorted into the imperial prison, and almost the first moment the prisoner cart entered the imperial capital, the news reached the palace.

As soon as Shen Zhou opened his eyes, he saw a bright yellow robe swooping down from the carriage, so weak that he almost fell into the snow. He was as thin as if he were about to fall in the wind, but he rushed impatiently to the cage.

Today's new emperor, the eldest son of the former emperor, Bai Huan.

"Is that you, who killed my brother?" Bai Huan's face was so white that there was no trace of blood, like a failed peony.

"It's me." Shen Zhou looked him directly into the eyes and said lightly.

"The Chu clan in the clouds, really damn it!" Bai Huan gritted his teeth, grabbed the iron bar the thickness of his arm, and roared angrily.

"Damn it, your brother is dead anyway." Shen Zhou suddenly laughed, and said with malice, "One hundred and eighty-three pieces, burned into a pile of ashes along with the ancestral hall of the Chu family." ”

Bai Huan was so angry that he almost fell on his back in the snow, "Why, why are you doing this?" ”

Shen Zhou felt the novelty with real feelings, "It's just a matter of paying off debts and killing people." Why, you are only allowed to kill the Chu family like slaughtering pigs and dogs, and you are not allowed to pay for my blood debts? When you booby-trapped Chu Mingxiu, forced Chu Mingyan to death, and trapped Chu Zhixia, you should have thought of this day. ”

Bai Huan was born as a crown prince, and with the escort of the regent, he depicted the mask of virtue and benevolence vividly, and deceived him into believing it himself - in fact, in his eyes, his brother's life is more expensive than the life of the Chu family.

How could he have expected that there would really be people who would dare to ask him to retaliate with a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye?

For the first time in his life, Shen Zhou saw such a villain who had no self-knowledge, and it was rare to say in a mocking tone: "Karma, Your Majesty." ”

Bai Huan was so angry with him that he vomited a mouthful of blood, and that night, despite the minister's obstruction, he couldn't wait for the next autumn to execute Shen Zhou in public.

In the thirteenth year of Xiangfu, on November 17, the Chu clan rebelled against the remnants of Ling Chi at the mouth of the vegetable market.

When Shen Zhou heard the words "Chu's rebellious remnants", he had an indescribable emotion in his heart.

A hundred years later, under the pen of the historian, the words of the history books are like gold and iron, and we are all accused of being chaotic ministers and thieves, and sinners who have brought disaster to the country, but at least our names are written in one place - will you feel a little comforted?

When Shen Zhou walked to the execution ground, he saw Bai Huan sitting on a high platform.

Bai Huan's face was cold and pale, and his eyes looking at him were vicious and cruel, and he wanted to cut him alive piece by piece.

"Your Majesty, in fact, I still have a piece of your brother's bones." Without warning, Shen Zhou said, "Do you want to know where it is?" ”

Bai Huan's expression changed drastically, and the eunuch Gong E, who pushed away the block, rushed down, clutching Shen Zhou's collar, "Where is he?" Speak up, and I'll leave you dead! ”

"I've fed the cats," Shen Zhou said with a lazy smile, "a litter of three-flowered cats." ”

Bai Huan's heart was shocked, he staggered back two steps, pointed at him and said tremblingly, "Execution...... Execute! Don't let him die so easily, I want him to live rather than die! ”

In an instant, the sinking boat slipped out of the soldier's confinement like a swimming fish, and flew straight to Bai Huan. Everyone was taken aback, but quickly calmed down, and Shen Zhou had already been searched and unarmed.

But the sharp-eyed Gong E caught a glimpse of a cold light between Shen Zhou's teeth, and screamed in horror.

Late.

The blade between Shen Zhou's lips and teeth easily sliced Bai Huan's throat, and hot scarlet blood spilled all over the ground. Bai Huan's eyes widened, and he clutched the blood gushing from his throat in disbelief.

No one could have imagined that from the time he was arrested in the clouds to the time he was escorted to the imperial capital, Shen Zhou had been carrying this blade in his mouth.

Just for this moment, assassinate the emperor in full view of everyone.

"The emperor's neck is no harder than that of a peddler's pawn." Shen Zhou spat out the blade and smiled as if he were sighing.

The execution ground was in chaos, and the guards gathered around the nobles, ministers, princes, and ministers, and retreated in panic. Yu Linwei and the forbidden army were armed with spears but did not dare to approach, and the crossbowmen quickly climbed the high wall, and the net was laid down.

"Kill this thief!" The Lord Regent roared.

Shen Zhou's wrist suddenly twisted into a strange arc, and he quickly pulled his hand out of the shackles. Without waiting for the others to react, he "snapped" the skeleton with his other hand, and swept straight in front of the regent like an eagle.

The crossbow arrows were fired in unison, and the locusts rained down on the sinking boat, but he twisted around to dodge.

The guards drew their knives and rushed up, and Shen Zhou pulled the chains in his hands and hanged them tightly. There was a sharp roar between the friction of gold and iron, and Shen Zhou slammed his elbow into the guard's temple, and the force struck the jaw of the person next to him through the guard's skull.

The guards were dizzy for a moment, but it was enough for a moment.

Breaking free from the guards, the sunken boat grabbed the fleeing regent and slowly wrapped the chains around his neck.

"Y-What do you want?" The regent asked with difficulty.

The chains tightened slowly, and the regent's cervical spine crackled with a series of snapping crackles.

"I want all of you to die." Shen Zhou replied coldly.

The Regent's neck fell limply, the guards watched in horror as Shen Zhou let go, and the Regent fell limply to the ground, his bloodshot eyes as if they were about to fall out of his sockets.

The emperor of all powers, the regent of the most powerful ministers, died so simply.

One of the guards was emboldened, and with a loud roar, he rushed up and slashed the sinking boat.

Shen Zhou didn't move, and he took the knife on his shoulder.

He was so tired, he knew he couldn't go back to the clouds.

If a person has a soul, can he still slowly walk back to Yongxue Pass to find Chu Zhixia?

The morale of the guards was greatly boosted, and the princes and nobles in the audience shouted that they would cut the body of the sinking boat into pieces, and those who got the head would be rewarded. The beast-like blades of the guards were about to tear the sinking boat to pieces, when a feathered arrow landed on the ground in front of the sinking boat.

It's like drawing a line, and after this arrow, it's death.

Shen Zhou suddenly turned his head and saw a figure carrying a sword on the high wall, looking up and pouring a sip of wine.