Death still smells the fragrance of proud bones (2)

Lone willow tree.

This is a particularly realistic place name, and in the early days, there was only one willow tree in this place, so it was called a single willow tree. Later, when the war broke out, very few people came to this place, and I don't know whether it was man-made or natural, but a cluster of willow trees grew in this place, forming a willow forest. After that, the Holy Pilgrimage was established. The Holy Emperor entered the palace, looked at this place, and thought of the countless "rebels" here who died under the butcher's knife of the Ji family, and those so-called "rebels" were all heroic brothers and sisters who overthrew the Ji family's regime with him. Therefore, the Holy Emperor changed the name of the place and called it the Tomb of the Heroic Soul.

But in addition to the East and West Market, Chang'an does need an execution ground. What can be seen by hundreds of officials in the palace can be seen in the palace, and it can play a deterrent effect.

Eventually, the Holy Emperor cut down the willow forest, leaving only a larger willow tree at the edge of the Heroic Soul Tomb. As a result, the single willow tree in the execution ground that said the old is not old, and the new is not new reappeared in the world.

Looking from the imperial city, the field of vision is broad, if you encounter a more typical criminal, the Holy Emperor will also organize some officials on the city wall to take a good look at the end of the crime and corruption.

But all the officials who can be "invited" by the Holy Emperor to the city wall are all problematic in one way.

The Holy Emperor invited them over to deter them, and the meaning was self-evident.

Today, what was invited was the old general Fan Yuzhi, who had been idle for many years, and the quasi-in-laws of the Holy Emperor.

The Holy Emperor stood at the head of the city without saying a word, while Fan Yuzhi stood behind him to the right.

"Brother Fan, the two of us will be in-laws soon, what are we going to do after standing like that?" A smile appeared on the Holy Emperor's face, but no matter how he looked at it, he felt that it was false.

Fan Yuzhi lowered his head and immediately knelt at the feet of the Holy Emperor, just as he had been when he prayed to the Holy Emperor to give him a way to live.

His voice was a little hoarse, and it was strange that on this day of his daughter's wedding, he was actually wearing a white dress.

Fan Yuzhi buried his head deeply, and said respectfully with a hint of trembling: "How dare the grass people stand side by side with the Son of Heaven?"

It's just that no matter how much he pretends to be bitten a little hard, the word "grass people" still can't escape the ears of the Holy Emperor.

The Holy Emperor turned his back to him, smiled slightly, and looked at the single willow tree.

......

Xue Zhengwu took Chai Xintong and walked under the big willow tree. No, to be precise, it should be more of an escort.

Under the willow tree happened to be a boxy execution ground, and the position of the prisoner happened to be obscured by the shadow cast by the willow tree.

Xue Zhengwu glanced at Chai Xintong, who was about the same age as his son, shook his head, and finally said: "Mr. Chai, you have a life, you have to obey, offended." ”

Probably because he drank some wine, Chai Xintong's cheeks were slightly red. He shook his head and said, "You have an order, you have to follow, how can you offend?"

Xue Zhengwu looked at the sun, looked at the hourglass, and left Chai Xintong in the center of the execution ground.

"It's a quarter before noon, are the executioners ready?"

The adjutant glanced at Chai Xintong with some concern, after all, this prisoner didn't have any torture tools on him, not to mention, I heard that this person also defeated Jiang Jingyan of the Jiang family in the martial arts examination. You must know that the Jiang family behind Jiang Jingyan was a saint in ancient times!

"Why are you stunned!Ask you!" Xue Zhengwu snorted coldly, and the adjutant came back to his senses and said respectfully: "If you go back to your lordship, this executioner has already been found, and he is sharpening his knife behind the willow tree, it should be almost fine." ”

Xue Zhengwu nodded, "um", and quietly waited for the time to come.

After a while, a bearded man walked up to the execution ground with a knife in one hand, he was wearing a red coat, and as soon as he walked, the chest hair and fat on his chest swayed up and down.

He looked at Chai Xintong, who was relatively thin compared to him, and stood behind Chai Xintong without words.

And around, there are also some people around.

However, they were all ordinary people, and they didn't know what was going on, so they pointed at Chai Xintong and discussed why this seemingly good-faced young man went to the execution ground.

Some people who have seen the notice a few days ago will also explain the reason to them.

"The crime of deceit?"

"Impossible, this kid looks honest. ”

"Haven't you heard a saying? ”

There was a slight commotion around, and Xu Changan, who was outside the crowd, took out a bow and a few arrows from the haystack, his straw hat was pressed very low, and he stood in front of the stump, with a horse tied to him.

......

"Brother Fan, don't you want to take a look, look at this promising young man at the beginning, and it won't be in vain that you wore this plain dress for him. ”

Fan Yuzhi gritted his teeth, his eyes were a little red, and he stood up.

His white hair was a little messy, and his eyes were fascinated, and the old man trembled step by step to the edge of the city wall, looking down.

The sun escaped from the cage of dark clouds and shone on Chai Xintong's face, which was a little hot and a little dazzling.

"It's noon!

Seeing Xue Zhengwu throw out the token, Fan Yuzhi above the city breathed a sigh of relief.

Chai Xintong closed his eyes, but the scene of blood splattering did not appear.

Chai Xintong slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Xue Zhengwu and the executioner behind him in confusion.

The executioner looked at Xue Zhengwu and frowned.

Executioner is an unlucky profession, which requires not only great strength and physical strength, but also courage.

Generally speaking, executioners are also the loneliest profession, they are all widows and lonely people, there is no one around them, if there are children and grandchildren, and there are beautiful wives at home, who wants to do this business?

He was not afraid of Xue Zhengwu, and he didn't care about any official authority.

"My lord, won't you let him kneel, and we will cut him?" he said, and he was about to throw away the big knife that stained the blood on his skull.

Xue Zhengwu looked at Chai Xintong, and Chai Xintong shook his head slightly.

"Those who kneel, because they have made a mistake. I am a certain person, only kneeling to my parents and kings, and teaching teachers. Who else can make me kneel? I am worthy of heaven and earth, and I am frank and open. It's just that he was framed by someone this time, and he is so down. As a result, I also recognized it. It's just that I'm Chai Xintong, I think I'm not wrong, why do I kneel!"

Chai Xintong said, looking at the golden and white figure above the imperial city.

Xue Zhengwu also glanced there, and saw that there was no instruction, and his somewhat nervous heart was also relieved, he was really afraid that a good man wearing Guan Ye's mask and riding a horse with a knife rushed out just now.

He sighed and said sharply to the adjutant: "Before three o'clock in the afternoon, give me a high platform to come out! Let the executioner stand up and cut it!"

......

On the city wall, the Holy Emperor looked at this scene, his eyes froze, and then he smiled slightly.

"A good one is worthy of the sky, and the bottom is worthy of the ground. The emperor wants to protect you, but the emperor has no evidence!"

Then his eyes narrowed and he patted Fan Yuzhi on the shoulder.

"Brother Fan, do you say that this Chai Xintong is a bit stupid to use such a stupid method to assassinate the emperor. ”

Fan Yuzhi's body trembled, and he could only say, "Maybe he hates the Holy Emperor to the core?"

The Holy Emperor shook his head and laughed: "Why does he hate this emperor, could it be that this emperor also took his military power?"

As soon as these words came out, Fan Yuzhi trembled, and large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure landed on the city wall.

Although Chang'an is forbidden to fly, when the strength reaches a certain level, the rules will also change.

The little master carried the ring ruler on his shoulder, glanced at Fan Yuqi, and then looked at the Holy Emperor.

"I want to treat you to tea!"

The Holy Emperor glanced in the direction of the single willow tree, where many soldiers were building a high platform out of wooden blocks, and the little gentleman in prison clothes was standing safely in place.

The Holy Emperor shook his head and said, "I always thought that you would have a tacit understanding with me, but I didn't expect that at the last moment, you still came." ”

The little master stared at the Holy Emperor and did not speak.

The Holy Emperor smiled, waved his sleeves and ordered, "General Dong, take care of Elder Fan!"

After saying that, he turned into a long rainbow and headed towards the Qianlong Palace. The little master glanced

glanced at Fan Yuzhi, Fan Yuzhi was like falling into an ice cellar, and also turned into a long rainbow, and then disappeared.

In the Qianlong Palace, the Holy Emperor looked at the little master.

"It seems that you have arranged people and are ready to save Chai Xintong. ”

The little master shook his head.

"Otherwise, I can't imagine a reason for you to do this, Chai Xintong is dead, and the people behind the scenes will definitely be unable to help but jump out, and when the time comes, the emperor can casually think of a way to help him rehabilitate, and even make him a righteous man. Your Confucius Temple's momentum is soaring, and I have also pulled out a tumor, let's win the situation, why not?"

The little master said lightly: "My master's temple is upright, there is no need to use this way, my master's temple just wants to give the world's scholars a bright future, and there is no need to use these means." ”

The Holy Emperor glanced at him and said mockingly, "So you sent someone to rob the Dharma Field?"

The little master shook his head again.

The Holy Emperor was stunned, he knew that the little master would not lie, he said that if there was no arrangement, then it would not be arranged.

He closed his eyes and went through the matter in his mind. He suddenly realized a problem and could only sigh deeply.

"It turned out to be a kid from the Xu family!"

"But do you think that with Xu Changan, you can figure out this matter? He raised his mouth and lobbied around, and it was useless without evidence. Even if they walk out of the Duliu Tree, he and Xu Chang'an will not be able to leave Chang'an City, and when the time comes, I will see how your Confucius Temple will explain to me!" the Holy Emperor waved his sleeves and said in an extremely heavy tone.

The little master smiled and said: "You are wrong again, first, my Confucius Temple does not need to explain to anyone; second, this is the choice of Chai Xintong and Xu Chang'an, I think Xu Chang'an is right, no matter how bad the situation is, you have to give it a try, maybe there will be a turnaround?"

The second half of the sentence was automatically ignored by the Holy Emperor, he stared at the little master, and suddenly asked in a cold voice, "Is he coming back?"

The little master nodded.

......

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xue Zhengwu took a deep breath, his heart was pounding, he didn't know what to do later, whether to order to shoot them directly, or try his best to let them live.

These three quarters of an hour were the most difficult moments of his life.

He bit his lip and asked him to order his own son to be killed, which he couldn't.

can eat the king's lu, and the evidence and material evidence in the Chai Xintong case are all there, as the secretary of the criminal department, he has no reason to convince himself to let them go.

He could only glance at the executioner standing on the high platform, then let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and threw out the token.

"Slash!"

With a "clank", the big knife fell to the ground.

The ignorant people who were ready to dip their white steamed buns in blood to treat asthma were also shocked by this change, and they naturally knew what was going to happen, so they scattered and fled.

A horse walked over with a pace, and the man on horseback was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, carrying a fiery red sword and looking at Chai Xintong, who had opened his eyes.

The sound of horses' hooves clicked, Chai Xintong looked at Xu Changan, there was a touch of joy in his eyes, and then he sighed again.

"You're still here!"

Xu Changan smiled and nodded: "Yes, I'm here." ”

Xue Zhengwu tilted his head and looked at it, but he didn't find the swordsman wearing Guan Ye's mask, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at Xu Changan with a complicated expression.

......

At the same time, Yongning Fang was lively.

The people welcomed the road, and there were soldiers wearing armor and holding Changge on the side of the road, and the girls all looked enviously at the sedan chair on the wheel, and they all knew that there was a girl sitting inside, a girl who was about to marry the eldest prince.

The eldest prince rode a horse, and his red clothes could not hide his might and handsomeness.

He occasionally turned his head and nodded to the people, but cautiously glanced to the sides.

"Meow~"

A cat meow came, and the whole street suddenly fell silent, and people watched in amazement.

I didn't know when there was a white kitten in front of me, and all the horses trembled and knelt on the ground!

(End of chapter)