Lamp Flower Smile

The green mountains are like black daisy, and the low fields are close to the water.

Far and near a green border, there are faint sounds of birds coming from it, the sound is clear and sweet, I don’t know if it is a thrush or something else.

Pei Yunying stood in the shadow cast by the dead trees, looking at the floating clouds on the distant mountain tops.

Floating clouds hang over the village, like a shadow that cannot be dispelled, tightly wrapping the long day.

How much silver is a bird worth?

Ten taels, twenty taels?

Five hundred taels, one thousand taels?

neither.

It turns out that one bird is worth four lives, maybe more.

How ridiculous.

Such unequal weights at both ends of the scale are almost ridiculous.

Lu Chen heard his own voice: "Where are the other members of the Yang family?"

Pei Yunying said that all four members of the Yang family were killed in the flames. She asked: "Are there any other distant relatives?"

"No."

Pei Yunying said: "The eldest daughter of the Yang family died of illness before the accident. Apart from the Yang family, there is only one son-in-law and stupid son. They are no longer alive."

Lu Yan was silent.

Although I had already guessed this ending, when I actually heard these words, I still felt a layer of gloom in my heart.

She looked at the house standing on the grass and slowly walked forward.

This house no longer looks like its original state. The fire burned everything, and the ashes have long solidified. Only the collapsed door frame of the house could give a glimpse of the critical situation that day.

There is also a copper hook hanging under the wall of that house.

Lu Yan stretched out his hand and stroked the bronze hook that was burnt black.

It seems that we can see the blue gauze birdcage hanging under the copper hook before this. The thrush is singing happily in the cage, and in front and behind the door of the house, a family of four is laughing and sifting tea.

She took back her hand and whispered: "It's really similar."

Pei Yunying looked at her.

Lu Yan lowered his eyelashes.

The Yang family's experience is very similar to that of the Lu family.

The same family of four was wiped out, the same fire destroyed everything. The difference is that the Lu family started because of Lu Rou, and the Yang family started because of Huamei. An ordinary man is innocent of the crime of carrying a jade, but ordinary people suffer innocent disasters, such as pigs and sheep being dragged onto the felt board in a slaughterhouse. They have no power to fight back and can only be slaughtered.

Even in the eyes of those powerful people, a human life is not as valuable as a thrush.

Not as good as pigs or dogs.

It's like a burning fire rising from my heart, the calmer it becomes, the more turbulent it becomes. She suppressed the anger in her heart and asked Pei Yunying: "So, Qi Yutai killed people and took birds because he failed to ask for Huamei from the Yang family?" Lu Zhu frowned: "But in this case, why does Qi Yutai hate Huamei?"

People don't hate something for no reason, and the Grand Master's Mansion has not raised birds for many years, so it seems more like avoiding it than hating it.

Why did Qi Yutai avoid it?

Pei Yunying said calmly: "I learned about this later and asked the Imperial City Department. Through the information, the Imperial City Department found that there were traces of fighting in the Yang family house." After a pause, he continued: "I heard that those days Qi Yutai encountered a bandit while traveling and was slightly injured."

Lu Zhen's heart moved: "This is..."

"Yang Weng's son-in-law Yang Dalang once learned boxing and kicking from a martial arts instructor for several years." He turned around and looked at Lu Huo.

In an instant, Lu Zhen suddenly realized.

The chaos and fog in my mind gradually became clearer.

Qi Yutai was determined to win the Thrush, so he took his men and horses to Mangming Township. But Yang Weng loved his late beloved daughter so much that he turned a blind eye to the money Qi Yutai brought and politely declined. Qi Yutai became angry because of shame. The two of them may have had a dispute midway. Yang Weng's son-in-law Yang Dalang came over. Yang Dalang was a martial artist and was not a submissive person. When he saw his father-in-law being bullied, he came to help...

Qi Yutai may have suffered from Yang Dalang at this time and suffered some "slight injuries".

It's just that no matter how powerful Yang Dalang was in martial arts, he was still unable to defeat the four-handed master with just two fists, and he also injured the prince of Taishi Mansion. As a result, the four members of the family, together with the son who was stupid and had no power to fight back, all died.

The Qi family who left set fire to the Yang family's house, destroying all evidence. However, Qi Yutai suffered from heart disease because of this incident...

This man was rumored to be timid, and one of his relatives had a history of epilepsy. His mind was already in a trance. Yang Dalang was quite frightened that day, so he kept away from the thrush.

Qi Qing, who loved his son deeply and was afraid that his son would follow the same path as his wife, drove away all the birds in the house for fear of irritating Qi Yutai and causing the hidden epilepsy to break out in advance.

During the whole incident, the Qi family was aloof, cleaning up the entire Yang family like fish and blood, erasing all traces. And no one knows about the injustice and hatred in it.

Just like cleaning up the Lu family.

The difference is that the Yang family has fallen into decline. Apart from this charred house and the unconcerned grave, there is no living person. And the Lu family has another one.

Qi Yutai...can't erase all traces.

Lu Tong stood in front of the burned house for a long time.

Until someone was urging them faintly in the tea garden, fearing that they would be delayed here for too long. Lu Xu turned around and left with Pei Yunying.

Mangming Township is still peaceful and peaceful as before, and the burnt house of the Yang family has no impact on the place. The doors of a row of houses on the street were open, and a group of older women were sitting under the eaves collecting tea in the sun. Earn money by selecting young leaves from the picked tea leaves.

There are tea baskets for drying tea everywhere, and the green green that can be seen everywhere disperses the shadows just now, giving it a bit of spring warmth. Lu Zhuo was walking beside Pei Yunying and heard him say: "It's getting late, so let's have dinner here."

The two of them came out early, and it was already past noon. They were tired all the way and didn't even drink water, so they went to look for the Yang family's house again. He didn't say it was okay. As soon as he said it, Lu Yan felt a little hungry and thirsty, so he said, "Okay."

There was a tea shed in front of them. As the two of them were walking forward, a half-big yellow dog suddenly appeared on the side of the road. It must be a guard dog raised by farmers along the street. Before Lu Zhuo could react, she felt someone pinched her elbow. He was dragged to the inside by Pei Yunying.

"What are you doing?" Lu Yan frowned.

Pei Yunying looked at her strangely: "Aren't you afraid of dogs?"

Afraid of dogs?

Lu Zhuo was slightly startled.

At that time, at the palace commander's residence, Duan Xiaoyan brought four black dog puppies to make her lose her temper. When Pei Yunying asked her later, she responded casually, but she didn't expect that he would still remember.

The yellow dog swung its tail and ran forward. Lu Yan felt the other person's scrutinizing eyes on him and said calmly: "It doesn't seem to bite."

Pei Yunying laughed.

He didn't say anything else, and Lu Yan didn't continue the conversation.

When we arrived at the door of the tea shed, we could see clearly that instead of saying it was a tea shed, it was a farmer's family who had opened their small courtyard and hung a flag on the beam in the yard. On it was written "Tea" in white letters on a red background. ". There was only a crippled wooden table and a few bamboo chairs placed in the courtyard. They were probably just prepared by the owner of the village for passers-by to earn a few tea money. Therefore, very few outsiders come and the accommodation is very simple.

A woman wearing a yellow headscarf walked out and smiled when she saw them: "Ah, the young master is here again."

It was actually the woman who showed them the way at the intersection when they first arrived in Mangming Township.

Pei Yunying smiled and sat down on the chair in the courtyard, handed over a silver coin, and said: "Excuse me, eldest sister, please prepare some food and tea for the two of me."

This "eldest sister" obviously pleased the woman, and when she saw Pei Yunying's generous gesture, the woman smiled even more heartily, "It's troublesome, it's okay. I'm afraid that the young master won't be able to get used to the simple food I have, so don't dislike it." He picked up the teapot on the table and poured two cups of hot tea for the two of them: "You two drink tea first to moisten your mouth, and wait a moment." After that, he turned and went to the kitchen.

The yard is not big, but it is kept clean and tidy. There are several large baskets of fresh tea leaves on the table, drying in the sun.

Lu Tong lifted up his veil, picked up the tea bowl on the table and took a sip.

Pei Yunying smiled and said: "You drink it so happily, aren't you afraid that someone might poison the tea?"

Lu Chen subconsciously glanced at the tea bowl in his hand.

The red clay tea bowl is larger than the ones in Shengjing City. The material is rough, as if it is cast from ordinary clay, and it exudes simplicity. However, the tea is extremely sweet, and the green tea leaves are floating in the water, giving the tea a bit of blue color. The aroma is delicious.

She looked at Pei Yunying: "So you stopped drinking just now because you were waiting for me to test the poison for you?"

He smiled, neither nodding nor denying.

Lu Chen chuckled in his heart.

Children of powerful people are used to showing off. She had only heard that the emperor in the palace asked the palace people to test poison before eating, but she did not expect that the man in front of her did the same.

Thinking of this, Lu Yan didn't say anything. He only waited for Pei Yunying to take a sip of tea before speaking: "Then you may be disappointed." She sarcastically said: "I am immune to all poisons. Maybe I will finish this cup of tea." He's safe and sound, but Mr. Pei will die if he takes a sip."

Pei Yunying: "..."

However, the blood splattered on the spot as imagined did not happen. After drinking half a stick of incense from the bowl of tea, nothing happened to the two of them.

The birds in the courtyard were chirping, and after a while of silence, Lu Xu put the empty tea bowl back on the table and said, "Master Pei, I don't understand, you could tell me directly about the Yang family last night, why did you have to do it in person today?" Will you accompany me to this place?"

She asked about this in Pei Yunying's study last night, but Pei Yunying refused to tell her the reason. However, when I came to Mangming Village today and saw the burned down house of the Yang family, I gained nothing else.

Such a simple thing can be explained in a few words, so why do you have to go there in person?

It couldn't be that she had damaged Pei Yunying's wooden pagoda last night, and this person was deliberately retaliating, which made a simple matter become complicated and forced her to make such a trip.

Pei Yunying stared at her and said with a smile: "Doctor Lu's words seem to be blaming me for being nosy."

"Master Pei is too worried."

"You have said that I am too careless many times, but it makes me look like a villain who uses his heart to his advantage."

Lu Yan swallowed back the words "Isn't it?" and only smiled slightly: "That's not what I meant."

He nodded and said casually: "I'm afraid you don't believe me."

"Do not believe?"

Just as he was talking, the woman wearing a headscarf came out carrying a large wooden tray. She smiled and put bowls of hot dishes on the tray on the table: "You two have been waiting for a long time. Relatives from the countryside. , they are just plain food, don’t dislike them.”

They are indeed simple farm dishes, such as pork fried in lard, poplar porridge, buckwheat pancakes, mixed lettuce... They are served steaming hot in red clay bowls with a fragrant aroma, and there is also a basket of fresh yellow loquats.

After the woman served the food, she said "eat slowly" and was about to leave, but was stopped by Pei Yunying.

"Sister," Pei Yunying said with a smile, "We just went to Yang Weng's house to see it, and it was burned very thoroughly."

"Isn't that right?" The woman stood still and sighed, "We were a good family and everything is gone."

"How did Yang Weng's house catch fire? How come no one noticed it at the time?"

The woman curled her lips and said, "How did it happen? It makes me laugh when I talk about it. Everyone was working in the tea garden, and it was already too late when we found out."

"Could someone set the fire on fire..."

As soon as these words came out, the woman was startled and said repeatedly: "It's hard to say this. We are all ordinary people. Who wants to set Yang Weng's family on fire? Don't say these words again. Don't spread the word." We are going to suffer too!" After saying this, as if he was taboo about something, he hurried out of the yard holding the empty wooden tray.

The yard became quiet again.

Pei Yunying poured tea into Lu Lu's empty tea bowl and said calmly: "Dr. Lu, do you understand?"

Lu Chen didn't speak.

The woman looked warm and hospitable just now, but after saying a few words, Pei Yunying was so frightened that she ran away, obviously keeping silent about the Yang family.

"It has been five years since the Yang family's incident, and everything is calm in Mangming Township." Pei Yunying pushed the filled tea bowl in front of Lu Huan, "If Dr. Lu wants to use the Huamei case to deal with the Qi family, he can give up now."

Lu Yan was silent.

Not to mention that the Qi family's fire had burned all the evidence, and not to mention that the Yang family had been exterminated and no one was left alive. Just five years have passed, and there has not been any news about the Yang family's case, which is enough. This shows that even if the neighbors in Mangming Township knew that there might be something fishy about this matter, no one would dare to investigate in depth, and no one would dare to speak out for the Yang family.

The fear of "mean people" towards "noble people" seems to be innately engraved in their bones.

Lu Chen now somewhat understood why Pei Yunying had to take her on this trip.

He wanted her to see with her own eyes the people's fear of the "powerful" and to understand the cruelty of the facts. It was not that he was exaggerating between the lines, but that revenge was indeed difficult to achieve.

"No matter how much the bid is, no one dares to speak, no one dares to speak."

Pei Yunying looked at her and his expression became calm.

"Girl," he said calmly: "In the future, you will face more and more enemies, and they will become stronger and stronger. This is no joke."

Hearing this, Lu Zhen smiled instead.

She nodded and said in a gentle voice: "Thank you, Mr. Pei, for reminding me. I will take care of it."

"What are you going to do, poison Qi Yutai?"

"I don't need to worry about that, sir."

He ignored Lu Zhuo's alienation and smiled nonchalantly: "The Qi family is no better than the Ke Fan family. If you kill Qi Yutai, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape unscathed."

"But at least he's dead, right?"

Pei Yunying was startled.

Lu Yan said calmly: "I will die anyway. If you offend a dying person in the future, you should be more lenient."

Pei Yunying frowned slightly.

She always kept talking about death, looking very indifferent, as if she didn't care about her own life.

Are you confident, or are you determined to die?

Lu Yan didn't pay attention to what he was thinking. He just took off his veil, picked up a piece of crispy sugar cake with bamboo chopsticks, and said, "My lord, you'd better eat quickly. The food will be cold later."

I don't want to continue like this.

Pei Yunying paused for a moment, said nothing, and then picked up the chopsticks.

Lu Yan had already taken a bite of the crispy sugar cookie.

The crispy sugar biscuits that are just out of the pan are easy to burn your mouth, but they have been left to dry for a while. When you bite into them, the sweet aroma of sesame and brown sugar fills your tongue. It is a very happy taste.

Pei Yunying looked at her thoughtfully.

He asked: "Doctor Lu like sweets very much?"

When he was at Renxin Medical Center before, Lu Huan had given him a bamboo tube of ginger honey water that was so sweet that it seemed to be indistinguishable from other tastes. He couldn't stand even a small banquet, and she looked like But I'm used to it.

It seemed that several times when he went to Renxin Medical Center, he saw sweet syrup on the table in the Renxin Medical Center... and lotus cakes. Lu Yan's taste was extremely sweet.

Lu Zhen paused and said "hmm".

He nodded: "That's it."

Nothing more was said.

The meal was very good.

Farm food is always affordable and has more natural flavor than the exquisite food in restaurants in Shengjing City. After the two of them finished their meal, Qing Feng also finished eating. The three of them returned to the entrance of the tea garden where they first arrived. Qing Feng brought the carriage and the three of them went down the mountain together.

At this time, the sun was gradually setting in the west, and the entire Top Mountain was not as green as when it came here. It was illuminated by the red clouds and glowed with a layer of blood. Along the way, two egrets flew by the lake and gradually disappeared into the distant mountains.

The road down the mountain is always easier than the road up the mountain. When the carriage passed the foot of the mountain, the sun had just set, and the lanterns at the door of the people at the foot of the mountain were lit.

There was a faint noise of people outside the carriage. Lu Zhu opened the curtain and saw a group of people lining up at the entrance of a temple on the long street where the carriage and horses were traveling. There was a porridge stall at the front. Several people wearing A man who looked like a servant in Zaoyi was scooping out rice porridge from an iron pot and placing it in the bowls held by those waiting in line.

This group of people were all in ragged clothes, with sallow complexion and thin skin. Lu Zhuo looked at it for a moment and suddenly realized that they were giving out porridge?

During the epidemic in Changwu County, at the beginning, there were well-meaning wealthy businessmen giving porridge on the streets.

"That's the people from the Grand Master's Mansion who are rescuing the hungry." Pei Yunying's voice came from beside him.

"Grand Master's Mansion?" Lu Zhu suddenly turned around.

Pei Yunying leaned against the carriage and glanced at the lively scene outside. She said in a very calm voice: "You should know that Mr. Qi Qing has a son."

Lu Xu frowned.

Miao Liangfang once told her that Qi Qing once had two wives. His first wife had been married to him for many years without getting pregnant, and she did not leave a son or a daughter until she died of illness. However, the step-brother he married later gave birth to a pair of children, Qi Yutai and Qi Huaying.

But what does this have to do with Qi Qing’s porridge?

Pei Yunying curled her lips and said, "Qi Qing has been childless for many years. A master did a fortune-telling for him and said that his ancestors had sinned deeply and asked him to give more charity and be kind."

There was a smile on his lips, but his eyes were a bit mocking: "Later, Qi Qing helped the hungry people every year, invited eminent monks to build ashrams, build bridges and roads, and after marrying his stepmother, he had a son and a daughter."

"Later on, our Grand Master Qi began to believe in fate and cause and effect."

He said it teasingly, but Lu Zhu only felt it was ridiculous when he heard it.

If Qi Qing really believed in fate and karma, how could he kill the Lu family and the Yang family. If there is really reincarnation of cause and effect in the world, can it be that just because the Qi family distributes a few bowls of porridge and does a few ashrams, the sin of the Qi family's annihilation can be offset?

How ridiculous.

Pei Yunying glanced at her: "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that the reason why the Taishi Mansion is like this is simply because it believes that 'people can be deceived, but gods and Buddhas cannot be deceived'."

"But he was wrong."

Lu Chen said coldly: "People are the ones who cannot be bullied the most."