The female envoy led Nan Yi, who had changed into plain clothes, to the entrance of the mourning hall.
"Young Madam, you will stay here overnight."
Nan Yi looked inside and saw white flags all over the courtyard swaying in the wind.
"Just me?"
"Aunt Qiao was supposed to be together, but she was so sad that she fainted, and the eldest son has no heirs. You can only stay here alone tonight."
The female envoy bowed and left, and Nan Yi walked to the courtyard calmly. After walking a few steps, she saw someone standing in the mourning hall.
He stood in front of the coffin, erect and silent.
The white flags were swaying, and the figure of the man could not be seen clearly in the wind.
Scholar-bureaucrat - this word suddenly came to Nan Yi's mind without any clue.
She had not met many scholar-bureaucrats, but she only heard Zhang Yuehui describe it. In her heart, it represented the most noble person in the world, as bright as the moon in the sky.
"Brother."
He spoke in a low voice, and Nan Yi recognized the voice as Xie Queshan. She regretted her stupidity for how she dared to associate the scholar-bureaucrat with this traitor.
"My first bow was given to me by you. You said that a scholar is useless. A scholar-official must first have the ability to protect himself before he can open his mouth to speak for the world... Then I went to the battlefield and surrendered Daqi. . I want to ask you, after all these years, do you regret letting me become that person?"
It was the first time that Nan Yi heard Xie Queshan speak in such a tone. He was obviously calm and not regretful, but there was some rarely exposed emotion hidden in his tone, as if he was reminiscing or surrendering. , as if a wanderer who had been away from home for many years came back, but hesitated for a moment outside the door frame.
Nan Yi couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. She was suddenly curious, how did he change from a son of aristocratic family to a traitor in these years?
A gust of wind blew through the hall, raising white flags and blocking Nan Yi's sight. When the wind fell, the man turned back at some point and looked at her across the white space in the courtyard.
At this moment, his whole body seemed to soften, and his eyes were not so scary.
"come over."
Nan Yi hesitated for a moment, but then moved over obediently. Her eyes suddenly glanced at the spiritual tablet on the altar table, and she suddenly felt that there were three words on it that looked familiar.
It reads: The spiritual plaque of my late husband Xie Hengzai. Nan Yi recognized the character Xie. There were this character everywhere in Wangxuewu. It was not difficult to guess that the last two characters should be his name.
I've obviously seen it somewhere...
Xie Queshan followed Nan Yi's gaze and remained calm.
"His name is Xie Hengzai. You should have seen this name before."
Nan Yi remembered that these three words were on the silk letter she wrote in the same way.
Nan Yi immediately guessed the general idea, which meant that Xie Heng was involved in the plan to support King Ling'an again, and he was probably the one who made the plan. This is not difficult to guess. The Xie family in Lidu Prefecture was one of the most prominent families in the Yu Dynasty, and it had absolute influence in Lidu Prefecture.
No, how did Xie Queshan know that she had seen this name?
Nan Yi looked at Xie Queshan in fear.
Xie Queshan took out the silk letter from his sleeve and unfolded it in front of Nan Yi.
Nan Yi tried to calm down and said, "Sir, I am illiterate."
The head of Xieque Mountain read out: "On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xie Heng will marry the Qin family in Luyang City. At that time, the wedding team will pass through the Hugui Mountain Valley to meet His Royal Highness King Ling'an. Our army can be in the valley. Set up an ambush and catch the turtle in the jar."
Nan Yi's mouth opened wide. She thought she was just a passerby, but she didn't expect that she was already a part of the situation.
"Did you spread this news?"
Since he came to ask for help, it means that King Ling'an did not show up. Nan Yi felt inexplicably relieved.
"Sir, why do you ask that? I am just an illiterate little beggar, and there is no way Pang Yu would tell me such important news."
"Have you ever heard of the Privy Council?"
Nan Yi shook his head blankly.
"A spy is like Bingzhu walking at night. It is the place where the imperial court trains spies. Bingzhusi's dark network is like the river network all over the Central Plains. It is everywhere. A piece of news will flow to you quietly like water. Anywhere you want it to go - did Pang Yu ask you to go somewhere and what message did you send?"
"No." Nan Yi denied.
Xie Queshan smiled, lowered his eyes and twisted a piece of pastry on the dessert plate - Nan Yi's eyes widened, it turned out to be a piece of plum blossom-shaped clear sand dumpling!
Xie Queshan handed the Chengsha dumpling to her mouth: "Five-petal plum blossoms are much easier to make, while six-petal plum blossoms will easily expose the filling when steamed into cakes."
Nan Yi's hands and feet were frozen in place with cold hands. Seeing that she didn't open her mouth, Xie Queshan grabbed her chin and forced her to open her mouth and swallow the whole cake.
Nan Yi's face turned red from being choked, and she coughed violently before she recovered. She looked at Xie Queshan with lingering fear.
"You know everything...why don't you kill me first?"
"Kill you?" Xie Queshan sneered, "I said I would make you irrecoverable, how could I let you die so easily?"
Nan Yi was stunned, a layer of cold sweat forming on his back. She had no doubt about what Xie Queshan said. She knelt down with a plop, grabbed Xie Queshan's sleeves and begged for mercy. If she doesn't ask for help, she will have no room at all. She doesn't have gold at her knees, so it's always right to kneel down and ask for help first.
"Sir, the villain is just a common man who wants to survive. I was just accidentally involved in some things, but I never meant to ruin the master's plan. I beg you to be merciful and spare my life... "
"Do you like asking for help?" Xie Queshan was indifferent.
Nan Yi was stunned by the question, tears stopped in her eyes.
"Did you know," Xie Queshan narrated calmly, "when the old capital was captured, all the women from the clan were kidnapped to Daqi and became maids, concubines, and military prostitutes. Those women were nobler and more valuable than you. They are also more beautiful and pitiful. They also kneel on the ground like this, begging others to show their favor... After they live for a moment longer, they die even more miserably. Because begging for help will only make people want to play with you more."
When he said the last sentence, his tone suddenly turned cold, making Nan Yi's hair stand on end.
Xie Queshan raised his hand to support her chin and wiped away the tears on her face with his fingertips. The movement was not heavy, but she could clearly feel the rough calluses on his hands. He smiled condescendingly.
"Since you escaped to the Xie family, you can be my eldest sister-in-law. Things in the family are much more interesting than you think."
The pain left behind when the calluses rub against my face is both a relief and a warning.
Xie Queshan threw her back to the ground, then stood up and left.
Nan Yi sat on the ground completely helpless, staring blankly at Xie Queshan's back. Cold sweat had soaked her clothes.
What's the meaning? What other torture tricks does he have? Interesting things about the family...what do you mean?
……
Xie Queshan walked out of the mourning hall, and He Ping, who was waiting outside the door, followed him and walked to the courtyard covered bridge. Xie Queshan suddenly stopped and turned to ask He Ping.
"My aunt died a few years ago, and my wife is getting older. Go and find out who is in charge of the Xie family's backyard now. Find another opportunity and tell her about the replacement marriage of the Qin family's illegitimate daughter."
He Ping paused, seeming to be thinking about his master's intention, but he couldn't figure it out for a moment, but all his master's actions had their own magical purposes, so there was no need to go into details. He Ping cupped his hands and accepted the order: "Yes."
