The dusk disappeared, and the drizzle came again.
A middle-aged official with a thin face walked on the rainy street with an umbrella in his hand. Judging from the color of his official uniform, his rank was not low, but there were no attendants beside him. There was only a cold-looking general following him silently.
The soldiers and lower-level officials at the West City Gate stood quietly under the eaves. Their eyes followed the footsteps of the two officials in the street. No one stepped forward, and no one showed a surprised expression.
The middle-aged official was the City Gate Officer Huang Xing, who was responsible for the opening and closing of all the gates in Chang 'an and the imperial city. The general following him was Yu Shuizhu, a deputy general of the City Gate Army.
Huang Xing was known for his diligence and incorruptibility. Ever since he took over the position of the City Gate Officer, he would choose a city gate to patrol every morning and evening. Other than Yu Shui Zhu, he did not bring any subordinate officials with him. He was light and unaccompanied, rain or shine, and there was not a day that he did not do this.
The people at the city gates of Chang 'an were already used to the scene in front of them. They could only leave after the two sirs finished patrolling. This had become an unwritten rule.
According to the rules of the past years, the City Gate Officer Huang Xing patrolled the West City Gate today.
After patrolling the west gate, Huang Xing confirmed that there were no problems and nodded his head. General Yu Shuizhu turned his head to look at the nervous soldiers and officials under the eaves and waved his hand coldly. Everyone knew that today was finally over. With relaxed expressions, they dispersed and returned to their homes.
Standing on the rainy street outside the government office of the West City Gate, Huang Xing tilted his umbrella and looked up at the drizzle. He felt his legs were a little tired and said bitterly, "I'm old after all."
Yu Shuizhu said, "Your Excellency can still serve the imperial court for another 30 years."
Huang Xing asked, "You've accompanied me to patrol the city gates every day and returned home at night every day. My sister-in-law has long been dissatisfied. You've really worked hard."
Yu Shuizhu replied after a moment of silence, "My life is given by you, Your Excellency. Not to mention accompanying you to the nine city gates of Chang 'an, it's natural even if I die."
Today, these two famous honest officials in Chang 'an City used to be comrades in the military camp. Their fates had been changed by a tragedy and were now closely linked.
If Huang Xing had not made up his mind to take Yu Shuizhu to Prince Li Peiyan, he might have died along with that general. Even if he did not die, he would have been neglected by the imperial court. Without Prince Li Peiyan's protection, he would not have had the hard work and honor of patrolling the gate of Chang 'an.
Unfortunately, they were still affected by that incident in the past. Although the two of them were diligent and incorruptible, they had reached the end of their official and military positions. It would be difficult for them to be promoted any further, but at least they had glory, splendor, and wealth.
Huang Xing looked at the city of Chang 'an in the drizzle. After a long silence, he suddenly said with emotion, "When we followed the general back to Chang' an, we seemed to have entered the west gate."
Yu Shuizhu's expression turned solemn.
Every day, when the two of them patrolled the city gates at dawn and dusk, they talked about the affairs of the manors and the interesting matters of the court. They also reminisced about their military careers, but they never mentioned that general.
That was because the two of them did not want to remember the tragedy and the role they played in it. Maybe it was because of guilt, or maybe it was because of fear.
Yu Shuizhu did not understand why His Excellency would suddenly feel this way today. He said in a low voice, "According to the imperial court's rules, they should have entered the city from the east gate. Later, this incident was used as evidence."
Huang Xing sighed and did not speak again.
The rain was getting heavier in the twilight. The pedestrians had already returned home. The subordinate officials of the city gate department had probably returned to their warm manors. The soldiers on night duty were hiding at the city gate or in the duty room. The wet street was empty and quiet. Only the sound of the rain accompanied the two of them as they silently recalled the past.
Two carriages were waiting silently at the two ends of the rainy street. They were sent by their manors. The stewards in the mansion had long been used to the rule of the adults and did not come to urge them.
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded on the rainy street. The footsteps were very soft and stable. If one listened carefully, they could almost hear the subtle sound of boots stepping on puddles.
It was a young man dressed in black with a black umbrella on his back.
Strangely, the young man did not hold an umbrella. He let the rain fall on him. His clothes had long been soaked and the rain slid down a few strands of hair hanging down from his forehead.
Huang Xing looked at the young man in black who was walking towards them and slowly raised his eyebrows.
He only felt that the drenched young man in black was a little strange. He did not sense any dangerous aura and he did not think that anything would happen.
That was because they were in Chang 'an, a city with good security. They were at the heavily guarded West City Gate. Regardless of whether they were daring female soldiers or powerful cultivators, they would all become humble and calm in the face of the Tang Empire's majesty and powerful military power.
Indeed, nothing happened.
When the young man walked past the two, he noticed the official robes Huang Xing wore and the light armor Yu Shuizhu wore. He bowed and then walked out of the long street.
Huang Xing noticed that when the black-clothed young man bowed, the expression on his face was not one of reverence, but of very complicated emotions. He smiled and said, "We find it strange that this young man is drenched in the rain. Presumably, he will also find it strange when he sees us, two officials standing in the rain, silent."
Yu Shuizhu said, "That makes sense. Then let's go back."
Huang Xing suddenly felt that there seemed to be something in his hand. He looked down and saw that there was a piece of paper in his palm.
He did not read what was written on the paper. Instead, he turned around and looked behind him. He saw that the young man in black had long disappeared from the street.
Yu Shuizhu also noticed this. He suddenly raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice, "This person is amazing to be able to quietly put a piece of paper in the hands of Your Excellency."
Huang Xing was silent for a moment and opened the piece of paper in his palm.
The piece of paper was slightly yellow. It seemed very ordinary but also very unusual. The writing on it was probably written with cinnabar mixed with some kind of material. It was dark red like blood.
There were some lines drawn on the top of the yellowish piece of paper. Those lines combined looked like a word, but neither Huang Xing nor Yu Shuizhu could recognize what it was.
They could recognize the words at the bottom of the piece of paper because they were normal words.
"I came from the General's Mansion to take your lives."
The expressions of the two changed dramatically. Their expressions were extremely gloomy as if the night was about to rain. Huang Xing's fingers holding the piece of paper trembled slightly.
The words "General's Mansion" on the yellowish piece of paper evoked the deepest memories buried in their hearts. Those bloody memories had long been blurred. Today, Huang Xing suddenly sighed while looking at Chang 'an City in the rain. It reminded them of something, and then this piece of paper brought all those memories back.
The two were very clear that the General on the piece of paper referred not to the Defender-general of the State Xu Shi or the Defender-general of the Military Xia Hou, but Xuanwei General Lin Guangyuan.
Huang Xing sighed and said, "Just now I suddenly sighed. It was indeed a sign of something."
Yu Shuizhu said solemnly, "I'll go to the Prince's Mansion."
Huang Xing nodded.
The two separated in the middle of the rainy street and walked to the horse carriage at the other end of the street with umbrellas in their hands.
Their boots stepped on the puddles in the street, making splashing sounds.
In the beginning, the rhythm of the sound was still very calm and steady.
Then the footsteps on the rainy street became faster and more urgent.
This proved that their true feelings at this time were not as relaxed as they seemed.
Yu Shuizhu walked quickly with the umbrella in his hands. The expression on his face became colder and more serious. The fear in his heart was replaced by anger. He just wanted to quickly report to His Highness that there were indeed fish that had escaped the net.
The footsteps suddenly became slightly messy.
His left foot stepped into a puddle, and the splashing sound became longer and more dull.
Because he could no longer lift his foot.
His foot fell into the puddle.
It was as if there was an invisible, sharp thread on the street floor, cutting through the pants on his leg, cutting through his flesh, cutting through his bones, causing his feet to fall off.
It wasn't a single invisible sharp thread, but countless invisible sharp threads.
Yu Shuizhu's knee broke in the middle, and then his whole thigh.
Then the light armor on his body was cut into countless pieces.
He was cut into countless pieces of fresh meat.
Like ripe fruits, they fell from the sky one after another and smashed into the rainwater, making pitter-patter sounds.
…
…
Huang Xing held an oil-paper umbrella and rushed to the horse carriage at the end of the street in the rain.
The oil-paper umbrella in his hand was very old, and his face was very pale.
He did not want to die.
Although his oil-paper umbrella was very old, and the whole Chang 'an City thought that he was very clean, in fact, he had taken a lot of money over the years. He wanted to live and enjoy everything that the money brought.
Although it was hard to patrol the city gate every day, he actually enjoyed the fearful looks of his subordinates and the admiring looks of the people. He wanted to live and continue to enjoy all of this.
He thought that he was a scenery in Chang 'an City, and he wanted to live for a long time.
At this moment, he heard splashing sounds behind him.
The splashing sound of heavy pieces of meat falling into the puddles was different from the splashing sound of official boots stepping into the puddles. It was very clear in the sound of the falling rain.
Huang Xing did not look back. He did not dare to look back.
His hand holding the oil-paper umbrella began to tremble. Looking at the horse carriage not far away and the steward bowing respectfully by the side of the carriage, his pale face revealed a look of despair.
The yellowish note in his hand had been soaked by the rain and sweat.
Suddenly, a bright flame spurted out from his hand.
Another wisp of flame spewed out from his official robe.
Another wisp of flame shot out from the wrinkles on his face, which already showed that he was old.
Countless flames spurted out from the deepest part of his body, instantly melting his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, skin, fat, muscles, and bones, burning everything.
…
…
The long street in the rainy night was dark and wet.
The man under the umbrella was burning.
After a moment, the oil-paper umbrella fell from the sky and landed on the rainy street.
Huang Xing, who was under the umbrella, had already turned into ashes without a sound.
The umbrella slowly rolled in the puddles, its handle slightly scorched.
…
…
In an alley not far away, Ning Que stood quietly in the rain.
He did not know whether it was because of the violent emotional fluctuations or the cold spring rain, but his face was a little pale and he looked a little tired.
…
…
(One chapter today, three chapters tomorrow.) (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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