After a while, Ning Que stopped pressing down. He removed the towel and carefully examined the back of Zhang Yiqi's head. He used his fingers to push aside the hair and found that the wound where the nail had entered the skull had shrunk to a very small extent. The tiny blood spots had also solidified. If the coroner did not deliberately look for it with a light source, it would be extremely difficult to find.
He looked down at the towel in his hand and found that there was a blood stain the size of a copper coin in the middle of the snow-white towel. It had turned black and looked like a rotten wintersweet.
Strangely, Zhang Yiqi did not die immediately. Instead, he struggled and convulsed on the short bed in pain. He wanted to howl in pain, but his voice was hoarse and weak. His eyeballs kept rolling upwards, revealing most of the white of his eyes. It was a horrifying sight.
He felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and thought that Ning Que had hit him with a stick. He did not know what was actually happening. If he knew that there was a nail in his head, he would probably be scared to death.
"Since you are ordered to do so, you should be prepared to die for others. But … if you can run to your own carriage, perhaps I can spare your life. "
After saying this, Ning Que untied the towel tied around his limbs and threw it into the bucket beside him. Then, he disappeared into the approaching night.
When a person was on the brink of death, any words he heard would be like the last straw in the raging Yellow River. He would subconsciously do as the person said. Moreover, the censor was in so much pain that he could not think clearly. Even if he still had a little bit of rationality left in him, it would only be an instinctive reaction. Regardless of whether the cruel young man would let him go or not, he would definitely run to his own carriage to be safe.
Ning Que stood in the shadow of the bamboo not far from the side door and looked over. He realized that it was later than expected and could not help but frown.
Just as he was worrying, he saw the censor, Zhang Yiqi, stumbling out of the side door. He should have been naked, but he did not know when he had put on more clothes. His body trembled violently and his eyes were unfocused. He tried his best to open his mouth to shout but no words came out. He looked like a drunkard, but more like a fish that was about to die of thirst.
Outside the side door, the attendant beside the carriage had an anxious look on his face. He did not notice anything strange at all and shouted, "Master, I heard that Madam has been confirmed and knows that you are here. She will bring those women here to make trouble. Let's go quickly!"
Zhang Yiqi rushed over, his footsteps unsteady. Just as he was about to reach the carriage, he couldn't hold on for the last few steps and directly fell to the ground. He reached out his trembling hand in despair, wanting to grab the clothes of the attendant. The eyebrows on his ashen face twitched, extremely distorted and ugly.
Perhaps it was this frightening expression that scared the horse out of its wits. With a loud crash, the carriage collapsed!
The trunk of the carriage broke apart like building blocks, and like a small mountain, Zhang Yiqi was directly crushed under it!
As the dust settled, the few attendants and guards stood beside the broken carriage like fools. They looked at their master, whose face was bleeding profusely. It was obvious that he was no longer breathing. They did not understand what had happened.
Yes, we know that Madam is indeed ferocious. Master, you have drunk a lot of wine today, which magnified your fear. When you heard our shouts, you panicked and ran a little faster. But you … how could you just crash into the carriage! And how could this carriage be so fragile that it collapsed with just one crash!
…
…
The commotion at the side door had already alerted the hatchet men and stewards of the House of Red Sleeves. They surrounded the carriage with a pale face. They ignored the inarticulate explanation of the attendants and guards who were still panic-stricken. They directly restrained everyone present and sent someone to inform the Chang 'an Local Government.
The onlookers did not know who the fat old man who was crushed to death by the carriage was. They only thought that he was an unlucky and pitiful whoremaster. They all pointed at him and talked about him. However, how could the people of the House of Red Sleeves not know his identity? A censor just died in front of their own brothel. How could they explain it?
The censor, Zhang Yiqi, became the first official in the history of the Tang Empire to board a carriage in a panic because he was afraid of his ferocious wife. Unfortunately, the horse was spooked and died under the carriage.
As the censor ran for the last time in his life, the real culprit, Ning Que, stood in the shadows and clenched his fists. He was silently cheering for the censor in his heart.
Using a sharp blade to pierce through the cerebellum would give him a very short buffer time. He had tried it many times when he was learning how to kill a bison from the barbarian swordsmen in the grassland. However, this was the first time he used it on a human. He did not know how long the censor, who was extremely weak, could last. It was a small gamble. It was not a problem for him if the horse spooked the carriage.
"Indeed, we should not underestimate the strong willpower of the officials who are afraid of death."
Looking at the censor who had finally managed to run to the side of the horse carriage and was buried under a large pile of tattered wooden cloth, Ning Que sighed silently. He quickly turned around and left, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the white towel in his hand.
This was the first time he killed someone in Chang 'an City. It was inevitable that he was a little nervous. However, at this moment, he was thinking more about the fact that Zhang Yiqi was wearing a coat when he ran out. At such a critical moment, the censor still did not want anyone to see his naked body. He was very concerned about his reputation. He was indeed a model of morality and a beast in human clothing.
At this time, the stewards in the front and backyard of the House of Red Sleeves had already received the news. Many pairs of eyes were trying to find out if there was anything suspicious. Of course, Ning Que would not choose to leave at this time. He went along the stream to the courtyard of another girl he was familiar with and chatted with her, who had recently come to visit relatives for a few days. The girl was very happy to see him, probably because she was bored. Ning Que was also very happy. He talked with her with a face full of smiles and occasionally wiped his lips with the white towel in his hand that had dark plum blossoms hidden inside.
…
…
The night shrouded the Lin 47th Street. On the bed in the backyard of the Old Brush Pen Shop, the master and the servant were talking about what had happened. The basin beside the bed was filled with the burned towel.
Sangsang wrapped the quilt tightly on the other side of the bed. She asked curiously, "If this is called forging a crime scene, why didn't they just forge it into the wind on horseback?"
Ning Que asked in surprise, "Do you know what wind on horseback is?"
"No. I've heard you tell me stories when I was a child."
"I've told you such stories? Well, maybe I've forgotten. "
"If the censor got wind on horseback in the brothel, how could that madam not continue to make trouble? How could the imperial court not investigate? Once the real experts in the Ministry of Penalty are alerted, I don't have much confidence. "
"Therefore, our most important goal is to let the Chang 'an Local Government believe that this is a traffic accident. Only a traffic accident will not alert the imperial court. But more importantly, this conclusion is the easiest for the Chang' an Local Government to force the censor to shut up."
Sangsang was quiet for a long time. Then she said in a low and shy voice, "It's very complicated. I don't quite understand. Young master, you really think about many things."
"So you always don't think about things?" Ning Que used Mistress Jian's method to deal with him. He said resentfully, "If you don't think about things, you will become more and more stupid."
Sangsang answered frankly, "She's a girl. It's normal for her to be a little stupid. Don't people say that stupid girls are stupid girls?"
Ning Que was speechless. After a moment of silence, he asked with concern, "Are you tired of sending letters today? Did anyone in the Zhang's Mansion see you? "
"I'm fine." Sangsang answered.
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