The bright moonlight shone down from the sky, bringing with it a hint of red. Pei Zi Yun could still smell the scent of blood on his body. From time to time, he would urge his horse to run as fast as he could towards the county town.
At a fork in the road, he could reach Peach Blossom Origins Monastery. Looking at it from afar, Ye Su'er's face appeared in his mind. He did not wish for Peach Blossom Origins Monastery to do such a thing, but now was not the time to be calculative. He rode his horse towards the city.
In the city, Tang Zhen had just been thrown out of a brothel. An ox-cart was waiting for him by the side of the road.
Seeing his Young Master rushing out in a drunken state, the boy servant felt his heart ache. Ever since his Young Master had participated in a scholarly meeting, he had gotten into such a state. His Old Master did not care, but his Old Master's heart ached. From time to time, he would try to persuade his Young Master.
The ox-cart rumbled along the streets of the city.
The ox-cart stopped at the entrance and climbed up the steps. The boy servant alighted and knocked on the door. A voice came from inside, "Who is it?"
"Young Master is back, open the door." The boy servant shouted.
"Young Master, which Young Master?" The gatekeeper stuck his head out.
"Of course it's Young Master Tang Zhen. Young Master is at the door, open the door." The boy servant shouted.
"Old Master said that it's Tang Zhen who did such a shameful thing and was stripped of his Scholarly title. How dare he come back? He crawled in through the hole. " The gatekeeper frowned as he spoke. He then yawned and went back to sleep. He did not care about the boy servant knocking on the door.
"Brother Hu, please go through the back door. I will ask Granny Hu to open the door." The boy servant spoke to the ox-cart driver as the ox-cart arrived at the back door. The boy servant opened the curtains and shouted, "Young Master, Young Master?"
Tang Zhen was still asleep in the ox-cart. His face was pale, and he looked haggard. In his dreams, he would mumble, "Don't catch me, I was framed."
As he mumbled, his eyebrows were furrowed.
"You can escape the wrongs of heaven, but you cannot escape the wrongs of yourself." The boy servant was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and had accompanied his Young Master to read many books. At this point, his voice was filled with sorrow, as though he was in a bad mood.
Seeing his Young Master turn from a few months ago into this state, he almost cried. He lowered the curtains and knocked on the door, "Granny Hu, granny Hu, open the door."
After a while, an old voice answered, "Coming, coming. Who is it, shouting at the door in the middle of the night?"
"Granny Hu, it's me. Young Master was drunk, so I called an ox cart to bring him back. Granny Hu, please open the door."
"Young Master, you're back. I'm here to open the door. Please wait a moment." After a while, an old woman in her fifties opened the door. With the help of the moonlight, one could see clearly that there was an ox cart and a servant waiting at the back door. This servant was the little servant beside Tang Zhen.
The old woman opened the door and asked, "Where is the young master? Quickly send Young Master back to his room. Old Master lost his temper again when he didn't see Young Master tonight! "
This old woman was Granny Hu.
"Yes, the master also told the gatekeeper not to come in. That's why I knocked on the back door." In fact, the little servant was angry in his heart. This was the master's angry words. How could the gatekeeper take it seriously?
At this point, he raised his head and looked at the driver, "Brother Hu, please help me carry Young Master. I'm still young and can't carry him by myself."
The driver looked at the servant and sighed deeply. He then jumped down from the cart and helped the drunk Tang Zhen into the courtyard. He then placed him on the bed to rest.
That night, Pei Zi Yun crossed the city walls and entered the city. The streets of the county were quiet. The lights in the houses had already been extinguished. Some houses were still lit, but the lights were dim. On the streets and alleys, the night watchman carried a small lantern and struck a gong. Everything was quiet. Occasionally, there would be a constable patrolling the streets with a cup of tea.
Pei Zi Yun walked stealthily along the narrow alleys. Dogs were startled and barked, but he didn't care. As long as the dogs didn't stop, no one would go out to check on them. They all thought it was the night watchman.
This was Tang Zhen's house. Strictly speaking, Tang Zhen's ancestral home was in the countryside. However, he lived in the county. After the examinations, he had invited Pei Zi Yun to his house for tea and knew where it was.
The alleys in the county were paved with bluestone, or some were paved with pebbles the size of a fist. As he walked, his footsteps echoed in the alleys.
With the moonlight, he didn't have to worry about not being able to see his way at night. Just as he was about to step out of the alley, he saw an ox-cart galloping past. Pei Zi Yun hid in the shadows and looked around. It was extremely quiet. Not far away, there was a single lantern which gave off a faint glow.
This was strange. Why would there be an ox-cart in the middle of the night?
When the ox-cart had passed, there were also bailiffs patrolling the area. Pei Zi Yun then made his way to the backyard and climbed over the wall to enter the Zhang family's mansion.
The yard was extremely quiet. Under the moonlight, he could see a rock garden. Pei Zi Yun laughed silently as he walked along the corridor. All of a sudden, he saw a servant walking out from the kitchen. He was holding something in his hands and sighed, "Young Master has removed his Scholarly Title. These days, he has been so dispirited. Even the old master doesn't want to see him anymore."
When Pei Zi Yun heard this, he realized that this servant seemed to know where Tang Zhen was. He then followed after him. Before long, he saw a room lit up and the servant entered.
Pei Zi Yun followed behind and poked a peephole through the window. What entered his eyes was the candlelight. He saw a drunk man spouting nonsense inside the room.
When the servant entered, he saw a bowl of soup. He was shouting for Tang Zhen to drink it, but Tang Zhen was still talking nonsense. Just as the servant was about to feed him, Tang Zhen turned around and smashed the bowl. A loud 'pa' sound was heard as the soup spilled onto the servant's body, splattering all over him.
The bowl fell to the ground. The servant sighed deeply and turned around to change his clothes. As soon as he turned around, he felt a blow on his neck and fainted.
Pei Zi Yun gently supported the servant and placed him by the side. He then turned around and paused.
Someone's voice rang out from within the room. It was accompanied by a cough, "Brother Pei, did you come here with a sword tonight to kill me? It's true that I wanted to harm you. Damn it. If you want my life, brother Pei, go ahead and take it. Don't implicate others. Anyway, even if I don't die by your hands, I won't live for long. "
Tang Zhen sat up. His eyes had been drinking too much these past few days, and had turned blue. His hair was a mess, as if he hadn't washed up in a long time. His white robes were dirty.
He looked like a gentleman, calm and composed. He had lost his composure and was sitting upright, ready to be killed.
Pei Zi Yun looked at Tang Zhen and asked, "You're a smart person. You've been so dispirited these past few days, you know that you don't have much time left, right?"
Seeing that Tang Zhen wasn't speaking, Pei Zi Yun didn't mind. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He didn't drink it, but just took a whiff, "You're wrong. If I wanted to kill you, I would've done so long ago."
"Tonight, I'm not here to talk nonsense with you. I just want to ask you one thing. Do you still want to be an Imperial Scholar?"
Hearing these words, Tang Zhen's eyes lit up for a moment before dimming again. He got up from his bed, no longer looking as drunk as before. He sat down at one side and poured himself a cup of tea.
The tea was cold, coarse and bitter. After drinking it, he frowned and laughed maniacally. After laughing for some time, he said, "Of course I want to. How could I not want to? These days, I've been thinking so much that I'm going crazy."
"But how do I turn this around? Under the watchful eyes of so many people, how can I change my mind? Now that I've committed such a crime, there's no turning back. " Tang Zhen's eyes were filled with despair, "Zhang Jie Yu will not let me off. Perhaps before long, I'll fall into the water and die!"
Pei Zi Yun placed his hand on the table and leaned towards Tang Zhen, "Brother Tang, now you know how big of a crime you've committed. If I had fallen for it, I would be in a worse state than you are now."
"Your Tang family is after all an aristocrat. At most, you'll fall into the water and die. Your Tang family is fine, you still have your younger brother. But if something were to happen to me, what would happen to my Pei family? What would happen to my mother? "
Tang Zhen was silent for some time before he raised his head. His eyes were bright and clear, "Brother Pei, has something big happened?"
"You're right. Tonight, Zhang Jie Yu brought the monks from Silver Dragon Temple and the men from the Luo Gang to kill me. I've killed them all." Pei Zi Yun said coldly, "Now that Holy Jail Sect has no leader in Dong An Prefecture, I have a plan. It might not be able to help you regain your status, but it might be able to help you regain your qualifications for the imperial examinations. Do you want to do it?"
Tang Zhen looked at Pei Zi Yun. Pei Zi Yun's clothes were covered in dust, and there were traces of blood on his body. The stench of blood permeated the air. Tang Zhen hesitated for some time before standing up and pacing around. He then made up his mind and gritted his teeth, "I'll do it. Brother Pei, just tell me what to do."
Pei Zi Yun leaned close to Tang Zhen's ear and whispered into it. Tang Zhen nodded his head from time to time, and his eyes were filled with vigor.
County City
Early in the morning, little birds chirped and jumped on the branches of trees from time to time. An old man was sprinkling water on the street to sweep the road. At the entrance of the county town, two soldiers were standing lazily at the city gate, yawning. A few pedestrians were passing by in front of them.
All of a sudden, one of the soldiers was jolted awake and asked, "Did you hear some funeral music?"
"Nonsense. If someone were to pass through the city gates, they would definitely inform us beforehand. Otherwise, it would be too unlucky. Aren't they afraid that we would cause trouble for them?"
Another soldier said impatiently. The next moment, his mouth fell open as he stared at the road.
On the road, a group of people could be seen. At this point, they were beating drums and playing funeral songs. They were waving white flags as they got closer and closer.
"Who's so unlucky to enter the city instead of leaving the city?" The soldier who had spoken earlier was enraged. He raised his spear and looked over. When he saw what was happening, his teeth started chattering.
There were about eighty to ninety people carrying a coffin. In front of them, there were about ten women dressed in mourning attire. As they walked, they were crying and throwing paper money around.
Seeing this scene, a brave passerby stepped forward, "Who are you people? How dare you trespass into the city like this. Aren't you afraid that the magistrate will punish you?"
A quick-witted bailiff had just walked out of the door when he saw the group of people. He saw Cao San and a few other soldiers dressed in mourning attire. They were carrying two baskets. Behind them, a few people were carrying a coffin. Several men in black were tied to the coffin. The bailiff was shocked. Just as he was about to stop them, Cao San shouted, "Get lost. Don't you see that the Chief Patrol Officer is in the coffin, and master Top Scorer is leading the way?"
The bailiff recognized Cao San, but didn't recognize the Top Scorer. As soon as he heard Cao San's words, he looked up and realized that there was a group of people leading the way. He was dressed in the robes of a High Scholar. His heart skipped a beat. Something big had happened, and he didn't dare to stop them. He turned around and ran back into the city to report the situation.
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