When Yang Fan was a child begging in the Guanzhou Prefecture, he could roughly judge a person's wealth and whether they were benevolent or not by looking at their appearance, expression, and attire. He was able to accurately beg for food. This kind of ability often made Niu Niu exclaim in admiration, feeling that her brother was very capable.
But as he grew older, he found that this kind of ability to judge people was gradually becoming less useful. It wasn't that his ability to judge people had deteriorated, but the people he came into contact with were no longer the commoners in the marketplace.
The higher one's status was, the more masks they wore on their faces. Actors would only sing when they were on stage, but they were acting all the time. In the end, even they themselves didn't know when they were in the play and when they were out of the play. How could others tell them apart?
Zhou Xing, elegant and refined, with a refined appearance!
Lai Junchen, elegant and handsome, with a dignified appearance!
Qiu Shenji, valiant martial artist, awe-inspiring and domineering!
Which one looked like a treacherous official?
Which one looked like a ruthless official?
The two of them examined each other for a long time before a trace of distress appeared on Miao Shenke's face. He sighed softly and said in a hoarse and old voice, "I heard that the Empress is about to ascend to the throne and will soon take off her phoenix robe and change into a dragon robe. We tailors who help the Empress cut the phoenix robe will be useless then. "
The sigh was as bleak as the autumn wind, and the hoarse voice was like the yellow leaves swept up by the autumn wind, rustling.
Miao Shenke supported himself on the rattan chair and slowly stood up. He seemed to be trembling, but his expression was very calm, as if he had long been waiting for this day to come. He said to himself, "Only this old man is left of the Six Scholars of the North Gate. This old man has been thinking, when will it be my turn? Is it the right time now? "
Yang Fan smiled, his smile a bit cold and cynical, "I thought that Scholar Miao was living in seclusion here, leisurely and carefree. Now it seems that you are not living that well! How could a person who waited for death every day be happy? I want to kill you, the Empress also wants to kill you, and there are many people who want to kill you! "
Miao Shenke's old eyes slightly narrowed as he said in surprise, "You are not someone sent by the Empress?"
Yang Fan said, "I'm here to take your life! It's not an order from the Empress! "
Miao Shenke frowned slightly, staring at Yang Fan, but did not speak.
Yang Fan said, "I came to seek justice from Scholar Miao!"
Divine Guest Miao said, "When have I ever owed anyone justice?"
Yang Fan said, "In the second year of Yong Chun, in Shaozhou's Peach Blossom Village, all the villagers, old and young, were massacred. Scholar Miao should know about this matter, right?"
"Second year of Yongchun, Shaozhou Peach Blossom Village …"
Miao Shenke raised his head slightly, the wind caressing his grizzled beard, making it tremble slightly in the wind.
Yang Fan was staring at his face. His expression was somewhat confused, as if his thoughts had suddenly drifted to a faraway place. Other than a trace of confusion on his face, there was no other change.
After a long time, Miao Shenke's gaze once again fell on Yang Fan, and he lightly smiled, "Ah! You're talking about this matter. Ever since Yang Mingsheng and Cai Dongcheng died, I've been thinking, who killed them? Will this person find me one day? I even want to make a bet with myself … "
Miao Shenke smiled very calmly, as if the person standing in front of him was not an enemy seeking revenge, but an old friend he had not seen for many years.
Indeed, he did not need to worry. Cai Dongcheng, his four trusted subordinates, and even Yang Mingsheng were all dead, but none of their family members were harmed. Miao Shenke had reason to believe that this enemy was not someone who would kill the innocent. He would not be like them, who would slaughter an entire village, which was inhumane.
As for himself, he was a person who was already waiting for death, so what was there to worry about?
Miao Shenke smiled and said, "I want to make a bet with myself. Will this assassin come to me first, or will the Empress come to me first? If the Empress comes to me first, this assassin will definitely be very disappointed. If it is this assassin who comes to me first, the Empress will probably also be very puzzled … "
Miao Shenke seemed to find this situation very interesting. As he spoke, he could not help but laugh, "Haha, I didn't expect you to be ahead of me in the end. After I die, perhaps the Empress will guess who was the one who understood the Emperor's will and helped her remove a part of her heart. But with the Empress's temperament of not liking to be hidden from others, she will definitely not feel happy."
Miao Shenke laughed very happily. Yang Fan could not help but frown. A person who valued his own life so lightly, then even if he died, as the person seeking revenge, how could he experience the joy of revenge? But since Miao Shenke had already seen through life and death, it would be much easier to get the truth of the murder case from his mouth.
Miao Shenke smiled and looked at him a few times, then gently asked, "You are a fish that escaped the net of the Peach Blossom Village? I didn't expect you to be so young. Back then, you should still be a child, right? "
Miao Shenke's calm attitude was beyond Yang Fan's expectations. He did not seem like he had seen an avenger who wanted to kill him, but more like he had seen an old friend and began to talk about the old days.
Yang Fan suppressed his hatred and said, "Why did you do this? Who incited you? The people of the Peach Blossom Village live in seclusion and are harmless to others. Why did you do such an inhumane thing? "
Miao Shenke said with a disapproving face, "Little friend, you are too serious! What inhumane? How ridiculous! What do you know about human nature? Human nature is a hundred times uglier than beasts. Only when beasts are hungry will they think of killing other creatures. But if a human wants to kill, even if it is for pleasure, it can be a reason! "
He flicked his sleeves and slowly turned around. With his hands clasped behind his back, he raised his head and faced a tree that was dozens of feet tall. Its crown was like an umbrella, and he said with nostalgia, "We, the Six Scholars of the North Gate, were originally insignificant officials. We didn't have any powerful family backgrounds. Even if we had outstanding achievements in politics, we would only be small officials of the fifth or sixth rank. We would only work obediently in the yamen. If we could be sent out and become the pastors of a province or a county, that would be our greatest fortune.
It was the Empress who had a good eye for talent and promoted us. When we were serving the Empress at the North Gate, although we did not have the title of prime minister, we had the power of prime minister. Do you know what it feels like to have a huge empire under your control, moving according to your will, allowing you to fulfill your lifelong ambitions? Do you know what it feels like to be on cloud nine? "
Miao Shenke slowly turned around and stared at Yang Fan's young face. He smiled and shook his head, "You can't know. You are still young, too young!"
He turned to the side and raised his face to continue looking at the crown of the tall tree. He said leisurely, "A scholar will die for his bosom friend! We are very grateful to the Empress and are willing to do anything for her. Emperor Gaozong had head and eye problems. In his later years, he could no longer see things. The whole world was in the Empress's hands. It was also from that time that the Empress gradually developed … the idea of becoming the Empress! "
Speaking to this point, Miao Shenke laughed somewhat self-deprecatingly and said, "This was also the result of the six of us adding fuel to the fire. We were too clever for our own good. How could we have known at that time that we were digging our own graves by doing so! If the Empress did not become the Empress, we could live freely. If the Empress became the Empress, she would not need us … "
Yang Fan interrupted his self-pity and said, "I just want to know, who made you go, and why did you want to kill people?"
Miao Shenke was silent for a moment, then faintly smiled and said, "When people get old, they like to talk to others. This old man has forgotten that young people do not have the patience to listen to old people talk about their past. Peach Blossom Village, Peach Blossom Village … has a total of eleven surnames, right? They were all officials who had a close relationship with He Lan Minzhi in the past … "
Yang Fan listened carefully. Miao Shenke said, "I don't know why, but the Empress hated the Wu Clan so much that she would rather choose her nephew, He Lan Minzhi, to inherit her father's title of Duke of Zhou. He Lan Minzhi was brimming with talent. At that time, he was indeed the best candidate. Unfortunately, because of the death of Madam Han and Madam Wei, He Lan Minzhi hated the Empress to the extreme. From then on, he pretended to be crazy and went against the Empress. In order to have a strong backing to fight against the Empress, he and his grandmother, Madam Yang … The Empress finally couldn't bear it anymore. Not long after Madam Yang's death, she decided to make a move against him. "
Miao Shenke faintly smiled and said, "Everything that He Lan Minzhi did was because of the tragic deaths of his mother and sister. He deliberately humiliated the Empress and took revenge on her. He already knew that with the Empress's temperament, he would definitely die. When Madam Yang died, he knew that his time was up. He never thought of escaping, and he knew that he could not escape. The only thing he did was to leave himself a successor! "
Yang Fan knew that he was about to get to the crux of the problem. He was abnormally nervous. He didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. He seriously listened to every word that Miao Shenke said. However, he couldn't see that Miao Shenke's eyes, which were staring at the treetop, were flashing strangely. Only those who were extremely familiar with Miao Shenke knew that this was a habitual expression that would only appear when he was plotting against someone.
Divine Guest Miao said, "Apart from his wives and concubines, He Lanmin secretly took in another woman. This woman gave birth to a son for him. He gave this woman and this son to one of his life and death friends. This life and death friend of his is one of the eleven surnamed officials banished to Lingnan's Shaozhou!"
Yang Fan slowly said, "So, this son of He Lan Minzhi was brought to Shaozhou?"
As he asked, he anxiously thought back to his childhood friends in the Peach Blossom Village who were a few years older than him. Miao Shenke didn't say when He Lan Minzhi's son was born. The time span was too big. From those who were four or five years older than him to those who were more than ten years older, it was possible for anyone.
Miao Shenke said, "That's right! At that time, the Heavenly Empress didn't have the intention to proclaim herself an Emperor. Later on, when the power of the imperial court was completely in the hands of the Heavenly Empress, under our conscious instigation, the Heavenly Empress gradually had the idea of proclaiming herself an Emperor. Emperors are all solitary people, but how can an Emperor be 'solitary people'?
Not only does an Emperor need power, he also needs supporters. He also needs a huge clan to be able to stabilize the empire. But for some reason, the Heavenly Empress' hatred for her father's clan was so deep that she was still unwilling to use the Wu Clan. Even after she called back a large number of Wu clansmen, she still deeply loathed these people with the surname Wu. She even regretted executing He Lan Minzhi.
At that time, He Lan Minzhi had a wide circle of friends in the capital. Although many people were implicated by him and were either exiled or demoted, He Lan Minzhi inherited the title of Duke of Zhou. Many of his friends were also people from the Heavenly Empress' faction. Because of He Lan Minzhi, these people fell out of favor, but they didn't suffer too much.
Among them, there was someone who somehow heard about the Heavenly Empress' intentions. They wanted to report the news of He Lan Minzhi having a descendant to the Heavenly Empress and use it to make a comeback. But this person was no longer qualified to meet the Heavenly Empress. So, he asked to see me and told me this news … "
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