Chapter 319 Zhao Duan: In the next life, be a good official
Whoosh——
In the night sky of the capital, a cluster of nearly transparent stars cut through the cold air.
From the direction of Zhao's house, like a comet dragging its tail, it passed over ancient buildings and finally fell high on a building far away from the prison of the Criminal Department.
Zhao Duan stepped on the tiles with both feet, lowered his head, and was surprised to see that the surface of his body was covered with a "film". The same was true for the gold slip connected to his left hand, and a faint moonlight overflowed from his pupils.
"I am becoming more and more envious of you warlocks." Zhao Duan sighed sincerely.
"What are you envious of?" Jin Jian turned his head blankly and pushed up the translucent crystal glasses on the bridge of his nose in confusion.
"It can fly...forget it, a flying animal like you can't understand the pain of a life that walks on two feet."
Zhao Duan shook his head, quickly ended this boring topic, and looked ahead at the brightly lit Prison Department Prison.
At this moment, perhaps because of Wang Chu's death, the Xingbu Yamen was particularly "busy" compared to the past.
"I hope Gao Lian is not being interrogated at this time." Zhao Duan muttered to himself, then asked Jin Jian:
"Can you take me in?"
Although he was defeated in the battle between Buddhism and Taoism, Jin Jian made great progress and proudly puffed up his chest:
"Of course!"
After a brief pause, he added guiltily: "However, if you make trouble, I can't cover it up. Speaking of which, are you going to do bad things again?"
What do you mean...Xiao Jinjian, how can you accuse someone of innocence out of thin air...
"No comment, just help me bypass the guards outside." Zhao Duan stretched out his hand into his arms, and there was a palm-sized silver scroll in his palm.
On the jade scroll that he had been using as a "storage bag", the four words "Taixu Painted Scroll" engraved on it were clearly legible.
"I haven't used you for so long that I almost forgot your true role." Zhao Duan stroked the scroll and murmured softly.
At the beginning, Kuang Fushe's Frost Sword used this object to construct a false long street, causing him to enter unconsciously.
After Zhao Duan obtained it, he gradually learned about its ability, which was to reproduce a small area in reality as a painted scene and then "cover" it in the real world.
Today, for the first time in a long time, it has a place to use.
…
Prison Department, "A" area.
Gao Lian was alone and imprisoned in a strong cell. There were no ventilation holes on the three walls. Only fine iron bars in front sealed the cage.
This former chief envoy, who could be regarded as half a frontier-level official, was not lying on the bed at this moment, but was sitting cross-legged and meditating in a cell covered with straw.
With his eyes closed, he gently recited the meditation scriptures widely circulated among the people of Dayu.
Suddenly, the flames in the fixed brazier in the corridor trembled, as if blown by the wind.
Accompanied by the faint sound of the door opening, the sound of approaching footsteps.
Gao Lian's voice of reciting scriptures stopped. He opened his eyes and looked quietly outside the fence. Gradually, a figure walked out of the darkness.
"Zhao Duan?" Gao Lian was stunned for a moment.
Across a cell door, standing in the corridor was a man named Zhao with an arrogant and cold expression and dressed in rich clothes.
"Are you surprised?" Zhao Duan looked at the chief envoy in the cell.
After not seeing him for many days, Gao Lian's complexion was a little worse than when he was escorted to Beijing.
He had changed into prison uniform, and his feet and hands were all shackled even in prison.
The hair on the temples that had been meticulously combed in the past was disheveled, but his face did not have the fear and despair of an ordinary prisoner, but was as calm and calm as an old monk.
"I just didn't expect that you would come to visit, and only one person." Gao Lian said with a smile after a brief moment of surprise.
Zhao Duan was amazed and said:
"Although I captured you personally, and I wish you would die quickly, I have to say that you still have such a calm appearance in prison, which is really admirable. Tsk, I just don't know when you believed in Buddhism. ? But I still read the scriptures.”
Gao Lian shook his head indifferently: "Master Zhao, when you come here, you can't just make fun of Gao."
Zhao Duan stood silently outside the railing, looked at him, and said:
"Wang Chu is dead."
Real surprise appeared on Gao Lian's haggard face, as if he was extremely surprised. Immediately, a clear understanding appeared in his eyes: "No wonder, just now I heard a faint noise on the other side of the cell, and the cell leader came running over. , looked at me for a while and left again."
Zhao Duan stared at him: "Do you know how he died?"
Gao Lian shook his head, hypocritically dejected: "How can there be a time for a person's death? He will die early, die late, and he will eventually die. But if Mr. Zhao comes to ask me specifically, he will not doubt that I am the one who killed the person and silenced him."
He smiled, shook his head and showed the shackles on his hands, making a clattering sound: "Then you are looking down too high on me."
Zhao Duan said softly:
"How could I doubt you? But Mr. Gao should also know that during these days, there are many people outside who are running for you. Do you think they have this motive for killing people?"
Gao Lian was like an old monk in trance, and said: "My Gao family has been loyal for generations, how could I commit such a disobedient thing? Your Excellency, you are overthinking it."
When he said the four words "loyalty from generation to generation", he seemed to have a clear conscience.
Zhao Duan looked at him deeply.
The cell was extremely quiet, with flickering lights. One stood outside, and the other sat cross-legged like a monk inside, separated by a fence.
This scene has a somewhat heavy weight to it.
"Are you unhappy?" Zhao Duan said, "Just laugh if you want, you can hardly hold back the corners of your mouth."
Gao Lian's smile spread:
"The villain who falsely accused a loyal minister is dead, so why should I be happy?"
Zhao Duan sighed and said:
"People outside have always said that the chief envoy should be calm during major events. I didn't believe it at first, but at the crab banquet in Taicang Prefecture, I believed it twice. When I escorted you back to the capital, you didn't say a word on the way. I believed it for another five points, but now I understand that you are not calm, but confident." He suddenly took a few steps closer, his whole body almost pressed against the iron fence, and his face was squeezed between the two iron railings. In the gap, he looked down at the other party and lowered his voice:
"You know that the southern gentry will try their best to get you out, knowing that Li Yanfu will take action, whether he is willing or not... just like Wang Chusheng holds the evidence of your crime in his hands.
You should also have something to hold Li Yanfu and others in your hands, right? Is that why you are so confident?
Do you think that Wang Chu is alive and dead, and without this witness, the three-level interrogation will have greater room for maneuver, and you can avoid beheading? "
Gao Lian was stared at by him, the smile on his face faded, he solemnly clasped his hands together and said:
"Master Zhao, you have misunderstood me a lot."
Crash... The shackles on his wrists collided. He pointed at the quiet surroundings and said:
"Or what do you want me to say, Mr. Zhao? Admit my so-called crime in your mouth?"
There was a trace of undisguised contempt in his eyes, as if to say:
Do you think I am stupid?
Gao Lian has been silent since the Crab Feast was accused.
He didn't say a few words until he was escorted to the capital. Even after he was imprisoned, he was interrogated outside the court and rarely communicated with others.
Just to leave nothing to be said.
In his opinion, Zhao Duan came here alone at this moment, and his intention to set up a false testimony was obvious. After all, this was not the first time the other party had used such a thing as a recording scroll.
"You seem to have misunderstood something."
Zhao Du quietly looked at him for a few seconds, then slowly squatted down, just outside the cell next to the column.
Staring into his eyes, he smiled and said:
"Do you think I'm here to trick you? Because Wang Chu is alive and dead, that's why you took this step? Well, let me think about it, you may still be guessing in your heart, whose order am I here? Is it His Majesty? Let me come, or Yuan Li, or someone else..."
Zhao Duan shook his head. He suddenly spat, his eyes suddenly turned fierce:
"No, you're wrong."
The spit hit Gao Lian's cheek in the dim light. He raised his hand to wipe it away and said, "What's wrong with me?"
Zhao Duan's mouth curved upward, he clapped his hands and said:
"What's wrong with you is that you did those wrong things, but you didn't have the consciousness to die. What's wrong with you is that you're smart all your life, but you can't understand the situation. What's wrong with you is that when you're about to die, you still think you've seen everything... You're just wrong. exist……"
He suddenly pointed at himself with his thumb and said word by word:
"The mistake is, you look like this, which makes me very unhappy."
Suddenly I remembered the famous saying of a fifty-year-old woman in my previous life:
Damn, the most annoying people are pretentious.
Gao Lian's brows jumped wildly, and he suddenly had a bad premonition. His cheeks twitched, and his calm face finally showed a little uneasiness: "What do you want to do? This is the prison of the Ministry of Punishment...ah! !”
The next second, without warning, Gao Lian let out a heart-rending cry of pain.
It was as if an invisible fist had hit him hard on his lower abdomen. His body fell suddenly, and he covered his lower abdomen with both hands, and then his heart.
Born into a wealthy family, his fair complexion suddenly turned as red as a cooked shrimp, accompanied by large beads of sweat.
pain!
Severe pain!
Indescribable pain!
It was as if someone had opened his chest and stuffed a ball of fire into his internal organs.
"ah!!"
"You...you dare...this is..."
"stop……"
Gao Lian rolled in pain on the cold ground. He was no longer calm at all, and his expression was twisted ferociously due to the severe pain.
His voice was sharp and hoarse, as if he was being tortured.
However, no matter how much he screamed, the entire prison remained eerily quiet, without any sound.
Not only did no jailor come, but...even the other criminals in the prison didn't make any noise.
It's like...
The entire prison was empty except for the two of them.
Yes, at this moment, the severe pain made Gao Lian's mind particularly clear.
He suddenly realized that from the moment Zhao Duan appeared inexplicably in the corridor, the prison of the Criminal Department had been eerily silent.
"What do I want to do?"
Outside the fence, Zhao Duan was still squatting. In his palms and between his fingers, clusters of almost illusory white fireworks appeared at some point.
Zhao Duan stood up and waved his hand, and the fences made of fine iron also burned, wrapped in white fireworks, like burned candles.
Collapse, break.
Zhao Duan took elegant steps and stepped into the cell "in the painting" that had actually been replaced by a painting. His boots stepped on Gao Lian's temples, trampling him under his feet, and softly let out a long sigh:
"Those who kill will always be killed. You don't think that you are the only one who knows how to kill."
"ah--"
Gao Lian was in pain, with intense fear oozing from his eyes, "Master Zhao, I...I..."
Whoosh... white flames shot out from his mouth, nose, ear holes, and eye sockets, quickly swallowing up his pleas.
"In your next life, be a good official."
Thanks to Crow Feather wd for the 100 point coin reward support
(End of this chapter)