In the past two days, the court and even the whole of Chang'an seemed extremely calm. It seemed that everyone accepted these facts and quickly adapted to the new situation.
After coming out of Tianlao that day, Ji Yangyu met Yingping under the leadership of Da Pei. Ji Yangyu simply told Yingping what Wen Junchen meant and left. During the conversation, Yingping did not turn his head to look at Ji Yangyu from beginning to end, but kept standing in front of the spiritual tablet. After Ji Yang and He Da Pei left, Ying Fang turned around. His expression was calm, and there was no sadness or anger in his eyes. Until finally he stood up and stood outside the door, quietly looking at the sky outside the hall. As for what he is thinking, perhaps only he himself knows.
Under Yingping's arrangement, Zichun and others finally met Wen Junchen. How could it be so easy to let go of the friendship that had been in the same family for many years?
Zichun and Cheng Daliang burst into tears when they met, and even Qilang's eye circles were slightly red. Qilang was the first to follow his husband. Compared with others, he and Wen Junchen were also the earliest to know each other. They have been seventeen or seventeen years so far. Eight years. At that time, he was just a study boy next to his husband, but Wen Junchen always treated him like a disciple and brother. He always greeted him and took good care of him. Until Qilang finally formally paid his respects to his disciple, Wen Junchen was the first to come over to congratulate him. He was overjoyed. Qilang has no father, no mother, no brothers and sisters, and only a poor family to rely on. His husband left four years ago, and now this brother who is like a father is also leaving. Even a stone-hearted man will feel sad at this moment.
After comforting all the junior brothers and sisters, Wen Junchen suddenly noticed something strange - Yingping didn't seem to come.
Originally, with Wen Junchen's disciple's fearless character, even if the Emperor of Tang Dynasty punished him to face the wall, he would sneak out, but today, he has no intention of seeing him for the last time. In this regard, Wen Junchen Can't help but feel a little worried. Yingping has a strong character. Now that his master is on death row and it is difficult to save him, he must be blaming himself. Yingping experienced ups and downs when he was young, and because of this he is a very emotional person. Seven years ago, he secretly went down the mountain and implicated Wen Junchen and was punished. Yingping felt a lot of regret for this, and it was precisely because of this that he seemed like a different person. He has matured a lot, and now his master is about to be punished because of him, so Wen Junchen is worried that his disciple will do something outrageous.
However, things went beyond Wen Junchen's expectation, and Yingping did not make any extraordinary move——
There was no such willful behavior as secretly pretending to be a jailor to come to meet him, and there was no such exaggerated behavior as having people come to rob the prison. Yingping is as quiet as a pile of gunpowder placed in a humid environment. You don't know if he is damp. If it is, that's fine. But if he is still dry, once he explodes, the consequences will be... Both jade and stone will be destroyed.
...
At night, Wen Junchen felt a little uneasy and walked back and forth in the cell.
In the prison, the prison boss had been very polite to him these days, and would even take the initiative to ask him what he needed or wanted to eat. At this time, seeing that Wen Junchen seemed to be thoughtful, the prison boss smiled and stepped forward again, and asked cautiously: " Mr. Wen, do you have any thoughts?"
Wen Junchen looked at the flattering look of the cell leader and shook his head helplessly, saying: "Master Cha, I am a prisoner. Even if I have the intention, how can I dare to trouble your noble hands?"
The prison boss was quite sensible, and he smiled and replied: "Hey, it's not annoying or laborious. You are the teacher of the Holy Master, and I am just a mere jailer. It is your blessing to control me."
Wen Junchen smiled and did not answer. He knew very well. If the third child hadn't come with the seal of the Ministry of Punishment a few days ago, how could this old man take such care of him? How could I be so comfortable if my junior brother hadn't taken care of the money every day?
Seeing that Wen Junchen didn't reply, the prison boss suddenly leaned forward and asked mysteriously: "Mr. Wen, do you... miss the girl?"
Wen Junchen was startled. He saw the prison boss keep winking at him, his eyes were so obscene and obscene. He, who had always had no desire for women, didn't know how to respond.
Seeing Wen Junchen's hesitation, the cell leader became more confident. He stepped forward and whispered: "Don't hide and suppress me. We are all men. We should have fun when we should have fun. When Commander Ning was here... …”
The cell leader kept talking, but Wen Junchen was speechless.
At this moment, the prison door was suddenly pushed open. Unlike Ji Yang's previous visit, this man seemed to have no idea what "being polite" meant. He walked straight towards Wen Junchen's cell and ignored him at all. The prison guard standing at the door.
The prison boss couldn't help but feel a little angry, feeling that his face had been offended. You know, he was the boss in this hellish place! Regardless of whether you were a court official or a wealthy businessman, as long as you come to this prison, if you want to live a comfortable life, why don't you ask me? Why is there someone so ignorant of the rules here today?
When the prison boss turned around and was about to get angry and reprimand the man, the man stopped in front of the prison boss. Without waiting for the prison boss to speak first, the man coldly dropped a sentence——
"Get away!"
The prison chief was furious and wondered why this man was so ignorant. But just when he was about to get angry, he saw his appearance clearly. In an instant, all the anger in his heart disappeared without a trace, and was replaced by a smile that was even more flattering than before -
"Uncle Pei - are you here?"
Pei Shaowen was seen standing in front of the cell with no expression, paying no attention to the attentiveness of the cell leader.
When the prison boss saw that Pei Shaowen was unwilling to pay attention to him, he was quite sensible. He opened the door with a smile, then hurriedly stepped back without locking the door.
Seeing that the person had left, Pei Shaowen lowered his head and got into the cell.
When he saw Wen Junchen, Pei Shaowen's expression was not as cold and heartless as before. In fact, during the few days he was trapped in the palace, Pei Shaowen spent time with Wen Junchen day and night. He is a practitioner, a complete roughneck, and does not know much about literature and ink. However, he was once one of thousands of poor people, and he also has a distant admiration for this famous second brother from a poor family, especially However, in those days, even though he was besieged in the palace, the scholar still focused on his official duties without being disturbed, even if his parents' graves were torn apart, which made him admire Wen Junchen's attitude even more.
Seeing that the cell leader had left and there was no one else here, Pei Shaowen said, "Mr. Wen."
"Master Pei, why are you here today?" Wen Junchen felt inexplicably nervous.
Pei Shaowen was Yingping's closest aide, and most of the shameful things that Yingping had to do were handled by the two brothers, such as contacting those officials previously. Now that he came to prison alone, Wen Junchen was worried if Yingping had any special arrangements.
But Pei Shaowen did not answer Wen Junchen, but took out something wrapped in oil paper from his arms. Seeing how cautious he was, he seemed to be wrapping something extremely precious.
"This is..." Wen Junchen was a little confused.
"Mr. Wen, please take a look at it for yourself -" Pei Shaowen respectfully raised the package high, even higher than his head. If it weren't for the oil stains oozing out from inside, Wen Junchen would have suspected that there was an imperial edict hidden inside.
Wen Junchen took the oiled paper, and a warmth spread into his palms. He opened the oil paper with doubts on his face, and a burst of aroma hit him. Then, he saw a piece of pancake appearing in his eyes.
Wen Junchen first weighed it lightly, and then smelled it, and found that the craftsmanship of this cake seemed to be very similar to his own.
"this……"
"This is a cake given by the Holy Emperor. Master Xiaoye made the dough, mixed the ingredients, and baked it by Master Xiaoye."
"Then Your Majesty..."
"Um... Your Majesty turned it over a few times with his own hands." Pei Shaowen quickly said a few words for his master.
"Oh?" Wen Junchen was surprised when he heard this, and he actually felt a little curious.
He picked up the pancake and took a bite. The rich crispy flavor filled his mouth. Not only was it somewhat similar to the pancake he made before, it seemed to be even more delicious than his own pancake. He looked at the pancake that had been bitten in his hand. He raised his eyebrows at first, then his expression gradually relaxed, and finally he threw his head back and laughed.
"Mr. Wen, you -" Pei Shaowen couldn't help but feel worried when he saw Wen Junchen's mood swings so drastically.
"Okay, okay - when I see this bread, I feel like a saint. I understand the Holy Spirit's intention! I will eat this bread -"
Wen Junchen took the pancake and bit into it, as if he was eating some delicacy. It's strange to say that Wenjun and his ministers would have tasted a lot of delicacies when they were in the palace, but just a piece of cake, even if it was made by the Holy Master himself, would not be so good, but now he ate it so deliciously.
"delicious--!"
Wen Junchen's mouth was full of oil, which was very different from his usual appearance. Pei Shaowen was a little confused.
After finishing the cake, Wen Junchen wiped the oil stains on his body, then raised his hands and said: "Master Pei, please report back to the Holy Sage. Wen Junchen has finished eating all the imperial cakes, and his thoughts are clear. We are going to Huangquan. , Your Majesty and your ministers have nothing to worry about anymore. I hope that Your Majesty will not blame yourself too much. You will need to look forward more in the future. Your Majesty and your ministers kowtow to ask for——"
After saying that, he knelt down in front of Pei Shaowen and kowtowed three times.
Pei Shaowen didn't know what to do when he saw Wen Junchen like this. He could only keep Wen Junchen's words in his heart so that he could repay him truthfully when he returned to the palace later.
"It's delicious! I've traveled all over the Central Plains, eaten food from beggars, tasted delicacies from all over the world, farmed food with my hands, and enjoyed royal meals in the palace, but nothing can compare to this piece of cake today! What a pity! It’s a pity that this piece of cake is too little—hahaha——”
Wen Junchen smiled heartily, and his voice penetrated the entire cell, sweeping away the darkness inside.
…
…
There was no change in Wen Junchen's execution.
Before winter came, fifty-five-year-old Wen Junchen ended his extraordinary life.
Although Wen Junchen was unknown in the first half of his life, the second half of his life was legendary. When he was thirty-seven years old, he participated in the first cold examination and was photographed by his husband, thus becoming famous in the Central Plains. At the age of forty-eight, he accepted the current Emperor Yingping of the New Tang Dynasty as his disciple, sowing the first seeds for the third generation of a poor family. At the age of fifty-one, his direct disciple entered the palace and was established as the prince. In the same year, Yingping succeeded to the throne, and he naturally became the teacher of the emperor. Four years later, after Yingping came to power, he assisted his disciples in implementing the new laws, which almost drove the powerful officials in the court to a dead end. Finally, he died in Chang'an ten days after his fifty-fifth birthday.
On the day Wen Junchen was beheaded and executed, no one came to the execution ground to see him off. Even his junior brothers and sisters from a humble family had never come. After asking carefully, I found out that it was the Queen Mother's special decree that no one was allowed to come. People said that the Queen Mother was afraid that Mr. Third and Mr. Seven would come to rob the execution ground. However, another theory was that Wen Junchen did not allow his junior brothers and sisters to come because he was also worried that the two junior brothers would not be able to suppress their emotions. Do something outrageous.
In short, Wen Junchen left extremely lonely.
Some people sighed——
The red gall returns to dust and is dispersed by the wind, but the loyal heart always remains in Qianniu Mountain;
The road to Huangquan is long, and the loyal soul has no one to accompany it.
