Jingzhao Mansion, execution room.
The shackles clanked, and Du Wulang entered the execution room and was pressed down on a stool to sit down.
Prisoner Liu Liu was sitting in the dim candlelight, polishing ink. From the corner of his eye, he clearly saw the prisoner sitting down, but the sound of the shackles continued. He raised his eyes and saw a pair of trembling feet.
"Stop shaking."
The shackles were still making a clanking sound, as if they were threatening their lives.
Liu Liu touched his beard, wiped the remaining ink on his hand, picked up the pen, and said: "The criminal is Du Yu."
No one answered.
Liu Liu scolded: "Ask you! Is the criminal Du Yu?"
"Dududu, Duqi."
"Stomachache? It doesn't matter if you have a stomachache or a headache, just answer the question!"
"I, I, I, I am guilty of Du Qi, my surname is Du, my name is Qi, and I am the one who writes Qi."
Liu Liu pushed the document in his hand in front of the candlelight, squinted his old eyes and looked at it carefully for a while, and suddenly became angry.
"Du Qi was convicted! The fifth son of Du Youlin, the convict, constructed the East Palace, hired Taoist priest Fang Daxu to secretly hide prophecies and criticize the public, fled after being convicted, and set fire to Liuji's house in Dunyifang, Chang'an County..."
After reading the document in hand, he shouted with a cold face: "Can you plead guilty?!"
"I was wronged!" Du Wulang cried.
"If you don't plead guilty, you will be punished." Liu Liu asked, "Are you going to sign the bond now or after being punished?"
Du Wulang was so nervous that he didn't know where to look with his little eyes, so he simply closed them tightly, clenched his fists, and just shivered.
He looked like he was being slaughtered.
"Let me ask you, should I be detained or tortured?!"
"Kill me!" Du Wulang yelled in fright: "Just kill me, I won't draw any money!"
"Kill you? It's not that easy." Liu Liu waved his hand impatiently and said, "I'll be punished."
The prison guards were still preparing the torture instruments, but Du Wulang was already screaming.
"Ah! Ah!"
"..."
Xin Twelve was sitting outside the prison cell, drinking from a wine bag, when he heard screams coming from inside, and raised his hand to wave.
The two delinquents who were squatting under the eaves and chatting and joking immediately got up and strode into the execution room.
"Jingzhao Prefecture is arresting Niu Shuan and Tian Da, and has been ordered to transfer the criminals to Dali Temple!"
After shouting, he couldn't help but escort Du Wulang away before he had time to be tortured.
Xin Twelve put away the wine bag unhurriedly, stood up, and rushed to You Xiaowei.
~~
"So bright."
Du Wulang was escorted out of Jingzhao Mansion. He squinted his small eyes and looked around, only to realize that it was already afternoon.
He missed his prison meal today, and his stomach growled involuntarily.
Niu Shuan immediately slapped him on the back of the head and cursed: "I'm not even hungry yet, but the dog prisoner is hungry first."
"Young man has no status." Du Wulang smiled apologetically when he saw that this delinquent had a round face and a big belly, and was very kind-faced.
Niu Shuan stood behind him, kicked his foot, and shouted: "Let's go!"
Du Wulang trotted down the steps, looked around stupidly, and asked: "This is my first time in prison. May I ask if you have a car?"
Without waiting for an answer, he quickly added: "No, no, it's not that I'm lazy, I'm just thinking that criminals are often dangerous. When I hand over people, do I..."
"It's dangerous. Why don't you drive the car? You'll be so big that it will crash into Dali Temple."
"Yes Yes."
Du Wulang didn't dare to say any more and hurriedly walked towards the imperial city.
"Wait a minute! It's so noisy." Niu Shuan slapped him down, took out the key, unshackled his hands and feet, threw it to Tian Da, and said, "Put it back, Jingzhao Mansion's Shaozi, don’t take advantage of Dali Temple... let’s go.”
Du Wulang was stunned, wondering if this was a process or because he was really not in danger? Anyway, he was walking beside Niu Shuan honestly.
Jingzhao Mansion is in the southeast corner of Guangdefang, and Dali Temple is in the northwest corner of the imperial city. It's not far, but it takes half an hour to walk.
Walked for a long time.
Seeing a stall selling soup cakes on the street, Niuxuan grabbed Du Wulang, walked forward, sat down carelessly, and shouted: "Old Hu'er, two soup cakes!"
When Du Wulang heard that it was "two portions", he was stunned and said hurriedly: "It's a waste of money for the chief official. If it happens in the future..."
"Shut up, who said I'd treat you to a meal?!" Niu Shuan slapped him on the head again and said to himself, "Tian Da isn't here yet."
Only then did Du Wulang find out that Tian Da was coming, and he thought that it was enough for him to be escorted by himself alone, so why waste more manpower?
I could only swallow my saliva while looking at the two bowls of soup cakes.
"Ouch." Niu Shuan just took a bite, and suddenly he held his stomach and cried out in pain. He looked around and shouted: "Tian Da, over here! You watch the prisoner, I'll come as soon as I can..."
Du Wulang looked away from the soup cake and watched Niu Shuan running into the alley. Then he turned to look at Tian Da walking in the distance. He wanted to run away but didn't dare to run away. He was so hesitant.
He raised his butt slightly and sat down again. He repeated this several times. Seeing that Tian Da hadn't come near yet, he finally felt relieved, picked up the bowl on the table, took a big gulp, and ran away.
"Why!"
The stall owner Lao Huer was shocked and shouted: "I haven't paid yet!"
Du Wulang was so frightened that he ran faster.
He was wearing Xue Bai's coat, the most ordinary clothes. He squeezed into the crowd, like water droplets flowing into a river, and immediately disappeared.
"You bitch, you haven't paid me yet!"
"Snapped."
A bunch of money fell on the soup cake stand.
Niushuan had come out of the alley, but he actually had a dog in his hand, and he followed Du Wulang calmly.
On the fire-watching tower, Marquis Wu raised a small flag and pointed it at the Ten Princes' House in Yongxingfang.
~~
There is a guesthouse along the street in Yongxingfang.
In the guest room on the second floor, Xue Bai opened the window and looked towards the long street to see the tea shop at the intersection. Several men were sitting there drinking tea, but their eyes were always staring at the alley leading to the Prince's Courtyard.
A waiter behind him smiled and said: "Every year, more scholars who live in our hotel are successful than those who live in Wubenfang and Chongrenfang Inn, and this is the best wing. Are you satisfied?"
Xue Bai asked: "Can you hire a car here?"
"There is a horse porch in the backyard, and there are horse carriages ready at any time."
"Then let's make a decision and stay for three days." Xue Bai motioned to Qing Lan to pay.
"Okay!" The waiter smiled and said, "Mr. Sir, please go to the lobby and record the store book. If you have any family history, you can also show it to me. When you are in high school tomorrow, you can also save some rent for the guests."
Xue Bai put his hand into his arms, touched it twice, and said in surprise: "I'm afraid it's left in Chunmen, I have to look for it..."
"Wait a moment, Sir, the curfew is about to begin, why don't we go tomorrow?"
Xue Bai took the money from Qing Lan and handed it over, saying: "Then we won't record it for now? Don't worry, I'm not a bad person."
"I know," the clerk said with a smile, "I've been doing this for a long time, so I can judge people with certainty. If the gentleman has official aura, he must be a high-ranking person for generations."
"By the way, I have a friend from the same hometown who arrived in Chang'an a day or two before me. He took a green-covered mule cart and said he was going to stay in Yongxingfang. Did you see it?"
"No." The clerk shook his head and said, "Yesterday, some bad guys impounded a green-covered mule cart. I wonder if they are friends of the husband?"
Xue Bai said in surprise: "My good friend is over forty years old, has a beautiful beard, wears a plain robe, and holds a Buddhist bead, but he was taken away? Why?"
"No, the person who was taken away was a beautiful lady, accompanied by slaves and maidservants. The mule and cart were hired from Chang'an County. There was no scholar in his forties."
"Beautiful lady? What have you done?"
"I don't know this little guy. In recent years, Jingzhao Mansion has taken many people."
Xue Bai asked again: "When I entered the city today, I heard that the prince reconciled again, but what happened?"
"Look at what Mr. Lang is asking, how can we ordinary people know this?"
"It's funny, I'm new to Chang'an, so I can't help but be curious about everything..."
After chatting for a while, the guy left.
Qing Lan bolted the door, stepped forward and whispered anxiously: "Auntie and Wu Lang were taken? What should we do?"
Xue Bai looked out the window and whispered: "Even though I took them, those people are still staring there."
"Are you looking for us?"
"It's hard to say." Xue Bai kept looking out the window and said, "But this case points directly to the East Palace. Those who can destroy the Du family will come, and those who can save the Du family may also come."
The dusk drum sounded again.
Xue Bai turned his head and glanced south. He saw a familiar figure in the distance across the square wall.
He was surprised at first, then his eyes flashed with vigilance. After observing for a while, he turned around quickly.
~~
"Boom."
Amidst the sound of evening drums, Du Wulang ran into Yongxingfang.
He ran for a full hour and was out of breath from exhaustion, but he was still urged by the drumbeat of the curfew to dare not stop.
The tea shop at the intersection of the square was still filled with tea drinkers in twos and threes. He didn't dare to look any further, and ran into the alley with his head lowered. He glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief when no one was following him, and hurried towards the Prince's Courtyard.
"Boom."
"Boom."
He has entered the area around the Ten Kings' Residence, surrounded by high-walled courtyards, and there are no more pedestrians.
Passing by an alley, a figure suddenly emerged from the corner.
Du Wulang was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out of his throat.
"ah!"
He was still exclaiming, but he heard a soft drink in his ears.
"Don't shout."
It was a young man wearing a plain jacket and robe. Taking a closer look, Du Wulang couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.
"Xue Bai?"
Xue Bai pulled him away and asked in a hurry, "You were caught? How did you escape?"
"Yes, the eldest sister was also captured. I relaxed their vigilance and escaped while they were not paying attention on the way to Dali Temple."
Xue Bai glanced back as he walked, but saw no one following him, and a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Du Wulang said, "I looked carefully and no one was following me."
"They put it far away because there are dogs." Xue Bai smelled Du Wulang and said, "Take off your clothes."
"What?"
"quick!"
After hearing his commanding tone, Du Wulang didn't dare to say any more and honestly took off his coat.
"Take it off again."
"It's such a cold winter."
"quick!"
Du Wulang had no choice but to take off his white sweatshirt and shivered in the snowy alley.
"You run east. Pass through three alleys and then run south until you see a horse gallery. Qinglan will pick you up."
"how about you?"
"Watch the footprints and run along them."
Xue Bai pointed to the snow mark in the alley that was messed up by the wheels and quickly explained.
He picked up the clothes that Du Wulang had taken off and continued running north towards the Prince's Courtyard, tying the clothes in his hands into a ball as he ran.
"Boom."
The evening drums have come to an end.
The winter sky is quickly darkening.
Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, Xue Bai restrained his nervousness and kept a normal pace. He quickly looked back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a group of dudes rushing home.
He quickened his pace and quickly followed the location of the Prince's Courtyard.
Ahead, two lanterns were hung at the back door of the Prince's Courtyard, and guards could be seen standing by the door holding halberds.
Xue Bai thought that they might recognize him, so he took two deep breaths and tried to be as calm as possible.
Finally, we reached the high wall of the other courtyard.
He turned around, facing the way he came, with the guards on his back, and suddenly threw a ball of clothes in his hand into the high wall.
At this moment, his heart was in his throat, fearing that someone would shout.
Fortunately not.
After doing this, Xue Bai returned the way he came and walked more than twenty steps. He leaned over and held a large ball of snow in his hands, rubbing it in his hands to calm down his anxiety and slow down his pace.
"Boom."
The last dusk drum sounded.
Suddenly, dense footsteps came from both the front and the rear.
"you!"
Someone shouted to Xue Bai.
It was a bad guy running over with a dog, raising his hand and pointing at Xue Bai.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The leashed dog barked loudly.
Xue Bai crossed his arms perfunctorily and said to the bad guy, "What's the matter?"
This is the Ten Kings' Residence. The other party couldn't figure out who he was, but his aura weakened and he said: "The curfew is coming soon, hurry up."
"Um."
The bad guy strode past him.
The dog barked more and more excitedly, and rushed past Xue Bai.
Then there was the clanging sound of armor, and figures passed by.
"You Xiaowei is here to catch the thief. Anyone else who doesn't care should get out of here!"
"You Xiaowei is chasing a dangerous fugitive. The prince's safety is involved, so he won't get out of the way!"
"..."
Shocking shouts resounded through the alley.
As for the figure that passed them by, it had disappeared into the night snow of Chang'an.
