With a thud, a head fell out and was caught by Ning Yi, scattering lime all over the yard. Remember 【Complete Book Website】 Enter address to read on your phone:
Moments later, Ning Yi held up the head for a look. In the afternoon light, screams erupted, and chickens and dogs scattered.
——This scene took place in the small courtyard of the Qin residence. Ning Yi had come to the banquet, accompanied by his wife Tan'er and the maid Xiaochan. There were quite a few people in the courtyard, including maids carrying boxes and luggage, Qin Madam who had come out to greet them, and Qin Siyuan, accompanied by his eldest son, who appeared at the side gate of the courtyard not far away. Not far away, a handsome-looking junior officer was staring blankly at the burly man rushing over to help with the boxes.
Today's invitation to the banquet stemmed from the news Qin Lao received yesterday from his second son, Qin Shaoqian, saying that he would be home this afternoon, which had been confirmed. Therefore, he invited Ning Yi and his wife to come. Firstly, this was in the nature of a welcoming banquet, but most importantly, it was because Ning Yi had saved Qin Lao, which was a great favor. Although Qin Lao only kept it in his heart and had not expressed it too much, as sons, Qin Shaohe and Qin Shaoqian felt it necessary to express their formal gratitude for this matter. Moreover, Ning Yi usually had a close friendship with Qin Lao, so they simply made the invitation at this time, using a family banquet to show the closeness between the two families.
Thus, this became Ning Yi's first meeting with Qin Shaoqian.
Being able to come to the Qin family for a banquet was, for Tan'er, a very important matter. Although she had accompanied Ning Yi to the Qin residence to pay New Year's greetings a few months ago, at that time, Ning Yi mostly treated the old man as a chess friend.
Tan'er was a sensible person. She knew that the old man was learned, and perhaps held a significant position, but in the past, she admired those literati and poets, and only longed for her husband's gentlemanly friendships. When visiting, she only considered herself a wife, without any utilitarian intentions. This time, it was inevitably a bit different.
For one thing, she had a clearer understanding of the old man's past glory—she only understood it roughly after meeting Qin Shaohe. The former Minister of Personnel (吏部尚书), in her heart, was a high official only one step away from the Emperor, whose name alone would make her dizzy. It was like a modern Chinese person suddenly discovering that they knew a Standing Committee member of the Politburo.
On the other hand, it was also because Qin Shaohe had chatted with her a few words during their last meeting. At that time, Qin Shaohe adopted a low posture. He knew that the Su family was in business, and Su Tan'er was even in charge, so he couldn't help but say a few kind and sincere words. In officialdom, such words were a clear indication. Su Tan'er naturally understood that from then on, the Su family's business would at least have Qin Shaohe's care in Jiangzhou.
In fact, Qin Shaohe was not bestowing favors. Su Tan'er would not be overwhelmed by a little hint. But like that day when she was happy to have a prefect as a backer, she later inevitably realized that the Qin family had a lot of status, and from then on, the Su family would be different from ordinary families. So, when she went out today, she dressed herself exceptionally elegantly, fussing in the room for half the afternoon, like a little girl. Ning Yi helplessly and amusedly watched from the side. In fact, Su Tan'er had also received the education of a noble lady in the past. If she were calm and composed, she would naturally have a dignified and elegant young lady's temperament. Such an effort, on the contrary, made her look younger, masking that confident and composed air.
However, it was quite interesting.
As a result, as soon as the three of them arrived, they happened to meet the Qin family's second young master arriving home, and the servants in the mansion were busy moving the luggage inside. A small maid beside Ning Yi ran in with a long, upright box. A bearded man in the courtyard saw this and shouted, "Be careful! Be careful, Cuier…" rushing over frantically.
The diligent maid named Cuier was blocked by the long box, and hearing the shout, suddenly stopped there, swaying around several times: "Huh? What…what? What is Second Master saying…" Ning Yi kindly wanted to reach out to help, and the bearded man also rushed over. In the chaos, with a bang, the top grid of the long box opened, and something like a leather ball fell out. Ning Yi reached out and grabbed it, and a shower of lime filled the air. For a moment, he thought he was being attacked, but fortunately, the lime wasn't too concentrated.
After a long while, the courtyard was in chaos. Some people shouted, "Head, head, head, head…" and others shouted, "Human, human, human head…" drawing out their voices. The bearded man was also a little embarrassed, seemingly wanting to take the thing from Ning Yi's hand, hesitating and not knowing what to say. Just as he was about to make up his mind to reach out, the little maid holding the box peeked her head forward several times. After realizing what was in the box she was holding, her eyes rolled back and she fell straight to the ground. The bearded man was busy catching her: "Xiao Cui, Xiao Cui, don't faint, I told you not to carry it…"
The feeling of holding a dead man's head in your hand is naturally not very pleasant, especially when holding it with one hand. Fortunately, Ning Yi was very composed. He held the head for a long time, then turned it in front of his eyes and looked at it, before nodding and looking at the bearded man who was holding the little maid: "This is the head of the assassin…"
What he was holding at this time was the head of the burly man who had injured one eye when the firearm exploded. Ning Yi knew the bravery of these people. He had also inquired with Lu Agui, and felt that among these people fleeing north, one person's kung fu was probably comparable to Lu Hongti. That person was named Lu Tuo, not a Liao person, but a famous bandit from the south, known as the Fierce Yama, who had killed officials and rebelled. Later, it was said that he had been subdued and disappeared.
The main reason these Liao people were able to escape this time was because there were forces close to the Liao people operating behind the scenes. Presumably, a master like Lu Tuo was sent by them to protect them. These days, they had run away without a trace. He didn't expect that Qin Family's second young master, after returning home only a few days late, would bring back their heads.
In the past, he had heard that Qin Shaoqian held a position as a deputy general in the army, doing nothing important. Now it seemed that neither of the Qin family's sons was simple.
While he was looking at the head in his hand, Qin Siyuan had also come over, so he showed it to him as well. The old man wasn't afraid of the dead man's head, but frowned and looked at it twice, nodding to Ning Yi, confirming that this was one of the assassins from that day. Qin Shaohe had a happy expression. Qin Shaoqian, the bearded man holding the maid, laughed, "Haha, it must be them. These guys with no sense of propriety ran all the way, exposing their tracks. They were discovered near Crow Mountain south of Xuzhou. I happened to be there at the time, and gathered a group of militiamen to beat them to death, hahahaha. But a powerful guy with scars all over his body escaped, damn it…"
Saying this, he looked at his father beside him and his mother not far away, and changed his words: "Si…sincerely his mother's…It's okay, I'll catch him sooner or later…"
Qin Shaohe stroked his chin: "The one who escaped is called Lu Tuo, and he's the most difficult to deal with. But he didn't participate in the assassination that day. Did you kill the other three?"
The bearded Qin Shaoqian nodded: "Of course, ah, Xiao Hu, come over quickly and put the thing in this brother's hand back into the box. My mother doesn't like to see this thing…I told you, just kill them, why did you come up with such a bad idea to bring the heads back to show off? They assassinated my father, this is a public case and should be handed over to the government. Bringing the heads back turns it into a private feud. I definitely can't do this next time…No, there won't be a next time…Father, this really wasn't my idea…"
Qin Siyuan sighed as he looked at this son. Qin Shaohe wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. The handsome man called Xiao Hu quickly came over to take the head and put it back in the box. At this time, the box was still being held by the maid Xiao Cui. She woke up dizzily in Qin Shaoqian's arms, blinked, then her eyes widened, her head tilted, and she fainted again. There was another flurry of confusion as people rushed over to help her, pinching her philtrum. Qin Shaoqian frowned in annoyance: "This…this isn't good for her health, is it? Should I call a doctor over…" He was usually in the army and didn't feel much about dead people, but he was a little helpless with these delicate little maids, afraid of scaring them sick.
With this chaotic turn of events, after a while of introductions, things didn't seem so unfamiliar. Qin Shaoqian was much younger than his older brother Qin Shaohe, only in his early thirties this year. It was said that there was a brother between them, but he died shortly after birth. He had a full beard, which made him look rugged at first glance, but his eyes and contours looked young. If he shaved his beard, he might be a scholarly-looking baby face. The young man following him was called Xu Xiaohu, tall and handsome. According to Qin Shaoqian, his martial arts were extremely high, so he usually dragged him along for gang fights in the military camp, and thus they became brothers in life and death.
Although Qin Shaoqian tried to portray himself as a rough soldier in his words, in Ning Yi's view, the way these two moved was very different from that of rough soldiers. He wasn't very familiar with the soldiers of this era, he just had a slight feeling.
Then Qin Madam招呼 Ning Yi to go to the side room to wash his hands. After all, his hands had been holding a dead man's head and lime, and were covered in a lot of messy things. He had to wash them several times. Tan'er also followed, wanting to wash away the dirt on Ning Yi's hands for him. She had been standing silently beside Ning Yi, ever since she saw the head, pursing her lips. She was holding on tightly. Ning Yi couldn't help but feel sorry. He smiled and said he could do it himself, but Tan'er just shook her head.
She had dressed herself exquisitely today. As she shook her head, her red lips were tightly pursed, showing she was enduring something. She still took a towel and wiped the lime off Ning Yi's hands first. Ning Yi felt a little puzzled, wondering if she was trying to show the Qin family how loving they were as a couple. But looking back, except for Xiaochan preparing to change the water at the door, Qin Siyuan and the others hadn't come over at this time. In a flash, Tan'er had already pulled his hand into the basin of water, then took the osmanthus soap next to her and washed it for him. After washing it once, she changed the water, and changed the water several times. Besides washing for him, Tan'er also washed her own hands several times.
Ning Yi frowned and asked several times, before seeing her frown slightly in annoyance: "That…that was a head, it's scary to look at…"
"Mm."
Tan'er pursed her lips: "Husband touched that thing with his hands. If he touches me tonight, I…I'll always feel goosebumps…"
"Uh…then why do you have to wash it for me yourself?"
Saying such things about being touched by Ning Yi's hands in someone else's house, Tan'er's face also turned slightly red, but she still lowered her head: "If I wash it like this, then I know my hands are clean, and I'm mentally prepared, so I won't be afraid at night…"
Ning Yi was slightly stunned, then laughed. Su Tan'er's character was ultimately different from ordinary women. If Ning Yi washed it himself, no matter how many times he washed, she would probably still feel that Ning Yi's hands were unclean - this was something she couldn't help. If she wanted to overcome the obstacle in her heart, she would pull Ning Yi to wash their hands together. The two of them used a basin of water, so in any case, she was the same as Ning Yi, and there was no longer that obstacle in her heart. Ning Yi looked at the fair ten fingers in the water that had already been washed several times and were still washing for him, and he was somewhat moved.
After washing it several times like this, it was almost done. Then Qin Shaohe and Qin Shaoqian were seen smiling as they came in from outside the door. After exchanging greetings, Qin Shaoqian patted Ning Yi's shoulder hard and said with a smile, "I'm really sorry just now. But Brother Ning is really a tough guy. I've never seen any refined scholar grab a head like that and not change his expression. But that was originally the head of a Liao person. We can just treat it like a dog's head, haha."
"Just putting on a brave face." Ning Yi cupped his hands with a smile, "However, Brother Qin said just now that those people were beaten to death by the militiamen. I'm afraid that's not entirely true, is it?"
He didn't have much confidence in his heart. He was just looking at Qin Shaoqian's expression before and after, and trying to test him a little. Sure enough, after he asked, Qin Shaoqian laughed loudly, and Qin Shaohe also said with a smile, "Father said that Liheng has a sharp eye, and it's true. This kid usually wields knives and spears, and it's come in handy this time." He was already nearly forty years old at this time, and Qin Shaohe was also in his early thirties, but he still called him "this kid." The relationship between the two Qin brothers in the past was roughly visible.
Qin Shaoqian smiled and pouted at this time: "Ha, I'm lucky he died in my hands at this time. Otherwise, if there were flaws in the future, I would definitely kill to the Liao country and take his entire family's life." As he said these words, a fierce aura gathered on his face, and his originally young-looking face gradually took on the same dignified aura as Qin Lao. But this aura only gathered for less than a moment, and then turned into a grimace, because his older brother patted him on the shoulder in approval several times, and he didn't know what he had patted, which immediately changed his expression.
"What's wrong?" Qin Shaohe asked suspiciously.
"Big…Big Brother…I have an injury on my back…" Qin Shaoqian gasped and pointed to his shoulder with his fingers, Qin Shaohe picked up his collar and looked inside: "Is the injury serious? You…"
"Don't tell Mother, don't tell Mother…" The bearded Qin Shaoqian waved his hands desperately, enduring the pain, and said in a low voice, "Damn it, it was just me and Xiaohu at the time. Those Liao dogs weren't easy to kill. I took a knife in the back to exchange for their three lives…Ooooo, it's worth it, but it hurts so much, don't tell Mother. I didn't dare to use too heavy medicine, for fear of being smelled out. Brother Ning, please help me cover it up too. I'm most afraid of my old mother crying…"
Qin Shaohe frowned: "The injury is so serious. You have to stay at home for so many days. Mother cares about you the most, how can you hide it?"
"Just…just putting on a brave face…"
Ning Yi said this sentence just now. When he said it through gritted teeth at this time, the few people in the room laughed. In the laughter, there was also some admiration. Ning Yi remembered that there were still a few portions of wound medicine left by Lu Hongti at home, including some for external injuries. The medicinal smell wasn't too strong, so he immediately said that he would send someone over at night. Qin Shaoqian was straightforward and thanked him again.
Then the few people headed towards the living room. After walking halfway, they saw Yunniang walking over from there with two women, carrying some things. Qin Shaohe and Qin Shaoqian both called her Aunt Yunniang. Obviously, they had a good relationship with this concubine of Qin Lao, who was also in her early thirties. But the two women following Yunniang made Ning Yi slightly stunned. One was Nie Yunzhu, and the other was Yuan Jin'er. The Qin family's family banquet had a meaning of gratitude. Yunzhu had a good relationship with the Qin family in the first place, and this time they invited them over. Ning Yi didn't even know. At this time, it seemed that they were helping prepare the dinner like members of the Qin family.
Yunniang was leading them and probably had something to do. After a brief introduction, she went to the backyard. Tan'er naturally recognized Yuan Jin'er, but in someone else's house, she wouldn't show her curiosity. When Yunzhu saw them, it seemed like she had known that Ning Yi was coming. She gave Ning Yi a mischievous and playful smile in the interval that Tan'er didn't notice, saluted generously, and went to the backyard.
A little later, when they went to the living room and chatted with Qin Lao for a few words, when Yunzhu and the others came over again, they clearly saw that the old man Qin Siyuan also showed a slightly mischievous smile. Ning Yi was also a little helpless. The old man knew about his relationship with Yunzhu and the troubles between them. He used to laugh at Ning Yi for making trouble for himself, but he also had a good impression of this woman, Nie Yunzhu. This casual banquet made Ning Yi feel a bit like the old man's killing move when they usually played chess.
Usually in chess matches, Ning Yi either took a risky approach or made bold and sweeping moves. In short, his style was obvious. The old man was moderate and peaceful, holding the middle ground. This time, when he dropped a chess piece, it really made people feel like they couldn't avoid the pressure. On the other hand, it was truly silent and imperceptible, so that people couldn't get angry at all…
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I'm back. I could have updated before midnight, but my computer crashed once until this time.
2012 has arrived. Before the apocalypse, I'll start to go crazy too…(To be continued. Vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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