The wind and heat in the early summer were mild, passing through the house, blowing the thick green shade of Dige's trees, but they couldn't enter the deepest underground dungeon in the northwest corner of Dige's Palace.
Although it was only May, the dungeon was already very hot and stuffy. Those dark iron gates and iron fences added to this dull and oppressive feeling. There was a faint smell of blood and soil moisture, rusty smell of iron, and rotten food. The breath is mixed with all kinds of sour and smelly smells on the human body, and it is a smell that makes people dizzy.
Because of this, the palace guards who delivered food to the prison every day walked in a hurry and walked like flying.
Now there are only two prisoners left in the prison. These two prisoners were once a couple. They are the objects of strict guards in the palace. Although many people wonder, why should Her Majesty keep these two prisoners who have committed the heinous crime of seizing power and usurping the throne? But the fact is that the former emperor and the former empress have been alive, and Her Majesty the Queen seems to have forgotten them in this gloomy dungeon.
Gongwei, who delivered food to the prison today, was holding a bowl of soup in his hand. The soup was thin egg drop soup, which was completely cold, and the palace guard's fingers were casually soaked in the soup. Talk and laugh with people around you as you walk in.
"...I don't know what the higher-ups think. This kind of person, a piece of white silk is the end of the day. Why keep it all the time, not only keep it, but also give the patient food when he is sick. Ha, when did His Majesty be so merciful?"
The other person heheed, and said: "This matter can't be reported to His Majesty. The prison supervisor in Zhangtian Prison said that the above means that people can't die. That woman is so sick, she should be taken care of anyway, Tang. Ah, just take some medicine, just give her a sigh of relief."
A group of people walked to the depths of the dungeon, turned left to the men's prison, right to the women's prison, a few people turned right, placed soup bowls in front of the innermost cell, took out a paper bag, and said in a rough voice: "Drink soup and take medicine!"
One person laughed and said, "Today is no longer hard steamed buns, and egg drop soup is for you."
A ball of rotten straw in the cell moved, and a disheveled face slowly emerged. The dirt on the face had not been cleaned for a long time, and the shape could no longer be seen. Between the black dust and mud and the dark red blood scabs , revealing a pair of beautifully shaped, but already lifeless eyes.
The palace guard outside the cell looked at it expressionlessly, but he couldn't help but think of the Queen of Mingcheng, Queen of Mingcheng in his mind. Thinking back to the days when the mother was in the world, rich and noble, and now she is reduced to the lower ranks, she is not as good as a pig or a dog. I really don't know where to start with the fate in this world.
No matter how Mingcheng seemed to be in no mood to feel the vicissitudes of life, when she saw the egg drop soup, her eyes lit up, and she quickly crawled over with hands and feet, and the shackles and chains rattled and rattled.
Seeing her difficult appearance, Gong Wei felt a little pity for her, knelt down and handed her the bowl through the gap in the fence, Ming Cheng trembled to pick it up, he didn't know if it was because he was too sick or the chains were too heavy , One was not holding it firmly, "Crack." With a sound, the rough porcelain bowl shattered.
The palace guards all backed away and scolded: "Will you wink!"
Ming Cheng trembling lips, leaning on the rotten straw, stammering to apologize to everyone, "Officer...it's my fault...please forgive me..."
"You deserve it! Swallow the medicine yourself!" Gong Wei casually picked up the pieces of the porcelain bowl with his boots, kicked them aside, cursed and left.
Mingcheng lowered his head, pressed the straw under his body tightly with his hands, and apologized loudly, no one could hear what she was talking about, and no one was in the mood to listen, so they all turned and walked away.
When the last palace guard turned around, he stopped suddenly.
Ming Cheng lowered his head, knelt and pressed his hands to the ground, as if he had lost all his strength, his arms were trembling slightly.
The palace guard stopped, stepped back, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly a weird smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
Ming Cheng never raised his head, but his arms trembled even more.
The boots of the palace guard suddenly came in through the gap in the fence, and kicked her arms away. Mingcheng couldn't hold on, and fell to the ground. A white thing was exposed from the rotten straw on the ground with her hands just now. .
Broken china.
Gong Wei showed a knowing smile, looked at the pile of porcelain bowl fragments in the corner, and said softly: "The Empress is so fast, no one has noticed that you have hidden a porcelain fragment."
Mingcheng looked up at him in despair, and said hoarsely, "I want to die...I want to die, can't I!"
"Okay." The palace guard said unhurriedly, "But if your mother really wanted to die, why did you deliberately show the piece of porcelain under my fingers when I passed by you just now?"
Ming Cheng was shaken all over, lowered his head and took a few breaths, and said weakly: "I...I think you've been looking at me not quite right, I...I want to try..."
The palace guard smiled, looked at the rest of the people who were about to go away, and said quickly: "One must be able to save himself before he can save others. Otherwise, what is the use of waste? Why take such a risk? If you can walk out of this prison by yourself, And come up with something that satisfies my master, maybe there is still a chance."
After he finished speaking, he walked away quickly, Mingcheng looked up at his back, slowly reached out his hand, and clenched the piece of porcelain tightly.
There was a flash of light in her expressionless eyes, cold, longing, hatred, and excitement... Finally, it turned into a smear of murderous intent, like a blade, sweeping away.
…
The palace guard who had finished speaking with Mingcheng left the dungeon, and was on duty until the specified time, then, like the rest of the palace guards, left Yuzhao Palace to go home.
However, he was very vigilant when walking, walking and turning all the way, paying attention to whether there was anyone following him from time to time. After walking for more than half an hour, he arrived at the door of a house, and quickly knocked on the door knocker.
The door opened immediately as if someone was waiting at any moment, and the palace guard stepped in and asked the person behind the door, "How is the master?"
A middle-aged man in gray clothes behind the door frowned and said, "If you have nothing to do, you must come here to find the master. Why did you come here suddenly?"
"Of course there is something to do." Gong Wei smiled, "The one in the dungeon is really restless, I'm here to ask the master to show me, should I take care of it or not?"
"Let's ignore it in all likelihood, what's the use of that trash?" said the middle-aged man in gray clothes, "There have been changes at the top, and part of the master's crisis has been resolved now, so there is no need to spend as much effort as before. The so-called motion is worse than silence, The master has other plans, so don't make trouble for the master."
The palace guard nodded in disappointment, and was about to leave when suddenly a clear and gentle voice came from inside, "The fifth child is here, what's the matter?"
The middle-aged man in gray shook his head helplessly, motioning for the palace guard to go in, and the palace guard stepped into the wing room that was used as a study. It was early summer and the sky was bright, but there was no light in the study, and the windows on all sides were covered with black veils. The smoke of agarwood in the Begonia flower cauldron curled up, making people's vision even more blurred, and they could barely see a slender figure standing by the window with his back to the door.
The palace guard saluted respectfully, told what happened in the dungeon today, and finally said: "You tell your subordinates, if there is any change in Mingcheng, please remind her and report to you. Now, my subordinates will see Look, the Empress seems restless."
"Oh?" The slender figure didn't shake, and his tone was calm with a hint of determination.
"You mean..."
"Mingcheng, the only value left now is the secrets of the founding empress's underground palace that she has mastered. If you want to kill Jing Hengbo, there is a place you can use. And it is said that in the founding empress' underground palace, there is enough Mastering the secret of the overthrow of the dynasty, this secret is not the so-called imperial silk book... I am very interested in this." The man said lightly, "But I don't like to cooperate with stupid people. If Mingcheng can't save himself, he didn't think of what I need , you can just silence her, keep it, it is an opportunity, but also a disaster, without her, I might not be able to kill Jing Hengbo."
"yes."
The palace guard backed out, the man turned around slowly, and walked to the table.
A black satin cloak was draped over the chair, and the dim light flowed in the darkness, like a pair of eyes staring at the night.
…
There is no day and night in the dungeon, and the flow of time can only be deduced through the light from the skylight far above the head.
In the dark cell, there was a faint smell of blood.
Mingcheng gritted his teeth, put half of the blood-stained map in his arms, and listened carefully to the movement outside.
She was trembling slightly, as if she was extremely cold, there was a bone-deep wound on her wrist, blood was still gurgling, a piece of broken porcelain, stained with blood, was thrown aside.
She didn't bandage the wound, and let the blood flow uninterruptedly, and a puddle had already accumulated on the ground. Her face was as pale as a ghost, but her eyes were exceptionally bright, full of longing for life and freedom.
The blood flowed more and more, and her trembling became more and more intense. In order to seek a chance to survive, she slapped herself hard, but because she underestimated the current bad physique, she now felt that she would not be able to hold on.
But don't fail to support the person, then you will fall short...
Footsteps sounded suddenly in the distance, it seemed earlier than usual, Mingcheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately lay down on the ground, placed his injured hand in the obvious place, and closed his eyes.
The footsteps shuffled to the front, and suddenly stopped. After a moment of silence, there was a scream, "Come here! The prisoner committed suicide!"
The shouts spread far away, and after a while, the sound of chaotic footsteps continued to approach. The jailer came, the cell boss came, and even the chief of the palace supervisor who was in charge of the entire prison came. Through the fence, everyone saw a large area on the ground. There was a pool of blood, Mingcheng was lying quietly in the pool of blood, the blood from the wound on her wrist had dried up, her face was pale with the gray of death.
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to figure out why the ex-queen, who had been languishing in prison and refused to die despite all the humiliation and hardship, suddenly developed a will to die.
It doesn't matter how the prisoner suffers, but if the person who is not allowed to die dies, everyone present will be guilty.
The Palace Superintendent is fully responsible for the internal and external affairs of the prison. The head of the department is an old eunuch, who couldn't bear the pickle smell in the prison, and held his nose and sternly said: "Hurry up and get him out and seek medical treatment!"
Everyone hastily unlocked the lock and hurriedly carried Mingcheng out, among them was the palace guard who was on duty yesterday.
Mingcheng's hands were hanging down, dangling powerlessly by her side. The palace guard helped to lift her upper body, and suddenly felt her sleeves move. He opened his eyes, revealing a pleading gaze, then quickly closed them and pretended to be dead.
The palace guard stood where he was, watching the dying former empress being carried away. In the gap between the crowd, the pale, blood-stained woman stared at him unblinkingly, her eyes flickering.
That kind of light is called survival.
…
That night, in the black veiled room, the slender man unfolded the blood-stained cloth, looked at it for a while, and said with a smile, "It really is this."
Gongwei bowed his head and remained silent.
"She only has this bargaining chip left." The man flicked the cloth and said with a smile, "Half of the map of the founding queen's underground palace, she means, if you want to know the half, save her."
"Master, strictly speaking, she failed to fulfill the master's request, and she did not really get out of the dungeon..."
"Well, the method is not smart enough," the man smiled faintly, "But, in her actions, I can see her ruthlessness. A person who is ruthless to himself must also be ruthless to others." He turned his head and looked in the direction of the palace. , said casually, "Then give her a chance."
…
Three days later, the deposed Emperor Zou Zheng, who was imprisoned in the dungeon, suddenly expressed that he had an important secret and wanted to report it to the Palace Supervisor. The Palace Supervisor immediately sent a team of guards to interrogate Zou Zheng and brought him to the Palace Supervisor for interrogation.
To take Zou Zheng out of the sky prison, he had to pass through the cell where Mingcheng was now. Mingcheng was lying motionless in the prison, looking half dead. There was so much noise over there that she didn't even raise her eyes.
Zou Zheng was sandwiched between the guards and handcuffed heavily, but his expression was faintly excited.
When delivering food to him last night, the guard gave him a hard steamed bun with a small tube hidden in it, and told him to break the tube when he walked to the fourth-to-last door near the cell door, and then wait for rescue.
He was stunned. He didn't expect anyone else to save him at this time. He asked the other party, but the other party said that his face was useful, so he wanted to save him. Because of this face, Zou Zheng got the chance to usurp the throne, so he naturally believed in it No doubt.
Even if he is rescued and used as a pawn, it is better than suffering to death here.
The two groups of people walked in the deep prison cell at a leisurely pace, with the sound of boots, the cells on both sides were covered in shadows, and it was impossible to see who was inside.
Zou Zheng lowered his head, counting silently in his heart.
The penultimate room, the second room, the third room...the fourth room!
right here!
"Crack." With a sound, the tube broke.
A puff of blue smoke spewed out, the smoke was extremely thick, but it was only a small pipe, and the smoke had already enveloped the two groups of people in an instant.
The two teams fell without a sound, including Zou Zheng.
When Zou Zheng fell down, he quickly swallowed a pill, which was the antidote hidden in another steamed bun.
He was lying on the ground, his eyes rolled quickly, looking around, waiting for someone to come to rescue him.
But no footsteps.
Immediately, one of the two teams of guards slowly stood up. That person looked familiar, and it turned out to be the person who delivered the medicine to him yesterday.
Zou Zheng was overjoyed, and was about to get up and follow him, when he suddenly saw the man smile at him secretly, and said: "Have you taken the medicine?"
Zou Zheng nodded, excitedly about to speak, but suddenly found that his voice could not come out.
Not only could the sound not come out, but all the muscles and joints of the whole body seemed to be suddenly frozen, a little bit stiff, and lost the ability to move.
In the body, severe pain suddenly arises, like purgatory, and the internal organs are roasted tragically.
His face suddenly changed.
The man looked at him kindly, and said as if comforting: "It's good to eat, and you can die safely after eating."
Zou Zheng's eyes widened suddenly - he was fooled!
The other party ignored him, turned around, took out the key calmly, and opened the door of the next cell.
Ming Cheng got up from the haystack, the guard stripped off the coat of a guard beside him, and handed it to her, Ming Cheng took it, put it on, and nodded indifferently to Zou Zheng who was lying on the ground, his expression seemed to be thanking him. He is willing to replace himself.
Zou Zheng made an "ahhh" sound in his throat, and exhausted all his strength, he barely moved his fingers and grabbed Mingcheng's trousers.
He raised his head desperately, his eyes were full of pleading, and black blood slowly flowed from the corners of his lips.
Mingcheng read his hard-moving lips expressionlessly, and he was saying—a husband and wife in a day, a hundred days of grace...
A couple of days is a hundred days of grace.
Mingcheng smiled sarcastically.
This is a benefit couple, how can we talk about affection, in such a sinking situation, we just want to struggle to get out, who can control who!
She almost paid the price with her life for this chance of freedom, why should she give it up to this idiot?
She kicked lightly with her toe.
Zou Zheng's hand was kicked away feebly, just like the day before, her hand was kicked away contemptuously by the jailer.
Mingcheng's toes also rubbed against his fingers by the way, and when she heard the rattling sound of broken joints, she giggled.
The guard glared at her, she hurriedly lowered her head, helped the guard strip off Zou Zheng's clothes, threw them into her cell, put the guard who had been changed by her into Zou Zheng's clothes, and fed him A pill, caught in the middle of the team.
While she was busy, the wound on her hand was split open, but she didn't say a word.
Then the two helped everyone stand up, stood against the wall, and leaned against the wall themselves.
After another half a quarter of an hour, the smoke cleared, and everyone slowly opened their eyes.
The moment they opened their eyes, they were a little dazed. Everyone looked at each other, feeling in a trance. It seemed that something had happened just now, but they couldn't remember. Why they stopped here at this moment was also inexplicable.
After thinking for a long time, there was no answer. The leader was afraid that the night would be long and dreamy, so he immediately ordered to get out of the prison quickly. The guard who was disguised as Zou Zheng also followed with his head down, his eyes dull and his expression numb.
Mingcheng lowered his head all the way, not daring to let others see his face, secretly afraid in his heart.
The other party's medicine seems to be getting stronger and stronger. The drug just now has no side effects, and even makes people forget that they have fainted for a short time, and their consciousness can continue in an instant.
In addition to fear, there is also some excitement—cooperating with such a person, why not have a chance to avenge his hatred?
"Zou Zheng" was sent to the Palace Superintendent, and the guards returned to work after completing their tasks. On the way back to the guard's room, two people disappeared.
Another hour later, in the sealed carriage, Ming Cheng opened the curtain and looked back quietly.
Behind her, there are flying eaves and brackets, and the palace gate is crimson. It's been a long time since those things belonged to her, but were taken away again and again.
Those magnificent beauty, the taste of freedom. So fresh, such a hunting wind passing by the nose.
Her eyes became brighter and brighter, shining brightly.
I `m coming out.
The land of today will be your bed tomorrow.
wait for me.
Scenery, horizontal, wave.