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MTL - Harue Kagetsu-Chapter 4
His hands were so tightly clasped in his palms that Gao Luoshen's heart beat a little faster.
She didn't dare to look at the two fiery gazes he cast towards her, she lowered her eyes, suddenly remembered, and gently pulled out her hand from his palm and got out of bed.
She walked to the table, picked up the jug, and poured wine into the pair of yin and yang inscriptions that were quietly placed on the table. Both cups are full, pick up. Under his gaze, he returned to him step by step, and handed him the jade cup with the Yang Ming inscribed on it.
"From now on, the rest of the concubine's life will be entrusted to the prince. Please drink this wine."
She raised her head slightly, opened her red lips lightly, and exhaled like blue.
Shu sleeves are like clouds, plain wrists are like jade, and the nectar and jade hands complement each other, glowing with intoxicating grape night light.
Li Mu stared at her, his eyes filled with tenderness.
He took the cup, took her by the hand with his big palm, and led her to sit back on the side of the bed.
After drinking, he put down the cup and smiled at her. Eye-catching, bright eyes.
The tent fell again.
Feeling those lips lightly touching her earlobe, when she closed her eyes, her ears seemed to echo the scene of the wedding night, when Jian Zhi smiled and called her "Ami" affectionately.
Her body froze slightly.
He seemed to notice her strangeness, hesitated, raised his head, and let go of her.
"Go to sleep."
He said softly, and gently pulled up the quilt for her, covering her neck, without the slightest displeasure in his voice.
Gao Luoshen closed his eyes for a moment, then quietly opened them again and looked at him.
He closed his eyes, lay quietly on her back, breathing steadily, as if he had fallen asleep.
But she knew that he was not asleep.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
she asked softly, vaguely.
He opened his eyes, turned his face, and looked at her.
The red light of the candle penetrated the tent, and his eyes were deep and shimmering slightly.
…
Many years ago, in Jingkou, there was a refugee boy who fled from the north. He was new to the country and was unfamiliar with his life. In order to see a doctor for his seriously ill mother, he had nowhere to go. At the cost of 30 money for a year, he devoted himself to a local one. The manor surnamed Zhang Haoqiang worked as a child servant. Every day he got up before dawn and did all kinds of dirty work.
A year later, when he could leave, the steward falsely accused him of stealing his master's money and sent him to office. If he doesn't want to go, he must sign a life-long deed.
Later, he learned that this was a common method used by these local tyrants to use the refugees without roots, in order to recruit child servants for the manor at the lowest price.
The angry young man knocked the steward to the ground, and was immediately caught by the swarming servants. After a beating, the iron nails pierced his palm.
He was nailed to a pillar on the side of the road at the entrance of the manor.
When his mother Lu Shi heard the news, he had been nailed to the road for three days, with no water and rice. The lips were dry and bloody, and the man was also passed out by the scorching sun.
He struggled to wake up amid the cries of his mother, and saw the thin mother kneeling at the door of the manor not far away, kowtow to the slaves, begging to spare her son.
The house slave crossed his hands and sneered.
His mother was born in the Fanyang Lu clan, and she was also the daughter of an aristocratic family in the north. When Xiao Shi went south, the Lu family did not follow, and it was too late to come to Jiangdong again. Under the pressure of the clansmen and nobles who had already reached the top, they were reduced to the poor clan, and the promotion of their children was completely cut off. . Over the years, the people were scattered and went their separate ways. No one remembered that there was such a woman in the family who married the Li family in Xuyi.
Mothers should not be so humiliated.
He wanted to wake up his mother, but his throat was too hoarse to make a sound.
At this moment, there was a pleasant sound of copper bells in the wind.
On the opposite lane in the distance, an ox cart came unhurriedly.
The oxen is strong and strong, with a golden copper bell tied around its neck, the front of the carriage is hung with drapery, the body is painted with gold paint, and the window on the side of the carriage is half-open. The driver sits in front of the chariot, his driving skills are exquisite, and the ox-cart, front and rear, left and right, walks with two rows of **** entourages.
At a glance, you can see that this should be the owner of a wealthy family who passed by here.
Perhaps it is not surprising here that the owner of the tyrannical manor punishes his slaves like this.
The ox cart did not stop, and walked past the pillar that nailed his palm.
There was a faint scent of flowers in the air.
"Sister, they are so pitiful. Please help them..."
Suddenly, a girl's voice floated out of the ox cart with the wind and faintly entered the boy's ears.
That voice was like the first cry of a milky owl, and it was the most beautiful voice this young man had ever heard in his life.
"We're just passing by, it's better not to mind your own business..."
The voice of another girl who sounded older came next.
"But sister, he doesn't look like a bad person, he's really pitiful..."
"You're just soft-hearted. Listen to Sister, it's not our business, don't worry about it..."
The girl seemed to sigh, full of sympathy and helplessness.
The young man raised his neck with all his might, and looked in the direction where the bullock cart just left in front of him.
In a corner of the window of the carriage, half of the little girl's face was looking back.
She looked seven or eight years old. Goose-yellow clothes, snow-white skin, jet-black hair, and a pair of round eyes are extremely beautiful, like a jade snow doll.
Her gaze is now on herself, and her eyes are full of unbearable and pity.
But with a blinding eye, a curtain was dropped, and the girl's face disappeared behind the observation window.
"Ami, if you are not obedient, I will tell my aunt that I will not bring you out next time..."
The ox cart gradually went away.
"I beg you, let go of my son first, if I don't let him go, he will die... He owes you the money, I will find a way to pay it back..."
The mother was still there, kowtowing in tears, begging the slaves bitterly, and one of them kicked her in her heart and fell to the ground.
"What do you get back?"
Another person looked at it, "It's thicker or thicker. Dress up and send it to serve people. Someone should still like it!"
The wretched laughter, sandwiched by the desperate cry of his mother, entered his ears.
"Auntie, don't mind me—"
The boy's eyes were split.
At this moment, he didn't know where the strength came from, he roared, and with one force, he broke his nailed palm off the stake.
His palms were dripping with blood, but he felt no pain at all.
With red eyes, he ran over, grabbed a stick on the ground, and protected it by his mother's side.
The people around were stunned, they reacted, and they were so angry that they crowded around and shouted that they wanted to kill him.
At this moment, the sound of the copper bells of the tinkling bells approached again.
The one just now had already gone to the bullock cart, but it turned back and stopped on the side of the road.
A person who looked like a manager stepped forward to ask what was going on.
Seeing the life-saving straw, Lu Shi told the story while weeping.
The man was let go.
Diao slaves naturally refused, and told the other party not to meddle in their own business and leave quickly.
The other party sneered: "Is it also a nostalgic thing for the people of Gao Gong's family to manage?"
Everyone knows that Duke Gao is the honorary title given to the head of the Gao family by the people of the time.
The slaves were stunned.
Although the Zhang family is a tyrant in Jingkou, it can barely be classified as a noble family, but compared to the famous Gao family, I am afraid that they are not even worthy of shoes.
If the people in the bullock cart really came from the Gao family, naturally they would not dare not follow.
But who knows, are they bluffing?
If the person is let go so easily, and the news spreads in the future, how can the Zhang family save face in front of the Jingkou family?
When the slaves were hesitating, a girl's cold voice came from the carriage: "Are you from the Zhang family? My uncle also heard about it when he was in Jiankang. It is said that your Zhang family colluded with officials in Beijing, using the name of the imperial court. , privately increase taxes, and those returnees who can’t afford to pay will ask you to encircle the land allocated by the court. Not only that, but even people are forced to sell them as servants of your Zhang family manor! Zhang family makes some profit from it, The court will lose a few points! I still don’t believe it, but today, it seems that the matter is true! Jingkou was originally an important town for the court to resettle the refugees from the north. Your Zhang family did not want to share the troubles for the court. I return to the people of Dayu North! If I don’t let people go home, will I know the consequences?”
The girl should be young, but her voice carried a sense of majesty.
Diao slaves no longer dared to doubt, and hurriedly let go of the boy.
The bullock cart started again, turned around and went forward.
"Sister, thank you-"
The girl's childish voice faintly came out again, already with a bit of joy.
"I really can't do anything about you. Don't do this next time. The world is so big, how can you manage so many things..."
In the copper bells of Jingle Jingle, the fragrance of flowers in the wind and the girl's soft voice completely dissipated into the air...
…
At that time, how could the young man who was nailed to the road beside the road with iron nails, how could one day, as humble as him, he would marry the little girl in the oxcart who he had once caught a glimpse of, who looked like a beautiful girl in ice and snow. ?
…
Li Mu smiled and looked at her eyes, which became softer and softer, but suddenly felt dizzy.
He closed his eyes and tried to squeeze his fists, his expression suddenly changed.
When he opened his eyes again, his eyes had become cold and gloomy, concealing a deep, hurt-like pain and despair.
"What did you do in my cup?"
Word by word, he asked sharply.
Fang Cai was only a short while together tonight, and she saw him smile at her again.
It is unimaginable that Li Mu, the great Sima Li Mu, who has power over the court and the opposition, is actually such a gentle person in his inner life.
She was frightened, even more surprised, she really didn't understand, just now, his smile and the look at her made her feel a little warm, but it was only a blink of an eye, why it became so cold, even calling her Fear.
She stared blankly at his pale face full of evil spirits, her lips parted slightly, not knowing how to answer.
"Lang Jun... what's wrong with you... but what's wrong?"
She hesitated and tried to reach out to him, but was waved away by him.
Before she could react, she saw him jumping up from the bed, wearing open clothes, striding barefoot towards the weapon rack at the door, but his footsteps were vain, like a drunk person.
Just a few steps away, Li Mu remembered.
Tonight's wedding, the weapon was the murderer, and the shelf was withdrawn.
"Someone-"
He called out sharply, his body staggered, his shoulders swayed, and his body slammed into the nearby Pingji.
Several wine pots and cups fell to the ground, making a cracking sound.
Gao Luoshen finally realized that the situation was wrong, hurriedly put on his clothes and got out of bed, chased after him, and grabbed his arm.
"Lang Jun, what's wrong with you?"
He didn't answer, shouted "come" again, then pushed her away again and stumbled towards the door.
Before reaching the door, the man fell to the ground.
There was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the door.
"Da Sima, it's not good—"
The door was hastily pushed open, and a servant girl from the Li residence who had been sent to serve Gao Luoshen came running with a look of horror on her face.
Before she could finish speaking, she let out a miserable cry, and a sharp sword pierced her chest from her back, and she fell on the threshold.
From childhood to adulthood, has Gao Luoshen ever seen such a scene? scream.
Li Mu's face touched the ground, his eyes were tightly closed, his expression was painful, and a large amount of sweat rolled down from his forehead.
A trace of dark red blood was slowly oozing out from the corner of his lips.
Gao Luoshen was stunned.
At this moment, a group of soldiers in armor swarmed in from the door, all holding blood-stained swords, and in a blink of an eye, they surrounded Li Mu in the middle.
The candle jumped, and the firelight illuminated the soldier's armor and sword, shining a scarlet icy light.
Gao Luoshen finally came back to his senses.
"Who are you from? What are you doing?"
She was extremely frightened and shouted sternly. She was about to run towards Li Mu when she saw two more men coming in outside the door.
"Sister-in-law! Don't be afraid!"
The young man with a jade-like face and a long sword in his hand quickly ran to Gao Luoshen's side, grabbed her arm, and forcibly dragged her away from Li Mu's body on the ground.
It was her former Xiaolang, Lu Jianzhi's brother-in-law Lu Huanzhi.
When Lu Jianzhi was alive, Lu Huanzhi greatly admired this eldest brother, loved Wu Jiwu, and respected Gao Luoshen. After Lu Jianzhi died unfortunately in the war against Xishu seven years ago, Gao Luoshen always regarded herself as a widow, and Lu Huanzhi always called her sister-in-law, and did not change her words.
The other strong man was Xiao Daocheng, the king of Xin'an of the clan.
Before Emperor Taikang died on the road to escape, he and Li Mutong were accused of serving as assistants. After Li Mu took power, Xiao Daocheng was forced to cater to him. Tonight, when Li Mu married Gao Luoshen, Xiao Daocheng was naturally the guest of honor.
At the moment of seeing Lu Huanzhi and Xiao Daocheng, Gao Luoshen understood everything.
For more than 20 years, she has indeed been well protected by her father, brother and family.
But that doesn't mean she doesn't know anything.
It turned out that all of this was just a plan by the elder sister, the clan, and the Lu family.
Li Mu's defense was lifted through a marriage that seemed to show his love.
And she acted as the person who was seductive with her beauty, poured the wine into a poisonous cup, delivered it to Li Mu, and then let him drink it unprepared.
The guests in the front hall are still drinking and celebrating at the moment. Who can imagine that the bridal chamber in the inner courtyard, which was supposed to be thousands of charming, actually staged such a conspiracy and tricks.
She was cold all over, her legs were weak, and she could barely stand.
Being held by Lu Jianzhi, when she passed by him, she looked at the tall figure bent over on the ground.
"Sister-in-law, hurry up!"
Lu Huanzhi looked very excited and kept urging her.
On one side is the elder sister, the husband's family, and the royal family, and on the other is a stranger who has only met him twice even tonight.
Everything is doomed.
Even if she didn't want to, at this moment, nothing could change.
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, she turned her head, trembling, and when she was about to leave with Lu Huanzhi, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed her ankle with such strength, The grip hurts like her ankle shatters.
Gao Luoshen slowly lowered his head and met the two eyes of Li Mu on the ground.
He lay there, opened his eyes, turned his head to her, pale and contorted, his eyes bursting with bloodshot eyes.
A streak of scarlet blood flowed down his face from his eyes, making his eyes seem blood-colored, and that blood-colored sinister gaze landed on her face and remained motionless.
"no…"
She shook her head.
Not her.
But before he opened his mouth, the words trembled and choked in his throat, and he couldn't say anything, only the sparkling tears in his eyes.
"Li Mu, if you kill my uncle, I swear to you! Tonight is your day of death, suffer!"
Lu Huanzhi gritted his teeth, raised the sword in his hand, and slashed at Li Mu's arm that was holding Gao Luoshen's ankle.
"don't want!"
Gao Luoshen suddenly closed his eyes.
The next moment, she felt her ankle loosen, and with the sound of the tip of the sword breaking into the flesh, someone fell down beside her.
She shivered, the tears flowed more fiercely, and finally opened her eyes and froze.
She saw that Li Mu actually propped up his body and knelt on one knee on the ground.
In one of his hands, he held the long sword snatched from Lu Huanzhi tightly, and the back of his hand was covered with protruding blue veins, as if his skin was about to burst.
Blood splattered from the tip of the sword drop by drop along the blade.
And Lu Huanzhi had already fallen at her feet.
His body twitched slightly, his eyes were wide open, and his expression was still full of disbelief as his eyes gradually faded.
There was an extra hole in his heart.
A sword pierces the heart.
Slumps of blood rushed out.
The blood quickly stained his clothes and slowly flowed to the ground.
Gao Luoshen couldn't hold it any longer, and fell to the ground, gasping for breath, like a drowning man.
Li Mu vomited out a big mouthful of blood, then raised his head, supported his body with the tip of his sword, slowly stood up from the ground, and finally straightened his shoulders.
"I'm here! Take my life, come!"
He stared at Xiao Daocheng in front of him, his **** eyes flashing, and he shouted sharply.
Everyone was stunned. The armored soldier was shocked by his murderous aura, raised the sword in his hand, and stopped for a while.
"Kill him! The Lone King will reward him!"
Xiao Daocheng hissed.
The armored soldiers looked at each other, and Qi Qi rushed up to Li Mu.
Where Li Mu waved his arm, a helmeted head was cut off to the ground.
The blood column spurted from the broken neck in the air, like a rain of blood, sprinkled all over the ground.
"Whoever blocks me, die!"
Li Mu's **** eyes were red, holding the sword of blood dripping in his hand, stepping forward step by step.
The armored soldiers were pale.
These soldiers are all Xiao Daocheng's confidants. In order to ensure that they are hit tonight, they are carefully selected, and they are all brave.
But the opponent they faced was the God of War of the Southern Dynasty who had led the Dayu army to the north on several expeditions, which made millions of barbarians change their color.
Even though he was like a beast in a cage, an eagle with broken wings, he was deterred by his astonishing fierce force, and even more by the awe-inspiring force he exuded. Every time he took a step forward, the armored soldiers took a step back. People dare to stop.
Xiao Daocheng did not expect that Li Mu, who had been poisoned, was so brave.
His expression changed greatly, he turned to retreat, it was too late, Li Mu threw the long sword in his hand towards his back.
The long sword was like a cluster of arrows, chasing after him like a flaming star.
This throw seemed to condense all his last strength, the sword body was deeply inserted into Xiao Daocheng's back, and it came out through his chest.
Xiao Daocheng fell to the ground.
One of the armored soldiers finally recovered, screamed wildly, and from then on, a sword stabbed deeply into Li Mu's back.
With a sword in his chest, Li Mu turned around slowly, staring at the armored soldier who attacked him, and stood up.
There was a dead silence around him, except for the slight sound of blood dripping from his chest and back.
A gust of night wind blew in, the red candle swayed, and his blood-stained face was half-lit in the candlelight, as if he came from Avici hell.
The armored soldier looked at him for a moment, then gradually showed a look of fear.
"Da Sima, spare me..."
He let go of the hilt of the sword, slumped to the ground, and then rolled and crawled and escaped.
With a backhand, Li Mu pulled out the blood-stained sword stuck in his back. With a pair of **** eyes, he glanced at the remaining soldiers around him.
The soldiers looked at him in horror and slowly backed away.
I don't know which one started, and in the blink of an eye, rushing out of the house.
There is blood everywhere. In the empty room, only a few corpses were left on the ground.
With a sound of "Qiang", Li Mu threw his sword to the ground.
He swallowed the sweet smell that kept pouring into his throat, turned his head slowly, and looked at Gao Luoshen who was still sitting on the ground.
Her face was as white as a dead person, she opened her beautiful but empty eyes, stared blankly at him staggering, walked back to her step by step, and finally stopped at a place that was only one person away from her. before.
The two of them looked at each other like this.
She was crying, he was bleeding.
Blood kept dripping from his seven orifices, and his body gradually shook.
Suddenly, the whole body, like a collapsed mountain, collapsed suddenly and pressed down on her.
Gao Luoshen was pushed back by his heavy body and fell to the ground.
Her breath was full of blood.
It was the smell of his blood.
She felt a pair of cold, wet big hands, groping, and came to the top of her slender and smooth neck, and finally pinched the back of her neck bone, caressed it like a caress, and immediately exerted force.
An excruciating pain.
As long as he exerted a little more force, her slender neck would be broken like a reed.
She closed her eyes, motionless.
After a while, the expected scene did not come.
The hands gradually relaxed.
Something hot, wet like raindrops, splashed drop by drop on her face.
She opened her eyes slowly. With tears in his eyes, he saw his face stop above his forehead, which was only half an elbow away from him.
He stared at her stubbornly, his expression stiff, the blood dripping from his eyes splattered on her face.
"Da Sima, let go of Amei!"
It seemed that it was only a short moment, and it seemed that a long time had passed. Suddenly, there was an anxious shout from outside the door of the bridal chamber.
Gao Luoshen's cousin Gao Yin also arrived.
Li Mu turned a deaf ear, and still put his hands on her neck like that, looking at her fixedly. However, the last ray of life in his eyes gradually disappeared until it disappeared completely.
His head was suddenly pressed down softly, and his forehead was lightly pressed against her face, and he never moved again.
And that **** eye, always open, never closed.
…
Li Mu, the legendary **** of war in the Southern Dynasties, who had supported half of the majestic world by himself, died in his bridal chamber night like this.
His cronies, who were drunk most of the night, were all cut off.
And the news of his recurrence of old injuries and his death was only sent out after half a month.
Outsiders only know that heaven is jealous of Yingcai, and they all sigh with embarrassment when they talk about the failure of his long-running Northern Expedition.
Empress Dowager Gao took the young emperor to pay homage to him in person, and was awarded the title of honor.
Gao Luoshen was seriously ill.
Afterwards, the Empress Dowager Gao came to visit and told her that Li Mu was usually very strict.
In addition to him in this way, she is also helpless.
As for not telling her beforehand, it was because she was afraid that her words and actions would be different after she knew about it. With Li Mu's prudence, he might lead him to doubt, and instead of getting rid of him, he would lead to misfortune.
Empress Dowager Gao said that the reason why she made up her mind was not all for Deng'er, but also for the Gao family.
If he usurped the throne in the future, how would he treat the gentry well? Today's Lu and Zhu are the proof.
When Empress Dowager Gao explained, Gao Luoshen always closed his eyes and looked indifferent.
After Empress Dowager Gao finished explaining, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled coldly.
"Elder sister, it's better to let the Han family lose the north forever, and you can't let the Xiao family lose this corner of the world, and that's what you think, right?"
Mrs. Gao showed a slight embarrassment behind her and remained silent.
"May my Dayu Kingdom last forever and be as you hoped. In this way, I can be regarded as repaying your affection for me in the past."
She stared at Empress Dowager Gao and said.
…
Gao Luoshen was surrounded by water coming from all directions.
If there is another life, the man also remembers the past, what will happen when we meet again?
The last breath in my chest, with the last thought that passed by, escaped.
With the tide of the Spring River, she slowly sank into the dark and boundless world.