Judge of the Lamp

Chapter 51
It was still dark, and Xu Zhiqiong arrived at the Yamen early.

The atmosphere in the yamen was different today, Xu Zhiqiong found that many people were more enthusiastic about him.

For example, the old lamp Lang Ning Wenyi, who was watching the gate, usually didn't bother to look at Xu Zhiqiong, but today he stood up and said hello.

"Zhiqiong, you've come so early, young people are diligent and motivated, and have a bright future!"

Did the old man drink sugarcane juice?Why is your mouth so sweet?
Entering the yamen, Xu Zhiqiong wanted to go to the dungeon first, but Deng Yonglai, the man in charge of ordnance, greeted him: "Zhiqiong, Yi Qianhu asked me to pick a good knife for you before, but I ended up picking and choosing , I haven’t picked out a decent one for a few days, the penance workshop just sent ten new knives, I left one for you, you can look carefully, this knife is top-grade.”

what's the situation?Have a knife?
After more than half a month in the Lantern Yamen, you finally gave me a knife?
Xu Zhiqiong drew his saber out of its sheath. He had learned some common sense about weapons in the academy, so this is indeed a good saber out of a hundred.

Deng Yonglai is mean and unfriendly to newcomers, such a good knife should at least be given to Qingdeng, how could he be willing to give it to me?
Xu Zhiqiong hung up his saber and was about to go to the prison, when Qingdeng Lang Si Kecheng, who was in charge of chores, came over.

Regardless of being in charge of miscellaneous affairs, he has to handle all the basic necessities of life in the yamen. This person has great power, and he usually doesn't even look down on other Qingdengmen.

But today he took the initiative to say hello to Xu Zhiqiong.

"Zhiqiong, I asked someone to arrange a small house for you, but you leave the night watch too early every day, and I haven't had time to tell you."

Even the dormitory is arranged for me?
A series of miraculous changes surprised Xu Zhiqiong, but he quickly found the root of the problem.

Ma Guangli was sitting among a group of white lantern speakers, talking about a book.

"That Zhou Haiqin was really not a thing. He took Second Sister Lin's hand and was about to take her away. Xu Zhiqiong went up and stopped her. That Zhou Haiqin pointed at Zhiqiong's nose and cursed. The scolding was really ugly.
You all know that Zhiqiong is stupid, I have to go over and say a few words for him, in front of my Ma Denglang, you dare to rob people's daughters, are you not afraid of Wang Fa?

This week Haiqin was really evil, not only did he not listen to persuasion, he even chopped Zhiqiong with a knife, let me see what is going on!Isn't this bullying honest people!I was about to teach Zhou Haiqiu a lesson when I went up, but I didn't expect Zhiqiong to grab Zhou Haiqiu's hair faster than me, and click... Oh shit! "

Ma Guangli trembled in fright, Xu Zhiqiong stretched out his hand and laid the knife across his neck.

"Zhiqiong, why did you suddenly appear? Don't do this in the future, you, don't stand behind me in the future."

Since killing Zhou Haiqin, Xu Zhiqiong's reputation in the yamen has grown. In the mouths of the leaders and seniors, he is an outstanding young man with integrity, loyalty to duty, and hatred of evil.

Of course, these are not the point.

The point is that he dared to kill, two at a time, as soon as he said so, completely disregarding the identity of the other party.

No one would have imagined that a taciturn and honest man could be so fierce.

No one knows when this honest man will be ready to kill again.

Just ask, who would dare to provoke such a person?

Seeing everyone's vigilant eyes, Xu Zhiqiong smiled innocently and went to the prison.

In the prison, the emaciated Meng Shizhen was still putting on a show, playing with various instruments of torture to frighten Chen Jiuer.

Chen Jiu'er on the torture rack seemed to be very scared, but he was actually pretending for Lao Meng. These instruments of torture had been looked at every day, and they had long lost their deterrent effect.

Tired from the show, the haggard Meng Shizhen sat on a chair in a daze, saw Xu Zhiqiong coming, and asked, "Have you asked someone to make a fortune?"

"Forget it, I figured it out, no, I didn't figure it out."

Meng Shizhen shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'll go to Master Qianhu and accept punishment. I really can't do this job."

Xu Zhiqiong took out a wooden box from his arms: "Although I can't calculate it, that yin-yang cultivator gave me a magic weapon."

"What magic weapon?" Meng Shizhen's eyes lit up.

"A torture instrument."

Upon hearing that it was a torture tool, Meng Shizhen's eyes dimmed again: "Stop humiliating her, it's not that she doesn't tell the truth, but she really can't remember."

"That, that's not necessarily the case!"

Meng Shizhen was right, it's not that Chen Jiuer refused to name the shape of the scar, she really couldn't remember it.

She was frightened that night, which is a typical traumatic amnesia. If she wants to retrieve her memory, she needs to be stimulated by some special means to help her reproduce the characteristics of the scar.

Stimulation and recurrence, two key elements.

Regardless of Meng Shizhen's obstruction, Xu Zhiqiong opened the wooden box and pinned the dark object inside to Chen Jiu'er.

Chen Jiuer screamed all over, but saw the dark mass scattered everywhere, wriggling around Chen Jiuer's body.

Finger-sized earthworms, red-covered centipedes, two-inch-long gnats, twisting and rolling millipedes, and fat caterpillars of different colors, add up to more than two hundred insects, crawling all over the body.

Just looking at it, Meng Shizhen felt itchy all over: "Zhiqiong, where did you get this thing?"

"Flowers, I bought them at a great price."

Chen Jiu'er screamed loudly, and Xu Zhiqiong shouted: "Scream! Shout it out of your mouth!"

Chen Jiu'er quickly closed his mouth, and Xu Zhiqiong shouted again: "If you don't scream! If you don't scream, I will drill into your flesh!"

Chen Jiu'er was crying like pear blossoms and rain, Meng Shizhen felt distressed again: "Zhiqiong, you know she is not a bad person, don't harm her anymore, she really can't remember."

"Think about it, if you can't remember it, you have to think about it, who, who let him make my Brother Meng suffer!"

"That's all, that's all, quickly collect the bugs!"

"No, no, I paid a lot of money to buy it!"

Meng Shizhen said angrily: "How much did you spend? I'll just pay you!"

With centipedes crawling on her face and gnats crawling on her arms, Chen Jiu'er wanted to scream but didn't dare to open her mouth.

Meng Shizhen couldn't stand it anymore, and was about to throw the worm down, Xu Zhiqiong stopped Meng Shizhen, and shouted again: "If you don't say yes, the worm will get into your flesh immediately!"

Upon hearing that she got into the flesh, Chen Jiu'er trembled all over, as if she remembered something.

"Master Denglang! I remembered, I remembered! I know what that scar looks like!"

Meng Shizhen shook his head and said, "Okay, don't lie to me, I'll just let you down."

He stepped forward to untie Chen Jiuer, shook off the bugs, Chen Jiuer pulled Meng Shizhen, and said urgently: "I really remembered, Lord Denglang, you give me a pen, and I will draw it right away."

Meng Shizhen waved his hand and said, "I've put you down, what do you want? Do you still want to play tricks on me?"

Xu Zhiqiong had quick legs, and asked for a pen from the jailer, and handed it to Chen Jiuer: "You, you draw!"

Chen Jiu'er held the pen, looked at Xu Zhiqiong and said, "Master Deng Lang, do you have any paper?"

"Wow, where is the paper, you, find a place to draw!" Xu Zhiqiong looked at Meng Shizhen's arm specifically.

Chen Jiuer suddenly realized, took Meng Shizhen's hand and said, "Master Deng Lang, I painted on your arm, and I can even draw the place accurately."

"You let go, and you still want to paint on me? What did I do to your face?"

Meng Shizhen resisted very much, Chen Jiuer grabbed Meng Shizhen's arm and rubbed it a few times.

Meng Shizhen couldn't resist anymore, and Chen Jiuer drew a scar on Meng Shizhen's arm.

Meng Shizhen looked at it for a while, then frowned and said, "Is this a scar?"

"It is true, sir."

Meng Shizhen stared at the ink stain on his arm for a while, and said to Xu Zhiqiong, "Could this be true?"

Xu Zhiqiong said: "Ask me what I do, and, it's not me who can draw!"

Meng Shizhen looked at Chen Jiu'er and said, "If you dare to lie to me again, you will inevitably be beaten hard!"

Chen Jiu'er nodded and said: "If the master beats me, the concubine will never complain!"

Seeing that Chen Jiuer was full of confidence, Meng Shizhen gritted his teeth and went to Ming Deng Xuan again.

Wu Xu was ordering tea in front of the stove, Meng Shizhen rolled up his sleeves, stepped forward and said, "Qianhu, that woman has drawn it!"

On Meng Shizhen's arm, there is a short and thick ink stain surrounded by fine stripes.

Wu Xu looked at it for a moment, then frowned and said, "Is this a scar? It's clearly a bug!"

Meng Shizhen scratched her head and said, "I also look a bit like a centipede."

"Are centipedes so short? Are their legs so long?"

Meng Shizhen thought about it again: "Could it be a gnat?"

Wu Xu poured a cup of tea on Meng Shizhen's arm, and Meng Shizhen grinned when it was hot.

"You're so excited to have people draw bugs on your body. You've lost all of Lantern's face, so quickly wipe it off!"

Meng Shizhen wiped off the ink, and said with an aggrieved face: "She said that the scar looks like this."

"You believe everything she says, go back to the prison and keep guarding for me."

"Qianhu, please forgive me, let me do anything, I don't want to go to prison."

"Go as soon as you're told, you hello!"

Meng Shizhen went out dejectedly, and suddenly heard Wu Xu shout: "Come back!"

Meng Shizhen hurried back.

Wu Xu poured another cup of tea and handed it to Meng Shizhen: "You have really worked hard these days."

Meng Shizhen lowered his head and said, "It's hard work, I just don't want to stay in that unlucky place."

"The dancer must have been frightened. The more you force her, the more likely she won't be able to remember."

Meng Shizhen nodded vigorously: "Master Qianhu said yes!"

"You release her from the prison and send her to your small house for a temporary stay."

Meng Shizhen blushed: "It's not right, I'm a lonely man and a widow, it's ruining my reputation."

"You make tea every day, but you are not afraid of ruining your reputation? If you don't want to go to the small house, you will stay in the prison!"

Meng Shizhen hurriedly said, "I'll take her to Xiaoshe right now."

Wu Xu warned: "In the small house, you must stay close to each other, don't let her see strangers, and be careful in everything."

Meng Shizhen left happily, Wu Xu poured another cup of tea and took a sip himself.

Chen Jiuer drew it right, the scar was in the shape of a snail, and it was exactly the same as Wu Xu's guess.

The reason why Chen Jiu'er was released was to convey a message. He wanted to let the people hiding in the dark know that he had found a clue.

"It's time someone couldn't sit still," Wu Xu muttered to himself, "Let's see if he comes to me, or wait for me to find him."

For more than ten days in a row, without incident, Xu Zhiqiong devoted himself to polishing his skills in the Goulan, using the power of thought and image with ease.

That night, Xu Zhiqiong was about to watch the night, but was stopped by Qu Jinshan, the light guard.

"Zhiqiong, you don't need to watch the night tonight, you and I will go to the banquet with Qianhu."

to dinner?Is there such a good thing?

Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said, "Where are you going for the banquet?"

"At Langzhong Zhou's house."

Xu Zhiqiong's smile dissipated: "Hey, which Zhou Langzhong, no, not the one from the official department?"

(End of this chapter)