wait a minute

Chapter 20
The black yamen is independent from the six ministries, and it can conduct inspections, arrests, interrogations, and executions internally. The prison where the most important criminals are held is behind the yamen—to be precise, it is directly under the Mingyu Tower.

Ye Jingtang followed Shang Jianli and walked for a long time, and gradually came to the vicinity of Mingyu Tower, and found that behind it was a large-scale mansion. Behind the high wall, there were many pavilions and trees, which vividly displayed the luxurious style of the emperor's house.

"Is this the back door of Prince Jing's Mansion?"

"Heiya is Prince Jing's private guard. It stands to reason that this is the outer residence of Prince Jing's mansion, and the gate of Heiyamen is the back door of the palace."

Shang Jianli entered the stairs leading to the underground from the corridor.Those who can make the black yamen dispatch are not mediocre, and most of them are killed on the spot, and they will not be allowed to live for a moment longer. There are not many people in the dungeon.

As soon as Ye Jingtang entered the ground, he felt a gloomy cold air blowing towards his face, the aisle ahead was bottomless, and the oil lamps along the way looked like will-o'-the-wisps.

After walking forward for about a hundred steps, I went down two floors until I came to a basement.

There are two jailers standing outside the basement. There are no windows on all sides inside, oil lamps are lit, and there is a patio in the middle.

The patio is covered with fine iron fences, and the wellhead is connected with iron locks. Each iron bar is as thick as a man's wrist. Just the weight alone, ordinary people can't lift it, let alone break through the iron locks.

Ye Jingtang came to the courtyard and looked inside with his probe.

Below the patio is a stone room with some daily utensils and a prisoner sitting against the wall; the prisoner is dressed cleanly, but his hair is loose, his hands and feet are bound by arm-thick iron chains, and his skeleton is large, but The body is very thin.

Yejingtang emerged from the mouth of the well, and the prisoner with disheveled hair raised his head—there were some creases on his face, and he looked about fifty or so, but his eyes were piercing, not decadent at all, just like sitting at home looking at the door. visiting guests.

But after finding that the face was unfamiliar, the prisoner resumed his cross-legged posture and closed his eyes.

Ye Jingtang asked: "This is Hero Qiu? The lock is so tight?"

"These things are just to prevent accidents, they don't play much role; what really locks him up is the 'Cartilage Fragrance'."

After Shang Jianli explained, he looked towards the dungeon:
"Qiu Tianhe, this is Master Ye of Yejingtang and a swordsman. You may be interested."

Inside the dungeon, Qiu Tianhe opened his eyes again:
"Come down."

Shang Jianli opened the mouth of the well and raised his hand to signal:
"Please."

"..."

Ye Jingtang didn't believe that the lock was so tight that it could still pose a threat to him, so he didn't hesitate at the moment, and just turned over and jumped into the courtyard.

tread--

A soft sound sounded in the claustrophobic stone room.

Qiu Tianhe's gaze was originally calm, but with a glance, Jinghong saw the 'Chilong Ring Head Knife' behind Ye Jingtang.

The shape of this knife is actually very common in the Jianghu, because the former master of swordsmanship, Kuang Yazi, was among the top swordsmen, and the saber he used was naturally emulated by later generations, and there are a lot of stocks in the world today.

The sword technique of Junshantai is called "Dragon Slaying Order", and the original intention of slaughtering is this chilong ring head knife.

But there are so many imitations and only one genuine one.

Those who are not familiar with it may be difficult to distinguish, but the top swordsman who has seen this knife before will recognize the knife more accurately than the person!

Qiu Tianhe's gaze didn't change, he just looked at Ye Jingtang's face:

"What a handsome boy. Why are you looking for this old man?"

Ye Jingtang didn't condescend, he sat on the ground before Qiu Tian fit, cupped his hands and said:

"I have long admired the name of the hero Qiu, and I just came to visit."

"The knife is not bad, show off the knife and let the old man see the depth."

Ye Jingtang didn't say anything, he pushed the saber behind his waist and held the handle instead.

choke-

A cold light flashed in the stone room, bringing with it a little breeze, blowing up Qiu Tianhe's messy long hair.

call……

Ye Jingtang put the knife back into its sheath, released the handle and asked:
"How does Qiu Daxia feel?"

blue out of blue...

Qiu Tianhe's expression showed no abnormality, he just nodded lightly:
"He is a great talent. If the old man has never been trapped here, he must ask Ye Shaoxia for advice."

"Hero Qiu won the prize. I am new to the Jianghu, and I don't know much about swordsmen in the Jianghu. I only know about Xuanyuan Chao, Hero Qiu, Zheng Feng and others. Can Hero Qiu tell me about these allusions?"

Qiu Tianhe has already seen Ye Jingtang's identity, although the number of saber techniques are completely different, but the starting moves are exactly the same.

When Qiu Tianhe was young, he and Zheng Feng were opponents and confidants, and they fought no fewer than a hundred times. He knew that the "right way" that Zheng Feng was looking for was the perfect knife that this son just made.

Zheng Feng didn't come, but the knife appeared in this son's hand. It can only be said that Zheng Feng had already taken a step ahead and reached the bridge of Naihe.

A flash of sadness in Qiu Tianhe's eyes, he understood the purpose of Ye Jingtang's visit, and said:

"Xuanyuan Dynasty is the contemporary 'Knife Chief', and his life story can be heard everywhere, so I don't need to repeat it. Xuanyuan Tiangang has already withdrawn from the arena, so it is inconvenient to mention it. As for Zheng Feng, he is just an idiot."

"Oh?" Ye Jingtang got serious: "What do you mean by that?"

Qiu Tianhe looked towards the courtyard: "Come down and listen, it's not a secret."

Shang Jianli seemed to be interested in these past events, so he jumped down and landed silently behind Ye Jingtang, standing with his hands behind his back.

"I practiced swords at the age of three. I have been practicing swords for 52 years. I have met many friends and opponents. But so far, except for Xuanyuan Tiangang, everything else has turned into loess. Zheng Feng is not outstanding among these people, but he suits the old man's appetite. confidant."

Qiu Tianhe looked at Ye Jingtang: "Back then, Zheng Feng was as sharp-edged and vigorous as you, but unfortunately he was not as handsome as you, and his talent was also slightly inferior to yours. Originally, the old man made an agreement with him that on the day when the two sides achieved great sword skills, we would defeat old Xuanyuan first. Son, let’s fight Junshantai decisively again to determine the contemporary ‘Knife Champion’, unfortunately, Zheng Feng missed the appointment first.”

Ye Jingtang asked, "Why did you miss the appointment?"

"That boy Zheng Feng has a good relationship with Xuanyuan Tiangang. He has been to Junshan Terrace a few times, and he met Xuanyuan Shuye, the daughter of the old man Xuanyuan, and they became friends with each other."

Xuanyuan Shuye...

Ye Jingtang frowned secretly, thinking that this name was most likely related to his surname 'Ye'.

"Zheng Feng has a deep love, so he came to propose marriage. But at that time, the imperial court was drafting girls, and the old man Xuanyuan wanted to send Xuanyuan Shu into the palace as a concubine at night in order to make his daughter obey the arrangement. In order to make his daughter obey the arrangement, the old Xuanyuan deliberately provoked the general to come to the door to propose marriage. Zheng Feng speaks with a knife."

Qiu Tianhe sighed slightly: "Zheng Feng was not even a master at the time, so he was not qualified to challenge old man Xuanyuan, but he still drew his sword.

"Zheng Feng tried his best in that battle and established the title of 'Master of Swordsmanship' in the first battle, but he was still too far away from Xuanyuan Chao.

"Old Xuanyuan never thought of marrying his daughter to him at all. In order to make her give up, he took a ruthless hand on the spot. Although he didn't take Zheng Feng's life, he must become a useless person. Even having children is probably a luxury."

Ye Jingtang knew that his adoptive father had never been married and had no children, and was drunk every day. Hearing this, his expression became slightly condensed:

"and then?"

"After that day, Zheng Feng completely disappeared in the rivers and lakes, and the old man has never seen him again. Now, I am afraid that the old man has passed away first."

Ye Jingtang was silent when he heard this, and asked again:
"What happened to Xuanyuan Shuye?"

Shang Jianli, who was standing behind, answered the words:

"In the second year of Cheng'an, the imperial court selected a girl from a good family to enter the palace. Xuanyuan Shuye was among the most beautiful girls. When they reached the border of Yunzhou, Qiu Tianhe entered the convoy and was stabbed eight times in his body to rob Xuanyuan Shuye. He Junshantai has been pursuing him for nearly 30 years, and it was not until last year that he was arrested by the black government."

"..."

Ye Jingtang's heart was shocked, and he looked at Qiu Tianhe in disbelief.

Qiu Tianhe showed a smile: "This old man and Zheng Feng are rivals and confidants. After he disappeared, Xuanyuan Shuye sent someone to find me secretly, asking me to help find Zheng Feng's whereabouts, and tell him that Xuanyuan Shuye will be in Naihe The bridge is waiting for him.

"How could this old man know where Zheng Feng was hiding? He didn't want to see these sad things in the world, so he single-handedly killed Xuanyuan Shuye, took Xuanyuan Shuye away, and then took her to find Zheng Feng for ten years. From Tiannan From the mountains and fields, I found the desolate grassland; from the eastern sea cliff, I found the northwest desert; I still don’t know where Zheng Feng is hiding, and Xuanyuan Shuye retreated to the market in despair. "

After being silent for a while, Ye Jingtang shook his head and smiled, but said nothing.

Qiu Tianhe laughed twice: "The old man, go down and talk to Zheng Feng about these matters. Let's go, the matter of the older generation of swordsmen has nothing to do with you, a fledgling. Old Xuanyuan has been the top swordsman for 30 years."

"Hero Qiu cherishes it, and I bid farewell."

After speaking, Ye Jingtang got up and saluted, and jumped out of the courtyard together with Shang Jianli.

Qiu Tianhe leaned against the wall and watched him off, until the iron fence was closed and his footsteps disappeared, then he sighed secretly:
"A new generation replaces the old one...Your boy has worked hard to bring out a good son, but I'm a damned wretch, what's the point..."

……

(End of this chapter)