Ma'am help, the general is in trouble again

"By the way, have you found out how Xing'an and the others escaped?" Zheng Quchi asked.

"Because we were worried that they would be suspicious, the people we arranged to follow were far away. We only saw that they knocked out the guards and escaped, but we did not see how they escaped from the prison." Wei Yao said.

"This is strange. How would they open the cell door and the shackles on their hands and feet?" Wang Zebang was surprised.

The cell door is locked, and the heavy iron shackles cannot be broken by breaking or pulling. Even the most powerful martial arts expert has to use some sharp iron tools to cut them off. But in the dungeon, there is no such thing as Such equipment existed, and they also went through strict body searches before entering the dungeon, so there was no possibility of carrying any private goods.

Furthermore, if you want to break the shackles of so many people, it will take enough time. If a sharp weapon is lost in the dungeon, it will not go unnoticed for such a long time.

"Let's go to the dungeon together."

Zheng Quchi also couldn't figure this out.

We went down to the dungeon. Now that the dungeon was empty, there was still an unpleasant smell inside, a combination of musty, sweat, blood and various excrements, which made people stay away.

There was nothing strange on Zheng Quchi's face. She held an oil lamp and observed in front of the cell door.

She first checked the lock of the cell door. A thick iron chain tied the two open doors together, and then locked the lock.

This is a common lock. It consists of a lock head and a metal ring. Put the metal ring on the door handle, then insert the lock head into the ring and twist the lock core to open the lock.

The pull-tab lock has a simple structure and is easy to operate. Of course, if someone understands the structural principles of this kind of lock, it is also very simple to open without relying on a key.

She picked up the lock, looked closely at the inside of the lock core with the firelight, and understood immediately.

Wang Zebang and Wei Yao waited quietly beside her. When they saw that Madam seemed to be touching the doorway, they gathered around her.

Zheng Quchi said: "The lock core is not broken, and there are no signs of being violently dismantled on the outside. However, there are signs of excessive friction on the edges. It is like finding an unsuitable key and constantly trying it out to find the trick. , I guess that one of them must be an expert in stealing, and he has indeed planned it in advance."

"Madam, do you still understand this?" Wei Yao and the others were surprised.

"People in our profession are related to wheels, carriages, bows, huts, craftsmen, carts, and zithers. They are also related to ironwork, stonemasonry, brickwork, etc. It's not surprising that they know more or less." Zheng Quchi said.

After she finally understood what Xing'an and his group relied on to escape from their restraints, she split up with Wang Zebang and Wei Yao. They went to other cells to see the situation, while she walked alone to the cell where Xing'an was previously held.

There was always a strange feeling in her heart, as if she knew he would leave something behind for her.

He lured her here with a question every day, and today...

She was patrolling the cell, and then her foot seemed to step on something hard. Zheng Quchi lowered his head.

He dug out the straw and picked it up. It turned out to be a piece of silver?
Is it true or false, is there such a good thing?

She put the silver in her palm and gently rubbed the rough lines on the silver surface with her fingertips. She brought the light closer and saw a strange symbol on the silver, as well as two small words "see you later".

She was stunned for a moment, then tightly grasped the silver in her hand.

"Madam, have you found anything?" Wang Zebang and Wei Yao also rushed over from the other side.

Zheng Quchi shook his head: "Go back."

-

That night, Zheng Quchi put on an aqua blue cloak with dark patterns and came to the water prison alone.

Since this water prison was built, only one person has been imprisoned - Qiu.

"Ma'am, stop."

A nearby guard stood out from the darkness and blocked her steps.

Zheng Quchi took off the hat on her head and looked at them: "Let me ask you, do you recognize me as the general's wife?"

They looked at each other, then lowered their heads and clasped their fists together: "Please forgive me, madam."

"If you admit it, get out of the way."

During this period of time, the soldiers in the camp have heard about Madam's deeds and what she did. This is also something Wang Zebang and Wei Yao deliberately revealed to them.

They clearly know how much Madam has sacrificed for them, and they also understand that she deserves their respect.

This time, she showed the majesty that a general's wife should have. It would be really disrespectful if they insulted her again.

So, they had to retreat.

Zheng Quchi walked down the stone steps and could occasionally hear the sound of water dripping on the stone wall. The closer she got to the water prison, the colder it became. It was even colder inside than in the dungeon.

Obviously, most of the streams in Fu County have dried up long ago, and the water prison was originally an underground tributary of the excavated stream. Now that the upstream has dried up, the stream has naturally been cut off. Therefore, the water prison is now just a symbolic cage. , there will no longer be scenes of water gathering in pools and flooding.

The water prison was very dark, and it was so stingy that it was unwilling to shine the firelight into the coldest and quietest corner. The prisoners were put into a pool, which was four feet deep and high. Now the pool has dried up, leaving only a square and uneven dry area. Pool.

"who is it?"

Hearing the rustle of footsteps crushing stones, something moved in the deepest shadow, followed by the clanging sound of iron ropes dragging on the ground.

Zheng Quchi closed his collar and said nothing for a while.

"say!"

He suddenly said in a hoarse voice.

"Autumn."

She finally spoke up.

She thought he couldn't tell who she was, but she didn't expect that he knew her with just one word.

"ruler?"

He slowly crawled out from the corner of the water prison with a strange and difficult posture.

She remembered that his hands and feet had been broken by Yu Wensheng. Were they still healed?

"Qiu, do you hate me?"

she asked suddenly.

He hesitated in vain.

half an hour.

He asked with a low voice and a trembling voice: "Zhi, then do you hate me?"

Zheng Quchi said: "I asked this question first."

"But, if we talk about hatred, you should hate me first." Qiu didn't move. Perhaps he had reached the farthest distance he was allowed to move, and the iron rope held him firmly there.

"I didn't know before that people would hate someone who wants to kill them. I didn't understand what hatred was, but now I seem to understand."

In the empty stone cave, any small sound would be amplified. Even if he was whispering, she could hear it clearly.

"Qiu, my feelings for you are too deep to talk about hatred, but too shallow to talk about not hating you. You took away my life once, and I got this life back. I am not so big-hearted that I can put the past behind me. It's all wiped out. I didn't care about it before, just because I wasn't qualified to care about it. I know how much I weigh."

"Then seeing me like this, has your hatred been relieved?" He asked calmly.

Zheng Quchi squatted down by the dry pond. She couldn't actually see his face and expression clearly. Firstly, it was because the light in the water prison was indeed too dark. Secondly, because he now had disheveled hair and unshaven face, just like A blurry black shadow.

"I came here specifically not to see how miserable you are. I can't even explain the matter between you and me in a sentence or two. I know that you didn't kill me for personal grudges, but just to obey the orders of the Mo family. But Qiu , you are a human being, not a tool, you should learn to grow up, and you should learn how to think independently." Qiu was silent for a while, then said: "You came to me for other things."

"It seems that during this period of time, you have indeed thought a lot, and you have learned to understand the meaning of what is said." She said.

Qiu added: "Something must have happened to Yu Wensheng, otherwise he wouldn't have let you come to see me."

Zheng Quchi did not comment on the temptation in his words, and only said: "Qiu, do you recognize this symbol? I have an impression, but I can't remember where I saw it."

She drew a symbol on paper, then wrapped a stone and threw it to Qiu.

Qiu had been in a dark environment for more than half a year and had already become accustomed to the darkness. Therefore, he could see the graphics with a little weak light. He fiddled with it for a moment and then closed his eyes: "...I know."

"Then will you tell me?"

"Then can I make a request?"

Zheng Quchi nodded: "Of course, except for letting you go and contacting the Mo family, I can't make the decision."

"Can't you make the decision? Aren't you Yu Wensheng's wife?" He suddenly said coldly.

Zheng Quchi didn't expect that he was locked up here and knew about it.

If this was his only request, there would be no need to talk about it.

"If you don't want to help, then forget it."

She stood up, but heard his slightly panicked cry: "Don't go-"

Zheng Quchi stood there without moving, waiting for him to continue.

Sure enough, he stopped holding Qiao and said directly: "I want a lamp. I want a lamp that lasts day and night."

A lamp that never goes out day and night?

It's not difficult.

As long as there is enough oil in the lamp, the wick will naturally burn forever.

Zheng Quchi didn't expect that his request was so simple. It was so simple that... her conscience was pricked: "...Okay."

She called the guards and asked them to bring candles. Only when the surrounding environment of the water prison was illuminated did she realize how bad his condition was.

It has probably not been cleaned for more than half a year. He has been chained and his limbs are limp. His hair is messy and tangled, and his clothes are dirty and torn. You can't even tell the background color of the fabric. He looks no better than a beggar. Much better.

She frowned slightly: "Have your hands and feet been treated?"

"Do you think Yu Wensheng would be kind enough to treat my injury?" he asked sarcastically.

She knew that he had resentment in his heart. In the past, he spoke little, but he was stubborn and stubborn. Even killing someone was just a simple and mindless action. He was using his left brain thinking, without any thought. Emotional color.

But now he has changed.

After being tortured and locked up for more than half a year, he finally had emotions and thoughts he had never had before.

This can be considered a good thing. In the past, she always felt that he was like a tool, without self, and always only knew how to obey orders, but now he looked like a human being.

She returned to the topic and asked, "What is it?"

Qiu raised her dark eyes and stared at the woman in front of her quietly and for a moment. She was whiter, fatter, and more beautiful.

"This is the private seal of the Mo family. It can only be found among the top brass of the Mo family."

Zheng Quchi didn't seem surprised when he heard this.

"The people from the Mo family are here again."

She laughed.

This laugh was very sudden.

Qiu asked: "What are you thinking about?"

"You know, the enmity between the Mo family and my Zheng family."

"know."

"Now that they see that Yu Wensheng is gone, they have come back again. But this time, I will not give them another chance to silence them. If they dare to hurt my family even more, I will turn the whole Mo family upside down and make the chickens and dogs restless."

Her tone was calm, but every word was extremely serious, as if she had engraved these words in her heart and would definitely put them into action.

"Chizi, you can't beat the Mo family."

When Zheng Quchi heard this, her eyes as cold as snow met Qiu's, and she said softly: "You want me to sit back and wait for death? If it were me in the past, I might indeed find a way to calm things down, but now I can't. It's not me. Let the Mo family go, but the people of the Mo family will never let us go."

Zheng Quchi went to ask Princess Sheng'an that day.

At that time, Yuan Chuhua said something that concerned her but was interrupted by her brother. Although she did not ask further questions at the time, she secretly took note of it and wanted to find out what it was.

At first Yuan Chuhua refused to tell, but she was willing to tell the whole story after being offered a condition by Zheng Quchi.

It turned out that on the day when she went to find her eldest brother and Yaomei, but was slandered as road bandits by the city guard, Brother Sang and the others met the Mo family. If Princess Sheng'an had not arrived in time, he and Yaomei might have been taken away. .

According to Princess Sheng'an, Yaomei's illness is not like an ordinary illness. She has encountered too many weird things in the harem. According to her experience, it seems like she has been poisoned by a chronic poison.

But she didn't know what kind of poison it was.

Mo family... chronic poison... Needless to say, Zheng Quchi had already guessed who would be so heartless and crazy as to poison a young child of only a few years old.

It turned out that not only was she threatened by the Mo family and forced to do things for them, but her family had never had an easy time. They hid each other's secrets and thought for each other, fearing that the other would worry, but in the end no one escaped.

Qiu saw Zheng Quchi's face showing a cruel look that he had never seen before. It was as if she had been forced to the edge of a cliff and had to pick up a sharp weapon to defend herself and the people behind her to the death.

Qiu lowered his eyes and said, "This is Gan Xin's private seal. He is a crazy swordsman of the Mo family and has excellent sword skills. He is not very good at woodcraft, but he is obsessed with carpentry. Therefore, he joins the Mohist family. Every time he goes to a new place , I would often hang out in major workshops, watch and learn other people’s works.”

Zheng Quchi looked at Qiu in surprise.

He actually told everyone about the Mo family, inside and out.

She understood that he wanted to help her.

"Thanks."

When she got up and was about to leave, she heard Qiu Dao: "Chizi, come and see me more, and I will tell you more about the Mo family."

Zheng Quchi paused, and she couldn't help but remind her: "Although I don't know your status in the Mo family, it is certainly not simple. If you are close to me, you are betraying the Mo family."

Qiu's lips suddenly pursed into a stiff arc, and he remained silent for a moment.

Not long after Zheng Quchi left, someone brought a set of bedding and wound medicine. Naturally, they didn't want to see Qiu, so they just threw the things next to him casually, completed the task and left.

Qiu stared at these things for a long time, and then moved his body. He held the quilt in his mouth, struggled to pull the things over, and then smoothed it down bit by bit, and laid the person in, and the long-lost warmth suddenly enveloped him. Got him.

"...Ruler, the Mo family is now dirty."

But you don’t have to worry too much, I will go back and give you a clean Mo family... I don’t want to be your enemy anymore, I want to be with you like before, I will follow you, and you will look back and smile at me. (End of chapter)