But the bright moon shines on the ditch

Chapter 91
Liang Peiqiu didn't feel surprised when she heard the news.

The talented man and the beautiful woman were a perfect match, and she had already seen them in Beijing.She just didn't know why, but there was still an unexplainable ripple in her heart.

This made her make a mistake in her busy schedule. When she went to the county government office to submit documents, she included a letter from the Ningshao Guild Hall requesting "adjustment and negotiation and promising certain benefits."

Before the Ningshao Guild Hall was renamed, it was the Jiangnan Guild Hall that had been fighting with the Wuchang Guild Hall for half a month due to construction.The reason why the name was changed was because the original approval document had Xu Zhiliu's signature.

Wang Yu had mentioned this matter to Liang Peiqiu before she was dead. The two guild halls were fighting. If they were really just for building a construction site, there was still the possibility of reconciliation. The bad thing was that it involved a dead person, and the Fox King wanted to fight with this person. The dead are angry, and only the living are affected.

The director of the Jiangnan Guild Hall was a sensible person. After discovering the crux of the problem, he immediately found someone to find a way to solve the problem. When the Fox King returned to Beijing to celebrate his birthday, he hurriedly changed the name of the guild hall.

Now that Xu Zhiliu's signature is missing from the approval document, it has become a simple dispute over the guild hall again.Unexpectedly, the fox king was bitten to death by Wuchang Guild Hall and had a rough personality. He was bound to "kill them all" at Ningshao Guild Hall, so he acted like a monster a lot these days.

The Ningshao Guild Hall was already willing to give up three points of its territory, but he went so far as to bully others. He united with the local Duchang Gang and refused to sell soil to the Ningshao Guild Hall.How to construct on flat ground without soil?In desperation, Ningshao Guild Hall had to buy a large amount of coal to stay at the bottom.It is said that coal is so expensive that a load of coal is worth almost one stone of rice.

Wouldn't it make people jealous to be so wealthy?So Wuchang Guild Hall tried again and again, but Ningshao Guild Hall couldn't find anything, so he asked an old scholar in the town for advice, and the other party gave him a clear path - Liang Peiqiu.

If you can get help from the little god, it will be like getting the King Fox's gold medal to avoid death, and Wuchang Guild Hall will definitely be afraid of him.

Therefore, the Ningshao Guild Hall wrote several letters and submitted them to Anqing Kiln, asking to see Liang Peiqiu.Liang Peiqiu didn't receive the benefit, but she couldn't think of a suitable solution for the moment, so she didn't reply to the letter.

The matter is being suppressed and I don't want to be "caught" by the new county magistrate.

Zhou Qiguang only wears ordinary clothes when he is not in the hall. Today, he is wearing a round-neck sapphire blue embroidered crane gown. He is sitting on the Grand Master's chair and scanning the contents of the letter calmly.

Liang Peiqiu was waiting at the teahouse where guests were waiting. After waiting for a long time, there was no response. She felt something was wrong. During the break of drinking tea, she turned half of her body and looked quietly in the direction of the bookcase.

Seeing this, everyone became energetic.

What Zhou Qiguang was holding in his hand was not the document she sent for approval, but the gold-gilded paper signed by the Ningshao Guild Hall.The signature was red, and the writing paper was sprinkled with gold powder, which made it particularly conspicuous.

She quickly got up and walked over.

"Mr. Zhou, this letter is not..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Qiguang raised his hand to interrupt: "Dong Liang, please don't rush to approve the documents. Why don't you explain the origin of this letter to me first? Did you accept a bribe from Ning Shao Guild Hall?"

"No!" Liang Peiqiu immediately denied it and showed a bit of embarrassment, "This matter is a bit complicated and I may not be able to explain it at the moment."

"Then speak slowly, I have plenty of time."

Zhou Qiguang smiled.

That smile made Liang Peiqiu's heart beat.Not fear, not uneasiness, but an unexplained nervousness.She didn't know why, but when she came into contact with this adult several times, his words and deeds always gave her a sense of absurdity that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

This made all her pretense and pretense almost collapse under the intense gaze of those eyes.

Fortunately, she is no longer the Liang Peiqiu she used to be.

She adjusted her breathing and looked down, avoiding the other person's scrutiny.When she mentioned that Wuchang Guild Hall was unreasonably bullying Ning Shao Guild Hall and that the source of Ning Shao Guild Hall's inexplicable shortness of breath was a dead person, Zhou Qiguang interrupted her again.

"I didn't expect there to be such a connection. It's really not simple." Zhou Qiguang tapped his fingers on the table as if he was pointing something, and then changed the topic, "Who is this Xu Zhiliu? Where is he now?"

Liang Peiqiu's breathing stopped due to his rhythmic movements, and she clenched her fingers tightly along her robe.

"He is dead."

"Dead? How did you die?"

Zhou Qiguang's voice was not mixed with any emotion, which was a kind of obliteration for Xu Zhiliu.It was difficult for Liang Peiqiu to respond to this question in a normal tone, so when she opened her mouth again, she was a little angry.

"In the winter of the 11th year of Wanqing's reign, he died in the kiln."

"I didn't hear you clearly. Please ask Mr. Liang to say it again."

"Wanqing 11 years."

"Sacrifice yourself in the kiln."

Suddenly, a chuckle emerged from the silent flower hall.

Liang Peiqiu was caught off guard and ran into a pair of ice-hardened eyes.

"I didn't expect that someone in the world would choose such a cowardly and stupid way to die. Do you know what it feels like to be burned alive? Your hair and skin will be burned open bit by bit by the scorching flames, and it will feel like there are millions of bones drilled into your flesh and blood. A bug keeps gnawing at your bones, forcibly peeling off and scorching the outer layer. This process is very fast and will not give you any other reaction except pain and collapse, and your eardrums will be stretched. Open and accept the sizzling sound when the fire burns your body... The fear of waiting for death to come, I believe Liang Dadong's family has never experienced it personally, right?"

"I……"

Liang Peiqiu wanted to say that she had experienced the fear of waiting for death. She had already felt it firsthand in the palace that day.But she knew what answer Zhou Qiguang wanted to hear.

He turned his hand, and there was a scar right at the tiger's mouth.

This was a piece of skin that he deliberately left behind for Abbot Guangpu to recover. It was burnt black at the time. After more than a year of regeneration of dead skin, new flesh has grown. Only a line was cut between the old and the new, as if it could not be crossed. The gap between death and death clearly marks the gray scale between life and death, and survival.

The gray precipitate between black and white that lasted for more than a year always reminded him of the bone-gnawing pain and heart-wrenching hatred.

He thought that he might forget it as time passed, but he was wrong. When he set foot on this land again, he inspected every brick of this town one by one, and woke up on a long night when he could not sleep peacefully. By the time she appeared with a pile of paperwork, all the love and hate, jealousy and resentment had been visualized.

Even if I die a thousand times, I will never forget it.

He spread his hand and showed it to her: "I once raised a white rabbit. I took good care of it every day and loved it. Unexpectedly, one day it knocked over the candlestick and burned me. You see, this scar is it Evidence of your betrayal."

Liang Peiqiu's heart tightened moment by moment, and something seemed to be stuck in her throat, making it difficult for her to speak.She asked with great difficulty: "Then...why did White Rabbit suddenly change his temperament?"

"Who knows, maybe she saw something better and wanted something better, and she was eager to climb the high branch."

"No, maybe it was bitten and was in pain. It didn't mean to knock over the candlestick."

"is it?"

Liang Peiqiu nodded and said honestly: "Sir, I also raised white rabbits when I was young. Rabbits generally won't bite unless they are forced to do so."

Zhou Qiguang raised his eyebrows: "It seems to be my fault. I misunderstood it."

Liang Peiqiu was curious: "What happened next? What happened to the little white rabbit?"

Zhou Qiguang took back his hand and smiled faintly: "How can a person raised in a cage have the ability to hunt in the wild? He will die sooner or later."

What Liang Peiqiu wanted to say, Zhou Qiguang had already changed the subject.

"Let's talk about this Xu Zhiliu. I am somewhat interested in him. Why don't you tell me more about him? Are you familiar with each other? What was our relationship? He died suddenly. How do you feel? And Tell them one by one, I want to hear the truth."

It's not "want", but "want". This newly appointed county magistrate seems to be gentle and polite on the surface, but if he gives you a little sweetness, you will forget about it and think that he is well-mannered and easy to interact with. In fact, he holds a ruler. The balance between the official body and the white body is carefully measured.

The milder the skin, the softer the knife.

The soft knife pierced into the fatal point and couldn't be pulled away even if I wanted to.

I can only bite the bullet and continue.

Liang Peiqiu came to the county government office in the afternoon to deliver the approval documents, and did not leave until dusk.In summer, there are frequent rains. When I go out in a hurry, I don’t bring an umbrella, and my car is still outside.

Zhou Qiguang didn't ask anyone to see her off, so she could only walk through the yard in the rain.

For some reason, her steps were a bit hurried and she staggered. When she passed a stone step in the cloister pavilion, the soles of her shoes slipped and she lost her center of gravity and fell forward.She didn't want to have to endure such an afternoon again, so she subconsciously hugged the document tightly, her other hand hurriedly looked for support, and grabbed a rose flower in the confusion.

The rose has thorns, and the pricks make the hands bleed.

She groaned in pain and did not let go. She waited until she stabilized her lower body before looking at it. Blood beads spattered everywhere and dyed the hem of her sleeves red.

She looked around carefully and saw that no one noticed that Liang Dadong's family almost made a joke about eating shit. She breathed a sigh of relief and stroked her sore lower limbs on the rainy day.

When she stood up again, she gritted her teeth and hugged the document tightly, limping forward quickly.

In the continuous rain, the frail and slender figure walked farther and farther.

She never looked back, so she didn't notice that the carved window behind her was wide open, and the hands that she had unconsciously clenched under her wide sapphire sleeves slowly loosened and fell to her side.

It was impossible to get any useful information from an interrogation of this nature. Xu Zhiliu knew this very well, but when she mentioned his name, he couldn't help but want to pry into more details that he had not discovered before, or It was something that he ignored under the guidance of a certain emotion, such as her secretiveness and her ruthlessness.

However, even if he considered himself a judge, he could not deceive himself into telling himself that she had revealed these points.Not only that, he was disappointed, but he also realized clearly how profound her memory was.

Is there a person in this world, a woman who is less than [-] years old, who is so playful that she can remember the stories that happened on every sunny, rainy and snowy day two years ago?

can you?

This is not a storybook that storytellers sing in the market every day, but a story that he and she actually experienced.

If Liang Peiqiu was such a watertight person, then why would there be any need to step on his corpse and worry about the past of a dead person?

Xu Zhiliu couldn't explain this.

Of course, maybe if he calms down and thinks about it, he will remember that she has a habit of writing notes.

I learned that from him.

When they were studying and literacy in their early years, they always forgot and forgot, so Master Yu asked them to study with Xu Zhiliu and write more notes.This is the saying that a good memory is not as good as a bad writing.

Many times after morning and afternoon classes, she saw him walking by the river with a handwritten notebook while reciting something, and occasionally eating two bites of steamed buns that had dried hard. At that time, in addition to seeing his diligence and studiousness, she experienced more. But it was not easy for him.

In the eyes of outsiders, if you are talented and have learned a lot, why don't you need enough hard work?

She was lazy at the time and did not persevere until she entered the Anqing Kiln and studied porcelain with Wang Yu. This line of work was so profound and obscure that it not only required a lot of practice, but writing was also a mental job.

Just the ratio of glaze colors and the color development after each trial need to be recorded one by one and constantly adjusted... It not only tests the bad pen, but also tests the care and patience. Slowly, she began to develop the habit of writing notes.

After reuniting with Xu Zhiliu, all the girl's feelings hidden deep in her heart were turned into words.Fortunately, these words gave Liang Peiqiu an outlet to vent her longing.

That night, she fell asleep holding a thick book of notes.

Soon, An Jiu returned to Jingdezhen.

Liang Peiqiu specially arranged a whole floor of Jiangshui Tower to welcome him, invited the officials of the Three Kilns and Nine Clubs to accompany him, invited the theater troupe to sing a special song, and gave An Jiu a first-class appearance.

An Jiu was naturally happy.

He was happy to be away from the imperial city where people knelt and lived. He held Liang Peiqiu's shoulders and drank happily. You came and I exchanged cups, as if we were best friends, and there had never been any estrangement or suspicion.

Unfortunately, on that day, Wu Yinxiu also invited Xu Zhiliu to Jiangshui Restaurant to try out new dishes and celebrate his rebirth from nirvana and his bloody return.

Wu Jia also wanted to come together after hearing about it.Wu Yinben disagreed and was kept awake for half the night by her, so he had to compromise.

Although Wu Jia repeatedly explained that she was just playing around with Xu Zhiliu at the dock that day, Wu Yin knew this sister too well. She was full of bad intentions and was not an innocent little girl.When she was a child, she never told her what she wanted. He, her brother, was the one who took the lead. Therefore, every time she shot the first bird, he was always the one who got punished.

He was really scared and didn't know what kind of medicine Wu Jia was selling in his gourd, until when the three of them were toasting, Sun Hao fell from the sky.

His heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, this bad sister was sent by God to torture him.Before he could step forward to deal with it, Sun Hao rushed in hastily.

After learning that the marriage was over, Sun Hao originally wanted to chase Wu Jia to the capital to question why he changed his mind.Halfway through, I heard that Wu Jia had quietly returned to his hometown by water, so he rushed here again without stopping.

Before meeting Wu Jia, he still had some luck, secretly wondering if it was because of the appointment at Puji Temple that his poor performance had offended sister Wu. He must be a good person this time and change his image in her heart.

But when he saw Wu Jia picking up a chopstick of tofu meat and putting it into a man's bowl, and talking affectionately to the man, he suddenly became furious and lost all reason. He rushed forward without any explanation and kicked the table over. .

When the attendants saw that their young master was angry, they were naturally powerful and powerful. When Wu Yin saw that the other party was fierce, he instinctively drew his sword to protect him. The two sides were about to fight. The movement was so loud that the guests on the first floor fled in all directions. The waiter who ran the hall couldn't help shouting for his life. Okay, I haven’t settled the bill yet!
At this moment, the sound of gongs and drums stopped, and a head popped out from the high platform on the second floor: "Oh, it's so lively today. Master Zhou and Master Wu are here. Could it be that they are also here to greet me?"

Xu Zhiliu followed the sound and saw many people standing at the fence on the second floor. The leader was naturally the fifth-grade eunuch.The man was slightly drunk at the moment, his hibiscus face was stained with blush, and his body was tilted, half pressed on the railing, and half leaning on the other person's shoulder.

And this other person was dressed in plain white.

With the wind passing through the hall, her clothes were flying like butterflies, and her black hair was swirling and sweeping across the vermilion railings.She must have drank a lot, her bun was already loose, and only one hairpin was holding the remaining messy hair tightly. Her eyes were blurry and sparkling, her red lips were slightly open, and she looked at the mess below with some surprise. He had no idea how dangerous he looked at this moment.

Seeing that the people below didn't respond, An Jiu pushed the people around him away and staggered toward the stairs.

Zhou Yuan hurried to meet him and whispered in his ear: "Sir, the other person is the eldest son of Si Sunmin, the envoy to the left, and his name is Sun Hao."

An Jiu paused.

"That's kind of interesting."

An Jiu simply retreated, and naturally grabbed Liang Peiqiu's shoulders, lying on the fence and waving downwards, "It seems that you two adults have private matters to deal with, so I won't bother you. Please excuse me."

Dozens of pairs of eyes are staring at the excitement, how can I "please"?Wu Jia had never publicly embarrassed himself so much before. He stamped his feet in anger, glared at Sun Hao, turned around and left.

When Sun Hao saw this, his initial arrogance was gone and he immediately followed.

Wu Yin cursed in his heart, pretending that nothing happened, and asked the waiter to call the guests back to continue eating. Finally, he looked at Xu Zhiliu.Xu Zhiliu knew that he was worried about Wu Jia, so he gave him a look and asked him to leave first.

When Wu Yinzheng was hesitating, there was a burst of chaotic footsteps approaching behind him, followed by a strong smell of alcohol.

He stopped staying, and after a slight bow to An Jiu, he bowed his hands and rode away.An Jiu curled his lips: "It's boring. If I had known, I wouldn't have shown my face."

This was their first formal meeting in Jingdezhen. Xu Zhiliu transitioned to Zhou Qiguang's identity, and with a hint of disgust, he greeted his colleagues: "Your Excellency arrived today, why didn't you ask the messenger to inform him in advance? I was not prepared. Please forgive me for missing you from afar."

An Jiu waved his hand: "Master Zhou, you don't have to be polite. You are the head of a county and are in charge of the people's livelihood of the entire Fuliang. Although your official rank is one level lower than mine, you are not considered a subordinate of mine. To be honest, I am in charge of Tao affairs, which requires the cooperation of many parties, and I will rely on Master Zhou for guidance in the future."

"I don't dare, Mr. An is joking."

An Jiu stepped forward and made a gesture of intimacy: "Before leaving, the Queen Mother specifically told me to take good care of Master Zhou. If Master Zhou loses a hair, she will have to settle accounts with me. I am really scared. I heard that Zhou Your Excellency is not in good health, so you want to contribute to the imperial court. There are many good places with beautiful scenery, why bother to come all the way to this corner?"

This was to test his purpose of coming to Jingdezhen.

With the Queen Mother acting as a smokescreen, the eunuchs still don't know what his position is in the civil servant faction, so there is no way to confirm whether he is the same as Xia Ying.

Logically speaking, Zhou Qiguang came from the Imperial Academy and was a disciple of the emperor, so it was not impossible for him to be neutral.If we can win over to our own camp, this is of course the best result. If not, staying in separate camps to make peace with each other is also an option.

The last thing An Jiu wanted to see was that Baishi Langjun, who was loved by the Queen Mother, was a loyal minister sent by the civil servants to suppress him. If this was the case, it would be another tough battle to protect him.

Fortunately, Zhou Qiguang gave him a reassurance.

"Don't worry, sir. My health is much better. It's not that I didn't want to go to the prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River. The Queen Mother also gave me this grace. It's a pity..." He looked like he was speechless and hesitated before saying, "It turns out that Beijing There is an anecdote related to me, I wonder if you, sir, have heard of it?"

An Jiu tried his best to turn his head, which was seduced by the wine: "Is it that lady?"

Zhou Qiguang nodded, lowered his voice and said: "I only recently found out that her husband's family is in the Jiangnan area. If I invite myself to go there, I will be suspected of being under the melons and plums. I happened to appreciate the beauty of the porcelain capital at the Wanshou Banquet. I am not interested in this place." I had some longing for it, so I wanted to come over and have a look.”

"I see."

An Jiu smiled and said, "Jingdezhen is indeed a beautiful place. Your Excellency has just arrived here, so you must not be familiar with it yet. Why don't I ask someone to show you around?"

"Then Master Lao An will have to worry about it."

"Brother Zhou, there's no need to be polite!"

An Jiujiu changed his title naturally, glanced behind him, and ordered Zhou Yuan to step forward.Just as he was about to introduce his identity to Zhou Yuan, he heard Zhou Qiguang say, "Brother An, that must be the Liang Dadong family who presented the imperial porcelain, right? The Liang Dong family was born and raised here, and they must be familiar with every brick and tile of Jingdezhen. Why don't you ask her to introduce you to me?"

When An Jiu saw that he had also changed his title, he was obviously willing to acknowledge his good deeds. In this case, how could he be unreasonable?Then he called Liang Peiqiu to come forward.

Liang Peiqiu felt sleepy listening to the polite words being exchanged. She was taking a nap when her name was suddenly called. Her mind went numb for a moment, but her body reacted directly and stood straight forward.

I didn't want to use a useless leg, so my steps were sloppy and I almost fell down.

A figure appeared in time and stood in front of him.

She smelled the clean and refreshing scent of acacia, her nose twitched slightly, and her mind became clearer.Realizing that his head was still hitting the other person's back, he quickly stood up, stabilized his skipped heartbeat, and finally stood up straight.

An Jiujiu was afraid of neglecting the new official, so he was not satisfied with Liang Peiqiu's performance, so he moved his steps and prepared to arrest him personally.Zhou Qiguang took a step forward at the right time and took up the conversation: "Brother An, you must be tired after a long journey of traveling and traveling. We are in the same place as Shu, and we have a long time to come. Why don't you go back home to rest today?"

"Okay, okay."

An Jiu was indeed in low spirits. He didn't realize that someone had diverted his attention, so he forced himself to express a few heartfelt words to Zhou Qiguang, and was helped into the carriage by Zhou Yuan.

When the car disappeared at the end of Jingde Street, the diners learned that they were in front of the newly appointed official and stopped peeping. Only then did Xu Zhiliu turn around and pinch Liang Peiqiu's shoulder.

"You're making progress, do you have a good drinking capacity?"

(End of this chapter)