Chapter 264 Behind the Scenes
Even in winter, Bianjing was still bustling and prosperous, with crowds of people on the streets. As the year draws to a close, the vendors seem to be more attentive, and their decorations are diverse. Although they don't copy the layout of Anle Pavilion, they are more or less similar to it. The whole street is full of flowers, giving a strong festive atmosphere.

The Chu State to the south, the Ping State to the south, and even the Raojiang State were at war with each other, and there were frequent battles and devastation all day long. But the news did not reach Bianliang. Even if it did, the news from such a remote and desolate area would not affect the prosperous scene of Bianliang.

What attracted more discussion among the people was the football market outside Nanxun Gate.

Last month, Emperor Zhu Wen was persuaded by Zhang Zhenniang to visit Qiushizi in disguise. At first, he did not take it seriously, thinking that the thing Xiao Yan had tinkered with could provide him with 100,000 or 200,000 strings of cash every month, and it was worthy of his personal support.

But after watching a game of football, Zhu Wen became uncontrollable and even issued an order to let the Ministry of Works build a villa in a quiet area of ​​Qiushizi. However, Xiao Yan seemed to have anticipated this and had already prepared a secluded courtyard for Zhu Wen to stay in. Although it was not big, it was elegant. Zhu Wen was very happy and did not bother to mobilize any more troops. He sent some palace servants to live in it. He even stayed in Qiushizi for three full days before returning to the city.

In fact, after spending three days in the football market, Zhu Wen suddenly understood why the Ghost King Zhu Youwen was so coveting Xiao Yan's industry. Not to mention the money he made, he also had a wide network of contacts.

For a moment, Zhu Wen had some murderous intent towards Xiao Yan. It wasn't much, but it did not prevent this murderous intent from being buried deep in his heart.

You have to know that a football market would unite most of the imperial guards, with such collusion of interests, if Xiao Yan had any bold ideas, he, the emperor, would be the one who would suffer directly.

Although Zhu Wen did not take Xiao Yan seriously, he thought that Wang Zhongshi, who was stationed in Chang'an, had led the army for many years, and how close was the relationship between him and the Youguo Army? He was exterminated with an imperial decree. Even Liu Zhijun, the dignified Prince of Dapeng, who wanted to secede from Guanzhong, could only flee to Qiguo in front of him, not to mention Xiao Yan, whose roots were in Bianjing. If Zhu Wen was in a bad mood, stepping on him would be like stepping on an ant.

But in this world, as a person in power, one has to be more sensitive. If one can be on guard against one's own son, then it is not too much to be on guard against a person from another family. Xiao Yan is too popular, so he needs to be suppressed.

So even though Xiao Yan had considerately prepared an elegant courtyard for Zhu Wen, after thinking it over, Zhu Wen still tacitly agreed that the Ghost King would attack Qiu Shizi and did not interfere too much.

Therefore, the Huaihe River case that seemed to be enough to get the Ghost King skinned alive was actually left unresolved.

But it's not really over, because there was already a perfect scapegoat, who was taken to the Imperial City Prison during the discussion in the streets.

…………

The Imperial City Prison was actually not that scary in the market, and was not as notorious as the Xuanming Prison. It mostly replaced the Dali Temple of the former Tang Dynasty.

However, there is one thing: Cui Yu, the Lord of the Imperial City, takes orders directly from Emperor Zhu Wen. As for the important criminals in major cases, once they fall into his hands, losing a layer of skin is the least of their trouble. He is a real cruel official.

The prison was not dark, and it could not even be called damp. It was said that Lord Cui Yu was a mysophobe, and the Imperial City Prison was cleaned by clerks every day. The environment could not be considered good, but it was not too bad either.

Cui Yu, dressed in a green official robe and twirling his beautiful beard, walked out of the official residence leisurely and headed towards the execution room. There was a rare smile on his face, and he was grinning with pride, which stunned the officials who had followed him for many years.

You know, a person's shadow is like the bark of a tree. Cui Yu's reputation in the market is not good, and it is even worse in the Imperial City. The officials below are afraid that he will fall into the lake. They can only see Cui Yu's dead face. How could they have seen such a look?
Cui Yu didn't need to explain to anyone. After walking into the torture room, he slowly lit a candlestick, held it in his hand and walked forward, with a smug and mocking look on his face.

The darkness in front of my eyes slowly faded away, and the light from the candlestick became even more dazzling.

Zhong Xiaokui, who was deliberately held in the torture room to endure the darkness, looked up and saw Cui Yu holding the candle with a slightly curled beard, and his mocking look was disgusting.

She sneered, closed her eyes and lowered her head again, too lazy to pay attention to him.

Cui Yu did not take it seriously, his eyes greedily wandering over Zhong Xiaokui's petite body. The latter had been detained for nearly half a month, and the elegant Zhong Kui costume had long been replaced with prison uniform, which was covered with scars. However, Cui Yu did not find it disappointing, but thought it was more beautiful and especially satisfied his desires.

He paced back and forth, twisting his beard and shaking his head, saying, "Zhong Xiaokui, why bother? If you sign the indictment, King Jun may still protect you because of their long-term friendship. If you keep dragging it out like this, his last bit of patience will be worn out."

Zhong Xiaokui ignored him and just closed his eyes. It was unclear whether he was discouraged or just disdained to talk to him. He didn't even sneer.

Cui Yu smiled faintly, didn't say much, took a step back, sat on a chair and started to make tea.

Outside the torture chamber, two cold-faced guards walked in with torches in hand. One of them pulled Zhong Xiaokui's hair without explanation and slapped her twice. The other one shouted, "Tell me! Did Champion Marquis Xiao Yan stage this conspiracy by colluding with Huainan Zhu Jin to frame Prince Bo?!"

It looks so realistic, as if these things were indeed done by Zhong Xiaokui.

Cui Yu pretended not to see it, brewed tea, sniffed it, and looked intoxicated.

Zhong Xiaokui still didn't say a word, and didn't even open his eyes.

Her scapula was hooked by two iron chains. Although her internal strength was not dissipated, she could not use it. If she used it forcibly, it would be even more painful. Therefore, she could only let these two prisoners who could be crushed to death with one hand take advantage of her to bully others.

Besides, she was too lazy to resist. As the saying goes, there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart. Although she was not loyal to Zhu Youzhen, she had performed her duties conscientiously over the years. She was said to be in contact with Xiao Yan, but apart from revealing some of Zhu Youzhen's thoughts to him, she did not take any actual action.

But Zhu Youzhen sold her out as a scapegoat without hesitation, and it was not false at all.

So when faced with the so-called torture by the two jailers, she just regarded it as a bite from a dog. The only thing that made her worry was the real Ghost King who had not been found for many years.

As for why she didn't implicate Xiao Yan, it wasn't because she had a deep friendship with Xiao Yan, but she really didn't know where the accusation came from. She herself was confused by the accusation, let alone framing Xiao Yan.

In fact, Zhong Xiaokui would be willing to drag Xiao Yan into this trouble. In her eyes, Xiao Yan could not be called a bad person, but he was definitely not a good person either. He was full of evil and had no good intentions towards Daliang.

But what does this have to do with her? The survival of Daliang has nothing to do with Zhong Xiaokui, let alone Xiao Yan. If the latter didn't know where the Ghost King was, she really wouldn't mind biting him before she died. However, Cui Yu's next words suddenly brought her thoughts back.

"Slow down, slow down." Cui Yu pushed away the two guards who were about to use severe punishment, and at the same time scolded: "You don't know how to cherish a beauty. Lady Zhong is the most delicate girl in my Xuanming Sect. How can you be so rude?"

Then, he waved away the two guards who were looking at each other in bewilderment, and then walked to Zhong Xiaokui, stroked her hair, and said softly: "It doesn't matter if you don't confess. I heard that you only passed on messages to Xiao Yan a few times on behalf of Prince Jun, and then you started to contact that guy privately. It's really strange. What benefits did Xiao Yan give you that made you dare to hide it from Prince Jun?"

As he spoke, he grabbed Zhong Xiaokui's hair, lifted up the latter's head, and sneered: "You little bitch, you haven't climbed into the bed of the champion marquis, have you? What, are you planning to find another career?"

His narrow eyes were slightly narrowed, and he stared at Zhong Xiaokui's face, which could not be called pretty, with a half-smile, while he exerted great force with his hands, as if he wanted to tear Zhong Xiaokui's scalp off.

Unexpectedly, Zhong Xiaokui sneered, not caring about the pain of pulling hair at all, and said: "So what? Only people like you would regard the little benefits given by Zhu Youzhen as a great gift... You are a person who can never be on the stage in your life, and you can only be a dog in Zhu Youzhen's place. Being a dog is redundant. Do you know how many times Zhu Youzhen told me that you are a waste? He said, you..."

"Shut up!"

Cui Yu was furious and slapped Zhong Xiaokui on the face with such force that he almost made her faint. However, he was pulled over by the hair and laughed coldly: "You are dreaming, are you worthy enough to climb into Xiao Yan's bed? Apart from me, who would even look at you? Do you really think you are someone special?!"

After saying this, his anger was still not over. Instead, he couldn't help but vent his anger and cursed Zhu Youzhen as well, saying that the man had no ability to judge people, was a fool, and had high aspirations.

Finally, he seemed to be extremely hurt by Zhong Xiaokui's cold gaze, so he let go of Zhong Xiaokui's hair that he used to vent his anger, and then sneered and poured himself a cup of tea: "Aren't you afraid of biting your tongue when you speak? Who do you think you are? You climbed onto Xiao Yan's bed? If that's the case, why didn't that guy come to rescue you? Humph, even if Xiao Yan has the ability to reach the sky, can't he still be exiled to Raojiang? Even if you climbed onto his bed, what does it matter? I'm not afraid of him!"

As he spoke, he became more and more certain, his words were firm, and he blew tea and sneered, "In this Imperial City, I am the king. Since you said you slept with that guy, it's just right. I'm not such a picky person. It doesn't matter. It's dirty, so it's dirty. I just played with it once."

Zhong Xiaokui suddenly raised his head with a fierce look.

Cui Yu stroked his beard and smiled, showing no fear at all.

But in a moment, he felt something in his heart, looked back at the door of the modeling room, and then frowned subconsciously.

An old woman with a crutch stood outside like a ghost, her eyes narrowed and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry. Beside her were a few fearful jailers with uneasy looks on their faces.

"Meng Po? What are you doing here?" Cui Yu put down the teacup, looking calm, not afraid that what he just said would be heard by the old woman in front of him.

Meng Po didn't look at him, but turned to look at Zhong Xiaokui whose scapula was locked, and walked inside.

Cui Yu stood up in dissatisfaction, but couldn't get angry at the moment, so he waved his hand to let the guards outside leave, and said with a breath: "Zhong Xiaokui is a criminal, Meng Po should not come here without the order of His Majesty, right?"

"Zhong Xiaokui, join the Xuanming Sect." Meng Po looked at Zhong Xiaokui for a long time, and then finally spoke, throwing a token to Cui Yu.

The latter took the token, but did not even look at it. He was furious and just said, "Zhong Xiaokui is guilty. My Imperial City Division..."

"I personally asked His Majesty for this person. If you have any objection, go to the palace and ask." Meng Po also didn't look at him. She sneered and flicked her crutch casually. The two hooks that locked Zhong Xiaokui broke suddenly, causing the latter to collapse to the ground in embarrassment.

Cui Yu was shocked and angry behind him, clutching the token tightly, completely unable to understand why Meng Po appeared here.

Meng Po turned around and left, not giving Cui Yu any face at all, while glancing at Zhong Xiaokui who was on the ground.

"Do you want me to help you?"

The latter smiled coldly and staggered to his feet.

When she passed by Cui Yu, who had a gloomy face, Meng Po spoke again, but with a hoarse smile that was neither gloomy nor cheerful: "People like you have indeed come to the end of their lives."

After hearing this, Cui Yu said nothing, but just stared at the two people's backs as they left with a gloomy expression. Then after they left, he suddenly became furious.

Why did Meng Po do this? What does this sentence mean?
He was anxious to sort out these relationships, so he left the Imperial City Division directly, planning to look for the Ghost King and then Zhu Youzhen.

But before he could leave the government office, he suddenly received a transfer order. It was issued by the Chongzhengyuan, which required Cui Yu to go south to Changsha Prefecture immediately to serve Xiao Yan, the two transport envoys. He had to set off immediately without any delay.

Suddenly, Cui Yu was stunned at first, and then as if in mourning, he found that the messenger officials kept urging him to go. He did not even have the chance to meet the Ghost King and hurriedly boarded the ship leaving Beijing for the south.

It was not until he boarded the boat leaving Beijing that he suddenly realized who was behind this matter. Zhong Xiaokui was taken away by the Xuanming Sect, and he suddenly went south. Chongzhengyuan and the Xuanming Sect, which seemed to have nothing to do with Xiao Yan, could actually help him?

Why?

Cui Yu couldn't figure it out, and became inexplicably cautious about this trip.

As for Zhong Xiaokui's joke, in Cui Yu's mind, it was already true.

(End of this chapter)