After the family fell, I wanted to lie down

Chapter 116 Memorial

Snow fluttered down, covering the corpse with a fine white layer. It looked like a piece of rag or a corpse, nothing to see. The people who had gathered slowly dispersed, and only those who had just entered the city looked up in confusion and left in a hurry.

The streets and alleys of Shangjing have returned to their former bustle. Adults talk about the auspicious snow, children play under the snow, and the restaurants and teahouses are bustling with activity, as are the major brothels in Shangjing.

Several men in rich clothes went upstairs and without waiting for the waiter to come, they called for the Qin Niang in Zuiyue Tower.

"Prepare four pots of wine and invite Lady Qin to come over."

The waiter said apologetically, "I'm afraid it's not convenient for Qin Niang today."

Before the man who was shouting could speak, several people who had already sat down beside him said, "The four great Pipa ladies in the capital are not easy to see."

After saying that, they all laughed and ignored the waiter. "It is said that if you want to listen to the pipa performance of Qin Niang, you have to make an appointment three days in advance. I don't know who is so lucky at this time and has a better taste than us."

The waiter was able to speak now and shook his head and said, "That's true. Qin Niang has no appointments. She just said she wants to see an old friend."

So that's how it is. Even famous prostitutes have personal freedom. The customer did not get angry, but instead called other singing girls to accompany him.

At this time, two people were sitting in the room at the top of Zuiyue Tower. The maid brought a pot of wine, knocked on a door and said, "Madam Qin, here is the hot wine you asked for."

The door opened, and the woman sitting inside stood up to greet him and thank him, then closed the door again.

After delivering the wine, the maid did not leave and said, "Mom said the carriage is ready. How about letting me accompany you out?" In these Qinlou and Chuguan, as long as you have a skill, you can live more freely than those prostitutes who rely on their looks. They can also take in apprentices and give them some money to support them in their old age. In order to win them over, those mothers even take the initiative to let the disciples choose their own candidates. Now it is time for Qin Niang to take in apprentices. Many people are eager to try, looking forward to the good fortune falling on their heads in the future.

Qin Niang stroked the maid's head and said softly, "No need, you go first."

The little maid was a little disappointed, but after taking a look at the man sitting in the hall, she dared not stay any longer and got up, closed the door and left. The man was about thirty years old, with ordinary looks and simple clothes. He looked like a street laborer. Such a person could sit in Qin Niang's room. She really didn't know where he came from. Qin Niang even treated her to the most expensive wine.

The hall returned to silence. Qin Niang personally poured a glass for the man and said, "It looks like the snow is going to fall all day."

The man was not interested in talking about the wind and snow. He just said with a bitter look on his face, "Are you sure you want to do this? Actually, you don't have to do this. Just wait..."

Qin Niang said, "I have wanted to do this for a long time. Brother Mingkai, please stop trying to persuade me."

"By now, most of our people are dead. I have waited too long."

The man leaned forward and tried to persuade her again, his eyes slightly red as he said, "But, we are still alive, we can still wait, maybe we can see..."

Qin Niang smiled first, then shook her head and said, "I'll leave this task to you. I don't want to wait endlessly any longer."

After saying that, he stood up, and the man stood up as well.

Qin Niang threw her sleeves in front of her and said, "And this is an opportunity." She looked up at the snow outside the window. "Those who died in the past were all silent, without even a sound to speak. Since this time he said he was worth a fortune, I will tell him clearly who we are and where we came from."

The man said, "Let me go. It's not easy for you to get to where you are today, Qin Niang. You can use your name to do more things."

Qin Niang said, "It is precisely because I have this reputation that I should do this, so that I can make a bigger fuss." After that, she sighed softly and said, "There is nothing else I can do."

The man leaned forward and sobbed. Qin Niang stood up and helped him up, saying, "Zhu Mingkai, go ahead. Use your unknown identity to warn those children and those who survived, and let them remember our deep hatred."

The man apologized tearfully.

Qin Niang stood up and said, "Then I'll go." After that, she picked up a small basket, put the pipa on her back, and picked up an oil-paper umbrella. The man knelt on the ground again and closed the door of the house, isolating herself from everything outside.

"Ms. Qin is going out."

"It's snowing heavily today, so be careful on the road."

Along the way, everyone she met greeted her, and Qin Niang smiled and returned the greetings. The snow was indeed heavy. She walked out of Zuiyuelou, and the shop assistant next to her asked, "You really don't need a car?"

“It’s not far, and it’s more fun to walk instead of taking a car.”

The shop assistant responded, watching Madam Qin walk step by step on the snow-white ground, leaving a layer of shallow footprints, "Madam Qin, your favorite fish roe has arrived today. I'll bring some to you later."

Lady Qin turned around and said, "Okay, remember to keep it for me." After that, she turned around and picked up the basket and carried the pipa again and mixed into the street. After passing through the streets and alleys, the city gate appeared in front of her.

The head hanging on the bamboo pole was covered with a thick layer of snow, and it was almost impossible to make out anything. It didn't look that scary from the outside. The curious one looked up again and then hurried away.

"Hurry up." The person next to her said, and that person passed by Qin Niang. Qin Niang walked step by step to the hanging railing and stopped. Passersby were full of curiosity about her behavior. Hey, what is she going to do?

The soldiers waiting on the side had been paying attention to Lady Qin since she arrived, but they did not scold her to leave. They just looked at her coldly. They saw Lady Qin put away her paper umbrella and reached into the basket again... and saw this woman take out a pot of wine?

Madam Qin looked at the wine in front of her for a moment and said, "This is good wine." After that, she raised the wine jug in her hand, raised it and started drinking.

This woman, she wants to...

Everyone was surprised. Was she going to hold a memorial ceremony?

Sure enough, she drank one glass, poured another, and poured the wine in front of her. The snow in front of her melted immediately.

Memorial ceremony.

The officers and soldiers surrounded her with swords and guns pointed at her. The passers-by were horrified and retreated together.

The snow flew down and scattered on Lady Qin's body. The swords and knives that surrounded her did not retreat. Her expression did not change. She just calmly took out the pipa from her back, lowered her head, sat on the ground and began to play.

The sound of a pipa could be heard tinkling and donging. Passersby, including traveling merchants and people who frequented taverns and teahouses, could tell that it was a tune for memorializing a deceased person.

Suddenly someone recognized the person playing the instrument, "Oh, it's the lady playing the zither from Zuiyue Tower."

Zuiyue Tower is a brothel, and Lady Qin is Jing Chen, whose real name is Qin Xiangyu. She is a girl from the brothel. She started learning to play the qin at the age of three, became famous in Beijing at the age of eighteen. Over the past decade, her qin skills have been first-rate, and she is currently ranked among the top three in Beijing. Most of the ministers in the court are her supporters, and she is always invited to every grand banquet.

Why did she come to visit the murderer priest today? The news spread like snowflakes, floating around in Shangjing. Countless people rushed to the city gate, and naturally there were officials who came to see them. The soldiers were about to scold them, but were stopped by the officials.

"Let her finish playing." said the official, obviously recognizing the lady playing the zither, his expression was a little complicated.

A prostitute with her back turned did not pose any threat, and the general also knew Lady Qin. After she finished playing a song, Lady Qin held her pipa, looked up at the heads above and smiled.

The official from the Ministry of Justice sighed and said, "I didn't expect to hear Lady Qin's pipa in this situation."

Lady Qin looked at the two and said, "Master Qu, General Fu."

Lord Qu said, "I hope you are here to testify against the murderer. Since we know each other, it is understandable that you come here to send him off." As a prostitute, it is understandable that she has known a murderer for so many years.

Qin Niang responded with a "yes" and then said, "This man's name is Huang Yi, which means the one that represents the universe and the universe."

As expected, as soon as these words were spoken, Lord Qu stepped forward and asked, "Where are you from, and why did you want to assassinate Lord Lu?"

Madam Qin said, "In fact, the person he wanted to assassinate was not Lord Lu, but Xie Ping."

When Lord Qu heard this, his expression froze, and he looked at her and said, "It seems that Madam Qin knows more than just this man." Although the government has posted that anyone who identifies the person can get ten thousand taels of gold, generally speaking, few people would do so. Ten thousand taels of gold cannot buy life, and whoever gets involved with this assassin will be in trouble.

But I didn't expect that someone would actually come out and identify the murderer. No, this is not an identification, it's surrender. Lord Qu was a little surprised. The person who could name the murderer could only be a very familiar person. Then there could only be one, an accomplice. This prostitute turned out to be an accomplice hiding in the dark. It was a blessing in disguise. Fortunately, Xie Ping was not interested in women, otherwise he would have died many times. It seemed that not being lustful was also an advantage. At least it saved his life.

Looking at the quiet and dignified appearance of the woman in front of him, he felt a little bit reluctant. In fact, she didn't need to come out to identify them. It was very difficult to find out their origins. As long as she didn't say it herself, others would not be able to find it out.

But why did he stand up in the end? Was it to use the interrogation to get close to Xie Ping and assassinate him?

Looking at the spear and sword that were about to pierce through her body, Lady Qin said calmly, "I don't know him, but I am the same as him, and the people who tried to assassinate Lord Xie several times before are also the same."

Madam Qin was worthy of being someone who had stayed in the brothel for many years. Her voice was clear and melodious, and the people who gathered around her were sure to hear her speech. Even if the people at the back could not hear it, the people in the front would hear it in waves.

It's horrible that a prostitute could be the same kind of person as the murderer.

The general couldn't help asking, "Who are you or what are you?"

Madam Qin said, "We have a great grudge against Xie Ping." She stood up. The soldiers around her became even more alert when they heard her say this. They all looked at the general, probably asking how to deal with him, whether to arrest him.

"We are from Yunxia Valley." As soon as these words came out, Lord Qu's face changed drastically, and he said sternly, "Catch him, shut up."

But Lady Qin was already laughing. Her figure suddenly rose higher, and she pointed at the head above and said, "Her name is Huang Yi, and she is from Yunxia Valley."

The voice rose and spread throughout the university, shocking the people.

Xia Valley, Yunxia Valley...

"What is Yunxia Valley?" Some children didn't understand, but the next moment the adults quickly covered their mouths, their expressions were also terrified.

The general also looked shocked and angry, and shouted sternly, "Catch him for me."

The officers and soldiers shouted loudly and were about to tie up Qin Niang, but she was faster than them and pounced on them. Several spears pierced her chest, blood splattered everywhere, and the white snow under their feet was instantly dyed bright red.

The people around screamed and retreated together. The woman, whose blood was like snowflakes, hung on the spear and fell with the falling snow. Red and white were intertwined, and the basket and pipa fell to the ground.

Li Minghui was sitting in the carriage and listening to the street market passing by. He noticed that there were some panicked people outside. He couldn't help but lift the curtain to check. He vaguely heard someone outside mentioning the Yunxia Valley. He was shocked. Can things be discussed so casually now?

Everyone in Kyoto was discussing this. Li Minghui went to Xie's house and saw that there were more people in the garden than yesterday. What surprised her even more was that a plump woman in her thirties walked in swayingly. Her dress showed that she was a prostitute.

When did a prostitute appear in the Xie family?

"Look, Li Mengxian from Zuiyue Tower."

"If you look at it this way, then what happened to Lady Qin is true."

Li Mengxian is the boss of Zuiyuelou, and Lady Qin is a prostitute in her building. Now she committed suicide in front of the murderer who assassinated Lord Xie, so it must be related to Lady Qin.

"You ask me this, what's wrong with me? I just had a guest in broad daylight, and I went to entertain him temporarily. When I came back, the girl in my building was like this. I still want to ask what happened?"

As one of the four famous prostitutes, Li Mengxian is not afraid of him.

There were many guards in the room, but Xie Ping had learned his lesson from the last time and did not step forward. He just said from behind a screen, "Madam Mengxian, it's not very authentic for you to say that."

Li Mengxian looked at the partition in front of him, patted his chest and said, "Thank you, sir. I am so scared. Madam Qin is really crazy. How could she do such a thing?"

"As for the so-called Huang Yi or Bai Yi, we really don't know them. Qin Niang's parents are indeed from Yunxia Valley. You should know that she was sold when she was five or six years old, and she went all the way to Shangjing. So do you think she is still from Yunxia Valley?"

Xie Ping said calmly, "He is indeed a little crazy."

Li Mengxian said, "Right, Madam Qin, she was only 32 years old this year. She had endured for so many years. Now she has money and status. After a while, she will start to recruit students. She won't have to worry about retirement anymore. You said that she died now. It's a big loss for us, isn't it? Yunxia Valley offended the punishment from heaven and killed the children of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Duke of Ying..."

Xie Ping said: Shut up.

Li Mengxian's words suddenly fell silent for a moment, and the room was so quiet that a pin could drop. Then he spoke again, "Anyway, I think Master Xie understands what I mean."

"I don't know."

Li Mengxian said, "Thank you, sir. Do you really have to interrogate me today?"

Xie Ping said, "Mrs. Qin admitted that she seemed to know those people. Don't you know that a criminal like Li Mengxian is hiding in your Zuiyue Tower?"

Li Mengxian was not willing to give up and said, "Why, Mr. Xie means that I must interrogate and investigate."

"But I also want to remind you, don't forget who owns Zuiyue Tower. You can investigate it, but at least you have to get through Hu Gongye, otherwise it will be difficult for Prime Minister Ji to explain himself later."

The former courtesan was famous throughout the world, and this was her confidence, but there was someone backing Zuiyue Tower.