The Golden Hairpin

After a long time, they heard a slight sound of wooden clogs. Looking back, Zhang Xingying took Di Cui's hand and walked out of the house. Di Cui was wearing a pair of blue cloth shoes with a cork sole, on which were embroidered with two hibiscus flowers facing each other, which was obviously embroidered by her own hands, very delicate.

In the summer afternoon, the sun is dazzling. Di Cui is slender and petite, standing in the intense sunlight, his skin is almost dazzling white.

She saluted them under the grape trellis: "Two big brothers, I'm... Adi."

Huang Zixian stood up and bowed his hand to Di Cui, and said: "Girl Adi is so good at craftsmanship. Ziqin and I are brazenly talking again. Please don't mind the two of us."

Di Cui responded, whistling as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded at them and sat down under the grape trellis.

Zhou Ziqin stood up and said, "Second Brother Zhang, didn't you say that your uncle's health is better? Why would you take me to visit?"

Zhang Xingying looked at Huang Zixian, then nodded to Di Cui, before leading Zhou Ziqin to go upstairs.

While Huang Zixian and Di Cui sat under the grape trellis, Di Cui was awkward, wringing his fingers helplessly, and keeping his head buried.

Huang Zixia asked softly: "Girl Adi, can I ask you something?"

Di Cui buried his head for a long time before nodding.

"The ancient building you made is so delicious, is there any trick?"

Di Cui hesitated for a while before slowly raising her head to look at her.

Huang Zixia smiled and stared at her, and said softly: "I didn't like to eat before, and it felt a bit fishy. But after I ate the ancient building you made last time, my teeth and cheeks are fragrant, unforgettable... You tell me, I I think the girl's craftsmanship is the best in Chang'an!"

Di Cui looked at her relaxed and happy smile, her heart was slightly settled, and she bit her lower lip lightly, and said in a thin voice like a mosquito: "I...after my mother gave birth to me, she collapsed and died. I was very young. I’ve started cooking, so...so maybe I’m doing too much, so I’ll become more proficient..."

Huang Zixia nodded slightly, and then asked, "Lingtang has passed away for so many years. Didn't your father renew the string? Why do you want you to cook?"

"Um...My father has a bad temper." She still said vaguely, "When I was seven or eight years old, my father took home a woman who fled the famine and said that he would give birth to a little brother for me. I...I am very I was afraid of that woman, she beat me and scolded me all day long, but I knew she was going to give birth to a son for my dad, so I didn’t dare to say anything... Then my dad got drunk and beat people, and the woman couldn’t stand it, so I left. NS…"

Huang Zixia had no words to comment on the man Lu Zhiyuan, and only said, "That's good, otherwise you will suffer more."

"Yes...Yes, so later, my father got older and older, so... he lost his mind."

Huang Zixia asked again: "Then why did you faint on the mountain road?"

Di Cui bit her lower lip hard, her chest rising and falling sharply. Just when Huang Zixia thought she would break down and cry, she finally spoke with a hoarse voice: "I...My father has collected money from others and wants to marry me to someone I don't like. I took a rope and prepared to arrive. Looking for death on the mountain road, I fainted there...so I stayed at the second brother Zhang’s house and did not dare to go out for fear... for my father to see."

Huang Zixia was silent, did not expose her lies, only gently comforted her and said: "Don't worry, Brother Zhang is loyal and generous, and treats you with love. I believe that all your previous things have passed. In the rest of your life, you will be happy, and everything will go smoothly."

She nodded tearfully, her wet eyelashes covering those eyes, very sad.

Huang Zixian asked again: "I heard that Brother Zhang took you to Jianfu Temple to burn incense the day before? There was a chaos in Jianfu Temple that day. You weren't surprised, were you?"

Hearing her words, Di Cui suddenly clenched her hands. After a long time, she slowly loosened her hands and choked up, "No. That day... I didn't want to go, but the neighbor's aunt said to Zhang Er, it's best before marriage. I still have to go to the temple to pray, so I put on a top hat and went by with Brother Zhang."

Huang Zixia nodded and said, "I'm helping Dali Temple investigate this case. If it's convenient for the girl, can you tell me about the situation at that time?"

Di Cui nodded slowly, then hesitated for a long time.

Huang Zixia didn't urge her. She paused for a while before saying, "Me and Brother Zhang... I heard that an **** was burned to death that day."

Huang Zixia asked softly: "Where were you at that time?"

"We...we saw that there were too many people in the front hall, so we walked towards the back hall. Just a few steps, there was a loud noise from behind. I looked back and the crowds running away were like...like tides. Brother Zhang hurriedly took me to run together, and then we squeezed into a corner and stood there forever..."

Her head was low and low, and a faint blush appeared on her pale face. Huang Zixia looked at her expression, and suddenly remembered Li Shubai, who was in the crowd and protected her in his arms that day.

She thought in her heart, she wondered if Zhang Xingying was like this at the time, protecting this slender and easy-to-fold girl like a reed next to her?

"Later...the crowd dispersed. We heard that someone was struck by lightning in front of him. Brother Zhang he..." She hesitated again when she said that, and then bit her lower lip lightly and whispered, " He said that being struck by lightning must be terrible, so don't watch it...so, so we went back."

Huang Zixia recalled what she had said with Zhang Xingying before, and her voice became a little somber: "So, you have been together all the time. I don't know, who was the person who burned to death at that time?"

"Later... I heard that it was the **** from the princess mansion." Her hands were tightly clasped together, her voice was dry and difficult, "I...I thought at the time that he should have done evil things in peacetime, so I should get retribution. , Otherwise why so many people, the thunderbolt from the sky just happened to burn him to death..."

Huang Zixia listened to her sad and difficult voice. Although she didn't want to, she had to say: "Girl Adi, you are lying."

Her hands trembled suddenly, and she raised a pair of big horrified eyes to look at Huang Zixia.

Huang Zixia whispered: "It's true that I was also at Jianfu Temple that day. And from my feeling about the situation at the time, I don't think you can easily squeeze out of the crowd. At least, it is absolutely impossible for your drapery to be chaotic at the time. You can wear it in a crowd of people. And how can someone like you who refuses to let others see him ignore the drapery hat?"

Di Cui was silent, his pale face suddenly as gray as death, and the hands that were originally tightly held together weakly hung on the stone table.

"Girl Adi, I advise you not to hide it from me. In fact, Zhou Ziqin is also learning from Brother Zhang about the situation at the time. If you and Brother Zhang’s account are not the same, it will be more troublesome." Huang Zixia feels that I couldn't bear it, but I still asked the following words, "From my guess, you should have seen the **** burned to death with your own eyes?"

"Yes... at that time, we were in the front hall." Knowing that she couldn't hide from her, Di Cui finally replied with a trembling voice, "The people are very crowded. Brother Zhang found that the incense burner and candles seemed relatively empty, so he pulled I squeezed through with difficulty. As a result, there was indeed an open space beside the candle and the incense burner, but the red string was pulled to prevent them from approaching. At this moment, I didn’t know who was behind me and the drapery on my head fell to the surrounding area. Inside the candle's rope loop, I was so scared at that time, I immediately squatted down and covered my face, fearing that I would be seen by others. But Brother Zhang asked me to wait a while, so I hurriedly stepped into the rope loop and ran. Go to the candle and help me pick up the drapery..."

When she said this, she subconsciously hugged her head again, and the narration in her mouth became fragmented, as if she muttered to herself: "I squatted on the ground holding my head, and suddenly there was a loud noise in my ears. It was the candle that was blown by thunder. I was slammed to the ground by the huge wave of air, surrounded by people screaming and fleeing. And Zhang Erge rushed over and hugged me and quickly shot it out. A few sparks on my body protected me and ran out. I saw the drapery in his hand, but in the chaos, there was no way to even take it...just after we ran for a few steps, I heard The screams, overwhelming all the shouts around, are more stern than anyone else."

That kind of desperate wailing made her feel her guts and guts broken, she couldn't help but glanced back.

She saw that among the scattered crowd, a flame was lit up all over the body. Not only the clothes, but his whole person is burning, from the head, to the fingertips, to the shoes. He was not like a man made of flesh and blood, but like a scarecrow soaked in pine nut oil, burning blazingly.

She saw that person's face, even though it had become distorted and terrifying under the flames, she still clearly recognized who this person was.

The eunuch, Wei Ximin, who beat her severely into a coma, and then left her on the street, causing her tragedy in this life.

Zhang Xingying raised her hand to cover her eyes and said hurriedly: "Don't look." She gritted her teeth, turned around in Wei Ximin's screaming cry, and followed Zhang Xingying with the crowd to rush out.

They finally squeezed to the corner of the wall, Zhang Xingying protected her, and the two clung to the wall to avoid being trampled on by the crowd.

She suddenly discovered that in his hand, she was still holding her hat tightly.

For some reason, she burst into tears. She silently took the drapery hat and put it on her head.

Most of the crowd had dispersed, and Wei Ximin was silent. He should have been burned alive.

Zhang Xingying took her hand and said, "Let's go."

His hands were generous and warm, and when he held her, he was so completely tolerant, as if he would never let go.

Di Cui talked about it roughly, and the place she disappeared was only the fact that she knew Wei Ximin.

Huang Zixia heard her words without obvious flaws, so she thanked her.

Zhou Ziqin, who had stayed upstairs for a long time, also came out with Zhang Xingying, and said with a smile: "Uncle is really refreshed in happy occasions, he will feel better all at once, it's great!"

The four of them sat down and finished the cold Tao. Seeing that it was not early, Huang Zixian said goodbye to Zhang Xingying and Ah Di.

After coming out of his house, Huang Zixia and Zhou Ziqin exchanged questions between them.

Huang Zixia relayed Di Cui's words, and Zhou Ziqin also said: "I also told Zhang Erge about the Jianfu Temple that day, and his statement was similar. On the day of the incident, he and Di Cui were indeed at Jianfu Temple, and When Wei Ximin was burned to death, he happened to pick up the drapery for Di Cui beside the candle. They watched Wei Ximin burned to death."

Huang Zixian nodded: "Di Cui said the same."

"Second Brother Zhang said that he didn't know that he was Wei Ximin at that time, and he didn't see how Wei Ximin burned it."

"This point, first be suspicious." Huang Zixian frowned, "Let the people from Dali Temple help us to find out, when did Brother Zhang know about this? Before Wei Ximin was burned to death, did he really not know Di Cui? The inside story of this matter."

Zhou Ziqin nodded and said excitedly: "It feels good to have a bunch of people in Dali Temple to send."

Huang Zixia glanced at this heartless man feebly, thinking that he would not even be able to dispatch his little servant, and immediately fully understood his current exhilaration.