Southern Qi Fenghua Record

The capital city of Nanqi has a strict curfew system, that is, the evening drum is sounded at three o'clock in the morning, and the whole city is prohibited from traveling. Traffic is not allowed until after the morning bell.Those who walk on the street at the second, third, and fourth watch will be beaten thirty times; those who violate the night ban after the first watch and shortly before the fifth watch is lifted, will be beaten twenty times.In case of special circumstances such as illness, childbirth, death, etc., it is also necessary to report to the patrol guards truthfully before passing through the city.But no matter how strict the curfew system was, it had no effect on Xia Houyi, who had already figured out the inspection route and inspection time of the city guards, so even though they walked all the way from the west of the city to the east of the city, they didn't meet a city guard.

Arriving outside the gate of the Duke of Yue's mansion, the brothers and sisters tacitly did not go through the gate, but turned in from the corner next to it.

As soon as the two of them touched the ground, they met the guards patrolling the mansion.

When the guards saw a man and a woman sneaking in over the wall, they immediately became alert.

"Who's there!" the chief deputy guard shouted, looking over with piercing eyes.

All the guards of the Duke's Mansion of Yue had been in the military camp, each of them was tall, alert, and skilled.According to the usual practice, sixty guards led by a deputy chief guard patrol in three shifts every night, and ordinary small thieves dare not approach at all.Even if someone with a bit of kung fu entered the Duke's Mansion of Yue by chance, it would be difficult to escape their clutches.

After standing still, Xia Houyi adjusted his clothes a little, coughed lightly, and said boldly: "It's hard to sleep at night, I went out for a stroll, and I'm really sorry to disturb you all."

The deputy chief guard's surname is Chen, and his single name is a ring character. He is the cousin of Xia Houyuan's trusted guard Chen Jing.Chen Huan naturally knew Xia Houyi's brother and sister, but he was a little puzzled looking at their attire, but even if he suspected that Xia Houyi and Xia Houshu had some ulterior secrets when they came in over the wall late at night, he didn't dare to question them face to face. The head took people to patrol other places.By the way, I also told the people below not to talk too much, as if I had never seen them.

Where did the other guards dare to say anything, they could only respond in unison.

Xia Houshu suppressed a smile, and followed his elder brother around the Xingxing Lake, and then through the front garden, but Xia Houyi didn't rush back to his residence, but went straight to Muchunyuan.She was puzzled for a moment, so she followed to see what happened.

The gate of Muchun Courtyard was locked, and the courtyard was quiet, and the diners who were arguing with each other during the day had already slept soundly.But in a few hours, the place will return to its original bustle.

Xia Houyi glanced around the wall, found a slightly lower corner of the wall, jumped up to the top of the wall, and then jumped in lightly.

Xia Houshu didn't know why, so he also climbed over the wall and entered Muchun Courtyard.

They turned a corner and turned into a small yard.There was a familiar smell of traditional Chinese medicine in the courtyard, Xia Houshu frowned slightly, and then realized that they had entered the courtyard where Pei Lang lived.

Under the faint moonlight, one could see that the dustpan that was usually used to dry medicinal materials was put away by Pei Lang and neatly stacked on the wooden frame against the wall.A large water tank under the eaves on the right is filled with water, and the moon is bathing in it at the moment.

Seeing Xia Houyi's familiarity with the car, Xia Houshu already knew a little bit in his heart, so he didn't ask any more questions, and quietly followed his brother.

Xia Houyi didn't explain much to Xia Houshu, and went directly to knock on Pei Lang's door.

"Who?"

Pei Lang's voice soon came from the room, with a bit of sleepiness.

Xia Houyi didn't answer, but continued to knock on the door.

"Boom—boom! Boom!"

No more, no less, exactly three times, one long and two short, like some kind of code.

After a while, there was a rustling sound in the room, and candlelight came through the window paper.Then the door opened from the inside with a "squeak". Pei Lang, who was wearing a thin coat, held the door with one hand and held the candlestick in the other, and looked at the door sleepily.Seeing the person coming, he took it easy and said, "Second Young Master, Third Miss, it's so late, what can I do with Pei?"

"Let's go in and talk." Xia Houyi walked into his room with ease, as if returning to his own room so naturally.

Seeing this, Pei Lang quickly took a step back to make way for him, and then cast a puzzled look at Xia Houshu.

Xia Houshu spread her hands and said that she didn't know the purpose of her brother's coming here. After all, she hadn't inhaled much clear dew just now, and she had taken the antidote, so there was no need to bother Pei Lang at night.

Without an answer, Pei Lang couldn't help but frowned, closed the door behind him, and then followed to put the candlestick on the table, waiting for the next sentence.

Xia Houyi stood still in front of the table, pushed away a teapot and four teacups on the table, and then took out a large handful of plants from his sleeve and put them on it.

Xia Houshu was taken aback. She followed Xia Houyi all the way, and she didn't know when he picked so many flowers and plants and hid them in his sleeves. No wonder she always felt that Xia Houyi had a strange fragrance on him. At first, she thought he was trying to cover up his real identity. Deliberately changed the commonly used face powder.

"This..." Pei Lang also stared at the bunch of flowers and plants in a daze, his eyes full of shock.He watched Xia Houyi pull things out as if juggling, until Xia Houyi stopped, and he asked: "Where did the second son find these flowers and plants?"

Xia Houyi didn't answer directly, but pointed to those flowers and plants, and asked, "Does Mr. Pei know these flowers and plants?"

Hearing the words, Pei Lang got closer, picked up the bouquets one by one and held them under the candlelight to identify them, and then moved up to his nose to sniff.

Xia Houshu was also very curious, and randomly grabbed a long-stemmed red flower from the bouquet that Pei Lang had identified, and saw that the flower had four petals in total, nearly round or fan-shaped, with shallow wavy or variously shaped edges. Split, large showy flowers, strong aroma.She had never seen such a gorgeous and gorgeous flower before, but this fragrance seemed familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere.

After Pei Lang looked at all the flowers and plants, he looked at Xia Houyi again, with a bit of surprise and excitement in his eyes, and asked solemnly, "Where did the second son find these flowers and plants?"

Xia Houyi didn't say anything clearly, but said: "I passed by a family at night, and I saw a lot of flowers and plants planted in his yard. The fragrance was unusual. I picked some of them because they looked good. If you know Mr., we will find some to plant later. In the garden, for viewing."

"Absolutely not!" Pei Lang waved his hands to stop it, "Although these flowers and plants are extremely gorgeous, they are not beautiful flowers for garden viewing, but poisonous flowers with different effects."

"Poisonous flowers? Are they all there?" Xia Houshu was more surprised than Xia Houyi, "How can such a beautiful flower be a poisonous flower?"

Before Pei Lang could answer, Xia Houyi glanced at Xia Houshu contemptuously, and explained solemnly: "Poisonous flowers are like poisonous mushrooms, the more beautiful and abnormal they are, the more poisonous they are."

Xia Houshu immediately acted as if he was being educated humbly.

Pei Lang looked at their siblings and smiled, and said, "The two of you are having conflict again, right?"

Otherwise, Xia Houshu wouldn't have bowed his head so easily!

Xia Houyi was noncommittal, waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and tell us about the efficacy of these flowers."

Pei Lang immediately understood the deep meaning, and then pointed to the flowers and plants and introduced them one by one: "Look, this is oleander. Its branches, leaves, and bark contain toxins. If eaten by mistake, the mild ones will be poisoned, and the severe ones will be fatal; this is the oleander. Tuoluo can be used for anesthesia and analgesia, but its seeds, fruits, leaves, and flowers are all poisonous; this is aconitum, and the toxin is mainly in the roots. The cold in the meridians can dissipate the cold in the viscera. The root of the fruit is called aconite, which has the functions of returning yang, expelling cold, and dispelling rheumatism. If it is taken raw, improperly compatible, or overdose, it can cause numbness of the tongue and the whole body, nausea and vomiting, Chest tightness, convulsions, cardiac arrhythmia, confusion, and death due to respiratory failure; died of respiratory arrest..."

Xia Houshu listened quietly, and also heard the names and properties of flowers such as poinsettia, lantana, green jade, poppies, narcissus, etc. that she had seen or never heard of, and felt quite emotional.Unexpectedly, a small flower can still have so much ability.Then she handed the gorgeous large flower in her hand to Pei Lang's eyes, and asked, "Mr. Pei, do you know what kind of flower this is?"

Pei Lang looked up and said calmly, "This is called poppy flower. It has the effects of constricting the lungs, astringing the intestines, relieving coughs, relieving pain, and hypnotizing, but it also has hallucinogenic effects, which can damage the meridians of the lungs and organs."

Xia Houshu couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Sure enough, the more beautiful the more poisonous!"

Pei Lang nodded lightly, and continued: "The growth habits and cultivation methods of these flowers are different, and some of them are not even produced in Nanqi. Now they are planted in a yard. It is very strange to think about this family. Simple." As he spoke, he looked at Xia Houyi, "Can the Second Young Master tell you the exact origin of these flowers?"

Hearing this, Xia Houshu followed Pei Lang's gaze and looked at Xia Houyi, thinking that he would have a good time to save himself tonight, and he must have followed him all the way.Since we are going to the Prime Minister's Mansion, then...

"I see." Xia Houshu said suddenly.

The sudden voice attracted the attention of the two people next to her, and she continued, "It's the Prime Minister's Mansion. When I saw these flowers just now, I thought they looked familiar. After thinking about it carefully, Yi Wu used to live in the courtyard. With flowers like this."

Xia Houyi stared at his sister, but did not respond.

Pei Lang, who was always calm, was stunned, as if he had discovered some shocking secret.Then his eyes turned back and forth between Xia Houyi's brother and sister a few times, thinking of the words and deeds of the two brothers and sisters in daily life, he seemed to feel that he was too fussy, so he put away his surprise and said thoughtfully: " That’s right, that’s right, only such people can obtain such things.”

Although Xia Houshu still had doubts about her brother's purpose of picking so many flowers for Pei Lang to identify, but at this moment she really didn't care about these poisonous flowers and weeds.Too many things happened this night, and it was too thrilling.If Xia Houyi hadn't followed her and rescued her at the right time, maybe Prime Minister Wang would bring her body to the Duke of Yue's mansion tomorrow to seek justice.

"Mr. Pei." Xia Houyi said suddenly, "Please don't say anything about what happened tonight. Especially what Cai Shuer said just now."

Pei Lang waved his hand and said cheerfully: "Second Young Master, don't worry, we practitioners of medicine have always been only interested in these medicinal materials and intractable diseases."

Xia Houyi received Pei Lang's assurance, and glanced at the poisonous flowers on the table again, and said, "It's useless for me to hold these flowers and plants. If Mr. Pei is interested, just keep it, maybe it will come in handy."