Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Chapter 217 Li Hongzhuang

The East Street was filled with loud gongs and drums, and the red decorations stretched for ten miles. Pedestrians on both sides of the street stopped to watch.

Xiao Yan rode his horse in front, and Su Chengfeng followed on horseback behind. He looked happily at the festive and lively scene around him and talked to himself.

"This scene is so spectacular. It's the first time I've seen it."

Yang Zhounan glanced at the groom in front of him with a frown on his face, then lowered his eyes to look at Su Chengfeng, "Isn't this what marriage is all about? Waiting for you..."

He realized that what he was saying was inappropriate halfway through. He saw Su Chengfeng looking away with a smile on his face. Fortunately, he didn't hear it.

Su Chengfeng indeed didn't hear it. In the crowd, he saw Chen Ji, Su Chengyi and Wu Ji following them, and Xiaowu and Xiaoliu had also come.

Chen Ji was still waving at him happily. Su Chengfeng took out a few candies from his arms and threw them over while no one was paying attention. Chen Ji and Wu Ji jumped up with a smile to catch them, but they were snatched away by Su Chengyi.

Su Chengyi ran forward with the candy, teasing Chen Ji like a child, and caused several people behind him to playfully chase after him.

Su Chengfeng was so happy that he muttered to himself, "A bunch of little brats, just a few candies make them so happy."

He turned his head and glanced at Xiao Yan's expression. He restrained his smile and spoke to Yang Zhounan.

"Hey, Lord Marquis, what's wrong? Getting married is such a wonderful thing, why are you so sad? Although he's usually so cool, I feel like there's something different today, and he seems distracted."

Yang Zhounan glanced at him and asked, "What do you think...under what circumstances can a marriage be joyful?"

"You're asking nonsense." Su Chengfeng said, "Of course it's true and sincere, and they both love each other."

Yang Zhounan didn't respond to this sentence. Su Chengfeng only saw the meaningful look in his eyes, and it took him a while to suddenly understand what he meant.

He leaned closer to Yang Zhounan and asked in a low voice, "Are you saying... the Marquis doesn't like the Princess?"

"Perhaps." Yang Zhounan sighed, "Qingjun has been against marriage for many years. This time he can't avoid it. It's hard to disobey the emperor's direct grant of marriage."

"This..." Su Chengfeng reacted for a split second, glanced at the bridal sedan behind him, and then turned back, his previous joy gone. "If two people who don't love each other are together, won't it be painful in the future?"

"So." Yang Zhounan raised his chin.

"You see, only onlookers can see the joy and grandeur of a wedding, and they envy and send their blessings. However, no one can see the true state of mind of the people involved. Everything is carried out on the surface of this noisy and luxurious scene until the newlyweds are escorted to the bridal chamber. From then on, the joys and sorrows are known only to them."

Su Chengfeng was deeply saddened by what he heard. At this wedding, everyone except Xiao Yan was smiling.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a little sympathy. The high-ranking military marquis couldn't even choose the person he liked, but still had to put on a show and go to his parents' house under those so-called blessings. He would have to spend his whole life with someone he didn't love. It was painful to think about it.

However, he still sighed, "The princess is a noble princess, and her status is high, and the Marquis doesn't like this? Then what does he like?"

Hearing this, Yang Zhounan lowered his eyes and hesitated for a moment, then looked at him and smiled softly, "What do you think he likes?"

"I think?" Su Chengfeng rolled his eyes and thought for a moment, then looked at him. "The Marquis is of noble status, so she must be a daughter of a famous family. In any case, she must be the daughter of a king, a prince, a general or a minister."

Yang Zhounan lowered his brows and smiled, then shook his head. "If she were the daughter of a prince, a general, or a minister, there would be no need to refuse the marriage so many times."

"No?" Su Chengfeng hissed in thought, "That's... Ziqing."

Yang Zhounan was startled and subconsciously looked at Su Chengfeng, seeing that his eyes were fixed on him, "You... know?"

Su Chengfeng heard this and withdrew his attention. He asked in surprise, "Know what?"

Yang Zhounan was about to speak when he saw Su Chengfeng waving at him from behind with a smile. He turned around and saw Lu Ziqing standing in the crowd in his official robe. He hadn't seen him for a while, and his face looked much paler, as if he was unwell.

When Su Chengfeng called out, Xiao Yan had already noticed that the horse was moving slowly forward. He turned to look at the crowd and happened to meet Lu Ziqing's eyes.

He was much thinner than usual and looked tired, as if he was sick.

Xiao Yan's heart suddenly ached, and he gripped the reins tightly. He looked at Lu Ziqing reluctantly as he forced a smile and nodded respectfully to him. Yang Zhounan felt a little uncomfortable seeing this.

In the secret room on the other side, a straw man stood on Qiu Zhenlin's altar. Lu Ziqing's name and address were written on the man's belly. His body was wrapped with hair, and seven needles were inserted into several acupuncture points. Seven lamps were burning on the top of the head, the soles of the feet, and several other positions.

He grabbed the cinnabar pen and began to chant an incantation. After he finished, he chanted a second incantation on the yellow paper. Only after he finished chanting them one by one did he start painting. While painting, he was still chanting an incantation that was different from the previous one.

After several rounds of chanting and blessing, he held the talisman paper between two fingers, stepped on the magic circle, made a finger seal and chanted the incantation again at the straw man. Finally, he burned the yellow talisman paper and bowed to the straw man.

After the operation was completed, Qiu Zhenlin stared at the altar, twisted his beard with two fingers, and smiled crookedly.

"Just wait, good days are yet to come."

Yan Qian walked up to him, looked at the straw man, and asked, "Is this all we need to do to worship him every day?"

"Yes." said Qiu Zhenlin.

"This method is undetectable to gods and ghosts. The recipient will gradually become listless and experience dull pains that spread from the inside out to the rest of the body. These symptoms will gradually worsen like a common illness, leaving no one to notice. On the 27th, I will destroy their soul and spirit, and cause their intestines to rot and they will die invisibly."

"Wonderful." Yan Qian chuckled. "It can consume people without them even noticing. This method is truly wonderful."

Lu Ziqing watched the wedding procession with a smile. After a while, he couldn't help feeling dizzy and having dull pain in his body. When Yang Zhounan passed behind him, he covered his head and retreated behind the crowd, leaning against the wall and shaking his head.

A middle-aged man nearby saw him and came over to ask, "Sir, are you feeling unwell? Do you need my help?"

Lu Ziqing took a light breath, steadied himself, and whispered, "No, I just need to rest for a while, thank you."

Xiao Yan missed it from a distance and was so anxious that he wanted to dismount. Seeing this, Yang Zhounan immediately called him in a low voice.

"What are you doing? Sit back down, we're welcoming the bride."

Su Chengfeng also looked back and saw it. He dismounted, crossed the street, walked through the crowd to Lu Ziqing, supported him with a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

Hearing the voice, Lu Ziqing looked up and leaned against the wall in the alley, looking listless.

"Why are you here? Hurry up, the bride is coming, why are you running around?"

Su Chengfeng saw his expression and became even more anxious, but he didn't dare to lose his temper. "There are people over there, and I'm no different. Tell me, what's going on?"

Lu Ziqing sighed, "It's okay. I might have been a little tired recently. I just went to the homes of some Jinyiwei and saw you when I passed by on my way back. You should go back soon. I'm going back to the courtyard too."

Su Chengfeng knew that he liked to pretend, so he said with a half-believing and half-doubting look, "Don't lie to me, okay?"

Lu Ziqing managed to stand up and smiled, "I can get candy by lying to you."

"Candy?" Su Chengfeng seemed to relax a little when he saw him smile. He took out a candy from his arms and handed it to him. "Here, I do have some candy, but I only have one. I just gave it away. If you're too hungry, you can have it."

It is called candy, but it looks like a shortbread. It is rectangular and wrapped in red paper with gold-plated double happiness characters on the paper.

Lu Ziqing stroked the wedding character with his fingertips and looked at it for a while. He raised his eyes and smiled, "Okay, I might be able to go over later."