Preface
"If others do something difficult for themselves, I should repay them with virtue. An old saying expresses the virtue of the traditional Chinese "the grace of a drop of water is reciprocated by a spring". However, the selfless behavior of the guardian of justice will also attract bees and butterflies, and in the turbulent times, it is determined that people's hearts are unpredictable, and grace will take revenge.
So, what price will those who are ungrateful and ungrateful pay?
Talented and famous children
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, the mountains and rivers were ruined, and the heroes rose together. After the fall of Chang'an, the Tang Empire moved from prosperity to twilight, and the people lived in dire straits.
In this troubled era, there are still many scholarly families in Beijing. The ancestors of the Li family have been officials for generations, and the Qingliu scholars have collected tens of thousands of books from generation to generation, and there are many talents. As the eldest son of the Li family, Li Mian has always had high hopes. Such a red sun is destined to make a career like a newborn calf who is not afraid of a tiger.
Li Mian has been brilliant and intelligent since he was born, looks like a jade tree in the wind, and talks extraordinary. Trained as an elderly scholar at an early age, Li Mian studied hard, and his qualifications and diligence coexisted, and he was brilliant. When he returned from collecting medicine, the old gentleman would always tell some strange things about the rivers and lakes, and Xiao Mian's heart was full of joy and curiosity about all the unknowns. However, this comfortable time was only ten years old, and it was interrupted by years of turmoil.
Kaifeng County is an important town in the north, and the local officialdom and the people are affected by the war, and life and death are uncertain. Looking at Chang'an and the local area, the situation is turbulent, and life is like ants. Honest people always have unspeakable secrets, so they have to prostrate with tears in their eyes, waiting for the situation to change.
When he was helpless, Li Mian was calm, cultivated and practiced diligently, and he was already quite outstanding when he was a teenager. In desperation, he told his mother and family to go away to avoid trouble. He learned the philosophy of the art of war from his father, but he went to Beijing independently to seek a clear stream. He is deeply aware of what the people want and hope for in the future, actively denying himself and recovering the way of benevolence and righteousness, and repaying the society wholeheartedly in this life.
The college entrance examination career that comes and goes in the wind and rain
At the age of eighteen, Li Mian cares about the common people and aims to be good. Although the collection of books such as a number of treasures has cultivated an excellent personality, it cannot hide his desire to make meritorious contributions and show his strengths. So, he made up his mind to follow Yang Maoshi, a son of the poor family, to Chang'an to catch the exam.
There were not many bags on the way, but the money bags were heavy. He left off and went on the road lightly, which is the most beautiful and proud age. The wind comes and the rain comes and goes, carrying sleet. Those who sleep on the road do not know how many. Accompanied by a big bag all the way, Li Mian met like-minded friends.
Yang Maoshi is also diligent and hardworking, and the two of them come and go on the way, speculating and joking. Walking side by side all the way, more than ten days passed in a blink of an eye. The two who know each other and hate each other late, life should be beautiful, but they don't know that God will make people. Yang Maoshi suddenly fell ill and died at the age of 20.
The bad news came suddenly, and Li Mian was in pain. Before his death, Yang Maoshi entrusted his handwritten suicide note and all his belongings to Li Mian. He hopes that his ashes can be buried in the feng shui treasure of his hometown, and the bones can still be intact. Li Mian was heartbroken, but finally agreed to this wish, chose a place to bury the remains of his friend, and mourned that the friendship was too short.
Although Li Mian and Yang Maoshi had a brief relationship, they were also very speculative. Acquaintance in the snowy sky, temporary in the wind and rain road, sympathy is a short life. There are always too many impermanences in life, and no one can escape death. When God took Yang Maoshi's life, Li Mian fulfilled his promise with his own hands and mourned his new bosom friend.
If you are an ordinary person, you may have already stolen the pillars and kept the money for yourself. Li Mian kept his word to the fullest, sealed all his belongings in the tomb, and waited for Yang Maoshi's relatives to come to claim them. Afterwards, the Yang family really found the cemetery, and Li Mian told everything the truth. The Yang family knew that the reason why Li Mian returned his belongings in full was definitely not a matter of course.
Li Mian later rushed to take the high school entrance examination and was unexpectedly hired as a county lieutenant by Kaifeng County. When the officialdom of the dynasty was corrupt, no one did not abuse power for personal gain. Compared with this, Li Mian is upright and attentive, and he is quite popular with the people. He did his best to do everything in Kaifeng City, and over time, Li Mian was the most upright and amiable official in the hearts of the people.
Tears determine life and death No matter how tough the heart is, it also has a weakness. Li Mian is a man of temperament, and he can't see the tears and sorrows of others. However, as soon as the death row prisoner car arrived, there were broken cries and desperate cries, filling the streets and alleys.
After Li Mian took up the post of county lieutenant, due to the remnants of the war, more and more death row prisoners were escorted in the past few days, and the prison was full. Fearing an escape from prison, Li Mian had no choice but to order the beheadings to make room for the remnants to be imprisoned.
On the side of the main road in the secluded market, more than a dozen death row inmates were escorted to the execution ground, where they were tied to wooden stakes to await execution. Li Mian sat on the high platform, the guards behind him holding swords, facing the crying prisoners, his heart was lost and regained, and he was lost again.
The first prisoner was escorted to the stage and knelt on one knee. The executioner raised his axe, and the prisoner raised his head to the sky and howled, and more than 30 times were beheaded. The second, the third... They are also very calm.
All this is very common for Li Mian. However, when the eighth prisoner was brought to the execution platform, he cried loudly and cried out for injustice. When he was crying, Li Mian suddenly felt very familiar. In the past few days, he has convinced himself that he is "eliminating harm for the people". Once he thought about it, he could no longer sit down and feel guilty. The death row prisoner had tears in his eyes, and his expression was more sad than his heart was dead. Li Mian reviewed the case file again, and it turned out to be strange. Even if the evidence was insufficient, he was convinced that there was a grievance.
The desperate cry of the death row prisoner touched Li Mian's soft heart. Li Mian deliberated again and again, and finally decided to pardon this person. In the middle of the next day, he ordered his family Ding Zhang Da to open the death row cell in the dark and secretly send the death row prisoner out of the capital. Later, Li Mian devoted himself to comforting the families of the death row prisoners and telling them to stay away from this place. All this was not noticed by the cronies around him.
Li Mian knew that saving death row prisoners violated national law, and even more violated the way of being an official and the expectations of the masses. However, with a thought of mercy, he made up his mind to show grace without regrets. It is better to leave your life than to die without proof. From then on, whenever Li Mian was alone in the dead of night, the moving cry of the death row prisoner and the painful look of the dead row prisoner would always appear in his mind.
The power leans towards the government and the opposition and causes trouble
Li Mian has been an official for more than ten years and has won the support of the people. Countless big and small things, he did his best and treated the people as relatives. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and when the Tang Dynasty was in turmoil, it was even more difficult to find justice in the court.
Li Miangang did not provoke the hidden arrow of the crown prince Li Heng's staff. Chief of Staff Yang Chong was originally a traitorous villain and cunning. Li Mian impeached him several times for negligence in maneuvering power, which annoyed the emperor's uncle, the crown prince Li Heng. In a fit of rage, the prince expelled Li Mian from the court and moved him to a remote place.
How could a person with power leaning toward the government and the opposition tolerate an upright person sitting in an important town on the southeast coast? Li Mian knew that a catastrophe was coming, but he never thought of asking for forgiveness. When the shadow of power loomed, he calmly handed over the official seal, alone without half a servant.
Li Mian is ambitious and never cares about gains and losses and career paths. When the power sent him into the cold, he was extremely relaxed. The fortune teller said that he had a catastrophe in his life, and he could use it to reduce it. So, Li Mian left Feng with his family Xiaoyuan and embarked on a journey from Rong.
If you don't know your heart, you will take revenge
Fate made people, and when Li Mian took the lead in the journey, he met the death row prisoner he rescued that year. The prisoner he rescued that day was named Yang Biao, who later made a career in a foreign land and was already a well-known rich man.
After not seeing him for many years, Yang Biao recognized Engong at a glance. He married the daughter of the local mayor and lived a wealthy and prestigious life. Li Mian didn't care about worldly things, and after greeting each other, they went their separate ways. The Yang couple were polite to Engong, but they were afraid that he would be too anxious to fry each other in the future. Yang's internal assistant made a moment of thought and suggested that her husband design to kill Li Mian to kill him, so as not to drag him down afterwards.
The most important thing in life is credit, followed by respecting the old and loving the young. Yang Biao is as important as a mountain to Li Mian'en, and he should not be dismissed lightly. Such a good person, if it is not a last resort, how can he kill himself! Mrs. Yang has a dark heart, and she does not know how to learn about Entu's retribution, so she has to kill them all.
Two people with different ideas are familiar with each other, Yang Biao is a good person and a bad species, and after all, he has evil thoughts and kills people. That night, he ordered his henchmen to secretly find Li Mian's whereabouts. Who knows, when the gangsters who wanted to harm Li Mian committed murder in the dark, they were bumped into by the innkeeper, so they told Li Mian to remind him.
Li Mian was smart, how could he have expected that the prisoners who were released back then would take revenge on him? He deeply felt that the world was impermanent and unpredictable, so let it be his fate. The shopkeeper secretly sent him out of the city to avoid trouble at night. After running all the way, I felt physically and mentally exhausted.
In the few days that Li Mianping met in the water, the Yang couple served well, and hid a knife in their smile. Li Mian always treats people fairly, but he has also learned a lesson. I only hope that one day, Mrs. Yang can atone for her sins.
Those who have the intention of harming others will be killed, and the gangsters who kill people and kill their mouths
Li Mian took refuge in the hotel and was warmly received by the store. He told the whole story of the Yang conspiracy to poison it clearly, and the boss was also amazed. In this world, there are many people who are faint. But Li Mian did not fight an unprepared battle, he made it clear that he traveled lightly on this trip in order to bury the ashes.
People's hearts are unpredictable, luck is tricky, not long after Li Mian stayed, a mysterious person quietly jumped from the ceiling. He had a serious look on his face and a scar on his face. Both of them were taken aback, and the shopkeeper was so nervous that he pulled out his big knife to cut wood to defend himself. Unexpectedly, the assassin said solemnly: "The villain was ordered to come to seek revenge and kill people, but fortunately he heard the truth... The original master didn't know what to do, so I killed him!"
It turned out that this mysterious assassin was the gangster hired by the Yang family to kill Li Mian. As soon as he heard the two describe the reason for the beginning and end, he saw that Li Mian was not a traitor, and immediately decided to bite his master back. So he put down the butcher knife and vowed to avenge Li Mian's blood revenge.
I don't know how long later, Li Mian received a box from the shopkeeper. When I opened it, it was actually the bloody two heads of the Yang couple. Li Mian was shocked, it turned out that this mysterious assassin really did what he said and killed the treacherous Yang husband and wife. With this knife, he gave Li Mian a bad breath, and also avenged the innocent servant of the Yang family.
Although Li Mian despises Yang Biao for being ungrateful, he is not a ruthless person after all. He asked the shopkeeper to bury the two bloody human heads deep in the uninhabited tidal flats, so that they would not be exposed to the wilderness. After many years of martial arts, Li Mian's heart is as cold and sharp as a sword. He didn't hate everyone in the Yang family because the Yang family harmed him. After the death of the Yang family, he even secretly funded the women and children of the Yang family to stay away from this place, leaving no trouble.
epilogue
After this incident, Li Mian embarked on the journey home. As far as he could see, the wilderness was deserted, and his former homeland had long been destroyed by war and rebellion. So Li Mian wandered alone, living in seclusion in the mountains and wilderness, and never returned to his homeland in this life. He once released death row prisoners and sympathized with the suffering of the people, but he could not get even a little reward from the world. Fate is full of misfortune and suffering in the world, and he has already experienced a waveless heart.
Maybe one day, the dust of this troubled world will settle. At that time, I will be able to witness the scene of living and working in peace and contentment with my old eyes. Li Mian thought secretly and turned to leave. After he left, no one heard from him. Only the misty clouds and smoke are left, dissipating in the great rivers and mountains of this world.