In the third year of Puqing, the beginning of autumn.
Shi Wuduan, who had been missing for more than a month, finally appeared in Huaizhou. Gu Huaiyang was overjoyed and took people out to meet him himself.
Meng Zhongyong was even more terrified. He picked up Shi Wuduan and slapped Shi Wuduan on the back twice as hard as an iron, almost knocking his shoulders apart, and shouted: "Putting a banquet! Big brother, little Liu!" We're back, let's hold a banquet!"
However, Shi Wuduan only met everyone in a perfunctory way. When he laughed, he always seemed to be in a trance, a bit of a superficial smile, and he just said that he was tired, and asked everyone to disperse. , So he walked alone to the roadside post station for refugees, rolled up his sleeves, ordered a bowl of gruel with clear soup and little water, sat down and drank slowly.
He was dressed in half-worn civilian clothes, with chapped lips and a haggard appearance. He seemed to have a dusty smell on his body, as if he had driven a long way.
At first glance, they are no different from those civilians who fled with their families because their homes were destroyed. However, the extremely calm face that was revealed still did not hide his handsomeness, sitting there quietly, looking at a certain direction in the void, as if knowing that he was destined to come and go, and to go there calmly.
Everyone who passed by couldn't help but look at him more, but everyone who looked at him didn't know why, and didn't look at him for a second time.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival came, a large number of grain caravans suddenly withdrew from the northwest, as if a hand had quickly snatched away the grain on the market. The price of rice soared, and the court still couldn't allocate money. Yan Zhen knew that this was because he used the caravan Gu Huaiyang's deeds calculated Gu Huaiyang's revenge.
Time is also destiny, Yan Taifu is only in his forties, but his hair is already gray, he walks every step of the day, as if he is so determined that he is not a person at any time, and when he is alone at night, he still does not know whether he is doing it right or not wrong.
He couldn't help but think of the twig that was blown in half by the wind on the big rooftop of Jiulu Mountain, and felt powerless in his heart.
The devil is nowhere to be seen, the shadow demon is rampant everywhere, there is no one to restrain him, the Pope's secret agreement has been broken, Xuanzong has been severely injured, the Mahayana Pope has an ambiguous attitude, Zou Yanlai and Zhang Zhixian are watching him in the court, civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty are watching him, Your Majesty Looking at him, the people of Puqing are looking at him.
Right now, it seems that the imperial court is slightly superior, but Yan Zhen knows that he has actually lost a move in chess. The court has raised soldiers for thousands of days, but now he is fighting inseparably with the Red Scarf Army, the "crowd" in his eyes, in the Minjiang River. , It's really not a glorious thing, this one.
Second, he knew that Shi Wuduan had been active in Haining these years. He had always known that Shi Wuduan stretched his hand very long, but he didn't expect him to be able to faintly control the grain market in the northwest by stretching it so long.
Shi Wuduan seems to have an amazing sensitivity to money, this person seems to be able to count even a tael of silver, how to absorb money and how to use it, how to get what he wants, he doesn't waste a penny.
Yan Zhen originally thought that Shi Wudu was just running a caravan secretly, but he didn't expect that he would weave a web across the entire continent, like a spider, analyzing and intertwining in secret, and moving his whole body with one pull. , this net appeared vaguely in front of Yan Zhen.
Even if Shi Wudu himself died one day, everyone would be able to stay in order. Yan Zhen has to admire, there is no second person in the world with his meticulous methods, if he has Shi Wudu, if the court has Shi Wudu—
Whenever thinking about it, Yan Zhen couldn't help feeling sad.
At this time, the house was leaking and it was raining all night, but a flood washed away both sides of the Minjiang River. Countless refugees needed resettlement. The leader of the rebel army, Li Rushuang, took advantage of the chaos and attacked the Huzhou Granary. The merchants who were planning to raise the price of the rice "borrowed the rice" in the name of a secret robbery, intending to be unreasonable.
Behind every shameless person, there is a handful of bitter tears called "last resort".
However, even so, Yan Taifu still failed to escape the punishment of Emperor Puqing who had disliked him a long time ago. As if mourning for the former emperor, the emperor wrote a eloquent edict of guilt with tears in his eyes, Self-reflection once, and then a second cleanly dismissed Yan Taifu's official - really very clear rewards and punishments.
This time, Zhang Zhixian, who was born in Xuanzong, was also unlucky this time. The general was quite innocent. He was charged with a crime inexplicably and took the blame for the emperor. He was sent to Northwest Ping City for inspection overnight In other words, it is to rob and plunder.
Emperor Puqing read all the history books, and he knew that the emperor in the court was a puppet, and it was always the Pope who took turns sitting in the manor who really spoke. Tantric, so as not to let Xuanzong take advantage of it, so he still played with the technique of balance to make the two equal.
It can be seen that he is very proficient in the art of the emperor... knowing that fighting against the outside world must make the inside safe, no matter who comes to the city, he must take back the imperial power who has traveled abroad and has not known whether his surname is Zhang or Wang.
As for whether the wise and mighty emperor who laughed himself to death would accept it or not, the follow-up is ominous.
But the war continued.
Yan Zhen has resigned, Zhang Zhixian has been released, but Zou Yanlai is still fighting the battlefield north and south of the Minjiang River.
In order to avoid being unresponsive, the emperor personally posted a post among the three popes at this sensitive moment, asking them to add fresh blood to the court—Emperor Puqing thought his approach was reasonable, and this is the proper position for the pope , They are courtiers who work for the country. If one batch is broken or dies, they will be replaced.
From late autumn to cold winter, even on the night of New Year's Eve, Zou Yanlai and Gu Huaiyang thought of a place to go. Taking advantage of the night, they fought in a daze.
A few solitary firecrackers sounded, and then disappeared quickly in the ruins of ten rooms and nine empty spaces, as if to indicate the endless confrontation of swords and soldiers in the spring of the coming year.
Dongyue in Huaizhou was originally a land rich in fish and rice, but it was almost barren due to frequent floods and soldiers.
Shi Wuduan was not here, he quietly took a group of people to Huzhou, intending to cross Huzhou and go straight to the northwest, and compete with the legendary General Zhang who was from the same family.
But Bai Li, who was trapped by him in the evil fire environment and was supposed to come back within eighteen days, has never been seen.
I don't know why, Shi Wuduan always thinks of Bai Li, the thirty-six days we spent together in that ghostly place where the birds not only shit but also bite people, seem to be more vivid than a lifetime.
He suddenly discovered that some people cannot be seen.
For example, a wanderer who is away from home, no matter how hard he fights with others, how ruthless and black-handed he is, once he returns home, with his parents in his eyes and his wife and children in his lips, he will feel extremely tired. It means that all the ambitions and rhetoric in the past are empty, and you will forget your own dangers, only remember the dangers outside, and want to hide at home and never go out for the rest of your life.
For example, it is said in the play: May the elderly be gentle in this life, and the butterflies will not envy the fairyland.
Shi Wudu sometimes thinks that maybe he is really sorry for Bai Li.
Over time, the relationship between the two of them has become a bad debt. It is hard to tell who is right and who is wrong. In short, they have different positions, and they are unwilling to back down. The humble form forgave him and became no longer equal.
The formation he put up was just made of random stones, at best it was a gadget simulating a real formation, it was not easy to trap Baili for two hours, no matter how bad it was, he should come out after eighteen days, But time has passed a season, where has he gone
Sitting in the carriage, Shi Wuduan looked at the bumpy scenery outside through the crack of the window, and suddenly thought in his heart, there must be no accident, right? He has been going in and out of that ghostly place for many days, and he has never seen anything happen to him, so it is impossible for him to leave like this...
He pondered all the way in this way, and didn't react until Lan Ruo called him a few times at the peak of noon.
Lan Ruo was holding a bowl of herbal medicine that she didn't know what it was. The appearance looked a little horrible, and it gave off some kind of unbelievable smell. She whispered: "Master Liu, the medicine is here."
Shi Wuduan said "um", subconsciously avoiding Lan Ruona's familiar eyebrows, and took the medicine bowl - it's not for people to eat, but for rabbits.
After Shi Shi left for no reason, the rabbit started to go on a hunger strike, as if he had penetrated into the world of mortals and the old rabbit had entered into meditation. In fact, when Shi Wuyuan came back, he found that it was dying, and it was already a miracle that he didn't go directly to see the eight generations of ancestors.
However, the snow-white rabbit fur was already tangled into a ball, and it would fall off in large pieces with a little force. However, most of the farm animals are just cattle, sheep, chickens and dogs. There are really no veterinarians who are good at treating rabbits, and they can only treat dead rabbits as live rabbit doctors.
A doctor who treats horses, a doctor who treats cattle and sheep, and a doctor who treats chickens and ducks are interrogated in three meetings. It seems that there are many people and strength to come up with a prescription.
In fact, Lan Ruo wanted to persuade Liu Ye that this rabbit had been raised for more than ten years, and it should have died long ago, but seeing that he cared more about the rabbit than she did, she didn't dare to say anything.
Xia Duanfang just opened the door and came in, glanced at the sickly rabbit in Shi Wuduan's arms, then stretched out his hand to gently rub against the neck of the Cuiping bird standing on the side beam, and coughed lightly: "Master Liu, Everything was settled, and the news spread.”
"Well, thank you." Shi Wuduan didn't seem to pay much attention, he responded casually, and under the eyes of Miss Xia Duanfang and Miss Lan Ruo, he dipped his fingertips in a little herbal medicine very calmly and sent it to his mouth .
Lan Ruo said: "Master Liu, that's..."
Xia Duanfang showed a toothache expression, as if he was the one who tested the medicine.
Shi Wuduan chewed the herbal medicine that made those who saw it sad and tasted it tearful, and he didn't know what he tasted and what conclusion he came to, so he carefully fed it to the rabbit. The rabbit was unwilling to appreciate it at first—probably because the smell of the herbal medicine was really apologetic, so Shi Wudu slowly wrapped his five fingers around the bald hair behind it, being extremely gentle and patient, coaxing a rabbit to take medicine like a child .
Xia Duanfang glanced at Lan Ruo and said, "Girl, you go first, I'll have a few words with Master Liu."
Lan Ruo immediately backed away obediently.
Head Xia found a chair by himself, sat down without seeing anyone else, looked at the half-dead look of the rabbit, and said, "This is not an ordinary rabbit."
Shi Wudu was silent for a while, and then said lazily, "I know."
Xia Duan said, "Since it's not an ordinary rabbit, it can't be treated with ordinary methods. I don't know what's wrong with it. It's just that I can't bear to defy you because of its dull eyes. I also know that my time is approaching.”
Shi Wuduan heard the words, raised his head and looked at him silently, his face was expressionless, but his eyes were dark, and there was some hidden anger that was about to come, but Xia Duanfang was not afraid of him, he just said: "I and you Be frank and not lie.”
Shi Wuduan stared at him for a while, then lowered his head again, stroking the rabbit's head.
Xia Duanfang sighed, and couldn't help but said: "You are closer to these beasts than to humans."
Shi Wuduan said without raising his head: "Aren't you closer to Brother Kong Fang than others?"
"That's different." Xia Duanfang laughed. Other people hung purses and jade pendants on their clothes. The head of Xia ordered someone to order a big copper coin to hang on his body, as if he was afraid that others would not smell his copper stink. After a while, he said again, "That's different, so why is it the same? Gold and silver are dead things. If you hold them in your hand, they are yours, not like living things."
"In troubled times, people are like floating weeds, and if you are obsessed with others, aren't you doomed to be in fear every day?" Xia Duanfang said softly, then he glanced at Shi Wuduan, and said seemingly unintentionally, "By the way, I According to the news from fellow Taoists at the General’s side, it seems that those monsters trapped in the Minjiang River and running around have started to move east together recently.”