It was night, the torrential rain poured in, the Milky Way poured down, the heavy rain like a dense curtain covered the thin moon halo, there were few lights in Guangningwei, and the black clouds overwhelmed the city and threatened to destroy it.
Just after Yin time, just when people were falling asleep, suddenly, a violent slamming sound pierced the rain curtain, Chen Bo, who was so sleepy and nodding his head, was startled with fright, and straightened his body suddenly.
He woke up, took the lamp in his hand, put on an umbrella, and ran to the door in small steps, before he could ask, the person who knocked on the door shouted loudly: "Master Qianhu, I am Hu Baicheng, there are refugees in the city causing trouble! "
Uncle Chen opened the door: "Master Hu..."
Hu Baicheng's voice was like his own, rough and rough, his beard was covered with raindrops, trembling with his voice: "Quickly go and wake up your master!"
"Yes, yes." Chen Bo nodded repeatedly, turned around and walked into the house. He was over sixty years old, and his steps were a little staggering, and he had to be careful to avoid puddles on the ground.
"Hey!" Seeing his appearance, Hu Baicheng was anxious and rushed towards the wing room without regard to etiquette.
As soon as he rushed to the eaves, there was a "squeak", and the door of the bedroom opened from the inside. A tall and straight man stood at the door with only his coat on, and asked in a deep voice, "Why are you so panicked?"
It was dark all around, and he couldn't see his face clearly, but on the cold and rainy night of the autumnal equinox, he was dressed so thin that he didn't tremble, and when he woke up in the middle of the night, his voice didn't look sluggish. Just standing still, he gave people the stability of a mountain. He was Guangning Guarding thousands of households—Yuanmao.
Hu Baicheng cupped his hands and said: "Master Yuan, there are refugees gathering in the city to cause trouble, and it's near Lord Qian's government office."
"Let's go and have a look." Yuan Mao turned and went back to the house.
The lights in the house were turned on, and a gentle and beautiful woman Yingying came over, holding a jacket in her hand: "Master, is there something going on in the city?"
While dressing, Yuan Mao turned his face and said, "He's another refugee from Taining." He was in his early thirties, with a broad forehead and high nose, sword eyebrows and starry eyes. gas.
She sighed faintly: "Refugees have been pouring into Guangning these days, making the city restless, and I don't know when it will end." She put the jacket on Yuanmao's body, and carefully buttoned it, "The rainy night is very cold. , add some clothes."
Yuan Mao said solemnly: "It's just a small disaster now, if it's not appeased properly, the refugees will turn into bandits, then it will be a big disaster."
She looked worried.
Yuan Mao tightened her shawl: "Qingshuang, go back and rest, don't catch the cold."
Yue Qingshuang nodded: "Master, be careful."
Yuan Mao smiled gently and stroked her hair: "Madam, don't worry." He grabbed the rain hat and went out.
The door of the side sleeper was suddenly opened, revealing half of a fair and tender face, and a big bright eye, and called "Dad" in a low voice.
Yuan Mao said: "Yu'er? What are you doing up, go back to sleep."
"When will Dad come back?" The voice was full of heartfelt intentions.
"I'll be back at dawn." Yuan Mao took a step, then paused, "Father will bring you a blind man's bun when he comes back."
The eyes slightly curved: "Okay." Then he closed the door gently.
—
A frantic horseshoe stepped over the stagnant water, splashing more than a foot. The cavalry led by Yuan Mao galloped silently in the heavy rain. is extremely serious.
Not long ago, the Jin people defeated the Sheng (Dusheng) army, and Qingzhou fell. The imperial court even ordered the abandonment of the seven states in northern Liaobei, the retreat of the army and the people, and stick to the south of Huangshui.
The seven prefectures in northern Liaoning are the natural barriers in the northern border of the Sheng Dynasty. Since ancient times, our Zhongyuan people have been called a natural barrier to resist nomadic invasion. Once they give up, the northern border is almost defenseless.
Yuanmao had a private discussion with Qian Anyu, the magistrate of Guangning, and Mr. Qian thought that the imperial court's actions might lead to the collapse of the treasury by the two fronts of the Wala and the Jinren, and the fall of Qingzhou would be the last one to crush the camel. Straw, shrinking the line of defense is also a helpless move. In addition, there must be some stupid people who disturb Shengting to make such a shallow decision.
Abandoning the seven prefectures in northern Liaoning will harm more than one dynasty and one country in the Central Plains, and it will definitely be reviled forever.
It's just pitiful for the people of Qizhou led by Taining, who have cultivated that land for hundreds of years, and are now forced to abandon the ancestral land they depend on for their livelihood, and move south in large numbers. What a "remnant" word.
Most of the refugees flowed into Guangning, and the Guangning Guard, which had natural dangers in front of it and was only used as a strategic logistics for the seven states in northern Liaoning, was now only separated from the Jinren by a Huangshui.
Yuan Mao has not been able to sleep for a long time in order to control the chaos of the refugees. Refugees are certainly a headache, but what worries him the most are those barbarians who are like wolves and tigers...
The momentary distraction prevented him from noticing a dark object appearing in front of him. When he took a closer look, it seemed that he was a child. The horse was already close at hand. His mind trembled, and he pulled the rein violently. Frightened, a sharp and long howl cut through the rainy night, its front hooves kicked empty, and the horse almost stood upright.
Yuan Mao was thrown off and fell heavily into the icy rain.
The followers behind also grabbed the reins one after another. If they were not well-trained, they might crash into a ball.
"My lord!" Hu Baicheng hurriedly jumped off his horse and went to help Yuan Mao, "Are you all right, my lord?"
"It's okay..." Yuan Mao's hat fell off, and the rain splashed his head and face. He wiped off the water on his face, squinted his eyes and looked at the small black shadow in front of him.
Hu Baicheng cursed: "Bold, how dare you harass Master Qianhu's mount!"
Yuan Mao waved his hand: "It seems to be a child." He stood up, walked towards the black shadow, and his attendant ran over holding the lamp. After taking a photo, it was indeed a child, with his head buried in his knees, squatting barefoot in the ankle-deep water, shivering. trembling.
On such a cold rainy night, he was ragged and emaciated, and the ribs on his back were like rows of rows, with distinct roots.
Hu Baicheng frowned: "What is your plan for rushing out suddenly?"
We can't blame him for making a fuss over a molehill. Most of the children are refugees, and they have been made miserable by all kinds of disasters caused by the refugees. Who knows if this child was ordered to make trouble.
The child stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointed his thin fingers at Yuan Mao's feet, and whispered, "...fish."
The voice is extremely weak.
Yuan Mao looked down and saw that there was no fish, but it was just a piece of broken wood with a slightly fish-shaped shape.
The child is probably dizzy from hunger. Yuanmao sighed in his heart, there were too many refugees from the seven prefectures in northern Liaoning, and the food allocated by the imperial court was exploited from top to bottom. When it arrived in Guangning, it was not enough for use. I heard that many refugees died halfway due to the plague, and they were lucky to be able to reach Guangning City alive. It's just that the cold winter is coming, and a child like this may not be able to survive it.
Yuan Mao said to his followers: "Give him something to eat, let's go."
The attendant took out the dry food from his body and threw it over. The child jumped into the rain, grabbed the dry food, and started biting frantically.
"Get out of the way." The follower scolded.
As he gnawed, he stepped back to the side.
Yuan Mao walked to his horse.
"...the horse has a leg problem."
Yuan Mao was taken aback, then turned to look at the child: "What did you say?" He thought he heard it wrong.
"The left front heel is swollen, and it hurts when it touches the ground, and it hurts when it hurts." The child's voice was still weak, but Yuan Mao heard it. He observed that his horse had been treading water, and it seemed that there was indeed something wrong. disturbed.
"What nonsense are you talking about, you brat!" Hu Baicheng scolded.
Yuan Mao asked, "How do you know it has leg problems?"
The child stopped talking and continued to eat the dry food. He just wanted to repay the favor.
"Raise your head." Yuan Mao raised his voice.
The child paused, and slowly raised his face.
The heavy rain fell, forming a blurred wall of water between Yuanmao and the child, the fire was weak, and his face was hidden in the shadows, but at this moment, a bolt of lightning exploded in midair, accompanied by thunder rolling And then, the horses panicked, and the surroundings suddenly became bright as day. At this moment, Yuan Mao saw the child's face clearly.
His heart skipped a beat.
The child's pale face was washed clean by the rain. Although his cheeks were sunken and his eyes were dull from hunger, he could still see three courts and five eyes, which was extremely delicate and beautiful.
Yuanmao excitedly snatched the lantern from the entourage, strode up to the child, looked at the face carefully, and asked in a trembling voice, "You...what's your name."
"Yan Sikong." The child's voice was as soft as a mosquito.
Yuan Mao pricked up his ears to identify: "Si...kong, what does this name mean?"
At the mention of the name, a faint light flashed in the child's eyes. He straightened his back as much as he could, wiped off the rain on his face, looked at the tall and heroic man in front of him, and replied neither humble nor overbearing: "Thinking of the sky and seeing the future, you can be strong without desire." The string echoed faintly in everyone's ears.
"... Your father is a scholar?"
"My father was a Juren in the ninth year of Zhaowu."
"You read too?"
"Father teaches."
"How do you know my horse has a leg problem?"
"My mother is a doctor."
"Medical horse?"
"Healer." The child lowered his head, he was thinking about the rough dry food in his hand, and he was perfunctory sentence by sentence.
"If you are a doctor, how can you diagnose a horse?"
"They are all attached to each other, and they have something in common." The child couldn't bear it anymore, and took another big bite of dry food.
Hu Guangcheng urged: "My lord, it is not appropriate to delay here."
Yuan Mao took a deep breath, his heart was beating wildly like a drum, his brain was hot, and on a whim, he made a decision that changed the fate of many people, even the destiny of Dasheng: "You come with me."
The child is at a loss.
Yuan Mao looked at him condescendingly: "Come with me, you won't have to go hungry, but from today on, I'm your father, and your surname is Yuan, Yuan Sikong."
The child was still dazed, maybe he was hungry, maybe the words came too suddenly, he didn't know how to react for a moment.
Yuan Mao stretched out his hand.
The child hesitated for a moment, and only for a moment, he took the big hand. The temptation to not go hungry was too great. Then his body lightened, and Yuan Mao held him in his arms, and wrapped his thin and cold body with a coir hat.
The child's brain was blank, the chest was thick and warm, and the arms around him were firm and powerful, as if it was the safest place in the world, making him even suspect that he was in a dream.
From Taining to Guangning, on the journey of thousands of miles, he watched the familiar neighbors fall down one by one, then his family members, and finally his parents. His happy and prosperous life disappeared overnight. He, who had never experienced hardship since childhood, stayed away from his hometown , living on the streets, suffering from hunger and cold, worse than wild dogs...
But he wants to live, his father's earnest words are still in his ears, and his mother's gentle comfort is forever imprinted on his skin, they all hope that he can live, he wants to live.
The horse started running again, he held onto Yuan Mao's clothes carefully, yearning for the warmth that he hadn't touched for a long time, but he didn't dare to get too close, so he could only tense his body.
Suddenly, a big hand stroked his wet hair, he was slightly startled, his eyes became hot, and hot tears flowed down silently.
He put down his vigilance, nestled in Yuan Mao's arms full of dependence, drowsy.
Yuan Mao's hand fell from the top of the child's head to his thin back, feeling mixed feelings for a moment.
The child can't remember clearly what happened afterwards. After all, he was only nine years old at the time, and his eyes were dimmed from hunger. In a trance, he seemed to see soldiers driving away refugees with swords.
Only the name "Yuan Sikong" dangled in the vague consciousness, becoming more and more lucid.
Yuan Sikong... From today on, his name is Yuan Sikong.
Opening a new article~~ Today is the eighth anniversary of my writing on the Internet. "Chasing the King" is my 16th article. I counted it. I have written 9.22 million words in the past eight years. When Chasing the King is over, It should be close to a million.
In the past eight years, I have gained a lot, and I will continue to write with full of love for creation in the future. I am grateful to the readers who have been with me and supported me =3=
Do not forget the original intention, take the dream as a horse, and move forward firmly!