When my sister and I hurried to Zisheng's house, Aunt Zhong was hugging poor Kong Ming tightly. Kong Ming's face was still blue and he was shaking even though he was wrapped in a thick mattress. Aunt Zhong was sobbing while holding him like that. Then my sister also came over, took off her hat and stroked Kong Ming's face, with tears streaming down her face.
Is the five-year-old's life coming to an end? I suddenly felt that my rushing back and forth these days suddenly lost its meaning. My heart has never been on the right things. When I knew that Kong Ming's illness was cured, time passed quickly. When it got worse, it slowed down. If I had known that Kong Ming would only live for a few days, I would not have said so much to those people. I would have stayed by his side. But I still believe in miracles. I think Kong Ming will not be like this... He will get better.
Zixiang came in excitedly: "Zirui, Uncle Zhang you..." His voice was suppressed by everyone's eyes. He was also shocked to see Kong Ming like this, and his voice dropped very low, "Fluctuation?" I shook my head, "How could this happen?" I waved my hand to interrupt him and motioned for him to go out and talk.
"What are you looking for?"
"The teacher is back and asked me to come find you."
"So soon?" I was surprised at how quickly the teacher came back. I thought it must be the news of the heavy snow in northern Jingzhou that urged him to come back quickly. I looked back at the house, and with a hard heart, I got on the horse and asked, "Where is the teacher now?"
"Caotang." He rode away in a cloud of dust.
It was probably the first time that pedestrians saw someone riding a horse so fast on the street, so they all stayed away. Fortunately, the snow had not stopped yet, so there were few pedestrians on the road. Moreover, Xiangyang was exceptionally quiet after the snow, so the sound of my horse's hooves became the only sound in the city, and there was no trouble along the way.
I thought I would finish talking to the teacher and go back as soon as possible. Before I even entered the door of the thatched cottage, I shouted: "Teacher, I'm here!"
"Oh, is it my good disciple?" The master came out first, followed by the teacher who was also smiling. The master looked at me, turned back and got angry at the teacher: "Monkey, Zirui is still a child, and you handed over the whole state of Jingzhou to him alone. Look, the child has become so haggard." I looked at my cheeks and found that they were really sunken. With the long beard, I thought that I must look very different from a 17-year-old now. The teacher did not argue, but just smiled and patted my shoulder, "Is everything okay?"
"Not bad." I shrugged.
"Big Buffalo! Come and help me with the medicine bag." Suddenly, I heard the voice of a middle-aged woman in the house. It seemed to be Teacher Wei's wife, my master's wife. Seeing Master running in happily, the teacher laughed even more happily. He said to me, "You can also go in and help?" I nodded and went in.
The teacher's room had not changed much, except that it was filled with a strong smell of medicine. The master was moving the bags piled at the door to the shelf by the wall. I picked up a large bag and passed by the woman. The woman looked me up and down and said, "Good boy! Dingguo, your student is not like you. He is quite strong, more like a big buffalo."
The master heard it, stopped and looked back at the teacher, the teacher also looked at him, and the two laughed again. Teacher Wei's wife is different from the women in Xiangyang. She has the energy of Hu Yujun. Thinking of this, I laughed too. I put the medicine close to the master. I followed the master to move the medicine, and I looked at the master's wife when I went back and forth. The master's wife was a very pretty person, but her figure was taller than that of ordinary women. She was dressed like a farmer's wife, so I couldn't associate her with the wife of the governor. But looking at my teacher at this time, he was just like a farmer who was celebrating the New Year. Fortunately, the indescribable confidence on his face reminded me that he was my teacher, the first official of Jingzhou.
After moving the things, we sat down together. The teacher and his wife turned their heads towards the inner room and said, "Why are you here?" "What's the matter?"
"Ah, didn't you ask me to come here?"
"No, haha, you..." The teacher smiled and pointed to the door of the inner room. Suddenly, a boy about seventeen or eight years old rushed out and sat down next to the teacher's wife. Another older boy, about eleven or twelve years old, was a little restrained. He slowly came over and sat down next to the teacher's wife.
"One is called Wei He? The other one is called He Shi?" I finally understood. However, the names are indeed very interesting. Although I had a lot on my mind, I couldn't help laughing when I pointed at these two guys.
"Who else could have come up with this name except this monkey? The two boys, one takes the father's surname and the other takes the mother's surname. How else would you have thought of it if I hadn't told you?"
"Hey, stop being so monkeyish in front of my students."
"Sister, you're still calling me 'buffalo buffalo' in front of me, I don't care, why do you care?" At the end, the master's accent changed, as if I had heard this accent in the north. It's not surprising that the master had been a general in the north. But it turned out that the master was the youngest of the three. However, I suddenly realized something in my mind and cursed myself for being too slow.
"Master's wife, is he a doctor?"
The master's wife shook her head, looking very surprised: "Did you just realize it?" To be honest, I had been smelling the smell of medicine when I was at Zisheng's house, and I still smell it here. My brain must have become dull.
"She is a very good doctor. There is no doctor better than her in Xiangyang."
"So the monkey has lived until now, and is still alive and kicking. Let me put it this way, as long as my sister has a breath left, she will become like him if I just push her." The master pointed at the teacher, who had to smile.
"Then please save my Kong Ming?" I quickly knelt on the ground, "Thank you, Master's Wife."
Among the three, only the teacher knew about Kong Ming. The master was very surprised: "You already have a child, it can't be so soon?" I feel that Zhou Cang must have gone to learn martial arts from the master, because the master's brain is starting to become so stupid.
The teacher turned and glared at the master, then turned back to me: "What's the disease?"
Before I could answer, Master's wife was more forthright, "Where?"
I hurried out and said to the guards outside the door: "Quickly escort the governor's wife to the residence of Zhong Wenjie, the Earl of Zhongxin."
Turning back, he said, "Master's wife, thank you for your help."
"Leave it to me." The master's wife was very confident. This made me feel relieved.
"You asked the guards to lead the way, so they led the way. What escort?" The master laughed. "You don't know. According to age, it's your teacher, your master's wife, and finally me, your master. But in terms of martial arts, it's completely the other way around. I can probably beat ten of your master's wives. Don't look at me. I'm just making an analogy. How dare I beat my sister? What if I get sick? Besides, where can I find ten people? And your master's wife can probably beat all the dozen or so people outside... plus a hundred of your teachers."
I felt that if we continued to talk about this, the teacher would lose face, so I interrupted and asked, "Is the master's wife's medical skills good?"
"My, you forgot, your master's wife's medical skills are beyond reproach. In the whole world, only your master's wife's senior brother Hua..." The master took over the conversation, but when he came to this name, the master still stopped, looked at the teacher, and decided to stop.
"Ah, why don't you?" The teacher also started with that northern accent. The teacher traveled all over the world, and with his understanding, I always thought there was nothing he didn't know. The man surnamed Hua must have had a grudge against the teacher.
"Forget it. Our students are all here today, and your son is here too, so I can't." To be honest, at this moment, the master and the teacher were definitely looking at each other like two naughty teenagers.
"Zi Rui, let's talk business. Wei He, take your brother out to play, and close the door for us." The teacher turned to the main topic. Wei He and his brother are definitely two different types of people. Wei He has always been silent, occasionally looking at the person he is talking to, and most of the time, he is quietly looking at the ground. As for the younger brother, I have never seen him stop making trouble, and the teacher's wife has to settle that child all the time. If there is one thing in common between the two, it is that neither of them has the arrogance of the children of officials. Two very simple children.
"Zi Rui, I know everything about you this time. Generally speaking, you did the right thing, especially your move this morning, which was absolutely amazing. Dong Zhuo must know that Ding Yuan has something to do with us now. The words you taught those guards were very interesting. I believe that Ding Yuan has an agreement with us. It's not easy for Ding Yuan's envoys. If they don't save him, they will just admit it. If they save him, they will still be suspected. You really tricked them, hehe... Dong Zhuo is in a difficult situation this time. If he doesn't fight, he will lose face. If he fights, there will be wolves behind him. Originally, Ding Yuan just wanted to watch the fun and let us fight to the death. Now, maybe they have to discuss how to deal with Dong Zhuo. But don't expect them to come to form an alliance with us to divide the land. They will take over Dong Zhuo's territory as soon as Dong Zhuo is far away. So this time, if Dong Zhuo doesn't come, it's fine. But if he comes, it's probably..."
"The entire bird's nest, moved away." I thought of the painting.
"Yes, that's what I meant. This description is good, because the heavy snow has a great impact on them. I guess they are determined. Dong Zhuo still believes that he is much stronger than us. This is indeed the case. We are in trouble, but it seems that you have a plan. What kind of plan? Are you going to rob Hanzhong? Only by taking it first can we have the initiative."
According to the time, they should have arrived at dusk yesterday. Hanzhong is located in the border of Yizhou where the three states of Yi, Jing and Liang meet. Yizhou has no governor for the time being, only local officials. They dare not stop the banner of the loyal and brave Xinye Bo. If it were not for this time, no vassal would want to go to such a place and become the target of public criticism. I nodded, "The tops of Hanzhong should be full of Chen banners by now, right?"
"What is your plan?"
"Teacher, Master, look at this." I spread out the picture my sister gave me and pointed to the place where I pointed to my sister. "Let's set a big trap for him. Seal his mouth..."
"This..." The teacher and the master looked at each other. After a while, the teacher said, "It will succeed. It will definitely succeed, because no one would have thought of this. This trap is too perfect."
I also discussed some details with my teacher and master. "Once all the troops from all over the country have arrived, we will leave. This time, the teacher will continue to serve as the governor of Jingzhou. The master will go with me to show the people of Xiliang what you can do."
"If I had known you had arranged it so well, I would have stayed in my hometown in the countryside of Changsha for a while before coming back. If Li Zhen hadn't suddenly come to Big Water Buffalo one day to find snow in the north, Big Water Buffalo would have felt something was wrong and come to find me. I was afraid that it was too messy here, so I didn't want to come back so early. Do you know why?"
"Teacher, do you want to have a good rest? The teacher is really tired." I was speaking from the heart.
"I rest? Where can I rest? The world is in chaos, so I just want to find a place to hide first and let you stay outside. Now that it's going to chaos, I can come out. Originally, Jiangdong was basically peaceful, and the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in the north were about to be wiped out. If everything is peaceful in the world, He Jin will come to find us, and we will have to live the rest of our lives in the capital under surveillance. If I hide away, he will have nowhere to find me and my successor to pass on the seal. This time when I go out, I don't have to worry about this. He Jin hopes that we will both suffer losses, but you have arranged it so well, I really can take a good rest first." The tone of these words was very flat, but I felt cold. Indeed, I have not received any news from Zisheng and Zishe. They didn't even ask anyone to bring a message. I guess they have been monitored by He Jin. However, considering their current status and the relationship between them and their father-in-law, their lives should be safe. These troubles are giving me a headache. But when I suddenly thought of Kong Ming's life being saved, I felt that all this was nothing worth thinking about. But then I suddenly thought of Zi Sheng and Zi She, who might be worried about the shortness of spring, and I felt very uncomfortable thinking about it.
"Oh, what disease did Kong Ming have?" The teacher suddenly remembered the question that was interrupted by his wife just now.
"Kong Ming has the fever."
"Oh." The two people responded at the same time, and then they both said the same thing: "Press it, and he is already well now."
"Is it malaria? And he's only five years old." Once malaria breaks out here, there's basically no way to save it, and we can only leave it to fate. It's only been an hour, it can't be that simple. I looked at the two people in front of me with suspicion.
"Hey, no problem." Both of them waved their hands without question, which made me feel completely relieved. However, Master still added a sentence like Zhou Cang: "Your sister's child is this big?"
This time, the teacher and I glared at him together, and he remained silent again.
"Are the whole Master family here?" I suddenly thought of Sister Huang.
"They are still in Changsha, but I have talked to them. You will transfer Li Zhen, Zhou Cang and the others away immediately. When their replacements arrive, they will come with your Master's wife and Yun'er."
"I have a master's wife?... It hurts." I knew I said the wrong thing, but to be fair, I had never seen him before and thought he was the same as Old Man Jiang. I never asked about this because I was afraid of reminding my master of sad things.
"Why did you hit my student? You also know my sister-in-law's personality. She always eats in her own room. If a stranger goes to her house for dinner, people might think she lives alone. I, your master's wife, am her wife, and even I, the eldest brother, have only seen her a few times. I have seen the clothes she made for you more times than I have seen her. Isn't it normal for Zirui to think this way since he has never seen her?" The teacher mediated between me and the master.
I understand, Master's wife is never shy! I suddenly understood where Sister Huang's temper came from. Sister Huang should be much braver. The world is so big that nothing is impossible. However, how Master married this Master's wife is really suspicious. The teacher saw my curiosity. "He arranged a childhood marriage, and he had a wife before he had a child. At that time, his wife hadn't given birth yet. On the day of the wedding, he didn't know what his wife looked like, but now... Now you know, right? Don't tell me you know based on your daughter's appearance."
"Hey, monkey, what do you mean by this?" Master and teacher were about to start a fight, so I hurried to separate them. But I didn't need to stop them, as they soon let go.
“The teacher is like this too. … It hurts.” I knew I was wrong again.
"It hurts me too." The teacher covered the hand that hit me. "See if you are blind again."
"Your master was very good at deceiving girls. Your master's wife... Monkey, stop making trouble. It's not that I can't beat you. It's because we are brothers." The teacher was almost the same as us at this time. A big battle was about to happen, but they were not worried at all.
"Zi Rui, you still seem to be worried? Is it Dong Zhuo?"
My head.
"Don't worry, he will definitely fall for it because he has to act quickly. He won't have time to realize it before he's already been tricked."
"I'm back,...ah, your name is Zirui, your Kong Ming is fine now." These were the most pleasant words I heard that day.
"Okay, Teacher and Master, you guys take a good rest. I'll make some arrangements. Within two days, I will personally lead my Jingzhou army to Hanzhong to fight a decisive battle with the Dong thief." For the first time, I felt so confident.