This name is not elegant, but I heard that in some poor places, it is difficult to raise children. I deliberately use a name that is more like an animal, so that it is easier to raise. This sister once mentioned that she wanted to change my name to Zhu, but later she saw that I was strong and healthy, so there was no problem, so she let it go.
"Brother, what are you laughing at?"
"nothing."
The Feng family must be very powerful. Besides him daring to rob people in broad daylight, everyone who showed us the way knew that their family was going to have a wedding today. In fact, this happened only this morning. I guess Ergou couldn't wait for his sister to come back at noon, so he went out to the street to ask and found out what happened. Yes, this city is not big, and there are many people coming and going inside, so the news must be well-informed. It seems that Ergou's business is really bad, and he didn't know about this until noon. And it seems that people here still have a grudge against him, and no one informed him.
The people of Youzhou have suffered too much from the Wuhuan. Their stories can be heard everywhere. Of course, the Xiongnu and Xianbei also suffered from such things. But now my view of these foreign barbarians is completely different from before. Everyone wants a living space. If everyone lives well, who has the energy to plunder everywhere? The winter in the north is really hard to endure, and late autumn is already unbearable. And these three tribes all live in the bitter cold land of the extreme north, and they rely on animal husbandry for their livelihood. A spring snow can make Dong Zhuo fight us, and they will naturally compete with us Han people. From this perspective, everyone is right from their own standpoint. But being bullied is not the habit of us Han people, nor is it something we can tolerate. How to solve it really makes me a little at a loss. Perhaps, the surrender of Huhanye Chanyu of Southern Xiongnu was a good solution, but from their perspective, whether they would feel ashamed of living under someone else's roof is unknown. Everyone has dignity, and sometimes we should not distinguish between each other so clearly. With so many ethnic groups living in this world, if they just hate each other and cannot join hands, the world will eventually fall apart.
I once heard someone say that our Han people are the most superior race, and the others are just uncivilized savages. I remember that it was a debate between the teacher and several so-called Jingzhou celebrities, and one of the celebrities said this. The teacher once fought back against them very beautifully, and I can remember this incident very clearly.
"Brother, we are here, what should we do?" When we reached the street in front of the Nafeng Mansion, my thoughts were interrupted. It seemed that a wedding was going to be held. The curtains outside the door were quite in line with the etiquette of a wealthy family. But I didn't see that someone had come to make trouble again. Could it be that he hadn't come yet? I thought it was not right. Or maybe he knew that going there would be useless, so he went to report to the authorities. But I think he might be disappointed. Since they dared to do it, they must not be afraid of the county officials coming to their door.
"Thank you, sir. Is it inappropriate for us to go in like this? Although you hold a high position, you may run into trouble because of this kind of thing." Yan Rou was still very cautious.
"Yan Rou, I cannot have so many concerns about reason, law and justice. Nan, you go back first and tell your brother-in-law about this and ask him to bring the ceremonial flags." As I got off the horse, I knew that Long Xing would definitely know what to do.
"Why me?" Nan was reluctant.
"Because..." It's not so good. Actually, it was Yan Rou who reminded me. Although I'm a family, there are all kinds of taboos in various places. The Feng family must be fearless to do this. Taking Nan in must not expose any loopholes for me. Although Yan Rou is a little too restrained, at least he is very steady. It's better to take him in. But I can't do this with Nan. I think I am also like my third uncle. A white lie doesn't hurt others. I guess I'm not an honest person. It seems that I have told a lot of lies like this. I don't care to say one more: "Because this is a wedding, and according to etiquette you can't enter the wedding hall because you are under the age of sixteen. It is disrespectful to others. I plan to be soft first to see if I can convince him." I just want to bully him. I'm afraid he is the only one who believes in this nonsense.
After sending the ignorant Nan away, I came to the gate of Feng's house with my weapon in hand. It was waving its fur dishonestly in its sheepskin cover. I think it may have sensed that a war was coming. For some reason, my reason told me to solve the problem peacefully, but I wanted to beat all the evil guys in this family to death.
"My Lord, are you okay?" Yan Rou seemed to sense my murderous intent and seemed to want to remind me from behind.
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't call me Marquis. Just call me Brother Xie." I replied, but I immediately understood Yan Rou's cleverness. The servants of Feng Mansion who were welcoming guests outside ran in immediately after hearing what we said. I turned around and smiled approvingly at Yan Rou behind me. This method is really simple. My voice has not been good, and it can also prevent people from stopping me from introducing my family and revealing my identity.
When I turned around again, I saw a broken stick outside the door. Could it be that its owner had met with an accident? Suddenly I felt my blood rushing up, and my whole head was buzzing. I was going to peel off the sheepskin that was wrapped around Tianlang. Who cares? Even if you are He Jin in there, I will still smash you.
"Thank you, sir. The young man's life should not be in danger. On this wedding day, I believe they will not do something as offensive as killing someone. Maybe they have been driven away?"
"No," I calmed down immediately. Yan Roude was right. They wouldn't do this to celebrate the wedding. I seemed to be a little hot-headed, but after calming down, I knew they couldn't just drive the boy away. "He should still be in this mansion. Otherwise, what if Ergou comes back to cause trouble for them during this wedding?"
At this point, an old man came out from the door. He was probably in his fifties or sixties. Although his temples were gray, one could tell from his appearance and demeanor that he must have been a street scoundrel when he was young.
"Excuse me, is this Lord Fengyun Hou Xie Zirui safe?"
"Exactly." I tried to control my left hand, so I transferred Tianlang to my right hand, but it still had the urge to go up and knock him down with a stick.
"I have heard of your great name for a long time. At the age of sixteen, he offered a plan to defeat the Yellow Turbans to General Huangfu. Later, he was appointed as the governor of Changsha. At the age of seventeen, he was granted a title of marquis. Later, he led a hundred thousand soldiers to fight in person. He is truly a young hero that has never been seen in a hundred generations." This really reduced my hostility towards him. I even felt flattered. However, after a moment's attention, I felt that there must be a big connection behind this person. He knew almost everything about me. I think many people know me through rumors. Even the merchants who come and go have rumors that I am a wolf that bites people when the full moon comes. He even knows that I went to Huangfu's army to offer advice and was the governor of Changsha. These things are not in the official newspaper. Only people knew about it during the enfeoffment in Luoyang. His family must have a relationship with one of those people.
"How do you know this?"
"My brother is the chief staff member of the Qingzhou Governor Yuan Benchu, and he is also a General of the Central Army." I thought to myself, what a weird thing, he is not only a staff member, but also has an official title. However, it is indeed a bit troublesome to mention Yuan Benchu. His brother Yuan Shu was humiliated by me in the Situ Mansion. When passing through Qingzhou, it is best to be careful. Moreover, the Yuan family has four generations of people who have been ranked among the three highest officials. Their status is indeed extraordinary. This guy dared to be so rampant just by relying on his brother who is under Yuan Shao, which made me feel extremely disgusted with him. If Yuan Shu was so naughty, I would take him to see his uncle, and you are still so arrogant in front of me.
When I entered the door, I saw people cleaning the ground in the yard.
After entering the hall, I was led to the main guest seat. After a while, another official came. He was a little angry when he saw me, and it seemed that I took his seat. But after the old man whispered a few words to him and found out my identity, the official's face changed drastically. He told the old man a few words and ran away. I asked the old man who this official was. The old man was a distant relative from Qingzhou. This lie was also used to deceive me. He robbed people in the morning and held the wedding at noon. I think it was a bit rushed. Along the way, there were no ceremonial guards except for the facade. How could the official travel 800 miles in half a day to attend the event? Judging from his clothes, he was obviously a county lieutenant. He must be the county lieutenant of this county. This city is really lawless.
My plan is that the bride and her consumptive husband will come out to worship the heaven and earth. Once the bride makes a scene, I will have something to say. This is reasonable and logical. I think it will be difficult for Feng Laoer to stop me from taking people away. Even if he really dares to do it, Po Liu Han Lie Ya, Hu Sa Lie Nan Guo and the Xianbei warriors they brought should have arrived long ago. I don't believe that I can't defeat you bunch of idiots.
However, things did not go as I imagined. Long Xing and Nan, with the fully armed Xianbei warriors and my guard of honor, arrived outside the door early. Long Xing also came in and sat down with me, sitting in the seat below me. Nan was leading everyone outside. He was really fooled by me. When others toasted, Long Xing's etiquette was very proper. It seemed that his wife had almost turned him into a Han Chinese. It was just that the six-foot long bow beside me reminded me of the broken six Han Lieya who held the bow horizontally and shot the spirit deer.
The bride came to the wedding hall. Although her heavily made-up face still showed traces of tears, she was very calm and had no intention of causing a scene. This made me a little uneasy. Suddenly I thought that the Wuhuan boy was still in their hands. They could use the boy to threaten her. I cursed myself in my heart for not even thinking of this.
When I was thinking of an excuse to ruin this stolen marriage, something unexpected happened. The maid came to report that the young master refused to change his clothes and refused to get married in the hall. I sat in the first seat, very close to the old man. I heard these words very clearly, and I couldn't help but have a good impression of this young master.
"Why is that?" I took the opportunity to ask. "For such an important matter in life, we should obey our parents' orders. This seems a bit disobedient."
"Your Excellency, it's okay. I may be feeling unwell. Please wait here and someone will come to see me." His face looked very ugly, but he had no choice but to turn around and go in.
I wanted to follow him, but his servants stopped me. I couldn't get angry, so I had to sit back in my seat. The bride was still sitting there calmly. This made me very angry but I couldn't vent.
I suddenly had an idea and asked the person next to me who was obviously the housekeeper, "Your master told me that the young master seems to be ill. Why don't you wait until everything is better before getting married? Why are you so anxious? I'm afraid it will be bad for the young master's health."
He certainly couldn't answer. I saw him hesitating. He didn't know if his master had told me this. This kind of thing is already known to everyone on the street. I don't know why they still need to avoid it. But he didn't, so I really couldn't convict him based on rumors.
Suddenly, another Xianbei youth came in and whispered something to Long Xing. Long Xing suddenly shouted, "My Lord, my brother is here. The witness is just outside the door. Please forgive me for my rudeness." Then, he turned to the Xianbei soldier and said, "Bring that man in, and let everyone enter the yard."
His voice was very loud, and there were not many people in the whole yard and the house, so this loud shout made everyone freeze. When all the Xianbei soldiers rushed in at once, the whole Fengfu compound immediately became chaotic. There was some sporadic resistance, but in a moment, the Xianbei people controlled the entire yard. All the servants, guests and maids were driven to the center of the yard. Po Liuhan asked a Xianbei boy who came in from outside the door: "Did you see my brother come in here and never leave again?"
"yes."
"Husa Lie Nanguo, bring some people to search!"
"I will obey your orders."
I was thinking about how to cooperate with Long Xing's action. I knew he must have planned it on the way. Just look at him wearing armor; the Xianbei boy who came in to report the news didn't even bring a weapon, and behaved like an ordinary follower; Nan didn't even say hello to me, so I knew it. Although I don't think this is a good solution, I know that now I have to follow my brother's play. No wonder he sat next to me without saying a word, didn't say hello to me, and had a serious and calm face.
The bride suddenly lowered her eyes and immediately looked at us with a light full of hope.
The old man from the Feng family heard something strange outside and hurried out. Po Liu Han Lieya immediately drew his bow and pointed his arrow at the man's heart.
"… Why are you doing this?" I asked in a panic, hoping to see how he reacted so I could know what he was thinking.
"My brother Ta Lie has been separated since childhood. When I arrived here today, I heard people say that a family surnamed Zhang here had an adopted son of Wuhuan named Ta Lie. So I ordered people to look for him everywhere. Someone reported that he lived in a tavern in the east of the city. Someone else said that he was seen riding a horse westward. Finally, someone said that he entered Feng Mansion and never came out again. I know that it may be disrespectful to the Marquis, but I am really afraid that the brothers who have been separated for many years will be lost. What's more, I heard..." He looked around very seriously, stared at the old man fiercely, and whispered in my ear very softly: "Brother, now my name is Tu Jing Ta Dun. I am telling you about the bride robbery. You will get angry after listening to it, and then go and blame the owner of this house. Now I will delay time, otherwise it will not be a matter with you. Let's call him Ta Dun, which means two tigers in Wuhuan language. I didn't expect his name to be Er Gou. I don't want to call him Lou Lie, which means big dog, so I took this name. OK, you are angry now." I don't know why I got angry. I almost couldn't help laughing.
“What?” I wanted to hold back my laughter so much that my face turned red, but I couldn’t hold it back. “Hahaha, how could this happen? Tadun, don’t wrongly accuse a good person. This is not a joke.”
"I am not kidding. Once I find my brother, I will confront this old thief on the spot."
"Your Excellency, what's going on? Why is this happening?" The old man from the Feng family obviously regarded me as his savior, but he could actually pretend to be an honest man so innocently. It seemed that he was hopeless.
I lowered Long Xing's bow, indicating that he should not point it at him like that.
"Mr. Feng, I just arrived in your place. I looked around and saw that your family was holding a wedding. I was interested and wanted to come in to join in the celebration. I didn't expect this to happen. My subordinate is a Wuhuan. His surname is Tujing and his name is Tadun. This time I traveled to the north. Because he is familiar with the customs and landscape of the north, I asked him to be my follower. He once told me that he had a younger brother named Ta Lie who separated himself. You also heard him say just now that he also heard that a noble man in the market robbed his brother's adopted sister, who is this girl. He also detained his brother. Is this true?"
"This..." Of course it is not good to do bad things. If there is no truth, the imprisoned boy will be exposed as soon as he is rescued. If there is truth, he will confess himself.
When the Wuhuan boy was carried out, the silent girl finally spoke, and finally burst out from her calmness. Her "brother" contained countless sadness and concern. His tattered clothes were covered with blood stains, and his white face told me that he had lost a lot of blood. He tried to stand up straight and hugged his sister, lovingly and tenderly wiping away her tears and her heavy makeup with his unstained clothes.
The one who reacted just as quickly was Long Xing. He asked the young man a question as if it was the real thing. The young man answered, and Yan Rou behind me translated Long Xing's words directly for me.
"You are a Wuhuan who has rarely been away from home."
"What did you say?" It turned out that the Wuhuan boy did not speak the Wuhuan language. That is, when he left the Wuhuan people, he was still very... I think Long Xing can play freely.
"I'm your eldest brother. My name is Tujing Tadun." Long Xing also changed his voice to Chinese. "When we were young, our Wuhuan Tujing tribe was attacked by the Xianbei Houmochen tribe in Shanggu County. The tribe was scattered, and our parents embroidered our names on the lapels of their clothes. Because of the urgency of the world and you were still in your infancy, they were afraid that you were too young to endure the hardships in the mountains, so they placed you in the Han territory hoping that kind people would adopt you. I was fostered by the Houmochen tribe's mortal enemy, the Poliu Han tribe, and later grew up in this tribe. The sheepskin my parents left for me is also incomplete. I only know that you are with the Han people and your name, but I don't know anything else. I wanted to find you. I heard that many people migrated south during the Yellow Turban Rebellion last year. I even found Jingzhou. I didn't expect that we could only reunite as brothers here. I..." I think this big lie is a bit too mysterious, but Long Xing's is really touching. It's really like his brother. He was so excited that he was intermittent. He wanted to express himself all at once but didn't know where to start. The boy completely believed these words and seemed to be deeply moved.
"Brother!" The brave young man could no longer stand and fell to his knees. Long Xing quickly helped him up, his eyes full of tears, "I'm glad to see you, I'm glad to see you. I'll kill the evil villain who hurt you for you." He waved his hand, and the Xianbei young man's strong bow array aimed at the old man, and the old man immediately turned pale. Long Xing glanced at me, and I immediately said: "Tadun, don't do this." To be honest, I was speechless this time, because I also wanted to shoot him, and I hoped not to stop them. But I knew that I still had to stop him, otherwise, Long Xing would have to shoot. And the series of troubles that followed were not what we could have expected.
"Please stop." A young man with a pale face who looked like a weak scholar came in front of us and blocked his father. "This matter was caused by me. My father did this at my request. Now I, Fengdong, should bear the responsibility alone. I'm sorry, brother. This matter was indeed my evil intention. It's too late to regret it. Please don't blame my father!" He bowed respectfully to us, but he started coughing violently as soon as he bowed his waist.
"Donger, this matter has nothing to do with you. It's all your father's fault." At this point, he no longer had that domineering attitude, only the love a father had for his son. He stepped forward to help up his son who couldn't stand up straight due to constant coughing.
"Tadun, you saved your brother out of affection, Fengdong saved his father out of affection, although it is not good for Feng to rob your brother and hurt him like this, please let them go for the sake of his son's filial piety and my kindness!" I bowed to Long Xing respectfully. Long Xing's next actions were exactly what I thought, he was panicked and knelt down quickly, "I dare not. I will leave now." He also looked at the old man Feng fiercely, looking at his fearful and ferocious look, I wanted to kick him.
Long Xing left with his "brothers". I waited until they were all gone, then pretended to be relieved, turned around and saluted to the old man, saying, "I'm sorry to have frightened you, sir."
"I dare not. This time, it is thanks to the help of the Marquis, otherwise I don't know what these Wuhuan barbarians would do." I thought to myself that compared to them, your behavior is barbaric.
"I am the commander of my subordinates, please forgive me for my incompetence." He thought about it, but he didn't.
"The barbarians do not follow the Han etiquette, they do not respect the elders or the inferiors, and they also respect the nobles for the sake of their future."
But we all avoided mentioning the issue of snatching people, and it was a tacit understanding.
"My dear son... is he suffering from tuberculosis?" I asked knowingly. I really admire this young man, and it is a bit unfair to let him suffer from a serious illness, but I can't imagine how this scoundrel can have such a good son.
"Thanks to the help of Lord Feng." Old Man Feng was reluctant to speak, so Feng Dong spoke up himself: "I do have tuberculosis. My father has sought help from many famous doctors but could not find a cure. I think my life is coming to an end." He was very open-minded, but his father asked him not to be reckless. But since it had come to the point of getting married, he must have been desperate.
"I will write you a letter. Please send someone to escort your son to Jingzhou and Xiangyang. Have someone give this letter to my sister. She will definitely arrange for him to treat you... Do you know the miraculous doctor Hua Tuo? He should be in Jingzhou now." I was not sure if they knew this lifesaver. But the joy on their faces and the old man's almost crooked face made me sure that Hua Tuo was indeed very famous.
"With the miracle doctor Hua, there is hope. I've always wanted to find him, but unfortunately he's always traveling around to practice medicine, so I never know where he is at the time. Today, I'm honored to have your words to save my son's life. Please accept my greeting." This scoundrel really loves his son very much, and his true feelings are revealed.
I thought about my father, whom I had never met.
On the way back from there, I kept thinking about my father. Who is my father? I have to ask my sister. When I ask her, she doesn't know. But since she remembers almost suffocating me in the cave, she should remember who my parents are.
I suddenly felt that there were many doubts about my family. I asked Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang, but they didn't know about my family. But since they have been taking care of us with all their heart, I have never thought about such questions. But since my sister's place is our hometown, Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang have been looking after our hometown. My sister was only four years old at that time, how could she handle things? It must be Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang who are in charge. They have been working in their hometown, but they don't even know who my parents are. Who hired them? This is really a bit unreasonable. Moreover, the strangest thing is where our family's income comes from. In the past ten years, no one in our family has worked outside, but I have never worried about food and clothing since I was a child. Staying in Xiangyang City like this, although I know some of the sufferings of the people, I have never thought about what the real sufferings of the people would be like. When passing by farmland, I would think the scenery is beautiful, and when boating on the river, I would think the water is magnificent. This trip to the north, especially after staying with my third uncle for a while, I know the real hardship of the people. They work hard all day long, and it is not easy to make money. Even so, Uncle San still said, if you don’t do it yourself, I will never understand.
"Brother, why did you come back so late?"
"There is a problem in our family." I said with certainty.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?"
I felt someone waving a hand in front of my eyes, and I came back to my senses, "Long Xing, what's wrong?"
"Did you hear me ask you?"
"What did you ask me?"
"Brother, what happened to you? You seem uneasy. I asked you why you came back so late?"
"Oh, I wrote a letter and asked Fengdong to go to Jingzhou to seek medical treatment." Actually, I wrote a letter to my sister. Of course, I also knew Fengdong's illness and asked her to ask the master's wife for help. However, most of the words I wrote were to please my sister, especially since I haven't written to her yet. If I don't write back, I will not want to live. "Oh. By the way, how is Ta Lie?"
"He lost a lot of blood. The doctor came to see him. He is in good health. His life is not in danger now. He just fell asleep."
"Where's Sister Zhang?"
"She's with her brother."
"Long Xing, come with me." I think there are some things I need to discuss with him.
"Long Xing, you did a really good job today. I didn't expect your plan to be so meticulous. The story you wrote is also very good." I smiled.
“After listening to Nan’s words, we asked a few locals and I fleshed out my wife’s ideas,” Long Xing said to me with a smile.
"I've thought about it, and your idea is indeed a good one, but Long Xing, you might cause trouble for Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei of Youzhou. You actually thought of using Tujing as his surname, which is indeed quite brilliant. Did you think of the Tujing flag of Gongsun Zan of Youzhou? In the battle of Pingheishan, the Tujing clan will definitely be noticed. Therefore, the life of the Supervisor is also related to this matter. When it comes to this matter, Youzhou will definitely keep silent and pass it by vaguely. And many Luoyang officials can testify that when I went north, I didn't bring any followers with me. When I came back from Youzhou, there were more people from the Tujing family, and there were also people from the Tujing clan in Youzhou. Naturally, the attention was diverted. He Jin will not pay attention to us but will keep a close eye on Youzhou. Moreover, today it seems that I have no way to deal with you. All of this will not cause much trouble to us in the end, but Youzhou will be troubled."
"Are you worried about Youzhou?"
"Maybe." Although in theory, we are just using each other. But Liu Yu, Zhao Yun, Liu Guan and Zhang have made me worry about Youzhou. If such talented and good generals were killed as traitors in peacetime, it would be very sad.
"I've heard my elder brother talk to me about the interests involved," Long Xing thought for a moment and came up with an idea: "Then let him be named Tujing, and give him a Tujing banner, which will openly show that we are joining forces with Youzhou."
"Okay." This decision was a bit difficult to make, but I nodded firmly in the end. I thought Gongsun Zan would definitely spread this news in various channels, but if I did this, I would completely expose the matter to the public, and there would be no turning back. But since He Jin had already pointed out a path of no return for us, let's part ways with him openly. Although it was just a light "Okay", but once the flag was raised, there was no chance to withdraw it.
The sun was setting, and the sky was beginning to be covered with dark clouds. It seemed that the weather was going to change. I just didn't know whether it would still be cloudy, sunny, or rainy when the next morning came.